Pune's history can be traced back reliably to the 8th century, during the Rashtrakuta rule in eighth century. It was then referred to as 'Punaka Vishaya 'or 'Punya Vishaya'. Vishaya is meant as an administrative unit.

The Yadavas were the last Hindu dynasty to rule Pune in the early medieval period. The army of Ala-ud-din Khilji invaded Devgiri, the administrative seat and Yadavas faced severe defeat. Khilji later became Sultan of Delhi and erstwhile Yadava kingdom, along with Pune became a subordinate state.

It is alleged that Ala-ud-din Khilji deputed an officer to take care of Pune. This officer, referred to as Barya Arab, built his residential quarters along the Mutha river. Barya Arab built a fort here called as Kille Hissar for a small detachment of soldiers.

With mainly an agrarian society and absence of civic amenities as such, the population depended heavily on rain. Many regions around Pune fall under the rain shadow region and faced droughts quite regularly. The town would keep on de-populating and repopulating. Mahadurga famine was one such drought period which stretched for twelve long years.

Pune went through a rough patch as rival Deccan powers fought constantly. It changed hands at least ten times, disturbing the town population. Also trouble compounded as many areas in Deccan region faced famine and were wasted.

Pune's local caretaker Moro Tandeo Honap revolted against Adil Shahi government. Murar Jagdeo, a Bijapur minister with his force, attacked Pune, captured Honap and put the revolt to end. To emphasize the supremacy of Bijapur throne, he also razed the walls of city and destroyed it completely.

After Murar Jagdeo's plunder, Pune lied barren for some time. Pune was however a part of Jagir of Shahaji Bhonsle, an officer in Bijapur court. He decided to send is wife Jijabai and son Shivaji to live in Pune along with a trusted administrator Dadaji Kondadev. Kondadev's able administration soon repopulated Pune, peasants started cultivating, civic and tax systems were established.

As Shahaji's family settled in the Jagir, a residential quarter was built for them, named Lal Mahal. It does not exist anymore, even the location is not clear. It was said to be located somewhere close to Kasba Ganpati temple, along with the administrative offices nearby.

Shivaji's efforts of establishing 'Swarajya' kept him away most of the times. Pune however remained an important town throughout. So much, that the Mughal official Shaiste Khan aimed at and captured Pune. Once he did, he made Pune the base of his operation to capture Shivaji, and took up residence in Lal Mahal.

Shivaji along with his trusted 400 soldiers secretly entered Lal Mahal in the night. Knowing every nook and corner of the house that he grew up in, he headed straight towards Harem of Shaiste Khan. As chaos erupted, Shivaji caught up with Khan and severed his fingers as the latter was escaping. Khan immediately left Pune along with his entourage and Shivaji emerged victorious!

After a lifetime of upsurge, warfare and subsequent coronation in 1674 as a Hindu king, Shivaji died. His successor was his son Sambhaji, who vehemently fought Mughals for next 9 years.

After Shivaji's death, the intensity of Mughal attacks increased, with emperor Aurangzeb permanently relocating to Deccan. He found that some old areas in Pune were depopulated and ordered locals to rebuild it. He himself was camped outside Pune after some years. He established the area called Mohiyabad, now Budhwar Peth. Some of the newly populated wards soon merged with Kasba and formed the old town.

Shahu, Shivaji's descendant was released by the Mughals after Aurangzeb's death and he soon established himself as ruler of Maratha kingdom. Shahu conferred the Jagir of Poona on Bajirao I, a 'Peshwa' (Prime Minister).

After Balaji Vishwanath's death, his son Bajirao was appointed the Prime Minister by Shahu himself. He chose Pune to be location for his residence. Bajirao, with his extra-ordinary valour, expanded the Maratha empire, and became much more than a prime-minister, a ruler for all practical purposes.

Bajirao shifted his base to Pune along with his family. He soon built a permanent place for his residence and office, in Pune Kasba. Shaniwar wada was built in two years and was a well fortified palace complex. It remained a steady witness to all upturns as well as downfall of Maratha empire.

Six Peths existed when Bajirao I built Shaniwar wada. Migrants soon flocked to Pune in search of opportunities and more localities needed to be developed. Each Peth had to be a self-sustaining neighbourhood. Specific people were directed to establish Peths by Peshwa and eventually all Peths acquired distinct characteristics of their own. 18 Peths existed at the end of the 18th century.

