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 ...

, often called the ''Heart of India'', is a

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 ...

in central

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 ...

. Its capital is

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 ...

. Madhya Pradesh was originally the largest state in India until November 1, 2000 when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out. It borders the states

Uttar Pradesh 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 ...

, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra,

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 ...

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 s ...

Forest composition

Sal Mixed forests Bamboo Khair - Khair (''

Acacia catechu ''Senegalia catechu'' is a deciduous, thorny tree which grows up to in height. The plant is called ''khair''
in H ...

'') NWFP

Medicinal plants - Medicinal trees and plants of various kinds are found in abundance in the forests of Madhya Pradesh. Important ones are: ''

Aegle marmelos ''Aegle marmelos'', commonly known as bael (or ''bili'' or ''bhel''), also Bengal quince, golden apple, Japanese bitter orange, stone apple or wood apple, is a rare species of tree native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is pre ...

'', ''

Azadirachta indica ''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus ''Azadirachta'', and is native to the Indian subcontinent and most of the countries in Afr ...

'', ''

Bixa orellana ''Bixa orellana'', also known as achiote, is a shrub native to Central America. ''Bixa orellana'' is grown in many countries worldwide. The tree is best known as the source of annatto, a natural orange-red condiment (also called or ) obtained ...

'', '' Butea monosperma'', ''

Asparagus racemosus ''Asparagus racemosus'' (satavar, shatavari, or shatamull, shatawari) is a species of asparagus common throughout India and the Himalayas. and northern Australia. It grows tall and prefers to take root in gravelly, rocky soils high up in piedmon ...

'', ''

Argemone mexicana ''Argemone mexicana'' (Mexican poppy, Mexican prickly poppy, flowering thistle, cardo or cardosanto) is a species of poppy found in Mexico and now widely naturalized in many parts of the world. An extremely hardy pioneer plant, it is tolerant o ...

'', ''

Buchanania lanzan ''Buchanania cochinchinensis'' (syn. ''Buchanania lanzan'') is a deciduous tree which produces seeds that are edible to humans. It is native to the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and adjacent parts of China. It is known as ''chironji'' (or ...

'', ''

Aloe barbadensis ''Aloe vera'' () is a succulent plant species of the genus '' Aloe''. It is widely distributed, and is considered an invasive species in many world regions. An evergreen perennial, it originates from the Arabian Peninsula, but grows wild in ...

'', ''

Acorus calamus ''Acorus calamus'' (also called sweet flag, sway or muskrat root, among many common names) is a species of flowering plant with psychoactive chemicals. It is a tall wetland monocot of the family Acoraceae, in the genus '' Acorus.'' Although ...

'', ''

Cassia tora :''This page is about the ''Cassia tora'' described by Linnaeus. Later authors usually applied the taxon to ''Senna obtusifolia. ''Senna tora'' (originally described by Linnaeus as ''Cassia tora'') is a plant species in the family Fabaceae and ...

'', ''

Curculigo orchioides ''Curculigo orchioides'' (commonly called golden eye-grass, xian mao, weevil-wort, कालो मुस्ली (in Nepal) black musli, Kali musli, or Kali Musali) is an endangered flowering plant species in the genus ''Curculigo''. It is nati ...

'', ''

Curcuma longa Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asi ...

'', ''

Embelia ribes ''Embelia ribes'', commonly known as false black pepper, white-flowered embelia, ''vidanga'', ''vaividang'', ''vai vidang'', or ''vavding'', is a species in the family Primulaceae. It was originally described by Nicolaas Laurens Burman in his 176 ...

'', ''

Clitoria ternatea ''Clitoria ternatea'', commonly known as Asian pigeonwings, bluebellvine, blue pea, butterfly pea, cordofan pea or Darwin pea is a plant species belonging to the family Fabaceae, endemic and native to the Indonesian island of Ternate. In India, ...

'', ''

Mangifera indica ''Mangifera indica'', commonly known as mango, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a large fruit tree, capable of growing to a height of . There are two distinct genetic populations in modern mangoesthe "Indian ty ...

'', ''

Cassia fistula ''Cassia fistula'', commonly known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, or pudding-pipe tree,U. S. Department of Agriculture, William Saunders; Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture; ...

'', '' Evolvulus alsinoides'', '' Commiphora mukul'', ''

Helicteres isora ''Helicteres isora'', sometimes called the Indian screw tree, is a small tree or large shrub found in southern Asia and northern Oceania. It is usually assigned to the family Malvaceae, but it is sometimes assigned to the family Sterculiaceae. T ...

'', ''Holorrhaena antidysenterica'', ''

Glycyrrhiza glabra Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liqu ...

