Yavatmal is a district in the state of Maharashtra. It forms part of the Vidarbha region in the east-central part of the state. The administrative headquarters are situated at Yavatmal Town. Yavat in Marathi means mountains and mal means row. Hence, the name of the place means row of mountains. Marathi is the major language spoken. Other languages spoken are Andh, Banjari, Gondi and Kolami. Berar dialect is used here.

Cotton is the chief crop grown here. About half of the gross cropped areas in the district are under cotton cultivators. Cotton is the most important cash crop of the district. Improved variety of cotton is used by the progressive cultivators. During 2000-01 about 3050 tonnes of cotton was produced and the yield about 119 kegs. Maharashtra is one of the major cotton producing states in India. About one-third area under cotton cultivation is in Maharashtra.

Yavatmal History

Thirteen sarkars or revenue districts were made out of Yavatmal. It comprised the greater part of Akbar's sarkars of Kalam and Mahur. A few palaces lay beyond the periphery of the district. Yavatmal appears in the record as the headquarters of a pargana under the name of Yot-Lohara, Yot being the Urdu or Persian corruption of Yevata, the original name of the town; and Lohara the name of a village about three miles to the west of Yavatmal. The suffix mal comes from mahal. The land revenue demand in Akbars time for the new area occupied was roughly more than ten lakhs rupees. This estimate is rather under than over the mark, while it is certain that collection must always have fallen far short of the nominal demand.

The British East India Company took charge of the place along with the rest of Berar in 1853. Berar was divided into two- West Berar and East Berar. Yavatmal formed part of the East Berar region. Yavatmal was made a district in 1864 combining some other areas. It was initially called Southeast Berar and was later renamed as Wani. In 1903, Berar was leased by the Nizam of Hyderabad to the British Government of India.

Yavatmal Culture

Marathi is the principal language of the Yavatmal district. Various other languages such as Gormati or Banjari, Gondi, Hindi, Sindhi and Marwari are also spoken due to the presence of numerous Scheduled and Nomadic tribes. The Marathi Sahitya Sammelan took place in 1973 which was presided over by Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar. The district has various entrenched cultures and has India's most ancient tribal communities the Gond Raja, Gond Pardhan, Kolam, Aandh and Banjara amongst others. Various fairs take place in the district during festivals like Diwali, Dasara, Bakari-Eid, Ramzaan Eid, Gudi Padwa and almost all Hindu-Muslim occasions. The district also houses a Buddhist community.