1854, died 1930), who succeeded to the throne in 1874, devoted himself entirely to the development of his state, himself designing most of the engineering and irrigation works that were executed during his reign. In 1901, the state had an area of , and population of 52,634. It was the oldest and highest in rank of all the Bundela states, with a 17-gun salute, and its Maharajas bore the hereditary title of First of the Prince of Bundelkhand. Vir Singh, Pratap Singh's successor, merged his state with the Union of India on January 1, 1950. The district became part of Vindhya Pradesh state, which was merged into Madhya Pradesh state in 1956. Today Orchha is almost a nondescript town with a small population, and its importance is maintained only due to its rich architectural heritage and tourism. Books on the rich history of Orchha are available in local shops, mostly in the Hindi language. Only a thorough reading of some of this material will tell about the rich and varied history of this place. Economy In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Tikamgarh one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 24 districts in Madhya Pradesh receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). The economy of this area mainly based on agriculture and allied activities. Tikamgarh is a major player in producing pyrophyllite. There are various pyrophyllite mining sites where high-quality pyrophyllite stone is getting mined. The pyrophyllite of Tikamgarh is getting exported to all over India. Demographics Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh has a total population of 1,445,166 as per the Census 2011. Out of which 760,355 are males while 684,811 are females. In 2011 there were total of 296,116 families residing in Tikamgarh district. The Average Sex Ratio of Tikamgarh district is 901. After the separation of Niwari district the population of Tikamgarh district was 1,040,359. As per Census 2011 out of the total population, 17.3% of people live in Urban areas while 82.7% live in the rural areas. The average literacy rate in urban areas is 74.7% while that in the rural areas is 58.6%. Also, the Sex Ratio of Urban areas in Tikamgarh district is 909 while that of Rural areas is 899. The population of Children age 0–6 years in Tikamgarh district is 227564 which is 16% of the total