Jalna district is located in the central part of the independent Indian state of Maharashtra. It is also located in the northern part of Marathwada.
Jalna district was formerly part of the Nizam’s state. After the Marathwada Liberation War, Jalna became a taluka in Chh. Sambhajinagar (then Aurangabad) district.
Jalna, the eastern taluka of Chh. Sambhajinagar (then Aurangabad) was established as a district on 1 May 1981, and five talukas of Chh. Sambhajinagar (then Aurangabad) district, namely Jalna, Bhokardan, Jafrabad, Ambad taluka and Partur in Parbhani district, were included in the district. Jalna district is bordered by Parbhani and Buldhana districts to the east, Sambhajinagar to the west, Jalgaon to the north and Beed district to the south.
Jalna district covers an area of 7612 sq. km., which is 2.47% of the total area of the state. The district headquarters is Jalna and is connected to the state and national capitals by broad gauge railway lines. The main cities of the state are also connected by state highways.
As Jalna district is geographically located in the middle of the state.
According to the 2011 census, the total area of the district is 7718 sq. km. which is 2.51% of the area of the state of Maharashtra. 1.32% of the total area i.e. 102.0 sq. km. is urban area and remaining 98.68% i.e. 7616 sq. km. is rural area. For administrative convenience, there are 8 talukas in this district namely Bhokardan, Jafrabad, Jalna, Badnapur, Ambad, Ghansawangi, Partur, Mantha, there are four sub-divisions for eight tehsils of these eight talukas, and separate sub-divisional offices for each sub-division are located at Jalna, Ambad, Bhokardan and Partur.
Jalna city is situated on the banks of the Kundalika river. It is an important commercial center in Marathawada. According to the wishes of the wealthy Muhammadan traders who benefited a lot from this place, this place started to be known as Jalna.
Earlier, Jalna city was completely protected by walls of mud and bricks. But now two gates exist in it, one is Murti Darwaza and the other is Hyderabad Darwaza. During the reign of Malik Amber, Jamshed Khan had built a pearl lake in the west of the city. He also built a mosque and an inn. An underground pipeline was also built in this city to store water in the water reservoir, but this system is no longer in use. During the glorious period of this city, five water reservoirs (tanks) were created here. At present, Jalna city is mainly supplied with water from Jayakwadi Dam and Ghanewadi Lake.
During the time of Akbar, the city of Jalna was the jagir of one of Akbar’s officers. It is recorded that Abul Fazl lived in this place for some time. Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jaha also says that this city is more conducive to health than Aurangabad and in 1725 he ordered Kabil Khan to build a fort to the east of this city. It is known today as Mastgad. The Bale Fort built along with it was formerly the office of the Municipal Council.
