24 Facts About Malwa

1.

Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin.

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2.

At present the historical Malwa region includes districts of western Madhya Pradesh and parts of south-eastern Rajasthan.

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3.

Malwa region had been a separate political unit from the time of the ancient Malava Kingdom.

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4.

Malwa continued to be an administrative division until 1947, when the Malwa Agency of British India was merged into Madhya Bharat state of independent India.

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5.

Several prominent people in the history of India have lived in Malwa, including the poet and dramatist Kalidasa, the author Bhartrihari, the mathematicians and astronomers Varahamihira and Brahmagupta, and the polymath king Bhoja.

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6.

The name Malwa is derived from the name of the ancient Indian tribe of Malavas.

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7.

Malwa Culture was a Chalcolithic archaeological culture which existed in the Malwa region, as well as nearby parts of Maharashtra to the south, during the 2nd millennium BCE.

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8.

Malwa became part of the Gupta Empire during the reign of Chandragupta II, known as Vikramaditya, who conquered the region, driving out the Western Kshatrapas.

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9.

Around 500, Malwa re-emerged from the dissolving Gupta Empire as a separate kingdom; in 528, Yasodharman of Malwa defeated the Hunas, who had invaded India from the north-west.

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10.

Malwa became an intellectual centre of India, and became home to a major astronomical observatory, attracting scholars from all over India including Bhaskara II.

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11.

Malwa's successors ruled until about 1305, when Malwa was conquered by the Delhi Sultanate.

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12.

Malwa was several times invaded by the south Indian Western Chalukya Empire.

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13.

Hoshang Shah's son, Ghazni Khan, ruled for only a year and was succeeded by Mahmud Khalji, the first of the Khalji sultans of Malwa, who expanded the state to include parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and the Deccan.

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14.

Malwa is bounded in the north-east by the Hadoti region, in the north-west by the Mewar region, in the west by the Vagad region and Gujarat.

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15.

Malwa has a significant number of Dawoodi Bohras, a subsect of Shia Muslims from Gujarat, who are mostly businessmen by profession.

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16.

Malwa opium was a challenge to the monopoly of the British East India Company, which was supplying Bengal opium to China.

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17.

Culture of Malwa has been significantly influenced by Rajasthani culture, because of their geographic proximity.

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18.

Main language of Malwa is Malvi, although Hindi is widely spoken in the cities.

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19.

Traditional Malwa food has elements of Rajasthani, Gujarati and Maharashtrian cuisine.

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20.

Malwa was the centre of Sanskrit literature during and after the Gupta period.

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21.

Biggest festival of Malwa is the Simhastha mela, held every 12 years, in which more than 40 million pilgrims take a holy dip in river Shipra.

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22.

Malwa is considered as the supreme fatwa issuing authority of the region.

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23.

Main tourist destinations in Malwa are places of historical or religious significance.

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24.

Main language of Malwa is Malvi, although Hindi is widely spoken in the cities.

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