Nanded is a city in
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...
state,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. It is the
tenth largest city in the state and the
seventy-ninth most populous city in India. It is the second largest city in Marathwada region. It is the district headquarters of
Nanded district.
The
last Sikh Guru,
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Sin ...
spent his last days in Nanded and passed his guruship to the sacred text
Guru Granth Sahib before his death here in 1708.
Location
Nanded is located on the banks of river
Godavari
The Godavari ( IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakesh ...
in west-central India. Nanded district borders
Latur district,
Parbhani district and
Hingoli district to the west and
Yavatmal district to the north. The district is bordered by the
Nizamabad,
Kamareddy,
Nirmal
Nirmal is a town and the district headquarters of Nirmal district in the Indian state of Telangana. It is famed for its toys made out of wood.
The district headquarters is located in the town of Nirmal. It borders the Telangana districts of A ...
and
Adilabad districts of Telangana state to the east and
Bidar district
Bidar district is the northernmost part of the Karnataka state in India. The administrative headquarters of district is Bidar city. Geographically, it resembles the "Crown of the State", occupying its northeastern end. It is bounded by Kamare ...
of Karnataka state to the south.
Nanded has two parts: Old Nanded occupies the north bank of the
Godavari
The Godavari ( IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakesh ...
river; New Nanded, to the south of the river, encompasses Waghala and neighbourhoods.
Etymology
From a
copper plate inscription found at
Washim
Washim (Vatsagulma) is a city and a Municipal Council in Washim district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Washim is the district headquarters of Washim district.
Etymology
Washim was known earlier as Vatsagulma and it was the seat of po ...
, a town approximately north of Nanded, archaeologists deduce the city was formerly known as ( mr, नंदितट). Another name was . Folklore suggests that the name "Nanded" developed from the
Vahana
''Vahana'' ( sa, वाहन, or animal vehicle, literally "that which carries, that which pulls") denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical, a particular Hindu God is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vahana is often ...
of
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...
. Shiva was said to have performed penance on the banks () of the Godavari river. This "" later became "Nanded".
History
Nanded is mentioned in Mahabharata as place of Bharat's maternal grandparents. In the 1st century CE, power in the area lay with the
Andhrabhrtya
The s (Devanagari:आन्ध्रभृत्य) was an Indian dynasty mentioned in the Puranas. Lists of Andhrabhrtyas have been mentioned in various Puranas. They are mostly identified with Satavahanas which replaced the house of the Maurya ...
s and
Satvahanas.
In the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, Nanded was ruled by the
Nanda dynasty
The Nanda dynasty ruled in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent during the fourth century BCE, and possibly during the fifth century BCE. The Nandas overthrew the Shaishunaga dynasty in the Magadha region of eastern India, and expanded ...
. In the 3rd century BCE (about 272 to 231 BCE), it was part of the
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until ...
under
Ashoka. Local irrigation practices and Nanded itself are recorded in the treatise, ''
Leela Charitra'' (late 1200s CE).
Nanded was the birthplace of three Marathi poet-saints—Vishnupant Shesa, Raghunath Shesa, and Vaman Pandit Construction of
Kandhar Fort, located in
Kandhar, is attributed to the
Rashtrakuta king Krishna III
Krishna III whose Kannada name was Kannara (r. 939 – 967 C.E.) was the last great warrior and able monarch of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of Manyakheta. He was a shrewd administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to bring ...
of
Malkheda
Malkhed originally known as Manyakheta (IAST: Mānyakheṭa, Prakrit: "Mannakheḍa"), and also known as Malkhed,Village code= 311400 Malkhed (J), Gulbarga, Karnataka is a town in Karnataka, India. It is located on the banks of Kagina river i ...
who ruled around 10th century CE.
From 1636, Nanded was the centre of governance of Nizam State, which includes present-day
Telangana
Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...
and
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...
, and was an imperial province of the
Mughal Badshah (emperor)
Shah Jahan
Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...
. In 1657, Nanded merged into Bidah Subah.
Guru Nanak (1469 1539 CE) passed through Nanded on his way to
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Sin ...
(1666 1708 CE) arrived in Nanded with the
Mughal emperor
The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled ...
Bahadur Shah I (1643 1712 CE) near the end of August in 1707 CE. When Bahadur Shah moved on to
Golconda
Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ, romanized: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparu ...
