District Profile

Nandurbar is an administrative district in the northwest corner (Khandesh Region) of Maharashtra state in India . On 1 July 1998 Dhule was bifurcated as two separate districts now known as Dhule and Nandurbar. The district headquarters are located at Nandurbar city. The district occupies an area of 5955 km² and has a population of 16,48,295 of which 15.45% were urban (as of 2001)Nandurbar district is bounded to the south and south-east by Dhule district, to the west and north is the state of Gujarat, to the north and north-east is the state of Madhya Pradesh. The northern boundary of the district is defined by the great Narmada river.

Divisions

The district comprises 6 talukas. These talukas are Akkalkuwa, Akrani Mahal (also called Dhadgaon), Taloda, Shahada, Nandurbar and Navapur. There is one Lok Sabha constituency in the district which is Nandurbar (ST) reserved for ST. There are four Maharashtra Assembly seats namely Akkalkuwa (ST), Shahada (ST), Nandurbar (ST), Nawapur (ST).Sakri (ST) and Shirpur (ST) assembly seats from Dhule district are also part of Nandurbar Lok Sabha seat. Nandurbar is primarily a tribal (Adiwasi) district.

History

Before 1 July 1998 Nandurbar was part of the larger Dhule district. Nandurbar, Dhule and Jalgaon districts formed what was known as the Khandesh district. Dhule was known as the west Khandesh whereas Jalgaon was known as the east Khandesh. So, much of history applicable to Khandesh and Dhule, is applicable to Nandurbar. Nandurbar is also known as Nandanagri as the king Named Nandaraja was the ruler of this territory. The ancient name of this region was Rasika. It is bounded on the east by Berar (ancient Vidarbha), on the north by the Nemad district (ancient Anupa) and on the south by the Aurangabad (ancient Mulaka) and Bhir (ancient Asmaka) districts. Later the country came to be called as Seunadesa after king, Seunchandra of the Early Yadava dynasty, who ruled over it. Subsequently, its name was changed to Khandesh to suit the title Khan given to the Faruqi kings by Ahmad I of Gujarat.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Nandurbar District had a population of 16,48,295, being 50.62% male and 49.38% female. Nandurbar District has an average literacy rate of 46.63%: male literacy is 55.11%, and female literacy is 37.93%.

Languages

Languages spoken include Ahirani, a Kandeshi tongue with approximately 780,000 speakers, similar to Marathi and Bhili. and Pauri Bareli, a Bhil language with approximately 175 000 speakers, written in the Devanagari script Others are: Marathi, Various Bhili languages, Gujarati and Hindi. Ahirani is a sub language of Marathi.

Climate

The Climate of Nandurbar District is generally Hot and Dry. As the rest of India Nandurbar District has three distinct seasons; Summer, Monsoon/Rainy and the Winter season.Summer is from March to mid of June. Summers are usually hot and dry. During the month of May the summer is at its peak. Temperatures can be as high as 45° Celsius during the peak of Summer. The Monsoon sets in during the mid or end of June. During this season the weather is usually humid and hot. The northern and western regions receive more rainfall than the rest of the region. The average rainfall is 767 mm through the district. Winter is from the month of November to February. Winters are mildly cold but dry.