364 T. H. Hendley — An Account of the Maiivur Bhils. [Xo. 4, 



Country. — It will be only necessary here to describe the country suf- 

 ficiently to illustrate my previous remarks, and to show how easily the Bhil 

 could preserve his individuality, and how difficult it would be for foes to 

 dislodge him. The fact that in this very district their nominal masters, the 

 lianas of Udaipur, successfully resisted the Mughul Emperors and all the 

 hosts of Hindustan, would explain the difficulty these Chiefs themselves 

 would have in keeping the Bhils in order. Important battles have been 

 waged to the feet of the hills, at Chawn near the Debar Lake, at Chitor ; but 

 no host has ventured within the Tracts without loss or destruction. The 

 Bhils of Maiwar have their home in that portion of the state, denominated 

 politically the Hilly Tracts, which is nominally under a native official, the 

 Magra Hakim, who dwells on the outer face of the range leading south 

 from the great trigonometrical station of Parshad, but practically for pre- 

 servation of order under the Political Superintendent at Khairwara. The 

 Bhils are represented in many other districts, but they are here most distinct. 

 The Bhils of the Vindhya Mountains seem to differ somewhat in character 

 from them. 



The Tracts extend from Udaipur, south of Gujarat, to the west to the 

 plain beneath Mount Abu, to the east towards Banswara, Nimach, and Par- 

 tabgarh. The whole country, comprising the southern portion of the 

 Aravali Mountains, is a wonderfully interlaced series of hills, alternating 

 with defiles, with barely a valley, much less a plain anywhere. Streams 

 pour down every ridge to feed the numerous rivers, branches of the Maihi, 

 Sabarmati, &c. None are navigable in the Tracts, being either too shal- 

 low, or having their rocky beds broken up by boulders and rapids ; their 

 courses are very tortuous, hence the roads or paths, which generally follow 

 the channels of the streams, are continually crossing them. I will now 

 briefly describe the main roads through the country, and first the one from 

 Abu to Khairwara, about 110 miles in length. After descending Mt. Abu 

 by the Ru-ki-Krishn Ghat, so named from a venerable shrine at the foot 

 of the hill, a plain about five miles wide is crossed, and the district in the 

 Aravalis known as the B h a k a r, the home of Mina outlaws, is entered. This 

 is left by a long well wooded, but most difficult pass, which laden camels can 

 hardly cross, and Posina on the triple border of I'dar, Udaipur and the 

 Mahi Kanta soon afterwards reached. Thence one stage to Kotra the path 

 traverses a plain, a few hills, and crosses many wide streams, much swollen in 

 the rains. The scenery is here most magnificent. Kotra, a permanent out- 

 post of the Maiwar Bhil Corps, stands in a valley in the midst of rivers, not 

 far from the homes of the Ogiina and Punarwa Chiefs. The next stage to 

 Man pur runs, for the most part, through a defile worn by a large stream, 

 which is crossed about twelve times in as many miles ; the jungle is very 

 dense and the trees are of great size, especially a few remarkable banyans 

 (Mcus Bengalensis). Some of the defiles are so deep as to be never illuminated 



