.gif)
Malwa (Madhya Pradesh)
Encyclopedia
Malwa is a region in west-central northern India
occupying a plateau
of volcanic origin.
Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland south of the Vindhya Range
. Politically and administratively, the historical Malwa region includes districts of western Madhya Pradesh
and parts of south-eastern Rajasthan
. The definition of Malwa is sometimes extended to include the Nimar
region north of the Vindhyas.
The Malwa region had been a separate political unit from the time of the ancient Malava Kingdom
. It has been ruled by several kingdoms and dynasties, including the Avanti Kingdom
, the Mauryans
, the Guptas
, the Parmaras, the Malwa sultans
, the Mughals
and the Marathas
. Malwa continued to be an administrative division until 1947, when the Malwa Agency
of British India was merged into Madhya Bharat
(also known as Malwa Union) state of independent India.
Although its political borders have fluctuated throughout history, the region has developed its own distinct culture, influenced by the Gujarati, Rajasthani and Marathi cultures. Several prominent people in the history of India have hailed from Malwa, including the poet and dramatist Kalidasa
, the author Bhartrihari, the mathematicians and astronomers Varahamihira
and Brahmagupta
, and the polymath king Bhoja
. Ujjain
had been the political, economic, and cultural capital of the region in ancient times, and Indore
is presently the largest city and commercial centre.
Overall, agriculture
is the main occupation of the people of Malwa. The region has been one of the important producers of opium
in the world. Cotton and soybeans are other important cash crops, and textiles are a major industry.
Several early stone age or Lower Paleolithic
habitations have been excavated in eastern Malwa. The name Malwa is derived from the name of the ancient Aryan
tribe of Malavas
, about whom very little is known apart from the fact that they created the Vikrama Samvat, a calendar dating from 57 BC that is widely used in India and is popularly associated with king Chandragupta Vikramaditya
.
Ancient historians have mention about a great tribe in Indo-Scythians
called Abhira migrated from Eastern Iran
to Malwa in A.D 151. The name Malava is derived from the Sanskrit term Malav, and means “part of the abode of Lakshmi
”. The location of the Malwa or Moholo, mentioned by the 7th century Chinese traveller Xuanzang
, is plausibly identified with present-day Gujarat. The region is cited as Malibah in Arabic
records, such as Kamilu-t Tawarikh by Ibn Asir.
Ujjain, also known historically as Ujjaiyini and Avanti, emerged as the first major centre in the Malwa region during India's second wave of urbanisation
in the 7th century BC (the first wave was the Indus Valley Civilization
). Around 600 BC an earthen rampart was built around Ujjain, enclosing a city of considerable size. Avanti was one of the prominent mahajanapadas of the Indo-Aryans
. In the post-Mahabharata
period—around 500 BC—Avanti was an important kingdom in western India; it was ruled by the Haihayas
, a people who were possibly of mixed Indo-Aryan and aboriginal descent, who were responsible for the destruction of Naga power in western India.
The region was conquered by the Maurya empire
in the mid-4th century BC. Ashoka
, who was later a Mauryan emperor, was governor of Ujjain in his youth. After the death of Ashoka in 232 BC, the Maurya Empire began to collapse. Although evidence is sparse, Malwa was probably ruled by the Kushanas and the Shakas
during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Ownership of the region was the subject of dispute between the Western Kshatrapas
and the Satavahana
s during the first three centuries AD. Ujjain emerged a major trading centre during the 1st century AD.
Malwa became part of the Gupta Empire
during the reign of Chandragupta II
(375–413), also known as Vikramaditya, who conquered the region, driving out the Western Kshatrapas. The Gupta period is widely regarded as a golden age in the history of Malwa, when Ujjain served as the empire's western capital. Kalidasa, Aryabhata
and Varahamihira were all based in Ujjain, which emerged as a major centre of learning, especially in astronomy
and mathematics
. Around 500, Malwa re-emerged from the dissolving Gupta Empire
as a separate kingdom; in 528, Yasodharman
of Malwa defeated the Hunas, who had invaded India from the north-west. During the seventh century, the region became part of Harsha
's empire, who disputed the region with the Chalukya king Pulakesin II of Badami
in the Deccan.
In 756 AD Gurjars advanced into Malwa. In 786 the region was captured by the Rashtrakuta
kings of the Deccan, and was disputed between the Rashtrakutas and the Gurjara Pratihara kings of Kannauj
until the early part of the tenth century. From the mid-tenth century, Malwa was ruled by the Paramara
s, who established a capital at Dhar
. King Bhoj, who ruled from about 1010 to 1060, was known as the great polymath
philosopher-king of medieval India; his extensive writings cover philosophy, poetry, medicine, veterinary science, phonetics, yoga, and archery. Under his rule Malwa became an intellectual centre of India. Bhoj also founded the city of Bhopal to secure the eastern part of his kingdom. His successors ruled until about 1200, when Malwa was conquered by the Delhi Sultanate
.
Dilawar Khan
, previously Malwa's governor under the rule of the Delhi sultanate, declared himself sultan of Malwa in 1401 after the Mongol conqueror Timur
attacked Delhi, causing the break-up of the sultanate into smaller states. Khan started the Malwa Sultanate
and established a capital at Mandu, high in the Vindhya Range
overlooking the Narmada River
valley. His son and successor, Hoshang Shah
(1405–35), embellished Mandu. Hoshang Shah's son, Ghazni Khan, ruled for only a year and was succeeded by Sultan Mahmud Khalji (1436–69), the first of the Khalji sultans of Malwa, who expanded the state to include parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and the Deccan. The Muslim sultans invited the Rajputs to settle in the country. In the early 16th century, the sultan sought the aid of the sultans of Gujarat to counter the growing power of the Rajputs, while the Rajputs sought the support of the Sesodia Rajput kings of Mewar
. Gujarat stormed Mandu in 1518 and 1531, and shortly after that, the Malwa sultanate collapsed. The Mughal
emperor Akbar captured Malwa in 1562 and made it a subah
(province) of his empire. The Malwa Subah
existed from 1568 to 1743. Mandu was abandoned by the 17th century.
As the Mughal state weakened after 1700, the Marathas held sway over Malwa under dispatchment of bajirao 1 under leadership of Chimnaji Appa
, Nemaji Shinde and Chimnaji Damodar
were the first Maratha
Generals to cross the boundary of Maharashtra
and to invade in Malwa in 1698. Subsequently, Malharrao Holkar (1694–1766) became leader of Maratha armies in Malwa in 1724, and in 1733 the Maratha Peshwa
granted him control of most of the region, which was formally ceded by the Mughals in 1738. Ranoji Scindia
noted Maratha Commander established his head quarters at Ujjain in 1721. This capital was later moved to Gwalior by Daulatrao Scindia.Another Maratha general, Anand Rao Pawar, established himself as the Raja of Dhar in 1742, and the two Pawar brothers became Rajas of Dewas
. At the end of the 18th century, Malwa became the venue of fighting between the rival Maratha powers and the headquarters of the Pindari
s, who were irregular plunderers. The Pindaris were rooted out in a campaign by the British general Lord Hastings, and further order was established under Sir John Malcolm. The Holkar dynasty ruled Malwa from Indore and Maheshwar on the Narmada
until 1818, when the Marathas were defeated by the British in the Third Anglo-Maratha War
, and the Holkars of Indore became a princely state
of the British Raj
. After 1818 the British organised the numerous princely states of central India into the Central India Agency
; the Malwa Agency was a division of Central India, with an area of 23100 km² (8,919 sq mi) and a population of 1,054,753 in 1901. It comprised the states of Dewas (senior and junior branch), Jaora
, Ratlam
, Sitamau
and Sailana
, together with a large part of Gwalior, parts of Indore and Tonk
, and about 35 small estates and holdings. Political power was exercised from Neemuch. Upon Indian independence
in 1947, the Holkars and other princely rulers acceded to India, and most of Malwa became part of the new state of Madhya Bharat
, which was merged into Madhya Pradesh in 1956.
(between 21°10′N 73°45′E and 25°10′N 79°14′E), with Gujarat in the west. The region includes the Madhya Pradesh districts of Dewas
, Dhar
, Indore
, Jhabua
, Mandsaur
, Neemuch
, Rajgarh
, Ratlam
, Shajapur
, Ujjain
, and parts of Guna
and Sehore
, and the Rajasthan districts of Jhalawar
and parts of Banswara
and Chittorgarh
. Malwa is bounded in the north-east by the Hadoti
region, in the north-west by the Mewar
region, in the west by the Vagad
region and Gujarat. To the south and east is the Vindhya Range and to the north is the Bundelkhand
upland.
The plateau is an extension of the Deccan Traps
, formed between 60 and 68 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous
period. In this region the main classes of soil are black, brown and bhatori (stony) soil. The volcanic, clay-like soil of the region owes its black colour to the high iron
content of the basalt
from which it formed. The soil requires less irrigation because of its high capacity for moisture retention. The other two soil types are lighter and have a higher proportion of sand.
The average elevation of the plateau is 500 m. Some of the peaks over 800 m high are at Sigar (881 m), Janapav (854 m) and Ghajari (810 m). The plateau generally slopes towards the north. The western part of the region is drained by the Mahi River
, while the Chambal River
drains the central part, and the Betwa River
and the headwaters of the Dhasan
and Ken
rivers drain the east. The Shipra River
is of historical importance because of the Simhasth mela
, held every 12 years. Other notable rivers are Parbati
, Gambhir
and Choti Kali Sindh. Malwa's elevation gives it a mild, pleasant climate; a cool morning wind, the karaman, and an evening breeze, the Shab-e-Malwa
, make the summers less harsh.
