Khandesh District (or Kandesh, Khandeish) was a district, administrative division of Bombay presidency of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

during

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

of India, the district was made up of present-day

Jalgaon Jalgaon () is a city in the state of Maharashtra, India. The city is located in North Maharashtra in the subregion of Khandesh, and serves as the administrative headquarters of its namesake district, the Jalgaon district. In the subregion of ...

Dhule Dhule is one of the largest cities in Maharashtra, and central region of India. The city located in the Dhule District in the northwestern part of Maharashtra state, India known as West Khandesh. Situated on the banks of Panzara River, Dhule i ...

and

Nandurbar Nandurbar () is a city and a municipal council in Nandurbar district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Nandurbar municipal corporation is the first municipal corporation. The District Nandurbar was formed from the district Dhule on July 1, ...

districts of Maharashtra. Its headquarter was

town. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Khandesh was part of the

Maratha Confederacy The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent Maratha states under the nominal leadership of the former. ...

, and was ruled by the Maratha

Peshwa The Peshwa was the second highest office in the Maratha Empire, next in rank and prestige only to that of the Chhatrapati. Initially serving as the appointed prime minister in the Maratha Kingdom, the office became hereditary when Shahu gave t ...

. The district was annexed to

at the conclusion of the

Third Anglo-Maratha War The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire, Maratha Confederacy in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an in ...

in 1818. A southern portion of the district was detached to form Nashik District in 1869. In 1906 the district was bifurcated into East Khandesh and West Khandesh districts, with their capitals at Jalgaon and Dhulia (Dhule), respectively. In 1960 East Khandesh was renamed to Jalgaon District, and West Khandesh to Dhule district. In 1998 Dhule was divided to form Nandurbar districts.

History

In the Mughal rule of Aurangzeb, in 1670 Daud Khan was ''Subhadar ('') of Khandesh province. Khandesh district was part of Khandesh province. Burhanpur was its capital city. The

Asirgarh fort Asirgarh Fort is an Indian fortress ''( qila)'' situated in the Satpura Range about north of the city of Burhanpur, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The fort is said to date to the early 15th-century and commands a pass through the Sa ...

was known as the gate of Southern India , and

Burhanpur Burhanpur is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai , southwest of the state's capita ...

was known as "''Dakkhan ka Darwaza''" (). In the year 1880 Khandesh district's population was 10,28,642, in the year 1901 total population of the district was 9,54,077. In 1906, Bombay presidency government bifurcated Khandesh district to form East Khandesh and West Khandesh district, Jalgaon and Dhule made their administrative headquarter.

Geography

Dhule was the administrative center of Khandesh district. On north west corner of the district Narmada river was natural border of the district and in west the base of the hills out skirt in Shahada was natural border of Khandesh. It separated Khandesh from Akrani territory that was present at north right into the heart of the hills where from Narmada river pass Satpuda. On east and south east rows of pillars and some water streams was mark the boundary of Khandesh from central provinces and

Berar Berar may refer to: *Vidarbha, the eastern region of Maharashtra, India, historically known as Berar * Berar Sultanate (1490–1596), one of the Deccan sultanates *Berar Subah (1596–1724), a subah (province) of the Mughal Empire *Berar Province ( ...

. To the south Ajanta, Satmala range was rough boundary between Khandesh and Nizam's territory. On south west Arva or Making, Galna hills separate Khandesh from Nasik.

Administration

For administrative purposes the British government distributed Khandesh into 16 sub divisions. Out of these subdivision Amalner, Pimpalner, Pachora, Bhusaval, Savada had two petty divisions, other sub-divisions had one petty division each. In 1917, Bombay presidency government elevated Parola peta to Tehasil and later upgraded Bhusawal peta, Pachora peta, Chalisgaon peta to taluka status.

References

Bibliography

* Hunter, Sir William Wilson, et al. (1908). ''Imperial Gazetteer of India'', Volume 15. 1908–1931; Clarendon Press, Oxford. Districts of British India History of Maharashtra by district History of Maharashtra Jalgaon district Bhusawal Dhule district Nandurbar district {{Maharashtra-geo-stub