My Hometown Dhule City...

History

Dhule became part of the Mughal Empire in 1601, during the reign of Akbar. In the 18th century Dhule came under Maratha rule. In 1818, Dhule was annexed by the British, and was included in the Bombay Presidency. Dhule city is a well planned city, and it is believed that it was planned by Capt. James Briggs. After Indian independence in 1947, Bombay Presidency became Bombay State, which in 1960 was divided along linguistic lines into the new states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

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 Khandesh to suit the title Khan given to the Faruqi kings by Ahmad I of Gujarat.

Transport

Being situated at the intersection of two National Highways, Dhule is a popular stop for truckers. In the background is pre-historic Laling fort near the city.

The nearest international airport is Mumbai, though it also has its own domestic airport at Gondur (in dismal condition). Dhule also has a distinction of having railway terminus, which is connected to nearest railway junction at Chalisgaon.

While this portion of Maharashtra is of no great significance from point of economics, the single most reason for importance of Dhule to India and Maharashtra is because of its geographical location for road transport industry. Dhule is the city from which the most strategic roads of India criss-cross each other. This is the singular point for road transportation vis-a-vis to Bhusaval or Nagpur in case of Indian Railways. The national highway number 3, popularly known as Mumbai-Agra highway, virtually connects southern India with northern India. And the national highway number 6 on its part connects western India with eastern India. Nearest Airport is Aurangabad (Chikhlthana Airport). It was domenstic airport, but now it's upgraded to International too....

Also, the Mumbai-Agra Highway has 4-lanes now. By road, it used to take about 8–9 hours to mumbai, which is hardly 6 hours now due to good roads. A lot of students are studying in Pune University and Mumbai University, so there are at least 50 VOLVOs going to Mumbai & Pune daily.

Education

Dhule city is renowned for its educational heritage. It hosts a big number of educational institutes.

Business and Economy

In heyday it was one of the big centers for textile industry, with both spinning and weaving operations. Textile industry is still alive here though at much smaller scale than past.

Many small scale industries are shaping up in M.I.D.C. area.

Agra road is main street in the city where many important businesses/shops are located. Pach-Kandil is main wholesale market for fruits and vegetables. Pat-bazaar is another old vegetable market near an old canal (in Marathi canal is called Pat).

Suzlon Energy, which is one of the largest wind power companies in the world, is presently developing a wind park site near Dhule. It is spread across a vast, undulating expanse. At 1,000 MW Suzlon’s Dhule wind park is poised to take its place among the world’s largest wind parks when complete.Now Safari garden work is under prosses when it will be compete at that time it will be a remarkable tourism spot of the city.

Image gallery

Shivtharghal, where Samartha Ramdas Swami wrote the book Dasbodh, was (re) discovered by Late Shri. Shankar Shrikrushna Dev, of Dhule in 1930.

Agra road in downtown Dhule on the eve of Lakshmipoojan, Diwali 2007

Mumbai-Agra national highway (Laling ghaat, August 2010)