The year is popularly divided into three seasons: summer, the rains, and winter. Summer extends over the months of Chaitra
to Jyestha (mid-March to mid-May). The average daily temperature during the summer months is 35 °C, which typically rises to around 40 °C on a few days. The rainy season starts with the first showers of Aashaadha
(mid-June) and extends to the middle of Ashvin
(September). Most of the rain falls during the southwest monsoon
spell, and ranges from about 100 cm in the west to about 165 cm in the east. Indore and the immediately surrounding areas receive an average of 140 cm of rainfall a year. The growing period lasts from 90 to 150 days, during which the average daily temperature is below 30 °C, but seldom falls below 20 °C. Winter is the longest of the three seasons, extending for about five months (mid-Ashvin to Phalgun, i.e., October to mid-March). The average daily temperature ranges from 15 °C to 20 °C, though on some nights it can fall as low as 7 °C. Some cultivators believe that an occasional winter shower during the months of Pausha
and Maagha
—known as Mawta—is helpful to the early summer wheat and germ crops.
The region is part of the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion
.
Vegetation
: The natural vegetation is tropical dry forest, with scattered teak
(Tectona grandis) forests. The main trees are Butea
, Bombax
, Anogeissus
, Acacia
, Buchanania
and Boswellia
. The shrubs or small trees include species of Grewia
, Ziziphus mauritiana
, Casearia
, Prosopis
, Capparis
, Woodfordia
, Phyllanthus
, and Carissa
.
Wildlife
: Sambhar
(Cervus unicolor), Blackbuck
(Antilope cervicapra), and Chinkara
(Gazella bennettii) are some common ungulate
s.
During the last century, deforestation has happened at a fast rate, leading to environmental problems such as acute water scarcity and the danger that the region is being desertified.
The population of the Malwa region was about 18.9 million in 2001, with a population density of a moderate 231/km². The annual birth rate in the region was 31.6 per 1000, and the death rate 10.3. The infant mortality rate was 93.8, slightly higher than the overall rate for the Madhya Pradesh state.
There are numerous tribes in the region, such as the Bhils—and their allied groups, the Bhilala
s, Barela
s and Patelias—and the Meenas
, who all differ to a remarkable degree from the regional population in their dialects and social life. They encompass a variety of languages and cultures. Some tribes of the region, notably the Kanjar
s, were notified in the 19th century for their criminal activities, but have since been denotified
. A nomadic tribe from the Marwar
region of Rajasthan, the Gadia Lohar
s—who work as lohars (blacksmiths)—visit the region at the start of the agricultural season to repair and sell agricultural tools and implements, stopping temporarily on the outskirts of villages and towns and residing in their ornate metal carts. The Kalbelia
is another nomadic tribe from Rajasthan that regularly visits the region.
Malwa has a significant number of Dawoodi Bohras, a subsect of Shia Muslims from Gujarat, who are mostly businessmen by profession. Besides speaking the local languages, the Bohras have their own language, Lisan al-Dawat
. The Patidar
s, who probably originated from the Kurmi
s of Punjab
, are mostly rural farmers who settled in Gujarat around 1400. Periods of Maratha rule led to the growth of sizeable Marathi communities. the region of Indore, dhar
, dewas
and ujjain has a considerable marathi speaking populace.even on the native language malwi, marathi influence is visible.A significant number of Jats and Rajput
s also live in the region. The Sindhis
, who settled in the region after the partition of India
, are an important part of the business community. Like neighbouring Gujarat and southern Rajasthan, the region has a significant number of Jains, who are mostly traders and business people. The region is home to smaller numbers of Goa
n Catholics, Anglo-Indian
s, Punjabis
and Parsis or Zoroastrians. The Parsis are closely connected to the growth and evolution of Mhow, which has a Parsi fire temple and a Tower of Silence.
, bringing international capital to the region in the 18th and 19th centuries. Malwa opium was a challenge to the monopoly
of the British East India Company
, which was supplying Bengal
opium to China. This led the British company to impose many restrictions on the production and trade of the drug; eventually, opium trading was pushed underground. When smuggling became rife, the British
eased the restrictions. Today, the region is one of the largest producers of legal opium in the world. There is a central, government-owned opium and alkaloid factory in the city of Neemuch. Nevertheless, there is a still a significant amount of illicit opium production, which is channelled into the black market. The headquarters of India's Central Bureau of Narcotics is in Gwalior. The Rajputana-Malwa Railway
was opened in 1876.
The region is predominantly agricultural. The brown soil in parts of the region is particularly suitable for the cultivation of such unalu (early summer) crops as wheat, gram (Cicer arietinum) and til (Sesamum indicum). Relatively poor soil is used for the cultivation of syalu such (early winter) crops as millet (Andropogon sorghum
), maize (Zea mays), mung bean
(Vigna radiata), urad
(Vigna mungo), batla (Pisum sativum) and peanuts (Arachis hypogaea
). Overall, the main crops are jowar, rice, wheat, coarse millet, peanuts and pulses, soya bean, cotton, linseed, sesame and sugarcane. Sugar mills are located in numerous small towns.
The black, volcanic soil is ideal for the cultivation of cotton, and textile manufacture is an important industry. Large centres of textile production include Indore, Ujjain and Nagda. Maheshwar is known for its fine Maheshwari saris, and Mandsaur for its coarse woollen blankets. Handicrafts are an important source of income for the tribal population. Coloured lacquerware from Ratlam, rag dolls from Indore, and papier-mâché articles from Indore, Ujjain and several other centres are well known.
Mandsaur district is the sole producer in India of white- and red-coloured slate
, used in the district's 110 slate pencil factories. There is a cement factory in . Apart from this, the region lacks mineral resources. The region's industries mainly produce consumer goods—but there are now many centres of large- and medium-scale industries, including Indore, Nagda and Ujjain. Indore has a large-scale factory that produces diesel engines. Pithampur
, an industrial town 25 km from Indore, is known as the Detroit of India for its heavy concentration of automotive industry. Indore is recognised as the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, and is the main centre for trade in textiles and agro-based products. It has one of the six Indian Institutes of Management
The main language of Malwa is Malvi, although Hindi is widely spoken in the cities. This Indo-European language is subclassified as Indo-Aryan. The language is sometimes referred to as Malavi or Ujjaini. Malvi is part of the Rajasthani
branch of languages; Nimadi is spoken in the Nimar
region of Madhya Pradesh and in Rajasthan. The dialects of Malvi are, in alphabetical order, Bachadi, Bhoyari, Dholewari, Hoshangabadi, Jamral, Katiyai, Malvi Proper, Patvi, Rangari, Rangri and Sondwari. A survey in 2001 found only four dialects: Ujjaini (in the districts of Ujjain, Indore, Dewas and Sehore), Rajawari (Ratlam, Mandsaur and Neemuch), Umadwari (Rajgarh) and Sondhwari (Jhalawar, in Rajasthan). About 55% of the population of Malwa can converse in and about 40% of the population is literate in Hindi, the official language of the Madhya Pradesh state.
Traditional Malwa food has elements of Gujarati
, Rajasthani
and Maharashtrian
cuisine. Traditionally, jowar was the staple cereal, but after the Green Revolution in India
, wheat has replaced jowar as the most important food crop; many are vegetarians. Since the climate is mostly dry throughout the year, most people rely on stored foods such as pulses, and green vegetables are rare. A typical snack of Malwa is the bhutta ri kees (made with grated corn roasted in ghee
and later cooked in milk with spices). Chakki ri shaak is made of wheat dough, which is washed under running water, steamed and then used in a gravy of curd. The traditional bread of Malwa is called baati/bafla, which is essentially a small, round ball of wheat flour, roasted over dung cakes, in the traditional way. Baati
is typically eaten with dal (pulses), while baflas are dripping with ghee and soaked with dal. The amli ri kadhi is kadhi made with tamarind instead of yogurt. Sweet cakes, made of a variety of wheat called tapu, are prepared during religious festivities. Sweet cereal called thulli is also typically eaten with milk or yoghurt. Traditional desserts include mawa-bati (milk-based sweet similar to Gulab jamun
), khoprapak (coconut-based sweet), shreekhand (yogurt based) and malpua.
Lavani
is a widely practised form of folk music in southern Malwa, which was brought to the region by the Marathas. The Nirguni Lavani (philosophical) and the Shringari Lavani (erotic) are the two of the main genres. The Bhils have their own folk songs, which are always accompanied by dance. The folk musical modes of Malwa are of four or five notes, and in rare cases six. The devotional music of the Nirguni cult is popular throughout Malwa. Legends of Raja Bhoj and Bijori, the Kanjar girl, and the tale of Balabau are popular themes for folk songs. Insertions known as stobha are commonly used in Malwa music; this can occur in four ways: the matra stobha (syllable insertion), varna stobha (letter insertion), shabda stobha (word insertion) and vakya stobha (sentence insertion).
Malwa was the centre of sanskrit literature
during and after the Gupta period. The region's most famous playwright, Kalidasa
, is considered to be the greatest Indian writer ever. His first surviving play is Malavikagnimitra (Malavika and Agnimitra). Kalidasa's second play, his masterpiece, is the Abhijñānaśākuntalam
, which tells the story of king Dushyanta, who falls in love with a girl of lowly birth, the lovely Shakuntala. The last of Kalidasa's surviving plays is Vikramuurvashiiya ("Urvashi conquered by valour"). Kalidasa also wrote the epic poems Raghuvamsha ("Dynasty of Raghu"), Ritusamhāra and Kumarasambhava ("Birth of the war god"), as well as the lyric Meghaduuta ("The cloud messenger").
Swang is a popular dance form in Malwa; its roots go back to the origins of the Indian theatre tradition in the first millennium BC. Since women did not participate in the dance-drama form, men enacted their roles. Swang incorporates suitable theatrics and mimicry, accompanied alternately by song and dialogue. The genre is dialogue-oriented rather than movement-oriented.
