Bhopal

Bhopal, city in central India, capital of Madhya Pradesh State. It is a railway junction and trade centre. The main industries are the manufacture of cotton cloth and jewellery. Bhopal is the site of the Taj-ul-Masjid, one of the largest mosques in Asia. It has a university, Barkatullah Vishwavidyalaya (1970), and an academy of music.

The city itself dates from the first half of the 18th century. From 1723 until 1956 Bhopal was capital of the former princely state of Bhopal. Between 1844 and 1926 it was governed by begums, women rulers. In December 1984 methyl isocyanate and other deadly gases were leaked from a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide Corporation in Bhopal, causing the deaths of many thousands of people and permanent disability to countless others; it was the worst industrial accident in history. In 1989, after years of litigation, the United States owners of the plant agreed to pay the Indian government $470 million. In return, the government agreed to drop criminal charges against the company and its former chief executive, Warren Anderson. Population 1,454,830 (2001).