Situated on the River Nag, Nagpur is the second capital city of Maharashtra and derives its name from the River. This Orange-growing capital of India is around 837 km from Mumbai . It was once the capital of the central province, but was later incorporated into Maharashtra. Nagpur is almost at the geographical centre of India (approx. 79 E, 21 N). In fact the zero milestone of India is in this city. The adjoining districts are Bhandara on the east, Chandrapur on the south, Amaravati and Wardha on the west and in the north shares the boundary with Madhya Pradesh. It is an important railroad junction and a leading industrial center, with factories manufacturing cotton textiles and textile machinery, dyes, and wood paper products. Nagpur is also noted for hand woven silk and cotton textiles.
Long ago it was a centre for the aboriginal Gond tribes. The present city was founded in the early 18th century by Bhakt Buland, a Gond prince of the kingdom of Deogad. 1743, and the control of Nagpur slowly passed on from the Gonds to the Marathas, the Bhonsales. In the mid-18th century Nagpur became the capital of the Maratha Kingdom. The city was made the capital of the Central Provinces in 1861 and of newly formed Madhya Pradesh State till it was merged in Maharashtra in 1960 and still remained the Capital of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.
Nestling in the midst of the Satpura hill ranges, Nagpur has a number of dense forests and national parks around it. Though there are hardly any site of tourist interest in the city, Nagpur can become a good boarding point to travel around.
