Note 180 — Volume II. (continued 3)

Bundela.180—A sept of Râjputs almost entirely confined to the Bundelkhand country, to which they have given their name, now included in the Allahâbâd Division. According to the Mirzapur tradition they are descended from a family of Gaharwâr Râjputs, resident at the village of Gaura, near Bindhâchal. Of their ancestors one took service with the Râja of Panna, an independent state between Bânda and Jabalpur. The Râja died childless, and the Gaharwâr adventurer took possession of his fort. He had no son, and being disgusted with life, he made a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Vindhyabâsini Devi, at Bindhâchal, where he offered his head to the goddess. Out of the drops of his blood which fell upon the altar a boy was born, who was called Bundela, because he sprang from the drops (bûnd) of blood. He returned to Panna and founded the clan which bears his name. In their own country they are known among themselves as Bundela, but by outsiders as Gaharwâr. They do not marry among Baghels, Bais, Gaur, Umath, or Sengar Râjputs, who are known as the Sakuri group. They intermarry with Panwârs, Dhanderas, or Chauhâns. Mr. Sherring’s assertion that they are endogamous is contradicted by them. The prohibitions against marriage are the loss of religion, residence among foreign peoples, disregard of tribal custom, and engaging in occupations practised by low caste people. The Bundelkhand branch represent themselves to be the descendants of Pancham, Râja of Benares. During the reign of Nasir-ud-din Mahmûd, Emperor of Delhi, (1246–1266 A.D.) Arjuna Pâla, a descendant of Râja Pancham, left Benares for Mahoni, and made that place his capital. One of his descendants became Râja of Kudâr; his name was Saho Pâl and his descendant founded Orchha, and thence his descendants spread over Bundelkhand.