, Guru Gobind Singh remained in Nanded. Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed he was the last (tenth) living guru and established the sacred text, the
Guru Granth Sahib as an eternal "living" leader. Guru Gobind Singh died without a
lineal descendant
A lineal descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in the direct line of descent – the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of a person. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of estate by in ...
due to the
martyrdom
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
of his four sons.
In 1725, Nanded became part of
Hyderabad State
Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and ...
.
In about 1835,
Maharaja
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...
Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He ...
commissioned the construction of a
gurdwara at Nanded with the financial aid of
Sikander Jah (3rd
Nizam of hyderabad)
It was built on the site of Guru Gobind Singh's
cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
. The gurdwara is part of the
Hazur Sahib.
After India
gained independence in 1947, the
Indian Armed Forces annexed Hyderabad and ended the rule of the Nizam in
Operation Polo, making Nanded part of the
new Hyderabad State. Nanded remained part of the Hyderabad state until 1956 when it was included in the
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...
.
On 1 May 1960,
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...
state was created on a linguistic basis and the Marathi dominant Nanded district became part of Maharashtra.
In December 2022, 25 Nanded district villages renewed their demand to merge with
Telangana
Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...
.
Geography
Nanded urban area is . Nanded is built on the Deccan Traps lava flows of the upper cretaceous to lower eocene eras. The lava flows are overlain by thin alluvial deposits. The lava flows are horizontal and each flow has two distinct units. The highly weathered vesicular trap and underlying weathered jointed and fractured massive trap constitutes the main water-yielding zones. The soil is mostly formed from igneous rocks and are black, medium black, shallow and calcareous types having different depths and profiles.
Godavari river
The Godavari (IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwa ...
passes through the city.
Climate
Demographics
2011 census, Nanded had a population of 550,564. The municipality had a gender ratio of 924 females per 1,000 males. 12.4 percent of the population were under six years old. Effective
literacy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...
was 87.40 percent. 81.74 percent of women were literate. Male literacy was 92.68 percent.
Transport
Road
Nanded lies on
NH 61 (Kalyan–Ahmednagar–Parbhani–Nanded–Nirmal),
NH 361 (Nagpur–Wardha-Yavatmal–Nanded-Latur–Solapur–Sangli–Kolhapur–Ratnagiri) and
NH 161 (Akola–Washim–Hingoli–Nanded–Degloor–Sangareddy). MSRTC buses connect Nanded to many cities of the Maharashtra state. TSRTC buses connect Nanded to some cities of the Telangana state.
Rail
Hazur Sahib Nanded railway station is located on the
Secunderabad–Manmad line
Secunderabad–Manmad is an important railway line connecting the states of Telangana and Maharashtra. It is administered by South Central Railway and was formerly known as ''Hyderabad–Manmad railway line'' (built by NGSR) and ''Godavari Vall ...
of
Nanded railway division
Nanded railway division is one of the three railway divisions under South Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. This railway division was formed on 1 April 2003 and its headquarter is located at Nanded in the state of Maharashtra in India. Secu ...
of the
South Central Railway Zone (SCR). Nanded railway division is one of the three railway divisions under
South Central Railway zone of
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...
. Around 48 trains arrive and depart each day from this station.
Maltekdi railway station is another railway station serving city of Nanded.
Air
The
Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Airport, Nanded is served by daily
TruJet flights to
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...
,
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
and
Jalgaon
Jalgaon () is a city in Maharashtra, India. The city is located in North Maharashtra, and serves as the administrative headquarters of its namesake district, the Jalgaon district. Jalgaon is colloquially known as the “''Banana City of Ind ...
.
Air India operates flights to
Amritsar
Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha ...
.
Economy
Crops grown around Nanded include cotton, bananas, sugarcane, mangoes, soya beans, sweet limes, Grapes, Papaya, and
sorghum
''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many other ...
(jawar). Nanded has a Regional Cotton Research Center to support the Cotton-growing industry. There is an agricultural school operational under the aegis of Krishi Vidyapeeth of Parbhani.
Tourism is supported by 10 million annual visitors who are mostly religious pilgrims.
Education
On 17 September 1994, the
Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University (SRTMU) was established in Nanded after a restructuring of the
Marathwada University
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (BAMU), formerly Marathwada University, is located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. It is named after B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian jurist and political leader. The university was established on 23 ...
in Aurangabad. The university supervises the educational activities in senior colleges in four districts of Marathwada division.
