HISTORY
The district derives its
name from God "Shiva".
It was known earlier by the name ‘Sipri’. The Shivpuri place first found
a mention during Mughal times in 1564 when Emperor Akbar is stated to have
halted at this place. During that period it formed a part of Narwar Sarkar.
Narwar or Narbar is a tahsil with a population of 6745 persons as per 1991
census, located at a distance of 43 kms from Shivpuri, the district head
quarters. It has a very big ancient fort and a wealth of history behind. The
district was known as Narwar district during the times of Gwalior State, although its Headquarter was at
Shivpuri. Shivpuri remained with the Kachhawaha Rajputs upto 1804 when it was
taken over by Scindia’s. It was captured by the English in 1817 but returned to
Scindia’s next year and it continued to be a part of Gwalior state since then. In 1859 it is
said that the great Indian leader Tatya
Tope was hanged near the present Collectorate. Maharaja Madhav
Rao Scindia paid much attention towards the development of Shivpuri. He
constructed a big palace and also developed the city. It was the summer capital
of Gwalior State and government offices were
shifted here in summer months. Shivpuri was constituted as a district in
erstwhile Madhya Bharat and continues as such with practically no change since
1951.
