Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

, and the largest city is

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

, with

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

, Sagar, and

Rewa Rewa may refer to: Places Fiji * Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji), a former electoral division of Fiji * Rewa Plateau, between the Kaimur and Vindhya Ranges in Madhya Pradesh * Rewa Province, Fiji * Rewa River, the widest river in Fiji ...

being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second largest Indian state by area and the fifth largest state by population with over 72 million residents. It borders the states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

to the northeast,

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

to the east,

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

to the south,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

to the west, and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

to the northwest. The area covered by the present-day Madhya Pradesh includes the area of the ancient Avanti

Mahajanapada The Mahājanapadas ( sa, great realm, from ''maha'', "great", and ''janapada'' "foothold of a people") were sixteen Realm, kingdoms or oligarchy, oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE during ...

, whose capital

(also known as Avantika) arose as a major city during the second wave of Indian urbanisation in the sixth century BCE. Subsequently, the region was ruled by the major dynasties of India. The

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

dominated the majority of the 18th century. After the Anglo-Maratha Wars in the 19th century, the region was divided into several

princely states A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

under the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and incorporated into

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the B ...

and the

Central India Agency The Central India Agency was created in 1854, by amalgamating the Western Malwa Agency with other smaller political offices which formerly reported to the Governor-General of India. The agency was overseen by a political agent who maintained ...

. After India's independence, Madhya Pradesh state was created with

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

as its capital: this state included the southern parts of the present-day Madhya Pradesh and northeastern portion of today's Maharashtra. In 1956, this state was reorganised and its parts were combined with the states of

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 Jiwajirao Scindia as its Rajpramukh. ...

Vindhya Pradesh Vindhya Pradesh was a former state of India. It occupied an area of 23,603 sq. miles. It was created in 1948 as Union of Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand States, shortly after Indian independence, from the territories of the princely states in the e ...

and

to form the new Madhya Pradesh state, the Marathi-speaking

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Maharashtra, proposed state of central India, comprising th ...

region was removed and merged with the

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding Sou ...

. This state was the largest in India by area until 2000, when its southeastern Chhattisgarh region was designated a separate state. The

economy of Madhya Pradesh The economy of Madhya Pradesh refers to the economic growth with respect to the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It grew 12% in GDP for the year of 2011–12, for which it received an award from the President Pranab Mukherjee in January 2013 for i ...

is the 10th-largest in India, with a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of and has the country's 26th highest per-capita income of 109372. Madhya Pradesh ranks 23rd among Indian states in

human development index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...

. Rich in mineral resources, Madhya Pradesh has the largest reserves of

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

in India. 25.14% of its area is under forest cover. Its tourism industry has seen considerable growth, with the state topping the National Tourism Awards in 2010–11. In recent years, the state's GDP growth has been above the national average. In 2019–20, state's GSDP was recorded at 9.07.

History

Isolated remains of ''

Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...

'' found in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley indicates that Madhya Pradesh might have been inhabited in the

Middle Pleistocene The Chibanian, widely known by its previous designation of Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. The ...

era. Painted pottery dated to the later

mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

period has been found in the

Bhimbetka rock shelters The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period. It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of Stone Age star ...

Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...

sites belonging to

Kayatha Kaytha or Kayatha is a village and an archaeological site in the Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh, India, in the Tarana tehsil, near the city of Ujjain, on the banks of Choti-Kali Sindh river. In 1964, V. S. Wakankar discovered the archeologic ...

culture () and

Malwa culture The Malwa culture was a Chalcolithic archaeological culture which existed in the Malwa region of Central India and parts of Maharashtra in the Deccan Peninsula. It is mainly dated to BCE, but calibrated radiocarbon dates have suggested that the b ...

(1700–1500 BCE) have been discovered in the western part of the state. Madhya Pradesh is also the world's ninth-most populous

subnational entity Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

. The city of

arose as a major centre in the region, during the second wave of Indian urbanisation in the sixth century BCE. It has served as the capital of the Avanti kingdom. Other kingdoms mentioned in ancient epics

Malava Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also synony ...

Karusha The Karusha Kingdom is one of the Yadava kingdoms of the Mahabharata epic. It is placed to the south of Chedi. Karusha king Dantavakra supported Chedi king Shishupala and was killed by Vasudeva Krishna. Karusha Kingdom is identified as modern Da ...

, Dasarna and

Nishada Nishada (') is a tribe mentioned in ancient Indian literature (such as the epic ''Mahabharata''). The ancient texts mention several kingdoms ruled by this tribe. In the Mahabharata, the Nishadas are described as hunters, fishermen, mountaineers o ...

have also been identified with parts of Madhya Pradesh.

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an empi ...

conquered northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

around 320 BCE, establishing the

Mauryan Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

, which included all of modern-day Madhya Pradesh.

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

the greatest of Mauryan rulers, conquered it, bringing the region under firmer control. After the decline of the Maurya empire, the region was contested among the

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

s, the Kushanas, the

Satavahanas The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan region. Mos ...

, and several local dynasties during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. Heliodorus, the Greek Ambassador to the court of the Shunga King Bhagabhadra erected the

Heliodorus pillar The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India in Besnagar (near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh). The pillar was called the ''Garuda-standard'' by Heliodorus, referring to the deity Garuda. The pillar is commonly ...

near Vidisha. Ujjain emerged as the predominant commercial centre of western India from the , located on the trade routes between the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

plain and India's

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

ports. The

Satavahana The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the late ...

dynasty of the northern

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in South India, southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bou ...

and the Saka dynasty of the

Western Satraps The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (Brahmi:, ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps") were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central part of India ( Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh ...

fought for the control of Madhya Pradesh during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. The

King

Gautamiputra Satakarni Gautamiputra Satakarni (Brahmi: 𑀕𑁄𑀢𑀫𑀺𑀧𑀼𑀢 𑀲𑀸𑀢𑀓𑀡𑀺, ''Gotamiputa Sātakaṇi'', IAST: ) was a ruler of the Satavahana Empire in present-day Deccan region of India. He was mentioned as the important and ...

inflicted a crushing defeat upon the

rulers and conquered parts of

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

and

in the 2nd century CE. Subsequently, the region was conquered by the

Gupta empire The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...

in the 4th and 5th centuries, and their southern neighbours, the

Vakataka The Vakataka dynasty () was an ancient Indian dynasty that originated from the Deccan in the mid-3rd century CE. Their state is believed to have extended from the southern edges of Malwa and Gujarat in the north to the Tungabhadra River in th ...

's. The rock-cut temples at

Bagh Caves The Bagh Caves are a group of nine rock-cut monuments, situated among the southern slopes of the Vindhyas in Bagh town of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. These monuments are located at a distance of 97 km from Dhar ...

in the Kukshi tehsil of the Dhar District show the presence of the Gupta dynasty in the region, supported by the testimony of a Badwani inscription dated to the year of 487 CE. The attacks of the

Hephthalite The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...

s or

White Huns The "White Huns", also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna'', were a sub-group of the Huna and/or Xionites. The White Huns are sometimes regarded as synonymous with the Hephthalites, but may ...

brought about the collapse of the Gupta empire, which broke up into smaller states. The King

Yasodharman Yashodharman (Gupta script: ''Ya-śo-dha-rmma'', ) (r. 515 – 545) was a ruler of Malwa, in central India, during the early part of the 6th century. He probably belonged to the Second Aulikara dynasty. He conquered much of the Indian subcon ...

defeated the Huns in 528, ending their expansion. Later,

Harsha Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajyav ...

(c. 590–647) ruled the northern parts of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

was ruled by the south Indian

Rashtrakuta Dynasty Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

from the late 8th century to the 10th century. When the south Indian Emperor

Govinda III Govinda III (reign 793–814 CE) was a famous Rashtrakuta ruler who succeeded his illustrious father Dhruva Dharavarsha. He was militarily the most successful emperor of the dynasty with successful conquests-from Kanyakumari in the south to Kan ...

of the

Rashtrakuta dynasty Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

annexed Malwa, he set up the family of one of his subordinates there, who took the name of

Paramara The Paramara dynasty (IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty that ruled Malwa and surrounding areas in west-central India between 9th and 14th centuries. They belonged to the Parmara clan of the Rajputs. The dynasty was established in either th ...

. The Medieval period saw the rise of the

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

clans, including the Paramaras of

and the

Chandela The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called ''Jejakabhukti'') between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs. ...

s of

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion lyin ...

. The Chandellas built the majestic Hindu-Jain temples at Khajuraho, which represent the culmination of Hindu temple architecture in Central India. The

Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the ...

also held sway in northern and western Madhya Pradesh at this time. It also left some monuments of architectural value in Gwalior. Southern parts of Madhya Pradesh like

were several times invaded by the south Indian

Western Chalukya Empire The Western Chalukya Empire ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannadiga dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan in the ...

which imposed its rule on the Paramara kingdom of Malwa. The Paramara King

Bhoja Bhoja (reigned c. 1010–1055 CE) was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty. His kingdom was centered around the Malwa region in central India, where his capital Dhara-nagara (modern Dhar) was located. Bhoja fought wars with nearly all h ...

