Adilabad is a city which serves as the headquarters of Adilabad district, in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

is the native language of Adilabad. Adilabad is famous for its rich cultivation of cotton. Hence, Adilabad is also referred as "White Gold City". It is located about north of the state capital,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

, from Nizamabad and from

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

. Adilabad is called as the "Gateway to South India".

History

The earlier name of Adilabad was Edlabad during the rule of Qutub Shahis. Adilabad derives its name from the erstwhile ruler of Bijapur, Muhammad

Yusuf Adil Shah Yusuf Adil Shah (1450–1510), referred as Adil Khan or Hidalcão by the Portuguese, was the founder of the Adil Shahi dynasty that ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur for nearly two centuries. As the founder of the newly formed Bijapur dynasty (as t ...

. It wasn't a homogenous unit for a long period. Adilabad was ruled by many dynasties like the

Kakatiyas The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. T ...

Mauryas The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

Satavahanas The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the lat ...

Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty ...

, Qutub Shahis , Asaf Jahis and by Gond Rajas of earlier sub-districts Sirpur and Chanda. It was created in 1872 by the ruler and In 1905 it was declared to be an independent district with a prominent headquarters. Later many regions were combined and set apart. In 2016 it was divided into 4 districts namely, Adilabad, Nirmal, Asifabad, Mancherial.

Languages

is the most spoken language in Adilabad (65% as native language). Due to geographical proximity with Maharashtra, Marathi is also widely spoken and understood (10.5% as native language). Other languages spoken in Adilabad include

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Gondi.

Geography

Adilabad has an average elevation of 264 metres. The district shares its boundaries with Nizamabad and

Karimnagar Karimnagar is also known as Elagandula (Ancient name) is a city and District Headquarters in the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar is a major urban agglomeration and fifth largest City in the state. It is governed by Municipal corporation a ...

districts of

to the south,

Komaram Bheem district Komaram Bheem Asifabad district, officially known as Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The town of Asifabad is its district headquarters. It is named after Gond tribal leader Komaram Bheem. It w ...

on the east, with

Nanded Nanded is a city in Maharashtra state, India. It is the tenth largest city in the state and the seventy-ninth most populous city in India. It is the second largest city in Marathwada region. It is the district headquarters of Nanded distri ...

on the west and

Yavatmal Yavatmal ( is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Yavatmal District. Yavatmal is around 90 km away from divisional headquarters Amravati while it is away from the sta ...

and

Chandrapur Chandrapur (earlier known as ''Chanda'', the official name until 1964) is a city and a municipal corporation in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra state, India. It is the district headquarters of Chandrapur district. Chandrapur is a fort cit ...

districts of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

to the north. The Kuntala Waterfall, rivers like the

Godavari The Godavari ( IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakesh ...

, Painganga, etc flow through the district. Mavala lake, built during the Nizam period, is situated 6 km south side of Adilabad city. There is a park adjacent to the lake. Other waterfalls in Adilabad include Pochara waterfalls also and Gayatri waterfall, where different rope games are conducted in year-round. Saptha Gundala waterfalls, consisting of 7 small waterfalls, is accessible only by track due to its isolated forest location.

Demographics

In 2011, Adilabad had a population of . Males make up of the population, with females making up . 12,993 of the population are under the age group of 0–6 years. The city has an average literacy rate of 43.45%. The

urban agglomeration An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

population of the city stands at 139,383. It includes the population figures of its constituent

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

, Dasnapur as 22,216.

Politics

Adilabad is one of the seventeen

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

constituencies in the Indian state of

and consists of eight Legislative Assembly segments.

Transport

National Highway 44 The following highways are numbered 44. Australia * Great Western Highway, Parramatta Road (Sydney) * Captain Cook Highway - Queensland State Route 44 (Regional) * Greensborough Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 44 * Manitoba Highway 44 * On ...

passes through Adilabad. Hyderabad is 310 km from Adilabad.

is 196 km away from Adilabad.

TSRTC Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (abbreviated as TSRTC) is a state-owned corporation that runs bus transport services to and from the Indian state of Telangana. It was formed in 2014 by splitting the Andhra Pradesh State Road Trans ...

operates buses from Adilabad to various destinations in the state.

Adilabad Adilabad is a city which serves as the headquarters of Adilabad district, in the Indian state of Telangana. Telugu language, Telugu is the native language of Adilabad. Adilabad is famous for its rich cultivation of cotton. Hence, Adilabad is a ...

has a railway station on Mudkhed-Majri section of

Nanded railway division Nanded railway division is one of the three railway divisions under South Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. This railway division was formed on 1 April 2003 and its headquarter is located at Nanded in the state of Maharashtra in India. Secu ...

South Central Railway The South Central Railway (abbreviated SCR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. The jurisdiction of the zone is spread over the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. It has three divisions under its administrati ...

(SCR).

Landmarks

* Kuntala Waterfall * Pochera Falls * Gayatri Waterfall * Kanakai waterfall * Mavala Harithavanam * Khandala Waterfall

Notable people

* Komaram Bheem * Samala Sadasiva (

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

References

{{Telangana Cities in Telangana Cities and towns in Adilabad district Adilabad district Municipalities of Telangana Mandal headquarters in Adilabad district District headquarters of Telangana