Marathwada

Map of the Marathwada region in Maharashtra

The name Marathwada (Marathi: मराठवाडा) identifies one of the five regions in Maharashtra state of India. The region coincides with the Aurangabad Division.

Historical highlights

The term “Marathwada” has its origin in the word “Mara-hatti-vada (Mar-hat-vada)”, meaning a region of Maratha community.

Mughal king Muhammad Shah appointed a Turani noble Asaf Jah I as the wazir of Mughal Empire in 1722, but in 1724 he left for the Deccan to start his own kingdom and took the title Nizam-ul-Mulk.. Marathwada become a part of Nizam’s domain, which later came to be known as the princely state of Hyderabad outside but under the suzerainty of British India. (“Nizam” became the title of the ruling descendants of Nizam-ul-Mulk.)

On August 15, 1947, British India was partitioned into two independent states, the Union of India and Pakistan, and the Nizam ruling Hyderabad State at that time chose not to merge Hyderabad state into either country. Subsequently, through Operation Polo, a “police action” on September 17, 1948, the Indian army annexed Hyderabad to India.

On November 1, 1956, Marathwada was transferred from Hyderabad state to Bombay state. On May 1, 1960, Bombay state was divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat states, Marathwada becoming a part of the former. Aurangabad is the headquarter of Marathwada it derived its name from Aurangzeb who ruled it for a brief period

Districts

Eight districts are in this region. They are Aurangabad, Nanded, Latur, Jalna, Beed, Parbhani, Osmanabad, and Hingoli.

Major cities

Aurangabad, Nanded, Latur, Parbhani, Jalna.

Other cities

Beed, Osmanabad, Hingoli,Udgir,Parli, Ambejogai, Vasmat, Degloor , Dharmabad

Cultural heritage

Marathwada is home to important Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain monuments. They include Ajanta; Ellora; Shaktipeeth like Mahur, Tuljapur and Ambejogai; and Jyotirlinga like Grishneshwar (Verul), Nagnath (Aundha), and Vaijanath (Parali).

Dnyaneshwar and his siblings Niwruttinath, Sopandev, and Muktabai hailed from Apegaon in Aurangabad District. Eknath hailed from Paithan in the same district. Samarth Ramdas hailed from Jamb in Jalna District, while Namdev hailed from Narsi in Hingoli District.

Siraj Aurangabadi, a great poet of early Urdu literature, and Wali Dakhni, who is often called as the Father of modern Urdu poetry, lived in the city of Aurangabad. Azad Bilgrami, one of the most significant scholar of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu languages in eighteenth century India was a resident of Aurangabad city. The town of Khuldabad contains the shrines of the most famous and earliest sufi saints of the Dakhan.

The “samadhi” of the tenth guru of Sikhs, Gobind Singh, is located at Sachkhand in Nanded.

Economic situation

Historically, Marathwada lagged the rest of Maharashtra in economic prosperity. Human Development Index (HDI) using the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) methodology highlighted that situation in 2000.

There has, however, been accelerated industrial growth in Marathwada in the past few years. Skoda and Audi have manufacturing plants at Aurangabad. Hindalco, Parle, Siemens, and Radico have started their major projects in Marathwada. Videocon manufactures TVs, air conditioning units, refrigerators, and washing machines, while Sterlite manufactures fibre optic cables in this region.

References

• Human Development Report 2002 - Maharashtra (India)
• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University
• History of Modern India, Bipin Chandra, Orient Blackswan, 2009