Ujjain, city, central India, in Madhya Pradesh State, on the Sipra River, near Indore. It is one of the seven sacred cities of the Hindus. A rail junction, Ujjain is an agricultural and textile trade center. It is the seat of Vikram University (1957). The city was the capital of the semilegendary kingdom of Avanti, an Indian state described in Buddhist chronicles. In the 8th century AD it became the center of Sanskrit learning. Ujjain was captured by the Muslims in 1235, and most of the Hindu shrines were destroyed. It was not returned to Hindu control until about 1750. Population (1991) 362,266.
