Indore

Indore grew on the banks of the Kanh and Saraswati as a trading centre between the Deccan and Delhi. Its commerce expanded until, around 1720, the headquarters of the local pargana moved here from Kampel. The town became an important centre of the Holkars, a Maratha family whose power grew in Malwa during the eighteenth century.

Maratha armies sought the chauth tax from the Mughal administration and local landholders. In 1724 Peshwa Baji Rao obtained agreement to collect it and left Malhar Rao Holkar at Indore to oversee the revenues. The Marathas cultivated relations with the influential landholder Nandlal Chaudhary and consolidated their power after defeating the Mughals at Amjhera in 1728. Ahilyabai Holkar moved the local headquarters back to Indore in 1766, then made Maheshwar her capital the following year. Indore remained a commercial and military centre. After the Holkars' defeat in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, their capital returned to Indore in 1818, and a British resident was established there while the dynasty continued to rule.