Bundelkhand , Historical Region Central India , now included in north Madhya Pradesh state, comprehensive the hills of the Vindhyan region, cut by gorges and the northeastern plain. Steep, isolated hills rising abruptly from the plains provide excellent sites for castles and forts built by Bundelkhandi mountaineers. The Dhasan, Tons, Ken and Betwa rivers in deep canyon-lined channels are of little use for irrigation, although the Betwa Flow was impounded and provides irrigation water and hydroelectric power. Good quality diamonds, although small, are found, especially near Panna . Wheat, grain sorghum and cotton are the main crops.
The Gaharwars, the earliest known Dynasty of Bundelkhand or Jejakabhukti, were succeeded by the Pratihara Rajputs (warrior caste). The latter became about 800 ce Replaced with the Chandelas who ruled a large area between the Yamuna and Narmada rivers in the 11th century. The Chandelas were founded in 1182 by Prithviraja, the ruler of Ajmer and Delhi, collapsed . After a period of pernicious anarchy , Bundela Rajputs (after whom the country is named) began to settle there in the 14th century, and centuries later introduced guerrilla warfare against the Muslim power of Delhi. 1545 fell Shēr Shah by Sūr representing the Mughal Emperor Humāyūn , entered Bundelkhand but lost his life besieging Kalinjar Fortress. In 1569, Kalinjar surrendered to the Mughal Emperor's forces Akbar . With the decline of the Mughals, the Marathas expanded their influence and were recognized as lords of Bundelkhand in 1792. In 1803 the districts of Banda and Hamirpur by contract of Pune transmitted to the British (Poona; 1817) The British government acquired all territorial rights over the region from the Marathas.
Historically, Bundelkhand comprised several districts that are now divided into Uttar Pradesh . Prior to 1947, however, the name was politically restricted to the princely states of the Bundelkhand Agency, established in 1802 as a sub-agency of the British Central India Agency. 1948 merged Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand into Vindhya Pradesh, which merged with Madhya Pradesh in 1956 with several former enclaves in southern Uttar Pradesh. Bundelkhand no longer has a political identity.