Mhow

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  ?Mhow
महू
Madhya Pradesh • India
Coordinates: 22°20′N 75°28′E / 22.34, 75.47
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Area
• Elevation
• 556 m (1,824 ft)
District(s) Indore
Population 85,023 (2001)
Codes
• Pincode
• Telephone
• 453441
• +07324

Coordinates: 22°20′N 75°28′E / 22.34, 75.47 Mhow (Hindi:महू) is a small cantonment town in the Indore District of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh state, India. It is located 23 km south of Indore city towards Mumbai on the Agra-Mumbai Road. The town was renamed as Dr Ambedkar Nagar in 2003, by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.[1]

Contents

[edit] Etymology

There is total lack of unanimity on how Mhow got its name. There are many theories about this. But there is no confirmation about which theory is true. Here are some of these in no particular order.

  • MHOW stands for 'Military Headquarters Of War'.[citation needed]
  • MHOW stands for 'Military Headquarters Of Western India'
  • It is said that the village near Mhow has been called Mhow Gaon since time immemorial. Thus the Cantonment which came up in 1818 came to be known as Mhow Cantt.
  • The mahua tree which grows in profusion in the forests around Mhow has also been mentioned as a possible source for the name of this town.

[edit] History

This cantonment town was founded in 1818 by Sir John Malcolm as a result of the Treaty of Mandsaur between the English and the Holkars who ruled Indore. Sir John Malcolm's forces had defeated the Holkars at the Battle of Mahidpur in 1818. It was after this battle that the capital of the Holkar Kingdom shifted from the town of Maheshwar on the banks of the Narmada to Indore.

Mhow used to be the headquarters of the 5th Division of the Southern Army (a Division comprising only British units) during the British Raj. Today this small town is associated with the Indian Army and with Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956), the father of the Indian Constitution who was born here.

Denzil Lobo is a local historian of Mhow and can be contacted at lobo.denzil@rediffmail.com

[edit] Places of interest

Mhow is famous for its mild and pleasant weather, unspoilt countryside and the cool evening breeze known as Shab-e-Malwa which makes the summers less harsh and so much more tolerable. Some of the picnic spots in and around Mhow are: Patal Pani waterfalls, Choral dam, Nakheri dam, Beircha lake, the lakes near Mhow fort, Yashwantnagar Talaab, Janapav temple in Kuti Village, Sitlamata temple and falls (in Manpur, 20 km from Mhow), Jam Darwaza (12 Km from Mhow towards Maheshwar), Bhagoda Water falls (Mhow-Simrol Road).There is also a very old Durga temple at Mhow Gaon.

Eight kilometres from Mhow is the industrial estate of Pithampur which falls in the adjoining Dhar district. Pithampur is a hub for the automobile manufacturing industry and in addition to major units like Kinetic Honda, Hindustan Motors and Bajaj Tempo Ltd. it has many ancillary units.

[edit] Demography

Mhow tehsil is supposed to have a population of around 2,00,000. This includes the villages around Mhow which together form an administrative unit and is looked after by a team headed by the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM).

As of 2001 India census,[2] Mhow Cantonment had a population of 85,023. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Mhow Cantonment has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 65%. In Mhow Cantonmment, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

This small town has representatives of almost all communities. The Bhils who are the original inhabitants of this area still live in villages scattered around Mhow.

The villages of Mhow (and Malwa) especially Gawli Palasiya, Kodariya, Kelod, Jamli, Badgonda and Harsola have a large number of Patidars who are originally from Gujarat. The Patels of Gujarat are a part of the Patidar community. Mhow has a sizable number of Marathis as it is part of Indore, the erstwhile state ruled by the Maratha Holkar family.

Among the various communities settled in Mhow some have a distinctive Raj connection; these include the Parsis or Zoroastrians, the Goan Catholics, the Anglo Indians, a community of Hyderabadi Muslims and the Ahir Muslims of Banda Basti. The first three communities are very small numerically.

The Parsis who were a thriving community at one time have now become a very small community in Mhow. They have a fire temple in Mhow town and a Tower of Silence where they keep their dead. The Tower of Silence is between Mhow and the Beircha Lake. The Parsis are very intimately connected with the growth and evolution of modern Mhow.

