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Nagpur is the largest and most populous city in central India. It is the second capital and the third-largest city of the Indian state Maharashtra. Also known as the "Orange City", Nagpur is the 13th largest city in India by population. Nagpur is the seat of the annual winter session of the Maharashtra state assembly, and is a major commercial and political centre of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The regional branch of the Bombay High Court is also situated within the city.
The city was founded in 1702 by the Gond king Bakht Buland Shah of Deogarh and later became a part of the Maratha Empire under the Bhonsle dynasty. The British East India Company took over Nagpur in the 19th century and made it the capital of the Central Provinces and Berar. After the first re-organisation of states, the city lost its status as the capital. Following the informal Nagpur Pact between political leaders, it was made the second capital of Maharashtra.
Nagpur is famous for Nagpur oranges and is sometimes known as the Orange City for being a major trade centre of oranges cultivated in a large part of the region. It has been called the Tiger Capital of India or the Tiger Gateway of India as many tiger reserves are located in and around the city and also hosts the regional office of National Tiger Conservation Authority. The city derives unique importance from being a key location for the Dalit Buddhist movement and the headquarters for the right-wing Hindu-nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Nagpur is also known for the Deekshabhoomi, which is graded an A-class tourism and pilgrimage site, the largest hollow stupa out of all of the Buddhist stupas in the world.
According to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to be the fifth fastest growing city in the world from 2019 to 2035 with an average growth of 8.41%. It has been proposed as one of the Smart Cities in Maharashtra and is one of the top ten cities in India in Smart City Project execution. In a survey by ABP News-Ipsos, Nagpur was identified as the best city in India topping in livability, greenery, public transport, and Health Care indices in 2013. The city was adjudged the 20th cleanest city in India and the top mover in the western zone as per Swachh Sarvekshan 2016. It was awarded as the best city for innovation and best practice in Swachh Sarvekshan 2018. It was also declared as open defecation free in January 2018 under Swachh Bharat Mission. In addition, it is one of the safest cities for women in India. Furthermore, the city ranked 25th in Ease of Living index 2020 among 111 cities in India. It was also ranked the 8th most competitive city in the country by the Institute for Competitiveness for the year 2017.
Nagpur is named after the Nag River which flows through the city. The old Nagpur city (today called 'Mahal') is situated on north banks of the river Nag. Pur means "city" in many Indian languages.
One of the earlier names of Nagpur was "Fanindrapura". It derives its origin from the Marathi word phaṇa (transl. hood of a cobra). Nagpur's first newspaper was named Fanindramani, which means a jewel that is believed to be suspended over a cobra's hood. It is this jewel that lights up the darkness, hence the name of the newspaper. B. R. Ambedkar claimed that both the city and the river are named after the 'Nags' who were opponents of the Indo-Aryans. During British rule, the name of the city was spelt and pronounced as "Nagpore".
Human existence around present-day Nagpur can be traced back 3000 years to the 8th century BCE. Mehir burial sites at the Drugdhamna (near the Mhada colony) indicate that the megalithic culture existed around Nagpur and is still followed. The first reference to the name "Nagpur" is found in a 10th-century copper-plate inscription discovered at Devali in the neighbouring Wardha District. The inscription is a record of the grant of a village situated in the Visaya (district) of Nagpura-Nandivardhana during the time of the Rastrakuta king Krsna III in the Saka year 862 (940 CE).
Towards the end of the 3rd century, King Vindhyasakti is known to have ruled the Nagpur region. In the 4th century, the Vakataka Dynasty ruled over the Nagpur region and surrounding areas and had good relations with the Gupta Empire. The Vakataka king Prithvisena I moved his capital to Nagardhan (ancient name Nandivardhana), 38 km (24 mi) from Nagpur. After the Vakatakas, the region came under the rule of the Hindu kingdoms of the Badami Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas. The Paramaras or Panwars of Malwa appear to have controlled the Nagpur region in the 11th century. A prashasti inscription of the Paramara king Lakshmadeva (r. c. 1086–1094) was found at Nagpur. Subsequently, the region came under the Yadavas of Devagiri. In 1296, Allauddin Khilji invaded the Yadava Kingdom after capturing Deogiri, after which the Tughlaq Dynasty came to power in 1317.
