Wardha district

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Wardha.

Wardha District (Marathi pronunciation: [ʋəɾd̪ʰaː]) is in the state of Maharashtra in western India. This district is a part of Nagpur Division. The city of Wardha is the administrative headquarter of the district. Hinganghat, Pulgaon, Arvi and Wardha are the major cities in the District. The District had a population of 1,300,774, of which 26.28% were urban as of 2011.

Wardha District
District of Maharashtra
Clockwise from top-left: Chilla Palace , Hut at Bapu Kuti in Sevagram, Tomb in Paunar Fort, Panchadhara Temple, Tiger in Bor Wildlife Sanctuary
Location in Maharashtra
Wardha district
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
Division	Nagpur
Headquarters	Wardha
Tehsils	1. Wardha, 2. Deoli, 3. Seloo, 4. Arvi 5. Ashti 6. Karanja 7. Hinganghat, 8. Samudrapur.
Government
• Body	Wardha Zilla Parishad
• Guardian Minister	Sudhir Mungantiwar Cabinet Minister
• President Zilla Parishad	President NA' Vice-President NA
• District Collector	Rahul Kardile (IAS)
• CEO Zilla Parishad	Jitin Rahman (IAS)
• MPs	Amar Sharadrao Kale (NCP(SP)) (Wardha)
Area
• Total	6,310 km2 (2,440 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	1,300,774
• Density	210/km2 (530/sq mi)
Demographics
• Literacy	86.99%
• Sex ratio	946:1000 (Female:Male)
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (IST)
Major highways	NH7(Hinganghat)
Average annual precipitation	1062.8 mm
Website	wardha.gov.in/en/

Officer

Members of Parliament

• Amar Sharadrao Kale (NCP - Sharad Pawar)
  (Wardha)

Guardian Minister

Guardian Minister Wardha
Emblem of India
Incumbent Sudhir Mungantiwar Cabinet Minister since 4 October 2023
Style	The Honourable
Residence	Wardha
Appointer	Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Term length	5 years / No time limit
Website	wardha.gov.in/en/

list of Guardian Minister

Name	Term of office
Sachin Ahir Cabinet Minister	11 November 2010– 26 September 2014
Sudhir Mungantiwar Cabinet Minister	5 December 2014 - 8 November 2019
Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar Cabinet Minister	9 January 2020 - 29 June 2022
Devendra Fadnavis Deputy Chief Minister	24 September 2022- 4 October 2023
Sudhir Mungantiwar Cabinet Minister	4 October 2023 - Incumbent

District Magistrate/Collector

District Magistrate / Collector Wardha
Emblem of India
Incumbent Rahul Kardile (IAS) since March 2021
Residence	At Wardha district
Appointer	Government of Maharashtra
Term length	No time limit
Website	wardha.gov.in/en/

list of District Magistrate / Collector

Name	Term of office
Rahul Kardile (IAS)	March 2021 - Incumbent

History

The history of the Wardha district dates back to ancient times. It was included in the empires of the Mauryas, Shungas, Satavahanas and Vakatakas. Pravarpur, now modern-day Pavnar, was once the capital of the Vakataka dynasty. Vakatakas were contemporaries of the Imperial Guptas. The daughter of Chandragupta II, Prabhavatigupta, was married to the Vakataka ruler Rudrasena II. The Vakataka Dynasty lasted from the 2nd to the 5th centuries AD. Their state stretched from the Arabian Sea in the west to The Bay of Bengal in the east and from The Narmada River in the north to The Krishna-Godavari Delta in the south.

Later on, Wardha was ruled by the Chalukyas, The Rashtrakutas, The Yadavas, The Delhi Sultanate, The Bahamani Sultanate, The Muslim ruler of Berar, The Gonds and The Marathas. Raja Buland Shah of Gond and Raghuji of Bhonsale were the prominent rulers in the medieval period.

Ashti town in Wardha district was ruled by the Mughals in the guidance of Nawab Muhammad Khan Niazi who was Subedar and Mansabdar in the Mughal empire in the reign of Emperor Akbar he got Ashti as a Jaageer. Nawab Ahmad Khan Niazi was the elder son of Nawab Muhammad Khan Niazi who also served as Mansabdar and Jagirdar in the Mughal court in the reign of Emperor Jahangir he got Ashti as Pergana as his ancestral property. Ahmad Khan Niazi defeated Rahim Khan Dakhni and captured Ellichpur from the Berar empire for the Mughals.

