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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 19, p. 243.

ORCHH1I STATE 243 and Sikandar Lodi on several occasions, he managed to increase his dominions considerably during the confusion caused by Babar's in- vasion. He died in 1531, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Bharti Chand. Bharti Chand (1531-54) unsuccessfully attempted to oppose Sher Shah on his march to Kalinjar in 1545. On his death in 1554, he was succeeded by his brother Madhukar Sah, who was a religious recluse, and the fortunes of the State began to decline from this time. The Mughal forces invaded Orchha for the first time in 1577, when Sadik Khan managed to take Orchha after a severe fight in which Madhukar's eldest son Horal Deo was killed. In 159r it was found that the Bundela chief had seized some _parganas near Gwalior. The imperial troops attacked and defeated him in an engagement near Narwar, and Madhukar had to flee to the jungles, where he soon after died a natural death. His son Ram Sah (1592-1604) sued for pardon and was allowed to succeed, but turned out a weak ruler, and the whole State was soon plunged in confusion through the turbulence of his brothers, Bir Singh Deo, Indrajit, and Pratap. Bir Singh Deo, in order to ingratiate himself with prince Salim (Jahangir), murdered Abul Fazl, the famous author of the Ain-i-Akbri, near Antri in Gwalior State in 1602 (see GWALIOR GIRD). Akbar at once sent an army to capture him, but, although Orchha was assaulted and taken, Bir Singh Deo escaped. On his ascension in 1605, Jahangir installed Bir Singh Deo as Raja of Orchha in place of his brother Ram Sah, whom he confined for a time at Delhi, but subsequently released and presented with the fief Of CHANDERI and Banpur. Of all the rulers of Orchha Bir Singh Deo (1605-27) is the most famous. A man of strong personality and no scruples, he soon acquired large territories and immense wealth. He was, moreover, not only a great warrior but a mighty builder, and has left many monuments of his activity in this direction, as the great palace-forts at Orchha and Datia, the Chaturbhuj temple at Orchha, and many other edifices within and without the limits of Central India testify. His cenotaph at Orchha, a huge rugged stone-built erection, which stands on the edge of the Betwa river facing his great palace, is a fitting memorial of this architecture- loving monarch. He was succeeded by Jhujhar Singh, a weak but turbulent man, who rapidly plunged his State into difficulties. In 1628 he fell into disgrace, by conniving at the escape through his terri- tories of the rebel Khan Jahan Lodi. In r 63o, however, when Khan Jahan again attempted to pass through Orchha, Jhujhar Singh retrieved his position by attacking him. He was then pardoned and sent on service to the Deccan. While absent, he left the State in charge of his brother Hardaul. On his return, suspecting Hardaul of undue intimacy with his wife, he forced him to drink poison. This act has made his memory a byword throughout Bundelkhand, while the un-