Ashoknagar District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The city of Ashoknagar is the administrative headquarters of the district. Ashoknagar district was formed in 2003. Geography The district has an area of 4673.94 km². It is bounded on the east by the Betwa River, which separates it from Lalitpur District of Uttar Pradesh and Sagar District of Madhya Pradesh. Vidisha District lies to the south. The Sindh River forms the western border of the district, which separates it from Guna District. Shivpuri District lies to the north. The district has a population of 688,920 (2001 census). It is divided into eight tehsils: Ashoknagar, Chanderi, Isagarh, Mungaoli, Shadora , Naisarai, Piprai and Bahadurpur. The district was created on August 15, 2003 when it was split from Guna District. Ashoknagar also has a great historical importance. The details of the Block wise population and area is shown in the table below: History The region was ruled by the Scindia family as a part of Isagarh District of the Indian princely state of Gwalior. After the Ujjain victory on his return King Ashoka took a night halt at Pachhar and henceforth Pachhar was called Ashoknagar. The territory of present Ashoknagar district was part of Chedi kingdom of Shishupal in Mahabharata period and Chedi Janapada in Janapada period. In medieval period was part of Chanderi State. In the 6th century B.C. Chanderi area (territory of Ashoknagar district) was under Avanti, Dasharna and Chedi Janapadas. It was part of Nanda, Maurya, Sunga and Magadh kingdoms. It is believed that the Great Emperor Asoka, while on his trip to conquer Ujjain, had spent one night in Ashoknagar, hence the area been named AshokNagar. After the Magadh, Sungas and Sakas of Naga dynasty ruled over it. Subsequently, after the Guptas and the Maukharias, it formed part of the empire of Harshvardhan. In 8th-9th century AD, it went to the Pratihara dynasty. The 7th descendant of Pratihara dynasty, Raja Kirtipal founded Chanderi city in the 10th -11th century AD. and made it his capital. After the fall of Pratihara dynasty, the Chandelas of Jejak bhukti also ruled here briefly. Chanderi kingdom was also affected by repeated invasions of Mahmud Ghaznavi in the 11th century AD. After establishment of Delhi Sultanate, Turks, Afghans and Mughalas ruled it. During the reign of Chanderi‘s Bundela ruler Morprahalad, Gwalior ruler Daulatrao Scindia sent his general John Baptiste to