ghlanders as depicted by Stevenson. They
are proud and penurious to the last degree, and quick to resent the
smallest slight. They make good _shikaris_ or sportsmen, but are
so impatient of discipline that they have never found a vocation by
enlisting in the Indian Army. Their characteristics are thus described
in a doggerel verse: "The Bundelas salute each other from miles apart,
their _pagris_ are cocked on the side of the head till they touch the
shoulders. A Bundela would dive into a well for the sake of a cowrie,
but would fight with the Sardars of Government." No Bania could go
past a Bundela's house riding on a pony or holding up an umbrella;
and all low-caste persons who passed his house must salute it with
the words, _Diwan ji ko Ram Ram_. Women must take their shoes off to
pass by. It is related that a few years ago a Bundela was brought up
before the Assistant Commissioner, charged with assaulting a tahsil
process-server, and threatening him with his sword. The Bundela, who
was very poor and wearing rags, was asked by the magistrate whether
he had threatened the man with his sword. He replied "Certainly not;
the sword is for gentlemen like you and me of equal position. To him,
if I had wished to beat him I would have taken my shoe." Another story
is that there was once a very overbearing Tahsildar, who had a shoe 2
1/2 feet long with which he used to collect the land revenue. One day
a Bundela malguzar appeared before him on some business. The Tahsildar
kept his seat. The Bundela walked quietly up to the table and said,
"Will the Sirkar step aside with me for a moment, as I have something
private to say." The Tahsildar got up and walked aside with him, on
which the Bundela said, 'That is sufficient, I only wished to tell you
that you should rise to receive me.' When the Bundelas are collected
at a feast they sit with their hands folded across their stomachs and
their eyes turned up, and remain impassive while food is being put on
their plates, and never say, 'Enough,' because they think that they
would show themselves to be feeble men if they refused to eat as much
as was put before them. Much of the food is thus ultimately wasted,
and given to the sweepers, and this leads to great extravagance at
marriages and other ceremonial occasions. The Bundelas were much
feared and were not popular landlords, but they are now losing their
old characteristics and settling down into respectable cultivators.

Rajput