History of Madhya Pradesh | MP History

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1 History of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

1.1 Prehistoric Madhya Pradesh GK

1.1.1 Stone and copper Age

1.2 Ancient History of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

1.2.1 Sunga and Kushan rule in Madhya Pradesh

1.3 Medieval History of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

1.3.1 Mughal period

1.4 Modern History of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

History of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

The history of Madhya Pradesh (MP) is full of culture and valor, from the prehistoric time to medieval, Madhya Pradesh (MP) has seen the various rules and power which have a deep impact on the culture of MP. These rulers and kingdoms also change the boundary and the social structure of Madhya Pradesh (MP).

Prehistoric Madhya Pradesh GK

Signs of prehistoric civilization have been found in excavations and discoveries made in various parts of the state.
The primitive species lived in the Kathe and kernel of rivers. Important among the wild animals were lions, buffaloes, elephants, and reptiles.
Remnants of “Hippopotamus” have been found in some places.
They used sharp stones and hand weapons for hunting.
Evidence of their living has been found in Bhopal, Raisen, Chhanera, Nemawar, Mojawadi, Maheshwar, Dehgaon, Barkheda, Handia, Kabra, Singhanpur, Adamgarh, Panchmarhi, Hoshangabad, Mandsaur, and Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.
Human beings of this period have also expressed their artistic interests. The sculptures obtained from the gulls near Hoshangabad, the Kandras of Bhimbethka near Bhopal, and the hills near Sagar are the proofs of this.
These rock paintings are also found abundantly in the hills along the banks of the Shivani river of Mandsaur, Narsinghgarh, Raisen, Adamgarh, Panna Rewa, Raigad, and Ambikapur.
Some European scholars consider this civilization dates back to 4000 years before the period of Christ.
On the other hand, Dr. Sankalia believes that this civilization dates back to 1,50,000 years before Christ.

Stone and copper Age

Nearly 2000 years ago, the contemporary civilization of Mohenjodaro and Harappa developed in Madhya Pradesh’s Narmada Valley, whose main centers are considered to be Maheshwar, Nagda, Kamaka, Varkheda, Eran, etc.
From these places, metal utensils, implements, softeners, etc. have been found by digging.
Copper tools have been found in some parts of the Balaghat and Jabalpur districts.

Ancient History of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

Of the 16 Mahajanapadas of ancient India, Avanti Mahajanapada was located in Madhya Pradesh, with its capital Mahishmati and Ujjain.
Ashoka’s inscription is inscribed on a rock of Roopnath village of Siroha tehsil of Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
Stupas were built by Ashoka in Ujjain, Nimar, Sanchi (Raisen), and Bharhut (Satna), Madhya Pradesh.
Emperor Ashoka erected columns at places such as Rupnath (Jabalpur), Pavaya, Besnagar, Eran, etc.
In India, the Gupta dynasty ruled from 320 to 510 AD.
Emperor Chandragupta Vikramaditya of this dynasty made Ujjain his capital, which is located in present-day Madhya Pradesh.
After the end of the Gupta dynasty, many small big powers ruled Madhya Pradesh.

Sunga and Kushan rule in Madhya Pradesh

The fall of the Maurya’s was followed by the rule of the Sunga in the Magadha. Emperor Pushyamitra Sunga was in Vidisha. His ancestors were taken to Pataliputra by Ashoka. He made Vidisha his capital.
Agnimitra was the king of Mahakaushal, Malwa, Anup (Vindhya to Vidarbha) Satavahanas also took Tripuri, Vidisha, Anoop, etc. under them.
Gautami son Satakarni’s currencies are found in Hoshangabad, Jabalpur, Raigad etc.
The Satavahanas ruled from the second century BCE to 100 AD.
Some statues of the Kushan period have been obtained from Jabalpur.
Shaka Kshatrap Rudradaman I defeated Satavahanas and won western Madhya Pradesh in the second century.
Various branches of Nagavansha established their kingdoms in Kantipur, Padmavati, and Vidisha in North-Central India.
The Naga dynasty continued to rule in Vidisha for nine centuries.
After struggling with the powers, he went to Vindhya Pradesh, where he established the kingdom of Kilkila and made Nagavadh his capital.
The Bodhon dynasty established their kingdom in Tripuri and surrounding areas.
The Aatvik kings established their kingdoms in Betul, Vyaghraja in Bastar, and Mahendra also in Bastar.
The Vakatakas ruled some parts of Madhya Pradesh in the fourth century under the leadership of the Vindhya Shakti before the rise of the Guptas.
King Pravarsen established his suzerainty from Bundelkhand to Hyderabad.
Many copper letters of Vakatakas have been found in Chhindwara, Betul, Balaghat, etc.

Medieval History of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

At the beginning of medieval history, there were many small and big states in Madhya Pradesh, out of which the majority was ruled by Rajputs.
In Malwa, Madhya Pradesh, there was the rule of the Paramaras, Chandel in the Vindhya region, and the Kalchuris in the Mahakaushal.
Raja Bhoj has an important place in the medieval history of Madhya Pradesh, he founded the city of Bhopal.
In the 11th century, a new era began in the history of Madhya Pradesh, on the day Mahmud Ghazni attacked Gwalior and defeated the king there.
After this, in 1197, Muhammad Ghori also attacked Gwalior and incorporated it into the Delhi Sultanate.
After the first battle of Panipat in 1526, Babur also took control of Gwalior, Chanderi, and Raisen in Madhya Pradesh.
Marathas emerged in the seventeenth century in the history of Madhya Pradesh. Peshwa Bajirao took over many parts of Madhya Pradesh.
The British defeated Peshwa Bajirao in 1818.

