Nanded, city in western India, in eastern Maharashtra state, located on the Deccan Plateau, by the Godavari River. The city's name is derived from “Nanda tat,” meaning the edge of the Nanda Kingdom (kingdom that existed in the area during the 4th century BC). Manufacturing in Nanded includes cotton and oilseed processing. Trading is Nanded's most important economic activity, and the city serves as a trade center for the surrounding region. Two major rail lines, as well as state and national highways, pass through Nanded. The nearest airport is in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), about 460 km (about 290 mi) west. Nanded has several colleges, all affiliated with Marathwada University.
Although the majority of Nanded's inhabitants practice Hinduism, the city is also home to a large community of Sikhs (followers of a monotheistic religion that combines elements of Hinduism and Islam). The city contains a well-known Sikh shrine called Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchal Nagar Shahib, in short, Hazur Shahib. Built and decorated in the same style as the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the two-story shrine was constructed under Punjab ruler Ranjit Singh in memory of the last Sikh guru, Govind Singh, who was martyred in Nanded in 1708. The shrine attracts a large number of both Sikh and non-Sikh visitors from other parts of India. The city is also home to a sizable minority of Buddhists, because a large number of lower-caste Hindus in the region converted to Buddhism in the mid-1900s as a result of a reform movement led by the lawyer Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. Population (1991) 275,000.
