Sheopur is a city in

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 of central

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 Sheopur District. The City is situated on the right bank of the Seep River, a tributary of the Chambal. Thus the city derives its name from "Seep-pur" meaning "town on the Seep". Later, colloquially it came to be known as Sheopur. Sheopur is linked by narrow gauge rail to

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 ...

(No longer in operation).

Chambal River The Chambal River is a tributary of the Yamuna River in Central India, Central and North India, Northern India, and thus forms part of the drainage system of the Ganges. The river flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, running for a brie ...

is just 25 km, which forms the boundary between

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and MP states. Sheopur can be reached via train and buses from

which is 211Km and via buses from Sawai Madhopur and Kota which are 61 km and 139 km from Sheopur. Sheopur is located at northern part of Madhya Pradesh. Some of the main locations are Vijaipur, Karahal and Badoda. Major tourist attraction is Palpur (kuno) wildlife sanctuary. The well-known Kaketo reservoir is located in this district. The art of

woodcarving Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ...

has flourished in district Sheopur and the beautifully embellished wooden ceilings, doors and lintels with finely carved designs are silent testimonials of its glory. The wood carvers of Sheopur, with great sensitivity and skill transform different varieties of wood. The crafts persons of Sheopur make pipes, masks, toys, doors, stands, windows, wooden memorials, flower vases, bedposts and cradle posts etc. The important rivers like Chambal, Seep and Kuno drain the district. The Chambal, which originates in the Indore district, forms the northwestern boundary of

with

History

Early mentions

There is no conclusive documented source available that traces the historical origin of Sheopur Fort. However a Jain pillar edict dated 1026 A.D. refers to the existence of the Sheopur fort. The 17th century poet Khadag Rai of

, in his renowned work ''Gopanchala Akhyana'' mentions Sheopur. According to his account the king of Nareshar Ajay Pal (1194–1219) had declared Sheopur as his capital.

Islamic Era

In 1301 A.D.

Alauddin Khalji Alauddin Khalji (; ), born Ali Gurshasp, was a ruler from the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrative changes in the Delhi Sultanate, related to revenue ...

after capturing the Ranthambhor fort, captured the Sheopur fort as well, which was under king Hammir Dev at that time. In 1489, Sultan Mahmood Khalji of

Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...

captured and established it as an integrated part of the

Malwa Sultanate The Malwa Sultanate was a late medieval kingdom in the Malwa, Malwa region, covering the present day Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and south-eastern Rajasthan from 1401 to 1562. It was founded by Dilawar Khan, who following Timur's invasion ...

. In 1542,

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...

captured the Sheopur fort. A prayer ground (''idgah'') built in his time and a grand mausoleum built by his son, Islam Shah, in memory of his commander Munabber Khan are examples of the architecture of that time. After that, Surjan Singh Hada, the King of Princely state of Bundi captured Sheopur fort.

Gaur Rule

According to tradition the city of Sheopur and its fort in present-day

were founded by the Gaur Rajputs' chief, Indra Singh, in 1537.The first historical reference to the city dates to 1570. Sarwar fort of sarwar district Rajasthan was also built by

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

dynasty kings. The 225 years history of the Sipahad kingdom is called a saga of untold valor and forcefully independent cultural identity. This is reflected in architectural remains, which are individual thriving traditions of performing art, paintings, sculpture and highly artistic style of living. The individual palace of Narsingh Gaur, Rani mahal or Gorji mahal are striking examples of Gaur architecture. The built as a mark of respect for the kings Indar Singh Gaur & and Kishor Das Gaur after their demise are silent and solemn examples of symmetrically well-crafted architecture.The Gaurs continued to rule from it until they succumbed to the Scindias.

Scindia Rule

Scindias remained in control of the fort till India acquired independence. They contributed to the grandeur of the fort by adding new dimensions to its resplendent remarks. The late Maharaja Madavrao Scindia built a Diwan-e-Aam, The Darbar Hall, and a state guesthouse presently the Diwan-e-Aam.

Conservation

On the site is a Sahariya Museum, which is a window on the world of Saharia life partners, who rank as one of few existing primitive tribes of India. A few portion of the fort have been taken over by the M.P. Archeological Department for protections and conservation.