Mughal period

A new era of history began in Madhya Pradesh with the rise of Marathas and the arrival of the East India Company.
Peshwa Bajirao started the conquest plan of North India.
In Vindhya Pradesh, Champat Rai waged a struggle against the reactionary policies of Aurangzeb.
Chhatrasal, the son of Champatarai, carried it forward. He had conquered many areas of Vindhya Pradesh and northern Madhya Bharat and the Sagar of Mahakaushal etc.
When the Mughal Subedar clashed with Bangash, he called Peshwa Bajirao for help, and then together they defeated Bangash. In this war, Bangash had to run away wearing a woman’s dress.
After this, Chhatrasal gave Peshwa Bajirao his third son and gave him the territories of Sagar, Damoh, Jabalpur, Dhamoni, Shahgarh, Khimalasa, and Guna, Gwalior.
The Peshwa appointed Govind Kher as his representative at Sagar, Damoh. He made Balaji Govind his executive.
Bisa Ji Govind was appointed in Jabalpur.
Ganda was the kingdom of Gond king Narhari Shah in Mandla. In the struggle with the Maratha’s, Aba Saheb Moro and Bapuji Narayan defeated him.
In time, the Peshwa gave Raghu Ji Bhosle the area here. Bhosale’s already had the territory of Nagpur. This system could not last long.
The British were engaged in increasing their influence in the whole country. They got the chance for intervention in the internal strife of Marathas.
In 1818, after defeating the Peshwa, he wrested the Jabalpur-Sagar area from Raghu Ji Bhosle.
In 1817, Lord Hastings intervened in the succession of Nagpur and defeated Appa Saheb, and seized the territory north of Nagpur and Narmada from the Marathas. He also included the Berar region of the Nizam.
They had already captured Berar on the pretext of the subsidiary treaty. In this way, the British made Madhya Pradesh and Berar a mixed province.
After the death of Maharaja Chhatrasal, Vindhya Pradesh, Panna, Rewa, Bijawar, Jaigarh, Nagaud, etc. were divided into small princely states.
The British fought and collaborated among themselves to weaken them. These princely states were taken under the protection of the British Empire through separate treaties.
In 1722-23, Peshwa Bajirao attacked and looted Malwa. King Girdhar Bahadur Nagar was the Subedar of Malwa at that time, he faced the Maratha invasion. Jaipur King Sawai Jai Singh was in favor of the Marathas.
Peshwa’s brother Chimnaji Appa undertook several campaigns in Malwa against Girdhar Bahadur and his brother Dayabahadur. The Marathas defeated Girdhar Bahadur in the battle of Sarangpur.
The region of Malwa was divided between Udasi Pawar and Malharrao Holkar. The Peshwa provided the area from Burhanpur to Gwalior to Scindia.
Simultaneously, Scindia subordinated the area up to Ujjain, Mandsaur.
In 1731, Malwa was finally subdued by the three chief chieftains of the Marathas, Pawar (Dhar and Dewas), Holkar (from West Nimar to Rampur-Bhanpura), and Scindia (Buharanpur, Khandwa, Timarni, Harda, Ujjain, Mandsaur, and Gwalior).
Marathas were also eyeing Bhopal. The Nizam of Hyderabad planned to stop the Marathas, but Peshwa Bajirao made haste and reached Bhopal and subjugated the area of Sehore, Hoshangabad.
He defeated the Nizam in the Battle of Bhopal in 1737.
After the war, both signed the treaty, and the Nizam assumed Maratha supremacy over the entire area between the Narmada-Chambal region.
The Marathas built a strong fort at Raisen.
After the influence of the Marathas, an Afghan chieftain Mohammad Khan established an independent Nawabi in Bhopal.
Later, when the rule of the Begums came, they made a treaty with the British and Bhopal went under the protection of the British.
The British defeated the Peshwa, Holkar, Scindia, and Bhosle respectively in the first, second, third, and fourth wars with the Marathas.
During the period of Peshwa Bajirao II, the Maratha union broke out and the British took advantage of it.
The British seized East Nimar and Harda-Timarni from Scindia and merged into Madhya Pradesh.
The British also limited Holkar and accepted small kings in Middle India who were subordinate to the Marathas.
Central India Agency was established in Madhya Bharat.
Malwa was divided into several princely states. For effective control over these princely states, military cantonments were established in Mhow, Neemuch, Agra, Bairagarh, etc.

Modern History of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

Madhya Pradesh has also played an important role in India’s freedom movement, in the first freedom struggle of 1857, there were many rebellions against the British in the state of which Nagpur’s rebellion is prominent.
At this time, the ruler of Nagpur was Appaji Bhonsle from whom the British tried to gain many areas of his kingdom, after which Appaji fought with the help of Arabic soldiers near Multai (Betul), in which Appaji was defeated and escaped.
Durga Shankar Mehta of Madhya Pradesh contributed to the Salt Satyagraha by making salt at Gandhi Chowk.
Salt Satyagraha was started in Jabalpur under the leadership of Seth Govind das and Pt Dwarka Prasad Mishra.
Seth Govind das, Pt. Makhan Lal Chaturvedi, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla, Pt. Dwarka Prasad Mishra, and Vishnu Dayal Bhargava were arrested and tried for treason in the Jungle Satyagraha movement in the state in 1930.
Mahila Seva Dal was established in 1931
Praja Parishad was established in 1935 which played an important role in organizing the teenagers and laborers.
India became independent on 15 August 1947 and all the princely states of Central India were formed together to form the state of Central India.
The present Madhya Pradesh was established on 1 November 1956.
On 1 November 2000, it was divided into the state of Chhattisgarh.

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