Yavatmal district , əʋət̪maːɭformerly known as Yeotmal, is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. It is located in the region of

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the west Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Forming the eastern part of the state, it comprises Amravati Division, Amrav ...

, in the east-central part of the state. It is Vidarbha's third-largest district by population, after Nagpur and Amravati. Yavatmal city is the administrative headquarters of the district.

Officer

Members of Parliament

* Sanjay Deshmukh ( SHS)
* Pratibha Balu Dhanorkar ( INC)
* nagesh Patil ashtikar ( SHS)

Guardian Minister

District Magistrate/Collector

History

Early history

It is believed that Yavatmal, along with the rest of the former Berar province, was part of the legendary kingdom of

mentioned in the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

''. Berar also formed part of the

Mauryan Empire The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...

during the reign of

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

(272 to 231 BCE). Berar later came under the rule of the

Satavahana The Satavahanas (; ''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras (also ''Andhra-bhṛtyas'' or ''Andhra-jatiyas'') in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavaha ...

dynasty ( to ), the Vakataka dynasty (3rd to 6th centuries), the

Chalukya 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 dynas ...

dynasty (6th to 8th centuries), the Rashtrakuta dynasty (8th to 10th centuries), the Western Chalukya (10th to 12th centuries), and finally the Yadava dynasty of Devagiri (late 12th to early 14th centuries).

Medieval history

A period of

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

rule began when Ala ud din Khilji, Sultan of Delhi, conquered the region in the early 14th century. The region was part of the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellio ...

, which broke away from the Delhi Sultanate in the mid-14th century. The Bahmani Sultanate broke into smaller sultanates at the end of the 15th century, and in 1572 Berar became part of the Nizam Shahi sultanate, based at

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar, officially Ahilyanagar, is a city in, and the headquarters of, the Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. Ahmednagar has several dozen buildings and sites from the Nizam Shahi period. Ahmednagar Fort, once considered almost impre ...

. The Nizam Shahis ceded Berar to the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

in 1595. As Mughal rule started to unravel at the start of the 18th century, Asaf Jah I, Nizam of

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, seized the southern provinces of the empire (including Berar) in 1724, forming an independent state. A detailed account of Berar was added to the ''

Ain-i-Akbari The ''Ain-i-Akbari'' (), or the "Administration of Akbar", is a 16th-century detailed document regarding the administration of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu'l Fazl, in the Persian language. It forms ...

'' in 1596–97, immediately after the treaty of Ahmadnagar under which the province was ceded to the Mughal Empire; this account may be regarded as a description of the province as it was administered by the Nizam Shahi and Imad Shahi kings, and probably also by the Bahamani Sultans. The account notes that Berar was divided into thirteen sarkars or revenue districts. The Yavatmal district comprised the greater part of Akbar's sarkars of Kalam and Mahur. But some few mahals of these sarkars lay beyond the present limits of the district. Yavatmal appears in the record as the headquarters of a pargana under the name of Yot-Lohara – ''Yot'' being the Urdu or Persian corruption of ''Yevata'', the original name of the town; and ''Lohara'' the name of a village about to the west of Yavatmal. The suffix ''mal'' is a corruption of ''mahal'' (pargana-town). A rough estimate makes the land revenue demand in Akbar's time for the area now occupied by the district more than ten lakhs (one million) rupees, while it is certain that collection must have fallen far short of the nominal demand.

British colonial period

In 1853 the East Berar district, together with the rest of Berar, came under the administration of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. After the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

, Hingoli and its adjoining areas were restored to the Nizam and the province was reconstituted into two districts, East Berar with its headquarters at Amraoti, and West Berar with its headquarters at Akola. In 1864, British divided the East Berar into two districts: Amraoti (Amravati) and Southeast Berar (which was first renamed as Wun district and then in 1905, Yeotmal district), with headquarters at Yeotmal. In 1867, Ellichpur District was also carved out of Amraoti.

Geography

Yavatmal District is situated in the south-western part of Wardha Penganga-Wainganga basin. The geographical location of the district falls in 19.26 and 20.42 north latitudes and 77.18 to 7.9.9 in the eastern line. Amravati and Wardha districts, from east to Chandrapur district, Telangana and Nanded district are from the north whereas Parbhani and Akola districts are surrounded by west. The district covers (4.41 percent of the state). The total length of the district is , and the maximum width from north to south is . The district occupies the southeastern part of Berar. Yavatmal district is in the southern mountain ranges of Berar, situated on a wide plain surrounded by hilly terrain and mountain ranges running east to west. The central part is a plateau above sea level. On its northern border is the Panighat, called the valley of Berar, which is wide; only a portion of the valley is within Yavatmal district. The two main rivers are the Penganga and Wardha. The Wardha originates in Madhya Pradesh. The Penganga river is the main tributary of the Wardha, and marks the southern boundary of the district before joining the Wardha. The Wardha's other tributaries include the Bembala and Nirguda, which flow only during the monsoon season. Other rivers include the Bembala and Nirguda rivers on the Yavatmal Plateau.

