Chhatarpur

This article is about the municipality in Madhya Pradesh, India. For its namesake district, see Chhatarpur District.

Chhatarpur
—  city  —
Chhatarpur Location of Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh and India
Coordinates	24°54′57″N 79°34′56″E / 24.915709°N 79.582214°E / 24.915709; 79.582214Coordinates: 24°54′57″N 79°34′56″E / 24.915709°N 79.582214°E / 24.915709; 79.582214
Country	India
State	Madhya Pradesh
District(s)	Chhatarpur
Population • Density	99,519 (2001[update]) • 1,242 /km2 (3,217 /sq mi)
Sex ratio	920 ♂/♀
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	50 square kilometres (19 sq mi) • 305 metres (1,001 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 471001 • Telephone • +07682 • Vehicle • MP-16
Website	chhatarpur.nic.in

Chhatarpur is a city and a municipality in Chhatarpur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Chhatarpur District.

History

Flag of Princely Chhatarpur

Chhatarpur was founded in 1785 and is named after the Bundela Rajput leader Chhatrasal, the founder of Bundelkhand independence, and contains his cenotaph. The state was ruled by his descendants until 1785. At that time the Ponwar clan of the Rajputs took control of Chhatarpur. The state was guaranteed to Kunwar Sone Singh Ponwar^[1] in 1806 by the British Raj. In 1854 Chhatarpur would have lapsed to the British government for want of direct heirs under the doctrine of lapse, but was conferred on Jagat Raj as a special act of grace. The Ponwar Rajas ruled a princely state with an area of 1,118 square miles (2,900 km²), and population of 156,139 in 1901, which was part of the Bundelkhand agency of Central India. In 1901 the town of Chhatarpur had a population of 10,029, a high school and manufactured paper and coarse cutlery. The state also contained the British cantonment of Nowgaon.^[2]

Rulers

^[3]

Rajas

• 1785 - 1816 Kunwar Sone Shah (b. ... - d. 1816)
• 1816 - 1854 Partab Singh (b. ... - d. 1854)
• 1854 - Nov 1867 Jaghat Singh (b. 1846 - d. 1867)
• 1867 - 1895 Vishvanath Singh (b. 1866 - d. 1932)

Maharajas

• 1895 - 4 Apr 1932 Vishvanath Singh (s.a.)
• 5 Apr 1932 - 15 Aug 1947 Bhawani Singh (b. 1921 - d. 2006)

After the independence of India in 1947, the Rajas of Chhatarpur acceded to India, and Chhatarpur, together with the rest of Bundelkhand Agency, became part of the Indian state of Vindhya Pradesh. Vindhya Pradesh was merged into the state of Madhya Pradesh in 1956.

Geography

Chhatarpur is located at 24°54′N 79°36′E / 24.9°N 79.6°E / 24.9; 79.6.^[4] It has an average elevation of 305 metres (1000 feet). It is located on the far north-east border of Madhya Pradesh, sharing its borders with the Banda district of Uttar Pradesh. It is 133 km from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh and 233 km from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.

Panorama of Chhatarpur

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[5] Chhatarpur had a population of 99,519. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Chhatarpur has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 75% and female literacy of 62%. 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

There is no large scale industry in Chhatarpur apart from a few small scale industreis available, but these industries are not sufficient for giving enough employment for local people. The economy is mostly dependent on farming. The city however, has a growing private commercial sector, mainly retail businesses. Recently a multinational mining company Rio Tinto has been working on a diamond project, see Bunder Project, in Chhatarpur area. If Rio Tinto starts mining for diamond there will be good support for local people. There are many granite mining industries available in Chhatarpur district.

Transport

Chhatarpur can be reached by road only. The nearest railway stations are at Khajuraho (45 km), Harpalpur (55 km) Jhansi (133 km) and Satna (140 km) and the nearest airport is at Khajuraho, which has daily flights from Delhi.

Education

Most of the colleges in Chhatarpur district are affiliated to University of Sagar, which is also known as Dr. Hari Singh Gaur University Sagar. They offer graduation and post graduation courses in the faculties of Arts, Science, Commerce, Education and Law. Government Maharaja P.G. College , Government Girls P.G. College and Saraswati College Of Computer Science(SCCS) also offers doctorate (PhD) programs in Arts and Science faculties.

Schools

1. Christian English College
2. Maharishi Vidya Mandir
3. Central School

Radio and TV station

Chhatarpur has got its own radio station of All India Radio (आकाशवाणी) under Prasar Bharati. It is transmitting at 675 kHz. The radio station of Chhatarpur has given name and fame to many local artists. Notable among them are Deshraj Pateriya, Lakshmi Tripathi. Chhatarpur also has a Doordarshan's Hi power transmitter for TV which is located at Deri Road.

People

• Jeetendra Singh Bundela
• Satyavrat Chaturvedi
• Babu Gulabrai
• Shankar Pratap Singh Bundela
• Siddheshwar Mitter
• Pandit Sitaram Bhaskar Bhagwat
• Neeta Pateriya
• Kunwar Vikram Singh
• Lalita Yadav

Places to see

• Khajuraho, a popular tourist spot is near Chhatarpur.
• Dhubela, A Museum 15 KM from Chhatarpur
• Jatashankar, A holy place Near Bijawar
• Bhimkund, A beautiful place for Natural water tank. Near to Bajna.
• Raneh Fall, A water fall Near to Khajuraho
• Hanuman Tauria , A Hanuman tample
• Bambar Baini, Ancient temple of maa Durga on a hill in Laundi
• Panna National Park, near Panna district
• Pandav Falls, close to Khajuraho, Pandavas said to have sought shelter here during exile

External links

• बुंदेलखंड दर्शन डोट कॉम- बुन्देलखण्ड की विस्तृत जानकारी
• Genealogy of the chiefs of Chhatarpur
• Computer Care & Ware, Chhatarpur
• Chhatarpur official website by MP Govt.

References

1. ^ http://uqconnect.net/~zzhsoszy/ips/c/chhatarpur.html
2. ^  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
3. ^ http://rulers.org/indstat1.html
4. ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Chhatarpur
5. ^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 

• J. R. Ackerley, Hindoo holiday, NYRB Classics, ISBN 978-0940322257