Yavatmal

Yavatmal Yavatmal
city
Population  (2001)
• Total	122,906

Yavatmal (यवतमाळ) is a city and a municipal council in Yavatmal district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The name derives from Yavat, meaning mountain and mal, meaning row.

Geography

Yavatmal is located at 20.4°N 78.13°E / 20.4; 78.13. It has an average elevation of 445 metres (1459 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, the district of Yavatmal had a population of 24,60,482. Males constitute 51% (12,67,117) of the population and females 49%(11,93,365). Yavatmal has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 74%. In Yavatmal, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age. Density of population is 181 persons per square kilometre. Total rural population is 20,01,034 and urban population is 4,59,448. Percent age of population belonging to Schedule Casts is 10.92 % and for Scheduled Tribes it is 21.46. Sex ratio is 942 females for 1000 males. 34 % of the population is below poverty line.

Economics

Cotton-ginning and pressing are carried on. The town is also the chief trading centre in the district, and is connected by road with Dhamangaon station, which is 29 miles from this town. It is also known as cotton city. During the time of British rule, it was considered to be a hill station.

A narrow gauge railway called the Shakuntala Express has passed through since the British era, now running on diesel rather than the original coal.

Major business establishment in Yavatmal includes the Raymonds factory which produces the Jeans Fiber. Its is 100% export unit from Raymonds, which is a famous cloths brand.

Other local businesses in town are dominated by presence of agricultural supply facilities which are very useful for the nearby farmer community.

New generation is being modern slowly and there are number of computer learning centres, educational institutes.

Yavatmal District has major industrial areas at places like- MIDC Lohara, Darwha, Digras, Pusad, Umerkhed, Wani, Umari, Pandharkawada, Ralegaon and Babhulgaon, Ner and Wani-Maregaon

Main Market places in the Yavatmal district are: Yavatmal City, Wani, Darwha, Digras, Pusad, Umerkhed, Pandharkawada.

Main Banking places are: Yavatmal, Pusad, Digras, Ghatanji and Pandharkawada, Wani.

Education

There are government medical and engineering colleges and other educational institutes like- Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College, Jawaharlal Darda Engineering and Technical Institute, ITI Institute, Amolakchand Mahavidyalaya, Daate College (Kala and Wanijya Mahavidyalaya), Pharmacy College in Pusad and Yavatmal. Colleges for Physical Education (BPEd). Ayuvervedic College in Yavatmal and Homeopathic college in Pusad. Yavatmal has number of educational facilities which include Engineering, Medical, physical education institutes. Agricultural and Vetarnary Colleges in Yavatmal and Pusad. Due to professional colleges and educational institutions based in Yavatmal, it is not hard to find student population in Yavatmal from all over the country. Some Famous Schools are: Swamy Vivekanand Vidyalaya, Rani Laxmi Bai Vidyalaya, Loknayak Bapuji Ane Vidyalaya, Anglo Hindi High School, Nathar School, Lions Club School, Bapuji Ane, Abhyankar Kanya Shala in Yavatmal, Rashtriy and Bahinabai schools in Digras. There is also one Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya School- the only (Central Government School) middle and high school in Yavatmal District to be affiliated to CBSE Board. Some of these schools (such as Vivekananda Vidyalaya) are well known because their students have appeared in merit lists at Secondary School Certificate (10th grade) examinations conducted by Maharashtra Board for education.

History

Yavatmal City was main town of Berar. Yavatmal was earlier also spelled as YEOTMAL or YEVTMAL. Region of Yavatmal (now District of Yavatmal) was part of the dominion of Allauddin Bahamani Shah-The founder of Bahamandy dynasty since 1347. In 1572 ruler of Ahmadnagar (Now another district of Maharashtra state of India which is also referred as "Sambhaji Nagar" or simply "Nagar")annexed the Yavatmal District. In 1596, Chand Bibi the queen of Ahmadnagar, ceded the district of Yavatmal to Moughals (One of the ruler of India) . After the death of Aurangzeb the moughal king in 1707, Yavatmal was paased on to the Great Marathas. When Raghuji Bhosle became the ruler of Nagpur in 1783, he included the Yavatmal district in his kingdom. After British East India Company took over Berar in 1853, by 1863, Yavatmal became part of East Berar District and later of South East Berar district which were districts of Central Provinces. Quite late before the 1947, Yavatmal was part of Madhya Pradesh but in 1956 after the reorganization of states in India District of Yavatmal was transfered to Bombay state. When the state of Maharashtra came into existence in 1960 (1st of May), Yavatmal District became part of part of Maharashtra. This District has given two chief minister to Maharashtra State (Shri Vasantrao Naik and Shri Sudhakarrao Naik) and many more great politicians & great Personalities like Loknayak Bapuji Ane the great Freedom fighter & Babaji Daate the gret social worker in Yavatmal. Post-independence, this district of Yavatmal has consistently favored Congress Party (Indira) in its political leanings. So the state government representatives (known in India as Member of Legislative assembly or MLA) and central government representatives (known in India as Member of Parliament or MP) elected by people in Yavatmal have been largely from Congress party (Indira). In the 90's, the trend has reversed, though; with the election of members of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)to the prominent positions of MP and MLAs.

Language and Culture

The principal language of Yavatmal district is Marathi. But as the district has various Scheduled and Nomadic Tribes there are various languages spoken in Yavatmal. Those languages are: GORMATI or BANJARI, GONDI (One of the India's most ancient languages), Hindi, Sindhi, Marwari.

The district has various cultures well in place. It has India's most ancient tribal communities- GOND RAJA, GOND PARDHAN, KOLAM, AANDH, BANJARA etc. But District is Dominated by Hindu Culture and religion. District experiences various Hindu fairs like 1. Maroti and Gajanan Maharaj Fair in Ghatanji 2. Shri Chintamani Fiar at Kalamb 3. Shri Dutt Jayanti Fair at Mahur 4. The Jambhora and Mahashiv Ratri in Wani, Pusan and Mahagaon. 5. Shri Rangnaath Swamy in Wani 6. Amba Devi in Kelapur.

Along with Hindu's, it has Muslim Culture rooted in not only in urban area but also in rural area. District also experiences fairs like Ghanti Baba ka Uroos in Digras and Uroos in Aarni.

District also celebrates festivals like Dipawali, Dasara, Bakari-Eid, Ramzaan Eid, Gudhi Padhava and almost all Hindu-Muslim Festivals. District also has Buddhist community. But Yavatmal city does experices it's annual and secular fair which is held at AZAD MAIDAN and is also popular as MEENA BAZAAR.

Agriculture and Other Industries

Yavatmal is also considered as tribal district of Maharashtra. It is the land of farmers. Major crops are- COTTON (Kapoos), Toor (Yellow beans), Wheat (Gahu), Sugarcane (Oos), Groundnut (Bhooimung), Chillies (Mirchi). Even though district has many major rivers like- Painganga, Wardha, Arna, Pus, Kuhu, Waghari, Benbala Yavatmal's agricultural condition always suffer because of unavailability of water in most of part of the district. Even Yavatmal Main City itself has a problem with drinking water. Agriculture many times gets impacted by either Droughts or Floods or heavy rains. Nowadays the situation is so bad that Yavatmal district tops the list of districts in India with number of farmer suicides. The prime minister has personally visited the place to get the feel of the situation.

Apart from Agriculture, there are small scale Industries like- Ginning and pressin, handmade paper, weaving, oil mills, textile mills (Raymond Factory in Yavatmal), Nylon ropes etc.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of agriculture of Government of India. http://dacnet.nic.in/cipmcnagpur/YAVATMAL.htm