Bhopal

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From being a tiny, non-descript village of the Malwa region in the ancient times, a strife-torn principality under the tutelage of a Pathan dynasty in the middle ages, to a metropolis with all the paraphernalia of modern living in post-Independence India—Bhopal has seen it all. This book, Bhopal is a dedication to its namesake—the ancient city of Bhopal with its colourful history and equally interesting socio-cultural milieu, representing, at once, a fine blend of antiquity and modernity. Divided into two broad sections, this book opens with a comprehensive delineation of Bhopal's transformation from an inconspicuous village to its modern avatar of a state capital through time. It then moves on to provide the readers a glimpse of the city through the eyes of a traveller who stops to notice all that he experiences around him about a new city—heritage sites, architectural marvels, religious centres, bazars, townships, industry, institutions and, of course, Nature. Discover the heart of Madhya Pradesh, discover Bhopal.

Born in 1929 the author, P.K. De, is a noted photographer and an avid traveller. Formerly associated with the Press Information Bureau, Government of India, as the Deputy Director, he was also photo-editor to the international journal published by the Ministry of External Affairs. For over a long period he has been writing in leading dailies and prestigious journals on travel and tourism, and has contributed his photographs in several books by reputed publishers. He also has to his credit the authorship of a book—India's Legendary East Coast, published by Niyogi Books. An associate of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and the International Federation of Photographic Art, he is presently working on his nostalgic memoirs of photographing the top-ranking dignitaries as well as several other memorable events of his many-splendoured career.

In British India, the Muslim-ruled kingdom of Bhopal was the largest princely state next only to the Nizam's Hyderabad. Like any other principality of India, Bhopal too has its many-splendoured history. The story of how Bhoj-pal, the tiny, ancient, non-descript village of Malwa, grew within a span of thousand years into a large kingdom called Bhopal and then progressed further to win the crown of a modern state capital is quite absorbing. The old city of today's Bhopal, better known as Begums' Bhopal, retains certain quaint picturesque charm with a rustic halo around. It may be said that Begums' Bhopal is a conundrum; it can be categorised neither as a city nor as an urbanised rural habitation. New Bhopal on the other hand, is a posh, upcoming metropolis with all the paraphernalia of modern living. But all inclusive, the capital city known today as Bhopal, together with its territorial ambit, occupies an exceptional place in the country. This strange uniqueness of Bhopal has been unveiled in the present text for the avid readers and travel enthusiasts to assess, admire and enjoy. The narrative keeps the reader engrossed all the while with numerous interesting legends, myths and strange beliefs, many of which trace its roots to antiquity. The pleasure is endless as we go through the narrative detailing from the pre-historic antiquities of a place to the over-two-century-long hierarchy founded by a Pathan warlord in India, which happens to be contemporary to the existence and growth of present-day metropolitan cities like Chennai and Kolkata.

**Contents and Sample Pages**