The Zero Mile Stone was built by the British in 1907 during Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. In local Marathi language, this place is known as शून्य मैलाचा दगड. The Zero Mile Stone consists of a pillar made up of sandstone and another small stone representing the GTS Standard BenchMark, and four stucco horses that were added later.
This is the point from which, distances to other cities were measured during the days of British rule. The English rulers considered Nagpur as the centre of India. Being at the centres of the country, they also had a plan to make Nagpur the second capital city.
The following table gives the distances from Zero Mile in Nagpur to places as marked on the hexagonal base of the pillar
Place | Distance in Miles | Direction |
---|---|---|
Kowtah | 62 (~100 Kms) | South |
Hyderabad | 318 (~512 Kms) | South-East |
Chandah | 125 (~201 Kms) | South-East |
Raipur | 174 (~ 280 Kms) | East |
Jabalpur | 170 (~ Kms) | North-East |
Seoni | 79 (~ 127 Kms) | North-East |
Chindwarah (Chhindwara) | 83 (~ 133 Kms) | North-West |
Baitool (Betul) | 101 (~ 162 Kms) | West |