(c. 1010–1060) was claimed to be a renowned

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

. The small Gond kingdoms emerged in the

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

and

Mahakoshal Mahakoshal or Mahakaushal is a region of central India. Mahakoshal lies in the upper or eastern reaches of the Narmada River valley in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Jabalpur is the largest city in the region. Nimar region lies to the wes ...

regions of the state. Northern Madhya Pradesh was conquered by the Turkic

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

in the 13th century. After the collapse of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

at the end of the 14th century, independent regional kingdoms re-emerged, including the Tomara kingdom of

and the Muslim Sultanate of

, with its capital at Mandu. The

Malwa Sultanate The Malwa Sultanate ( fa, ) (Pashto: ; ''lit: Mālwā Salṭanat'') was a late medieval Islamic sultanate in the Malwa, Malwa region, covering the present day Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and south-eastern Rajasthan from 1392 to 1562. It w ...

was conquered by the

Sultanate of Gujarat The Gujarat Sultanate (or the Sultanate of Guzerat), was a Medieval Indian kingdom established in the early 15th century in Western India, primarily in the present-day state of Gujarat, India. The dynasty was founded by Sultan Zafar Khan Muza ...

in 1531. In the 1540s, most parts of the state fell to

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

, and subsequently to the Hindu King

Hemu Hemu (; also known as Hemu Vikramaditya and Hemchandra Vikramaditya; died 5 November 1556) was an Indian emperor who previously served as a general and Wazir of Adil Shah Suri of Sur Empire during a period in Indian history when Mughals and A ...

. Hemu, who had earlier served as the

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

of the

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

Suri dynasty, operated from the

Gwalior Fort The Gwalior Fort commonly known as the ''Gwāliiyar Qila'', is a hill fort near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. The fort has existed at least since the 10th century, and the inscriptions and monuments found within what is now the fort campus ind ...

during 1553–56 and became the ruler of Delhi as a Vikramaditya king winning 22 battles continuously from Bengal to Gujrat and defeating Akbar's forces in the Battle of Delhi on 7 October 1556. However, he chose Delhi as his capital after his formal Coronation and left Gwalior. After Hemu's defeat by

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

at the

Second Battle of Panipat The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556, between Akbar and the king of Delhi, Hemu. Hemu had conquered Delhi and Agra a few weeks earlier by defeating Mughal forces under Tardi Beg Khan in the battle of Delhi and crowned him ...

in 1556, most of Madhya Pradesh came under the Mughal rule. Gondwana and Mahakoshal remained under the control of Gond kings, who acknowledged Mughal

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

but enjoyed virtual

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

. The Mughal control weakened considerably after the death of

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

in 1707. Between 1720 and 1760, the

Marathas The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

conquered most of Madhya Pradesh, resulting in the establishment of semi-autonomous states under the nominal control of the

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

: the

Holkar The Holkar (Pronunciation: �o(ː)ɭkəɾ dynasty was a Maratha clan of Dhangar origin in India. The Holkars were generals under Peshwa Baji Rao I, and later became Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Marat ...

s of

ruled much of Malwa, Pawars ruled

Dewas Dewas is a city in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The municipality was formerly the seat of two 15-Gun Salute state princely states during the British Raj, Dewas Junior state and Dewas Senior state, ruled by the Pua ...

and

Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the Dhar ...

, the

Bhonsle The Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle) are a prominent group within the Maratha clan system of kunbi origin. They claimed descent from the Sisodia Rajputs but were likely Kunbi tiller-plainsmen. History Earliest members The earliest a ...

s of

dominated Mahakoshal-Gondwana area, while the

Scindia The Scindia dynasty (anglicized from Shinde) is a Hindu Maratha dynasty of maratha origin that ruled the erstwhile State of Gwalior. It had the Patil-ship of Kumberkerrab in Wai. It was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who started as a personal servan ...

s of

controlled the northern parts of the state. The most notable Maratha rulers of the region were

Mahadji Shinde Mahadaji Shinde (b. 23 December 1730 – 12 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Sindhia, was a Maratha statesman and ruler of Ujjain in Central India. He was the fifth and the youngest son of Ranoji Rao Scindia, the fo ...

Ahilyabai Holkar Ahilya Bai Holkar (31 May 1725 – 13 August 1795) was the hereditary noble queen of the Maratha Empire, in early-modern India. She established Maheshwar (in Madhya Pradesh) as the seat of Holkar Dynasty. After the demise of her husband Kha ...

and

Yashwantrao Holkar Yashwant Rao Holkar (c. 1776-1811) also known as Jaswantrao Holkar belonging to the Holkar dynasty of the Maratha Empire was the Maharaja of the Maratha Empire. He was a gifted military leader and educated in accountancy as well as literate in P ...

. Besides these, there were several other small states, including

Orchha Orchha is a town, near city of Niwari in Niwari district of Madhya Pradesh state, India. The town was established by rajput ruler Rudra Pratap Singh some time after 1501, as the seat of an eponymous former princely state of covering parts of c ...

, and

. The

Bhopal state Bhopal State (pronounced ) was an Islamic principality founded in the beginning of 18th-century India by the Afghan Mughal noble Dost Muhammad Khan. It was a tributary state during 18th century, a princely salute state with 19-gun salute in a ...

, which paid

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

to both the

and the

Nizam of Hyderabad The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

, was founded by

Dost Mohammed Khan Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai (Pashto/Persian: ; 23 December 17929 June 1863), nicknamed the Amir-i Kabir, Also titled Amir al-Mu'minin, was a member of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of the Emirate of Afghanistan. His 37-year ...

, a former General in the Mughal army. After the

Third Anglo-Maratha War The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the English 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 te ...

, the

conquered the entire region. All the sovereign states in the region became

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

s of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, governed by the

. The Mahakoshal region became a British province: the

Saugor and Nerbudda Territories The Saugor and Nerbudda Territories, was a region of British India, located in the central part of present-day Madhya Pradesh state in central India. It included the present-day districts of Sagar (Saugor), Damoh, Jabalpur, and Narsinghpur. T ...

. In 1861, the British merged the

Nagpur Province Nagpur Province was a province of British India that covered parts of the present-day states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh. The city of Nagpur was the capital of the province. In 1861, Nagpur Province was merged into the C ...

with the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories to form the

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. ...

. During the 1857 uprising, rebellions happened in the northern parts of the state, led by leaders like

Tatya Tope Tantia Tope (also spelled Tatya Tope, : ̪aːt̪ʲa ʈoːpe 6 January 1814 – 18 April 1859) was a general in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and one of its notable leaders. Despite lacking formal military training, Tantia Tope is widely consi ...

. However, these were crushed by the

and the princes loyal to them. The state witnessed a number of anti-British activities and protests during the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. Several notable leaders such as

Chandra Shekhar Azad Chandra Shekhar Tiwari ( (23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), popularly known as Chandra Shekhar Azad, was an Indian revolutionary who reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican ...

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

Shankar Dayal Sharma Shankar Dayal Sharma (; 19 August 1918 – 26 December 1999) was an Indian lawyer and politician from the state of Madhya Pradesh who served as the ninth President of India, from 1992 to 1997. Born in Bhopal, Sharma studied at Agra, Allahaba ...

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

and Arjun Singh were born in what is now Madhya Pradesh. After the independence of India, Madhya Pradesh was created in 1950 from the former British

and the

Makrai Makrai is a village in the Harda district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The village was the headquarters of the Makrai princely state during the British Raj. History According to legend the Makrai princely state was established in 1663 by Raj G ...

and Chhattisgarh, with

as the capital of the state. The new states of

, and

were formed out of the Central India Agency. In 1956, the states of Madhya Bharat,

, and

were merged into Madhya Pradesh, and the

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

-speaking southern region

, which included Nagpur, was ceded to

Bombay state Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding Sou ...

was chosen to be the capital of the state but at the last moment, due to political interference,

was made the state capital. 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

. File:Rock painting, Bhimbetka, Raisen district, MP.jpg, Mesolithic rock painting,

, a UNESCO World Heritage Site File:Khajuraho - Kandariya Mahadeo Temple.jpg,

Kandariya Mahadeva Temple The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple (Devanagari: कंदारिया महादेव मंदिर, Mandir), meaning "the Great God of the Cave", is the largest and most ornate Hindu temple in the medieval temple group found at Khajuraho in ...

, Khajuraho File:Bateswar (6).JPG, Bateshwar temple complex, Padavli, Morena File:Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitavli, Morena.jpg, Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitavli, Morena File:262 Gwalior.jpg,

Sahastra Bahu Temples The Sahasra Bahu temples or Sasbahu Temples, at Nagda, Rajasthan, are a pair of late 10th-century Hindu temples dedicated to veerabadra. They share a platform, facing the temple tank, and are similar in style, but one is rather larger than ...