'', '' Woodfordia fruticosa'',. '' Dioscorea spp'', ''Plumbago zeylaniea'', ''

Terminalia bellirica ''Terminalia bellirica'', known as baheda, bahera, behada, beleric or bastard myrobalan (Arabic: beliledj بليلج, borrowed from Middle Persian Balilag), Persian بلیله (Balileh), Sanskrit: Bibhitaka बिभीतक, Aksha is a large ...

'', ''

Tamarindus indica Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae. ...

'', '' Mucuna pruriens'', ''

Pongamia pinnata ''Millettia pinnata'' is a species of tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, native to eastern and tropical Asia, Australia, and Pacific islands. It is often known by the synonym '' Pongamia pinnata''. Its common names include Indian beech and Pongam ...

'', ''

Psoralea corylifolia ''Psoralea corylifolia'' (Babchi) is a plant used in Indian and Chinese traditional medicine. The seeds of this plant contain a variety of coumarins, including psoralen. Etymology ''Psoralea'' is from the Greek ''psoraleos'' meaning 'scabby', an ...

'', ''Phyllanthus embilica'', '' Ocimum americanum'', ''

Rauvolfia serpentina ''Rauvolfia serpentina'', the Indian snakeroot, devil pepper, or serpentine wood, is a species of flower in the milkweed family Apocynaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and East Asia (from India to Indonesia). ''Rauvolfia'' is a pe ...

'', ''Tinospora cardifolio'', ''

Withania somnifera ''Withania somnifera'', known commonly as ashwagandha or winter cherry, is an evergreen shrub in the Solanaceae or nightshade family that grows in India, the Middle East, and parts of Africa. Several other species in the genus ''Withania'' are m ...

'', '' Swertia chirayita'', ''Tribulus terrestres'', '' Chlorophytum tuberosum'', ''Cyprus rotundus''.

Forest growing stock

Fort Bandhavgarh National Park Madhya Pradesh India

The total growing stock (volume of timber / wood) is 50,000,000 m³ valued worth Rs 2.5 lakh Crores.

Protected areas

Madhya Pradesh is home to 11

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 individua ...

, including

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, 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 t ...

Kuno National Park Kuno National Park is national park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, India. It derives its name from Kuno River. It was established in 1981 as a wildlife sanctuary with an initial area of in the Sheopur and Morena districts. In 201 ...

and dinosaur fossil National Park Madhya Pradesh. There are also a number of natural preserves, including

Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve The Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve in India that extends across the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, covering a total area of 383,551 hectares (3835.51 km2). Location The reserve is located in t ...

, Patalkot,

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 ...

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 ...

, Bori Wildlife Sanctuary, Ken Gharial Sanctuary,

Ghatigaon Wildlife Sanctuary Ghatigaon Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary situated at Ghatigaon in India. Ghatigaon covers 511.0 km² in Madhya Pradesh state, west of the city of Gwalior. It extends to Tigra Dam, and includes part of the reservoir. It was establis ...

, Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary,

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 ...

, National Chambal Sanctuary, Kukdeshwar, Narsinghgarh,

Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, covering about , is the largest wildlife sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh state in India. This wildlife sanctuary is a part of 5500 km2 of forested landscape. It is located in the centre of the state covering parts of ...

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 ...

, Panpatha, Shikarganj, and Tamia.

National Parks and their Fauna

There are 12

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 individua ...

and 24

Sanctuaries A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

spread over an area of 94,3489 km² constituting 12.27% of the total forest area and 3.52% of the geographical area of the state. * Kanha,

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 ...

, Pench, Panna, and Satpura National Park are managed as project tiger areas. *Sardarpur sanctuary in

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 Dh ...

and

Sailana Sailana is a town in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Sailana is from Ratlam city and away from Banswara district of the neighboring state of Rajasthan. Sailana was once the capital of the Sailana State before it merged ...

are managed for conservation of kharmore or

lesser florican The lesser florican (''Sypheotides indicus''), also known as the likh or ''kharmore'', is the smallest in the bustard family and the only member of the genus ''Sypheotides''. It is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent where it is found in tall gras ...

. *Ghatigaon sanctuary is managed for

great Indian bustard The great Indian bustard (''Ardeotis nigriceps'') or Indian bustard, is a bustard found on the Indian subcontinent. A large bird with a horizontal body and long bare legs, giving it an ostrich like appearance, this bird is among the heaviest of t ...

or Son Chiriya. * National Chambal Sanctuary is managed for conservation of gharial and crocodile,

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 threa ...

and a number of

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

species. *Ken-gharial and Son-gharial sanctuaries are managed for conservation of gharial and mugger. *

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 dudhraj is the state bird of Madhya Pradesh. Omkareshwar National Park Kuno National Park

List of sanctuaries

There are 30 Wildlife sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh. They are the following: * Bori Wildlife Sanctuary (Narmadapuram) *Bagdara Sanctuary (Singrauli) *Phen Sanctuary (Mandla) *

Ghatigaon Sanctuary Ghatigaon Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary situated at Ghatigaon in India. Ghatigaon covers 511.0 km² in Madhya Pradesh state, west of the city of Gwalior. It extends to Tigra Dam, and includes part of the reservoir. It was established ...

