Ahmednagar

This article is about the City in Maharashtra. For the District in India, see Ahmednagar District. For tehsil in Ahmednagar district, see Nagar tehsil.
Ahmednagar
अहमदनगर
city

Tomb of Salabat Khan
Ahmednagar
Coordinates: 19°05′N 74°44′E / 19.08°N 74.73°E / 19.08; 74.73Coordinates: 19°05′N 74°44′E / 19.08°N 74.73°E / 19.08; 74.73
Country  India
State Maharashtra
District Ahmednagar
Founded by Ahmad Nizam Shah I
Government
  Type Mayor–Council
  Mayor Abhishekh Kalamkar[1] (R. Congress)
  Municipal Commissioner Vijay Kulkarni
Area
  Total 39.30 km2 (15.17 sq mi)
Elevation 649 m (2,129 ft)
Population (2011)[2]
  Total 350,905
  Rank 124th
  Density 8,900/km2 (23,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Nagarkar / Nagari (Marathi)
Languages
  Official Marathi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 414001
Telephone codethe 0241
Vehicle registration MH 16,17
Website ahmednagar.gov.in

Ahmednagar  pronunciation  is a city in Ahmednagar District in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 on the site of a battlefield where he won a battle against superior Bahamani forces.[3] It was close to the site of the village of Bhingar.[3] With the breakup of the Bahmani Sultanate, Ahmad established a new sultanate in Ahmednagar, also known as Nizam Shahi dynasty.[4]

Ahmednagar has several dozen buildings and sites from the Nizam Shahi period.[5] Ahmednagar Fort, once considered almost impregnable, was used by the British to house Jawaharlal Nehru (the first prime minister of India) and other Indian Nationalists before Indian independence. A few rooms there have been converted to a museum. During his confinement by the British at Ahmednagar Fort in 1944, Nehru wrote the famous book The Discovery of India.[6] Ahmednagar is home to the Indian Armoured Corps Centre & School (ACC&S), the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre (MIRC), the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) and the Controllerate of Quality Assurance Vehicles (CQAV). Training and recruitment for the Indian Army Armoured Corps takes place at the ACC&S.[7]

Ahmednagar is a relatively small town and shows less development than the nearby western Maharashtra cities of Mumbai and Pune. Ahmednagar is home to 19 sugar factories and is also the birthplace of the cooperative movement. Due to scarce rainfall, Ahmednagar often suffers from drought. Marathi is the primary language for daily-life communication. Hindi is also widely understood and spoken, though of the Dakhani dialect, with a lot of grammar and loan words from Marathi. Ahmednagar has recently published a plan of developing the city by year 2031.[8]

History

Main article: History of Ahmednagar

The town Ahmednagar was founded in 1490 by Ahmad Nizam Shah I on the site of a more ancient city, Bhingar. With the breakup of the Bahmani Sultanate, Ahmad established a new sultanate in Ahmednagar, also known as Nizam Shahi dynasty.

It was one of the Deccan sultanates, which lasted until its conquest by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1636. Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor, who spent the latter years of his reign, 1681–1707, in the Deccan, died in Ahmednagar and his burial at (khultabad) near Aurangabad in 1707, and a small monument marks the site.

Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar was born on 31 May 1725 in Chondi village of Jamkhed taluka in Ahmednagar district.

In 1759, the Peshwa of the Marathas obtained possession of the place from Nizam of Hyderabad and in 1795 it was ceded by the Peshwa to the Maratha chief Daulat Rao Sindhia. Ahmednagar was invaded by a British force under General Wellesley and captured. It was afterwards restored to the Marathas, but again came into the possession of the British in 1817, according to the terms of the Treaty of Poona.

Military base

Ahmednagar is home to the Indian Armoured Corps Centre & School (ACC&S), the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre (MIRC), the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) and the Controllerate of Quality Assurance Vehicles (CQAV). Training and recruitment for the Indian Army Armoured Corps takes place at the ACC&S. Formerly, the city was the Indian base of the British Army's Royal Tank Corps / Indian Armoured Corps, amongst other units. The town houses the second-largest display of military tanks in the world and largest in Asia.[9]

Climate

Situated in the rain-shadow region of the Western Ghats, Ahmednagar experiences primarily hot and dry climate through November to mid June.

