| Ahmednagar | |
| Official Name: | Ahilya Nagar |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Pushpin Map: | Maharashtra #India |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Coordinates: | 19.08°N 74.73°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Type3: | Division |
| Subdivision Name1: | Maharashtra |
| Subdivision Name2: | Ahmednagar |
| Subdivision Name3: | Nashik |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1490 |
| Founder: | Ahmad Nizam Shah I |
| Government Type: | Mayor–Council |
| Governing Body: | Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Rohini Shendage (SS) |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 39.30 |
| Elevation M: | 649 |
| Population Total: | 350905 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Metro Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Rank: | 124th |
| Population Demonym: | AhilyaNagari / Ahilyanagarkar / Ahmednagarkar / Ahmednagari /Nagarkar (Marathi) |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Marathi |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Postal Code: | 414001, 414003 |
| Area Code: | 0241 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone code |
| Registration Plate: | MH-16, MH-17 |
| Leader Title2: | Municipal Commissioner |
Ahmednagar (officially Ahilya Nagar) is a city in, and the headquarters of, the Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India, about 120km (80miles) northeast of Pune and 114km (71miles) from Aurangabad.
Ahmednagar has several dozen buildings and sites from the Nizam Shahi period.[3] Ahmednagar Fort, once considered almost impregnable, was used by the British to house Jawaharlal Nehru (the first prime minister of India) and other Indian Nationalists before Indian independence. A few rooms there have been converted to a museum. During his confinement by the British at Ahmednagar Fort in 1944, Nehru wrote book The Discovery of India.[4] Ahmednagar is home to the Indian Armoured Corps Centre & School (ACC&S), the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre (MIRC), the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) and the Controllerate of Quality Assurance Vehicles (CQAV). Training and recruitment for the Indian Army Armoured Corps takes place at the ACC&S.<ref name="books.google.com">Book: Sainik Samachar: The Pictorial Weekly of the Armed Forces. 1988. 14.
Ahmednagar is a relatively small town and shows less development than the nearby western Maharashtra cities of Mumbai and Pune. Ahmednagar is home to 19 sugar factories and is also the birthplace of the cooperative movement. Due to scarce rainfall, the city often suffers from drought. Marathi is the primary language for daily-life communication. The city administration has recently published a plan of developing the city by year 2031.[5]
Ahmednagar took its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494[6] on the site of a battlefield where he won a battle against superior Bahamani forces.[7] It was close to the site of the village of Bhingar. With the breakup of the Bahmani Sultanate, Ahmad established a new sultanate in Ahmednagar, also known as Nizam Shahi dynasty.[8]
The town Ahmednagar was founded in 1494 by Ahmad Nizam Shah I on the site of a more ancient city, Bhingar.[6] With the breakup of the Bahmani Sultanate, Ahmad established a new sultanate in Ahmednagar, also known as Nizam Shahi dynasty.[9]
It was one of the Deccan sultanates, which lasted until its conquest by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1636. Aurangzeb, the last Mughal emperor, who spent the latter years of his reign, 1681–1707, in the Deccan, died in Ahmednagar and is buried at Khuldabad, near Aurangabad in 1707, with a small monument marking the site.
In 1759, the Peshwa of the Marathas obtained possession of the place from Nizam of Hyderabad and in 1795 it was ceded by the Peshwa to the Maratha chief Daulat Rao Sindhia. In 1803 Ahmednagar was besieged by a British force under Richard Wellesley and captured.[6] It was afterward restored to the Marathas, but again came into the possession of the British in 1817, according to the terms of the Treaty of Poona,[6] and was known as Ahmednuggur.
