Madhya Bharat, also known as Malwa Union, was an

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

in west-central

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

s which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with

Jiwajirao Scindia Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia KStJ (26 June 1916 – 16 July 1961) was an Indian prince and government official. In the British Raj, he was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Gwalior in central India from 1925 until 1947. After ...

as its

Rajpramukh Rajpramukh was an administrative title in India which existed from India's independence in 1947 until 1956. Rajpramukhs were the appointed governors of certain Indian provinces and states. Background The British Indian Empire, which inclu ...

. The union had an area of .

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

was the winter capital and

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous 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 the only city to ...

was the summer capital. It was bordered by the states of

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

(presently

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

) to the southwest,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

to the northwest,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

to the north, and

Vindhya Pradesh Vindhya Pradesh was a former state of India. It occupied an area of 23,603 sq. miles. It was created in 1948 as Union of Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand States, shortly after Indian independence, from the territories of the princely states in the ea ...

to the east, and

Bhopal State Bhopal State (pronounced ) was an Islamic principality founded in the beginning of 18th-century India by the Afghan Mughal noble Dost Muhammad Khan. It was a tributary state during 18th century, a princely salute state with 19-gun salute ...

and

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 second ...

to the southeast. The population was mostly

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

-speaking. On 1 November 1956, Madhya Bharat, together with the states of

and

, was merged into

Districts

Madhya Bharat comprised sixteen districts and these districts were initially divided into three Commissioners' Divisions, which were later reduced to two. The districts were: # Bhind District # Gird District # Morena District # Guna District # Shivpuri District # Rajgarh District # Bhilsa District # Shajapur District # Ujjain District # Indore District # Dewas District # Ratlam District # Dhar District #

Jhabua District Jhabua is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Jhabua is the administrative headquarters of the district. Geography Jhabua district lies in the western part of Madhya Pradesh. It is surrounded by Dahod and Chhota ...

# Nimar District # Mandsaur District

Politics

The nominal head of Madhya Bharat state was

. It had also the post of an Uparajpramukh. The state had a

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislati ...

of 99 members, who were elected from 79 constituencies (59 single member and 20 double member). There were 9

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

constituencies in the state (7 single member and 2 double member).

Jivaji Rao Scindia Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia KStJ (26 June 1916 – 16 July 1961) was an Indian prince and government official. In the British Raj, he was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Gwalior in central India from 1925 until 1947. After ...

was Rajpramukh of the state from 28 May 1948 to 31 October 1956 and

Liladhar Joshi Liladhar Joshi was an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India as a member of the Indian National Congress. He was the First Chief Minister of Madhya Bharat Madhya Bharat, also know ...

was the first Chief Minister. He was succeeded by

Gopi Krishna Vijayvargiya Gopi ( sa, गोपी, ) or Gopika in Hinduism are worshipped as the consorts and devotees of Krishna within the Vaishnavism and Krishnaism traditions for their unconditional love and devotion (''Bhakti'') to god Krishna as described in th ...

in May 1949. On 18 October 1950, Takhatmal jain (Jalori) became the third Chief Minister of Madhya Bharat. In the

1952 Madhya Bharat Legislative Assembly election Elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Indian state of Madhya Bharat were held on 26 March 1952. 440 candidates contested for the 79 constituencies in the Assembly. There were 20 two-member constituencies and 59 single-member constituenci ...

, the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

won 75 seats and the

Hindu Mahasabha The Hindu Mahasabha (officially Akhil Bhārat Hindū Mahāsabhā, ) is a Hindu nationalist political party in India. Founded in 1915, the Mahasabha functioned mainly as a pressure group advocating the interests of orthodox Hindus before the ...

won 11 seats.

Mishrilal Gangwal Mishrilal Gangwal ( Hindi: मिश्रीलाल गंगवाल) was an Indian politician from the state of Madhya Pradesh.He was the member of Indian National Congress party. Mishrilal Gangwal was born on 7 October 1902 Sonkatch ...

became the Chief Minister on 3 March 1952. After his resignation, Takhatmal Jain (Jalori) again became the Chief Minister on 16 April 1955. He was the Chief Minister of the state till 31 October 1956.

Geography

Madhya Bharat state was situated in the Madhya Bharat plateau (presently lying under most of northwestern Madhya Pradesh state and Central Rajasthan). This plateau is bounded by the

Indo-Gangetic plain The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Bangla ...

to the north, the

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion l ...

upland to the east, the

Malwa Plateau Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also sy ...

to the south, and the

East Rajasthan Uplands East Rajasthan Uplands (Marwar Uplands) is a region of rolling plateau with rounded hills and forest. It is located in the western part of the Aravali Range of the Rajasthan state in northwest India, and forms part of the Central Highlands of India ...

on the west.

References

{{coord, 26.22, N, 78.17, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title States and territories disestablished in 1956 History of Madhya Pradesh (1947–present) Former states and territories of India 1956 disestablishments in India