Education

The following colleges offer graduate and post-graduate level certifications: Institutions affiliated t
Jiwaji University
* Government Madhavrao Scindia P.G. College * Adarsh Mahavidhyalaya * Sheopur Institute of Professional Studies * Shri Ganesh Mahavidhyalaya Vijaipur * Vinayak College * Shri Ram Institute (College) Sheopur * Government Polytechnic College Sheopur * Government P.G. college Sheopur * Government Adarsh Girls College Sheopur There are several schools offering both C.B.S.E. and state-board syllabus. C.B.S.E. schools: * Jawahar Navodaya Vidhyalaya * Kendriya Vidhyalaya * St. Pius School * Modern Convent School * Rajeev Gandhi Memorial Boarding School State Board schools (public and private): * Excellence School * Govt. Girls School * Hajareswar School * Saraswati Shishu/Vidya Mandir * Harihar School * Gurunanak Public School * Madhavrao Scindia School * Nehru School * Future Star Convent School The following institutions offer pre-primary education: * SR Kids - A Pre School * SR International School * Jeevan Academy

Transport

* By Air: The nearest airport to Sheopur is

. This airport is well connected with

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

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 ...

. * By Rail: Sheopur Kalan railway station lies on the Gwalior Light Railway of the former princely state of

(now part of the Central Railway in Madhya Pradesh) these 209 km of 610mm gauge lines were originally sponsored by the

Maharaja of Gwalior The Gwalior State was a List of Maratha dynasties and states, state within the Maratha Confederacy located in Central India. It was ruled by the Scindia, House of Scindia (anglicized from Sendrak), a Hindu Maratha Confederacy, Maratha dynasty. ...

, reaching Sheopur in 1909. This railway line has been nominated by

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

for the

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

site. * By Road: Sheopur is connected by regular bus services with

, Morena, Sawai Madhopur,

Shivpuri Shivpuri, previously known as Sipri, is a town and a municipality in Shivpuri district, located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is in the Gwalior Division of northwest Madhya Pradesh and is the administrative headquarters o ...

, Baran, Kota and

. Sheopur is 211 km from

, 195 km from Morena, 139 km from Kota and 61 km from Sawai Madhopur.

Division

The district is divided into two sub divisions of Sheopur and Vijaypur. Five Tehsils (Sheopur, Karhal, Vijaypur, Baroda, Beerpur), three blocks (Sheopur, Karhal, Vijaypur, birpur) and three Nagarpalikas (Sheopur, Baroda, Vijaypur).

Geography

Sheopur is located at . It has an average elevation of 229 metres (751 feet).

Physiography

The general physiography of the terrain is hilly. It comes under the Vindhya series. The sanctuary falls in the semi-arid zone and has a typical terrain of Central Indian highlands, interspersed with woodlands and meadows. The soil is sandy and sandy-loam, showing a spatial variation in depth. River kuno, a tributary of the Chambal, vertically bisects the sanctuary from north to south. It occupies an area of 5.90 km² in the sanctuary. A number of major nullahs like Lankahkhoh, Kudikheda, Durredi, Aamkhoh originate from the gorges located on the west, join river Kuno. Similarly, the Dabhona Nallah, Naharkunda Nallah, Gangoli Nallah etc. originating from the eastern Khohs, meet the Kuno river at various sites.

Climate

The average

rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...

in the area is 750 mm per year. The maximum temperature can rise up to 49 degree C while the minimum temperature recorded has been 2 degree C.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Sheopur had a population of 105026. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sheopur has an average literacy rate of 72%, lower than the national average of 76%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 56%. In Sheopur, 17% of the population is under 6 years of age. Main schools of Sheopur are Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Govt. Excellence School, St. Pius School, Modern School and Rajeev Gandhi Memorial Boarding School. World-famous lion project in Kuno palpur is situated 70 km from the city. In last few years level of education has been improved surprisingly as many students have cracked in competitive examination like CAT, CLAT, AIMAT, IIT, AIEEE, PET and AIPMT, etc.

Economy

About 50 percent of the geographical area is available for cultivation. About 58.74 percent of the cultivable area in the district is irrigated.

Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

is the major source of irrigation.

Wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

is the most important food grain grown in the district.

Mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, small, round seeds of ...

is the most important oil seed grown in the district. In Sheopur District there are total 156 running small scale industries, based on pipes,

masks A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

, toys, doors, stands, windows, wooden memorials, flower vases, bedposts and cradle posts etc.

Government

The District Collector is the head of the Sheopur district, who is in charge of all the activities of Sheopur. municipal head of the sheopur town is the president of nagar Palika. while the M.L.A. and M.P. are the political heads of the district.

Culture

In Sheopur the major spoken language is

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 ...

and local dialect is Hadoti. Folk Dances:- Ahiri

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

:- This dance is related to people who have traditionally been in the business of cattle herding. In different parts of the state these people are known by different castes such as

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 ...

, Baredi, Gwal, Rawat, Raut, Gwala etc. Baredi or

Yadav Yadavs are a grouping of non-elite, peasant-pastoral Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern states l ...

dance of

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central and North India. It corresponds to the Post-Vedic Chedi kingdom. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Prad ...

:- This dance has been associated with the biggest

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

festival

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

. On the night of Diwali people worship Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth (after all no body can live without money), and cattle. Next day on the occasion of "Padva" or "Parva" cattle are sent to jungles or ranches after being decorated with flowers and garlands. They are given special dishes as food.

dance is performed on the same occasion. Dancers dance in a circular path while singing songs. Sometimes they sit or lie down on earth and suddenly they restart their dance. Rhythm of the song is very low in starting and increases with time. Music instruments are started only when two lines of the song are finished. Primarily these are two line couplets. Sometimes these are in form of questions and answers. This dance continues till

Kartik Purnima Kartika Purnima (), also known as Kartika Pournami, is a Hindu, Sikh, and Jain cultural festival that is celebrated on ''purnima'' (full moon day), the 15th day of the lunar month Kartika. It falls on November or December of the Gregorian ...

. Dress:- Dancers, instrument beaters and their associates wear a clean turban on head. Some people like to put on Dhoti up to knees (long cloth wore by men enwrapping their waist). Some people specially dancers wear colorful shorts. Dancers also keep bunch of peacock feathers. Saharia Dances:- Saharias are tribal people who live in jungles. They work in farms and also collect medicinal plants from jungles. There are several dances of Saharias. Some of the important ones are: Lur Dance, Lanhgi Dance, Dul-Dul Ghodi Dance, Raya Dance, Ada-Khada Dance. Lur dance of Saharias:- This dance is performed on the occasion of marriage starting from the day of ritual of "Haldi" (In this ritual whole body is pasted with

turmeric Turmeric (), or ''Curcuma longa'' (), is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between and high ...

and after sometime it is removed so the body is cleaned) till the arrival of Barat (Bridegroom comes to the house of the

bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is a newlywed. When marrying, if the bride's future spouse is a man, he is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, ...

with his relatives and friends for marriage ceremony). Lanhgi dance of Saharias:- This dance is also known as

Danda In Indic scripts, the daṇḍa (Sanskrit: दण्ड ' "stick") is a punctuation mark. The glyph consists of a single vertical stroke. Use The daṇḍa marks the end of a sentence or line, comparable to a full stop (period) as commonly us ...

(baton) dance because Saharias dance with small batons in their hands with which they strike at each other and perform Lanhgi dance. Only men are allowed in it. This dance is performed on the occasion of Bhujarias, Teja ji puja and Aekadashi etc. Dul-Dul Ghori dance:- This dance is performed on the occasion of marriage by males. In this dance a hollow case of ''ghori'' (a

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

) is prepared of bamboo sticks. The dancer stands in the hollow place and dances. (Depicts various movements of mare.) There is also a joker in women clothing. People sing folk songs during the dance. Musical instruments:- Mradang,

Dholak The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The dholak is most commonly recognised in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but can also be found amongst the Indo-Diaspora in countries s ...

, Ramtula, Dhapli, Manzira, Jhanz etc. are used in this dance. Famous Celeb : - Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh who was one of the most prominent Hindi poets, essayist, literary and political critic, and fiction writers, was born in sheopur. Every year Muktibodh festival is celebrated in the city.

References

External links

Sheopur Districtdevelopmental profile of district from state planning board
{{Chambal Division Cities and towns in Sheopur district