Mandana (literally painting) wall and floor paintings are the best-known painting traditions of Malwa. White drawings stand out in contrast to the base material consisting of a mixture of red clay and cow dung. Peacocks, cats, lions, goojari, bawari, the swastika
and chowk are some motifs of this style. Sanjhya is a ritual wall painting done by young girls during the annual period when Hindus remember and offer ritual oblation to their ancestors. Malwa miniature paintings are well known for their intricate brushwork. In the 17th century, an offshoot of the Rajasthani school of miniature painting, known as Malwa painting, was centred largely in Malwa and Bundelkhand. The school preserved the style of the earliest examples, such as the Rasikapriya series dated 1636 (after a poem analysing the love sentiment) and the Amaru Sataka (a 17th-century Sanskrit poem). The paintings from this school are flat compositions on black and chocolate-brown backgrounds, with figures shown against a solid colour patch, and architecture painted in vibrant colours.
The biggest festival of Malwa is the Simhastha mela, held every 12 years, in which more than 40 million pilgrims take a holy dip in river Shipra. The festival of Gana-gour is celebrated in honour of Shiva
and Parvati
. The history of the festival goes back to Rano Bai, whose parental home was in Malwa, but who was married in Rajasthan. Rano Bai was strongly attached to Malwa, and did not want to stay in Rajasthan. After marriage, she was allowed to visit Malwa only once a year; Gana-gour symbolises these annual return visits. The festival is observed by women in the region once in the month of Chaitra (mid-March) and Bhadra (mid-August). The Ghadlya (earthen pot) festival is celebrated by the girls of the region, who gather to visit every house in their village in the evenings, carrying earthen pots with holes for the light from oil lamps inside to escape. In front of every house, the girls recite songs connected with the Ghadlya and receive food or money in return. The Gordhan festival is celebrated on the 16th day in the month of Kartika. The Bhil
s of the region sing Heeda, anecdotal songs to the cattle, while the women sing the Chandrawali song, associated with Krishna
's romance.
The most popular fairs are held in the months of Phalguna
, Chaitra
, Bhadra
, Ashvin and Kartik
. The Chaitra fair, held at Biaora, and the Gal yatras, held at more than two dozen villages in Malwa are remarkable. Many fairs are held in the tenth day of the month of Bhadra to mark the birth of Tejaji. The Triveni mela is held at Ratlam, and other fairs take place in Kartika at Ujjain, Mandhata (Nimad), Nayagaon
, among others.
, Chintaman Ganesh, Gadh Kali
ka, Kaal Bhairava
and Mangalnath. The Kalideh Palace, on the outskirts of the city, is a fine example of ancient Indian architecture. The Bhartrihari caves are associated with interesting legends. Since the fourth century BC, Ujjain has enjoyed the reputation of being India's Greenwich
,
as the Prime Meridian
of the Hindu geographers. The observatory built by Jai Singh II is one of the four such observatories in India and features ancient astronomical devices. The Simhastha mela, celebrated every 12 years, starts on the full moon day in Chaitra (April) and continues into Vaishakha (May) until the next full moon day.
Mandu was originally the fort capital of the Parmar rulers. Towards the end of the 13th century, it came under the sway of the Sultans of Malwa, the first of whom named it Shadiabad (city of joy). It remained as the capital, and in it the sultans built exquisite palaces like the Jahaz Mahal and Hindola Mahal, ornamental canals, baths and pavilions. The massive Jami Masjid and Hoshang Shah's tomb provided inspiration to the designers of the Taj Mahal
centuries later. Baz Bahadur
built a huge palace in Mandu in the 16th century. Other notable historical monuments are Rewa Kund, Rupmati's Pavilion, Nilkanth Mahal, Hathi Mahal, Darya Khan's Tomb, Dai ka Mahal, Malik Mughit is Mosque and Jali Mahal.
Close to Mandu is Maheshwar, a town on the northern bank of Narmada River
that served as the capital of the Indore state under Rajmata Ahilya Devi Holkar. The Maratha rajwada (fort) is the main attraction. A life-size statue of Rani Ahilya sits on a throne within the fort complex. Dhar was the capital of Malwa before Mandu became the capital in 1405. There, the fort is in ruins but offers a panoramic view. The Bhojashala Mosque (built in 1400) is still used as a place of worship on Fridays. The abandoned Lat Masjid (1405) and the tomb of Kamal Maula (early 15th century), a Muslim saint, are other places of interest.
Modern Indore was planned and built by Rajmata Ahilya Devi Holkar. The grand Lal Baag Palace is one of its grandest monuments. The Bada Ganpati temple houses what is possibly the largest Ganesh idol in the world, measuring 7.6 m from crown to foot. The Kanch Mandir
is a Jain temple entirely inlaid with glass. The Town Hall was made in 1904 in indo-gothic style; originally named King Edward
Hall, it was renamed Mahatma Gandhi
Hall in 1948. The chhatris are the tombs or cenotaphs erected in memory of dead Holkar rulers and their family members.
The shrine of Hussain Tekri
, built by the Nawab of Jaora, Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan Bahadur, in the 19th century, is on the outskirts of Jaora in the Ratlam district. Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan Bahadur was buried in the same graveyard where Hussain Tekri was buried. During the month of Moharram, thousands of people from all over the world visit the shrine of Hazrat Imam Hussain
there, which is a replica of the Iraqi original. The place is famous for the rituals called Hajri to cure mental illness.
, by David Drake
and Eric Flint
, the people of Malwa are chosen by malicious beings from the future to change the course of history. The Byzantine
general Belisarius
is set against them by a creature sent by a benevolent group of future beings.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
occupying a plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
of volcanic origin.
Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland south of the Vindhya Range
Vindhya Range
The Vindhya Range is a range of older rounded mountains and hills in the west-central Indian subcontinent, which geographically separates the Indian subcontinent into northern India and Southern India.- Introduction :...
. Politically and administratively, the historical Malwa region includes districts of western Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
and parts of south-eastern Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
. The definition of Malwa is sometimes extended to include the Nimar
Nimar
Nimar is the southwestern region of Madhya Pradesh state in west-central India.The region lies south of the Vindhya Range, and consists of two portions of the Narmada and Tapti river valleys, separated by a section of the Satpura Range, about 15 miles in breadth...
region north of the Vindhyas.
The Malwa region had been a separate political unit from the time of the ancient Malava Kingdom
Malava Kingdom
Malava kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled by the Yadava kings in the central and western India, corresponding to the Malwa region. Sometimes Avanti and Malava were described to be the same country. They were originally a western tribe, in Punjab province of Pakistan. Later they migrated...
. It has been ruled by several kingdoms and dynasties, including the Avanti Kingdom
Avanti Kingdom
The former Avanti kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled by the Yadava kings in the central and western India. Ujjayani was its capital along the river Kshipra, a tributary of river Charmanuati, which itself is a tributary of river Ganges. The Ujjayani of the past is currently known as...
, the Mauryans
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...
, the Guptas
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the...
, the Parmaras, the Malwa sultans
Malwa Sultanate
The Malwa Sultanate was a late medieval independent kingdom in the Malwa region of the present day Madhya Pradesh state in India in 1392–1562.-History:For earlier history, see article Malwa....
, the Mughals
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
and the Marathas
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....
. Malwa continued to be an administrative division until 1947, when the Malwa Agency
Malwa Agency
Malwa Agency was an administrative section of British India's Central India Agency . The Malwa Agency was formed in 1895 out of princely states in the Northern Malwa region formerly under the authority of the British agent for Indore...
of British India was merged into Madhya Bharat
Madhya Bharat
Madhya Bharat , also known as Malwa Union was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jivaji Rao Scindia as its Rajpramukh...
(also known as Malwa Union) state of independent India.
Although its political borders have fluctuated throughout history, the region has developed its own distinct culture, influenced by the Gujarati, Rajasthani and Marathi cultures. Several prominent people in the history of India have hailed from Malwa, including the poet and dramatist Kalidasa
Kalidasa
Kālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language...
, the author Bhartrihari, the mathematicians and astronomers Varahamihira
Varahamihira
Varāhamihira , also called Varaha or Mihira, was an Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer who lived in Ujjain...
and Brahmagupta
Brahmagupta
Brahmagupta was an Indian mathematician and astronomer who wrote many important works on mathematics and astronomy. His best known work is the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta , written in 628 in Bhinmal...
, and the polymath king Bhoja
Bhoja
Bhoja was a philosopher king and polymath of medieval India, who ruled the kingdom of Malwa in central India from about 1000 to 1050 CE. Also known as Raja Bhoja Of Dhar, he belonged to the Paramara dynasty...
. Ujjain
Ujjain
Ujjain , is an ancient city of Malwa region in central India, on the eastern bank of the Kshipra River , today part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative centre of Ujjain District and Ujjain Division.In ancient times the city was called Ujjayini...
had been the political, economic, and cultural capital of the region in ancient times, and Indore
Indore
Indore is one of the major city in India, the largest city and commercial center of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Indore is located 190 km west of the state capital Bhopal. According to the 2011 Indian census, Indore city has a population of 1,960,631...
is presently the largest city and commercial centre.
Overall, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
is the main occupation of the people of Malwa. The region has been one of the important producers of opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
in the world. Cotton and soybeans are other important cash crops, and textiles are a major industry.
History
Lower Paleolithic
The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 2.5 million years ago when the first evidence of craft and use of stone tools by hominids appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the...
habitations have been excavated in eastern Malwa. The name Malwa is derived from the name of the ancient Aryan
Aryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...
tribe of Malavas
Malava Kingdom
Malava kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled by the Yadava kings in the central and western India, corresponding to the Malwa region. Sometimes Avanti and Malava were described to be the same country. They were originally a western tribe, in Punjab province of Pakistan. Later they migrated...
