Early
History
The early history of Madhya
Pradesh goes back to 320 BC when Chandragupta Maurya
established the Mauryan Empire which included many places of modern
day Madhya Pradesh. Ashoka, the great
Mauryan emperor was powerful in the Malwa region. It is also believed that
Ashoka's wife was from Vidisha, a town north of today's Bhopal.
With the death of Ashoka, the Mauryan Empire became weak and the
region came under the rule of Sakas,
Kushanas, and some local dynasties during the 3rd to 1st centuries
BC. The Satavahana dynasty of the northern Deccan ruled the
region in between 1st and 3rd centuries
AD. Towards the end of 4th century the
region came under Gupta dynasty and it
continued for over 150 years and finally collapsed towards the end
of the 5th century. Ujjain became the
predominant commercial center of western India during the ancient
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Medieval History
The medieval history of
Madhya Pradesh goes back to
the period after 5th century. With the decline of Gupta Empire,
India was divided into several small states. But the reorganization
was carried out by King Harsha of Thanesar before his death in
647AD. During this period the rise of Rajput clans was significant.
From 950 to 1050AD the Paramaras of Malwa and the Chandelas of
Bundelkhand constructed the fantastic series of temples at
Khajuraho in the north of the state. Between the 12th and 16th
centuries, the region saw continuing struggles between Hindu and Muslims rulers or
invaders. Important independent regional kingdoms include Tomara
Rajput kingdom of Gwalior and the Muslim Sultanate of Malwa, with
its capital at Mandu.
Modern
History
Madhya Pradesh was
a strong hold of Mughal emperor Akbar from 1556 to 1605. After
Aurangzeb died in 1707, the Mughal Empire declined and Marathas
began to control over the state. Between 1720 and 1760 the Marathas
took control of most of Madhya
Pradesh, and Maratha clans established
semi-autonomous states under the nominal control of the Maratha
Peshwa. The power of the Marathas came into an end in 1761 after
the defeat in the battle of Panipat.
In between 18th and 19th century
the British were expanding
their dominion in India from bases
in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. Most of
Madhya Pradesh came under
British Supremacy when the British
won the third Anglo-Maratha War. Then the regions
including Indore, Bhopal, Nagpur, Rewa, and dozens of other small
areas became princely states of British India.
When India got her independence in 1947, the former British Central
Provinces and Berar and the princely states of Makrai and
Chhattisgarh were made a separate state with Nagpur as the capital.
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. Then
Bhopal became the new capital of Madhya
Pradesh. Madhya
Pradesh remained as the largest state of the
country from 1956 to 2000. In November 2000, as part of the
Madhya Pradesh Reorganization
Act, the southeastern portion of the state carved out to form the
new state of Chhattisgarh with a huge tribal population.
