AKOLA

city, north-central Maharashtra state, western India, on the Murna River. An important road and rail junction in the Tapti River valley, it is a commercial centre trading chiefly in cotton. There are also textile and vegetable-oil industries. In the past it was incorporated in turn into several local Muslim kingdoms. Akola is an important educational centre with several colleges affiliated with the University of Nagpur. The chief crops grown in the surrounding area are rice, cotton, wheat, millet, and peanuts (groundnuts). The region's industries are agriculturally based; cotton ginning, oil processing, and cigarette manufacture are important. Pop. (1991 prelim.) city, 327,946.