Chinawal

Chinawal चिनावल
Village
Skyline of Chinawal village
Chinawal Show map of Maharashtra Chinawal Show map of India Location in Maharashtra, India
Coordinates: 21°11′47″N 75°55′34″E / 21.1964°N 75.9261°E / 21.1964; 75.9261Coordinates: 21°11′47″N 75°55′34″E / 21.1964°N 75.9261°E / 21.1964; 75.9261
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Jalgaon district
Government
• Sarpanch	Chandrakant Dongar Bhangale
Area
• Total	1.05 km2 (0.41 sq mi)
Elevation	246 m (807 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	11,747[1]
• Density	11,000/km2 (30,000/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Khandeshi, Hindi, Marathi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	425505
Telephone code	91-2584
Vehicle registration	MH-19
Sex ratio	901 ♂/♀
Literacy	84.25%%

Chinawal is a village in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra state, India. It is situated at the foothills of the Satpurda range in a generally hot and dry climate. The densely populated Chinawal village is surrounded by the flat land and nutrient-rich black soil.

The flora and fauna of the Chinawal village are impacted by the human habitation and cultivation of the land, but still naturally occurring life like neem trees, tree squirrels and graculas can be found in and around the village. Using modern methods of the agriculture and agronomic practices, villagers of the Chinawal village have achieved a high growth rate of agriculture produce especially of bananas which is noted by the Government of Maharashtra and various other institutions.

Chinawal is also known for its educational facilities. It has Marathi, Urdu and English medium schools which offer education from the kindergarten up to higher secondary school, and which is facilitated by the students' accommodations and school buses.

Around 12 thousand population of the Chinawal village is connected to the outer world through a network of roads, cellphones, internet, cable and satellite TV.

The 'vangyache bharit' loving villagers also favor urad dal, shev bhaji, puran poli and kheer in their dishes.

Keeping pace with the changing times, the preferences of the villagers regarding clothes, entertainment and sports have undergone a sea change. The villagers now prefer shirt-pant instead of dhoti-kurta, and tamasha has been replaced by the Bollywood films, while cricket is more popular among the younger generation than the traditional sports like kabaddi and kho kho.

The multicultural society of the village - composed of Hindus and Muslims - celebrates all the festivals with religious fervor. The villagers generally live in peaceful harmony with each other.

Situated in the region known as the Rishikas during the Ramayana era, the land of the Chinawal village has witnessed the rise and fall of several empires from Satavahanas to Holkars, and finally British Raj, to the fall of which Chinawal village has contributed by participating in the Indian independence movement.

Overview

Chinawal village is located at 21°11′46″N 75°55′36″E / 21.1962°N 75.9267°E / 21.1962; 75.9267 in Raver tahsil and Jalgaon district of Maharashtra state of India. It has an average elevation of 246 metres (810 feet) from the sea level.^[2] It is situated at the foothills of Satpura range which is in the north-east region of Deccan Traps and Khandesh. Landscape surrounding village is approximately flat, free of dikes and hills. The loam to clayey soil is of volcanic origin which contain poor to moderate organic carbon and nitrogen, poor amount of phosphorus and high to very high amount of potassium. Level of soil salinity and alkalinity is very low, hence non-agricultural land is almost non-existent.^[3] Such volcanic ash rich soil is well-suited for the cultivation of cotton and banana crops.^[4][5] Naturally occurring neem trees are often grown in controlled way for the shade in hot summer. Landscape of Chinawal village, street sides and borders of the farm lands are chiefly dotted with these neem trees.^[6][7]

Demographics

Gaanv Darwaja (Village Gate) of Chinawal village

As per the 1951 Census of India, the population of the Chinawal village was 4720 with 977 households. The jurisdictional area of the village was spread over 5.3 sq. miles (13.73 km²). The livelihood of 3866 villagers was agriculture-dependent.^[8]

From 1951 to 2011, the population of Chinawal increased by about 250%. As per the 2011 census of India, the population of the village is 11,747. The village has total of 2738 households with 6180 males and 5567 females, which corresponds to a sex ratio of 901 females for every 1000 males, which is lower than the national average sex ratio of 940. 1403 persons of the village were between age group 0–6 years, 751 boys and 652 girls. Excluding these children which were yet to take admissions in the school, the average literacy rate of the village is 84.25%, which is above the national average literacy rate of 74.04%. In the village, 89.13% males are literate while 78.86% females are literate. Most villagers belong to a caste called Leva Patil.^[9] 1335 villagers are from scheduled caste, while 618 villagers are from scheduled tribe. Out of 4,311 working villagers, 840 villagers own cultivating land, 2347 villagers are involved in agriculture work, while 1124 villagers are involved in other work. 7,436 villagers are non-workers.^[1] The area of the village is approx 1.05 square km and hence the density of the population is approx 11,000 per square km.^[10] The major population of the village is concentrated in eastside old village, in the colonies like Wani Galli, Pehed Wada, Ram Mandir Wada, Garse Wada, Pathan Wada, Tadvi Wada, Musalman Wada, Chinch Wada, Mahadev Wada, Mahajan Wada, Bonde Wada etc. Westside new Chinawal village is well-planned and Tukaram Wadi, Rozoda Road, Hospital Road, Bouddha Wada; these colonies are comparatively thinly populated.^[11] Chinawal is the most populous village among 114 villages and towns of the Raver tehsil and there are only two towns in the Raver tehsil, Raver and Savda.^[12] Sarpanch of the Chinawal village is Yogesh Borole.^[13]

Flora and fauna

Pimpal (left), neem (right), and a herdboy with his goats at Chinawal

Many species of the trees used to grow in the wild forests of the Raver tehsil before human habitation and cultivation of the land began. Prominent trees in the wild forests were nimb (neem), pimpal, saag, vad, chinch, aamba, anjan, karanj, babhul, bhokar, rui, khair, hivar, apta, dhavda, salai, bor, and palas.^[14] Now villagers allow to grow only those wild trees which have use. The most common wild tree preferred by the villagers is the nimb, as it gives dense shade in the summer. Chinch, aamba and the sacred trees vad and pimpal are also preferred for their shade within the village and on the roads. Saag tree is allowed to grow, as its wood has value. Karanj and anjan trees are less preferred, while ashok vruksha is preferred for decorative purposes.^[15]

Fruits grown by the villagers include badam, sitaphal, ramphal, popay, aantra, mosambi, limbu, Peru, and naral.^[16]

