70 RRITISII BUNDELKIIAND
raided the country. Popular tradition holds that Paramdrdi lost his
kingdom through disobeying the four conditions laid on the founder
of the race-not to drink wine, not to put Brahmans to death, not
to form improper marriage connexions, and to preserve the name of
Varmma. The Chandel dominion lay between the Dhasan on the
west, the sources of the Ken on the south, the Jumna on the north,
and the Vindhya Hills on the east. At times it extended as far west
as the Betwa. Kalinjar, Khajraho, Mahoba, and Ajaigarh were its
great fortresses. In inscriptions the country is sometimes called Jejaka-
bhukti, which has been contracted into Jijhoti, from which the Jijhotia
Brahmans, who still inhabit the tract, take their name. The kingdom
of Chi-ki-to, described by Hiuen Tsiang in the seventh century as lying
north-east of Ujjain, has been identified with Jejaka.
After the Musalman conquest the Chandels became petty Rajas.
The country was held for a short time by Mewatis, probably in the
first half of the thirteenth century, and then by Bhars. Tradition
shows the latter as owning a large part of the Eastern DOab and Central
Oudh, and the Persian historians record the conquest by Ulugh Khan,
in 1248, of a king Dalaki-wa-Malaki, reigning from Kara to Kalinjar.
The name appears to be a compound of two names, Dal and Bal, which
are known from tradition. The Bhars are locally said to have been
driven out by a Muhammadan, and replaced by the Khangars, formerly
servants of the Chandels.
The Bundelas claim to be descended from Pancham, a Gaharwar
who attempted to sacrifice himself, as noted above ; but their real
origin is obscure. They probably began to acquire
The Bundelas. power in the fourteenth century, first settling at a
place called Mau, which has not been definitely identified, and then
taking Kdlinjar and Kalpi ; but some writers place them a century
earlier. As their power increased, chiefly in western Bundelkhand
(Central India), the Bundelas constantly came into collision with the
Muhammadans. About 1507 Rudra Pratap became chief, and is
said to have been formally appointed governor by Babar. From his
sons most of the great Bundela families derive their descent. In
1545 Sher Shah, Sor, invaded Bundelkhand, and lost his life while
besieging Kalinjar. Kirat Singh, the last Chandel Raja, was put to
death by Islam Shah, who took the fort; but it again fell into the
hands of the Bundelas, till in 1569 Akbar got possession of it. The
Bundelas, who were now divided, still held considerable power and
were often successful in resisting the imperial troops. Bir Singh Deo,
who ruled at Orchha, and commenced the fort at Jhansi, incurred
the special anger of Akbar by planning the murder of Abul Fazl at
the instigation of prince Salim, afterwards the emperor Jahangir ; and
though he remained in favour during the reign of the latter, he rebelled
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