ABSTRACT

The most prominent among them were the Bhars, the Kharwars and the Cheros in south Bihar. However, the Cheros emerged as the most powerful chieftaincy of the Bihar suba. The Cheros were, however, expelled from many places by the Ujjainias of Bhojpur with whom they seem to have been engaged in frequent fights from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. The Chero chief of Palamau in extreme south Bihar in the Chota Nagpur region emerged as the most powerful ruler among the Cheros, during the Mughal period. The Chero chiefs of Palamau appear to have been descendants of Raja Salabahim of Chainpur. In contemporary Persian historical works, Anant Chero is referred to in the account of 1590–1 when Raja Man Singh, the governor of Bihar, launched an attack against the refractory chiefs of Bihar. The Ujjainias moved cautiously in a row firmly behind their shields and succeeded in repulsing the Cheros from their positions.