Bhandara District (Marathi pronunciation: ʰəɳɖaːɾa is an administrative

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 ...

in the 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 ...

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 ...

. The name Bhandara is a corruption o
Bhanara
Reference to Bhanara is found in an inscription of 1100 A.D. traced at Ratanpur. The district headquarters are located at Bhandara. The district occupies an area of 3717 km2 and has a population of 1,200,334 (605,520 males and 594,814 females), of which 19.48% are urban as of 2011. The growth rate of Bhandara is 5.56% Bhandara has a mixed economy with agriculture, industries and forest resources. Bhandara is known for its large production of rice.

Tumsar Tumsar is a city and the headquarters of Tumsar Taluka in the Bhandara district of Maharashtra, India. It is a kubernagri, also known as the Rice City for producing the best quality rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestic ...

, a tahsil town, is a noted rice market. Bhandara town is also known as "Brass City" owing to the presence of a large brass products industry. Bhandara has several tourist destinations, like Ambagad Fort,

Brahmi Brahmi ( ; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' or ...

, Chinchgad, and Dighori. The district is also known for the Ordnance Factory Bhandara of the

Ordnance Factories Board The Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) (abbreviated: DOO(C&S)) is an authority under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India. Its primary work is to management, give instructi ...

, which manufactures products for the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

. It is located on an estate which is commonly known as Jawaharnagar colony. There is only one

Kendriya Vidyalaya The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of Government of India, central government schools in India. Governed by the Ministry of Education (India), Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,257 schools in India, ...

in the Bhandara district.

Ashok Leyland Ashok Leyland Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturer, with its headquarters in Chennai. It is now owned by the Hinduja Group. It was founded in 1948 as Ashok Motors, which became Ashok Leyland in the year 1955 after collab ...

, a

Hinduja Group Hinduja Group is an Indian Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. The group is present in eleven sectors including automotive, oil and specialty chemicals, banking and finance, IT and ITeS, cyber security, healthcare, trading, infrastructure proj ...

Company, has a production facility at Gadegaon near Bhandara. Sunflag Iron Steel company and Shivmangal Ispat Pvt. Ltd. are other major industrial undertakings in the district.

Officer

Members of Parliament

Prashant Yadaorao Padole Prashant Yadaorao Padole is an Indian politician. He is a member of Indian National Congress. Political career Padole was elected in 2024 as a Member of Parliament from the Bhandara–Gondiya Lok Sabha constituency, Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha ...

(

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

)

Guardian Minister

list of Guardian Minister

District Magistrate / Collector

History

In the seventh century, the district was included in the territories of the Haihaya yadav kings of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

, whose kingdom was known as Maha Kosala. The name of the district is derived from 'Bhannara', the name by which it is mentioned in a stone inscription at

Ratanpur Ratanpur is a town and a nagar palika in Bilaspur district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It is located about from Bilaspur on National Highway 130 towards Ambikapur. History Ratanpura, originally known as Ratnapura, was the capita ...

, which confirms that the name dates back to at least the 11th century. The Bhandara is also known as Bhandakdesh and in mythological stories it is known as the king of this kingdom bring Ganga river in this region as Vainganga. Bhandara is also Formerly a part of the territories of the Haihaya Rajput kings of

, Bhandara was taken over by the Panwar Rajputs in the 12th century, followed by the Gond chiefs. By the 17th century, the district was made a part of

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 ( ...

Peshwas 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 ...

, who had invaded the region during the period. In 1699, the region came under the control of Parasoji Bhonsle along with the territories 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 ...

and Berar.

Raghoji Bhonsle Raghuji I (Raghuji Bhonsle, ; 1695 – 14 February 1755) was a Maratha general who is credited with the Maratha expansion into Gondwana, Odisha, and Bengal, thereby establishing Maratha supremacy in these areas. He was granted the title of ...

of Vidarbha became the leader in 1743, and was succeeded by his son Janoji after his death in 1755. The feudal dynasty of Lanji governed the region from 1818 to 1830, and formed the Bhandara district in 1821. Peshwas were ousted by

Nizam Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I ...

s during the 1850s, who ceded Berar to 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 ...

in 1903. With the re-organisation of states in 1956, Bhandara was transferred to Bombay Province from the state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. After the formation of Maharashtra in 1960, Bhandara evolved as a district of the state. The erstwhile Bhandara district was bifurcated on 1 May 1999, and a new district,

Gondia Gondia (also spelled as Gondiya, Marathi pronunciation: �on̪d̪iaː is a city and headquarters of eponymous Gondia District in Maharashtra, India. Gondia is also known as ''Rice City'' due to the abundance of rice mills in the area. Gondi ...

, was formed. Thus, Gondia and Bhandara came into existence.

Ambagad Fort

This medieval period fort is situated in

, about 13 km away from Tumsar. It was constructed by Raja Khan Pathan, the subhedar of

Bakht Buland Shah Bakht Buland Shah (?–1706; born Bhagtu ) was a ruler of the Rajgond dynasty. He added to his kingdom the territories of Chanda and Mandla, and portions of Nagpur, Balaghat, Seoni, Bhandara and the adjoining Rajput kingdom of Kherla/Khedla ...

