Profile of Satara District

47 CHAPTER NO . 3 PROFILE OF SATARA DISTRICT 3.1 Introduction :- Every district presents its own particular situation in its own special way. Its uniqueness can firstly be attributed to its natural situation. Because primarily human society tends to adjust itself to its natural environment which is not homogeneous at all over the world. Even in any district the element of heterogeneity is distinctly marked. Some parts of the districts are more advanced while in other part, where rigours of climate make life of people more difficult, remains naturally backward. Thus geographical conditions by and large determine the state of society. As time advances and human culture matures, the human element becomes more influential source in bringing about all sided development of the region and it is partly to be understood in terms of natural or environmental relationship and partly in terms of kind, character and qualities of the people. In order to understand the history – educational, social, economical, political, of a district it becomes imperative to have thorough study of its local, physical as well as socio-economic aspect. Such studies also help us to understand the relationship between co-relation and socio-economic life of the people. 3.2 Brief History of the Satara District :- “Inscriptions as old as 200 B.C. reveal that probably the oldest known place in Satara district is Karad (mentioned as Karhakada ). It is also believed that Wai in Satara district is the “Viratanagari” where Pandavas lived in the 13th year of their exile. 1 “In the Deccan, the Mauryan Empire was followed by the rule of Satvahanas. For about two centuries (between 550 A.D. tc 750 A.D.) Satara, also known as the Southern Maharatra, was ruled by Chalukyas of Bahamani and later by Rastrakutas, Silhars and Yadavas of Devgiri, the Bahamanis, Adil 48 shahi, Shivaji (Maratha rule), Shahu Ram Raja and Shahu – II Pratapsinh. Princely state of Satara came under British rule on 10th February 1818”.2 “The district of Satara came into existence in 1848 on the death of Chhatrapati Shahu Raje alias Appasaheb Raje of satara”.3 Mr. Frere was the first commissioner. It was firstly named as Satara Province and not as collectorate or district. As to its name the Satara district Gazetteer has been observed as follows “District Satara so called from the seven walls towards the gates which the Satara fort was supposed to possess”.4 some other sources claim that the word Satara is derived from the “Saptarishi” god whose temple is built on the fort which was called “Sapt- tara” and Satara is derived from ‘Sapt – tara’. Thus there is a great deal of controversy about the name of Satara. It is now well accepted thing that the Chhatrapati Rajaram (1789-1800) made it the capital of his kingdom by the turn of the 18th century A.D. and since then it became the capital of Maratha Empire. When the British Government annexed this territory, they made Satara City as their headquarters. In 1848, the Satara Province comprised of eleven sub-divisions namely Bijapur (now a part of Karnataka state), Jaoli, Karad , Khanapur, Khatav, Koregav, Pandharpur, Satara, Targaon, Walwa, and Wai. In 1856 twelve new mahals were formed and these were pimpaude in koregon, Khandala in Wai, Bamnoli in Jaoli, Kole in Karad, Shirala and Peth in Walwa, Helwak in Targaon, Mayni in Khanapur, Natepute and Pusegaon in Khatav and Sangola and Bhalvani in Pandharpur. The sub-divisional boundaries were again over- hauled in the year 1862 and then the Satara Province included the sub-divisions of Bijapur, Jaoli, Karad, Khanapur, Khatav, Koregaon, Malshiras, Man, Pandharpur, Patan, Satara, Targaon, Walwa, Wai and Khandala Peta in Wai and Shirala Peta in Walwa. In the same year Bijapur Sub-division was transferred to belgaum district (now in Karnataka state). Tasgaon taluka was transferred to Satara Province from Belgaun in 1863 and Pandharpur was transferred to solapur in 1864. Tasagaon Sub-division got abolished in 1867. 49 Malshiras was transferred to solapur in 1875 and Malcompeth peta (later named as Mahabaleshwar) was formed in 1884. Khandala Peta was abolished in 1927 and was reconstituted in 1947” 5 “Consequent upon the merger of former Indian states, the district received parts of Phaltan, Jamkhindi, Akkalkot, Bhor, Aundh, Sangli and one village from Pune district. A New taluka Phaltan was created in 1949. In the same year the district was bifurgated in the two, North Satara and South Satara. The south Satara with its head-quarters at Sangli included four talukas namely Khanapur, Tasgon, Walwa, and Shirala Peta. The remaining portion of the Satara district was called as North Satara district. In 1958 one village from khanapur taluka of South Satara