According to the
Hindu epic Mahabharata and other
Puranic scriptures, princess
Rukmini considered to be an incarnation of the goddess
Lakshmi and the wife of lord
Krishna, was born to Bhishmaka, the king of the Vidarbha kingdom. Vidarbha was part of the
Satavahana Empire during 1st to 2nd century CE), ascertained by the Satavahana coins found in
Pauni. of the
Paramaras of Vidarbha, 12th–13th centuries CE The coins and inscriptions from the period of
Paramara king
Jagadeva have been found in the northern parts the region. An inscription discovered at
Jainad names Jagadeva as the son of the Paramara king
Udayaditya (reigned c. 1060–1086). Scholar M. H. Krishna argued that the
Chalukya king
Someshvara was known by the title "Jagadeva" ("Lord of the world") in the northern part of his kingdom, and it was he who issued these coins. However, all the known Chalukya coins featured
Kannada script, while the coins of Jagadeva featured the
Nagari script used by the Paramaras. According to the
Ain-i-Akbari, the region was part of
Berar Subah, known as the Gulshan-e-Berar in the
Medieval period. In 1680, the region was captured by
Sambhaji, the son of
Shivaji who was the founder of
Maratha Empire. In 1724, following a battle at
Buldana,
Asaf Jah defeated the
Mughal governor and declared independence. Most of the region came under the nominal rule of Jah, who later became the
Nizam of Hyderabad, though the administration and right of collecting
chauth were held by the Marathas. In 1803, following the defeat of the Marathas, the region came under the rule of
British East India Company. Later, the
British Empire took control of the region from the British East India Company in 1857. After
Indian Independence in 1947, the region was part of the
Bombay State. After the
States Reorganisation Act, which re-organized state boundaries, majority of the region became part of
Maharashtra. == Geography ==