Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, with the larger portion lying in the latter state.

Jhansi Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative hea ...

is the largest city in Bundelkhand. Another major city of Bundelkhand is Sagar being second largest city of Bundelkhand and headquarter of

Sagar Division Sagar Division is an administrative geographical unit of Madhya Pradesh state of India. Sagar is the administrative headquarters of the division. As of 2005, the division consists of districts of Sagar, Chhatarpur, Damoh, Panna, Tikamgarh. ...

Etymology

Bundelkhand means "

Bundela The Bundela is a Rajput clan. Over several generations, the cadet lineages of Bundela Rajputs founded several states in area what came to be known as Bundelkhand anciently known as Chedi Kingdom from the 16th century. Etymology As per Jaswant ...

domain". The region was earlier known as Jejabhukti or Jejakabhukti ("Jeja's province"). According to the inscriptions of the

Chandela The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called ''Jejakabhukti'') between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel clan of the Rajputs. ...

dynasty, this name derived from Jeja, the nickname of their ruler

Jayashakti Jayashakti ( IAST: Jayaśakti) was a 9th-century ruler from the Chandela dynasty of Central India. In the Chandela records, he is generally mentioned with his younger brother and successor, Vijayashakti. The two are believed to have ruled the Ch ...

. However, it is possible that the name derives from an even earlier name of the region: "Jajhauti" or "Jijhoti". After the Bundelas replaced the Chandelas around 14th century, the region came to be known as Bundelkhand after them.

History

Under the British Raj, Bundelkhand included the princely states of

Orchha Orchha is a town, near city of Niwari in Niwari district of Madhya Pradesh state, India. The town was established by rajput ruler Rudra Pratap Singh some time after 1501, as the seat of an eponymous former princely state of covering parts of c ...

Datia Datia is the district headquarter of the Datia District in north central Madhya Pradesh,a state of Central India. It is an ancient town, mentioned in the Mahabharata ruled by King Dantavakra. The city is 78 km from Gwalior, 325 ...

and

Samthar Samthar is a city and a municipal board in Jhansi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Historically before independence of India, it was also known as Samshergarh erstwhile capital of Samthar State Demographics census, Samthar had a ...

Proposed Bundelkhand state

Bundelkhand comprises parts of

and

. While

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national level political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), alon ...

government under

Mayawati Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social cha ...

had proposed in 2011 creation of Bundelkhand from seven districts of

, organizations such as Bundelkhand Akikrit Party and Bundelkhand Mukti Morcha (BMM) want it to include six districts from

as well.

Uma Bharati Uma Bharti (born 3 May 1959) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. She became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party at a young age, unsuccessfully contesting her first parliamentary elections in 1984. In 1989, s ...

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

has promised separate state of Bundelkhand within three years if her party voted to power, during campaign for Loksabha Election, 2014 at

. Similar promise was made by Congress leader Pradeep Jain Aditya during Loksabha Election, 2014. Since the early 1960s there has been a movement for establishing a Bundelkhand state or promoting development of the region. Bundelkhand is geographically the central part of India covering some part of Madhya Pradesh and some part of Uttar Pradesh. (At Sagar is the exact centre of the original undivided India: the granite bench mark by British surveyors indicating this is placed in the compound of a church in Sagar Cantonment.) In spite of being rich in minerals, the people of Bundelkhand are very poor and the region is underdeveloped and underrepresented in state and central politics. There are several local parties and organisations, some promoting further development of the region and some seeking statehood. The agrarian crisis and farmers' suicides are also cited as reasons for separate statehood. In November 2011

Council of Ministers proposed to split the state into four parts, with one part being Bundelkhand.

Religion

Prominent Bundelis

Goswami Tulsidas Tulsidas (; born Rambola Dubey; also known as Goswami Tulsidas; c.1511pp. 23–34.–1623) was a Ramanandi Vaishnava Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. He wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi, but ...

, the author of ''

Ramcharitmanas ''Ramcharitmanas'' ( deva, श्रीरामचरितमानस, Rāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, based on the ''Ramayana'', and composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623). Thi ...

'', born in Rajapur *

Keshavdas Keshavdas Mishra (1555–1617), usually known by the mononym Keshavdas or Keshavadasa, was a Sanskrit scholar and Hindi poet, best known for his ''Rasik Priya'', a pioneering work of the ''riti kaal'' (procedure period) of Hindi literature. Li ...

(1555 – 1617), usually known by the mononym Keshavdas or Keshavadasa, was a Sanskrit scholar & Hindi poet *

Tatya Tope Tantia Tope (also spelled Tatya Tope, : ̪aːt̪ʲa ʈoːpe 6 January 1814 – 18 April 1859) was a general in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and one of its notable leaders. Despite lacking formal military training, Tantia Tope is widely consi ...

