Unlike several states of Maharashtra, the history of Yavatmal also suffers from lacunae. But on the basis of history revealed from available historical records the history of Yavatmal can be described into following sections.
Early History: In the ancient times Yavatmal was the part of rest of Berar and constituted the part of Vidharbha kingdom as replicated from Mahabharatta. The capital of the region was Bidar which was under the dominance of Nizam.
Sunga Dynasty: During the reign of Ashoka from 272 to 231 B.C. Berar was the part of his empire. The Mauryans have captured this land from the local Chieftain Pushyamitra of Sungna dynasty. After which the last Mauryan empire independently established his dominance with capital at Vidisa at present known as Bhilsa. After him his son Agnimitra declared a war against the king of Vidharbha. After defeating the king of Vidharbha the river of Wardha was declared as the boundary between the two kingdoms. However, there is no mention about the dynasty to which the Raja of Vidharbha belonged.
The Other Hindu Rulers: The rulers of Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas did not made any much contribution in the history of Yavatmatl. However, in the later half of the 10th century it was included in the kingdom of Vakpati II.
During the end of the 12th century the Yadavs of Deorigi captured most of the areas of north districts of the Chalukya’s dynasty. The eastern area was occupied by the Gonds who raised their power towards the area of Chandrapur.
During the British Rule: In 1853 the district of Yavatmal along with Berar was captured by the East India Company without any opposition and revolt, as the result there is nothing any important about the history of Yavatmal.
As the result of this treaty the district of Berar was divided into two Districts namely East and West Berar with headquarters at Amravati and Akola respectively. Yavatmal was included in the East Berar except the Pusad taluka. In the year 1864 the taluka of Yavatmal, Darwha, Kelapur and Wani were merged into one district and named as South East Berar and later on Wani.
In 1903 Berar was leased to the then government of India by the Nizam and the administrative powers were transferred from Hyderabad to the Central Provinces. In 1905 after the maturity of the lease period the six districts of Berar were reconstituted and the area of Wani received from Washim was given the separate name of Yavatmal.
Yavatmal District at a GlanceLOCATION 1. North Latitude (degrees) 19.26 to 20.42
2. East Longitude (degrees) 77.18 to 79.98
AREA Total area (in Sq. K.M.) 13584
Forest (in Hectors.) 224456
Under cultivation (Hectors.) 1005265
Under Non cultivation (Hectors.) 77309
ADMINISTRATION Sub - Divisional Offices 5
Taluka 16
Panchayat Samiti 16
VILLAGES Inhabited 1845
Uninhabited 272
Total 2117
TEMPERATURE Mini.temp in Celsius 5.6
Max.tem.in Celsius 45.6
Average Rainfall in millimeters 1056
POPULATION Rural population 17.20 Lakh
Urban population 3.57 Lakh
Total population 20.77 Lakh
S.C.population 2.27 Lakh
S.T.population 4.46 Lakh
Male 10.64 Lakh
Female 10.13 Lakh
LITERACY PERCENTAGE Total percentage 57.96
Male percentage 70.45
Female percentage 44.81
Rank in state 19
Total Household 4.22
BPL families 184801
Connectivity: The district is well connected by all the means of transport.
Air: Nagpur is the nearest airport (139 kms), linked to Mumbai (776 kms). Other airports in the vicinity are Aurangabad (288 kms) and Pune (475 kms).
Rail: Connected by rail, with a station at Yavatmal (narrow gauge line).
Road: State highways and roads from the district headquarters at Yavatmal link all 16 tehsils (subdistricts) and major towns. National highway No 7 passes through the district.
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