Ahmadnagar District is the largest district in the state of Maharashtra, covering around 5.66 percent of the total area of the state. The historical heritage of the district is rather rich. The name of the district, Ahmadnagar, has come from the name of the founder of the town Ahmadnagar by Ahmed Shah Nizam. There are many places of historical importance, including the Ahmadnagar fort where many of the national heroes of the Indian freedom struggle were detained during Indian freedom movement. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wrote his famous book "Discovery of India" in Ahmadnagar Fort. Today, Ahmadnagar is the most advanced district having the maximum number of sugar factories, and aims to spread the message "rural prosperity through cooperation". The first cooperative sugar factory in Asia was established at Pravara Nagar. Excellent models of water conservation work can be seen at Ralegan-Siddhi and Hivare Bazar which are also called ideal villages.
Location of Ahmadnagar district
The district of Ahmadnagar is situated in the state of Maharashtra. It lies located in the central part of the state. Ahmadnagar lies between the north latitudes of 18.2 degrees to 19.9 degrees and between the east longitudes of 73.9 degrees to 75.5 degrees. It is bounded on the north by the Nashik district and Aurangabad district, on the east by the Beed district and Osmanabad district, on the south by the Solapur district and the Pune district and on the west by the districts of Thane and Pune.
History of Ahmadnagar District
The district of Ahmadnagar has a long and rather rich history. Its earliest history dates right back to 240 BC when it formed a part of the great Maurya Empire in India. Following this, it came under the rule of a number of different dynasties such as the Rashtrakutas dynasty, the Chalukya dynasty, Andhrabrityas, the Yadavas of Devagiri etc. It was under Maratha rule when it finally came under the control of the British. The district has played a rather important part in the freedom movement, as a number of revolutionary leaders hail from the district. Many famous leaders were also kept confined in the Ahmadnagar fort, and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wrote his famous work "Discovery of India" while he was imprisoned here in the fort. The flag on independent India was hoisted for the first time in the fort of Ahmadnagar.
Geography of Ahmadnagar District
The whole district forms part of the great trap region of the Deccan. Throughout Ahmadnagar, the trap rock is distinctly stratified and, as in the rest of the Deccan, the alternative belts of basalt and amygdaloid preserve a striking parallelism to each other .There are various land forms in Ahmadnagar district. There are hilly off-shoots of the Sahyadris in the western part of he district. In the northern part of the district, plains are found along the banks of the Godavari River and Pravara River and in the southern part, along the rivers Bhima, Sina and Ghod River.
The different land forms in a region constitute its physical setup. If we consider the physical setup of Ahmadnagar district we see that there are three physical divisions
1. Western Hilly Region
2. Central Plateau Region
3. The region of northern and southern plains
The important rivers flowing through the district are Paravara River, Mula River, Sina River and Dhora River. Pravara is a tributary of the Godavari River. Waters of the river Pravara fall from a great height creating the Randha Falls.