, freedom fighter, fought in

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

Major Dhyanchand Major Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player, widely regarded as one of the greatest field hockey players in history. He was known for his extraordinary ball control and goal-scoring feats, in ...

* Jhalkari Bai (22 November 1830 – 1858) was an Indian

Koli Koli may refer to: Places * Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland * Koli National Park, a national park in Finland * Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific Other uses * Koli peopl ...

woman soldier who played an important role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 during the battle of Jhansi. *

Maharaja Chhatrasal Chhatrasal Bundela (4 May 1649 – 20 December 1731) was an Indian warrior and ruler from the Bundela Rajput clan, who fought against the Mughal Empire, and established his own kingdom in Bundelkhand during the 17th-18th centuries. Early ...

Chhatrasal Bundela was an early modern Indian Rajput king,who fought against the Mughal Empire, and established his own kingdom in Bundelkhand * Rani Avantibai, (died 20 March 1858) Lodhi Queen of estate of

Ramgarh Ramgarh may refer to: Bangladesh * Ramgarh Upazila, a sub-district of Khagrachari District India * Ramgarh, Bihar, a village near Munger, Bihar * Ramgarh, Kaimur, a town in Kaimur district, Bihar * Ramgarh, Uttarakhand, a hill station in Nainital ...

, one of the key figures in the

Rani Lakshmibai Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi (; 19 November 1828 — 18 June 1858),Though the day of the month is regarded as certain historians disagree about the year: among those suggested are 1827 and 1835. was an Indian queen, the Maharani consort of ...

, (1828–1858)

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

Queen of princely state of

, one of the key figures in the

. *

Raghunath Vinayak Dhulekar Pandit Raghunath Vinayak Dhulekar (6 January 1891 – 1980) was a prominent Indian freedom fighter, notable pleader & a social leader from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh who took an active part in the Indian National Movement and Salt March and held many ...

MCA & Member of Parliament 1952, MLC & Speaker Vidhan Parishad 1958, notable pleader, Social leader *

Mastani Mastani (29 August 1699 – 28 April 1740 Common Era, CE) was the daughter of Chhatrasal and Ruhani Bai Begum. She was the second wife of the Maratha Empire, Maratha Peshwa (Prime Minister) Baji Rao I. Her relationship within the Maratha Brahmi ...

Second wife of Peshwa

Bajirao I Baji Rao I (18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740), born as Visaji, also known as Bajirao Ballal (Pronunciation: ad͡ʒiɾaːʋ bəlːaːɭ, was the 7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. During his 20-year tenure as a Peshwa, he defeated Nizam-ul-M ...

, the prime minister. Daughter of

* Saumitra Rawat, surgeon, chairman and head, Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplant, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi; Bundelkhand Gaurav Samman, 2015 Padma Shri *

Maithili Sharan Gupt Maithili Sharan Gupt (3 August 1886 – 12 December 1964) was one of the most important modern Hindi poets. He is considered one among the pioneers of ''Khari Boli'' (plain dialect) poetry and wrote in Khari Boli dialect, at a time when most Hin ...

, National Hindi poet * Pandit

Nathuram Premi Nathuram Premi was a writer, publisher, poet, editor, and linguist in the field of Jainism as well as Hindi literature. A budding poet, he wrote under the nom de plume of "Premi". Although belonging to the Digambara sect of Jainism, he adopted a ...

(1881–1960), Prominent publisher of Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu literature as well as Jain literature. Independent scholar, Jain historian and editor of several Jain works. Founder of Hindi Granth Ratnakar Karyalay (24 September 1912), Manikacandra Digambara Jain Granthamala and Jain Hitaishi. *

Phoolan Devi Phoolan Devi (1963–2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen, was an Mallah woman who grew up in poverty in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Her family was in a land dispute which caused many problems in her youth and after b ...

, (1963–2001) popularly known as "Bandit Queen", was an Indian

dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquia ...

and later a politician. *

Uma Bharti Uma Bharti (born 3 May 1959) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. She became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party at a young age, unsuccessfully contesting her first parliamentary elections in 1984. In 1989, s ...

, Prominent BJP politician and the former MLA from Charkhari in UP's Bundelkhand region. * Dr. Hari Singh Gaur, Member of Constitution draft committee and founder of

University of Sagar Dr. Hari Singh Gour University (Dr Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya), formerly and more popularly known as Sagar University or University of Saugor, is a Central University (India), central university in the city of Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, ...

. The University of Sagar was later named the Dr. Hari Singh Gour University by the state government in 1983. *

Vrindavan Lal Verma Vrindavan Lal verma (9 January 1889 – 23 February 1969) was a Hindi novelist and playwright. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan for his literary works; Agra University presented him with honorary D. Lit. He received Soviet Land Nehru Award and ...

