Mhow

Mhow is a small town in the Indore district 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.

Mhow has now been renamed Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in honour of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar,the father of the Indian constitution, who was born here. Ambedkar's father was a VCO or Viceory Commissioned Officer – the equivalent of a Sergeant- 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 people of India. Dr. Ambedkar had fought on behalf of the Dalits and is an honoured figure in India today. Dr.Ambedkar 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 which is on the Agra-Mumbai Road and is very near the temple, gurudwara and mosque of the Infantry School.

Mhow is a training centre of the Indian Army and it houses three premier training institutions – The Infantry School, The Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE)-the alma mater of the Corps of Signals- and The Army War College (formerly known as the College of Combat). MCTE was known as the School of Signals till 1968. Each of these institutions is headed by a Lieutenant General. The former Chief of Army Staff General K. Sundarji was the Commandant of the College of Combat during the late seventies and early eighties. Besides conducting communications and computer courses for officers and soldiers MCTE also trains cadets who get commissioned into the Indian Army Corps of Signals. The Infantry School conducts courses related to the infantry for men and officers of the various regiments of the Indian Army. The Army War College conducts three courses – the Junior Command (JC) course, the Senior Command (SC) course and the Higher Command (HC) course. These three institutions form the backbone of Mhow. The Army Training Command or ARTRAC was born in Mhow in 1991 before it shifted to Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) in 1994. Its first GOC-in-C (General Officer Commanding in Chief) was Lt. General A.S. Kalkat who had earlier commanded the Indian Peace Keeping Force(IPKF)in Sri Lanka.

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. 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.

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. 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 and are the main community of which the Patels are a part. A book could be written on each of these communities and its association with and contribution to Mhow.

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 also 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 (JNKVV or Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya) and 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 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.

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.

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.

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). 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. 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. 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.

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. For young Army officers attending courses in Mhow being here is like being in heaven especially when one compares Mhow with the trouble spots that many of them are serving in.