Mandu, or Mandogarh, is a ruined city in the Dhar District of western Madhya Pradesh state, central India. Mandu was the capital of the fifteenth-century Muslim kingdom of Malwa. The city is situated at an elevation of 2079 ft. and extends for 8 miles along the crest of the Vindhya Range, overlooking the plateau of Malwa to the north, and the valley of the Narmada River to the south. It was founded by Dilawar Khan, who was governor of Malwa province under the Delhi Sultanate, and in 1401 declared himself Sultan of Malwa. The city reached its greatest splendour under Hoshang Shah (1405-1435). Sultan Mahmud Khalji (reigned 1436-69) expanded the state to include portions of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and the Deccan. The circuit of the battlemented wall is nearly 23 miles, enclosing a large number of palaces, mosques and other buildings. The oldest mosque dates from 1405; the finest is the Jama Masjid or great mosque, a notable example of Pathan architecture, founded by Hoshang Shah. The marble domed tomb of this ruler is also magnificent.

The authority of Malwa's sultans declined towards the end of the fifteenth century, and in the early 1500's the sultan sought the aid of the sultans of Gujarat to counter the growing power of the Rajputs, while the Rajputs sought the aid of the Sesodia Rajput kings of Mewar . Gujarat stormed Mandu in 1518 and 1531, and shortly thereafter the Malwa sultanate collapsed. The Mughal emperor Akbar captured Malwa in 1562, and made it a province of his empire. Emperor Jahangir enjoyed the beauty and climate of Mandu. Mandu was abandoned by the seventeenth century.

External link

Mandu at the Islamic Monuments of India Photographic Database