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BUNDELKHAND
Online EncyclopediaOriginally appearing in Volume
V04,
Page 798
of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BUNDELKHAND , a See also: tract of See also:country in Central See also:India, lying between the See also:United and the Central Provinces. Historically it includes the five See also:British districts of See also:Hamirpur, See also:Jalaun, See also:Jhansi, See also:Lalitpur and See also:Banda, which now See also:form See also:part of the See also:Allahabad See also:division of the United Provinces, but politically it is restricted to a collection of native states, under the Bundelkhand agency. There are 9 states, 13 estates and the pargana of Alampur belonging to See also:Indore See also:state, with a See also:total See also:area of 9851 sq. m. and a total See also:population (19o1) of 1,308,326, showing a decrease of 13 % in the See also:decade, due to the effects of See also:famine. The most important of the states are See also:Orchha, See also:Panna, Samthar, See also:Charkhari, See also:Chhatarpur, See also:Datia, See also:Bijawar and See also:Ajaigarh. A See also:branch of the See also:Great See also:Indian See also:Peninsula railway traverses the See also:north of the country. A See also:garrison of all arms is stationed at See also:Nowgong. The See also:surface of the country is uneven and hilly, except in the north-See also:east part, which forms an irregular See also:plain cut up by ravines scooped out by torrents during the periodical rains. The plains of Bundelkhand are intersected by three See also:mountain ranges, the Bindhachal, Panna and Bander chains, the highest See also:elevation not exceeding 2000 ft. above See also:sea-level. Beyond these ranges the country is further diversified by isolated hills rising abruptly from a See also:common level, and presenting from their steep and nearly inaccessible scarps eligible sites for castles and strongholds, whence the mountaineers of Bundelkhand have frequently set at See also:defiance the most powerful of the native states of India. The See also:general slope of the country is towards the north-east, as indicated by the course of the See also:rivers which See also:traverse or See also:bound the territory, and finally See also:discharge themselves into the See also:Jumna. '797 The See also:principal rivers are the See also:Sind, See also:Betwa, See also:Ken, Baighin, Paisuni, Tons, Pahuj, Dhasan, Berma, Urmal and Chandrawal. The Sind, rising near Sironj in See also:Malwa, marks the frontier See also:line of Bundelkhand on the See also:side of See also:Gwalior.Parallel to this See also: river, but more to the eastward, is the course of the Betwa. Still farther to the east flows the Ken, followed in See also:succession by the Baighin, Paisuni and Tons. The Jumna and the Ken are the only two navigable rivers. Notwithstanding the large number of streams, the depression of their channels and height of their See also:banks render them for the most part unsuitable for the purposes of See also:irrigation,—which is conducted by means of jhils and tanks. These artificial lakes are usually formed by throwing embankments across the See also:lower extremities of valleys, and thus arresting and accumulating the See also:waters flowing through them. Some of the tanks are of great capacity; the Barwa See also:Sagar, for instance, is 22 m. in See also:diameter. Diamonds are found, particularly near the See also:town of Panna, in a range of hills called by the natives See also:Band-Ahil. The mines of See also:Maharajpur, Rajpur, Kimera and Gadasia have been famous for magnificent diamonds; and a very large one dug from the last was kept in the fort of See also:Kalinjar among the treasures of See also:Raja Himmat Bahadur. In the reign of the See also:emperor See also:Akbar the mines of Panna produced diamonds to the amount of £1oo,000 annually, and were a considerable source of See also:revenue, but for many years they have not been so profitable. The See also:tree vegetation consists rather of See also:jungle or copse than See also:forest, abounding in See also:game which is preserved by the native chiefs. There are also within these coverts several 'varieties of See also:wild animals, such as the See also:tiger, See also:leopard, See also:hyena, wild See also:boar, See also:nilgai and See also:jackal. The See also:people represent various races.The Bundelas—the See also: race who gave the name to the country—still maintain their