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.
[1][2] 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 Division of Pune.
The Desh region was the birthplace and core of the Maratha Kingdom, founded by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the 17th century, and is home to a number of cities, like Satara and Pune, associated with the Maratha Empire history.
Most of the region was ruled directly by the British as part of the Bombay Presidency, but several princely states, including Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur, remained under Maratha rulers in subsidiary alliance with the British.
Most of the sugar cooperative factories in western Maharashtra work as power centers and play a major role in politics.