Paratwada, formerly known as Paltanwada and also known as "Achalpur Camp" is a city and a
municipal council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
in
Amravati District in the Indian
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Maharashtra. It is also the second most populous city in
Amravati District after Amravati and seventh most populous city in Vidarbha. It has a twin city known as
Achalpur
Achalpur, formerly known as Ellichpur and Illychpur, is a city and a municipal council in Amravati District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the second most populous city in Amravati District after Amravati and seventh most populous ...
. Paratwada is a gateway to the Melghat region which has one of the biggest Tiger conservation projects in India.
Features
Paratwada is well known for its Main Market Places like Sadar Bazar, Gujri Bazar, Cotton Market, etc. City is also known for its
street food
Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumpt ...
areas like Bombay
Chowpati, and many more. It has a temple named Wagha Mata Temple, which also has a garden. New retailers in Paratwada are coming up with new minimarket ideas like Mart, Bazar, Super-shop, etc. Paratwada has a Peter England Brand Store in Civil Lines. Apart from that, Paratwada City has a large number of hotels, schools, tuition classes, and theatres.
History
Paratwada, Achalpur or Ellichpur is first mentioned in the 13th century as one of the cities of the
Deccan plateau
The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by th ...
. Though tributary to the
Muslim Delhi Sultanate after 1294, it remained under
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
administration till 1318, when it came directly under the Muslim
Delhi Sultanate.
In 1294, Alauddin Khilji, nephew of Jalaluddin Khilji, the reigning emperor of Delhi, invaded the Deccan with the object of subjugating Devagiri, of the wealth of which kingdom he had heard in the course of his forays in Central Asia. He halted and setup his military camps at Ellichpur for and from then marched towards Devagiri from where he carried off an enormous quantity of plunder.
In 1347 Paratwada with the Berar region was ruled by the
Bahmani Sultanate.
In 1490
Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk
Fathullah Imad-ul-mulk ( fa, , ruled 1490–1504) was the founder of the Imad Shahi Dynasty and the Berar Sultanate. Originally a Hindu captive from Vijayanagara, Fathullah was brought up a Muslim and rose to command the army of Berar under the ...
proclaimed his independence and founded the Imad Shahi dynasty of the
Berar Sultanate
Berar Sultanate, also called as Imad Shahi Sultanate was one of the Deccan sultanates, which was founded by an Indian Muslim. It was established in 1490 following the disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate.
History
Background
The origin of th ...
. He proceeded to annex
Mahur to his new kingdom and established his capital at Ellichpur. It was afterwards capital of the
Berar Subah
The Berar Subah was one of the Subahs (imperial first-level provinces) of the Mughal Empire, the first to be added to the original twelve, in Dakhin (Deccan, central India) from 1596 to 1724. It bordered Golconda, Ahmandagar (both conquered 1 ...
at intervals until the
Mughal occupation, when the seat of the provincial governor was moved to
Balapur. The town retains many relics of the
Sultans of Berar.
In 1642 Shah Beg Khan, a commander of 4,000 horse, was appointed of Berar in place of the Khan-i-Dauran and two years later Allah Vardi Khan was made a commander of 5,000 horse and received Ellichpur in jahagir on the death of Sipahdar Khan. Early in 1658 Aurangzeb left the
Deccan
The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...
in order to participate in the contest for the imperial throne which ensued on the failure of Shah Jahan's health and having worsted his competitors he gained the prize. He appointed Raja
Jai Singh to the viceroyalty of the Deccan and made Irij Khan of Berar. In 1661, Diler Khan accompanied by Irij Khan, the of Berar and the Faujdar of the province marched through Berar to attack the Gond Raja of Chanda. The Raja submitted and the expedition terminated on the Raja paying to the imperial exchequer a crore of rupees and promising to pay an annual tribute of 2 lakhs and to raze his fortifications. At this time a new power was gaining ascendency in the Deccan, viz., that of the
Maratha
The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...
s under the leadership of
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Inspired by the ideal of carving a separate State, and backed by the zeal of his followers he had made deep incisions in the Adil Shahi kingdom of Bijapur and had carried out daring attacks against the Mughal possessions in the Deccan.
Aurangzeb had sensed this danger and had sent his generals, Shayasta Khan, Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Diler Khan to contain Shivaji's activities in 1665. In 1775 Nizam Ali, taking advantage of the existence of strong party opposed to Mudhoji Bhosle in Nagpur, sent Ibrahim Beg against him, and himself advanced as far as Ellichpur.
As the Mughal empire deteriorated in the 18th century, Paratwada along with the rest of Berar came under the rule of the
Nizam
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...
of
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 India ...
