History

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

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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 1^st smart city of India.