Madhya Pradesh

Details : Madhya Pradesh is called the Heart of India because of its location in the centre of the country. Its capital is Bhopal. The largest city is Indore while Gwalior is called the tourist capital of Madhya Pradesh. It has been home to the culturalheritage of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism etc. Innumerable monuments, exquisitely carved temples, stupas, forts & palaces are dotted all over the State.

Madhya Pradesh was the largest state in India until 1 November 2000, when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out of it. It borders the states Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The state has an area of 308,252 km2 (119,017 sq mi).

History:

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 Bhoja (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. Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan king took the reins of the area in 1540 after defeating Humanyun. Hemu, also known as Hem Chandra Vikramaditya the Hindu General of Afghans shifted the capital of Afghans from Delhi to Gwalior in 1552. Islam Shah, the son of Sher Shah Suri appointed Hemu, as the Prime Minister-cum-Chief of Army of his regime in the Gwalior Fort and Hemu launched several attacks from Gwalior fort on the Afghan rebels. In all Hemu won 22 battles throughout North India in between 1553–56. Hemu also launched an attack on Akbar's forces in Agra and Delhi and defeated his army, thus winning Delhi and established native Vedic Sanskriti oriented 'Hindu Raj' in North India, under the title "Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya". He was bestowed with the title of 'Vikramaditya' king on his victory in Delhi over Akbar at his 'Rajyabhishek' or Coronation ceremony in Purana Quila in Delhi. Hemu lost his life in the Second Battle of Panipat in Nov. 1556 to Akbar, and 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 Dost Mohammed Khan, an Afghan General in the Mughal army.

Culture:

Country :  India

Continent :  Asia