Vidisha or Besnagar or old name Bhelsa is a city in the central Indian state Madhya Pradesh, near its capital Bhopal. It is the administrative headquarters of Vidisha District.

History

The town is situated east of the Betwa River, in the fork of the Betwa and Bes rivers, 10 km from Sanchi. The town of Besnagar, 3 km from present-day Vidisha on the west side of the river, became an important trade center in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, under the Sungas, Nagas, Satavahanas, and Guptas, and was mentioned in the Pali scriptures. The Emperor Ashoka was the governor of Vidisha and it finds mention in Kalidasa's immortal Meghdoot. Besnagar was abandoned in the sixth century, it came into prominence again as Bhelsa during the medieval period. It thus, passed on to the Malwa Sultans, the Mughals and the Scindias.

The ruins of a Brahmanical shrine at Vidisha dedicated to Vishnu reveal that the foundation bricks were cemented together with lime mortar, the first known example of the use of cement in India. The ruins are of period prior to 2nd century BC.

Close to the ruins are the remains of votive pillars with palm-leaf capitals; the only one that still stands is the Heliodorus pillar, also known as Khamba Baba. A monolithic free-standing column, the pillar bears an inscription which states that it was Garuda Pillar, raised in honour of Vasudeva by Heliodorous, a resident of Taxila, who had been sent to the court of Bhagabhadra as an envoy of Indo-Greek monarch, Antialkidas. This inscription is a valuable historical record, revealing both the relations that existed between the region and the Greek kingdoms of the Punjab, and the fact that th Greek ambassador had become a follower of Hindu god Vishnu. The inclusion of the name of Antialkidas dates the erection of the pillar to approximately 140 BC

Ancient coin of Eran-Vidisha, 2nd-1st century BCE.
Obv: Tree in railing, Nandipada, Taurine in semicircle, Swastika, triangular-headed standard, river with fishes and tortoises below.
Rev: Blank.

Geography

Vidisha is located at ^[1]. It has an average elevation of 424 metres (1391 feet).

Demographics

India census^[2], Vidisha had a population of 125,457. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Vidisha has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 77%, and female literacy is 62%. In Vidisha, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Vidisha or Besnagar as it is called in the Pali scriptures, once the prosperous capital of the western dominions of the Sungas, contains some remarkable antiquities that throw light on the considerable architectural development of the period.

Eran-type coin, 2nd century BCE. British Museum.

References

1. ↑ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Vidisha
2. ↑

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