Dhar is a city located in

Dhar district Dhar district () is a districts of Madhya Pradesh, district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The historic town of Dhar is administrative headquarters of the district. The district has an area 8,153 km2. It is bounded by the distri ...

of the

Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...

region in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The city is the administrative headquarters of the

. Before Indian independence from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, it was the capital of the Dhar princely state.

Location

Dhar is situated between 21°57' to 23°15' N and 74°37' to 75°37' E. The city is bordered in the north by Ratlam, to the east by parts of

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

, in the south by Barwani, and to the west by Jhabua and Alirajpur. The town is located west of Mhow. It is located above sea level. It possesses, alongside its old ramparts, many buildings which contain records of cultural, historical and national importance.

Historic places and monuments

The most visible parts of ancient Dhar are the massive earthen ramparts, which are best preserved on the western and southern sides of the town. These were most likely built at beginning of the 9th century. Wall remains show that the city was circular in plan and surrounded by a series of tanks and moats, similar to the city of

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 811,844 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal serv ...

, in the Deccan. The circular ramparts of Dhar, unique in north India and an important legacy of the Paramāras, are unprotected and have been slowly dismantled by brick-makers and others using the wall material for construction. On the north-east side of the town, the ramparts and moats have disappeared beneath modern homes and other buildings. There are many stepwells of various periods in Dhar which are dried or filled with sewage and trash. Till now, 46 stepwells are listed in the Dhar premises, and a work of reviving those stepwells is an ongoing plan for the year 2024.

Fort

The historic parts of Dhar are dominated by an impressive sandstone fortress on a small hill. The fortress is thought to have been built by Muhammad bin Tughluq, the Sultan of Delhi, most likely on the site of the ancient Dhārāgiri mentioned in early sources. One of the gateways, added later, dates to 1684–85 in the time of 'Ālamgīr. Inside the fort there is a deep rock-cut cistern of great age, and a later palace of the Mahārāja of Dhar that incorporates an elegant pillared porch from the Mughal period, possibly built in the mid-17th century. The palace area houses an outdoor museum with a small collection of temple fragments and images dating to medieval times.

Museum

Inside the fort, a large number of sculptures and antiquities from Dhar and its neighbourhood are kept in utilitarian buildings constructed in the late 19th century. Some pieces from the collection have been moved to Mandu where the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Archives has created a museum with a range of displays in the 'Barnes Koti', a Sultanate-period building used by Captain Ernest Barnes, the political agent of the Bhopawar agency.

Tomb of Shaykh Changāl

On the overgrown ramparts of the medieval city, overlooking the old moat, is the tomb of Shaykh Abdullah Shāh Changāl, a warrior saint. The earliest evidence for the tomb comes from an inscription of 1455; the building was entirely rebuilt in the second half of the 20th century.

Iron Pillar

One of the most significant historical attractions at Dhār is the ancient iron pillar. Fragments of it are at the Lat Mosque where the three surviving portions are displayed outside the mosque on a platform thanks to the conservation efforts of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

. The pillar, which was nearly 13.2 m high according to the most recent assessment, carries several inscriptions, the most important recording a visit by the Mughal emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

in 1598 while on a military campaign in the Deccan. The pillar's original stone footing is displayed nearby.

Lat Mosque

The Lat Masjid, or 'Pillar Mosque', located to the south of the town, was built as the Jami' Mosque by Dilawar Khan in 1405. It derives its name from the iron pillar ("lāṭ" in Hindi), which lies in the immediate campus of the mosque.

Kamāl Maulā Campus

The Kamāl Maulā is a spacious enclosure containing a number of tombs, the most notable being that of Shaykh Kamāl Mālvī or Kamāl al-Dīn (''circa'' 1238–1331). Kamāl al-Dīn was a follower of Farīd al-Dīn Gaṅj-i Shakar (''circa'' 1173–1266) and the Chishti saint Nizamuddin Auliya (1238–1325) and migrated to Malwa with his brother in the late 1200s. His descendants have served as custodians of Kamāl al-Dīn's tomb in an unbroken line for 700 years.