Mhow has a large number of Muslims, this includes both Shias and Sunnis. Mhow also has a substantial number of Dawoodi Bohras - a sub-sect of Shīˤa Muslims from Gujarat who are mostly businessmen by profession. Besides the Dawoodi Bohras, the business communities in Mhow includes Marwaris, Punjabi Hindu Aroras, Sindhis, Jains and Gujaratis. The Sikhs also have a presence in Mhow, many of them having arrived here after the partition of 1947 along with the Hindu Punjabis. Each community listed above has contributed in its own way towards the growth of Mhow.

[edit] The Indian Army and Mhow

Mhow and the Indian Army are inseparable. The Army has been here since 1818. Till World War II Mhow used to be the headquarters of the 5th Division of the Southern Army (a Division comprising only British units). According to local legend Winston Churchill had also spent a few months in Mhow when he was a subaltern serving with his regiment in India. The house on the Mall where he is supposed to have lived has gradually crumbled due to neglect and age. It has been pulled down and a jogger's park has been built on its grounds by Infantry School Mhow.

Mhow is synonymous with the Indian Army and has been a training centre of the Army since the British days. It houses three premier training institutions: (i) The Infantry School - the alma mater of the Indian Infantry which is the spearhead of the Indian Army (ii) The Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), the alma mater of the Corps of Signals. The Corps of Signals is like the nervous system of the Indian Army as it is responsible for communications. (iii) The Army War College (formerly known as the College of Combat). These three institutions together form the backbone of Mhow. Each of these institutions is headed by a Lieutenant General.

* The Infantry School, Mhow The Infantry School Mhow conducts courses related to the infantry for men and officers of the various regiments of the Indian Army. The Commando Wing of this school is in Belgaum, Karnataka. The Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) which has produced many medal winning shooters for the Army and for India is a part of The Infantry School Mhow. Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw had served as the Commandant of this school in the fifties while he was a Brigadier.

* MCTE Mhow

MCTE was known as the School of Signals till 1967. It is the alma mater of the Corps of Signals. MCTE conducts telecommunications and Information Technology courses for officers, JCOS, NCOs and soldiers of the Indian Army. Officers and men from other countries also attend courses here. It also trains gentlemen cadets for a Bachelors degree in engineering. These cadets get commissioned into the Indian Army's Corps of Signals on completion of their training. They are known as the 'Information Warriors' of the Indian Army.

* Army War College, Mhow

The Army War College was known as the College of Combat till a few years ago. The Army War College conducts three courses—the Junior Command (JC) course, the Senior Command (SC) course and the Higher Command (HC) course. The former Chief of Army Staff General K. Sundarji was the Commandant of the College of Combat during the early eighties. His successor General V.N. Sharma also served as the Commandant of the College of Combat.

*ARTRAC - Army Training Command

The Army Training Command or ARTRAC was born in Mhow in 1991 before it shifted to Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) in 1994. At that time its General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC-in-C) was Lt. General Shankar Roy Chowdhary who went on to become the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Its first GOC-in-C was Lt. General A.S. Kalkat who had earlier commanded the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka.

Attending a course in Mhow is something every Army officer looks forward to with eagerness and enthusiasm.

[edit] Government and politics

Mhow has one seat in the State Legislative Assembly (the Vidhan Sabha).

The MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly)from Mhow is Mr. Antar Singh Darbar of the Congress(I) party for last two terms. He belongs to village Nanded in Mhow tehsil.

The previous MLA from Mhow was the late Shri Bherulal Patidar (1941-2005)of the BJP or Bharatiya Janata Party. Shri Patidar was also the Deputy Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha. He was the Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission at the time of his sudden and unexpected death on Sunday 13 November 2005.

The late Mr. Prakash Chandra Sethi, former Chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and former Union Home Minister in the cabinet of Mrs. Indira Gandhi was also an MLA from Mhow.

Mhow does not elect a Member of Parliament of its own to Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. There is one MP to represent Indore district. Since 1989 the MP from Indore district has been Mrs. Sumitra Mahajan of Bharatiya Janata Party. The previous incumbent was late Shri Prakash Chandra Sethi.

Sub Divisional Magistrate of Mhow is Shri Rahul Jain.

[edit] Legal luminaries from Mhow

Mhow is proud of the late Shri Shambhu Dayal Sanghi the eminent lawyer. In Indore the road leading from the High Court to Hotel Balwas has been named after Shri Sanghi. Mr.Sanghi has devoted his entire life for LAW.

