The Nerbudda Division, named after the Narmada River (Nerbudda), was a former administrative division of the

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. It encompassed a good part of the Narmada River basin in the eastern part of present-day

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 ...

state of

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 ...

. The Nerbudda Division had an area of 47,609.2 km² with a population of 1,785,008 in 1901. The Central Provinces became the

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the B ...

in 1936 until the

Independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

Territory

The main mountains in the division were the

Mahadeo Hills The Mahadeo Hills are a range of hills in Madhya Pradesh state of central India. The hills are situated in the northern section of the Satpura Range. The Mahadeo Hills run east and west through Betul, Chhindwara, and Seoni districts, separating ...

, the central part of the Satpura Range, where

Pachmarhi Pachmarhi is a hill station in Narmadapuram district of Madhya Pradesh state of central India. It has been the location of a cantonment (Pachmarhi Cantonment) since British Raj. It is widely known as ''Satpura ki Rani'' ("Queen of Satpura" ...

, the summer

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

for British officials, and the Pachmarhi Cantonment were located.Pachmarhi, Jewel in the crown of Central India
/ref> The main towns in the division were

Hoshangabad Hoshangabad, officially known as Narmadapuram is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Hoshangabad district and Narmadapuram division. It is located in central India, on the sou ...

(15,863 inhabitants in 1881),

Burhanpur Burhanpur'' is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai, southwest of the state's capi ...

(33,341 inhabitants in 1901) and

Gadarwara Gadarwara is a city and a municipality since 1867 in Narsinghpur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Geography Gadarwara is located at . It has an average elevation of 354.77 metres (1,163 feet). Gadarwara lies on the m ...

(6,978 in 1901); other important towns were

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 conn ...

Harda Harda is a town and a municipality in Harda district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Harda is the administrative headquarters of Harda. History Mughal period During the Mughal period, Harda was a mahal in the Handia sarkar. In ...

, Narsinghpur,

Chhindwara , other_name = Corn city , nickname = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , p ...

Pandhurna Pandhurna is a city and a municipality in Chhindwara district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Geography Pandhurna is located at . It has an average elevation of 474 metres (1,555 feet). Demographics Pandhurna is a municipal ...

Sohagpur Sohagpur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Hoshangabad district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the subdivisions and development blocks in Hoshangabad district. Sohagpur is also one of the legislative constituencies of Mad ...

Seoni Seoni is a city and a municipality in Seoni district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This tribal household dominated district was formed in the year 1956. Rudyard Kipling used the forests in the vicinity of Seoni, or as was spelled dur ...

and

Mohgaon Mohgaon is a town and a nagar parishad in Chhindwara district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Madhya Pradesh. Geography Mohgaon is located at . It has an average elevation of 366 metres (1,200 feet). Demographi ...

Administrative divisions

Districts

The Nerbudda Division included the following districts: * Narsinghpur *

*Nimar, present-day Khandwa ( East Nimar) and Khargone ( West Nimar) * Betul *

Chhindwara , other_name = Corn city , nickname = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , p ...

Princely states

Makrai State Makrai State was a princely state in India during the time of the British Raj. The seat was in Makrai. In 1892 the state covered an area of forming an enclave surrounded by the British territory of the Nerbudda Division of the Central Provinc ...

was the only

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 ...

within the division and was under the supervision of the Nerbudda commissioner.

References

* McEldowney, Philip F. (1980). ''Colonial Administration and Social Developments in middle India: The Central Provinces, 1861–1921.'' Ph.D. dissertation. {{Divisions of British India Divisions of British India States and territories established in 1853

Territory

Administrative divisions

Districts

Princely states

See also

References