Bhoj Shala

Except for the

Mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...

and Minbar, which were purpose-built for the monument, the

hypostyle In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or und ...

hall immediately next the tomb of Kamāl Maula is made of recycled temple columns and other architectural parts. It is similar to the Lāṭ Masjid, but was built earlier, as an inscription from 1392 described records of repairs by Dilāwar Khān. In 1903, a Sanskrit and

Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...

inscriptions from the time of Arjunavarman (''circa'' 1210–15) were found in the walls of the building by K. K. Lele, Superintendent of Education in the Princely State of Dhar. The engraved inscriptions are displayed inside the entrance. One text includes parts of a drama called ''Vijayaśrīnāṭikā'' composed by Madana, the king's preceptor, or 'Bālasarasvatī'. Other tablets noted by Lele include a slab inscribed with the ''Kūrmaśataka'' – verses in praise of the Kūrma incarnation of Viṣhṇu – and serpentine inscriptions containing the grammatical rules of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

language. These finds, particularly the grammatical inscriptions, prompted Lele to name the building

Bhoj Shala The Bhojshala (IAST: Bhojaśālā, ) is a historic building located in the city of Dhar, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The name is derived from the celebrated king Bhoja of the Paramāra dynasty of central India, a patron of educati ...

, or 'Hall of Bhoja', in reference to King

Bhoja Bhoja was the Paramara dynasty, Paramara king of Malwa from 1010 until his death in 1055. He ruled from Dhara (city), Dhara (modern Dhar), and Military career of Bhoja, fought wars with nearly all his neighbours in attempts to extend his king ...

(''circa'' 1000–55), the author of several works on poetics and grammar such as the famous ''Sarasvatīkaṇṭhābharaṇa'' or 'Necklace of Sarasvatī'. In 1908, C. E. Luard did not follow Lele in using the term Bhoj Shala but mentions traditions describing the building as 'Raja Bhoja's school'. City Palace PP

Cenotaphs and Old City Palace

The old city palace of the Pawar clan, a branch of the

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

s that claims descent from the Parmar Rajputs of

, is now used as a school. It is a plain, medium-sized building built around 1875. A marble

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

of the Jain goddess Ambikā, discovered on the site of the palace in 1875, is now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. Of the same time period as the palace are a collection of domed

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

s of the Pawar rulers on the edge of the large tank known as Muñj Talab. The name of the tank was probably derived from Vākpati Muñja (10th century), the first Paramāra king that entered Mālwa and made Ujjain his main administrative seat.

Tomb of Shaykh Zahīr al-Dīn Qādirī

The tomb said to be that of Shaykh Zahīr al-Dīn Qādirī, a contemporary of Kamāl-al-Dīn, stands in the fields on the western side of the old circular city. Agency House 2010

Tomb of Bugḍe Pīr

On the east side of the old town the tomb of Tāj al-Dīn 'Aṭā'ullah. Popularly known as Bugḍe Pīr, the building is a small domical structure of the seventeenth century. 'Aṭā'ullah was born in 1578-79 and enjoyed the patronage of Nur Jahan.

Agency House

Another colonial era building at Dhar, located outside the old town on the road to

, is the Agency House. It was built by the Public Works Department during British rule and was the center of the administration of Dhar

State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and the Central India Agency. The building has been abandoned and is now in ruins.

Jheera Bagh

In the 1860s, the Powars built a palace at Hazīra Bāgh, adjacent to the road to Māṇḍū. Known as the Jheera Bāgh Palace, the complex was renovated by Mahārāja Anand Rao Pawar IV in the 1940s and is now run as a heritage hotel. Designed in an unpretentious

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, it is considered to be one of the most elegant and forward-looking examples of early modern architecture in

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

Political history

The town of Dhar, derived from ''Dhārā Nagara'' ('city of sword blades'), is of considerable antiquity, the first reference to it appearing in an inscription in Jaunpur during the

