Mota Barkhera

Mota Barkhera (also known as Bara Barkhera) was a prominent guaranteed Bhumiate estate situated in the Bhopawar Agency of Central India, ruled by the Bhilala dynasty who claimed a heritage combining Rajput lineage with local Bhil chieftains. Established as a local chiefship in the rugged Vindhyan tract, the estate secured its political and territorial status in the early 19^th century during the settlement of Central India by Sir John Malcolm. Under British mediation, the Bhumia of Mota Barkhera received sanads (charters) that guaranteed their ancestral land rights and local administrative authority, in exchange for maintaining law and order in the hilly passes and paying a tributary share (tanka) to the larger Maratha states of Gwalior and Dhar. This distinct administrative arrangement allowed the Bhilala chieftains to preserve their feudal autonomy until the post-independence era, when the estate was integrated into the Indian Union in 1947 and subsequently merged into the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. For historical records of these settlements, see C.U. Aitchison's A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads.