History about Gwalior says that it owes its name to a sage of former times. The story goes thus – Suraj Sen, a prince of the Kachhwaha clan of the 8th century had lost his way in the jungle and ultimately wandered up to a secluded hill. Thereafter he met an old man, Sage Gwalipa, whose influence almost took him by surprise. On asking the sage for some drinking water he was led to a pond. The pool waters not only quenched his thirst but cured him of leprosy as well. Out of gratefulness he wished to offer something in return to the sage and the sage asked him to build a fort on the hill. Thus came up the fort named Gwalior, and eventually the city that developed around it got its name
In the 10th Century it was taken by the Kachwaha Rajputs. Qutb-ud-din Aybak captured the city in 1196. Shamsud-din Altamsh took control of the area in 1232. By the 15th century the city had a noted singing school which was attended by Tansen. It first fell to the British in 1780, but was one of the cities taken during the Sepoy Rebellion.[3]
Today Gwalior includes the former city of Lashkar. Laskar was the capital of Gwalior state one of the princely states of India during the British Raj. It then served as the capital of Madhya Bharat from 1950-1956
Gujari Mahal, which according to the local stories says that the maharaj made for his 9th queen, he was married to eight queens, but none were able to produce an heir for him, thus he finally married a milkman’s daughter called “naani”, later she was renamed “mrignayani” (meaning having eyes like deer), since she wasn’t of royal heritage, the maharaj had to make a separate palace for her, which is now called “Gujari Mahal”.
Art and culture
Gwalior is a well acknowledged place of art, associated with historic as well as contemporary evidence. In August 2005 a mural created by Aasutosh Panigrahi along with five other artist, was acknowledged as World’s Largest Indoor Mural by Guinness Book of Records.
Gwalior holds an unparalleled reputation in Sangeet Greatest ever classical singer (Dhrupadiya) was Baijnath Prasad alias Baiju Bawra lived in Gwalior for his whole life under the patronage of Man Singh. Baiju was born in Chanderi and was cremated there only, got the training of music in Brindaban Under great Swami Guru Haridas ji. He was Court Musician of Gwalior along with Nayak Charju, Bakshu, and others.
Tansen, Born in Behat, trained in music at Vrindavan, Served to Raja Ramchandra Waghela of Bandhawgarh, then went to Agra under the patronage of Akbar. After the death of Tansen in Fatehpur Sikri and crimation in Agra the ashes were buried in Gwalior. Tansen Samaroh is held every year in Gwalior.
Ustad Natthu Khan, Hassu Khan, Haddu Khan, Nissar Hussain, Rehmat Khan, Shankarrao Vishnu Pandit, Ramkrishna Buwa Vaze, Rajabhaiyya Poonchhwale, Krishnarao Pandit, lived here and spread the magic of music. Renowned artiste Mrs. Malini Rajurkar, who is keeping the flame of Hindustani music alive today, also belongs to Gwalior.
Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is also from the royal city of Gwalior. His grandfather Ghulam Ali Khan Bangash became a court musician in Gwalior.
Now, one of the great Hindustani classical singer Dr. Ishwar Chandra Karkare who is fourth generation of artists poets and musician family lives here and his classical music is full of spiritual joyousness.
Culturally Gwalior is the confluence of two rich cultures Bundeli and Braj. Bundelkhand covers Gwalior, Bhind, Morena, Sagar, Shivpuri, Guna, Sheopur and adjoining areas.
Areas of the city
[edit]The Old Town
The old town of Gwalior, commonly called Hazira, which is of considerable size, but irregularly built, lies at the eastern base of the rock. It contains the tomb of the Sufi saint Khwaja Khanoon & Mahommed Ghaus, erected during the early part of Mughal emperor Akbar’s reign, and the tomb of Mian Tansen, a great singer and one of the ‘Nine Jewels’ of Akbar’s court. A town called by his name Ghauspura situated near the tomb of Mohaommed Ghaus.
Close to the heart of the city is splendid Jai Vilas Palace, patterned on the French palace of Versailles. The town has a museum situated in the Gujari Mahal.
[edit]Lashkar
Lashkar is derived from the Persian lashkar, meaning army, or camp, as it was originally the camp, and later the permanent capital, of the Scindia dynasty of Gwalior state. Jayaji Chowk is the central focus of Lashkar, with a large square, a former opera house, banks, tea, coffee and juice stands and a municipal market building. Thriving bazaars surround the chowk.
Many jewellery shops are situated near Jayaji Chowk aka Maharaj bada. A source of water for the city Tighra Dam build on Saank river is 20 km north of here. The Gajra Raja Medical College, founded in 1946 by the Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia and the Maharani Vijayaraje Scindia, is situated in Lashkar on Palace Road, near Katora Taal, together with a group of many hospitals.
Morar
Morar, formerly a separate town, lies three miles (5 km) east of the old city. It was formerly a British military cantonment. Morar was the scene of the most serious uprising in Central India. By 1900 it had become a centre for local trade and had an important training industry, with a population of 19,179 in 1901.
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