The district formed when Bhopal State joined the Union holds the World Heritage stupa at Sanchi

Background

Raisen district is centrally located in Madhya Pradesh, lying between latitudes 22 degrees 47 minutes and 23 degrees 33 minutes North and longitudes 77 degrees 21 minutes and 78 degrees 49 minutes East.
It spans 8,395 sq. km, which the district administration gives as 1.93% of the total area of Madhya Pradesh, and is bordered by Vidisha to the north, Sehore to the west, Sagar to the east and south-east, Narsinghpur to the south-east and Narmadapuram, formerly Hoshangabad, to the south.
The district takes its name from the sandstone Raisen Fort on a hill, the term being traced to Rajavasini or Rajasayan, meaning the royal residence.
In the fifteenth century the area was ruled by the Sultans of Mandu and then by Rajputs; in 1543 Sher Shah Suri captured Raisen from the Puranmal Rajputs, and under Akbar it was the headquarters of a Sarkar in the Subah of Ujjain in Malwa.
After independence, when Bhopal State merged into the Indian Union as a 'C' state, Raisen district was formed on 5th May 1950 with Raisen town as its headquarters, comprising only seven tehsils to begin with.
The district is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites - the Sanchi Stupa, and the Bhimbetka rock shelters in the southern part of the district near the Satpura range - as well as to the Raisen Fort and the Dargah of Peer Fatehullah Shah Baba, and to the Mahashivratri observance at Bhojpur and the Sanchi Mahotsav.