Malwa

Malwa is a region of central India, lying in the western part of Madhya Pradesh state. It lies at the headwaters of the Chambal River and its tributaries, the Kali Sindh and the Parbati. Ujjain is the historic center of the region, and Indore is presently the largest city. The Mughal emperor Akbar captured Malwa in 1562, and it was a province of his empire. As the Mughal state weakened after 1700, the Marathas raided Malwa. Malhar Rao Holkar (1694-1766) became leader of Maratha armies in Malwa in 1724, and in 1733, he was granted control of the region by the Maratha leadership, which was formally ceded by the Mughals in 1538. The Holkar dynasty ruled Malwa from Indore and Maheshwar until 1818, when the Marathas were defeated by the British in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, and the Holkars of Indore became part of the British Raj as a princely state. After India's independence, most of Malwa became part of the new state of Madhya Bharat which was merged into Madhya Pradesh in 1956.

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The Malwa plateau lies under central Madhya Pradesh and southeastern Rajasthan states, north and west of the Vindhya Range in central India. it is bounded by the plains of Gujarat to the west, and the Madhya Bharat plateau and Bundelkhand upland on the north. It is of volcanic origin.

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In the Belisarius series by David Drake and Eric Flint, the people of Malwa are chosen by creatures from the future to change the course of history. The Byzantine general Belisarius is set on them by a creature sent by another group of future beings.