Jabalpur

Rani Durgavati preparing for the battle of Narrai; fresco by Beohar Rammanohar Sinha in Jabalpur's Shaheed-Smarak

The Gondwana king, Raje Madan Shah Madawi of Mandla, (r. 1138–1157) built a watchtower and a small hilltop fort at Madan Mahal, an area in Jabalpur. In the 1500s, the Gond king, Sangram (whose son, Raje Dalpat Shah Madawi married Rani Durgavati) held Singaurgarh fort in Sangrampur. Rani Durgawati was a warrior of the Gond Dynasty, famous for her prosperous kingdom. She was well aware of the importance of water conservation and hence she built more than 85 ponds in Jabalpur, mainly Ranital, Haathital, Madhatal and Hanumantal.[13]

In 1564, during the reign of Veer Narayan (Sangram's grandson), Abdul Majeed Harawi (viceroy of Kara-Manikpur in the Mughal Empire) conquered Jabalpur and its surrounding areas. However, the Mughal supremacy in Jabalpur was more nominal than real.

In 1698, the Gondwana king, Raje Hriday Shah (r. 1652–1704) moved his court to the Mandla fort. He secured water sources and built irrigation structures. Later, Gondwana was seized by Nizam (r. 1753–1780). After Nizam, the Gondwana Kingdom was conquered by the Marathas.

The Maratha rulers of Sagar, came to power in about 1781. Around 1798, the Maratha Peshwa gave the Nerbuddah valley to the Bhonsle kings of Nagpur, who ruled the area until 1818, when it was seized by the British East India Company after the Battle of Sitabuldi.

Beohar Rajendra Sinha helping Mahatma Gandhi on the staircase of the Beohar Palace in Jabalpur

Under the British Raj, the name Jabbalgarh became Jubbulpore and the town was made the capital of the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories (part of the North-Western Provinces governed by the Agra Presidency). Jabalpur was known for Thuggee murders, which were combated by William Henry Sleeman (later appointed as the chief commissioner at Jubbulpore and then British Resident at Lucknow). 16 June 1857 saw the kindling of a rebellion in the cantonment of Jubbulpore. The 1857 movement was started by the Gondwana king, Raje Shankar Shah Madawi and the prince Kunwar Raghunath Shah Madawi. Both were arrested and imprisoned, and executed on 18 September 1857.

In 1861, the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories became part of the new Central Provinces and in 1903, the Central Provinces and Berar. In the early 1900s, Jubbulpore became the headquarters of a brigade of the Fifth Division of the Southern Army. A gun carriage factory was established in Jabalpur in 1904.

Mahatma Gandhi's longest stay in Jubbulpore was in 1933 at the Beohar palace of Beohar Rajendra Simha. Many freedom fighters joined Gandhi's Swadeshi, Swaraj and Satyagraha movements. Those from Jubbulpore included Ravishankar Shukla, Seth Govind Das, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Makhanlal Chaturvedi and Dwarka Prasad Mishra.

In 1939, the Tripuri Indian National Congress (INC) session was chaired by Subhas Chandra Bose. The Swaraj movement begun under the direction of Lokmanya Tilak. A Congress session was held at Vishnudatt Shukla Nagar at Tilwara Ghat, near Jubbulpore, when Subhas Chandra Bose was elected the Congress President over Gandhi's objections.

Gandhi's remains were brought to the city after his death. On 12 February 1948, the urn containing his ashes was immersed in the Narmada River at Tilwara Ghat by Ravishankar Shukla, Beohar Rajendra Sinha, Seth Govind Das, and others.

In 1950, the Central Provinces and Berar were amalgamated to form the state of Madhya Pradesh and Shukla became the first chief minister of the Congress-led government. In 1956, Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal (state) were merged into the newly formed state of Madhya Pradesh.

Jabalpur has a humid subtropical climate typical of north-central India (Madhya Pradesh and southern Uttar Pradesh). Summer begins in late March, lasting until June. May is the hottest month, with the average temperature exceeding 45 °C (113 °F). Summer is followed by the southwest monsoon, which lasts until early October and produces 889 mm (35 in) of rain from July to September. Average annual precipitation is nearly 1,386 mm (54.6 in). Winter begins in late November, and lasts until early March. January is the coldest month, with an average daily temperature near 15 °C (59 °F).