Climate

The climate is dry and hot in summer with a moderately cold winter. The year is divided into four seasons: summer (March to May), southwest monsoon season (June to September), northern monsoon season (October to November), and winter (December to February). The district receives an average annual rainfall of . This generally increases from west to east, with in the western region of the district and in the east. Almost all of the rain falls during the southwest monsoon season. In recent years heavy rainfall has destroyed crops or left the land unsuitable for planting. The average daily temperature in May reaches . The average daily minimum temperature is in December. The district temperature may fall below due to the humidity of cool northern air.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Yavatmal district had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 2,772,348, roughly equal to the nation of

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

or the US state of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Its population ranking was 141st in India (out of a total of

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

), and 21st in the state (out of 35). The district had a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 12.9%. Yavatmal had a

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 947 females for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 80.7%. 21.58% of the population live in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 11.85% and 18.54% of the population respectively.

Languages

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 67.57% of the population in the district spoke Marathi, 13.29% Lambadi, 5.41%

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, 4.99%

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, 2.77% Kolami, 2.41% Gondi and 1.69% Telugu as their first language. Marathi is the major language. Other languages spoken are

, Telugu, Banjari, Gondi, Kolami and Andh, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by 100,000 people. People here speak with the Varhadi

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

Divisions

Yavatmal district forms the southeast corner of

Amravati Division Amravati Division, also known as Varhad, is an Indian one of the six administrative divisions of Maharashtra state in India. Amravati and Nagpur Division, Nagpur divisions constitute the ancient Vidarbha region. Amravati Division is bound by Mad ...

, which corresponds to the former

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

province of Berar. Yavatmal city is the administrative headquarters of this district. Yavatmal district comprises sixteen ''

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

s'': * Arni * Babhulgaon *

Darwha Darwha is a town and a municipal council in Yavatmal district in the state of Maharashtra, India. History Locals believe Rango Bapuji Gupte, a freedom fighter had lived incognito in the town. The town is also famous for 'Golibar Chowk', squa ...

* Digras * Ghatanji * Kalamb * Mahagaon * Maregaon * Ner, Yavatmal * Pandharkawada ( Kelapur) * Pusad * Ralegaon * Umarkhed * Wani * Yavatmal * Zari Jamani There are seven Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha constituencies in this district: * Digras * Arni (ST) * Pusad * Ralegaon (ST) * Umarkhed (SC) * Wani * Yavatmal

Transport

Yavatmal City and District has good connectivity of Transport to all major city in India and Maharastra i.e. Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nanded, Aurangabad, Amravati, Adilabad, Hyderabad. National Highway 361 passes through Yavatmal City and district. Proposed National Highway from Khandwa(MP) to Karanji is passing via Paratwada, Amravati, Yavatmal. Yavatmal to Amravati route needs to be built newly via Pimpalgaon, Sawar, Dabha(pahur), Rajura, Bankhead as the existing are unnecessarily too long to travel. Jawaharlal Darda Yavatmal Airport, Bhari, Yavatmal. Yavatmal-Murtijapur Railway Line (Work in Progress) Wardha-Yavatmal-Nanded Railway Line (Work in Progress) India's first Broad Gauge Metro will run from Nagpur to Yavatmal In future Maharashtra's Nagpur or Chandrapur to Pune expressway if propose can be pass via Yavatmal, washim, Lonar, Paithan, Ahmednagar.

Economy

As Yavatmal is Cotton City Jowar and

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

are the main produce of the district, cotton and teakwood the chief exports. Other items exported include lime, wooden furniture and oranges.

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

crop is an important crop as major soybean plants have come up in the area. In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Yavatmal one of the country's 250 most-backward districts (out of a total of

). It is one of the twelve districts in Maharashtra currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Mining

The geology of the district is transitional with Deccan trap rocks (lava bed) predominating, displaying characteristic step-like hills and ridges. These have been eroded through in places, exposing older Puranic and Aryan sediments.

