Yavatmal is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Yavatmal district. Yavatmal is about 90 km from the divisional headquarters Amravati, while it is 670 km (420 mi) from the capital Mumbai. Second only to Kolkata in India, the Yavatmal district is known for its unique celebration of the Navratri festival, and a total of nearly 2,766 durga mata have been installed across the district. Yavatmal is known for organizing grand festive events for Navratri.
Yavatmal, formerly known as "Yeoti" or "Yeotmal", was the main city of the Berar Sultanate and, according to ancient scriptures, "the safest place in the world". The then Yavatmal region was part of the government of Aladdin Hassan Bahman Shah, who founded the Bahmani Sultanate in 1347. In 1572, Murtaza Shah, ruler of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, annexed the Yavatmal district. In 1596, Chand Bibi, warrior queen of Ahmadnagar, ceded the Yavatmal district to the Mughal Empire, which then ruled much of India. After the death of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, Yavatmal was handed over to the Maratha Empire. When Raghoji I Bhonsle became ruler of the Nagpur kingdom in 1783, he included the Yavatmal district in his territory. After the British East India Company established the Berar province in 1853, Yavatmal became part of the East Berar district in 1863 and later the South East Berar district, both districts of the Central and Berar provinces. Yavatmal remained part of Madhya Pradesh until the reorganization of states in 1956, when it was transferred to Bombay State. With the creation of the state of Maharashtra on May 1, 1960, Yavatmal district became a part of it.