The Narmada River, draining the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges, has helped to develop an agrarian economy in the district. The river originates in the northeastern Satpura Range and flows west, between the ranges towards the Arabian Sea. The Narmada basin's alluvial soil helps in producing sorghum, wheat, rice, and millet in the villages around Jabalpur.

Commercial crops include pulses, oilseeds, cotton, sugar cane, and medicinal crops. During the early 20th century the region became a center of the beedi industry, when two brothers, Mohanlal and Hargovindas Patel discovered that tendu leaves were good for making beedies.

Major industries in Jabalpur are garment manufacturing, information technology, education, electrical goods, limestone products, building materials, glassware, telephone parts, furniture, foodstuffs, steel structures, cement, tobacco products, industrial-safety goods, mechanical engineering and cinema. The city is also a big manufacturing hub of Salwar suits (a type of female clothes). A garment cluster has also been established to give a common roof to all manufacturers. A Techno Park has been established at Bargi hills to give a conducive environment for IT companies.

M.P. State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. has setup an I.T. park (Techno Park)[18] in Bargi Hills having total area of 60 acres, 22KM from the Jabalpur airport.Paytm started their operations at Jabalpur in 2018.[19]

Matang was completely developed and manufactured by VFJ.

Vehicle Factory Jabalpur, Grey Iron Foundry, Gun Carriage Factory Jabalpur, and the Ordnance Factory Khamaria belonging to the Ordnance Factory Board manufacture bullets, howitzers, missiles, rockets, bombs, mines, mortars, grenades, shells, trucks, mine-protected vehicles and bulletproof vehicles for the Indian Armed Forces, the paramilitary forces of India, the Central Armed Police Forces, State Armed Police Forces and the Special Forces of India. These companies are the city's primary employers. Allied organisations are the Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA), responsible for the inspection of quality of equipment manufactured by the ordnance factories; the Central Ordnance Depot, which stores and supplies equipment and weapons for the armed forces; the 506 Army Base Workshop, which maintains equipment for the armed forces and the Defence Security Corps, responsible for guarding the ordnance factories. These organisations alone employ over 100,000 people.

Jabalpur covers an area of 263 square kilometres (102 sq mi).[2] The Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC), is charged with governance of the city's civic and infrastructural assets. The corporation has two wings: deliberative and executive. The head of the executive wing is a municipal commissioner who is responsible for the corporation's day-to-day operation and assists the deliberative wing in the decision-making process. The JMC council has one elected representative (corporate) from each ward. Council elections, by popular vote, are held every five years. A corporate from the majority party is selected as mayor.

Jabalpur contributes one member to the Lok Sabha. Rakesh Singh of Bharatiya Janata Party had been elected as the Member of Parliament in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.[20] The city sends eight members to the State Legislative Assembly: four from the city (Jabalpur Purba, Jabalpur Uttar, Jabalpur Cantonment and Jabalpur Paschim) and four from rural areas of the district. Jabalpur is divided into eight zones, each consisting of several wards.

Jabalpur is the divisional headquarters for eight districts: Jabalpur, Seoni, Mandla, Chhindwara, Narsinghpur, Katni, Dindori and Balaghat. The district, which was reconstituted on 25 May 1998, has seven tehsils: Jabalpur, Sihora, Patan, Majhouli, Shahpura, Panagar and Kundam. The city is the headquarters of the Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board, the Home-guards and other state and central-government offices.

The Jabalpur Cantonment is one of the largest cantonments in India.[21] In addition to the ordnance factories, other organisations present in the city include HQ Madhya Bharat Area, the Jammu & Kashmir Rifles Regimental Centre, the Grenadiers Regimental Centre, 1 Signal Training Centre, College of Material Management, Central Ordnance Depot, 506 Army Base Workshop, Military Hospital, HQ Chief Engineer Jabalpur Zone, Military Dairy Farm, and HQ Recruiting Zone. Civilian organisations which are part of the Ministry of Defence are the Cantonment Board, Controller of Defence Accounts, Defence Standardisation Cell and the Canteen Stores Department.

