Bhopal

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Industrial city and capital of Madhya Pradesh, central India, 525 km/326 mi southwest of Allahabad; population (2001 est) 1,433,900. Textiles, chemicals, and heavy electrical goods such as motors and transformers are manufactured. Nearby Bhimbetka Caves, discovered in 1973, have the world's largest collection of prehistoric paintings, about 10,000 years old. In 1984 some 2,600 people died from an escape of the poisonous gas methyl isocyanate from a factory owned by US company Union Carbide; another 300,000 suffer from long-term health problems.

The city was capital of the former princely state of Bhopal founded in 1723, which became allied to Britain in 1817. It was merged with Madhya Pradesh in 1956.

The distinctive pattern in the hoist is designed to look like woven cloth. Effective date: 7 June 1995. >>