Largest state in India until Chhattisgarh was split from it in 2000, Madhya Pradesh is considered the heart of the country (as its English translation would illustrate: "Central Province").
Epicenter of the ancient Mauryan Empire, the region twisted and turned as a segment within one empire after another, until the last one, the British, took control of it after the third and final Anglo-Maratha War in 1818.
The British reconstituted the dominant sovereign of the area, the Kingdom of Bhopal (established in 1707 AD), into an allied princely state, until the last Nawab of Bhopal relinquished control of it to the Union Government of India on June 1, 1949.
Capital is Bhopal and the official language is Hindi.