district was transferred to Karad taluka of North Satara district. With the reorganization of states in 1956. both the districts were included in Bombay state. Since 1960, they form parts of Maharashtra state and in the same year i.e. 1960, the name of North Satara district was changed to Satara district and that of south Satara to Sangli district.”6 At the time of 1961 census, Satara district comprised of nine talukas and two mahals which among themselves included 1960 inhabited villages and ten towns. During 1961-71 the mahals were up-graded as talukas thus raising their number to eleven. At the time of 1971 census, the district had eleven tahsils comprising 1167 villages and 14 towns. Since then, the number of tahsils in the district has remained unchanged till the reference date of March 1st 2001. However, there have been certain changes as to the number of villages within the tahsils during the previous decade. With the upgrading of hamlets (wadis) in the district, the number of villages has gone up to 1739. Consequent upon the declassification of five towns and with the creator of one town qualified the specific criteria to be declared as town, the number of towns in the district has gone down from 14 in 1971 to 10 in 1991. At present according to 2001 census the district has 15 towns and 1739 villages in 11 Tahasils. 50 3.3 Location of the Satara district :- The satara district is situated partly in the Bhima river basin and partly in the Krishna river basin. The tahsils Khandala, Phaltan and Man are situated in the Bhima river Basin, while the rest of the Tahsils are situated in the upper Krishna basin. The Satara district is situated on the west and deccan plateau and is surrounded by Pune district on the North, by the Solapur district on the East, by Sangli district on the South and by the district of Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Raigad on the West. 1st Locations of Dairy Unions 51 “The Satara district lies between 1705’’and 180 11” north latitude and 730 33”and 74 0 54” east longitude”7. (See. Fig.1) According to 2001census the District Satara covers an area of 10484 sq. kilometers and has a population of 28,09,000 out of the total geographical area of 10484 sq. kilometer, 10123.5 sq. kilometers is rural and 360.5 sq kilometers is urban area. It occupies 3.41 percent part of the Maharashtra state and 2.89 per cent of the total Population of the state. The Satara town is located on the National Highway No. 4 with nearest railway connection at Satara railway station of the south central railway at a distance of three kilometers. 3.4 Main Physical Features :- 3.4.1. Hill Ranges :- There are two main systems of hills in the Satara district. The Sahyadri range and its off shoots, and the Mahadeo range and its off-shoots. The main range of Sahyadri with a length of about 96 kilometers from north to South forms the Western boundary of this district. The Mahadeo range starts about 16 kilometers north of Mahableshwar and stretches east and southeast across the whole breadth of the district. From this range three spurs strench to the south of the district hills in the district are very low, barren and rugged-except near Mahabaleshwar and Koyna valley. The top of Mahabaleshwar the highest point in the district is about 1436 meters above the mean sea level. Mahabaleshwar is one of the most attractive hill stations in the state hill ranges . 3.4.2 Rivers:- The Krishna is the principle river of the Satara district. The other important rivers are the Koyna, The Nira, the Man, the Kudali, the Venna, the Urmodi, the Vasna, the Yerala and the Tarali. A) The Krishna:- “The river Krishna rises in the eastern brow of Mahableshwar plateau with it source at about 1371 metres above mean sea level. The drainage system of the Krishna river includes, besides the drainage system, the drainage of 52 seven feeders, namely, the Kudali, the Venna, the Urmodi, the Tarali, and the Koyna on the right bank and the Vasana and the Yerala on the left”.8 From the source the Krishna flows for nearly 160 kilometers through the Satara district and enters thereafler into the adjoining Sangli district. The Krishna river is one of the important rivers of Southern India. B) The Koyana:- The Koyana is the largest feeder of the Krishna River in the district. It rises in the Mahabaleshwar Plateau, runs towards south up to Helwak in Patan tehsil, where it changes its course and flows towards east and falls into the Krishna at Karad. Today the Koyana has become the most important river in the state of Maharashtra on account of the Hydro-Electric Project. And Koyana dam with capacity of 105 TMC where Koyana is regarded as the life line of Maharashtra.

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