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Ancient Era
The city of Ujjain (also known as Avanti) arose as a major center in the second wave of Indian urbanization in the sixth century BC and served as the chief city of the kingdom of Malwa or Avanti.
Further east, the kingdom of Chedi was in Bundelkhand. Chandragupta Maurya united northern India circa 320 BC, establishing the Maurya empire (321 to 185 BC) which included all of modern day Madhya Pradesh.
The Maurya empire went into decline after the death of Asoka and Central India was contested among the Sakas, Kushanas, and local dynasties during the 3rd to 1st centuries BC.
Ujjain, located on the trade routes between the Ganges plain and Indias Arabian Sea ports, emerged as the predominant commercial center of western India from the first century BC. It was also an important Hindu and Buddhist center.
The Satavahana dynasty of the northern Deccan controlled parts of Madhya Pradesh during the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. Northern India was conquered by the Gupta empire in the 4th and 5th centuries, which became known as Indias Classical Age.
The Vakataka dynasty were the southern neighbors of the Guptas, ruling the northern Deccan plateau from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. These empires collapsed towards the end of the 5th century.
The attacks of the Hephthalites or White Huns brought about the collapse of the Gupta empire and India broke up into smaller states. A regional king Yasodharman of Malwa defeated the Huns in 528 ending their expansion.
King Harsha of Thanesar reunited northern India for a few decades before his death in 647.
Medieval Era
The end of the anicent period and the beginning of the medieval period saw the rise of the Rajput clans including the Paramaras of Malwa and the Chandelas of Bundelkhand.
The Paramara king Bhoj (1010-1060) was a brilliant polymath and prolific writer. The Chandelas created the temple city of Khajuraho between 950 and 1050. Gond kingdoms emerged in Gondwana and Mahakoshal.
Northern Madhya Pradesh was conquered by the Muslim Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century.
After the collapse of the Delhi Sultanate at the end of the 14th century, independent regional kingdoms reemerged including the Tomara Rajput kingdom of Gwalior and the Muslim Sultanate of Malwa with its capital at Mandu. The Malwa Sultanate was conquered by the Sultanate of Gujarat in 1531.
Most of Madhya Pradesh came under Mughal rule during the reign of the emperor Akbar (1556-1605). Gondwana and Mahakoshal remained under the control of Gond kings who acknowledged Mughal supremacy but enjoyed virtual autonomy.
After the death of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, Mughal control began to weaken and the Marathas began to expand from their base in central Maharashtra.
Between 1720 and 1760 they took control of most of Madhya Pradesh and Maratha clans established semi autonomous states under the nominal control of the Maratha Peshwa.
The Holkars of Indore ruled much of Malwa and the Bhonsles of Nagpur dominated Mahakoshal and Gondwana as well as Vidarbha in Maharashtra. Jhansi was founded by a Maratha general.
Bhopal was ruled by a Muslim dynasty descended from the Afghan General Dost Mohammed Khan. Maratha expansion was checked at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.
Modern Era
The Third Anglo-Maratha War left the British supreme in India and most of Madhya Pradesh- including the large states of Indore, Bhopal, Nagpur, Rewa and dozens of smaller states- became princely states of British India.
The Mahakoshal region became a British province called the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories. In 1853 the British annexed the state of Nagpur which included southeastern Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra and most of Chattisgarh. They were combined with the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories to form the Central Provinces in 1861.
The princely states of northern Madhya Pradesh were governed by the Central India Agency.
Madhya Pradesh was created in 1950 from the former British Central Provinces and Berar and the princely states of Makrai and Chhattisgarh, with Nagpur as the capital of the state. The new states of Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, and Bhopal were formed out of the Central India Agency.
In 1956, the states of Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal were merged into Madhya Pradesh and the Marathi speaking southern region Vidarbha, which included Nagpur, was ceded to Bombay state.
Bhopal became the new capital of the state. 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 Chhattisgarh. |