In the 17th century, the Mughal Empire conquered the region, however during Mughal era, regional administration was carried out by the Gond kingdom of Deogarh in the Chhindwara district of the modern-day state of Madhya Pradesh. In the 18th century, Bhonsles of the Maratha Empire established the Nagpur kingdom based in the city.
The Gond king Bakht Buland Shah founded the city of Nagpur in 1702 by joining the twelve small villages formerly known as Rajapur Barsa or Barasta. An able administrator, he incentivised large-scale immigration of Marathi Hindu cultivators to increase economic activity. After Bhakt Buland Shah, the next Raja of Deogarh was Chand Sultan, who resided principally in the country below the hills, fixing his capital at Nagpur, which he turned into a walled town. On Chand Sultan's death in 1739, Wali Shah, an illegitimate son of Bakht Buland, usurped the throne and Chand Sultan's widow invoked the aid of the Maratha leader Raghoji Bhosale of Berar in the interest of her sons Akbar Shah and Burhan Shah. The usurper was put to death and the rightful heirs were placed on the throne. After 1743, a series of Maratha rulers came to power, starting with Raghoji Bhosale, who conquered the territories of Deogarh, Chanda and Chhattisgarh by 1751.
Nagpur was burnt substantially in 1765 and again partially in 1811 by marauding Pindaris. However, the development of the city of Nagpur continued. In 1803 Raghoji II Bhosale joined the Peshwa against the British in the Second Anglo-Maratha War, but the British prevailed. After Raghoji II's death in 1816, his son Parsaji was deposed and murdered by Mudhoji II Bhosale. Despite the fact that he had entered into a treaty with the British in the same year, Mudhoji joined the Peshwa in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1817 against the British but suffered a defeat at Sitabuldi in present-day Nagpur. The fierce battle was a turning point as it laid the foundations of the downfall of the Bhosales and paved the way for the British acquisition of Nagpur city. Mudhoji was deposed after a temporary restoration to the throne, after which the British placed Raghoji III Bhosale, the grandchild of Raghoji II, on the throne. During the rule of Raghoji III (which lasted until 1840), the region was administered by a British resident. In 1853, the British took control of Nagpur after Raghoji III died without leaving an heir.
From 1853 to 1861, the Nagpur Province (which consisted of the present Nagpur region, Chhindwara, and Chhattisgarh) became part of the Central Provinces and Berar and came under the administration of a commissioner under the British central government, with Nagpur as its capital. Berar was added in 1903. The advent of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIP) in 1867 spurred its development as a trade centre. Tata group started its first textile mill at Nagpur, formally known as Central India Spinning and Weaving Company Ltd. The company was popularly known as "Empress Mills" as it was inaugurated on 1 January 1877, the day queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India.
The non-co-operation movement was launched in the Nagpur session of 1920. The city witnessed a Hindu–Muslim riot in 1923 which had profound impact on K. B. Hedgewar, who in 1925 founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a public serves organisation in Mohitewada Mahal, Nagpur with an idea of creating a Hindu Rashtra. After the 1927 Nagpur riots RSS gained further popularity in Nagpur and the organisation grew nationwide.
After India gained independence in 1947, Central Provinces and Berar became a province of India. In 1950, the Central Provinces and Berar was reorganised as the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, with Nagpur as its capital. When the Indian states were reorganised along linguistic lines in 1956, Nagpur and Berar regions were transferred to the state of Bombay, which was split into the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960. At a formal public ceremony held on 14 October 1956 in Nagpur, B. R. Ambedkar and his supporters converted to Buddhism, which started the Dalit Buddhist movement that is still active. In 1994, the city of Nagpur witnessed its most violent day in modern times: in the Gowari stampede, police fired on Gowari protestors demanding Scheduled Tribe status and caused a mass panic.
Nagpur completed 300 years of establishment in the year 2002. A big celebration was organised to mark the event.
