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Indore
The princely state of Indore is located currently in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Until the end of the 15th century, Indore’s original nucleus was a riverside village which occupied the bank of river Saraswati. Presently, this area is known as Juni Indore.
The area of the modern Indore city was a part of the Kampel pargana (administrative unit) during the Mughal Empire. Kampel was administered by the Ujjain government of Malwa Subah (province). This area was controlled by the local zamindars (feudal landlords), who accepted the suzerainty of the Mughal empire. The zamindars received the title of Chaudhari, which established their claim to the land.
The modern settlement was developed by Rao Nandlal Chaudhary, the chief local zamindar, who had an army of 2000 soldiers. Under the Mughal rule, his family enjoyed great influence and was accorded confirmatory sanads by the Emperors Aurangzeb and Farrukhsiyar. In the mid-1710s, Nandlal was caught in the struggle between the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad. Once, while visiting the Indreshwar Temple near the banks of river Saraswati, Nandlal found the location to be safe and strategically located, being surrounded by rivers on all sides. He started moving his people in, and constructed the fort of Shree Sansthan Bada Rawala to protect them from the warring forces. This marked the establishment of the present-day Indore city, which became an important trade center on the Delhi-Deccan route.