In 19th century American Christian missionaries opened first modern schools in this town. According to a report there were four girls' school running under the superintendence of Cynthia Farrar around the 1850s. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule visited them and got inspired to open school for girls in Poona. Later, he enrolled his wife Savitribai Phule in Farrar's school in a teacher's training program. Farrar was from America and spent his entire life in Ahmednagar running her schools, these girls' schools were one of the first such kind in the country.[10]
On 31 May 2023, Eknath Shinde (the chief minister of Maharashtra) announced that Ahmednagar would be renamed "Ahilya Nagar", in honour of Ahilyabai Holkar[11] who was Rani of Indore, within the Maratha Confederacy in the late 18th-century. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke at the same meeting, referring to Shinde's government as "pro-Hindutva", and asked Shinde to rename the district "Ahilyanagar"; Shinde replied: "The state government has accepted your demand to rename Ahmednagar as Ahilyadevi Holkar Nagar".[12] The BJP demanded that Ahmednagar be renamed.[13] Rais Shaikh (group leader of the Samajwadi Party in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly) said that "The Maha Yuti government is implementing the 'Yogi pattern' of creating an illusion of development by changing the names of cities without doing anything for development" and accused the government of "distorting history".[14] On 13 March 2024, the Maharashtra state cabinet announced that they had approved the renaming of Ahmednagar at the same time as they announced the renaming of seven railway stations in Mumbai.[15] [13]
Ahmednagar is home to:
Training and recruitment for the Indian Army Armored Corps take place at the ACC&S.Formerly, the city was the Indian base of the British Army's Royal Tank Corps/ Indian Armored Corps, amongst other units. The town houses the second-largest display of military tanks in the world and the largest in Asia.[16]
Situated in the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats, Ahmednagar has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh). The climate is hot throughout the year and sweltering during the pre-monsoon months from March to mid-June, whilst monsoon rainfall averages less than a third of that received in Mumbai and about a tenth what is received in Mahabaleshwar on the crest of the mountains.
As of 2011 Indian census,[17] Ahmednagar had a population of 350,859. Ahmednagar has a sex ratio of 961 females per 1000 males and an average literacy rate of 84%, higher than the national urban average of 79.9%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 68.01% of the population spoke Marathi, 9.43% Hindi, 8.59% Urdu, 4.86% Telugu, 4.31% Marwari, 1.35% Sindhi and 0.95% Gujarati as their first language.[18]
It is 52 km from the Ahilyanagar City
Ahmednagar has 1 airport, the nearest domestic airport at Shirdi at 90km. While the nearest International Airport is at Pune.
Ahmednagar city has air connectivity by Seaplane service. The port for Seaplane is located at the Mula Dam water reservoir, 30 min away from Ahmednagar City. The service offered by Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd. (MEHAIR) from 22 September 2014. Ongoing Flight is available from Juhu, Mumbai to Mula Dam.
See main article: Ahmednagar Junction railway station.
Ahmednagar railway station (station code:ANG) belongs to Solapur Division of Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Ahmednagar has rail connectivity with Pune, Manmad, Kopargaon, Shirdi, Daund, Goa, Nasik and other metro-cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Ahmedabad. 41 express trains stop at this station. There is still a demand for direct rail connectivity to other major cities of India.[24] Ahmednagar station will now be a part of the Pune railway division. 24 stations of the Daund-Ankai section will be merged with Pune railway division. The Daund-Ankai section is currently under the management of the Solapur railway division. The change to the Pune division will increase the chances of starting demu services between Ahmednagar and Pune stations.[25]
One of the oldest and important railway project of Ahmednagar railway station was kalyan-Ahmednagar railway project which was in planning stage since British regime. It was referred as 3rd ghat project. The survey of this project was carried out in 1973, 2000, 2006, 2014 etc. This project was in pink book in 2010. Unfortunately this project could not be completed. The alignment length of this project was 184 km and it could have been shortest route for Marathwada, Andhra and Telangana. The major challenge for this project was proposed 18.96 km tunnel in malshej ghat section.[26]
Malshej Kriti samiti is following for kalyan ahmednagar railway project. Kalyan-murbad section which is first phase of this project is already under survey stage.[27]
Survey of Ahmednagar-Aurangabad Railway line with 120 km length was also carried out in March 2021. The DPR Report of this project is under preparation.[28]
Ahmednagar-Karmala railway option is also getting explored. Ahmednagar railway station will become an important railway junction in future to the level similar to daund railway junction. Kalyan-Murbad-Ahmednagar line is also possible in future.[29]
Ahmednagar is well connected by road with major cities of Maharashtra and other states. It has 4 lane road connectivity to:
National Highway 222 from Kalyan to Nirmal near Adilabad in Telangana passes through the city. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and different private transport operators provide bus service connecting the city to all parts of the state.
Ahmednagar has 3 main bus stands:
Ahmednagar Municipal Council was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation in 2003. As of 2022, Rohini Shendage of Shiv Sena was the incumbent mayor. Ahmednagar city is represented in the central and state legislatures by the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha and Ahmednagar City Vidhan Sabha seats respectively. The Sitting MP was Dr.Sujay Vikhe Patil as of 2022, while the sitting MLA was Sangram Jagtap.
Internet facilities are provided by several service providers.