Mhow
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Mhow is a small cantonment town in the Indore district of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh state, India.It is located 23 kms south of Indore city towards Mumbai on the Agra-Mumbai Road.It is 556 meters above sea level and its population is about 200,000.This cantonment town was founded in 1818 by Sir John Malcolm as a result of the Treaty of Mandsaur between the British Government and the Holkars who ruled Indore. It is believed that MHOW is an acronym for 'Military Headquarters of Western India'. Another commonly heard expansion of MHOW is 'Military Headquarters of War'. 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. B.R.Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution.
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Renaming Mhow
Mhow has now been renamed Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in honour of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956),the father of the Indian constitution, who was born here. Ambedkar's father was a Subedar Major - a VCO or Viceory Commissioned Officer (the equivalent of a Sergeant Major)- in 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 were 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.
The Indian Army and Mhow:
As mentioned earlier Mhow used to be the headquarters of the 5th Division of the Southern Army (a Division comprising only British units) during the British Raj.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,(ii)The Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE)-the alma mater of the Corps of Signals- and (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 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.
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 are also known to 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.
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.
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 GOC-in-C (General Officer Commanding in Chief) 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.
Mhow in the State Assembly(Vidhan Sabha) and the National Parliament (Lok Sabha)
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. The previous MLA from Mhow was Shri Bherulal Patidar of the BJP or Bharatiya Janata Party. 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(MP) of its own to the lower house of the Indian Parliament (the Lok Sabha).There is one MP to represent Indore district. Since 1989 the MP from Indore district has been Mrs. Sumitra Mahajan of the BJP.
Demography of Mhow
The Bhils who are the original inhabitants of this area still live in villages scattered around Mhow. 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 and a community of Hyderabadi Muslims.The first three communities are very small numerically.The Parsis 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 Mhow. Mhow also has a substantial number of Dawoodi Bohras - a sub-sect of Shia Muslims from Gujarat who are mostly businessmen by profession. 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. Besides the Dawoodi Bohras the business communities in Mhow include Marwaris, Jains and Gujaratis. Besides these communities there are also a sizable number of Muslims and Marathis (Indore was a Maratha Kingdom ruled by the Holkar family). A book could be written on each of these communities and its association with and contribution to Mhow.
Legal Luminaries from Mhow:
Mhow is proud of Justice Asharam Tiwari who was a Judge in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Justice Umeshchand Maheshwari of Mhow is a serving judge in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Schools and Colleges
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. Besides these two schools Mhow today has a Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central School) and an Army School plus a large number of government and private schools.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 (DAVV) - the University of Indore. 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 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.
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 kms 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 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.
Literary References
There are references to Mhow in the works of Rudyard Kipling. A google search yielded three such instances:(1) His poem 'The Ladies' (2)A reference to the train from Ajmer to Mhow in Chapter 1 of 'The Man Who would be King' and (3)A reference to Mhow in chapter 11 of 'Kim'.Some interesting books about Mhow include: (1) "Diaries and letters from India, 1895-1900" by Violet Jacob; (2)Last Post At Mhow by Arthur Hawkey; London: Jarrolds, 1969 (3) Chinnery's Hotel by Jaysinh Birjepatil; Ravi Dayal Publishers (India); 2005.
Sports and Eminent Sportspersons associated with 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). Mukesh Kumar, one of India's top golfers belongs to Mhow and he has learnt the game playing at the Army golf course. Another eminent sportsperson settled in Mhow is Honorary Captain Shankar Lakshman who played Hockey at the Summer Olympics as the goalkeeper of the gold medal winning Indian team at the London Olympics of 1948. Salim Sherwani the former star of Pakistani hockey is also originally from Mhow. In August 2004 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. 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 competitions.
Proximity to Pithampur
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 units like Kinetic Honda, Hindustan Motors and Bajaj Tempo Ltd. it has many ancillary units.
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.