Dhule-District

District Dhule part of Khandesh situated at north west corner of Maharashtra along the borders of Madhya Pradesh and Gujrat. It is included in survey of India Toposheet No. 46 G, H, L, K and O. District is bordered by Madhya Pradesh towards north, Nandurbar towards west Jalgaon towards east and Nashik towards south. The district head quarters is located on confluence of NH-3 and NH-6.

The District of Dhulia was previously known as WEST KHANDESH. 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 rule over it. Subsequently its name was changed to Khandes to suit the title Khan given to the Faruqi kings by Ahmad I of Gujarat. It became part of the Mughal Empire in 1601, during the regime of Akbar. In the 18th century Dhule came under the Maratha regime till 1818, after being taken over by the British,

Khandesh mainly comprises of two districts Dhulia and Jalgaon and the three talukas Malegaon, Nandgaon and Baglan of Nashik District with headquarter at Dhulia. In 1869 the three talukas above referred were transferred to the newly formed district Nashik. In the year 1906 for administrative purposes, the Khandesh was divided in to two districts known as West Khandesh and East Khandesh. West Khandesh retaining Dhulia, Nandurbar, Navapur, Peta, Pimpalner, Shahada, Shirpur, Sindkheda and Taloda talukas of the old khandesh district. In the year 15th Aug 1900 Dhule-Chalisgaon Railway was started.

In 1960 Dhule becomes a part of Maharashtra state from old Bombay state. From 1st – July – 1998 Dhule District in divided in two districts Viz.Dhule and Nandurbar. The Nandurbar is created as a new district. The District Dhule is now having Four Talukas Viz. Dhule, Sakri, Shirpur and Shindkheda with Headquarter at Dhule

District Dhule is mainly famous for it’s tribal culture and Ahirani language, which is a major dilect of Marathi. After creation of Nandurbar district major tribal portion comes under Nandurbar district it’s reminennts founds in some parts of Shirpur and Sakri talukas of Dhule district, where mainly Kokani, Mavachi, Bhil and Pawara lives. Their main festival is ?Holi? and it is famous for ?Bhongrya Bajar?. Holi, Akshay Tritiya and Pola are the main festivals of the District.

In Dhule district there are four forts two of which are quite famous. In Songir village of Shindkhede tahsil one hilly fort called Songir fort is located which is famous for Govind Maharaj Samadhi. Anorther fort is located in village Thalner of Shirpur tahsil, which is a land fort, located on bank of river Tapi and was capital of Faruqui Kings of Khandesh. There are two other forts in District mainly Laling and Bhamer. Many ancient temples are present in Shindkheda tahsil.

Dhule city is mainly famous for Rajawade Museum founded by famous historion Shri V.K. Rajawade. Ancient sculptures, and many things from Maratha and Mughal period have been displayed in the museum, which was collected by Mr. Rajawade himself.

The most important thing for which Dhule is world famous is it’s unique irrigation and water conservation system called as ?Phad Bandaras?. These are basically diversion bandaras. Water is diverted through fields by means of canal system and again released in river. This system is very ancient and according to the record it’s origin ways back to more than 1000 years. There are in all 36 phad bandharas present in district and many of them are in quire good condition and are working.

Dhule district created history by successful implementation of River linking Project first time in the country.

For Administrative purpose district is divided in to two revenue sub divisions namely Dhule and Shirpur

Climate of the district is hot and dry with average annual rainfall of 512 mm. Maximum temperature is 45 c and minimum temperature is 7 c. Out of 4 tahasils Shindkheda, Dhule and Sakri are comes under drought prone areas.

Geographically and geomorphologically district is divided into 3 divisions that are as follows.
1) Northern mountain ranges (Satpuda mountain ranges)
2) Central plain alluvium area (Tapi alluvium)
3) South-West hilly area (Satamala mountain)

Main Basin – Dhule district is a part of Tapi Basin, which flows from East to west.

Sub-Basin – In district Panjhara, Aner, Burai, Arunavati and Gomati are tributaries of Tapi flows mostly towards north.

Mountain Ranges – Due north of district Satpuda mountain ranges are present and towards southwest Satmala and offshoot of Western Ghats are presents.

93 % land of district is made-up from Deccan Trap Basalt and remaining 7 % is from Tapi alluvium. In Deccan trap region mainly massive basalt, Porphyritica basalt, amygdaloidal basalt and zeolitic basalt are present. Dhule, Sakri southern part of Shindkheda and northern part of Shirpur is made from these rocks. While southern part of Shirpur and northern part of Shindakheda are made from Tapi alluvium. In this area land is made up of fine soil mixed with sand and boulders of different sizes. Hydrologically district is divided into three parts that are as follows.

Table – 2 Hydrogelogical Divisions

Out of four thasils three thasils are come under drought prone area. Scarcity is one of the main concerns of district authority in summer season. Entire Shindkheda tahasil and some parts of Dhule tahsil are susceptible to scarcity.

Dhule is the part of Tapi basin and it marks the boundary between Shindkheda and Shirpur tahasil. In rainy season during heavy rainfall villages along tapi bank from northern Shindkheda and southern Shirpur get heavily affected due to flood.