[1] The Dhule district previously comprised tracts of land predominantly inhabited by tribal populations.
It was then bifurcated on 1 July 1998 into two separate districts now known as Dhule and Nandurbar, the latter comprising the tribal region.
As most parts of the district do not have irrigation infrastructure, cultivation heavily depends on regular monsoons and rainwater.
Apart from wheat, bajra, jowar, jwari, or onion, the most favoured commercial crop is cotton.
Dondaicha, part of the Dhule district, is the only town in the state to produce glucose, sugar, and other products from maize.
[citation needed] The Dhule district is a part of Maharashtra's historical region of Khandesh.
The region was later named Seunadesa after the king, Seunchandra of the early Yadava dynasty, who ruled over it.
The names of feudatories of Abhiras that ruled in Khandesh were found from copper plates discovered at Kalachala and Cave X5II at Ajanta.
In 1296 AD, Ala-ud-din Khilji invaded Ramachandra Yadava who agreed to pay a heavy ransom.
His son Sankaragana stopped sending the stipulated tribute to Delhi before defecting and being slain by Malik Kafur in A.D. 1318.
During the period, a rich Ahir, Asa of Asirgad, had many storehouses in Gondwana and Khandesh which were opened in order to sell corn.
He wrote to Asa complaining that he was in great problems as the chiefs of Baglana, Antur, and Kherla were rising against him; of those, two had gathered large forces.
Shortly after this a disciple of Shaikh Zain Uddin, the tutelary saint of the family came to congratulate Nasir on his success.
Dhule :- Capital of West Khandesh Suba in 1400s to 1700s under Maharao Jadhavrao & Rao Shinde's of Dhanur.
In 1600s Jadhavrao lost ruling power against Mughal but after some time later Rao Shinde recaptured Khandesh with the help of Maratha Empire.
Aside from the south-west monsoon season, when the humidity is above 70 per cent, the air is rather dry over the district during the rest of the year.
The driest part of the year is the summer season when the relative humidity is only 20 to 25 per cent in the afternoon.
In the post-monsoon season winds are light and variable in directions in the mornings and north-easterly to easterly in the afternoon.
There were five Vidhan Sabha constituencies in this district: Sakri, Shirpur, Sindkheda, Kusumba, and Dhule.
subdivisions In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Dhule one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).