The park was first noticed in 1956, at 167 km2, as Shivpuri National Park. In 1958, it was renamed Madhav National Park after Madho Rao Scindia, the Maharaja of Gwalior belonging to the Scindia dynasty of the Marathas, and was finalized the following year.[2] Sakhya Sagar, a man-made reservoir within the park, has been designated as a Ramsar site since 2022.[1]
Geography
There are several small ponds in this national park, but the largest body of water is Sankhya Sagar, a reservoir,[3] constructed for Madho Rao Scindia when it was still his hunting grounds.[2] He also had constructed a second smaller reservoir by damming Manihar River, Madhav Sagar, known as Madhav Lake.[2] A third reservoir was not included in the park.[2]
Shivpuri town in the state of Madhya Pradesh was formerly the summer capital and a much larger park was the former hunting preserve of the Scindia maharajas of Gwalior.
After the independence of India, the area suffered degradation.[2] Agriculture and mining encroached on the former hunting grounds. Although the park was noticed in 1956, at 167 km2, as Shivpuri National Park and became the renamed Madhav National Park in 1959, degradation continued.[2][5] The last of the resident wild tigers were seen in Madhav National Park around late 1970. In 1982 a plan to add a new part of the park along the Sindh River was proposed. This expansion area included a corridor joining it to the original 167 km2,[2] which when completed would bring the park to 354 km2. (See map below in external links.)
As late as the 1990s there was little effort to improve the conditions in the park. Illegal mining and questionable mining permits led to significant degradation in the park, so that in the 1990s conservationists took the matter the Supreme Court of India and by 1998 received an injunction terminating mining in the area.[6]
Tiger Reserve
On 1 December 2024, the technical committee of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) proposed to recognize Madhav National Park as a Tiger Reserve which will span 1,751 square kilometres (676sqmi) featuring a core area of 375 square kilometres (145sqmi) and a buffer area of 1,276 square kilometres (493sqmi). Furthermore, the committee has also approved the release of one tiger and one tigress into the park.[7][8]
Sights and facilities
On the shores of Sakhya Sagar lake which edges the forests, is a boat club, from where the park visitors can see a number of migratory birds especially in winter, when many migratory waterfowls visit the area. A viewing lodge constructed by the Maharaja called the Shooting Box, is situated above the Sakhya Sagar lake. In the older days one could shoot wildlife, both with a gun and camera from here. Visitors could sit under cover and watch a tiger at a kill. All around the lake (at suitable points), the Maharaja constructed boat landing areas, picnic shelters, watch towers, hides, etc. and a network of well laid out metalled roads.[citation needed]
George Castle
At the highest elevation in Madhav National Park, 484.0m (1,587.9ft), is the George Castle (Bankhade Kothi). In 1911, the local Scindia ruler Madho Rao Scindia built the castle in his hunting park for an overnight stay by King George V of the United Kingdom. George V had intended to go tiger shooting there during his visit to India. However, the king shot a tiger before getting there, and did not stop at George Castle afterall.[9][10] Although in some disrepair, it is a "turreted English-style castle, with Belgian glass windows and Italian tile flooring."[11]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tiwari, Shiv Kumar (1998). "Madhav National Park". National Parks of Madhya Pradesh: State of Bio Diversity and Human Infringement. New Delhi: APH Publishing. pp.148–166. ISBN978-81-7024-950-4.
Gwalior is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the City of Music having oldest musical gharana in existence. It is a major cultural, industrial, and political centre in Madhya Pradesh. It lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located 313 kilometres (194 mi) south of New Delhi, the capital city of India and 446 kilometres (277 mi) from Bhopal, the state capital, Gwalior occupies a strategic location in the Gwalior Chambal region of India. The historic city and its fortress have been ruled by several historic Indian kingdoms. From the Alchon Huns in the 5th century AD to Gurjara Pratihara dynasty in the 8th century AD. It was passed on to Kachchhapaghatas in the 10th century AD. It fell into the hands of the Delhi Sultanate in 12th century AD, it was then passed on to the Tomars in the 13th century AD who were the vassal rulers of the Delhi Sultanate. The Mughal Empire conquered the city and its fortress in the 16th century AD. When the Mughal Empire was declining, it fell into the hands of Jat rulers, then to the Maratha in 1754, and lastly it was passed on to the Scindia Dynasty of Maratha Empire in early 18th century. In April 2021, It was found that Gwalior had the best air quality index amongst the 4 major cities in Madhya Pradesh.