Maukhari The Maukhari dynasty ( Gupta script: , ''Mau-kha-ri'') was a post- Gupta dynasty who controlled the vast plains of Ganga-Yamuna for over six generations from their capital at Kanyakubja. They earlier served as vassals of the Guptas and later ...

dynasty (6th century). Dhar rose to prominence when it was made the primary seat of the Paramara chiefs of

by Vairisiṃha (''circa'' 920-45 CE). Vairisimha appears to have transferred his headquarters to Dhar from Ujjain. During the rule of the Paramāras, Dhar was a respected centre of culture and learning, especially under the rule of King

(circa 1000–1055). The wealth and splendor of Dhar drew the attention of competing dynasties in the 11th century. The Cāḷukyas of Kalyāṇa under Someśvara I (circa CE 1042–68) captured and burnt the city, also occupying Māṇḍū (ancient Māṇḍava). Dhar was subsequently sacked by the Cāḷukyas of Gujarāt under Siddharāja. The devastation and political fragmentation caused by these wars meant that there was no significant opposition when Ala ud din Khilji, the Sultān of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, dispatched an army to Mālwa in the early 14th century. The region was annexed to

, and Dhar was made the capital of the province under 'Ayn al-Mulk Mūltānī, who served as governor until 1313. The events that occurred during the following seventy years are unclear, but some time in A.H. 793/C.E. 1390-91 Dilawar Khan was appointed '' muqṭi'' of Dhar (and also the governor of Mālwa) by Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh. Dilāwar Khān took the title 'Amīd Shāh Dā'ūd' and mandated the ''khutba'' to be read in his name in A.H. 804/C.E. 1401-02, thereby establishing himself as an independent sulṭān. Upon his death in 1406, his son Hoshang Shah became king, with his capital situated in Māṇḍū. In the time of

, Dhar fell under the dominion of the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

, and remained under Mughal control until 1730, when the town was conquered by the

s. In late 1723,

Bajirao Bajirao I (né Visaji, ; 18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740) was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He was appointed Peshwa at the age of nineteen by Shahu I, following the death of his father, Balaji Vishwanath. He is credited with establis ...

, at the head of a large army and accompanied by his lieutenants Malharrao Holkar, Ranoji Shinde (Scindia) and Udaji Rao Pawar, swept through Malwa. A few years earlier, the Mughal Emperor had been forced to relinquish to the Marathas the right to collect '' Chauth'' taxes in Malwa and

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

. This levy was financially beneficial to the

caste, as both the king Shahu and his Peshwa,

, were in large amounts of debt at the time. Agriculture in the Deccan depended heavily on the timeliness and duration of the monsoons. The most important source of royal revenue was, therefore, the C''hauth'' (a 25% tax on produce) and S''ardeshmukhi'' (a ten per cent surcharge) exacted by the Marathas. The revenues the Marathas collected from their own lands were not sufficient to run the administration of their state and finance their large military expenditure, as their government was focused on conquest and not economic development. The Marathan armies eventually defeated the Mughal governor and attacked the capital Ujjain.

established military outposts in the country as far north as

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central and North India. It corresponds to the Post-Vedic Chedi kingdom. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Prad ...

. Towards the end of the 18th century and in the early part of the 19th century, the Marathan state was subject to a series of spoliations by

Scindia House of Scindia or earlier known as the Sendrak was a Hindu Maratha Royal House that ruled the erstwhile Gwalior State in central India. Ranoji Scindia rose as a prominent military commander under Peshwa Bajirao I. Ranoji and his descendants ...

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

and Holkar of

, (descendants of Ranoji Scindia and Malharao Holkar), but was saved from annihilation by the strong rule of the adoptive mother of the fifth raja.

Dhar State

After the Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1818, Dhar fell under

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

rule. The Dhar State was designated as a princely state of India, in the Bhopawar Agency of the Central India Agency. It included several Rajput and

Bhil Bhil or Bheel refer to the various Indigenous peoples, indigenous groups inhabiting western India, including parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and are also found in distant places such as Bengal and Tripura. Though they now speak the Bhili ...

feudatories and had an area of . The state was confiscated by the British after the Revolt of 1857. In 1860, it was restored to Raja Anand Rao III Pawar, then a minor, with the exception of the detached district of Bairusia which was granted to the Begum of

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), 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 ...