, about whom very little is known apart from the fact that they created the Vikrama Samvat, a calendar dating from 57 BC that is widely used in India and is popularly associated with king Chandragupta Vikramaditya
Chandragupta II
Chandragupta II the Great, very often referred to as Vikramaditya or Chandragupta Vikramaditya in Sanskrit; was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta empire in northern India. His rule spanned c...
.
Ancient historians have mention about a great tribe in Indo-Scythians
Indo-Scythians
Indo-Scythians is a term used to refer to Sakas , who migrated into Bactria, Sogdiana, Arachosia, Gandhara, Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE....
called Abhira migrated from Eastern Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
to Malwa in A.D 151. The name Malava is derived from the Sanskrit term Malav, and means “part of the abode of Lakshmi
Lakshmi
Lakshmi or Lakumi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity , light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments...
”. The location of the Malwa or Moholo, mentioned by the 7th century Chinese traveller Xuanzang
Xuanzang
Xuanzang was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period...
, is plausibly identified with present-day Gujarat. The region is cited as Malibah in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
records, such as Kamilu-t Tawarikh by Ibn Asir.
Ujjain, also known historically as Ujjaiyini and Avanti, emerged as the first major centre in the Malwa region during India's second wave of urbanisation
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
in the 7th century BC (the first wave was the Indus Valley Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India...
). Around 600 BC an earthen rampart was built around Ujjain, enclosing a city of considerable size. Avanti was one of the prominent mahajanapadas of the Indo-Aryans
Indo-Aryans
Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...
. In the post-Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
period—around 500 BC—Avanti was an important kingdom in western India; it was ruled by the Haihayas
Haihayas
The Haihayas were an ancient confederacy of five ganas , who claimed their common ancestry from Yadu. According to the Harivamsha Purana...
, a people who were possibly of mixed Indo-Aryan and aboriginal descent, who were responsible for the destruction of Naga power in western India.
The region was conquered by the Maurya empire
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...
in the mid-4th century BC. Ashoka
Ashoka
Ashok Maurya or Ashoka , popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests...
, who was later a Mauryan emperor, was governor of Ujjain in his youth. After the death of Ashoka in 232 BC, the Maurya Empire began to collapse. Although evidence is sparse, Malwa was probably ruled by the Kushanas and the Shakas
Indo-Scythians
Indo-Scythians is a term used to refer to Sakas , who migrated into Bactria, Sogdiana, Arachosia, Gandhara, Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE....
during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Ownership of the region was the subject of dispute between the Western Kshatrapas
Western Kshatrapas
The Western Satraps, Western Kshatrapas, or Kshaharatas were Saka rulers of the western and central part of India...
and the Satavahana
Satavahana
The Sātavāhana Empire or Andhra Empire, was a royal Indian dynasty based from Dharanikota and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh as well as Junnar and Prathisthan in Maharashtra. The territory of the empire covered much of India from 230 BCE onward...
s during the first three centuries AD. Ujjain emerged a major trading centre during the 1st century AD.
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the...
during the reign of Chandragupta II
Chandragupta II
Chandragupta II the Great, very often referred to as Vikramaditya or Chandragupta Vikramaditya in Sanskrit; was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta empire in northern India. His rule spanned c...
(375–413), also known as Vikramaditya, who conquered the region, driving out the Western Kshatrapas. The Gupta period is widely regarded as a golden age in the history of Malwa, when Ujjain served as the empire's western capital. Kalidasa, Aryabhata
Aryabhata
Aryabhata was the first in the line of great mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy...
and Varahamihira were all based in Ujjain, which emerged as a major centre of learning, especially in astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. Around 500, Malwa re-emerged from the dissolving Gupta Empire
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the...
as a separate kingdom; in 528, Yasodharman
Yasodharman
Yasodharman or Yashôdharman was the king of Malwa, in central India, during the early part of the 6th century.- History :...
of Malwa defeated the Hunas, who had invaded India from the north-west. During the seventh century, the region became part of Harsha
Harsha
Harsha or Harsha Vardhana or Harshvardhan was an Indian emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 AD. He was the son of Prabhakara Vardhana and younger brother of Rajya Vardhana, a king of Thanesar, Haryana...
's empire, who disputed the region with the Chalukya king Pulakesin II of Badami
Badami
Badami , formerly known as Vatapi, is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from 540 to 757 AD. It is famous for rock cut and other structural temples...
in the Deccan.
In 756 AD Gurjars advanced into Malwa. In 786 the region was captured by the Rashtrakuta
Rashtrakuta
The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian Subcontinent between the sixth and the 10th centuries. During this period they ruled as several closely related, but individual clans. Rastrakutas in inscriptions represented as descendants of Satyaki, a Yadava well known...
kings of the Deccan, and was disputed between the Rashtrakutas and the Gurjara Pratihara kings of Kannauj
Kannauj
Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja . Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital...
until the early part of the tenth century. From the mid-tenth century, Malwa was ruled by the Paramara
Paramara
Paramara is a Maratha, Gurjar,& Rajput clan of India.The Paramara clan belongs to the Agnivansha of Rajputs ancient Kshatriyas...
s, who established a capital at Dhar
Dhar
Dhār is located in the Malwa region of western Madhya Pradesh state in central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Dhar District. The town is located west of Mhow, above sea level...
. King Bhoj, who ruled from about 1010 to 1060, was known as the great polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
philosopher-king of medieval India; his extensive writings cover philosophy, poetry, medicine, veterinary science, phonetics, yoga, and archery. Under his rule Malwa became an intellectual centre of India. Bhoj also founded the city of Bhopal to secure the eastern part of his kingdom. His successors ruled until about 1200, when Malwa was conquered by the Delhi Sultanate
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty...
.
Dilawar Khan
Dilāwar Khān Ghaurī or Dilāwar Khān Ghōrī was governor of the Malwa province of central India during the decline of the Delhi Sultanate. After serving at the court in Delhi, he was appointed governor at Dhar in A.H. 793/C.E. 1390-91. Dilāwar Khān took the title of 'Amid Shāh Dā'ūd and caused the...
, previously Malwa's governor under the rule of the Delhi sultanate, declared himself sultan of Malwa in 1401 after the Mongol conqueror Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
attacked Delhi, causing the break-up of the sultanate into smaller states. Khan started the Malwa Sultanate
Malwa Sultanate
The Malwa Sultanate was a late medieval independent kingdom in the Malwa region of the present day Madhya Pradesh state in India in 1392–1562.-History:For earlier history, see article Malwa....
and established a capital at Mandu, high in the Vindhya Range
Vindhya Range
The Vindhya Range is a range of older rounded mountains and hills in the west-central Indian subcontinent, which geographically separates the Indian subcontinent into northern India and Southern India.- Introduction :...
overlooking the Narmada River
Narmada River
The Narmada , also called Rewa is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent. It is the third largest river that completely flows within India after Ganges and Godavari...
valley. His son and successor, Hoshang Shah
Hoshang Shah
Originally known as Alp Khan, he had taken the title of Hoshang Shah or Hushang Shah Gori, when he was crowned the second King of Malwa. Alp Khan's father Dilawar Khan Ghori had belonged to the court of Firozshah Tughlaq, the Sultan of Delhi...
(1405–35), embellished Mandu. Hoshang Shah's son, Ghazni Khan, ruled for only a year and was succeeded by Sultan Mahmud Khalji (1436–69), the first of the Khalji sultans of Malwa, who expanded the state to include parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and the Deccan. The Muslim sultans invited the Rajputs to settle in the country. In the early 16th century, the sultan sought the aid of the sultans of Gujarat to counter the growing power of the Rajputs, while the Rajputs sought the support of the Sesodia Rajput kings of Mewar
Mewar
Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...
. Gujarat stormed Mandu in 1518 and 1531, and shortly after that, the Malwa sultanate collapsed. The Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
emperor Akbar captured Malwa in 1562 and made it a subah
Subah
A Subah was a province of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. The governor of a subah was known as a subahdar, which later became subedar to refer to an officer in the Indian Army...
(province) of his empire. The Malwa Subah
Malwa Subah
-History:Malwa was earlier an independent sultanate. Its last ruler Baz Bahadur was defeated and its capital Mandu was conquered in 1562 by the Akbar’s army led by Abdullah Khan, the Uzbeg. He was appointed its first governor. In 1564 he was replaced by Qara Bahadur Khan. In 1568 it became a subah...
existed from 1568 to 1743. Mandu was abandoned by the 17th century.
Chimnaji Appa
Chimnaji Appa was the son of Balaji Vishwanath Bhat and the younger brother of Bajirao Peshwa. He was an able military commander who liberated the western coast of India from Portuguese rule...
, Nemaji Shinde and Chimnaji Damodar
Chimnaji Damodar
Chimnaji Damodar Moghe, historically known as ‘Chimnaji Damodar, was among the first ones to cross the boundary of Maharashtra in 1698 to attack Mughal subjects located in the Central and Northern parts of India...
were the first Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
Generals to cross the boundary of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
and to invade in Malwa in 1698. Subsequently, Malharrao Holkar (1694–1766) became leader of Maratha armies in Malwa in 1724, and in 1733 the Maratha Peshwa
Peshwa
A Peshwa is the titular equivalent of a modern Prime Minister. Emporer Shivaji created the Peshwa designation in order to more effectively delegate administrative duties during the growth of the Maratha Empire. Prior to 1749, Peshwas held office for 8-9 years and controlled the Maratha army...
granted him control of most of the region, which was formally ceded by the Mughals in 1738. Ranoji Scindia
Ranoji Scindia
Ranoji Scindia was Peshwa Bajirao's General during 1720 to 1745. He was the founder of princely Gwalior State of Scindias ....
noted Maratha Commander established his head quarters at Ujjain in 1721. This capital was later moved to Gwalior by Daulatrao Scindia.Another Maratha general, Anand Rao Pawar, established himself as the Raja of Dhar in 1742, and the two Pawar brothers became Rajas of Dewas
Dewas
Dewas is an ancient town situated on the Malwa plateau in the West-central part of Indian state called Madhya Pradesh, about 160 km south west from state capital, Bhopal. It is the administrative center of the Dewas District, and was formerly the seat of two princely states during the British...
