Nashik district

Nashik district, formerly known as Nasik district, is a district in Maharashtra, India. The city of Nashik is the administrative headquarters of the district. Nashik is well known for the production of wine. Nashik is also known as Mini Maharashtra, because the climate and soil conditions of Surgana, Peth, Igatpuri resembles with Konkan. Niphad, Sinnar, Dindori, Baglan blocks are like Western Maharashtra and Yeola, Nandgaon, Chandwad blocks are like Vidarbha Region. Nashik is the biggest city in the district while Malegaon is the second biggest city. Manmad, Igatpuri, and Sinnar are some of the big cities situated in the Nashik District. Manmad is one of the biggest railway junctions in India while the city of Malegaon is famous for its powerloom.

Nashik district is the third largest district in Maharashtra state in terms of population of 8,107,187 and occupying an area of 15,582 square kilometres in the north Maharashtra region. It is bounded by Dhule district to the north, Jalgaon district to the east, Aurangabad District to the southeast, Ahmadnagar district to the south, Thane district to the southwest, Valsad and Navsari districts of Gujarat to the west, and The Dangs district of Gujarat state to the northwest.

The Western Ghats or Sahyadri range stretches from north to south across the western portion of the district. With the exception of the westernmost few villages, the western portion is hilly, and intersected by ravines, and only the simplest kind of cultivation is possible. The western slope of the Ghats is drained by several rivers, including the Daman Ganga River, which drains westwards to the Arabian Sea.

The larger eastern portion of the district, which lies on the Deccan Plateau, is open, fertile, and well cultivated. The Satmala-Chandwad Range, which runs east and west, forms the chief divide of the plateau region. Peninsular India's largest river Godavari originates in the district in the Trimbakeshwar Range and continues eastwards through the district. The Satmala-Chandwad Range forms a watershed, such that, the rivers emerging to its south drain into the Godavari. These include the Kadva and Darna both of which are tributaries of the Godavari. To the north of the Satmala-Chandwad Range, the Girna River and its tributary, the Mosam, flow eastward through fertile valleys into the Tapti River.

The Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple is located in Trimbak, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, where a set of Hindu genealogy registers at Trimbakeshwar are maintained. The origin of the sacred Godavari River is at Brahmagiri peak near Trimbak.

In February 2016, The Statue of Ahimsa, a 108 ft idol of first Jain tirthankara Rishabhdev carved in monolithic stone was consecrated at Mangi Tungi. It is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest Jain idol in the world.

Archaeological excavations indicate the territory around Nashik was occupied in the early Stone Age. Cleavers, scrapers and hand axes have been found in Gangavadi. Other excavations from the Chalcolithic age indicate the region was occupied by a pastoral and hunting people. According to the Ramayana, Rama stayed in the region for a time in caves now called Sita Gufa, and killed Rakshasas who were harassing rishis. From here Ravana abducted Sita.

The earliest mention of Nashik comes from a Varttika of Katyanana on Panini Sutra, where he calls a town Nashika as a Nagara. It is mentioned again in Brihatsamhita of Varamihira, Vayu, Varaha and other Puranas, as a Tirtha. At the time Govardhana was the main town in the region. The Mauryas ruled Nashik, and after them came the Sathavanas. The Sathavahanas, originally called Andhras, came from western Maharashtra as indicated by inscriptions near Nashik. Initially the Satavahanas' kingdom under Simukha contained Nashik district, and under his successor Krishna his Mahamatra (governor) made caves for Buddhist monks in Nashik. The king Satakarni I expanded his kingdom, but during his reign Kharevala of Kalinga raided Vidarbha. Soon the Saka Kshatrapas conquered Nashik from the Sathavahanas, who were forced to retreat southeast to a small territory around their capital Pratishthana. and Nashik was ruled by a Saka Nahapana in the 1st century CE. Nahapana's son in law, Ushadevata, described his charitable contributions of donating villages to gods and Brahmins, and constructing infrastructure such as dharamshalas and ferries, in inscriptions in the Pandavlena Gutta Caves. He had a cave excavated near Nashik for Buddhist monks and assigned a village to Bhikkus for their maintenance.