page_title: History of Pune
section_title: City development
hierarchical_section_title: History of Pune / British rule (1818–1947) / City development
caption_attribution_description: English: Aga Khan Palace
context_page_description: Pune is the 9th most populous city in India and the second-largest in the state of Maharashtra, after the state capital Mumbai. The history of the city is closely related to the rise of the Maratha empire from the 17th–18th century. During the 18th century, Pune became the political centre of the Indian subcontinent; as the seat of the Peshwas, who were the prime ministers of the Maratha Empire.
  After the fall of Peshwa rule in 1818, the new British rulers made the city one of their major military bases. Prior to the British takeover, the city was confined to the eastern bank of the Mutha river. Since then, the city has grown on both sides of the river. In the 19th and early 20th century, Pune was considered by the British as the center of political unrest against their rule. The post-independence era saw Pune emerging as a major manufacturing center.
  The post-independence period has also seen further growth in the higher education sector in the city. The Panshet flood of 1961 resulted in a huge loss of housing on the river bank and spurred the growth of new suburbs. In the 1990s, the city emerged as a major information technology hub.
context_section_description: British rule over more than a century, saw huge changes that were seen in all spheres, social, economic, and others as well. The British built a large military cantonment to the east of the city. The settlement of the regiments of the 17 Poona Horse cavalry, the Lancashire Fusiliers, the Maratha Light Infantry, and others, led to an increase in the population. Due to its milder weather, the city became the "Monsoon capital" of the Governor of Bombay, thus making it one of the most important cities of the Bombay Presidency. The old city and the cantonment areas followed different patterns of development, with the latter being developed more on European lines to cater for the needs of the British military class. The old city had narrow lanes and areas segregated by caste and religion. For many decades, Pune was the center of social reform and at the turn of the century, the center of Indian Nationalism. British era also saw development on the western bank of the Mutha river, in the vicinity of the village of Bhamburde.
  The population of the city was previously decreasing with the declining fortunes of the Peshwa rule. The population at the beginning of British rule was estimated at around 100,000, and it declined further as the city lost its stature as the seat of a major power. In the 1851 census, the population of the old-city (excluding cantonment) was down to 70,000. The population increased subsequently, following the introduction of railways, to 80,000 in 1864, 90,000 in 1872, and 100,000 in 1881. The population of greater Poona (including Cantonment, Khadki, and surrounding villages like Ghorpadi) in 1881 was 144,000. By 1931, it had increased to 250,000. In the 1890s, there was loss of population during the bubonic plague, due to mortality from the disease as well as people leaving the city to escape the disease. The population bounced back in the following decades, due to introduction and acceptance of vaccination by the Indian population of the city. During the British era, the vast majority of the old city population was Marathi-speaking Hindus. Other significant minorities were Muslims, Christians and Roman Catholics, Parsis, Jews, Gujaratis, and Marwadis. During this period, the city-population was heavily segregated by caste and economic status.
  The Poona Municipality was established in 1858. The cantonment area had its own separate administration from the beginning, and is governed separately even today. Unlike the Bombay Municipal council, the Poona Municipality had two-third members elected. In case of Bombay, it was only half the members. Due to the colonial government of the Presidency setting up property and educational qualifications to hold office, majority of the seats on the corporation were held by Maharashtrian Brahmins, who accounted for 20% of the city's population in the late 1800s. A significant number of seats were also held by non-Maharashtrian Hindus (Gujarati, south Indian, etc.) and Parsis. Social reformer, Jyotirao Phule was appointed to the council in the 1870s. The position of District Collector was created by the East India company at the beginning of its rule, and has been retained after Independence. Pune and the Pune district also had a collector, who had broad administrative power of revenue collection and judicial duties. When Pune and the Peshwa territories came under the company rule, Governor of the Bombay Presidency, Mountstuart Elphinstone wanted to retain many practices of the old order, including justice. He continued the practice of Panchayat (a jury of local elders) to adjudicate in civil cases, however, the litigants preferred the parallel courts modelled on the English judicial system. Trial by jury was introduced in Pune in 1867.
  For most of the British era, Pune remained a poor cousin of Mumbai when it came to industrialization. There were, however, a few industrial concerns active at the turn of the 20th century, such as a paper mill, metal forge works, and a cotton mill. An ammunition factory was set up in Khadki in 1869. Printing contributed significantly to the c
caption: The Aga Khan Palace was constructed by Aga Khan III in 1892.
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