Today, however, the majority of Madhya Pradesh’s population is not made up of the indigenous tribes that once inhabited the region, but rather immigrants from surrounding areas. Still, in some districts, the indigenous communities constitute 30% to over 50% of the population, creating a vibrant and diverse mix of ethnicities, religions, and traditions.

The people of Madhya Pradesh are predominantly Hindu, with more than 90% adhering to the faith. This has resulted in a cultural mosaic shaped by the caste system, with various communities within the Hindu population, each influenced by the traditions of their ancestral homelands. However, a clear economic divide exists between the newer immigrant populations and the indigenous groups.

Indigenous peoples, more deeply rooted in their traditions, have been resistant to fully adapting to modern lifestyles. The arrival of immigrants and the redistribution of land have led to significant losses of ancestral territories, leaving many of the tribal communities with insufficient farmland for self-sufficiency.

For these communities, the gradual growth of socially and ecologically sustainable tourism offers a promising path to improving their living conditions without sacrificing their land or cultural heritage. Notably, the Gond people, who ruled Gondwana until the Middle Ages, as well as the Bhil and Korku tribes, continue to add a rich layer of cultural vibrancy to a visit to Madhya Pradesh, particularly through their colorful festivals and celebrations.

For European visitors, it’s important to avoid eating unpeeled or uncooked fruits and vegetables to prevent digestive issues. Additionally, indicating the desired level of spiciness when ordering can be helpful, as chili is a popular and generously used spice in many dishes

For those who venture into the rural villages of Madhya Pradesh, traditional, locally sourced meals provide an authentic experience. These dishes are often simple, made with ingredients gathered from the surrounding environment. What is particularly fascinating is the indigenous knowledge of the medicinal properties and health benefits of various edible plants, knowledge that has been passed down through generations.

These large, graceful hunters live a reclusive life right in the thicket of the tropical wet, respectively dry or thorn forests, and are hunting on nearby clearings, where it comes to sightings time and again, for the visitors an unforgettable experience. Other large predators of Madhya Pradesh are sloth bears, wolves and hyenas, but also unique, medium cats like the caracal or civet. Afraid of the hunters are an ~imately 50 different species comprising number of cattle-like animals, deer and gazelles and other, smaller mammals such as small bandicoots Bandicota and striped palm squirrel Funambulus.

Common langur and rhesus monkeys inhabit the treetops, filling the air with their cries, apparently in competition with the calls of the birds. The number of birds is clearly fluctuating, due to the immigration and emigration in relation to the respective breeding period, it changes between 300 and 400 species and includes some due to dwindling habitat partly highly endangered specimens. The number of reptiles, which love the subtropical continental climate of Madhya Pradesh, is great. So there are, in addition to various species of snakes like cobras, pythons and vipers, especially diverse species of lizards, even monitor lizards live here.

In the national park lives a wide variety of bovines (like gaurs Bos gaurus as the largest representative, bison, but also muntjak- and sambar deer Rusa unicolor, nilgai antelope Boselaphus tragocamelus, spotted deer Axis axis, and of course several small mammal species feel comfortable in the vast grasslands. On your watch you need to be, in addition of the big cats, of striped hyenas, an Indian subspecies of wolves, canis Lupus indica, and the unique caracal, Caracal caracal, a medium-sized cat species. Travelers who are enthusiastic about birding are looking forward to 250-350 different species of birds - depending on the season - including the up to 1.80 m high sarus crane Grus antigone.

About 80 species of butterflies also inhabit the sky, and compete with various flowering plants about the most brilliant colours. A similar flora and fauna visitors can experience at the Kanha National Park which reaches with its central National Park and the surrounding protection zone a total area of more than 2000 km² and thus represents the largest conservation area of central India. Here one also has the chance of sighting sloth bears Melursus ursinus and barasinghas / swamp deer Rucervus duvauceli or the subspecies of highland barasinghas occurring exclusively here Cervus duvaceli branderi. Even the Panna National Park in northeastern Madhya Pradesh with a central area of over 540 square kilometers belongs to Project Tiger and still received an award in 2007, before in 2009 the extermination of the entire tiger population by poaching had to be accepted.

With a renewed releasing of Tigers was begun immediately, the long-term successes, however, are yet to be seen. Regardless of this, the area was classified in August 2011 as a biosphere reserve in order to conserve the last continuous tropical-subtropical deciduous forest in north of the state after excessive deforestation, to reforest it and to lastingly protect it. In particular, the wealth of primeval teak and unique tree species such as Kardhai anogeissus pendula make the National Park worth seeing and are home to Bengal tigers, leopards, sloth bears, but also spotted deer, nilgai and chinkaras, an Indian gazelle. Populations of the Asian paradise flycatcher, the bar-headed goose Anser indicus, the rose headed parakeet Psittacula roseata, the crested honey buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus, the red-headed vulture Sarcogyps calvus or its over 200 feathered relatives will certainly persuade birders to visit.

In a separate protection zone here also lives the most critically endangered species of crocodile, the ganges gavials Gavialis gangeticus alongside some other fascinating reptiles. Since the park is located in a part of the Gondwana territory which is populated since prehistoric times, the experience of the pristine nature is supplemented with the discovery of fascinating cultural treasures of human history.

In the centuries before Christ, eventually first advanced cultures established themselves, such as the Gond in the kingdom of Gondwana, the Malwa in today's west and south of the state, but also peoples such as the Nanda and the Maurya which, among other things, had to defend themselves against Alexander the Great, but especially had to prevail during power struggles within the region. So throughout the centuries, the ruling dynasties changed from Gupta to Paramara, Gurjar and Gwalior, until finally in the middle of the 19th century the British colonialised the region and ultimately pacified it to a large extent.

With the emerging independence of the young Indian Republic in 1956, the state of Madhya Pradesh was founded from the regions of Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal, who had split off in the year 2000 the southeastern part of its territory as the most recent alteration, and thus allowing the new establishment of the State of Chhattisgarh. The turbulent history of the Indian heartland impresses even today with fascinating ruins, mighty temples and forts, whose sightseeing should not be missed during a Madhya Pradesh vacation.

However, the most important industrial factor are large textile factories, in which artificial silk is produced in addition to the textile processing. The IT industry has settled down in Madhya Pradesh too, especially around the cities of Indore and Gwalior is its importance and the production of entertainment electronics very big. Tourism is increasingly gaining importance in the recent years, and facilitated in recent years a slight economic revival for the tribal peoples who will hopefully lift the state in the foreseeable future off the space as the sixth-poorest Indian state.