traditionally asserted that the whole country belonged to them in
sovereignty. An inscription at Budh Gaya mentions one Phudi Chandra who
is traditionally said to have been a Chero. The Cheros were expelled
from Shahabad, some say by the Sawaras (Saonrs), some say by a tribe
called Hariha; and the date of their expulsion is conjectured to be
between the fifth and sixth centuries of the Christian era. Both
Cheros and Sawaras were considered by the Brahmans of Shahabad as
impure or Mlechchas, but the Harihas are reported good Kshatriyas.

"The overthrow of the Cheros in Mithila and Magadha seems to have
been complete. Once lords of the Gangetic provinces, they are now
found in Shahabad and other Bihar Districts only holding the meanest
offices or concealing themselves in the woods skirting the hills
occupied by their cousins, the Kharwars; but in Palamau they retained
till a recent period the position they had lost elsewhere. A Chero
family maintained almost an independent rule in that pargana till
the accession of the British Government; they even attempted to hold
their castles and strong places against that power, but were speedily
subjugated, forced to pay revenue and submit to the laws. They were,
however, allowed to retain their estates; and though the rights
of the last Raja of the race were purchased by Government in 1813,
in consequence of his falling into arrears, the collateral branches
of the family have extensive estates there still. According to their
own traditions (they have no trustworthy annals) they have not been
many generations in Palamau. They invaded that country from Rohtas,
and with the aid of Rajput chiefs, the ancestors of the Thakurais of
Ranka and Chainpur drove out and supplanted a Rajput Raja of the Raksel
family, who retreated into Sarguja and established himself there.

"All the Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained
military service grants of land, which they still retain. The Kharwars
were then the people of most consideration in Palamau, and they
allowed the Cheros to remain in peaceful possession of the hill tracts
bordering on Sarguja. It is popularly asserted that at the commencement
of the Chero rule in Palamau they numbered twelve thousand families,
and the Kharwars eighteen thousand; and if an individual of one or
the other is asked to what tribe he belongs, he will say, not that he
is a Chero or a Kharwar, but that he belongs to the twelve thousand
or to the eig