Maharashtra
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Area |
3,07,713 sq km |
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State
Government Portal |
 |
Population |
96,752,247 |
|
Open Forum Partners
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Capital |
Mumbai |
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Important Contact Numbers |
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Principal
Languages |
Marathi |
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Development Initiatives |
History
and Geography
The first well-known rulers of Maharashtra were
the Satavahanas (230 BC 225 AD), who were the
founders of Maharashtra, and have left a plethora
of literary, epigraphic, artistic and archaeological
evidence. This epoch marks tremendous development
in every field of human endeavour.
Then came the Vakatakas, who established a
pan-Indian empire. Under them, Maharashtra witnessed
an all-sided development in the fields of learning,
arts and religion. Some of the Ajanta Caves
and fresco paintings reached the high-level
mark during their rule. After the Vakatakas
and after a brief interlude of the Kalachuri
dynasty, the most important rulers were the
Chalukyas, followed by the Rashtrakutas and
the Yadavas, apart from the Shilaharas on the
coast. The Yadavas, with Marathi as their court
language extended their authority over large
parts of the Deccan.
While the Bahamani rule brought a degree of
cohesion to the land and its culture, a uniquely
homogeneous evolution of Maharashtra as an entity
became a reality under the able leadership of
Shivaji. A new sense of Swaraj and nationalism
was evolved by Shivaji. His noble and glorious
power stalled the Mughal advances in this part
of India. The Peshwas established the Maratha
supremacy from the Deccan Plateau to Attock
in Punjab.
Maharashtra was in the forefront of the freedom
struggle, and it was here that the Indian National
Congress was born. A galaxy of leaders from
Mumbai and other cities in Maharashtra led the
Congress movement under the guidance of Tilak,
and later Mahatma Gandhi. Maharashtra was the
home of Gandhiji’s movement, while Sevagram
was the capital of nationalistic India during
the Gandhian era.
The administrative evolution of the state of
Maharashtra is the outcome of the linguistic
reorganisation of the States of India, effected
on 1 May, 1960. The State was formed by bringing
together all contiguous Marathi-speaking areas,
which previously belonged to four different
administrative hegemonies—the district
between Daman and Goa that formed part of the
original British Bombay Province; five districts
of the Nizam’s dominion of Hyderabad;
eight districts in the south of the Central
Provinces (Madhya Pradesh) and a sizeable number
of petty native-ruled state enclaves lying enclosed
within the above areas, which later merged with
adjoining districts. Located in the north centre
of Peninsular India, with the command of the
Arabian Sea through its port of Mumbai, Maharashtra
has a remarkable physical homogeneity, enforced
by its underlying geology. The dominant physical
trait of the State is its plateau character.
Maharashtra is a plateau of plateaus, its western
upturned rims rising to form the Sahyadri Range
parallel to the sea-coast, and its slopes gently
descending towards the east and south-east.
Satpuda ranges cover northern part of the State,
while Ajanta and Satmala ranges run through
central part of the State. Arabian Sea guards
the western boundary of Maharashtra, while Gujarat
and Madhya Pradesh are on the northern side.
Chhattisgarh covers the eastern boundary of
the State. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are
on its southern side.
Agriculture
About 65 per cent of the total workers in the
State depend on agriculture and allied activities.
Principal crops grown in the State are rice,
jowar, bajra, wheat, tur, mung, urad, gram and
other pulses. The State is a major producer
of oilseeds. Groundnut, sunflower, soyabean
are major oil seed crops. Important cash crops
are cotton, sugarcane, turmeric and vegetables.
The State has an area of 12.90 lakh hectares
under various fruit crops like mango, banana,
orange, grape, cashewnut, etc.
Industry
The State has been identified as the country’s
powerhouse and Mumbai, its capital as the centre
point of India's financial and commercial markets.
Industrial sector occupies a prominent position
in the economy of Maharashtra. Food products,
breweries, tobacco and related products, cotton
textiles, textile products, paper and paper
products, printing and publishing, rubber, plastic,
chemical and chemical products, machinery, electrical
machinery, apparatus and appliances, and transport
equipment and parts contribute substantially
to the industrial production in the state.
Irrigation and Power
By the end of June-2005, 32 major, 178 medium
and about 2,274 state sector minor irrigation
projects had been completed. Another 21 major
and 39 medium irrigation projects are under
construction. The gross irrigated area in 2004-2005
was 36.36 lakh hectares.
Maharashtra had an installed capacity of 12,909
MW in 2004-2005. The Plant Load Factor (PLF)
in the State was 81.6 per cent and power generation
was 68,507 million KWH.
Transport
Railways: Maharashtra has 5,450 km of railway
routes, of which 78.4 per cent is broad gauge,
8.1 per cent meter gauge, and 13.5 per cent
is narrow gauge.
Aviation: Maharashtra has a total of twenty-four
Air fields/airports. Of these, 17 are under
the control of the State Government, four are
managed and controlled by the International
Airport Authority/Airport Authority of India,
and three by the Ministry of Defence. The Airfields
under the control of the State government have
no facilities for the operation of commercial
flights at present.
Ports: Mumbai is the major port. There are
two major, and 48 notified minor ports in the
State.
Tourist Centres
Some important tourist centres are: Ajanta,
Ellora, Elephanta, Kanheri and Karla caves,
Mahabaleshwar, Matheran and Panchgani, Jawhar,
Malshejghat, Amboli, Chikaldara, Panhala Hill
stations and religious places at Pandharpur,
Nasik, Shirdi, Nanded, Audhanagnath, Trimbakeshwar,
Tuljapur, Ganpatipule, Bhimashanker, Harihareshwar,
Shegaon, Kolhapur, Jejuri and Ambajogai.
