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Vidarbha
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Vidarbha (Marathi: ??????) is the eastern region of Maharashtra state made up of Nagpur Division and Amravati Division. It occupies 31.6% of total area and holds 21.3% of total population of Maharashtra. It borders the state of Madhya Pradesh to north, Chattisgarh to east, Andra Pradesh to south and Marathwada and Khandesh regions of Maharashtra to west. Situated in central India Vidarbha has its own rich cultural and historical background distinct from rest of Maharashtra.
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Encyclopedia
Vidarbha (Marathi: ??????) is the eastern region of Maharashtra state made up of Nagpur Division and Amravati Division. It occupies 31.6% of total area and holds 21.3% of total population of Maharashtra. It borders the state of Madhya Pradesh to north, Chattisgarh to east, Andra Pradesh to south and Marathwada and Khandesh regions of Maharashtra to west. Situated in central India Vidarbha has its own rich cultural and historical background distinct from rest of Maharashtra. The region is famous for growing oranges and cotton. Vidarbha holds two-thirds of Maharashtra’s mineral resources, three fourth of the forest resources and is
surplus in power. Throughout its history Vidarbha has remained much calm during the communal troubles than rest of India but it is plagued very much by poverty and malnutrition . It is less economically prosperous compared to the rest of Maharashtra.
The largest city in Vidarbha is Nagpur, second largest is Amravati. A majority of Vidarbhians speak Marathi language. In recent times there have been calls for separate state of Vidarbha.
History
Nagpur was the capital of the Bhonsle dynasty of Marathas who in the mid eighteenth century created an independent Hindu princely state that covered much of east-central India. After their defeat in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, the Bhonsle dominions were reduced to the Nagpur division. In 1853 the last Maharaja of Nagpur died without a male heir and subsequently Nagpur division was incorporated into mainstream British India. Nagpur division became a part of the British Raj's Central Provinces in 1861.
Amravati division, formerly known as Berar, was administered by the Nizam of Hyderabad until 1853. In that year, citing misgovernance by the Nizam, the British colonial administration took direct control over the province. Berar was added to the Central Provinces in 1903.
During India's independence struggle Nagpur hosted the sessions of Indian National Congress several times. Sevagram was the capital of nationalistic India during the Gandhian era.
After India's independence in 1947, Central Provinces and Berar became the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In 1956 Vidarbha was transferred to Bombay state to unify all Marathi-speaking areas. In 1960 Bombay state was split along linguistic lines into the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Marathi-speaking Vidarbha became part of the state of Maharashtra.
Geography
Geographically Vidarbha lies on the northern part of Deccan Plateau. There are no major hilly areas like western ghats. The Satpura Range lies to the north of Vidarbha region in Madhya Pradesh. The Melghat area of Amravati district is on southern offshoot of Satpura ranges. Large basaltic rock formations exists throughout Vidarbha caused by Deccan trap lava. Gondia district is unique in Maharashtra in sense that the entire area of the district is occupied by metamorphic rock and alluvium.. Buldhana has Lonar crater created by impact of meteorite or comet. Eastern districts of Gondia, Bhandara, Gadchirolli and Nagpur fall in earthquake zone1, which is considered safest in India, while other districts fall in zone 2.
Wainganga is the largest of all the Vidarbha rivers. Other major rivers that drain Vidarbha region are the Wardha, and Kanhan rivers which are all tributaries of Godavari river. In north, five small rivers Khandu, Khapra, Sipna, Gadga and Dolar along with Purna, are the tributaries of Tapti river.
Administration & Politics
Vidarbha comprises two divisions (Amravati and Nagpur). It has 11 districts of Maharashtra namely, Amravati, Akola, Bhandara, Buldana, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Nagpur, Wardha, Washim, Yavatmal.
District Administration
Each district has a collector's office which is responsible for day-to-day administration. The District Collector is a Central Indian Government appointee who is in charge of the governance of a district in a state. Nagpur city which is largest city in Vidarbha has special civic body called as Nagpur Improvement Trust which along with Nagpur Municipal Corporation is responsible for overall development and planning activity. Other significant cities like Amravati and Akola too have their own municipal corporation. The corporators in these civic bodies are elected via elections. Urban area is split in different wards and each ward elects a representative. Rural area has panchayat raj system.
