AHMADNAGAR

also spelled Ahmednagar, town, west-central Maharashtra state, western India. It lies along the Sina River, 130 miles (210 km) east of Bombay. Known as Bhinar in early Yadava times, it was conquered by Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah, founder of the Ahmadnagar dynasty, in 1490. The city was later taken by the Mughals, Marathas, and British. Chief among its historical sites are Ahmad Nizam Shah's fort, in which Jawaharlal Nehru was imprisoned by the British in the 1940s, and the Mughal palace and gardens. Connected by road and rail to Bombay, Pune (Poona), and Sholapur, the town is a commercial centre whose major industries are cotton and leather processing. It has three colleges affiliated with the University of Poona. Agriculture is the mainstay of the surrounding area. Rainfall is extremely unreliable, however, and food scarcity is a perennial concern. Millet, wheat, and cotton are the locality's chief dry crops, and sugarcane ranks as the most important irrigated crop. Industries include sugar processing and cotton ginning and pressing. Pop. (1991) town, 181,339; metropolitan area, 222,088.