. At the end of the 18th century, Malwa became the venue of fighting between the rival Maratha powers and the headquarters of the Pindari
Pindari
The Pendharis or Free Companions were dispersed throughout the Maratha states and were countenanced and protected by the Maratha chiefs to whom they acted as agents for supplying all the commissariat required by their armies. They were composed of different tribes who congregated together solely...
s, who were irregular plunderers. The Pindaris were rooted out in a campaign by the British general Lord Hastings, and further order was established under Sir John Malcolm. The Holkar dynasty ruled Malwa from Indore and Maheshwar on the Narmada
Narmada River
The Narmada , also called Rewa is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent. It is the third largest river that completely flows within India after Ganges and Godavari...
until 1818, when the Marathas were defeated by the British in the Third Anglo-Maratha War
Third Anglo-Maratha War
The Third Anglo-Maratha War was the final and decisive conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha territory by 110,400 British East India Company troops, the largest...
, and the Holkars of Indore became a princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
of the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. After 1818 the British organised the numerous princely states of central India into the Central India Agency
Central India Agency
The Central India Agency was a political office of the British Indian Empire, which covered the northern half of present-day Madhya Pradesh state. The Central India Agency was made up entirely of princely states, which were under native rulers...
; the Malwa Agency was a division of Central India, with an area of 23100 km² (8,919 sq mi) and a population of 1,054,753 in 1901. It comprised the states of Dewas (senior and junior branch), Jaora
Jaora
Jaora is a city and a municipality in Ratlam district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Jaora is located in the Malwa region, between Ratlam and Neemuch. It was the capital of the princely state of Jaora before independence...
, Ratlam
Ratlam
Ratlam , known historically as Ratnapuri, is a city in the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state of central India. The town of Ratlam lies 480 m above sea level. It is the administrative headquarters of Ratlam District....
, Sitamau
Sitamau
Sitamau is a town and a nagar panchayat in Mandsaur district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is in the Mandsaur district of Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh.It was the seat of the princely Sitamau State....
and Sailana
Sailana
Sailana is a town and a nagar panchayat in Ratlam district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is located in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. Sailana is 25 km from Ratlam town and 50 km away from Banswara district of the neighboring state of Rajasthan.A Fort belonging to the former...
, together with a large part of Gwalior, parts of Indore and Tonk
Tonk (princely state)
Tonk was a Princely State of India which by treaty in 1817 accepted British suzerainty. Following the Partition of India in 1947, Tonk acceded to the newly independent Union of India. It was located in the region that is now the Tonk district.-History:...
, and about 35 small estates and holdings. Political power was exercised from Neemuch. Upon Indian independence
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
in 1947, the Holkars and other princely rulers acceded to India, and most of Malwa became part of the new state of Madhya Bharat
Madhya Bharat
Madhya Bharat , also known as Malwa Union was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jivaji Rao Scindia as its Rajpramukh...
, which was merged into Madhya Pradesh in 1956.
Geography
The Malwa region occupies a plateau in western Madhya Pradesh and south-eastern RajasthanRajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
(between 21°10′N 73°45′E and 25°10′N 79°14′E), with Gujarat in the west. The region includes the Madhya Pradesh districts of Dewas
Dewas District
Dewas District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Dewas is the district headquarters.The district has an area 7,020 km², and a population 1,306,617 , an increase of 26% since 1991....
, Dhar
Dhar District
Dhar district is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The historic town of Dhar is administrative headquarters of the district....
, Indore
Indore District
Indore District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The district derived its name from the city of Indore, which serves as its administrative headquarters...
, Jhabua
Jhabua District
Jhabua district is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Jhabua is the administrative headquarters of the district.-Geography:Jhabua district lies in the western part of Madhya Pradesh...
, Mandsaur
Mandsaur District
Mandsaur District is a District of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Mandsaur is the administrative headquarters of the district.-Origin of name:...
, Neemuch
Neemuch District
Neemuch district is one of the 50 districts of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Neemuch is the administrative headquarters of the district.Neemuch district is part of Ujjain Division and had approximately 700,000 inhabitants as of 2001...
, Rajgarh
Rajgarh District
Rajgarh District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Rajgarh is the administrative headquarters of the district.The district has an area of 6,154 km², and a population 992,315...
, Ratlam
Ratlam District
Ratlam District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Ratlam is administrative headquarters of the district.-Geography:Ratlam District has an area of 4,861 km²...
, Shajapur
Shajapur District
Shajapur District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state of central India. The town of Shajapur is the district headquarters.Shajapur District is part of the Malwa Plateau. The district is situated in the northwestern part of the state and lies between latitudes 32"06' and 24" 19' North and...
, Ujjain
Ujjain District
Ujjain District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The historic city of Ujjain is the district headquarters.The district has an area of 6,091 km², and a population of 1,709,885 , a 24% increase from its 1991 population of 1,386,465...
, and parts of Guna
Guna District
Guna district is one of the 50 districts of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Its administrative headquarters is Guna. The district has a population of 12,40,938...
and Sehore
Sehore District
Sehore District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Sehore is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bhopal Division.-Demographics:...
, and the Rajasthan districts of Jhalawar
Jhalawar
Jhalawar is a city in southeastern Rajasthan. It was the capital of the former princely state of Jhalawar, and is the administrative headquarters of Jhalawar District. Jhalawar was once known as Brijnagar .-Jhalawar town:...
and parts of Banswara
Banswara
Banswara is a city in Banswara District in south Rajasthan in India. Banswara princely state was founded by Maharawal Jagmal Singh. It is named for the "bans" or bamboo forests in the area. It is also known as 'City of Hundred Islands', due to presence of numerous islands in the Mahi River, which...
and Chittorgarh
Chittorgarh district
Chittorgarh District is a district of Rajasthan state in western India. The historic city of Chittorgarh is the administrative headquarters of the district....
. Malwa is bounded in the north-east by the Hadoti
Hadoti
Hadoti , is a region of Rajasthan state in western India...
region, in the north-west by the Mewar
Mewar
Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...
region, in the west by the Vagad
Vagad
Vagad is a region in southeastern Rajasthan state of western India. The major cities of the region are Dungarpur and Banswara, both princely states in 19th century....
region and Gujarat. To the south and east is the Vindhya Range and to the north is the Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand anciently known as Chedi Kingdom is a geographic region of central India...
upland.
The plateau is an extension of the Deccan Traps
Deccan Traps
The Deccan Traps are a large igneous province located on the Deccan Plateau of west-central India and one of the largest volcanic features on Earth. They consist of multiple layers of solidified flood basalt that together are more than thick and cover an area of and a volume of...
, formed between 60 and 68 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
period. In this region the main classes of soil are black, brown and bhatori (stony) soil. The volcanic, clay-like soil of the region owes its black colour to the high iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
content of the basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
from which it formed. The soil requires less irrigation because of its high capacity for moisture retention. The other two soil types are lighter and have a higher proportion of sand.
The average elevation of the plateau is 500 m. Some of the peaks over 800 m high are at Sigar (881 m), Janapav (854 m) and Ghajari (810 m). The plateau generally slopes towards the north. The western part of the region is drained by the Mahi River
Mahi River
The Mahi is a river in western India. It rises in Madhya Pradesh and, after flowing through the Vagad region of Rajasthan, enters Gujarat and falls into the sea by a wide estuary near Khambhat. Its total length is 500 km. and its estimated drainage area 40,000 km2...
, while the Chambal River
Chambal River
The Chambal River is a tributary of the Yamuna River in central India, and forms part of the greater Gangetic drainage system. The river flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, running for a time through Rajasthan, then forming the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before turning...
drains the central part, and the Betwa River
Betwa River
The Betwa is a river in Northern India, and a tributary of the Yamuna. Also known as the Vetravati, the Betwa rises in the Vindhya Range just north of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and flows north-east through Madhya Pradesh and flow through Orchha to Uttar Pradesh. Nearly one-half of its course,...
and the headwaters of the Dhasan
Dhasan River
The Dhasan River is a right bank tributary of the Betwa River. The river originates in Begumganj tehsil of Raisen district in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The river forms the southeastern boundary of the Lalitpur District of Uttar Pradesh state...
and Ken
Ken River
The Ken River is one the major rivers of the Bundelkhand region of central India, and flows through two states, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh...
rivers drain the east. The Shipra River
Shipra River
The Shipra, also known as the Kshipra, is a river in Madhya Pradesh state of central India. The river rises in the kakri bardi hiils Vindhya Range north of Dhar, and flows south across the Malwa Plateau to join the Chambal River. It is one of the sacred rivers in Hinduism. The holy city of Ujjain...
is of historical importance because of the Simhasth mela
Kumbh Mela
Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage in which Hindus gather at the Ganges river.The normal Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 3 years, the Ardh Kumbh Mela is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Prayag, the Purna Kumbh takes place every twelve years, at four places Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain,...
, held every 12 years. Other notable rivers are Parbati
Parbati River
Parbati River may refer to:*Parbati River , India*Parbati River , India*Parbati River , India...
