<p><sup class="reference" id="_ref-0"><font color="#800080"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Mhow </span>(Hindi:&#2350;&#2361;&#2370;) is a small cantonment town in the Indore District of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh state, India. It is located 23 km south of Indore city towards Mumbai on the Agra-Mumbai Road. The city was renamed to Dr Ambedkar Nagar in 2003, by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.</font></sup></p><p><sup class="reference"><font color="#800080">There is total lack of unanimity on how Mhow got its name. There are many theories about this. But there is no confirmation about which theory is true. Here are some of these in no particular order.</font></sup></p><p><sup class="reference"><font color="#800080">MHOW stands for 'Military Headquarters Of War'.[citation needed] <br />MHOW stands for 'Military Headquarters Of Western India' <br />It is said that the village near Mhow has been called Mhow Gaon since time immemorial. Thus the Cantonment which came up in 1818 came to be known as Mhow Cantt. <br />The mahua tree which grows in profusion in the forests around Mhow has also been mentioned as a possible source for the name of this town. </font></sup></p><p><sup class="reference">{mospagebreak}</sup></p><p><font color="#800080"><strong>History</strong></font><sup class="reference"><font color="#800080"><strong style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"></strong><br />This cantonment town was founded in 1818 by Sir John Malcolm as a result of the Treaty of Mandsaur between the English and the Holkars who ruled Indore. Sir John Malcolm's forces had defeated the Holkars at the Battle of Mahidpur in 1818. It was after this battle that the capital of the Holkar Kingdom shifted from the town of Maheshwar on the banks of the Narmada to Indore. 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. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956), the father of the Indian Constitution who was born here.</font></sup></p><sup class="reference"><font color="#800080"><p><br /><font color="#ff99ff"><font color="#993399"><strong>Places of interest</strong><br /></font></font><font color="#993399">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. Some of the picnic spots in and around Mhow are: Patal Pani waterfalls, Choral dam, Nakheri dam, Beircha lake, the lakes near Mhow fort, Yashwantnagar Talaab, Janapav temple in Kuti Village, Sitlamata temple and falls (in Manpur, 20 km from Mhow), Jam Darwaza (12 Km from Mhow towards Maheshwar), Bhagoda Water falls (Mhow-Simrol Road).There is also a very old Durga temple at Mhow Gaon.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">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 major units like Kinetic Honda, Hindustan Motors and Bajaj Tempo Ltd. it has many ancillary units.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">{mospagebreak}</font></p><p><font color="#993399"><strong>Demography</strong><br />Mhow tehsil is supposed to have a population of around 2,00,000. This includes the villages around Mhow which together form an administrative unit and is looked after by a team headed by the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM).</font></p><p><font color="#993399">As of 2001 India census, Mhow Cantonment had a population of 85,023. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Mhow Cantonment has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 65%. In Mhow Cantonmment, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">This small town has representatives of almost all communities. The Bhils who are the original inhabitants of this area still live in villages scattered around Mhow.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">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. Mhow has a sizable number of Marathis as it is part of Indore, the erstwhile state ruled by the Maratha Holkar family.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">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, a community of Hyderabadi Muslims and the Ahir Muslims of Banda Basti.The first three communities are very small numerically.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">The Parsis who were a thriving community at one time have now become a very small community in Mhow. They 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 modern Mhow.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">Mhow has a large number of Muslims, this includes both Shias and Sunnis. Mhow also has a substantial number of Dawoodi Bohras - a sub-sect of Sh&#299;&#740;a Muslims from Gujarat who are mostly businessmen by profession. Besides the Dawoodi Bohras, the business communities in Mhow includes Marwaris,Punjabi Hindu Aroras, Sindhis, Jains and Gujaratis. The Sikhs also have a presence in Mhow, many of them having arrived here after the partition of 1947 along with the Hindu Punjabis. Each community listed above has contributed in its own way towards the growth of Mhow.</font></p><p>{mospagebreak}</p><p><font color="#993399">The Indian Army and Mhow<br />Mhow and the Indian Army are inseparable. The Army has been here since 1818. Till World War II Mhow used to be the headquarters of the 5th Division of the Southern Army (a Division comprising only British units). According to local legend 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.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">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 - the alma mater of the Indian Infantry which is the spearhead of the Indian Army (ii) The Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), the alma mater of the Corps of Signals. The Corps of Signals is like the nervous system of the Indian Army as it is responsible for communications. (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.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">* The Infantry School, Mhow</font></p><p><font color="#993399">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. Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw had served as the Commandant of this school in the fifties while he was a Brigadier.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">* MCTE Mhow</font></p><p><font color="#993399">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 also 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. They are known as the 'Information Warriors' of the Indian Army.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">* Army War College, Mhow</font></p><p><font color="#993399">The Army War College was known as the College of Combat till a few years ago. The Army War College conducts three coursesâ€â€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.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">*ARTRAC - Army Training Command</font></p><p><font color="#993399">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 General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC-in-C) 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.</font></p><p><font color="#993399">Attending a course in Mhow is something every Army officer looks forward to with eagerness and enthusiasm.</font></p><p /><p><font color="#993399"></font></p><p><font color="#993399"></font></p><p><br /></p></font><a href="#_note-0"></a></sup>