Dewas district is an administrative district in the Malwa region of the state of Madhya Pradesh, central India. The district takes its name from its headquarters town, Dewas, which lies on the Malwa Plateau a short distance north-east of Indore. Dewas district forms part of the Ujjain Division.
| Country | India |
|---|---|
| State | Madhya Pradesh |
| Division | Ujjain Division |
| Headquarters | Dewas |
| Region | Malwa |
The district lies on the Malwa Plateau, an upland of black cotton soil drained chiefly by tributaries of the Chambal and the Narmada. The southern parts of the district descend towards the Narmada valley, while the northern and central parts retain the gently rolling character typical of Malwa. The Vindhyan range influences the southern relief, and the prominent Chamunda Tekri hill rises within Dewas town itself.
Dewas district shares boundaries with the districts of Ujjain, Shajapur, Sehore, Hoshangabad (Narmadapuram), Khandwa and Indore.
Before the integration of the princely states into the Indian Union, the area was governed as the twin princely states of Dewas Senior and Dewas Junior, each ruled by a branch of the Puar (Pawar) Maratha dynasty. The two states were founded in the early 18th century by the brothers Tukoji Rao and Jivaji Rao Puar, who came into the region with the Maratha advance into Malwa. For more than two centuries, the town of Dewas was unusual in being divided between the two ruling houses, with each branch maintaining its own administration on different sides of the town.
The English novelist E. M. Forster served briefly as private secretary to the Maharaja of Dewas Senior in 1921, and his time there is recorded in his memoir The Hill of Devi. Both states acceded to the Indian Union after independence in 1947 and were merged into the new state of Madhya Bharat, which in turn became part of Madhya Pradesh on the reorganisation of states in 1956.
The district is administered by a Collector and District Magistrate. It is divided into several tehsils and development blocks; principal towns and tehsil centres include Dewas, Sonkatch, Bagli, Kannod, Khategaon, Tonk Khurd and Hatpipalya. The district falls within the Ujjain Division for revenue purposes and is part of the Indore range for police administration.
Agriculture remains the mainstay of the rural economy, with wheat, soybean, gram, cotton and pulses being important crops on the fertile black soil of Malwa. Dewas town itself is a significant industrial centre, hosting the Bank Note Press of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India, which prints Indian currency notes. The town also has units in engineering, automotive components, soya processing and pharmaceuticals, and is served by an industrial area developed by the Madhya Pradesh Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam.
Dewas lies on National Highway 52 connecting it with Indore, Ujjain and beyond, placing the district on a major north–south road corridor in central India. The town is a station on the Western Railway's Ratlam–Bhopal route, providing rail connectivity to Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal and other regional centres. The nearest major airport is Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport at Indore.