Climate data for Ahmednagar
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 29
(84)
32
(90)
36
(97)
38
(100)
38
(100)
33
(91)
29
(84)
28
(82)
29
(84)
32
(90)
30
(86)
28
(82)
31.8
(89.2)
Average low °C (°F) 10
(50)
12
(54)
16
(61)
21
(70)
23
(73)
23
(73)
22
(72)
22
(72)
20
(68)
18
(64)
14
(57)
10
(50)
17.6
(63.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 5
(0.2)
3
(0.12)
5
(0.2)
10
(0.39)
23
(0.91)
132
(5.2)
97
(3.82)
69
(2.72)
165
(6.5)
56
(2.2)
28
(1.1)
8
(0.31)
601
(23.67)
Source: Ahmednagar Weather

Demographics

As of 2011 Indian census,[10] Ahmednagar had a population of 347,549. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Ahmednagar has an average literacy rate of 84%, higher than the national urban average of 79.9%.[11] 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Notable people

Places of interest

Salabat Khan's tomb

Transport

Air

Ahmednagar city have air connectivity by Seaplane service. The port for Seaplane is located at Mula Dam water reservoir, 30 min away from Ahmednagar City. The service offered by Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd. (MEHAIR) from 22 September 2014. On going Flight is available from Juhu, Mumbai to Mula Dam. The service will now enable the large number of pilgrims traveling to the holy sites of Meherabad, Shirdi and Shani Shingnapur to travel quickly and conveniently to their destinations.

Rail

Ahmednagar railway station (station code:ANG) is an important station which belongs to Solapur Division of Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Ahmednagar has rail connectivity with Pune, Manmad, Shirdi, Daund, Goa, Nasik.and metros New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad There is still a demand for direct rail connectivity to other major cities of India. Total 41 Express Trains Stops at this Station.

Road

Ahmednagar is well connected by roads with various major cities of Maharashtra and other states. National Highway 222 from Kalyan to Nirmal near Adilabad in Telangana passes through the city. Ahmednagar has 4 lane road connectivity to Aurangabad, Pune, Nashik, Beed, Solapur, Osmanabad. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and different private transport operators provides bus service connecting the city to all parts of the state.

Local transport

Ahmednagar Municipal corporation operates an intra-city bus service called AMT Bus Service. which connects different suburbs of the city altogether along with connecting the city to its nearby places beyond municipal limits. Auto Rickshaws (3 wheeler) is also available for personal transport in the city.

Politics

Ahmednagar Municipal Council was upgraded to Municipal Corporation status in 2003. As of November 2013, Sangram Jagtap was the incumbent mayor. Ahmednagar city is represented in the central and state legislatures by the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha and Ahmednagar City Vidhan Sabha seats respectively. The Sitting MP is Dilipkumar Gandhi, while Sangram Jagtap is Ahmednagar MLA.

Media and communication

References

  1. "Sangram Jagtap elected mayor". IBNLive. 18 June 2011.
  2. "Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). censusindia. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 The Kingdom of Ahmadnagar. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. 1966. p. 38. ISBN 978-81-208-2651-9.
  4. Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  5. Sohoni, Pushkar (2015). Aurangabad with Daulatabad, Khuldabad, and Ahmadnagar. London; Mumbai: Deccan Heritage Foundation; Jaico. ISBN 9788184957020.
  6. Moraes, Frank (1 January 2007). Jawaharlal Nehru. Jaico Publishing House. p. 319. ISBN 978-81-7992-695-6.
  7. Sainik Samachar: The Pictorial Weekly of the Armed Forces. 1988. p. 14.
  8. Nagarick (6 June 2007). "Ahmednagar by year 2031". Nagarick.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  9. "The History of Ahmednagar". Ahmednagar.nic.in. 15 August 1947. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  10. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  11. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, "2001 Literacy Rates", Census of India 2001 (Ministry of Home Affairs, India)
  12. Ahmednagar City at ahmednagar.nic.in
  13. Rajendra Rajan Fort that held Nehru The Tribune, 12 July 2009
  14. Tank Museum at ahmednagar.nic.in
  15. Maharashtra Forest Department Official website
  16. Maharashtra Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri Official website

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ahmednagar.

Ahmednagar travel guide from Wikivoyage

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