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Bundelkhand
Bundelkhand is
the name of the geographical area of northern Deccan plateau in central
India. The area is now divided in to the two states of Uttar Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh, Bundelkhand comprises of Jansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur,
Banda and Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh and Sagar, Chattarpur,
Tikamgarh, Pnna, Datia, Damoh, Shivpuri, Chanderi and parts of Gwalior in
Madhyapradesh. Though spread acrors two different states Bundelkhand
region has a geographical personality of its own and a unique cultural
identity. The area is distinguished by barren hilly terrains with not
much vegetation. The plains of Bundelkhand are intersected by three
mountain ranges, the Vindhyachal, Fauna and Bander chains, the highest
elevation not exceeding 2000 ft. above sea-level. Beyond these ranges the
country is further diversified by isolated hills rising abruptly from a
common level, and presenting from their steep and nearly inaccessible
scarps eligible sites for forts and strongholds of native kings. The
general slope of the country is towards the north-east, as indicated by
the course of the rivers which traverse or bound the territory, and
finally discharge themselves into the Yamuna.
The principal rivers are the Kali Sindh, Betwa, Ken, Bagahin, Tons, Pahuj,
Dhasan and Chambal. The Kali Sindh, rising in Malwa, marks the western
frontier of Bundelkhand. Parallel to this river, but further east, is the
course of the Betwa. Still farther the Ken flows to the east, followed in
succession by the Bagahin and Tons. The Yamuna and the Ken are the only
two navigable rivers. Notwithstanding the large number of streams, the
depression of their channels and height of their banks render them for the
most part unsuitable for the purposes of irrigation, which is conducted by
means of ponds and tanks. These artificial lakes are usually formed by
throwing embankments across the lower extremities of valleys, and thus
arresting and impounding the waters flowing through them.
The mines of Panna have been famous for magnificent diamonds; and a very
large one dug from the last was kept in the fort of Kalinjar. It was in
the fort of Kalinjar that Sher Shah Suri, the only Indian king to defeat
Mughals and sit on Delhi throne was killed during an assault over local
Bundeli kings.
In the reign of the
emperor
Akbar the
mines of Panna produced diamonds to the amount of 100,000 annually, and
were a considerable source of revenue, but for many years they have not
been so profitable.
The area had been from historical times sparsely populated and home of
outlaws and dacoits. The Valley of Chambal River has been, till recently,
feared for dacoits or "daakus". Famous dacoits like Phoolan Devi and
Malkhan Singh once ruled the area. The major towns are Jhansi, Sagar,
Panna, Banda and Chhatarpur.
Bundelkhand's most well known place, however, is
Khajuraho which has a number of 10th century temples devoted to
fine-living and eroticism. Bundeli is the most common Hindi dialect spoken
in the area. The Panna reserve forest boasts of tigers and a variety of
other wildlife.
The area is economically and industrially one of the most backward areas
in Indian mainland. Lack of resources, poor communication and infertile
land are some of the reasons for under-development of area.
Bundelkhand agency
was a collection of princely states ceded by the Maratha Empire to
Britain in 1818. The eastern portion was detached to form Bagelkhand
agency in 1871. In 1901 there were 9 states, 13 estates and the pargana of
Alampur belonging to Indore state, with a total area of 9851 sq. mi. and a
total population of 1,308,326 showing a decrease of 13 % over the previous
decade, due to the effects of famine. The most important of the states are
Orchha, Panna, Samthar, Charkhari, Chhatarpur, Datia, Bijawar and Ajaigarh.
After Indian independence in 1947, the princely states of Bundelkhand
agency were combined with those of the former
Bagelkhand
agency to form Vindhya Pradesh, which became an Indian state in 1950. On
November 1, 1956, Vindhya Pradesh was merged into Madhya Pradesh.
HISTORY
Bundelkhand
was known during the ancient times as Vatsa, in medieval times as
Jejakabhukti, in Mahabharat times as Chedi and since the fourteenth
century as Bundelkhand.
This region played a significant role in Indian History from circa.200
B.C. and witnessed a remarkable efflorescence of sculptural and
architectural arts during the Sunga period, with Bharhut as the centre,
and again during the Gupta times, with leading center's at Bhumara, Khoh,
Nachna and Deogarh.
The Parvati temple at Nachna, the Shiva temple at Bhumara and the
Dasavatara temple at Deogarh form significant stages in the evolution of
Gupta architecture. The somewhat later Chaturmukha-Mahadeva temple at
Nachna, one of the earliest shikara temple of North India, is even more
important and constitutes a landmark in architecture, marking the
transition between the Gupta and the medieval temple styles.
The building-tradition was continued by the Imperial Pratiharas, who left
in this region two of their finest temples, viz. the JaraiMatha temple at
Baruwasagar, District Jhansi and the Sun temple at Mankhera, District
Tikamgarh.
About A.D. 800 the Parihars are said to have been ousted by the Chandels.
This was the architectural background of the Land where the Chandellas
rose during the early tenth century as a strong central Indian power with
one of their capitals at Khajuraho. Abu-Rihan al-Biruni, who visited India
with Mahmud of Ghazni in the early eleventh century, speaks of the realm
of Jejhuti with Khajuraho as its capital. The Chandellas decorated their
realm with tanks, forts, palaces & temples, which were mainly concentrated
in their strongholds of Mahoba (ancient Mahotsava-Nagara), Kalinjar and
Ajaygarh (Jaipura-Durga) and to a lesser extent in their towns of Dudhai,
Chandpur, Madanpur and Devgarh.
Under Chandels dynasty the country attained its greatest splendour in the
early part of the 11th century, when its raja, whose dominions extended
from the Yamuna to the Narmada, marched at the head of 36,000 horse and
45,000 foot, with 640 elephants, to oppose the invasion of Mahmud of
Ghazni.
In 1182 the Chandel dynasty was overthrown by Prithwi Raj, the ruler of
Ajmer and Delhi, after which the country remained in ruinous anarchy until
the close of the 14th century, when the Bundelas, a spurious offshoot of
the Garhwa tribe of Rajputs, established themselves on the right bank of
the Yamuna. One of these took 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 character is further stained by the assassination of the
celebrated AbuT Fazl, the prime minister and historian of Akbar. Jujhar
Singh, the third Bundela chief, unsuccessfully revolted against the court
of Delhi, and his country became incorporated for a short time with the
empire. The struggles of the Bundelas for independence resulted in the
withdrawal of the royal troops, and the admission of several petty states
as feudatories of the empire on condition of military service. The
Bundelas, under Champat Rai and his son Chhatarsal, offered a successful
resistance to the proselytizing efforts of Aurangzeb. On the occasion of a
Mahommedan invasion in 1732, Chhatarsal asked and obtained the assistance
of the Maratha. The Marathas gradually extended their influence over
Bundelkhand, and in 1792 the Peshwa was acknowledged as the lord paramount
of the country. The Mahratta power was, however, on the decline; the
flight of the Peshwa from his capital to Bassein before the British arms
changed the aspect of affairs and by the treaty concluded between the
peshwa and the British government, the districts of Banda and Hamirpur
were transferred to the latter. Two chiefs then held the ceded districts,
Himmat Bahadur, the leader of the Sanyasis, who promoted the views of the
British, and Shamsher, who made common cause with the Marathas. In
September 1803, the united forces of the English and Himmat Bahadur
compelled Shamsher to retreat with his 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 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 transfer
should be scrupulously respected, and the host of petty native
principalities in the province is the best proof of the sincerity and good
faith with which this dause has been carried out. During the mutiny of
1857, however, many of the chiefs rose against the British, the rani of
Jhansi being a notable example. |