Malwa Agency was an administrative section of British India's Central India Agency. The headquarters of the political agent was at Mandsaur (Mandasor) / Neemuch (Nimach). The other chief towns of the region were : Ratlam and Jaora.
The Malwa Agency was formed in 1895 out of princely states in the Northern Malwa region formerly under the authority of the British agent for Indore and the abolition of the Western Malwa Agency which had been a sub-agency of the Central India Agency since 1854.
The Dewas States (Senior & Junior) were added to Malwa Agency in 1907. In 1925 Malwa Agency was amalgamated with Bhopawar Agency to form the Malwa and Bhopawar Agency, renamed the Malwa and Southern States Agency in 1927. The Dewas States were transferred to Bhopal Agency in 1931, and in 1934 the agency was once again renamed Malwa Agency.
After Indian independence in 1947, the rulers of these states acceded to the Government of India and were amalgamated into the new Indian state of Madhya Bharat. Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh state on November 1, 1956.
Malwa is a natural region in west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, the historical Malwa region includes districts of western Madhya Pradesh and parts of south-eastern Rajasthan. The definition of Malwa is sometimes extended to include the Nimar region north of the Vindhyas.
The Malwa region had been a separate political unit from the time of the ancient Malava Kingdom. It has been ruled by several kingdoms and dynasties, including the Avanti Kingdom, the Mauryans, the Malavas, the Guptas, the Parmaras, the Malwa sultans, the Mughals and the Marathas. Malwa continued to be an administrative division until 1947, when the Malwa Agency of British India was merged into Madhya Bharat (also known as Malwa Union) state of independent India.
Although its political borders have fluctuated throughout history, the region has developed its own distinct culture, influenced by the Rajasthani, Marathi and Gujarati cultures. Several prominent people in the history of India have hailed from Malwa, including the poet and dramatist Kalidasa, the author Bhartrihari, the mathematicians and astronomers Varahamihira and Brahmagupta, and the polymath king Bhoja. Ujjain had been the political, economic, and cultural capital of the region in ancient times, and Indore is now the largest city and commercial centre.
The Malvi or Malavi, also known as Manthani or Mahadeopuri, is breed of zebu cattle from the Malwa plateau in western Madhya Pradesh, in central India. It is a good draught breed; the milk yield of the cows is low.
The breed has been studied at the Government Cattle Breeding Farm at Agar, in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh, for more than 50 years.
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