Medieval History:-In 1536 A.D., the Mughal Emperor Humayun, after his conquest of Gujarat, had visited Burhanpur and Asirgarh via Baroda, Broach (Bharuch) & Surat. Raja Ali Khan (1576-1596 A.D.), also known as Adil Shah, was asked to submit to Akbar, when the latter had sent an expedition to Khandesh, in the summer of 1577 A.D. The former, to avoid the unequal contest with the mighty Akbar, dropped his royal title of Shah and accepted the Suzerainty of Akbar.This marked an epoch in the Deccan policy of the Mughals, for Khandesh was used as a base for the future Conquest of Deccan. Raja Ali Khan constructed many buildings like Jama Masjid in the upper portion of the fort of Asir in 1588 A.D., Jama Masjid at Burhanpur in 1590 A.D., Idgah at Asir, mausoleums & Serai at Burhanpur and Serai & Mosque at Zainabad.
Bahadur Khan (1596-1600 A.D.) successor of Raja Ali Khan declared his independence & refused to pay homage to Akbar & his son Prince Daniyal, which enraged Akbar, who marched towards Burhanpur in 1599 and occupied the City without any opposition on 8th April 1600 A.D. Akbar paid a visit to Asirgarh, so as to inspect it personally, where he stayed for 4 days before returning to his Head Quarter at Burhanpur.
ShahJahan’s Operation:-Prince Khurram was nominated as the Governor of the Deccan in 1617 AD, by Jahangir to succeed Prince Parviz, and was bestowed the title of Shah by Jahangir. Khurram led the Mughal army to a peaceful victory by which Jahangir was pleased with his success & conferred him the title of Shah Jahan on 12th October, 1617 AD. After the death of Jahangir in 1627, Shah Jahan ascended the throne of Mughal empire. Due to troubled conditions in the Deccan, he reached Burhanpur (Deccan) on the 1st March 1630, where he stayed for the following two years, conducting operations against Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, and Golkunda. On 7th June 1631, Shah Jahan lost his beloved & favourite wife Mumtaz Mahall at Burhanpur, and her body was buried at first in the Garden of Zainabad, across the river Tapti. Early in December of the same year (1631 AD), the remains of her body were sent to Agra. Later on 6th March 1632, Shah Jahan left Burhanpur for the north, after appointing Mahabat Khan as the viceroy of the Deccan.
Modern History:-From the mid 16th Century to the early 18th century, the Nimar region (including Burhanpur, East Nimar,West Nimar Barwani District), was under the rule/impact of Aurangzeb, Bahadur Shah (Mughals), Peshwas, Sindhia, Holkar & Pawar (Marathas ), Pindaris etc. Later from early part of the mid 18th century, the management of the Nimar region came under the British.
The Burhanpur district did not remain unaffected by the Great Uprising of 1857, which swept the country, against the British rule. In connection with the so called Riots of 1857, Tatya Tope had gone through the region of Nimar and before marching out of the region, burnt the police stations and Govt. buildings at Khandwa, Piplod and a number of other places and escaped again to central India by way of Khargone.
The Burhanpur district was greatly affected with the beginning of freedom movement, Non-Co-operation movement, Civil Disobedience movement, Quit India Movement etc., to obtain the Independence of the Motherland India, from late 18th century till 15th August 1947. During this time Near by District Khandwa was visited by Swami Dayanad Saraswati of Arya Samaj fame, Swami Vivekanand,the great monk & founder of Ramkrishna Mission, Mahatma Gandhiji in 1921, Lokmanya Tilak etc.
Young Nationalists of the Nimar Region, like Haridas Chatterjee, Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Thakur Laxman Singh, Abdul Quadir Siddique has attended the Calcutta Session of Congress in 1917. Tilak has visited Khandwa during his whirl-wind tour to central province in 1918. The district did not fail to make its contribution in non-co-operative movement. Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930 has also been participated by many people of the district. Editor of swarajya S.M.Agarkar was also arrested and imprisoned. Nav Jawan Sabha was established at Khandwa in 1931. Students had also participated in this movement.
Burhanpur is a mid-sized city in Madhya Pradesh. It is situated on the banks of Tapti River. Burhanpur is famous for its textile industries.
It is also the hub for Power Loom industry in Madhya Pradesh. The manufacturing industry is also prevalent in the region, both manufacturing of pipes and agriculture equipment is done here. Several cotton and oil mills are also there.
It is also the largest producer of bananas in Madhya Pradesh and also has a largest paper mill in Madhya Pradesh. It is a huge market of Unani Medicines. The cotton is cultivated at a large scale in Burhanpur catering to the huge demand of textile industry.
Agriculture and Horticulture in Burhanpur :- Burhanpur is a agriculture predominant area. It is Cultivation of cotton and bananas are the major agricultural produce in Burhanpur. Most of the farmers are occupied in the production of these two major crops. Burhanpur is the largest producer of banana in Madhya Pradesh. Apart from them Soybean and Sorghum are cultivated in good quantities. Other crops that are cultivated here are pigeon pea, wheat, gram, chilly, coriander,mangoes, oranges etc.
Industrial and Economic Development in Burhanpur :- The main economic source of Burhanpur is textile industries. It is the hub for Power Loom industry in Madhya Pradesh. It has one NTC (National Textile Corporation) project ‘Tapti Mills’ and many other textile companies like Kamal Textiles, Annapurna Calandering Works,Paras Process,Neel Kamal Processors,Shivam Textiles, Ambey Process Etc. Burhanpur is known for Cambric, Bleached Dhoti, interlining cloth, Grey Marking, Power loom Cloth bakram and other types of fabric . Pipes and agriculture equipments industry also contribute to the economy of the Burhanpur. ‘Texmpo Pipes’, Balaji industry are pipes and agriculture equipments manufacturing industries. Several cotton and oil mills are also the contributing factors of economy in Burhanpur. The wood and wood based furniture industry is also prevalent in the region. The paper industry of Burhanpur is the largest in Madhya Pradesh.
Contribution of Tourism in the Economy of Burhanpur:-Burhanpur is a historic place having a vast history. Many history lovers and archeologists visit Burhanpur to learn more about the splendid past of our country. Burhanpur was an important cityduring medieval period especially during Mughal and Maratha period. The Mughal history is incomplete without taking the name of Burhanpur. The tourism industry is an important industry of Burhanpur. There are many hotels, lodges, guesthouses for the tourists. Apart from people visiting to see and praise the splendid architecture of Mughal period, a lot of people visit here for business purpose. It is the adobe of many religious and historic places which are largely visited by the peple from all around the country. It is also known as a pilgrimage center for Muslims and Sikhs.
Forests as the source of economy in Burhanpur :-Total area covered under Forest is 195321 Hectares. Though the forestsare not a major economic contributor in Burhanpur, but the wood from these forests forms the basis of many wood/wood based furniture industries in Burhanpur. There are many wood and wood based furniture industries in Burhanpur. Also the wood is used as a source of energy for cooking food in rural industries. Burhanpur also has a huge leather industry. The animals in the forests are hunted for their leather. And hence the forests though directly does not contribute to the economy of Burhanpur, but is the source of raw material to many industries in Burhanpur.