Panna Diamond Mines, Madhya Prdesh :

Panna is beautiful town located in Madhya Pradesh is the biggest center of diamond mining in India. Infact Panna in Madhya Pradesh has the biggest and only diamond mines of Asia. Moreover the Panna mines is being promoted by the MP government as a great tourism destination. Being the only Diamond City in India, Panna town drove attention from all over the world. This diamond city is one of the very few in the world and is renowned for its diamond mining industry. This unusual way to spend the holiday amidst the shinning treasures is sure to be a genial experience.The history of this royal sparks goes back to the times of Arthshastra and Mahabharata, who discovered these shiny stones that emits immense beams.

History :

Panna was a Gond settlement until the 13th or 17th century(cite reference), when the Gondi were defeated by the Chandelas they migrated to other parts of Madhya Pradesh. Until that date, there were many rulers of the area. The famous mandir of Padmavatipuri Dham, adorned with divine lustre, is located in Panna town at the centre of Vindhyachal in Madhya Pradesh. The itinerant sage Mahamati Prannath and his disciples reached Panna with a divine message of awakening one's soul. Seeing a desert island, he decided to unfurl the flag of Jagani there. He helped the king Chhatrasal and adorned him with the title of Maharaja. He remained there for eleven years, and took samadhi inside the dome. The place, therefore, is known as the seat of salvation [Muktipitha] or Padmavatipuri Dham.

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 Nagod and Sohawal. 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 1 January 1950, and the kingdom became Panna District of the new Indian state of Vindhya Pradesh. Vindhya Pradesh was merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956.

Diamond mining :

A large group of diamond deposits extends North-East on a branch of the Vindhya Range for 150 miles (240 km) or so, and is known as the Panna group.They do not cover an area of more than 20 acres (81,000 m2). Great pits, 25 feet (7.6 m) in diameter and, perhaps, 30 feet (9.1 m) in depth, are dug for the sake of reaching the diamond conglomerate, which, in many cases, was only a very thin layer. According to Valentine Ball, who edited the 1676 'Travels in India' of 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 1860s and were found in Sakaria, around 20 miles (32 km) from Panna.

Four classifications were given to the Panna diamonds: first, Motichul, clear and brilliant; 2nd, Manik, with a faint orange tint; 3rd, Panna, verging in tint towards green; 4th, Bunsput, sepia coloured. Mines is situated in the interior of Panna district. Diamond mines in Panna are managed under the Diamond Mining Project of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC Ltd) of Government of India.In other mines every year the land is leased to prospective miners by the government agency. The diamonds unearthed are all collected by the district magistrate of Panna and are auctioned in the month of January. Auctions are open to the public and require a R.s 5000 deposit. Upwards of 100 diamonds of different carat and shade are offered for auction.

Majhgawan Diamond Mines in Panna, MP, India, Asia’s only Diamond mine. It is a centre of a Volcano that erupted millions of years ago. The Panna diamond mines, known as the Panna group, are a large group of diamond deposits in the Vindhya Range in West-Central India, covering approximately 20 acres of land. No large diamonds have come from this area. The diamond mines in Panna are managed by the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC Ltd.) of the Government of India. All diamonds are collected by the district magistrate and are auctioned in the month of January. All auctions are open to the public and usually offer more than 100 diamonds. According to NMDC’s website, the Panna diamond mines have a capacity of 84,000 carats per year. More than 1 million in carats have been recovered as of 2012.