Vidarbha is the north-eastern region of Maharashtra state, now forming two divisions (Nagpur and Amravati). It is comparatively backward, and demands for separate statehood within India have been raised by various political factions. The main crop is cotton.

The Nagpur was the capital of the Bhonsle family, who in the mid eighteenth century created a Maratha state that covered much of east-central India. After their defeat in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, the Bhonsle dominions were reduced to Nagpur division, which was taken over by the British in 1853 when the last Maharaja of Nagpur died without a male heir. The Nagpur division became a part of the British Raj's Central Provinces in 1861. Amravati division, formerly known as Berar, was administered by the Nizam of Hyderabad until 1853, when the British took over governance of the province under the charge of misgovernance by the Nizam. Berar was added to the Central Provinces in 1903. After Indian Independence, the Central Provinces and Berar became the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Vidarbha was transferred to Bombay state in 1956 to unify all Marathi-speaking areas, and became part of Maharashtra state in 1960, when Bombay state was split into the linguistic states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.