Khandwa is a city and a nagar nigam in the Nimar region of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is the administrative headquarters of the Khandwa district, formerly known as East Nimar District. Khandwa is a major railway junction; the Malwa line connecting

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

with the Deccan meets the main east–west line from

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

History

The name of the city is derived from "Khandav Van", which literally means Khandav Forests.

Ancient history

Recent explorations in the beds/tributaries of

Narmada The Narmada River, previously also known as ''Narbada'' or anglicised as ''Nerbudda'', is the 5th longest river in India and overall the longest west-flowing river in the country. It is also the largest flowing river in the state of Madhya Prade ...

have revealed traces of the Paleolithic men in the East Nimar district. Omkar Mandhata, a rocky island on the bank of the Narmada river, about 47 miles north-west of Khandwa, is said to have been conquered by the Haihaya king Mahishmant, who had named the same as

Mahishmati Mahishmati () was an ancient city and the capital of Haihayas in the present-day central India on the banks of Narmada River (in Madhya Pradesh), although its exact location is uncertain. The city may have flourished as late as until 13th centu ...

. During the rise of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, the East Nimar region was included in the Avanti Kingdom under Chand Pradyota Mahesana, which was later added to the growing empire of

Magadha Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...

by Shishunaga. From the early 2nd century BCE to late 15th century CE, the Nimar Region (earlier a part of Khandesh) was ruled by many dynasties, which include Mauryas, Shungas, Early Satvahanas, Kardamakas, and Abhiras (

Ahir Ahir or Aheer (derived from the Sanskrit word: abhira) is a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most of whom now use the Yadav surname, as they consider the two terms synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...

Gavli). Vakatakas, Imperial Guptas, Kalchuris, Vardhanas (of Harsha Vardhana fame), Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Paramaras, Faruki Dynasty.

Geography

Khandwa is located at . It has an average elevation of 313 metres (1026 feet).

Climate

Demographics

As of the 2011 Census of India, Khandwa had a population of 200,738, of which 102,901 were males and 97,837 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 24,801. The total number of literates in Khandwa was 151,545, which constituted 75.5% of the population with male literacy of 78.9% and female literacy of 71.9%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Khandwa was 86.1%, of which male literacy rate was 90.4% and female literacy rate was 81.7%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 27,430 and 8,139 respectively. There were 39002 households in Khandwa in 2011.

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

is the most spoken language. Nimadi is the local dialect.

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

and Sindhi are also common.

Culture and cityscape

* Ganguli House, the ancestral home of Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar. Also named Gauri Kunj, after their mother. * Samadhi of Kishore Kumar. * Four Kunds located in four directions of the city, called Padam Kund, Bheem Kund, Suraj Kund and Rameshwar Kund. * Dada Darbar, popularly known as ''Shri Dadaji Dhuniwale''. * Shree Vitthal Mandir Khandwa the temple was founded by shree swami sacchidanand swami maharj in 1850, temple is made up of sheesham and sagvan wood. Great example of architecture.

Notable people

Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...

, actor * Anoop Kumar, actor *

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

, actor and singer * Makhanlal Chaturvedi, poet * Saroo Brierley, real name was Sheru Munshi Khan prior to adoption * Bhagwantrao Mandloi, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh

Transport

The nearest commercial airport is Indore. It also has an

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

which is rarely used for occasional aircraft landings, located on Nagchun Road. Khandwa has a major railway junction located on the Jabalpur-Bhusaval section of Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line.

Educational institutes

* Dr. C.V. Raman University, established in 2018 * Government Medical College, established in 2018

In popular culture

* The town was featured in the 2016 Australian

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

'', which was based on the extraordinary search for his birth family by Khandwa-born Saroo Brierley, who got lost as a child and ended up in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

after being adopted.

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Khandwa district Cities in Madhya Pradesh