Sweets in Jabalpur's local delicacy include Doodh ka Halwa, Kalakand, Bhaji Wada, Dal Mangode, Aloo Bonda, Khoye ki Jalebi,[22] Mawa-Bati, Khoprapak, Shrikhand, Malpua, Imarti and Makkhanvada.[23] Khoye ki Jalebi, which is quite popular in Madhya Pradesh,[23] was invented by Harprasad Badkul in 1889 at his shop, Badkul Halwai.[24][25][26]

Airport terminal building

The 130-hectare (310-acre) Jabalpur Airport (JLR), also known as Dumna Airport, is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) away from the city centre and flight services are provided by Alliance Airand SpiceJet Daily service is available to New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. A new Integrated terminal will be built with an area of 9350 m² and capable of handling 500 passengers at peak hours. The project also includes extending the runway to 2750 meters from the current 1988 meters, a 14 km long boundary wall, a 5 km long approach road connecting airport to the city, ATC control tower cum technical block, apron, taxiway, isolation bay and a fire station. The foundation stone was laid on 13 August 2018 by Suresh Prabhu, Jayant Sinha, Rakesh Singh amongst others.

Railway Station

Jabalpur Junction railway station, headquarters of the West Central Railway, has direct service to Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Nagpur, Surat, Pune, Patna, Ludhiana, Jammu, Vasco-Da Gama, Amravati, Coimbatore, Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Agra, Mathura, Jaipur, Varanasi, Kanpur, Vadodara, Bhubhaneshwar, Lucknow, Puri, Allahabad, Nashik, Rajkot, Guwahati, Ambikapur, Bilaspur, Tatanagar, Raipur, Haridwar, Rameshwaram, Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and Trivandrum.

The line from Gondia to Balaghat and Jabalpur to Nainpur has been converted to broad gauge with daily passenger services.

Jabalpur was the terminus of Indian Railways train number 1: the Satpura Express, re-numbered Train No. 10001 in the five-digit numbering system. This train stopped service due to the upgrade to broad gauge.

In addition to the Jabalpur Main Station, the city's Madan Mahal Station serves inner-city passengers, and the Kachhpura goods shed transports heavy freight and iron ore to port cities. A Jabalpur metro rail project is proposed for the metropolitan area.

Important trains that originate from here :

1. 12061 Bhopal/Habibganj to Jabalpur and 12062 Jabalpur to Habibganj/Bhopal Jan Shatabdi Express
2. 12121/Madhya Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express
3. 12187/Jabalpur – Mumbai CST Garib Rath Express

Jabalpur city has the Divisional headquarters of the railways besides having the zonal headquarter of West Central railway (WCR). The boundaries of divisional headquarters extend up to Itarsi Junction station in the south, Bina Junction station in the north, Manikpur Junction station and Riwa station in the North East and Singaroli station in the east. All these railway lines are broad gauge lines. A narrow gauge line was existing between Jabalpur to Gondia station which is presently under conversion to broad gauge. After completion this line will provide direct connectivity to Nagpur Junction station. The zonal headquarters include three divisions namely Jabalpur division, Bhopal Division and Kota division.

Jabalpur is connected by road to Varanasi, Nagpur, Bhopal, Jaipur, Raipur, Allahabad, Hyderabad, Bilaspur and Bangalore. National Highway 30 connects it to Allahabad, Lucknow. National Highway 34 connects it to Kanpur. National Highway connects itbto Bilaspur. Many roads are being upgraded to four-lane highways. Bus service is available to cities in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, with direct service to Indore, Nagpur, Bhopal, Varanasi, Raipur, Amravati, Chandrapur, and Allahabad. City buses also serve to people inside the city on different routes.

National and local newspapers are published in Jabalpur in Hindi and English:

Radio stations in Jabalpur include:

Akashvani Jabalpur broadcasts on 801 kHz AM with a 200 kW transmitter.