Bhopal is said to have been founded by the Parmara King Bhoj (1000-1055), who had his capital at Dhar. The city was originally known as Bhojpal named after Bhoj and the dam ('pal') that he is said to have constructed to form the lakes surrounding Bhopal. The fortunes of Bhopal rose and fell with that of its reigning dynasty. As the Parmaras declined in power, the city was ransacked several times and finally faded away into obscurity. An Afghan solider called Dost Mohammad Khan (not to be confused with the Afghan King of same name), laid out the present city at the same site following the death of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707. He brought with himself the Islamic influence on the culture and architecture of Bhopal, the ruins of which can be found at Islam Nagar. Bhopal, the second largest Muslim state in pre-independence India was ruled by four Begums from 1819 to 1926. Qudisa Begum was the first female ruler of Bhopal, who was succeeded by her only daughter Sikandar, who in turn was succeeded by her only daughter, Shahjehan. Sultan Jehan was the last female ruler, and stepped down to her son. The succession of the ?Begums? gave the city such innovations as waterworks, railways and a postal system. Several monuments still stand in the city as reminders of this glorious period in its history. A municipality was constituted in 1903

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Bhopal is located in the central part of India, it's just north of the upper limit of the Vindhya mountain ranges. Bhopal is a hilly (elevation 498m) but hot area, located on the Malwa plateau,it is higher than the north Indian plains and the land rises towards the Vindhya Range to the south. The city has uneven elevation and has small hills within its boundaries. The major hills in Bhopal comprise of Idgah hills and Shyamala hills in the northern region and Arera hills in the central region. The summers are hot and dry and the temperatures soar as high as 40o-42oC. Winters are moderately cold with temperature not going below 8oC. It rains moderately during the rainy season. The South-West monsoon reaches the city during mid-June and provides frequent showers till September-end/October-start. Light rainfalls are also recorded during December-January.

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The city is divided into two major areas in terms of economy, the old city and the new city. The major industries in the old city are electrical goods, cotton, chemicals (see Bhopal Disaster) and Jewellery. The residents here engage in small businesses including production, retail, services etc. The major product of the old city is handicraft. There is a huge demand for its very famous zardozi work, which is a kind of embroidery done on bridal dresses, sherwanis, and purses. Another famous handicraft of Bhopal is 'Batua', a small string purse, usually used with Indian traditional dresses. Older city is also known for its industry of automobile conversion. It is known mainly for conversion of Willy's jeeps from left-hand-drive to right-hand-drive and other such mechanical modifications. There are also a number of garages which modify and tune motorbikes.

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