Early medieval history (Classical) Akola is mentioned to be a part of
Berar province and the legendary kingdom of
Vidarbha in the
Sanskrit epic
Mahabharata.
Late medieval history The period of
Muslim rule began when
Alauddin Khalji,
Sultan of Delhi, conquered the region in the early 14th century. Subsequently, the region became part of the
Bahmani Sultanate, which had seceded from the Delhi Sultanate in the mid-14th century. By the end of the 15th century, the Bahmani Sultanate fragmented into smaller kingdoms, and in 1572, Berar was incorporated into the Nizam Shahi Sultanate of Ahmednagar. The Nizam Shahis ceded Berar to the
Mughal Empire in 1595, and the Mughals ruled the Berar province during the 17th century. The Akola fort was heavily fortified during Mughal king
Aurangzeb's rule. As Mughal rule started to unravel at the start of the 18th century,
Asif Jah I,
Nizam of
Hyderabad seized the southern provinces of the empire (including Berar) in 1724 to form an independent state.
Maratha Empire The
Battle of Argaon in 1803 was fought in Akola between the
British and the Marathas during the
Second Anglo-Maratha War. In the
third Anglo-Maratha War, the last Peshwa,
Baji Rao II, was defeated. In 1853, the Akola district together with the rest of Berar, came under the administration of the
British East India Company.
Post-independence After
India's independence in 1947 from the British Government, the newly formed country was divided into different states. The
Congress's proposed linguistic provinces plan before the Independence of India had positioned Akola as the headquarters of the Berar region. == Geography ==