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At that time there
had been sixteen such janpadas in North India in which Magadha, Kosala,
Vatsa and Avanti had been most prominent. There had been a shift in the
ruling dynasty which brought an ambitious here Chanda Pradyota in power.
During the reign of one of his successors, a peoples revolt against his tyrannical
rule was witnessed in Ujjain, first of its kind in India.
In
ancient times Ujjain was a key political and trade centre of
Koshambi-Paithan route joining North and South India via Vidisha, Govard,
Ujjain and Mahishmati.
During
Mauryan period, Ujjain had been the headquarters
of Avanti province. The great emperor Chandragupta in the Jaina ascetic
forms visited
Ujjain en-route to Karnataka. His grandson Ashok was
appointed as Governor of Ujjain by Mauryan emperor Bindusara. His son
Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra were born in Ujjain who later on
whole-heartedly propagated
the Buddhism in Ceylon.
In
1st century BC, Ujjain witnessed the scene of struggle between the local
Gardabhillas and the alien synthians. Ultimately, The warrior king
Vikramaditya repulsed the alien invasion and to commemorate
the event, an era now know as Vikram era, was started. It is said that
king of Vikram of Ujjaiyni was a brave, courageous and a just ruler. He
was a patron of scholars and the learned, well-versed in various sciences.
Nine great such authorities, popularly
known as Nava-ratnas (Nine0gems)
adorned his court. These had been Dhanvantri, Ksapanaka, Amarasingha, Shanku, Vaitala-Bhatta, Ghata Karpara, Kalidasa, Varahmihar
and Vararuchi, Kalidasa has been a post and dramatist of the world fame.
Similarly Varahamihar was a great astrologer and mathematician.
The
"Periplus of the Erthrean Sea" an account of an unknown Greek
them residing in Egypt, made a voyage to India, sometimes in first AD. The
periplus talks of Ozen (Ujjain) in the east of Barygaza (Bhrigukachchha in
ancient times, now Broaches
which fed all commodities to trade like Onyx,
Porcelain, fine muslins, spikenard, castes
godellium to this important part
and to other parts of India. The articles of export to the western world
such as precious stones and pearls, scents, spices, perfumes, silks and
muslin etc. reached the part of Bhrigukachchha from the remote North
through Ujjain which was connected with it by land - route.
In
second century AD the Kardamaka branch of the Shakes emerged as the
Kshatrapas of Ujjain Chashtan, Rudradaman and many other rulers ruled in
Ujjain upto 4th C AD, When there power was finally extinguished by the
Guptas in the eastern and the Aulikaras in the Western Malwa. During the
Guptas Aulikaras age, as the contemporary shasta dramas tell us Ujjain had
been a remarkable cosmopolitan trade centre after 6th C AD.
Ujjain
remained under the political sway of the Kalachuris the Maritrakas, the
later Guptas the Pushyabhutis, the Pratiharas and the Rasthrakutas ultimately
in the later part of 10th C AD, the parmaras feudal of Malwa
overthrew the yoke of their Rastrakuta overloads and attained
independence. Siyaka II, Vakpti Munja, Sindhuraja, Bhojadeva, Udayadutya, Naravarma
had been the Paramara rulers of Malwa, Ujjain and
Dhar being the capital towns. These rulers particularly Bhija had been the
patrons of Literature, arts and architecture. The Paramaraspower crumbled
down as a result of the Muslims invasions. The invasion of Ujjain in 1235
AD the Delhi sultan IItumishled the destruction of the great shrine
mahakala and other religious and cultural centres of Ujjain. After the
Khilji invasion of Malwa in the first decade of 14th C AD the parmara
power was finally extinguished. In the year 1401 Dilwarkhan Gauri, the
sultan of Malwasnatched this region from the later Tughlakas and
established an independent Sultanat of Malwa with its headquarters at Mandu.
Thereafter Khilji and Afghan dynasties ruled over Malwa respectively with
brief Gujarat and Mughal interpolation. In 1562 AD the great Mughal emperor
Akbar annexed Malwa was declared as province with its headquarter at Ujjain
about 1730 mrathas under the Peshwas captured Malwa from the later Mughals
and science 1741, the Peshwas emerged as de jure overlords of Malwa with
Scindia, Holkar and Pawar as their ruling representatives. Ramoji and
Mahadji had been the first two prominent Shide rulers of Ujjain. In 1810
the capital of Shinde state was shifted to Gwalior, Ujjain remained as a
prominent district.
In
the pre independence era Ujjain witnessed the scenes of socio cultural rejuvenation,
industrial and commercial growth on modern pattern and the struggle for
the freedom. In 1948 the Shinde regime came to an end as the Gwalior state
merged into the newly formed Madhya Bharat. Presently, Ujjain is a
Commissionary and district headquarter in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
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