JHABUA

town, administrative headquarters of Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh state, central India. Located on Bahadur Sagar (lake), it was founded in the 16th century by a Labhana freebooter and served as the capital of the former Jhabua princely state. It is a local agricultural and timber market connected by road with Dhar. There is a government college affiliated with Vikram University. Jhabua district (about 2,600 sq mi [6,800 sq km]), constituted in 1948, consists of the former Jhabua and several other princely state areas. It comprises a region traversed by the forested Rath, the northern ridges of the Vindhya Range (q.v.). Cultivated land lies chiefly along the Anas and Mahi (q.v.) rivers and their tributaries. Wheat, corn (maize), millet, and cotton are major crops; manganese deposits are worked. Pop. (1981) town, 16,777; district, 795,168.