NAGPUR, a city, district and division of British India in the Central Provinces, of which it is the capital. The old capital of the Bhonsla dynasty has expanded out of all recognition be tween 1852, when it came under British rule, and the present day. Its population, 84,000 in 1872, had expanded to 215,165 at the census of 1931. From being the terminus of a branch line it has become an important railway centre, nearly half way between Bombay and Calcutta and on the new north and south railway route between Madras and Delhi. It is also connected by a 2 ft. 6 in. gauge railway with Chindwara and Chanda. It is the commercial, as well as the administrative capital of the Province and the centre of education, being the seat of the university and the headquarters of both the Anglican and Roman Catholic dioceses and of important Protestant missions.
The whole area is dominated by the hill and fort of Sitabaldi, overlooking the civil station on the west, the city proper on the east and north, and the suburbs of Sitabaldi and Craddock Town to the south. This hill is the scene of the famous battle of Nov. 1817 where a small British force of less than 1,5oo strong re pulsed the Mahratta army of 20,00o. The only regular troops in Nagpur now are those stationed in this fort, but it is the headquarters of the auxiliary force. Besides the mills, there is an important hand-weaving industry carried on by Koshtis, producing fine fabrics and silk-bordered cloths. There is also a large community of Momins or Mohammedan weavers.
extension of the Berar plain eastwards of the Wardha river. In the western portion Deccan trap overlies sandstone formation. In the eastern portion the sandstone is broken up by granite and the juxtaposition of these formations, which meet at Sita baldi, makes the geology of the district interesting. In the north and north-east there are valuable deposits of manganese ore which are worked by three large companies and several individual concessionaires. The sacred hill of Ramtek in the north-east, with its gleaming white temples, is a landmark for miles around. The drainage of the east is to the Wainganga in Bhandara, and of the west to the Wunna and Wardha rivers. The plain is broken up in the west by ranges of flat-topped hills, but there are many plains, fertile valleys and pockets of rich land.
Agriculture is varied, Kunbis being the great cultivating Mahratta caste, but Raghvis and Kirars, immigrants from Upper India, are also excellent cultivators. To the west the cropping is mainly cotton and :mar, in the centre and south wheat, linseed, and pulses are the chief staples. On the north-east and south east there is a considerable area of rice. There are fine betel leaf plantations and the district is famous for its orange gardens. Government forests cover Soo square miles, mostly concentrated in the reserves along the Pench river on the north, but isolated blocks of not much value are scattered over the rest of the district.