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City Development Plan |
I. Introduction
to Nanded City
Nanded city with a jurisdiction
of about 51.76 km, is the headquarters of Nanded District in the
Marathwada Region of Maharashtra state. It is the second
largest urban center in the Marathwada region (population of
4,30,733 as per 2001 Census), after Aurangabad.
The district of Nanded lies in
the border of Maharashtra and shares boundaries with Yavatmal
District in the north, Parbhani, Latur and Osmanabad Districts
in the west, Bidar District of Karnataka in the south and
Nizamabad & Adilabad Districts of Andhra Pradesh in the east. With
population of 28,68,158 (2001 Census) is among the most backward
districts of the state of Maharashtra. It ranks 29th
in terms of literacy rate (68.5 percent) in the state of
Maharashtra and has a workforce participation rate of about 42.8
percent. About 80 percent of the workforce is engaged in
agriculture and allied activities, 4 percent in cottage and
household industries and about 5.15 percent in trade and
commerce.
Table 1:
Demographic Profile of Nanded District
|
1 |
Total
Number of Households |
523,539 |
|
2 |
Total
Population |
28,68,158 |
|
|
Male |
14.76 lakh |
|
|
|
13.91 lakh |
|
3 |
%age of Urban
Population to Total Population |
28.29 % |
|
4 |
Population density |
272 |
|
5 |
Literacy
Rate |
68.52% |
|
|
Male
Literacy |
81.14% |
|
|
Female
Literacy |
55.12 % |
Nanded city is located at 18°30'
North latitude and 77°10' East longitude at about 489 meters
above mean sea level. It is about 260 km each from Aurangabad
and Hyderabad and about 300 km from Nagpur.
Nanded is regionally linked by
road to other urban areas by Major State Highway (MSH) 6 to
Degloor in the south east towards Hyderabad, MSH 2 to Bhokar in
the north east and Latur in the south east, MSH 3 to Hadgaon in
the north, MSH 6 to Madgaon in the north west, SH 44 to Purna in
the west, and SH 223 to Kandhar & SH 224 to Osmannagar in the
south.
In terms of railway connectivity,
Nanded is part of the South-Central Railway Division of the
Indian Railway. It lies on the Mumbai-Secunderabad railway
line. It is serviced by direct rail connectivity to Mumbai,
Secunderabad and Amritsar (via Delhi).
Nanded city has an airstrip,
developed and maintained by Maharashtra Industrial Development
Corporation (MIDC) that is capable of handling only small
private aircrafts. While there is no commercial air traffic, it
is currently used for landing of private aircrafts and senior
Government dignitaries visiting Nanded. Government of
Maharashtra through MIDC is presently upgrading the existing
infrastructure to facilitate regular commercial flights between
Nanded and other important cities. The closest regular airports
are at Aurangabad and Hyderabad
The climate of the city is
generally dry except during southwest monsoon season that sets
in the first week of June and lasts about 2.5 to 3 months. The
average annual rainfall in the city is about 901 mm and
temperature range is between 46°centigrade (maximum) to
18°centigrade (minimum).
The city has fertile black cotton
soil as in the rest of the Godavari valley. The natural
topography of the city converges towards the river on either
side
Nanded city has a long history of
over 7 centuries. There has been no specific exploration to
establish the prehistoric accounts of Nanded, it finds mention
in accounts of the Vedic period in various literary sources.
As no exploration or excavation
of any site in Nanded district has yet been undertaken, it is
not possible to give an account of the prehistoric period of the
region. Accounts of the Vedic period are however available in
literary sources. It is known through these sources that when
the Aryans penetrated into Deccan, the whole region was covered
by a thick jungle, which extended southward from Central India.
As early as the Rig Veda, India’s seven divine mother-rivers,
are mentioned: the Sindhu (Indus), the Saraswati, and the
‘Five-Rivers’ of the Punjab. Later on, as the Aryans moved
farther south, the Ganges is mentioned among the great rivers.
