Location: Dhule District

Dhule
Dhule district is a district of Maharashtra state in the western region of India. The city of Dhule is the administrative headquarters of the district.
The Dhule district previously comprised tracts of land predominantly inhabited by tribal population. The Dhule district was then bifurcated on 1 July 1998 into two separate districts now known as Dhule and Nandurbar, the latter comprising the tribal region. Agriculture remains the basic profession of the population in this district. Most parts of the district are not under irrigation and thus cultivation heavily depends on regular Monsoon or rainwater. Apart from wheat, bajra, jowar or jwari, onion the most favored commercial crop is cotton. Majority of the population in the rural area speaks Ahirani (a dialect of Marathi) language, however, Marathi is more widely spoken in the urban areas. Around 26.11% population of Dhule district resides in the urban area.
Dhule district is famous for the production of pure milk. Milk cattle used to be fed with cotton pend (cattle feed made by using cotton extract), which would produce rich quality milk. Customers in Delhi once upon a time used to wait for the delivery of milk from here.
Dondaicha in this district is the only town in the State to produce glucose, sugar, and other products from maize. The district is also famous for production and market of chilies.
The Dhule District is a part of Maharashtra’s historical region of Khandesh. Although for the administrative purpose it is now clubbed to Nashik Division.
Population
An official Census 2011 detail of Dhule, a district of Maharashtra has been released by Directorate of Census Operations in Maharashtra. Enumeration of key persons was also done by census officials in Dhule District of Maharashtra.

In 2011, Dhule had a population of 2,050,862 of which male and female were 1,054,031 and 996,831 respectively. In 2001 census, Dhule had a population of 1,707,947 of which males were 878,372 and remaining 829,575 were females. Dhule District population constituted 1.83 percent of total Maharashtra population. In 2001 census, this figure for Dhule District was at 1.76 percent of Maharashtra population.

There was a change of 20.08 percent in the population compared to population as per 2001. In the previous census of India 2001, Dhule District recorded increase of 15.94 percent to its population compared to 1991.
Climate
Dhule’s climate is a local steppe climate. In Dhule, there is little rainfall throughout the year. The climate here is classified as BSh by the Koppen-Geiger system. The temperature here averages 26.9 °C. In a year, the average rainfall is 612 mm.
History
The district of Dhulia was previously known as West Khandesh district. 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 the 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 King Ahmad I of Gujarat. Until the beginning of the 19th century, Dhule was an insignificant village, subordinate to Laling, the capital of the Laling or Fatehabad Subdivision. Under the rule of the Nizam, Laling was incorporated with the District of Daulatabad. The town passed successively through the hands of the Arab kings, the Mughals, and the Nizam, and into the power of the Peshwas about 1795. In 1803, it was completely deserted by its inhabitants on account of the ravages of Holkar and the terrible famine of that year. In the following year, Balaji Balwant, a dependant of the Vinchurkar, to whom the Parganas of Laling and Songir had been granted by the Peshwa, repeopled the town, and received from the Vinchurkar, in return for his services, a grant of inam land and other privileges. He was subsequently entrusted with the entire management of the territory of Songir and Laling and fixed his headquarters at Dhule, where he continued to exercise authority till the occupation of the country by the British in 1818. Dhule was immediately chosen as the headquarters of the newly formed District of Khandesh by Captain John Briggs. In January 1819, he obtained sanction for building public offices for the transaction of revenue and judicial business. Artificers were brought from distant places, and the buildings were erected at a total cost of £2700. Every encouragement was offered to traders and others to settle in the new town. Building sites were granted rent-free in perpetuity, and advances were made both to the old inhabitants and strangers to enable them to erect substantial houses. At this time, Captain Briggs described Dhule as a small town, surrounded by garden cultivation, and shut in between an irrigation channel and the river. The town was located on the southern bank of the Panzara River with an area of about one square mile. In 1819, the population numbered only 2509 persons, living in 401 houses. In 1863, there were 10,000 inhabitants; while by 1872 the number had further increased to 12,489, with 2620 houses. From the date of its occupation by the British, the progress of Dhule had been steady. Towards the end of the 19th century the town had already become significant trading center due to the trade in cotton and linseed. Coarse cotton, woolen cloths, and turbans were manufactured for local use around this time. In 1872, Dhule was visited by a severe flood, which did much damage to houses and property.
Dhule was a cantonment town, and in the year 1881 had two hospitals, telegraph and post offices. In 1873-74 there were four Government schools, with 551 pupils. Historically, the town has been divided into New and Old Dhule. In the latter, the houses were irregularly built, the majority being of a very humble description.
Transportation
Air
Dhule Airport is located in the Gondur area of Dhule city. It has a runway 1,400 meters (4,600 ft) long. Nearby airports with scheduled services are at Aurangabad (148 km), Pune (340 km), and Mumbai (350 km). Dhule airport has provided the facility of Aircraft Training and Pilot training.
Rail
Dhule Railway Station is connected to Chalisgaon Junction Railway Station under Central Railways. The Chalisgaon Dhule Passenger runs between the two stations four times a day. The train also carries reserved coaches for Mumbai and Pune, which are connected to another train from Chalisgaon onwards.
Road
Dhule is one of the few cities in the Maharashtra State which is located on the junction of three National Highways, these being NH-3, NH-6and NH-211. Through the Asian Highway project, portions of NH3 and NH6 passing through Dhule have been converted into numbered Asian Highways AH47 & AH46 respectively.
Due to the heavy use of Central Bus Stand and traffic congestion within the city, one more bus stand has been built in Deopur, which became fully operational from March 23, 2015. From this stand, about 120 route buses are running on a daily basis. Central Bus Stand is connected to Deopur Bus Stand by four 25 seater mini-buses by Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). These buses run from Central Bus Stand to Nagav and from Deopur Bus Stand to Laling. Recognizing ongoing expansion of the city limits and the increased population, Shri Annasaheb Misal (IAS), The Collector & District Magistrate of Dhule and Shri Rajendra Deore (Dhule Depot Controller) of MSRTC started city-bus services in July 2016. This service is available on four different routes – Laling to Nagav, Fagne to Morane, Walwadi to Vadjai, and CBS to Chakkar Bardi.

Place of Interest
• Indave, Dhule
• Datta Mandir, Dhule
• Krishna Temple, Dhule
• Shri Samartha Vagdevta Mandir, Dhule
• Thalner, Dhule
• Nizampur, Dhule
• Shirud, Dhule
• Songir, Dhule
• Laling, Dhule
• Bodgaon, Dhule
• Bhamer, Dhule
• Amali, Dhule
• Akkalkotche Swami Samartha Mandir, Dhule
• Deopur Church, Dhule
• Durga Mata Mandir, Dhule
• Gajanan Maharaj Temple, Dhule
• Ganpati Temple, Dhule
• Goru Datta Mandir, Dhule
• Hanuman Mandir, Dhule
• Hinglag Mata Mandir, Dhule.