Taking cue from Peshwas, many aristocrats and affluent citizens built their own Wadas in Pune. 'Wada' came to be known as typical Maratha architecture. Ornate woodwork and cypress-shaped pillars emerged as striking features of a Wada. They also became more lavish depending upon financial status of owner.

The Omkareshwar Temple was built by Krsnaji Panta Citrava and inaugurated by Chimaji Appa Peshwa (Peshwa Bajirao I's brother). Situated on the banks of Mutha River, Omkareshwar was even at that time, one of the largest temples in the city, dedicated to Lord Shiva.

A battle between Maratha forces led by Peshwa army and invading forces of Ahmed Shah Durrani, that occurred at Panipat in January 1761. It was a major blow to Maratha power which lost top members of Peshwa family, and close to 100,000 soldiers. It also destabilized Peshwa territories for nearly a decade. The debacle at Panipat is a deep wound in Marathi history, and many phrases and proverbs still refer to this.

After the terrible blow at Panipat, Madhavrao, heir of Peshwas, resurrected the Maratha empire. Under his reign, he established a justice system for the first time. He created the office of Kotwal in 1764 and appointed Balaji Ketkar as the first Kotwal. Of course duties of Kotwal then were quite different from today. Kotwal was responsible for protecting city, law and order, superintending markets, settling petty disputes, and also detecting political conspiracies.

Built in 1780 by Nana Phadnavis, this wada features wooden lattice-work on the ceiling of the main hall and murals on the walls in the veranda.

By the time Peshwa Bajirao II became the ruler, Maratha empire had reached a factional state due to rivalries. After forces of Holkars attacked Pune, Bajirao fled from Pune and eventually took shelter at Bassein (Vasai). He signed a treaty with British and placed himself under their protection. This was a sinister move as Peshwa remained a nominal leader and British practically controlled state.

Built by Peshwa Baji Rao II in 1811, Vishrambaug Wada was used as the Peshwa’s residence. Peshwa Baji Rao II wanted to move here instead of staying in Shaniwar wada and he lived here till he was ultimately arrested by the British.

The Treaty of Bassein had almost made Bajirao a puppet in British hands. The Treaty of Poona asserted this further as Bajirao agreed that Trimbakji Dengale, a Peshwa officer was a murderer, based on British accusations. He also agreed to renounce land beyond rivers Narmada and Tungabhadra, cede fort of Ahmednagar to British and not to have correspondence with foreign powers. After this humiliating treaty, the fate of Maratha power became even more uncertain and Peshwa left Pune for annual pilgrimage.

In one final attempt to revolt against the British, Maratha army of Bajirao Peshwa II fought with army of East India company. In spite of being about one tenth in size of Maratha army, British army completely defeated Marathas and Bajirao Peshwa II fled from Pune. Most of Deccan then came under British rule.

After Marathas lost the battle of Khadki, British army took over Shaniwar wada, the administrative seat. The Union Jack, the British flag, was hoisted on the Wada.

British troops stayed behind even after the battle of Kirkee. As British took over control, Pune slowly emerged as a major base for military. Pune Cantonment board was established for accommodating military personnel. Gradually civilians came to stay within the cantonment as well.

Dakshina fund, started by Khanderao Dabhade, a Peshwa aristocrat to propagate learning was given the status of an institution by Governor Elephantine of Bombay Presidency. It started in Vishrambaug Wada on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami, and was named as Hindoo college. Later an English school was added and the name was changed to Poona college. 1864 saw the name being changed to Deccan college and it subsequently moved to its present campus in 1868.

Even after the abduction of throne by Bajirao II, Shaniwar wada stayed as it was for almost a decade. A mysterious fire engulfed the Wada in 1828 and kept burning for 7 days. Except the outer walls and the Nagarkhana above the grand main door, everything was destroyed.

As Peshwa rule came to end and British established their firm grip, uprisings surfaced almost immediately. Umaji Naik, a native of Bhivadi, near Pune began his revolt. Accompanied by his Ramoshi fellow community members, created quite a ruckus for British. He was tried and sentenced by the British. Umaji Naik was executed at the jail (present day Mamledar kacheri). He remains the first revolutionary of freedom struggle.

Awareness about formal education was seen to some extent, and probably due to this, first public library of Pune was built. It was named as the Poona native general library. After Budhwar Wada, its original location burnt away, it shifted to a building near Belbaug in 1889.

Jyotirao Phule, a social reformer, with wife Savitribai started the first school for girls in Bhide wada, Kasba Peth. Phule couple faced vehement opposition towards their intent of educating girls. They stuck to their efforts and girl's education spread eventually. Pune remains a glorious name in history of Indian women empowerment.

