British Bundelkhand contains a population of 2,161,495 souls. The total population of Bundelkhand, British and native, has been estimated at 2,260,714. The people represent various races. The Bundelas, the race who gave the name to the country, still maintain their dignity as chieftains, by disdaining to cultivate the soil, although by no means conspicuous for lofty sentiments of honour or morality. An Indian proverb avers that " one native of Bundelkhand commits as much fraud as a hundred Dandis" (weighers of grain, and notorious rogues). About Datiya and Jhansf the inhabitants are a stout and handsome race of men, well off and contented.
The prevailing religion in Bundelkhand is Hinduism.
The principal crops are wheat, jodr, cotton, indigo, sugar cane, a red dye called dch, various kinds of millets and pulses, and mahud (Bassia latifolia). Carpets are manu factured at Jhansi, and paper at Kalpi. Bamboo and Acacia catechu from the jungles form important articles of trade. Principal routes (1), f rom Allahabad to Nasirabad through Banda; (2), f rom Fathipur to Sagar through Ban da; (3), from Cawnpur to Jabalpur ; (4), from Cawnpur to Guna through Kalpi and Jhansi; (5), from Banda to Gwalior; and (6) from Agra to Sagar. The Jabalpur line of the East Indian Railway passes through the native states of Bundelkhand. Principal towns, Kalpi, Banda, Jhansi, Datiya, Urcha, Jalaun, Chhatrapur, Mahoba, and Tehari. The climate of Bundelkhand is sultry and unhealthy.
History.—Chandra Varma, chief of the Chandel Rajputs, appears to have established the earliest paramount power in Bundelkhand towards the close of the 9th century A.D. Under his dynasty the country attained its greatest splendour in the early part of the llth century, when its Raja, whose dominions extended from the Jumna to the Kcrbudda, marched at the head of 36,000 horse and 45,000 foot, with 640 elephants, to oppose the invasion ofMahmud of Ghazni. In 1183 the Chandel dynasty was overthrown by Pirtlnvi Raj, the ruler of Ajmir 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 Jumna. One of these took possession of Urcha by treacherously poisoning its chief. His successor succeeded in further aggrandiz ing the Bundela state, but he is represented to have been a noto rious plunderer, and his character is further stained by the assassina tion of the celebrated Abulfazl, the prime minister and historian of Akbar. Jajhar Sinh, the third Bundela chief, unsuccessfully revolted against the court of Delhi, and his country became incor porated 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 Cham pat Rdi and his son Chhatra Sal, offered a successful resistance to the proselytizing efforts of Aurungzebe. On the occasion of a Mahometan invasion in 1732, Chhatra Sal asked and obtained the assistance of the Marhatta Peshwa, whom he adopted as his son, giving him a third of his dominions. The Marhattas gradually ex tended their influence over Bundelkhand, and in 1792 the Peshwa was acknowledged as the lord paramount of the country. The Marhatta 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 Marhattas. In September 1803, the united forces of the Eng lish and Himmat Bahadur compelled Shamsher to retreat with his army. In 1809 Ajaigarh was besieged by a British force, and again three years later Kahnjar was besieged and taken afte,r a heavy loss. In 1817, by the treaty of Poonah the- British Government acquired from the Peshwa all his rights, interests, "and pretensions, feudal, territorial, or pecuniary, in Bundelkhand. In carrying out the pro visions of the treaty, an assurance was given by the British Govern ment 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 clause has been carried out. During the mutiny of 1857, however, many of the chiefs rose against us, especially the Rani of Jhansi.
BUNDI, a Rajput state of India, under the political superintendence of the Government of India through its agent in Rajputana, situated between 24 58 and 25 55 N. lat, and 75 23 and 76 36 E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the native states of Jaipur and Tonk; on the E. by the state of Kotal ; on the S. by Sindhia s territories and on the W. by the state of Udaipur. Many parts OA the state are wild and hilly, inhabited by a large Min.i population, a race of robbers. Two -rivers, the Chambia and the Nij, water the state; the former is navigable by country boats. Area, 2291 square miles ; population in 1871-72, 224,000, or 97 to the square mile. The chieftain and the greater part of his followers are Rajputs. Principal crops Indian com, jodr, wheat, pulses, and oil-seeds. Iron is found. The chief s annual income amounts to 50,000, derived from land-tax levied both in kind and money, and from customs. Thefts and petty robberies are still of frequent occurrence. Our political relations with Bundi commenced in 1804 during the Marhatta war, and in 1818 its chief accepted our protection. The present ruler has managed the state for the last fifty years, and done much to improve the condition of the people. Bundi pays an annual tribute of 4000 to the British Government.
BUNKER HILL, a small elevation, 110 feet high, in the town of Charlestown, 1 mile N. of Boston, in Massachusetts. One of the most celebrated battles in the war of American independence was fought here on the 17th of June 1775. The British remained masters of the field after a long and bloody contest. A commemorative obelisk, 221 feet high, has been erected in the centre of the grounds included within the redoubt on Breed's Hill. See Boston, vol. iv. p. 72.