Vidarbha is represented at national level by 11 Lok sabha seats. Nagpur district which has higher population density is split into 2 lok sabha seats of Nagpur and Ramtek while the districts with lesser population density like Chandrapur and Gadchiroli are clubbed together. The Buldhana seat is reserved for Scheduled caste candidates only while others are open to all for contesting.
Vidarbha is represented at state level by 67 assembly seats. Nagpur has the most dense concentration of assembly seats with city divided in nearly 5 areas. Certain amounts of seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates only while others are open to all for contesting.
As part of the Nagpur pact the winter session of Maharashtra assembly is held as Nagpur Vidhan Bhavan.
Demographics
| District | Male | Female | Total |
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| Akola | 841,253 | 788,986 | 1,630,239 |
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| Amravati | 1,345,614 | 1,261,546 | 2,607,160 |
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| Bhandara | 573,445 | 562,701 | 1,136,146 |
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| Buldana | 1,147,403 | 1,085,077 | 2,232,480 |
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| Chandrapur | 1,062,993 | 1,008,108 | 2,071,101 |
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| Gadchiroli | 491,101 | 479,193 | 970,294 |
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| Gondiya | 598,834 | 601,873 | 1,200,707 |
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| Nagpur | 2,105,314 | 1,962,323 | 4,067,637 |
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| Wardha | 638,990 | 597,746 | 1,236,736 |
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| Washim | 526,094 | 494,122 | 1,020,216 |
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| Yavatmal | 1,265,681 | 1,192,590 | 2,458,271 |
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Vidarbha has total population of 2,06,30,987 according to 2001 census done by government of India. Hinduism is the predominant religion in this region. Buddhism is second most followed religion. This is unusual from rest of Maharashtra and even most of north Indian states where usually Islam is second most followed religion. Large concentration of Buddhism is due to Dalit Buddhist movement started by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
| Religious composition | Population | % |
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| Hindus | 15,866,514 | 76.906% | | Buddhists | 2,697,544 | 13.075% | | Muslims | 1,720,690 | 8.340% | | Christians | 70,663 | 0.343% | | Sikhs | 37,241 | 0.181% | | Jains | 89,649 | 0.435% | | Others | 127,516 | 0.618% | | Religion not stated | 21,170 | 0.103% | | All Religions | 20,630,987 | 100.000% |
Statehood Movement
In recent years there have been sporadic calls by the inhabitants for Vidarbha to secede from Maharashtra. This is based in part on the feeling of being neglected by the Maharashtra state government and in part on assertion of a distinct cultural identity. The people have complained that the region has fallen behind others in Maharashtra in attracting investment and development funds. The region is comparatively poorly served by roads, irrigation facilities and educational institutions. However political movements for attaining statehood have lost steam as the leaders were seen to be opportunistic. Vidarbha Rajya Party and Vidarbha Rajya Nirman Congress are very small political parties created by leaders that have split from national level parties like INC and BJP.
Economy
Vidarbha's economy is primarily agricultural and also the region is rich in forest and mineral wealth.
Agriculture
The main cash crops of the region are cotton, oranges and soyabean. Amravati is the largest Orange growing district. Traditional crops are sorghum(jowar), pearl millet (bajra) and rice. However, recently Vidarbha region has got infamous for large number of farmer suicides occurring.
On 1 July 2006 the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh announced a Rs. 3,750-crore (Rupees 37.5 billion) . The package should help farmers in six districts of the region. However package was not welcomed by most financial pundits and journalist P Sainath wrote the following in the Hindu criticising the package and saying that it was destined to fail.
Mineral wealth
The Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara and Nagpur Districts form the main mineral belt, with coal and manganese as the major minerals. Chandrapur district alone contributes to 29% of all mineral wealth found in Maharashtra Iron ore and limestone are identified as potential wealth..