Justice Asharam Tiwari of Mhow was a Judge in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Justice Umeshchand Maheshwari of Mhow is a serving judge in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Mr B.M.Masani of the Parsi community is perhaps the seniormost practicing lawyer in Mhow today.

[edit] Schools and colleges

  • According to unconfirmed reports there are more than 300 schools in Mhow Tehsil (this includes Mhow town and the adjoining villages).
  • Among the many schools in Mhow two of the convent schools - St. Mary's Convent and Rajeshwar Vidyalaya are more than a hundred years old. They were founded by Christian Missionaries and the latter was formerly known as The Sacred Hearts School.
  • K.B.E.P Govt Boys Higher Secondary School at Hari Phatak is also a very old school of Mhow. It is affiliated to the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education.
  • Mhow has a Government Post Graduate College which conducts graduate and post graduate courses in the Sciences,Humanities and Commerce and is affiliated to Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya.
  • Mhow also has a Veterinary college affiliated to JNKVV or Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya and a law college - the R.C. Jall Law College.
  • The other schools in Mhow include Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central School) and an Army School plus a large number of government and private schools.
  • Prominent among the private schools are Shri JG Higher Secondary School (MPBSE), Colonel's Academy (CBSE), Wishwood Cottage School (CBSE), Little Angels (CBSE) and many others.
  • The Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar National Institute Of Social Sciences Mhow which is on the Agra Mumbai Road on the outskirts of Mhow (near the village of Dongar Gaon) conducts a one year M.Phil Programme of study in Social Sciences.
  • A new addition is the Colonel Fateh Jang College for Education offering B.Ed courses.

[edit] The Temple of Janapav and the rivers Chambal and Gambhir

The river Chambal which flows through the dacoit infested areas of Northern India is said to begin at the hill of Janapav which is in a village named Kuti,around 15 km from Mhow town. On top of the hill of Janapav is a temple and ashram. According to local legend this used to be the ashram of Jamadagni, the father of Parashurama (an Avatar or reincarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu God of sustenance). A mela, or religious fair, is held at Kuti every year on the auspicious day of Kartik Purnima - the first full moon after Diwali, which is also celebrated as Guru Nanak's birthday by the Sikh community - and people from villages far and near come to pray and pay their obeisance. The next day the same mela shifts to the Balaji temple in Badgonda village. The river Gambhir which eventually joins the Kshipra - the river on whose banks the ancient, holy city of Ujjain is built - also begins at the hill of Janapav. From there it flows north towards Mhow.

[edit] The demand for a municipality

Mhow town is a Cantonment. Hence it is subject to laws which are peculiar to cantonments. Mhow is governed by the Cantonment Board. The civilian population of Mhow town has been demanding a municipaliy for themselves for quite some time. This demand has not yet been acceded to. It is felt that the market and civilian areas should be part of a municipality and the Army area should be under the Cantonment board.

[edit] The demand for a broad gauge railway line

Since the British days Mhow is connected to Indore and Khandwa by metre gauge railway lines. The people of Mhow have been demanding for long that Mhow get a broad gauge railway line. For many decades the politicians have been promising this broad gauge line to the people of Mhow. But these have been empty promises. Update: As per newsreports on Jan 18 2008 the Union Cabinet has approved the gauge conversion for the Ratlam-Mhow-Khandwa-Akola railway line.

[edit] Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Mhow

Bharat Ratna Dr. Ambedkar's father was a Subedar Major—a VCO or Viceroy Commissioned Officer (the equivalent of a Sergeant Major)—in a battalion of the British Indian Army's Mahar Regiment. The Mahars are an oppressed caste from Maharashtra state of India and are part of the Dalits or downtrodden and untouchable people of India. Dr. Ambedkar had fought on behalf of the Dalits and is a very honoured figure in India today. He and hundreds of thousands of his followers had converted to Buddhism as they claimed disillusioned with Hinduism. A memorial to Dr. Ambedkar in the shape of a Buddhist stupa is being built at a spot where his father's quarters used to be. It is located by the Agra-Mumbai Road and is very near the temple, gurudwara and mosque of the Infantry School Mhow.

