My Bhopal

national importance. Some of these include ISRO's Master Control Facility, the CSIR, AIIMS Bhopal, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) AMPRI, MANIT, IISER, SPA, IIFM, BHEL and NLIU.

_-_-_-_-_- The Great History Of Bhopal -_-_-_-_-_-_

shared by - Raghvendra Upadhyay*
In early history, Bhopal was a small village in the great Gondwana Kingdom. Like most parts of central India, Bhopal was largely inhabited by Gonds who were a ruling tribal community in ancient India. The area, gained significance in the eleventh century when the region came under the rule of the Parmar dynasty, who had their capital in Dhara Nagri (now Dhar district in western Madhya Pradesh). The famous Parmar King Raja Bhoj found the area suitable for his dream water harvesting projects and thus laid down the foundations of a great civilization to prosper here. The great Bhoj reservoir (648 sq.kms.) changed the eco system and the destiny of the area forever. The areas around the reservoir became ideal for agriculture and human settlements. Forests developed, and so did wild life. With human settlements and agriculture flourishing, art and culture found their way to expression. The great Bhoj temple setup by Raja Bhoj on the bank of the great reservoir became the centre for human devotion, culture, and spirituality. When the great reservoir was destroyed by Hoshangshah Ghauri in the 15th century, its area of 250 square miles became a settlement for more than 300 villages and is still the most fertile agricultural belt in central India. In addition to the great reservoir, Raja Bhoj also created the upper and the lower lakes in Bhopal. By the end of the seventeenth century, Bhopal continued to be a humble Gond village ruled by Rani Kamlapati of Ginnaur. The beautiful Queen wanted to avenge the murder of her husband from her enemies. For this, she hired Dost Mohammad Khan, a fugitive from Afghanisthan who along with his gang of few hundred Afghans had earned himself the reputation of a ruthless killer in central India. (‘Begums of Bhopal’ by Shaheryar Khan). Dost Mohammad quickly finished the assignment to earn the price of 50,000 currency then. However, he had set his eyes on the Queen’s Kingdom in the process. He looted the Royal treasury and sent a message to Rani Kamlapati asking her to marry him. (‘Banganga se Halali’ by Niranjan Verma). Left with no options, Queen Kamlapati along with her two aides committed suicide in the upper lake in the year 1723. Dost Mohammad Khan became the undisputed ruler of Bhopal. He made his permanent residence in the fort located on the bank of the upper lake and thus started the rule of the nawabs in Bhopal. This also was the beginning of Islam and Islamic culture in Bhopal. However, a few generations later, owing to the absence of male heirs, Bhopal came under the rule of Begums. The last ruler however, was Nawab Hamidullah Khan(1926-1949). In 1947 he refused to align with the Indian republic and supported Pakistan. Later under the fear of military action by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, he surrendered and Bhopal became a part of independant India on 1st June 1949, almost two years after the country’s independence from British rule.