Forestry

Forsts are located at Bitargaon, Tipeshwar, Tiwsala and Umbarda. Trees include teak, tendu, hirda, apta and moha, as well as bamboo. Wild-bear, deer, nilgai, sambar, hyena and peacock are among the animals found in the forests. There are wildlife sanctuaries at Tipeshwar and Painganga.Tipeshwar is in way to become Tiger Reserve in India.

Tourism

Arni and Digras tehsils are pilgrimage locations, important for the journeys of Baba Kambalposh R.A. Shrine and Shri Ghantibaba Temple. They also have the Shri Chintamani temple of Kalamb, Ghatanji Maroti Maharaj Yatra and the Shree Datta Jayanti festival at Jambhora Mahur. Ner tehsil have temple called Shri Fakirji Maharaj Sansthan, Dhanaj Manikwada which is Grade 'B' pilgrimage by Gramvikas Department of Maharashtra State Government. Shree Chintamani Ganesh Temple is at Kalamb on the bank of the Chakravati. The district has various entrenched cultures and tribal communities, including the Gond Raja, Gond Pardhan, Kolam, Aandh and Banjara. Various religious fairs take place in the district including: * Fakirji Maharaj Fair, Dhanaj Manikwada, is a pilgrimage place for both Hindu as well as Muslim people. He was a saint lived 250–300 years back. Temple culture reflects the varkari sampraday. Trust is associated with different social activities. Devotees visit this place on Kartik and Ashadi Yatra. Kanya-bhakar mahaprasad in yatra and Saath Festival is famous in Maharashtra. * Shree Chintamani Fair, Kalamb * The Jambhora and Mahashiv Ratri in Wani, Pusad and Mahagaon * Shri Rangnaath Swamy, Wani * Amba Devi, Kelapur * Baba Kambalposh R.A. Urs/Fair, Arni * Maroti and Gajanan Maharaj Fair, Ghatanji * Ghanti Baba chi Yatra, Digras * Painganga Wildlife Sanctuary * Ambona lake * Sahasrakund Waterfall * Shri Kshetra Panchmukhi Mahadev Mandir, Hardada * Balaji Mandir, Dhanora(Sa) There are also forest locations for tourists and hot springs at Kapeshwar on the banks of Penganga.

Notable people

* Vasantrao Naik - Former & Longest ruling CM of Maharashtra. * Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, Founding Sarsanghachalak of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

* Aajibai Banarase, community leader and president of Maharashtra Mandal London. * Vijay Darda, former MP (

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

), Chairman Lokmat media Pvt. Ltd * Jambuwantrao Dhote, politician and founder of Vidarbha Janata Congress * Nachiket Mor, banker and National Director for

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be List of wealthiest charitable foundations, the third largest char ...

. * Sudhakarrao Naik, former

Chief Minister of Maharashtra The chief minister of Maharashtra (IAST: Mahārāṣṭrāce Mukhyamaṃtrī) is the head of the executive branch of the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Following elections to the Legislative Assembly, the governor invites ...

. *

Sanjay Rathod Sanjay Dulichand Rathod is a Shiv Sena (2022–present), Shiv Sena politician from Maharashtra. He is a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Digras (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Digras-Darwha (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Darwha As ...

, former Guardian minister Yavatmal * Manikrao Thakare, former President Maharashtra State Congress Committee * Madan Madhukarrao Yerawar, former Guardian minister Yavatmal * Wasudev Waman Patankar, Marathi poet and advocate (1908–1997) * Akash Chikte, Indian field hockey player * Suryakanta Patil, Indian politician * Lalit Yadav, Vidharbha cricketer * Alind Naidu, Vidharbha cricketer * Ashok Uike, Former Minister of Tribal Development * Vasant Purke, Politician and former Minister of Education * Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh, M.P Yavatmal-Washim & Ex-MLA * Jawaharlal Darda, Freedom Fighter * Madhav Shrihari Aney ( Loknayak Bapuji Aney nowiki/>Padma Vibhushan">Padma_Vibhushan.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Padma Vibhushan">nowiki/>Padma Vibhushan Ardent educationist, freedom fighter, statesman, a modern Sanskrit poet and a politician * Rajendra Darda, Politician * Shivajirao Moghe, Former Minister of Social Justice in Maharashtra Cabinet * Faheem Hussain, Pakistani physicist * Harising Nasaru Rathod, Politician

References

External links

Yavatmal district's official website
{{Coord, 20.1, 78.2, type:adm2nd_region:IN, display=title Districts of Maharashtra 1864 establishments in India Amravati division Vidarbha