Panna, India

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Panna
Panna
State - District(s)	Madhya Pradesh - Panna
Coordinates	24.72° N 80.2° E
Area - Elevation	- 433 m
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Population (2001) - Density	45,666 -

Panna is a city and a municipality in Panna district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is famous for its diamond mines. It is the administrative center of Panna District.

1 History
2 Diamond Mining
3 Bundela rajas of Panna
4 Geography
5 Demographics
6 Footnotes

[edit] History

Panna was the capital of Chhatar Sal, the Bundela Rajput leader who led a revolt against the Mughal Empire. Upon his death in 1732, his kingdom was divided among his sons, with one-third of the kingdom going to his ally, the Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I.

The kingdom of Panna went to Harde Sah, the eldest son of Chhatar Sal. In the early 19th century, Panna became a princely state of British India, and gained control states of the states of Sohawal and Nagod. Raja Nirpat Singh assisted the British in the Revolt of 1857, and the British rewarded him with the title maharaja. Maharaja Mahendra Yadvendra Singh acceded to the Government of India on January 1, 1950, and the kingdom became Panna District of the new Indian state of Vindhya Pradesh. Vindhya Pradesh was merged into Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 1950.

[edit] Diamond Mining

A large group of deposits extends south-west from Allahabad for 150 miles or so, and is known as the Panna group. ^[1] They do not cover an area of more than 20 acres. Great pits, 25 feet in diameter and, perhaps, 30 feet in depth, are dug for the sake of reaching the Diamond conglomerate, which, in many cases, was only a very thin layer. ^[2]. According to Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Tieffenthaler was the first European to visit the mines in 1765 and claimed that the Panna diamonds could not compare in hardness and fire with other locations in India. No really large diamonds have come from this area.

The most productive mines were in the 1860's and were found in Sukirah, around 20 miles from Panna. Four classifications were given to the Panna diamonds: first, Motichul, clear and brilliant ; 2nd, Manik, verging in tint towards green ; 3rd, Panna, with a faint orange tint ; 4th, Bunsput, sepia coloured. ^[2]

Diamond mines in Panna are managed under the Diamond Mining Project of National Mineral Development Corporation ( NMDC Ltd ) of Government of India.

[edit] Bundela rajas of Panna

Chhatar Sal (died 1732)
Raja Harde Sah (1731-1739)
Raja Sabha Singh (1739-1752)
Raja Aman Singh (1752-1758)
Raja Hindupat Singh (1758-1778)
Raja Anirudh Singh (1778-1779)
interregnum 1779-1785)
Raja Dhokal Singh (1785-1798)
Raja Kishor Singh (1798-1834)
Raja Harbans Rai (1834-1849)
Maharaja Mahendra Nirpat Singh (1849-1870)
Maharaja Rudra Pratap Singh (1870-1893) born 1848.
Maharaja Mahendra Lokpal Singh (1893-1898)
Maharaja Mahendra Madho Singh (1898-1902)
Maharaja Mahendra Yadvendra Singh (1902-January 1, 1950) born 1893.

[edit] Geography

Panna is located at 24.72° N 80.2° E^[3]. It has an average elevation of 433 metres (1420 feet). coor title dm|24|43|N|80|12|E|region:IN_type:city

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census^GRIndia, Panna had a population of 45,666. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Panna has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 67%. In Panna, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.