Achalpur

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?Achalpur Maharashtra • India
Achalpur
Coordinates: 21°16′N 77°31′E / 21.26, 77.51
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	• 369 m (1,211 ft)
District(s)	Amravati
Population	107,304 (2001)

Coordinates: 21°16′N 77°31′E / 21.26, 77.51

Coordinates: 21°15′26″N, 77°30′31″E

Achalpur, formerly known as Ellichpur, is a city and a municipal council in Amravati District in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Transportation
4 Economic Activity
5 History
6 Paratwada
7 See also
8 References

[edit] Geography

Achalpur is located at 21°15′26″N, 77°30′31″E.^[1] It has an average elevation of 369 metres (1210 ft).

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[2] Achalpur had a population of 107,304. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Achalpur has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 54% of the males and 46% of females literate. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit] Transportation

Achalpur is the northern terminus of the 762 mm narrow gauge railway known locally as the Shakuntala railway. This line is composed of two legs intersecting with the Mumbai–Kolkata standard gauge railway at Murtajapur — the 76km northern leg to Achalpur and the 113km southeastern leg to Yavatmal. As of 2004 this line was still owned by a London-based company which had leased the line to India's Central Railway since 1903.^[3]

[edit] Economic Activity

The town had been major trade center for Palmarosa oil in India. The major commodities for trade include

[edit] History

It is first mentioned authentically in the 13th century as one of the famous cities of the Deccan. Though tributary to the Muslim Delhi Sultanate after 1294, it remained under Hindu administration till 1318, when it came directly under the Muslims. It was afterwards capital of the province of Berar at intervals until the Mughal occupation, when the seat of the provincial governor was moved to Balapur. The town retains many relics of the Nawabs of Berar.

As the Mughal empire deteriorated in the 18th century, Achalpur along with the rest of Berar came under the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad. In 1853, Berar came under British administration, although it remained formally part of the Hyderabad kingdom until 1903. Achalpur, known by the British as Ellichpur, became part of East Berar District, with Amraoti (Amravati) as capital of the district. In 1867 East Berar was split into the districts of Amraoti and Ellichpur, with Ellichpur as the headquarters of Ellichpur District. The district had an area of 2605 square miles.

In 1901 Achalpur had a population of 29,740, with ginning factories and a considerable trade in cotton and forest produce. It was connected by good roads with Amraoti and Chikhaldara. Berar was annexed to British India in 1903 and merged with the Central Provinces, and in 1905 Ellichpur District was merged into Amraoti District. The civil station of Paratwada, 5 km. from the town of Ellichpur, contained the principal public buildings at the beginning of the 20th century.

After India's independence in 1947, the Central Provinces became the province, and after 1950 the state, Madhya Pradesh. The 1956 States Reorganisation Act redrew the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and the predominantly Marathi-speaking Amravati District was transferred to Bombay State, which was renamed Maharashtra in 1960 when it was split from Gujarat.

[edit] Paratwada

During the rein of British in India a military camp was established on the outskirts of the city. Presently it is one of the developed civil townships in Amaravati district.