page_title: Pune
section_title: Early and medieval period
hierarchical_section_title: Pune / History / Early and medieval period
caption_attribution_description: Mukul Hinge, Photograph from personal archives.
context_page_description: Pune, also known as Poona, is the second largest city in the Indian State of Maharashtra, after Mumbai, and the eighth most populous city in India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million as of 2020. It has been ranked as "the most livable city in India" several times.
  Along with its extended city limits Pimpri Chinchwad and the three cantonment towns of Pune, Khadki and Dehu Road, Pune forms the urban core of the eponymous Pune Metropolitan Region. According to the 2011 census, the urban area has a combined population of 5.05 million while the population of the metropolitan region is estimated at 7.4 million. Situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau on the right bank of the Mutha river, Pune is also the administrative headquarters of its namesake district. In the 18th century, the city was the seat of the Peshwas, the prime ministers of the Maratha Empire and was one of the most important political centres on the Indian subcontinent.
  Pune is widely regarded as the second major "IT hub of India" and the top "automobile and
  manufacturing hub of India". It is known as the "Oxford of the East" with the presence of a wide range of educational institutions.
context_section_description: Copper plates dated 858 and 868 CE show that by the 9th century an agricultural settlement known as Punnaka existed at the location of the modern Pune. The plates indicate that this region was ruled by the Rashtrakuta dynasty. The Pataleshwar rock-cut temple complex was built during this era. Pune was part of the territory ruled by the Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri from the 9th century to 1327.
caption: The circular Nandi mandapa at the Pataleshwar cave temple built in the Rashtrakuta era
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