region came under the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and later his sons as the Maratha Empire rose from 1674 to 1760. When Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj I died in 1749, he appointed Peshwa as the head of the Maratha Empire with certain conditions. The third battle of Panipat in 1761 crippled the Maratha Empire and weakened the power of Peshwa, but Berar remained under Maratha rule. The Battle of Argaon in 1803 was fought in Akola between the British and the Marathas during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. In the third Anglo-Maratha War, the last Peshwa, Baji Rao II, was defeated. In 1853, the Akola district together with the rest of Berar came under the administration of the British East India Company. Berar was divided into East and West Berar with the Akola district being included in the west. In 1903, Berar was leased to the Nizam of Hyderabad by the British East India Company in return for the debt. Post-independence After India's independence in 1947 from the British Government, the newly formed country was divided into different states. The Congress's proposed linguistic provinces plan before the Independence of India had positioned Akola as the headquarters of the Berar region. The states and provinces of India were reorganized in 1956, and the region of Berar was divided among different states. Akola became a part of bilingual state of Bombay which was further divided into two states in 1960 when Akola became a part of the new state of Maharashtra. Demographics According to the 2011 Census of India, Akola City had a population of 427,146 and an area of about . After the city's municipal limits were extended in Aug 2016, it was recorded to have a population of 537,137. Geography and climate Governance Police administration Akola Police maintains eight police stations in the Akola city subdivision that cover the metropolitan area of the city. The government also approved the creation of a new Railway Police Akola subdivision that will include Akola, Wardha, and Badnera railway police units. The Akola Police subdivision falls under the Nagpur District of Railway. Transportation Air Akola Airport (also known as Shioni Airport) is the domestic airport of Akola and is above sea level. It was built by British authorities in the 1940s and regularly sent flights to Mumbai. Now it is non-functional and has one runway (4,600×145 ft). The airport's expansion and use have been delayed