05/04/2013
HISTORY OF AKOLA:
Akola has been a part of India's mythological past. The place is mentioned as a part of the Berar province and the legendary kingdom of Vidarbha in the Mahabharata. Berar also formed a part of the Mauryan Empire during the reign of Ashoka (272 to 231 BCE). The province later came under the rule of the Satavahana dynasty (2nd century BCE-2nd century CE), the Vakatakas (3rd to 6th centuries), the Chalukyan dynasty (6th to 8th centuries), the Rashtrakuta dynasty (8th to 10th centuries). The Chalukyas regained control of the region in the 10th to 12th centuries respectively and finally the Yadava dynasty of Devagiri (late 12th to early 14th centuries). Allauddin Khilji of the Delhi Sultanate conquered the region in the early 14th century that eventually became a part of the Bahmani Sultanate, which broke away from the Delhi Sultanate in the mid-14th century. The Bahmani Sultanate broke up into smaller sultanates at the end of the 15th century, and in 1572 Berar became part of the Nizam Shahi sultanate, based at Ahmednagar. The Nizam Shahs conceded Berar to the Mughal Empire in 1595. The Mughals ruled the province during 17th century. As Mughal rule started to unravel at the start of the 18th century, Asaf Jah I, Nizam of Hyderabad seized the southern provinces of the empire (including Berar) in 1724, forming an independent state.
The rise of Maratha Empire from 1674 to 1760 saw the region coming under the command of Chhatrapati Shivaji succeeded by his sons. In 1749, at the time of death of Shahu, he appointed Peshwa as the head of the Maratha Empire with certain conditions to follow. The Third battle of Panipat in 1761 crippled the Maratha Empire and corroded the power of Peshwa forever. But still the Berar province remained under the Marathas.
The Battle of Argaon in1803 was fought here between the British and the Marathas during Second Anglo-Maratha War. The Third Anglo-Maratha War saw the defeat of the last Peshwa, Baji Rao II by the British. In 1853, the Akola district together with the rest of Berar came under the administration of the British East India Company. Berar was divided into East and West Berar with Akola district being included in West Berar. In 1903, Berar was leased to the Nizam of Hyderabad by the British East India Company in return of the debt.
After India's Independence in 1947 from British Government the entire India including Berar province was divided in different states and a new Maharashtra state under Government of Maharashtra was formed, with Akola district under it.