The Chinawal area was once home to many wild animals like wagh, bibatya, aswal, landga, taras, kolha, and dukkar. None of these wild animals are found now. Now the village is home to domesticated and harmless animals like bullock, buffalo, cow, goat, chicken, dog, cat, horse and donkey. Snakes are rarely sighted, but their enemy, the mongoose, is often seen. Khaar is often seen in the trees.^[17] Prominent birds documented in 1962 were the mor, raan kombada, red spurfowl, teetar, chatur, lavari, lowwa, pokurde, pterocles fasciatus/pokundi, paan lawa, bhend lawa, karkocha/karkara kronch, brahmani badak, mraal swaral, saruchi talwar badak, plava/dhanwar, chakrang, neela paankombada, parva/kabutar, pisawa/hariyal, kavda, thipkya kavda, hola/vhalgad, and vitkari kavda.^[18] A lesser number of trees and water sources have drastically reduced bird populations. But still some birds like the chidi, popat, salunki, kokila, kavda, bagda and kabutar are seen in the sky of the village. Occasionally the sutar, teetar, khandya, ghaar, dhanesh, kali sherati, tambat, ghubad, bharadwaj, titvi, and Garud are spotted.^[19]

Climate

The climate of the Chinawal village remains hot for most of the year. Maximum temperature can reach up to 45 °C in the summer and minimum temperature can fall up to 10 °C in the winter. Chinawal village receives average 784 mm rainfall in a year. As on whole, the climate of the Chinawal village remains dry and hot except during the monsoon season and winter months December to February. There are four seasons of the year: the cold winter season from December to February; the hot and dry season from March to June; the south-west monsoon season from around 15 June to the third week of September; then the temperature rises after withdrawal of the monsoon season in September, due to which October and November remain comparatively hot and dry.^[20]

There are no factories in Chinawal, and it is surrounded by the farms and trees, so the air and sky remain clear and pollution-free. As the village falls within the tropical region, the sun comes directly overhead every year on 27 May and 17 July.^[21] Intense summer heat combined with frequent power outages due to load shedding can result in sunstroke.^[22][23] Traditionally, villagers wear heat-reflective white clothes, as advised by health officials, to protect them from the heat.^[24] Every year villagers start roadside 'panpoi' (free cool drinking water supply centre) for the passing public who can readily access it in the intense summer heat.^[25]

Economy

Banana farm in Chinawal village

Farmers ploughing a field in Chinawal village during monsoon season

Wangalli (main road), Chinawal, a hub of commercial activities

The occupation of most villagers is agriculture. Out of 4311 working villagers, 3187 are involved in agriculture-related work and 1124 are involved in other work.^[1] More than 60% of the money circulation in the village depends upon agricultural produce.^[26]

History

Around 1890, a farmer at the Waghoda (Waghode) village, which is 3 km south of Chinawal, found a Roman coin while ploughing his field. The coin was of a rare variety and was in very fine condition. It belonged to the period of Roman emperor Septimius Severus (193 A.D.-211 A.D.).^[27] A October 1904 paper published in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society discussed that the Roman Empire had a cotton trade with the cotton-growing eastern districts of the Dekhan region of India, which Waghoda and Chinawal villages are parts of.^[28]

Chinawal village and Jalgaon district are known for banana production, but this wasn't always the case. The 16th century Ain-i-Akbari written by Abul Fazl discusses the economy of the Khandesh region in detail, but does not mention banana cultivation^[29] It is not known with certainty when banana cultivation started in the Jalgaon district, but the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency (Vol II, Book IV, Part II, Page 176) written in 1880 made the following observation regarding banana cultivation in the Khandesh:

The Plantain, kel, Musa paradisiaca, is widely grown wherever water is plentiful and easily raised. There are two tolerably distinct kinds, the ray kel and the common kel. The ray kel is like the Chinese banana. The fruit, though thinner skinned and somewhat better flavoured than the common plantain, is less suitable for cooking, and being a light cropper and wanting much water, is but sparingly cultivated. The common three-cornered plantain, the taperi of Gujarat, the monde of Madras, and the gulur bale of Mysor, is easily grown and yields freely.

During the British period, Chinawal village was known for handloom weaving and quality cloth production, not for banana production. Page 229 of the British gazette made the following observation:

The chief hand-woven cloth goods are [...] floor cloths, cotton sheets, stamped dirty-red coverlets, smaller sheets and cushions, from Nandurbar, Shahada, Varsi, Betavad, Sindkheda, Chopda, Jalgaon, Jamner, Faizpur, and Chinaval.

The master weaver was used to supply yarn to handloom weavers in the Chinawal village and used to take ready clothes from the villagers to sell in weekly bazaars, shops, and fairs. The gazette made the following observation regarding the life of handloom weavers:

They are paid on an average from 3d. to 9d. (2-6 annas) a day. Both men and women weave, keeping not more than thirty holidays in the year, and working, except for about an hour's rest at noon, from morning to night, so long as they have light to see.

The gazette also noted that the textile machinery introduced by the Europeans in the Indian market had resulted in unequal competition and consequently villagers were losing their livelihood.^[30]

Banana

The main crops grown by the farmers are bananas and cotton, with priority given to the banana. Kharif crops are harvested during the monsoon season. Water for rabi crops comes from wells. In the decades running up to 1990, flood irrigation was extensively used, due to which the water level in the wells dropped to an alarming level. Because of awareness programmes run by the farmer Vasantrao Mahajan, social worker Digambar Narkheda and Jain Irrigation Systems, farmers have started using agronomic practices, soil testing, drip irrigation, and fertigation to conserve water and increase productivity. These modern methods of cultivation were noted by a team of agriculture officers from the government of Kerala who visited Chinawal village in June 2004.^[26] 99% of the banana cultivation in Chinawal village is under drip irrigation, which has increased per-plant yield from 15 kg to nearly 30 kg, averaging 65 tonnes per hectare.^[31][32]

Bananas are cultivated on 72,000 hectares of land in Maharashtra, out of which the city of Raver's contribution is 22,000 hectares.^[26][33] This heavy production of bananas, including that from Chinawal village, is exported to north India by trucks and railway. Raver Tehsil has three railway stations exclusively for loading bananas.^[26]