[edit] Renaming Mhow after Ambedkar and the controversy

Mhow has now been renamed Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in honour of the father of the Indian constitution, who was born here. The renaming has not been without controversy. Many claim that it has been done due to the compulsions of vote bank politics. The new name is used for official purposes and has not been widely accepted. Ambedkar was born in Mhow as his father's Mahar Infantry battalion was stationed here. He had nothing to do with Mhow claim opponents of the renaming. They also claim that the name Mhow has a history of its own and is a name which the Indian Army is deeply attached to. These are also the views of many who say that they have nothing against Ambedkar or the Dalits but are attached to the name Mhow. Opponents of the renaming claim that Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, has not been renamed Gandhinagar and Jawaharlal Nehru's birthplace Allahabad is still Allahabad and not Nehrunagar hence it is not necessary to rename Mhow after Ambedkar. The Dalits claim that this opposition is mainly due to the ingrained bias that upper castes have against them. The controversy refuses to die.

[edit] References to Mhow in the written form and on the internet

Some books about Mhow include:

  • Diaries and letters from India, 1895-1900 by Violet Jacob;
  • Last Post At Mhow by Arthur Hawkey; London: Jarrolds, 1969
  • Chinnery's Hotel by Jaysinh Birjepatil; Ravi Dayal Publishers (India); 2005.


There are references to Mhow in the works of Rudyard Kipling.

  • (i)His poem "The Ladies"
  • (ii) A reference to the train from Ajmer to Mhow in Chapter 1 of The Man Who would be King and
  • (iii) A reference to Mhow in chapter 11 of Kim.

[edit] Sports and eminent sportspersons associated with Mhow

  • J.G. Grieg (1871-1958): This cricketer who played most of his cricket in India was born in Mhow. He played for the Europeans in the Bombay Presidency tournament (which would later be called the Pentangulars) and for Hampshire in county cricket. He was affectionately called 'Jungly' Grieg.
  • An eminent sportsperson belonging to Mhow was Honorary Captain Shankar Laxman who played Hockey at the Summer Olympics as the goalkeeper of the gold medal winning Indian team at the Tokyo Olympics. In three Olympic finals against Pakistan from 1956 to 1964 he conceded only one goal. Shankar Laxman died of a heart attack in Mhow on Saturday 29 April 2006. He was undergoing alternative treatment for gangrene in one of his legs. Garrison Ground Mhow has now been renamed after him in his honour.
  • Salim Sherwani, the former star of Pakistani hockey is also originally from Mhow.
  • Mukesh Kumar, one of India's top golfers belongs to Mhow and he has learnt the game playing at the Army golf course.
  • In August 2004 Lt. Col (then Major) Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore of the Grenadier Regiment won a silver medal in the shooting event of the Athens Olympics. At that time Major (now Lt. Col) Rathore was posted to the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) which is based here and is a part of Infantry School Mhow. The AMU has produced many medal winning shooters for India like Ms. Seema Tomar and Ms. Rajkumari Dhodiya and Ms. Meena Dogra who are civilian employees of the army. School Students Aparajita Tiwari (Big Bore peep sight 300m Rifle, Women) and Amrik Singh (Big Bore, open sight, civilians)of Mhow whose fathers are serving Army personnel here have also won silver medals in the recently concluded 16th All - India G V Mavalankar Shooting Competition held at Mhow.
  • The English cricketer and footballer Denis Compton was stationed in Mhow during World War II and he had played cricket for the Holkar (Indore) team in the Ranji Trophy (India's National Cricket Championship).
  • Besides hockey, shooting and golf Mhow is also famous for its wrestlers and footballers.
  • Kripa Shankar Patel of Mhow has represented India and won medals in various wrestling competitions.
  • The Brigadier Kale Memorial Football tournament is an annual event which football lovers look forward to every year. Young Brothers Mhow is a famous football team from Mhow.
  • The Equestrian Squadron of the NCC (National Cadet Corps) which is associated with the Veterinary College Mhow has won many medals and honours in various horse riding competitions.
  • Rohan Shrivastava of Mhow is a member of the under-19 Madhya Pradesh cricket team.
  • Vijay Rathore of Mhow is the physiotherapist appointed by the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association for the various teams it fields in competitions.


[edit] Mhow and Bollywood

Mhow has Bollywood connections too. Actors Pooja Batra and Celina Jaitley, who are born in Army families, have their parents settled here. Old time heroine Shiela Ramani also has a Mhow connection.

Prakash Jaju, ex-Secretary to Miss Priyanka Chopra is also from Mhow.

[edit] External links to Mhow

The following links pertain to the military history of Mhow and give us information about the Mhow of the Raj era.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mhow city renamed as Dr Ambedkar Nagar
  2. ^ Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns. (Provisional). Census Commission of India. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.