Jhansi is the largest city in Bundelkhand. Another major city of Bundelkhand is Sagar being second largest city of Bundelkhand and headquarter of Sagar Division.
Etymology
Bundelkhand means "Bundela domain".[1] The region was earlier known as Jejabhukti or Jejakabhukti ("Jeja's province"). According to the inscriptions of the Chandela dynasty, this name derived from Jeja, the nickname of their ruler Jayashakti. 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.[2]
History
Under the British Raj, Bundelkhand included the princely states of Orchha, Datia and Samthar.[3]
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.[8][9] The agrarian crisis and farmers' suicides are also cited as reasons for separate statehood.[10]
In November 2011 Uttar Pradesh Council of Ministers proposed to split the state into four parts, with one part being Bundelkhand.[11]
Jhalkari Bai (22 November 1830 – 1858) was an Indian Koli[13][14] woman soldier who played an important role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 during the battle of Jhansi.
Maharaja Chhatrasal Chhatrasal Bundela was an early modern Indian Rajput king, who fought against the Mughal Empire, and established his own kingdom in Bundelkhand
Saumitra Rawat, surgeon, chairman and head, Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplant, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi; Bundelkhand Gaurav Samman, 2015 Padma Shri
Pandit Nathuram Premi (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, (1963–2001) popularly known as "Bandit Queen", was an Indian dacoit and later a politician.
Uma Bharti, Prominent BJP politician and the former MLA from Charkhari in UP's Bundelkhand region.
Rani Durgavati, Queen of Gondwana (born to Chandelas of Mahoba / Kalinjar) immortalised owing to her bravery in defending her kingdom against invasion by Mughal emperor Akbar
An engraving of a picture by Henry 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, Scene in Bundelkhund, which alludes to the desperate conditions in the district due to the famine then prevailing.[17]
Gallery
Statue of Dhyan Chand on Sipri Hill
Rani Durgavati maravi
‘Bundeli Jhalak’ the cultural archive of Bundelkhand.
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, 1905 Text at archive.org
India