File:Teli Ka Mandir, Gwalior.jpg,

Teli ka Mandir Teli ka Mandir, also known as Telika Temple, is a Hindu temple located within the Gwalior Fort in Madhya Pradesh, India. Dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Matrikas, it has been variously dated between the early 8th and early 9th century CE. It is an ...

, Gwalior Fort File:Shiva Temple, Bhojpur 01.jpg, Shiva Temple in Bhojpur File:Lakshmi Temple, Orchha.jpg, Lakshmi Temple,

File:A Hindu temple, Amarkantak Madhya Pradesh India.jpg, Brahma statue with various deities at

Amarkantak Amarkantak (National Library at Kolkata romanization, NLK ''Amarakaṇṭaka'') is a pilgrim town and a Nagar Panchayat in Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh, India. The Amarkantak region is a unique natural heritage area and is the meeting point of the Vin ...

. File:Gorgeous Gwalior Fort.jpg,

, Gwalior File:Gwalior Madhya Pradesh India.jpg, Gwalior Fort

Geography

Location in India

Madhya Pradesh literally means "Central Province", and is located in the geographic heart of India in between the latitude of 21.6°N–26.30°N and longitude of 74°9'E–82°48'E. The state straddles the Narmada River, which runs east and west between the

Vindhya The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

and

Satpura The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and th ...

ranges; these ranges and the Narmada are the traditional boundaries between the north and south of India. The highest point in Madhya Pradesh is

Dhupgarh Mount Dhupgarh or Dhoopgarh is the highest point in the Mahadeo Hills (Satpura Range), Madhya Pradesh, India. Located in Pachmarhi in Hoshangabad district Narmadapuram district, formerly Hoshangabad district, is one of the districts of Mad ...

, with an elevation of 1,350 m (4,429 ft). The state is bordered on the west by

, on the northwest by

, on the northeast by

, on the east by

, and on the south by

Climate

Madhya Pradesh also has three major seasons – Summer, Monsoon, and Winter. During summer (March–June), the temperature in the entire state ranges above 34.6 it has increased as it is all time high in Madhya Pradesh. In general, the eastern parts of Madhya Pradesh are hotter than the western parts. The regions like Gwalior, Morena and Datia record temperatures of over 42 °C in May. The humidity is relatively very low and the region usually experiences frequent mild dust storms. The southwest Monsoon usually breaks out in mid-June and the entire state receives a major share of its rainfall between June and September. The south and south-east regions tend to experience a higher rainfall whereas the parts of the north-west receive less. Mandla, Balaghat, Sidhi, Jabalpur, and other extreme eastern parts receive more than 150 cm of rainfall. The districts of western Madhya Pradesh receive less than 80 cm of rainfall. The winter season starts in November. The temperature remains low in the northern parts of the state in comparison to the southern parts. The daily maximum temperature in most of the northern part of January remains between 15 and 18 °C. The climate is generally dry and pleasant with a clear sky. The average rainfall is about . The southeastern districts have the heaviest rainfall, some places receiving as much as , while the western and northwestern districts receive or less.

Ecology

According to the 2011 figures, the recorded forest area of the state is constituting 30.7% of the geographical area of the state. It constitutes 12.3% of the forest area of India. Legally this area has been classified into "Reserved Forest" (65.3%), "Protected Forest" (32.8%) and "Unclassified Forest" (0.2%). Per capita forest area is as against the national average of . The forest cover is less dense in the northern and western parts of the state, which contain the major urban centres. Variability in climatic and

edaphic Edaphology (from Greek , ''edaphos'', "ground",, ''-logia'') is concerned with the influence of soils on living beings, particularly plants. It is one of two main divisions of soil science, the other being pedology. Edaphology includes the study ...

conditions brings about significant difference in the forest types of the state. In January 2019 1.5 million volunteers in the state planted 66 million trees in 12 hours along the Narmada river. The major types of soils found in the state are: * Black soil, most predominantly in the

region,

and in southern

* Red and yellow soil, in the

Baghelkhand Bagelkhand or Baghelkhand is a proposed state and a mountain range in central India that covers the northeastern regions of Madhya Pradesh and a small area of southeastern Uttar Pradesh. History Dahala Baghelkhand was known as Dahala 6th–1 ...

region * Alluvial soil, in Northern Madhya Pradesh *

Laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

soil, in highland areas * Mixed soil, in parts of the

and Chambal divisions

Flora and fauna

Madhya Pradesh is home to ten

National Parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

;

Bandhavgarh National Park Bandhavgarh National Park is a national park of India, located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh, with an area of , was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993. The current core area is spread ov ...

, Kanha National Park,

Satpura National Park Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) also known as Satpura National Park is located in the Hoshangabad District (newly named Narmadapuram ) of Madhya Pradesh in India. Its name is derived from the Satpura range. It covers an area of . Satpura National Pa ...

, Sanjay National Park, Madhav National Park,

Van Vihar National Park Van Vihar National Park is a national park in Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Declared a national park in 1979, it covers an area of about 4.45 km2. It has the status of a national park, but is developed and ma ...

Mandla Plant Fossils National Park Ghughua Fossil Park is a National Park, located near Shahpura, Dindori, Shahpura in Madhya Pradesh, India, in which plant fossils belonging to 31 genera of 18 families have been identified. The site was founded during the 1970s by Dr. Dharmendr ...

Panna National Park Panna National Park is a national park located in Panna and Chhatarpur districts of Madhya Pradesh in India. It has an area of . It was declared in 1994 as the twenty second Tiger reserve of India and the fifth in Madhya Pradesh, Panna was ...

Pench National Park Pench National Park is a national park in India's Madhya Pradesh state, established in 1975 with an area of . It includes Pench Tiger Reserve and derives its name from the Pench River that flows through the park from north to south dividing the ...

and Dinosaur National Park, Dhar. There are also a number of nature reserves, including

, Balaghat,

Bori Natural Reserve Bori may refer to: Places * Borim or Bori, a town in Goa, India * Bori, Benin, a town * Bori, Nagpur, a town in India *Bori, Parbhani, a town in India *Bori City, a city in Nigeria *Loralai, also known as Bori, a city in Balochistan, Pakistan * ...

, Ken Gharial,

Ghatigaon Ghatigaon (''Gháṭígaon'') is a village and corresponding community development block in Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh, India. As of 2011, the village population was 5,641, in 1,088 households. History Ghatigaon is mentioned in the 19 ...

, Kuno Palpur,

Narwar Narwar is a town and a nagar panchayat in Shivpuri district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Narwar is a historic town and the Narwar Fort is just east of the Kali Sindh River and is situated at a distance of 42 km from Shivpuri. Na ...

, Chambal, Kukdeshwar, Chidi Kho,

Nora Dehi Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian Places Australia * Norah Head, New South Wales, headland ...

Pachmarhi Pachmarhi is a hill station in Narmadapuram district of Madhya Pradesh states and territories of India, state of central India. It has been the location of a cantonment (Pachmarhi Cantonment) since British Raj. It is widely known as ''Satpura ...

, Panpatha, Shikarganj, Patalkot, and

Tamia Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development dea ...

Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve The Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve is a non-use conservation area and biosphere reserve in the Satpura Range of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The conservation area was created in 1999 by the Indian government. It also contains animals fr ...

in Satpura Range, Amarkantak biosphere reserve and Panna National Park are three of the 18 biosphere reserves in India. Most of them are located in eastern Madhya Pradesh near

. File:Human Langur monkeys, Orchha, India.jpg, Langur monkey (Semnopithecus dussumieri), Orchha File:Tigress with cubs in Kanha Tiger reserve.jpg, Tigress with cubs in Kanha Tiger Reserve File:Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae).jpg,

Tickell's blue flycatcher Tickell's blue flycatcher (''Cyornis tickelliae'') is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical Asia, from the Indian Subcontinent eastwards to Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The I ...

, Bandhavgarh National Park File:Vultures in the nest, Orchha, MP, India edit.jpg, Vultures in the nest, Orchha File:Nilgais fighting, Lakeshwari, Gwalior district, India.jpg, Male

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus ''Boselaphus'' and was described by Peter Sim ...

s fighting, Lakeshwari, Gwalior district Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Panna, and Satpura National Parks are managed as

Project Tiger Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of the Bengal tiger in its natural habitats, protecti ...

areas. The

National Chambal Sanctuary National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a tri-state protected area in northern India for the protection of the Critically Endangered gharial, the red-crowned roof turtle and the Endangere ...

is managed for conservation of

gharial The gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus''), also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are long, and males . Adult males have a distinct b ...

and mugger,

river dolphin River dolphins are a polyphyletic group of fully aquatic mammals that reside exclusively in freshwater or brackish water. They are an informal grouping of dolphins, which itself is a paraphyletic group within the infraorder Cetacea. Extant riv ...

smooth-coated otter The smooth-coated otter (''Lutrogale perspicillata'') is an otter species occurring in most of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with a disjunct population in Iraq. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 and is thre ...

and a number of turtle species. Ken-gharial and Son-gharial sanctuaries are managed for conservation of

and mugger. The

barasingha The barasingha (''Rucervus duvaucelii''), also known as the swamp deer, is a deer species distributed in the Indian subcontinent. Populations in northern and central India are fragmented, and two isolated populations occur in southwestern Nepal. ...

is the state animal and the dudhraj is the state bird of Madhya Pradesh. Based on composition, the

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

and sal forests are the important forest formations in the state. Bamboo-bearing areas are widely distributed.