House of Scindia or earlier known as the Sendrak was a Hindu Maratha Royal House that ruled the erstwhile Gwalior State in central India. It had the Patil-ship of Kanherkhed in the district of Satara and was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who was sardar of maratha empire and real maratha warrior clan appointed by chattrapati shahuji maharaj-1's servant family from kokan worked as prime minister also known as Peshwa Bajirao I. Ranoji and his descendants, along with their rivals the Holkars, played a leading role during the Maratha ascendancy in northern India in the 18th-century. The Gwalior State became a princely state during the British Raj in the 19th and the 20th-centuries. After India's independence in 1947 and the abolition of princely states, several members of the Scindia Dynasty went on to enter Indian politics.
Shivpuri earlier known as Sipri, is a city and a municipality in Shivpuri district, located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is in the Gwalior Division of northwest Madhya Pradesh and is the administrative headquarters of Shivpuri District. It is situated at an altitude of 1,515 feet (462 m) above sea level.
Chhatri are semi-open, elevated, dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indo-Islamic architecture and Indian architecture. They are most commonly square, octagonal, and round.
The Khathiar–Gir dry deciduous forests is a mostly arid ecoregion in northwestern India that stretches over 103,100 sq mi (267,000 km2) across Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The dry deciduous forests in the region are dominated by teak, and thorny trees and scrub in drier areas.
Sir George Jiwajirao Scindia KStJ was the ruler of the Gwalior state during the British Raj and later the Rajpramukh (Governor) of the Indian state of Madhya Bharat.
Guna District is one of the 52 districts of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Its administrative headquarters is Guna. The district has a population of 1,241,519. It has an area of 6390 km², and is bounded on the northeast by Shivpuri District, on the east by Ashoknagar District, on the southeast by Vidisha District, on the southwest by Rajgarh District, on the west and northwest by Jhalawar and Baran districts of Rajasthan state. The Sindh River flows northward along the eastern edge of the district, forming part of the boundary with Ashoknagar District, and the Parvati River flows northwestward through the southern portion of the district, forming part of the boundary with Baran District before flowing into Rajasthan.
Shivpuri District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state of India. The town of Shivpuri is the district headquarters. National Highway 3 (NH-3) runs through the district.
The Gwalior State was a state within the Maratha Confederacy located in Central India. It was ruled by the House of Scindia, a Hindu Maratha dynasty. Following the dissolution of the Confederacy, it became part of the Central India Agency of the Indian Empire under British protection.
Karera is a municipality or Nagar Parishad in the Shivpuri district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Sabalgarh is a municipality in Morena district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Yashodhara Raje Scindia is an Indian politician who served as Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Technical Education, Skill Development and Employment of Madhya Pradesh under Shivraj Singh Chouhan. She is also the former Minister for Commerce, Industries and Employment in Government of Madhya Pradesh. She is the youngest daughter of Jivajirao Scindia, Maratha Maharaja of Gwalior and the Late Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia of Gwalior. She was first elected from Gwalior to the 14th Lok Sabha via a by-poll in 2007 and again in 2009 General Election. She is a Member of Legislative Assembly from Shivpuri constituency in Madhya Pradesh since 2013.
Mukundara Hills National Park is a national park in Rajasthan, India with an area of 759.99 km2 (293.43 sq mi). It was established in 2004 and consists of three wildlife sanctuaries: Darrah Wildlife Sanctuary, National Chambal Sanctuary, and Jawahar Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. It is located in the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests.
Private protected areas of India refer to protected areas inside India whose land rights are owned by an individual or a corporation / organization, and where the habitat and resident species are offered some kind of protection from exploitative activities like hunting, logging, etc. The Government of India did not provide any legal or physical protection to such entities, but in an important amendment introduced by the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2002, has agreed to protect communally owned areas of ecological value.
Tourism in Madhya Pradesh has been an attraction of India because of its location in the centre of the country. Madhya Pradesh has won Best Tourism State National award for 3 consecutive years i.e. 2017, 2016 and 2015.
Madhya Pradesh, often called the "Heart of India", is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh was the largest state in India until 1 November 2000 when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out. It borders the states of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Gajra Raja Medical College is the first medical college in Madhya Pradesh, India established in 1946. It was inaugurated on 1 August 1946 by Jiwaji Rao Scindia. The college building was inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 5 December 1948. It has 200 undergraduate seats for MBBS course, 68 seats for post graduation courses and 36 seats for diploma courses.
Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary situated on the northern boundary of Mandsaur and Nimach districts in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is spread over an area of 368.62 km2 (142.32 sq mi) adjoining Rajasthan state in India. It was notified in 1974 and more area was added in 1983. The Chambal River passes through the sanctuary dividing it into two parts. The western part is in Nimach district and eastern part is in Mandsaur district. It is in the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.
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