Ahilyanagar District

Ahilyanagar district is the largest district ofMaharashtra state in western India. The historical Ahilyanagar city is the headquarters of the district. Ahilyanagar was the seat of the Ahilyanagar Sultanate of late medieval period (1496–1636 CE). This district is known for the town of Shirdi associated with Sai Baba. Ahilyanagar district is part of Nashik Division. The neighbouring districts to Ahilyanagar district are Solapur (South East-SE), Osmanabad (SE), Beed (SE), Aurangabad (NE), Nashik (NW),Thane (NW), and Pune (SW).

History

Although Ahmadnagar district was created as early as in 1818, modern history of Ahmadnagar may be said to have commenced from 1869, the year in which parts of Nasik and Sholapur which till then had comprised Nagar were separated and the present Nagar district was formed. Ahilyanagar District was created after the defeat of the Maratha Confederacy in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, when most of the Peshwa’s domains were annexed to British India. The district remained part of the Central division of Bombay Presidency until India’s independence in 1947, when it became part of Bombay State, and in 1960 the new state of Maharashtra.

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Ahilyanagar one of the country’s 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the twelve districts in Maharashtra currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Divisions

Ahilyanagar district consists of fourteen talukas (tahsils). These talukas are Akole, Jamkhed, Karjat, Kopargaon, Nagar, Nevasa, Parner, Pathardi,Rah ata, Rahuri, Sangamner, Shevgaon, Shrigonda, Shrirampur.[2] The district has twelve Vidhan Sabha constituencies, six in each of the two parliamentary constituencies. For the Shirdi Parliamentary Constituency(SC) these are: #216 Akole (ST), #217 Sangamner, #218 Shirdi, #219Kopergaon, #220 Shrirampur (SC), and #221 Newasa. For the Ahilyanagar Parliamentary Constituency these are: #222 Shevgaon, #223Rahuri, #224 Parner, #225 Ahilyanagar City, #226 Shrigonda and #227Karjat-Jamkhed.

The Ahilyanagar district is under proposal to be divided and a separate Shrirampur District be carved out of existing Ahilyanagar district with the inclusion of the northern parts of Ahilyanagar district which include Rahata, Rahuri,Shrirampur, Sangamner, Akole, Kopargaon, and Nevasa talukas in the proposed Shrirampur district.

Ralegaon Siddhi is a village in the district that is considered a model of environmental conservation.