Nagpur

Nagpur, in eastern Maharashtra, has a long history shaped by trade routes, forests and changing kingdoms. The wider region was once part of ancient Vidarbha/Mahakoshal, mentioned in early Indian texts, and came under powers like the Satavahanas and Vakatakas. By the medieval period, local Gond chiefs controlled much of the surrounding hills and forests, and a Gond kingdom with its centre at Deogarh (near today’s Chhindwara) dominated the area.

Modern Nagpur really began in the early 18th century, when Raghuji Bhonsle, a Maratha general of the Bhonsle family, established his capital here around 1702–1705. Under the Bhonsle rulers of Nagpur, the city grew into a major centre of the eastern Maratha domains, linking routes toward Bengal, Central India and the Deccan. After the Anglo–Maratha Wars in the early 19th century, Nagpur State was gradually brought under British control and, after the death of the last Bhonsle ruler without an heir, was annexed in 1853 under the Doctrine of Lapse.

Nagpur then became the capital of the Central Provinces, with railways, courts and markets accelerating its growth. In the 20th century it was a focus of political and social movements; in 1956 it briefly served as capital of reorganised Bombay State and later became the second capital of Maharashtra, known today for oranges, industry and its central location.