Not everything goes smoothly. Farmers suffer loss due to a volatile market,^[34] damage to crops due to intense heat^[35] and storms,^[36] non-irrigation of farms due to frequent load shedding,^[23] plant diseases like karpa,^[33] and the poor condition of roads in and around Chinawal village.^[37] In 2012, the government recognized bananas as 'fruit' and extended weather-based crop insurance to banana crops, which is now helping the farmers to bear the losses.^[38] But an uncertain market for bananas remains the concern. In 1992, due to the Ayodhya dispute, recession struck the industry very hard and farmers had to destroy their banana crops,^[34] while in May 2014 the market price of banana fluctuated between ₹625-₹1000 per quintal.^[39] Some farmers take loans from banks, co-operative societies, and friends for the cultivation of bananas, but often they can't repay loans and are pushed into poverty.^[34] Despite these uncertainties, some better informed farmers like Vasantrao Mahajan and Dnyandeo Mahajan have successfully cultivated bananas for many decades.^[26][40]

Other

Onset of the summer monsoon rains (dark blue line, bottom right to top left- 1 June, 5 June, 10 June, 15 June, 1 July, 15 July. Withdrawal of the summer monsoon rains (bright blue line, top left to bottom right)- 1 September, 15 September, 1 October, 15 October

After the banana, priority is given to the cultivation of cotton, gahu and jwari. In pulses, first priority is given to harbhara, followed by udid daal toor daal, bhui mug and mung daal, while teel, maka, soyabin, bajri are also favorite crops of the farmers. Cultivation of rice is non-existent in the Chinawal village.^[41] Some farmers have started growing turmeric and potatoes as alternative crops to the banana.^[42]

Satpura range is 10 km away from the Chinawal village, so water from the Suki dam cannot reach through canals to the farms in Chinawal village. As a solution, eight water wells alongside the bank of the Suki River are artificially recharged by releasing water in the bed of the river. Filling of these water wells leads to increase in the water level of 600 water wells in Chinawal and other surrounding villages. This water is used for irrigating the farms.^[43]

All farmers of the Chinawal village cannot afford to buy modern agricultural machinery. Only a handful of farmers own tractors and threshers, which are rented to the other farmers. Tractos are used for the initial laborious work of tilling the hardened soil. Then lateron, an ox-driven plough, is used for sowing and weed control.^[44]

Farmers keep part of their produce for their own consumption, some may be sold to other villagers, and then the surplus produce is sold in the Raver and Savda markets, both of which are less than 20 km away from the Chinawal village.^[45]

Other needs of the villagers like spices, oil, salt, stationery, and medicine are provided by the retail shopkeepers who buy these articles in wholesale from the neighbouring towns and sell it to the villagers. A bazaar is periodically held in Chinawal where small traders sell various commodities at negotiable rates.^[46] 973 villagers are involved in non-agriculture work to offer what farmers cannot produce. Their occupation includes domesticating dairy cattle like buffalos and cows for dairy products, retail stores, service and repairs, healthcare, hotels, tobacco selling etc.^[1] There are some very poor villagers who work as the agricultural labourers and they get work only during particular seasons. The government supports them with the food scheme Antyodaya Anna Yojana.^[47]

Health

The village has a Primary Health Centre and ambulance run by the state government. It is well-maintained and hence in February 2006 it was nominated for Maharashtra state level Anandibai Joshi Awards for meritorious services in public health. But the village has no private hospital with modern facilities for emergency treatment.^[48] In 2013, Maharashtra state govt has launched Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana for free medicare to poor people of the state of Maharashtra. Under this scheme, people receive free treatment in the selected hospitals at district places for 975 types of diseases and surgeries and govt bears cost of it up to Rs.1,50,000 per year per family. Poor villagers of the Chinawal village go to these hospitals at Jalgaon city to avail this facility. Govt arranges health camps all over the Jalgaon district from time to time and villagers take free treatment at any such nearest health camp.^[49][50]

Education

Zila Parishad Boys' Primary School (est. 18 March 1865)

Main building of Nutan Madhyamik Vidyalaya

Nutan Uchch Madhyamik Vidyalaya and Baal Sanskaar Kendra

Overview

The mother tongue of the Hindu children in the Chinawal village is the Khandeshi language, a dialect of the Marathi language, while the mother tongue of the Muslim children is the Hindustani language, a variation of Urdu and Hindi. A 'Three Language Formula' was evolved by the state governments in 1949 and it was subsequently adopted by the Union Education Ministry in 1968 and then again in 1986. As per this National Policy on Education, apart from the mother tongue, students in the village have to learn three standard languages. Hindu students are required to learn Marathi, Hindi and English, while Muslim students are required to learn Urdu, Marathi+Hindi and English.^[51] Language learning takes time, depending upon how much a student is exposed to hearing and reading that language in daily life.^[52] Marathi and Hindi languages are written in the same Devanagari script, and as the students are exposed to hearing and reading both of them in daily life through personal interactions, Bollywood films, TV serials, and news, they learn Marathi and Hindi quickly compared to English, the learning of which takes a considerable portion of student life. After teaching alphabet writing and reading to the children in 1st and 2nd standard, other elementary subjects like mathematics, general science, geography, history, and English are gradually introduced after 3rd standard. The language of teaching these subjects depends upon the medium of school, but eventually science and math are compulsorily taught in English after 11th standard.^[53]

Schools in the village follow the 10+2+3 education pattern of Maharashtra. 1st to 5th standard education is called primary level education, 6th to 8th standard education is called upper primary level, and 9th to 10th standard education is called high school level. Schools conduct their own examinations up to 9th standard and in 11th standard, but at the end of 10th standard and 12th standard, the state level public examinations SSC and HSC are conducted. After getting their SSC or HSC certificate, students may opt to find jobs. For those who wish to continue their education after HSC, there are various options. They may continue their college level education for another 3 years (under the 10+2+3 pattern) to get degrees like B.Sc., B.Com., or B.A., or they may opt for other degree courses like B.E. or MBBS.^[54]

As per the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act passed in 2009, all children from 6–14 years are provided with free education. All the direct and indirect expenses of students, like textbooks, uniforms, and transportation are borne by the government. Two trained teachers are mandatory per 60 students.^[55] As per government rules, every school has 145 days of vacation in a year.^[56]

Schools

There are two primary schools in the Chinawal village for elementary education up to 4th standard in Marathi language medium: Zila Parishad boys' school and Zila Parishad girls' school. Primary education through English language medium is provided by the Nutan Prathamik Vidya Mandir school. Education from 5th standard up to 12th standard, HSC is provided by the Nutan Madhyamik Vidyalaya. Shikshan Prasarak Mandal has its own school buses to transport students from the nearby villages to the school. Hostel accommodation is provided to the students who comes from nearby small villages. A privately aided Urdu medium school - Khizar Urdu High School - was established in 1997 and is affiliated to MSBSHSE.^[57]

