Pokhran is a village and a municipality located, outside of Jaisalmer city in the Jaisalmer district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is a remote location in the Thar Desert region and served as the site for India's first underground nuclear weapon test. Member of the Legislative Assembly is Saleh Mohammad

Geography

Surrounded by rocks, sand and five salt ranges, its Hindi name "Pokhran" (पोखरण) means "five salt-ranges". It is located en route between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur or Bikaner at and has an average elevation of 233 metres (764 feet).

History

Fort Pokhran

Fort Pokhran, the 14th century citadel also known as "Balagarh", stands amidst the Thar Desert. This monument is the premier fort of the chief of the Champawats, one of the clan of Rathores of the state of Marwar- Jodhpur. Fort Pokhran is open for visitors and is being currently run as heritage hotel by the royal family of Pokhran.

Sati Mata Memorial

On the outskirts of the town, the Satiyo Deval Sati Mata Memorial, a royal cenotaph, is freely accessible. The famous, touristic city and fort of Jaisalmer is a couple of hours away by road.

Former rulers

* Seat of Chief of the Champawats, a sub-clan of Rathores of the state of Marwar- Jodhpur. * Bhawani Singh of Pokhran (b. 1911) was the last jagirdar of Pokhran before Indian independence. He was Sessions Judge and was elected to the

1st Lok Sabha The First Lok Sabha was constituted on 17 April 1952 after India's first general election. The 1st Lok Sabha lasted its full tenure of five years and was dissolved on 4 April 1957. The First Session of this Lok Sabha commenced on 13 May 1952. ...

, the Lower house of Indian parliament from Barmer- Jalore constituency, after getting elected as an Independent candidate in the

1952 Indian general election Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe cond ...

Demographics

According to 2011 Indian census, Pokhran had a population of 28457. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Pokhran has an average literacy rate of 56%, lower than the national average of 74.0%: male literacy is 68%, and female literacy is 41%. In Pokhran, 19% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Pokhran Nuclear Test Range

The Pokhran Test Range, a key component of India's nuclear programme, is located in the municipality. The ''Indian Nuclear Test Site'' is located 45 km north-west of Pokhran town and 4 km north of ''Khetolai'' village.Forty years after Pokhran nuclear tests, villagers complain of frequent cancer deaths
Scroll.in, 18 May 2014 The test range was built by the Indian Army Corps of Engineers and is under the control of Indian Army. It was built sometime before May 1974, when, following authorization given to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre by then- Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

, it hosted the detonation of India's first nuclear device.

Pokhran-I

The Ministry of External Affairs designated the test "Pokhran-I", but it is also known as "Smiling Buddha". It was India's first successful

nuclear bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

test on 18 May 1974. The bomb was detonated on the army base Pokhran Test Range (PTR), in Rajasthan, by the Indian Army under the supervision of several key Indian generals.

Pokhran-II

On 11 and 13 May 1998, twenty-four years after Pokhran-I, the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) conducted five further nuclear tests, dubbed " Pokhran-II", at the Pokhran range. Four AEC devices and, under the codename '' Shakti'', a

thermonuclear device A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a low ...

were tested.

References

{{Jaisalmer district Cities and towns in Jaisalmer district Nuclear test sites Indian nuclear test sites