Balapur 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, borough cou ...

in Akola district in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Geography

Balapur has an average elevation of . The town is an important junction for traffic on National Highway No 6, which carries the Calcutta traffic to the Port City of Bombay. Transport destined for south takes a southward turn following a wide State Highway towards Hyderabad, crossing the NH 6. There are three rivers: Mann, Mahens and Bhikund. Two of them are in the city including a dam at Mann river providing water to thermal power plant placed in Paras. The nearest rail head is at Paras, 7 km from the town. The Mahagenco is expanding its thermal power station with two 250 MW units to augment the falling generating capacity of the state power corporation. There is further potential to expand it to 1000 MW making it a Super Thermal Power Station. One of the popular and traditional profession of people here is manufacturing ''DARI'' (cotton rugs/carpets) using handlooms. Other major business of people here is manufacturing bricks, which is exported to surrounding districts. There are no suicide by the farmers here as the majority of them are Muslims and do not go for high yield crops which are not suitable to Balapur area.

History

Balapur was an important military station after

Ellichpur 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 ...

now Achalpur during the Mughal period. It became the seat of Provincial governor of Berar instead of Ellichpur and Prince Murad, son of

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

settled in Barar with Balapur as his headquarters in 1596. Near Balapur he founded a new city named Shahpur and constructed a beautiful palace for himself which is now in ruins. As his relationship was deteriorating with Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, the commander of the army, Akbar recalled the Khan-i-Khanan and sent his trusted friend Abul Fazl to help him. After the fall of Ahmadnagar, Balapur was still the principal garrison town of Berar, but the next prince sent to administer the Deccan after the death of Murad, Daniyal Mirza preferred

Burhanpur Burhanpur is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai , southwest of the state's capita ...

, as his viceregal capital. Daniyal died of drink in 1605. The death of his third son was a severe shock to the Emperor Akbar, who survived Daniyal Mirza only for a few months, and died in October 1605, when he was succeeded by his eldest son Salim (Jehangir). The climate of Balapur had an unfortunate effect on the Mughal officers. Akbar's son Murad had already died there from the effects of drink, and in 1617 Raja Maan Singh, a distinguished and valued officer of Jahangir's, died there from the same cause. Shahnawaz Khan succumbed to the same fate a few years later. Balapur was one of the richest Pargana in

Berar Subah The Berar Subah () was one of the Subahs (provinces) of the Mughal Empire, in Central India from 1596 to 1724. It bordered Golconda, Ahmandagar (both conquered in 1601), Kandesh and Malwa provinces as well as the independent and tributary kin ...

. Muhammad Azam Shah, Son of

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

Alamgir resided and build a Mud fort here. A Chhatri or Pavilion was erected by Mirza Raja Jai Singh, Commander of

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

and general of

. In 1720, Asaf Jah defeated the Mughal forces dispatched against him.

Education

1. Apart from a series of Municipal and Zilla Parishad schools, the following two were the only two educational institutions imparting education till higher secondary education through vernacular medium: * Smt. Dhanabai Vidyalaya Balapur * Anjuman Anwarul Islam Jr. College Balapur. 2. Shreedeeksha English High School Balapur was established in 1998. 3. The other institutes present are as follows: * Huda English School Balapur. * Shelad Urdu High School Shelad Balapur * Huda English School * New Vision English High School Balapur. 4. The only institute imparting education at under graduate level is the College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Balapur more famously known as “Dr. Manorama And Prof. Haribhau Shankarrao Pundkar,Arts,Commerce &Science College Balapur” owing to its humble beginning in the makeshift accommodations.

Forts and palaces

Balapur Fort which exist in bad condition, was completed in 1757 by Ismail Khan Nawab of

and is second largest fort in Barar after Gawilgarh hill fort. There exist a Rauzah Masjid with Tomb of Saint Maulvi Masoom Shah built by Mirza Aman Sher Baig in 1737–38. According to inscriptions on Jageerdar's Haveli, Khadin Gate was built in 1703–04.

Local municipality

The local municipality was established in 1934. It provides services in the field of education (primary) and a rural hospital with hardly any facilities to be shared by the town people. Many private practitioners are available. A District Hospital is coming up and its construction is almost complete.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Balapur had a population of 44,494. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Balapur has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 55% of the males and 45% of females literate. 17% of the population is under 6 years of age.

References

{{Berar Berar Cities and towns in Akola district Talukas in Maharashtra