It is now a centre of the trade in Malwa opium, with a wealthy colony of Bohra merchants.
About the year 1418 Sultan Husain Shah of Malwa invaded Kherla, and reduced it to a dependency.
In 1467 Kherla was seized by the Bahmani king, but was afterwards restored to Malwa.
There is evidence that about three centuries ago elephants wandered in the forests of Malwa and Nimar, while they survived to a later date in the Chanda district of the Central Provinces.
Though the family lost most of its possessions during the Mahratta invasion in the 14th century, it never became tributary to any Malwa chief.