Handia

Handia, often called Hindia in Mughal records, stands on the southern bank of the Narmada opposite Nemawar. It was a prosperous town and the seat of a Mughal sarkar comprising twenty-three mahals, including Harda. The Chahar Gulshan, written in 1759, lists routes from Golconda through Asir to Handia and from Handia to Sironj among the empire's important roads. In 1742 the Marathas under Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao took the region and displaced its Mughal governor. Harda then overtook Handia as the local Maratha officer's residence. The Scindias retained the Handia country after the Third Anglo-Maratha War, although the East India Company briefly occupied its fort during the fighting.