, Hindi novelist (Mrig Nayani, Jhansi Ki Rani) *

Indeevar Shyamalal Babu Rai, known professionally as Indeevar, (also credited as Indiwar and Indeewar) (1 January 1924 – 27 February 1997) was one of the leading Hindi film lyricists in the 1960s. Early life He was born in Barua Sagar of Jhansi di ...

, one of the leading Hindi film lyricists in 1960s and 70s * Rani

Durgavati Rani Durgavati (5 October 1524 – 24 June 1564) was the ruling Queen of Gondwana from 1550 until 1564. She was born in the family of Chandel Rajput king Salibahan at the fort of Mahoba. She was married to Dalpat Shah the son of the king Sangr ...

, Queen of Gondwana (born to

s of

Mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara image ...

Kalinjar Kalinjar ( hi, कालिंजर) is a fortress-city in Bundelkhand, in Banda District of Uttar Pradesh, in India. It was ruled by several dynasties including the Guptas, the Vardhana Dynasty, the Chandelas, Solankis of Rewa, Mughal an ...

) immortalised owing to her bravery in defending her kingdom against invasion by Mughal emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 1918

, of

Transcendental Meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...

Harishankar Parsai Harishankar Parsai (22 August 1922 – 10 August 1995) was an Indian writer who wrote in Hindi. He was a noted satirist and humorist of modern Hindi literature and is known for his simple and direct style. He wrote vyangya (satire), which descri ...

- He was a noted satirist and humorist of modern Hindi literature and is known for his simple and direct style. *

Rajneesh Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 11 December 193119 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and later as Osho (), was an Indian Godman (India), godman, Mysticism, mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement. H ...

- Indian godman, mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement *

Raja Bundela Raj Rajeshwar Pratap Singh Judev also known as Raja Bundela is an Indian actor, producer, politician and civil activist.Presently He is the Vice President of Bundelkhand Vikas Board,Uttar Pradesh. In films, he is notable for appearances in Swa ...

- Raja Bundela (Raja Rajeshwar Pratap Singh Judev) is an Indian actor, producer, politician and civil activist. *

Pankaj Mishra Pankaj Mishra FRSL (born 1969) is an Indian essayist and novelist. He was awarded the Windham–Campbell Prize for non-fiction in 2014. Early life and education Mishra was born in Jhansi, India. His father was a railway worker and trade unioni ...

, Indian essayist and novelist *

Joy Mukherjee Joy Mukherjee (24 February 1939 – 9 March 2012) was an Indian actor and director. He was titled as the 'heart throb of the 1960s and 1970s'. Family background Joy Mukherjee was the son of Sashadhar Mukherjee and Sati Devi. His father was a ...

, Indian actor and director *

Ram Mukherjee Ram Mukerji (18 October 1933 — 22 October 2017) was an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter in Hindi and Bengali cinema. He was one of the founders of Filmalaya Studios, Mumbai. He is most known for his films, ''Hum Hindustani' ...

, Indian director *

Sashadhar Mukherjee Sashadhar Mukherjee (29 September 1909 – 3 November 1990) was an Indian filmmaker in Hindi cinema. He started his career with Bombay Talkies in the 1930s, and later established Filmistan Studio with Rai Bahadur Chunilal (father of music direc ...

, producer of Hindi films * Subodh Mukherjee, director, producer, writer of Hindi cinema. * Subodh Khandekar, Olympian hockey player * Tushar Khandekar, player on Indian national hockey team *

Gopal Bhargava Gopal Bhargava (born 1 July 1952) is an Indian politician and a senior cabinet minister in the Government of Madhya Pradesh. He was sworn in as a cabinet minister on July 2, 2020, for his sixth term, which is the highest number of terms any minis ...

, prominent

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

leader, Senior Most Legislator & Cabinet Minister of

In Art and Literature

An engraving of a picture by H. Melville entitled ''Scene near Chillah Tarah Ghaut, Bundelkhund'' was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835 alongside a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

, ''Scene in Bundelkhund'', which alludes to the desperate conditions in the district due to the famine then prevailing.

Gallery

File:Dhyanchand statue.jpg, Statue of Dhyan Chand on Sipri Hill File:Rani Durgavati.jpg, Rani Durgavati maravi File:Bundeli Jhalak.webp, ‘Bundeli Jhalak’ the cultural archive of Bundelkhand.

References

External links

Check dam project in Bundelkhand (Development Alternatives)

* James Foote Holcomb, Helen Harriet Howe Holcomb, ''In the Heart of India, or, beginnings of missionary work in Bundela Land, with a short chapter on the characteristics of Bundelkhand and its people, and four chapters of Jhansi history''. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 190
Text at archive.org

Radio Bundelkhand
{{Authority control Regions of Madhya Pradesh Regions of Uttar Pradesh Regions of India Proposed states and union territories of India