Mhow, officially known as Dr Ambedkar Nagar, is a cantonment in the Indore District in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located 23 kilometres (14 mi) south of Indore city towards Mumbai on the Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as Dr Ambedkar Nagar in 2003, by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. There is total lack of unanimity on how Mhow got its name. One possible source of the name might be the Mahua (Madhuca longifolia) tree, which grows in profusion in the forests around Mhow. Some articles in popular literature state that MHOW stands for Military Headquarters Of War. However, this is a backronym, and there is no proof to support the theory that the name of the village comes from the acronym. The village near Mhow was called Mhow Gaon in the pre-British era, when English was not used in India. The Cantonment which came up in 1818 came to be known as Mhow Cantt after the name of this village. Sir John Malcolm spelt the name of this town as MOW in his writings. The 1918 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica also mentions 'MAU'. However, the Cantonment was referred to by British officers as Mhow at least as early as the end of 1823 (letter from Lt Edward Squibb to his father in London). In 2003, the town was renamed Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in honour of B. R. Ambedkar, who was born here. The renaming has not been without controversy. Many claim that it has been done due to the compulsions of vote bank politics. The new name is used for official purposes and has not been widely accepted. This cantonment town was founded in 1818 by John Malcolm as a result of the Treaty of Mandsaur between the English and the Holkars who were the Maratha Maharajas of Indore. John Malcolm's forces had defeated the Holkars of the Maratha Confederacy at the Battle of Mahidpur in 1818. It was after this battle that the capital of the Holkars shifted from the town of Maheshwar on the banks of the Narmada to Indore. Mhow used to be the headquarters of the 5th (Mhow) Division of the Southern Command during the British Raj. Today this small town is associated with the Indian Army and with Bharat Ratna Dr. B. R. Ambedkar an economist, philosopher, jurist, anthropologist, Buddhist activist, a revolutionary, a prolific writer and a political leader who was born here. Mhow was a meter gauge railway district headquarters during the British Raj and even after 1947. The irony is that Mhow finally has a broad gauge connection with Indore but regular train services are yet to commence. According to Hindu religious texts, Janapav Kuti near Mhow is said to be the birthplace of Parashurama, an avatar of Vishnu. Mhow has a pleasant climate more often than not, however the peak summer and winter periods may get extremely hot and cold, respectively. Temperatures may go as high as 43 degrees Celsius during summers and 4 degrees Celsius during winter. Cantonment: The Indian Army has been here since 1818. Up until World War II, Mhow was the headquarters of the 5th (Mhow) Division of the Southern Army. According to local legend Winston Churchill also spent a few months in Mhow when he was a subaltern serving with his regiment in India (a local shop still boasts of him as its customer). The house on the Mall where he is supposed to have lived has gradually crumbled due to neglect and age. It has been pulled down and a jogger's park has been built on its grounds by the Infantry School, Mhow. Mhow houses three premier training institutions of the Indian Army -The Infantry School,The Military College of Telecommunication Engineering and The Army War College. In addition to these institutes, MHOW is where Army Training Command or ARTRAC was born. ARTRAC was based in Mhow from 1991 to 1994, before it shifted to Shimla (Himachal Pradesh). At that time its General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC-in-C) was Lt. General Shankar Roy Chowdhary who went on to become the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Its first GOC-in-C was Lt. General A.S. Kalkat who had earlier commanded the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. ARTRAC was housed in the campus of the present Army School Mhow. This was used as All Arms Wing of MCTE for many decades. It was originally built and used as the BMH (British Military Hospital). The Infantry School:The Infantry School is a Training Establishment of the Indian Army. It is responsible for the training of Officers & Men of the Infantry. The Commando Wing of this school is in Belgaum, Karnataka. The Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) is a part of the Infantry School & has produced many medal winning shooters. Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was the first Indian Commandant of this school in 1955-56 when he was a Brigadier. Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE): The first training institution in Mhow, MCTE was known as the School of Signals till 1967. It is the alma mater of the Corps of Signals. MCTE conducts telecommunications and information technology courses for officers, JCOS, NCOs and soldiers of the Indian Army. Officers and men from other countries also attend courses there. It also trains gentlemen cadets for a bachelor's degree in engineering at the Cadets Training Wing (CTW). On completion of their training, most of the cadets get commissioned into the Indian Army's Corps of Signals; however, some are also commissioned into other arms. The Army War College: Army War College, Mhow (AWC) is a tactical training and research institution of the Indian Army located in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. It develops and evaluates concepts and doctrines for tactics and logistics for the army. The college trains about 1,200 officers of the Indian Army, as well as paramilitary forces each year. The college was originally established as the College of Combat at Mhow on April 1, 1971. It was spun out of the Infantry School, Mhow. It continued to operate from the campus of the Infantry School until 1988, when the college moved to its new campus. In 2003, the college was renamed as the Army War College, Mhow. The College mainly conducts three courses—the Junior Command (JC) course, the Senior Command (SC) course and the Higher Command (HC) course. The former Chiefs of Army Staff (COAS) General K. Sundarji and General V N Sharma have served as the Commandant of the College. Present Commandant: Lt Gen S L Narasimhan, PVSM, AVSM SM. The river Chambal which flows through the dacoit infested areas of Northern India is said to begin at the hill of Janapav which is in a village named Kuti,around 15 km from Mhow town. On top of the hill of Janapav is a temple and ashram. According to local legend this used to be the ashram of Jamadagni, the father of Parashurama (an Avatar or reincarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu God of sustenance). A mela, or religious fair, is held at Kuti every year on the auspicious day of Kartik Purnima - the first full moon after Diwali, which is also celebrated as Guru Nanak's birthday by the Sikh community - and people from villages far and near come to pray and pay their obeisance. The next day the same mela shifts to the Balaji temple in Badgonda village. The river Gambhir which eventually joins the Kshipra - the river on whose banks the ancient, holy city of Ujjain is built - also begins at the hill of Janapav. From there it flows north towards Mhow. MHOW YDM-4 diesel loco with 52957 RTM MHOW Passenger See also: Project Unigauge and Mhow railway station The railway station on Delhi-Tirunelveli Meter gauge line was founded in 1970's that was the only source for the transportation on olden times. Mhow has been connected to Indore and Khandwa by metre gauge railway lines. On 18 January 2008, the Union Cabinet approved the gauge conversion for the Ratlam-Mhow-Khandwa-Akola railway line.(472.64 km). The cost of the gauge conversion would be about Rs.1421.25 crore and Mhow have the hold in YDM-4 Metre Gauge(M.G) locomotives in Ratlam diesel loco shed livery.