, Gambhir
Gambhir River
Gambhir River originates in the hills near Karauli village in Sawai Madhopur District. It flows from south to north up to Kanjoli village , then towards northeast up to village Mertha of Roopbas Block, before entering Uttar Pradesh. The river again enters Rajasthan near Catchapaura village in...
and Choti Kali Sindh. Malwa's elevation gives it a mild, pleasant climate; a cool morning wind, the karaman, and an evening breeze, the Shab-e-Malwa
Shab-e-Malwa
Shab-e-Malwa is dusk time in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, India. Due to its altitude of about 550 to 600 meters above mean sea level, the region has comparatively cool evenings against the hot days during the summer season...
, make the summers less harsh.
Chaitra
Chaitra is a month of the Hindu calendar....
to Jyestha (mid-March to mid-May). The average daily temperature during the summer months is 35 °C, which typically rises to around 40 °C on a few days. The rainy season starts with the first showers of Aashaadha
Aashaadha
Aashaadha is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Aashaadh is the fourth month of the year, beginning on 22 June and ending on 22 July. The month is known as Aadi in Tamil...
(mid-June) and extends to the middle of Ashvin
Ashvin
Ashvin , also known as Aswayuja, is the seventh month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, the Tamil solar calendar where it is known as Aipassi and the solar India's national civil calendar. It is the sixth month of the solar Bengali calendar. It falls in the season of Shôrot, or Autumn...
(September). Most of the rain falls during the southwest monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
spell, and ranges from about 100 cm in the west to about 165 cm in the east. Indore and the immediately surrounding areas receive an average of 140 cm of rainfall a year. The growing period lasts from 90 to 150 days, during which the average daily temperature is below 30 °C, but seldom falls below 20 °C. Winter is the longest of the three seasons, extending for about five months (mid-Ashvin to Phalgun, i.e., October to mid-March). The average daily temperature ranges from 15 °C to 20 °C, though on some nights it can fall as low as 7 °C. Some cultivators believe that an occasional winter shower during the months of Pausha
Pausha
Pausha is a month of the Hindu calendar In the Indian national calendar, Pausha is the tenth month of the year, beginning with the solstice on 22 December and ending on 20 January....
and Maagha
Maagha
Maagha is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Maagh is the eleventh month of the year, beginning in January and ending in February....
—known as Mawta—is helpful to the early summer wheat and germ crops.
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
.
Vegetation
Vegetation
Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...
: The natural vegetation is tropical dry forest, with scattered teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
(Tectona grandis) forests. The main trees are Butea
Butea
Butea or Flame of the Forest is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the pea family, Fabaceae. It has two species. Butea monosperma, also known as Flame of the Forest or Bastard Teak in English, Kingshuk or Palash in Bengali or Hindi, Kesudo or Khakhro in Gujarati, is native to India and...
, Bombax
Bombax
Bombax is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, as well as sub-tropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia. Common names for the genus include Silk Cotton Tree, Simal, Red Cotton Tree, Kapok and...
, Anogeissus
Anogeissus
Anogeissus is a genus of trees native to South Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa, belonging to family Combretaceae. The genus has eight species, five native to South Asia, two endemic to the southern Arabian Peninsula, and one native to Africa. Anogeissus latifolia, known as dhaora, is one of...
, Acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
, Buchanania
Buchanania
Buchanania is a genus of plant in family Anacardiaceae.Species include:*Buchanania amboinensis Miq. – native to Papua New Guinea...
and Boswellia
Boswellia
Boswellia is a genus of trees known for their fragrant resin which has many pharmacological uses particularly as anti-inflammatories. The Biblical incense frankincense was probably an extract from the resin of the tree, Boswellia sacra....
. The shrubs or small trees include species of Grewia
Grewia
The large flowering plant genus Grewia is today placed by most authors in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by in the APG. Formerly, it was placed in either the linden family or the Sparrmanniaceae...
, Ziziphus mauritiana
Ziziphus mauritiana
Ziziphus mauritiana, also known as Jujube, Chinee Apple, Indian plum, and permseret , is a tropical fruit tree species belonging to the family Rhamnaceae....
, Casearia
Casearia
Casearia is a plant genus in the family Salicaceae. The genus was included in the Flacourtiaceae under the Cronquist system of angiosperm classification, and earlier in the Samydaceae. Recent research indicates that the latter group might be reinstated as a valid family.They are sometimes employed...
, Prosopis
Prosopis
Prosopis is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in arid soil and are resistant to drought, on occasion...
, Capparis
Capparis
Capparis is a flowering plant genus in the family Capparaceae which is included in the Brassicaceae in the unrevised APG II system. These plants are shrubs or lianas and are collectively known as caper shrubs or caperbushes...
, Woodfordia
Woodfordia
Woodfordia is a genus of bird in the Zosteropidae family.It contains the following species:* Sanford's White-eye * Bare-eyed White-eye...
, Phyllanthus
Phyllanthus
Phyllanthus is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number species in this genus vary widely, from 750 to 1200. Phyllanthus has a remarkable diversity of growth forms including annual and perennial herbs, shrubs, climbers, floating aquatics, and...
, and Carissa
Carissa
Carissa is a genus of about 20-30 species of shrubs or small trees native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and Asia....
.
Wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
: Sambhar
Sambar Deer
The Sambar ' is a large deer native to southern and southeast Asia. Although it primarily refers to R. unicolor, the name "Sambar" is also sometimes used to refer to the Philippine Deer and the Rusa Deer...
(Cervus unicolor), Blackbuck
Blackbuck
Blackbuck is a species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent. Their range decreased sharply during the 20th century. Since 2003, the IUCN lists the species as near threatened....
(Antilope cervicapra), and Chinkara
Chinkara
The Chinkara is a species of gazelle found in south Asia.-Habitat and Distribution:It lives in grasslands and desert areas in India, Bangladesh and parts of Iran and Pakistan...
(Gazella bennettii) are some common ungulate
Ungulate
Ungulates are several groups of mammals, most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole body weight while moving. They make up several orders of mammals, of which six to eight survive...
s.
During the last century, deforestation has happened at a fast rate, leading to environmental problems such as acute water scarcity and the danger that the region is being desertified.
Demographics
There are numerous tribes in the region, such as the Bhils—and their allied groups, the Bhilala
Bhilala
The Bhilala are located in several states in western central India, but mainly in the districts of Dhar, Jhabua, and West Nimar of Madhya Pradesh and in Dhulia and Jalgaon in Maharashtra. Their language, also called Bhilala, is a sub-group of the Bhil language, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan family...
s, Barela
Barela
Barela is a town and a nagar panchayat in Jabalpur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India.-Geography:Barela is located at . It has an average elevation of 405 metres .-Demographics:...
s and Patelias—and the Meenas
Meenas
Meenas, Meena, Meenoat or Mina is a caste and community mainly found in Rajasthan, India. The name Mina is derived from Meen,meaning 'fish' in Sanskrit, and the Minas claim descent from the Matsya Avatar, or fish incarnation, of Vishnu.Meenas celebrate Meenesh Jayanti in the name of Vishnu on 3...
, who all differ to a remarkable degree from the regional population in their dialects and social life. They encompass a variety of languages and cultures. Some tribes of the region, notably the Kanjar
Kanjar
Kanjar is a traditionally nomadic community resident in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and parts of Uttar Pradesh in India. The community is also known by the names of Nath, Banchra, Marwari Kumar, and Bhantu. They are reputed to have made a living by kidnapping, theft, prostitution,...
s, were notified in the 19th century for their criminal activities, but have since been denotified
Denotified tribes of India
Denotified tribes , also known as vimukta jati, are the tribes that were originally listed under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 , as Criminal Tribes and "addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences." Once a tribe became "notified" as criminal, all its members were required to...
. A nomadic tribe from the Marwar
Marwar
Marwar is a region of southwestern Rajasthan state in western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. In Rajasthani dialect "wad" means a particular area. The word Marwar is derived from Sanskrit word 'Maruwat'. English translation of the word is 'The region of desert'., The Imperial Gazetteer...
region of Rajasthan, the Gadia Lohar
Gadia Lohar
Gadia Lohars is a nomadic community of Rajasthan, India . They are also found in Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. They are Lohar by profession who move on from one place to another place on bullock cart, which in Hindi is called 'gadi'. Hence the name 'Gadia Lohar'...
s—who work as lohars (blacksmiths)—visit the region at the start of the agricultural season to repair and sell agricultural tools and implements, stopping temporarily on the outskirts of villages and towns and residing in their ornate metal carts. The Kalbelia
Kalbelia
Kalbelia is one of the most sensuous dance forms of Rajasthan, performed by a tribe of the same name.-Kalbelia Tribe:The Kalbelias were known for their frequent movement from one place to another in ancient times. Their main occupation is catching snakes and trading snake venom. Hence, the dance...
is another nomadic tribe from Rajasthan that regularly visits the region.
Malwa has a significant number of Dawoodi Bohras, a subsect of Shia Muslims from Gujarat, who are mostly businessmen by profession. Besides speaking the local languages, the Bohras have their own language, Lisan al-Dawat
Lisan al-Dawat
Lisan al-Dawat , also transcribed as Lisan ud-Dawat, is the language of the Dawoodi Bohras, an Ismaili Shia Muslim community. The name of the language itself is an Arabic term that means "the Language of the Dawat"...
. The Patidar
Patidar
The Patidar are a Hindu ethnic group found primarily in the state of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in India.Patidars are also known as Patel, a common surname with in the community.D. F...
s, who probably originated from the Kurmi
Kurmi
The Kurmi are a Hindu agricultural Jāti in India.The group has been associated with the Kunbi, though scholars differ as to whether the terms are synonymous. In 2006, the Indian government announced that Kurmi was considered synonymous with the Kunbi and Yellam castes in Maharashtra...
s of Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, are mostly rural farmers who settled in Gujarat around 1400. Periods of Maratha rule led to the growth of sizeable Marathi communities. the region of Indore, dhar
Dhar
Dhār is located in the Malwa region of western Madhya Pradesh state in central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Dhar District. The town is located west of Mhow, above sea level...
