Origins
Indore owes its early growth to trade and commerce, which is still a dominant feature of the city. The present city is about 400 year’s old settlement. Till the end of 15th century its original nucleus was a riverside village, which occupied the bank of river Saraswati. This area is now known as Juni Indore.
The area of the modern Indore city was a part of the Kampel pargana (administrative unit) during the Mughal Empire. Kampel was administered by the Ujjain sarkar (government) of Malwa Subah (province). The area was controlled by the local zamindars (feudal landlords), who accepted the suzerainty of the Mughal empire. The zamindars received the title of Chaudhari, which established their claim to the land.
The modern settlement was developed by Rao Nandlal Chaudhary (also known as Nandlal Mandloi,a ShriGaud Brahmin), the chief local zamindar. Nandlal, who had an army of 2000 soldiers. Under the Mughal rule, his family enjoyed great influence and was accorded confirmatorysanads by the Emperors Aurangzeb and Farrukhsiyar, confirming their jagir (land ownership) rights. When Nandlal visited the Mughal court at Delhi, he received a special place in the emperor's court along with two jewel studded swords (now on display in the Royal British Museum under the family's name) and confirmatory sanads. Raja Savai Jai singh of Jaipur, a personal friend of his, gifted him with a special "Gold Langar" which guaranteed a special place to him in all the courts of India.
In the mid-1710s, Nandlal was caught in the struggle between the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad (who had been appointed as the governor of the Deccan region by the Mughal emperor). Once, while visiting the Indreshwar Temple near the banks of river Saraswati, Nandlal found the location to be safe and strategically located, being surrounded by rivers on all sides. He started moving his people in, and
