History

The earliest references to the city, as Ujjaini, come from the time of the Buddha, when it served as the capital of the Avanti Kingdom.[1] Since the fourth century B.C.E., the city has marked the first meridian of longitude in Hindu geography. Ujjain is reputed to have been the residence of Ashoka (who subsequently became the emperor), when he presided as the viceroy of the western provinces of the Maurya empire.

In the Post-Mauryan period, the Sungas and the Satavahanas ruled the city consecutively. The Satavahanas and the Ror Sakas, known as Western Satraps, contested for control of the city for a period. Following the end of the Satavahana dynasty, the Rors retained Ujjain from the second to the twelfth century C.E. Following the rise of the Gupta dynasty, the city soon became an important seat in the annals of that empire. Ujjain became the traditional capital of King Chandragupta II, also known as Vikramaditya, at whose court the nine poets known as the Navaratna (nine jewels) of Sanskrit literature inaugurated a golden age of Sanskrit literature.

In the sixth and seventh centuries, Ujjain became a major center of mathematical and astronomical research.[2] Famous mathematicians who worked there included: Brahmagupta, whose book Brahmasphutasiddhanta spread the use of zero, negative numbers and the positional number system to Arabia and Cambodia; Varahamihira, the first to discover many trigonometric identities; and Bhaskaracharya, or Bhaskara II, whose book Lilavati broke new ground in many areas of mathematics.

The Delhi Sultanate led by Iltutmish invaded Ujjain in 1235, bringing widespread destruction and systematic desecration of temples. Under the Mughal emperor Akbar it became the capital of Malwa.

During the last half of the eighteenth century, Ujjain served as the headquarters of the Maratha leader Sindhia.[3] The Scindias later established themselves at Gwalior, and Ujjain remained part of Gwalior state until Indian Independence in 1947. Gwalior state became a princely state of the British Raj after the Maratha defeat in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, and Gwalior, Ujjain, and the neighboring princely states became part of the Central India Agency. After Indian independence, the Scindia ruler of Gwalior acceded to the Indian Union, and Ujjain became part of the Madhya Bharat state. In 1956, Madhya Bharat merged into the Madhya Pradesh state.