230 Y. A. Smith —Notes on the Bhars of BundelJchand. [No. 3, 
lively recent times vanquished by force of arms and obliged to yield their 
lands to the conquerors, who either exterminated the vanquished or reduced 
them to a servile condition : in a great portion of the district the victors 
were Rajputs, hut in extensive tracts they were* Lodhis, themselves a tribe 
of probably non-Aryan descent. It is impossible to say exactly when this 
contest began and when it ended, but it was protracted and intermittent, 
and certainly lasted from 1080 A. D. to 1730 A. D., as I now proceed to 
show in some detail. 
The Sardul Charitra, a metrical chronicle of the Bagri Thakurs, relates 
the manner in which 750 of that clan treacherously destroyed at Kahra, 
in the west of the Banda district, 1000 Kols and Bhils, and then seized 
their villages in the year 1137 Samvat = 1080 A. D. ; the story is curious 
and interesting, but is too long to quote : it is to be observed that at 
the date mentioned in the chronicle the power of the Chandel dynasty was 
at its height. Another similar tribal record tells of the conquest of the 
Bhils in the same tract of country by the Mauhar Thakurs in the year 
1239 Samvat = 1182 A. D. 
The parganas of Hamirpur and Sumerpur are now almost exclusively 
held by Bais, G-aur, Gautam, and other Thakur clans, most of whom retain 
more or less distinct traditions of their having entered the country from 
the north-west, cleared the jungle and founded the existing villages : for 
example it is still remembered how in the year 1405 Samvat = 1348 A. D., 
Bija Rai Gaur came from Ajmir and entered the service of Hamir Deo 
Karchuli, the founder of the town of Hamirpur, and settled his followers 
and relatives in twelve villages in the neighbourhood: and many other 
similar traditions might be related, though a precise date is not generally 
given. 
I have already mentioned that the local nomenclature of the northern 
parganas shows traces of the presence of the Bhars previous to the Rajput 
invasions. 
It is plain then that in large tracts of country the wild tribes had been 
early overpowered, but in many places they held their ground much longer : 
thus the story is told that the Bhars of Islampurf in the north of the Rath 
pargana were punished by Islam Shah for looting royal treasure, and it 
seems most probable that the prince referred to was Sher Shah’s son Islam 
Shah, who reigned from 1545-53 A. D. and whose favourite capital was 
Gwaliar. 
At Maudha in the east of the Hamirpur District mention is made of 
* I use the form Lodhi in preference to Lodha, because the former is that com¬ 
monly used in Hamirpur. 
f Here and in several neighbouring villages the Bhars are remembered as Bhare 
Thakurs: the desire of low caste tribes to pass as Rajputs is well known. 
