



Samrat Ashok, still a prince aged 18, was appointed as a Viceroy by his father, Bindusaar, at Ujjain. While on his way from Patliputra to that place he met Devi, a banker's daughter of Vidisha or Besnagar of the Sakya clan and married her. Her son Mahendra, and daughter Sanghmitra are famous in history as their father's religious ambassadors to Ceylon. They are known to have carried a twig of the original 'Bodhi' tree and led a Buddhist Mission to that country. Devi never visited Patliputra. She stayed at Besnagar only and embraced Buddhism afterwards. A monastery type of building has been excavated near Sanchi setup (nearly 8 kms away from Vidisha Town) which is stated to have been constructed for her residence. It is said that before sailing for Ceylon Mahendra came to visit his mother at Besnagar. The mother took her son to a " Chaitya Giri " which, by popular belief was none other than the Sanchi Stup.




In 2011, Vidisha had population of 1,458,875 of which male and female were 769,568 and 689,307 respectively. Vidisha District population constituted 2.01 percent of total Maharashtra population. Average literacy rate of Vidisha in 2011 were 70.53 compared to 61.83 of 2001. If things are looked out at gender wise, male and female literacy were 79.14 and 60.85 respectively. For 2001 census, same figures stood at 74.23 and 47.40 in Vidisha District. Total literate in Vidisha District were 862,918 of which male and female were 512,344 and 350,574 respectively. In 2001, Vidisha District had 608,083 in its district. There was change of 20.09 percent in the population compared to population as per 2001.