Nimar or Nimad is the southwestern 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 ...

state in west-central India. This region includes sub-regions such as Khargone, Khandwa,

Barwani Barwani or Badwani () is a municipality, municipal town in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh, India, that is situated near the left bank of the Narmada River. It is the administrative headquarters of Barwani district and has also served as th ...

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 capita ...

, and the southern parts of

Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the Dhar ...

Map of Roman Catholic Diocese of Khandwa

The region lies south of the

Vindhya Range The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

, and consists of two portions of the

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 ...

and Tapti river valleys, separated by a section of the

Satpura Range The Satpura Range, formerly also known as the Seeonee Hills, is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range paralle ...

, about 15 miles (24 km) in breadth. On the highest peak, about 800 ft (244 m) above the plain and 1800 ft (549 m) above sea-level, stands the fortress of Asirgarh, commanding a pass which has for centuries been the chief highway between Upper India and the Deccan. The Nimar region is home to the Nimadi language.

History

According to historical records found in the Indore Gazetteer, Bija Gawli, also known as Bija Singh Ahir, held the position of king in Nimar during the 14th century. The Ain-i-Akbari, a significant historical document, makes reference to Khargao, a Mahal (Palace) located in Bijagarh, Nimar. As we progress into the fifteenth century, it becomes apparent that numerous Gawli or Ahir/Yadav chiefs took initiative in establishing small municipalities in southern Nimar, which notably included the Bijagarh fort. The Gazetteer firmly asserts that their dominion over these territories is an indisputable historical fact. Later on Nimar was formed as a district of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, in the

Nerbudda Division The Nerbudda Division, named after the Narmada River (Nerbudda), was a former administrative division of the Central Provinces of British India. It encompassed a good part of the Narmada River basin in the eastern part of present-day Madhya Pradesh ...

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. Nagpur was the primary ...

. The administrative headquarters were at Khandwa; but the capital in Muslim times was

. Area, 4273 mi² (11,067 km²), population (1901) 329,615. The staple crops were cotton and millet; ganja or Indian hemp was also allowed to be grown under government supervision. The Great Indian Peninsula railway ran through the district, and a branch of the Rajputana line from

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 ...

joined it at Khandwa. There were factories for ginning and pressing cotton at Khandwa, and manufacture of gold-embroidered cloth at Burhanpur. The district contained extensive forests, and the government preserved a section known is the Punasa forest, which extended for about 120 miles (190 km) along the south bank of the Narmada, home to forests of

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

(''Tectona grandis''), sain (''Terminalia tomentosa'') and anjan (''Hardwickia binata'') trees. Nimar was also a district in the princely state of Indore lying west of the British district on both banks of the Narmada. Area, 3871 mile² (10,026 km²); pop. (1901) 257,110. From 1823 onwards this tract, then belonging to Sindhia rulers of

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

, was under British management; in 1861 it was ceded in full sovereignty to the British, but in 1867 it passed to

Holkar The Holkars (pronunciation: �o(ː)ɭkəɾ were the ruling house of the Indore State of the Maratha Confederacy, and earlier held the rank of Subahdar under Peshwa Baji Rao I of the Maratha Empire. When the Maratha Confederacy began to we ...

rulers of

as the result of an exchange of territory. After Indian independence in 1947, The former British district became the Nimar District of the new state of Madhya Pradesh, with its administrative seat at Khandwa; the Nimar District of

state became the Nimar district of the new state of

Madhya Bharat Madhya Bharat, also known as Malwa Union, was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jiwajirao Scindia as its Rajpramuk ...

, with its administrative seat at Khargone. When Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956, The former Madhya Bharat district became West Nimar District, while the eastern district became East Nimar District. West Nimar district was split into the districts of

and Khargone on 24 May 1998 and similarly East Nimar district was split into the districts of Khandwa and

on 15 August 2003. The population of this region according to the 2011 Census is 7,044,884 people.

Districts of Nimar

* Harda * Jhabua * Khandwa * Khargone *

(Manawar District) (Southern part) * Barwaha (Proposed)

Cities of Nimar

* Anjad * Bagh * Barwaha *

* Beria * Bhagwanpura * Bhikangaon *

* Dhamnod * Dharampuri * Gogawan * Harda * Harsud * Icchapur * Jhabua * Jhirniya * Kasrawad * Kenud * Khandwa * Khalwa * Khargone * Khetia * Kukshi * Maheshwar * Manawar * Mandav *

Mandhata Mandhata, also called Omkareshwar or Shivapuri and ancient Mahishmati, capital of Avanti Mahajanpada is a riverine island in the Narmada River in Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh, India. Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga is situated on the south ...

* Mandleshwar * Mundi * Nepanagar * Palsud * Pandhana * Punasa * Pansemal * Rajpur * Sanawad * Satwas *

Sendhwa Sendhwa is a city with a Nagar Palika (Municipality), municipal government in Barwani district in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the headquarters for Sendhwa Tehsil and Sub Division. Geography Sendhw ...

* Shahpur * Thikri

Notable people

* Tantia Bhīl - a tribal leader who actively fought against

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

between 1878 and 1889 * Kishore Kumar- One of the greatest Indian playback singers. *

Nandkumar Singh Chauhan Nandkumar Singh Chauhan (8 September 1952 – 2 March 2021; ) was a politician from the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a member of Lok Sabha from Khandwa at the time of his death. Biography His firs ...

* Vijayalaxmi Sadho * Arun Yadav Former Member of Parliament,Khandwa * Sachin Yadav - MLA and former Agricultural minister of Madhya Pradesh. * Subhash Yadav - Former deputy chief minister. * Narayan Patel

References

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