Malwa

A plateau of northwestern Madhya Pradesh in India which is also the name of a Chalcolithic culture of the early 2nd millennium BC. Important sites include Navdatoli, Nagda, and Kayatha (Ujjain). The characteristic pottery (Malwa ware) is a red-slipped, black painted ware on a red or cream ground in geometric, plant, and animal motifs. There was also black-painted cream-slipped, black-and-red painted, Jorwe, and Lustrous Red wares. The people cultivated crops, kept animals, and made objects of copper and stone.

A district of central India which has given its name to a culture complex of the Chalcolithic period (3rd-2nd millennium BC). The characteristic pottery is painted in black on a red or cream ground in exuberant designs including geometric, plant and animal motifs. One of the most important sites of the Malwa complex is Navdatoli.