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XVII. Memoir on Bundelkhund. By Cj^ptain James Franklin, of the 



Bengal Cavalry, M.R.A.S. 



. Read May 21, 1825. 



BuNDELKHUND,* as its name implies, is the tract or country of the Bun- 

 delas; and comprises all the territory, which the Rajas of that dynasty 

 occupied, in the zenith of their power. Thus, the aggregate of the present 

 states of Tehri,f Jhdnsi, Dattiya and Smpt'hir,X and as far as the Desdn 

 river, might be termed Bundelkhund Proper: but, the tract lying eastward 

 of that river being also under the dominion of Rcijds of Bundela extraction, 

 who are the descendants of Rdjd Chhatrasal, custom appears to have 

 reconciled the term as applicable to the whole extent of territory occupied / 



by the united dynasties. Following this rule, therefore, the boundaries of 

 Bundelkhund may be stated as follows: — on the north, the river Jumna 

 ( Yamuna) ; on the south, parts of Berar and Malwd (Mdlava) ; on the 

 east, Baghelkhund ; and on the west, Sindia's possessions. It extends 

 from 77° 48' to 81° 33' east longitude; and from 24° 3' to 26° 26' north 

 latitude, being l65 British miles in length by 232 in breadth, and containing 

 23,817 square miles, with a population of 2,400,000 persons. 



Under the Muhammedan government, Bundelkhund formed parts of 

 the Subahs of Agra, Allahabad and Malwa : but this arrangement became 

 nugatory on the fall of the Muhammedan empire, and at present the geo- 

 graphical division consists merely in distinguishing the territory in possession 

 of the British government from that of the Bundela chieftains. 



The British possessions extend along the line of the Jumna river, from 

 the zila of Allahabad to that of Etawa (Atava) ; and from the Jumna south- 

 ward to the frontier of the native states : they contain 4,685 square miles, 



* It has not been always practicable to reduce names of places and of persons in this essay to 



an uniform system of orthography VaL 



t Written Tcarif and Tehree — Maps, Hamilton's Gazetteer, Sfc. 

 i Simpler, Sinitlieer. — Maps, Gazetteer, SfC. 



Vol. I. 2 M 