By the time of the Puranas, the seven sacred rivers are no
longer concentrated in the northwest, but extend throughout
India: the ancient Sindhu and Saraswati, the Ganges and the
Yamuna in the north, the Narmada and the Godavari in Central
India, and the Kaveri farther south. Sometimes the seven are
called the Seven Ganges. The elevated sites on the banks of the
rivers were chosen for settlement. The Kashi Khanda tells us,
that the sage Agastya wandered the lovely banks of the Godavari
River. Agastya was the first Aryan who crossed the Vindhya and
fixed his residence on the bank of the Godavari. He was followed
by several other sages who established their hermitages in
different regions of the south. The cluster of hermitages on the
bank of the Godavari was called jana-sthana to distinguish it
from the surrounding forest country. The sages were constantly
harassed by the original inhabitants of the region who are
called Raksasas in the Ramayana.
It is said that during the
Puranic days, Pandavas traveled through Nanded district. Nandas
ruled over Nanded through generations. Nanded was also ruled by
the Satavahanas, the Chalukyas, the Kakatiyas followed by the
Yadavas who were the last of the Hindu dynasties to have ruled
over this part.
During the very first invasion by
the Mohammedan this territory subjugated to them and after a few
years it became a part of the fief of Malik Kafur, the general
of Alauddin Khilji. The Yadava rule was finally extinguished in
1318 A.D, after which the region began to be ruled by the
governors appointed by the emperors of Delhi. The district of
Nanded thus for the first time passed under Mohammedan rule.
Later on the area came under the Bahamanis. The famous prime
minister of the Bahamanis Mahmud Gavan resided at Nanded and the
Vazirabad part of the city was established by him. With the
disintegration of the Bahamani Empire, Baridsahi, Nizamsahi,
Imadsahi and Adilsahi ruled over parts of this territory until
it finally passed on to the Mughals. Many of the battles between
the Mughals and Malik Ambar were fought on this soil as is
clearly brought, out by Takamil-e-Akabar Nama. The Sahajahan
Nama mentions Nanded as the capital of the district of Telangana.
During Aurangzeb’s time Nanded was one of the sarkars of the
subha of Bidar. In 1708, Bhadur Shah, son of Aurangzeb
accompanied by Guru Govind Singh the tenth spiritual leader of
the Sikhs came to Nanded. It was Guru Gobind Singh that preached
amongst the Sikhs that there need not be any spiritual leader
for them and they should adopt the holy Granth Saheb as their
leader. A monument has been constructed at the place where he
breathed his last. A Gurudwara has also been constructed there –
Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib Gurudwara (Sachkhand
Gurudwara).
The district became the part of
the Hyderabad kingdom in 1725 when the Nizam permanently opted
for the Deccan and continued to be so till 1947.
With India getting freedom and
the consequent police action against the Hyderabad State, the
district forming part of the Marathwada region of the Hyderabad
State became part of the bilingual Bombay State and consequent
upon the creation of Maharashtra state, the district of Nanded
became part of it.
The ancient city of Nanded
developed on the north bank of the famed Godavari River revered
as the Ganga of Central India. Literary sources establish that
Godavari River had religious significance since the ancient
times and sages settled on its banks. When the Aryans moved into
Deccan, the whole region extending southward from Central India
was covered by thick jungle. The elevated sites on the bank of
the river were chosen for the settlements. It is probable that
they would have settled in cluster of hermitages on the bank of
the Godavari (the site of the present city) marking the humble
beginnings of Nanded. The modest hermitages of the sages would
have formed the landmarks around which the settlement
subsequently developed. The geographic limitation of the
Godavari forced the settlement to expand outwards moving away
from its banks. The movement paths of the inhabitants over a
period of time evolved into streets, lanes and by lanes. The
settlement grew in an organic manner in accordance with the
topography of the area.
The copper plate found at Vasim,
(known as Vatsagulma in ancient times) indicates that Nanded was
formerly known as Nandi-tat. The inscription clearly mentions
The myths associated with the name of the
city also point towards its ancient roots. It is believed that
the city derived its name from Nandi-tat, the place on the banks
of Godavari where Nandi, the Vahan of Shiva is said to have
performed penance. Some believe that Nine Rishis known as Nand
performed penance on the banks of the river and hence the name
Nandi-tat. The present name is a distortion of the original
name.
The mention
of the ancient city of Nanded is found in the Lilacaritra, a
treatise written about 700 years ago by Mhaimbhatta. It gives
the description of the idol of Narsimha in the town, which is
still present in the Historic area. This evidence establishes
that the town is at least 700 years old. However detailed
studies need to be undertaken to corroborate the above
observations and ascertain the historical growth and evolution
of the city.
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