, dewas
Dewas
Dewas is an ancient town situated on the Malwa plateau in the West-central part of Indian state called Madhya Pradesh, about 160 km south west from state capital, Bhopal. It is the administrative center of the Dewas District, and was formerly the seat of two princely states during the British...
and ujjain has a considerable marathi speaking populace.even on the native language malwi, marathi influence is visible.A significant number of Jats and Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
s also live in the region. The Sindhis
Sindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
, who settled in the region after the partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
, are an important part of the business community. Like neighbouring Gujarat and southern Rajasthan, the region has a significant number of Jains, who are mostly traders and business people. The region is home to smaller numbers of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
n Catholics, Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
s, Punjabis
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
and Parsis or Zoroastrians. The Parsis are closely connected to the growth and evolution of Mhow, which has a Parsi fire temple and a Tower of Silence.
Economy
Malwa is one of the world's major opium producers. This crop resulted in development of close connections between the economies of Malwa, the western Indian ports and ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, bringing international capital to the region in the 18th and 19th centuries. Malwa opium was a challenge to the monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, which was supplying Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
opium to China. This led the British company to impose many restrictions on the production and trade of the drug; eventually, opium trading was pushed underground. When smuggling became rife, the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
eased the restrictions. Today, the region is one of the largest producers of legal opium in the world. There is a central, government-owned opium and alkaloid factory in the city of Neemuch. Nevertheless, there is a still a significant amount of illicit opium production, which is channelled into the black market. The headquarters of India's Central Bureau of Narcotics is in Gwalior. The Rajputana-Malwa Railway
Rajputana-Malwa Railway
The Rajputana-Malwa Railway was a railway line which ran from Delhi to Indore and to Ahmedabad....
was opened in 1876.
The region is predominantly agricultural. The brown soil in parts of the region is particularly suitable for the cultivation of such unalu (early summer) crops as wheat, gram (Cicer arietinum) and til (Sesamum indicum). Relatively poor soil is used for the cultivation of syalu such (early winter) crops as millet (Andropogon sorghum
Sorghum
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
), maize (Zea mays), mung bean
Mung bean
The mung bean is the seed of Vigna radiata. It is native to the Indian subcontinent.-Description:They are small, ovoid in shape, and green in color...
(Vigna radiata), urad
Urad (bean)
Vigna mungo, known as urad, urad dal, udad dal, urd bean, urd, urid, black matpe bean, black gram, black lentil [not to be confused with the much smaller true black lentil ], maas , đậu đen or white lentil, is a bean grown in southern Asia...
(Vigna mungo), batla (Pisum sativum) and peanuts (Arachis hypogaea
Peanut
The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
). Overall, the main crops are jowar, rice, wheat, coarse millet, peanuts and pulses, soya bean, cotton, linseed, sesame and sugarcane. Sugar mills are located in numerous small towns.
The black, volcanic soil is ideal for the cultivation of cotton, and textile manufacture is an important industry. Large centres of textile production include Indore, Ujjain and Nagda. Maheshwar is known for its fine Maheshwari saris, and Mandsaur for its coarse woollen blankets. Handicrafts are an important source of income for the tribal population. Coloured lacquerware from Ratlam, rag dolls from Indore, and papier-mâché articles from Indore, Ujjain and several other centres are well known.
Mandsaur district is the sole producer in India of white- and red-coloured slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
, used in the district's 110 slate pencil factories. There is a cement factory in . Apart from this, the region lacks mineral resources. The region's industries mainly produce consumer goods—but there are now many centres of large- and medium-scale industries, including Indore, Nagda and Ujjain. Indore has a large-scale factory that produces diesel engines. Pithampur
Pithampur
Pithampur is a town in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Governed by Nagar Nigam, it is a well-known industrial estate referred to as the 'Detroit of India'...
, an industrial town 25 km from Indore, is known as the Detroit of India for its heavy concentration of automotive industry. Indore is recognised as the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, and is the main centre for trade in textiles and agro-based products. It has one of the six Indian Institutes of Management
Indian Institute of Management Indore
Indian Institute of Management Indore is a state funded management institute in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Instituted in 1998, IIM Indore is the sixth addition to the IIM family.-History:...
Culture
The culture of Malwa has been significantly influenced by Gujarati and Rajasthani culture, because of their geographic proximity. Marathi influence is also visible, because of recent rule by the Marathas.The main language of Malwa is Malvi, although Hindi is widely spoken in the cities. This Indo-European language is subclassified as Indo-Aryan. The language is sometimes referred to as Malavi or Ujjaini. Malvi is part of the Rajasthani
Rajasthani language
Rajasthani Rajasthani Rajasthani (Devanagari: , Perso-Arabic: is a language of the Indo-Aryan languages family. It is spoken by 50 million people in Rajasthan and other states of India and in some areas of Pakistan. The number of speakers may be up to 80 million worldwide...
branch of languages; Nimadi is spoken in the Nimar
Nimar
Nimar is the southwestern region of Madhya Pradesh state in west-central India.The region lies south of the Vindhya Range, and consists of two portions of the Narmada and Tapti river valleys, separated by a section of the Satpura Range, about 15 miles in breadth...
region of Madhya Pradesh and in Rajasthan. The dialects of Malvi are, in alphabetical order, Bachadi, Bhoyari, Dholewari, Hoshangabadi, Jamral, Katiyai, Malvi Proper, Patvi, Rangari, Rangri and Sondwari. A survey in 2001 found only four dialects: Ujjaini (in the districts of Ujjain, Indore, Dewas and Sehore), Rajawari (Ratlam, Mandsaur and Neemuch), Umadwari (Rajgarh) and Sondhwari (Jhalawar, in Rajasthan). About 55% of the population of Malwa can converse in and about 40% of the population is literate in Hindi, the official language of the Madhya Pradesh state.
Traditional Malwa food has elements of Gujarati
Gujarati cuisine
Gujarati cuisine refers to the cuisine of the Gujaratis from India, who are predominant in western India. It is primarily a vegetarian cuisine, despite having an extensive coastline for sea food, due influence of Jain vegetarianism and traditional Hinduism...
, Rajasthani
Rajasthani cuisine
Rajasthani cooking was influenced by both the war-like lifestyles of its inhabitants and the availability of ingredients in this arid region. Food that could last for several days and could be eaten without heating was preferred. Scarcity of water and fresh green vegetables have all had their...
and Maharashtrian
Maharashtrian cuisine
Maharashtrian cuisine is cuisine of the Marathi people, those from the state of Maharashtra in India. Maharashtrian cuisine covers a range from being mild to very spicy dishes. Wheat, rice, jowar, bajri, vegetables, lentils and fruit form important components of Maharashtrian diet...
cuisine. Traditionally, jowar was the staple cereal, but after the Green Revolution in India
Green Revolution in India
The introduction of high-yielding varieties of seeds and the increased use of fertilizers and irrigation are known collectively as the Green Revolution, which provided the increase in production needed to make India self-sufficient in food grains, thus improving agriculture in India...
, wheat has replaced jowar as the most important food crop; many are vegetarians. Since the climate is mostly dry throughout the year, most people rely on stored foods such as pulses, and green vegetables are rare. A typical snack of Malwa is the bhutta ri kees (made with grated corn roasted in ghee
Ghee
Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
and later cooked in milk with spices). Chakki ri shaak is made of wheat dough, which is washed under running water, steamed and then used in a gravy of curd. The traditional bread of Malwa is called baati/bafla, which is essentially a small, round ball of wheat flour, roasted over dung cakes, in the traditional way. Baati
Baati
Baati is a hard, unleavened bread cooked in the desert areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat. It is prized there for its long shelf life and high nutritional content, as well as the minimal quantity of water required for its preparation. It is always eaten with dal. Bati is also known as litti...
is typically eaten with dal (pulses), while baflas are dripping with ghee and soaked with dal. The amli ri kadhi is kadhi made with tamarind instead of yogurt. Sweet cakes, made of a variety of wheat called tapu, are prepared during religious festivities. Sweet cereal called thulli is also typically eaten with milk or yoghurt. Traditional desserts include mawa-bati (milk-based sweet similar to Gulab jamun
Gulab jamun
Gulab jamun is a popular dessert in countries of the Indian Subcontinent such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. It is made of a dough consisting mainly of milk solids, traditionally, khoya, an Indian milk product is rolled into a ball together with some flour and then deep fried...
), khoprapak (coconut-based sweet), shreekhand (yogurt based) and malpua.
Lavani
Lavani
Lavani is a genre of music popular in Maharashtra and southern Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Lavani is a combination of traditional song and dance, which particularly performed to the enchanting beats of Dholak, a percussion instrument. Lavani is noted for its powerful rhythm and...
is a widely practised form of folk music in southern Malwa, which was brought to the region by the Marathas. The Nirguni Lavani (philosophical) and the Shringari Lavani (erotic) are the two of the main genres. The Bhils have their own folk songs, which are always accompanied by dance. The folk musical modes of Malwa are of four or five notes, and in rare cases six. The devotional music of the Nirguni cult is popular throughout Malwa. Legends of Raja Bhoj and Bijori, the Kanjar girl, and the tale of Balabau are popular themes for folk songs. Insertions known as stobha are commonly used in Malwa music; this can occur in four ways: the matra stobha (syllable insertion), varna stobha (letter insertion), shabda stobha (word insertion) and vakya stobha (sentence insertion).
