OF BHAEATAVARSA OR INDIA. 107 
Ballasamudram, Ballapalkm, Balla'pur, MdhlMvar (Maha- 
balle^vara), &c.''^ 
The Bhils, 
The Bhils are probably aborigines of Marwar. They 
live scattered over a great tract of country; they dwell so 
far north as the AravaUi HUls, and they are found in the 
^' See Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod's Annals of Rajasthan, vol. I, pp. 
112, 113 : " All the genealogists, ancient and modem, insert the Balla tribe 
among the Baj-culas. The byt-d, or blessing, of the bard is Tatta Mooltan ca 
rao (Princes of Tatta and Mooltan), indicative of their original abodes on the 
Indus. They lay claim, however, to descent from the Sooryavansi, and 
maintain that their great ancestor, Balla or Bappa, was the offspring of Lava, 
the eldest son of Ram ; that their first settlement in Saurashtra was at the 
ancient Dhank, in more remote periods called Mongy Pottun ; and that, in 
conquering the country adjacent, they termed it Ballakhetr (their capital 
Balabhipoora) , and assumed the title of Ballah-rae. Here they claim 
identity with the Ghelote race of Mewar ; nor is it impossible that they may 
be a branch of this family, which long held power in Saurashtra. Before 
the Ghelotes adopted the worship of Mahadeo, which period is indicated in 
their annals, the chief object of their adoration was the sun, giving them 
that Scythic resemblance to which the Ballas have every appearance of 
claim. The BaUas on the continent of Saurashtra on the contrarj"-, assert 
their origin to be Induvansa, and that they are the Balica-pootras, who were 
the ancient lords of Arore on the Indus . . . The Cattis claim descent from 
the Ballas ; an additional proof of northern origin, and strengthening their 
right to the epithet of the bards ' Lords of Moolthan and Tatta.' The Ballas 
were of sufiBcient consequence in the thirteenth century to make incursions 
on Mewar, and the first exploit of the celebrated Eana Hamir was his killing 
the Balla chieftain of Choteela. The present chief of Dhank is a Balla, and 
the tribe yet preserves importance in the peninsula." 
Read also pp. 216-219. "A work written to commemorate the 
" reign of Rama Raj Sing opens with these words : ' In the west is Sooratdes, 
" a coimtry well known: the barbarians invaded it, and conquered Bhal- 
" ca-nath ; all fell in the sack of Balabliipoora, except the daughter of the 
"Pramara.' And the Sanderai roll thus commences: When the city of 
" Balabhi was sacked, the inhabitants fled and founded Balli, Sanderai, and 
" Nadole in Mordur des. These are towns yet of consequence . . . The 
" tract about Balabhipoora and northward is termed Blial, probably from 
"the tribe of Balla. . The sun was the deity of this northern tribe . . . 
" The solar orb and its type, fire, were the chief objects of adoration of 
" SiUaditya of Balabhipoora." The Balarajas are also mentioned in the 
Asiatic Researches, vol. IX. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Tod's Travels in Western India, London, 1839, pp. 
147-149, contain the same information as above, to this is added the follow- 
ing : ' ' The Balla pays adoration exclusively to the sun, and it is only in 
