While the Peshwa lived, he
interposed; but all his dominions were _running into priesthood_,
like those in Sagar and Bundelkhand, and must soon have been
swallowed up by the military chiefs around him, had we not taken his
place. Jalaun and Jhansi are preserved only by us, for, with all
their religious, it is impossible for them to maintain efficient
military establishments; and the Bundela chiefs have always a strong
desire to eat them up, since these states were all sliced out of
their principalities when the Peshwa was all-powerful in Hindustan.
The Chhatarpur Raja is a Pawar. His father had been in the service of
the Bundela Raja; but, when we entered upon our duties as the
paramount power in Bundelkhand, the son had succeeded to the little
principality seized upon by his father; and, on the principle of
respecting actual possession, he was recognized by us as the
sovereign.[40] The Bundela Rajas, east of the Dasan river, are
descended from Raja Chhatarsal, and are looked down upon by the
Bundela Rajas of Orchha, Chanderi, and Datiya, west of the Dasan, as
Chhatarsal was in the service of one of their ancestors, from whom he
wrested the estates which his descendants now enjoy.
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