Bringing formal higher education to India was a vital step in making country progress faster. COEP belongs to the forerunners in formal, technical education. One of Asia's oldest engineering institutes, it was established in 1854

The dam is an important source of water for Pune city, and is amongst the oldest. A masonry gravity dam was completed in the year 1879, one of its kind then. The dam was destroyed by the flood waters when the Panshet dam burst in 1961, and was reconstructed later in 1965.

Fergusson College was established on 2nd January 1885 by the glorious names in Indian freedom struggle movement in 1885. The effort of building an indigenous education institute was huge and it was ably supported by various members of society. Spread in 37 acres in the heart of the city, Fergusson was the first privately governed college in India!

The market, built by the Municipality of Poona, was inaugurated on the 5th of October 1886.Then popular neo-gothic style is visible in this structure as well. The structure, built by Vasudeo Kanitkar, also takes into consideration the sub continental weather conditions. Originally known as ‘Reay market’, after the then Governor of Bombay Lord Reay, the ‘Mandai’ was renamed as Mahatma Phule Mandai in 1938.

The Original cantonment moved southwest and where area around Garpir was empty. Civil lines, an enclave for British civil officers developed there. It even connected the old town to the cosmopolitan camp. Also, resources to fulfil daily necessities were necessary, and hence Sadar Bazar, a well-laid out marketplace emerged close by.

Ganesh festival is a much beloved and celebrated festival of Maharashtra. Bhau Rangari, an Ayurvedic medical practitioner kept his Ganesh idol open to public in 1892. Lokmanya Tilak was greatly inspired by this, praised it through his newspaper Kesari and himself started a public celebration of Ganeshotsav . This led to the beginning of public Ganesh festival, leading to increased social interactions and awareness.

Pune under British rule faced an epidemic of plague. Walter Charles Rand was appointed by the government as plague commissioner. Rand and his associated proved to be troublesome, torturing citizens and disregarding social conventions. The Chaphekar brothers assassinated Rand and officer Ayerhst for this on 22nd June 1897.

The construction of bridge was undertaken by PWD and was completed in 1920. It is a stone masonry structure, displaying a combination of architectural styles. The bridge is distinguished by the arched pillars with the central arch being pointed. On the other side, the arch sports a lovely floral pattern carved on it, signifying the Indo-Arabic style.

The airfield was established in 1939 to provide security to Mumbai and served as one of the air bases in World War II. It was a Royal Indian Air force station in British raj, and later one of the indomitable bases of Indian Air force . It is currently home to IAF's frontline fighter aircraft - Sukhoi 30 Mk-I.

After incessant efforts on various fronts by thousands of revolutionaries and the common man, India officially stopped being a British colony on 15th August 1947. The independence came with a price of partition though, with Punjab and Bengal provinces divided and Pakistan created.

Bombay legislature passed an act on 10th February 1948 and established university of Pune (formerly Poona). The present campus was given in 1950, the main building being former governor's house. M.R.Jaykar served as the first vice chancellor of university.

Looking at advantages of decentralization of power, British government was all for local bodies managing a city's civic needs. 1858 had Pune municipality established, which underwent lot of structural changes as time went by. It was finally converted into a municipal corporation in 1950, with S.G. Barve as the first municipal commissioner.

Panshet dam, one of the prime sources of water for Pune city, burst open on 12th July 1961. The entire city was flooded resulting in massive destruction. Around 1000 casualties were estimated with invaluable financial losses. Amidst no drinking water, no electricity and immense chaos for some days to follow, Pune struggled to get back to normal.

The floods changed Pune as never before. Many people moved to far flung suburbs of Kothrud and Sahakarnagar, leaving the old-town. Many areas housed flood-affected refugees, ultimately generating residential colonies. As people moved, the suburban areas bloomed and Pune's boundaries stretched.

Pimpri Chinchwad developed mainly due to establishment of multiple industries around. For better and well planned development, small localities or villages in neighbourhood were merged and PCMC was formed in 1982. Its proximity to Pune made expats draw to PCMC soon after.

An unknown village called Hinjewadi near Pune came into spotlight with the establishment of Information Technology park here. Maharashtra government offered a red carpet for the global IT industry. It gave Pune a completely new dimension, fetching around 100 top IT brands establishing offices here. It also changed the geography, civic development and culture of Pune in a big way.