Pune

(2001 pop. 2.5 million). The eighth-ranking industrial metropolis of India, Pune is located at the confluence of the Mutha and Mula rivers in the state of Maharashtra. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, Pune (or Poona) served as the capital and headquarters of the mighty Maratha empire under the Peshwas. The British defeated the Maratha Confederacy in 1818 and incorporated it within their empire. The rest of the nineteenth century witnessed a few minor uprisings in and around Pune, but the city was an important military station, and the British retained their supremacy until the transfer of power in 1947.

Pune today is a modern city, one of the fastestgrowing industrial and business areas of India, with a number of well-known corporate houses. It is the cultural capital of Maharashtra state and is famed as an educational center as well. Under British rule, many colleges were established in Pune—Deccan College, the College of Engineering, and Ferguson College. Today there is a university and a number of educational institutions. The Film and Television Institute of India, which offers training in all branches of the film industry, is located in Pune. The headquarters of the Southern Command of the Indian Army and an air base of the Indian Air Force are also located here.

Sanjukta Das Gupta

Davies, Philip. (1989) "Pune (Poona)." In The Penguin Guide to the Monuments of India, edited by Philip Davies. Vol. 2. New York: Viking, 492–496.