State symbols of Madhya Pradesh

Rivers

File:JhansiGhat.jpg, Narmada River File:Son River, Umaria district, MP, India.jpg, Son River, Umaria district, MP, India File:Dhuandhar falls4.JPG, The River Narmada flows through a gorge of marble rocks in Bhedaghat, Jabalpur File:Shri Ram Ghat 01.jpg, The Shri Ram Ghat on the Shipra River in Ujjain File:Betwa in Ashoknagar.JPG, Betwa in the Ashoknagar District of Madhya Pradesh The Narmada is the longest river in Madhya Pradesh. It flows westward through a rift valley, with the Vindhya ranges sprawling along its northern bank and the Satpura range of mountains along the southern. Its tributaries include the Banjar, the Tawa, the Machna, the Shakkar, the Denwa and the

Sonbhadra Sonbhadra or ''Sonebhadra'' is the second largest district by area of Uttar Pradesh after Lakhimpur Kheri. It is the only district in India which borders four states, namely Madhya Pradesh to the west, Chhattishgarh to the south, Jharkhand in t ...

rivers. The

Tapti River The Tapti River (or Tapi) is a river in central India located to the south of the Narmada river that flows westwards before draining into the Arabian Sea. The river has a length of around and flows through the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat ...

runs parallel to Narmada, and also flows through a rift valley. The Narmada–Tapti systems carry an enormous volume of water and provide drainage for almost a quarter of the land area of Madhya Pradesh. The Narmada river is considered very sacred and is worshipped throughout the region. It is the main source of water and acts as a lifeline to the state. The

Vindhyas The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

form the southern boundary of the Ganges basin, with the western part of the Ganges basin draining into the

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...

and the eastern part directly into the Ganges itself. All the rivers, which drain into the Ganges, flow from south to north, with the Chambal,

Shipra The Shipra, also known as the Kshipra, is a river in Madhya Pradesh state of central India. The river rises in the North of Dhar district, and flows north across the Malwa Plateau to join the Chambal River at the MP-Rajasthan boundary in ...

, Kali Sindh, Parbati, Kuno,

Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Betwa The Betwa (Hindi: बेतवा, Sanskrit: वेत्रवती) is a river in Central and Northern India, and a tributary of the Yamuna. It rises in the Vindhya Range (Raisen) just north of Narmadapuram in Madhya Pradesh and flows northe ...

, Dhasan and

Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

rivers being the main tributaries of the Yamuna. Shipra River is one of the most sacred rivers of Hinduism. It is the site of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, which is held every 12 years. The land drained by these rivers is agriculturally rich, with the natural vegetation largely consisting of grass and

dry deciduous forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

types, largely thorny. The eastern part of the Ganges basin consists of the

Son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

, the Tons and the

Rihand The Rihand River (also referred to as Renu, Renuka, Rend, Rer or Rehar) is a tributary of the Son River and flows through the Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. Its old name was Renu or Renuka. Course The Rihand rises from Mati ...

Rivers. Son, which arises in the Maikal hills around

, is the largest tributary that goes into the Ganges on the south bank and that does not arise from the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

. Son and its tributaries contribute the bulk of the monsoon flow into the Ganges, because the north bank tributaries are all snow fed. The forests in their basins are much richer than the thorn forests of the northwestern part of Madhya Pradesh. After the formation of Chhattisgarh State, the major portion of

Mahanadi The Mahanadi is a major river in East Central India. It drains an area of around and has a total length of . Mahanadi is also known for the Hirakud Dam. The river flows through the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha and finally merged with Bay o ...

basin now lies in Chhattisgarh. Presently, only 154 km² basin area of Hasdeo River in Anuppur District lies in Madhya Pradesh. The

s, in the

Gawilgarh Gawilghur (also, Gavalgadh, Gawilgarh or Gawilgad, Pronunciation: �aːʋilɡəɖ was a well-fortified mountain stronghold of the Maratha Empire north of the Deccan Plateau, in the vicinity of Melghat Tiger Reserve, Amravati District, Mahara ...

and

Mahadeo Hills The Mahadeo Hills are a range of hills in Madhya Pradesh state of central India. The hills are situated in the northern section of the Satpura Range. The Mahadeo Hills run east and west through Betul, Chhindwara, and Seoni districts, separatin ...

, also contain a watershed, which is south facing. The

Wainganga The Wainganga is a river in India originating in the Mahadeo Hills in Mundara near the village Gopalganj in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh. It is a key tributary of the Godavari. The river flows south in a winding course through the states of Madhya Prade ...

, the

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the north, west and south bounda ...

, the Pench, the Kanhan rivers, discharge an enormous volume of water into the

Godavari river The Godavari (IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshw ...

system. The Godavari basin consists of

sub-tropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and ...

, semi-moist forests, mainly in the valley of the Indrawati. There are many important multi-state irrigation projects in development, including the

Godavari River Basin Irrigation Projects The Godavari River has its catchment area in seven states of India: Maharashtra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha. The number of dams constructed in Godavari basin is the highest among all the river ...

Regions

Madhya Pradesh is divided into the following agro-climatic zones: * Kaimur Plateau and

Hills *

n Plateau (Hills) * Narmada valley *

valley *

Gird The Moscow-based Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (also 'Group for the Investigation of Reactive Engines and Reactive Flight' and 'Jet Propulsion Study Group') (russian: Группа изучения реактивного движения, ...

(

) Region *

Region *

Plateau (Hills) *

Plateau *

Nimar Nimar is the southwestern region of Madhya Pradesh state in west-central India. This region has sub-regions which include Nimad, Khandya and Bhuwana. The region lies south of the Vindhya Range, and consists of two portions of the Narmada and ...

Plateau *

Jhabua Jhabua is a town and a municipality in Jhabua district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Jhabua District. Recently the district has got international recognition because of its endemic hen species ...

Hills

Administration

Madhya Pradesh is divided into 52 districts for administrative purposes. The district is the main unit of administration. These districts are arranged in 10 divisions, listed below: * Bhopal Division *

Chambal Division The Chambal Division is an administrative geographical unit of Madhya Pradesh state of India. A river by the name Chambal, a tributary of Yamuna River, forms the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, in the upper part of the Chambal Div ...

Gwalior Division Gwalior Division is an administrative subdivision of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. It includes the districts of Ashoknagar, Datia, Guna, Gwalior, and Shivpuri. The historic city of Gwalior is the administrative headquarters of the d ...

Indore Division Indore division is an administrative geographical unit of Madhya Pradesh state of India. Indore is the administrative headquarters of the division. The division consists of districts of Indore, Barwani, Burhanpur, Dhar, Jhabua, Khandwa, Khargo ...

Jabalpur Division Jabalpur Division is an administrative geographical unit of Madhya Pradesh state of India. Jabalpur is the administrative headquarters of the division. As of 2005, the division consists of districts of Balaghat, Chhindwara, Jabalpur, Katni, Man ...

Narmadapuram Division Narmadapuram Division is one of the administrative divisions in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The division was formally inaugurated on 27 August 2008. It comprises Narmadapuram, Harda, and Betul districts. The three districts were earli ...

Rewa Division Rewa Division is an administrative geographical unit of Madhya Pradesh state of India situated in the northeast part of state bordering with Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Baghelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. Rewa is the administrative headqu ...

Sagar Division Sagar Division is an administrative geographical unit of Madhya Pradesh state of India. Sagar is the administrative headquarters of the division. As of 2005, the division consists of districts of Sagar, Chhatarpur, Damoh, Panna, Tikamgarh. ...

Shahdol Division Shahdol Division is an administrative division of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The division was inaugurated on 14 June 2008. It comprises Shahdol, Umaria, Anuppur. The total area of this administrative division is . Initially Dindori w ...

Ujjain Division Ujjain Division is an administrative geographical unit of Madhya Pradesh state of India. Ujjain is the administrative headquarters of the division. , the division consists of the districts of Dewas, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Shajapur, Agar and ...

Cities

Demographics

Population

The population of Madhya Pradesh consists of a number of

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

s and

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

s and communities. The

scheduled castes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

and the

scheduled tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

constitute a significant portion of the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of the State 15.6% and 21.1% respectively. The main tribal groups in Madhya Pradesh are Gond,

Bhil Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2013, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India. Bhils are listed as tribal people of the s ...

