236 
Y. A. Smith —Notes on the JBhars of BundelJchctnd. 
[No. 3, 
Further local enquiries, or a happy accident, may put me in possession 
of additional information about the Bhars of Bundelkhand, hut at present 
the foregoing notes embody all that I can ascertain on the subject. 
Explanatory Note. 
The preceding essay was written to illustrate a bronze plate inscription which 
purported to record a victory of the Lodhfs over the Bhars of Parganas Path and Ja- 
lalpur in the year 1404 Samvat, and was read before the Society* in its original form. 
Sir E. C. Bayley and Dr. Bajendralala Mitra are of opinion that the inscription 
described by me is not genuine, and their opinion is based on arguments which I rea¬ 
dily admit to be conclusive: the forgery was a clever one, but not sufficiently clever to 
deceive competent scholars. 
I have therefore cut out from my paper all references to the inscription, and much 
other matter which rested on the authority of the pandit, who beyond doubt contrived 
the forgery. 
All information derived from a tainted source is of course open to suspicion, and 
therefore I must specify the assertions still remaining in the text of my paper which 
rest on information supplied by the incriminated pandit. 
The tribal records of the Bagrf and Mauhar Thakurs were furnished by him in 
copies : the originals he said he had met with while employed on a tour of investiga¬ 
tion under the orders of the Settlement Officer at Banda : there seems to be no particu¬ 
lar reason why these documents should have been fabricated. 
The Jain hymns, one of which I quote, were also brought to me by the pandit, 
who professed to have taken them down from the dictation of a person who takes care 
of a Jain shrine at Banda; they are of little interest and not likely to be inventions. 
The lists of Bhar and Gone! deities, the name of Bharel as a Bhar village, and the 
names of Bilrakh and Bilahanrf as Bhfl villages, rest on the authority of a Bhat as 
reported by the pandit, and I have no special reason to suppose these particulars to be 
untrue. 
The seals or amulets, whichever they are, were brought in by him, and seem 
genuine ; but I have not visited Barenra myself. 
After the excisions it has undergone, my essay, I fear, presents a very disjointed 
appearance, and retains little of value or of interest. 
12 tli December , 1877. 
Y. A. SMITH. 
* 
Vide Proceedings, As. Socy. Bengal, for December, 1877. 
