Nanded

Nanded, also spelled Nander, city, eastern Maharashtra state, western India. It lies in an upland region on the banks of the Godavari River.

The city’s name is derived from Nanda tat (“Nanda border”), a term that refers to the boundary of the Magadha kingdom during the 7th century bce. Nanded was the birthplace of three Maratha poet-saints—Vishnupant Shesa, Raghunath Shesa, and Vaman Pandit. The city is known as a centre of Sanskrit learning. A Sikh gurdwara (“temple and kitchen”) is built on the site where the Guru Gobind Singh was assassinated in 1708.

Primarily a commercial centre, Nanded also has cotton spinning and weaving mills. It is home to Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University (1994), which has numerous affiliated colleges in the city and in other communities in the state. Nanded is situated in one of the less-developed areas of Maharashtra. Most of the population in the area depends on agriculture; sorghum (jowar) and rice are the major food crops, and cotton is the basic cash crop. Cattle breeding is also important. Major industries are those processing cotton, oilseeds, and sugar. Pop. (2001) city, 430,733; (2011) city, 550,439.