SSC and HSC exams are conducted at the Nutan Madhyamik Vidyalaya, where students studying at other schools in the nearby villages also come to give their exams. In the 2012 SSC result of Nutan Madhyamik Vidyalaya, 90% or 153 out of 170 students had cleared the SSC exam. In 2013, this percentage went up to 98.96% (190/192). In the 2014 SSC results, Nutan Madhyamik Vidyalaya maintained this record with a 99.49% (196/197) result. In 2015, this percentage stood at 99.53% (212/213). The passing out percentage of the Khijar Urdu High School in SSC exam was 36/57 or 63.16% in 2012, 45/53 or 84.91% in 2013, 43/45 or 95.56% in 2014 and 44/47 or 93.62% in 2015.^{[58][59][60][61]} In 2013, 206 out of 244 or 84.43% students who appeared for the HSC exam at Nutan Madhyamik Vidyalaya, had cleared the HSC exam,^[62] and in 2014, this percentage stood at 95.83 with 184 out of 192 students passing out.^[63] In 2015, this percentage stood at 95.90% with 257 out of 268 students passing out in HSC exam.^[64]

Shikshan Prasarak Mandal has recently started an industrial training institute at Chinawal. Work on the proposed D.Ed. college is in progress. Except Zila Parishad primary schools and Khijar Urdu High School, all educational facilities at Chinawal are run by the Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, Chinawal.^[65] The nearest college for graduation and post-graduation courses is Dhanaji Nana College at Faizpur which is 7 km away.

Culture

Dress

General life and culture of the Chinawal village. Some villagers at a bus and auto rickshaw stop in the village.

In the dress of male Hindu villagers, the old fashion of white pheta, topi, dhoti, loose pyjamas, kurta, uparne, barabandi, kopri, angarkha, and dagla has largely disappeared and it has been replaced with shirt, banyan, T-shirt and pants of different colors. In the dress of female Hindu villagers, the old fashion of nauvari sari/paatal, bangles, nathni and earring has largely disappeared and it has been replaced with sari, petticoat, blouse and salwar. The tradition of wearing mangalsutra remains, but the fashion of kunku has largely been replaced with bindi.^[66]

The dress of Muslim men is much like the dress of Hindu men, and can not be differentiated unless Muslims wear taqiyah and sherwani, and keep a beard. The dress of Muslim women is the hijab.^[67]

Food

Representative image. Shevbhaji from Khandesh.

The Indian breads bhakri and poli are the villagers' main staple foods. Along with these breads, various types of bhaji are eaten. At weddings, festivals and special occasions, varan-poli (or varan-batti) and vangyachi bhaji (curry made of eggplant) are typically favored, while baigan bharta, vangyache bharit, brinjal bharit, eggplant bharit, udid dal curry, shev bhaji, pooran-poli and kheer are treated like banquet. Thecha-bhakri is eaten like fast food as it is easy to prepare and carry in the farms. Non-vegetarian villagers prefer goat meat over chicken. In general most of the dishes of the Maharashtrian cuisine are part of the villagers' dishes.^[68]

Architecture

A old hut amidst newly well-built houses on the street of Chinawal

Most of the houses in the village are reinforced concrete built without any fancy architectural designs. Some very poor people live in thatched huts.^[69] /ref

Religion

One of the oldest temples in Chinawal village, Ram Mandir

Muslim prayer place Masjid in Chinawal village

The population of the village is predominantly theist. Philosophically the Hindu villagers believe in one god, but in practice the spiritual energy of the villagers is distributed in worshipping many deities and saints. In some corner of every Hindu home, a small temple (devghar/devhara) containing deities or photos of the deities can be found. If there is not enough space for the miniature temple, photos/deities are kept on a small wooden stool or fixed on a wall. Choice of the deities varies from home to home, but popular deities are Lakshmi, Shiva-Parvati, Vithoba, Saptashrungi, Ganesha, and Dattatreya.

The old tradition of long daily prayers with rituals has somewhat become extinct, though it is followed during the festivals and on special occasions. In daily prayers, people simply light a diya and incense sticks and pray with folded hands for a few minutes before continuing their work. The village has Ram mandir, Maruti mandir, Mahadev mandir and other temples. Some villagers go to one of these temples daily for prayer, others visit only during the festivals and on special occasions. Muslim villagers offer namaz daily and most of them fast during the month of Ramzan.^[70]

Social background

Ganesh Visarjan during Ganesh Chaturthi at Chinawal village in 2014

Durga Visarjan during Navaratri at Chinawal village in 2014

The social evil of untouchability, which once plagued Chinawal village like any other village in India, has ended here, and those inhuman visuals have become a thing of the past. The Bara Balutedar system has also ended, and now any individual, irrespective of his caste, is free to do any work in the village or anywhere in India, though some villagers still prefer their centuries-old hereditary occupation if they find that it is convenient and profitable. There is no discrimination in public life on the basis of caste, but caste still plays an important role in personal lives of villagers, and intercaste marriages are very rare.^[71]

Not only the caste system, but a centuries-old belief system is crumbling. A Brahman priest does not enjoy the same influence he would have had 200 years ago. Schools teach rational thinking and science, not traditional religious rituals and stories of gods or saints. TV has reached almost every home. The collective result of this is that many old traditions have either disappeared or receive less importance. Occurrences of pravachan, bhajan, and kirtan are on the decline. Every field used to have some presiding deity in the corner of field. That practice has largely disappeared, except for some small temples in a few fields or on the side of the road. THE Cruel practice of animal sacrifice in front of deities has become extinct long ago. Most of the 16 samskara rituals prescribed in the Hinduism are also long extinct. Some rituals like piercing ears and upanayana recorded in recent history are rarely seen now.