, Baiga, Korku, Bhadia (or Bhariya), Halba, Kaul,

Mariya Mariya is a variation of the feminine given name Maria. People * Mariya Abakumova (born 1986), Russian Olympic javelin thrower * Mariya Agapova (born 1997), Kazakhstani mixed martial arts fighter * Mariya Alyokhina (born 1988), Russian politi ...

, Malto and

Sahariya The Sahar, Sehariya, or Sahariya are an ethnic group in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The Saharias are mainly found in the districts of Morena, Sheopur, Bhind, Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri, Vidisha and Guna districts of Madhya Pradesh and Ba ...

Mandla Mandla is a city with municipality in Mandla district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandla District. The city is situated in a loop of the Narmada River, which surrounds it on three sides, and ...

, Dindori,

Barwani Barwani or Badwani ( hi, Baḍwāni) is a municipal town in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh, India, that is situated near the left bank of the Narmada River. It is the administrative headquarters of Barwani district and has also served a ...

and Alirajpur districts have more than 50% tribal population, with Jhabua and Alirajpur having nearly 90% tribal population. In

Khargone Khargone is a city and administrative headquarters of an Khargone district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The city is located on the bank of the Kunda river and is known for its cotton and chilly (chili pepper) production. It is also k ...

Khandwa Khandwa is a city and a nagar nigam in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Khandwa district, formerly known as East Nimar District. Khandwa is a major railway junction; the Malwa line conne ...

Burhanpur Burhanpur'' is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai, southwest of the state's capi ...

, Betul,

Chhindwara , other_name = Corn city , nickname = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , p ...

Seoni Seoni is a city and a municipality in Seoni district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This tribal household dominated district was formed in the year 1956. Rudyard Kipling used the forests in the vicinity of Seoni, or as was spelled dur ...

, Anuppur,

Umaria Umaria is a municipality city in the Umaria district of the Shahdol Division of Madhya Pradesh, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second ...

Shahdol Shahdol is a city in Shahdol district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Shahdol district, The total geographical area of the district is . Demographics India census A census is the procedure o ...

and

Singrauli Singrauli is a city in Singrauli district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and Commissionaire of Rewa. It lies about from the district headquarters of Waidhan. It was also the capital of erstwhile princely state of Singrauli. Demographics ...

districts 30–50% of the population is tribal. According to the 2011 census, the

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

population in Madhya Pradesh was 15.34 million, constituting 21.1% of the total population. There were 46 recognised Scheduled Tribes and three of them have been identified as "Special Primitive Tribal Groups" in the State. Madhya Pradesh ranks(33rd) on the

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...

value of 0.606 (2018).Madhya Pradesh: Economic and Human Development Indicators
, UNDP (2011). According to the SDG India Index 2020–21 compiled by the NITI AAYOG, Madhya pradesh ranks 21 on sustainable development goals. The state's per-capita gross state domestic product (nominal GDP) is the 26th in the country (2018–19). According to NITI Aayog SDGs India index the state ranks 9th on gender equality, 10th on clean water and sanitation. File:Children in Raisen district, MP, India.jpg, Children in Raisen district, Bhil tribe File:Shepherds, Chambal, India.jpg, Shepherds in Chambal File:Ploughing paddy field with oxen, Umaria district, MP, India.jpg, A young farmer in Umaria district File:Young Baiga women, India.jpg, Young Baiga women

Languages

The official language of the state is

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, which is spoken by over two-thirds of the population and is used for all government business. In urban areas Standard Hindi is the main language, while

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Malvi The Malvi or Malavi, also known as Manthani or Mahadeopuri, is breed of zebu cattle from the Malwa plateau in western Madhya Pradesh, in central India. It is a good draught breed; the milk yield of the cows is low. The breed has been studie ...

and

Nimadi Nimadi is a Western Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Nimar region of west-central India within the state of Madhya Pradesh. This region lies adjacent to Maharashtra and south of Malwa. The districts where Nimadi is spoken are: Barwani, Khandwa ...

in the

and

regions, which are more closely related to the

Rajasthani languages Rajasthani (Devanagari: ) refers to a group of Indo-Aryan languages and dialects spoken primarily in the state of Rajasthan and adjacent areas of Haryana, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh in India. There are also speakers in the Pakistani provinces ...

. In

in the north and

in the east are spoken

Bundeli Bundeli (Devanagari: बुन्देली or बुंदेली; or Bundelkhandi) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Bundelkhand region of central India. It belongs to the Central Indo-Ayran languages and is part of the Western Hi ...

and

Bagheli Bagheli (Devanagari: बघेली) or Baghelkhandi is a Central Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Baghelkhand region of central India. Classification An independent language belonging to the Eastern Hindi subgroup, Bagheli is one of the ...

which are eastern varieties of the Hindi languages, similar to

Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...

or Chhattisgarhi. In the southeast is spoken Chhattisgarhi and Powari is the language of the far south, both Eastern Hindi languages. Most speakers of these languages consider them to be dialects of Hindi and so report their language as 'Hindi' on the census.

is another significant language. Due to

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

rule over much of what is now Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh is home to the largest number of Marathis outside Maharashtra. Although large numbers of Marathis can be found in urban centres like Indore, the highest concentrations are in the southern areas of the state adjoining Maharashtra. Marathi is the most-spoken language in Burhanpur district, while it is a major minority language in the southern parts of Mahakoshal especially Betul, Chhindwara and Balaghat districts. There are several languages spoken by the Adivasis. The various

Bhil languages The Bhil languages are a group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken by around 10.4 million Bhils in western and central India as of 2011. They constitute the primary languages of the southern Aravalli Range in Rajasthan and the western Satpura Range ...

are Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 50 lakh Bhils of western Madhya Pradesh. Although many, especially in the eastern parts of their range, have adopted the regional languages as mother tongue, the languages are still strong in the far-western hills especially Barwani, Jhabua and Alirajpur districts where they are in the majority. Bhili, the Bareli languages and Bhilali are the major varieties spoken in the state. Gondi is the second-largest Adivasi language, spoken by 11 lakh Gonds in the state. A

Dravidian language The Dravidian languages (or sometimes Dravidic) are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan. Since the colonial era, there have been small but significant i ...

related to

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, it is mainly spoken in the southern Satpura highlands of Mahakoshal, where it is spoken with the regional languages. Some in the remoter valleys of the Satpuras speak a poorly-described Dravidian dialect called Bharia. Smaller minorities of Gondi speakers can be found in Khandwa and Dewas districts in the west as well as Anuppur, Sidhi and Singrauli districts in the east. Elsewhere in the state, the Gonds have almost totally abandoned their original language. Korku, a

Munda language The Munda languages are a group of closely related languages spoken by about nine million people in India and Bangladesh. Historically, they have been called the Kolarian languages. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic language family ...

, has over 4 lakh speakers in the central highlands of the state. In the far-southeast of Burhanpur can be found some speakers of the language isolate Nihali who live among the Korku. All speakers of tribal languages face significant pressure to switch to the dominant regional languages while their own tongues are considered 'backward' and 'rural'. The following languages are taught in schools in Madhya Pradesh under the Three Language Formula: First language: Any Scheduled Language Second language: Hindi, Urdu or English Third language: Another Scheduled Language,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, French,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Religion

Hinduism is the main religion and is followed by 90.9% of the population. According to the census of 2011, 90.9% of residents followed

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

, while minorities are

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

(6.6%),

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

(0.8%),

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

(0.3%), Christians (0.3%), and

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

(0.2%). Madhya Pradesh is home to several pilgrimage sites including

at the source of the Narmada and the Ghats of

Omkareshwar Omkareshwar ( IAST: ''Ōṃkārēśvar'') is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, located in Mandhata, nearby Khandwa city in Khandwa district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the 12 revered Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. ce ...

, also on the Narmada. Temples can be found throughout the state. Buddhism and Jainism were once prominent religions in the state, especially in the central plateau near Raisen and Bhopal. Malwa is still home to a significant Jain minority. Jains are particularly concentrated in the urban centres of the Malwa region. Islam arrived with Muslim rule in the 14th century, although its influence was and is limited to major urban centres. Islam is a major religion in Bhopal and Burhanpur, and Bhopal is home to many prominent Islamic shrines. Buddhism in modern times is mainly practiced by Marathis in the south. Most respondents who answered 'Other' self-identified as following Adivasi religions such as Koya Punem of the Gonds.

Culture

File:Traditional Bagh hand block print master craftsman-artisan-artist Mohammed Bilal Khatri, Madhya Pradesh, India.jpg,

Bagh Print Bagh print is a traditional Indian handicraft originating in Bagh, Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The process is characterised by hand printed wood block relief prints with naturally sourced pigments and dyes. Bagh print motifs are typ ...