dignity as chieftains, by disdaining to cultivate the See also:soil, although by no means conspicuous for lofty sentiments of See also:honour or morality. An Indian See also:proverb avers that " one native of Bundelkhand commits as much See also:fraud as a See also:hundred Dandis " (weighers of grains and notorious rogues). About Datia and Jhansi the inhabitants are a stout and handsome race of men, well off and contented. The prevailing See also:religion in Bundelkhand is See also:Hinduism. The earliest See also:dynasty recorded to have ruled in Bundelkhand were the Garhwas, who were succeeded by the Parihars; but nothing is known of either. About A.D. 800 the Parihars are said to have been oustedbythe Chandels, and DanghaVarma,See also:chief of the Chandel Rajputs, appears to have established the earliest See also:paramount See also:power in Bundelkhand towards the See also:close of the loth See also:century A.D. Under his dynasty the country attained its greatest splendour in the See also:early part of the 11th century, when its raja, whose dominions extended from the Jumna to the See also:Nerbudda, marched at the See also:head of 36,000 See also:horse and 45,000 See also:foot, with 64o elephants, to oppose the invasion of Mahmud of See also:Ghazni. In 1182 the Chandel dynasty was overthrown by Prithwi Raj, the ruler of Ajmer and See also:Delhi, after which the country remained in ruinous anarchy until the close of the 14th century, when the Bundelas, a See also:spurious offshoot of the Garhwa tribe of Rajputs, established themselves on the right See also:bank of the Jumna. One of these took See also:possession of Orchha by treacherously poisoning its chief. His successor succeeded in further aggrandizing the Bundela state, but he is represented to have been a notorious plunderer, and his See also:character is further stained by the assassination of the celebrated Abut Fazl, the See also:prime See also:minister and historian of Akbar. Jajhar Singh, the third Bundela chief, unsuccessfully revolted against the See also:court of Delhi, and his country became incorporated for a See also:short See also:time with the See also:empire.The struggles of the Bundelas for See also: independence resulted in the withdrawal of the royal troops, and the See also:admission of several See also:petty states as feudatories of the empire on See also:condition of military service. The Bundelas, under Champat Rai and his son, Chhatar Sal, :offered a successful resistance to the proselytizing efforts of See also:Aurangzeb. On the occasion of a See also:Mahommedan invasion in 1782, Chhatar Sal asked and obtained the assistance of the Mahratta Peshwas whom he adopted as his son, giving him a third of his dominions. The See also:Mahrattas gradually extended their 'See also:influence over Bundelkhand, and in 1792 the See also:peshwa was acknowledged as the See also:lord paramount of the country. The Mahratta power was, however, on the decline; the See also:flight of the peshwa from his See also:capital to See also:Bassein before the British arms changed the aspect of affairs, and by the treaty concluded between the peshwa and the British See also:government, the districts of Banda and Hamirpur were transferred to the latter. Two chiefs then held the ceded districts, Himmat Bahadur, the See also:leader of the Sanyasis, who promoted the views of the British, and Shamsher, who made common cause with the Mahrattas. In See also:September 1803, the united forces of the See also:English and Himmat Bahadur compelled Shamsher to See also:retreat with his See also:army. In 1809 Ajaigarh was besieged by a British force, and again three years later Kalinjar was besieged and taken after a heavy loss. In 1817, by the treaty of See also:Poona, the British government acquired from the peshwa all his rights, interests and .pretensions, feudal, territorial or pecuniary, in Bundelkhand. In carrying out the provisions of the treaty, an assurance was given by the British government that the rights of those interested in the See also:transfer should be scrupulously respected, and the See also:host of petty native principalities in the See also:province is the best See also:proof of the sincerity and See also:good faith with which this clause has been carried out. During the See also:mutiny of 1857, however, many of the chiefs See also:rose against the British, the rani of Jhansi being a notable example.Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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