Not only rituals, but some deities have also disappeared. The tiger deity Waghoba and cobra deity Nagoba have disappeared, as the danger from tigers has ceased to exist and danger from snakes has become very rare. The buffalo deity Mhasoba also disappeared when the dominant occupation of the villagers changed from herding to farming.^[72]

In this disappearing act of traditions and rituals, some traditions have remained constant, and some new rituals have emerged and gained popularity. Rituals of firecrackers, electric lighting, and greeting cards were added to the Vijayadashami-Diwali celebrations during the last few hundred years. Ganesh Chaturthi was an important household celebration before 1894, but now it has been transformed into a big public celebration with erected pandals on the streets, music and dance. In the last few decades, Navratri has also turned into a big celebration like Ganesh Chaturthi. The Holi celebration in the village was almost nonexistent just three or four decades ago, except for lighting holika at a few places. But now teenagers can be seen celebrating and playing with colors. Other festivals like Krishna Janmashtami, Gudhi Padva, Rama Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, and Raksha Bandhan are celebrated with traditional religious fervor, but do not receive much attention from the younger generation, while Hartalika, Akshay Tritiya, Vat Purnima, Nag Panchami, Kojagiri Purnima, Makar Sankranti, and Maha Shivaratri are celebrated in a subdued manner. Some festivals like Pitru Paksha, Pithori Amavasya/Pola Tulsi Vivah, Rotpuja, Kakarpuja, and the tradition of observing fast on days like Ekadashi are falling into oblivion.^[73]

A blue flag at Chinawal with Dhamma wheel and Bhim word which represents the Dalit Buddhist movement

Most of the Muslims in Jalgaon district were originally Hindus from the Maharashtra and north India who, voluntarily or under force, converted to Islam during a period spread over centuries. A few of them are descendants of the Arabs who arrived in the Khandesh region to serve the Faruqi dynasty during 1370-1599. Leaving the past behind, they are all followers of the Islam religion, though the influence of the local culture can be seen in their food, clothes, and housing. Ramzan Eid, Bakri Eid and Eid-e-Milad are the biggest festivals of the Muslims. On Ramzan Eid, it is a tradition of the Muslims to send Sheer khurma for their Hindu friends. Some rich Muslims buy clothes for poor Hindus and this tradition has been maintained over centuries, barring the period of some occasional disturbances in the communal harmony of the village. An azaan is sounded daily by a muzim five times a day from the turret of a masjid as a call to assemble for the namaz. Along with daily namaz, some Muslims also worship Pir Baba. Every Muslim aspires to become a hajji by paying visit to the Mecca in his lifetime.^[74] Dalits are emancipated from centuries old oppression in the society because of great efforts from B. R. Ambedkar and as a mark of respect, his birth anniversary, Ambedkar Jayanti, is celebrated like a festival. During the last few decades, statues and photos of Dr. Ambedkar, along with the dhamma flag, have gained immense cultural significance in the landscape of the village.^[75]

Entertainment and sports

Irrespective of caste and religion, children in the village play various games for physical development. Children from 4-10 play simple games like running around and tagging each other; rope swinging; imitating train, motorcycle and horse-riding; driving old bicycle tires on the streets; playing with marbles, and playing red hands. Older children play abadhabi, lapandav, aandhali kosimbir, bhavra, kite-flying, volleyball, badminton, and musical chairs. Skipping rope, hopscotch, fugdi, sagargote and songtya (Indian version of backgammon) are popular games among the girls. Kho kho, kabaddi, viti-dandu, langdi, atya patya are traditional games played at school. Lately children have started favoring video games on cellphones and computers. Most of the traditional games are falling into disfavor and eventually all traditional games are overshadowed by cricket; many children can be seen playing cricket anywhere, even in small rooms.

The forms of entertainment have also changed in the village over the ages. Bhajan, kirtan, Bhagavad Gita parayan, pravachan, gondhal, bharud, jogwa, jatra, yatra, and dindi were major sources of entertainment for the villagers in bygone eras. Tamasha, lavani, and natak were favorites of the younger generation. After 1950, most of these were slowly replaced by the phonograph, radio, movie theater, audio cassette player, video cassette player, CD player, television, computer and cellphone. Bollywood films and TV have played a major role in transforming entertainment in the village. Remnants of the past can be still found in the form of an occasional bhajan, kirtan and parayan, but they are now performed for the religious purpose and not for the entertainment.

The cinema theatre in Chinawal village was closed in the 1990s due to the telecast of films on TV. The villagers' main source of entertainment is television. Most of the houses have TV sets with cable and satellite dishes.

Something has remained constant over centuries: for some villagers, wine and tobacco are traditional sources of recreation.^[76]

General info

Another old temple, Maruti Mandir, in Chinawal village

Poor villagers living near defunct cinema theatre in Chinawal village

India leads the world in banana production. Within India, Maharashtra state leads banana production with a 25% share. Jalgaon and Bhusawal regions of Maharashtra are the biggest producers of banana in the country, while Raver tehsil in the Bhusawal region is the hub of banana production and trading activities of the country.^[77] Chinawal is the most populated village in the Raver tehsil,^[12] with over thousand hectares of farm land.^[8] This puts Chinawal village in a unique perspective regarding banana production.

Chinawal village is well connected to the nearby villages and cities by MSRTC buses and auto rickshaws through 8 roads, which are Chinawal-Waghoda road, Chinawal-Kochur road, Chinawal-Rozoda road, Chinawal-Khiroda road, Chinawal-Savkheda road, Chinawal-Kumbharkheda road, Chinawal-Utkheda road and Chinawal-Vadgaon road. Shahada - Raver Maharashtra State High Way Number 4 is 3 km south of the Chinawal village near Waghoda village. The nearest railway station is 30 km away at Bhusawal city. Tahsil place Raver is at 18 km, while district place Jalgaon is at approx 56 km away from the village. State capital Mumbai is 400 km southwest of the Chinawal village.

Being a small village, no lodging is available here. The nearest town for lodging is Savda, 6 km away.^[10]

Chinawal has both landline and cellphone connectivity. There are cellphone towers of major mobile companies like AirTel, Vodafone, BSNL, Idea, Reliance, Tata situated in Chinawal village. Internet connectivity is available through landline phone and GPRS.^[78]

The Ram Mandir in the Chinawal village was built in around 1863. Its property is the cause of dispute between Shri Ram Mandir Charitable Trust Chinawal and some villagers. A court case regarding this property dispute has been going on for many decades.^[79]

Incidents

Chinawal is generally a peaceful village, except for some incidents of disturbance. On 11 April 2011 at around 9 am, three robbers arrived on motorcycles at the Central Bank of India in Chinawal village. They masked their faces with clothes to hide their identity and entered the bank holding revolvers. They threatened bank employees and other people present. In the subsequent struggle, they injured a bank employee with a knife and then shot him. They stole around 1 million rupees from the safe of the bank and succeeded in escaping on motorcycles.^[80][81] The bank employee survived the gunshot, but the robbers were never caught.^[82]

Two months before this incident, in January 2011, a college girl was molested on a bus and a riot broke out between the two communities of the Chinawal village. Eight people were injured in stone-pelting, and some vehicles and property were damaged.^[83]

In June 2010, a poster of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was torn and in a subsequent riot, four police constables and two villagers were injured.^[75]

In September 2002, a minor riot broke out between the two communities of the village during the Ganesh visarjan procession, but no serious injuries or death were reported.^[84]

There are no dangerous wild animals or jungle surrounding the village. All the land is cultivated. In March 2011, farmers sighted a tiger in the farms of Chinawal village, which created much panic among the farmers. Forest officers tried to track the tiger by his pug-marks and GPS, but couldn't locate him.^[85]

History

Although Chinawal village is not directly mentioned in the historical records, the history of the Raver region can be broadly constructed from the history of the Jalgaon district. Emissaries of which kings and emperors have trodden the land of the Raver region may help in understanding how it affected the culture of the Raver region, or it might be important purely for academic purposes.

