History PUNE-
Pune has been
ruled by several dynasties. The earliest evidence found (copper plates of 758 A. D. and of 768 A. D.) reveals that the
Rashtrakootas ruled this region then. At that time, Pune was referred to as
Punaka Vishaya and Punya Vishaya. Copper plates of 960 A. D. and 963 A. D.
refer to it as Punaka Wadi and Punaka Desha.
Pune was a part
of Yadava Empire of Deogiri from the
9th century to 1327. It was later ruled by the Bahamani sultanates and its successors, the
various Deccan sultanates rulers
between 1400 and early 1600s.Under Islamic rule, Pune was a garrison town with
the Muslim soldiers and few non-military Muslims living within the town walls.
The Brahmins, traders and cultivators lived outside the fortified mud walls.
The wall was built by Barya Arab, a commander of the Khiljis in the early
1300s. It is also believed that temples of Punyeshwar and Narayaneshwar were
turned into Sufi shrines of Younger Sallah and Elder Sallah
respectively.Saint Namdev (1270-1350)
is believed to have visited the Kedareshwar temple. The Bengali saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited the
place during the Nizamshahi rule.
Early 1600s Maratha came into the rule. However, control shifted
between the Bhosale family,
the Adilshahi and
the Mughals for most of
the century. In the early 1700s, the place came in the possession of Maratha
Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath and
remained in his family until his great grandson Bajirao II was defeated by the British East India Company in 1818. Due to the family fueds that ensued thereafter, the Maratha
power came to an end in 1818, when the British led by Mount Stuart Elphinstone
defeated them and established the British Raj in this region. During this
period, the French, the Portuguese and the British powers established contacts
with the Peshwas, sent representatives for various functions. Pune and Delhi
were the only centres of power during this century.
Pune has been recognised as
a seat of learning and the Deccan College (1851) led the educational movement
in Pune. Tilak, Agarkar, Bhandarkar and other luminaries of the nineteenth
century studied in the Deccan College. They studied in the English language,
but a literary movement was started by organising the first Marathi literary
conference in 1878. Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, V. K. Chiplunkar and others
took lead in this sphere of life.
Tilak, Agarkar, Nam Joshi and Principal Apte
founded the Deccan Education Society and its Fergusson College in 1885. The New
English School (1880), the Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya (1883) and the MES Society's
High School (1875) were started. Soon after, a high school for Indian girls was
established in 1884. A new generation of educated Indians started the freedom movement
under the leadership of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He started two
newspapers, the Mahratta in English (January 1, 1881) and the Kesri in Marathi
(January 4, 1881). Through these newspapers, Tilak aroused interest in national
education, national language, swadeshi and swarajyai - the four fold aims for
independence. "Swaraj is my birthright" was the slogan given by Tilak
to the rest of India.
British rule over
more than a century saw huge changes that were seen in all spheres, social,
economic and others as well. The British built a large military cantonment to the east of the city. Building
cantonments was a peculiar British phenomenon in the Indian Subcontinent. Whenever
the British occupied new territory, they built new garrison towns near the old
cities and called them cantonments. The settlement of the regiments of the
17 Poona Horse cavalry,
the Lancashire Fusiliers, the Maratha Light Infantry and the
others, led to an increase in the population. Due to its milder weather the
city became the ‘Monsoon capital’ of the ‘Governor of Bombay’ thus, making
Poona, one of the most important cities of the Bombay Presidency. For many decades, Pune was the center of
Social reform and at the turn of the century, the center of Indian Nationalism.
The period between 1947 to present day saw Pune turning from a mid-size
city to a large metropolis. This period saw a huge influx of people to the city
due to opportunities offered by the boom in manufacturing industry and lately
in the software field. The influx has been from other areas of Maharashtra as
well as from outside the state.
The
post-independence period saw the establishment of the National
Defence Academy at Khadakwasla, and National Chemical
Laboratory at Pashan. Pune was also
made the headquarters of the Southern Command of the Indian Army. The city until the 1970s was referred to
as "Pensioners' Paradise" since many government officers, civil
engineers and Army personnel preferred to settle down in Pune after their
retirement
.
Industrial
developments started in 1950s in the otlining areas of the city such as Hadapsar, Bhosari, Pimpri, and later around Parvati. The area around Bhosri was set aside for
industrial development by the newly created MIDC in early
1960s. MIDc provided the necessary infrastructure for new businesses to set up
operations. Telco (now Tata Motors) started operations in 1961, which gave a huge
boost to the automobile sector. After 1970, Pune emerged as the leading
engineering city of the country with Telco, Bajaj, Kinetic, Bharat Forge, Alfa Laval, Atlas Copco, Sandvik and Thermax expanding their infrastructure. This
allowed the city to vie with Chennai for the title of "Detroit of
India" at that time. The growth in the Pimpri Chinchwad and Bhosri areas
allowed these areas to incorporate as the separate city of Pimpri-Chinchwad.
In 1989, Dehu
Road-Katraj bypass (Western bypass) was completed, reducing traffic congestion
in the inner city. After the 991
economic liberalization, Pune began to attract foreign capital, particularly in the
information technology and engineering industries; new businesses like floriculture and food processing begin to take root in
and around the city. In 1998, work on the six-lane Mumbai-Pune expressway began; a
huge accomplishment for the country, the expressway was completed in 2001. In
the three years before 2000 Pune saw huge development in the Information
Technology sector, and IT Parks formed in Aundh, Hinjewadi and Nagar road. By 2005 Pune
overtook both Mumbai and Chennai to have more than 200,000 IT professionals.
The city also
acquired in the post 1947 period, the reputation of being the 'Oxford of the
East' due to a large number of educational institutes.
In 2006, PMC
started BRT (Bus Rapid Transit System) project first among all Indian cities
but due to narrow roads of the city it has not worked properly. However, PMC is
working on glitches in this project and planning skywalks near BRT and other
changes. The year 2008 saw huge development near the Chakan and Talegaon region as Multinational
Corporations (MNCs) like General Motors, Volkswagen and Fiat have set up
facilities near Pune. Additionally, in 2008 the Commonwealth Youth Games took place
in Pune, which encouraged additional development in the north-west region of
the city and added a few Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses
on Pune's road. Soon It would be the 1st smart city of India.
Pune is a hub of education facilities having more than 100 educational institutes and nine universities. Pune is famous for education before freedom. Education in Pune is some of the finest in India and has various types. For basic education schools in Pune are run by Public Schools (By Pune Municipal Corporation ) or Private Schools (by Trust & Individuals ). Private schools have been preferred by a majority of city residents because of better facilities, and in some cases, for the use of English Medium. A number of Marathi medium schools are more than a century old, notable among them include Huzurpaga girls' school and New English School, which was started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak All schools are affiliated either with the Maharashtra state SSC board or the all-India ICSC, CBSC boards.
