DHULIA

also called Dhule, town, northwestern Maharashtra state, western India, on major road and rail routes. In early Muslim times it belonged to the Faruquis, but later, in 1601, it became part of the Mughal Empire. Later conquered by Marathas in the 18th century and ceded to the British in 1818, it joined Bombay Presidency in 1818. Formerly an agricultural commercial centre, Dhulia has become a growing industrial town, with a cotton-textile mill and such small-scale industries as cotton ginning, cigarette making, and oil processing. It has 13 colleges affiliated with the University of Poona. The large area around Dhulia contains two main hill systemsthe Satpura (north) and Satmala (south) rangeswhich are offshoots of the Western Ghats. Between them the Tapti River flows through a fertile valley that is part of the cotton-growing Khandesh region. Other important crops are peanuts (groundnuts) and chilies; most of the agricultural produce is shipped to Bombay. The hills are forested and contain the resort town of Toranmal. Pop. (1981) town, 210,759.