Until 1600

During the Ramayana period, the region of the Jalgaon district was known as Rsika. Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 41, Sloka 10 of Ramayana mentions that Sugriva had ordered a search of the Sita in this region. Intense archaeological excavation of the Jalgaon district is not carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India, hence records of the Paleolithic and Neolithic era of the Jalgaon district are absent, although 1.7-1 million year old Acheulean tools, hand axes and cleavers, were found in the open bed of the Tapti River at Changdev, which is around 30 km south of the Chinawal village. Also microlithic tools like scrapers, points, trapeze, long blades, arrowheads and fluted cores were found at Changdev, dating back to 45-10,000 BCE. Chalcolithic tools and artifacts (1 millennium - 500 BCE) were found at Bahal and Tekevada sites on the bank of the Girna River, 29 km north of the Chalisgaon, and also near Vakad village, 19 km south of Pahur. A Mauryan period (400-300 BCE) NBP glass-ware and coins were recovered from the Bahal and Shendurni, which roughly corresponds to the rule of the Emperor Ashoka.

In the first century BCE, a Satavahana dynasty king Gautamiputra Satakarni conquered and made Jalgaon region part of his empire. A Nashik caves inscription reveals that during the Satavahana Empire period, the Jalgaon region was known as 'Asika'. Buddhism may have entered into the Jalgaon region during the reign of Emperor Ashoka, but it received great impetus here during the Satavahana dynasty.

Abhira King Virasena ruled the Nashik region in the fourth century AD and as Abhiras were known to build Gadhis everywhere, it is inferred that the Gadhis found in the Jalgaon district were influenced from the Abhira tradition.

A Vakataka dynasty king ruled Jalgaon region in fifth century AD, while Chalukya dynasty had their sway in the Jalgaon region during 489 AD-630 AD.

The next Jalgaon region was ruled by the Rashtrakuta dynasty until it was overthrown by the Tailapa II of Western Chalukya Empire in 970 A.D.

After the fall of the Rashtrakuta empire, Jalgaon region was ruled by minor local dynasties who owed allegiance to the Yadava empire.^[87]

Muslim rule of the Jalgaon region began in 1295 A.D when Alauddin Khilji defeated Ramchandra of Yadav dynasty. Rule of the Khilji dynasty lasted until 1347 A.D, which was followed by the rule of Bahmani King Hasan Gangu in 1351 A.D. In 1382, Malik Raja ousted Hasan Gangu with the aid of Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq and founded an independent principality, with Burhanpur its capital. As the Malik Raja preferred the 'Khan' title and as the rule of the Faruqi dynasty started by him lasted for a considerably longer period of 230 years, hence his principality came to be known as the 'Khan Desh' (Country of the Khan), which included the Jalgaon region. Emperor Akbar arrested Bahadur Shah, the last ruler of the Faruqi dynasty, in August 1600, and Jalgaon region came directly under the rule of the Akbar. Akbar appointed Abul Fazl as the governor of the Khandesh and Khandesh was renamed to 'Dandesh', after the name of Akbar's son Daniyal.

During the rule of the Faruqi dynasty, Jalgaon region had become very rich and prosperous. It was one of the best producers of the mango and was also producing grains, fine quality rice, cotton, sugar, dry fruits, wool, yarn, lawn cloths, calico, brassware, prints, arms and drugs, but no mention of the banana cultivation in Jalgaon region is found.^[29]

1601-1859

Asirgarh Fort (1856) at Burhanpur, which fell to British in 1819

The stability and prosperity of the Jalgaon region began to decline during the rule of Akbar (1600-1605) and further deteriorated during the rule of Jahangir (1607-1627). The rule of Shah Jahan was the darkest period in the history of the region; due to total failure of the monsoon in 1629-1630, the Deccan Famine of 1630–32, and wars, people resorted to dog meat eating and even cannibalism. Shah Jahan appointed Aurangzeb governor of the Deccan Sultanates in 1634 and with that his rule began in the Jalgaon region. By 1665, the area had recovered to some extent from the economic breakdown, but in subsequent years it suffered again due to conflict between Aurangzeb and Shivaji, Sambhaji, Rajaram, Tarabai. Until the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, Jalgaon region was completely devastated. The situation didn't improve during the rule of Bahadur Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Nizam ul-Mulk either. Jalgaon region had become zone of many minor battles. In 1710, a Maratha lady, Tulashi bai, laid siege to Raver (known as Ranvir, Ranavir, or Ranwer in history) village with fifteen thousand horses and in subsequent battles killed Mir Ahmad Khan, a subhedar of Burhanpur.

Comparative peace prevailed when Nizam signed a treaty with Baji Rao I in 1732. But it didn't last long and Jalgaon region was ceded to powerful Nanasaheb Peshwa in 1752.^[29] Taking advantage of the weakness of Peshwa army after the Battle of Panipat, Nizam regained control of the Jalgaon region in 1762, but soon it was taken back by the Peshwa. Nana Fadnavis, Mahadaji Shinde and Tukoji Rao Holkar defeated Nizam in 1795. Khandesh was divided into three parts and ruled by Peshwa, Holkar and Sindia. Raver region came under the rule of Tukoji Holkar in 1776. After his death in 1797, Kashi Rao Holkar became legal heir of the Raver region. Kashirao appointed Rao Dhar Nimbalkar of Yawal as the subhedar of the Raver region, which was then passed on to his son Suryajirao Nimbalkar. Due to his incompetence to rule, Kashirao was controlled by Daulat Scindia with the assistance of Peshwa of Pune. Scindia also killed Malharrao, brother of Yashwantrao. That led to a longconflict between Yashwantrao Holkar and Scindia, Bajirao. Khandesh was in the hands of Hindu rulers after 500 years, but infighting among Holkars, Scindia and Peshwa further pushed Jalgaon region into anarchy. Yashwantrao Holkar ravaged Raver in 1800. In 1802, he took possession of his incompetent brother Kashirao and kept him in a well-guarded fort at Sendhwa. Thus Raver region came under the rule of Yashwantrao Holkar. These wars and plunder by the gangs of Bhils and Pindaris pushed the Jalgaon region into anarchy. By 1810, Khandesh had become the most anarchical region in the whole of Asia.^[88]

