Regions In Maharashtra
The state of Maharashtra has around 35 districts, all combined, being then divided into subdivisions. If considered from the geographical point of view, Maharashtra has been divided into five regions, which also suit well to political flavor and historical significance.
- Vidarbha - (Nagpur and Amravati divisions) - (Old Berar Region)
- Marathwada - (Aurangabad Division)
- Khandesh and Northern Maharashtra Region - (Nashik Division)
- Desh - (Pune Division)
- Konkan - (Konkan Division)
Vidarbha
Maharashtra has on its eastern part, the region which is known as Vidarbha and comprises of divisions of Amravati and Nagpur. Previously, this was known as Berar and composed 31.6% of area in the state and shares 21.3% of population. The borders of this region are having Madhya Pradesh towards its north, Chhattisgarh in the eastern side, south is covered by Andhra Pradesh, while the west is having Khandesh and Marathwada regions of the state. Vidarbha is somewhat located towards central India, with its share of rich history and cultural background, bit different from other areas of Maharashtra. In Vidarbha, Nagpur is the biggest city, Amravati being the second biggest, while the city of Akola ranks third and thereafter are the cities of Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Wardha, Bhandara and the city of Gondia. Much of the vernacular dialect is Vahardi and Marathi, the former being one of the dialects in Marathi.
There are 10 seats from region of Vidarbha for Lok sabha representation. The district of Nagpur, which is having the densest population, has 2 seats as the constituency has been divided into the zones of Ramtek and Nagpur, while such districts as Gadchiroli and Chimur are clubbed to make one single constituency, due to the lesser population.
Marathwada
With the Marathwada being one of the five Maharashtra regions, it has the division of Aurangabad. Origin of the name of this region lies in the term Mara-hatti-vada, which is the meaning of one of the communities in Maratha. Aurangabad is the city which is also the headquarters of this region, this name having been derived from Aurangzeb, who had his rule in this region for a small period.
Plenty of monuments belonging to the communities of Sikh, Muslim, Hindus and Jains are found in Marathwada. Some of the important ones are Jyotirlingas in Nagnath, Grishneshwar and Vaijanath, Shaktipeeths such as in Ambejogai, Tuljapur and Mahur and the Ajanta and Ellora caves.
From historical times, this region was way behind in terms of economical advancements. This revelation was done in 2000, when the Human Development Index was derived using the parametric measurements by United Nations Development Programme or UNDP.
Major development has occurred since then in the Marathwada, with high pace of industrialization. Audi and Skoda car makers have started their units for manufacturing in Aurangabad. Other major projects having their presence in Marathwada are Siemens, Parle, Radico and Hindalco.
Desh
The region of Desh is having the borders with Sahyadri or Western Ghats in the west, Khandesh in the north, Marathwada in the east and southern part is covered by Karnataka state. This particular region has hilly landscape and has an eastern slope, with drainage by rivers Krishna and Godavari along with their branches.
When the context of the state of Maharashtra is taken into consideration, the Desh term has been derived from Maharashtra-Desh and this region comprises of the part of Deccan Plateau towards the west central region and the historical areas of Aurangabad or Pune and Marathwada.
Desale surname is one of the popular titles originating from this region. After passing away of Aurangzeb, when the Marathas extended their spread towards the north, some of the people from the region of Desh also shifted northwards. Due to this region, those with the surname Bhosale changed it to Desale as they left their Desh and hence, many of such surnames are found in the Khandesh region in North Maharashtra.
Khandesh
Khandesh forms a region of Maharashtra, located towards the central India, taking up a major part of northwestern region of the state. This region became the boundary to separate Maharashtra from Deccan.
Khandesh region comprises the areas of Dhule, Jalgaon and the Nandurbar districts in the state of Maharashtra.
Tapti River in this region is the remarkable natural feature. This specialty is that the Tapti starts from eastern part of Maharashtra and flows into the western side, which is quite different from other rivers of the Western Ghats, which have eastern flow into the Bay of Bengal. While passing through Khandesh, the River Tapti is joined by about 13 tributaries.
Farmers belonging to the Khandesh region are quite hardworking. Despite not having highly advanced facilities of irrigation, prior to the commissioning of the Hatnur and Girana dams, there was good produce, with the semi arid and arid region.
Konkan
Karavali or the Konkan Coast is also simply called as Konkan and is marked by the coastline in the west, with plenty of rugged regions, extending from district of Thane to that of Mangalore. Mention of this division of Konkan has been done in the Skanda Purana, which is believed to be the Parashurama Srishti. The division of Konkan is one of the subdivisions of administration in the state of Maharashtra, consisting of almost all the districts in the state, which are bound by the coastline of India.
This region comprises a major part of the western coast of the state, with two districts belonging to Mumbai, also included in this division.
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