Marathwada

Map of the districts comprising the Aurangabad Division of Maharashtra.

Marathwada (Marathi: मराठवाडा) is a region of India's Maharashtra state, which corresponds to Maharashtra's Aurangabad Division.

Overview

The term Marathwada is derived from the word Bara-hatti-vada (Bar-hat-vada) meaning country of Dhangars.

Marathwada was part of the former Hyderabad state of India until November 1, 1956, when it was transferred to Bombay state, which in 1960 was divided into Maharastra and Gujarat.India became Independent on 15th August,1947 but Marathwada joined independent India on 17th September 1948.On this day,the Indian Army liberated the Hyderabad state from Nizam's rule in an military operation referred as Operation Polo, also popularly known as Police Action. The Nizam had refused to become a part of Independent India and was torturing Hindu community through muslim extremists known as 'Razakars'.17th September is celebrated as Marathwada Mukti Din.

Marathwada is home to significant Hindu, Buddhist, Jain,Sikh and Muslim monuments Like Ajanta, Ellora, Shaktipeeths like Mahur and Ambajogai and Jyotirligas like Ghrishneshwar (Verul), Nagnath(aundha) and Vaijanath (Parli);The Samadhi of Guru Govind Singh the Tenth Guru of Sikh community at Sachkhand Nanded. and is called the land of saints like Dnyaneshwar (Apegaon Tq Paithan Dist Aurangabad), Nivruttinath ( Apegaon Tq Paithan Dist Aurangabad), Sopandev (Apegaon Tq Paithan Dist Aurangabad), Muktabai (Apegaon Tq Paithan Dist Aurangabad), Eknath (Paithan Dist Aurangabad), Samarth Ramdas (Jamb Samarth Dist Jalna) , Namdev ( Narsi Dist Beed).

Despite recent industrial developments, the region remains the most backward region of Maharashtra. Human Development Index (HDI) using the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) methodology for the year 2000 highlights the backwardness of the districts of Marathwada. None of the Marathwada districts are in the list of above-the-State’s average attainment. In recent developments the industrial growth is much faster like The SKODA cars, AUDI cars are being manufactured at Aurangabad, the most prominent city in Marathwada, also Hindalco, Parly, Siemense, Radico,etc big companies have started their major projects.Vidiocon and sterlie are already in production of TVs, AC Units, Refrigerators, Washing Machines, etc by Vidiocon and Fibre optic cables from sterlite. all these produts are being exported all over the world.

Aurangabad Division

The boundaries of Maharashtra's Aurangabad division correspond to the Marathwada region. The capital of Aurangabad Division is the city of Aurangabad, located in Marathwada's northwest.

• Area: 64,811 km²
• Population (2001 census): 15,589,223
• Districts: Parbhani, Aurangabad, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, & Osmanabad
• Literacy: 88.95%
• Area under irrigation: 9,610.84 km²also live in hingoli didt

References

• Water History of an Arid Region - Marathwada (India)
• Human Development Report 2002 - Maharashtra (India)

External Links

• Marathwada region Website