Mhow

Mhow महूँ (डाँ. आंबेडकर नगर) Mahu
Cantonment Town
Dr Ambedkar Nagar
The Infantry Memorial in Mhow Cantt.
File:Madhya Pradesh districts location map big.svg Mhow Location of Mhow in Madhya Pradesh
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Madhya Pradesh
District	Indore
Elevation	556 m (1,824 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	81,072
Language
• Official	Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	453441
Telephone code	07324

Mhow, officially known as Dr Ambedkar Nagar is a cantonment in the Indore District in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located 23 kilometres (14 mi) south of Indore city towards Mumbai on the Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as Dr Ambedkar Nagar in 2003, by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

History

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

Mhow used to be the headquarters of the 5th (Mhow) Division of the Southern Command during the British Raj. Today this small town is associated with the Indian Army and with Bharat Ratna Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, a political leader who was born here.

Mhow was a meter gauge railway district headquarters during the British Raj and even after 1947. The irony is that Mhow still has no broad gauge railway line. Now it is converted to Broad Gauge

According to Hindu religious texts, Janapav Kuti near Mhow is said to be the birthplace of Parashurama, an avatar of Vishnu.

Etymology

There is total lack of unanimity on how Mhow got its name. One possible source of the name might be the Mahua (Madhuca longifolia) tree, which grows in profusion in the forests around Mhow.

Some articles in popular literature state that MHOW stands for Military Headquarters Of War. However, this is a backronym, and there is no proof to support the theory that the name of the village comes from the acronym. The village near Mhow was called Mhow Gaon in the pre-British era, when English was not used in India. The Cantonment which came up in 1818 came to be known as Mhow Cantt after the name of this village. Sir John Malcolm spelt the name of this town as MOW in his writings. The 1918 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica also mentions 'MAU'. However, the Cantonment was referred to by British officers as Mhow at least as early as the end of 1823 (letter from Lt Edward Squibb to his father in London).

Demography

As of 2011 India census, Mhow had a population of 85,023. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Mhow 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, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.The Mhow Cantt Cantonment Board has population of 81,702 of which 43,888 are males while 37,814 are females as per report released by Census India 2011.

Population of Children with age of 0-6 is 9308 which is 11.39% of total population of Mhow Cantt (CB). In Mhow Cantt Cantonment Board, Female Sex Ratio is of 862 against state average of 931. Moreover, Child Sex Ratio in Mhow Cantt is around 908 compared to Madhya Pradesh state average of 918. Literacy rate of Mhow Cantt city is 85.78% higher than state average of 69.32%. In Mhow Cantt, Male literacy is around 90.42% while female literacy rate is 80.37%. Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Jainism are four major religions in Mhow with 35.0%, 35.0%, 20.0% and 2%

Religions in Mhow
Religion			Percent
Hindus			35.0%
Muslims			35.0%
Buddhist			20.0%
Jains			4.0%
Others†			1.0%
Distribution of religions †Includes Sikhs (1.0%), Buddhists (<0.5%).

The Indian Army and Mhow

The Army has been here since 1818. Up until World War II, Mhow was the headquarters of the 5th (Mhow) Division of the Southern Army. According to local legend Winston Churchill also spent a few months in Mhow when he was a subaltern serving with his regiment in India (a local shop still boasts of him as its customer). 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 the Infantry School, Mhow.

Mhow houses three premier training institutions of the Indian Army -The Infantry School,The Military College of Telecommunication Engineering and The Army War College.

In addition to these institutes, MHOW is where Army Training Command or ARTRAC was born. ARTRAC was based in Mhow from 1991 to 1994, before it shifted to Shimla (Himachal Pradesh). 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. ARTRAC was housed in the campus of the present Army School Mhow. This was used as All Arms Wing of MCTE for many decades. It was originally built and used as the BMH (British Military Hospital).

The Infantry School

The Infantry School is the alma mater of the Indian Infantry which is the spearhead of the Indian Army. It 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 Manekshaw was the first Indian Commandant of this school in 1955-56 when he was a Brigadier.

Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE)

The first training institution in 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 there. It also trains gentlemen cadets for a bachelor's degree in engineering at the Cadets Training Wing (CTW). On completion of their training, most of the cadets get commissioned into the Indian Army's Corps of Signals; however, some are also commissioned into other arms.

The Army War College

The Army War College was known as the College of Combat till a few years ago. It 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 (COAS) General K. Sundarji was the Commandant of the College of Combat during the early eighties. Present Commandant: Lt Gen Sandeep Singh, AVSM, SM, VSM.

Government and politics

Mhow has one seat in the State Legislative Assembly (the Vidhan Sabha). The first elected MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) was the late Mr.R.C.Jall (Indian National Congress)who belonged to the Parsi community.

Since 2008 the MLA from Mhow is Mr. Kailash Vijayvargiya of the BJP who is also the Urban Administration Minister in the cabinet of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. Previous MLA: Antar Singh Darbar of the Indian National Congress.