Traditional hand block print craft in

Bagh Bagh ( fa, باغ, link=no, meaning "garden") may refer to: Places India * Bagh Caves in Madhya Pradesh, India * Bagh, Dhar, a town in Madhya Pradesh, India Iran * Bagh, Ardabil, a village in Ardabil Province * Bagh, Larestan, a village ...

. File:Flute player in Orccha.jpg, A man playing flute in

, with a white

tilak In Dharmic culture, the ''tilaka'' ( sa, तिलक) () is a mark worn usually on the forehead, at the point of the Ajna chakra, or sometimes another part of the body such as the neck, hand, chest or arm. ''Tilaka'' may be worn daily or for ...

on his forehead, and holy saffron-coloured clothes. File:Sand sculpture at Bandrabhan,Hoshangabad.JPG, Sand sculpture by Sudarshan Pattnaik at Bandrabhan near Hoshangabad Three sites in Madhya Pradesh have been declared

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

: the Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986) including

Devi Jagadambi temple Devi Jagadambika Temple or Jagadambika Temple is one of a group of about 25 temples at Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India. Khajuraho is a World Heritage Site. The temples of Khajuraho were built by the rulers of the Chandela dynasty between th ...

, Khajuraho, Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989) and the

Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period. It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of Stone Age starting ...

(2003). Other architecturally significant or scenic sites include

Ajaigarh Ajaigarh or Ajaygarh is a town and a nagar panchayat in the Panna District of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. Ajaigarh State was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. The state was founded in 1785, and ...

Asirgarh Asirgarh Fort is an Indian fortress ''(qila)'' situated in the Satpura Range about north of the city of Burhanpur, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Because the fortress commands a pass through the Satpuras connecting the valleys of the ...

Bandhavgarh Bandhavgarh National Park is a national park of India, located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh, with an area of , was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993. The current core area is spread ov ...

Bawangaja Bawangaja (meaning 52 yards) is a famous Jain pilgrim center in the Barwani district of southwestern Madhya Pradesh in India. Located about 6 kilometers south of River Narmada, its main attraction is the world's second largest megalithic sta ...

Vidisha Vidisha (विदिशा, formerly known as Bhelsa and known as Besnagar in ancient times) is a city in central Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located 62.5 km northeast of the state capital, Bhopal. The name "Vidisha" is derived from th ...

Chanderi Chanderi, is a town of historical importance in Ashoknagar District of the state Madhya Pradesh in India. It is situated at a distance of 127 km from Shivpuri, 37 km from Lalitpur, 55 km from Ashok Nagar and about 46 km f ...

Chitrakuta Chitrakoot may refer to: * Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh, a municipality in Madhya Pradesh, India * Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh Assembly constituency, Madhya Pradesh * Chitrakoot division, a division in Uttar Pradesh, India ** Chitrakoot district ** ...

, Nemavar,

Maheshwar Maheshwar is a town, near Khargone city in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh state, in central India. It is located on State Highway-38 ( Khargone city-Barwaha- Bandheri Highway),13.5 km east of National Highway 3 (Agra-Mumbai highway) a ...

Mandleshwar Mandleshwar is a town and nagar panchayat in the Khargone district of the India state of Madhya Pradesh. It is on the banks of Narmada River, east of Maheshwar and south of Indore. It is a "Pavitra nagri" as termed by the government of Madhy ...

, Mandu,

Shivpuri Shivpuri is a city and a municipality in Shivpuri district located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is in the Gwalior Division of northwest Madhya Pradesh and is the administrative headquarters of Shivpuri District. It is sit ...

Sonagiri Sonagiri ( hi, सोनागिरी) or Swarnagiri about 60 km from Gwalior, has scores of Jain temples dating from the 9th century onwards. It is located in the Datia district of Madhya Pradesh, India. This location is popular among ...

and

. Madhya Pradesh is noted for its classical and folk music. Some of the noted

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

s in Madhya Pradesh include the

Maihar gharana The Maihar Gharana or Maihar-Senia Gharana is a gharana or school of Hindustani classical music, a style of Indian classical music originating in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The school was formed by Allaudin Khan in the prin ...

, the

Gwalior gharana The Gwalior Gharana (Gwalior school of classical music) is one of the oldest Khyal Gharana in Indian classical music. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605). The favourite singers of t ...

and Senia gharana. Two of the medieval India's most noted singers,

Tansen Tansen ( – 26 April 1589), also referred to and commonly known as Sangeet Samrat () , was a Hindustani classical musician. Born in a Hindu Gaur Brahmin family, he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest region of modern Madhya Pra ...

and

Baiju Bawra Baiju Bawra (Lit. "Baiju the Insane", born as Baijnath Mishra) was a dhrupad musician from medieval India. Nearly all the information on Baiju Bawra comes from legends, and lacks historical authenticity. According to the most popular legends, he ...

, were born near Gwalior in present-day Madhya Pradesh. Noted

Dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South Ind ...

exponents

Aminuddin Dagar Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar (20 October 1923 at Indore, India – 28 December 2000 Kolkata, India), of Dagar Gharana of Dhrupad singing Gundecha Brothers The Gundecha Brothers are Indian classical singers of the dhrupad genre of the Dagar vani. From 1985 to 2019 the duo consisted of brothers Umakant Gundecha and Ramakant Gundecha and were awarded the Padma Shri for art for 2012. Following the de ...

(Ujjain) and

Uday Bhawalkar Pandit Uday Bhawalkar is an Indian classical vocalist. He is an exponent of the dhrupad genre. Early years Uday Bhawalkar was born in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, the youngest of three siblings. He began training in classical music from his elder si ...

(Ujjain) were also born in present-day Madhya Pradesh. Renowned classical singer Kumar Gandharva spent his life at Dewas. The birthplaces of noted

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

(Khandwa) and

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

(Indore) and singer and composer Aadesh Shrivastava (Jabalpur) are also located in MP. The local styles of folk singing include Faga, Bhartahari, Sanja geet, Bhopa,

Kalbelia The Kalbelia are a snake charming tribe from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, India. The dance is an integral part of their culture and performed by men and women. Kalbelia tribe Kalbelias are followers of Sage Kanifnath, who drank a bowl of poi ...

, Bhat/Bhand/Charan, Vasdeva, Videsia, Kalgi Turra, Nirgunia, Alha, Pandwani Gayan and Garba Garbi Govalan. The major folk dances of MP are Rai, Karma, Saila, Matki, Gangaur, Badhai, Baredi, Naurata, Ahiri and Bhagoria.

Economy

Madhya Pradesh's gross state domestic product (nominal GDP) for 2013–14 was 4,509 billion (approximately 72,726,000,000). The per-capita figure was 871.45 in 2013–14, the sixth-lowest in the country. Between 1999 and 2008, the annualised growth rate of the state was very low: 3.5%. Subsequently, the state's GDP growth rate has improved significantly, rising to 8% during 2010–11 and 12% during 2011–12. Madhya Pradesh is also famous for honey production in district Morena. The state has an

agrarian economy An agrarian society, or agricultural society, is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and Agricultural land, farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total productio ...

. The major crops of Madhya Pradesh are wheat, soybean, gram, sugarcane, rice, maize, cotton, rapeseed, mustard and arhar. Minor Forest Produce (MFP), such as tendu leaves used to roll

beedi A beedi (also spelled bidi or biri) is a thin cigarette or mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu (''Diospyros melanoxylon'') or ''Piliostigma racemosum'' leaf tied with a string or adhesive at one end. It origi ...

, sal seed, teak seed, and lak also contribute to state's rural economy. Madhya Pradesh has 5

Special Economic Zones A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

(SEZs): 3 IT/ITeS (Indore,

), 1 mineral-based (

) and 1 agro-based (

). In October 2011, approval was given to 14 proposed SEZs, out of which 10 were IT/ITeS-based.

is the major commercial centre of the state. Because of the state's central location, a number of

consumer goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but ...

companies have established manufacturing bases in MP. The state has the largest reserves of diamond and copper in India. Other major mineral reserves include those of coal, coalbed methane,

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

. Madhya Pradesh has six

Ordnance Factories Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, now known as Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) was an organisation, under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Gov ...

, four of which are located at

( Vehicle Factory,

Grey Iron Foundry Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

, Gun Carriage Factory, Ordnance Factory Khamaria) and one each at Katni and Itarsi. The factories are run by the

Ordnance Factories Board Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, now known as Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) was an organisation, under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Gove ...

, and manufacture a variety of products for the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...

. Madhya Pradesh won the 10th National Award for excellent work in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005. The state's tourism industry is growing, fuelled by wildlife tourism and a number of places of historical and religious significance.

Sanchi Sanchi is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometres from Raisen, Raisen town, dist ...

and Khajuraho are frequented by external tourists. Besides the major cities,

Bhedaghat Bhedaghat is a town and a nagar panchayat in Jabalpur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is situated by the side of river Narmada and is approximately 20 km from Jabalpur city. Bhedaghat is famous for the high marble roc ...