. Anand Rao, who received the personal title Maharaja and the KCSI in 1877, died in 1898; he was succeeded by Udaji Rao II Pawar.

Dhar Thikanas

A separate department whose purpose was to superintend ''Thakurs'' and ''Bhumias'', called "Department of Thakurans, Bhumians and Thikanejat", was established in 1921. At the time there were 22 such estates in the state of Dhar. The ''

jagir A jagir (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar ...

'' lands of the nobles of Dhar (feudatory estates), all of whom paid tribute to the Darbar, were divided between Thakurs and Bhumias. The Thakurs, with a few exceptions, were Rajput landholders whose estates were located in the north of the state. Locally, the Thakurs were called Talukdars and their holdings called ''kothari''. By

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

, there were 8 Rathore Rajputs, one

and one Kayasth. The Bhumias, or "Allodial" Chiefs, were all Bhilalas, a clan claiming to be of mixed

and Rajput (Chauhan) descent. Their grants were originally obtained from the Darbar on the understanding that they would keep the peace among the Bhils and other hill tribes. They paid yearly tribute to the Darbar, in turn receiving cash allowances (Bhet-Ghugri), an ancient feudal custom. HH Maharaja Shrimant Hemendra Singh Rao Pawar of Dhar State

HH Maharaja Shrimant Hemendra Singh Rao Pawar of Dhar State

Political representation and Royal Legacy

Bhartiya 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. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...

politician Neena Vikram Verma serves as a member of the

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha or the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Madhya Pradesh state in India. The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Bhopal, the capital of the state. It is housed in the ''Vidh ...

for the Dhar-Vidhan-Sabha Constituency. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, Savitri Thakur of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

was elected as a Member of Parliament representing the Dhar constituency. Maharaja Shrimant

Hemendra Singh Rao Pawar Hemendra Singh Rao Pawar (18 September 1968 - 07 November 2023), was the titular Maharaja of Dhar State. He was a descendant of the Pawar (Pawar, Puar) dynasty that ruled Dhar State. He was crowned as the Maharaja of Dhar State on 15 January 20 ...

is the present titular head of the Maratha Pawar dynasty of the State of Dhar.

Demographics

As of the 2011 Indian Census, Dhar had a total population of 93,917, of which 48,413 were males and 45,504 were females. 11,947 were between 0 and 6 years old. The total number of literate people in Dhar was 68,928. 73.4% of the population was literate, with a male literacy rate of 78.1% and a female literacy rate of 68.4%. The literacy rate of the 7+ population in Dhar was 84.1%, of which the male literacy rate was 89.9% and the female literacy rate was 78.0%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 7,549 and 16,636 respectively. As of 2011, Dhar has 18531 households. This is an increase from the 2001 India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, when Dhar had a population of 75,472, of which males constituted 52% and females 48%. In 2001, Dhar had an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. Male literacy was 76% and female literacy was 63%. In 2001, 14% of the population of Dhar was under 6 years of age.

Religion

The majority of the population adheres to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, with significant groups following

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

Postal information

In 1897, primitive stamps with entirely native text were issued. The second definitive issue bore the name "Dhar State" in Latin script; with a total of 8 stamps. Since 1901, Indian stamps have been in use in Dhar.

Discovery of Dinosaur Fossils

Dhar, being part of the Lameta Formation, is well known for the discovery of fossils of dinosaurs, dinosaur nests, shark teeth, tree fossils, and marine mollusks. These fossils are very well preserved due to the Deccan volcanism causing a flow of volcanic lava over them. Fossils of Titanosaurus, Isisaurus, Indosaurus, Indosuchus, Laevisuchus and Rajasaurus have been discovered here. Unique eggs have been discovered in Dhar region which indicates that the species reproduced like birds and the first egg within egg (ovum-in-ovo) or multi-shelled egg has been discovered here.

