Bagh is a

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

Dhar district Dhar district is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The historic town of Dhar is administrative headquarters of the district. The district has an area 8,153 km2. It is bounded by the districts of Ratlam to the north, Ujja ...

in the state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is known for the

Bagh Caves The Bagh Caves are a group of nine rock-cut monuments, situated among the southern slopes of the Vindhyas in Bagh town of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. These monuments are located at a distance of 97 km from Dhar t ...

, which are late 4th- to 6th-century

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

rock-cut chambers with murals. The name of the town stems from the caves - according to local legend there were living tigers (''bagh'' in several languages of India) in these abandoned Buddhist caves.

History

In 1982, a hoard of 27 inscriptions issued by the

Maharajas of Valkha The Maharajas of Valkha were part of a central Indian dynasty that ruled the historical Valkha region (the area around present-day Khargone district). They are known from several inscriptions dated to the years 38-134 of an unspecified calendar e ...

was discovered at Risawala near Bagh. The inscriptions were issued from a place known as Valkha, which has led to suggestions that the name "Bagh" is derived from "Valkha". The inscriptions are dated to the years 38-134 of an unspecified

calendar era A calendar era is the period of time elapsed since one ''epoch'' of a calendar and, if it exists, before the next one. For example, it is the year as per the Gregorian calendar, which numbers its years in the Western Christian era (the Coptic ...

. Historians

D. C. Sircar Dineshchandra Sircar (1907–1985), also known as D. C. Sircar or D. C. Sarkar, was an epigraphist, historian, numismatist and folklorist, known particularly in India and Bangladesh for his work deciphering inscriptions. He was the Chief Ep ...

and R. C. Majumdar theorized that the Maharajas of Valkha were subordinates to the Guptas, and the calendar era used in their inscription is the Gupta era starting from 319 CE. Thus, the Maharajas of Valkha can be dated to 4th and 5th centuries CE. The next known ruler of the region is Maharaja Subandhu of

Mahishmati Mahishmati (IAST: Māhiṣmatī) was an ancient city in present-day central India. It was located in present-day Madhya Pradesh, on the banks of Narmada River, although its exact location is uncertain. It is mentioned in several ancient texts, a ...

. His

inscription is dated 167 (486 CE, assuming Gupta era). Art historian Walter M. Spink has identified Subandhu as the prince Vishruta mentioned in ''

Dashakumaracharita ''Dashakumaracharita'' (''The narrative of ten young men'', IAST: ''Daśa-kumāra-Carita'', Devanagari: दशकुमारचरित) is a prose romance in Sanskrit, attributed to Dandin (दण्डी), believed to have flourished in the ...

''. According to his theory, Subandhu or Vishruta was a Gupta prince, who established the dynasty that later came to be known as

Kalachuri The Kalachuris (IAST: Kalacuri), also known as Kalachuris of Mahishmati, were an Indian dynasty that ruled in west-central India between 6th and 7th centuries. They are also known as the Heheya Kingdom, Haihayas or as the Early Kalachuris to d ...

Transport Connectivity

By Train

Nearest Railway stations are

Dahod Dahod is a city on the banks of the Dudhimati River in Dahod District in the State of Gujarat, India. It is said that it has taken its name from Saint Dadhichi, who had an Ashram on the bank of Dudhumati river. The city serves as District He ...

100 km.,

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

150 km.,

Meghnagar Meghnagar is a census town, near Jhabua town in Jhabua district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Demographics India census, Meghnagar had a population of 10,316. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Meghnagar has an ...

104 km.,

Ratlam Ratlam, known historically as Ratnapuri (lit. ''gem city''), is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh states and territories of India, state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administ ...

150 km,

Khandwa Khandwa is a city and a nagar nigam in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Khandwa district, formerly known as East Nimar District. Khandwa is a major railway junction; the Malwa line conne ...

220 km.

By Road

Bagh is well connected to

by road and Daily Bus Services.

By airport

The nearest airport is Indore.

Bagh Printing

The Khatris are a community whose inward beings dance the Sufi way. They came under the influence of a Sufi man and it stuck a long lasting chord. Originally Ajrakh printers they ventured into places to sell their fabrics and their enterprising ways kept them upfloat. From Larkana in Sind (today's Pakistan) to Pali, to the Marwadi Thar, to Manawar in Madhya Pradesh, their journey came to a stop and they settled down in Bagh in 1962, as they saw their grandfather and uncles returning to their ancestral land (Karachi, Pakistan) during Partition Bagh is located at . It has an average elevation of 240 metres (787

feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Bagh had a population of 7415. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Bagh has an average literacy rate of 63%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 57% of the males and 43% of females literate. 16% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Notable people from Bagh

Abdul Kadar Khatri Abdul Kadar Khatri (1961–2019) was an Indian master craftsman in the sector of traditional hand block printing known as Bagh Print. He was the son of Ismail Sulemanji Khatri, founder of Bagh print. He along with his father saved the tradition ...

(1961 - 2019) Master Craftsman *

Mohammed Yusuf Khatri Mohammed Yusuf Khatri is an Indian master craftsman born:, in village of Bagh, Dhar, Bagh, Madhya Pradesh, who had learnt the traditional Craft of Bagh Print at a young age by his father Ismail Khatri and mother Mrs Jetun Khatri. His family has b ...

, printer

Nature Bazar presents Dastkar Design Fair 2015

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Dhar district Buddhist caves in India