Khandwa district, formerly known as the East Nimar district, is a

district 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 ...

of the

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, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

state in

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

India. The city of Khandwa is the administrative headquarters of the district. Other notable towns in the district include Mundi, Harsud,

Pandhana Pandhana is a Town and a Nagar Parishad in Khandwa district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Geography Pandhana is located at . It has an average elevation of 249 metres (1145 feet). Demographics As of the 2011 Census of Ind ...

and

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 ...

Geography

The district has an area of , and a population 1,310,061 (2011 census). Khandwa District lies in the Nimar region, which includes the lower valley of the Narmada River, Kherkhali River, Choti Tawa River, Shiva River. The Narmada forms part of the northern boundary of the district, and the

Satpura Range 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 these ...

form the southern boundary of the district. Burhanpur District, to the south, lies in the basin of 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 ...

. The pass through the Satpuras connecting Khandwa and Burhanpur is one of the main routes connecting northern and southern India, and the fortress of Asirgarh, which commands the pass, is known as the "Key to the Deccan". Betul and

Harda Harda is a town and a municipality in Harda district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Harda is the administrative headquarters of Harda. History Mughal period During the Mughal period, Harda was a mahal in the Handia sarkar. In 1742 ...

districts lie to the east, Dewas District to the north, and Khargone District to the west.

History

Khandwa district was surrendered by the

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 ...

s to the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

in 1818, and later became part of the

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 ...

. The area to the west, which forms the present Khargone district, was part of the

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, ...

of Indore. After India's independence in 1947, the Central Provinces and Berar became the new Indian state of

. The Khandwa district was known as "Nimar District" before 1954, when the state of Madhya Bharat to the west was merged with the state of Madhya Pradesh. Later it came to be called "East Nimar district", and a separate "West Nimar district" with headquarters at Khargone was established. The East Nimar district was part of the Nerbudda (Narmada) Division of the

, which became the state of Madhya Bharat (later

) after India's independence in 1947. Khandwa was known as East Nimar until recently. Burhanpur District was separated from Khandwa District on 15 August 2003. Khandwa District is part of

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 ...

Economy

In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India. Ministry of Panchayati Raj looks into all matters relating to the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The ministry is headed by a m ...

named Khandwa one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of

640 Year 640 (Roman numerals, DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

). It is one of the 24 districts in Madhya Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Khandwa District has a

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 1,310,061, This gives it a ranking of 374th in India (out of a total of

). The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

over the decade 2001–2011 was 21.44%. East Nimar has a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species devia ...

of 944 females for every 1,000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 67.53%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 11.95% and 35.05% of the population respectively.

Languages

At the time of the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, 40.59% of the population in the district spoke

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 ...

, 33.84%

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 ...

, 9.71% Korku, 3.20%

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Bhili Bhili (Bhili: ), , is a Western Indo-Aryan language spoken in west-central India, in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. Other names for the language include Bhagoria and Bhilboli; several varieties are called Gar ...

, 2.06% Bareli, 1.67% Banjari, 1.24% Gondi and 1.05%

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 * * ...

as their first language. Languages spoken include

, a

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 ...

language with approximately 64 000 speakers, written in the Devanagari script.

Cities of Khandwa

Major cities of Khnadwa include Khandwa, Mundi, Harsud,

and

Notable people

* Ashok Kumar, actor *

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 ...

, singer and actor * Anoop Kumar *

Bhagwantrao Mandloi Bhagwantrao Annabhau Mandloi (15 December 1892 - 3 November 1977), an Indian National Congress politician was a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. He was born in Khandwa. He was a recipient of the civilian honour of Padma Bhushan. He was ...

, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh * Pt. Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Hindi poet & freedom fighter * Shaan (singer) *

Saroo Brierley Saroo Brierley (born ) is an Indian-born Australian businessman and author who, at the age of five, was accidentally separated from his biological family. He was adopted out of India by an Australian couple but was reunited with his biological ...

was born in Khandwa and lived there until about the age of five years when he was lost and adopted by a family in AustraliaBrierley, Saroo (2013). ''A Long Way Home''. Viking, Australia

References

External links

Official website

Khandwa Mandi Bhav
{{coord, 21, 49, 48, N, 76, 20, 24, E, region:IN-MP_type:adm2nd_source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title Districts of Madhya Pradesh