History of Indore | Piyush Pandey

                                        History of Indore 

Indore is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. Indore was described by the Economic Times as the commercial capital of the state. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and first city to have campuses of both the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Management. Located on the southern edge of Malwa Plateau, at an average altitude of 550 meters above sea level it has the highest elevation among major cities of Central India, the city is 190 km west of the state capital of Bhopal. With a census-estimated 2011 population of 1,994,397 (municipal corporation) and 2,170,295 (urban agglomeration), the Indore Metropolitan Area's population is the state's largest. The city is distributed over a land area of just 530 square kilometers making Indore the most densely populated major city in the central province. It comes under Tier 2 cities in India.

Indore traces its roots to its 16th century founding as a trading hub between the Deccan and Delhi. The city and its surroundings came under Hindu Maratha Empire on 18 May 1724 after Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I assumed the full control of Malwa. During the days of the British Raj, Indore State was a 19 Gun Salute (21 locally) princely state (a rare high rank) ruled by the Maratha Holkar dynasty, until they acceded to the Union of India. Indore served as the capital of the Madhya Bharat from 1950 until 1956.

Indore's financial district, based in central Indore, functions as the financial capital of the Madhya Pradesh and is home to the Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange, India's third oldest stock exchange.

Indore has been selected as one of the 100 Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Smart Cities Mission, it is an urban development vision to integrate multiple information and communication technology. It has also qualified the first round of Smart Cities Mission and has been selected as one of the first twenty cities to be developed as Smart Cities. Indore has been elected as the cleanest city of India as per the Swachh Survekshan 2017.

• History

The Maratha Raj

Main article: Holkar

By 1720, the headquarters of the local pargana were transferred from Kampel to Indore, due to the increasing commercial activity in the city. On 18 May 1724, the Nizam accepted the rights of the Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I to collect chauth (taxes) from the area. In 1733, the Peshwa assumed the full control of Malwa, and appointed his commander Malhar Rao Holkar as the Subhedar (Governor) of the province. Nandlal Chaudhary accepted the suzerainty of the Marathas.

On 29 July 1732, Bajirao Peshwa-I granted Holkar State by merging 28 and one-half parganas to Malhar Rao Holkar, the founding ruler of Holkar dynasty. His daughter-in-law Ahilyabai Holkar moved the state's capital to Maheshwar in 1767, but Indore remained an important commercial and military centre.

British Occupation (Indore/Holkar State)

Main article: Indore State

In 1818, the Holkars were defeated by the British during the Third Anglo-Maratha War, in the Battle of Mahidpur by virtue of which the capital was again moved from Maheshwar to Indore. A residency with British resident was established at Indore, but Holkars continued to rule Indore State as a princely state mainly due to efforts of their Dewan Tatya Jog. During that time, Indore was established the headquarters of British Central Agency. Ujjain was originally the commercial centre of Malwa. But the British administrators such as John Malcolm decided to promote Indore as an alternative to Ujjain, because the merchants of Ujjain had supported anti-British elements.

In 1906 electric supply was started in the city, fire brigade was established in 1909 and in 1918, first master-plan of city was made by noted architect and town planner, Patrick Geddes. During the period of Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar II (1852–86) efforts were made for the planned development and industrial development of Indore. With the introduction of Railways in 1875, the business in Indore flourished during the reigns of Maharaja Shivaji Rao Holkar, Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar III and Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar.

• Post-independence

After India's independence in 1947, Holkar State, along with a number of neighbouring princely states, acceded to Indian Union. In 1948, with the formation of Madhya Bharat, Indore became the summer capital of the state. On 1 November 1956, when Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh, the state capital was shifted to Bhopal. Indore, a city today of nearly 2.1 million residents, has transformed from a traditional commercial urban centre into a modern dynamic commercial capital of the state.

• Demographics

Indore is the most populous city in the Madhya Pradesh. Indore is also the largest metropolitan city in Central India. According to the 2011 census of India, the population of Indore city (the area under the municipal corporation and outgrowths) is 1,994,397. The population of the Indore metropolis (urban agglomeration that includes neighbour areas) is 2,170,295. In 2010, the city had a population density of 25,170 people per square mile (9,718/km²), rendering it the most densely populated of all municipalities with over 100,000 population in the Madhya Pradesh. As per 2011 census, the city of Indore has an average literacy rate of 87.38%, higher than the national average of 74%. Male literacy was 91.84%, and Female literacy was 82.55% In Indore, 12.72% of the population is under 6 years of age (as per census 2011). The average annual growth rate of population is around 2.85% as per the statistics of census 2001. Religion-wise, according to the 2011 census reports, Hindus constitute the majority, 80.02% of Indore's total population, while Muslims are 7.41%, Jains 7.02%, and others 2.03%.

Hindi is the official language of the Indore city, and is spoken by majority of the population (97.6%). The populace of Indore converse mainly in Hindi. A number of Hindi dialects such as Bundeli, Malawi and Chhattisgarhi are also spoken. Other languages with a substantial number of speakers include Marathi, Sindhi, Bhojpuri and Gujarati.

According to 2012 figures, around 6,000 Pakistani Hindu migrants live in the city (out of a total 10,000 in the state).