. In 1853,
Berar Province came under
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
administration, although it remained formally part of the
Hyderabad state until 1903 when the province became the
Berar Division
The Berar Division, formerly Berar Province, was one of the former administrative divisions of the Central Provinces and Berar of British India. Ellichpur (Achalpur) was the capital and the administrative headquarters of the division.
The Ber ...
of the
Central Provinces. Paratwada, known by the British as Achalpur Camp, became part of East Berar, with Amravati as capital of the division. In 1867 East Berar was split into the districts of
Amraoti and
Ellichpur district, with Achalpur Camp as the headquarters of Ellichpur District. The district had an area of .
Initially, Paratwada was mainly formed of six areas, namely, Pensionpura, Gatarmalpura, Bada Bazar, Chota Bazar, Vakil Line & Civil Line. In 1901 Paratwada had a population of 29,740, with ginning factories and a considerable trade in cotton and forest produce. It was connected by good roads with Amravati and
Chikhaldara
Chikhaldara is a hill station and a municipal council in Amravati district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Chikaldhara, literally translates from Marathi to mud stream/falls (''chikal'' + ''dhara''). Hindus claim that this place was featu ...
. Berar was annexed to British India in 1903 and merged with the
Central Provinces, and in 1905 Ellichpur District was merged into Amravati District. The civil station of Paratwada, 5 km. from the town of Ellichpur, contained the principal public buildings at the beginning of the 20th century.
After India's independence in 1947, the Central Provinces became the province, and after 1950 the state,
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
. The 1956
States Reorganisation Act redrew the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and the predominantly
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
-speaking Amravati District was transferred to
Bombay State, which was renamed
Maharashtra in 1960 when it was split from
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
.
Geography
Achalpur and Paratwada are twin cities located in the lap of
Satpuda
The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and th ...
. It has an average elevation of 369 metres (1210 ft). These twin cities are surrounded by rivers named Sapan and Bicchhan, the tributaries of
Chandrabhaga river
The Bhima River (also known as Chandrabhaga River) is a major river in Western India and South India. It flows southeast for through Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana states, before entering the Krishna River. After the first sixty-five ki ...
. There is a hilly area that acts like a fence to this city. This city is at the boundary of
Maharashtra and
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
. Even Madhya Pradesh is so close to this city that travelling of (about) 12 km changes the state region. Paratwada is very famous for its wood and honey exports, largest in Asia, because it is a gateway to one of the densest forests in India – Melghat.
Demographics
As of census 2011 Achalpur and Paratwada Tehsil had a population of 6,12,293.
As of 2001 India
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
, Achalpur & Paratwada had a population of 107,304. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Achalpur has an average literacy rate of 88%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 54% of the males and 46% of females literate. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Transport
Achalpur railway station
Achalpur railway station serves Achalpur in Amravati district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the terminal station on narrow-gauge Murtajapur Junction–Achalpur line of Shakuntala Railway
Shakuntala Railway was a narrow-ga ...
is the northern terminus of the 762 mm
narrow gauge railway known locally as the Shakuntala railway. This line is composed of two legs intersecting with the
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
–
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
broad gauge railway at
Murtizapur Junction railway station
Murtizapur railway station serves Murtizapur in Akola district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The – narrow-gauge line, popular as Shakuntala Railway, meets the electrified broad gauge Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line at Murtizapur.
His ...
— the 76 km northern leg to Paratwada and the 113 km southeastern leg to
Yavatmal
Yavatmal ( is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Yavatmal District. Yavatmal is around 90 km away from divisional headquarters Amravati while it is away from the sta ...
. As of 2004 this line was still owned by a
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
-based company which had leased the line to India's
Central Railway since 1903.
"Indian Narrow-Gauge Lines 2002–2003"
Simon Mortimer. Indian Railways Fan Club. 13 February 2004.
Paratwada is well connected to major cities by state highways. Maharashtra Major State Highway 6 and Major State Highway 24 passes from Paratwada. Both public and private transport are popular in Paratwada. Private companies too run buses to major cities throughout India. Auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws are allowed to operate in this city. Also the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) provides transport services to this city for interstate travel. Paratwada has the largest Bus Depot in Vidarbha.
See also
* Ellichpur District
References
* https://etrace.in/pincode/maharashtra/amravati/achalpur/paratwada/
* http://www.maplandia.com/india/maharashtra/amravati/paratwada/
{{Historical places of Rashtrakuta
Cities and towns in Amravati district
Talukas in Maharashtra
Cities in Maharashtra