Mar: सोलापूर sōlāpūra
‘Millet City’ [Sonnalage/Sonnalagi, Sonalpur] – City/District, Maharashtra
From Kol: sonna/sonnal, ‘maize’, ‘great millet’ [Tam: sōḷam, soṉṉal; Skt: yavanāla].
Kolami is a Dravidian language spoken in Telangana and Maharashtra; this derivation works well for the three historical names and suggests the current name is a simple corruption of the originals.
Also, ‘Sixteen Villages’ [from Mar: sōḷā, ‘sixteen’; and Skt: pur, ‘village’, ‘settlement’]. The sixteen villages are: Aadilpur, Ahmedpur, Chapaldev, Fatehpur, Jamdarwadi, Kalajapur, Khadarpur, Khandervkiwadi, Muhammadpur, Ranapur, Sandalpur, Shaikpur, Solapur, Sonalagi, Sonapur and Vaidakwadi].
The cultural, linguistic and social character of Solapur City differs from other Maharashtrian cities because of the influence of adjoining states like Karnataka and Telangana.
Solapur is Maharashtra’s leading producer of beedis and Solapur chaddars (handloom cotton blankets and towels) have been awarded Geographical Indication (GI) status.
For related place names see Indian Place names and Maharashtra place names.
A woman wrapping beedis’ inside her small 6′ by 8′ dark shanty shelter with no electricity or water supply. The beedi workers lived in wretched filthy conditions before they were provided with One-room-kitchen tenement in Solapur low cost housing project- described as the biggest of its kind in Asia- an experiment in public private participation Public.Resource.Org