Country India | ||
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State Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh | ||
Bagelkhand or Baghelkhand is a region and also a mountain range in central India that covers the northeastern regions of Madhya Pradesh and a small area of southeastern Uttar Pradesh (see map to the right). It includes the Madhya Pradesh districts of Rewa, Satna, Shahdol, Sidhi, and Singrauli and Chitrakoot of Uttar Pradesh.
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Map of Baghail Khand, Uttar Pradesh 271208
Bagelkhand is surrounded by the Indo-Gangetic plains in the north and east, Bundelkhand in the west and the Vindhya range in the south.
The Baghels, who give their name to the region, are a branch of the Solanki who once ruled in Gujarat and migrated eastward in the 13th century. Vyaghra Dev was the first Solanki ruler who came to this area from Gujarat and established his rule. Bagh is derived from Vyaghra, which is Sanskrit for "tiger". The descendants of Vyaghra Dev are known as Baghels.
Bagelkhand Agency derived its name from the region.
Bagelkhand School of painting
Bagelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh is also known as Vindhya region. The art world is unaware of the painting tradition of this area. Raja Vishvanath Singh (1836-1857) was a great lover of art and he also wrote in sanskrit. His Deewan (minister) Bansidhar was also a great scholar. During his times many mss were illuminated including shaktinidhi which contains several forms of Devi and Vishnunidhi which comprises different forms of Lord vishnu.