Everything about Madhya Pradesh totally explained
Madhya Pradesh (abbreviated as
MP) (
Hindī: मध्य प्रदेश, ,
translation:
Middle Province), often called the
Heart of India, is a
state in central
India. Its capital is
Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh was originally the largest state in India until
November 1,
2000 when the state of
Chhattisgarh was carved out. It borders the states
Uttar Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh,
Maharashtra,
Gujarat and
Rajasthan.
History
Ancient
The city of
Ujjain (also known as Avanti) arose as a major center in the second wave of Indian urbanization in the sixth century BC, and served as the chief city of the kingdom of
Malwa or Avanti. Further east, the kingdom of
Chedi lie in Bundelkhand.
Chandragupta Maurya united northern India c. 320 BCE, establishing the
Maurya empire (321 to 185 BCE), which included all of modern-day Madhya Pradesh. King Ashoka's wife was said to come from
Vidisha- a town north of today's Bhopal. The Maurya empire went into decline after the death of
Asoka, and Central India was contested among the
Sakas,
Kushanas, and local dynasties during the 3rd to 1st centuries BCE. Ujjain emerged as the predominant commercial center of western India from the first century BCE, located on the trade routes between the
Ganges plain and India's
Arabian Sea ports. It was also an important
Hindu and
Buddhist center. The
Satavahana dynasty of the northern
Deccan and the Saka dynasty of the
Western Satraps fought for the control of Madhya Pradesh during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE.
Northern India was conquered by the
Gupta empire in the 4th and 5th centuries, which became known as India's "classical age". The
Vakataka dynasty were the southern neighbors of the Guptas, ruling the northern
Deccan plateau from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. These empires collapsed towards the end of the 5th century.
Medieval
The attacks of the
Hephthalites or White Huns brought about the collapse of the Gupta empire, and India broke up into smaller states. A king
Yasodharman of Malwa defeated the Huns in 528, ending their expansion. King
Harsha of
Thanesar reunited northern India for a few decades before his death in 647. The Medieval period saw the rise of the
Rajput clans, including the
Paramaras of Malwa and the
Chandelas of Bundelkhand. The Paramara king
Bhoj (c. 1010-1060) was a brilliant
polymath and prolific writer. The Chandelas created the temple city of
Khajuraho between c. 950 and c. 1050.
Gond kingdoms emerged in Gondwana and Mahakoshal. Northern Madhya Pradesh was conquered by the
Muslim Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century. After the collapse of the Delhi Sultanate at the end of the 14th century, independent regional kingdoms reemerged, including the
Tomara Rajput kingdom of
Gwalior and the Muslim Sultanate of Malwa, with its capital at
Mandu. The Malwa Sultanate was conquered by the Sultanate of
Gujarat in 1531.
Modern
Most of Madhya Pradesh came under
Mughal rule during the reign of the emperor
Akbar (1556–1605). Gondwana and Mahakoshal remained under the control of Gond kings, who acknowledged Mughal supremacy but enjoyed virtual autonomy. After the death of the Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb in 1707 Mughal control began to weaken, and the
Marathas began to expand from their base in central Maharashtra. Between 1720 and 1760 the Marathas took control of most of Madhya Pradesh, and Maratha clans were established semi-autonomous states under the nominal control of the Maratha
Peshwa. The
Holkars of
Indore ruled much of Malwa, and the
Bhonsles of
Nagpur dominated
Mahakoshal and
Gondwana as well as
Vidarbha in Maharashtra.
Jhansi was founded by a Maratha general. Bhopal was ruled by a Muslim dynasty descended from the
Afghan General
Dost Mohammed Khan. Maratha expansion was checked at the
Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.
The
British were expanding their Indian dominions from bases in
Bengal,
Bombay, and
Madras, and the three
Anglo-Maratha Wars were fought between 1775 and 1818. The
Third Anglo-Maratha War left the British supreme in India. Most of Madhya Pradesh, including the large states of Indore, Bhopal, Nagpur,
Rewa, and dozens of smaller states, became
princely states of
British India, and the Mahakoshal region became a British province, the
Saugor and Nerbudda Territories. In 1853 the British annexed the state of
Nagpur, which included southeastern Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra and most of
Chhattisgarh, which were combined with the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories to form the
Central Provinces in 1861. The princely states of northern Madhya Pradesh were governed by the
Central India Agency.
After the recent discovery in July 2007, of ruby ore in the region it has been overwhelmed by mining companies and individuals seeking work. This has led to a massive surge in population that has subsequently caused a reported 283% increase in crime as well as a massive outbreak of dysentery in several areas of Madhya Pradesh. A recent government report has declared parts of the region as "Overwhelmed by disease... in need of a greater military presence" The government has now taken measures to bring the area under greater control and is "currently enacting proper regulations."
After Indian independence
Madhya Pradesh was created in 1950 from the former British
Central Provinces and Berar and the
princely states of
Makrai and Chhattisgarh, with
Nagpur as the capital of the state. The new states of
Madhya Bharat,
Vindhya Pradesh, and
Bhopal were formed out of the Central India Agency. In 1956, the states of Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, and Bhopal were merged into Madhya Pradesh, and the
Marathi-speaking southern region
Vidarbha, which included Nagpur, was ceded to
Bombay state. Bhopal became the new capital of the state. In November 2000, as part of the Madhya Pradesh Reorganization Act, the southeastern portion of the state split off to form the new state of
Chhattisgarh.
Geography
Madhya Pradesh in Hindi can be translated to
Central Province, and it's located in the geographic heart of India. The state straddles the
Narmada River, which runs east and west between the
Vindhya and
Satpura ranges; these ranges and the Narmada are the traditional boundary between the north and south of India. The state is bordered on the west by
Gujarat, on the northwest by
Rajasthan, on the northeast by
Uttar Pradesh, on the east by Chhattisgarh, and on the south by
Maharashtra.
Madhya Pradesh comprises several linguistically and culturally distinct regions, including:
- Malwa: a plateau region in the northwest of the state, north of the Vindhya Range, with its distinct language and culture. Indore is the major city of the region, while Bhopal lies on the edge of Bundelkhand region. Ujjain is a town of historical importance.
- Nimar (Nemar): the western portion of the Narmada River valley, lying south of the Vindhyas in the southwest portion of the state.
- Bundelkhand: a region of rolling hills and fertile valleys in the northern part of the state, which slopes down toward the Indo-Gangetic plain to the north. Gwalior is an historic center of the region.
- Chambal: the north-western region. A mountainous region rich in red, soft, and fragile sandstone. The climate is harsh, and the area is known for murderous pirates who were active in hundreds in the late 1900s.
- Baghelkhand: a hilly region in the northeast of the state, which includes the eastern end of the Vindhya Range.
- Mahakoshal (Mahakaushal): the southeastern portion of the state, which includes the eastern end of the Narmada river valley and the eastern Satpuras. Jabalpur is the most important city in the region.
- Central Vindhya and Satpura region. Which has most of the central Narmada river valley and watershed, and has the highest point in the state - Dhupgarh in Pachmarhi.
Rivers of Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh represents great river basins and the watershed of a number of rivers. Catchments of many rivers of India lie in Madhya Pradesh. The Narmada (originating from Amarkantak) and Tapti (originating from Multai of Betul District) rivers and their basins divide the state in two, with the northern part draining largely into the Ganga basin and the southern part into the Godavari and Mahanadi systems. The Vindhyas form the southern boundary of the Ganga basin, with the western part of the Ganga basin draining into the Yamuna and the eastern part directly into the Ganga itself. All the rivers, which drain into the Ganga, flow from south to north, with the Chambal, Sipra, Kali Sind, Parbati, Kuno, Sind, Betwa, Dhasan and Ken rivers being the main tributaries of the Yamuna. The land drained by these rivers is agriculturally rich, with the natural vegetation largely consisting of grass and dry deciduous forest types, largely thorny. The eastern part of the Ganga basin consists of the Son, the Tons and the Rihand Rivers, with the Son being the major tributary. This is also the junction point of the Satpura and the Vindhya ranges, with the Maikal and Kaimur Hills being the fulcrum. The forests here are much richer than the thorn forests of the northwestern part of Madhya Pradesh. The Son is of great significance in that it's the largest tributary going into the Ganga on the south bank and arising out of the hills of Madhya Pradesh rather than from the Himalayas. This river and its tributaries contribute the bulk of the monsoon flow into Ganga, because the north bank tributaries are all snow fed.
The major tributary of the Ganga, the Son, arises in one of the most important watersheds in India, the Maikal hills around
Amarkantak. Three of the great rivers of India, Narmada, Mahanadi and Son, are given birth to by these hills. This is also one of the few ranges in the State having a north south configuration. The Mahanadi itself, together with its tributaries such as
Hasdeo,
Mand and
Kharun flows southeast into
Orissa and converts that State into a green rice bowl. The upper Mahanadi catchment contains some of the finest forests in the State, ranging from
mixed deciduous to
teak,
bamboo and
Sal. Just as the
Mahanadi flows east from the Maikal hills and the
Son flows north, the mighty
Narmada charts a westerly course from these very hills. The Narmada flows through a rift valley, with the Vindhyas marching along its northern bank and the Satpuras along the southern. Its tributaries include the
Banjar, the
Tawa, the
Machna, the
Denwa and the
Sonbhardra rivers. Taken in combination with its parallel sister river, the
Tapti, which also flows through a rift valley, the Narmada - Tapti systems carry and enormous volume of water and provide drainage for almost a quarter of the land area of Madhya Pradesh.
The
Satpuras, in the
Gawilgarh and
Mahadeo Hills, also contain a watershed, which is south facing. The
Indrawati, the
Wainganga, the
Wardha, the
Pench, the
Kanhan and
Penganga rivers, discharge an enormous volume of water into the
Godavari system. The Godavari is the lifeline of
Andhra Pradesh, but the water which feeds it's a gift of the
Central India watershed. Some of the finest
sub-tropical,
semi moist forests in India are to be found in the Godavari basin, mainly in the valley of the Indrawati. There are very few virgin forests left in the country, but very fine examples of these are to be found in
Bastar area along the Indrawati and in the
Kanger valley in Chhattisgarh.
The importance of Central India watershed was first noted by
Captain Forsyth and remarked upon in his book, "The Highlands of Central India", first published in 1889. This is what he's to state in the introductory chapter to his book,
"Yet in the very center of India there exists a considerable region to which the term highlands — is strictly applicable; and in which are enormous peaks and ranges, for which the term mountain would, in any other country, be used. Several of the great rivers of India have their first source in this elevated region. And pour their water into the sea on either side of the
peninsula – to the north the
Son commingling with the
Ganges, to the east the
Mahanadi, flowing independently to the
Bay of Bengal, to the south some of the principal feeders of the
Godavari, and to the west the
Narmada and the
Tapti taking parallel courses to the
Arabian Sea.
There are many important multi-state irrigation projects in development, including
Godavari River Basin Irrigation Projects.
Climate
Madhya Pradesh has a
subtropical climate.
Like most of
north India it has a hot dry summer(April-June) followed by monsoon rains (July-September) and a cool and relatively dry winter. The average rainfall is about 45'. It decreases from east to west. The south-eastern districts have the heaviest rainfall, some places receiving as much as 70', while the western and north-western districts receive 30' or less.
Economy
Macro-economic trend
Following is a table showing trend of gross state domestic product of Madhya Pradesh at market prices
estimated
by
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Madhya Pradesh'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://madhya_pradesh.totallyexplained.com">Madhya Pradesh Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
