PLACES

MALKAPUR

Malkapur (Malkapur T.: 20°53' N, 76° 15' E; RS.; p. 35,476): The headquarters of the tahsil of the same name. 28 miles to the north of Buldhana, the district headquarters, situated at an elevation of 900 feet is a railway station on the Bombay-Nagpur broad-gauge line of the Central Railway, 308 miles from Bombay and 213 from Nagpur.

History.—One of the old gates of the rampart of dressed stones had an inscription to the effect that it was erected in 1729 during the reign of Muhammad Malikkhan. Malkapur is mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari as the headquarters of a paragana in the sarkar of Narnala. The town is said to have been founded about five centuries back by a prince of the Faruqi house of Khandesh and is said to have been named by him after the princess, Malika, his daughter. But the story is improbable as no record of any journey in this direction by Miran Ghani Adil Khan, the Faruqi prince of the period has yet been traced. In 1761 the town was rich enough to pay Rs. 60,000 to the army of Raghunath Rav for exemption from plunder. The Nizams used to keep a force of about 20,000 men in this frontier district of their dominions. Daulatrav Shinde and Raghuji Bhosle were encamped near Malkapur when the British envoy Colonel Collins, after presenting General Wellesley's ultimatum, quitted Shinde's camp in 1803.

Malkapur was the scene of several petty battles between zamin-dars, rural talukdars, Rajputs and Musalmans, during the period between the beginning of the nineteenth century and the Assignment of Berar to the East India Company in 1853. The following extract taken from the Old Buldhana District Gazetteer published in 1910 gives an interesting account of one of these fights which took place in 1837.

'In 1837 a Musalman shot dead a Rajput of Dattala who had insulted him at the Pimpalgaon fair. The act generated a blood feud, and twelve years later Lal Singh of Dattala, without warning or fresh provocation, assembled a band of nearly three thousand Hindus to avenge his relation's death. The fanatical Sikhs of Nanded on the Godavari sent a contingent of five hundred men and the first news of the impending attack came to the Musalmans of Malkapur from their friends at Patur, who sent hasty word that this formidable company was marching hy. The Rajputs and Sikhs assaulted Malkapur. There was the usual street lighting, burning, sacking, and slaying, though not many lives were lost, and the Muhammedans were worsted. This was, however, only the first game of the rubber, for the Musahnans were flocking to the fray from neighbouring towns; from Burhanpur especially a strong body had set out. The police and the local militia under the talukdar were utterly powerless, but detachments of the Nizam's army [ The Hyderabad contingent.] under Major Arthur Wyndham, then arrived, and found Malkapur empty and deserted. The Musal-mans had been driven out and the Rajputs had retreated to Dattala, where they afterwards had a skirmish with the troops. '

General Description.— Malkapur is an important industrial centre in the district with a number of ginning and pressing and other lactones. Being a tahsil headquarters it is a town of administrative importance with the Courts of Civil and Judicial magistrates, a telephone exchange, and offices of the tahsildars, panchayat samiti, post and telegraph, the Central Co-operative Bank, etc. With a regulated market the town is of commercial importance with considerable trade in cotton and jowar.

Municipality.— The municipality was established at Malkapur in 1906. It covers an area of 5.18 square kilomteres. The municipal council is composed of 29 members. [Buldhana District Census Handbook, 1961 Census.]

During 1961-62, the total income of the municipality was Rs. 6,26,374. The expenditure during the same year came to Rs. 6,73,763.

During 1965-66, [The total income of the municipality during 1970-71 including the opening balance was Rs. 21,72,000, while the total expenditure came to Rs. 21,68,000.] the total income of the municipality was Rs. 10,84,278 composed of municipal rates and taxes, Rs. 3,36,758; revenue derived from municipal properties, Rs. 35,557; grants and contributions from the Government, Rs. 3,80,715 and income from miscellaneous sources, Rs. 3,31,248.

During the same year the total expenditure of the municipality came to Rs. 10,89,585 comprising general administration, Rs. 52,719, collection charges, Rs. 1,07,462; public safety Rs. 24,182; public health and convenience, Rs. 2,55,613; public works, Rs. 31,611; public instructions, Rs. 3,17,647 and miscellaneous expenditure, Rs. 3,00,351.

Objects.— Among the objects of interest in the town may be mentioned the Jami Masjid, the Nagina Masjid, the temple of Ramchandra, the temple of Dattatreya, Masumiya mosque and dargah, the temple of Gaurishankara and Nemivant haveli.

The Jami masjid is the oldest masjid in the town. Situated near the Kazi's house, this masjid is said to be older than the town. The Nagina masjid is situated in the heart of the town near the Gandhi Chauk. The Masumiya masjid near the Urdu High School is an insignificant structure. An urus is held in the dargah of Masumiya situated on the Burhanpur road for three days in December every year, and is attended by a large number of people.

The most interesting and modern of the objects is the Gauri-shankar mandir. Constructed in 1952 by an industrialist of Malkapur on the Malkapur-Nandura road at a distance of about a mile from the railway station, it is a miniature replica of a peak of the Himalayas from where emerges the Ganga. It is built in stone and cement and shows signs of skilled craftsmanship. The small artificial hill thirty-five feet in height depicts the scene of Gangavatarana from the puranas. The story depicts Shankara bringing the Ganga to the earth after the marathon efforts done by Bhagiratha. At the top of the hill is a golden statue of the Ganga 5'—3" in height, with a pot (kumbha) in her hand pouring water. On the left of the statue of the Ganga, is the statue of Shankara with his hair dishevelled. To the right, are the statues of Parvati and Ganapati. Almost at the bottom of the hill is the statue of Nandi. The hill can be climbed up by a small passage with a flight of steps 2'—3" in width. Water is taken to the top of the hill in pipes and it juts out forcefully from the kumbha in the hands of the Ganga. The same then trickles down, again collected and taken to the top in a circular motion.

Besides these objects of interest, a number of public buildings have come up of late at Malkapur.

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