In the time of Akbar, the Chandêls were powerful in Mahoba, as the celebrated Durgâvatî, the queen of Garhâ Mandlâ, whose reign extended over the Sâgar and Nerbudda territories and the greater part of Berâr, was a daughter of the reigning Chandêl prince of Mahoba. He condescended to give his daughter only on condition that the Gond prince who demanded her should, to save his character, come with an army of fifty thousand men to take her. He did so, and 'nothing loth', Durgâvatî departed to reign over a country where her name is now more revered than that of any other sovereign it has ever had. She was killed above two hundred and fifty years ago, about twelve miles from Jubbulpore, while gallantly leading on her troops in their third and last attempt to stem the torrent of Muhammadan invasion. Her tomb is still to be seen where she fell, in a narrow defile between two hills; and a pair of large rounded stones which stand near are, according to popular belief, her royal drums turned into stone, which, in the dead of night, are still heard resounding through the woods, and calling the spirits of her warriors from their thousand graves around her. The travellers who pass this solitary spot respectfully place upon the tomb the prettiest specimen they can find of the crystals which abound in the neighbourhood; and, with so much of kindly feeling had the history of Durgâvatî inspired me, that I could not resist the temptation of adding one to the number when I visited her tomb some sixteen years ago.[37] I should mention that the Râjâ of Samthar in Bundêlkhand.[38] is by caste a Gûjar;[39] and he has not yet any landed aristocracy like that of the Bundêlas about him. One of his ancestors, not long ago, seized upon a fine open plain, and built a fort upon it, and the family has ever since, by means of this fort, kept possession of the country around, and drawn part of their revenues from depredations upon their neighbours and travellers. The Jhânsî and Jâlaun chiefs are Brahmans of the same family as the Peshwâ.