Indian city managed to enlist one engaged in farming (8)
I believe the answer is:
agrarian
'farming' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'indian city managed to enlist one engaged' is the wordplay.
'indian city' becomes 'agra' (I've seen this in another clue).
'managed' becomes 'ran' (I've seen this before).
'to enlist' becomes 'i' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'one engaged' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are taken in or engaged).
'ran' going around 'i' is 'rian'.
'agra'+'rian'='AGRARIAN'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for agrarian that I've seen before include "Relating to agriculture" , "in the country" , "Relating to farming" , "politically reformist" , "Ruralist" .)