Dewas

Dewas is a city in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative capital of Dewas district. Under the British Raj the municipality was the seat of two princely states with a 15-gun salute, Dewas Junior and Dewas Senior, both ruled by the Pawar clan of the Marathas, and the territory was first established as a sovereign Maratha holding in the first half of the 18th century. The name comes from the Devi Vashini hill, known as Tekri, which carries a temple of Devi Tulja Bhawani, Chamunda Mata and Kalika Mata, so that Dewas is taken to mean the abode of the gods. E. M. Forster wrote The Hill of Devi in 1953 after staying in the area. Dewas is an industrialised city with a government bank note press, and its population was 289,550 at the census.