Note 130 — B (continued 3)

Bhadauriya.—An important sept of Râjputs who take their name from the village of Bhadâwar, near Ater, south of the Jumna. The eastern branch have some traditions which point to a Meo origin;130 but according to Sir H. M. Elliot131 they are a branch of the Chauhâns; but the Chauhâns are disposed to deny this relationship, now that for motives of convenience the two tribes have begun to intermarry. They are divided into the six clans of Athbhaiya, Kulhiya, Mainu, Taseli, Chandraseniya, and Râwat. He further remarks:—“The high claims which have been put forward in favour of the family are somewhat unreasonable, and were indeed entirely needless, as its respectability for many years past has been unquestionable. Bhatûla, or bread made from the grain of arhar, chana, and mûng, is notorious for its hardness, and is, therefore, seldom eaten by those who can afford to grow or purchase the better grains. It is said to have been the cause of the elevation of the Bhadauriyas, and the story, absurd as it may appear, is commonly believed in the neighbourhood of Bhadâwar, and is not denied by the Bhadauriyas themselves. One of the Bhadauriya chiefs, Gopâl Sinh, went to pay his respects to the King, Muhammad Shâh. The chief had very large eyes, so much so, as to attract the attention of the King, who asked him how he obtained them. The chief, who was a wit, replied that in his district nothing but arhar was grown, and that from the constant practice of straining at swallowing bhatûla, his eyes had nearly started out of his head. The King was pleased at his readiness, and bestowed upon him other Parganas in which he could grow the finer grains. The immediate cause of their aggrandisement is obscure, but it is as likely to have been a pair of large eyes as the capture of a fort. It is clear that their political importance lasted no longer than for a few years at the beginning of the last century; that their illustrious lineage even now invests them with consideration in the eyes of the surrounding Râjas, who allow the Bhadauriya to sit higher than themselves; who receive from him the investiture, or rather impress of the tilak, who confess that he alone can cover with grain the lingam at Batesar (the Râna of Gohag having tried twenty-one maunds in vain); and that, though influential, they are not of that high importance which they would arrogate to themselves. It is to be feared also that they are much addicted to infanticide; so that when we take all these circumstances into consideration, there seems some reason to acknowledge that the indiscriminate bounty of the British Government might perhaps have been more worthily bestowed.” The last Census Returns give some colour to the supposition that infanticide prevails among them. There are 16,312 males to 12,715 females.