(Gwalior) * Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary (Mandsaur, Neemuch) *Karera Sanctuary (Shivpuri) * Ken Gharial Sanctuary (Chhatarpur, Panna) * Kheoni Wildlife Sanctuary (Dewas, Sehore) *Narsingharh Sanctuary (Rajgarh) * National Chambal Sanctuary (Morena) *

(Sagar, Damoh, Narsinghpur) *Pachmarhi Sanctuary (Narmadapuram) *Panpatha Sanctuary (Umaria) *

Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary Kuno National Park is national park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, India. It derives its name from Kuno River. It was established in 1981 as a wildlife sanctuary with an initial area of in the Sheopur and Morena districts. In 2018 ...

(Sheopur) *

(Seoni) * Ratapani Tiger Reserve (Raisen, Sehore) * Sanjay-Dubri Wildlife Sanctuary (Sidhi) *Singhori Sanctuary (Raisen) *Son Ghariyal Sanctuary (Sidhi) *Sardarpur Sanctuary (Dhar) *Sailana Sanctuary (Ratlam) *

Ralamandal wildlife Sanctuary The Ralamandal Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1989 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. It is spread over five square kilometers and is home to different species of birds and other wildlife. It has an ancient palace built by Holkar which was prima ...

(Indore) *Orchha Sanctuary (Niwari) *Gangau Sanctuary (Panna) *Veerangna Durgawati Sanctuary (Damoh)

Climate

Madhya Pradesh has a subtropical climate. Like most of north India, it has a hot dry summer (April–June) followed by monsoon rains (July–September) and a cool and relatively dry winter. The average rainfall is about 1,370 mm (53.9 in). It decreases from east to west. The south-eastern districts have the heaviest rainfall, some places receiving as much as 2,150 mm (84.6 in), while the western and north-western districts receive 1,000 mm (39.4 in) or less.

The Tribals and Forests

{{Main, Tribals in Madhya Pradesh The tribal population is an integral part of the biodiversity of the forests since ages. A large number of ethnic aboriginal tribes are there who live in and around forests in Madhya Pradesh. The main tribal groups are: *

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 t ...

s ** Barelas ** Bhilalas **Patliya * Korku **Movasiruma **Nahala **Vavari **Bodoya * Agaria * Baiga **Bijhwar **Narotia **Bharotiya **Nahar **Rai Bhaina **Kadh Bhaina * Kaul **Rohiya **Rauthail *

Saharia 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 ...

* Bharia ** Bhumiya **Bhuihar **Pando * Gond **Pardhan ** Agariya **

Ojha Ojha is a Brahmin surname. * Amritlal Ojha (1890–1944), Indian coal miner and businessman * Anant Kumar Ojha, Indian politician * Anu Ojha (born 1968), director of the United Kingdom National Space Centre, skydiving expert * Gaurishankar Hira ...

**Nagarchi **Solhas * Halba **Halbi **Bastariya **Chhatisgarhiya *

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 ...

**Abujh Mariya, **Dandami Mariya, **Metakoitur

Gallery

Image:White Tiger.png,

White tiger The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...

Image:Mnp1.jpg, Madhav National Park Image:Shesh Shaiya.JPG,

Image:Gamhar.jpg, ''

Gmelina arborea ''Gmelina arborea'', (in English beechwood, gmelina, goomar teak, Kashmir tree, Malay beechwood, white teak, yamane ), locally known as gamhar, is a fast-growing deciduous tree in the family Lamiaceae. Distribution and habitat ''Gmelina arbore ...

'' Image:Satpura1.jpg,

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 ...

Image:Terpsiphone paradisi.jpg,

Indian paradise flycatcher The Indian paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone paradisi'') is a medium-sized passerine bird native to Asia, where it is widely distributed. As the global population is considered stable, it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List sin ...

Image:Sonchiriya.jpg,

Great Indian bustard The great Indian bustard (''Ardeotis nigriceps'') or Indian bustard, is a bustard found on the Indian subcontinent. A large bird with a horizontal body and long bare legs, giving it an ostrich like appearance, this bird is among the heaviest of t ...

References

Madhya Pradesh Forest Department
* Madhya Pradesh A to Z, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation, Cross Section Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi 1994 Fauna of Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh-related lists

Forest composition

Forest growing stock

Protected areas

National Parks and their Fauna

List of sanctuaries

Climate

The Tribals and Forests

See also

Gallery

References