History of Indore



The history of Indore is a tale of strife between the Mughals, Marathas and the British who were struggling to gain dominance of central India. Indore is located in a region called Malwa in central India. According to the records, it was one Rao Nandlal Chaudhary who founded the city of Indore.

He was the chief landlord or Zamindar and had at his disposal, an army of two thousand men. During the years when the Mughal power was waning, the Nizam of Hyderabad received the rights of tax collection for this region. This resulted in the renewal of hostilities.

On his visit to the Indreshwar temple on the banks of the river Saraswati, he found the location to be safe and protected by natural barriers on all sides. He founded the city of Indrapur and built a fort there. The name Indore is a mutation of Indrapur.

Since then, the Marathas came into power. But they lost the third Battle of Panipath to Ahmad Shah Abdali, an Afghan invader. After that, they became powerless to resist the British and had to sue for peace. Under these terms, the Holkars became the rulers of Indore.

Maharaja Malhar Rao Holkar was the founder of the Holkar dynasty. He was one of the greatest statesmen an warrior of his times. Indore remained as a part of the Holkar princedom during the British Raj. During the independence of India, it joined with a number of neighbouring princely states and became a part of Madhya Bharat. The latter was merged into Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 1956.

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Last Updated on 29th Nov 2012