Sanjay Dudani's video: Incredible India - Achalpur

http://www.facebook.com/TheTwinCity Achalpur - --------------- Achalpur, formerly known as Ellichpur and Illychpur, is a city and a municipal council in Amravati District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It has a twin city known as Paratwada History ---------- It is first mentioned authentically in the 13th century as one of the famous cities of the Deccan. Though tributary to the Muslim Delhi Sultanate after 1294, it remained under Hindu administration till 1318, when it came directly under the Muslims. It was afterwards capital of the province of Berar at intervals until the Mughal occupation, when the seat of the provincial governor was moved to Balapur. The town retains many relics of the Nawabs of Berar. As the Mughal empire deteriorated in the 18th century, Achalpur along with the rest of Berar came under the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad. In 1853, Berar came under British administration, although it remained formally part of the Hyderabad kingdom until 1903. Achalpur, known by the British as Ellichpur, became part of East Berar District, with Amraoti (Amravati) as capital of the district. In 1867 East Berar was split into the districts of Amraoti and Ellichpur district, with Ellichpur as the headquarters of Ellichpur District. The district had an area of 2605 square miles. In 1901 Achalpur had a population of 29,740, with ginning factories and a considerable trade in cotton and forest produce. It was connected by good roads with Amraoti and Chikhaldara. Berar was annexed to British India in 1903 and merged with the Central Provinces, and in 1905 Ellichpur District was merged into Amraoti District. The civil station of Paratwada, 5 km. from the town of Ellichpur, contained the principal public buildings at the beginning of the 20th century. After India's independence in 1947, the Central Provinces became the province, and after 1950 the state, Madhya Pradesh. The 1956 States Reorganisation Act redrew the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and the predominantly Marathi-speaking Amravati District was transferred to Bombay State, which was renamed Maharashtra in 1960 when it was split from Gujarat.