Dhule is one of the major cities in India situated on the banks of Panzara River. It is a municipal corporation in Dhule District in the northwestern part of Maharashtra state, India known as Khandesh. The total population of the city is 375,559.
The highest employment in the district is in Manufacturing of food products/beverages, Tobacco, Textile, Leather, Paper and Chemical industries. The district has 71% of the workforce employed in the Agricultural Sector, 27% in the Industrial Sector and the remaining 2% are Household workers.
The district Dhule was previously known as the West Khandesh district. The ancient name of this region was Rasika. Later under the Yadavas, it was called as Seunadesa after king Seunachandra, who ruled over it. With the advent of Muslims, the name was changed to Khandesh to suit the title Khan given to the Faruqi Kings. The entire area of Khandesh included two-districts viz., Dhule and Jalgaon and was administered as one district with headquarters at Dhule. However in 1906, for administrative purposes, the Khandesh was divided into two districts known as West Khandesh and East Khandesh. Later, on 1st July 1998 Dhule district was divided in two districts viz. Nandurbar and Dhule.
For administrative purposes, the district is divided into two sub-divisions, viz. Dhule and Shirpur. Dhule sub-division includes Dhule and Sakri tahsils, while Shirpur sub-division includes Shirpur and Sindkhede tahsils. The District collector along with Additional District Judge, Superintendent of Police, Chief Executive Officer of ZillaParishad and other Senior Officers of the State Government look after the development and regulatory functions in the district. At the tahsils level, Tahsildar, Block –Development Officer, Judicial Magistrate, Deputy Engineer and other Officers look after their respective department and regulatory functions.
Approx. 50% of the total area in the district is light type soil, 30% of medium black type and remaining 20% is of deep black type.The light Black type soil is generally found in Dhule, Sakri tahsils. The soil is very good for kharif crops such as Bajra, jowar, Groundnut and cotton cultivation.Medium black type soil is found in Sindhkheda, Western part of Dhule and Sakri Tehsils and is highly suited for irrigation.Deep black soil is mainly found in Shirpur tahsil. This type of soil is generally seen on the banks of Tapi River. This belt has fertile soil and is about 16 kms.
There are 9 important rivers flowing in the district. The largest river in length is Panzara. Barring the relartively small area of Narmada drainage of the North part, the rest of the district is comparatively drained by the Tapi and its tributaries. The river Tapi is major river flowing through the district while other rivers are Panzara, Burai, Gomai, Arunavati, Aner, Bori, Kan and Aaru.