Yashwantrao Holkar died in 1811 and his wife Tulsi Bai Holkar took over the administration. When the army of Tulsi Bai was on the way to join Peshwa in the fight against the British, news of arrival of the British general and negotiator John Malcolm reached her. Malcolm made friendly gestures and offered terms to dissuade the Holkar family from joining Peshwa, which Tulsi Bai favored but her army general Roshan Baig refused. In further escalation of the tension, she was beheaded by her own soldiers on the banks of the Shipra River on the night of 20 December 1817. In the line of hundreds of rulers in the history of the Raver region and Chinawal village area, Tulsi Bai was the last before the British took over.

The next day, on 21 December, Malcolm defeated the army of Holkars led by 11-year-old Malhar Rao Holkar II in the Battle of Mahidpur, although the Holkar family was not much in command of their army. Malcolm then captured Thalner on 27 February 1818. British military power first appeared in the Jalgaon region in 1779 and by July 1818, the whole Jalgaon region was under the British rule, except Asirgarh Fort, which was taken on 9 April 1819. Gangs of the Bhils and Pindaris who were looting villages were brought under control by 1859. Since 1859, an unbroken peace has prevailed in the Jalgaon region.^[89]

Indian independence movement

Chinawal village has contributed to the Indian independence movement. On 26 January 1930, the Indian National Congress promulgated Purna Swaraj, a Declaration of the Independence of India. In March 1930, Congress launched a civil disobedience movement across India with Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March. In Raver tehsil, villages and towns responded with peaceful meetings, prabhat pheris, processions and hartals along with 'jungle satyagraha', i.e., breaking British forest laws by cutting grass and trees. Villagers of Chinaval carried out daily prabhat pheris in defiance of the British Raj.

Following the re-arrest of Sardar Patel on 2 August 1930, a general unrest prevailed in the Chinawal village. On 5 August 1930, villagers carried out a procession and hartal was observed in the village to protest his arrest.^[90]

The 50th national session of the Indian National Congress, the first of its kind in the rural area of India, was held at Faizpur, 9 km away from Chinawal, in December 1936.^[91] To explain the significance of this session and also to campaign for the Indian provincial elections, 1937, Congress Socialist Party founding leader S. M. Joshi, along with saffron-clad women, visited villages in the Raver tehsil, including Chinaval village, and addressed thousands of peasants.^[92]

Politics and governance

The political history of the Chinawal village and most of the villages in India is almost absent. Academicians have constructed only a broad idea of how the village communities of western India functioned in ancient times.

Ancient system

In early history, Aryans moved from the Indus-Gangetic Plain towards south India. They occupied the forest land of the Dandakaranya and settled in small villages. All the villagers doing the same work and changing their professions at unpredictable time wasn't viable for the economy and proper functioning of the village. To produce a reliable skilled workforce, the Aryans divided their duties. Some villagers farmed food, while others worked in the making of wooden and iron tools, shoe making, or sanitation. These community workers were known as 'balutedars'. In these early settlements, a barter economy came into existence. In exchange for services, farmers shared their grain with the balutedars every year at the time of harvesting. It is generally agreed that there were 12 balutedar professions in most of the villages, although the number of these professions in a particular village varied as per their needs. These included sutar, nhavi, chambhar, ramoshi, lohar, dhobi, kumbhar, mang, gramjoshi, bhangi, mahar, and sonar. These profession ran in the same families generation after generation for hundreds of years, and by the time of the arrival of the British in India, these professions had taken shape of the rigid caste system and even untouchability. Instead of coordinated community work, villages had become centres of caste-based politics, which had weakened the village communities.

Kings and emperors seldom directly governed any village under their rule, and villages had their own self-governance. The ancient and oldest quasi-democratic political system, in which people choose the most influential and respected persons from their group as leaders, was prevalent in western India until British rule began in the Khandesh region in 1817. The 'gamabhojaka', directly or indirectly appointed by the kings, was used to collect revenue from the villagers on behalf of the kings. Sometime this gamabhojaka was accepted as headman of the village to solve disputes, and sometimes villagers chose respected elders, known as 'panch', from their community to solve their disputes. In extreme cases, the king or his representative was contacted to enforce the decision of the village community or to review a complex dispute. But there is no evidence that any permanent taxation committee or public works committee existed in villages under this self-governance. When the occasion arose, the headman or panch were used to collect funds from the villagers for community works like temple building. Other duties of the headman included managing the payment of grain-share to servants under the balutedar system, and coordinating with the villagers to defend the village from robbers.

By the 16th century, the post of gamabhojaka (headman of the village) was known as patilki or deshmukh. During British rule, this post was brought under police and it was named as 'Police Patil', but British had reduced the powers of the Police Patil to solve disputes; his job was to collect revenues and assist police in maintaining law and order in the village.^[93] After independence, the powers of the Police Patil were further reduced vide Maharashtra Revenue Patils (Abolition of Office) Act, 1962. In contemporary governance, the land revenue is collected by the talathi, criminal and civil cases are tried in courts and executive decisions regarding management of the village are taken by the Gram Panchayat.^[94] Now the Police Patil is recruited by conducting exams and his main job is to report law and order-related incidents in the village to the police station and follow the orders of higher judicial and police officers. So the post of Police Patil in the village has mainly become ceremonial.^[95]

Contemporary system

Gram panchayat office (est. 1936), Chinawal

The ancient institution of village panchayat was revived during the British period when the Bombay Legislative Council passed the Village Panchayat Act, 1920. Gram panchayats were given the power to collect taxes from the villagers for the development work of the village. The Bombay Village Panchayats Act (VI of 1933) made it mandatory to establish a gram panchayat in every village with a population of more than 2000 people. Hence a gram panchayat was established in the Chinawal village in 1936. The gram panchayat has the authority to collect taxes prescribed by the government, including property tax (tax on house, non-agricultural land, shop and hotel); service tax (tax on water supply, sales of goods, octroi, weekly bazaar); entertainment tax (tax on fair, festival, entertainment); tax on marriages, adoption and feasts; and pilgrim tax. Subject to the general control of the Zila Parishad, it is the duty of the gram panchayat to utilise these funds for the supply of water; for the cleansing of streets, drains, water tanks and wells; for building, maintaining and repairing public roads, toilets, drains and bridges; for improving sanitation and preventing nuisances to maintain a healthy atmosphere; and for electrification of the village.^[96]

