Bundela
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The Bundelas (or Bondilis) are a Rajput clan who ruled several states in central India.
The Bundelas of Bundelkhand trace their ancestry to Maharaja Hemkaran (Pancham Singh Bundela), who was driven from his kingdom by his younger brother. While in exile, he propitiated the Goddess Vindyhavasini, and with her assistance established a Kingdom at Mahauni in the Vindhya Range of central India. His descendants were known as the 'Vindhyalas', after the mountain range.
Beginning in the 14th century, the Bundelas moved south from the Vindhya Range into the Bundelkhand region, which now bears their name. In the 14th century Sahanpal Bundela captured Garhkundar, near Damoh from a Khangar king. The Bundela chief Rudra Pratap (ruled 1501-1531) founded the state of Orchha. He was succeeded by his son Madhukar. The Bundelas captured the city of Chanderi in 1586. Madhukar's son Virsingh Dev succeeded to the throne of Orchha, and Chanderi went to Madhukar's son Ram Sab. Virsingh Dev's son Jujhar Singh succeeded as ruler of Orchha, but was killed by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1636, and Orchha was briefly annexed to the Mughal Empire, although it was later restored to the Bundelas. Bhagwan Rao, another son of Virsingh Dev, became ruler of Datia.
Champat Ray, a descendant of Rudra Pratap, revolted against the Mughals. His fourth son Maharaja Chhatrasal (1649-1732) became the most prominent Bundela leader. In 1671 he started a rebellion against the Mughals, and soon captured Naugaon in present-day Chhatarpur District. In 1680 he conquered Mahoba, and went on to control much of Bundelkhand, ruling from Panna. He formed an alliance with the Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I, who was challenging the Mughals for control of central India, and in 1729 Baji Rao sent a Maratha army to aid Chhatar Sal against the Mughals. Upon his death in 1732, Chhatar Sal left a third of his dominions, including Mahoba, Banda, and Jhansi, to his Maratha ally Baji Rao. Chhatar Sal's descendants ruled the states of Panna, Ajaigarh (founded 1765), Charkhari (founded 1765, Chhatarpur, and Jaso. Chhatarpur went to the Ponwar Rajputs in 1785.
In 1680 Devi Singh Bundela was made governor of the Chanderi, and the city remained in the hands of his family until it was captured in 1811 by Jean Baptiste Filose for the Maratha ruler Daulat Rao Sindhia of Gwalior.
After 1802, the Bundela rulers entered into treaties of subsidiary alliance with the British, and became princely states of the Central India Agency. Orchha, Datia, Panna, Ajaigarh, Charkhari, and Jaso were ruled by the Bundelas until 1950, shortly after Indian Independence, when the Bundela rulers acceded to the Government of India.
[edit] Bundela rulers of Orchha
- Raja Rudra Pratap (1501-1531)
- Raja Bharatichand (1531-1554)
- Raja Madhukarshah (1554-1592)
- Raja Virsingh Dev (Bir Singh Deo) (1592-1627)
- Raja Jujhar Singh (1627-1636)
- Raja Devi Singh (1635-1641)
- Raja Pahar Sing 1641-1653)
- Raja Sujan Singh I 1653-1672)
- Raja Indramani Singh 1672-1675)
- Raja Jashwant Singh 1675-1684)
- Raja Bhagwat Singh (1684-1689)
- Raja Udwat Singh (1689-1735)
- Raja Prithvi Singh (1735-1752)
- Raja Sanwant Singh (1752-1765)
- Raja Hati Singh (1765-1768)
- Raja Man Singh (1768-1775)
- Raja Bharti Singh (1775-1776)
- Raja Vikramajit (1776-1817) died 1834.
- Raja Dharam Pal (1817-1834) died 1834.
- Raja Vikramajit (restored 1834)
- Raja Tej Singh (1834-1841)
- Raja Sajjan Singh (1841-1854)
- Maharaja Hamir Singh (raja 1854-1865, maharaja 1865-March 15, 1874)
- Maharaja Pratap Singh (June 1874-March 3, 1930) born 1854, died 1830.
- Maharaja Vir Singh (March 4 1930-acceded January 1, 1950) born 1899, died 1956.
