Central India

Central India is loosely defined region of India consisting of the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The states share many linguistic and cultural characteristics with the Northern Region as well as the predominance of Hindi. The Bhimbetka caves show proof of Paleolithic settlements in current Madhya Pradesh. Stone Age tools have collectively been discovered at various places on the Narmada river valley. Chalcolithic sites have been discovered at a number of places at Eran, Kayatha, Maheshwar, Nagda and Navdatoli. Rock shelters with cave paintings, the earliest of which can be dated to 30,000 BCE, have also been discovered at a number of places. The settlements of humans in present-day Madhya Pradesh developed primarily in the valleys of rivers such as Narmada, Chambal and Betwa. During the early Vedic period, the Vindhya Mountains formed the southern boundary of the Indo-Aryan territory. After independence, the states of Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, and Bhopal were merged into Madhya Pradesh in 1956. In 2000, the new state of Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh. The region is part of the Hindi belt, and Modern Standard Hindi is the predominant language. Other Hindi belt languages such as Chhattisgarhi are also common regionally. Besides these Indo-Aryan languages, the Munda-family language Korku is also spoken in Central India.