Khandwa


Khandwa is a city and a nagar nigam in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, India.It is the administrative headquarters of Khandwa District, formerly known as East Nimar District.
Khandwa is an ancient city, with many places of worship, like many other cities in India. Most temples are Hindu or Jain. During the 12th century CE, it was a centre of Jainism. During British rule, it replaced nearby Burhanpur as the main commercial centre of the west Nimar region.
Khandwa is a major railway junction; the Malwa line connecting Indore with the Deccan meets the main east–west line from Mumbai to Kolkata.
In May 2019, Nandkumar Singh Chouhan of Bharatiya Janata Party had been elected as the Member of Parliament from Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency.

History

The name of the city is derived from "Khandav Van", which literally means Khandav Forests.

Ancient history

Recent explorations in the beds/tributaries of Narmada have revealed traces of the Paleolithic men in East Nimar district. Omkar Mandhata, a rocky island on the bank of Narmada river, about 47 miles north-west of Khandwa, is said to have been conquered by the Haihaya king Mahishmant, who had named the same as Mahishmati.
During the rise of Buddhism, the East Nimar region was included in Avanti Kingdom under Chand Pradyota Mahesana, which was later added to the growing empire of Magadha by Shishunaga. From the early 2nd century BC to late 15th century AD, the Nimar Region underwent the ruling of many emperors from many dynasties, which include Mauryas, Shungas, Early Satvahanas, Kardamakas, Abhiras, Vakatakas, Imperial Guptas, Kalchuris, Vardhanas, Chalukyas, Kanungos, Rashtrakutas, Paramaras, Faruki Dynasty etc.

Medieval history

Khandwa has no remarkable history but the nearby Burhanpur has an interesting past from the Mughal period.

Shahjahan's operation

Prince Khurram was nominated as the Governor of the Deccan in 1617 AD, by Jahangir to succeed Prince Parviz, and was bestowed the title of Shah by Jahangir. Khurram led the Mughal army to a peaceful victory by which Jahangir was pleased with his success & conferred him the title of Shah Jahan on 12 October 1617 AD. After the death of Jahangir in 1627, Shah Jahan ascended the throne of Mughal empire. Due to troubled conditions in the Deccan, When Shah Jahan travelled to Balapur fort, Burhanpur, mother of Mirza Azam and elder daughter of Shahzada Badi uz-Zaman Mirza, alias Shah Nawaz Khan of the Safawi dynasty Dilrus Banu, wife of Auranzeb along with Mumtaz and cousin/brother Shah Beg Khan along with military personnel stayed three nights near Argaon at Hiwarkhed, before the birth of their fourteenth child. He reached Burhanpur on 1 March 1630, where he stayed for the following two years, conducting operations against Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, and Golkunda. On 7 June 1631, Shah Jahan lost his beloved & favourite wife Mumtaz Mahall at Burhanpur, and her body was buried at first in the Garden of Zainabad, across the river Tapti. Early in December of the same year, the remains of her body were sent to Agra. Later on 6 March 1632, Shah Jahan left Burhanpur for the north, after appointing Mahabat Khan as the viceroy of the Deccan.

Modern history

From the mid-16th century to the early 18th century, the Nimar region, was under the rule or influence of Aurangzeb, Bahadur Shah, the Peshwas, Sindhia, Bawaniya, Holkar and Pawar, Pindaris etc. Later from early part of the mid-18th century, the management of the Nimar region came under the British.
The East Nimar district did not remain unaffected by the Great Uprising of 1857, which swept the country, against the British rule. In connection with the so-called Riots of 1857, Tatya Tope had gone through the region of East Nimar district, and Khandwa and before marching out of the district, burnt the police stations and Government buildings at Khandwa, Piplod and a number of other places and escaped again to central India by way of Khargone.
The East Nimar district was greatly affected with the beginning of freedom movement, Non-Co-operation movement, Civil Disobedience movement, Quit India Movement etc., to obtain the independence of India, from late 18th century until 15 August 1947. During this time Khandwa was visited by Swami Dayanad Saraswati of Arya Samaj fame, Swami Vivekanand, the great monk and founder of Ramkrishna Mission, Mahatma Gandhi in 1921, Lokmanya Tilak, and others. Gandhiji visited Khandwa on 21 May 1921. At that time people of Nimar District gave a "Manpatar" to Gandhiji,
Young Nationalists of the district, like Haridas Chatterjee, Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Thakur Laxman Singh, Abdul Quadir Siddique attended the Calcutta Session of Congress in 1917. Tilak visited the district during his whirlwind tour of the central province in 1918. The district took part in the non-co-operation movement. Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930 has also been participated by many people of the district. The Karmavir weekly was seized and its editor, Makhanlal Chaturvedi was sentenced to two years. Editor of Swarajya S. M. Agarkar was also arrested and imprisoned. Nav Jawan Sabha was established at Khandwa in 1931. Students also participated in this movement. They removed Union Flags from high school building and hoisted the tricolor. In this connection Raichand Bhai Nagda was fined and imprisoned.
The District also contributes to the Quit India Movement. The District Political Conference, held at Harsud sometime before August 1942, had alerted the people of impending struggle. The students of Robertson High School, Burhanpur hoisted the tricolor on the school building on 15 August. But it was removed by the police. The students organized the processions against this act of police until their demands of hoisting the tricolor and pasting of photographs of national leaders were met. Many monuments can be seen in Khandwa which were made during the British Raj, like local nagar nigam- building and girls' degree colleges.

Geography

Khandwa is located at. It has an average elevation of 313 metres.

Demographics

India census, Khandwa had a population of 200,738, of which 102,901 were males and 97,837 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 24,801. The total number of literates in Khandwa was 151,545, which constituted 75.5% of the population with male literacy of 78.9% and female literacy of 71.9%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Khandwa was 86.1%, of which male literacy rate was 90.4% and female literacy rate was 81.7%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 27,430 and 8,139 respectively. There were 39002 households in Khandwa in 2011.

Places of interest

Khandwa is known for its four Kunds located in four directions of the city, called Padam Kund, Bheem Kund, Suraj Kund and Rameshwar Kund. Other tourist places of include Dada Darbar.

Economy

Khandwa is famous for its local crops of cotton, wheat, soybean, and a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Its wheat variety Khandwa2 is famous nationwide for its aroma, colour and quality. Legendary actor/singer Kishore Kumar was born in Khandwa. Earlier Khandwa was the only city in Central India which cultivates cannabis.
A hydro power project called Indira Sagar Pariyojna is located close to Khandwa. Sant Singaji thermal power project is located in Dongaliya village in Mundi, a small town in Khandwa.

Transportation

Khandwa has a major railway junction located on the Jabalpur-Bhusaval section of Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line, one of India's most heavily used railway lines, with daily connections to Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Goa, Cochin, Kolkata, Indore, Harda, Bhopal, Patna, Allahabad, Lucknow, Jammu, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. It also has an airstrip which is rarely used for occasional aircraft landings, located on Nagchun Road.

Notable people