The contested treasure inside Madhya Pradesh’s forests

There is a legend about how diamonds were found in the Bundelkhand region.

On one nondescript day in the seventeenth century, this legend goes, a young Bundela Rajput warrior named Chhatrasal Singh Bundela, met an ascetic named Prannath. Chhatrasal, who was still trying to establish his kingdom, was given two gifts by Prannath. The first was a special sword that could destroy any foe. The second was a vast supply of diamonds – the ascetic told the warrior that the precious stone would appear under all the land that he could cover on his horse in one night.

A grateful Chhatrasal set out on his horse and travelled through the night – and sure enough, diamonds appeared under the land that he traversed. This wealth, it is said, allowed the warrior to fight off Mughal rulers and carve out a kingdom in the region, which lasted into the era of British rule as the princely kingdom of Panna.

Reality today couldn’t be more different from the soft gloss of this legend. A proposed diamond mine in Buxwaha, in the district of Chhatarpur, is the focus of stormy protests by local residents. Rights to the mine were awarded to the Aditya Birla group in 2019: a total…

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