In the 1850s, Wardha, then a part of Nagpur, fell into the hands of the British. They included Wardha in the Central Province. Wardha is a sister city for Sevagram and both were used as major centers for the Indian Independence Movement, especially as headquarters for an annual meet of the Indian National Congress in 1934 and Mahatma Gandhi's Ashram.

The existing Wardha district was a part of Nagpur district till 1862. Further, it was separated for convenient administrative purposes and Kawatha near Pulgaon was the district headquarters. In the year 1866, the district headquarters moved to Palakwadi village which was rebuilt as Wardha city.

Central Ammunition Depot in Pulgaon city of Wardha District is the second-largest ammunition depot in Asia.

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1901	386,012	—
1911	460,775	+1.79%
1921	463,696	+0.06%
1931	516,266	+1.08%
1941	519,330	+0.06%
1951	538,903	+0.37%
1961	634,277	+1.64%
1971	779,562	+2.08%
1981	926,618	+1.74%
1991	1,067,357	+1.42%
2001	1,236,736	+1.48%
2011	1,300,774	+0.51%
source:[1]

Religions in Wardha district (2011)[2]
Religion			Percent
Hinduism			81.27%
Buddhism			13.49%
Islam			4.14%
Jainism			0.44%
Other or not stated			0.66%

According to the 2011 census, Wardha district has a population of 1,300,774,^[3] roughly equal to the nation of Mauritius^[4] or the US state of New Hampshire.^[5] This gives it a ranking of 377th in India (out of a total of 640).^[3] The district has a population density of 205 inhabitants per square kilometre (530/sq mi) .^[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 4.8%.^[3] Wardha has a sex ratio of 946 females for every 1000 males,^[3] and a literacy rate of 87.22%. 32.54% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 14.52% and 11.49% of the population respectively.^[3]

In Hinduism, most of the people belongs to castes Kshatriya Pawar (Bhoyar Pawar), Rajput, Sindhi, Brahmin, Maratha, Kunbi, Teli, Mali etc.

Census year	Total	Male	Female	Change	Religion (%)
					Hindu	Muslim	Buddhist	Jain	Other
2001[6]	1236736	638990	597746	-	81.362	3.849	13.712	0.484	0.593
2011[7]	1300774	668385	632389	5.178	81.267	4.140	13.486	0.435	0.672

Languages of Wardha district (2011)^[8]

1. Marathi (87.8%)
2. Hindi (6.88%)
3. Urdu (1.26%)
4. Others (4.08%)

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 87.78% of the population in the district spoke Marathi, 6.88% Hindi and 1.26% Urdu as their first language. Members of the Kshatriya Pawar (Bhoyar Pawar) caste also speak Bhoyari or Pawari language.^[8]

Politics

Lok Sabha Seat

• Wardha = Amar Kale (NCPSP)

Assembly Seats

• Wardha = Pankaj Rajesh Bhoyar (BJP)
• Deoli = Rajesh Bakane (BJP)
• Arvi = Sumit Wankhade (BJP)
• Hinganghat = Samir Trambakrao Kunawar (BJP)

Prominent people

• Abdul Shafee, Senior Politician of Indian National Congress
• Baba Amte, India's Social and moral leader (born 24 December 1914 ) at Hinganghat
• Vinoba Bhave, Freedom fighter and social worker
• Jamnalal Bajaj, Freedom Fighter
• Abhay and Rani Bang, Social Workers, rendering medical services to the poor adiwasi people of Gadchiroli district.
• Sindhutai Sapkal, A Social Activist and Social Worker, working for orphans.

Geographical indication

Waigaon Turmeric was awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) status tag from the Geographical Indications Registry, under the Union Government of India, on 3 June 2016 (valid until 25 March 2034).^[9]

Waigaon Halad Utpadak Sangh from Samudrapur, proposed the GI registration of Waigaon Turmeric. After filing the application in March 2014, the Turmeric was granted the GI tag in 2016 by the Geographical Indication Registry in Chennai, making the name "Waigaon Turmeric" exclusive to the Turmeric grown in the region.^[10] It thus became the first Turmeric variety from Maharashtra before Sangli Turmeric and the 21st type of goods from Maharashtra to earn the GI tag.