Nagpur is located at the exact centre of the Indian subcontinent, close to the geometric centre of the quadrilateral connecting the four major metros of India, viz. Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata. The city has the Zero Mile Stone locating the geographical centre of India, which was used by the British to measure all distances within the Indian subcontinent. The city lies on the Deccan Plateau of the Indian subcontinent and has a mean altitude of 310.5 meters above sea level. The underlying rock strata are covered with alluvial deposits resulting from the flood plain of the Kanhan River. In some places, these give rise to granular, sandy soil. In low-lying areas, which are poorly drained, the soil is alluvial clay with poor permeability characteristics. In the eastern part of the city, crystalline metamorphic rocks such as gneiss, schist and granites are found, while in the northern part, yellowish sandstones and clays of the lower Gondwana formations are found. Nagpur city is dotted with natural and artificial lakes. The largest lake is Ambazari Lake. Other natural lakes include Gorewada Lake and Telankhedi lake. Sonegaon and Gandhisagar Lakes are artificial, created by the city's historical rulers. Nag river, Pilli Nadi, and nallas form the natural drainage pattern for the city. Nagpur is known for its greenery and was adjudged the cleanest and second greenest in India after Chandigarh in 2010.
Nagpur has tropical wet and dry climate (Aw in Köppen climate classification) with dry conditions prevailing for most of the year. It receives about 163 mm of rainfall in June. The amount of rainfall is increased in July to 294 mm. Gradual decrease of rainfall has been observed from July to August (278 mm) and September (160 mm). The highest recorded daily rainfall was 304 mm on 14 July 1994. Summers are extremely hot, lasting from March to June, with May being the hottest month. Winter lasts from November to February, during which temperatures occasionally drop to 10 °C (50 °F). The highest recorded temperature in the city was 47 °C on 30 May 2024, while the lowest was 3.1 °C on 29 December 2018.
The average number of heat wave days occurring in Nagpur in the summer months of March, April and May is 0.5, 2.4 and 7.2 days, respectively. May is the most uncomfortable and hottest month with, for example, 20 days of heat waves being experienced in 1973, 1988 and 2010. The summer season is characterised by other severe weather activity like thunderstorms, dust storms, hailstorms and squalls. Generally, hailstorms occur during March and dust storms during March and April. These occur infrequently (1 per 10 days). Squalls occur more frequently, with 0.3 per day in March and April rising to 0.8 per day in May. Due to the heat waves in the city the Indian Government with the help of New York-based National Resources Defense Council has launched a heat wave program since March 2016.
Nagpur has been ranked 15th best “National Clean Air City” (under Category 1 >10L Population cities) in India according to 'Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 Results'
As of the 2011 census, Nagpur municipality has a population of 2,405,665. The total population constitute, 1,225,405 males and 1,180,270 females. The total children (ages 0–6) are 247,078, of whom 128,290 are boys and 118,788 are girls. Children form 10.27% of total population of Nagpur. The total number of slums number 179,952, in which 859,487 people reside. This is around 35.73% of the total population of Nagpur. The municipality has a sex ratio of 963 females per 1,000 males and child sex ratio of 926 girls per 1,000 boys. 1,984,123 people are literate, of whom 1,036,097 are male and 948,026 are female. Average literacy rate of Nagpur city are 91.92%. Men are 94.44% and women are 89.31% literate.
Hinduism is the majority religion in Nagpur city with 69.46% followers. Buddhism is the second most popular religion in Nagpur city with 15.57% following it. Nagpur is known for the Buddhist site of Deekshabhoomi. In Nagpur city, Islam is followed by 11.95%, Christianity by 1.15%, Jainism by 0.90% and Sikhism by 0.68%. Around 0.10% stated 'Other Religion' and approximately 0.20% stated 'No Particular Religion'.
Marathi is the most-spoken language, spoken by 60.63% of the population. Hindi and Urdu are the second and third largest languages, spoken by 22.74% and 6.36% of the population respectively. Other languages spoken in Nagpur include Chhattisgarhi (2.29%), Sindhi (1.79%), Gujarati (1.16%) and Punjabi (0.91%). There are also small numbers of Telugu, Bengali and Gondi speakers in the city.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Nagpur”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.