Nagpur is a city in the state of Maharashtra. It is the largest city in central India. It is also the third largest city by population in the state of Maharashtra. Nagpur UA with a population of around 2,420,000; is the 13th largest urban conglomeration in India and 114th largest city in world. It ranks as 143rd largest urban area in world in terms of population. It is the seat of annual winter session of Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha. The city is the commercial and political center of the state's eastern Vidarbha region. Nagpur lies in central India with Zero mile marker, (indicating the geographical center of India) located here. City was founded by Gond people but later became part of Maratha Empire under the Bhonsles. British East India Company took over the city in 19th century and made it the capital of Central Provinces and Berar. After first state reorganisation, it lost the capital status but was made the second capital of Maharashtra. Nagpur is the headquarter for Hindu nationalist organisation RSS and an important location for the Dalit Buddhist movement. Nagpur is situated at the cross-roads of India's North-South and East-West routes by road, rail and air.
The Nag River, which is a tributary of the Kanhan River, flows in a serpentine path and so got its name, "Nag", the Marathi word for Cobra. The river flows through the old city of Nagpur and so the city derived its name from this river, 'Nag'+'pur'. "Pur" is common suffix given to cities, villages and towns across India, and is often simply translated "city". The seal of Nagpur Municipal Corporation depicts a cobra in the water of a river. Nagpur is famous for growing oranges from which it derives it's nickname Orange city.
Human existence around present day Nagpur city can be traced back 3000 years to 8th century BC. Mehir burial sites at Drugdhamna(near Mhada colony) indicate megalithic culture existed around Nagpur and is still followed in present times. 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 grant of a village situated in the visaya (district) of Nagpura-Nandivardhana during time of Rastrakuta king Krsna III in the Saka year 862 (940 CE). Towards the end of third century King Vindhyasakti is known to have ruled the Nagpur region.
Recent history ascribes the founding of Nagpur to Bakht Buland, a prince of the Gond kingdom of Deogarh in the Chhindwara district. In 1743, the Maratha leader Raghoji Bhonsle of Vidarbha established himself at Nagpur, after conquering the territories of Deogarh, Chanda and Chhattisgarh by 1751. After Raghoji's death in 1755, his son and successor Janoji was forced to acknowledge the effective supremacy of the Maratha Peshwa of Pune in 1769. Regardless of the military conquests, the Nagpur state continued to grow. Janoji's successor Mudhoji I came to power in 1785 and bought Mandla and the upper Narmada valley from the Peshwa between 1796 and 1798, after which Raghoji II acquired Hoshangabad, the larger part of Saugor and Damoh. Under Raghoji II, Nagpur covered what is now the east of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Nagpur lies on the Deccan plateau of the Indian Peninsula and has a mean altitude of 310 meters above sea level. The underlying rock strata is 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 city crystalline metamorphic rocks such as gneiss, schist and granites are found, while in the northern part yellowish sand stones and clays of the lower Gondwana formations are found.
As it is located at centre of Indian peninsula far from Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea, Nagpur has a tropical wet and dry climate with dry conditions prevailing for most of the year. Nagpur city receives an annual rainfall of 1,205 mm (47.44 in) from monsoon rains during June to September. The highest recorded rainfall was 304 mm on July 14, 1994. Summers are extremely hot lasting from March to June, with maximum temperatures occurring in May. Winter lasts from November to January, during which temperatures can drop below 10°C (50°F). The highest recorded temperature in the city was 48.6 °C (119.5 °F) on 26 May 1954, while the lowest was 3 °C.
Nagpur is administered by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) which is democratically elected civic governing body. Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) works with NMC and carries out works like development of the civic infrastructure and new urban areas on behalf of NMC. The city is divided in 10 zones which are in turn divided into 136 wards. Each ward is represented by a corporator, majority of whom are elected in local elections.
Nagpur is an important city for the Indian armed forces. The city is the headquarters of Maintenance Command of Indian Air Force. The Indian Army's Ordinance factory and staff college are located in the western part of the city. Nagpur's suburb Kamptee has cantonment of Regimental center of Indian Army's Brigade made up of National Cadet Corps' Officers' Training School, Institute of Military Law and other establishments. Nagpur's National Civil Defense College provides civil defense and disaster management training to pupils from all over India and abroad. Indian Air Force's giant IL-76 transport planes nicknamed "Gajraj" are also based in Nagpur.
Alphabetical Listings of Hotels in Nagpur
ALPHABETICAL LISTINGS OF HOTELS IN NAGPUR (PREPAYMENT BASIS)
ALL RATES DISPLAYED ARE EXCLUSIVE OF TAXES AND SERVICE CHARGE
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