Anjangaon 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 state of Maharashtra,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Anjangaon City got the status of

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 1930. It is the first municipal council established in Amravati district and the second biggest council as well. Anjangaon Surji Tehsil was established in 1981. It is technically made up of two main zones, Anjangaon and Surji, on either side of

Shahanur River Shahanur is the river in Western Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state in India. It is a tributary of Purna river. It flows through the Anjangaon Surji 444705 Amravati district and Akola district. River course The river originates in the S ...

, and is called Anjangaon-Surji in combination. It is called a "Banana Hub of Vidarbha" as it is a large producer of bananas and a hub of medicinal plants - Piper longum and Safed musali. Anjangaon is located at . It has an average elevation of 374 metres (1227 feet).

History

Anjangaon Surji is an ancient town having religious and historical importance. After the

Battle of Assaye The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23 September 1803 near Assaye in western India. An outnumbered Indian and British forc ...

and the Battle of Argaum, the

Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon The Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon was signed on 30 December 1803 between the British and Daulat Rao Sindhia, chief of the Maratha Confederacy at Anjangaon town located in Maharashtra. On 30 December 1803, the Sindhia signed the Treaty of Surji-Anj ...

was signed on 30 December 1803 at Anjangaon between the British and

Daulat Rao Sindhia Shrimant Daulat Rao Shinde (also Sindhia; 1779 – 21 March 1827) was the Maharaja (ruler) of Gwalior state in central India from 1794 until his death in 1827. His reign coincided with struggles for supremacy within the Maratha Empire, and war ...

, chief of the Maratha people. In 18th century Vithoji Narayan was awarded the vatandari of Anjangaon. There are records that he was awarded with a title 'Surji'. Anjangaon is mentioned as one of 46 Mahals of Vidarbha in Ain-i-Akbari. The revenue of Anjangaon as mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari was 32 lakhs. The river Shahanoor on the banks of which Anjangaon is located, was historically named as Sharneera (meaning river generated by an arrow ). A popular story exists that during the year of banishment, Arjuna generated the water stream by hitting the soil by an arrow. The Devnath Math in Surji was established in 1754 AD. Saint Ruplal Maharaj established a famous Vitthal Mandir in this town. This is a city of betel leaves. Previously betel leaves were exported from here to Indonesia, Pakistan and Arabian countries. Now this place is known for cultivation of Piper longum, a medicinal plant. According to Imperial Gazetteer of India (William Wilson Hunter), "in the year 1881, the population of Anjangaon was 9842 consisting of 5060 males and 4782 females. Of the total population, 7714 were returned as

Hindus 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 ...

, 1955

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, 6 Sikhs, and 167

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

. A mart for cotton cloth, excellent basket-work, and pan grown in the adjacent garden lands. Large weekly market". Anjangaon City got the status of

in 1930. It is the first municipal council established in Amravati district & the second biggest council as well. Anjangaon Surji Tehsil was established in 1981.

Demographics

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 ...

, Anjangaon had a population of 160,903 in total of urban and rural. Anjangaon city had a population of 56,380 in city area while the rural area had a population of 104,523. It is the third most populous city in Amravati District after Amravati and Achalpur(Paratwada). 29,017 are males while 27,363 are females. Anjangaon has a literacy rate of 88.93%, higher than the state average of 82.34%; with 91.01% of the males and 86.72% of females literate. 11.58% of the population is under 6 years of age. According to previous census, population of Anjangaon was 51,380 (2001), 41,674 (1991), 27,897(1971), 21,931(1961) and 11,881(1901).

Notable places

Shahanoor Dam (8 km): This dam is built using soil and has a

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

generation project and water supply project for nearly 156 villages and 2 cities based on gravitation without using electricity. The dam is located in the north of the city in the ranges 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 ...

. The city has a few religious and spiritual places which are tourist destinations due to their beauty. *Digambar Jain Mandir, Sawkar Pura - very old temple with Adinath Bhawgan idol (replicate of Keshariyaji Idol) . *Devnath Math, Surji: established in 1754 by Devnath Maharaj. * Shendgaon an ancient village popularly known for being the birthplace of

Gadge Maharaj Gadge Maharaj (23 February 1876 - 20 December 1956; also known as Sant Gadge Maharaj or Sant Gadge Baba) was an Indian mendicant-saint and social reformer from the Indian state of Maharashtra. He lived in voluntary poverty and wandered to differ ...

*Tulja Bhavani Mata mandir(Rathod). *Vitthal Mandir: This temple was established by Ruplal Maharaj. *Sri Munje Baba Temple (Pan Atai): Small temple situated in the neighborhood of pan atai. Family deity of Sumele and was established by Mr. Santosh Sumele. *Ekvira Devi Temple, Murha *Shri Deonath Maharaj Math, Surji *Gulab Baba Aashram, Takarkheda More A view of Gulaba Baba Ashram Takarkheda

*Shri Ganpati Devasthan, Borala *Shri Balaji Sansthan, Kathipura *Digambar Kaanch Temple, Saokar Peth *Shri Sant Chandrabhaga Mata Temple, Kumbhargaon *Murha Devi Mandir, Murha

