Vidisha or Besnagar is a city in Madhya Pradesh state of central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Vidisha District. Madhya Pradesh (मध्य प्रदेश) is a state in central India. ... Vidisha District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. ...

The town is situated east of the Betwa River, in the fork of the Betwa and Bes rivers, 10 km from Sanchi. The town of Besnagar, 3 km from present-day Vidisha on the west side of the river, became an important trade center in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, under the Sungas, Nagas, Satavahanas, and Guptas, and was mentioned in the Pali scriptures. The Emperor Ashoka was the governor of Vidisha and it finds mention in Kalidasa's immortal Meghdoot. Besnagar was abandoned in the sixth century, it came into prominence again as Bhilsa during the medieval period. The Bija Mandal mosque in Vidisha was constructed after demolishing the Vijayamandir Hindu temple during the time of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It thus, passed on to the Malwa Sultans, the Mugals and the Scindias. The Betwa (Vetravati) is a river in Northern India, and a tributary of the Yamuna. ... Sanchi is a small village of India, located 46 km north east of Bhopal, in the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 6th century BC started on January 1, 600 BC and ended on December 31, 501 BC. // Overview Monument 1, an Olmec colossal head at La Venta The 5th and 6th centuries BC were a time of empires, but more importantly, a... (6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) The 5th and 6th centuries BC are a period of philosophical brilliance among advanced civilizations. ... Approximate greatest extent of the Sunga empire (185 BCE-73 BCE) For other uses of the term Sunga see Sunga (disambiguation) The Sunga empire (or Shunga empire) controlled the eastern part of India from around 185 to 73 BCE. It was established after the fall of the Indian Mauryan empire. ... The word Naga can refer to several different things. ... Approximate extent of the Satavahana Empire, circa 150 CE. The Sātavāhanas, also known as the Andhras, were a dynasty which ruled in Southern and Central India starting from around 230 BCE. Although there is some controversy about when the dynasty came to an end, the most liberal estimates... Silver coin of the Gupta King Kumara Gupta I (414-455 CE). ... For the town and district in Rajasthan, see Pali, Rajasthan For the Ganapati temple of pali and place in Maharastra, see Ballaleshwar Pali Pāli (Devanagari पालि) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... Emperor Ashoka (a possible picturisation) Ashoka the Great (Devanagari: अशोक; IAST transliteration: ) was the emperor of the Mauryan Empire from 273 BCE to 232 BCE. After a number of military conquests, Ashoka reigned over most of South Asia and beyond, from present-day Afghanistan to Bengal and as far south as... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Meghaduuta (which translates literally as cloud-messenger) is a lyrical poem written by Kalidasa, considered to be one of the greatest Sanskrit poets. ... The Badshahi Masjid in Lahore, Pakistan with an iwan at center, three domes, and five visible minarets A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... Aurangzeb (from Persian, اورنگ‌زیب Aurang means throne and Zaib meant beauty or ornament),(November 3, 1618 – March 3, 1707, also known as Alamgir I, was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1658 until 1707. ... Malwa (Malvi:माळवा) is a region in western India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin in the western part of Madhya Pradesh state and the south-eastern part of Rajasthan. ... A sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic monarch ruling under the terms of shariah. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... The Scindia, also spelled Sindhia , Sindia, or Shinde are a prominent Maratha family in India. ...

The ruins of a Brahmanical shrine at Vidisha dedicated to Vishnu reveal that the foundation bricks were cemented together with lime mortar, the first known example of the use of cement in India. The ruins are of period prior to 2nd century BC. For other uses of the name Vishnu, see Vishnu (disambiguation). ... Lime is a general term for various naturally occurring minerals and materials derived from them in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides of calcium predominate. ... Mortar has several meanings: A mortar is a military weapon into which is dropped a mortar shell, which is then fired in a high ballistic trajectory. ... (3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) // Events 175 BCE - Antiochus IV Epiphanes, took possession of the Syrian throne, at the murder of his brother Seleucus IV Philopator, which rightly belonged to his nephew Demetrius I Soter. ...

Close to the ruins are the remains of votive pillars with palm-leaf capitals; the only one that still stands is the Heliodorus pillar, also known as Khamba Baba. A monolithic free-standing column, the pillar bears an inscription which states that it was Garuda Pillar, raised in honour of Vasudeva by Heliodorous, a rsident of Taxila, who had been sent to the court of Bhagabhadra as an envoy of Indo-Bactrian monarch, Antialkidas. This inscription is a valuable historical record, revealing both the relations that existed between the region and the Greek kingdoms of the Punjab, and the remarkable fact that a Greek had become a follower of Hindu god Vishnu. The inclusion of the name of Antialkidas dates the erection of the pillar to approximately 140 BC The Heliodorus pillar was erected around 110 BCE in central India at the site of Vidisha, by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Sunga king Bhagabhadra. ... Something that is monolithic is something created in one piece, resembling a monolith such as an obelisk. ... Inscriptions are words or letters written, engraved, painted, or otherwise traced on a surface and can appear in contexts both small and monumental. ... Garuda according to Ida Made Tlaga, an 19th century Balinese artist. ... In Hinduism, Vasudeva is the father of Krishna, Balarama and Subhadra. ... Taxila (Urdu: ٹپکسلا ) (Sanskrit: तक्षशिला, takṣaśilā) is an archaeological site, located in the Punjab (ancient Gandhara) province of Pakistan, west of the Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi, on the border of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province and just off the Grand Trunk Road. ... Bhagabhadra was one of the kings of the Indian Sunga dynasty. ... Silver tetradrachm of King Antialcidas (r. ... Punjab, 1903 Punjab Province, 1909 The Punjab (meaning: Land of five Rivers; also Panjab, Gurmukhi: ਪੰਜਾਬ, Shahmukhi: پنجاب) is a region straddling the border between India and Pakistan. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... For other uses of the name Vishnu, see Vishnu (disambiguation). ... Silver tetradrachm of King Antialcidas (r. ... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC - 140s BC - 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC Years: 145 BC 144 BC 143 BC 142 BC 141 BC - 140 BC - 139 BC 138 BC...