Bhimbetka The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period. It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of Stone Age starting ...

, Bhojpur,

, Mandu,

, Kanha,

and

, Tumen Vindhyavasini temple ancient temple. This south facing Ashok Nagar district located in Tuman (Tumvn).

Infrastructure

Energy

The state has a total installed power generation capacity of 24950.60 MW as of 30 November 2020. The Madhya Pradesh Electric Board is located at

. The

Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Rewa Ultra Mega Solar is an operational ground mounted, grid-connected photovoltaic solar park spread over an area of in the Gurh tehsil of Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It started producing power in 2018 and reached its full capacity ...

project is a photovoltaic solar park spread over an area of 1,590 acres (6.4 km²) in the Gurh tehsil of Rewa District of Madhya Pradesh. The project was commissioned with 750 MW capacity. 97% households have electricity access in the state. The Singrauli region on the eastern end of Madhya Pradesh is a major energy producer enclave for the country. The region has vast reserves of coal mines, which are excavated by Northern Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, which is in turn used in local power plants of NTPC, Sasan Power and Hindalco. The area has more than 10,000 MW installed capacity for energy production.

Transport

Bus and train services cover most of Madhya Pradesh. The road network of the state includes 20

national highways National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in England. It al ...

. A rail network criss-crosses the state, with

serving as headquarters for the West Central Railway Zone of the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

. The Central Railway and the Western Railway also cover parts of the state. Most of the western Madhya Pradesh comes under

Ratlam Rail Division The Western Railway (abbreviated WR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways and is among the busiest railway networks in India, headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra. The major railway routes of Indian Railways which come under Western Railw ...

Western Railways The Western Railway (abbreviated WR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways and is among the busiest railway networks in India, headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra. The major railway routes of Indian Railways which come under Western Rail ...

, including cities like Indore, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Khandwa, Neemuch and Bairagarh in Bhopal. The state has a total of 20 major railway junctions. The major inter-state bus terminals are located in

and

. More than 2,000 buses are conducted daily from these four cities. The intra-city transit systems mostly consist of buses, private autos and taxis. More than 455 trains transit through Madhya Pradesh daily. 220 trains transit through the State’s capital Bhopal alone. North–South & East–West corridors cut across Madhya Pradesh. There is convenient access to major ports such as Kandla port and Jawaharlal Nehru port in the state The state does not have a coastline. Most of the sea trade happens through the

Kandla Kandla, now officially Deendayal Port Authority, is a seaport and town in Kutch district of Gujarat state in Western India, near the city of Gandhidham. Located on the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of India's major ports on the west coast. It is ab ...

and

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) or JLN Port, also known as Nhava Sheva Port, is the second largest container port in India after Mundra Port. Located in Navi Mumbai's Raigad district, this port on the Arabian Sea is accessed via Thane Cree ...

(Nhava Sheva) in the neighbouring states, which are well-connected to MP by road and rail networks.

Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport is an international airport that principally serves Indore and adjacent regions in Madhya Pradesh. It is the busiest airport in Central India and is located west of Indore. According to the statistics released ...

is the busiest airport in Madhya Pradesh.

Raja Bhoj International Airport Raja Bhoj Airport is the primary airport serving Bhopal, capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Named after the 10th century Paramara king Raja Bhoj, it is the second busiest airport in Madhya Pradesh after Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airp ...

, Dumna Airport in

Gwalior Airport Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindhia Gwalior Airport is a domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base serving the city of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located in Maharajpur, 10 km (6 mi) north-east of the city premises. It is one of the s ...

and

Khajuraho Airport Khajuraho Airport is a domestic airport that serves Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India. The terminal is 3 km south of Khajuraho, 4 km from and 40 km from the district centre at Chhatarpur. The airport covers an area of 590 acres ...

also have scheduled commercial passenger services. Besides these, minor

airstrip An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

s are located at

Chhindwara , other_name = Corn city , nickname = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , p ...

, Sagar,

Neemuch Neemuch or Nimach is a town in the malwa region. Neemuch crowns the north western part of MP. It has been also referred to city of Nature and Peace. The town shares its northwestern border with the state of Rajasthan and is the administrati ...

Ratlam Ratlam, known historically as Ratnapuri (lit. ''gem city''), is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh states and territories of India, state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administ ...

Mandsaur Mandsaur is a city and a municipality in Mandsaur district located on Border of Mewar and Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers ...

, Guna and

Satna Satna is a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of Satna district. It is 7th largest city and 8th most populous city of the state. The city is 500 km east of the state capital Bhopal. The city is ...

Other

The state has 52 districts hospitals, 333 community health centres, 1,155 primary health centres and 8,860 sub-centres. The urban infrastructure has improved considerably in the past decade. 22 projects costing above $500 million have been sanctioned under the

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was a massive city-modernization scheme launched by the Government of India under the Ministry of Urban Development. It envisaged a total investment of over $20 billion over seven years. ...

for the development of Bhopal, Indore,

and Ujjain. Seven Cities of Madhya Pradesh

, and Sagar have been selected under

Smart cities mission National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with the mission to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen friendly and sustainable. The Union Ministry of Urban Devel ...

Media

Dainik Bhaskar ''Dainik Bhaskar ''is India's largest Hindi-language daily newspaper owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to Audit Bureau of Circulations, it is ranked 3rd in the world by circulation and is the largest newspaper in India by circula ...

Dainik Jagran ''Dainik Jagran'' ( Hi:दैनिक जागरन , , ) is an Indian Hindi language daily newspaper. It was ranked 5th in the world and 2nd in India by circulation in 2016. In 2019 Quarter 4, according to Indian Readership Survey, Daini ...

, The Indian Observer, Nava Bharat, Deshbandhu, Nai Duniya,

Rajasthan Patrika ''Rajasthan Patrika'' is an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper. It was founded by Karpoor Chandra Kulish in 1956 and published as ''Rajasthan Patrika'' in Delhi and Rajasthan, and as ''Patrika'' in 9 other states. As per Indian Readership S ...

, Raj Express and Dainik Dabang Dunia are the leading

newspapers. Other local newspapers are published in the cities. In English Times of India,

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

, The Hitavada, Central Chronicle and '' Free Press'' have editions from Bhopal with The Hitavada also being in

. A Sindhi daily, i.e., Challenge (Now also in Hindi) is published from Bhopal is the only Sindhi newspaper in state.

Government and politics

Madhya Pradesh has a 230-seat state legislative assembly. The state also sends 40 members to the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

: 29 are elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

(Lower House) and 11 to the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

(Upper House). The constitutional head of the state is the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, appointed by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

. The execution powers lie with the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

, who is the elected leader of the state legislature. The current governor is Mangubhai C. Patel, and the current chief minister is

Shivraj Singh Chouhan Shivraj Singh Chouhan (born 5 March 1959), is an Indian politician and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the 17th and current Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, having been elected to the same position 3 times in the past, and a Member ...

of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

(BJP). The dominant political parties in the state are the

(BJP) and the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

(INC).

Administration

Madhya Pradesh state is made up of 52

Districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, which are grouped into 10 divisions. As of 2020, the state has 52 jila (district)

panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical ment ...

s, 376 tehsil, 313 janpad panchayats/ blocks, and 23043 gram (village) panchayats. The municipalities in the state include 18

Nagar Nigam A municipal corporation is a type of local government in India that administers urban areas with a population of more than one million. The growing population and urbanization of various Indian cities highlighted the need for a type of local go ...

s, 100

Nagar Palika In India, a Municipal Council (also known as Municipality, Nagar Palika, or Nagar Palika Parishad) is an Urban Local Body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. However, there are exceptions to that, as previously Nagar Palikas co ...

s and 264

Nagar Panchayat A nagar panchayat (town panchayat; ) or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,000 ...

Villages

* Dhekal Badi

Education

File:UIT RGPV Bhopal's Main Gate.jpg,

Rajiv Gandhi Technical University Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), also known as State Technological University of Madhya Pradesh, is a state university situated in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is a multi-campus affiliating, research university offering di ...

's main gate File:IIM Indore pano.jpg, IIM Indore's aerial panoramic view File:St. Aloysius Senior Secondary School.jpg, St. Aloysius Senior Secondary School, Jabalpur, established in the year 1868 is among the oldest schools in India According to the 2011 census, Madhya Pradesh had a literacy rate of 69.32%. According to the 2009–10 figures, the state had 105,592 primary schools, 6,352 high schools, and 5,161 higher secondary schools. The state has 208 engineering and architecture colleges, 208 management institutes, and 12 medical colleges. The state is home to some of the premier educational and research institutions of India including

IIT Indore The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Instit ...

, IIM Indore,

AIIMS Bhopal All India Institute of Medical Sciences Bhopal (AIIMS Bhopal) is a medical research public university and Institute of National Importance, located in the Saket Nagar suburb of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is one of the All India Institutes ...