Industry
Traditionally Vidarbha has lagged behind western Maharashtra in industrial growth. Various incentives were granted to attract industries but have failed. Butibori Industrial Area(MIDC) outside Nagpur is one of the largest industrial area in country but few industries have actually opened there. MIHAN is International Cargo Hub project currently underway at Nagpur. The project aims to exploit the central location of Nagpur and convert the present airport into a major freight hub with integrated road and rail connectivity along with a Special Economic Zone. Ballarpur Paper Industry, India's largest manufacturer and exporter of paper is located in Chandrapur district.
Tourism
Vidarbha has lush green deciduous forests which are home to a variety of flora and fauna. These attract a large number of visitors each year. All Maharashtra's tiger reserves are located in Vidarbha. They are Melghat Tiger Reserve in Amravati district, Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur district and Pench Tiger Reserve in Nagpur district. Although the western region of the Vidarbha is poor in natural resources in comparison with the eastern region, Maharashtra's oldest National Park created in 1955, the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is in the east. It is also one of India's 25 Project Tiger Reserves.
The National Park is 623 km˛ in area, consisting of two forested rectangles of the Tadoba and Andhari range. Aside from around 50 tigers, Tadoba Tiger Reserve is home to rare Indian wildlife like leopards, sloth bears, gaur, wild dogs, hyenas, civet and jungle cats, and many species of Indian deer like sambar, cheetal, nilgai, and barking deer. The Tadoba lake sustains the Marsh Crocodile, which were once common all over Maharashtra. Tadoba is also an ornithologist's paradise with a varied diversity of aquatic birdlife, and Raptors.
Thickly clad hills form the northern and western boundary of the Tiger Reserve. To the southwest is a huge lake which acts as a buffer between the park's forest and the extensive farmland which extends up to Irai Lake.
Adjacent to the core forested hills is the Chichghat valley which hosts the forest lodge www.tigertrails.in The Tadoba Tiger Reserve is an undisturbed forest not visited by many tourists. Tadoba Tiger Reserve is open throughout the year and is at three-hour road journey from the city of Nagpur.
Scriptural Importance
More than cultural distinctness from the rest of Maharashtra, Vidarbha has evolved historically in a different fashion. Mention of Vidarbha in many Scriputres also indicates this:
- The marriage of Agastya and Lopamudra.
- Rukmini-haran by lord Krishna
- Kundinpur/Kaundinyapur/Kundinapuri, the mythological capital of Vidarbha has been mentioned in Mahabharata
- The story of king Nala and Damayanti, also in the Mahabharata.
Ramayana has the reference of Vidarbha as one on the Janapadas at that time.
Kalidasa's epic poem "Meghaduta" also mentions Vidarbha as the place of banishment of the Yaksha Gandharva.
Culture & People
Situated in central India, Vidarbha has its own rich cultural and historical background distinct from rest of Maharashtra. Even though Marathi culture is most dominant, Vidarbha has been a melting pot of Andhra speaking people from south, Hindi speaking central India and tribal people of Chattisgarh. Vidarbha is famous for the Varhadi dialect of Marathi language spoken in rest of Maharashtra. The Gadchiroli district of Vidarbha has large population of tribal people. Hindu festivals like holi, diwali and Dasara are celebrated throughout the region. . There are many prominent cultural and literary societies working in Vidarbha.
Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh(for development of Marathi), Vidarbha Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti (promotion and spreading Hindi) and Vidarbha Hindi Sahitya Sammelan (for promoting Hindi). The Nagpur central museum (estb 1863) maintains collections are mainly for Vidarbha region. Cricket is the favorite sports as in rest of India and Nagpur's Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground (VCA) hosts international cricket matches.
Vidarbha has been home to some of India's famous people like Jamnalal Bajaj, Vinoba Bhave, Baba Amte, Ram Ganesh Gadkari, Pratibha Patil, S. K. Wankhede, K. B. Hedgewar, Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, C. K. Nayudu and many more. Many other notable people like Vikram Pandit and Subramaniam Ramadorai were born in Nagpur.
See also
External links
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