Under the three-tier panchayati raj system, gram panchayat is the executive organ of the panchayat samiti and panchayat samiti is the executive organ of the zilla parishad. Although gram panchayat has the power to make independent decisions, some works in the village, like primary health center, primary education, irrigation, and implementation of various government schemes, are directly funded and run by the Jalgaon zilla parishad through Raver panchayat samiti.^[97][98]

Villagers vote in four elections to elect five candidates as their representatives. In gram panchayat elections, they elect a candidate to represent their wards in Chinawal gram panchayat. Panchayat samiti and zilla parishad elections are held together. In panchayat samiti election, villagers elect a candidate to represent Chinawal 'gan' in Raver panchayat samiti, while in zilla parishad elections, they elect a candidate to represent Chinawal-Khiroda 'gat' (block of villages) in Jalgaon zilla parishad.^[99] In assembly elections, villagers elect a candidate to represent Raver Vidhan Sabha constituency in the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra. In parliamentary elections, villagers elect a candidate to represent Raver Lok Sabha constituency in Lok Sabha. Development of the Chinawal village depends upon coordination among these five representatives and five constitutional bodies.^[100]

Governance

Representative image. A lane in old village Chinawal.

Since the establishment of the gram panchayat in 1936, Chinawal village has seen notable progress. The entire village is electrified. Shikshan Prasarak Mandal has built many school buildings and hostels. The village has excelled in banana production, which warranted the visit of Kerala government officials in 2004 to Chinawal during their study tour. In August 2011, many farmers from the villages of Yamunanagar and Kernal districts in Haryana visited the Chinawal village on behalf of the government of Haryana to study its agricultural production.^[101]

In April 2013, Chinawal village received an award under 'Mahatma Gandhi Tantamukt Gaon Mohim' (Mahatma Gandhi Dispute-Free Village Mission) for the year 2011-12 from the government of Maharashtra.^[102] But some general issues remains. In 2012, Jalgaon district health officials had declared water from 36 villages as 'unsafe for drinking', which included drinking water sample from the Chinawal village. Reason given by the health officials was general unhygienic conditions in and around villages which included mixing of the animal and human waste in drinking water supply chain due to lack of cleanliness and open defecation, excess use of fertilizers in the farms etc.^[103] Illegal sale of Alcoholic beverages, including country wine, is rampant in and around Chinawal village even on dry days and some time teenagers are employed to smuggle wine bottles.^[104]

The job of road construction and repair falls under zilla parishad. Despite repeated complaints to the representatives of the Raver region, the condition of roads leading to Chinawal and other villages remains poor and it impacts transport of the banana production and overall economy of the village.^[37] The job of electricity supply falls under the Government of Maharashtra. Villagers and farmers suffers due to many hours of daily power loadshedding. Farmers can not irrigate their farms regularly and it affects agricultural production.^[23] Sometime sand is illegally smuggled from the bed of the Suki river which is near to the Chinawal village,^[105] but when it is legally sold, gram panchayat of the Chinawal village do not receive its 10% share in the income regularly from the state government and it affects the development work of the village.^[106]

Politics

Under panchayati raj system, gram panchayat elections are held in the Chinawal village every 5 years to elect 17 members of the Chinawal gram panchayat. Elections are not officially fought on party symbols, so the outlook of the villagers towards political parties can be judged only from other political events. In September 2014, Sarpanch of Chinawal village Surekha Patil had participated in the rally of Indian National Congress (INC) leader Shirish Chaudhari.^[107] In February 2012, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopal Nemade was elected as Raver panchayat samiti member from the Chinawal 'gan', while an INC leader Pushpa Tayade was elected as Jalgaon zila parishad member from the Chinawal-Khiroda 'gat'.^[108] In the history of the independent India since 1951, Raver Vidhan Sabha constituency was represented by the INC 9 times, while BJP represented 4 times in 1985, 1995, 2004 and 2014. 2009 year assembly election was won by the independent candidate Shirish Chaudhari, who later on joined INC in 2014. During Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, 2014 for Raver Vidhan Sabha constituency, a veteran farmer from the Chinawal village Digambar Narkhede had supported INC candidate Shirish Chaudhari along with many villagers,^[109] while campaign procession of BJP candidate Haribhau Jawale had also received good response in Chinawal village.^[110] Jawale won the election by margin of 10,000 votes.^[111] Influence of other political parties in the Chinawal village is too small to be noticed by the media.

Charts

Gram panchayat

Chandrakant Dongar Bhangale 
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|-rowspan="1" style="text-align:center; background:#f9fab3; textcolor:#000;"

^{[13][25][83][112]}

17 gram panchayat members were elected in the December 2012 elections

• Surekha Narendra Patil
• Shaikh Kalim Shaikh Nyajuddin
• Manish Sharad Borole
• Jayashri Nitin Patil
• Chandrashekhar Sudhakar Kirange
• Manisha Sunil Bhalerao
• Sanjivani Sharad Bonde
• Chandrakant Dongar Bhangale
• Rekha Jitendra Nemade
• Begum Sandu Tadavi
• Suresh Girdhar Garase
• Vinod Pundlik Bavaskar
• Shaikh Azgar Shaikh Siraj
• Gauri Yogesh Bangale
• Yogesh Suresh Borole
• Madhuri Yuvraj Mahajan
• Asha Kamlakar Nemade

^[13]

Panchayat samiti and zilla parishad

^[108][113]

Raver assembly elections

^{[114][115][116][117]}

• Raver was part of Bombay state during 1951 and 1957 elections

References

External links

• Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chinawal

Jalgaon district topics
History	Faruqi dynasty Khandesh Khandesh District
Tehsils	Amalner Bhadgaon Bhusawal Bodwad Chalisgaon Chopda Dharangaon Erandol Jalgaon Jamner Muktainagar Pachora Parola Raver Yawal
Education	North Maharashtra University
Lok Sabha constituencies	Jalgaon Raver
Vidhan Sabha constituencies	Amalner Bhusawal Chalisgaon Chopda Erandol Jalgaon City Jalgaon Rural Jamner Muktainagar Pachora Raver
Major towns and villages	Varangaon Nashirabad Kasoda Adavad Savda Shendurni Nagardeole Bk. Nhavi Pimpalgaon Bk. Asoda Tongaon Chinawal

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