1877.] V. A. Smith— Notes on the Bhars of Ban delIchand. 233 
(1) Satti-Satta: (2) Munda Deo: (3) Bhainsesur : (4) Ratasa or 
Raktasa : (5) Bharraha Jari: (6) Jhapata : (7) Maralii: (8) Bharayanr. 
The worship of these minor deities may of course have been practised 
by persons professing Jainism, in the same way as worship is now offered 
to scores of obscure local gods and demons, by persons professing various 
forms of Hinduism. It is possible that the Bhainsa Darwaza, one of the 
gates of the town of Mahoba, may be named after Bhainsesur. 
Antiquarian visitors to Mahoba are familiar with the temple of Maniya 
Deo, the tutelary deity of the Chandel Rajas ; it is curious that the only 
other shrine in the Hamirpur District, so far as I know, dedicated to this 
divinity is found at a village named Barel in pargana Rath, where there 
are indications near the modern village, which is occupied by a Lodhi 
population, of the former existence of a town or large village which has long 
since disappeared. This locality seems to be the Bharel # named by the 
above quoted Bhat as one of the Bhar villages, and some sculptures exist 
in the village such as are found at Bhar sites. It becomes, therefore, pos¬ 
sible that Maniya Deo was a Bhar goddess, and, if this be the fact, the 
circumstance throws some light on the origin of the Chandel race, which is 
admittedly impure. I had not an opportunity of seeing the object of 
worship at Barel, but the cherished image at Mahoba, which I have seen, is 
simply a shapeless block of stone daubed with red, and evidently represents 
none of the Hindu gods, whereas it is exactly such an object as we might 
expect to be the fetish of a tribe of hill men. There is not, so far as I am 
aware, any tradition of a close connection between the Chandels and the 
Bhars,f but with the Gonds the Chandels are known to have maintained 
constant intercourse, sometimes friendly, and sometimes hostile. Chand tells 
us that the Chandel Raja Kirat Singh hunted at Maniya Garh with Singh the 
Gond chieftain of Garha Mandla on the Narbada, and that afterwards when 
war broke out, Kirat Singh was taken prisoner by the Gonds, an injury 
which was revenged by Alha in the reign of Parmal. The name of the 
Gond hunting ground Maniya Garh inevitably suggests that Maniya Deo 
may be a Gond as well as a Bhar deity, and, if this supposition be correct, 
an additional proof is obtained that there was little difference between 
Bhar and Gond. In the hills of the Kaimur Range in Riwa, east of Bun- 
delkhand, the Bhars, Suriyas, Cherus, Binds, and Khar wars may still be 
* The loss of the initial aspirate in local names is very common ; thus in the 
Hamirpur District, Bilrakh and Bilahanri were formerly Bhil villages, and in Audh 
.(J* A. S. B., XLV, Pt. I, p. 300) Badoi, Barrosa, Baraich, and Bareli derive their 
names from the Bhars : and many similar examples might he given. 
f Oldham, ‘ Stat. Memoir of Ghazipur’ (I, 48), states that Chandel Rajputs mur¬ 
dered the Bhar Raja and founded the principalities of Bijaigarh, Bardhi, and Barhar 
in the Riwa territories. 