Sanskrit literature
Literature in Sanskrit begins with the Vedas, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India; the golden age of Classical Sanskrit literature dates to late Antiquity . Literary production saw a late bloom in the 11th century before declining after 1100 AD...
during and after the Gupta period. The region's most famous playwright, Kalidasa
Kalidasa
Kālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language...
, is considered to be the greatest Indian writer ever. His first surviving play is Malavikagnimitra (Malavika and Agnimitra). Kalidasa's second play, his masterpiece, is the Abhijñānaśākuntalam
Abhijñānaśākuntalam
Abhijñānashākuntala or Abhijñānaśākuntalam) , is a well-known Sanskrit play by Kālidāsa. Its date is uncertain, but Kalidasa is often placed in the period between the 1st century BCE and 4th century CE....
, which tells the story of king Dushyanta, who falls in love with a girl of lowly birth, the lovely Shakuntala. The last of Kalidasa's surviving plays is Vikramuurvashiiya ("Urvashi conquered by valour"). Kalidasa also wrote the epic poems Raghuvamsha ("Dynasty of Raghu"), Ritusamhāra and Kumarasambhava ("Birth of the war god"), as well as the lyric Meghaduuta ("The cloud messenger").
Swang is a popular dance form in Malwa; its roots go back to the origins of the Indian theatre tradition in the first millennium BC. Since women did not participate in the dance-drama form, men enacted their roles. Swang incorporates suitable theatrics and mimicry, accompanied alternately by song and dialogue. The genre is dialogue-oriented rather than movement-oriented.
Mandana (literally painting) wall and floor paintings are the best-known painting traditions of Malwa. White drawings stand out in contrast to the base material consisting of a mixture of red clay and cow dung. Peacocks, cats, lions, goojari, bawari, the swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
and chowk are some motifs of this style. Sanjhya is a ritual wall painting done by young girls during the annual period when Hindus remember and offer ritual oblation to their ancestors. Malwa miniature paintings are well known for their intricate brushwork. In the 17th century, an offshoot of the Rajasthani school of miniature painting, known as Malwa painting, was centred largely in Malwa and Bundelkhand. The school preserved the style of the earliest examples, such as the Rasikapriya series dated 1636 (after a poem analysing the love sentiment) and the Amaru Sataka (a 17th-century Sanskrit poem). The paintings from this school are flat compositions on black and chocolate-brown backgrounds, with figures shown against a solid colour patch, and architecture painted in vibrant colours.
The biggest festival of Malwa is the Simhastha mela, held every 12 years, in which more than 40 million pilgrims take a holy dip in river Shipra. The festival of Gana-gour is celebrated in honour of Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and Parvati
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
. The history of the festival goes back to Rano Bai, whose parental home was in Malwa, but who was married in Rajasthan. Rano Bai was strongly attached to Malwa, and did not want to stay in Rajasthan. After marriage, she was allowed to visit Malwa only once a year; Gana-gour symbolises these annual return visits. The festival is observed by women in the region once in the month of Chaitra (mid-March) and Bhadra (mid-August). The Ghadlya (earthen pot) festival is celebrated by the girls of the region, who gather to visit every house in their village in the evenings, carrying earthen pots with holes for the light from oil lamps inside to escape. In front of every house, the girls recite songs connected with the Ghadlya and receive food or money in return. The Gordhan festival is celebrated on the 16th day in the month of Kartika. The Bhil
Bhil
Bhils are primarily an Adivasi people of Central India. Bhils are also settled in the Tharparkar District of Sindh, Pakistan. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages....
s of the region sing Heeda, anecdotal songs to the cattle, while the women sing the Chandrawali song, associated with Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
's romance.
The most popular fairs are held in the months of Phalguna
Phalguna
Phalguna is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Phaalgun is the twelfth month of the year, beginning on 20 February and ending on 21 March .In lunar religious calendars, Phaalgun may begin on either the new moon or the full moon...
, Chaitra
Chaitra
Chaitra is a month of the Hindu calendar....
, Bhadra
Bhadra
In Hinduism, Bhadra is a goddess of the hunt and one of Shiva's servants....
, Ashvin and Kartik
Kartik
Kartik may refer to:* Kartika , a month in the Indian national calendar and Bengali calendar* Kartik * Karttikeya, the brother of Ganesha in the Hindu mythology...
. The Chaitra fair, held at Biaora, and the Gal yatras, held at more than two dozen villages in Malwa are remarkable. Many fairs are held in the tenth day of the month of Bhadra to mark the birth of Tejaji. The Triveni mela is held at Ratlam, and other fairs take place in Kartika at Ujjain, Mandhata (Nimad), Nayagaon
Nayagaon
Nayagaon is a village near Rishabhdev in Udaipur District, Rajasthan, India- History :...
, among others.
Tourism
The main tourist destinations in Malwa are places of historical or religious significance. The river Shipra and the city of Ujjain have been regarded as sacred for thousands of years. The Mahakal Temple of Ujjain is one of the 12 jyotirlingas. Ujjain has over 100 other ancient temples, including HarsidhhiHarsidhhi
Harsidhhi is considered one of the aspect of Amba and also Kalika, the Hindu Devi.Her temples are found in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.-Kuldevi:She is worshiped as Kuldevi by many Kshatriya and Rajput clans of India...
, Chintaman Ganesh, Gadh Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
ka, Kaal Bhairava
Bhairava
Bhairava , sometimes known as Bhairo or Bhairon or Bhairadya or Bheruji , Kaala Bhairavar or Vairavar , is the fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva associated with annihilation...
and Mangalnath. The Kalideh Palace, on the outskirts of the city, is a fine example of ancient Indian architecture. The Bhartrihari caves are associated with interesting legends. Since the fourth century BC, Ujjain has enjoyed the reputation of being India's Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
,
as the Prime Meridian
Prime Meridian
The Prime Meridian is the meridian at which the longitude is defined to be 0°.The Prime Meridian and its opposite the 180th meridian , which the International Date Line generally follows, form a great circle that divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.An international...
of the Hindu geographers. The observatory built by Jai Singh II is one of the four such observatories in India and features ancient astronomical devices. The Simhastha mela, celebrated every 12 years, starts on the full moon day in Chaitra (April) and continues into Vaishakha (May) until the next full moon day.
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
centuries later. Baz Bahadur
Baz Bahadur
Miyan Bayezid Baz Bahadur was the last sultan of Malwa, who reigned from 1555 to 1562. He succeeded his father, Shuja'at Khan. He is known for his romantic liaison with Roopmati, a singer of Rajput birth....
built a huge palace in Mandu in the 16th century. Other notable historical monuments are Rewa Kund, Rupmati's Pavilion, Nilkanth Mahal, Hathi Mahal, Darya Khan's Tomb, Dai ka Mahal, Malik Mughit is Mosque and Jali Mahal.
Narmada River
The Narmada , also called Rewa is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent. It is the third largest river that completely flows within India after Ganges and Godavari...
that served as the capital of the Indore state under Rajmata Ahilya Devi Holkar. The Maratha rajwada (fort) is the main attraction. A life-size statue of Rani Ahilya sits on a throne within the fort complex. Dhar was the capital of Malwa before Mandu became the capital in 1405. There, the fort is in ruins but offers a panoramic view. The Bhojashala Mosque (built in 1400) is still used as a place of worship on Fridays. The abandoned Lat Masjid (1405) and the tomb of Kamal Maula (early 15th century), a Muslim saint, are other places of interest.
Modern Indore was planned and built by Rajmata Ahilya Devi Holkar. The grand Lal Baag Palace is one of its grandest monuments. The Bada Ganpati temple houses what is possibly the largest Ganesh idol in the world, measuring 7.6 m from crown to foot. The Kanch Mandir
Kanch Mandir
Kanch Ka Mandir , literally Temple of Glass, is a famous Jain temple in Indore, built by legendary Seth Hukumchand Jain. The construction began sometime around 1903....
is a Jain temple entirely inlaid with glass. The Town Hall was made in 1904 in indo-gothic style; originally named King Edward
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
Hall, it was renamed Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
Hall in 1948. The chhatris are the tombs or cenotaphs erected in memory of dead Holkar rulers and their family members.
The shrine of Hussain Tekri
Hussain Tekri
The shrine of Hussain Tekri was built by the Nawab of Jaora, Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan Bahadur, in the 19th century. It is situated on the outskirts of Jaora town in the Ratlam district of Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, India....
, built by the Nawab of Jaora, Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan Bahadur, in the 19th century, is on the outskirts of Jaora in the Ratlam district. Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan Bahadur was buried in the same graveyard where Hussain Tekri was buried. During the month of Moharram, thousands of people from all over the world visit the shrine of Hazrat Imam Hussain
Husayn ibn Ali
Hussein ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib was the son of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Fātimah Zahrā...
there, which is a replica of the Iraqi original. The place is famous for the rituals called Hajri to cure mental illness.
In Fiction
In the Belisarius seriesBelisarius series
The Belisarius Series is a fictional saga in the alternate history and military history sub-genres of science fiction, written by American authors David Drake and Eric Flint...
, by David Drake
David Drake
David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the premier authors of the military science fiction subgenre.-Biography:...
and Eric Flint
Eric Flint
Eric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures.- Career :...
, the people of Malwa are chosen by malicious beings from the future to change the course of history. The Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
general Belisarius
Belisarius
Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously....
is set against them by a creature sent by a benevolent group of future beings.
See also
- Madhya Pradesh
- RajasthanRajasthanRājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
- List of people from Malwa
- Rajasthani cuisineRajasthani cuisineRajasthani cooking was influenced by both the war-like lifestyles of its inhabitants and the availability of ingredients in this arid region. Food that could last for several days and could be eaten without heating was preferred. Scarcity of water and fresh green vegetables have all had their...