Maheshwar is a town in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh state, in central India. It is located 13 km east of National Highway 3 (Agra-Mumbai highway) and 91 km from Indore, the commercial capital of the state. The town lies on the north bank of the Narmada River.
The name Maheshwar comes from Mahesh, a name for Lord Shiva. The word Maheshwar in Hindi means abode of Lord Mahesh.

Maheshwar town is built on the site of the ancient city of Maheshvari, and was the capital of king Kartavirya Arjuna, who is mentioned in the Sanskrit epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Maheshwar was known as Mahissati (Mahishamati in Sanskrit) in ancient times and was the capital of Southern Avanti.

In Mahabharata, there is description[1] of an unusual custom of non-prevalence of marriages in Mahishmati. As per the legend, there was a king named Nila who ruled over Mahishmati. King Nila had a daughter who was exceedingly beautiful. So much so that god Agni(fire) fell in love with her. She always used to stay near the sacred fire of her father, causing it to blaze up with vigour. And it so happened that king Nila's fire, even if fanned, would not blaze up till agitated by the gentle breath of that girl's fair lips. And it was said in King Nila's palace and in the house of all his subjects that the god Agni desired that beautiful girl for his bride. And it so happened that Agni was accepted by the girl herself. A secret love affair began between god Agni, who assumed the form of a Brahman, and the beautiful princess. But, one day the couple was discovered by the king, who became furious. Nila thereupon ordered the Brahmana to be punished according to law. At this the illustrious deity flamed up in wrath and beholding the terrible flame, the king felt terrified and bent his head low on the ground. The legend abruptly comes to a conclusion (perhaps due to narration changes it underwent in later centuries before being written) and from that time, the girls of the city of Mahishmati became rather unacceptable to others as wives. God Agni by his boon granted them sexual liberty, so that the women of that town always roam about at will, each unbound to a particular husband.

In the late eighteenth century, Maheshwar served as the capital of Rajmata Ahilya Devi Holkar, ruler of the state of Indore. She embellished the city with many buildings and public works, and it is home to her palace, as well as numerous temples, a fort, and riverfront ghats (broad stone steps which step down to the river).

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