, NIT Bhopal, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIITM Gwalior, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM Gwalior), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal,

School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal The School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal (SPA Bhopal) is a higher education institute in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, specializing in education and research in the field of Urban Planning, Architecture and Design. It is one of the two S ...

, Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) Bhopal, National Law Institute University (NLIU) Bhopal

Jabalpur Engineering College Jabalpur Engineering College (JEC) is an institute located in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the oldest technical institution in central India and the 15th-oldest in India. It is the first institute of India to have started the Electron ...

Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur is a National Law University located at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was established by the Madhya Pradesh Dharmashastra National Law University Ordinance in 2018. As of 2021, the chancell ...

. There are 500 degree colleges, which are affiliated with one of the universities in the state. The specialised universities include

Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University (MPMSU), also known as Madhya Pradesh Ayurvigyan Vishwavidyalaya, is a state university located at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was established in 2011 by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and has ...

, Jawaharlal Nehru Agriculture University and

Nanaji Deshmukh Veterinary Science University Nanaji Deshmukh Veterinary Science University, formerly Madhya Pradesh Pashu-Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya is a state agricultural university located at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was established in 2009 by the ''Madhya Pradesh Pashu ...

. The general universities are

Awadhesh Pratap Singh University Awadhesh Pratap Singh University is a public university in Rewa city, Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjai ...

(

Barkatullah University Barkatullah University is a state government university in Bhopal, India. Originally known as the ''University of Bhopal'', and informally as ''Bhopal University'', it was renamed in 1988 after the freedom fighter Professor Maulavi Barkatullah, ...

(Bhopal),

Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya Devi Ahilya University (informally abbreviated DAVV), formerly Indore University, is a State University. It was named after 'Ahilya Bai Holkar', the 18th century Queen and ruler of Indore, which was part of the Hindu Maratha Empire. Its jurisdic ...

(

Rani Durgavati University Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya (Rani Durgavati University), also known as University of Jabalpur, is a government university in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was named after the queen Rani Durgavati. History The university was constituted ...

(

Vikram University Vikram University is located in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. The university was named after the ruler Vikramaditya. It was established in 1957. It was evaluated by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council and was awarded B++ grade ...

(

Jiwaji University Jiwaji University (JU) is a public affiliating university in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. The name comes from Jivajirao Scindia of Gwalior. The university was established on 23 May 1964 and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the President of India, ...

(

), Dr. Hari Singh Gour University ( Sagar),

Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in Amarkantak, Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh, India was established through an Act of Parliament, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Act, 2007, by Government of India The Government of I ...

(

, Anuppur),

Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication (MCNUJC), also known as Makhanlal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Evam Sanchar Vishwavidyalaya or in short Makhanlal University (''Mākhanlāl Viśvavidhālaya''), is a ...

(Bhopal). The Professional Examination Board was initialised as Pre Medical Test Board by Government of Madhya Pradesh in the year 1970. After some year in 1981, Pre Engineering Board was constituted. Then after, in the year 1982 both these boards were amalgamated and named as

Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board Employees Selection Board (MPESB), popularly known as Vyapam scam, Vyapam (an abbreviation of its Hindi name Madhya Pradesh ''Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal''), is a employees selection board of Madhya Pradesh, India. It conducts various tests for ad ...

(MPPEB).

Tourism

Notable People

Sports

In 2013, state govt declared

Mallakhamba Mallakhamba or mallakhamb is a traditional sport, originating from the Indian subcontinent, in which a gymnast performs aerial yoga or gymnastic postures and wrestling grips in concert with a vertical stationary or hanging wooden pole, cane, or ...

as the state sport.

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

, and

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

are the popular sports in the state. Traditional games like

kho kho Kho kho or kho-kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India. It is the second most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connec ...

gilli danda Gilli Danda (also spelled Gulli-Danda) also known as Viti Dandu, Kitti-Pul and by other variations, is a sport originating from the Indian subcontinent, played in the rural areas and small towns all over South Asia as well as Cambodia, Iran, ...

, sitoliya,

kanche ''Kanche'' () is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language romantic war film written and directed by Krish. It stars Varun Tej, Pragya Jaiswal, and Nikitin Dheer. Produced by First Frame Entertainment, ''Kanche'' revolves around the enmity between two f ...

, and

langdi Langdi was a script commonly used by traders used to write Haryanvi, Punjabi, or Saraiki in the Indian subcontinent . Bookkeepers, known as munīm ( hi, मुनीम, ur, ), would also keep records in this script. Some scholars have claim ...

are popular in the rural areas.

Snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

, a cue sport, generally regarded as having been invented in

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officers, is popular in many of the English-speaking and Commonwealth countries, with top professional players attaining multimillion-pound career earnings from the game. Maharani Usha Raje Cricket Stadium Indore - panoramio

Maharani Usha Raje Cricket Stadium Indore - panoramio

Cricket is the most popular sport in Madhya Pradesh. There are three international

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

stadiums in the state – Nehru Stadium (Indore),

Roop Singh Stadium Captain Roop Singh Stadium, is a cricket ground in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. The stadium has hosted 12 ODI matches, the first one was played between India and West Indies on 22 January 1988. The ground has flood lights and has hosted day-night e ...

(Gwalior) and

Holkar Cricket Stadium The Holkar (Pronunciation: �o(ː)ɭkəɾ dynasty was a Maratha clan of Dhangar origin in India. The Holkars were generals under Peshwa Baji Rao I, and later became Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Marath ...

(Indore).

Madhya Pradesh cricket team The Madhya Pradesh cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It competes in the Ranji Trophy. History Holkar cricket team A Central India team competed in the Ranji Trophy between 1934–35 and 19 ...

's best performances in

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

was in 1998–99, when the

Chandrakant Pandit Chandrakant Sitaram Pandit (born 30 September 1961) is a former Indian cricketer who played in 5 Tests and 36 ODIs from 1986 to 1992. He was a Wicket Keeper Batsman for Indian national cricket team. He made his test debut against E ...

-led team ended as the runner-up. Its predecessor, the Indore-based

Holkar cricket team The Madhya Pradesh cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It competes in the Ranji Trophy. History Holkar cricket team A Central India team competed in the Ranji Trophy between 1934–35 and 1939 ...

, had won the Ranji Trophy four times. In year 2022,

coached

defeated 41 time champion

Mumbai Cricket Team The Mumbai cricket team is a cricket team representing the city of Mumbai in Indian domestic cricket. The team's primary home ground is the Wankhede Stadium in South Mumbai. Secondary home venues include the MCA ground in Bandra Kurla Comple ...

2021-2022 season. It is Madhya Pradesh's maiden title at

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (formerly known as the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium) is a cricket stadium located in Bangalore, Karnataka. Flanked by the picturesque Cubbon Park, Queen's Road, Cubbon and uptown MG Road, this five-dec ...

Aishbagh Stadium Aishbagh Stadium is a field hockey stadium in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. It has a seating capacity of more than 15,000 people. In 2009, a newly laid poly grass and flood light system was unveiled at the stadium. It is the home venue for th ...

in Bhopal is the home ground for

World Series Hockey World Series Hockey (WSH) was a professional league for field hockey competition in India. It was organised by Indian Hockey Federation and Nimbus Sports with the objective to reinvigorate hockey in India. It was contested among eight franchise ...

team

Bhopal Badshahs Bhopal Badshahs (BB) was hockey team from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh that competes in the World Series Hockey championship. The captain of the team is Sameer Dad, part of the Indian National Hockey Team. Bhopal Badshahs was coached by Vasudevan Bha ...

. The state also has a

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

that participates in the

Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...

. MP United FC is an Indian football that played in the 2nd Division I-League. On 6 December 2017, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that players from the state would be given government jobs on winning medals in international events.

Madhu Yadav Madhu Yadav is former Captain of the India women's national field hockey team. She is a 1986 Asian Games bronze-medallist. She has also received the Arjuna Award in 2000 from the President of India. She has also coached the team after her retir ...

, the former Captain of the

India women's national field hockey team The Indian women's national field hockey team (nicknamed the ''Nabhvarna'') represents India in international field hockey, and is governed by Hockey India. Nabhvarna are currently ranked 6th in the FIH World Rankings, and are ranked as the b ...

, a 1982

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

gold medallist and an Arjuna Award recipient, is from

References

External links

Official Site for the Government of Madhya Pradesh

National Informatics Centre – Madhya Pradesh
*
Madhya Pradesh
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' entry * * {{Authority control States and union territories of India States and territories established in 1956 1956 establishments in India

History

Geography

Location in India

Climate

Ecology

Flora and fauna

State symbols of Madhya Pradesh

Rivers

Regions

Administration

Cities

Demographics

Population

Languages

Religion

Culture

Economy

Infrastructure

Energy

Transport

Other

Media

Government and politics

Administration

Villages

Education

Tourism

Notable People

Sports

See also

References

Further reading

External links