Desh

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Desh (hindi:देश, derived from the Sanskrit word (देशः) meaning "country") is a region of Maharashtra state in central India.

Desh is bounded on the west by the Western Ghats or Sahyadri range, on the north by the Kandesh and on the east by the Marathwada regions of Maharashtra, and on the south by the state of Karnataka. The region is hilly and slopes towards the east, and is drained by the upper reaches of the Godavari and Krishna rivers and their tributaries.

In the context of the history of Maharashtra, "Desh" is an abbreviation for "Maharashtra-desh", that historical region of the west-central Deccan Plateau, that is called the Divisions of Pune and Marathwada or Aurangabad. Marathwada came to be called separately because it had been conquered by the Nizam of Hyderabad, as part of the former Princely state of Hyderabad.

The Desh region was the birthplace and core of the Maratha Empire, founded by Shivaji in the 17th century, and is home to a number of cities, like Satara and Pune, associated with Maratha history. The region came under British rule in 1818, at the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Maratha War. Most of the region was ruled directly by the British as part of the Bombay Presidency, but several princely states, including Satara and Kolhapur, remained under Maratha rulers in subsidiary alliance with the British. Satara was annexed by the British in 1848. After Indian Independence in 1947, Bombay Presidency became the Indian state of Bombay. Bombay state was divided into the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960.