Notable educational institutions in Nanded include the
Dr. Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and
Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Institute of Engineering and Technology.
Governance
The city of Nanded is managed by the
Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation (NWCMC). The corporation consists of 81 democratically elected members. The Municipal Commissioner is the Chief Executive of the corporation. Sunil Lahane is the current Chief Executive of the corporation.
Tourism
Nanded fort
Nanded Fort, also known as Nandgiri Fort is a fort located on the banks of Godavari river. The Godavari river encloses the fort on three sides. The fort has been converted into a garden to attract tourists. There is a water tank constructed in the fort.
Mandir
The
Vedic rituals are regularly performed on the ghats of
Godavari River
The Godavari (IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwa ...
which include Urvashi Ghat, Ram Ghat, and Govardhan Ghat.
[Nanded guruwara](_blank)
Maharashtra tourism, Government of India.
* Kaleshwar Mandir, Vishnupuri
* Shani Mandir, Mondha
* Yagyavalkya Vedpathshala Saraswati Mandir, Shree Nagar
* Shri Yadav Ahir Samaj Mahamai Mata Mandir, Devinagar
* Ganpati Mandir, Trikut
* Hanuman Mandir, Trikut
* Datta Mandir, Trikut
* Rajput Sangh Renuka Mata Mandir, Mahurgarh
* Siddheshwar Mandir, Hottal built during the Chalukya era, an example of Hemadpanti temple architecture.
Government of India.
* Shiva Mandir, Tadkhel, Degloor Taluka built with large stones displaying scripture by the Hindu king, Senapati.
* Jagdamba Mata Mandir, Tadkhel
* Shri Narsinh Mandir, Junna Kautha.
Gurdwara
* Hazur Sahib was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It is one of the ''Panj Takht
A takht, or taḵẖata ( pa, ਤਖ਼ਤ) literally means a throne or seat of authority and is a spiritual and temporal centre of Sikhism. There are five Takhts, which are five gurudwaras that have a very special significance for the Sikh co ...
'', the five seats of higher authority for Sikhs. It is built at the site of cremation of Guru Gobind Singh. His remains and weapons are preserved at the site.
* Gurdwara Nagina Ghat Sahib
* Gurdwara Banda Ghat Sahib (Baba Banda Singh Bahadur)
* Gurdwara Shikaar Ghat Sahib
* Gurdwara Baoli Sahib
* Gurdwara Heera Ghat
* Gurdwara Mata Sahib
* Gurdwara Maal Tekdi
* Gurdwara Sangat Sahib
* Gurdwara Nanakpuri Sahib (place of Guru Nanak)
* Gurdwara Bhajangarh Sahib
Church
* St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church
* Methodist Church
* Bethel AG Church
* The Pentecostal Mission (Church)
* Bethesda Ministries Church
Notable people
* Banda Singh Bahadur, a Sikh military commander.
* Datta Bhagat, an Ambedkarite author.
* Ashok Chavan, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra state and former Member of Parliament of the Nanded Loksabha constituency.
* Shankarrao Chavan
Shankarrao Bhavrao Chavan (14 July 1920 – 26 February 2004) was an Indian politician who served twice as Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1975 until 1977 and from 13 March 1986 until 26 June 1988. He was Finance Minister of India from 1988 ...
, the former Chief minister and former Home minister of Maharashtra state.
* Prataprao Govindrao Chikhalikar, current Member of Parliament and former MLA
* Syed Sadatullah Husaini, president (Amir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH).
* Kamalkishor Kadam
Kamalkishor Kadam is an Indian politician who formerly served as Education Minister in the Government Of Maharashtra. He belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party from Nanded, Maharastra.
He is chairman and trustee of the Mahatma Gandhi Missi ...
, a former minister of education.
* Nagnath Lalujirao Kottapalle, former Vice-chancellor of BAMU, an educationalist and an author.
* Narhar Ambadas Kurundkar, a scholar, critic and author.
* Vaman Pandit, a Marathi scholar and a poet.
* Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Sin ...
, the last Sikh Guru
The Sikh gurus (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established this religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the found ...
who died in Nanded.
* Chandreshekhar Sonwane, Indian American Rocket Scientist who is supporting NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
's Artemis Program and Lunar Gateway human habitat
See also
* Marathwada
References
{{Authority control
Hyderabad State
Cities and towns in Nanded district
Nanded district
Talukas in Maharashtra