Note 47 — B

Banâphar.—A famous sept of Yadubansi Râjputs confined almost entirely to the Bundelkhand country now included in the Allahâbâd and Benares Divisions. According to their own account they derive their name from their ancestor, a certain Rishi who used to live on the wild fruits of the jungle (vanaphala). Their original settlement is said to have been Orai and Chausa, in the Jâlaun District. The story of their emigration to Mahoba is thus told:—Two men of the tribe once went into the forest to hunt; their names were Jasar and Sorhar. They came upon two buffalos fighting, and as they watched the combat two Ahîr girls came up, and by main force separated the furious animals. The Thâkurs were so pleased with the bravery and strength of the girls that they took them to wife. Their sons were the famous Alha and Udal, whose adventures form the subject of the great Bundelkhand epic. They are the heroes of the famous war between the Chandels and Chauhâns. In the course of this campaign the Chauhân chieftain, Prithivi Râja, conquered the King of Mahoba, Paramarddi Deva, or Parmal, as he is familiarly called by the bard Chand, and the later annalists at a battle at Sirswagarh, on the Pahoj, or at Bairagarh near Orai.47 The names of the Ahîr girls, their mothers, are said to have been Devala and Brahma. When the Râja found that his men had contracted a low marriage with Ahîrins they were turned out of caste, and took service with Parmal of Mahoba.48 At that time Mahoba was besieged by the hosts of the Râja of Jambudwîpa, one of the seven islands or continents of which the world is made up, having Mount Meru for its centre and including Bharata-varsha or India. The Banâphar heroes drove back the enemy, and were rewarded by the gift of an estate known as the Daspurwa, or ten hamlets. Subsequently two other Banâphar soldiers of fortune, Râma Sinh and Dhana Sinh, came to Benares from Chausa and took service with Bandâl, the Râja of Benares. They rose in his favour, and by and by proposed to him to attack and expel the Bhar Râja of Kantit, in the Mirzapur District. For this purpose they invited some of their relations and made them take service with the Bhar Râja. According to the stock legend which explains the conquest of the Aborigines by the Aryan invaders, they drugged the liquor of the Bhars and overcame them while sunk in drunken sleep. Thus Râja Bandâl acquired the territories of the Bhars. Bandâl conferred on the Banâphar warriors the villages of Râjpur and Hariharpur. Dânu Sinh succeeded Bandâl, and held Dhana Sinh in high favour. One day the Râja was at his devotions and a kite dropped a morsel of flesh on him, whereupon Dhana Sinh killed it with his arrow. This so pleased the Râja that he conferred more estates upon him. These have been gradually lost until the sept now hold a very inconsiderable landed property in the Benares Division.