Education

The first school in the town was started in 1868. This school, situated in Saokar Peth, is currently run as a Government school for girls. There are many educational institutions in the town, among which Sitabai Sangai High School, Junior College and Radhabai Sarda College are the most popular. The following is a list of schools and colleges in the area: Sitabai Sangai Highschool *Nagar Parishad Urdu High School Killa *Sitabai Sangai Kanya Shala *Sitabai Sangai Prathamik Shala *Sitabai Sangai Jr. college. Sangai Naka Rd. *Raisaheb Moti Sangai English School *Smt. Radhabai Sarda College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Deogire Nagar., *Pragtik Vidyalaya, Main Rd. *Green Hearts School (Gurukul), Vrindavan, achalpur Rd., *Srinath jr. College, City Rd., *Dnyanpith D.Ed. College. panchayat samiti rd., *St. Mary's English School.Arokia Matha Church Compound, Daryapur Road *Smt.K.S.English School, station Rd., *Smt. Panchfulabai Harne Jr. College, Rest House Rd., *Smt.Radhabai Sarda Jr.College, Deogire Nagar., *Dnyanpith English School.Station Rd. *Shrirang Chitrakala Mahavidyalaya, station rd., *Govt.Institute of Tech. Industries, MIDC Rd., *Arts College, Tower Rd., *Smt.Indira Gandhi Technical College, Alkari Wada, P.O.rd., *Shri.Maniklalji Sarda D.Ed.College, Deogire Nagar., *Sri. Chintamani D.Ed. College, near Vyenktesh theater. *Rashtra Sant Tukdoji D.Ed. College, tehsil rd., Surji. *Dr. Sufi Urdu junior college Arts & science. *Shantabai Shrivastava English School, Near water tank, Surji. *Study Circle Convent, Surji. *Shreenath High school, Surji *Shri Sakharam maharaj primary school, Surji *Vidhyaniketan Junior College of commerce and Science, Takarkheda Naka. *Vidhyaniketan College Of Pharmacy, Takarkheda road, Anjangaon Surji.

Banking

There are a seven nationalized banks as well as co-operative banks in the city. A short list includes *State Bank of India (SBI), *Central Bank of India (CBI), *Bank of Maharashtra (BOM), *India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) by Department of Post, *Amravati District Co-operative Bank (ADCC), *Union Bank of India (UBI), *Bank of India (BOI), *HDFC, *Axis Bank, *Khmagaon Urban Co-operative Bank, *Buldhana Urban Co-operative Bank, *Janata Sahakari Bank. *Pusad Urban Co-operative bank

Culture

In Surji area Dwarkeshwar Yatra is a major event to be held every year on second day of Pola festival. Various religious functions are celebrated like Piwali Marbat, Rupalal Punyatithi, Chaitra Paurnima Rathotsav of Jains etc. ''Kathichi Jatra'' is a ''fair cum festival'' of the city. The fair is organised on every Monday from ''Nagapanchami'' to ''Pola'' Festival.

Industry

There is a co-operative sugar factory named as "Ambadevi Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana" which is not operational currently. The cotton ginning and pressing companies,

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s, oil mills are the main industries in the area. There are a few fruit packaging and agro product's companies.

Fruit cultivation and marketing

Anjangaon Surji is famous for bananas and oranges. Anjangaon is the main centre for the supply of bananas in Maharashtra along with

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 Indi ...

. Bananas are supplied across north India (

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

, Chhattisgarh,

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 ...

, and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

) and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

from here. Anjangaon Surji is also one of the leading place for production of

long pepper Long pepper (''Piper longum''), sometimes called Indian long pepper or ''thippali'', is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Long pepper has a taste simi ...

(Piper longum, or Pippali), sometimes called

Indian long pepper Long pepper (''Piper longum''), sometimes called Indian long pepper or ''thippali'', is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Long pepper has a taste simil ...

, is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, is also cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning.

Transport

Anjangaon is connected to Betul (101 km) and

Khamgaon Khamgaon is a city in Buldhana District, Maharashtra, India. It is the largest city in Buldhana district. It is well connected to all other big cities of Maharashtra and India through National Highway 6 and other state highways. Khamgaon Termin ...

(101 km) via

National Highway 548C National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Amravati Amravati (pronunciation ( help·info)) is the second largest city in the Vidarbha region and ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India. It is administrative headquarters of Amravati district and Amravati division which includes Akola, Buld ...

(82 km) and

Akola Akola () is a municipal corporation and the third largest city in Vidarbha after Nagpur and Amravati and tenth largest city in Maharashtra. is located about east of the state capital, Mumbai, and west of the second capital, Nagpur. A ...

(85 km) by roadways. The state transport (MSRTC) buses ply from Anjangaon to Amravati, Paratwada, Akola, Akot, Ramtek, Yavatmal, Pandharkavada, Nagpur, Aurangabad etc. Some private travel agencies run bus services to Pune and Mumbai. Anjangaon Surji is a station of

Bhusaval Bhusawal is the largest municipal council (established in 1882) in the Jalgaon district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, situated along the banks of the river Tapi. The city emerged as a major railway junction during the British Raj, and sti ...

–

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

section of Central Railway on

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 ...

- Murtijapur

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railway route. This narrow gauge train is popularly known as ''Shakuntala Express''. Nearest broad gauge railway station is Murtijapur(50 km).{{Cite web , url=http://amravati.nic.in/gazetteer/gazetteerb/comm_railways.html , title=The Gazetteers Department - AMRAVATI , access-date=22 June 2012 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410065343/http://amravati.nic.in/gazetteer/gazetteerB/comm_railways.html , archive-date=10 April 2009 , url-status=dead Nearest airports are Amravati Airport (82 km),

Akola Airport Akola Airport is an airport located in Akola in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The airport can currently said to be non-functional for public use, as of now no public airplane services are available in Akola. It is natively called Dr. Panjabr ...

(85 km) and

Nagpur Airport Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. The airport is located at Sonegaon, 8 km (5 mi) southwest of Nagpur. The airport covers an area of 1,355 acre ...

(250 km).

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20131206060026/http://santeknath.org/shishya%20parampara.html http://www.census2011.co.in/data/town/802684-anjangaon-maharashtra.html Cities and towns in Amravati district Talukas in Maharashtra