Until 2009 Mhow Tehsil was part of the Indore Lok Sabha constituency. Under the delimitation exercise carried out all over the nation Mhow is now in the Dhar Parliamentary constituency though it continues to be in Indore district for administrative purposes. Present Member of Parliament for Mhow is the Dhar MP Mrs Savitri Thakur of the BJP.

Mhow (and the rest of MP) went to the polls on Monday 25 Nov 2013. Mhow recorded what could well be its highest ever turnout in a Vidhan Sabha election - 78.11%. Total number of voters 220553 According to the Mhow Control Room: Men - 79.34%, Women - 76.76%, Overall - 78.11%

On 8 Dec 2013 Mr. Kailash Vijayvargiya was declared the winner from Mhow Vidhan Sabha constituency.

Banks in Mhow

• State Bank of India(SBI) two branches - Town Hall Branch and Plowden Road Branch
• Syndicate Bank Mhow
• Canara Bank Mhow
• Bank of Maharashtra Mhow
• Indore Premier Co-Operative Bank Mhow
• O.B.C. Bank, Mhow
• Corporation Bank,Kodariya, MHOW
• Punjab National Bank
• Central Bank of India
• Bank of Baroda
• Bank of India
• IDBI Bank
• ICICI Bank
• Axis Bank
• UCO Bank

Picnic spots near Mhow

• Patal Pani Water Fall
• Mehndi Kund Water Fall
• Choral Dam
• Nakheri Dam
• Berchha Dam
• Tinchha Water Fall
• Jaana Paav
• Jaam Gate
• Bamniya kund Water Fall
• Sitla mata Water Fall
• Kala Kund
• Choral River
• Raj Mahal of Raja Rajendra Singh Solanki
• Watchu Point

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.

The demand for a broad gauge railway line

See also: Project Unigauge and Mhow railway station

Station on famous Delhi-Tirunelveli Meter gauge line was founded in 1970's that was the only source for the transportation on olden times. Mhow has been connected to Indore and Khandwa by metre gauge railway lines. On 18 January 2008, the Union Cabinet approved the gauge conversion for the Ratlam-Mhow-Khandwa-Akola railway line.(472.64 km). The cost of the gauge conversion would be about Rs.1421.25 crore.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Mhow

Bharat Ratna Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's father Ramji Maloji Sakpal was a Subedar Major—a VCO or Viceroy Commissioned Officer (the equivalent of a JCO)—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.

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 Subedar Major Ramji Maloji Sakpal - a VCO (Viceroy Commissioned Officer) of the Mahar Regiment - 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 and civilians are 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.

References to Mhow in the written form.

Some books about Mhow include:

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

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.

Mhow and Bollywood

Actors Pooja Batra and Celina Jaitly who are born in Army families have Mhow connections. Both of them are the daughters of retired Indian Army Colonels who have settled here. Madan Bhanot who has setteled at Mhow has authored andhas been Creative Director of TV serial Mission Fateh and three feature films.

Sports and eminent sportspersons associated with Mhow

• Shankar Lakshman, Indian hockey goalkeeper from Mhow (Indore).

• 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 (later known as the Triangulars and later the Quadrangulars and yet later the Pentangulars) and for Hampshire in county cricket. He was affectionately called 'Jungly' Grieg.

• Subedar Major Vijay Kumar (sport shooter), AVSM, SM (16 Dogra Regiment, Indian Army) won a silver medal at the London Olympics 2012 in the 25m rapid fire pistol event. He has been posted at the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow since 2003.

• Kishan Lal, captain of Indian Hockey Team which won gold at the 1948 London Olympics belonged to Mhow.In the domestic circuit he played for the Indian Railways.

• In August 2004 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 Col) Rathore was posted to the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow.

• Mukesh Kumar is a professional golfer from India who currently plays on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), where he has won the Order of Merit on six occasions on the PGTI and on previous Tour's before that.

• The Indian shooting team for the Commonwealth Games 2010 included 36 shooters of which nine were from the Army Marksmanship Unit, AMU. These were: Seema Tomar, Vijay Kumar, Gurpreet Singh, AD Peoples, Imran Hasan Khan, C.K. Choudhary, Hariom Singh, Sushil Ghaley, Praveen Dahiya. 4 of these nine shooters won 5 Gold, 2 Silver and a Bronze medal either individually or in pairs.

• 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).

• Amateur sportsman Rajesh Jauhri, an eminent journalist by profession had won four medals in the All India GV Mavlankar Shooting Championship i.e. 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal. He has consecutively won the gold medals in this event in 2011 & 2012.

Human rights activists and road safety and transport specialist of Mhow

• Rajeev John George (1970–2005): A housing rights activist, who won an international award called, "Housing Rights Defender Award", in November 2004. The award was given by Geneva-based COHRE, "Center for Housing Rights and Evictions", for his tireless work among the slum dwellers. Rajeev was the founder of "Deenbandhu", a housing rights organization. He was also the convenor for, "National Forum for Housing Rights". Rajeev resided in Mhow for his early education.

Next stop

• Pithampur

See also

• Military College of Telecommunication Engineering
• College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Mhow

External links

•  
• Mhow cantonment