, the ruler of Devgadh around 1700 AD. Later, it came under the possession of

Raghoji I Bhonsle Raghuji I (Raghuji Bhonsle, ; 1695 – 14 February 1755) was a Maratha general who is credited with the Maratha expansion into Gondwana, Odisha, and Bengal, thereby establishing Maratha supremacy in these areas. He was granted the title of ...

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

, who used it as a prison for captives, before it was eventually taken over by the British.

Geography

Bhandara is one of the major administrative districts in Maharashtra, and is located in the

Nagpur division The Nagpur Division is one of six administrative divisions of the state of Maharashtra in India. Nagpur is the easternmost division in the state, with an administrative headquarters in the city of Nagpur. It covers 51,336 km² (19,821 m ...

at 21°10'N 79°39'E. The district is enveloped by

Balaghat district Balaghat district () is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in Central India. Its belongs to Jabalpur Division. Balaghat city is Administrative Headquarter of Balaghat District. Balaghat is known for its tile factories, rice mills and forests. ...

in the north 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 city ...

in the south, smallest border with

Gadchiroli Gadchiroli ( �əɖt͡ʃiɾoliː is a city and a municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as ...

in the southeast while

and

mark its eastern and western borders respectively. Covering an area of 3716 km², the district of Bhandara is segregated into three sub-divisions, Bhandara, Tumsar and Sakoli, that are further divided into seven talukas. Bhandara sub-division is divided into two talukas: Bhandara and

Pauni Pauni is a town and a Municipal Council in Bhandara district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Now it has National Highway NH-247. Pauni is also known as Kashi of Vidarbha due to its wide swath of temples. Geography Pauni is located at . It ...

. Tumsar division have

and Mohadi. Sakoli sub-division is divided into three talukas:

Sakoli Sakoli is a city and a municipal council in Bhandara district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is connected with NH-53 and NH-353C. Geography Sakoli (साकोली) is located at 21.08° N ×79.98° E. It has an average elevation o ...

, Lakhani, and Lakhandur.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Bhandara district has 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 1,200,334, roughly equal to the nation of

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

or the US state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. This gives it a ranking of 397th 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 ...

). The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

over the decade 2001–2011 was 5.65%. Bhandara has 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 982

females An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and male ...

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 83.76%. 19.48% of the population live in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 16.69% and 7.41% of the population respectively. The major Hindu castes include

Powar Parmar, also known as Panwar or Pawar is a Rajput clan that claims descent from the Agnivanshi lineage. They are mainly found in Northern and Central India, especially in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himach ...

Teli Teli is a caste traditionally occupied in the oil pressing and trade in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Members may be either Hindu or Muslim; Muslim Teli are called Roshandaar or Teli Malik. India's Prime minister Narendra Modi is from Teli c ...

Kunbi Kunbi (alternatively Kanbi) (Marathi language, Marathi: ISO 15919: ''Kuṇabī'', Gujarati language, Gujarati: ISO 15919: ''Kaṇabī'') is a generic term applied to several caste system, castes of traditional farmers in Western India. These ...

etc.

Religion

According to the census of 2011,

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

is the predominant religion in Bhandara district. Its adherents form the majority of the total population, at 84.09%.

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

is the second largest religion at 12.87%. The Buddhists follow the

Navayana ''Navayāna'' (Devanagari: नवयान, IAST: ''Navayāna'', meaning "New Vehicle"), otherwise known as Navayāna Buddhism, refers to the Engaged Buddhism, socially engaged Buddhist schools, school of Buddhism founded and developed by th ...

school of Buddhism. Islam, a predominantly urban religion, is a small minority. 0.21% people didn't state their religion in the census. Other religions are stated to be 0.30% of population.

Language

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 93.19% of the population in the district spoke

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

and 4.03%

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 ...

as their first language.

is the official as well as the most spoken language in the district. Bhandara city has many people from other Indian states as well as people belonging to the world's major faiths.

Politics

There are three

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Members of the legislative assembly are often directly elected to serve fiv ...

constituencies in this district:

, Bhandara (SC) and Sakoli. All of these are part of the Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha constituency.

Economy

Bhandara has a mixed economy including agriculture, manufacturing and forest resources. With several ancient temples and historical monuments, along with lakes, parks and sanctuaries, Bhandara attracts many tourists. In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj () is a branch of the Government of India. The Ministry is in charge of the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The Ministry is headed by a minister of cabinet rank / Min ...

named Bhandara 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 The Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) is an Indian government program designed to "address regional imbalances in development." The programme was launched by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Barpeta, Assam on 19 February 2007. The BRGF ...

(BRGF).

Geographical indication

Bhandara Chinoor Rice was awarded the

Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...

(GI) status tag from the Geographical Indications Registry under the

Union Government of India The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territo ...

on 01/07/2023 (valid until 30/04/2030). Bhandara Chinoor Dhan Utpadak Sangh from Pauni, proposed the GI registration of Bhandara Chinoor rice. After filing the application in May 2020, the rice was granted the GI tag in 2023 by the Geographical Indication Registry in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, making the name "Bhandara Chinoor Rice" exclusive to the rice grown in the region. It thus became the third rice variety from Maharashtra and the 35th type of goods from Maharashtra to earn the GI tag. The GI tag protects the rice from illegal selling and marketing, and gives it legal protection and a unique identity.

References

External links

Bhandara district website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhandara District Districts of Maharashtra Nagpur division Vidarbha