Dewas

The name Dewas is derived from the Devi Vaishini hill in the city, commonly known as Tekri.[5] The hill has a temple of the deities Devi Tulja Bhawani, Chamunda Mata and Kalika Mata. The word Dewas is believed to be a sandhi of the words Dev (deity) and Vas Marathi (abode), so Dewas means house of the god. Swami Shivom Tirtha wrote the history of the hill (Tekri ) of Dewas in his book, Sadhan Shikhar. Inspired by the area, E.M. Forster wrote The Hill of Devi in 1953.[6]

The district takes its name from the district headquarters town, Dewas, which is said to have been derived on the basis of two traditions. One is that Dewas lies at the base of a 300-foot (91 m) conical hill, known as Chamunda hill, on top of which the shrine of Chamunda is located. The image of the goddess is cut into the wall of a cave, known as Devi Vashini or the goddess's residence. From this, the name Dewas (dev-vas) seems to have been derived. The other view of the probable origin is from the name of the founder of the city, Dewasa Bania.[7]

Dewas was formerly the capital of two princely states of British India. The original state was founded in the first half of the 18th century by the brothers Tukaji Rao (senior) and Jivaji Rao (junior), from the Puar clan of Marathas. They had advanced into Malwa with the Maratha Peshwa, Baji Rao, in 1728. The brothers divided the territory among themselves; their descendants ruled as the senior and junior branches of the family. After 1841, each branch ruled his own portion as a separate state, though the lands belonging to each were intimately entangled; in Dewas, the capital town, the two sides of the main street were under different administrations and had different arrangements for water supply and lighting.

The senior branch had an area of 446 sq mi (1,160 km²) and a population of in 62,312 in 1901, while the area of the junior branch was 440 sq mi (1,100 km²) and had a population of 54,904 that same year.[8] Both Dewas states were in the Malwa Agency of the Central India Agency.

There were many Jagirdars and Zamindars of the estate; one of them was Zamindar BinjrajTapdiya from the village Binjana and Sanjay Nagar. On his name only the name of Binjana was kept. He was popularly known as Binjana seth. His eldest son Kisanlal ruled the region under puar dynasty for six decades. After him his son Seth Vallabhdas Tapdiya had ruled the village. They were the biggest Jagirdars in the kingdom of Maharaj Krishnaji Rao III Puar.

After India's independence in 1947, the Rajas of Dewas acceded to India, and their states were integrated into Madhya Bharat, which became a state of India in 1950. Later, in 1956, Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh state.[9]

Dewas lies northeast of Indore, southeast of Ujjain, and southwest of Shajapur. The city is located on the level plains of the Malwa plateau; to the south, the land rises gently to the Vindhya Range, which is the source of the Chambal and Kali Sindh rivers that flow north through the district on their way to the Ganges. The main river in Dewas is Kshipra.

As of the 2011 census, Dewas had a total population of 289,550, of which 150,081 were males and 139,469 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 35,437. The total number of literates in Dewas was 215,088, which constituted 74.3% of the population with male literacy of 79.9% and female literacy of 68.3%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Dewas was 84.6%, of which male literacy rate was 91.1% and female literacy rate was 77.7%. The Scheduled Castes population was 56,366, while the Scheduled Tribes population was 9,861. Dewas had 57,397 households in 2011.[1]

The Member of Parliament from Dewas is Mahendra Singh Solanki of BJP who was elected in the Lok Sabha Election 2019.[11]

Dewas was known for being a production centre of retail opium in the 1800s, as noted in the 1895 first report of the Royal Commission on Opium.[12] Rapid industrialisation took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but due to inadequate infrastructure, the pace has slowed since the late 1980s. In recent years, some industries have closed their operations due to a shortage of sufficient infrastructure to support growth; there is a shortage of water due to excessive usage in previous decades.

The city has many industrial units providing employment to thousands of workers. The largest companies include Tata, Kirloskar and John Deere. Dewas is known as the soy capital of India and is a major part of the soy bean processing industry in the country.

Due to its location above sea level at one corner of the Malwa plateau, constant wind flows in the region are suitable for harvesting wind energy. There are more than 100 wind mills on a series of hills 13 km (8.1 mi) from Dewas, generating around 15 megawatts of power. These were financed by a few private companies which sought a reliable power supply.[13][14][15]

• Kendriya Vidyalaya, Dewas
• St. Mary's Convent School, Dewas

In terms of print media, Satyakaar a daily evening newspaper is published from Dewas. Along with this, newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar, Naidunia, Patrika etc. published from Indore are also circulated here.

• Dewas is known for the Devi Chamunda temple and the Devi Tulaja Bhavani temple situated on a 300-foot (91 m) hilltop (Tekri). A broad flight of stone steps leads to two shrines to the goddesses, Choti Mata (Chamunda Mata) and Badi Mata (Tulja Bhavani Mata). Numerous other temples spread over the Tekri can be explored on foot.[16][17]
• Shri Sheelnath Dhuni at the Tekri foothills is a place of worship for followers of Saint Sheelnath Maharaj's of Gorakh Nath Sumpradaya. Sheelnath Maharaj belonged to a royal family of Jaipur and later became a Yogi of Gorakh Nath Sumpradaya, who lived in Dewas in his old age.[18]
• The Pawar Chatries near the Meetha talab of Dewas are examples of Maratha architecture in the area.[19]
• Kailadevi temple at Dewas is the largest in the state. It is situated at Mishri Lal Nagar (Agra Bombay Road). It was established in December 1995 by businessman Mannulal Garg. This modern temple was built by South Indian artists; it houses a 51-foot (16 m) statue of Lord Hanuman. The original Kaila Devi Temple is located on the banks of the Kalisil river in Karauli district of Rajasthan. The temple is devoted to the tutelary deity of the former princely rulers of the Karauli state, Kaila.[20][21]
• Mahadev mandir is a temple in Shankar Gadh built by the Dewas ruler Shrimant Sadashive Rao Maharaja (Khase Saheb) in 1942. The temple is located on a small hill south of the city.[22]
• Mahakaleshwar temple, Bilwali - Bilavali village is situated 3 km north of Dewas.[22]

• Maratha Empire
• List of Maratha dynasties and states

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dewas.

• Government website on Dewas district