Nagpur, city, central India, in Maharashtra State, capital of Nagpur District, on the Deccan Plateau, on the Nag River. It is an important railroad junction and a leading industrial center, with factories manufacturing cotton textiles and textile machinery, dyes, and wood paper products. Nagpur is also noted for handwoven silk and cotton textiles. In the city are the University of Nagpur (1923) and Fort Sitabaldi, the site of a battle (1817) in which a small British force defeated a numerically superior Maratha army. In the mid-18th century Nagpur became the capital of the Maratha Kingdom. The city was made the capital of the Central Provinces in 1861 and of newly formed Madhya Pradesh State in 1950. The city and district passed to Maharashtra State in 1960. Population (1991) 1,624,752.