Notable people

Baji Rao II, the last of the Peshwas, was born in Dhar.''Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer'' p. 510

Climate

Gallery

File:District Archeological Museum, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh.jpg, District Archaeological Museum, Dhār, Madhya Pradesh File:Kharbuza Mahal, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh.jpg, Kharbuza Mahal at the Dhār Fort File:Kharbuza Mahal, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh 3.jpg, Kharbuza Mahal at the Dhār Fort File:Kharbuza Mahal, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh 4.jpg, Kharbuza Mahal at the Dhār Fort File:Dhar Fort, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh 5.jpg, Entire view of Bawari (Water Source at the Dhār Fort) File:Dhar Fort, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh 4.jpg, Entrance view from inside the fort at Dhār File:Dhar Fort, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh 7.jpg, The Dhār Fort

Places near Dhar

Dhar serves as a great base for exploring several important historical, religious, and cultural destinations in western Madhya Pradesh. Notable nearby places include: * Amjhera – A historic town known for the Dargah of Hazrat Syed Fakhruddin (a Mughal general), ancient temples, and a significant independence-era martyr site. Located ~17 km from Dhar. * Mandu – A romantic hill fortress with Afghan-era palaces and tombs, ~35 km from Dhar. * Bagh Caves – Buddhist rock-cut caves with murals, ~100 km. * Maheshwar – A sacred town on the Narmada River, known for temples and Maheshwari sarees, ~70 km. * Omkareshwar – Jyotirlinga shrine on an island shaped like Om, ~130 km. *

– The largest city in the region, ~65 km away.

Image's

File:Amjhera+AmjheraIMG 20160821 143903345.jpg, Amjhera+AmjheraIMG_20160821_143903345 File:Raja Bakhtawar Singh's Fort 6.jpg, Raja_Bakhtawar_Singh's_Fort_6 File:Jahaz Mahal 03.jpg, Jahaz_Mahal_Mandu File:Jahaj Mahal Mandu desription.jpg, Jahaj_Mahal_Mandu_desription File:Bagh Caves Madhya Pradesh 018.jpg, Exterior façade and pillars at Bagh Caves File:0102421 Murals in Bagh Cave 4, Ranga Mahal Gufa, Madhya Pradesh 02.jpg, Mural decoration on pillars in Cave 4, “Palace of Colours” File:Bagh Cave 2 Madhya Pradesh 044.jpg, Interior of Cave 2 (“Pandava Cave”) with pillars File:BAGH Bodhisttva-1.jpg, Painting of a bodhisattva in Cave 4 File:0102321 Ahilyeshwar Mahadev Temple, Maheshwar Madhya Pradesh 033.jpg, Ahilyeshwar Temple inside Ahilya Fort complex File:A temple in Maheshwar on Narmada river Madhya Pradesh India.jpg, Ghats and temples on the Narmada River File:A temple in Maheshwar on Narmada river Madhya Pradesh India.jpg, Baneshwar Temple on river island File:Omkareshwar Temple.jpg, Omkareshwar Temple built into the riverbank File:Omkareshwar, Shri Omkar Mandhata (9840595185).jpg, Temple complex along the Narmada River File:0102621 Omkareswar Jyothirlinga temple, Mandhata Madhya Pradesh 005.jpg, Main jyotirlinga shrine and sabha mandap File:Immense Interiors of The Rajwada Palace.jpg, Rajwada Palace, a Holkar-era heritage monument File:PATALPANI WATERFALL INDORE WALLPAPER.jpg, PATALPANI_WATERFALL_INDORE_WALLPAPER File:Indore_Junction_entrance.jpg, Entrance of Indore Junction railway station File:LALBAGH PALACE images.jpg, Lal Bagh Palace, another iconic Holkar residence

References

External links

DhārDistrict governmental website
{{Forts in Madhya Pradesh Cities and towns in Dhar district Cities in Malwa Former capital cities in India Populated places established in the 1st century BC Buildings and structures of the Maratha Empire 16th-century forts in India