Amravati Division roughly corresponds to the former province of Berar, which was ruled by the Maratha Maharajas of Nagpur till 1803. In 1853, it was occupied by the British, who decided to administer the province although it remained under the nominal sovereignty of the Nizam of Hyderabad.[1]
In 1903, Berar Province was renamed Berar Division and added to the British-administered Central Provinces, which in 1936 was renamed Central Provinces and Berar.[2] Upon Indian independence, the Central Provinces and Berar were reorganised as the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In 1956 the Indian states were reorganised on linguistic grounds, and Amravati and Nagpur divisions were transferred to Bombay State, which was split on linguistic lines into the states Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960.
Amravati is the largest city in the division followed by Akola and Yavatmal.
As per the 2011 Census of India, Amravati Division had a population of 11,258,117 in the year 2011.[3]
Languages
Marathi is the most spoken language, which is also the sole official language of the region. There are significant minorities of Urdu and Hindi speakers in Amravati Division.
Religion
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 72.12% of the population of Amravati Division followed Hinduism, 13.45% Islam, 13.37% Buddhism, 0.19% Christianity and the remaining 0.87% of the population followed other religions or stated no religion.[3]
A Divisional Commissioner, an IAS officer appointed by the Government of Maharashtra, administers the division. Divisional Commissioners have included:
