Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ...

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Gazeneer of the province of Oudh ... /

3 1924 024 153 987

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GAZETTEER

OF THE

PROVINCE OF OUDH.

VOL. I.-A. TO Gr.

d^uHiSlietS iv autj^oiitg.

^>-'""""%

'Oy.

r,^ ■t<"tr,

LUCKNOW: r"'

PEINIED AT THE OUDH GOVEKKMENT PRESS,

1877,

>»^^ ,

INTRODUCTION.*

CHAPTER I.

The latest annexed of the kingdoms of India forms the centre
of that vast plain which has been for centuries the peculiar
site of Hindu civilization, and is distinguished by the name of
Hindustan proper from those other parts of the Indian conti-
nent where the colonization of the old Aryan conquerors has
been less complete, and their religious and social system has
less thoroughly eradicated or absorbed into itself the beliefs and
languages of the aboriginal inhabitants. Stretching from the
Ganges to the hills, and about equidistant from Delhi on the
one side and the extreme east of Behar on the other, it divides
this region into two nearly even parts ; and as the scene of the
great national epic, the two greatest of the reforming movements
which have agitated the national religion, and the earliest as well
as the last of those Muhammadan governments, in its resistance
to which the national spirit was most severely tried and gave the
most convincing proofs of its wonderful vitality, it is second to
no part of the continent in its command over the sympathies of
the native, and the interest and difficulty of the problems which
it presents to its European administrator or historian. Nowhere
are the traditions of the past more ancient and more vividly
felt, and nowhere is the civilization — rooted in a soil of unsur-
passed fertility and grown up in a population of exceptional
density — more fully developed and more homogeneous than in
this the last case where Western statesmanship has been brought
face to face with the requirements of an Eastern people.

With a total area of 23,930 square miles, Oudh lies between
the extreme latitudes of 25°84' and 29°6' north, and longitudes of
79°45' and 83°11' east. Only where the Ganges marks its south-
western frontier is one whole side separated by a natural boun-
dary from neighbouring governments. Naipal marches with it
all along the north, with a frontier for the first sixty miles to the
east, running along the foot of the lowest range of the Himalayas,
and from tJhat point advanced for some distance into the sub-
Himalayan Tarai. To the east and the west it is enclosed by
the older-acquired districts of the North- West Provinces — with
Jaiinpur, Basti, and Azamgarh on one side, and Shahjahdnpur,
Farukhabad, and Cawnpore on the other.

* By Mr. W. C. Benett, C S., Assistaut Commissioner,

" INTUODUCTIOif.

A narrow strip of Government forest runs along tHe north,
and the whole of the rest of the province is a fertile plain, with
less than 1,500 square miles,^ or only about 6 percent, of the
area, unfit for cultivation. The surface here and there is varied
with almost imperceptible undulations, but there is nowhere
any striking feature to break that level horizon, or any obstacle
but the rivers to the straight lines of communication. The
country has a gentle slope from the north-west, where the highest
point of 600 feet is reached on the Khairigarh plateau, to the
south-eastern frontier, which in one place falls as low as only
230 feet above the sea level. This slope determines the course
of the drainage, and is followed with more or less exactness by
all the numerous streams. The principal of these — the Ganges,
the Gumti, the Gogra, and the Rapti — have an aggregate dry-
weather discharge of 18,800 cubic feet per second ; and it has
been estimated that the entire river discharge, including the
smaller streams, rather exceeds 20,000 cubic feet, or half the
quantity in the five rivers of the Punjab. But this estimate is
probably rather too low. All along the north the surface is being
gradually raised by fl.uvial action. The mountain torrents which
pour into the Chauka and the Rapti spread during the rains
over the neighbouring plain, leaving a thick deposit of detritus'
from the hills. These deposits are sometimes of pure sand,
and at others of the richest clay ; but the general result every-
where is a slow elevation of the land over which the drainage'
has to pass, which in places has caused the formation of large
unhealthy swamps at the foot of the hills. All the main rivers,
with the exception of the Gumti, and many of the smallerstreams,
have beds hardly sunk below the level of the surrounding country :
swollen by the rains and melting of the snows where they take
their rise, they burst through the insufficient restraint of a few
feet of mud or sand, and carving out, now at one point and now
at another, new courses, carry destruction to the villages on their
banks. It is impossible to forecast the course these inroads will
take, but following a well known law, their general direction
is the north-west. Besides the great rivers, there are many
streams of secondary importance, and the whole face of the country
is seamed with innumerable small, channels, which carry off
the surplus water of the rains and dry up before the commence-
ment of the hot season. . -

The drainage is ^further provided for by countless jhlls'or
ponds, only two of which (Behti in Partabgarh and Sdndi' in
Hardoi), with areas of fourteen and ten square miles, can- be
dignified with the name of lakes. These jhils are usually merely

INTRODUCTION, HI

shallow depressions, caused, some of them, by the action of the
rains on pre-existing inequalities of the soil, and some of them
proved by their shape to be the remains of former river beds : and
they are invaluable, not only as a preservative from floods; but
still more so as reservoirs from which the neighbouring fields are
irrigated for the spring harvest, and the cattle provided with water
during the dry months.

The average distance of water from the surface has been esti-
mated in the reports on the Sarda Canal project at twenty-eight
feet. But it varies greatly in different parts of the province. In
the Tardi or sub-Himalayan tract it is rarely more than fifteen,
and sometimes as little as four or five feet. South of the Gogra
wells have to be sunk to a depth of from twenty-five to sixty feet
before water is struck. The soil is naturally a rich alluvial deposit
of light loam, stiffening in places into pure clay, and here and"
there degenerating into barren sand. By far the greater part of
the land returned as unculturable is made up of the wide lisar
plains of the south and west, which are covered by a thick saline
efflorescence known as reh, fatal to any growth except the hardiest
grasses. So many contradictory theories have been advanced,
and so little is known of the nature and causes of this agricultural
curse, that the short preface to a Gazetteer is not the place for
their consideration ; but it seems unquestionably to be a frequent
result of over-cropping, and that a thicker population does more
to increase than any known remedy to obviate it. Except minute
particles of gold, which are washed down by the hill torrents in
quantities too infinitesimal to repay their collection, valuable
minerals are not known to exist. Salt was manufactured to a large
extent during the native rule, and might be still, if it were not
for the direct preventive action of Government. Nodules of car-
bonate of lime, known as " kankar," are found in considerable
deposits all over the province just below the surface, and afford
an excellent material for hardening roads and the production of
lime for building.

The animals and birds of Oudh are those which are found
all over the Gangetic plain, but several species formerly common
have now disappeared before the advancing population. Not long
ago wild elephants were caughiby the Rdjas of Tulsipur in the
forests which skirt the north of Gonda, and Government officials
allowed remissions of revenue for damage which they did in vil-
lages far advanced into the plain. Now it may be occasionally
reported that a solitary tusker has lost his way to the foot of the
hills ; but such instances are rarely well substantiated, and the
animal is practically unknown. Herds of wild buffaloes formerly

IV INTRODUCTION.

roamed in tlie forests of Kheri, but it is now many years since
the last pair of horns fell to a European sportsman. Men-
yet live who remember the time when tigers swarmed along
the banks of the Rdpti, and the names of more than one village
record the terror they inspired. Now they are very scarce
indeed, even along the immediate foot of the hills, and only
occur in any numbers in the jungles of Khairigarh. Leopards
are more common, and are found in the eanebrakes and
thickets along the banks of all the streams to as far south as the
Gogra. They do little damage, except by occasionally killing
small calves and pigs, and their extreme wariness and migratory
habits make it very difficult for the sportsman to mark them
down. Nilgde are found in herds all over the province, and' it
is a frequent complaint that their numbers and the depredation*
they commit on the crops have much increased since the villa-
gers have been disarmed. Hindus generally, for there are some
exceptions, class them with cows, and hold them sacred from
harm; but the Muhammadans rejoiced in a slaughter which pro-
tected their fields, gave them a wholesome change in their usual
grain diet, and was an offensive assertion of their distinctive
creed. Black buck are still common everywhere, and may be seen ]
in great numbers on the lisar plains of the Ganges and the Gumti.
Spotted deer are more shy, and they are probably disappearing
with the tiger and the wild buffalo. During the cold weather the
surface of the jhils is studded with innumerable flocks of teal and
wild duck, while their reedy marges are the favourite haunt of
snipe, but it is probable that this bird is less frequent here than
in the rice-fields of Bengal. Jungle fowl breed in the Tardi for-
ests, and peacock abound in every district. It is perhaps hardly
correct to class cattle among the wild animals of the province,
as there is no evidence of their ever having been indigenous in
that condition ; but the herds of villages depopulated during the
native rule still wander among the jungles at the edge of the
cultivated land and defy capture or domestication. The chief
enemies to human life are wolves and snakes, of which large num-
bers are destroyed every year without apparently any sensible
diminution in the mischief done by them.

For domesticated animals, there is no lack of horses, cattle^
buffaloes, donkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, and fowls, and if there is
no strain which even approaches average excellence, the dwarfed
and ugly breeds of the country are at least hardy and prolific.
Innumerable herds of diminutive cattle graze along the edge of
the northern forest, and are driven into the highler plateaus for
the hot months. They are cheap, and though insignificant in

INTRODUCTION, V

appearance and slow in progression, will do harder work with the
plough, and drag heavier weights for a longer time than the magni-
ficent produce of Gujarat and Hansi. The, indigenous breeds of
ponies, of which there are a few, are of about the size of an ordi-
nary English donkey, hideous to look at, and usually vicious in
disposition, but, like the cattle, they are hardy, and will go long
marches under heavy packs. Goats are bred for their milk and
flesh, and sheep for their wool, matton being almost unknown as
an article of food.

The flora of the reserved Government forests is rich and
varied, but nothing can be attempted here in the shape of an
exhaustive description, and mention must be confined to those
varieties of wood which are of principal utility or value. First
among these is the sd.khu or sdl tree, whose timber is of the
highest importance for every kind of building purpose. The
finest logs are cut in the Khairigarh jungles, and, attached to
boats in lots of six or eight together, floated down the Gogra to
Bahramghat, where they are sawn by steam into planks or beams.
The utmost attention of the forest ofiicers is engaged in pre-
serving the hitherto inferior growths to the east of the line from
the various causes which impair their excellence, — the reckless
fires which are kindled in February or March to lay bare young
shoots of grass for grazing, the incessant destruction of the
smaller trees by cattle, and the deliberate thefts of the border-
ing villagers. Of inferior but still considerable value are the
shisham with its fine hard wood ; the dhau, which is prized for
the manufacture of cart-pins and shafts ; and the tikni and asna,
both of which afford material for furniture or the roofing of sheds.
The khair or catechu acacia grows in great quantities, and the
residuum obtained by cutting its wood into chips and boiling them
down affords a valuable article of commerce and the means of
subsistence to a peculiar caste.

The most beautiful of the wild trees which are allowed to
flourish among the villages and give Oudh scenery its special
charm are the three great representatives of the fig tribe — the
banian, the pipal, and the pdkar. Their massive trunks seamed
with cauntless fissures, the wide spread of their branches, and a
height often attaining 140 feet, give these magnificent domes a
religious grandeur, and have gained for them the loving venera-
tion of the people. Of the wild vegetable products by far the
most important is the mahua. This grows in great quantities
in the jungles all over the province, but it is only when the jun-
gles are cleared that its full value is apparent. The flowers,
which formerly dropped into a tangled brake of grass and

VI INTRODUCTION.

underwood, are then collected from the bare ground, and are either
used in the manufacture of spirits or preserved as an article of
food, unwholesome, it is true, and innutritious, but adequate to
keep alive the' poorer classes during the bad months which pre-
cede the cutting of the autumn harvest. The fruit when it
ripens affords a useful oil, and the wood is the staple timber for
roofing the villagers' huts. So serviceable is this tree that in
many parts of the province, and especially where the soil is at
all poor, the people prefer to let it stand rather than break up
the land under its barren shade, and when the spring crops are
scanty, its stored flowers are simply invaluable as a supplement
to the food-supply. The produce of the plough is similarly aided
by the abundant but poor and nauseous berries of the wild plum
and makuiya, as wellas by the waternut known as singhdra, the
roots and seeds of the lotus, and the wild rice which abounds in
every jhil.

The first place among cultivated trees is held by the mango,
which is never found wild, and whose occasional presence in
jungles is a certain proof that the neighbourhood was formerly
under the plough. There is no village and hardly any respectable
family which is without its plantation, and even members of
the lower castes will think no effort thrown away to acquije a
small patch of land on which to plant a few trees, which shall
keep alive their memory or that of their dearest relations to^
whose names they dedicate them. A cultivator, who would
quit his house and his fields with hardly a regret to commence
life under better circumstances elsewhere, can hardly ever over-
come the passionate affection which attaches him to his grove, and
the landlord who gives up a small plot of barren land for this pur-
pose to an industrious family is more than repaid in the hold
which he thereby gains over his tenant. As much as a thousand'
square miles is covered with these plantations, usually of one or
two acres each, but sometimes, when the property of a wealthy
zamindar, occupying a much larger area. The fruit, which in-
the good seasons — that is, about every third year — is gathered in
enormous quantities, is small, stringy, and to our taste too strongly-
flavoured with turpentine, but it is very sweet and overflows with
juice, and the people themselves prefer it to the large cultivated-
varieties which find favour in our eyes. The tamarind is planted
near or in the collections of huts which form the village sites, andi
its masses of feathery foliage lend a charm to the scene and a.
dense shade for rustic conferences, while the fruit is highly prized
as an article of food and is a valuable property to the zamindar.
The neighbourhood of houses of the better classes is marked by

INTRODUCTION. Vll

graceful clumps of bamboo, wbose stems supply all the smaller
wood for building, besides serving a thousand miscellaneous
wants. Among the less important varieties of fruit are the be!
(whose astringent but agreeable juice is a good preventive of
dysentery), the plantain, the jack-fruit, the guava, and several
kinds of limes and oranges.

The climate is less damp than that of Bengal and has greater
varieties of temperature, while it avoids at once the parching
drought and the opposite extremes of heat and cold which are
found in, the Punjab. Its three seasons — the rains, the cold, and
the hot — are well marked off, the first commencing with fair uni-
formity in the middle of June, while the second extends from
early in October to the end of February, March only being a
disputed month. The thermometer during the five years from
1868 to 1872 never rose above 118° in the shade and 168° in the
sun, and never fell below 39°. Extreme cold is not to be expect-
ed in a country so near the tropics and so little raised above the
sea- level, but neither is the heat excessive for long together nor
often greater than what with the appliances of pankhas and
grass tatties can be borne without great distress. It is most
oppressive in the rainy season, when, even with the thermo-
meter at a lower point, the air resists all means of artificial
cooling, and the lungs have to inhale the damp suffocating
atmosphere of a hothouse. As a rule, the heaviest downpours
are in July and September, but they are exceedingly capricious,
and the harvests have more to fear from badly-timed than from
excessive or insufficient rains. Any deductions as to the food-
supply from the total number of inches which fall within the
year rest on irrelevant premises and are nearly certain to be mis-
taken. Water is most wanted at the commencement of the
rainy season to assist the sowings and strengthen the growth of
the young plants. A break during the end of July and beginning
of August will do no great harm, and will actually benefit some
crops, such as the Indian-corn, so long as it is followed in time by
a fall sufficient to save the rice from drying up and swell the
forming grain. A constant succession of heavy showers and sun-
shine at the beginning, of September doubles the weight of out-
turn, and when the crops are cut, at the end of September and
for a few days in October, light rain is urgently wanted for
the ploughing and sowing of the second harvest. It is the
failure of these latter rains which is most common and most to
be dreaded, and it was such a failure, succeeding an insufficiency
in the earlier months, which resulted in the partial famine of
1874 With this proviso as to-their value the totals of rainfall

VIU

INTRODUCTION.

Inches.
24
34
22
53
23
38
60
65
40
81
43
drying up of

for the following years are given

1864

1865

1866

1867

1868

1869

1870

1871

1872

1873

1874
showing an average of nearly 40 inches. The drying up of the
rains, which a powerful sun accomplishes with great rapidity, is
followed by three of the most delicious months that any country in
the world can show. During November, December, and January
the climate falls little, if at all, short of actual perfection. The
nights and mornings are cold and bracing, and though away from
the ground the freezing-point is never reached ; large quantities
of ice are collected in the shallow pans which are exposed for that
purpose. The middle of the day is of a bright and temperate
heat, which allows the sportsman, protected by a pith hat, to
pursue his game on foot all day without danger and without
distress, and the keen air of the evening permits the enjoyment
of a blazing camp fire. The continual fine weather is ordinarily
broken by a light rainfall at the end of December or beginning
of Januaiy, which is of incalculable benefit to the young spring
crops, and if succeeded by another moderate shower just before
they ripen, secures a plentiful harvest. In February the heat
begins to increase, and violent winds blow from the west, carrying
clouds of scorching dust. It is towards the end of this month,
when the hopes of the agriculturist are close on fulfilment, and
the mango trees are covered with flower, that hail occasionally
falls, cutting off the stalks of wheat and barley close to the ground
and destroying every germ of fruit. This curse, however, if
terrible in its ravages, is usually confined in its sweep, and rarely ,■,
does more than carve a well-defi.ned path for no very considerable
distance.

In March the crops are cut, and with the baring of the
ground the hot weather sets in. The prevailing wind south of
the Gogra is then from the west. The atmosphere is lurid
with heat and thickly laden with fine grains of dust swept up
from the parched plain. The torrid desolation which reigns
without enhances the contrast afforded by the comparative cool-
ness which screens of scented grass filling every doorway and

INTRODUCTION. • IX

assiduously moistened secure for the interior of the house.
Even in the evening, when the winds subside, the dust remains
suspended in the air, and it is only in the early morning before
the sun has risen that out-door exercise is moderately enjoy-
able. To the north of the Gogra during the same period
the wind is from the east, the dust very much less trying,
and the heat, both in the morning and the evening, far more
moderate ; but a west wind is indispensable for the luxury of
tatties, which is there almost unknown. For rather more than
a month before the rains the whole country is exposed to occa-
sional dust-storms. Huge columns of dust, discernible for miles,
sweep across the land, and their density is often sufficient to
create a darkness like night. When they have passed they are
usually followed by light showers, and a temporary fall of
temperature which aflfbrds intense relief after the burning heat.

In a climate where all violent extremes are avoided,
and where a rainfall neither insufficient nor excessive assists
the natural fertility of an alluvial soil, a considerable variety
of artificial crops is naturally raised. There are three princi-
pal harvests — the kharif, which is sown at the commencement
of the rains and cut in September ; the henwat or Aghani,
cut in December ; and the rabi in March ; besides miscel-
la,neous crops which come to perfection, the sugarcane in
February, cotton in May, tobacco and mustard-seed in January,
and sanwan in almost any month of the year. The principal
kharif staples are rice, Indian-corn, and the millets, and the
choice of crop is determined by the lay and character of the soil,
nice grows best in low stiff land, where the water accumulates
first and is most slowly absorbed, maize on a light soil raised
slightly above the floods. The yield of the first is sometimes as
much as twenty maunds per big ha or 2,600fts. per acre, but
three-fifths of that is considered a fair outturn ; the latter will
occasionally yield four cobs to the stalk, but it is seldom that
more than three are fertile, and the agriculturist is contented
with two good heads. The yield is heavier than that of rice,
3,300tt)S. per acre being an outside and 2,000ft)S. a fair average
crop per acre. The smaller millets are less productive, grow on
inferior soils, and exact less trouble in cultivation. Among the
inferior crops wich are cut during the rains are mendwa, kdkun,
and kodo, diminutive grains which form the principal diet of the
very poor. The finer kinds of rice, which, instead of being
sown and reaped on the same land, are transplanted in August
from nurseries near the village site, do not ripen till the end of
November, and form the most valuable item of the henwat crop

2

INTRODUCTION.

The average yield is at least 20 per cent, greater than that of th^e
early autuinn varieties, and the grain is smalleir, better flavoured,
and commands a rather higher price. The taste of the native
differs diametrically frona that of the English m^arket, and the
consideration in which the different kinds of rice are held varies
inversely with their size, The only other hen wat crops which
deniap,d notice are the Idhi, a rnustard, from whose seed oil is ex-
traqtedwith a yield of about 700tt)S. per acre, and valuable on
account, of the high price it commands, and two small species of
pulse, the mling and mdsh, which are dried/ split, and eaten with
rice. Sugar, which shares with rice, whep-t, and oilseeds the fi?rst'
pl9.ce among Oudh products, occupies the land the whole year^
bejing laid dpwn in March, and not cut till the following February,
It requires much labour and several waterings, but the profits in
ordinary years ajmply repay the outlay^ and the produce of a single
acre will often be sold or more than Es. 100. The- stalks- are
chopped into short lengths, and the juice expressed in a rough
wooden mill by a heavy pole turned ;by oxen. The sugar is then
separated frojn the watery elements by evaporation, and the result
is the, coarse . gur, which is formed into cakes like balls of clay,
and in that shape taken to the market. The dry refuse of the
stalks is stored to feed the cattle during the hot months. The
spring crops, whose cutting commences in the middle of March,
about a month after the sugar is off the ground, are sown in Octo-
ber, immediately after the conclusion of the heavy rains. A few
inferior crops may be gathered in before, but it is not till the-
fires of the Hpli are out that the sickle is laid to the wheat.
This is of two principal varieties, the bearded and the bald, and an
average good crop will yield ten maunds to the bigha, or l;300H>s.
to, the, acre,, while it occasionally and in exceptionally favoured-
loqalitieswill reaph an extreme limit of nearly twice that amount.
In appraising these averages it should be borne in mind that
they are for ordinary good crops on fair land without exceptional
advantages, and without, on the other hand, any fatal drawbacks.
For, estimating, the food-supply of the province from the total
area under cultivation, or as a basis from which to deduce rents,
they would be exceedingly misleading, and it is not too much
to say that any estimate of the kind. is worse than useless.
In a purely, agricultural province like Oudh, where the almost-
complete absence of raip, for eight months in the year allows^
no growth of natiiral grassps, _ very much land is brought under •
the plough which in countries otherwise situated i would ; b©'
reserved for pasture. The, methods ;of cultivation vary immeu'-
sely .for, the same crop, and only lands where a harvest may b&^

INTRODUCTION. XI

expected with some certainty are prepared with the assiduous
care which wheat cultivation demands. If the rains are un-
usually favourable large areas will be sown broiadfcast 6h nearly
unprepared soil, with the anticipation of only a v6ry small
outturn. Large areas, already exhausted by a rice crop, will
be sown with a similar expectation, and though sOme "tolerably
correct estimate can be made of the extent of land under the
two crops, the inferior soils and the careless cultiviattidn adinit
neither of being classified nor estimated with any approadh to
accuracy, and for this reason it is quite hopeless to endeavour
to guess the total produce of any one district or to deduce frdin
it the average outturn per acre.

The variety of other spring crops is almost infinite. It is
then that the principal oilseeds — the mustard, the flax, the til, and
the castor-oil — are gathered in. The gram, whose young leaves
are plucked iand prepared like spinach, while its seed afibrdB the
best food for horses, and when split and parched the favourite
refreshment to wayfarers who have no means of cooking a meal,
is harvested soon after the wheat. Another small pulse, the
masur, and pease ripen rather earlier, and with barley are the
earliest crops to be garnered. When everything else but cotton
is off the ground, arhar, a tall bush loaded with pods which
contain a seed used as dal, is cut, and with it the agricultural
year of labour is at an end for the majority of cultivators, who
take a short rest before beginning the ploughings for next year's
rice and wheat. This plant not only yields a very heavy crop of
valuable seed, reaching iiot uncommonly on a well manured ^dil
3,500tt)S. per acre, but its stalks are of the greatest service in
forming a framework for thatches. Large quantities are sown
sparsely in fields whose main produce consists of crops which
ripen and are cut at an earlier season, such as kodo, Indian-corn,
and mdsh, and the outturn in such cases is of course but small.
The great drawback to its cultivation is its excessive sensitive-
ness, and a very slight frost will wither every tree for miles.

Round most of the village sites there occXir patches of garden
cultivation, where the "murdos" and the "kachhis," the most
laborious and skilful of husbandmen, raise on a soil highly
manured and highly irrigated small but valuable crops of opium,
spices, vegetables, and tobacco. The principal spices are aniseed,
coriander, cumin, and red pepper, while among the vegetables
may be numbered potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, egg-plant,
and ghuiydn. Cabbages and cauliflowers have recently been
introduced ; they are very popular and occasionally cultivated with
great success. In the hot months cucumbers and countless

Xll INTRODUCTION.

varieties of gourd grow almost wild from the refuse heaps, or
wreathe the low-thatched cottages, and along the sandy banks of
rivers sweet melons and water-melons yield not very excellent
fruit in profuse abundance.

This concludes a rapid survey of the natural features, the
climate, and the products of a province which is dependent for its
wealth solely on its fertile soil, its moderate rainfall, and its
generous sun. Without any of the precious metals, without coal
or iron or valuable quarries, it has nothing to stimulate the manu-
factures which in other countries support a crowded population,
but relies solely on its teeming harvests and the copious natural
products which supplement the food-supply derived from cultiva-
tion. On these it lives, and these only does it export to procure
the money drawn by taxes, the greater part of which is spent
beyond its own limits. A succession of bad years necessarily
entails suffering and starvation to the people, and threatens the
Government with financial disaster.

The scenery is, as might be expected, entirely devoid of any
features of boldness or grandeur : everywhere there are four ele-
ments, and four only, to the picture. The sky, covered in the
rains with masses of magnificent clouds, in the cold weather a
level sheet of uninterrupted blue, and later on brazen and lurid
with heat; the lakes, whose still surface reflects the colour above;
the groves and the brilliant expanse of crops. If there is rarely
any beauty of form beyond what grace is lent to small scenes by
the grouping of trees and water, the colour at least, when the
ripening harvests are seen in an atmosphere whose transparent
clearness is saved from glare by a soft and almost imperceptible
haze, is beyond all description lovely, and the never-absent abun-
dance of the richest foliage gives a sufficient variety to every
landscape.

CHAPTER U.

The extraordinary fertility of the soil, and a climate which re-
duces to a minimum the necessity of artificial subventions to
human life, have called into existence a population of extreme
density, and directed its energies almost exclusively to agricultural
pursuits. The explored world not only shows no other equal area
so thickly peopled, but nowhere also in at all comparable cases is
there such an entire absence of large cities and of the arts and
manufactures which contribute to the support of mankind. Oudh
with its 23,930 square miles has 11,17'4,287 inhabitants, or an
average over the whole area of 476 to the square mile. Belgium,
the most populous country in Europe, and England, whose teem-
ing multitudes spread all. over the world in search of a living
which they cannot find in the narrow limits of their own not
unfertile home, have averages of 400 and 344 souls to the square
mile, and these figures are swollen by the populations of crowded
centres of trade and industry where the principal means of sub-
sistence are procured from abroad. In the whole of Oudh ther«
is, with the exceptions of Lucknow and Fyzabad, no town of even
moderate size, and not only are far denser crowds provided with
food entirely from the soil on which they live, but they are com-
pelled to export food elsewhere to procure the other necessaries
of life.

Of the eighteen towns in the province with a population of
over 10,000, one only, Tanda, owed its prosperity to manufactures,
a prosperity which was called into existence less than a hundred
years ago by the enterprise of a Scotch immigrant, and of which
now it may be said that hardly a trace has survived the competi-
tion of machine-made fabrics with the excellent but more expen-
sive cotton cloths of its industrious artizans. Of the remainder,
Bahraich, Shahabad, Khairabad, Sandlla, Eudauli, Bilgrdm,
Jais, Sandi, and Zaidpur were originally military colonies of the
Muhammadans, and share the decay of the power of their [found-
ers ; Balrdmpur, Gonda, Laharpur, Purwa, and Mallanwan were
centres where small numbers of grain and money dealers collected
under the protecting fort of a Hindu chieftain, while Fyzabad
and Lucknow sprang up round the court which selected them
successively for its residence.

XIV INTRODUCTION.

The village in Oudh is not a single collection of houses, but
a small arbitrary revenue subdivision, corresponding more nearer
■with the parish than with any other institution in England. Th&
number of hamlets in any particular village varies with its area
and the convenience its lands offer for building from only one to
sometimes as many as fifty ; and by far the greater majority of the
second rank of towns which the Oudh census, taking as was ua
avoidable the revenue divisions for its framework, recorded as
having populations of from 2,000 to 10,000 souls will be found
on examination to be really many separate groups of houses scat-
tered over units of property of more than the average size. With
the exception of the few small local marts, where the rural popu-
lation of the neighbourhood collects on stated days of the week
for the petty household barter, the congregations of human beings
living on contiguous sites are generally minute indeed. Extremis
accuracy in a case where old sites are constantly being deserted
and again occupied is hardly attainable, but the census must be
substantially true when it gives the number of separate hamlets
at over 77,000, and the average aggregate of inhabitants to each
at only 150. The people are nowhere drawn together by the
more complex wants of the civilization with which we are familiar.
Their simple huts can be run up in a few weeks on any spot
which is sufficiently elevated above the rain-floods, and their
almost only object is to be as near as possible to the fields they
cultivate. A new settler, especially if he be of high caste and
tent a considerable tenement, will generally prefer to build a
detached house close to his own fields. In the course of time his
children and grandchildren will relieve the overcrowded house
by adding houses of their own, and these, with the hovels of the
low caste attendants, the chamar and the slave ploughman, will
form a hamlet which, if of sufficient size, may eventually attract
a blacksmith, a carpenter, a washerman, or a barber.

Small centres of trade where all the wants of the rural com-
munity are provided for occur everywhere at distances of only a
few miles apart. They consist usually of a few mud huts along
the sides of a road, with perhaps one or two buildings, whose
upper storey and roof of tiles mark them out as the residences of
the leading grain-dealers and money-lenders, professions which
are commonly combined. Besides these there is the brazier, who
supplies the brass pots for eating and drinking, which constitute
almost the whole household furniture of the bulk of the people,
a few clothiers with scanty stocks of low-priced cotton goods or
coarse woollen blankets, a sweetmeat-shop, and one or more sheds
under which a grain-parcher prepares oyer his fire of dead leaves

INTRODUCTION. XV

the dried pulse or Indian-corn which the religious ordinances
against eating bread away from the hearth on which it is cooked
leaves as the sole refreshment for the wayfarer. On the days,
generally two in the week, on which bazar is held ;the shade
under the trees lining the roadside is occupied by the temporary
stalls, where pedlars and grocers display on grass mats spread over
the ground their strings of glass beads, brightly coloured bracelets
of lac or glass, tobacco (dried for chewing, or mixed up into a
paste with sugar for smoking), and a meagre assortment of the
commoner kinds of spices and vegetables.

What the bazars are for trade the chaupals or village
squares are to the political life of the people. In all the larger
villages, as a rule, in front of the house of the leading resident
zemindar, may be found open spaces where the inhabitants
collect after the labours of the day, under the shade of spreading
tamarinds or banians, to discuss the local news, the last action of
the magistrate, the rent demanded by the landlord, rumours of
new taxes or the intentions of a distant government, the price
of grain, the weather, the harvest, the health of the neighbour-
hood. It is there that the collective conduct of the little society,
whether to resist or yield to fresh demands, is determined on, and
the judgment of tribunals of their caste-fellows is pronounced on
offenders against the caste rules which guide every action in
life.

In their dwellings, as in their clothes and food, the wants
of the people are' of the very simplest description. Of a total of
2,610,000 houses, which shelter families of on an average about
four persons each, only 19,400 are of brick, and the majority of
these have been erected in the days of their prosperity by the
Muhammadan settlers, whose ideas of comfort and luxury are in
every way more advanced than those of the old Hindu inhabitants.
These brick houses are sometimes very substantial and well built,
with one or two upper storeys, surrounding a small square en-
closure, into which the dwelling-rooms open through verandahs
supported by massive and elaborately carved pillars of salwood.
But such are now extremely rare. The ordinary residence of the
wealthiest Hindu chief was very different. A large area was
planted with dense masses of bamboo and prickly shrubs, through
wliich narrow winding paths led to an open centre, surrounded on
all>ides by a moat. On this the family of the chief himself, his
soldiers, his servants, and a few artizans in iron and wood tenanted
a cluster of mud cottages in which the best was hardly-to be dis-
tinguished from the worst. The example of the late Muhamma-
dan government has encouraged building, and the peace of our

XVI INTRODUCTION.

own made the old fort an anachronism ; but though rich Hindus
may occasionally indulge in a more ambitious architecture, they
still as a body prefer the walls of fresh mud, cooled in the hot
weather by a constant evaporation, which sheltered their fore-
fathers from the sun, and the gaudy and ill-contrived mansion,
which has been constructed for the admiration of visitors, is sup-
plied with out-houses of the older fashion where the owner can
consult his own tastes in life.

The houses of the small zemindars and richer inhabitants
of the village are almost always of mud, and consist of two or
three courtyards, surrounded with dark rooms, unlighted except
by the doorway, and with a broad thatched verandah running
along the wall in which the principal entrance is made. In this
verandah carts are kept, cattle stalled, and sojourning friends or
faqirs entertained. The inner courts are occupied by the women,
and contain the hearths round which the undivided family col-
lects naked to the waist for their meals. Hollow pillars of mud
and wattle support the roof, which is commonly of thatch, and
preserve the store of grain. The poorer cultivators are fortunate
if they can take in one small yard, and build against the south
wall of the low enclosure one or more diminutive sleeping-rooms ;
the majority have to be contented with tiny hovels of mud, or
sometimes merely screens of twigs and leaves.

By the census only 6,542,870 (or 58 per cent, of the whole
population) is returned as agricultural, but this is an obvious
under-statement, and due to the fact that nearly all the castes
with special occupations supplement their trade by the tillage of
a few fields. The 232,000 persons who are returned as engaged
in the ennobling duty of defending their country will, as a rule,
be found to be members of cultivating families who are employed
by the landlords in realizing rents from their own class ; the
407,000 manufacturers of textile fabrics and dress are probably
so only in virtue of the name of their caste : in reality they are
either mere serfs or day-labourers engaged on the soil, and at the
most eke out a livelihood depending mainly on that source by the
sale of coarse cottons woven by themselves or their women in
their spare hours and when the ground has rest. And similar
criticism is applicable to most of the other elaborate divisions
made by the report. Ninety-two per cent, of the population is
rural as opposed to urban, and a conjecture which makes 72 per
cent, of the whole employed in agriculture has probable grounds
and can hardly err on the side of exaggeration. The majority of
the million and a half of labourers should certainly be reckoned
as agriculturists.

INTRODUCTION. XVU

There are in fact hardly any other productive occupations.
The wants of the village societies are provided for by the exis-
tence usually of at least one family in each society of the
castes of blacksmiths, carpenters, and leather-dressers. These
build and repair their carts and ploughs and make them shoes.
Cloth and brass vessels, as has been seen, come from the bazars^
and their price is settled by ordinary trade competition. This
is not the case with the labour of the village artizans, which,
like rent, is determined by custom, and is even now almost every-
where remunerated by a fixed share of the village produce. They
are really integral parts of that complete political system which
has for its basis the grain heap on the threshing-floor at the end
of the harvest, and take their place more correctly with the rdja,
the village proprietors, and the tillers of the soil than with the
trading classes. Before annexation large numbers of the lower
castes were employed in weaving cotton and distilling spirits
from sugar or mahua flower, and their looms and stills paid an
annual duty to the raja within whose territories they were worked.
Both occupations are still in existence, but the first has received
a fatal blow from the competition of Manchester, and the second
has been formulated by the excise system, which converts the
independent distiller into a paid Government servant. The salt
industry has been completely annihilated.

The finer products of the Lucknow workmen prove to what
a degree of artistic excellence the inhabitants of the province
might attain if the development of their energies were not ham-
pered by want of capital, want of markets, and the old restric-
tions which make it so difficult for any one to join or succeed in
any occupation which was not that of his father before him. The
silver engraved work, the gold and silver lace, and the embroide-
ries in gold, silver, or silk thread on velvet and cashmir would ,
compete both for beauty and cheapness with similar manufactures
in any part of the world ; but the number of workmen engaged
and the gross annual value of the trades are too small to elevate
them to even a provincial importance.

The external trade of the province takes two main lines-
one by the river route of the Gogra to Lower Bengal, the other
through Lucknow and Cawnpore ; and there are besides inconsi-
derable transactions in cotton and salt, hill ponies, spices, and
gums with Naipal. The Government returns for the last eight
years (1867 — 1874 inclusive) show an excess of more than three
millions in imports over exports, the totals being £13,966,000 for
the first. aaainst £10,865,000 for the second. T\xe highest point
both in exports and imports was reached m 1869, when the former

3

XVUl INTRODUCTION.

attained a value of £2,826,621, and exceeded the latter by nearly
£300,000, the single instance in which the balance of trade in
commodities has been in favour of the province. The main arti-
cles of import are cotton (raw or in thread), salt, and English
piece-goods, with average annual values of £340,000, £400,000,
and £400,000 respectively : and these, the main wants which the
province cannot supply from its own resources, are nearly paid
for by the export of its agricultural produce, which, in the prin-
cipal items of edible grains, sugar, and oilseeds, aggregates on an
average over a million sterling per annum. But the uncertainty
of registration and the difficulty of appraising the commodities
at their real value make these returns liable to great suspicion.

The foundation and framework of the social system i& here
and elsewhere in India, caste; but the divisions vary in num-
ber and in relative importance all over the continent, and no
sketch of a province would be complete without, at any rate, a
short description of the principal groups among which its inhabi-
tants are distributed. Outside the Hindu polity, but assuming
in its relations with it the attitude of a distinct caste, are the
Muhammadans, who are far less numerous here than in any
other part of Upper India, forming only a tenth of the popula-
tion. They again are subdivided into a number of subordinate
classes, under the four great heads of Sayyads, Shekhs, Pathdns,
and Mugals ; but though the grand doctrme of the equality of
all men before God taught by their prophet has become vitiated
by long contact with and antagonism to a foreign religion, it
still retains almost the whole of its real vitality. Their lower
castes are generally trade-unions, and though they tend to make
trade hereditary, they place no insurmountable obstacle in the
way of any one of their members who wishes to leave the occu-
pation of his father for another. Caste prejudices are to be found
strongest as the social scale is descended among classes converted
from and living in daily conversation with Hindus. The ancient
ingrained view of humanity is not wholly eradicated, but free- ,
dom from it is a sign of respectability, and the more a Muham-
madan prospers, the more enlightened is the contempt which he
at least professes for other distinctions than those of merit. The
upper orders hardly regard caste in anything, and certainly not
in the all-important subjects of marriage and eating in common.
It is this which constitutes the real strength of the faith and
not only preserves it from absorption, but enables it to win daily
converts from Brahminism. Men who are profoundly indifferent
to the names and numbers of the deities they are asked to worsM-p
are never so wholly dead to the higher instincts of hum'Bnity as

INTRODUCTION. XIX

to be able to bear with complacency the loathing and aversion
of their fellow-men, or to acquiesce in an inferiority which was
derived solely from the accident of birth, and which no merit
and no achievement can exalt. The mere abstract truths of reli-
gion might be preached for centuries to deaf ears, but it is a fact
which cannot fail to be recognized, and in its recognition to bear
practical fruit, that the Kori or the Chamar must always submit
to scorn and outrage from the other ranks of his co-religionists,
that his every aspiration will be contemptuously repressed, and
that if by something little short of a miracle he attains some
slight success in life, his advancement will only add anger to the
feelings with which he was previously regarded : whereas he has
only to change the symbols of his faith in order to be admitted to
a community which has no outcasts, to become, however poor, a
fellow-man, and to be enabled to indulge in the ambition of rising
to the highest positions open to his countrymen, where his ex-
traction will be forgiven, and his family after two or three gene-
rations be enrolled in the ranks and bear the sounding names of
nobility. The small groups of Muhammadan cultivators form
scattered centres of revolt against the degrading oppression to
which their religion hopelessly consigns the lower castes of Hindus.
In joining them they not only acquire freedom, but find a society
in which they can marry and give in marriage, and satisfy the
gregarious instincts of man. It is this which gives Muhammadism
its decisive superiority over Christianity, The latter has no
centres of life among the people, and conversion to it entails an
isolation which is intolerable, and worse than the worst social
tyranny. It is worth while to add that this motive has freer
play, and that conversions are likely to be far more frequent when
the two religions are living peaceably side by side under a govern-
ment which protects both and represses both impartially, than in
the days when Hinduism borrowed coherence from a constant
acting struggle with its rival.

In the hio-her ranks the Muhammadans number 7S taluq-
dars, some of whom, as the Rajas of Utraula and Nanpara, are
descended from old local chieftains, who had long ago conquered
for themselves places in the Hindu hierarchy, and differed in little
but their religion from their Hindu compeers. Many more, and
at the head of all the great chieftains of Hasanpur Bandhua,
■were of ancient ruling Hindu families, who adopted the faith of
Muhammad in the days when that faith conferred influence at
the powerful court of Agra, and some few owe their estates to
office or favour with the late Lucknow kings. The old colonies-
such as those of Bilgram, Kdkori, Malihabad, and Rudauli—

XX INTEODUCTION.

sent out a number of men distinguished in science, administration,
and war, and though the light of Eastern learning has paled, and
the sword rarely finds opportunities of winning fame, they still
provide the English Government of North India with numbers of
its ablest servants, and contribute one of the most important of
its elements to the only learned profession — the bar. As culti-
vators the Muhammadans are scattered all over the country, and
vie with the Kurmi and the Murio in industry and the sue ■
cessful tillage of the finer crops, such as sugar and opium : as
weavers they share with the lower Hindu caste, from whom their
artizans are mostly derived, the monopoly of the manufacture of
cotton cloths.

The comparatively small numbers of the Muhammadans are
a far less significant proof of the importance of Oudh as a centre
of Hinduism than the enormous numerical predominance of
Brahmans. The sacred class counts no less than 1,400,000 souls
(or about one-eighth of the whole), and between a fifth and a
sixth of the Hindu population, and every one of them is invested
with a reverence which no extreme of abject poverty, no infamy
of private conduct, can impair, and which is beyond anything
which a mind not immediately conversant with the facts can con-
ceive. They are invariably addressed with the titles of divinity
or highest earthly honour. The oldest and highest of the mem-
bers of other castes implore the blessing of the youngest and
poorest of theirs ; they are the chosen recipients of all charity,
and are allowed a license in their private relations with the in-
ferior castes which would be resented as a deadly injury in any
but themselves. In return for this position of unparalleled su-
premacy they renounce actual empire, of which they admit the
Chhattris to be the proper repositories, and number only six
among the taluqdars of the province. The most important of
these— the late Mahdraja Man Singh and Raja Krishn Datt Rdm
of Gonda— acquired their estates, not as ancient chieftains, but in
the later days of Muhammadan rule, the one as a Government
official of exceptional ability, the other as a large capitalist, whose
wealth and influence made him indispensable ahke to the revenue
collector and the villager.

The main duties of the Brahman are, not the service of
particular deities, for that is usually left to the religious orders
which are above caste, but the direotion of the family life of the
people down to the smallest acts-— from the solemnization of mar-
riage and performance of funeral rites to the selection of a
favourable day for starting on a journey or cutting the ripened
porn. No ceremony, no feast, is perfect unless conducted under

INTRODUCTION. XXI

their auspices and commencing with their entertainment. The
last sciences which svirvive are those bearing on the daily life of
a people, and in the decay of Hindu learning it is the Brahman
only who studies the old languages of the country to make him-
self conversant with ceremonial and astrology. Their great
numbers have far exceeded the wants of their votaries or the
limits of the widest charity, and we find them employed in
almost every pursuit, without, however, any loss to their inherent
sanctity. As cultivators they abound, but are undesirable, not
only because they are lazy and careless — and one of their two
great divisions declines to touch the plough, and relies on a
wasteful slave labour — but still more from the impossibility of get-
ting a full rent from them, and the difficulty of making them
pay any rent at all. They are good soldiers, and the generic
term of " Pdnde," which was applied to the men of our sepoy
army, is derived from one of their subdivisions, Avhile the in-
fluence they exercise over the people makes them invaluable in
the manao-ement of estates and the realization of rents. They
encroach largely on the proper employment of the third or
Vaisya caste, and supply a great number of the village money-
lenders, and when no other pursuit is_ open to them, they will
work with the spade on roads and railways. Menial service with
men of their own religion they will not submit to, nor would it
be accepted from them.

Next in importance to them are the Chhattris, formerly
the rulers of the whole, now the landowners of the greater part,
of the province. Their position in this light will be seen more
clearly in the next chapter. It is enough to say here that, as the
professed soldiers, they supplied notonlv the whole body of chief-
tains, but the greater number of the intermediate class between
the chief and the cultivator, who held particular villages on the
condition of rendering feudal service._ They now, therefore, con-
stitute the main element of what is known as the zamindar
class (the word zamindar has many meanings) and hold more
independent villages, more subordinate rights in the soil, than
any other class in the province. The sword was the weapon
of their trade and their principal means of subsistence. Now
that it is no longer in request, they are driven back in over-
crowded numbers on land too narrow for their support, and are
compelled to submit to a poverty which offers no prospect of
alleviation. Tall, brave, handsome, and generous, they are hardly
excelled by any yeomanry in the world, and they are as much
elevated above the lower classes by their traditions^and pride of
birth as they are above the Brahmans by the absence in their case

XXU INTRODUCTION.

of an excess of veneration to lift them beyond tlie control of public
opinion. In spite of their predominance in the proprietorship
of the land, they are not relatively very numerous, and form
about a twentieth part of the whole population. There are
numerous subdivisions. None of them belong to the very highest
rank of Hindu aristocracy, and in point of dignity they stand
half-way between the great princely families of the west, who
have their headquarters at Jaipur or Udaipur, at Mainpuri or
Bhadawar, and the less pure Chhattris of Behar and Ben-
gal.

The Muhammadans, the Brahmans, and the Chhattris ac-
count for about a quarter of the whole population in Avhich they
are the predominant classes. The remainder consists of the
lower Hindu castes, and'those whose religious pretensions raise
them above, or whose misfortune of birth abases them below,
the whole system. The first of these supplies more than a half,
and the last a little more than a fifth, of the people. The strictly
religious orders, though of the highest political importance, are
inconsiderable in point of numbers.

The lower classes of Hindus are distributed into two classes
recognized by the sacred books, the Vaisyas and Sudras, and to
these must be added a third, of more recent origin and doubtful
position, the Kayaths. The Kayaths and Vaisyas, or the writing
and trading classes, properly number hardly a million, of which
nearly 700,000 belong to the former.

The Sudras — admitted Hindus, but not allowed to wear
the sacred thread — are distinguished from the lowest classes of all
by the fact that their brass vessels are considered pure, and a
Brahman or Chhattri will take water drawn in their lotas, while
he would reject it with loathing if it had come into contact with
the cup of a Chamar or a Kori. The most numerous among these
castes are the Ahlrs, whose proper duty is to tend the cattle of
the community, but who are found as cultivators in every dis-
trict. With a total of 1,160,000 souls, they slightly exceed the
Chamars, and are a little below the Muhammadans, while they
leave the numerical supremacy of the Brahmans unchalleng-
ed.

The best tenantry, the most industrious and successful
cultivators, and the most peaceful and estimable members of
society are furnished by the two classes of Kurmis and Murdos
■whose virtues are known all over Northern India, and who num-
ber in Oudh rather more than a million souls. They are the
backbone of the wealth of the province ; and, though they will pay
very high rents, the value in whi<^ they are held will deter a

IKTRODtJCTION. ' XX 111

landlord from driving them off his estate by excessive extortion,
and they are usually to be found in what is, for their position
and unambitious wants, a state of comparative affluence. Though
war is not their trade, they are not destitute of spirit, and are
capable of being converted into good soldiers.

The other numerous subdivisions, of which the remaining
three millions of pure Hindus are made up, it is unnecessary to
deal with in detail. If the Supreme Being made the Kahar with
the distinct purpose of catching fish and carrying his betters on his
shoulders ; the Gareria to tend sheep ; the Barhai, the Lobar, the
Kumhar to work in wood, iron, and clay ; the Teli for oil, and the
Luniya for salt ; the Halwai to make sweetmeats for the Hindu,
and the Nao to shave his beard, those purposes have been very
largely lost sight of, for, though each caste retains the monopoly
of the labour which was its proper destiny, it also very largely
supplements that means of subsistence by tilling the soil.

Of the lowest stratum of the whole society many of the
divisions are certainly, and all probably, derived from the old
aboriginal stocks who lived in the country before the Aryan
colonization. Some of them, such as the Pasis, who number
nearly 700,000, command a certain amount of consideration,
were valued formerly as soldiers, and still furnish the greater
part of the rural police. Others, and particularly the Bhars and
the Tharus, cling in small self-sufficing groups to the skirts of
the jungle and the hills, and hold aloof from the rest of the
community. Nats and Kanjars live in the same state of isola-
tion, and wander over the face of the country with their small
movable villages of matting and leaf-screens : and those are
most happy who escaped being assigned any distinct functions
in the Hindu caste system. The lowest depth of misery and
degradation is reached by the Koris and Chamars, the weavers
and leather-cutters, to the rest. Many of these in the northern
districts are actually bond slaves, having hardly ever the spirit
to avail themselves of the remedy offered by our courts, and
descend with their children from generation to generation as the
value of an old purchase. They hold the plough for the Brah-
man or Chhattri master, whose pride of caste forbids him to
touch it, and live with the pigs, less unclean than themselves, in
separate quarters apart from the rest of the village. Always on
the verge of starvation, their lean, black, and ill-formed figures,
their stupid faces, and their repulsively filthy habits reflect the
wretched destiny which condemns them to be lower than the
beast among their fellow-men, and yet that they are far from
incapable of improvement is proved hy the active and useful

XSIT INTRODUCTION.

stable servants drawn from among them, who receive good pay
and live well under European masters. A change of religion is
the only means of escape open to them, and they have little
reason to be faithful to their present creed.

The census returns more than 130,000 members of reli^
gious orders. But this is a great exaggeration, as is clearly
. shown in one instance, which besides forms a curious illustration
of the caste system. When we read that there are upwards of
40,000 Goshalns, we should remember that only very few of
these belong to the religious orders at all. The Goshain, or
member of the distinct religious order instituted by Shankard-
charya to maintain the cultus of Mahadeo, is enrolled by the
adoption of another Goshdin from some one of the pure Hindu
castes. From the moment of his adoption he loses his old caste
altogether and acquires a new one, among the essential duties of
which is celibacy. As long as he remains chaste there is no diffi-
culty, and he continues to be considered one of those orders whose
renunciation of the world has released them from the bonds of
caste. But breaches of the rules are frequent, and when a Goshain
takes a wife and settles down with his family to agriculture, it is
clear that he no longer belongs to the religious order. Neither
can he return to any ordinary caste, for his adoption constituted
a real new birth annihilating his former position. He remains
therefore a Goshain by name, and adds a new caste to the society.
Secular Goshalns are exceedingly common, and it may safely be
said that at least three-fourths of the religious mendicants re-
turned'under that denomination are really common villagers, hold-
ing a somewhat undefined position in a new caste not contem-
plated in the original framework of the system. The religious
Goshdins resemble monks in other particulars besides celibacy —
living in small societies in monasteries apart from the community,
possessing frequently considerable wealth in land, dealing in
asafcetida where chartreuse is unknown, and enjoying in a com-
fortable life a fair compensation for their inability to marry.

The influence exercised by members of the religious orders,
which it would be difficult to over-estimate, depends in no way
on the peculiar sectarian dogmas they may hold, but solely
on the real or supposed austerity of their lives ; and exceptional
austerity, combined with learning or genius, elevates a man to a
position far above the purest caste or the highest |worldly rank.
Mahant Jaggiwan Das of Kotwa, who taught the worship of
the pure name and instituted the sect of Sattnamis, had for his
disciples the greatest rajas of Oudh, none of whom would have
ventured to be seated in his presence or to treat him otherwise

INTRODUCTION. XIT

tlian as a revered master. His successors number their votaries
by hundreds of thousands, and exercise over them an undisputed
spiritual sway. Members of the higher orders of ascetics^Param
hanses, and Dandis— though not wishing to create a following for
themselves, are received everywhere as equals or superiors by the
wealthiest noblemen, vho honour themselves iu doing them
reverence.

The dogmatic religion of the people is extremely simple.
They believe that there is one Supreme Being, who has many
distinct aspects and manifestations, n-oAXcov 'ovoftartuv /lop^ij /t^a^and
they further believe that in his most benignant aspects he
has submitted to several incarnations. In its origin the religion
is an anthropomorphised pantheism ; the unity of nature is re-
cognized in the real unity of God, and all the various and seem-
ingly hostile powers of good and evil of which the natural world
is made up, are typified in the different persons of the Divinity —
a solution of the problem of life which leaves no place for a
devil. To all but their professional devotees it is a matter of
complete indifference whether a man selects for the primary
object of his devotion the power of destruction or the power of
creation ; and though the pure and lovely figure of Vishnu in hia
last incarnation has, from its local associations and in virtue of its
own surpassing beauty, the first place in the affection and worship
of the masses, there are none who do not frequently pour
libations of water and hang votive wreaths of flowers before the
black stone which symbolizes Mahadeo. The kindred doctrines of
transmigration, and of life as a penance for sin Avhere pain can
only be avoided by a renunciation of all pleasure, combined with
a strono-ly felt fatalism, lie at the root of the ethical conceptions
of the people.

But by far the most important of the tenets they hold
are those which centre round the institution of caste, and the
rules which that makes compulsory dwarf into insignificance
all the other elements of their religious life. Every Hindu
believes that men are born into natural orders, as well defined
and as impossible to change voluntarily as the difterent species of
animals ; but his maintenance of his position depends on the
observance of a number of rules extending to the commonest
transactions of life, and the stamp set on him at his birth is
ifso facto changed or altogether effaced by his infringement
of them. Whether or no that forfeit has been incurred it is for
his caste-fellows to determine. The principal of these rules is
that which ordains that a men shall belong to the lowest caste
with which he has eaten. If a Brahman has broken bread with

4

XXVI "INTRODUOTION.

a- Vaisya he immediately becomes a Vaisya himself, if with a
Chamar a Chamar, with a Muhammadan a Muhammadan : and if
he were to sit at meals with an English officer he would become
a Christian, even though his host were a pagan in belief and he
Avas himself ignorant of the first doctrines of the faith, because
the Hindu mind cannot conceive of any one being out of a
•caste, and the Englishman, having been born in the caste of
Christians, must remain a member of that caste, whatever
faith he may adopt, until he forfeits it by the non-observance
of caste rules. For the maintenance of his position it is not
in the least necessary that a man should observe any of the
higher laws of morality. A Brahman may be virtuous or
vicious like* the member of any other caste or any animal, but
the soul that was born with him can only be affected in its
nature by that essential contact with a member of some other
■caste which occasions a complete natural change. And it is not
■every kind of contact which conveys such a change. A Brah-
man cohabits with a Chamdr woman : he is polluted indeed, but
he remains a Brahman and she a Chamar ; he smokes her pipe,
and he immediately by the law of nature becomes a Chamar
himself, and must seek a livelihood by cutting leather or tending
horses. As a rule the prohibitions to which most importance is
attached .are those which involve a constant watchfulness, but
do not lay a strain on the stronger passions of humanity.

The above is a mere sketch of an institution whose effects
are of the highest consequence politically in a focus of Hindu
life such as Oudh is. A complete picture would require many
modifications, but it has only been thought worth while here
to dwell on the main lines as they affect the character of the
people and their political future. One of the first results is
the extraordinary stability given to the social system of which
it is the foundation. A man cannot rise in caste, and society
is to a great extent secured from the convulsions with which
individual ambition might threaten it. By friendly intercourse
with any caste except his own a man must incur the penalty of
separation from his own people and the loss of all that is dear
to him. So men of one trade live entirely together ; they have no
opportunity of learning another. An art can hardly be lost, and
the worst misfortunes which can befall the society still leave
it with all its component parts intact. The isolation of the
different ranks makes it very difficult for any new impulse to run
through all from the highest to the lowest, and change from
within is almost an impossibility. The pride of race which is
common to all humanity combines with the belief in caste to

INTRODUCTION. XXVll

resist all influence from without. An Englishman would not
eat with a Hindu if he thought that he would thereby cease to
be an Englishman, and the Hindu has a far more extravagant
idea of his own natural superiority than even we have. The
qualities which secure it from decay equally deny it all power
of development and completely arrest the. completion and free
circulation of labour without which progress is impossible. As
an instrument of police repression it is within its own range of
unsurpassed efficiency, and in formalizing and giving its utmost
force to the sanction of public opinion it excels any other code
in the world in its choice of a penalty. It only fails in the
selection and limitation of the offences to which its penalty is
applied.

Before estimating its effects on the national character,
it is as well to attempt an outline of the character itself. There
can be no doubt that the different nations of the world are
distinguished by peculiar moral and intellectual traits, or at any
rate, by the predominance in special cases of traits common to
all, and the inhabitants of the various parts of the Indian
continent are for this purpose as distinct as the different peoples
of Europe. Still, generalizations as to national character are so
exceedingly complex, and rest on such a multitude of ill-under-
stood and conflicting single intances, that there is hardly
anything on which it is more difficult to form a true opinion
— any case where hasty decision at first sight is so certain to be-
wrong. We pride ourselves on our national honesty ; but that is
hardly the first virtue with which a foreign dealer in Manchester
cottons would credit us.

"Writing two centuries before Christ, of the Hindus most
like those of Oudh in the neighbouring kingdom of Patna, an
educated Greek selected as the leading feature in their character
their honesty and integrity in the ordinary relations of life ; and
paradoxical as it may sound to most English ears, it is probable
that this is almost as true of the Hindu village of to-day as it
was of the Buddhist court of two thousand years ago. Even
among our own servants no one can fail to have been astonished
at the absolute safety with which large sums of money may be
entrusted to their keeping, when theft would be almost impos-
sible of detection and would secure them comfort for the re-
mainder of their lives. In the higher ranks the well-paid and
educated office clerks are faithful and trustworthy beyond any
other class of men who can be procured for their responsible,
duties. What has been said applies to their relations with foreign
masters, for whom they can rarely feel any affection, anjl who not

XXVlll INTEODUCTION.

unfrequently regard them with a suspicion which would be itself
enough to make most men dishonest. In their relations with
their own people the quality is far more conspicuous. Trade
transactions involving enormous sums are carried through with a
want of precaution which we should consider idiotic, but which
is justified by the rarity of breaches of faith. In a country
where writing is an art as common as it is with us, large debts
are contracted every day on nothing but the verbal security of
the borrower ; and if there may be occasional repudiation in our
Courts, the fact that that security is still considered sufficient is
ample proof that the debts are honourably acknowledged among
the parties themselves. In such cases limitation is never thought
of, and families who have emerged from poverty will discharge
debts contracted by their ancestors a century back, of which no
other record exists but an entry in the money-lender's private
ledger. Their whole social system postulates an exceptional
integrity, and would collapse at once if any suspicion of dis-
honesty attached itself to the decisions of the caste panchayats.
This point is worth insisting on, as on it depends the whole of
their future as a self-governing nation, and though much has
occurred to impair their character in this respect, it would be
unsafe to deny them at any rate the capacity for the first of poli-
tical virtues. This quality may be said to extend to all ranks.
Their remaining merits will be more readily acknowledged, but
are more partial in their distribution. The courage and high
sense of honour of the Brahman and Rajput, the thrift and indus-
try of the Kurmi, are patent to the shallowest observer, and all
perhaps may claim a natural aversion to cruelty, a gay, buoyant
disposition of mind, and an imagination easily impressed by
beauty or humour.

Their grand national defect is a want of steadiness, an
absolute incapacity of maintaining resolutions on most subjects
in the face of what would seem to us the most trifling discourage-
ments. And this defect is very much intensified by the system
of caste. The mind of man does not seem capable of retaining
for daily use more than a limited number of moral principles, and
an inevitable result of the complete success of any priestly regime
is the substitution of tithes and cummin for the weightier
matters of the law. The noblest of Hindu reformers, Nanak,
Kablr, and Eamdnand, have always lifted up their voices in protest
against the degradation ; but the Hindu, whom a strong penalty
constrains to pay constant and watchful attention to small matters
of ablution and ceremonial, has his mind diverted from higher
duties enforced by no such certain penalty. His volatile nature,

INTRODUCTION, XIIX

always ready in moments of strong excitement to forget the
more elevated rules of morality, is still further weakened by
having been accustomed to accord them only a secondary place
in his ordinary views of life. It is this which makes it so very
dangerous to trust him implicitly. Honest and faithful under
common temptations, he has no living moral principles to sustain
him under the strong and unreasonable accesses of passion to
which he is liable, or against sudden or extraordinary appeals to
his cupidity. On the other hand, his ancient literature, full of
the noblest sentiments, familiarizes him with high ideal rules of
conduct which bear fruit when circumstances are favourable. Of
circumstances he is pre-eminently the creature : a richly-gifted
child, but a child to the day of his death, capable of the grandest
self-devotion or of the basest moral turpitude.

The natural kindness of disposition, the ready pity for
suffering and willingness to relieve it, which colour all their reli-
gion and poetry, and are strongly exhibited in their dealings
with the lower animals, are diverted and limited in their rela-
tions with one another by the same sentiment of caste. The
charity, which all regard as the first of moral duties, is displayed
only for Brahraans, and for men of another caste than their own
they have as little fellow-feeling, and perhaps less, than would
be commanded by an ox or a horse. Within its reduced sphere,
and particularly among members of the same family, their bene-
volence is most active and exemplary. To the outer world it
assumes a passive attitude, and their aversion to the sight of
pain makes them the most merciful of at any rate the peoples
of Asia.

The other great cause which has affected their character
for the worse is their long subjection to unsympathetic foreign

masters,—" muto-v yap t' apertjs antoaivvrm, ivpvma, Tlsvs

Avspos Bvr avjiiv Kara SovXiof '^ftap eXifmy

The vices and corruption of a Muhammadan despotism are the
same everywhere, and are apt to be regarded as the necessary
features of all A siatic Government. Honesty in political con-
duct cannot be expected where it would hardly be recognized as
a virtue : where the honest man is as likely to be ruined as the
knave by the caprice of a stupid and resistless tyrant, and
where the only means of softening a fall, against which no merit
provides security, must be obtained by fraud. The atmosphere
of the court for the last eight centuries has directly stimulated
chicanery and intrigue in all their worst forms, and almost ex-
tinguished the respect due to integrity. It is the stability which

XXX INTRODUCTION.

his caste-system has given to his own society which the Hindu
has to thank that the disease has not penetrated deeper, and aa
yet remains a mere surface ulcer, dangerous but curable. There
is no denying the abominable mendacity and corruption which
disgrace the relations of natives with their rnlers. But the cause
is patent. Their exceptional honesty in their dealings among
themselves gives grounds for hope that, under a Government
which rewards merit and promotes a public spirit, the vice may
be eradicated, and even now the higher judicial ranks give ex-
amples of probity of which any country in the world might
be proud. ,

In physique the people of Oudh are the medium height,
with light, active bodies, and well-proportioned limbs, capable
of great endurance, but inferior in strength to Europeans and
the inhabitants of the Punjab and Afghanistan. Their features
are generally well formed ; their eyes and teeth remarkably good;
and their carriage and movements full of grace and ease. In
colour they are half way between the olive-brown of the Kash-
miri and the swarthiness of the Bengali. The distinctions of
birth are strongly marked : and the Chhattri excels all other
castes in his superior stature and strength, the greater regu-
larity of his features, and fairness of his complexion.

And it is this class which furnishes all the best examples
of the national character. It is impossible to think badly of
a race who, from among the dozen chiefs cf a single district,
could produce in one season of national convulsion two such
eminent instances of loyalty and devotion to opposite sides as
the present Maharaja of Balrampur and the late Eaja Debi
Bakhsh Singh of Gonda — the one who risked his property and
his life to save a handful of English friends, and remained their
firm protector when it seemed certain that their cause was lost ■;
the other who did not join the standard of national revolt till
he had escorted the treasure and the officials of a Government
he hated to a place of safety, who was the last in the field
■when fighting was possible, and who, though offered an honour^
able reception and the whole of his immense estates by his con-
querors, elected to sacrifice position and wealth, and die a starv-
ing exile in Naipal rather than desert his defeated mistress.
Their fortunes were different, but their chivalrous honour the
same.

CHAPTER III.

The surface and soil of the province, its rivers and its lakes,
its animals, and the plants which contribute to human existence,
have been passed in review. The people, with their castes and
social system, have been described; and we have seen them bound,
as perhaps no other race of the world is bound, in the chains
of a superstition which is not without features of nobility, and
which seems equally incapable of development and impervious to
decay. Now it becomes necessary, in a brief historical sketch
avoiding as much as possible subjects of controversy, to trace the
progress of the various elements whose combination produced
the political position which confronted us at annexation, and to
fecount the measures by which that position has been dealt with.

Long before the dawn of authentic history, Oudh stands out
in the fuUiblaze of legend and poetry. Ajodhya, its eponymous
city, was the capital of that happy kingdom in which all that the
Hindu race reveres or desires was realized as it can never be
realized again, and the seat of the glorious dynasty which began
with the sun and culminated after sixty generations of blameless
rulers in the incarnate deity and perfect man, Rama, Whether
criticism will finally enroll the hero among the highest creations
of pure imagination, or accord him a semi-historical personality
and a doubtful date, it is barren to speculate : history is more
nearly concerned with the influence which the story of his life
still has on the moral and religious beliefs of a great people, and
the enthusiasm which makes his birth-place the most highly
venerated of the sacred places to which its pilgrims crowd.

Under any circumstances, the colonization of this province
must have been very early, and the burial-place of the great Muni
Agastya, on© of the first pioneers of Aryan progress, is pointed
but near Colonelganj, a few miles to the north of the Gogra. At
the commencement of true history, when, the Aryan race,
through Buddha, gave birth to the religion, which, expelled from
its original home, still dominates more than a third of mankind,
Oudh was a populous country, ruled from Sravasti by not the
least important of the six kings of Madhyadesha or Hindustan
proper. Its capital was the scene of the prophet's earliest and

XXXU INTRODUCTION,

most sucessful labours, his favourite resting-place during the rainy-
months, and the recruiting-ground from which some of the chief
among his immediate disciples were drawn in. It long remained
one of the principal seats of Buddhist learning, and six centu-
ries after the foundation of the religion, contributed two of the
great schools of doctors which attended the famous synod
convened by the Scythian conqueror Kanishka at Cashmere.

After a long blank, broken only by a few of the ridiculous
and uninteresting fables with which a religious zeal embellished
its claims, the next information is to be gained from the pages of
Ptolemy, Avhose scanty contents are as important as they are
difficult to interpret; He divides the country between three
kingdoms — that of the Tanganoi, whose southern limit was the
Go^ra ; the Maraemdai, whose rule stretched through central
Oudh deep into the heart of Bengal ; and the Amanichai or
Manichai, in a narrow strip along the backs of the Ganges. South
of these, and with a territory reaching from Allahabad to Gwalior,
was Sandrabatis. The towns in Oudh proper were Heorta,
Eappha, Baraita, Sapolas, and perhaps Taona. The most north-
ern of the people are easily identified as the T^ngana, who
brought the heroes of the Mahabharatha a tribute of horses and
gold from the hills. It is singular to find them here on the sole
occasion when authentic history records their name, and they
must have been a mountain tribe, ethnically perhaps connected
with the aboriginal Gonds and Tharus. The only trace of their
existence now surviving is the name of the small ponies of south-
ern Nepal, which are called Tanghans in the same way as a horse
of Arabian blood is known as an Arab. The Maraemdai are
well known as a trans-Indus people. They may have conquered
the territory ascribed to them in the first century B. C. at the
time of the great Scythian invasion, and that they should be
found here may point to the existence of a Scythian dynasty at
Patna before the glories of the greater Guptas. Of the Amani-
chai (or Manichai) nothing is known ; but it is more probable
that the town of Manikpur, which coincides with the position
which the geographer assigns them, should owe its name to them
than to the ubiquitous Manik Chand of Kanauj, whose date, at the
end of the twelfth century, is far too late for many of the remains
now to be found there. The probable conjecture that Sandra-
batis is the Greek version of Chandravati is strengthened by the
fact that the Sombansis (or Chhattris) of the lunar race, who now
hold a diminished raj in Partabgarh, but were even in modern
times of vastly greater importance than they are at present, cherish
traditions of a great kingdom which their ancestors once ruled from

INTRODUCTION. XXXlll

Jhusi, a town whose ruins have been discovered in the neigh-"
bourhood of Allahabad.

It was impossible that the transcribers of long lists of names,
every one of which was absolutely strange to them, should avoid
constant errors, and the mistakes seem frequent with the letter I.
The almost certain reading Tanganoi has a variant, Ganganoi,
and the position on the map and similarity of the names perhaps
justify us in reading Baraita Baraila, and recognizing in it the
present town of E,ae Bareli, which is built on remains of an un-
known antiquity, and is almost certainly not named after the
Edja Bal, who was defeated and slain by Nasir^ud-din in 1246 A.D.
The same considerations would lead us to read Sapolas Sapotas,
a natural and obvious Greek translation of Sawattha, as the an-
cient city of Sravasti was called in the Prakrit, which was con-
temporaneous with the Antonines. The remaining towns, Heorta
and Rappha, there are no means of identifying.

The great interest in this record lies in the fact that the two
people whom it shows to have been dominant in Central Hin-
dustan were neither of them of Hindu origin, one being abori-
ginal, the other Scythian ; of the third nothing certain can be
said, but there is a good probability that a large Hindu kingdom
flourished on the southern bank of the Ganges, and that the
descendants of its ruling family may be still found near their old
seat of empire.

The epoch of Ptolemy saw the culminating glory and the
final ruin of the great kingdom of Srdvasti, which had for eight
centuries at least maintained a leading position among the states
of Northern India. Vikramdditya, the last of its kings whose
name we possess, crowned the achievements of his race by
defeating Meghavahana, the powerful king of Kashmir, and
restoring the fanes and holy places of Ajodhya. That so cele-
brated a shrine, distant less than fifty miles in a straight line from
the capital, should have been allowed to fall so completely into
decay is a matter for surprise, and we are driven to suppose
either that the Gogra formed the southern limit to an area of
civilization stretching along the foot of the mountains, or that
legend has exaggerated the desolation of the place and the merits
of its restorer.

We have seen that Ptolemy represented the Scythians as
coterminous with the trans-Gogra kingdom along its southern
frontier, and it was to them that the power of Vikram^ditya
himself, or of one of his immediate successors, finally succumbed.
The legends of Ajodhya, whose antiquity marks the unbroken

5

XXXIT INTRODUCTION.

existence of the city, when they relate that Samundra Pala m
the guise of ajogi juggled the king of Srdvasti out of bis empire,
embalm the tradition of a war which subsequent accounts prove
to have been among the fiercest and most destructive which have
ever laid a flourishing country waste. History at once becomes
silent, and not more than three centuries later, when the Chinese
pilgrim. Fa Hian, visited in Sravasti one of the most sacred seats
of his religion, he found the once populous city, whose circuit of
lofty walls enclosing the remains of countless palaces and temples
even now attests its former greatness, inhabited by only a few
destitute monks and devotees. Two hundred years later, when
Hweng Thsang repeated the pilgrimage, its desolation was even
more complete, and its approach almost impossible by a journey
through dense forests full of herds of wild elephants.

Its subjection to the power of Patna closes the ancient his-
tory of Oudh, and though we may conjecture that on the extinc-
tion of that kingdom it fell tinder the dominion of Kanauj, we
hear no more of its princes, its saints, or its people, and the break
in its records probably marks the extinction of its civilization
and the relapse of the greater part of the country into the forests
which were afterwards known as Banaudha. It is to this an-
cient period that the numerous remains of walled towns and
forts, which have been erroneously ascribed in popular tradition
to the Bhars — a people with no high cultivation, but the last of
the great extinct powers which ruled in Oudh — almost certainly
belong. There are probably no remains in India whose explo-
ration under competent supervision would disclose objects of
greater interest or throw more copious light on an important
and obscure period of history,

"With the struggle which ended in the overthrow of Kanauj,
the last Hindu empire which had any pretence to include the
whole of the continent north of the Vindhyas, and which sealed
in blood the final victory of the Brahman over the Buddhist, the
modern history of the province opens in dark and doubtful legend.

It was the Tharus, if local tradition is to be trusted, who
first descended from the hills, and in the eighth or ninth century
A.D, cleared the jungles as far as Ajodhya, The aboriginal
tribes, who even at the present time are the only people whom
a constitution impervious to fever enables to contend with the
malaria of the jungles and become the pioneers of civilization
were subjected about a century after their settlement to a
princely family of Sombansi lineage from the North-West. This
family was reigning at or near the ruins of Sravasti when Sayyad

INTKODOCTION. SXXV

Salar occupied Bahraich for three years with his invading force
of Muhammadans, and the remains of that ancient city, with the
modern corrupt name of Sahet Mahefc, are pointed out as the fort of
Suhel Dal, the last of the race and the conqueror' of Musalmans.
A curious legend accounts for the downfall of the dynasty, and
proves it to have been one of the last in Upper India which pro-
fessed the doctrine of the Jains. Suhel Dal came in hot from the
chase a few minutes before sunset, and his princess, fearing that
the chase of the day would prevent his eating his evening meal,
sent up to the roof of the house the wife of his younger brother,
whose surpassing beauty detained the sinking sun. Till the supper
was ended the damsel stood and the god watched, and then as
she left her post a sudden night ensued. The prince enquired
why there had been no twilight, and the guilty passion which
arose from his discovery of the truth was followed by his punish-
ment in the total destruction of his fort during an appalling tempest.
The historicalf act underlying the story is the subversion of this
small northern kingdom by Sri Chandradeo, the Rathor monarch
of Kanauj, ingthe last quarter of the eleventh century. The
memories of the Jain rule yet cling to the deserted city, and mem-
bers of that religion are said still to make pilgrimage to a spot
which besides gave them the third and one of the most famous
of their Tirthankuras. A small temple, dedicated to Sambhunath,
is the only modern building in the whole expanse of ruins.

The period immediately following the destructive inroads of
Mahmiid Ghaznavi saw the rise in Southern Oudh, the Duab, and
the country between the Ganges and Malwa of the short-lived
power of the Bhars. Who these people are it is well known, as
they still exist in considerable numbers on the verge of cultivation,
and are one of the few castes who can commence jungle clearing
with impunity. Their short stature and black skins, their features
and their habits, their passion for the chase, and inability to settle
down as tenants paying a full rate of rent, stamp them as ethnical
brothers of the Donjs, the Tharus, the Kewats, and the Gonds,
and the numerous other aboriginal tribes whose despised remains
yet linger unabsorbed by the conquering Indian stock. The his-
tory of their rule is not so obscure as is generally supposed, and
tradition is rendered intelligible by two inscriptions from Ajai
Garh and Kalinjar in Bundelkhand and a passage from Farishta.*

* Another reference to this kingdom is tp be found in Al Ullii f Elliot's History of
India Vol 11 p. 46). Asi must have been Ajai Garh. The Chaiidal Bliar, (jr nameless out-
caste Bhawar ' needs no explanation. ForBhawaras a variant of Btiar Wc Lasstn, V"l. I.,
p. 448. note,' quoting Hamilton. For the last Bbar kings also see labakat-i-Nastri faiiot's
Vol. li , p. 348.

XXXVi INTRODUCTION.

From these we learn that a man, whose name is not gi^en,
but who is described as the foimder of his family, possessed him-
self of the fort of Ajai Garh. ■ This unknown founder of the Ime
is conjectured by Lassen (vol. III., p. 798) to have been a
revolted vassal of Vijoya Chandra of Kanauj. He was followed
on an independent throne by Jahun, Jahana, Gangadhar, Kamala,
and finally Malika. The humility of their origin is made clear by
the inscriptions, which give no name for their first ancestor and a
duration of only four generations, as Jahana, Gangadhar, and Ka-
mala were own brothers, and which invest Mdlika with none of the
usual sounding titles of sovereignty, though there can be no_ doubt
that he was a reigning prince over a large territory, and which re-
cord that the members of the family were compelled to live together
in a portion of the Kalinjar fort especially set apart for their
use, a fact which clearly proves that they were considered as out-
castes by the other Hindu residents. Lassen considers that the
Chandels are proved by their pedigree to be descended from the
same stock, and we find them, therefore, at first of no family at all,
then as Kdyaths, with the title (on the inscription) of Thakur, and
finally as full Chhattris with a well-known flaw in their pedigree,

Dalki, the brother of Md,lika, on the overthrow of the last
Kanauj king, conquered the whole of the Dud,b ; and Farishta
records the utter defeat and destruction of Dalki and Malki, who
had royal forts at Kalinjar and Karra, and held the whole country
as far as Malwa in their possession, by Nasir-ud-din Muhammad,
the king of Delhi, in 1246 A.D. The universal tradition of South-
ern Oudh, which preserves the memory of the reigns of E,djas
Dal and Bal, proves that these princes were really Bhars, and
that the whole of the south of the province as far as the Gogra
was included in their dominions. It is more than probable that a
far greater portion of the country was then covered by jungle than
is now the case, and the rise of the low aboriginal tribes to
dominion on the ruins of the power of their high caste rulers is
paralleled by several instances in the only authentic continuous
record of Indian history we possess — the Raj Tarangini of Kash-
mir. The overthrow of the Bhars was followed by the establish-
ment, much as we find them now, of the principal elements of
modern Oudh society. The country was divided into a number
of small chieftainships, ruled over by clans, who, whatever their
real origin may have been, all professed themselves to be of the
ruling caste of Chhattris. Many of these, such as the Kanhpurias
of Partabgarh, the Gaurs of Hardoi, and their offshoot that
Amethias of Rae Bareli, are probably descendants of men or

INTRODUCTION. XXXVU

tribes who flourished under the low caste government : others,
such as the Bisens of Gonda and Partabgarh, and many other
leading clans of the north, appear to have been derived from old
Chhattri or quasi-Chhsittri stocks, established for time out of mind
on or near their present, settlements. But the nobler families, the
Bais of Baiswara, the Bachgoti Chauhans of Sulfcanpur, the
Sombansis of Partabgarh, and the Kalhans of Gonda, are dis-
tinctly proved by their traditions to have immigrated, — the first
two from the Duab, the Sombansis from near Allahabad, and
the Kalhans from the far south-west.

From this point forward any general sketch of the history of
Oudh becomes a task of almost insurmountable difficulty. The
record of facts, though copious and unbroken, descends in two
streams, which hardly touch one another, and which it is often
nearly impossible to connect. On the one hand, we have the
Muhammadan historians, who give accounts of the great princes
sent from the conquering camp at Delhi to rule a province which
during the first period of Muhammadan occupation was of the
first importance to the empire. From them we hear of the wars,
the intrigues, the rebellions, the magnificence, and sometimes the
vices of these royal lieutenants ; but the barren and uninteresting
lists were written by men who had no sympathy with, or know-
ledge of the real inhabitants of the country — a people from whom
they were separated by a strange religion, unintelligible social
customs, a foreign origin, and the contempt engendered by con-
quest. Page after page may be turned over, and, except when
some crowning victory has to be recorded, or mention is made of
the assistance lent by a powerful local chieftain to his Muham-
madan overlord, the existence of the mass of the Hindu nation is
absolutely ignored. On the relations which subsisted between
the people and their natural princes, and between the latter and
the central power, the amount of the taxes, and how and by
whom, and to whom, they were paid, the maintenance of order
and dispensation of justice, we are left in almost complete darkness.
What is of value is a fairly exact chronology, which enables us to
dispose in something like order all that it is possible to disentan-
gle from the local tradition which forms the other source of informa-
tion. As, however, this local tradition is as silent with regard to the
foreign rulers as their historians were on the subject of the people,
it is extremely difficult to establish points of contact between
the two. It may be said with certainty that the two records corres-
ponded to two entirely distinct streams of history, and the Tatar
khan and Hindu rdja represented two societies domiciled on the

XXXYIU INTRODUCTION.

same soil Avith hardly any interaction of mutual effect. The most
important political results of their co-existence were the follow-
ing : — The foreign rule took the position of the old paramount em-
pires, such as dominated from Patna or from Kanauj, It became
impossible for any Hindu to attain the position of raja of rajas.
The very memory of the corporate, political, and religious life of
the whole people was extinguished, and for it were substituted
the petty aims and petty interests of States often smaller and more
insignificant than the smallest principalities of Germany. On
the other hand, the old and compact social system ot the Hindus
presented a barrier against which the wildest excesses of barbarian
fury expended themselves in vain. Thousands might be slain and
tens of thousands led into captivity, but the Brahman "still con-
trolled the family life of the people ; their Chhattri lord collected
them for battle and disposed of their disputes in a court governed
by rules which appealed to their sense of justice, and the cultiva-
tor continued to till his fields, confident that when the storm was
passed he should be allowed to retain them on the payment of
the customary share of the produce. The worst tyrants, whose
superior energy or intelligence made them formidable to the land,
had no further effect than a series of bad harvests. When they
were gone, all the old elements of society resumed the exercise of
their various functions, and repaired a desolation which could only
last for a time. It is this ancient and stable civilization which
saved the fertile provinces of India from the fate inflicted by con-
querors of kindred race, and not more cruel or barbarous on the
equally fertile plains of Central Asia. When this has been said,
almost all that is of importance in the political history of Oudh,
from the final Muhammadan conquest in the beginning of the
thirteenth century to the establishment of a Muhammadan dynasty
on the throne of Lucknow, has been exhausted. Throughout
five hundred years of foreign domination the story has been the
same, the same struggle being carried on with varying conditions
of strength on one side or the other, but, except on one occasion,
with no attempt at coalescence into a united national polity.

The fortunes of the great Muslim lords who ruled from
Bahraich or Manikpur belong, where they have any interest at
all, to the history of the Muhammadan government of India. The
vicissitudes of the petty Hindu states into which the country was
parcelled out do not admit of being combined into any general
abstract.

For some time the newly-established Hindu chiefs in the south
seem to have been engaged in a desultory contest with the

INTRODUCTION. • XXXIX

remains of the Bhar kingdom, and its traces were hardly effaced
when they were menaced by a far greater danger in the rise of
a strong Muhammadan state in their close neighbourhood at
Jaunpur. The ablest of the so-called Eastern emperors, Ibrahim
Shah Sharqi, had his attention especially attracted by the country
which lay directly in the path from his capital to Delhi, and used
every effort to bring it more closely under the control of his
government. His lieutenants were established in every principal
town, and Muhammadan law ofl&cers were appointed to adminis-
ter their unknown and partial system of justice. For a time these
things were borne, and the most powerful chieftains sought refuge
in flight ; but a purely artificial regime can rarely long survive
its founder, and the death of Shah Ibrdhim was the signal for
the rise of the people. The foreign agents of his policy were
massacred, and the lead of the Hindu reaction was taken by Raja
Tilok Chand, by far the most important of the native chieftains
who have from time to time left a mark on Oudh history. Of
a family possibly descended from the old emperors of Kanauj, he
combined, with the consideration commanded by high birth, a
natural capacity for statesmanship, and a mind singularly free
from the prejudices of his race. Eeserving for himself a tract,
subsequently known as the twenty-two parganas, and stretching
from Lucknow to the confines of the Partabgarh district, he con-
stituted himself judge in the disputes between neighbouring chief-
tains, and asserted more than once his power of reinforcing the
warrior class from the most worthy among the inferior elements
of his army. The feebleness which marked the decay of the Af-
ghan empire seemed to have again brought within the sphere of
possibilities the realization of the idea of a large Hindu state — the
paramount authority of the most powerful prince over a number
of subordinate chieftains, each exercising undivided power within
his own territories. A hundred years of comparative peace,
during which the ruling clans established more firmly their hold
upon the country, and brought the lands at a distance from their
central forts under cultivation and the control of the younger off-
shoots of their houses, were followed by the whirlwind of Bdbar's
invasion.

The great Afghan captains whom that prince defeated in
Oudh have left no representatives, and the four pages describing
the events which attended his entry to Ajodhya, where it is pos-
sible that the Hindu chiefs rallied round the centre of their reli-
gion, are missing from all the known copies of his memoirs. The
only record remaining is an ancient mosque, which preserves

xl INTRODUCTION.

the invader's name on the holiest spot of all — the birthplace of
Rama.

In the troubled times which followed the death of the first
Mughal emperor of India, Oudh was the focus of disaffection to the
rulino- house, and it was not till more than forty years later that
it owned the clemency and power of the great Akbar. The con-
stant revolts and victories on which that power was based brought
the province into prominent notice, and it was for some time one
of the most important and honourable among the viceroyalties of
the empire. The revenue system, introduced a few years earher
by the Afghan emperor Sher Shah, was perfected by Akbar :
and in an Indian province the revenue administration exhausts
almost every element of value in its political history. It is not
proposed to repeat in detail the regulations which are described
with minute distinctness in the Xin-i-Akbari, but the informa-
tion to be gained from that bookmay be supplemented from local
records and tradition. The arbitrary revenue divisions, originally
proposed on the basis of the amount of revenue to be collected,
were either never introduced or yielded in a very short time to
the ancient parganas, which almost always were coterminous with
the authority of a Hindu chief. Lists of villages with their
assessments were prepared with laborious accuracy. Qaniingos
and chaudhris were appointed for each pargana, usually from
among the residents themselves, to superintend their preparation
and annual correction, and it is probable that now, for the first
time, the treasury of the empire acquired any precise account of
the sources from which its income was drawn. We have sufficient
information to be able to conclude what measures were adopted
to meet the great difficulty which has always met the administra-
tor in his attempt" to collect the revenue direct from the village
heads or the cultivators themselves. The Hindu chiefs were
powerless, it is true, against the empire in its most flourishing
days, but they remained a standing menace to its weakness. To
exterminate them was out of the question. The limits of their
petty states wers preserved in the only form of revenue division
with which it was possible to govern, and it was certain that
their authority, national and long-established, would be re-as-
serted at the first opportunity. The only policy was to refrain
from driving them to extreme, and to conciliate them as far
as possible by honourary distinctions and employment. They
were consequently provided for by concessions out of the revenue.
Some were allowed to hold certain villages of the raj revenue-
free, and devote the collections entirely to their private purposes,

INTRODUCTION. xli

others were conceded small dues from every village at each
harvest. Members of the aristocracy were given posts at court
or commands in the imperial army ; high-sounding titles, and
drums, and standards of varying grades of dignity were conferred
with good political effect on a people singularly impressible by
such distinctions, and the chieftain of Hasanpur Bandhua (a
member of one of the highest and most ancient Chhattri families),
who had adopted the court religion, was recognized as the head
of the hierarchy of southern chieftains, with power to invest
them with the title of raja. The strength of the central power
meant peace in the provinces, and it is possible that the Hindu
lords, free from the apprehension of external danger and the
expense of maintaining forces of their own, were moderately
contented in a position which was the best compatible with
imperial necessities. This period is at any rate looked back upon
as one of the brightest in their annals, which under the first
Mughal emperors are singularly free from accounts of dissension
or revolt.

One of the principal results of the strong government was
that the younger branches of the ruling houses almost invariably
cast off their allegiance to the head of the clan, and when we
again find the Hindu element assert its predominance, the ancient
rajas have yielded the leadership to the most able and vigorous
among the cadets, the small states have been split up into a num-
ber of those still smaller baronies which formed the basis on which
the present taluqas are founded. When the Muhammadan empire
was broken up in the last days of Aurangzeb by the rise of the
Mahrattas, the chieftains of Oudh at once acquired an almost com-
plete independence. An enterprising governor from Allahabad
or the west might occasionally endeavour to realize the reve-
nue, but he was sure to be met in arms and eventually compelled to
withdraw.

The Hindus, as was natural, broke out at once into internal
war, and once more the ablest of their leaders applied themselves
to the enlargement by conquest from their neighbours of the terri-
tories under their authority. The successes of the Kanhpurias
of Tiloi, the Bais of Daundia Khera, both cadet famiUes, and the
Bisens of Gonda, called into existence states of no great extent
it is true, but larger than had been known since the days of Akbar.

"When the great Nawab Saadat Khan was appointed wazir
and received Oudh as his fief, he found his entry opposed by the
local chieftains. The Bais seem to have yielded after a parley,
and the Kanhpurias with only a sham resistance, but the Khichara

6

Xlii INTRODUCTION.

of Fatehpur, who might historically be included in an account of
Oudh, were only quelled after a doubtful battle and the death of
their raja, while the Raja of Gonda actually defeated the Nawab'a
lieutenant and made his own terms, by which he retained his
ancestral state as a separate fief, paying only a moderate tribute.
It is to this period that we owe two of the most spirited of the
national ballads, the sword songs of A rdru Khichar and Datt
Singh Bisen. The first two Nawabs, Saadat Khan and Safdar
Jang, were men of statesmanlike ability ; they were harassed
besides by imperial cares, and exposed to constant attacks from
the Kohillas on one side and the Mahrattas on the other. It is,
therefore, no wonder that they appreciated the advantage of con-
ciliating their hardly-won subjects, and they not only employed
Hindus as the highest of their ministers (one of whom, Newal Ede
!K%ath, justified his appointment by throwing back the Rohillas
from Pyzabad with a bravery uncommon in his caste) but were
contented to collect their revenues on the basis of the old par-
gana divisions through the old pargana chiefs. The prosperity
which the country enjoyed under their rule is attested by the
bridges, wells, and forts which were then constructed, and justifies
the conclusion that happiness is best secured by the presence of
a strong central government, which preserves while it keeps in
subjection all the elements of native society. "Whether that so-*
ciety would naturally develop such a central power from within
itself it is difiicult to say : but it is nearly certain that its rise
would be through seas of blood and years of anarchy.

With the defeat of Buxar this state of things came to an end,
and the last chapter of the history commences with the British
alliance, British resident, and British protection from the con-
sequences of bad government, to end in the direct assumption
by the British of the rule of the province as the only remedy
for the intolerable evils, which were chiefly the result of their
Own unavoidable interference with its affairs. The first end of
the policy of the Lucknow kings — a policy which they would
never hgtve dared, or having dared would most certainly have
been expelled were it not for the strength of foreign bayonets-^
was the complete annihilation of the power of the rajas and the
.realization of the gross rents direct from the cultivators. In this
policy they never even nearly succeeded. In single instances
all over the country the result was gained, and there is hardly a
raj, perhaps not one in the whole province, which was not at
^one time or another held by Government officials dealing directly
iwith the tenauts while its chief was in flight ; but, on the other

introduction: xliii

hand, thereis perhaps hardly a case where the chieftak did not
return after a dispossession of a few years, and recover,, if not his
whole property, at any rate a large number of his villages. There
were, in fact, two hostile powers, with interests diametrically op-
posed, but neither strong enough to gain a decisive victory. If,
on the one hand, the king was powerless to evict the nobles, sO
neither could they expel a king behind whom was the whole force
of the British Government. Of the relations of the king to that
Government it is unnecessary to write ; they are a matter of well-
known history, and may be found described at length in the pages
of Mill and the blue-book which justified annexation. Of his re-^
lations to his subjects, the best idea will be gained from a short
account of the principal measures which emanated from Lucknow,
and a sketch of the social condition of the province when the king-
dom came to an end.

It is perhaps worth while to sum up in a single paragraph
the result of the preceding pages. Oudh had been many times
conquered and owned monarchs of many diverse nationalities,
but its history, down to the advent of the Muhammadans, had
been a history of hegemonies. From that time it becomes the his-'
tory of a foreign domination. The difference and its reason are
not obscure. Even if the Hindu superiority in civilization was
not greater over the earlier than the latter invaders, the Muham-
madans differed from their predecessors in being animated by the
bigotted zeal of a new and fervid religion. The earlier invaders'
were in a very short time absorbed into the Hindu caste system^
adopted the religion of the country, and became an indistinguish-
able portion of the national polity. The Muhammadans could
neither join nor be received into the ranks of their subjects. From
the time of their conquest the history of the country is modified
by the introduction of a new dominant element which refused to
be assimilated, and the main interest centres in not the spontane-
ous development of a homogeneous system, but the struggle of an
anterior civilization to maintain itself against rulejs who were
untouched by its spirit and opposed to it both by interest and
religious feeling.

That struggle it has survived, but with the loss of every prin-
ciple of internal development— of everything which makes a
civiUzation valuable. In a short sketch like the above it was
unavoidable that none but the main features should be clearly
presented, at a sacrifice of the accuracy which depends on a
minute attention to subordinate details. If the Hindu chiefs
only have been mentioned it must not be forgotten that they were
nothing more than the highest point of a very complex structure,^

Xliy INTRODUCTION.

In considering their position it would be erroneous to compare
them with either the patriarch of an eastern tribe or the chieftain
of a sept or clan. In their relations with their peasantry the family
tie entered not at all. Either they had very few blood relations
living in dependence on them, or, as was more common, the young-
er branches of their families threw off allegiance altogether and
established separate states. In the complete absence of any pre-
tence of common origin with the mass of the people, they most
nearly resembled the feudal lords of mediaeval Europe. But here
again the resemblance is only superficial. What made the Oudh
barons so strong is that they were a necessary element in the
religious system of the country. Their race had been set apart
by immemorial tradition and the sanction of all sacred literar
ture as the wielders and representatives of Hindu power. The
Chhattri ruler was as indispensable as the Brahman priest, and
his might and magnificence were — and are — still gloried in by
the people as the visible manifestation of their national prosperity.
"With his destruction the national system is broken up, and it is
this fact which commands for him the unquestioning obedience,
and it may almost be said the enthusiastic afiection, of his subjects
— an obedience and afiection which can never be conciliated by the
best rulers of a foreign race and religion. His position was then
in its essential qualities that of the national king, however small
his territories may have been, and his functions were distinctly
royal. He was the natural receiver of the share of the cultivators'
produce which formed the principal source of revenue ; he assess-
ed and collected all the other taxes within his domain, the tran-
sit and ferry dues, the imposts on bazars, and the fees paid by
the owners of stills and looms. It illustrates the blindness of the
Muhammadans to their rights and duties as governors that they
hardly ever contested these small taxes with him, but confined
their rapacity to the one very lucrative source of income— the
land. Eight up to annexation we find the rdjas who had then
become taluqdars still collecting the minor taxes all over their
domains, even in cases where they had lost nearly every one of
their ancestral villages. Besides being the receiver of the re-
venue, the Hindu chief called out the militia of his territory for
war at his own sole will and with an authority which was never,
disputed. He apportioned out the waste lands to tenants for,
cultivation, decided the suits of his subjects in his cutcherry, and
enjoyed, besides, a number of varying rights in wild produce re-
sembling the rights attached to an English manor.

The last hundred years contain the history of the conversion,
of thQ raja into the taluqdar. With the exception that there is le^

INTRODUCTION. xlv

bloodshed and fewer of the horrors which attended the struggle
elsewhere, Gonda presents so typical an instance of the pro-
cess which was going on all over the province that no apology
is needed for substituting the plain story of its events for a more
general description. Raja Datt Singh had extended the con-
quests of his father and grandfather, and ruled over a small
state which stretched from the Gogra to the Kuwana, covering
an area of about twelve hundred square miles. When Saddat
Khan re-established Muhammadan supremacy in Oudh, the rdja
extorted from his weakness a semi-independent position, which left
him in undisturbed possession of his fief on the payment of an
annual tribute. This position was maintained till near the end of
the eighteenth century, when Shiva Parshad Singh, the last
of the real rajas, was defeated and slain in battle with the
Lucknow forces led by a British oflScer. The chief of the servants
of his raj was Chain Pdnde, a banker, who had brought his capital
from Ikauna to trade with it under the Gonda chieftain. The
death of Shiva Parshad Singh left a legal heir in his nephew,
Guman Singh, a lad of ten years of age, and a brother, Hind<ipat
Singh, to administer affairs during the minority. Chain Pdnde,
the old banker, had died, and his three sons, Karia, Bakhtawar,
and Mardan, commanded the Gonda militia and exercised an un-
remitting vigilance over the interests of the youthful raja. It
was not till they discovered that his life was in daily peril from
the machinations of his guardian, who would by his death
acquire an undisputed right to the succession, that they inter-
fered. Hindiipat Singh and all his children were murdered,
and the Oudh Government, making the event a pretext for dis-
regarding its previous engagements, sent a force to occupy the
state and take Gum^n Singh prisoner. A few years of capti-
vity at Lucknow were ended by his marriage with the daughter
of the celebrated Jagjiwan Das of Kotwa, whose influence as a
religious teacher secured even at a Muhammadan court attention
to his demands. On his return to his territories he discovered
that they had been made the appanage of the Bahii Begam, and
that her officers exercised rule and collected the rents. His sub-
sistence was provided for by the grant of a few villages and a
small annual payment in cash from the income of his raj. In time
the intelligent and humane officer, Saif-ud-daula, who adminis-
tered the country for the Muhammadan Government, gave place
to feeble and incompetent successors, who found the best security
for their collections in the influence and comparative wealth
of the dispossessed raja. On the other hand, the villagers
themselves were apt to look up to him as their natural head, and

Xlvi INTRODUCTION.

preferred the managieinent by his servants to the unrepressed
extortions of a rabble of Muhammadan soldiers.

With him had returned the Pande brothers, who had partici-'
pated in his exile, and their even superior wealth, their distin-
guished position and abilities, and their Brahman caste, miade
them not inferior to the raja himself as a mainstaiy to officials
pressed from Lucknow for rents which they could not feaKze,
and as a refuge to village owners groaning under the intolerable
tyranny of the nazim's subordinates. Two separate estates grew
up within the old territories of the raj, as one village affcier
another, and often whole clusters of villages in a single year,
were joined to the revenue engagements of either the rdja or the
Pande, and at annexation the former held an estate of 250 the
latter of 350 square miles. These events are, as it has been saidj
typical of what was going on all over the province. Everywhere
the r^jas were stripped of their old position and replaced by
Government officials ; everywhere they retained a footing, either
by peaceful residence or by the maintenance through bands of
desperate outlaws of a continual state of warfare ; the officers
of the king found it everywhere impossible to realize the revenue
without the intervention of some powerful local chief or in-
fluential capitalist. The result was that there grew up out of
the old raj system a system of large estates, consisting each of a
number of villages arbitrarily collected under a single revenue
engagement. The old rdj boundaries were rarely maintained,
except in the distant regions to the north, where the influence
of the king's government was only feebly and fitfully exercised.
But the new taluqdars were almost always the old feudal lords,
and in the few instances of what were known at annexation as
auction taluqas, it involves no great license of historical con-
jecture to say that they must eventually have returned to the
old chieftainships from the lands of which they had been cut
out.

Before dealing with the other classes connected with the soil,
it is necessary to define what is meant by land revenue with
as much briefness as is consistent with an understanding of the-
relations which subsisted between the subordinate tenants and-
their lords.

Land revenue, as it existed for time out of mind in India, was
the portion of the gross produce of his fields which the occupant
paid to the state. This has been assessed at different shares by
different rulers and by the same ruler under differing circum-
stances. Akbar fixed it at one-third, and the rule in Oudh during*
historical times has been for the tenant to pay one-half of the/

INTRODUCTION.

xlvii;

.produce after deducting the expenses of cultivation, an arrangement
by which the state got about a third. Theoretically there was no
such thing as rent or landlord. The gross produce was piled up on
the threshing-floor. First the village servants and the labourers
who helped to get in the harvest or attended to the plough-bul-
locks took their fixed dues, and what was left was divided equally
between the cultivator and the state ofiicial. For a very long time,
however, the theory has only been carried out in rare instances.
The first modification was the introduction of a middleman
.between the cultivator and the state, and the simplest form his in-
tervention took was the following : — The raja appointed a head-
man, known as muqaddam or mahtau, whose duty it was to keep
the village under cultivation, superintend the harvesting and divi-
sion of the grain, and prevent the cultivators from migrating into
•another territory. For these services he was recompensed by the
receipt of one-tenth of the heap which formed the raja's share
of the produce. A further modification was introduced when the
village was alienated for a valuable consideration and in perpe-
tuity under a grant of kirt, by which the grantee was allowed a
quarter of the grain heap on his engaging to pay Government the
remaining three-fourths. These, however, were only modifications
of the original plan. A complete revolution was brought about
by two main causes, the increasing density of the population and
the influx of large quantities of coined silver.

It requires but little consideration to understand that a
tenant can afibrd to pay a larger portion of the gross produce of
an extensive area under poor cultivation than he can of a smaller
area under high tillage. As tenements diminished in size the
gross produce per acre increased, but the tenant's needs remained
the same, and he had to meet them from the outturn of a smaller
area. He could only do this by reserving for himself a larger
portion of the crop. This difficulty was solved by the introduc-
tion, which has become universal, of a money rent for highly,
cultivated lands.

The next factor in the revenue system to be considered is,
though it has not yet been referred to, perhaps the most import-
ant of all. Throughout the province there exist in almost every
village large communities of the higher castes, Brahmans, Chhat-
tris or Muhammadans, who furnished nearly all the fighting
power of the rdja. These communities were allowed, under cer-
tain conditions, to retain the complete management of the villages
in which they resided, or of definite groups of villages, sometimes
conferred on them in jdglr, but more often admittedly theirs from

Xlviii INTRODUCTIOK.

long prescription. It was to them that the superior authority,
whether Hindu or Muhammadan, looked for the payment of
the revenue : and as some fields at least in every village were
held at money rents, while it was next to impossible to make any
trustworthy grain appraisement for the large areas which were
in the direct cultivation of their numerous co-sharers, it became
the custom to assess them for a lump sum in cash, which was
generally fixed by a rough conjecture of the outside they could
be compelled to pay.

In the case of taluqas, the Lucknow officials similarly took
the outside which could be safely demanded. There was no real
principle of assessment, and the proportion of his total income
paid as 'revenue varied in the case of each taluqdar with the
means of resistance he had at his command.

It has now been seen how the original idea of Indian land re-
venue, as the portion of the gross produce due to the state, was
modified by the introducticn of money rents, by the growth under
various circumstances of giMasi-proprietary communities between
the cultivator and the king, and the co-existence of what were
practically two hostile governments on the same soil. ' If the
money paid for the fertile fields round the village site looked
like rent, and if the cash assessments on the village commu-
nities and the sums collected from taluqdars by ndzims might
for convenience be not very improperly described as a land tax,
it should, however, be remembered that the resemblance is only
on the surface. The old system continued to form men's notions
on all things connected with the possession of the soil and its
liabilities. It influenced every transaction. In many localities it
was still in full force, and it remained the ultimate standard of
reference in disputes as to the amount of payment to be made in
any particular instance. Even now if any tenant objects to the
amount demanded from him it is far from uncommon for the
landlord to agree with him to resort to the old grain division, and
the procedure was still more frequent before annexation. If the
value of the produce received by the landlord is less than the
cash rent he demanded, his demand was shown to be extortionate:
if not, the tenant was convinced of its justice. At any rate, till
the introduction of European forms of thought, the very idea of a
landlord absolutely owning the land and at liberty to put it up to
competition and knock it down to the highest bidder had never
entered the minds of the people. The rights of the over-proprie-
tor were confined to the receipt of a fixed customary share of the
produce or the money which represented that share, subject to

INTRODUCTION. xlix

deductions in favour of the middle classes which intervened be-
tween the taluqdar or the Muhammadan government and the
actual tiller of the soil. Whatever other rights he possessed — and
it is not to be denied that he could evict tenants at his will, just as
the English parliament can confiscate private property at will —
were derived not from any private ownership, but from the same
source as gave him the miscellaneous taxes and the command of
the militia, his theoretical position as head of the petty state.

The above review has made us acquainted with all the prin-
cipal classes of agricultural society in Oudh at annexation : the
ndzim or king's officer, the taluqdar grown out of the raja or
the capitalist, the village communities basing their title on pur-
chase, military grant, or immemorial prescription, and the culti-
vator himself. Only the muafidar (or assignee in special cases
of the land revenue) has been omitted, as his case was not one
of general importance or interest. The sketch will be completed
by a short account of village communities and their relations
with superior powers.

The original assessment under which they paid their land
revenue was in all cases, whether they held as birtias on sale or
as old subordinate zamindars from prescriptive right, based on
an appraisement of the value of the gross produce of the village
lands. Their special privileges were of two kinds. A stated
deduction, varying from one-tenth to one-fourth, was made from
the state share in their favour. And the state share from the
fields in their own cultivation was fixed at a lower proportion to
the gross produce than in the case of unprivileged cultivators.
The former right was converted into cash when the total payment
on the village was assessed in money and was then known as nan-
kar. When once it had been so converted it almost always
remained stationary, and lost all proportion to the gross assess-
ment. Thus, a village revenue would originally be assessed at
Rsl 400. Against this a deduction of Es. 100 would be allowed
as nankar to the village zamindars. In the course of time culti-
vation increased and the village was assessed at Rs, 1,000, but
the nankar still remained Rs. 100. Again, a hostile taluqdar
laid the whole waste, and the villagers were all either killed or
in flight. The Government papers would then show assessment
Es. 100; deduct nankdr, Rs. 100; net payable, nothing. Still,
though it ceased to vary with the assessment, the nankdir allow-
ance was subject to revision on the application of the zamindar.
The second right, that is to say, cultivation at favourable rates,
was never perhaps wholly absent from the calculation when the
village owners held their whole village on the condition of a
"* 7

1 INTBODTJCTION.

lump revenue payment, but it became of very great importance
when the taluqdar or ndzim put them aside and collected direct
from the individual cultivators. Then their sir lands, as they
were called, either paid very low rates in comparison with other
tenants or remained altogether unassessed. It was not uncom-
mon for the superior landlord when he took over the village
management to set apart a certain area, either at no rent at all or
at a fixed low rent, in favour of the community, but it was more
usual to extend the privilege to all the lands they held themselves
whether the area was great or small.

The general position of these village communities was not
a bad one. They had no absolute right to the control of the
whole village, but they were generally allowed it from motives
of convenience, and the hold which their high caste and residence
on the spot gave them over the other cultivators, put great diffi-
culties in the way of interference against their will. They very
frequently, however, did willingly consent to relinquish a control
which made them responsible for a heavy assessment, and in
other cases the taluqdar was strong enough to manage the vil-
lage himself without consulting them. In either case, whether
their dispossession of the whole village was against or with their
consent, they always retained their low- rented sir and usually
the cash nankar. Other circumstances combined to render their
position tolerable. When the assessment became too high they
defaulted. In a year or two the ndzim was changed. There was
no continuity of Government, and their default became a for-
gotten and undemanded arrear ; or if things came to the worst,
they could retire to a neighbouring jungle, burn the crops and
house of any one who attempted to cultivate, and leave the
ndzim the alternative of re-admitting them at a reduced demand,
and with arrears wiped off, or of deriving no income at all from
their village. A third course still more frequently adopted was
for them to ofi^er their village to a powerful taluqdar, whose
interest would induce him to assess them moderately, join their
force with his in resisting the demands of the Lucknow officials,
and secure a low revenue payment for the whole estate. Besides
the means at their command for resisting exactions, the profits
of their villages were supplemented from other sources. Very
large numbers found employ in the Company's armies, and not only
-relieved the pressure on the soil, but remitted their savings to
add to the wealth of the community. Still more were engaged
in the large forces which the unsettled position of every taluqdar
•compelled him to maintain, and not a few drew pay from the
King of Oudh. All these causes contributed to make them as a

INTRODUCTION. 11

body fairly well off. The provision which their firm hold on the
soil secured for their families gave them a social position inde«
pendent of their caste, and enabled them to seek in marriage
the daughters of clans who would have at once rejected the
advances of men of the same class but not village zamindars.

The power to which we are the more direct successors claims
some separate notice, though the most important of its effects on
the history of the country have already been detailed. Of the six
potentates who filled the throne of Lucknow in the present cen-
tury, two only paid any attention to the government of their
subjects or their own more immediate interests in the state. The
rest remained sunk in a sensual apathy or absorbed in ferocious
excitements, unmoved by the constant remonstrances of the British
residents, careless of the dishonesty and treachery of the servants
they employed, blind to the emptiness of their treasury, and deaf
to the cries of an oppressed people. The hideous palaces with
which their bad taste and vulgar extravagance had defaced Luck-
now were impenetrable fastnesses, where public affairs were never
allowed to intrude for a moment on the more important avo-
cations of selecting a new courtesan, criticising lifeless erotic
poetry, or rewarding the insipid flattery of a swarm of low-caste
hangers-on. Not even the national passion for distinction could
reconcile the more manly, not of the outside public, but of the
king's own servants to honours prostituted by every revolting
use, and the great nazims, Darshan Singh and Mdn Singh,
steadily declined any title which bore the stamp of the court.

The prime ministers who were entrusted with the adminis-
tration of the state present a hardly more attractive picture.
Muhammadans and hangers-on of the court, they cared nothing
and knew nothing of the interests of a population which was in
the main Hindu. Under no control and insecure in the slippery
tenure of their office, they had no reason for being honest, no
other end but the provision of resources against the inevitable
day of their disgrace. Two things, and two only, were demanded
of them by the necessities of their position — money for the
pleasures of their master, and a fortune for themselves. It was
no wonder that they were absolutely indifferent to the means by
which the treasury was filled, or that at least half of an income
of a million S'terlingwas appropriated to the personal use of them-
selves and their king.

The country under them was parcelled into revenue charges,
which varied in number at different times, but were on an aver-
age somewhat smaller than the districts of the present day. To '
these were appointed ofiicers with the title of n^zim or chakladar

lii INTRODUCTION".

accordiag to the extent of the charge but with equal powers
and the same duties. Those duties were pratjtically confined to
the realization of as much money as could be extracted from the
land, and to this all other considerations were subordinated. We
have already seen the difficulties with which the constitution
of the xural society hampered their task, And their position neces-
sitated the maintenance of a considerable armed force. The un-
disciplined rabble which followed their camp was supplemented by
more regular forces commanded by British officers, and stationed
at convenient points ail over the country. With a few excep-
tions they were reared at court, and incapacitated by their educa-
tion and prejudices from \inderstanding the society over which
they were placed. They neither knew nor cared whether their
rule was mild or oppressive so long as they could remit sufficient
sums to save themselves from disgrace at headquarters, and real-
ize enough over and above to provide for themselves and their re-
tinues of needy dependents.

The two native sovereigns who must be exempted from the
reproach of absolute indifference to their duties were Saddat Ali
Khan, who ruled from 1798 to 1814, and Muhammad Ali Shah,
who occupied the throne between 1837 and 1842 A.D. The
first of these signalized his reign by two measures of the highest
importance, the thorough revision of the land revenue, and a series
of regulations for the export of grain, which were meant to pro-
vide against the periodical famines to which the province is liable,
and the most terrible of which was at the time yet fresh in men's
memories. The principal objects effected by the revenue reform
were the separate assessment of every village, and the impositionof
a fair tax on the countless plots of land which the prodigal liberality
of his predecessors had exempted from contributing to the state
treasury. The work was well carrieid out, and served as the basis
of the land revenue demand right up to annexation. There can
be little doubt that the grain laws, which prohibited exportation
when the price of flour fell below 40tt)S. for a rupee, were dictat-
ed by a statesman-like appreciation of what were at the time the
real needs of his kingdom.

The reforms of Muhammad Ali Shah were more excellent in
their intention than appreciable in their effects. The first was
the attempt to organize a machinery for the administration of
justice ; the second, the substitution of the amani for the ijdra
system in distributing the revenue appointments. The judicial
reform was never more than a dead letter. All the officers ap-
pointed were Muhammadans, and the Muhammadan law only
was to govern every tribunal. The judges were subjected to no

INTRODUCTION, liii

control, and acknowledged no responsibility. Their only object
was to make their places as profitable as possible to themselves.
They had, moreover, no power to see that their judgments were
executed, and the ndzims were too much engaged in the realiza-
tion of the revenue, and -too utterly indifferent to the disputes of
the people among themselves, to interfere in their support.
Lastly, the law itself was one which did not meet the require-
ments or satisfy the sense of justice of the mass of litigants, and
denied the Hindu all remedy as against the Muhammadan.
The people of course preferred their own panchayats and the
cutcherries of their ancestral chieftains to a resort to courts whose
first object was to extort a heavy bribe, who were powerless of
action, and whose orders conveyed either a redress which was
inapplicable or no redress at all.

That so much importance should have been attached at
the time to the measure by which revenue appointments were
made subject to the payment of a fixed annual sum, instead of
being as heretofore exposed to auction in open market, is only
one of the things which show how imperfect was the information
of the Calcutta Government in all the affairs of Oudh. In prin-
ciple no doubt the measure was admirable ; but with an apathetic
king and ministers and officials bent on nothing but private ends,
who was to superintend its execution ?

The only difierence it made was one of account to the ndzims
and chakladars. Money, which was before collected as govern-
ment revenue and appropriated by the collector, after he had
paid the sum for Which his appointment had been knocked down,
now was realized as nazrdna, or took any one of the numerous
channels which official dishonesty is ingenious in devising. The
loss to the revenue was shown either in a diminished rent-roll or
in arrears beyond the hope of recovery. The receipts of the
state continued to decrease, while the actual collections were as
before limited only by the nazim's power of extortion, and
neither the king nor the people were in the slightest degree
affected by the change.

These, then, were the elements of the society which came
under British rule. The king, who exercised no royal functions,
but was simply a heavy charge on the public treasury — the
corrupt and infamous capital — the ministers insecure in their
offices and alive to no interest but their own — the empty courts,
which denied justice and suffered every crime and every villany
to triumph unchecked from one end of the land to the other — have
all passed away, and the place is taken by our own administrative
machinery. The stable elements which remained for us to deal

liv INTRODUCTION.

with were a population of industrious labourers holding their
lands on rents fixed by custom, a system of yeoman commu-
nities in possession of varying rights in almost every village,
and a number of great landowners generally the representatives
of the old Chhattri chieftains, but in a few instances capitalists
who had been called into an abnormal position by the abnormal
, circumstances of the time, elements all knit together by a polity
which was older than the oldest tradition, and ready when left
to their own unchecked action to resume their ancient places
in the immemorial structure.

CHAPTER IV.

If the promise of events is to bear fruit in fulfilment, Febru-
ary 13th, 1856, is the most important day in the whole annals
of Oudh, for it was then for the first time that its society was
brought under the influence of a power with solvents strong
enough to disintegrate eventually its compact organization. Our
first essay on administration was based on ignorance and ended in
disaster. The ofiicers who were entrusted with the all-important
work of settling the land revenue had been imbued with the
principles of the so-called Thomasonian school, and shared the
prejudices of the only native society with which they had been
personally acquainted, that of the court. The first told them
that the village communities were the only element in the
country which deserved to be maintained ; the second that the
taluqdars were a set of grasping interlopers, in arms against the
officials and tyrants to the people, whose sole object was to
defraud Government of its revenue. The result was that orders
were issued to disregard them wherever it was possible, and to
take the engagements everywhere from the yeoman classes. In
fact, the policy which Lucknow had for so many years been en-
deavouring to put in practice was to be carried out at once by
main force. The instructions were well acted up to. The chieftains
were stripped of nearly all their villages and a settlement made
in which they were entirely left out of consideration. What the
result would have been it is difficult to conjecture. But little more
than a year had elapsed when the great sepoy nmtiny broke out,
and allowed them to show that it was easier to deprive them of
their property than of their influence. The English power had
hardly fallen when they at once resumed more than their former
position. Again they collected the revenue without question
throughout their territories ; again the armed levies rallied around
them against the stranger ; and long after the defeat of the muti-
neers, they had to be subdued one by one and their forts razed to
the ground before the authority of Government could be re-estab-
lished.

One thing at least had been made evident, that policy and
ju&tice alike forbade their being overlooked in the new settlement
which the pacification of the province necessitated. The leading
principle of the second revenue settlement, whose main lines re-

Ivi INTRODUCTION.

main intact to the present day, was to preserve the status of the
various classes at annexation. The taluqdars as they gave in their
adhesion were invested with all the villages they had held in the last
year of native rule, and the lists they furnished were confirmed
after a summary inspection by the local officers. Soon after the
arrangement was ratified by the Governor-General, who engaged
that their titles should be protected from all question subject to
the maintenance of any subordinate rights which might be proved
against them. The interference of the civil courts was precluded
by a proclamation which declared the whole land of the province
confiscate for rebellion and free to be disposed of by Government
as it thought fit, and they were further secured by sanads in which
Governmentexpresslyconveyedtoeachof them separately the lands
they had claimed as their own. Mortgage by the village zamindari
communities was one of the many forms under which the villages
had been attached to the chieftains' engagement, and it was subse-
quently enacted that the terms of the Governor-General's grant
did not prevent the redemption of such mortgages if executed
within a specified period of limitation. But though a few villages
have passed out of their estates under this rule, it has not
materially afi'ected their position. Finally, their legal status
was clearly set forth, and the principles by which the devolution
of their properties was to be governed determined by Act (Act I.
of 1869.)

The next class to be dealt with were the middlemen
between the chief and the cultivator, to whom the name of
zamindar has been appropriated in Oudh, Those who had engaged
direct with Government previous to annexation were maintained
in their position, and enrolled as landowners responsible for the
revenue of their several villages. The remainder, whose pro-
perties formed the units out of which the greater part of the
taluqas had been made up, were at first held entitled, under
the reservation of subordinate rights made when the sanads
were issued, to such rights and such only as they could prove
themselves to have possessed in the last year of native rule, the
object being to reproduce as exactly as possible the proprietary
status of the various orders at the moment when we took over
the country. The sanads had originally done these men a great
injury by creating a presumption of full proprietary title in
favour of their over-lord and throwing on them the whole burden
of the proof that their subordinate rights were in existence.
The taluqdar's title had been accepted on his mere Word after
what was often a nominal scrutiny : theirs had to go through
the ordeal of a civil court. It was soon found that to restrict

INTRODUCTION. Ivii

their proof to the circumstances of a single year entailed intoler-
able injustice and hardship, and they were allowed to claim any
rights of _ which their possession could be shown within the twolve
years which preceded annexation. The strongest of their rights
was to hold the whole village in perpetuity at a rent fixed by the
courts, failing that, they might be decreed the sir lands] or nank^r
allowances, such as have been described in the last chapter, their
groves, their tanks, or their houses, manorial rights in waste lands,
and the small dues which were levied by the proprietor from the
lower classes of cultivators. It was afterwards considered that
to constitute a body of middlemen who intercepted the passage
of the rent from the actual cultivators to the men from whom
Government realized its revenue was impolitic, and in 1866 an
Act was passed demanding a strictness and comprehensiveness of
proof for cases in which whole villages were claimed in sub-set-
tlement, which made the majority of such claims practically
hopeless of success ; at the same time, a few clauses were added
which facilitated the establishment of rights in sir, and tended to
maintain the zamindars in the possession of all the lands in their
immediate occupation at the lowest rent compatible with the
interests of the state. The same policy was followed in the Rent
Act of 1868, which in one of its sections secured a right of oc-
cupancy in the fields ploughed by themselves to any ex-proprietors
who had been unsuccessful under the former regulations.

It has been seen that subordinate rights had been created,
not only by long prescription, but in some parts of the province
still more frequently by recent contract. These contract sub-
proprietors based their title on deeds of what was known as hirt
or shanhalap, granted them by the taluqdars for a valuable con-
sideration. Their case never formed the subject of legislation,
but was dealt with under the ordinary rules of civil law,* and
such rights passing under their purchase were decreed them as
they could prove to have been enjoyed vdthin the legal period of
limitation. These sales in the northern districts constantly ex-
tended to whole villages — in some cases, almost a whole pargana
had been so conveyed — and there, at any rate the middlemen
who had been carefully guarded against when of the class of
old zamindars received full recognition. More frequently and
more widely throughout the province the sales applied to small
plots of land, and resulted in the creation of a class of small tene-
ments held under decree at a low rate of rent.

The position of the ordinary cultivators soon received pro-
minent notice and became the subject of a lengthy nvestigat'on,

8

Iviii INTRODUCTION.

The blue-book which contained the results of the inquiry proved
two things — that the landowners did constantly evict tenants
during the nawabi, and' that rents were fixed by custom and not
by competition ; but ifc is doubtful whether the real relations
which subsisted between the cultivator and the raja were as well
understood then as they are now. There was no legislative inter-
ference with the position of tenants without special rights till the
Kent Act of 1868, which established competition as the sole basis
of their relations with their landlords, legalized eviction while it
prescribed the procedure and restrictions under which it was to
be enforced, and secured compensation for improvements made
at the tenant's own cost.

It had been seen from the first that the realization of the
revenue would be impossible unless all the various and conflicting
interests in the soil were clearly defined, and the officers who
were appointed to make the assessment were constituted civil
courts for their adjudication and embodiment in a complete record
of rights. After long and bitter litigation, that task has now
been nearly accomplished, and it is possible to form an approxi-
mately accurate idea of the distribution of the land of the pro-
vince among the various classes holding recognized rights in it.

The units of property are, as has been stated above, the vil-
lages, of which the country contains 25,842, with an average area
of a little less than a square mile each. Of these, 15,553 are
divided among 410 properties, which pay an annual revenue to
Government of upwards of £500 each ; the remaining 10,290 are
held by 6,950 village communities. So, roughly speaking, the
the old chieftains have retained three-fifths of the province ; two-
fifths have escaped them altogether, and belong to the classes
intermediate between them and the cultivator.

The returns of tenures are not quite complete, but they are
sufficiently so to prove that rather more than a tenth of the
625,000 tenants of the province hold on decree an area amount-
ing to a third of the whole cultivation, and enjoy proprietary pri-
vileges against the landowners who are responsible for the Gov-
ernment revenue. The size of the ordinary farm held by single
cultivators without rights is about four acres.

The village communities are generally large coparcenary
societies, containing each a number of separate properties, who
either hold the lands in common, dividing what escapes of the
rents when all charges have been paid ; or have divided all the
lands, and collect and defray, each of them separately, the rents
and charges on their divided share of the property ; or hold some

INTRODUCTION. lix

of the lands in the same property in common and others severally.
The 7,000 village communities which know no superior land-
lord contain more than 60,000 proprietors, whose ill-defined
rights and constant disputes form a perennial source of trouble and
litigation. The soil, therefore, parcelled out in tiny farms of four
acres each, has to support, besides the cultivators themselves,
about 400 large landowners, above 60,000 small proprietors, and
rather more than that number of sub-proprietors holding an in-
termediate position between the cultivators and the landlord;
and above all, comes the great landlord — the State, with its un-
varying and inexorable demand.

The land revenue demand under the late king's government
rose within the last ten years of its existence from £1,399,000
to £2,702,000; but the value of the accounts of the royal trea-
sury may be estimated when we find that, within the same period
of enormous nominal increase, the actual receipts fell from
£1,318,000 to £1,063,000. Besides this, there were practically no
taxes of any importance. When we assumed charge of the pro-
vince a rough assessment was made, on the basis of the accounts
for the five years preceding, at a little over a million sterling.
Officers were very soon appointed to fix the land demand on a
more scientific basis for thirty years, and as their estimates came
in the revenue gradually rose, till now, at the conclusion of the
work of revision, it stands at about one and a half million. The
chief remaining taxes are the excise on spirits and the stamps on
valuable securities and applications to the courts, which yield-
ed last year £73,000 and £93,000 respectively. Miscellaneous
sources which do not properly come under the head of taxation
yield some £65,000 more, to which the principle contributions are
£28 000 from the Government forests and £16,000 from the post-
office. There are, besides, two other great sources from which thei
imperial treasury draws an income — the first, in the strictest sense
of the word, a tax ; the second, the profits of a trade, for which
the people of the country only provide the material at a fair price
and with no loss to themselves. At the lowest estimate the Oudh
peasant pays the exchequer £200,000 annually for the salt he
consumes, and a profit t»f £500,000 is derived from the trade in
the opium which he grows.

The taxes proper, then, are those on the land, the salt, litiga-
tion and civil contracts, and spirituous liquors, and they yield
altogether about £1,865,000 annually to the State, which derives
a further income of nearly £600,000 from sources which involve
no drain on the country and are analogous to the receipts from

Ix INTRODUCTION.

private enterprise. The total cost of administration amounts to
J565,000, leaving a surplus to be credited to the empire of
£1,300,000 from the actual taxation, or more than two-thirds of
the whole sum realized, while the total imperial income, including
the profits of the great monopolies and after satisfying all local
charges, amounts to £1,900,000, or over 75 per cent, of the gross
receipts.

Many branches of the local administration — ^the jails, the po-
lice, the educational and medical establishments, registration, and
municipal charges — are shown in a separate account, and the im-
perial subvention of £220,000, already included in the preceding
paragraph as part of the ordinary expenses of administration, has
to be reinforced by further local taxation in rates, cesses, octroi
and ferry dues, and other miscellaneous impositions, yielding an
annual revenue of about £375,000.

The administration is of the ordinary non-regulation type,
the province being divided into twelve districts, each under a
deputy commissioner, with four commissioners and a Chief Com-
missioner to supervise the whole. The j udicial work is transac-
ted entirely by the administrative ofiicers, with a separate high
court in the judicial commissioner as an ultimate resort of ap-
peal. Each deputy commissioner has at his disposal a small
staff of European and native assistant and extra assistant com-
missioners and tahsildars. When this arrangement was made the
population was estimated at six millions, or only half its real
amount, while the land revenue was only two-thirds of what it
stands at present. The consequence is that the charges are very
heavy, much more heavy indeed than in any other part of India.
The average population under the control of a single officer is
little short of a million, or rather less than twice as much as in
the Punjab, more than twice as much as in the Central Provinces,
and exceeding British Burmah and Berar in a very much higher
population. The amount of the work to be done is determined
mainly by the number of the people, and in an Oudh district is
not only heavier beyond aU comparison than that in the districts
of any other non-regulation province, but equals in the revenue
department, while it exceeds in every other, the work for which
a collector in the North- West, with his vastly more elaborate
and more expensive establishments and the experience of nearly
a century of English rule, is responsible.

The main innovations on the rule of our predecessors, for
which the province is indebted to us, are as follows : — The neces-
sary force which is at the root of all order has been completely

INTRODUCTION.

Ixi

reorganised; tlie persons by whom it is wielded have been changed,
and its instruments and methods defined. Where formerly three
hundred native chiefs executed their commands through the
first handful of stalwart adherents available for the purpose, twelve
deputy commissioners now carry out the orders of the courts
and the administration, and repress offences against social order
through men set apart as the official servants of the community.
In the punishment of the more heinous forms of crime the
change has been eminently beneficial, and the certainty and sever-
ity of the penalties inflicted on the offences by which it is threat,
ened have ensured a security to life which in the anarchy of
twenty years ago would have seemed an impossible dream. The
same remark applies to the safety of property against open force ;
but it may be doubted whether the more humane treatment
of the minor classes of crime has not led to an increase of
theft.

For the enforcement of civil liabilities, our courts have pro-
vided means expeditious and trustworthy beyond anything that
has been known in the province before, and in themselves exceed-
ingly cheap, though the expenses of the heavier classes of cases
are raised by the high fees demanded by legal practitioners, a
kind of man who wherever he is allowed to exist will always be
detested and employed. Just and prompt in their decisions, the
tribunals are greatly hampered by the unceasing press of work, to
which the scantiness of their numbers and other multifarious
calls on their time expose them, in seeing that their orders are
properly carried into effect.

An elaborate scheme of education embraces every part of the
province. Schools have been established within easy distances
throughout all the districts, and an elementary education is offered
at the expense of the State to every child of whatever position in
life. More advanced subjects of study are taught in the schools
of all large towns, and in Lucknow there is a college (with a
separate establishment for the sons of the taluqdars) where
almost every branch of western or oriental learning may be
acquired. The opportunities of knowledge are eagerly welcomed
by the keen intellect and inquisitive temper of the people, and
the new institutions are already thronged by some sixty thousand
pupils. The cause of' education is further advanced by the pri-
vate enterprise of Munshi Newal Kishor at Lucknow, whose busy
press disseminates, even beyond the utmost limits of the empire,
a cheap, abundant, and useful literature, and is of greater public-
benefit and importance than many State institutions. Another

Ixii INTRODUCTION.

impetus is given to the free exchange of thought by the cheap
and efficient organization of the post-office.

Perhaps the most effective and judicious method by
which the State can promote the wealth of the people is the
opening out of easy communications for trade, and this duty has
not been lost sight of During the native rule there were no out-
lets but the great river thoroughfares, which were reached only
by difficult and dangerous cart-tracks, open one year and plough-
ed up at the caprice of the men through whose lands they
passed the next, where the slow and heavy bullock-carts were
delayed on their long journeys by endless detours and the con-
stant danger of being upset or broken to pieces. The streams
by which the country is intersected were crossed on rudely con-
structed rafts and boats, and in the rains were often wholly
impassable. "Within the last twenty years all the principal
rivers, except the Gogra below its junction with the Sarju,
have i)een bridged at convenient intervals, and a bridge of boats
makes the passage of even that formidable water perfectly easy
during eight months in the year. Metalled roads of unsurpas-
sable smoothness and excellence connect most of the principal
towns, and the rough cart-tracks, which are the indigenous
means of transit, have been entrusted to a special department
to be repaired and preserved from encroachment. Lastly, a line
of railway has j ust been completed which brings Lucknow, the
centre of the province, into easy communication with Shdhja-
hdnpur, Cawnpore, Benares, and the great timber mart at Bahram
ghat.

An effort has been made to familiarize the people with the
principles of self-government as understood by ourselves by
the institution of municipalities, where the residents of the chief
centres of trade and population decide on matters connected with
the health and internal police of their towns, and the means by
which the necessary local expenses may be met. Dispensaries
scattered all over the country bring the most useful drugs of the
European pharmacopoeia and the advice of trained native doctors
within the reach of the poorest classes. The general principles
of sanitation are being constantly inculcated, and an elaborate
system of returns of vital statistics endeavours to lay bare all
facts important to the health of the province.

Prom the near stand-point of a contemporary, and in the
very midst of the events, it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to
form a correct opinion of the ultimate tendency of all these
great measures of change, and yet the question is of the most

INTRODUCTION. Ixiii

absorbing interest of any that can be asked. Some provisional
answer is absolutely essential for intelligent action, and a few
facts at any rate are clear beyond the possibility of controversy.
It can hardly be doubted that the interests of the finest class in
the country, that of the nobles and warlike yeoman proprietors,
have been injuriously affected. Sales of land are of alarming fre-
quency. Landlords who remain are struggling with difficulties
that tax them to the utmost, and a large number of the greater
estates, with an annual income of £400,000, have only been saved
from certain ruin by the generous and politic action of Govern-
ment in taking their debts upon itself. The subject was alluded
to with the following remarks in the ^nnual report of 1873 : —

It is owing to our system that tlie thousands who formerly aided the soil
with their earnings sent from afar are now living on it a dead burden where they
were formerly an active support. It is owing to our system that girls are reared
in hundreds, not only to be so many more mouths to feed, but to involve their
fathers still deeper in debt to meet their marriage expenses. It is owing to our
system that men are no longer allowed to kill themselves by scores in agrarian
quarrels ; that the march of famine and epidemic disease is checked ; that quinine
is being brought to the door of every fever-stricken sufferer ; and that in every
district there are sanitary measures in progress which have for their object the miti-
gation of disease and the prevention of death. Owing to these causes the popula-
tion which have only the land to look to for their support are annually becoming
more and more numerous. The consequences are not difficult to foresee. When
the land cannot yield more than is sufficient for the mouths dependent on its pro-
duce, it follows that nothing is left wherewith to meet the demands of the State,
which claims one-half of the rental, or any other demand. From whatever quarter
the demand is made the people are unable to meet it, and the land, which is the
security for the claim, must be transferred in satisfaction of what is due on it.

All this is quite true. The stimulus to population derived
from our leaden peace, and the annihilation by the same cause
of one of the principal sources of livelihood, are among the most
unavoidable difficulties with which both the landowning classes
and our Government are obliged to contend. But the large
estates are threatened as well as the small, and it cannot be said
that the taluqdar who owns five hundred villages owes his ruin
to the increasing numbers of his family or the loss of his em-
ployment. He would more probably complain of the inexorable
regularity of the demand, which claimed the utmost that his pro-
perty could pay on fixed days and without making any allowance
for his private necessities or the circumstances of his estates. He
would point out that formerly he met a lower taxation at the
times when it was most convenient for him to pay ; that he
would very probably be able to satisfy the present demand if the
same allowances were made to him, and he was not driven to
borrow at a ruinous interest money which he was certain ql

Ixiv INTRODUCTIOW.

realizing in full a few months later. He would ask you to
consider that the old and effective means of collecting rent, to
■which both he and his tenants had been accustomed, "were now
regarded as criminal offences ; and would urge that, if the use of
the lathi and the slipper were inconsistent with a more perfect
order, the State should at any rate provide some substitute ; and
that if courts were appointed to realize his rents for him, the
least that could be expected is, that they should be allowed time
to perform the work efficiently ; and he would probably conclude
by representing the injustice of arming the official with short,
stringent methods of exaction from himself, while he for the
collection of the same money, was allowed only the ineffectual
procedure of a regular suit against his tenants or under-proprie-
tors. And these are the chief causes which threaten the landed
classes : for the less wealthy among them, their increasing num-
bers and diminished sources of subsistence ; for all, the rigid
exaction on fixed days of a heavy demand from a property whose
proceeds fluctuate with every season, the forcible abandonment
of old and inability to use the new ways of collecting rent, their
position between a sharp weapon against themselves and a blunt
weapon in their own hands against their tenantry.

Of the more general tendencies of our rule one at least is
equally obvious, the disintegration of the existing structure of
society. The caste system absolutely requires for its safety the
ignorance of the lower orders. It is at any rate to the honour of
our common humanity that no large classes of men will long
submit to a position of inferiority and degradation when they
have learnt to distrust the ascribal of it to an unalterable decree
of fate. The Brahmanical order has as yet perhaps hardly lost
anything of its old vitality but with schools, railways, news-
papers, post-offices, and a Government which owes it no respect,
its doom, if far off, is eventually assured. Yet it should be
remembered that with all its glaring faults it has been the salt
of the country that the national character owes it the preserva-
tion of all that it contains worthy of praise, and that it has sup-
ported its race for centuries under the unparalleled strain of a
hostile barbarous despotism. When it is gone, as go it surely
must, will anything be left in its place, or will the whole country
be reduced to a dead and hopeless level of slavery ? Or is there
any middle way which will allow it, by assuming a new de-
velopment, to meet the altered circumstances? No certain
answer can be given, but one clear duty is indicated. If the
possibility of a national rule is to remain — unless we are pre-

INTRODUCTION. IxV

pared to stifle all the elements of national order, and by-
putting nothing in their place to condemn the people to the
■worst of all fates, political annihilation — we must keep them
familiarized with the habits and thoughts of Government. It is
■ttbsolutely necessary that we should associate them with ourselves
in all departments of the administration, and inform their minds
and raise their characters by the privileges and responsibilities
of office.

Similar, and hardly less important in its effect, is the intro-
duction of English courts and English forms of legal thought.
The old despotism practically never interfered in the civil disputes
of its subjects and rarely stepped in to punish crime. Offences
against social order were repressed by the summary vengeance
of the raja when they exceeded, as in the instance of notorious
dacoits> the limits of endurance, or they were, in the cases to which
it applied, visited with the penalty of exclusion from caste ;
civil disputes were arranged when between men of the same
class by easte arbitration boards, otherwise by the order of the
local chieftain. The confusion between political and religious
ordinances, which is one of the principal defects of their faith,
prevented Muhammadans from applying any but the elaborate
provisions of their own law when called on to act as judges,
and their action in that capacity among a people to whom their
law was either unintelligible or abominable was impossible. That
a Hindu, for instance, should allow their rules to guide a dispute
as to the devolution of property or the proprietary status of women
is simply inconceivable. It resulted that there was nothing to
obscure in the eyes of the people the administration of their
owti law by the instruments consecrated to that purpose from
among themselves by their own immemorial custom. All that
is now altered. One of these instruments, the chieftain, has been
entirely superseded, and if men of. different castes disagree they
are compelled to resort to the arbitrament of our tribunals. The
decisions of caste panchayats are weakened by the existence of
a co-ordinate and sometimes superseding jurisdiction. The law
itself, however much we attempt to enforce it in its completeness,
is essentially modified by having to work through the forms of a
foreign procedure and in the mind of a judge tinged with
foreign lines of thought. It need not be pointed out how power-
fully this change reacts as a solvent of the old social system of
the country.

Of the economical tendency of our rule it is ex-ceedingly
di£Bx;ult to judge clearly. It has been seen that this is an exclu-

9

Ixvi INTRODUCTION.

sively agricultural country : that the commencement of any other
form of production is hampered by the division of the people into
castes, and the absence of every kind of mineral wealth. We
give its existing resources their utmost value by opening out
means of communication, but we have not called any new industry
into life, nor does there seem to be any prospect of doing so at
present. In return for the economical advantages it receives it
has to pay for a Government more expensive than any that have'
preceded it, and which spends the greater part of the money it
collects beyond the limits of the province.

In fine, we have to administer a country rich in vegetable
products and densely inhabited by a people distributed by an
ancient and unshaken polity into definite and unaltering orders,'
The beat of these classes is piled up in stratum above stratum of
proprietors and under-proprietors on the land from which all the
wealthisderived. The immediate tendency of our rule is unfavour-
able to the higher classes : to the Brahman because it undermines
the system on which his power is based by the diffusion of a hostile
knowledge and by the direct substitution of our courts and forms
of legal thousrht for his own : to the Chhattri because one of his
occupations is gone, and his other source of livelihood, the tenure
of the land, is imperilled by the increasing numbers of the pro-
prietary population which it is called on to support : by the
blind rigidity with which Government enforces its demand againsi
him, and by the withdrawal of the old and substitution of a new
method of collecting the means by which that demand is. to be
met. The lower classes have reason to be thankful for their deli-
very under a strong order from oppression and their advance-
ment through education. If this is correct, a few lines of policy
may be clearly indicated. We may more than compensate the
people for the loss of an old system by fitting them to adopt
a better. The wisdom of admitting them to the higher ranks of
the administration has been recognised by the appointment of
two tried native officials and one young taluqdar of the highest
family to the rank of assistant commissioner, an appointment
which would be eagerly welcomed by men of the best blood and
position. The ruin of the landowning classes, and consequent
degradation of the fine body of yeoman proprietors, would be an
indelible stain on our administration, and that Government' is
keenly alive to this is proved by the repeated revisions of the
assessment and its direct interposition with a large loan of public
money to- save the larger estates from their creditors. The evil
would be sensibly mitigated, perhaps wholly averted, if the deputy

INTRODUCTION. IxVU

commissioners, instead of being loaded with fresh burdens, were
given time to enquire carefully into all the difficulties which
attended their revenue administration ; if they were free from the
constant pressure of superior officers, whose distant view disables
them from forming as true an opinion as themselves, and permit-
ted a limited discretion ; if the rent courts were regarded not so
much as tribunals for the registration of decrees, but rather as the
administrative machinery for realizing rents, and allowed suffi-
cient leisure and establishments to discharge their proper duties,
duties which under the present arrangement can hardly fail of
being almost entirely overlooked. And surely, with the enor-
mous surplus it pays to the imperial treasury, the province has
the right to ask for an official staff of sufficient strength to pre-
serve its property from destruction.

A GAZETTEER

OF THK

PROVINCE OF OUDH.

A. TO G.

AGAl—Pargana RjImpur — Tahsil BihAb — District PARTAEGARH.—This
town is on th« road to Rae Bareli : the river Sai is three miles to the east.
Partabgarh is distant twenty-seven miles: Rae Bareli, twenty-eight. It is
rather a collection of hamlets than a. town. This used to be the border-
land between the taluqas of Rajapur and Rampur. The population
amounts to 4,603 Hindus and 107 MusaLtaans. There is a Government
school attended by 30 children : one temple to DebL On ' Chait ashtimi*'
there is a fair here, attended by about 1,000 people.

AHANKXRIPUR — Pargana Amsin — Tahsil 'Fyzabab— District Ftza-
BAD. — This village is twenty-two miles from Fyzabad; the road to Akbar-
pur and also the railway pass through it. One Inchha, a Brahman, receiv-
ed this village as glebe land : he founded a bazar, Goshainganj ; and the
wife of Madbo Singh, the Barwar Taluqdar, founded another, called Katra.
The town is called after AhanMri Rae, the Barwar chief, who founded it.
The population consists of 1,187 Musalmans, all Sunnis, and mostly
weavers by trade; and 1,779 Hindus. There are two mosques and one
Government school. There 1.°, a considerable trade in hides carried on
here; they are exported to Galcutta.

AHMADNAGAR — Pargana HaidaeABAD — Tahsil MuHAMDl — District

Kheei. — A village in pargana Haidarabad, district Kheri, in which the

river Sarlyan has its source. The soil is good and well supplied with

water. Ruins of a mud fort.

Area ... ... ... ... ... I,.3S0-63 acres.

Population ... ... ... ... ... 1,272 soul^.

AIHAR — Pargana Dalmatj — Tahsil Lalganj — District Rae Bareli.—
A small town, situated on the road from Bareli to the tahsil staticSn, Lal-
ganj, five miles from Dalmau.

The population is 2,734, of whom 720 are Brahmans, nearly all worship-
pers of Shiva, to whom a temple has been erected. It is considered un-
lucky to pronounce the name of the place, and it is locally named Nunia
Gaon.

AJGAIN— Pargana Jhalotar Ajgais— Tahsil Mohan— District Unao.--
A large village in pargana Jhalotar Ajgain, lying ten miles north-east of
ITnao, on the railway from Lucknow to Cawnpore. There is a station
here; it was formerly the head-quarters of a pargana of the same
•name. It was formerly called Bhanp^ra, after its founder Bhan Singh, a
Dikhit : its name was altered at the bidding of the astrologer iu order to
make the place prosperous; it is called Ajgain, from Aja, a name for

* March.

2 AJG— AJO

Riahma, the creator. The population is 2,566, of whom 85 are Musal^
mans. There are to masonry houses and 529 of mud.

AJG £01^— Pargana MoHilN AviRXS—Tahsil MokaS— District Unao;—
This is merely a large village," situated at the north-west end of the. par*
gana," on the banks of the Sai, and about ;three miles to the, south of Auras,
It balongs.to a family of Rajputs, of the Janwar tribe, who are said to have
founded it on their way from Sultanpur to Nims^r-Misrikh to bathe. The
same story is current about all the Rajput colonizations in this part of the
country, and probably merely means that they came about the same time.
It would then be some ten generations ago, or (say) 250 years, — at the
commencement of the seventeenth century. There is an extensive Mh.ia.
the centre of the village, which is said to have belonged to the Lodhs. The
masses of broken brick that cover it speak of a different people or different
customs and circumstances than those of its present inhabitants. The
population is 3,481, who are mostly Hindus, and all of the agricultural,
classes. The place is noted for the fine tobacco leaf grown here.

A . Government school is established, at which the attendance is 24. Of
the population, 69, are Musalmans.

AJODHYA* — (Ajodhya) — Pargana. Haweli Otjdh — Tahsit Fyzabad —
District Eyzabad. — ^A townin the district of Fyzabad,' and adjoining the
city. of that name, is to, the Hindu what Mecca is to the Muhammadans,
Jerusalem to the Jews ; it has in the traditions of the orthodox a highly
mythical origin, being founded for additional security, not on the transitory
earth, but- on -the chariot -wheel of the Great Creator himself. It lies
26° 47' north latitude and 82° 15' east longitude, on the banks of the
G;ogra.- The name Ajodhya is explained by well-known local pandits to
be derived from -the Sanskrit words — ajud, unvanquished ; also Aj, a name
of Brahma. — ' The unconquerable city of the creator.' But- Ajodhya is
also called Oudh, which in Sanskrit means a promise ; in aUusion, it is
said, to the promise made by R'^m Chandar when he went in exile, - to
return-atthe end of fourteen years. These are the local derivations; I
am not prepared to say to what extent they may be accepted as correct.
Dr. Wilson of Bombay thinks the word is taken from yudh, to fight, ' The
city of the fighting Chhattris,'

Area. — The ancient city of Ajodhya is said to have covered'an area of -
12 jojan or 48 Icos, and to havebeen the capital of Uttar-Kausala or Kosala
(the northern treasure), the country of the Surajbans race of kings, of whom
Ram Chandar was fifty-seventh in descent from R£ja Manu, and of which
line Rdja Sumintra was the one hundred and thirteenth and last. They
are said to have reigned through the Satya, Treta, and Dwapar yugs, and.
two thousand years of the KaU or present yug or era.

With the fall of the last. of Rama's line, Ajodhya became a wilderness, -
and the royal races became dispersed. From different members of this:
scattered people, the rdjas of Jaipur, Udaipur, Jamber, &c., of modern times,
on the authority of the " Tirhut Katha," claimed to descend. Even in the
days of its desertion, Ajodhya is said still to have . remained a cornpa^.
rative paradise; for the jungle ■ by which it was overrun was that

* By f . Carnegy, Esci., Comtnissionef.

AJO 3

s-weet-smelling Keora, a plant which to this day flourishes with unusual
luxuriance in the neighbourhood.

Then came the Buddhist supremacy under Asoka and his successors ;
a Brahmanical revival then supervened. With this period the name of
Bikramdjit is traditionally and intimately associated, when Buddhism
again began to give place to Brahmanism.

_To Bikramajit the restoration of the neglected and forest-concealed
Ajodhya is universally attributed. His main clue in tracing the ancient
city was, of course, the holy river Sarju, and his next was the shrine,
still known as Nageshwar-nath, which is dedicated to Mahadeo, and which
presumably escaped the devastations of the Buddhist and Atheist periods.
With these clues and aided by descriptions which he found recorded in ,
ancient manuscripts, the different spots rendered sacred by association
with the worldly acts of the deified Rama were identified, and Bikramajit
is said to have indicated the different shrines to which pilgrims from afar
still in thousands half-yearly flock.

Rdmlcot. — The most remarkable of those was, of course, Ramkot, the
stronghold of Ram Chandar. This fort covered a large extent of ground,
and, according to ancient manuscripts, it, was surrounded by twenty bas-
tions, each of which was commanded by one of Ram's famous generals after
whom they took the names by which they are still known. Within the
fort were eight royal mansions, where dwelt the Patriarch Dasrath, his
wives, and Ram, his deified son.

SamuTidra Pal Dynasty. — According to tradition. Raja Bikramajit
ruled over Ajodhya for eighty years, and at the end of that time he was out-
witted by the Jogi Samundra Pal ; who, having by magic made away with
the spirit of the raja himself, entered into the abandoned body ; and
he and his dynasty succeeding to the kingdom, they ruled over it for
seventeen generations, or six hundred and forty-three years, Which gives
an unusual number of years for each reign.

The Sribdstam Dynasty. — This dynasty is supposed to have been
succeeded by the trans-Gogra Sribastam family, of which Tilok Chand
was a prominent member — a family which was of the Buddhist or
Jain persuasion, and to which are attributed certain old deoharas, or
places of Jain worship, which are still to be found in Ajodhya, but
which are of modern restoration. It was probably against the Sribas-
tam dynasty that Sayyad Salar made his ill-starred advance into
Oudh, when, in the earliest Muhammadan invasion, he and his army
left their bones to bleach in the wilds of Bahraich. (See Chronicles of
Unao, pages 83 to 85.) But the hold of the trans-Gogra rulers of
Ajodhya was soon after this lost, and the place passed under the sway
of the rajas of Kanauj. Their power, however, according to hazy
tradition, seems for a time to have been successfully disputed by the
Magadha dynasty, whose temporary rule is still acknowledged.

The Kanauj Dynasty. — Subsequently to this,, the Muhammadans
njade another partial advance into Hindustan, in alliance with Kanauj,
whose raja it again restored to sovereignty; but in these parts this.

a2

AJO

sovereignty was altogether repudiated, and minor local rulers sprang
up throughout the land, and a period of territorial confusion then
prevailed, which was only finally terminated by the Muhammadan
conquest. A copper grant of Jai Chand, the last of the Kanauj
Eathors, dated 1187 A. D., or six years before his death, was found
near Fyzabad, when Colonel Caulfield was Resident of Lucknow. (See
Asiatic Society's Journal, Volume X, Part I, 1861.)

Sir H. Elliot mentions that on the occasion of BikramfJj it's visit to
Ajodhya, he erected temples at three hundred and sixty places rendered
sacred by association with Rama.

Of these shrines but forty-two are known to the present generation, and
as there are but few things that are really old to be seen in Ajodhya,
most of these must be of comparatively recent restoration. There are
also six mandirs of the Jain faith, to which allusion has already been
made. It is not easy to over-estimate the historical importance of the
place which, at various times and in different ages has been known by the
namesofKosala, Ajodhya, and Oudh; because it may be said to have given
a religion to a large portion of the human race, being, the cradle alike of
the Hindu and the Buddhist faith.

Of Buddhism, Kosala has, without doubt, a strong claim to be consi-
dered the mother. Kapila and K^sinagara, both in Gorakhpur and both
of that country (Kosala), are the Alpha and Omega of Sakyamuni, the
founder of that faith. It was at Kapila that he was bom; it was at Ajodhya
that he preached, perhaps, composed those doctrines which have conferred
upon him a ' world wide fame ; and it was at Kasinagara that he finally
reached that much desiderated stage of annihilation by sanctification,
which is known to his followers as ' Nirvana,' B. C. 550.

Again, it is in Ajodhya that we still see pointed out the birth-place
of the founder, as well as of four others of the chief hierarchs of the
Jain faith. Here it was that Rikhabdeo of Ikshwaku's royal race
matured the schism, somewhat of a compromise between Brahmanism
and Buddhism, with which his name wiU ever be associated.

It may be observed that the Chinese traveller, Hwen Thsang, found
no less than twenty Buddhist monasteries, with three thousand monks
at Ajodhya, in the seventh century, and also a large Brahmanical po-
pulation with about twenty of their temples ; so that, after the revival
of Brahmanism, the idea of monasteries was probably borrowed from
the Buddhists ; or, may it not have been that whole monasteries went
from the one faith to the other, as they stood ? If a Gaur Brahman in
these days can legitimately supervise a Jain temple, it seems just pos-
sible that the sectarian feelings of the Brahmanists, and Buddhists, and
Jains of former times, were less bitter than we are liable to suppose.

The monastic orders. — There are seven akhdras, or cloisters, of the
monastic orders, or Bairdgis disciples of Vishnu, in Ajodhya each of
which is presided over by a mahant or abbot ; these are

1. Nirbdni or Silent sect, who have their dwelling in Hanoman Garhi.

AJO 5

2. The Nirmohi, or Void-of-affection sect, who have establishments
at Ram Ghat and Guptar Ghat.

S. Digambari, or Naked sect of ascetics.

4. The Khaki, or Ash-besmeared deTotees,

5. The Mahdnirbdni, or literally Dumb branch.

6. The Santokhi, or Patient family.

7. The Niralambhi, or Provisionless sect.

The expenses of these different establishments, of which the first is by far
the most important, are met from the revenues of lands which have been
assigned to them, from the offerings of pilgrims and visitors, and from the
alms collected by the disciples in their wanderings all over India.

The Nirhiini sect. — I believe the mahant of the Nirbdni Alchdra or
Hanoman Garhi has six hundred disciples, of whom as

1. Kishan Dasi. many as three of four hundred are generally in attend-

I Mani Rdmi ance, and to whom rations are served out at noon daily.

4. Jankisaran Dasi. The present incumbent has divided his followers into
four thaJcs or parties, to whom the names of four disciples,

as marginally noted, have been given.

There are in this sect — -fiifst, lay-brothers, second anchorites ; the former
do not abandon the world, the latter first make a round of the sacred
places, Dwarka, Jagannath, Gya, and are then admitted to full brother-
hood : celibacy is enforced — all castes are admitted, but Brahmans and
Ghhattris have two exceptional privileges, they are admitted over the age
of sixteen and they are exempted from servile offices.

Nirmnhi sect. — It is said that one Gobind Das came from Jaipur some
two hundred years ago, and having acquired a few bighas of revenue-free
land, he built a shrine and settled himself at Ram Gh^t. Mahant Tulsi
Das is the sixth in succession. There are now two branches of this
order, one at Ram Ghat, and the other occupying the temples at Guptar
Ghat. They have rent-free holdings in Basti, Mankapur, and Khurdabad.

The Digambari sect. — Sri Balram Das came to Ajodhya two hundred
years ago, whence it is not known, and having built a temple settled
here. Mahant Hira Das is the seventh incumbent. The establishment
of resident disciples is very small, being limited to fifteen ; they have
several revenue-free holdings in the district.

The Khdhi sect. — When Ram Chandar became an exile from Ajo-
dhya, his brother Lachhman is said, in his grief, to have smeared his
body' with ashes and to have accompanied him. Hence he was called
Khdki, and his admiring followers bear that name to this date. In the
days of Shujd-ud-daula, one mahant, Daya Ram, is said to have come
from Chitarkot, and having obtained four bighas of land, he thereon
established the akhdra, and this order of Bairdgis now includes 180
persons of whom 50 are resident and 130 itinerant. This establishment

AJO

has some small assignments of land in this, and in thfe Gonda district.
Ram Das, the present mahant, is seventh in succession from the local
founder of the order.

The Mahdnirbdni sect. — Mahant Parsotam Das came to Ajodhya from
Kota Bundi in the days of Shuja-ud-daula, and built a temple at
Ajodhya. Dayal Das, the present incumbent, is the sixth in succession.
He has twenty-five disciples, the great majority of whom are itinerant
mendicants. The word Mahanirbani implies the worshipping of God
without asking for favours, either in this world or the next.

The Santokhi sect— Mahant Rati Ram arrived at Ajodhya from Jaipur
in the days of Mansdr Ali Khan, and building a temple founded this order.
Two or three generations after him the temple was abandoned by his
followers, and one Niddhi Singh, an influential distiller in the days of
the ex-king, took the site and built thereon another temple. After this,
Khushal Das of this order returned to Ajodhya and lived and died
under an Asok tree, and there the temple, which is now used by the
fraternity, was built by Ramkishan Das, the present head of the com-
munity.

The Niralambhi sect— Sri Birmal Das is said to have come from Kota,
in the time of Shuj^-ud-daula, and to have built a temple in Ajodhya,
but it was afterwards abandoned. Subsequently Narsingh Das of this
order erected a new building near Darshan Singh's temple. The
present head of the fraternity is Ram Sewak, and they are dependent
solely on the offerings of pilgrims.

The Janamasthdn and other temples. — It is locally affirmed that at the
Muhammadan conquest there were three important Hindu shrines, with
but few devotees attached, at Ajodhya, which was then little other
than a wilderness. These were the " Janamasthan," the " Swargaddwar
inandir" also known as " Ram Darbar," " Treta-ke-Thakur."

On the first of these the Emperor Babar built the mosque, which still
bears his name, A. D. 1628. On the second, Aurangzeb did the same,
A.D. 1658 to 1707 ; and on the third, that sovereign or his predecessors built
a mosque, according to the well-known Muhammadan principle of enforc-
ing their religion on all those whom they conquered.

The Janamasthdn marks the place where Ram Chandar was bom. The
Swargaddwar is the gate through which he passed into paradise, possibly
the spot where his body was burned. The Treta-ke-Thakur was famous
as the place where Rama performed a great sacrifice, and which he com-
memorated by setting up there images of himself and Sita.

Bdhar's mosque. — According to Leyden's Memoirs of Bdbar, that Em-
peror encamped at the junction of the Serwa and Gogra rivers two or three
hos east from Ajodhya, on the 28th March 1528, and there he halted seven
or eight days, settling the surrounding country. A well-known hunting
ground is spoken of in that work, seven or eight Jcos above Oudh, on the
banks of the Sarju. It is remarkable that in all the copies of Babar's life
now known, the pages that relate to his doings at Ajodhya are wanting.

AJO H

In two places in tlie Babari Mosque, the year in -whicli it was built, 935
H., corresponding with 1528 A. D., is carved in stone, along with inscrip-
tions dedicated to the glory of that Emperor.

If Ajodhya was then little other than a wilderness, it must at least have
possessed a fine temple in the Janamasthan ; for many of its columns are still
in existence and in good preservation, having been used by the Musalmans
in the construction of the Babari Mosque. These are of strong, close-
grained, dark-colored or black stone, called by the natives Icasauti (liter-
ally touch-stone slate,) and carved with different devices. To my think-
ing these more strongly resemble Buddhist pillars than those I have seen
at Benares and elsewhere. They are from seven to eight feet long, square
at the base, centre and capital, and round or octagonal intermediately.

Hindu and Musalman. — The Janamasthan is within a few hundred
paces of the Hanoman Garhi. In 1855, when a great rupture took place
between the Hindus and Muhammadans, the former occupied the Hanoman
Garhi in force, whUe the Musalmans took possession of the Janamasthan.
The Muhammadans on that occasion actually charged up the steps of the
Hanoman Garhi, but were driven back with considerable loss. The Hindus
then followed up this success, and at the third attempt took the Janam-
asthan, at the gate of which seventy-five Muhammadans are buried in the
"martyrs' grave" (Ganj-i-Shahidan.) Eleven Hindus were killed. Several of
the King's regiments were looking on all the time, but their orders
were not to interfera It is said that up to that time the Hindus and
Muhammadans alike iised to worship in the mosque-temple. Since British
rule a railing has been put up to prevent disputes, within which, in the
mosque, the Muhammadans pray ; while outside the fence the Hindus have
raised a platform on which they make their offerings. A second attempt
was made shortly afterwards by Molvi Amir Ali of Amethi ; the object was
to seize the alleged site of an old mosque on the Hanoman Garhi.

The two other old mosques to which allusion has been made (known
by the common people by the name of N'aurang Shah, by whom
they mean Aurangzeb) are now mere picturesque ruins. Nothing has
been done by the Hindus to restore the old mandir of Eam Darbar.
The Treta-ke-Thakur was reproduced near the old ruin by the Raja of
Kalu, whose estate is said to be in the Panjab, more than two centuries
ago ; and it was improved upon afterwards by Aholya Bai, Marathin,
who' also built the adjoining ghat, A. D. 1784. She was the widow of
Jaswant Rae, Holkar of Indor, irom which family Rs. 231 are still annually
received at this shrine.

The Jain Hierarchs. — The generally received opinion of this sect is, that
they are a branch of the Buddhists who escaped the fate of the orthodox
followers of Gautama in the eighth and ninth centuries, by conforming
somewhat to Brahmanism, and even helping to persecute the Buddhists
Hence many Jains acknowledge Shiva, and in the south are even divided,
into castes. The precise period of the schism is unknown. _ The_ Jains
recognize twenty-four Jenas or tirthanJcdras, or hierarchs, and in this they
resemble the Hindus.

8 AJO

Aflhuith. — The first of these and founder of the sect was Adinath, also
called Rishabhaniith, also Adisarji-dwal and Eikhabdeo. This Jena was
Jbirieeu times incarnate, the last time in the family of Ikshwaku of
iiie Solar race, when he was born at Ajodhya, — his father's name being
Niibi, and his mother's, Miru. He died at Mount Abu, where the oldest
tomple is dedicated to him, A. D. 960. The Jains, according to Ward
(recent edition), allege that they formerly extended over the whole of
Arya and Bharatha-Khanda, and that all those who had any just preten-
sions to be of Chhattri descent were of their sect, and on the same autho-
rity Rishabha, another name for the same hierarch, was the head of this
atheistical sect.

AjUndth, &c. — Ajitnath, the second son of these Jenas, Abhinandanansith,
the fourth, and Sumantnath, the fifth, were all born at Ajodhya, and died at
Parasnath. Chajadraprabha, the eighth, was born at Chandripur, the local
name of Sahet Mahet (Bahraich), and died also at Parasndth, as did Anant-
anath, the fourteenth, born at Ajodhya. Temples now exist at Ajodhya,
dedicated to the five hierarchs born there, of which details will be given fur-
ther on).

It is clear, then, that Ajodhya had much to do with the propagation of
the Jain- Atheist faithj and the Chinese travellers found that faith, or its
sister Buddhism, rampant there in the sixth century, as it was across the
river at Sahet Mahet, the great Oudh-Buddhist capital.

Pre-MuhaTnmadan Jain Templet— A. great Jain mandir is known to
have existed at Ajodhya, when the Muhammadans conquered Oudh, on the
spot now known as Shah Juran's tila, or mound. (See the account of
Adinath's temple further on).

Antique Jain Images. — ^I have now in my possession two elaborately
carved stone images, discovered some years ago on the banks of the
Gumti, in the village of Patna, in pargana Aldemau, Sultanpur district, of
which General Cunningham to whom I sent a photograph, writes as fol-
lows : — " I beg also to thank you for the photograph of the two statues,
which is particularly valuable to me, from the very perfect state of pre-
servation of the figures. They are not, however, Buddhist, but Jain
figures. No Buddhist figures are ever represented as naked, and it is
only the statues of the Digambar sect of Jains that are so represented.
Both figures represent the same hierarch, vis., Adinath, who is the first
of the twenty-four Tirthanlcdrs of the Jains. Adindth is known by the
wheel on the pedestal, which is represented end on, instead of sideways,
as in many other sculptures."

These statues were discovered under ground by some Bairagis about
the year 1850 A. D., who had their discovery widely proclaimed by
beat of drum, setting forth that Jaganndth had appeared to them in a
dream and had indicated to them where he lay concealed in the ground
and that if he were released and set up in the neighbourhood, the
necessity for long pilgrimages to the distant Pooree Would cease. They
found him at the spot indicated, had him set up as ordered, and now
proclaimed the fact for the benefit of pilgrims at large. For one

season the imposition took, and thousands of Hindus made tlicir oneriiigs
at the new shrine ; and great was their disgust when the fact was after-
wards revealed by a learned pandit that the images pertained to the Bhars,
who, according to the holy man in question, were in the habit of sacrificing
Brahmans to such images as these. "We have in this remark a strong
mdication that the Bhars were Jain-Buddhists. Thereafter the images
lay unheeded in a dung-heap, till discovered and removed without opposi-
tion by Mr. Nicholson, of the Fyzabad Settlement.

Modern temples. — I have already said that there are now several Jain
temples at Ajodhya. They were all built about one hundred and fifty
years ago, to mark the birth-places of the five hierarchs who are said to
have been born there, by one Kesari Singh, a treasurer or servant of
Nawab Shuja-ud-daula, whose great influence with that ruler obtained
for him permission to build these temples of idolatry even amongst the
very mosques and tombs of the faithful. I now give some brief notes on
each mandir.

No. 1. To Adindth, the first hierarch. This is situated in the Murai
Tola, near the Swargaddwar, on a mound on which there are many tombs
and a mosque. It is half-way up the mound, and the key is kept by a
Musalman who lives close by. *

No. 2. To Ajitndth, the second avatar. This is situated west of the
Itaura tank, and contains an idol and inscription. It was built in 1781 S.,'
and is surrounded on all sides by cultivation.

No. 3. To Abhinandanandth, the fourth avatar, situated near the
sarai. It contains an inscription.

No. 4. To Sumantndth, the fifth avatar, within the limits of Ramkot.
In this temple there are two idols of Parasnath, one of the two most popular
incarnations, and three of Nemn^th. There is an inscription setting
forth that the temple was built in Sambat 1781.

No. 5. To Anantandth, the fourteenth avatar, whose footprint it
enshrines. It contains an inscription, as in the last case, and is situated on
the banks of Golaghat Nala, on the high bank of the Gogra, a most
picturesque site.

Brahman attendant. — All these five temples are superintended by a
Gaur Brahman, named Ajudhia Pande, who has not yet, he says, joined the
Jain sect, although his son has. He justifies his position by saying he is an
alien here, and would do anything for a livelihood. He is paid by the
representatives of a Sarawag community in Lucknow, Ganeshi Lai and,

• The local Musalman tradition is that one Makhdum Shah Juran Ghori (whose descend-
ants still hold property in Ajodhya and take the fees at the Jain shrine) came to Oudh
at the end of the twelfth century, with Sultan Shahdb-ud-di'n Ghori, and rid Ajodhya of
Adinath, who was then a torment to the people, for which service lands were assigned to
him, on which he founded the present Baksaria Tola. Now we know that a temple was
dedicated to Admath at Abu, nearly 250 years before that ; so that what Shah Jtiran no
doubt did do, was to destroy the mandir that we also know then existed at Ajodhya, sacred
to the same Adinath, and to build thereon the Muhammadan edifices which gave to tho
mound the name by which it is still known, viz., Shah Juran-ka-Tila.

10 AJO

GhSsi L^l. Sarawag is the ordinary lay name for a Jain, and meang
literally a hearer. It seems that the Jains select Gaur Brahmans as
spiritual guides, because they do not eat fish or flesh, or drink wine.

But, in addition to these five Digambari temples there is a sixth or
Sitambari mandir, dedicated also to the first avatdr, Ajitnath, by
Udai Chand Oswal of Jaipur, and in the keeping of his priest, Khushal
Chand Jati. It is situated in the Alamganj Muhalla, and was built in
Sambat 1881. It contains images of Ajitnath in pink stone, of the
five shrines, (panch-tirtha) in metal, besides holy footprints, &c.,
and it commemorates nineteen events connected with the conception,
birth, and rehnquishment of the world of the five avatars born at
Ajodhya.

The Digambari sect (to which the five Ajodhya hierarchs belonged)
worship only naked images, or, according to the etymology of the word,
those who are clothed in space alone. The Sitambari sect again worship
covered figures, or, etymologically, those who are clothed in garments.

The Maniparbat. — The Brahmanical tradition about this mound,
the ancient name of which was Chattarban, is, that when Kama was
waging his Ceylon war, Lachhman was wounded by a poisoned arrow.
Hanoman, the monkey-god, was despatched through the air to fetch an
antidote from the Himalayas. Unfortunately the messenger forgot the
name of the herb, but to make amends he carried off a whole mountain
in the palm of his hand, feeling certain that the antidote would be
there. As he returned bearing the mountain over Ajodhya in mid-air,
a clod fell therefrom, which is no other than the Maniparbat. Mr.
Hunter, I think, relates a similar tradition amongst the Santals. It
is from this legend that the monkey-god was always represented as
bearing a rock in his hand.

General Cunningham describes the Maniparbat as an artificial mound,
sixty-five feet in height, covered with broken bricks and blocks of kankar.
The common people in these days call the mount the Orajhar or Jhawwa-
jhar, both expressions indicating basket-shakings, and they say that the
m.ound was raised by the accumulated basket-shakings of the laborers
who built Ramkot. The same tale is told of the similar mounds at Sahet
Mahet, at Benares, and at other places. This moimd General Cunningham
points out as the ' stupa' of Asoka, two hundred feet in height, built on
the spot where Buddha preached the law during his six years' residence
here. That officer infers that the earthen or lower part of the moulid
may belong to the earlier ages of Buddhism, and that the masonry part
was added by Asoka.

Rdja Nanda Bardhan, ofMagadha. — I have repeatedly been assured by
Mahardja Man Singh that within the present century an inscription was
discovered buried in this mound, which ascribed its construction to Raja
Nanda Bardhan of the Magadha dynasty, who once held sway here.* The

* This man is accredited with the suppression of Brahmanism in Ajodhya, and "With the
establishinent of the non-caste system adopted by society generally, wh^u the population at
large were denominated Bhars.

AJO 11

Maharaja further stated that the inscription was taken to Lucknow in
Nasir-ud-din Haidar's time, and that there was a copy of it at Shahganj,
but all my attempts to trace either the original or copy have failed* It is,
however, noteworthy that the Maharaja's information, whether reliable or
not, IS confirmatory of the inference which General Cunningham had drawn
from independent data.

Sugriva and Kahir parta^.— General Cunningham thinks he identified
two other mounds, on the Sugrivaparbat, which he describes as a mound ten
feet high, and which he imagines is the great monastery of Hwen Thsang
(500 X 300), which is south-east of and within five hundred feet of the Mani-
parbat; and five hundred feet due south, he identified another mound,
which is twenty-eight feet high, and which he thinks is the Kabirparbat,
or the Stupa described by Hwen Thsang as containing the hair and nails
of Buddha.

On this point I have the following remark to make : — General Cunning-
ham admits a connexion between the Maniparbat and the Ramkot. Now,
two of the largest bastions or mounds of Ramkot are called to this day
Sugriva, and Kabir tila or parbat ; so that it would seem that their con-
nection with Ramkot is more direct, and they appear to be entitled to
dispute identity with the spots indicated by the General, to which no tra-
ditions locally attach.

The Tombs of the Patriarchs. — Adjoining the Maniparbat are two tombs,
of which General Cunningham writes that " they are attributed to Sis
paighambar and Ay6b paighambar, or the Prophets Seth and Job. The
first is seventeen feet long and the other twelve feet. These tombs are
mentioned by Abul Fazl, who says : ' Near this are two sepulchral
monuments, one seven and the other six cubits in length. The vulgar

Prinsep mentions this ruler as Nandivardhana, (a Takshae, according to Tod, ) of the
Sunaka dynasty, kings of Bharathkhanda, part of the Magadha Empire.

We may have here some clue as to who the Bhars were : people begotten by the conquer-
ing soldiers of Bardhanfrom Gya, who were probably of the aboriginal type of that country,
as well as those people of this province who accepted the conqueror's yoke, without taking
themselves off to other countries, as many no doubt did ; and in the Rajputs of Eastern Oudh
in these days, we may thus have the offspring of a mixed people, the blood of which may
have been improved by subsequent intermarriage with those, who, for the sake of their faith,
went elsewhere, and whose descendants in rare instances, so far as the Fyzabad district
is concerned, returned and settled in Oudh, after the Muhammadan conquest.

This may help to account for the strange fact, that none of the Chhattri clans with which
I am familiar, can carry their pedigrees back beyond the Muhammadan period. Of most of
these clans it can with perfect truth be said that they are indigenous and local, some of them
going so far even as to admit a Bhar origin.

In all our researches there is nothing more marked than the numerous traditions that
connect Oudh with the east on fhe one hand, and with the south and south-west on the
other. The explanation of it may perhaps be, that it was from Ajodhya that Rama convey-
ed the doctrines of the Vedas to Ceylon and the south : it was from G-ya that the wave of
the opposing Buddhists superiority came, with Nanda Bardhan ; and it was from Ujjain in
the south-west that Bikramajit came to restore the Brahman glories of Ajodhya. The
Oudh traditions of the one period take the founders of the Buddhist and Jain faiths from
Kosala, towards Gya and ParasnAth ; while to those of the other period, half the clans and
tribes of the province still trace their origin to such places as Ujjain, Mangipatan, and
Chittorgarh . ^

« This information has since been corroborated by the learned pandit l/madatt of Ajodhya,
who informs me that he made a translation of the inscription between thirty and forty years
ago. He, too, has lost his copy and cannot now describe the contents,

U AJO

pretend that they are the tombs of Seth and Job, and they relate
wonderful stories of them.' This account shows that since the time
of Akbar the tomb of Seth must have increased in length, from seven
cubits, or ten and a half feet, to seventeen feet, through the frequent repairs
of pious Musalmans." These "tombs are also mentioned at a later date,
in the Araish-i-Mahfil. To these tombs Colonel Wilford adds that of
Noah, which is still pointed out near the police station. The Colonel's
account is as follows : " Close to Ajodhya or Oudh, on the banks of the
Gogra, they show the tomb of Noah, and those of Ayub, and Shis or
Shish, (Job and Seth). According to the account of the venerable
Darvesh who watches over the tomb of Nuh, it was built by Alexander the
Great, or Sikandar Rumi. I sent lately (A. D. 1799) a learned Hindu
to make enquiries about this holy place : from the Musalmans he could
get no further light ; but the Brahmans informed him that where Nuh's
tomb stands now, there was formerly a place of worship dedicated to Ga-
nesha, and close to it are the remains of a bdoli, or walled well, which is
called in the Puranas Ganapat Kund. The tombs of Job and Seth are
near to each other, and about one bow-shot and a half from Ntih's tomb ;
between them are two small hillocks, called Soma-giri, or the mountains
of the moon : according to them these tombs are not above four hundred
years old ; and owe their origin to three men, called N"uh, Ayub, and Shis,
who fell there fighting against the Hindus. These were, of course, con-
sidered as shahids, or martyrs ; but the priests who officiate there, in order
to increase the veneration of the superstitious and unthinking crowd,
gave out that these tombs were really those of Noah, Job, and Seth, of
old. The tomb of Nuh is not mentioned in the Ain-i-akbari, only those
of Job and Seth."

On these quotations I have only to add that the distance between the
tombs is greater than stated, being nearly a mile as the crow flies ; while
it is not the tomb of Nuh, but those of the other two men mentioned,
that are close to the Ganesha Kund.

Darshan Singh's Temple. — This temple, now more generally known as
Man Singh's was built twenty-five years ago by the former raja, and there
is nothing more artistic in that line in modern Oudh. ,It is dedicated to
Mahadeo, and is of finely-cut Chunar stone, most of the figures and orna-
ments having been prepared at and brought from Mirzapur. The idol is
a fine bloodstone from the Narbada, which cost Es. 250 there. The
marble images are from Jaipur. The splendidly toned large bell was cast
here, from a model which was injured on its way from Nepal ; it is a
credit to local art.

The Bah'u, Begam's Mausoleum. — It was arranged by treaty between
the British Government, the Bahu Begam, and the Nawab of Oudh, that
three lacs of sikka rupees of her riches were to be set apart for the erec-
tion by her confidential servant, Darab Ali Khan, of her tomb, and that
the revenue of villages to the aggregate amount of Sikka Rs. 10,000 per
annum were to be assigned for its support.

The Begam died on the 27th of January 1816. Darab Ali laid the

AJO 13

foundations and built the plinth, when he also died, on the 10th of Aiiwust
1818.

Panah Ali, vakil, and Mirza Haidar, the son of an adopted dauglitor,
then carried on the work through a series of years, when, with the Cdin-
pletion of the brick work, the grant of three lacs came to an end, and the
beautiful edifice remained unfinished till after the mutiny of 1857.

In Ghazi-ud-din Haidar's time the assignment of revenue was given up
on his placing in the hands of the British Government Rs. 1,66,666-10-8,
the interest of which, at the then prevailing rate of 6 per cent., was to
yield the equivalent annual sum of Rs. 10,000, for the support of the
tomb. This sum seems to have been regularly received and disbursed
by the native management until the year 1839. Complaints were then
made to the Resident of irregularity in the disbursements, and this led
to the organization of the Wasiqa Department in 1840.

Under this new management a considerable surplus was soon accunm-
lated, and in 1853-54 a proposition was submitted to and sanctioned by
Government, under which Rs. 41,727-11-3, out of a then existing surplus
of Rs. 59,262-11-6, was to be spent in finishing the tomb, the balance
being carried to the credit of Government. The work was being carried
on under the supervision of Captain A. P. Orr, when the mutiny occurred,
and the unexpended balance of the sanctioned estimate, or about Rs. 6,000,
was plundered. The tomb was finally completed by the Department of
Public Works, after the re-occupation of the province.

In sanctioning the proposition mentioned in the penultimate paragraph
in January 1854, the Government remarked that it was a great loser by
the arrangement it had entered into, under which it was to allow 6 per
cent, on the money funded by Ghazi-ud-din Haidar ; and, looking to the
fact that in late years the whole grant had not been expended, it resolved
on reducing the interest on the loan from 6 to 4 per cent., the then
current rate. At this rate the annual income of the endowment was re-
duced from Sikka Rs. 10,000 to Company's Rs. 6,606-10-8.

This latter sum was still further reduced in January 1855 to Company's
Rs. 5,833-5-4 ; but it was again raised to that sum under the orders of
September 1859, at which it has since been continued.

Rs. 1,000 per annum are reserved by Government for the repairs,
through its own oJKcers, of the building, and the remainder of the annual
allowance is spent by the native managers in religious ceremonies, periodi-
cal illuminations, &c.

Had the arrangements entered into with the Begam been throughout
maintained, instead of a considerable diminution, there would have been
a large increase in the sum now annually available, for the suitable keep-
ing up of the finest building of the kind in Oudh.

The population of Ajodhya is ... 7,518
„ , \ Shia ... ... 1,6.30

Musalmans I g^jj^j _ __ 889

Shaivi

2,075

Hindu Vaishnavi

2,222

Nanakshahi

100

Aghori ...

10

Other sects

592

14 AKB

There are 1,693 houses of which 732 are masonry; and unusually large
proportion. There are &6 Hindu temples, of which 63 are in honor of
Vishnu and 33 of Mahadeo ; there are 36 mosques. There is also a ver-
nacular school. There is little trade at Ajodhya. The great fair of the
Ramnaumi, at which 500,000 people assemble, is held here ; it is described
in the district article Fyzabad.

AKBARABAD — Pargana Muhamdi — Tahsil Muhamdi — District Kheri. —
A village in pargana Muhamdi, having groves towards the north and
north-east, and a scrub jungle to the north-west. The country is well
watered from tanks and wells. Akbarabad belongs to Raja Musharraf
Ali Khan, Taluqdar of Magdapur. It was lost by his family about A. D.
1784. His father. Raja Ashraf Ali Khan, recovered it in A. D. 1836.

Area in acres ... 561 '5

Population ... 631

TT- J (Male 322') „-,k

^""^''^ I Female 283 j=^°5

Muliammadans ... lTj„lf„i„iQ > =26

( Female

AKBARPUR-SINJHAULI Pargana*— Tahsil Akbkrfvr— District Fy-
ZABAD. — Prior to the days of the Emperor Akbar, the capital of this pargana
was called Sinjhauli. This name is to be traced to Sojhawal Rawat, a
chief amongst the Bhars, who built a fort, calling it after himself
Sojhawalgarh, in which he lived and ruled. Even after the dispersion
of the Bhars, Sojhawalgarh continued to be the seat of the Government
revenue officers, and in process of time the name became con-upted into
Sinjhauli.

In the days of Akbar, the fort, bridge, and bazar of Akbarpur were
built, and to them that Emperor's name was given. Thenceforth the
collections were made in this fort.

From that time the pargana was entered in the official records as
Akbarpur-Sinjhauli. It is bounded on the north by Tanda, on the south
by Surharpur, on the east by Birhar, on the west by Majhaura.

It is said that in former days the neighbourhood of Akbarpur was
covered with jungle, in which resided a famous saint, whose name was
• Sayyad Kamdl.-f- This man, it is affirmed, was killed by freebooters,
and his body buried within the precincts of the present fort, where his
tomb is still pointed out. On hearing of the murder of this martyr, the
Emperor is said to have ordered the erection of the bridge and fort ;
the latter, in view to the suppression of such crimes in future.

Akbarpur, the capital of the pargana, is a Muhammadan town, which
was formerly of some importance, and still contains ruins of fine buildings
— a sarae, imambara, and old tombs. On the high west or left bank of
the river Tons is the old fort and the fine masonry bridge already
mentioned spans the river and the low alluvial land which extends for
some hundreds of feet eastward on the right bank. Within the fort is

* By P. Carnegy, Esq., Commissioner,
t A different man from the Kamal Pandit mentioned in the Chdndipur Birhar article.

AKB

15

a masjid, and from inscriptions on its ■walls, and also on the south face
of the bridge it appears that these were built under the authority of the
Emperor Akbar, under the supervision of Muhammad Muhsin, who was
probably a nazim or qiladar, although this is not recorded, in the year
of the Hijri 976, or a little more than three centuries ago. So that this
bridge is of the same period as the forts of Allahabad, Agra and Attok,
and the town of Fatehpur-Sikri, all built by Akbar, who was born in A. D.
1543, began to reign, when thirteen years of age, in 1556, and died on
the 13th October 1605, or Hijri 1014.

The bridge is still in good preservation, having been repaired since the
British rule. Its great strength and solidity may be judged from its age
and present condition. In order to secure the mosque from dilapida-
tion, the usual artifice has been resorted to, of adding a verse to the inscrip-
tion, calling down the wrath of Heaven on the heads of such of the
faithful as neglect the repairs of this house of prayer.

Akbarpur gives its modem name to the pargana, and is still the head-
quarters of a tahsil sub-division, the building being within the old fortress.-

The occasion of Akbar's visiting this part of the country is thus tradition-
ally related. — Nawab Kh^n Khdnan, the prime-minister sent his favorite
slave Fahim, to Naipal, to purchase elephants. When the latter arrived
at Jaunpur, he was so struck with the place, that he determined to perpe-
tuate his name in connexion therewith by building a bridge. He was told
by the builders that he alone could bridge the Gumti who could pave the
foundations with gold. Nothing daunted, Fahim deliberately flung some
bags of money into the stream. The builders stayed his hand, and at once
acknowledged that he was the man for the situation, and the work was
commenced. When funds failed, Fahim addressed the wazir and procured
more ; and when the bridge was completed, he wrote and said he had
returned as far as Jaunpur, but he could proceed no further unless the
Emperor came in person to ensure arrangements for the convoy of the
elephants to Akbarabad. The Emperor did come, and saw for himself the
great work that his slave had constructed, and he forgave the deception
that had been practiced upon him. It is said that on his return to Agra,
the Emperor passed through this part of Oudh, and then ordered the
bridge, fort, and mosque of Akbarpur to be erected, and the town to bear
his own name.

The pargana formerly contained the seven Tappas marginally mentioned.

It originally consisted of 959 mauzas
and 8 chaks.

When Azamgarh was ceded by the
wazir to the British in 1801, 24
other mauzas were transferred to
Akbarpur from pargana Mahul of
Azamgarh, and so it contained 983
mauzas and 8 chaks at annexation.
These, under our settlement and
transfer operations, have now been
reduced to 364 demarcated villages.

Number

Hames.

of mauzas.

Sikandarpur

118

Natvi ...

137

Sarsara

..

144

Sisdni ...

..

82

Karmaul

74

Kantar

...

148

Halvali

256

16 AKB

Until t1ie (Liya of Nawab Asif-ud-daula the rfevenue arrangements of
the pargana were made through three different departments, m^.,— the
Kh£sa, 613 mauzas ; the Aimma, 122 mauzas ; and the Jagir, 248 mau-
zas. In the time of Saadat Ali, these distinctions were abandoned, one
collecting agency was adopted, and the Tappa territorial sub-division fell
into disuse.

The pargana is bisected by the river Tons, which is navigable up to
the capital in the rains, and it is touched on portions of its northern bor-
ders by the river Gogra, and the small stream known as the Thirwa. It
contains eleven jhils and twenty-three ponds which retain water through-
out the year, besides other more precarious excavations.

Since the overthrow of the Bhars there have been twenty-four influen-
tial families in whom property in the soil has from time to time vested, of
which twelve were Muhammadan and twelve Hindus. Of some of these
a slight sketch will now be given.

The Muhammadans.

1st. — Sayyad Taj and his three companions are said to have come from
Arabia in the days of the Ghori dynasty, and to have settled in Sinjhauli.
He acquired property, and a tank of his construction, in which there are
eight stone pillars, is still pointed out.* The living descendants of one
of these men are numerous ; and for a time one branch was possessed of a
qanungoship, but this was lost.

Of these people, Shekh Tasawwar Ali is the only man of the family who
has now any rights in the soil, and he is a sub-proprietor in mauza
Kadanpur, They are Shias.

<2,nd. — Sayyad Ahnad, Shia, of Arabia, came during the Toghlaq period,
and settled in Darwan. Two of his line, Sayyad Phul and Piare after-
wards became powerful proprietors, but after three or four generations
they dwindled into insignificance ; and although the family can still be
traced in three villages, they hold no property

3rd. — Sayyad Sidaimdn, a powerful and wise Shia merchant, came from
Naishapur, in the province of Khorasan, in North Persia, in 806 Hijri, or
1403 A. D., settled in mauza Atrora, and married into the family of Sayyad
Phul, just mentioned. He acquired much property, and his tomb and the

* Since this was written, I have had an opportunity of visiting this picturesque spot.
There is a large tank which is annually emptied by irrigation operations. In its centre is
a mound connected only by a causeway on one side, with the surrounding country. On
this mound is a stone tomb, over which are eight roughly-shewn stone pillars, surmounted
by a small brick dome, which has recently fallen in. The whole is over-shadowed by a fine
old tamarind tree. On one of the interior cornices I found the following inscription in
Persian (Arabic character) the existence of which is not generally known in the neighbour-
hood : — "This building was erected in 782 Hijri (1380 A. D.). Thisdome is within a
reservoir, which is surrounded by fruit trees. The land is within Sinjhauli. The Qazi
(to wit, Sayyad T^j) has assigned (waqf) these (i. e., the land and groves) for the support
of the tomb, the Koran readers> the carpets, and carpet-spreaders, the lights, the mosque,
and the well." This inscription shows that it was not during the Ghori dynasty that
Sayyad Taj settled here, as tradition has it, but a hundred and fifty years afterwards, in
the days of Kroz Toghlaq, who founded the city of Jaunpur about 1359 A. D,

AKB 17

spot where lie resided are still pointed out in the village. A fair is held
there annually on the I7th of Rajjab, the anniversary of his death, where
two or three hundred people assemble for the day to honor his memory.

There is still a numerous progeny extant, including the Pirpur and
Kataria taluqdars. In three villages only, however, do members pi this
family still hold sub-proprietary rights.

The house of Pirpur. — The history of the Pirpur taluqa, owned jointly
by Mir Baqar Husen and Mir Ghazanfar Husen is as follows : —

When Akbar Shah built the town and fort, which are still here known by
his name, the descendants of Sayyad Sulaiman above-mentioned, who had
greatly multi-plied, were appointed hereditary chaudhris of the pargana,
which also bears that name. At a subsequent period, the estates which the
family had in the meantime created, became sub-divided into five portions,
as per margin. Of these, the property of Nos. 1, 4,

1. Sayyad Fahim-ud- ^^^ g^ ^^.^ j^g^j ^j ^^le taluqdars whose names are men-

2. Gliulam Ali. tioned above, although Chaudhri Mehndi Husen, claim-

3. „ Fida. ant as heir of No. 1, stilllives ; while the lands of Nos. 2

4. „ ^^^i'"- and 3 are in the independent possession of Malik Hidd-
" ■ yat Husen. All these persons, viz., Baqar and Ghazanfar

Husen, Hidayat Husen, and Chaudhri Mehndi Husen, are descended from
the female line, or have married female descendants of the five brothers
above marginally referred to.

About one hundred years ago the portions of Nos. 4 and 5 were in the
possession of Chaudhri Muhammad Hdfiz ; when he died, his widow, Bholi
Bibi, succeeded him. They had an only daughter, piarried to Khwdja
Badar Ali of Tajpur ; and this person carried on the business of the pro-
perty under his mother-in-law. About the year 1193 Fasli, or 1786 A. D.,
this Badar Ali was killed by the Panwars in a fight, when his son Qasim
Ali was an infant.

Previous to this, in the reign of Shuja-ud-daula, one Jamshed Beg, a
Risaldar, had risen to rank in the King's army, and his history is as fol-
lows : A Government official happened to be passing through the village

of Jetupur, pargana Aldemau, during the reign in question, when the
residents turned out and murdered him ; a force was sent to exterminate
the inhabitants, and amongst others, one Makhan Singh of the Raghu-
bansi tribe was killed. The infant son of this man was then carried off by
the force and taken before the Nawab, and in a moment of caprice he
took him under his protection, made a Muhammadan of him, and being
himself a Mughal, gave him the name of Mirza Jamshed Beg. In process
of time this man rose to command a Risala of 1,700 cavalry, and was
deputed with his regiment to Akbarpur. In his regiment there was a
subordinate officer, named Mirza Muhammad AH Beg, who was in high
favor with the Commandant.

In those days, the neighbouring taluqa of Aurangnagar of 57^ mauzas.
was in the kabuliyat of the Khdnzadas of Hasanpur, and a friendship soon
sprung up between this Muhammad Ali Beg and Raja Roshan Ali Khan,
the head of that clan. The result of this friendship was, that Jamshed

18 AKB

Beg deputed Muhammad Ali Beg to obtain from his friend (the raja) the
farm (the family alleged gift) of the Aurangnagar property for him (the
Risdldar). During the remainder of Jamshed Beg's life he retained this
farm, Muhammad Ali Beg, still familiarly remembered in these parts as
the Mirzai Sahib, managing it for him as his agent. After Jamshed Beg's
death, for two or three years the Mirzai carried on the farm. In the
interim he purchased the village of Pirpur from the Malikzadas, who were
the old zamindars, and made it his head-quarters ; and this was followed
by having the kabuliyat of the Aurangnagar estate made out in his own
name, under the designation of taluqa Pirpur.

We have seen above how, by the death of Badar Ali, his mother-in-law,
Bholi Bibi, was left alone to bring up her infant grandson Qasim, and to-
manage her property. At this time the Mirzai had established his repu-
tation as a powerful and just administrator, and so it occurred to the
lady in question to make over the management of the property, which had
come down from Sayyad Basawan, consisting of 40 mauzas, to him , alone
with the infant heir. This she accordingly did, and from that time that
taluqa also got included in the Pirpur kabuliyat, which went on growing
in the usual snow-ball fashion under its able rulear, until in 1225 Fasli, or
1818 A. D., when it had reached to 645 mau/as. The Mirzai had never
married in these parts, and had no offspring, and he had brought up the
child, Qasim Ali, as his own son; consequently on his death, in 1226 Fasli,
or 1819 A. D., Qasim Ali succeeded him in the entire fine property that
had been created during a long and energetic rule. After Qasim Ali had
held the property for three years, he had to give place to the weU-known
Ghalib Jang ^ to. whom, through royal favor, the property was then farmed.
Qasim Ali sought the intervention of the British Government, and after
a period of two years he was restored to possession, through the represent-
ations of the Resident of Lucknow, in 12S1' Fasli, or 1824 A. D, During
the remainder of his rule, which is stiU favorably remembered, he. added 31
mauzas to the already large property, and died in 1233 Fasli, or 1826 A.D.
The further vicissitudes of this estate need not be given: some 79
villages were taken from it by the Rajkumars : at annexation it still
contained 599, all of which have been retained by the owners.
The Sayyad Basawan mentioned above lived in the reign of Alamgir,
and I have seen an original sanad, which is in the possession of the present
owners, bearing that Emperor's seal, granting privileges to the said Sayyad
in the thirteenth year of that reign, or (say) A. D. 1671.

6th. Shehk Ahmad Qittdl (the slayer), a Shia, came from Lorestan,
1 Loreuur ^ province of Persia, along with Makhdum Ashraf

2. Pirpur. ■ Jahangir (see Paegana ChXndipur Birhar), and took

3. Hashimpur. up his residence in Lorepur Palhan. There were at one
5 SSirfabad *™® ®^^^®^ distinct branches of this man's descendants

6. Sayyadapur. ownmg land, and they are marginally indicated by the

7. AbduUapur. name of their former estates; but the possessions of
9' A^t?*""^^ *^®^® ^^^® ^^^'^ absorbed into the taluqas, of Saman-

10.' Kffipur Maiwal. P^^'^ . ^^^. Pirpur. The taluqdar of the former place,
H, TJninowiL ' Malik Hid^yat Husen, is the present representative

AKB 19

of the Lorepur branch and of the line. These people all assume the desig-
nation of Malik ; but why, I cannot say : for it will be seen that their
common ancestor was a Shekh.

The house of Samanpur. — Malik Hidayat Husen, the present taluqdar,
is eleventh in descent from Shekh Ahmad Qittal, the originator of the
family.

The hereditary property of this branch of the family originally consisted
of three mauzas, including Lorepur Palhan, the parent village. So matters
remained till Malik NuruUa rose to influence, and between the year 1166
and 1170 Fasli, or 1759 and 1763 A. D., his revenue engagements includ-
ed fifty villages, besides having some of the jagir villages of Iftikh^r-ud-
daula, mentioned in the Surharpur Report, in farm.

This state of things was continued during the lives of Maliks Rflhulla
and Najaf. The latter was succeeded hy Malik Ramzdn Bakhsh, who in-
creased the property by adding to it in 1197 Fasli, or 1790 A. D., eleven
villages, (Masenda, &c.,) the muafi of Hikmat Husen Khan, resumed by
order of Nawab Asif-ud-daula. This property then consisted of 61 mauzas,
the revenue of which was paid to the above-mentioned Iftikhar-ud-daula,
who was muafidar of 247^ mauzas, had an assignment, and was brother of
the Bahd Begam.

In 1202 Fasli, or 1795 A. D., owing to the ill-conduct of Zafar-ud-daula,
Bande Ali Khan, the son of the former muafidar, and grandfather of Zain-
ud-din, one of the present agents of the Begam's trust, this jagir was
resumed, and the revenue arrangements were entrusted to Mian Almas
Ali Khan, the far-famed eunuch. This man entrusted the direct manage-
ment of the whole jagir, including his own villages, to Malik Ramzan
Bakhsh, who retained charge till 1212 Fasli, or 1805 A. D., when he was
formally allowed to engage for 308 mauzas, under the name of taluqa
Samanpur. Of these, as already shewn, 247^ were assigned villages, which
had been resumed ; and 61 were villages previously acquired.

Between that year and 1220 Fasli, or 1813 A. D., 24| more villages were
absorbed from the Akbarpur chaudhris and others into this taluqa. Ram-
zan Bakhsh was succeeded in 1231 Fasli, or 1824 A. D., by his son Tafaz-
zul Husen, who, two years afterwards, added taluqa Reori and other vil-
lages to his estate, increasing it to 364 villages. Between that time and the
annexation of this province, this taluqa was still further increased by the
addition of twenty-two other villages. Malik Tafazzul Husen died after the
mutiny, and was succeeded by his younger brother, Malik Hidayat Husen
the present taluqdar.

The notorious rebel ndzims, Muhammad Husen and Mehndi Husen, first
rose to influence in the service of the late taluqdar, whose paid agents they
formerly were ; and there is little question that, had the annexation been
but a little delayed, they would soon have appropriated their master's pro-
perty. They made the late taluqdar, who was a puppet in their hands,
join them with a contingent in the occupation of Gorakhpur, and when

b2

20

AKB

631

3,150

856

3,100

243

1,200

60

300

30

150

321

1,600

86

460

130

650

104

520

they were afterwards driven thence by the Gdrkhas, the Malik was igno-
miniously brought home by his people, stretched on a charpoy, as if he were
a corpse.

Chief Towns.
The following are the chief towns and villages in this pargana : —

Number of houses. Souls,

1. MiibArakpirr

2. Akbarpur Siiahzadpur

3. Auramgnagar

4. Maharajganj

5. Eaeulpur

6. Lorepur ... ...

7. Haidarganj

8. "Samanpur

9. Baralipur ,.. „.

There are, besides, markets held at ten different places, but at which
there are no residences, where the people periodically assemble to carry on
trade.

Sheines, Fairs, &o.

1. MasatMpur alias Bhidon. — Sayyad Masaud, is said to have come from
Arabia, and to have died at this place in 420 Hijri. He is traditionally
believed to have made disciples of two famous local necromancers, named
Sahja and Kalka. The tombs of these two men are at this place. Pilgrims
who are beset by evil spirits, remain for a day and make offerings thereat,
on their way to the greatest shrine of Kachhauchha, mentioned in the
Chandipur Birhar Report, where these are finally cast out.

2. Shah Ramzdn's Dargdh. — Shah Najm-ud-din, Isfahani, alias Shah
Eamzan, was one of the associates.

Distribution of property.
Landed property is now thus distributed in the pargana : —

Estates.

Proprietor.

Number of yillftges.

Pirpur ... u.

B£qar and Ghazanfar H

usen ... 113

Samanpur

Malik Hidayat Hisen

143

Kataria ... ... ^-

Karimat Husen

7

Birhar ...

The four Babus

24

Meopur ...

The three branches

24

Dera

Eaja Shankar Bakhah

5

Moretra...

TheThakurain ...

8

Khapradili

Eamsarup Singh...

2

Bhiti ... „

Jai Datt Singh ...

1

Grants ...

Loyal Snbahdars...

3

Independent

Various

34

Total villas

es ... 364

AKB 21

The area of this pargana was 263 square miles ; 8 villages were added
to it, and there are now 272. The population consists of 54,843 Hindus, and
9,083 Musalmans, being at the rate of 475 to the square mile, according to
the census of 1869.

Only 129 square miles are cultivated ; the soil, products and cultiva-
tion, do not differ from those throughout the district.

AKOBBJ.— Pargana Mauranwan — Tahsil Purwa — District TJnao. — A
large village eleven miles south-east from Purwa, and thirty-one from Unao,
It is near a lake, and half a mile west of the road, leading from Unao to
Eae Bareli. It is alleged to have been founded by Akbar Singh a Manwar
Chhattri, from Dharanagar.

The population is 4,121, of whom 34 are Musalmans. There are very
many Chhattris ; in this ancient town there is no temple, mosque, or
masonry building.

ALAMN AGAR* Pargana. — Tahsil SHAHABAD^DisfWci Hardoi,— A wild
backward pargana, in the extreme north of Tahsil Shahabad, in the Har-
doi district. The Sukheta stream on the west, and the Bhainsta on the
east, separate it from parganas Shahabad, and' Pihani. On the south it is
bounded by pargana North Sara. On the north and north-west it touches
th« districts of Kheri and Shahjahanpur. Its greatest length and breadth
are ten and a half and nine miles. Only 19 of its 59 square miles are cul-
tivated.

Four of its forty-three villages are uninhabited jungles, the property of
Government. The surface is level. To the east and west, along the banks of
the Sukheta and Bhainsta, spread almost unbroken belts of dhak (Butea
frondosa) and thorn jungle that teem with nil-gae, wild hogs, hares,
pea-fowl, grey partridge, and bush quail. The cost and labour of guarding
his crops from the depredations of wild animals is a heavy drag on the
cultivator, so that wherever the neighbouring jungle is thickest, there
rents are lowest. Down the middle of the tract, mid-way between the two
streams, a partial clearance has been made, and is extending.

The proportion of light and sandy soil (6Mr) is far lower than any-
where else in the district, being only 14 per cent, of the cultivated area.
Good loam (dumat), and clay, (matidr) abound. The water-supply is copious

Nowhere else in the district is so large a portion, 59 per cent, of the cul-
tivated area, watered. Five-sixths of the irrigation is from wells, and the
rest from tanks, ponds, and the Sukheta. The Bhainsta dries up - too
soon to be of much use, except to moisten the fields along its banks and by
percolation to raise the water level in the wells. In two-thirds of the
villages large kachcha wells, worked with bullocks and a leathern bag, are
dug for from Rs. 2 to 8, and last from two to four years. In three villages
lever wells with an earthen pot (dhenJdi) are used, which cost from Rs. ^
to 5, and have to be renewed each year. The soil is especially adapted to
the 'growth of sugarcane; and the nearness of the Rosa Factory at

* By A. Haxington Esq., B. A., c. s., Assistant Commissioner,

22 ALA

Shahjahdnpur, only sixteen miles off, will some day develope this backward
branch of the agriculture of the pargana.

There is no scarcity of cultivators at present, but the pressure of popula-
tion upon soil, only 258 to the square mile, is too light to stimulate the
lazy Nikumbhs to stub their wastes and improve their careless tillage.

Less than six acres is the average area of cultivation to each plough,
a lower one than anywhere else in the district. Roads are much wanted.
A cart-track, for it is little more, runs through the pargana from north-
west to south-east, on the way from Shahjahanpur to Pihani. The staple
products are millet, wheat, barley, gram, country cotton, and arhar. Of
the 43 villages, 22J are owned by Nikumbh Rajputs and 9 by Chamar
Gaurs, 4 have been decreed to Government, 1 is held by Tiwari Brahmans,
2 by Kayaths, and 4 J by Muhammadans. The tenures are zemindari and
imperfect pattidari.

The land revenue demand, excluding cesses, amounts to Rs. 24,.5l7, — a
rise of 89 per cent, on the summary jama, and falls at Rs. 1-15-7 per cul-
' tivated acre; Re. 0-10-5 per acre of total area, Rs. 11-6-3 per plough, Rs.
2-4-3 per head of agricultural, and Rs. 1-9-9 of total population.

The population is 15,221. Hindus to Muhammadans are 13,713 to
1,508 ; males to females, 8,398 to 6,823 ; and agriculturists to non-agricul-
turists, 10,965, or 72 per cent., to 4,256. Three-fifths of the Muhamma-
dans are converted Ahirs (Ghosis). A fifth of the Hindus are Chamars.
Nikumbh Chhattris are rather less than a sixth ; Brahmans, Basis, and
Ahirs, make up nearly a third. Of the other castes, Banians and Mur^os
are most numerous.

No melas are held. There is a village school at Karawan (33), with a
branch at Bijgawan (32). Weekly markets are held at Karlwan on
Wednesdays, and at Para on Sundays. Until 1703 A. D., Alamnagar was
included in the great Kheri pargana of Barwar Anjana, Sarkar Khaira-
bad. Local tradition sketches the following outline of the pargana's past
history. Thatheras held it until, at some uncertain period in the later
days of Hindu dominion, a band of Gaur Chhattris, headed by Raja Kuber
Sah crossed the Ganges from Kanauj and crushed them out. Later on,
about a generation before the fall of Kanauj, the Nikumbhs got a footing
in the pargana in this wise.— A body of Kachhwaha Chhattris under the
leadership of Naruk Sah, left Arwal, in Jaipur, and sought service under
the Tunwar raja of Delhi. By him they were deputed to reduce the rebel
Bhais Ahirs of Pipargaon, in Farukhabad.

They did their work, and were rewarded in the usual fashion with a
grant of the rebel tract.

To Nanhar Singh, son of Naruk Sah, were born four sons, — Narpat,
Magru, Gajpat, and Jhagrli. Of these, Gajpat and Jhagrti were fortunate
enough to render signal service to Santan, the powerful Sombansi rdja
of Santan Khera (Sandi). Santan had fallen into disfavour with his chief
the raja of Kanauj, and was in durance there. The Kachhwahas, Gajpat'
and Jhagrli, procured his release. In gratitude for their help, Raja

ALA 2g

Santan conferred on them the title of Nikumbh (Nekkdm), and added
the more substantial benefit of 52 villages for Jhagrti S^h in the neighbour-
hood of Barwar and Lonara in the Sandila country, and of 52 more for
Gajpat Singh in what is now pargana Sandi. Of these, the chief were
Palia and Malhautu. The third son, Narpat Singh, remained with his father
on the Farukhabad side of the Ganges. The fourth, Magrti Sah, was
rewarded for good service, with leave to settle in that portion of what is
now the Alamnagar pargana, which had not been already appropriated
by the Gaurs, and in and near Fatehpur Gaind in what is now pargana
Shahabad.

Side by side, doubtless not without constant feuds, the Gaurs and
Nikumbhs occupied this tract, until, in the reign of Akbar, the Gaurs, then
headed by Raja Lakhmi Sen, waxed rebellious and were dislodged
by Nawab Sadr Jah^n, the illustrious founder of the line of Pihani Say-
yads. The fortunes of the Nikumbhs fell as the star of the Sayyads rose.
Village after village fell into the grasp of the Muhammadans, until at last
all that was left to the Nikumbhs was Bahlolpur, their earliest settlement
in these parts. So they called it Raho (the last left), and by this name
is the ruined site of Bahlolpur still called. But the troubles of the
Nikumbhs were not at an end. A deeper deep was in store for them. In
the following reign, at a wrestling-bout between Gopdl Sah, Nikumbh,
and Taj Khan, a Pathan in the service of Sadr Jahan, the Nikumbhs and
Sayyads fell out. The Nikumbhs got the worst of it ; Bahlolpur, too,
passed away from them, and the Sayyads named it Alamnagar, in honor of
the reigning Emperor Alamgir the first (Aurangzeb). The Nikumbhs
did not recover their position until about ninety years ago, when Asif-ud-
daula resumed the revenue-free domain of the Pihani and Muhamdi
Sayyads (then represented by the Sombansi pervert. Raja Ibadulla Khan),
and gave to the depressed Nikumbhs and Gaurs an opportunity of again
engaging for their lost possessions.

ALDEMAU Pargana — Tahsil Kadipue— DisiHci StjltAnpue.

PAET I.

Historical. — * The pargana of Aldemau is in shape an irregular square,
and was considered to be one of the most productive, as it was undoubtedly
the largest, in the Fyzabad district, in the extreme south-eastern corner
of which it was situated ; it is now in the extreme north-east of Sultan-
pur.

It contains 562 villages and 223,S73 acres, or 349 square miles. It is
traditionally asserted that there were two brothers, who were prominent
leaders amongst the Bhars, named Aide and Malde, the former of whom
built a fort and city on the high left bank of the river Gumti, calling the
latter by his own name, and adding to it the common affix of Man. The
pargana takes its name from this city, which is now in ruins. But little
is known here of the people of whom these brothers were the chiefs, further
than that traces of them are still seen, such as old forts and ruined town^
ships, in no less than forty-nine places in this pargana.

By P. Carnegy, Esq., Commissioner,

24 ALD

As far back as can be traced, the pargana was sub-divided into ten tap-
pas, viz., — (1) Sarwan, (2) Rohiawan, (3) Bewanna, (4) Harai, (5) Makraha,
(6) Haweli, (7) Jatauli, (8) Earaunda, (9) Katghar, and (10) Imlak. The
tappa is an old sub-division well known in the neighbouring districts of
Gorakhpur and Azamgarh, and which was retained in the last settlement
of the former : and persons of respectability and note of by-gone ages are
mentioned in old documents, with reference to the influence they possessed
in the tappa where they lived.

It is affirmed that during the rule of the Bhar leaders named above,
eight members of different clans came to them in search of service, and
were appointed to the management of, and located in the territorial divi-
sions just indicated, by them, in the following order.

Jagnag Rae, Raghubansi, a descendant of Raja Raghu, one of the ancesr
tors of the illustrious Ram Chandar of Ajodhya, came, and was followed by
Bawan Pande, Kantani, and these men were settled and employed in tappa
Harai. Then came Siripat Rana, Sakarwar, a horse merchant, from Fateh-
pur-Sikri, near Agra, where many of his clansmen still have villages, and
joined the Bhars and was employed and settled in tappa Makraha. He
was followed by Man Singh, Bais, from Baiswara, who was settled in Hamid-
pur-Warri, (which, however, was not a tappa,) and founded a colony. After
this came Johpat Sah, Ujjainia, from Ujjain, and he found employment in
tappa Rohiawan. Then Kidar Sukul arrived, and was appointed managing
agent of tappa Imlak, and was followed by Sarwan Tiwari, who was estal^
lished in tappa Sarwan. Next came Dhodhar Upaddhia, who was located
in tappa Katghar, while the Kurmis, who cannot be said, traditionally, even
to have come from elsewhere, are found managing tappa Bewanna. Last
of all came Mutkar Pande, Sarwaria, and in him was vested the manage-
ment of tappa Haweli.

As long as the Bhars continued to maintain their power, the persons
above-mentioned, or their heirs, are said to have carried on their duties as
dependents in the positions which had originally been assigned to them ;
but in process of time the Bhar supremacy languished as the Muhammadan
power became gradually consolidated, and soon the aboriginal race lost their
footing entirely.

It would appear that revenue engagements were then entered into on
the part of the conquerors, with the parties found in actual management,
and who were thus maintained in the possession of the jurisdictions which
had been entrusted to their care by their now deposed masters.

This state of things is supposed to have gone on for a considerable period,
and the next known phase of transition is, that the Sakarwar and Raghu-
bansi colonies, having greatly outstripped the other parties, soon began to
absorb the possessions of the Brahman and Kurmi families. I shall now
give a brief account of the different original colonies to which aUusion has
been made, premising by noting that there are no data from which we can
give the order or probable period of advent, and that the number of gene-
rations said to intervene, between the founder of the colony and the people
now alive, is in each case liable to question.

ALD 25

/. — The Sakarwdrs. — It is asserted that in the seventh generation from
Siripat Rana, reverenced as being the founder of this colony, lived Rana
Bhimal Sih, who had two sons, (1st) Bhimal Mai, and (2nd) P6ran Mai.
Of these, the former also had two sons, Kalian Sdh and Pirtumi Sdh.

Puran Mai was an adherent and courtier of the Emperors of Delhi in
the days, it is asserted, of Tamerlane (A. D. 1399), but more probably of a
successor ; and by constant association with the Muhammadans at court he
was led to embrace their religion. This man had two wives : first, a Hindu
one before conversion, who had borne him Hindu offspring ; and subse-
quently, a Muhammadan one, by whom he had two sons of the latter creed,
named Dule Khan and Bariar Khan. After the death of the brothers
Bhimal Mai and Ptiran Mai, their offspring separated their interests, and
ever since the Hindu branch of the clan has been known as Taraf Kalian,
and the Muhammadan branch as Taraf Dule. At this moment 16 villages
of this pargana are mainly populated by the Hindu faction of this once
powerful clan, while there are still 9 villages inhabited by the Muhamma-
dan portion. How they have diminished before the rapidly rising and
rival Rajkumar tribe, may be gleaned from the fact that ofl&cial documents
shew that at the end of the last century there were over 117 villages in
the possession of the two branches. The two principal properties of the
clan were — 1st, Kalianpur, which however became sub-divided some gene-
rations ago into four estates ; and, 2nd, Allahdadpur, which became ab-
sorbed into the taluqa of Babu Umresh Singh in 1248 Fasli. They are now
proprietors of 6| and sub-proprietors of 45 villages, and the present gene-
ration of these people consider themselves 31 removes from their common
ancestor.

II, — The Raghuhansis. — The now living members of this clan assert
that they are in the thirty-fourth generation from Jagnag Rae, their
original foimder, who, they think, came into the pargana from no greater
distance than Ajodhya. This would make them of older localisation than
the Sakarwars ; and this, it is believed, they really are. We have some-
thing like authentic information, that up to within 5 5 years back the
people retained all the property they had ever possessed, which amounted
to 69 villages. Since then, however, their proprietary possessions have
been reduced to 18 villages, while they are sub-proprietors of 8, and they
form the majority of the population in 15 villages.

jjl_ The Ujjainias. — It is said that when the Bhars were exterminat-
ed this clan increased and multiplied to some extent in the pargana ; but
there is not much indication left now of by-gone prosperity, for we find
from our oldest records that in the end of the last century they only held the
settlement of a single village.

They are at the present time sub-proprietors of three villages and resi-
dents of four others, and they consider themselves to be in the twenty-
fifth generation from the founder of the clan, who, they say, came from
Uijain. Other Rajput clans in Oudh also trace their origin to emigrants
from that country, and amongst them the Bais of Baiswara are said to be
descended from Chand, who came from Ujjain, when Bikramdjit governed
Mdlwa.

26 ALD

There seems to have been more intimacy between Oudh and Malwa in
those ancient times than there is now : for, did not this same king restore
the obliterated Ajodhya temples. We find, as I have just said, the de-
scendants of one of that country populating a whole distiict in Oudh, and
here is a clan in this district taking its name from the capital. And if we
look back to the mythical age, we find the exiled Rama wandering in
these southern wilds, and we learn of one of his successors, R^ja Dirgbans,
the last of the solar line, leaving Ajodhya and taking refuge in the south,
where he founded the Dirgbansi clan.

IV. — The Bais. — This clan never gained much head in the pargana, and
fifty-five years ago, of which time we have something like authentic in-
formation, they had no proprietary possessions ; but we find them, at the
present time, sub-proprietors of nine and a half villages, of which the chief
and also parent village is Hd,midpur. Fotir only of these villages, however,
are inhabited by the clan. They consider themselves in the twenty-seventh
generation from Man Singh, who came from Baiswara, and from whom
they claim to descend.

V. — The Suhuls.— The offsprings of Kidibr Nath Sukul profess to be in
the twenty-sixth generation from that person, their accepted ancestor.
Forty-four years ago they were still zemindars of two and a half villages ;
they are now proprietors of three and a quarter villages, and sub-proprie-
tors of three and a half, while they inhabit ten villages.

VI. — The Tiwdris. — The offspring of Sarwan Tiw£ri say they are
twenty-five removes from the common ancestor. They were zamindars
of three villages forty-four years ago, and they still are of two villages.
They are also sub-proprietors of two villages,- while they form the majority
of the population of six others.

VII. — The Updddhias. — The progeny of Dhodhar Upaddhia were more
prosperous than the other Brahmans, to whom reference has above been
made. They now state they are in the twenty-fifth generation from their
originator. Forty-four years ago they owned eleven and a quarter villages,
and thanks to their prowess in the use of the matchlock and sword, which
won for them the name of Talwarias, their possessions have remained in-
tact. They, however, only inhabit seven of these villages.

VIII. — The Pdndes (two families). — 1st. — The descendants of Mutkar
Pande Sarwaria, in Haweli, think themselves now to be in the twenty-
eighth generation from their progenitor, he who crossed from Gorakhpur
(Sarwar). They held as proprietors two and a quarter villages so far back
as forty-four years ago. They are still proprietors of a single village, and
sub-proprietors of two and three-quarter villages, while they constitute the
major part of the inhabitants of six villages.

^nd.- — The offspring of Bawan Pande Kantani, in Harai, consider them-
selves to be in the thirty-second generation from their progenitor. They
had lost aU superior rights, antecedent to the period of which we have
aiithentic information, but they are still in possession of three villages as
sub-proprietors, while they are found populating seven villages.

ALD 27

IX. — The Kurmis. — These people cannot say where they came from,
and think that they belong to the soil. They are said to have been influ-
ential before the Bhar power began to decay, and they still talk of the
days when their taluqa consisted of over fifty villages ; but there is no
authentic record of their independent proprietorship. They had lost it
before the commencement of the present century. They are still sub-pro-
prietors of three and a quarter villages. Asai Kurmi is said to have held
rank in the Emperor Akbar's army, and to have had a grant of 52 villages
conferred upon him in consideration of his military services.

X. — The Kdyaths. — There is a considerable colony of this class in the
pargana, who also trace back to the period of the Bhars, and, like the
Kurmis, are not conscious that their ancestors came from elsewhere. They
have, from time to time, improved their opportunities, and at present they
o^vn nineteen villages, besides being sub-proprietors of one or two others.

XI. — The Muhainmado.ns. — There is a considerable difference of opi-
nion as to the time when the Musalmans first settled in the pargana. The
Hindu qanlingos afiirmthat it was only in the days of Akbar (1556 — 1605)
that the faithful began to inhabit the pargana, some of whom came armed
with rent-free grants, while others came as officials or retainers. But the
Muhammadans themselves describe their advent to have taken place at a
much earlier period, when the Sultan Sharqiya, or Eastern Kings of Jaun-
pur, held sway between 1399 and 1457 A. D. ; and that the first of their
faith who ventured here was one Sayyad Shuja Kirmani, who came to
Aldemau and expelled the Rajbhars.

Subsequently in the days of Taimur (A. D. 1398), or one of his early
successors, he was followed by one Shekh Makhdtim Mardf, and most of
the villages whose names have ' dbdd' affixed to them trace their origin to
one or other of these two men or their offspring. The last-named indi-
vidual and his descendants appear to have been men of religious vocations,
and, as such, enjoyed considerable rent-free grants and much prosperity ;
and the remains of many of their tombs are still to be found amongst the
ruins of what was once the city of Aldemau. After the days of Alamgir
(A. D. 1707), when the Mughal empire began to wane and the EajkumArs
became dominant in the pargana, many of the descendants of the above-
named Sayyad and Shekh migrated to Gorakhpur, Bareli, Patna, and
elsewhere, finding these parts incompatible with their continued pros-
perity.

As far back as we can trace (1205 F.) with any regard to authenticity,
the Musalmans (not being converted Eajputs) held proprietary rights in
35 villages in this pargana : they are now proprietors of 14| villages and
sub-proprietors of none, while they constitute the majority of the popula-
tion in four villages only.

XII. — The Rdjkumdrs. — Though last, not least, of the dominant races
that have ruled in this pargana, we come to the Rajkumars.

They were the last in order of all those that have been enumerated to
establish themselves here, but they soon became by far the most powerful
and the rights of other clans have rapidly declined in presence of their

28 ALD

continued prosperity until the present moment, when this fine pargana;
(as well as others in this and other districts) may be considered as the
zamindari of the clan.

It is affirmed that in the reign of AUa-ud-din Ghori (A. D. 1153—56),
but more probably of one of his successors of that dynasty, Bari^r Singh,
Chauhan," fled from his home and established himself first in the village of
Jamuawan and afterwards in Bhadayyan, both of which places are in the
Sultanpur district.

The family annals have it that this occurrence took place in A. D. 1248,
hence it could not have been in the reign indicated.

The clan to which Bariar Singh, the common ancestor, belonged, has
now five branches, from which circumstance it is likened to the five fingers
of a man's hand : these are the Chauhan, the Rajkumar, the R^jwar, the
Bachgoti, and the Khanzada, the three last of which own no villages in
this pargana.

Opinions seem divided as to the birth-place of Bariar Singh ; some say
it was Sambhal-Moradabad, others Mainpuri (the undoubted country of
the Chauhans), while, according to Sir H. Elliott, it was Sambhar-Ajmer.
There is also doubt as to this man's reason for leaving his home. It is
well-known that after the overthrow of the Hindus, under Raja Pirthwi,
by the Muhammadans, the Chauhans were specially singled out for extir-
pation by the conquerors, and it is said that it was to seek an asylum from
this fate that Bariar Singh sought refuge in these parts, changing the
name of his clan the better to effect his purpose. That seems to be a
proper and satisfactory reason for the act ; but there is a much more
romantic one, viz., that the father of Bariar Singh, who had already
twenty-two sons, aspired to the hand of a young bride, and the only condi-
tion on which she would agree to become his wife was that, in the event
of a son being born, he should succeed to the title ; and in due ' course this
followed, which so much discomfited the twenty-two former sons that they
all dispersed themselves over the country to push their fortunes, Bariar
Singh's destiny having led him to Eastern- Oudh. Those that rely on this
version of the story relate that Bariar Singh accompanied AUa-ud-din
Ghori, whom he joined at Mainpuri, as he was on his way from Delhi to
subjugate the Bhars, and that he assisted in the overthrow of Raja Bhim-
sen as an officer in the army ; and it is affirmed that after this the con-
quered country was given to Bariar Singh for his services.

The Rajkumars, through B^iar Singh, claim direct descent from R^ja
Kundh Raj, the brother of R4ja Pirthwi Raj, the hero of Delhi (A. D.
1193). I give an abstract of ihe genealogical tree of the Fyzabad part of
the clan from the ancestor just alluded to, down to the present date. It
is a curious thing of its kind, and it professes to be correct.

EUiott's Glossary relates that Raja Sangat was the great-grandnephew
of Raja Pirthwi, and he had twenty-two sons, and that these were super-
seded by the youngest in consequence of an agreement to that effect when
their father took to himself a young wife. Now it will be seen that this
tallies well with the tree, and with the family traditions, which show that

ALD 29

Rana Sangat Deo had twenty sons, who left their homes under precisely
similar circumstances, and of whom Baridr Singh was one.

There is this inconsistency however, that, whereas Rdja Sangat was only
three removes from Raja Pirthwi according to the Glossary, there are six-
teen removes between the latter and R^na Sangat Deo by the family tree.

Raja Pirthwi was killed at Delhi in A. D. 1193, while the advent of
Bariar Singh into Oudh is described to have taken place in A. D. 1248.
There are fifty-five years between the two dates, and assuming them to be
right, there is every likelihood of the Glossary version being correct.

Bariar Singh had four sons, here known by the names of — (1) Asal, (2)
Gogai, (3) Ghatam Deo, and (4) Raj Sdh. (Sir H. Elliott gives them as
Googe, Gage, Ghatum, and Raee). Of these, in the Fyzabad district, we
have to do with the progeny of the fourth, R^ja Raj Sah, who had three
sons :

I. — Raja Bhup Singh, Bachgoti of Dikauli, from whom descend, 1st,
the Raja of Kurwar (one of the oldest principalities in Oudh), and the
taluqdars Jai Datt Singh of Bhiti and Abhai Datt of Khajrahat, who are
still called Bachgotis, whose history will be given in detail when I report
on the pargana in which their property is chiefly situated ; 2nd Makat
Rae's representatives, who hold Katawan, Mahmfidpur, and other villages
in pargana Sultanpur ; and 3rd, the offspring of Jai Chand Raj. This
latter had a son, Tilok Chand, who discontented with the lot of the
younger branch, sought service with the Emperors of Delhi, voluntarily
became a Musalman, and is the ancestor of the Khanzadas, the head of
whom is the Raja of Hasanpur-Bandhua, in zila Sultanpur.

II. — Diwdn Chakrasen Rae, Bachgoti, the ancestor of the Dallippur-
Patti house, and not connected with this district ; and

Ill.^-Isri Singh, Rajkumar of Bhadayydn, zila Sultanpur, and from
whom all the Rajkumd.rs of Fyzabad descend.

Advent into Fyzabad. — It is believed to be about 250 years since the
offspring of Baridr Singh, having become too numerous to find room on
the right bank of the Gumti, and powerful enough to encroach on the
property of their neighbours, crossed over to the left of Fyzabad
bank, and by degrees established six colonies. The first of these was
under Birbhadr SSi, who planted himself at Dera, and from whom the
rajas of that house spring. The second was Kirat Sah, at Nanamau, the
ancestor of the taluqdar of that ilk. The 3rd was Khande Rde, who
fixed himself at Kayathwara, and from him the smaller communities of
tappa Imlak descend. The fourth was Madhukar Sah, who got Meopur,
and from whom the taluqdars of (1) Meopur-Daharwa, (2) Meopur-
Bardg^on, (3) Meopur-Dhalla, and (4) Paras-Patti, all spring. The fifth,
Hari R^e' got Pakarpur, and to him trace back all the small clansmen
of the south-east comer of the district. And the sixth. Jalap R^e, at
Barw^ripur, from whom spring all the communities in the vicinity of
K^dipur.

30 ALD

These families first obtained a footing by absorbing the smaller K^ath,
Brahman, Kurmi, and Musalman zamindars, partly by purchase and
partly by force, and they rapidly possessed themselves of the properties
of the Raghubansis, Sakarwars, Ujjainias, and Bais, and soon over-ran
the pargana. From time immemorial these people have been notoriously
turbulent ; they are commented upon with regard to this in the histories
of the reigns of Sikandar Lodi (A. D. 1488), of Sher Shah (A. D. 1540),
and of Alamgir (A. D. 1658). Their doings within the recollection of
people still living are quite in keeping with the reputation which they
had so long ago established. The Rajkumars of the pargana have long
been divided into three great factions : 1st, those that followed the lead
of the taluqdar of Dera ; 2nd, those that followed the chiefs of Meopur ;
and 3rd, the Tirwaha communities, who always made common cause in
resisting the aggressions of all enemies, whether they belonged to the
first and second factions just named, or whether they were outsiders.
There was deadly feud among these three factions down to annexation,
and much is the blood that has been shed from their jealousies ; but one
faction would sometimes join another in resisting the third, or in attack-
ing another clan.

This part of the pargana history would be incomplete, were I not to
detail some of the chronicles of this powerful clan ; and this I now
propose to do, premising that I shall confine my remarks principally to
times within the memory of men who are still alive.

I. The house of Dera. — ^At the commencement of the present century,
Bdbu Madho Singh was the ruler of this estate, which then consisted of'
101 villages. He was the youngest of four brothers : of these, the eldest,
Beni Bakhsh, held the taluqa for three years, and died of small-pox at
the early age of nineteen. He had already proved his metal, when the
Dera house, assisted by Pirpur and Nanamau, was arrayed against, and
under his leadership vanquished the Meopur party, backed by the Tir-
wdha communities who assembled to contend for the village of Srirampur,
about 1798. On that occasion 300 men are said to have been killed,
and as many more wounded. There are still many rent-free tenures
on the Dera estate granted to families who lost members in this
well-remembered fight. The second brother was Balkaran Singh, who
shot himself because he was not allowed ' by his elder brother to storm
the position at Srirampur, before the arrangements for the battle were
complete. Of the third brother, all I know is that he died childless.

Babu Madho Singh is favourably remembered as the successful leader
in the action at Masora, and as a proprietor who managed his property
respectably ; he died in the year 1823, He was succeeded by his widow,
Thakurain Dariao Kunwar, a most remarkable woman, who after him
for twenty-five years, through toil and turmoil, not only bravely held her
own, but after the fashion of the landlords of her period, added to her
estates, more so, indeed, than her husband had done in his lifetime.
Such redoubted neighbours and contemporaries as Fateh Bahadur,
Sarabdan Singh, and Shiurdj Singh (of the Meopur branch), although
they hesitated not to attack a British military treasure escort on the
highway, cared not to molest her.

ALD 31

She "was a match for the Native Government officials, but it was one
of her idiosyncrasies — an uncommon one in those days — to pay her
revenue punctually. So secret and well-organized were her movements,
that she would spend days with her friends in the old British territories,
without her absence from Dera being even suspected. Twice a year re-
gularly, she paid all her retainers, and daily, at ten o'clock, their rations
were served out to them. Her management of the estate was unique.
She quarrelled, soon after succeeding, with the old hereditary agent,
Bandu Misir, and under some apparent misapprehension of her orders
he was killed. This induced her to lease out her property on favourable
terms, including even villages that had always been under direct
management ; and this system she carried out to the last, to the great
benefit and satisfaction of her tenantry. This was, undoubtedly, a good
system of management as far as the lady and her tenants were concerned,
but it has created difficulties in the way of the settlement officer, who
has been often much puzzled to know whether many of these long-
existing leases originated in old rights, or in agreements above. Sleeman
relates how Siuambar Singh and Hobdar Singh, the notorious leaders of the
Gargbansi clan, fell while trying to regain from this extraordinary woman
the taluqa of Barsinghpur, of which, with the assistance of the nazim,
she had dispossessed them in the year A. D. 1838. The direct line, as
will be seen by the following statement, ended with the husband- of this
thakur^in.

Chhatar Bingb
had two sons.
1. Edim Kalandar Singli 2. Garul Singh

had l son. had 4 sous.

Bimprak&s 1. Haghuuath. 2. Samundar Singh. 3. Hanumin, 4. Bhawanidfn Sihgb

2 sons. 6 sons no descendants. his son, AudAn Singh»

I. Gurdatt Singh 2. Jagdts ESa 1. Kunjan Singh now lambardar

4 sons. childless. his son. of J Banni.

1. Bent Bakhsh Singh (had a 1. Chhatrsdl
daughter Dilr^j, who ascend- his 3 sons.

ed the Gadi for 5 months). 1. EAja Rustam Sih, childless.

2. Balkaran Singh ) „Miai„„ 2. ESo BariSr Singh 3 daughters

3. GajrSj Singh j-cmioiess. 3. Shankar Balchsh Singh (2 sons) heir.

4. M4dho Singh (whose
widow, DariiSo Kunwar,
held for 25 years)

Madho Singh had left a niece, Dilraj Kunwar, married into a Gorakh-
pur family, the daughter of his eldest brother, Beni Bakhsh Singh ; but it
was known that the thakurSin disliked the next male collateral heir,
Babu Rustam Sah, and it was supposed that she therefore entertained an
intention of adopting a son from the Shiiigarh branch of the clan. This
was so entirely contrary to the views and interests of the heir in question,
that in 1847 he took the matter of succession into his own hands. He
was then at the head of 300 men, in the service of the Maharaja Man
Singh, the nazim of the day ; and it is believed that, in what follows, he
was assisted, if not instigated, by his master. There had long been feud
between the thakurdin and Rustam Siih, and the latter, indeed, had
attempted to take Dera by storm, in which assault his father, Chhatrsal
Singh, was killed, in 1846. The son thereafter organised a system of
spies to watch the thakurdin, and to achieve by stealth what he had failed
in by force. His intention, openly admitted, was to kill her, if he could
find her. He soon found the opportunity. The thakur^in determined to

32 ALD

pay one of her secret unattended visits to the Ajodhya fair, for the pur-
pose of bathing ; she was followed by the spies, who immediately commu-
nicated with their master. She was soon traced by the babu to the Stiraj
Kund tank, where he suddenly rode up to her litter, and found her
attended by the five men who carried her, and by a confidential retainer or
two. She at once asked who the horseman was, and was answered, " I am
he whom you are searching for, and who has long been looking for you."
She invited him to dismount, which he did, and sat beside her litter. She
then addressed him, begging him to remember that no disgrace had ever
befallen the house of Dera — none had ever been lepers, one-eyed, or other-
wise contemptible — and to look to it that he maintained the credit of the
family : having thus said she laid her head at the babu's feet, and added,
" Now I am in your power and I am ready to die." Here a companion of
the babu's, who was in his confidence, rode up and suggested that the
hour had come ; but Rustam Sah replied, that no one that placed their
life in his hands should be hurt ; so he desired his own men to convey her
over the Gogra, where they had connections, and he set off for Dera. She
was duly carried across the river, and it is related, as an instance of her
indomitable pluck, that during the nine days she was kept there, she never
drank water. She was then compelled to write a deed in favor of Rustam
Sah, which I have seen, and she was then released ; but so great was the
shock that her proud nature had sustained, that in a few months she pined
and died. For a short time Dilrdj Kunwar the niece, of whom mention
has been made, attempted to obtain the property ; but with the aid of the
nazim her claim was soon negatived. Rustam Sah was put in formal
possession by the nazim, and expended Rs. 35,000 in propitiating the clans-
men. The nazim then moved from Dera, where he hard been encamped,
to Kadipur ; Rustam Sah and a large gathering accompanying the camp.
There, in the presence of the official named, the babu first discovered
what the intentions of the former really were, and that he was being
made a tool of; for he overheard a conversation in which the estate of
Dera was spoken of as Mangarh, a name the nazim had just given to it,
calling it after himself ! The truth at once flashed across Rustam Sah's
mind, and he replied, with his rough and ready wit, " Well, its proper
name is Dipnagar, but henceforth let it be Mangarh or Be-imdngarh, as
circumstances may indicate." A fight would instantly have ensued, and
the raja, who related these facts to me not a fortnight before he died,
assured me that he was ready at the moment to spring at the nazim and
murder him ; but a pandit, who was present, interfered, saying that the
moment was not propitious,; and so the conflict was postponed. By the
morning Rustam S^h had sought an asylum across the British border. A
few months subsequently final terms were made, and by an expenditure of
Rs. 9.5,000 the babu was duly installed as taluqdar of Dera. The estate
consisted of 336 villages, paying Rs. 80,419 per annum to Government at
annexation. In Madho Singh's time, AD. 1808, the property consisted of
183 villages, paying an annual rental of Rs. 26,615 to Government.

Rustam Sah's services during the mutiny were excellent. He suffered
much at annexation under the revenue policy of that day, and lost most
of his villages. StiU he gave shelter, and safe convoy to Benares, to a
party of the Sultanpur fugitives. While I was in charge of the Jaunpur

ALP 33

Intelligence Department, before the re-occupation of Oudh, lie offered to
establish the British rule if I would go to Dera Lord Canning would
not then allow me to accept the offer, but some months afterwards Mr,
Forbes was deputed on this duty. Throughout the rebellion Eustam Sah
was a staunch supporter of our Government, and for this he was made a
Raja and had valuable estates conferred upon him in addition to his former
possessions. In the recent death of this admirable landlord, the district
has suffered a severe loss, and I shall greatly miss him, for at all times I
found in him a practical, out-spoken, common-sense man, who could be
consulted with confidence and satisfaction.

Dera is a highly interesting locality from its associations, mythical as
well as historical. When Ram Chandar returned from his successful attack
on Ceylon, it was necessary for him to seek absolution from the consequences
of having killed Rawan, the offspring of a Brahman, by bathing : and it
was ordained that this ceremony should be performed in two places. The
first of these places was to be indicated to him by his there seeing a crow
bathe in the river, and in so doing it would become white. This incident
is believed, by his admirers, actually to have occurred at Dhopap, a ghdt
on the Gumti, in the village of Shahgarh, four miles from Dera. There,
then, R^m Chandar bathed, and obtained his first absolution, subject to a
second, one in the Gogra at Nirmali Kund, near Guptar Ghat,^ Fyzabad.
Subsequent to this purification. Ram Chandar is said to have crossed the
Gumti at Dera the same evening, and here he is supposed to have per-
formed the lamp-sacrifice (called Dipcharhana), and thenceforth the place
was known as Dipnagar. Why the name was changed to Dera, no one
can explain. Fifty or sixty thousand persons stiU flock from places two
and three days journey distant, to seek like absolution for such sins as
they may have committed. No produce is brought for sale. The village
of Harsen, which adjoins Dera, is also reverenced for its associations ; for
it is said that after performing the sacrifice of lamps just referred to, R£m
Chandar slept in this village ; hence its name, from Har ( Parmeshwar or
Mahadeo), and sen, to sleep.

Overhanging this Dhopap bathing ghdt, and situated on the right high
bank of the Gumti, is a fine old masonry fort, the river-face of which was
of stone, some of which is still left, the past history of which seems to be
disputed. One account is that its name is Garha, and the builder was,
it is said, one of the Bhar sovereigns of Oudh, who imported stone by
water for its construction from Naipal. Soon after the capture of Sultan-
pur it fell into the hands of the Musalman invaders, who have since
restored it, partly in brick and partly in mud. The other account is that
the fort was built by Sallm Shah, alias Jalal Khan, and it is shown in our
maps and is more commonly known by his name. He was the second son
of the renowned Sher Shah, the successful rival and repeated vanquisher of
the Emperor Humdyun, and the conqueror of the country from Bengal
to the Panjab, but who was killed at the taking of Kalinjar and buried in
the well-known mausoleum in Sasseram tank. Salim Shah succeeded his
father in A. D. 1545, and reigned nine years. He built, besides this fort,,
that portion of the Delhi palace, the name of which even Humavdn could,
not change, from Salimgarh.

3* ALD

This fort is undoubtedly of great age : trees have taken root in the
masonry subsequent to its becoming a ruin even, and have since grown old
and withered away. There is an old. mosque behind the fort, originally of
five domes, three of which only remain standing, which is still known as
the Madarsa. In it there is a curious old monogram in stone of the names
in Arabic of God and the Prophet. In the fort there is also a cutting in
stone, in shape like a crown, but there is no inscription ; and opposite this
idol the sacrifice of goats is performed by numbers every year. It appears
to me more than probable that this is the site of a considerable Bhar town,
which was selected by the Muhammadan king named, from its commanding
position, as a stronghold in the heart of the Bachgoti country, to overawe
that people, who, it has been shown, were in these days turbulent.*

Five miles further up the river is P^pargh^t, ten miles south-east of
Sultanpur. Here are the ruins of a city that Mansfir Ali Elhan, Safdar
Jang, attempted to build a century and a quarter ago ; but, ere the walla
had reached many feet in height, the plague broke out, and the work was
suspended, never to be resumed. It was then that Fyzabad was founded
by the Subahdar just named, and which was extended and improved by his
successor, Shuja-ud-daula.,

The Meopur house. — The second great faction of the RajFumar clan are
the descendants of Dal Singh, Taluqdar of Meopur, who lived about a
hundred years ago, when the property consisted of 65 villages, paying
Government Rs. 9,32-5, The greater part of his property was inherited by
his son Zalim Singh, a few villages for subsistence having been given to a
younger son, XJmrao Singh, a notorious plunderer, the ancestor of the
Rdjkumars of Paras-Patti.

Old Zalim Singh, ruled for many a long year, and increased his posses-
sions according to the fashion of the period. A reference to the tabular
statement below will show that he had five sons, and during his lifetime he
is known to have made a distribution of his property amongst these. In
the year A. D. 1809, war was declared between the rival houses of Dera
and Meopur, regarding the possession of the village of Masora, pargana
Birhar, and parties were organized for battle. Babu Madho Singh of Dera
in person led the attack, and he was assisted by the Pajwdr clan and others;
this party was successful on that terrible day, and old Zilim. Singh, and his
three eldest sons, Sangr^m Singh, Subhdo Singh, and Pahlwd,n Singh, were
aU killed ; while the fourth son, Zorawar Singh, received seventeen wounds.

Seven months afterwards, the battle was renewed, when Sarahdan
Singh, the grandson of old Zdlim, avenged the death of his father and
grandfather, slaying the leaders of the rival faction and retaining possessioiii
of the field for the time.

* Half a century after Salim Shah, the eldest sou of Akbar, named Salun, rebelled and
took possession of Oadhin A. D. 1600. (See Elphinstone. ) He assumed the title of Sultau
Salim, and made rent-free grants, the sanad for one of -which is to be seen at Surharpur,
in this district. On the death of Akbar he succeeded to the throne under the title of
jahangir. In the sanad just alluded to, pargana Surharpur and the Qaz Ilahi are both
spoken of.

ALl) 35

It will facilitate reference here to tabulate the descendants of Zalim Singh.

Zalim Singh of Meopur,
had five sons.

1st son or party. 2nd son or party. 8rd son or party, 4th son or party. 6th son ov party.

SangrSm Singh had 2 sons SubhAo Singh PahlwAn Singh ZorSwar Singh aagridwan

Banjit Singh, Sarabdto Singh had 6 sons. had 8 sons died childless, Singh 1 son

1 had 2 sons

ShiudishtnarAln, Jagdeo Singh

had 2 sons (became Muhammadan)
Udresh Chandresh Umresh Singh.
Singh ^Singh.

1st ShiurAj — 2nd Fateh — 3rd Raghublr and his share Jarbandan

Singh Bahddur dayal cost bloodshed. Singh 2 sons

1 son 2 sons died child- M^dhoparshSd and

Israj Singh 1st Lallu S^h less. another.

2nd Abhaidatt Singh.

2

3

4

6

Sitalparshdd

Bliaironparshdd

Shiuparshdd

Sarumdin

2 Bons

1 son

had 2 sons.

1 son

1 Niddhi

dead.

Algu.

2 Chauhdrja.

1

Sarabjft
had 2 sons
Jagat Singh, one
dead.

Of the persons named in this table, the following are alive : —

Of the first party, Udresh Singh and Chandresh Singh, joint taluqdars
of Meopur-Daharwa. Jagdeo Singh, became Musalman and abdicated
in favor of his younger brother, Umresh Singh, who is now taluqdar of
Meopur-Baragaon.

Of the second party, all except Subh£o Singh, Sarabjit Singh, and
Sitalparshad Singh. But just before annexation the possessions of this
branch were absorbed by Udresh Singh and his brother, of the first party,
and the descendants of Subhdo have now only sub-proprietary rights left
in a few villages.

Of the third party, Isrdj Singh, and LaUu Sdh, the joint taluqdars of
Meopur-Dhalla.

Of the fourth son, there was no issue.

Of the fifth party, Madhoparshad and a younger brother are alive, but
their possessions have been absorbed by the Meopur-Dhalla branch.

When the fourth son Zorawar Singh, died, about forty years ago, the
descendants of the first and third sons quarrelled about his share. He usually
lived with the third party, and they considered themselves entitled to all
his share. Sarabdan and Shiudishtnard,in of the first party opposed this,
and arbitrators were appointed. Fateh Bahadur, of the third party,
invited the two last-named persons to meet in the Bhaisauli grove and
arrange matters. They went in good faith with half-a-dozen followers,
thinking that as the rendezvous was in the British territory, there was
little to fear. They had scarcely taken their seats on a charpoy when they
were set upon by an armed party and murdered in cold blood. After
judicial enquiry, the three brothers — Shiuraj Singh, Fateh Bahadur, and
Raghubirdayal Singh, were outlawed by the British Government.

Shiuraj Singh subsequently met his fate in the following manner: Before
annexation. Major A. P. Orr was Assistant to the Superintendent, Oudh
Frontier Police ; he had long been watching the movements of Shiuraj
Singh, and he had traced him to the camp of the then nazim, Man Singh,
at Amola, pargana Birhar. He determined on his capture. The only
hope appeared to be by a stealthy approach, and a harassing forced march

c 2

36 ALP

had to be made. The weather was cold ; it had gained all pight, a^ad so the
legions that followed the nazim had sought shelter in the neighbouring
villages. Presently two Europeans, attended by one or two sawars and
runners, were seen to pass within a few paces of the ndzim's tent. They
were challenged, and, as agreed upon, gave themselves out as belonging to
a British cavalry regimen b, which, they said, was encamped in the neigh-
bourhood. They were allowed to pass on : one of the runners then pointed
to a man under a tree, who was attended by one or two others, and said
that that was Shiuraj Singh. One of the sawars then seized the outlaw by
the hair, the latter swore an oath, and a scuffle ensued ; the sawars were
cut down, Shiuraj wounded in the thigh, and the confusion was complete.
The European officers threw themselves on the protection of the nftzim,
who fortunately sheltered them. The wounded outlaw was carried off
westwards by his now assembled followers, and, as fate would have it, fell
into the hands of Captain Orr's outstripped escort, who decapitated him.
Thus ended a brave, though rash, encounter : but for the rain, Shiuraj
Singh would have been attended, as usual, by his 200 desperadoes, and the
result would have been different. Fateh Bahadur Singh was seized at
Benares under disguise, and sentenced to transportation for life, but died
the following day in the Jaunpur Jail, not without suspicion of having
poisoned himself.

It will be seen from the details above recorded, that of the five sons of
Zalim Singh of Meopur, the descendants of the first and third have absorbed
the estates of the second, fourth, and fifth, while two of our great taluqdar
houses have sprung from the first son, viz., 1st, Udresh Singh and Chan-
dresh Singh of Meopur-Daharwa, and 2nd, Umresh Singh of Meopur-Bard-
gaon. Two great houses have also sprung from the third son, viz., 1st,
Israj Singh, and 2nd, LaUu Sah of Meopur-Dhalla. When I allude to the
two last-named babus as forming two houses, I must note that they hold
under a joint sanad, but they have frequent disputes, and they have made
a private partition of their holdings. They have now succeeded to the
estate of the fugitive Eaghubirdayal Singh, through his widow who held it,
and died childless. Eaghubirdayal left a second widow, but she was set
aside on the plea of having been married when her husband was an outlaw.

At the time of, or shortly before, old Zalim Singh's dep-th, the Meopur
property consisted of 289 villages, paying Rs, 48,420 to Government ; his
offspring held no less than 548 villages at annexation, paying Rs, 1,45,356
per annum to Government.

Meopur-KMs.—This is the present village of the second great faction
of the clan. It was first inhabited by Rdjkumars ten generations ago, when
Madhukar Sah crossed the Gumti and occupied it. The village contains
174 houses and 745 acres of land, and it is held in three portions by the
three taluqdars whose estates have Meopur prefixed to their other names,
and who cling to their respective ancestral portions, with much pride and
pertinacity. There was formerly a mud fort here, the site of which is now
marked by a much-reverenced mound of earth. But, although this was the
parent village of this faction of the Rdjkumars, their great Stronghold was
the fort of Dw^rka. This fort is in the south-east comer of the district,
on the left bank of the Gumti, and overhanging it.

ALD 87

It is mentioned as follows by Dr. Butter : —

" This fort is garrisoned by 1,000 men, the followers of Fateh Bahadur,
a notorious freebooter. His father Pahlwan Singh, his uncles Zorawar
Singh and Sangram Sah, and his grandfather Z^lim Singh, carried their
depredations so far, habitually plundering all boats that passed the fort, and
having on two occasions intercepted the pay sent from Jaunpur for the
troops at Sultanpur, that about A. D. 1812 it was thought necessary to
make an example of them. Accordingly the 42nd Eegiment Native
Infantry, then stationed at Sultanpur, reinforced by artillery and infantry
from Benares, and also by the Chakladar Ghulam Husen and his escort,
the whole under the command of Colonel FaithfuU, after breaching the fort,
took it by assault, with the loss of an officer and 8 men killed. The
place was then occupied for some years by a detachment from Sultanpur.
Sarabdan Singh commanded the fort during the siege and assault ; and
he now lives in the Azamgarh district. Fateh Bahadur, then a boy,
and now about thirty years of age, was present at the storming of the fort,
and after the withdrawal, six years ago, of the British detachment, repaired
and re-occupied it ; he is now the terror of aU Aldemau, which at different
times he has ravaged. He is a troublesome subject to the Oudh Govern-
ment, paying no more than the old assessment of his lands, Rs. 50,000,
and being prepared for resistance or for flight, should any additional
demand be made. Boats, unprotected by the presence of an European,
are subjected to undue detentions and exactions when passing Dwarka and
some other points on the Gumti." *

The old cantonment at Dwarka is still marked by an old well, and some
pipal trees which grow on the site of the old lines. Mounds of earth
and broken bricks show where the ofiicers' houses stood, and there are the
remains of the old fort which is still difficult of approach, from ragged and
steep ravines. But the dense, thorny jungle, extending over thousands of
acres, has disappeared, and cultivation is now carried up to the ditch and
works. The natural position must have been very strong, and the artificial
works, immense.

The house of Ndnamau. — This is one of the six original families of the
clan that crossed the Gumti, and settled at this beautiful spot on the
left bank of the river, three miles above Dera. This taluqa is held by a
coparcenary community, of whom Babu Sitla Bakhsh is primus inter pares.
The estate consisted of 73 villages at annexation, paying Rs. 19,172 to
Government, and circumstances have led to its being taken under direct
management. The taluqdar I have found intelligent and exceedingly
useful in the way of communicating information, of which he possesses
a great stock ; and in arbitrating the disputes of his clansmen. He has
always made common cause with Dera in the numerous faction fights.
This property is deeply mortgaged, and is unremunerative, from the lands
being split up and held by endless numbers of the coparcenary body.

There was formerly an image of uncut stone at Ndnamau, dedicated to
MahMeo, and known as Narbadeshwar-Mah^deo. This stone was brought

* Dr. Butter's Topography of Southern Oudh.

38 ALD

from the Narbada river. Ishwar is one of the names of Mahadeo, and the
name of this particular representation of that idol was Narbadeshwar,
which became gradually corrupted into N'arbadesur* The image has,
however, long since disappeared,

The Paras-Patti house. — This estate was formerly considered a taluqa,
but it has now been ruled not to be one, as it has been subject to sub-
division.

The family, as has already been recorded, is descended from TJmr^o Singh,
a turbulent brother of Zalim Singh, and it therefore belongs to the Meopur
faction. But Paras-Patti is situated close to Dera, and probably for this
reason, ever since the two brothers just named quarrelled and separated,
Umrao Singh and his successors, like the Thakurs of Nanamau, always
joined Dera in their faction quarrels.

It remains to mention that besides many isolated villages held by indivi-
duals or petty communities, there are in this pargana twenty estates or
mahals, made up of from five to thirty-two villages or fractions of such,
and held by influential parties of this clan. These estates generally lie
in a high belt of land, running along the left bank of the Gumti, the
entire length of the pargana, and extending north from it to a depth of
four or five miles.

From its position with regard to the river, this locality is known as the
Tirwaha. These Tirwaha Rajkumars formed the third great faction of
the clan, and they were at once so numerous, so cohesive, and so weU led,
that they had little difficulty in holding their own, when it came to blows,
either against Meopur or Dera. They were usually led by the chiefs of
Barwaripur, Pdkarpur, and Tawakkulpur.

Fairs and Shrines. At Hamidpur. — There is an asthdn (spot or abode)
in this village dedicated to the goddess of destruction, Debi. Fairs are
half-yearly held, on the 24th and 25th of each Kuar and Chait, which are
visited by four or five thousand persons, who never stay over the night :
nor is produce of any importance brought for sale.

Begethua. — There is an astMn here dedicated to Mahablr, or Hanomdn,
the monkey-god. The country round about was formerly a dense jungle,
and all trace of the shrine, which is deemed to be of immense antiquity,
had confessedly been lost ; but about a century ago, Ramparshad Das, an
Ajodhya Bairagi of renown, whilst traversing the woods, came upon this
spot, which inspiration is believed to have pointed out to him as the
long lost shrine. A weekly fair has ever since been held on Tuesdays,
and in the estimation of Hindus the spot is thought to be second only
to Ajodhya in sanctity. There is also a large annual fair on the first
Tuesday after the twentieth day of the month of Sdwan, which is attended
by about 20,000 persons, who come from considerable distances for the
purpose.

* It has been suggested that MaMdeo is a vague, general name, and Ishwara distinctiTe
name ; as Parmeshwar, tne Eternal Being.

ALD 39

There are two ponds here, named Makri-Kund and Hattia-Haran,
which have important mythological associations. The story of these is,
that one Makri was a fairy at the court of the god Indra, who incurred
the displeasure of her master, and was visited with his curse, and, in con-
sequence, became a tadpole, inhabiting this pond. To her many importu-
nities that she might be released from this low state, Indra at length
listened, and she was assured that, should she succeed in touching the foot
of Mahabir, the monkey-god, she would be restored to her former self.
During the war in Ceylon which followed between Ram Chandar, the hero
of the Rajputs, and Rawan, the champion of Buddhism (?) Lachhman,
the brother of the former, was sorely wounded, and Hanoman was deputed
to the Himalayas to fetch a charmed herb (miil-sajiwan) to effect his
cure. On his journey Mahabir tarried at Begethua. Rawan having
heard of the deputation of Mahiibir, despatched his own maternal uncle
Kalnima, to intercept and detain him until the wounded Lachhman should
die in the absence of the drug. On his arrival at this spot, Mahabir
oncountered Kalnima in the garb of a devotee, and being beguiled by the
latter, he agreed to adopt him as his future preceptor and guide. But
Mahabir was thirsty from travel, and he was accordingly referred to the
Makri-Kund for water, and while he was drinking, the golden oppor-
tunity was accorded to the suffering tadpole for which she had waited so
long. She was at once restored to her former fairy shape, and exhibited
her gratitude by divulging to Mahabir the plot of his enemy. The
monkey-god then conceived the design of murdering Kalnima,. but having
the fear of the consequences of taking the life of a Brahman before his
eyes, he sought counsel of the fairy. She soon pointed out an escape from
the embarrassment, and this was. by simply bathing in the neighbouring
pond, called Hattia-Haran, and having afforded this information she dis-
appeared into the clouds. Having rejoined the devotee, Mahdbir des-
patched him by driving him into the bowels of the earth, and he obtained
the promised absolution by bathing in the pond indicated.

The Mansdpur Fair. — About sixty years ago, Damar Das, Raghubansi
of this village, gave himself up to prayer, and attained celebrity as a success-
ful divine. He was succeeded by his pupil Nihal Das, who also acquired
fame. The latter excavated a tank thirty years ago, and having had water
■carried from all the different well-known Hindu bathing-places, such as
Allahabad, Muttra, Gya, Hardwdr, &c., in the presence of an immense assem-
bly of men of the order, it was poured into this tank. Since then a bath-
ing fair has been held at this place twice a year, on the 30th of Kartik and the
24th of Chait, which is attended by 20,000 people of the vicinity, when
offerino-s are made on the site of the funeral pyre of D4mar Das. The visitors
rarely stay over the night, and no goods of importance are brought for sale.

The Bharonadi Fair. — A Brahman by name Dharmangat Pande, a
descendant of Mutkar Pande, was murdered by the Rajkumars of this
village, and this sin was visited on the heads of the latter by the spirit of
the deceased, for they soon lost the village. The memory of the Brahman
martyr is still honored on the 2.5th of the month of Kuar, when a fair is
annually held, which is attended by about 2,000 of the neighbours : no
produce of note is brought for sale.

40 ALI

The Fair of Karre-Deo, at Aheta. When the Sakarwar Rajputs had
taken the place of the subdued Bhar tribe in this locality, the former clan
brought their hereditary idol, a stone image, and set it up in this village,
and to this day offerings are regularly made to it on all occasions of
marriages, births, and rejoicings generally, by both the Hindu and
Musalman branches of the Sakarwfo clan. There is an annual fair held
on the first Tuesday after the 15th day of Jeth, more especially to do
honor to the idol, when about 2,000 of the neighbours assemble for the
■ day.

Dargdh MaJchdiA,m Mdriif. — Allusion has already been made, in treat-
ing of the Musalmans of the pargana, to Shekh Makhdiim M^rlif He lived
in the town of Aldemau, when it was in its zenith, much respected and
honored, and when he died, he was there enshrined. A large fair used
annually to be held to commemorate his deaths but this has been discon-
tinued for many a year.

Juriya Shahid, in the same locality, is a tomb, respected as that of
a blessed martyr, where offerings used to be made by those afflicted with
ague ; hence its name. But for a century nearly, the place has lost its
charm, and has consequently fallen into disrepute.

Aldemau contains 349 square miles, or 223,373 acres. Of this area,
112,480 acres are cultivated, 5,971 are planted with groves, 72,342 are barren.
The Government revenue is Rs. 2,32,880, whicQi falls at the rate of Rs. 1-9-0
per arable acre. The population is 187,308, being at the rate of 532 to the
square mile. Of this population, 32,171 are Brahmans, 35,291 are Chamars ;
but there is nothing on this point deserving of remark. Dostpur is the
principal town. Several classes of professional thieves have their homes in
this pargana.

ALIABAD Town — Pargana Rxjdatjli — Tahsil Ram Sanehi — District
Baea Banki. — This town lies about thirty miles east of the Sadr, on
the district road from Daryabad to Rudauli..

Population 1,734— Musalmans 933, Hindus 801. Longitude, 81° 41'
north ; latitude, 26° 51' east. The majority of the inhabitants are Musal-
man weavers. The town is supposed to be about five hundred years old,
and was formerly celebrated for its cloth manufacture. It was a ren-
dezvous for cloth merchants for all parts of the country, but the trade has
declined with the introduction of English goods.

The size and number of the now dilapidated buildings attest its former
importance^

ALIGANJ— Pargraiia Bhije — Tahsil Lakhimpue — District Kheei.—
A town in a pargana of the same name in the district of Kheri, situated
on the right of the road from Lakhimpur to Bhfir ; has a good soil, is
well watered from tanks and wells, and is surrounded by groves of
mango trees..

Has a market on Tuesdays and Saturdays, at which articles of country

A-MA— AME 41

consumption are sold. There are the ruins of an old mud fort. Latitude
28° 9'; longitude, 80° 40'. Population 1,133.

AxfpuE — Pargana Daundia Khera — Tahsil Puewa — District Unao. —
Lies twenty-one miles south of the tahsil station, and twenty-six east of
Unao. The river Ganges flows three miles to the south of it.

It was founded by a Sayyad Musalman, whose name was Ali Akbar,
some eight hundred years ago. The soil is principally loam with some clay.
The site lies rather low, but the situation is pleasing. Climate and water
good. Groves in abundance. Two markets weekly for corn. Goldsmiths,
carpenters, and potters work here. There are mostly mud built houses.
Population is as follows : —

Hindus ,.. , ... ,.. 1,406

Muhammadaus ... ... ... 22

Total ... 1,428

The Hindu population is divided as follows : —

Btahmans

Chhattris

Kayaths

Baniitas

Pasis

Other castes

330

311

12

18

27

70S

AMANIGANJ — Pargana Mahona — Tahsil Malihabad — District Luck-
now. — This was a market founded by Asif-ud-daula, on his way to Rehar
to fight the Rohillas; he founded one Amaniganj in Malihabad, and on his
return he founded Amaniganj in this pargana, on the lands of village Banoga.
Banoga was a village belonging to the Th^napati Panwars, whose ancestor.
Ram Singh, occupied it after slaying the Pasi proprietors, and because of
the immense woods round he called it Banoga.

It was in the Nawabi, the highway of the traffic from Lucknow to
Biswan, and so on to Khairabad, and again from Bisw^n to Fyzabad. The
amount of business done was very considerable. The annual bazar sales
are now about Rs. 27,700, chiefly of agricultui-al produce. Manufactured
country cotton stuffs take a small place.

One of the Government vernacular schools is placed here.

The population, including that of Banoga, is 1,600. The bazar consists
of one regular street. There are no masonry houses.

AMETHI — Pargana Mohanlalganj — Tahsil Mohanlalganj — District
Lucknow. — Amethi Dingur on the Lucknow and Sultanpur road at
the seventeenth milestone from Lucknow, was the old head-quarters of the
pargana which was known as the Pargana Amethi, till R^ja Himmat Gir
Goshd.in transferred it to Goshainganj, which he built and called after himself,
in the reign of Shuja-ud-daula, in 1754. With a change in the towns came
also a change in the name of the pargana, which was thenceforth known
as tke Goshainganj pargana.

42 AME

The town is situated off the road to the left and is buried in trees, and
the visitor has to thread his way through the long winding alleys formed
by the high walls of the agglomeration of mud houses which compose the
town, coming sometimes across a gateway which leads into the court-yards
of some impoverished Musalman residents, or the grass-covered dome of
the tomb of some old Muhammadan saint. A larger proportion than
usual, amounting to half of the whole population which numbers 7,128
souls, is Muhammadan, and the town contains several Musalman muhaU.as,
two of which — the Malikzada and Ansari — are very old. The date of the
foundation of the town is unknown, but Amethi is a common name of a
village and is probably of Bhar origin. It seems to have been an advanced
post of the Bhar kingdom that was ruled by the Bhar Raja Baladatt,
from Bahraich, as he maintained a force here to keep in check the two
Banaphar Rajput leaders, Alha and Udal, who had been sent by the Ka-
nauj raja to subdue the country of Oudh. They must have met with a
check, for they do not seem to have advanced further, and a great battle
is said to have been fought on a plain on the borders of the pargana
about twenty miles to the west, and which is known as the Lohiiganj —
' The town of blood.' Alha and Udal had a fortified camp in the village
of Pah^magar Tikaria. The next scene was the invasion of Sayyad Salar
in whose track Amethi fell ; he sent forward one of his lieutenants, Malik
Ytisuf, who took and held the town. It is his descendants that inhabit
the Malikzada muhalla, where the tombs of six martyrs (Shahids) attest
the severity of the resistance, he met with. Of these, the two best known,
are the tombs of Jugan Shahid and Sej-ud-dm Gada Shahid. In honor
of the latter a festival is held in the month of Jeth, called the Hara-tale
festival — The "under the Hara tree" festival. It is held on the same
day as the festival in honor of Sayyad Salar at Bahraich. The Musalman
invasion seems to have led to no further result. Sayyad Salar's defeat at
Bahraich and his own death, as well as that of the Bhar Raja BaMdatt,
seems to have drawn off both parties. The next occupants of the town
and the pargana were the Chamar Gaur Rajputs of the country near
Kangari, whose invasion took place probably at the end of the fourteenth
century. The most famous of this family seems to have been Raja Din-
gur, after whose time the town was called Amethi Dingur, and his tribe
was known as the Amethia Rajputs. They, in turn, gave way before
another invasion of the Musalmans, headed by Shekh Abid Husen, Ansari,
and retired to their present seats in Kumhrawan and Haidargarh, in the
district of Bara Banki. This Shekh was the father of the chaudhri fami-
ly of Sahnipur, and some of this same tribe stiU inhabit the Ansdri
muhalla of the town. From this time the Musalman element in the
place increased. Two celebrated saints lived here in the time of Jalal-ud-
din Akbar — Hazrat Bandagi Mian and Shekh Baha-ul-Haq ; and so
widely known was the sanctity of the former, that the town began to be
known as the Amethi of Shekh Bandagi Mian. When Akbar was on
his way back from the conquest of Bengal, he turned aside to visit the saint
and at his bidding, the platform on which he sat and on which his shrine
is now built advanced six paces to meet the coming monarch ; and in such
reverence is his memory held that even the dispossessed Amethia Rajputs
make offerings to his tomb on their visits to the place : some muafi land

AME 43

was granted by the Emperor Akbar, and is still maintained by the Bri-
tish Government. Besides these two, there is the shrine of Shah Yusuf
Qalandari Faqir and numerous mosques. The Hindu religion has been
suppressed, as no Hindu has dared to build a temple. A resident of Amethi
and a member of the family of Shekh Bandagi Mian's was Maulvi Amir
Ali Faqir, who in the last days of Wajid All's reign led a crusade for the
destruction of the Hindu temples of the Hanoman Garhi at Fyzabad. An
injunction was issued against his doing so by the King's Government. He
did not obey and was killed in a fight that took place at Shujdganj, near
Bhilsar, in the Bara Banki district, between himself and the King's troops,
headed by Captain Boileau, that had been sent to stop him. The town now
has a somewhat deserted-looking condition, due to the effect of old, unre-
paired houses.

The annual sales at the bazars amount to Ks. 3,600, and the weaving
trade flourishes. There are no less than ninety-five families of the weav-
ing (Juldha) caste in the town, and the butchers drive a thriving trade in
the sale of skins and horns and suet of cattle slain for the consumption of
the Musalman population. No less than Rs. 1,200 worth of skins form
the annual sale of skins at the rate of one a piece. The Government ver-
nacular school is attended by some 110 pupils, and a small girls' school is
attached.

The number of houses is 1,494.

AMETHI Fargana — Tahsil Raipue — District Sultanpue.* — This large
and important pargana is bounded on the south by the district and
pargana of Partabgarh ; on the north by the parganas of Isauli and
Sultanpur ; on the east by Tappa Asl ; on the west by Pokha Jiis.

It is of a quadrangular shape, covering an area of 299 square miles, of
which 131 are cultivated ; 59 are barren, and the rest is arable. The popu-
lation is 160,752, being at the rate of 638 to the square mile ; of these
only 5,491, or about 3 per cent, are Musalmans, 27,767 are Brahmans,
nearly 17 per cent. This is a very high average for Oudh. 14,605 are
Chhattris, and 14,724 are Chamars, 23,372 are Ahirs.

It is an out-of-the way pargana, in which a colony of Chhattris has
exercised undisturbed rule for many generations.

Of the 365 villages all but one are owned by the Chhattri clan, the
Bandhalgoti, and out of them Raja Madho Singh of Amethi has 318 vil-
lages, covering an area of 265 square miles, and paying a revenue of
Rs. 1,96,417. His fort was taken after the mutinies in 1858 ; he was the
Bond's History of last chief of any consequence whose submission was fol-
the Mutinies, Vol. lowed by pardon and restoration ; he had saved several
II, 533. Europeans at the commencement of the outbreak, and

was therefore treated with leniency. There are eighteen temples of Maha-
deo, two of Debi ; there are also six mosques, several of them costly erec-
tions, built by retired dancing girls.

* By A. F. Millctt, Esq., Assistant Commissioner.

44 AME

The Bandhalgoti clan is not found out of Oudh, nor does it possess a
single village beyond the borders of this pargana. Mr. Carnegy states that
they are descended from a Dharkarin, or female bamboo-splitter, who mar-
ried one Chuka Pande, a servant of the raja of Hasanpur. It is alleged that
they still, on certain ceremonial occasions, make religious offerings to a speci-
men of the ancestral implement, the banka or knife used in splitting the
bamboo.

The origin of the Bandhalgoti is thus related by themselves, and
their annals have been ably abstracted by the Settlement Officer,
Mr. Millett, C. S. :—

The Bandhalgotis, Bandhilgotis, or Banjhilgotis, according to their own
The Bandhakotis account, are Slirajbans by origin, and belong to the par-
ticular branch of the clan now represented by the Raja
of Jaipur. About 900 years ago, Suda Rie, a scion of that illustrious
house, leaving his home in Narwargarh, set out on a pilgrimage to the
holy city of Ajodhya. His route lay across the Amethi pargana, where,
near the present village of Raipur, half overgrown with tangled weeds and
briars, a deserted and dilapitated shrine of Debi suddenly presented itself
to his view. The Bhars then held sway, and few vestiges anywhere re-
mained of Hindu places of worship, so the pious pilgrim resolved to tarry
awhile near the one accident had brought him to. Having performed his
devotions he lay down to rest, and in his slumbers saw a vision of the
Goddess of the Fane, who disclosed to him a lofty destiny ordained for
him and his descendants,— they were to become hereditary lords of the
territory in which he was then a temporary sojourner. Prepared to
further to his utmost the fulfilment of so' interesting a prophecy, he de-
termined to abide henceforth in his future domains, and relinquishing his
uncompleted pilgrimage, entered into the service of the Bhar chieftain.
His innate worth soon manifested itsplf iu many ways and secured his
elevation to the post of minister. His Bhar master now designed, as a
crowning act of favour, to bestow his daughter upon him in marriage ; but
a Surajbans, though he might condescend to serve a barbarian, might not
suUy his lineage by a misalliance, and Suda Rae contemptuously refused
the profiferred honor. The Bhar chief, in offended pride, at once deprived
him of his office, and he returned to Narwargarh. But his mind was
ever occupied with thoughts of the promised land ; he collected a picked
band of followers and marched against Amethi. The Bhars were defeated
with a great slaughter, and the Slirajbans occupied their territory.
Siida Rae established a fort on the spot where he had seen the pro-
phetic vision, and included therein the ruined shrine, in grateful comme-
moration of the divine interposition of his fortunes which occurred there.
After the lapse of a few generations, the line of Siida Rae threatened to
become extinct for the sixth in descent from him remained childless in
his old age. In the village of Kurmu, however, resided Eanakmun, one
of those mighty saints whose irresistible piety carried every thing before
it. To him Mandhata Singh poured out his tale of woe, and humbly
invoked his aid ; nor in vain, for by means of the saint'& prayers and
austerities the threatened calamity was averted. A son was bom to

AME

45

Mandh^ta Singli, and he was at first caHed Sut Sah ; but when he was taken
to be presented to the saint, the latter suggested that his name should be

PEDIGREE OF THE BANDHALGOTI CLAN.

Kfihandeo.

Dewanagi.

Stidli Singh.

Stida Efte.

Dalla Eae.

Indra Man.

. Kharag Siiigh.

Hari BSh,

I
piw^n S^h.

Mandhilta Singh.

Sijt B&h or Bandhu.

Manohar Singh.

Rde Singh.
p^araiui).

Kdwat Siih.
(Bardgdon).

Saugr^m Singh,
(Kannu).

DharAmfr.
(Tikri).

Eakhmangat Singh.

I

"R&m Sahd (Easr^w^i)

(Kasrdwdn).

R^j Singh.
UdUw^n (Amethi.)

Sri Rfim Singh.

3£il Bdhan.

I
.Sri Rdmdeo.

DharmAngat Singh.
Dallp Sdh.

R.an Singh.
(Hewalgarh).

Kunwar Singh.
(Gangoli).

Shydm LAL
(Barna Tlkar).

Sultan Sih.
(Shahgarh).

Bibram Sdh.

II I

Lachhmi Nardin Tilok SAh. Pritam Sdh.
(Kannu). (Amezna). (ftdjgarh).

Tej Singh.
(Amethi).

I
Sujah Sdh,

Dalip Sdh.

LAI Sdh.

Jai Singh,
(Amethi).

Hirde Sdh.
(Jagdispur),

Gambhir Singh.
(Gangoli).

Drig Sdh (Kasdni).

Himniat Siih.
(Kohni).

Indra Singh.
(Gangoli).

Ajab Sdh.
(Iroethi).

Abijhiit Singb.

Pah^r Singh.
(Amethi).

Himmat Sdh.

Barward Singh,

Mdn Singh.
(Amai.)

Chhatarpdl Singh,
(Kasrdwdn.)

Gurdatt Singh.

Drigpdl Singh,

Pirthlpdl Singh.

Jai Chand Singh.
Kannu Kasrdwdn.)

Har Chand Singh.

Dalpat SAh.

Bisheshwar Singh.
(Amethi.)

Arjun Singh.

Mddho Singh.
(Amethi.)

46 AME

changed to one more expressive of the peculiar circumstances of his birth
and he was therefore re-named Bandhu ; his descendants to mark their
recognition of the important place he holds in their history, have since
called themselves Bandhugotis, the children of Bandhu, or popularly
Bandhalgotis.

In the next generation this surname belonged to a single individual,
for Bandhu was blessed with one only son, Manohar Singh. From this
time, however, the family began to increase and multiply. Manohar
Singh had six sons, Rae Singh, Rawat Sah, Sangram Sah, Ran Singh,
Kunwar Singh, and Raj Singh, who are conspicuous as having been the
first to divide between them the lands they inherited from Suda Rae.
A family quarrel, whether regarding the partition or not is uncertain, arose
between them, and they agreed to refer the matter in dispute to Tilok
Chand, the illustrious Bais chieftain. Tilok Chand, say his panegyrists,
was endowed with a happy faculty of settling every troublesome question
presented to him in a facetious and off-hand way, at once hit upon the
titular signification of most of the brothers' names. "Why," said he,
" you aU seem to me to be much on a par, so divide your estates between
you, and dignify yourselves with titles corresponding by your names. Rae
Singh is already a Rae, Rawat Sah, a Rawat, Kunwar Singh, a Kunwar
Ran Singh shall be Rana ; Raj Singh shall be Raja, and lest Sangram
Singh alone should remain untitled, I dub him Thakur." A partition
was accordingly made, and each brother, with the exception of the eldest,
whose share was as usual larger than the rest, received 56,000 bighas.
The following were the estates thus formed : —

Rae Singh, Naraini.
Rawat Singh, Baragaon.
Kunwar Singh, Gangoli.

Raj Singh, Marawar.

Sangrdm Singh, Kannu Sangrampur.

Raj Singh, Udiawdin* and Bihta.

It is important to notice that all of these lie on the south and east sides
of the pargana. The distribution of titles here alluded to, or a very similar
one, is, I may remark, common to many Chhattri tribes. The Chandels
divide themselves into four families, raja, rdwat, r^e, and rana, as also
do the Gautam,-f- while the Amethias lay claim to the titles of raja, rde,
and rfina.J

Of Manohar 's six sons. Raj Sah, the ancestor of the present head of the
The Bandhalgotis Bandhalgoti clan, is, by general consent, said to have
of Amethi or Udia- been the youngest ; if the same evidence bestows on him
■"^" _ the title of Rdja, it is solely because of the accident of

name. But it was nevertheless from this very generation that his house
began to take precedence of the rest. Raj Singh succeeded in adding to
the share he originally received those of his brothers Ram Singh and
Kunwar Singh, (so say the legends, nor is there anything to discredit
them) a circumstance which does not necessarily "postulate any

* The estate of Eaj Singh and his descendants continued to be called Udiawan until annexa-
laUer nam '' '^ "^"^ ^° ""''^ better known as Amethi that I shall throughout call it by the

t Slliot's Supplementary Glossary, Chandel and Qautam,
X Chief clans of Bai Bareli district, page 24.

AME 47

pre-eminence on liis part. His two brothers are'said to have died childless ;
and if at the time of their death, they were living in a state of union with
him, he would be sole proprietor of the treble portion. The lead thus
obtained at the outset his descendants were probably enabled to keep, and
even increase, by the fact (evidenced by the genealogical table) that for
some generations there was a single heir to their estate, which tended to
preserve its importance ; whereas it appears that, in the collateral branches,
a contrary agency was at work in the destructive process of sub-division.

It was not till the time of Sri Eamdeo, fourth from Eaj Singh, that
any troviblesome younger sons required to be provided for. Eamdeo had
two brothers, Shyam Lai, who received the Bama Tikar estate, and
Dhardmir, who received that of Tikri.

The name of Dharamir refers this event to the reign of Sher Shah.*
As Tikri lies on the extreme east, and Bama Tikar on the extreme west,
of the pargana, it would appear that up to this time the southern half of
it only was in the occupancy of the Bandhalgotis. About half a century
later, however, the Ain-i-Aibari (Akbar's Laws) shows they had spread
over the entire pargana ; nor are the traditions of the tribe inconsistent with
the information thus obtained. Eamdeo's grandson, Eam Sah£e, is said
to have received as his portion Kasrawan, on the northern boundary of
the pargana, while his great-grandson Sultan Sah got Shahgarh, interme-
diate between Kasrawan and the older estates. The full extent of Ban-
dhalgoti conquest was now reached ; and henceforward, when new estates
were required, they had to be . formed by sub-divisions of those already
in existence, until in process of time the 39 zamindars of Amethi became a
proverbial expression.

Most of these changes were silently and gradually accomplished, for the
history of even the principal branch of the famUy is for centuries wrapped
in impenetrable obscurity. A faint glimmer of light at last breaks in upon
it in the time of Gurdatt Singh, a little more than a hundred and twenty
years ago. Gurdatt Singh followed the then fashionable practice of defying
the local authorities, and rendered himself so conspicuous in this respect
that in 1743 the Kawab Safdar Jangf deemed it necessary to march
against him in person. Gurdatt Singh, shut himself up in his fort at
Edipur, where he offered a successful resistance to the besieging force for
18 days (a period suspiciously like that of the Mahabharat), and then
finding the post no longer tenable, made his escape into the neighbouring
Eamnagar jungle. The Eaipur fort was now destroyed, and Gurdatt
Singh's estate underwent one of those temporary dissolutions known as
being taken under direct management. From this event, it is said, dates
the establishment of the Amethi chief's head-quarters at Eamnagar.

Drigpal Singh, son of Gurdatt Singh, recovered the estate. He died in
1798, leaving two sons, Har Chand Singh, and Jai Chand Singh. The latter
became separate proprietor of Kannu Kasrawan, the former inherited the
remainder of Drigpal Singh's possessions, and in the well-known extent of

* See paragraph 332, Sultanpur Settlement Beporlr.

t The account given to me says Shuja-ud-daula, but this raises a tliffionlty about dates,

48 AME

his inheritanee lies the first tangible clue to the progress of the Amethl
taluqa. From his father he obtained 153 villages ; and these alone he
held until 1803. In the following year, however, having worked himself
into the good graces of the Ndzim SftalparshM, he was allowed to engage
for the entire pargana, with the single exception of Raghipur, The
present raja contends that he was thus put into possession of no more than
had been taken from his grandfather in 1743 ; but there is no conclusive
proof that such was the case, or that any of his predecessors had ever held
the same position of authority. Nor did Har Chand Singh enjoy it long.
In 1810, Saddat Ali Khan, aided by his diwan, Dayd Shankar, made a land
settlement of the province, large estates were broken up, and the respec-
tive portions of them settled with their rightful proprietors. This measure
led to the cancellation of Har Chand Singh's pargana engagement, and he
was deprived of all but 48 rent-free villages. In the same year, very possi-
bly chagrined at this, degradation, he abdicated in favor of his son Dalpat Sah.
But the policy of Saadat Ali Khan was too strongly opposed to the spirit
of the age to produce any permanent result, and before three years had
well elapsed, Dalpat Sah found himself in possession of all that his father
had held before 1803. Arjun Singh, a second son of Har Chand Singh, was
then alive ; but forbearing to make any demand upon his elder brother,
succeeded in making a comfortable provision for himself by the independ-
ent acquisition of Gangoli.

Dalpat Sah died in 1815, and the estate he transferred to his heir
Bisheshwar Singh was no larger than Drigpal Singh had held at the time
of his death in 1798. Almost immediately, however, it swallowed up several
of its weaker neighbours of an aggregate bulk equal to half its own ; and
then, as if worn out with the exhaustion consequent on such' a mighty
effort, remained in a state of torpidity for more than a quarter of a
century.

Bisheswar Singh died childless in 1842, and the inheritance devolved on
his cousin Madho Singh, the present raja. The Amethi domains were
thus augmented by the not inconsiderable estate of Gangoli, but it yet
remained for them to receive their last and principal accession. In the
year 1845, Maharaja Man Singh was appointed to the Sultanpur nizamat,
and the first events of his term of office portended but little good to the
fortunes of the house of Amethi. The mahiiraja was not of a temper to
possess the semblance without the substance of authority, and was prepared
to make his power felt throughout his district. The ambitious young chief
on the other hand, was equally determined to shape his course exactly in
accordance with his own notions of propriety ; and, if necessary, to resort
to arms to prevent official interference. Hostilities were the natural con-
sequence of such a state of things, and a grand battle was fought in the
year 1845 between the forces of the nazim and the taluqdar.

It was followed by an indecisive result however, and the combatants
soon began to perceive that more advantage was likely to be gained by
negotiation than warfare. Arrangements were entered into in the highest
degree favourable to Madho Singh ; and in pursuance of them he was in the
same year admitted to engage for the revenue of the entire pargana with

AME 49

tlie exception of a few estates which enjoyed the protection of the Huzfif
Tahsil. From this time he applied himself principally to the consolida-
tion of his now immense domains. Those who readily bowed their heads
to the new yoke were maintained in possession, unless they were so un-
friended, or their credit was so poor, that they could not furnish the cus-
tomary security for the payment of their rent; in which case they were
without hesitation set aside. The hhayyas* had their villages either
handed over to some experienced lessee accustomed to large and trouble-
some charges, or to the commandants of the nazim's troops, who took a
" qabz" of them, Kannu Kasrawan and Shahgarh alone gave any serious
trouble ; the proprietor of the former was not finally overpowered until
after three years of stout resistance ; the latter, though it at first lost its
independence, recovered it a few months before annexation.

In the land settlement which then took place, Amethi shared the fate
of most large taluqas, and was almost completely broken up, but only to
be re-constituted in the following year, immediately after the mutiny. At
the commencement of the disturbances, Rftja Madho Singh distinguished
himself by the protection and kindness he afforded to some fugitives from
Sultanpur, who were endeavouring to make their way into Allahabad j
but afterwards he warmly espoused the rebel cause ; nor was it, until the
British army under the command of Lord Clyde, was encamped before his
fort, that he tendered his submission. At the land settlement, which
ehortly afterwards took place, he was admitted under the terms of the
general amnesty to engage for his estate, and it is now confirmed to him
by sanad. It comprises 321 out of 364 villages in the pargana, and pays
to Government a revenue of Rs. 1,96,776.

The present owner of the Amethi estate is ordinarily and correctly styled
rdja ; but how long the title has been in the family I cannot pretend to
say with certainty. Raj Singh and his descendants may quite possibly have
borne it for many generations ; there is no tangible proof that they did
not, and as little that they did. Gurdatt Singh, the first of those who
lived recently enough to be well remembered, is sometimes spoken of as
babu, sometimes as raja ; Drigpal Singh, his successor, appears to have
assumed the more lofty title, but it is doubtful whether he ever obtained
any popular recognition of his right to it. Har Chand Singh and Bisheshwar
Singh were unquestionably rdjas ; they are said to have formally received
the necessary investiture from the Hasanpur chief It is interesting to
notice that the seal of the former (in which he bears this title) was engraved
in the same year apparently as he obtained the lease of the pargana.

Dalpat Sah, intermediate between Har Chand Singh and Bisheshwar
Singh, is commoidy called babu, the explanation given of which is, that
during the time he held the estate, his father Har Chand Singh was alive,
and that it would consequently have been a breach of etiquette for him to
adopt the title of raja.

The present taluqdar never troubled himself to get his claim to the

* The brotherhood.

50 AME

dignity formally acknowledged by the Raja of Hasanpur ; *before annexa-
tion it rested on his being the successor of those who had previously borne
it ; it has now been admitted by the British Government.-|-

I now pass on to the history of collateral branches, which may be dis-
The Bandhalgotis' tinguished into those collateral to R£j Singh himself
early collateral brancli- and those collateral to his descendants. Regarding
*^- the first a very few words will be sufficient. It has

been seen that the estates founded by Ran Singh or Ran and Kunwar
Singh fell almost immediately into the hands of Raj Singh; and it was
only in the matter of time that those of R^e Singh and Sangrara Singh
experienced a different fate. By partitions, mortgages, and grants to Brah-
mans, they gradually dwindled into insignificance, and what little of them
then remained was included in the raja's general lease of 1846'. Bardg^on
aione has retained its individuality, and some little importance, up to the
present time. This may be partly due to the fact, that notwithstanding
numerous partitions, no separate properties have been formed, and thus
though a few heaids may have now and then been broken in internal
dissensions, a broad point has always- been opposed to any aggression
offered fron^ without. At the same time Baragaon is not as large now as
it once was, foir up to nine generations ago it included also Kohra-Muham-
madpur, which was then taken from it by Babu Himmat S^h, ancestor
of the present holders. In the mutiny the zamindars of Baragaon rendered
themselves a little conspicuous by evincing a disposition to be troublesome,
and a body of troops had to be sent to their villages, where a large seizure
of arms was made after the zamindars had pretended to have given up all
they possessed.

The Bandhalgotis' ^^ ^^^ estates held by the cadet branches of Raj
later collateral brancli- Singh's house, four only, Tikri, Shd,hgarh, Kannu Kasrd-
*^- wan, and Gangoli, are worthy of any special mention.

The interest that attaches to Tikri is connected with the history of
its founder, which is thus told by his descendants,
of Tikri. *" ^° '^ Dharamir received from his brother, R^ja Ramdeo
a moderate-sized estate of 42 villages ; but he
lived in stirring times, and being of a warlike disposition, he offered
himself as an ally to Raja Hasan Khan, then preparing for the conflict
•with Riwa. When the hostile armies were pitched in sight of each
other^ it was agreed that a general battle should be avoided, and that both
sides, having appointed champions, should abide the issue of a single com-
bat. Dharamir represented the raja of Hasanpur, and after a stubborn
fight, in which he himself was covered with wounds, defeated and killed
his adversary. In return for this signal service, Hasan Khan ceded to him
five large villages, Sarwawan and others, intermediate between Tikri and
Hasanpur. It reads like a tale of western chivalry that his valour was

* Unless I am mistaken, lie is mentioned under this title in some fiscal documents pro-
duced by his opponent in the Kannu Kasrawan case. In those produced by himself I do not
think he is so styled.

t The facts concerning this title are very obscure, there is no doubt that this rAja was
popularly known as Lai Madho, if he had any real claim to the title of rAja it would have been
popularly recognised whether the recognition by Hasanpur had been granted or not. — Editor

AME 61

further rewarded with the hand of a Bachgoti bride* Broken up by succes-
sive partitions on the one hand, and on the other, hemmed in by territory on
which encroachment was out of the question, the importance of Tikri very
soon declined; its present dimensions are indicated by its second name,
Athg^on. It was not, indeed, without difficulty that it managed to resist
the attacks of others. About six generatons ago, Babu Man Singh, brother
of the then taluqdar, received as his portion the village of Amai. Accord-
ing to one account he obtained Tikri also, but it was not in possession of
the donor, and it was therefore a condition of the gift that he should for-
cibly estabhsh himself in it. He did so, and the previous owners were
driven out ; but they took refuge in the surrounding jungles, and watching
their opportunity surprised Man Singh in Amai, and killed him. This
act of retribution has never been forgotten, and the name of the village in
which it was perpetrated has become a forbidden word, Badigdon, or other
words of similar import being usually employed in referring to it.

This may explain how Tikri and many of its off-shoots continued inde-
pendent until 1846.

In the sweeping changes which then took place they were re-absorbed
into the present estate ; but the old spirit of the ex-proprietors is yet but
partially tamed, and if the rija holds any villages, the acquisition of which
has been of doubtful profit and advantage, I am under the impression it is
those to which I allude.

Sh^hgarh was founded by Babu Sultan Sah, brother of Bikram Sah. It
derives its name from a fort he built and called after
of SMb'^arif^^^^"^^' himself It is reputed to have consisted at first of 121
villages, and to have been distinguished as "Tafriq
Sultan Sahi." If this story were rehable, it would be of the greatest value
in illustrating the growth of the Amethi taluqa. It would seem to imply
that a regular partition occurred, and to define the magnitude of an indi-
vidual share. The idea of such a partition receives some apparent support
also from the fact that a few villages are now divided in fractional shares
between Amethi and Shdhgarh. But reference to the history of those
villages shows that up to a comparatively recent date they were held by
other proprietors, and that they were then divided into two distinct por-
tions, one of which was subsequently included in Shahgarh, and the other
in Amethi. Again, Sultan Sah was one of four brothers, and if a formal
distinction of shares took place, those of three juniors should have been
exactly equal, whereas it is not pretended that they were even approxi-
mately so. It is highly probable, moreover, that the extent of Sultan Sah's
portion is considerably exaggerated, for it does not appear that Shdhgarh,
with all its off-shoots and acquisitions, ever numbered more than 132
villages.

From 1803 to 1810 Shahgarh was, with the rest of the pargana, leased
to B^ja Har Chand Singh, but was again taken from him by the land settle-
ment of the latter year. It then comprised no more than 40 villages, and

* This account, it will be seen, diflfers from that given by the Bachgotis. I think it at
all events exceedingly probable that this is the period to which the story of the Bandhalgotis
being in the Hasanpur service must be referred.

D 2

52 AME

it had become only half as large again, when in 1846 it for the second time
fell into the hands of the Amethi taltiqdar, in the general lease he obtained
from Maharaja Man Singh. To this summary mode of dealing with his
estate, Balwant Singh, the proprietor, yields anything but a ready acquies-
cence, so to silence his opposition, Rdja Madho Singh seized him and held
in confinement. In this sorry plight he remained at the time of General
Sleeman's tour. " Madhoparsh^d of Amethi," writes the Resident, " has
lately seized upon the estate of Shahgarh, worth twenty-thousand rupees a
year, which had been cut off from the Amethi estate, and enjoyed by a
collateral branch of the family for several generations. He holds the pro-
prietor Balwant Singh in prison in irons, and would soon make away with
him were the Oudh Goyernment to think it worth while to enquire after
him."

This passing allusion was not by any means the extent of the interest
the Resident took in the fortunes of the luckless Balwant Singh. On his
return to Lucknow he brought the matter before the Darbar, and though
some time first elapsed, ultimately succeeded in procuring the release of the
captive and the restoration to him of his estate. These events happened
at a critical juncture for Balwant Singh, that is, about the end of the year
1855, for had they been delayed but a few months longer, Shahgarh would
have been in Amethi, at annexation, and so must have remained perma-
nently incorporated with it.

When gratitude goes hand in hand with self-interest it seldom halts, and
it is not surprising therefore that Babii Balwant Singh was a warm
adherent to the British cause during the disturbances of 1857. He distin-
guished himself by the good service he then rendered, and now holds the
estate he recovered in 1855 with a title protected by a taluqdari sanad.

The common account of the origin of Kannu Kasraw^n is, that it was
m, -D jx, 1 X- given in the year 1798 as a chaurdsi to Babu Jai Chand
of W^S^n. Singh, brother of Har Chand Singh. It consists mainly,
as its name denotes, of the two estates of Kannu and*
Kasr^wan. Of these the former was one of the six shares of the earliest
recorded partition; but having gradually, with the exception of a few vil-
lages, become united with the share of Raj Singh, it was afterwards con-
ferred as a chaurasi on Lachhmi Narain, second son ofBikram Sah, whose
descendants are still resident in it. Kasrawan, also said to be a chaur£si,
has been already mentioned as having been given to Babu R£m Sahde a
little previous to the time of Akbar. Whether in the year 1798 Kannu
was in the hands of Raja Har Chand Rae is open to doubt, but it may be
positively asserted that Kasrawan was not. Kannu fell an easy prey to
Jai Chand, but it was not till eight years after that he established himself
in Kasrawdn, and even then it was with the assistance of his brother, at
that time lessee of the pargana. These two estates together gave him but
60 villages, to which before Har Chand's lease had terminated, he added 24
more, thus completing the mystic number implied in the word chaur&i. .

How long this numerical exactitude continued is not clearly ascertain-
able ; it is enough that the estate increased considerably during the fol-
lowmg 30 years. It then began to exhibit signs of approaching decay.

AME 53

and Lai Arjun Singh of Gangoli thought to find a fitting opportunity for
making encroachments on it. He paid the penalty of the attempt with
his life, for he was killed by Pr%parshad, one of the sons of B^bu Jai Chand
Singh. Pragparshad and his brother now deemed it prudent to lekve
their houses, but it would be erroneous to suppose that in so doing they
were actuated by fear of the consequences of outraged laws, the breach of
which they would have to atone whenever they were captured. It was
simply that the nazim at that particular time was friendly to the interests
of the Gangoli chief. In the very next year another person was appointed
to the office, who, without the slightest scruple, re-admitted the fugitives
to engage for their estates.

The nominal inclusion of Kannu Kasrawan in the Amethi lease in 1846
the proprietors quietly ignored. Raja Madho Singh accordingly availed
himself of the influence of his friends at Lucknow to procure the issue of
a sentence of outlawry against them, coupled .with the confiscation of their
estate; and even these orders only took effect in 1849, when after a good
fight in which they were worsted, they were convinced that further resist-
ance would be unavailing. Thenceforward they became as thorns in the
sides of their victorious rival, who was compelled to fix military detach-
ments here and there in order to check their raids. This desultory strug-
gle was relieved by a single event of note ; in 1853 Raja Madho Singh
contrived to bring about the death of Bikramajit, a brother of Pragpar-
shad, and thus in some measure avenged the death of his father Arjun
Singh.

At annexation the surviving brothers were for a while reinstated ; but
though Bhagwdn Singh, son of Bikramajit, did good service with Sir
Hope Grant's force in the mutiny, the restitution of his estate to him on
re-occupation became impossible ; it was in the raja's possession at annex-
ation, on whom it was therefore necessarily bestowed in perpetuity. The
circumstances of the family, however, received no little extra-judicial con-
sideration ; and the rdja at last consented to make them a pecuniary
allowance on the understanding that they should cease for ever to prose-
cute their claim to Kannu Kasrawan. As they infringed this condition,
the raja declined to fulfil his part of the engagement, and they then insti-
tuted a civil suit against him, the termination of which was that they were
declared to have forfeited all claims arising out of the agreement on which
they sued.

Gangoli was, like Kannu, one of the estates formed by the first known
partition which almost immediately passed into the
The Bandhalgotis of poggegsiou of the present raja's ancestor. After the lapse
^°^° of some generations, it was given by Jai Singh, the head

of the family at the time, to his brother Indar Singh, whose descendants
continued to hold it ( except from 1803 to 1810 ) under independent en-
gagement with local authorities until 1815. Lai Arjun Singh, son of
Raja Har Chand Singh, then appropriated it. The correct account of this
transaction is, that it was given to him by his father as a chaurasi ; but this
slurs over the important difficulty of the so-called donor's want of control
over it at the date of the alleged gift when Arjun Singh took it. Moreover,

64 AME

it consisted not of 84, but 10 ordinary villages, for the support of a raja's
brother remained to be rectified by several subsequent accessions. The story
of Arjun Singh's death has been already told in connection with Kannu
Kasrawan ; he left to his son Madho Singh the very respectable inherit-
ance of 101 villages, acquired during a short period of 27 years. In 1842
Raja Madho Singh also succeeded his cousin Bisheshwar Singh in Amethi ;
and his two estates becoming thus blended together, the separate existence
of Gangoli terminated.

Occupying almost the centre of the Amethi pargana lies a cluster of
villages, the principal of which is Bihta. The ex-pro-
'^Bihte!*^''*'^"''^"^ prietary residents style themselves Bandhalgotis, and
their claim to do so, in the present day at least, is gene-
rally admitted, but otherwise they are thorough Ishmaelites, debarred all
social intercourse with the remainder of the clan. They are indeed of all
the Bandhalgotis the only ones who cannot point to the name of their
ancestor in the general pedigree. As to their location in their present
seats, they talk vaguely of a grant of land they received from the Emperor
Akbar, or with more precision admit that they know nothing whatever
about it. The Bandhalgotis say they represent a very old stratum of
society more ancient even than the Bhars, an acme of antiquity which
their namesakes leave unchallenged. A tappa to which Bihta gives its
name is unanimously represented to be one of the oldest possessions of the
raja's family, and yet the residents claim to have held it in the yet more
remote past. From all these facts it would appear that with the single
exception perhaps of the Bais of Udi^wan, the Bandhalgotis of Bihta are
the oldest proprietary body in the pargana. This goes a very little way,
however, towards explaining who they are. In the absence of all certain
information it is permissible to supplement with argument the few facts
we are acquainted with concerning them. In the first place they share
with Sut Sah's descendants the name of Bandhalgoti, and yet are altogether
unconnected with them. The inference is that either the former or the
latter are misnamed, and that it is the former rather than the latter ; it is
easy to understand why after their subjection they should endeavour to
pass themselves off as kinsmen and equals of their conquerors, who on
their side had little inducement to identify themselves with their defeated
foes. But if they be thus deprived of the name they now bear, it becomes
necessary to furnish them with another, not a very simple task perhaps,
and yet not altogether a hopeless one. It is, under any circumstances, a
reasonable presumption that their chief village was founded by them, and
that it received their tribal denomination ; if the antiquity of their pro-
prietorship be not ever-estimated, it is further probable that it was the
centre from which cultivation radiated, and that it gave its name to a
larger tract, as the process of reclamation went on until it extended to the
entire pargana ; conversely then, some clue to the now lost name of the
tribe should be found in that of the pargana and their chief village.

In their present state, Bihta and Amethi certainly bear little resem-
blance to each oth,er, but this does not show there has always been the same
dissimilarity. In the first place, it is an almost invariable rule that a par-
gana is called after a village, and it should therefore be possible to find

AME 55

the site, occupied or unoccupied, of a former village of Amethi ; but unless
my present speculation be correct, I have searched for this in vain. I
know of no grounds whatever for concluding that the Amethi of the maps
marks the spot where the old village was ; it simply denotes the head-
quarters of a tahsil. Again, the pargana is properly speaking not Amethi
but Garh Amethi,* and this points either to its containing two previously
separate divisions of that kind, or to a similar conjunction of two of its
constituent villages. In this instance, the latter seems the more probable
as there is never known to have been a distinct pargana of Garh Amethi.
A village of the name on the other hand is readily found ; and that it is
the particular one wanted is rendered likely by the fact that it contains
"an old Bhar fort in a commanding position overlooking a lake," while the
existence of a brick fort in Garh Amethi is expressly mentioned by Abul
Fazl-f-. The eponymous village still remains to be discovered ; and in its
absence Bihta appears to be the most promising field of search ; firstly,
because Amethi being coupled with Garh was presumably contiguous
to it, or at least in its vicinity, and Bihta, though it does not now adjoin
Garh, is within a very short distance of it, and, so far as known, the inter-
vening villages are of comparatively recent creation ; secondly, because
Bihta can boast of an extreme antiquity; and thirdly, because it is known
to have been a place of some importance and the head-quarters of a
tappa. That Bihta itself is identical with the missing village need only
be doubted in consequence of the absence of nominal identity.

This brings one round again to the question whether that identity did
not once exist. What leads me to suggest this is that there are unmis-
takeable signs of both names having deviated from earlier known forms :
Bihta alone is now the name of the village, as that 9f a tappa, it is also
recorded Bishta. There is the high authority of the Ain-i-Akbari, on the
other hand, for reading Ain Bahti for Amethif. Thus we have Bihta,
Ainbahti, which differ from each other only to an extent that may be
explained by the hypothesis that, in the former an elision of the initial
short syllable has taken place— a process by no means unprecedented^:.
Again, if in the one case sh has become a simple li, the same may very
possibly have happened in the other. And if these changes be made, the
names of villao-e and pargana become respectively Ambishta and Ambihta.

The first deduction from these arguments is, that Bihta is neither more
no ' J than Amethi, the parent village of the pargana : the second is,
that the pretended Bandhalgotis of Bihta were originally Ambashtas, one
of the mixed classes enumerated in Manu's code.

■PnTTOR's Note —The proximity of two clans of Chhattris bearing the same name one of
which asserts, and the other, the goyeming and landowning clan, denies identity of origin is
Tn antiquarian problem which presents itself m every district m Oudh. In Kheri the present
T^nwlrs of the feudal house of Oel Kaimahra, deny any connection with the others Imng

,?rrl them so the Bisens of R^mpur Dhingwas in Paitabgarh ignore their low y brethren, the
rTfnstrceofallSthatofthe Tilok Chaudi Bais who deny boldly that they are of the
^reat Banian which spreads over all O.idh, see artkle Rai Bareli.
^#Tti» palled so in the Aln-i-Akbari, and also m documents of comparatively recent date.

+ Compare also the loss of the 5 in the word Bamitha, which is correctly Bambhi (Elliot's

^T ComparTth^^commo^ E^^Ush Vord press-gang, which is an abbreviation of impress

56 AME

It is somewhat opposed to this view that the Ambashtas are mentioned
in the Vishnu Purana, and are there said to belong to the north of Jndia,
while atlases give a tribe Ambantx in the same region ; but next to the
Ambashtas in the Vishnu Purana list come the Parasikas, and these
belong to the north also. At the same time, General Cunningham says
that the native name of the famous Prasii of Palibothra is Palisiya or
Parasiya ; and he gives a derivative form of the one Palasaka, so that the
corresponding derivative of the other is evidently Parasaka. Now I do
not mean to assert that these two tribes are the same ; I am at least
warranted in saying that the presence of a paxticnlar tribe in the north or
west is no argument against the existence of its namesake in the east.
That the Ambashtas in the latter direction aJone were referred to by
Manu I do not say; on the contrary it is by no means impossible that they
were connected with each other, for whatever may have been the case
regarding the Parasakas, numerous instances might, I believe, be cited of
branches of the same tribe being found at a very early period on opposite
sides of India : the Kambojas of Cochin may serve as aa example.

The history has now been sketched of each division of theBandhalgotis
as given in or suggested by their own legends ; it re-
Geuerarremarks!' mains to notice what is to be ascertained concerning
them from other sources. Some twenty or " more gene- ■
rations ago," says Mr. Camegy, in his Notes, " there were two brothers in
the service of the then Chief of Hasanpur in the Sultanpur district. Their
names were Kunnu Pande and Chtichu Pande. The first of these formed
an alliance with an Ahirin, and from this union are descended all the
Kanhpurias. The other married a Dharkdrin in the raja's service, and
from her are sprung all the Bandal, Badhil, or Banjhilgotis, including the

great chief who is third in rank in the province The Bandhal-

goti tribe, on certain occasions, still make offerings to the implement
of their maternal ancestor, the b^nka or knife used in splitting the bam-
boo".

A comparison of this account with that given by the Bandhalgotis
themselves raises the question whether they are of Slirajbansi extraction,
and settled where they now are after conquest and expulsion of a horde of
Bhars, or whether they are of aboriginal descent. From th^ foundation
of their fortunes to the service of their common ancestor with the raja of
Hasanpur a third origin is assigned to them. Sir H. Elhot says they are
a tribe of Eajputs of Chauhan descent, but I do not know on what autho-
rity the statement rests, nor have I been able to find anything in corrobo-
ration of it. With regard to the theory which makes their Chhattri

In their case refutation is easy. They say they are descended from SffiMhan, 42nd from
whom was Tilok Chand, hut that they the descendants of Tilok Chand alone survive and that
the other forty-one generations have left no other progeny. This is absurd, what really
happened was that Tilok Chand was the chief of the clan when it was formally Hinduised
he of course was made a Chhattri just as the Gond chiefs have recently been made Chhattris'
his clansmen were left in their sudra or aboriginal degradation just as the Gonds now are In
process of time the clansmen too became civUised, and assert their rights to be admitted as
Chhattns within the poUty established by Manu ; so will the Gonds, in due time both
truly plead blood relationship to the chief, this the latter denies because he then would have
to admit an aboriginal or at least » common and unclean ancestry for himself.

AME 67

status of local development, the Bandhalgotis freely admit that one of their
number was enlisted on the side of the Raja of Hasalipur in his dispute
■with the Baghels, and that in return for services then rendered, a tract of
land was made over to him by the raja. Again while they describe their
former home to have been at Narwargarh, the town of Hasanpur was,
until the time of Hasan Khan, i. e., just until the mutiny point in the
annals of the Bandhalgotis and Bachgotis, commonly known as Narwal.
And further, whereas the Bandhalgotis derive their name from Bandhu,
there is contiguous to Hasanpur a village named Bandhua ; and a slight
eminence on the border of a tank between the two is still pointed out as
the" site of the residence of the Bandhalgoti servant of the riija. The
story of the misalliance may seem to find some support in one form of the
clan appellation, for Banjhilgoti is a very possible corruption of Bansjhil-
goti, and though the exact word Banjhil does not exist, a very similar one
Bansphor shows that the bamboo-splitting industry furnishes the basis of
a caste distinction.

The obverse of the picture, however, is not quite blank. To trace the
source of the Bandhalgoti traditions, it is curious that in claiming alliance
with the Jaipur family they should hit upon as the home of their ancestor
the very place it occupied before its removal to Jaipur, and the strange-
ness of the coincidence is enhanced by the fact that Siida R£e's pilgrimage
into Oudh agrees in date with the Kachhwaha migration-f-.

The imputed veneration of the b^nka or bamboo knife is explained away
by a trifling modification of the name of the instrument. By the elision
of the final a the knife of the bamboo-cutter is transformed into the poni-
ard bdnk, of the warrior ; and herein, whether consciously or unconsci-
ously they furnish what is perhaps an indication of western connection,
for the poniard, the professed object of their reverence is the symbol of
Narwar, * the very State from which Siida E,^ is represented to have come.
With respect to the Hasanpur grant, they assert that Dharamir was the
recipient, and that he was not the ancestor of the whole clan, but a young-
er brother of the then chief, and founder only of a collateral branch, viz.,
Tikri. Even he, too, they say, was the ally and not the servant of Rdja
Hasan Khan.

Respecting the alleged Pande paternity of the Bandhalgotis, it may be
noted that Bhansiawan, by some pointed out as their first resting-place in
Amethi, is still occupied by a Pande brotherhood, and in Udiawan, one of
their very earliest acquisitions, tales are still extant of a P^nde proprietor.
The Ain-i-Akbari, moreover, peoples pargana Garh Amethi with Bahman-
gotis, no doubt identical with those now called Bandhalgotis. This, how-
ever, is the third inference it has been seen possible to draw from their
chameleon-like mutations each of them in some measure neutralizes the
others. Regarding the termination " goti " also, the following points are
I think, worthy of notice. It is commonly said to signify the got or gotra
to which a tribe belong. " Properly those only are gotes," says Sir H. Elliot
" which bear the name of some Rishi progenitor, as Sandilya, Bh^raddwaj,

* See list of Symbols given in the second volume of Prinsep's Antiquities.
+ Elliot's Supplementary Glossary, Amethiaa.

58 AME

Bashist (Vasishtha), Kasyapa" but it has become the custom to call all
sub-divisions of a tribe gets, and according to the Puranas there are no less
than 10,000 ; now so far as my information goes, notwithstanding this vast
number of gots, two Rajput tribes only, the Bachgotis and Bandhalgotis
have assumed them as their ordinary designation ; and these by some odd
chance have contrived to settle not only in the same province, but also in
immediate juxtaposition; this may of course be pure accident : it may be
something more.

In the settlement report a common origin is assigned to the Bandhalgotis
and Kanhpurias. This does not profess to follow the traditions of those
concerned, which make Ghdchu Chirch orSuchh, progenitor of the
Kanhpurias only and ignores the Bandhalgotis altogether. The only
circumstance bearing on the point that I can find is that Kdnh is the
eponymous ancestor of the Kanhpuria clan, and Kdhandeo is the root
of the genealogical tree of the Bandhalgotis. This may either be an
indication of their common descent, or it m.ay have given rise to the
story which asserts it. Again, the name of the district which the
Bandhalgotis now occupy suggested some connection between them and
the Amethias, but all they have in common is that they both settled
in places called Amethi. K one happened to pick up a new name by
doing so, the other did not.

With respect to matrimonial alliances, the Bandhalgotis give their
daughters to the Tilok Chandi Bais, R^thors, Bhadwarias and Bisens of
Manjhauli, and take the daughters of Bachgotis ( of the more important
houses ) Dirgbansi, Bhale-Sultan, Raghubansi, Bilkharia, Jadubansi, and
Bisens of Manikpur ; while there is reciprocity on this point between them
and the Baghels, Gharwars, Ghauhans of Mainpuri and Panwars.*

Regarding the localities in which Bandhalgotis are found. Sir Henry
Elliot particularizes Banaudha and Bundelkhand, and says there are a few
also in Haweli Ghazipur. The first are evidently those of Amethi ; re-
garding the others, I have not been able to ascertain anything. -f

The Amethi people are under the impression that there are namesakes of
theirs in the vicinity of GuptarGhat near Ajodhya, but local enquiry proves
them to be mistaken in this respect. They are more correct in sup-
posing that a Bandhalgoti colony lies a little further north near Manikapur.
A trustworthy tradition ascribes their arrival in those parts to the com-
mencement of the 14th century A. D.; and at one time they appear to have
enjoyed considerable importance but aBisen has occupied their gaddi for
six generations, and they now retain few vestiges of their former greatness.
As to their connection with this northern colony, the Bandhalgotis of
Amethi make no positive statement ; they do not altogether disown it ;
but, on the other hand, they do not admit that it belongs to their frater-
nity ; some af&rm it is an off-shoot of the house of Naraini ; others profess
ignorance as to its origin. Still further to the north, in the extreme west
of Naipal is a peculiar dis-Hinduised and degraded tribe called Bujhal
Gharti, their superstitions " are neither Buddhist nor Brahman, but yet

* This is what the Bandhalgotis say, I cannot vouch for its accuracy.
+ The only books I have been able to consult are Oldham's Report and Census o£ the
Ghazipur district, which, however, should be amply sufficient.

AME

69

cognate with an early Brahmanism, which in its present state is either a
rudiment of something that has to be developed, or a fragment of some-
thing that has fallen into decay." If Manikapur was colonised from Ame-
thi, there is something more than the resemblance of their name to Ban-
jhilgoti to indicate that these Bujhal Ghartis represent a continuation of
the same northerly migration.

I have now given such information as I have been able to collect regard-
ing the history of the Bandhalgotis. It is sufficiently clear on all but the
two material points of their origin and antiquity. With respect to the
latter, there is no inherent improbability in their statement that they settled
in their present abodes as much as nine centuries ago. The account
which makes the clan of mean origin gives it an existence of more than
twenty generations, so that their own annals, which make the present raja
twenty-sixth in descent from the founder, may easily be credited. Now
in private life a generation may be calculated as eqiiivalent to 33 years,*
so that Slida Rae must have lived between 800 and 900 years ago. To
apply another test : Dharamir lived in the reign of Sher Shah, So Suda
Rae, who is placed just twice as far back in the pedigree, must have lived
about the beginning of the thirteenth century. About the same result
also is arrived at by following the legend which makes Raj Singh a con-
temporary of Tilok Chand, if, indeed, it be not too dangerous to trust to
light derived from such a historical will-o'-the wisp as the Bais chieftain ;
even according to the most moderate calculation therefore, it may be con-
cluded that, whether the Bandhalgotis be of pure Surajbansi origin, or a
spurious tribe, " Nawa-Chhattris," as they are sometimes called, their set-
tlement in the Amethi pargana must be referred to at least as early a date
as the immigration of any of the acknowledged Chhattri clans of the dis-
trict. But as to their origin, I forbear to express a decided opinion, leaving
it an open question for those who choose to determine on the data I have
furnished. I can only say of them as was once said of the Douglasses, that
we do not know them "in the stream, in the root, but in the stem".

In order to complete this account of a great Indian county, I append a
list of the principal religious edifices erected within its limits, or near to
its borders : —

List of Hindu and Muhammadan Temples in Isauliand Amethi

parganas.

Namo of
pargana.

Name of -village.

Kame of temple.

Eemakks.

Ametti ...

Kamnagar

Shivala

Built by Raja Madho Singh, Taluqdar of
Amethi, at a cost of Ra. 300, in 1272 Fasli.

Ditto ...

Sara Kliimiua ...

Ditto

Built by Babu Earn, at a coat of Rs. 2,500 in
1269 EaaU.

Ditto ...

Ditto

Ditto

Built by Durga Bakhah, at a coat of Ka. 1,500,

in 1272 Fasli.

* Prinsep'a Antiquities I, 251, 23 years ia the average period allowed for these genera,
tions of rulers,

60

AME— AMI

Name of
pargana.

Nama of village.

Wame of temple.

Bemakks.

Amethi ...

rshwarpur

Ditto

Built by Pandit Laobhmandatt, at a cost of
Ks. 1,000 in 1271 Fasli.

Ditto ~...

Kakwa

Ditto

Built by Pandit Bhawanidin, at a cost of
Es. 1,000 in 1268 Pasli.

Ditto ...

Piirabgaon

Ditto

Built by Pandit LaoUimandatt, at a cost of
Ks. 1,200, in 1266 Fasli.

Ditto ...

PuraDebidatt ...

Ditto

Built by Pandit Debidatt, at a cost of Es, 1,500
in 1266 Fasli.

Ditto ..

Ditto

Ditto

Gauriganj

Ditto
Paraauli

Ditto
Ditto
Ditto

Built some 40 years ago, at a cost of Es. 1,500
Ditto. ditto ditto
Built by Chandka Kabar, at a cost of
Es. 1,500, in 1260 Fasli.

Ditto ...

Bhatgaon

Temple of Debi

Built by Nand Earn Upaddbia, at a cost of
Es. 1,000, 60 years ago.

Ditto

Ditto

.SMvala

Built by Mansfoam, Gold-smith, at a cost of
Ks. 1,200, in 1262 Fasli.

Ditto ...

Raipur

Ditto

Built by Shiudayal, Banian, at a cost of
Es. 500, in 1240 Fasli.

Ditto ...

Ditto

Ditto

Built by Pandohi, Banian, at a cost of
Ks. 800, in 1242 Fasli.

Ditto ...

Ditto

Ditto

BuUt by Dewdn Sobha Eae, at a cost of
Es. 300, 45 years ago.

Ditto ...

Panduria

Ditto

Built by Eaja Lai Madbo Singh, at a cost of
Es. 600, 25 years ago.

Ditto ...

Aksdra

Ditto

Built by Musafir, Kalwar, at a cost of Ks. 800,
50 years ago.

Ditto
Ditto

Ditto ...

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto ...
Ditto

Batinra Naktur
Rdipur

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto
Gauriganj
Chandaria

Temple of Debi
Mosque

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto
Ditto
Ditto

Built by Kaja Bisheshwar Singh, 40 years ago,
Built by Khwaja Muhammad Pandh, at a

cost of Rs. 1,500.
Built by Bandi, prostitute, at a cost of

Ks. 1,500.
Built by Mangto, prostitute, at a cost of

Es. 1,200.
Was built at a cost of Es. 100, 60 years ago.
Built by Chorhar in 1271 Fasli.
Built at cost of Es. 200.

AMIRNAGAE — Pargana Magdapue — Tahsil Mtjhamdi — District Kheri.
— ^A large village in pargana Magdapur ; is situated on the left side of the
road from Lakhimpur to Muhamdi, having groves towards its north-east
and south-east,- and a well-cultivated country on its other sides. It lies
ahout 5 miles from the right bank of the Kathna.

It has a market in which articles of country consumption are sold. R^ja
Musharraf Ali Khan, Taluqdar of Magdapur, is the proprietor of the village.

Area in acres
Population

1,263-2
622

AMO— AMS 61

M^i« {^: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::?!?] ^83
^-^'i^ 1^^ ;;: ::: :;; ::; zllll '''

AMOSI — *Fargana Bijnaur — Tahsil Lucknow — District LucKNOw. —
Amosi is situated near the centre of tlie Bijnaur pargana, about 8 miles
from Lucknow, a little to the west of the Lucknow andCawnpore road, and
4 miles from the town of Bijnaur.

It has no pretensions to be classed amongst the towns of Bijnaur, and is
noteworthy only as the head-quarters village of a clan of Chauhans who
invaded the pargana somewhere about the middle of the fifteenth century.
They at one time seem to have occupied the greater part of the pargana,
but gave way to the Shekhs of Bijnaur. The Chauhans say that the whole
pargana was previously held by Bhars, whom they attacked and drove out,
and they point to a large mound outside the village where th^ buried the
fallen Bhars. The village contains a population of about 2,350 souls, of
whom nearly all are Hindus, and many of them the proprietary cultivators
of the soil. There are 388 houses, all kachcha ; and the neatest among
them, with its brick pillars and a verandah, is the small Government school
at which some 65 boys attend. In the village is the door-post of the house
of the old Chauhan leader, Brinaik, whom they revere under the name of
Brinaik Baba, and make offerings to him on the occasion of any auspicious
event, as the marriage or the birth of a boy. The village is surrounded on
all sides by wide usar (barren) plains. Of the population 82 are Musal-
mans, and 2,072 are Hindus.

AMRITAPUR — Pargana Kheri — Tahsil Lakhimpur — District Kheri. —
A village in pargana Kheri. Articles of country consumption are sold.
The average sale of cotton fabrics is estimated at Rs. 4,000 annually. It
belongs to Raja Anrudh Singh, Taluqdar of Oel.

Area in acres...

Cultivated

Culturable -waate

Barren

Population ...

TT- ^ Male

Hindus j j.gjjj^e

Muliammadans | jemlle

628-59
387-81
175-41
65-37
837
337')

.. 285 J
.. 109 i
.. 106 I

622

215

AMSIN Parganaf — Tahsil Fyzabad — District Fyzabad. — The pargana
Amsin has an area of 68,311 acres, of which 42,543 acres are cultivated,
10,203 are fit for cultivation, and 15,505 acres comprise the unculturable
waste and the sites of villages and towns.

The pargana is bounded on the north by the river Sarju or Gogra, on
the south by the river Madha, on the east by Pargana Tanda and
on the west by Parganas Haweli Oudh and Pachhimrath.

In the Nawabi there were 294 villages, 14 chaks, 1 jot in the pargana,
of which 282 villages, 5 chaks and 1 jot were parent villages, and the re-
mainder were dakhiUs.

* By H. H. Butts, Esq., Assistant Commissioner,
t By Mr. Carnegy, Commissioner.

62 AMS

At annexation 301 villages were included in the pargana under sum-
mary settlement. These 301 villages are now demarcated as 135 villages
only, the remainder being recorded as dakhili villages. In the recent re-
arrangement the pargana received 49 mauzas from Pargana Pachhimrath,
and six mauzas from pargana Tanda, so that it now consists of 190 vil-
lages separately demarcated. The Government revenue is Es. 63,085,
being at the rate of Re. 1-9-6 per arable acre. For the slight alteration
of boundaries effected recently see the table given in article Fyzabad.
There are now only 181 villages.

When the Bhars held the country they are said to have managed this
portion of district from their fort at Pali alias Sarae Dula, and the pargana
was then called "Pali" after the fort. Afterwards when Anup Sah, an offi-
cer of the Government, came to settle the boundaries of the parganas he
found that there were two parganas known by the name of Pali, of which
one was near Sultanpur. He therefore re-named this pargana " Sirwa
Pali" (Sirwa being a village adjacent to P^li), both of which villages pos-
sess a certain local interest as sacred bathing places.

About 1170 Fasli, Roshan Ali Khan, the Chief of Hasanpur, in the Sul-
tanpur district, acquired a large portion of this pargana, and made his local
head-quarters at Amsin, where he built a fort, and whence he managed his
taluqa. This fort being the strongest and best fortified place in the' neigh-
bourhood was afterwards used by the revenue officers of the native Govern-
ment, and from it the pargana derived its present name.

To the north of the pargana runs the fine river Sarju alias Gogra, which
separates the district from Basti zila. To the south there is a small river
Madha, which flows into the Biswi nadi at Karampur and Chiontipara,
Pargana Akbarpur. The latter disgorges itself into the Gogra at Shahroz-
pur, Pargana Maunath Bhanjan in zila Azamgarh. The river Madha
at the driest seasons is often devoid of water. It takes its rise in the Bara
Banki district from a jhil at mauza Basorhi. Further east, at Akbarpur,
this small stream assumes the name of " Tons."

JMls and Tanks. — There is a considerable jhll at Atraura, which reser-
voir is known by the name of Achhna, and it discharges its superfluous
water into the Gogra at Tanda. Besides this there are jhils of considerable
size atMahda, Bhadona, Dumaha, Gauhania, Durg^pur, Bhadanli, Mednipur,
Deora, Jijjwat and Darwdn. There are some 1,216 jhils and tanks of sorts
in the pargana. The pargana is well covered with timber as a rule, the
mango, bamboos, and the fig tribe being amongst the trees most commonly
seen.

Jungles. — In former times there were five great jungles called Hardi
(after the village of that name), Qazipur-Guriir, Tikri, Khichhalwa, and
Chandardip. Of Hardi two-thirds is still uncleared, Qazipur has been given
in grant to Umanda Singh, Barwar, and of this more than two-thirds has
been brought under cultivation. .Tikri. — This jungle has been made over
in grant to Dalthamman Singh, Barwfc The name of the grant is Ganga-
pur, and half of it has already been cultivated. Khichhalwa was granted
to Raghubar Singh and Ramdin Singh, Barwars, and half has been put

AMS 63

tinder the plough. Chandardip has been inclnded with Eustam Sah's
taluqa, and some two-thirds is under cultivation.

Co')n'munications. — Under the native Government there were two main
roads ; one from Fyzabad to Tanda, along the banks of the Gogra, has an
almost unbroken avenue of very fine mango trees, planted, it is said, -by
Sitla Bibi of Tanda, in memory of her departed husband, a banker at
Benares. The avenue was made to shelter numerous pilgrims passing
along the road to Ajodhya, and the planting is said to have been done in
1223 Fasli. The second road was from Akbarpur through Amsin Khas to
Fyzabad, and is sparsely planted.

The present roads kept up by Government are all unmetalled. They are —

I. — From Fyzabad to Mahrajganj, from which place it branches into
two, the one on the right leading to Atbarpur and Jaunpur, and
that on the left, to Tanda and Azamgarh.

There are seven ferries on the Gogra in the pargana, viz : —

Sirwa, TJniar, Bara, Begamganj, Dalpatpur, Jarhi, Mama.

Nos. 1, 3 and 5 are those at which there is most traffic.

Towns, bazars. — There are no large townSj but there are nine villages in.
which bazars are held, viz : —

. . . Saturday and Wednesday.

... Friday and Sunday.

. . . Monday and Friday.

Saturday and Wednesday. '
Tuesday and Saturday.
Saturday and Wednesday.

"■ ) Small bazars with no fixed days for
" " ( open market

Chuno-i used, under the Nawabi rule, to be levied at all these markets,
the zamindars taking 4 annas, the qan-flngos 1| anna, and the chakladar
lOJ annas in every rupee of chungi received.

Holy places and shrines. — There is a mela called " Singi Rikh (Rishi)"
held in " Kartik-sudi-puranmdshi," and again in Chait-sudi 9th, at mauza
Sirwa on the banks of the Gogra, and about two kos east of Begamganj alias
Dilasiganj. The local history of the sacred character of this place is as
follows : —

In the days of Raja Dasrath, king of Ajodhya, Singi Rikh, a holy
man (muni) of Singi Rampur (three kos east of Famkhabad on the banks
of the Ganges, and where too a mela of Singi is held) came to Ajodhya.
Dasrath had no children, and in consequence requested the intercession of
the holy man, who offered up prayers in his behalf. The result was the
birth of four children, of whom the eldest was Ram Chandar, the second
Bh^rath, the third Satrughna and the fourth Lachhman. In those times the
city of Ajodhya is said to have extended from its present site to mauza

1.

2.
3.

Goshainganj

Begamganj

Tandauli

4.

TJniar

5.
6.

Mahrdjganj
Katra

7.
8.
9.

Aghaganj

Mahbubganj

Amsin

64 AMS

Sirwa, wliere the eastern gate was. At this gate, the raja sat m devotion
until his prayer for children was complied with, and hence the reverence
attached to the spot.

There is another fair at Rani Ghat at Begamganj held in Chait-sudi 9th
and again in Kartik-sudi-puranmashi. , This spot was fixed upon'ahout 100
years ago by the Barwar chieftain Dilasi Singh as a bathing-place for his
clan, in consequence of their being excluded from Ajodhya by the enmity of
the Surajbansi Chattris. This Dilasi Singh was the founder of Dilasiganj,
by which name the village is much better known in the locality than
under its more modem name of Begamganj. It was here that the
unhappy European fugitives from Fyzabad, some 12 in number, were nearly
all slaughtered by the I7th Native Infantry in 1857.

At mauza Kasba there is a shrine of Kalika Debi but no fair is held
there. Kahka is said to have appeared there some 300 years ago in the
form of a woman. A few people make offerings of ghi, &c., at intervals at
the shrine.

Population.— The Brahmans are by far the most numerous class, and
next after them the Hajputs. Besides these two there is no very marked
preponderence of any one class. There are but few bankers or mahajans,
and the few that do exist are men of small means whose floating capital is
supposed to be about Rs. 3,000 each. The entire population is 98,452,
being at the rate of 813 to the square mile.

Arbcient history. — Traces of the Bhars are as numerous in this pargana
as elsewhere, and they, have as totally disa;ppeared. Ruins of their
buildings are still visible in mauzas Khiwar, Alapur, Tikri, Marnu, Ma-
dhopur, Jijjwat, Badaghpur, Bandhanpur, Basaura, Pakrela, &c.

1. The Barwar and Chdhu Chhattris. — The Barwar and the Raikwar

^ _ Chhattris are the aristocracy of the pargana. The former

Chibi' Families. , , . ,, r i • ^.i • i t i j j

at one time were allpoweriulm the neighbourhood, and

owned 159 villages. All these have within the last 30 years passed into,

the hands of the absorptive chiefs of Mahdona, and the present Barwar

chiefs Dalthamman Singh and Nadir Sah (the latter of whom is a

hopeless lunatic) are comparatively speaking poverty-stricken gentlemen.

One history of the Barwars is as follows : —

They are an off-shoot of the great Bais clan, and came from Daundia
Khera in the Baiswdra country some 300 years ago. The two founders of
the family, and sons of Chhatar Sen alias Churi Kul, were —

(1). — Bariar Singh (hence the name Barwar Rajputs).
(2). — Chahu Singh (whence the Chahu Rajputs).

These two brothers, for some reason that is not known, were imprisoned
by Akbar at Delhi. The elder of the two brothers, during his incarcera-
tion, had a dream by night, in which he saw a deity, who announced
himself as Karia Deota, and promised them deliverance and future great-
ness, and at the same time pointed out the spot where his eflSgy was
buried in the earth.

AMS €5

Soon afterwards, on their release, they sought for and found the effigy,
and carried it off to mauza Chitwan in the Pachhimrath pargana, where
they set it up as the ohject of their demestic adoration, and where it is
still worshipped by both branches. Hereabouts the Barwars rapidly
became very powerful, and in 1227 Fasli they were found in possession of
123 villages 8J biswas 6J chaks, giving a Government revenue of
Es. 28,301, whilst the other branch, the Ghahus, held 36 villages 5 J biswas
paying a revenue of Es. 5,900. This vast estate, acquired chiefly vi et
urniis, and partly by purchase, afterward within the short space of ten
years, i. e., between 1230 Fasli and 1239 Fasli, with the sole exception of
about two villages, passed away from the Barwars, and became incorpo-
rate with taluqas Pirpur, Dera, Kurwar, and Mahdona. The Barwars as
a rule are now very badly off, though the chiefs Dalthamman Singh and
Nadir Sah have retained one or two villages in the Basti district.

Another account of the Barwars, and given by Dalthamman Singh
himself, is as follows ; —

The family is an off-shoot of the great Bais clan, and some hundreds of
years ago came from mauza Mungipatan alias Pathanpur south-west of
Jaipur, where their Eaja Salbahan had a fort.

They settled at mauza Chitwan Kariq,, six miles south of Begamganj.
The Bhars held the country in those days, and had a stronghold at Tikri,
This the Barwars besieged, took, and razed to the ground and upon the
ruins thereof they founded a village, and called it Diroa. By degrees
the Barwdrs acquired a considerable estate, which they called taluqa Tan-
dauli, and which the king of Delhi granted to them rent-free on account
of military services rendered by the family. ,

The story of this military service is somewhat similar to the old legend
of the battle of the Horatii and Guriatii, when the armies of Eome and
Alba met. It is as follows : —

The king of Kanauj had a beautiful queen named Padmani, the fame of
whose charms reached the ears of the emperor of Delhi and inflamed his
desires. Ten of the Barwars, who were amongst the bravest a,nd most
heroic of the monarch's soldiers, volunteered to go and carry off the fair
lady. Furnished with a boat, provisions, arms, and money, they arrived
at Kanauj, surprised the queen as she was bathing and conveyed her to
their boat. Great was the consternation, and a large army set off in pur-
suit. By keeping the middle of the stream the Barwars managed to escape
attack, but so soon as they had to leave the river and journey by land, the
whole army was upon them. The Barwars were said to have been almost
invulnerable heroes and of surpassing strength. As the army came up, one
of the brothers turned, and single-handed engaged and checked the whole
host whilst the other nine sped on with their prize. The contest ended
after a time with the death of the heroic Barwar. The army again hurried
after the fugitives, when another hero (Sawant) turned round, and devoted
himself after the manner of the first one, slaughtering numbers of the
enemy before he himself fell. In this way eight out of the ten Sawants
fought and died, and by their so doing, enabled the two surviving heroes to
enter Delhi with their lovely prize. The king, astounded at this display of

66 AMS

valour, loaded the two survivors with honours, and ordered them to select
a rent-free j%ir of 14 kos circumference. They replied that, being Hindus,
they preferred a jagir in the vicinity of Ajodhya, whereupon at once a
farman was made out, giving them a jagir, extending from Tanda on the east
to Marnapura alias Jalaluddinganj on the west, and from Chitwan on the
Madha river to the south, to the banks of the Gogra on the north. This jagir
of course they had to go and conquer for themselves, which they did, and
their estate was made a distinct pargana, and called Pali. After the lapse
of many years a Subahdar of Oudh ordered the Barwars to pay a revenue
equal to one-fourth of the rental. Some of them refused to do so, and in con-
sequence a portion of their estates, equal to the revenue demanded, was
coniiscated and made into a distinct pargana, called Aurangabad-Naipur.

About 136 years ago an ancestor of Dalthamman Singh increased his
possessions by purchasing the two muhals, Tikri and Bharsari, consisting
of 17^ mauzas of the Aurangabad-Naipur pargana, from their impover-
ished proprietors. Dalthamman Singh is the representative of this
branch, Nddir Sah of the branch that owned taluqa Tandauli.

The Barwars were notorious for the practice of infanticide. Two
daughters of the chief family, who were suffered to live, have married, the
one the Janwar ex-raja of Ikauna in the Bahraich district, the other, the
Raikwar raja of Ramnagar-Dhameri in the Bara Banki district. The
Barwars generally selected wives from the Palwar, Kachhwaha, Kausik
and Bais* Thakurs. In 1220 Fasli there was a severe fight at Eajapur
between the Barwars under Fateh Singh (ancestor of Nadir Sah) and
Madho Singh, Taluqdar of Dera, The dispute was about the possession of
taluqa Ahankaripur, which Dera claimed by purchase from the Barwars.
Some 200 persons were killed, but Madho Singh gained the day, and has
held the taluqa ever since.

There isfound a goodly sprinkling of Barwars inmauzas Tandauli, Kanakpur,

Note on raEBAnwABs by the Oitioiat- Salon, Dewapur, Kumbhia, Bhadauli,

iNQ CoMMisRioNBK. Baraull, Mahrajpur and Chachakpur.

oi'^:e''lll^!T^:i:'^Z^L^'':n:r^ The Ch^hu branch of the family is

Bais origin. The one that they are an ofiF- most nunjerOUS m mauzaS Dalpatpur,

shoot trom Baiswara, the other that like Jurhi, Baraip^ra, Alapur and Maya,
the Bais of that ilk, they also came from rp, two bran pbpq marrv into the
Mtmgipatan. They date their advent ^'^^ two Drancnes mariy mm me

300 years back, during which time they Same families, but not With each other,
have passed through 20 generations. H. J'Jie Raihw&r Cllhattris. — The

ly''^:^ti:^t::^^:^l^:^ttl':Z. n-t inost powerful Rajput family is

observed that the latter are not worship- that of the RaikwarS.

pers of Karia Deota. It is far more pro- The tradition is that about 800

bable that Uke numerous colonies who are vpstq no-r. aninn+ T?^a nnrl rtTiinn Rflp

known as Bais in this district, they are ^^^^^ ^g° Uajpat JXae ana Ijrnma me

of eqiaivooal indigenous descent, and both Came irom Ramnagar-Dhameri, m the
the Barwars and their brethem the Cha- Bara Banki district, to mauza Samda

hus are unknown, except in the centres • xi ■ T^nro■anfl tn nrrnno-p n marriacre

where we here find them located. ™. ^^^^^ ^^^?^^' }'^ arrange a marriage

The heroic tradition which Dalthamman With the BaiS ChhattriS, who have Since

Singh relates has, I have not the smaUest disappeared. The mission WaS SUC-

S'clan!'" ^PP'^°P"^*^'^ fr^om^ some ^.^ggf^jj^ ^^^ ^^^ j^^jy g^jg received aS

* JVoie.— This is strange when they urge aBaia origin.

AMS 67

her dower mauza Bilwari in this pargana. Here the Eaikw^rs settled.
After some years Gajpat Rae took service with Dari Shah, a malikzada
and zamindar of mauza Sirwa. This malikzdda, being childless, on his
deathbed adopted Gajpat, who performed his funeral obsequies and
succeeded to his zamindari. In 1193 Fasli the Raikwdrs added ten
villages to their estate, and until 1229 Fasli they remained qubliliatdars
of 14 villages. In 1230 Fasli Mir Ghuldm Husen, Chakladar, had these
14 villages included in the Barw^rs taluqa, but the Raikw^rs still retain
under-proprietary rights in them.

The descendants of Ghina Rae in like manner became powerful, and in
1219 Fasli they were in possession of 34 villages 13 J biswas, called taluqa
Reori. Between 1222 Fasli and 1233 Fasli, however, the whole of these
villages came into taluqa Samanpur, the property of Malik Ramzan
Bakhsh. In one of the pattis of the old Raikwars taluqa, the original
Raikwar proprietors are still found as under-proprietors.

The Gajpat R^e branch are well-to-do, and the Ghina Rae family are
fairly off at the present time. The Gajpat Rae branch are found in mauzas
Sirwa and Gauhania. The Ghina Rde branch are found living in mauzas
Reori, Uniar, Bithtira and Madhopur. There were in former times several
taluqas of 8 or 10 villages each belonging to Chandels, Brahmans, Bais
and Kayath families. All have long since been broken up, and their
history offers nothing of interest.

III. The S-Arajbansi Ghhattris. — The Surajbansi Chhattris had formerly
a considerable taluqa of 40 villages in this pargana. The taluqa was
called Narma Pawari. They lost 21 villages between 1185 Fasli and 1254
Fasli, and the remaining villages all passed away from them in 1255
FaslL FuU details of this clan will be found under pargana Haweli
Oudh.

Mauza Tema. — There was a severe fight in 1259 Fasli for the possession
of this village, between Babu Jai Uatt Singh, taluqdar of Bhiti, and Raja.
Rustam Sah, taluqdar of Dera. The fight took place at mauza Tejapur,
and some 150 persons are said to have been killed. Babu Jai Datt Singh
gained the day.

IV. The Kdyaths. — There is a curious legend of the qanungos of this

parsrana. It is, that 400 years ago the
Note BY OmoiATiNQ Commissioner. ^- c rt t. at xti'

■^^"^^^ raja of Gaur, by name JNarpat Das,

•Under the head of Gaur Kdyaths in ^ q^^^^ Kdvath, Was treacherously
EUiot's Supplemental Glossary there IS ouri- , , , >,,/+i,„ "RraTiTnaTiq Into thp

ousoonfiriiation of this legend. It is there brought by the liraJimans iiito the

set forth that Nasir-ud-din, the nephew of power of Bakhtldr Khlljl, a (jrCneral
Balban, introduced several Gaur Kayaths ^f Shahab-ud-dm Ghori, king of Delhi,

from Bengal into t'^^^^^'f/' ^^^"^[nted by whom he was incarcerated, near

about 600 years ago, when he appointed "J ".\ „ . i, j i o i,

them qdntogos of Niz£mabad. ^ Bhadoi, Delhi. Narpat Dfis had 12 sons who
Kol, Ghosi and Chiriakot, in Stiba Alia- -^gre given 12 parganas as qantingos,
^^^- . „. „ „fl„„„ u:„„ and 12 muhals in zamindari. In

In this notice Sir Henry confines his re- '^^'■>-

marks to his own territory, the N.-W. P. Azamgarh there are 3 parganas—

But our local tradition carries the legend Qhazipur one — Benares one — Mirza-

, further ^- ^' p^j. one — Durbhimga one — Gwalior

one— and in Oudh four, of which one is Amsin.

£ 2

68 AMS

General remarks. — The population is generally poverty-ridden, and
when one comes to consider that the far greater portion of the pargana
belongs to taluqdars, this is not a happy result of the taluqdari tenure. It
would rather lead one to believe that the taluqdars are a hard rack-renting
elass.

The general and indeed almost sole occupation of the population is that
of tilling the soil. The people in this part of the district use tiled roofs
in preference to thatch. It is quite the exception to see a thatched
dwelling.

Cultivation is very good throughout the pargana. All crops are culti-
vated except bajra and mung, which are rarely seen. The area in culti-
vation, kharif and rabi is about equal, sugar-cane is very largely cultivated,
cotton and indigo but rarely, and the poppy (opium) is not a favourite crop.

Wheeled traffic. — ^Wheeled traiSe is almost unknown. One very rarely
sees a two-bullock cart and never a four-bullock one. The few carts there
are belong to the taluqdars and rich zamindars. The stores in demand at
the local bazars, and the exports and imports by river Gogra, are carried
on men's heads or on ponies.

Alluvion and diluvion. — For the last 100 years there has been no
diluvion to any extent. Two years ago there was a slight alluvion in
three villages^ viz., at Sirwa, Raslilpur, Bharipur and Uniar. The par-
gana has high steep banks along the Gogra with the deep stream at
the foot of the bank, and consequently is not so subject to change by
fluvial action as the opposite lowlands of the Basti district.

Irrigation. — ^There are 1,379 wells in the pargana, from which and jhils
(which as before stated are numerous) the lands are artificially watered.
In the north of the pargana, along the Gogra, the wells have to be sunk
a great depth before water is reached, viz., 34 feet. In the south, how-
ever, water is found at 20 feet ; nearly all the wells are masonry, as others,
do not stand.

Education. — There are several village schools established in the pargana,
viz., at Dilasiganj Goshainganj, Tandauli, Jtiri, and other places.

Forts. — There were no forts in the pargana, but there were several forti-
fied houses (kots), notably one at Tandauli belonging to Mahardja Sir Man
Singh, one at Tejapur belonging to Raja Rustam Sdh, at Samdakot of
Jahangir Bakhsh, at Uniar the kot of Mahk TafazzulHusen, at Lachchigarh
the kot of Babu Jai Datt Singh, and at Dharmpur the kot of Thakurain
Raghunath Kunwar.

Exports and imports. — Urd (vetch) is the chief export by the river
Gogra, and chawal, (rice) dhan, (paddy) and makfii (Indian corn) are im-
ported by the same route.

Cattle. — ^The homed cattle to the north of the pargana, where the graz-
ing on the river manjhas is abundant, are above the average ; but as a gener-
al rule the cattle are a very inferior and starvation-dwarfed set of animals.

The transfer of landed property in the pargana has been wholesale.

ANS— ARW

69

The Barwars, Raikwars, and Stirajbansi Chhattris, who formerly held the
whole, have now only six villages.

The following table shows the present proprietary possession : —

Caste of owuer.

Number of
villages.

Nature of tenure.

Date at which
formationof estate

commenced.

Brahman (Maharaja Man Singh)

79

Taluqdari

1823

Bachgoti

8

Ditto

1821

Rajkumar

10

Ditto

1763

Gargbansi

44

1819

Muaalmaa

21

Ditto

1813

Khanziida

1

Ditto

1813

JBarwar, Eaikwar

6

Zamindari „.

From very remote
times.

Surajbansi

1

Ditto

Ditto.

Eajkumar, Kayath

7

Ditto

Ditto.

Eent-free ... „.

3

1«0

Ditto

Ditta

It appears then that 163 of the 180 villages have been taken possession
of by six taluqdars, generally during the last 60 years, and that the great
body of old yeomen proprietors are now, it appears, living in these villages.
It is to be hoped that the landowners do not press them severely.

ANSARI — Pargana Haidaegarh — Tahsil Haidargarh — District Baea
JBanki.— A village on the road between Rae Bareli and Haidargarh. It was
founded by Raja Raipal Singh. It is pleasantly situated on a plain. The
population is 2,093,

ANTU — Pargana Partabgarh — Tahsil Partabgarh — District Partab-
GAEH. — This town was founded by Ant Khan, a cavalry officer in the service
of Bharak Chand, the taluqdar of Partabgarh. The road from Bela to
Amethi passes through it ; the Sai river is 3 miles distant, and Bela 13,
The population consists of 1,752 Hindus.

ARJUNPUR* — Pargana Katiari — Tahsil Bilgeam — District Haedoi. —
A village of 331 mud houses, chiefly occupied by Qanaujia Brahmans,
on the Hardoi and Farukhabad border, between the Ramganga and the
Ganges, 7 miles north-east from Farukhabad and 16 west from Sandi.
Only noteworthy as being the parent village, per gdon, of the Katiar
Chhattris in the Hardoi district. (See K^atiari.) Population 2,649.

ARWAL* — Pargana Katiaei — Tahsil Bilgeam — District Haedoi. — ^A
Bais village of 518 mud houses, between the Ramganga and Ganges, 11
miles south-west from S£ndi. The Bais Chhattris claim to have acquired
it, with Karanpur and Alampur peaceably by purchase from Bhurjis
(grain-parchers) 800 years ago, in the time of their ancestor, Chdhat Deo
of Kami Graspur near Kanauj. The population amounts to 2242.

* By Mr. A, H. Harington, c. s., Assistant Commissioner,

TO ASA— ASI

ASAISH alias KAHISH — Pargana BaNGARMAU — Tahsil Safipuk —
District Unao. — Is a village in the pargana of Bangarmau, tahsil Safipur,
14) miles north-west of the tahsil, and 33 in the same direction from the
station of Unao. The road from Sitapur through Bangarmau to Sandila
passes about one mile from this place on the west. There is no krge town
near, nor any river. It is said to have been founded by one Asa, of the
Gaddi caste, in the time of the Emperor Humayun, more than 300 years
ago, but the exact date is not known. The name is probably derived from
Xsa, the founder. The soil is mostly loam. The town is on a plain. The
scenery pleasing, climate good, and water fresh. It is now kiiown as
Kahish, but official records still bear the name of Asaish. At an early
period one Ahli Thakur, an officer in the raja of Mitauli's service, came
here, and putting all the rightful owners to death by treachery, took pos-
session of the place. There are none of his descendants left here now.
Hindus and Musalmans live amicably. There is no sarae, tahsil, thana,
bazar or school here, but there are three fairs in the year, one in March,
one in October, and one in August, each lasting one day, at which toys,
sweetmeats, &c., are sold.

Population"' ... ... .... ... 1,815

Hindus —
Brahman

Chhattri

Banian

Kayatli

Pasi

Other castes

188

221

15

16

141

1,062

Total ... ... 1,643

Muaahnana ... ... ... ... ... 172

Total ... ... 1,815

There are 236 mud houses.

ASHRAFPUR KACHHATJCHHA— Par^aTia Bxkrkr— Tahsil Tanda—
District Fyzabad. — ^This place is only famous in connexion with the
ancient saint, Makhdiim Sahib. It is pleasantly situated near the sacred
mound (see Birhar,-Rasulpur). The population is 2,350, of whom 1,318
are Musalmans, all Sunnis and 1,032 are Hindus. There are two masonry
mosques.

K^IL— Pargana {See TAPPA ASL.)

ASIWAN Pargana— Tahsil Mohan. — District Unao. — This pargana lies
to the north-east of Unao. It is 18 miles long by 9 broad ; its area is
100 square miles, divided into 119 townships ; the population is 60,188,
being at the rate of 601 per square mile. The land revenue is Rs. 84,462,
which is Re. 1-5-4 per acre.

The neighbourhood is generally picturesque, 2,730 acres are covered
with groves, but a portion is rendered barren by the saline element in the
soil.

The land is high and rather sandy. Water to the north near the river
Sai is found_at about 30 feet, to the south at 45 feet. The land is mainly

ASI 71

owned by village communities ; only 10 square miles belong to taluqdars.
A fine masonry Thdkurdwara at Katra, and a good mosque at Rasulabad
are worthy of notice; the latter was built in 1083 H., A.D. 1664, as an
inscription testifies. Several tombs of Sayyad Masalid's followers are
pointed out in this pargana. The Gamhelas are among the principal pro-
prietors in it. They are described as follows by Mr. Elliot : —

" The Rasulabad and Asiwan parganas are full of a caste called Gamhelas,
who profess to be descended from the Mahrors, but to be illegitimate, an
Ahir woman having been their ancestor. The Mahrors too agree in this
story, but the Gamhelas are so enormously numerous, that it is difficult to
conceive that they should have all descended in so short a time from a
single pair. They are found in great numbers in Rohilkhand, and are
considered the best cultivating class in these parts.

" They do not wear the sacred cord or take the title of Singh, and marry
solely among each other. The Mahrors call themselves of the Kasyap-
gotra, and though all their neighbours, as well as they themselves, agree
in the above account of their origin, no difficulty is made by the smaller
clans, such as the Gahlots, Janwars, &c., in giving their daughters to them
in marriage, and almost all of the neighbouring clans are ready to marry their
sons into these Tilok Chandi Rajputs. But the greatest family in the
district belonging to the second or grantee class of occupants is that which
takes its name from Rasulabad. The founder of the house was Sayyad
Anwar, one of the Naishapuri Sayyads, who inhabit Moh£n in the TJnao
district. He held several important posts under the Mughal Govern-
ment, such as the Government of Gwalior and Biana and the Faujdari of
Khairabad, and his son Mujahid Ali Khan was appointed in 1670 Fauj-
dar of Baiswara. It was about this time that Hari Singh, the Dikhit
raja of Parenda, went into rebellion, and threw the country into disturb-
ance by his raids. Pariar has always been a very sacred place in Hindu
estimation, and then, as now, thousands of pilgrims came from the north
to perform their devotions there. From Mohan to Pariar the road lay
through a wild uncultivated country, and on the very borders of Dikhitdna,
and here the raja's followers lay in wait to plunder any wealthy pil-
grims. It was to protect them that in the year 1672 Mujahid Ali Khan
built the fort of Rasulabad half-way between Mohan and Pariar.

" Within its precincts rose a mosque, the inscription on the face of which
contains the number of the year. Soon after Saadat Khan was made
Governor of Oudh, Mujahid died and was succeeded by his nephew Mutd-
hir Ali Khan. Saadat Khan was a native of Naishapur himself, and was
naturally willing to use his influence in behalf of his countrymen. He
obtained from the king the grant of a large estate, containing 121 villages,
which Mutahir Ali enjoyed throughout his life-time. The estate was not
compact, some of its villages lying as far off as the Bijnaur pargana in
Lucknow, and on his death these outlying portions were resumed, and the
remainder, consisting of about 70 villages, which lay contiguous to Raslil-
abad, were made into a separate pargana. The offices of chaudhri, qazi,
and q^nungo were all bestowed on different members of the family. These
offices they have retained, but when the official support of the court was

72 ASI

withdrawn they had not power to maintain themselves in possession of the
land, and gradually the greater part of their villages reverted to the
original owners. The present head of the house, Chaudhri Mansah Ali, was
a man of considerable weight in the country, and would have restored the
influence of the family ; but the conspicuous part he took in the rebellion,
opposing Sir BL Hav&loek's. advance at ITnao and Bashirgasj, sending ia
his adherence to the Nana, cutting up our outposts, and murdering his
prisoners in cold blood , made it impossible to extend the terms of the
amnesty to him in their fullest sense. His life was spared, but his estates"
have been confiscated, and a small portion of them, with the town of
Rastilabad itself, has been given to the younger branch."

Colonel Sleeman writes* a* follows abottt a NawaH Governor of the
district : — •

" The brief history which I propose to give of Bakhsh Ali, the late con-
tractor for the Rastilabad district, is as follows : — ^Muqaddara Aalia, one of
the consorts of the king Nasir-ud-din Haidar, was the daughter of Mr,
George Hopkins ' Walters, a half-pay of&cer of one of the regiments of
British Dragoons, who came to Lucknow as an adventurer. He there
united himself (though not in marriage) to the widow of Mr. Whearty,
an English merchant or shopkeeper of that city, who had recently died,
leaving this widow, who was the daughter of Mr. CuUoden, an English
merchant of Lucknow, one son, now called Amir Mirza, and one daughter,
now called Sharif-un-nisa. By Mr. Walters this widow had one daughter,
who afterwards became united to the king in marriage (in 1827), under
the title of Muqaddara Aulia.

" Mr. Walters died at Lucknow, and the widow and two daughters went to
reside at Cawnpur. The daughters were good-looking, and the mother was
disposed to make the most of their charms, without regard to creed or colour.

" Bakhsh Ali, a Dom by caste, who had been by profession a drummer to
a party of dancing girls, served them as a coachman and table attendant.
At Cawnpore he cohabited with Mrs. Walters, and prevailed upon her to
take her children back to Lucknow as the best possible market for them,
as he had friends at court who would be able to bring them to the notice
of the sovereign. They were shown to the king as soon as he succeeded
his father on the throne in 1827. He was captivated with the charms of
Miss Walters, though they were not great, demanded her hand from the
mother, and was soon after united to her in marriage according to the
Muhammadan law. A suitable establishment was provided by the kino'
for her mother, father-in-law, brother, and sister ; and as His Majesty con^
sidered that the manner in which Bakhsh Ali and her mother had hitherto
lived together was unsuitable to the connection which now subsisted between
them, he caused them to be married in due form according to the Muham-
madan law. The mother and her three children now changed their creed
for that of Islamism, and took Muhammadan names.

" By a deed of engagement with the British Government, beanng date'

Volume I., 325.

ASI

73

the 1st of March 1829, the king contributed to the five per cent, loan the
' sum of sixty-two lacs and forty thousand rupees, the interest of which at
five per cent, our Government pledged itself to pay to the four females.

" Shar(f-un-nisa and her brother and his son continued to live with
Bakhsh Ali, who, upon the wealth and pension left by Muqaddara Aulia to
her sister, kept up splendid establishments both at Lucknow and Cawnpore.

" At the latter place he associated on terms of great intimacy with the
European gentlemen, and is said to have received visits from the Major-
General commanding the division and his lady.

" With the aid of his wealth and the influence of his brother doms (the
singers and fiddlers who surround the throne of his present majesty),
Bakhsh Ali secured and held for some years the charge of this fertile and
populous district of Rasulabad, through which passes the road from
Lucknow to Cawnpore, where, as I have already stated, he kept up bands
of myrmidons to rob and murder travellers, and commit all kinds of
atrocities. This road became in consequence the most unsafe of all the
roads in Oudh, and hardly a day passed in which murders and robberies
were not perpetrated "upon it.

" Proof of his participation in these atrocities having been collected,
Bakhsh Ali was in October 1849 seized by order of the Resident, tried
before the King's Court, convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, and
ordered to restore or make good the property which he was proved to have
taken, or caused to be taken, from travellers. His house had become filled
with girls of all ages, whom he had taken from poor parents, as they passed
over this road, and converted into slaves for his seraglio. They were all
restored to their parents, with suitable compensation ; and the Cawnpore
road has become the most safe as well as the best road in Oudh."

The most disgraceful passages of the above sketch from Lucknow life
have been omitted. It is instructive as showing how the vices and cor-
ruption of the court re-acted upon the province and caused the ruin of
fertile districts.

ASIWAN — Pargana AsfwAN — Tahsil MohaN. — District Unao. — This town
is situated 16 miles north-west of Moh£n and 20 miles north of Unao, on the
unmetalled road leading from Lucknow to Bangarmau. Safipur lies 8 miles
to the south-west. It is said to have been founded by a dhobi or washer-
man called Asun, who gave it his own name eight hundr^ed years ago. The
population is 5,817 as follows : —

Musalmans

Bralimans

Fasis

Aiiirs

Baiiiaus ...

Kayatha

Other Hindus

There are no resident Chhattris. There are 1,228 houses, of which 51
are of masonry ; there are 9 mosques, 10 temples of Mahadeo and 2 of Debi.
There is a good masonry caravanserai built by Qamar Ali Khan. Markets

...

1,656
539

• •■ .-

205

• •

321

•..

250

*•• •■

4

2,842

74 ASO

are held twice a week, and the annual sales of grain amount to Rs 14,500.
Coarse cloth called " dhotar " is manufactured. The situation is rather flat,
but the climate is healthy, and the water good. This town has no history
worthy of relation. Qamar Ali, formerly Darogha under king Nasir-ud-din,
resided here.

Habib-ur-Rahman was a chakladar under the Oudh king, and holds a
large estate under the English. Another native, Ghulam Ali Khan, con-
structed a mosque and sarae.

ASOHA PARASANDAN Pargana—TahsWPvRW a.— District Unao.— One
Asa Rikh, a devotee who used to reside here, founded the town and called
it Asohama Qila. See also Elliot's Chronicles of Unao, pages 13 and 14,
" Mythic age." This pargana, like the others, is first heard of under this
name in the time of Akbar Shah. There are no traditions ascertainable
connected with this pargana. There is a tomb of one Hazrat Shah in
village Kantab, and also a temple to Mahabir. At the latter place a fair
is held every year in the month of Jeth, where some 2,000 persons con-
gregate. The Bais are said to have driven oiit the Ahirs and settled
themselves on the lands of this pargana. The soil to the south and east
is mostly sand, to the north and west loam and clay.

The crops chiefly grown are bajra and barley. The Sai river runs
through this pargana, which is 12 miles long by 10 miles broad, and com-
prises 42 villages.

Tte area ia acres is ... ... ... 28,358 3 0

Taluqdari ... ... ... ... 9,111 0 0

Zamindari ... ... ... ... 11,519 0 0

Pattidari ... ... ... ... 7,728 3 0

The land revenue amounts to Rs. 34,237. The assessment falls at
Rs. 1-3-3 per acre. There are 1587 acres under groves. The last census
returns give 31,323 as the number of inhabitants.

The Sengar Chhattris are the principal inhabitants of Asoha. Elliot
writes as follows: — "In the year 1527, when Babar Shah was stiU engaged
in reducing the many independent chiefs of Hindustan, and before his great
victory over Rana Sanga, several of the Afghan leaders who had served under
the preceding Lodi dynasty, came in and submitted to him. Among these
was Shekh Bayazid, who received a jagir of a crore of dams (2^ lacs of
rupees) in Oudh. Subsequently, he seems to have been put in a kind of
general command of this province (he might be called the subahdar, only
that that term is hardly correct for this date), and to have taken advan-
tage of it to rebel.

Joined by his brother Mardf Farmlili, and by another Afghdn, Shekh
Biban, he opposed Babar's crossing the Ganges at Bangarmau, and made
a long running campaign of it, till at last he was subdued. This Shekh
Bayazid had in his service two Sengar Rajputs whom he brought from
Jagmohanpur, across the Jumna, by name Jagat Sah and Gopal Singh.
They raised and commanded a cavalry regiment which was cantoned near
the village of Simri, in pargana Asoha, and after his defeat, they settled
quietly down in the pargana, making Kantha their head-quarters. For

ASO 76

eleven generations they remained peaceably there, keeping the Lodhs, who
had been the original zamindars, in subjection. During this time they
were joined by another family of the same clan, who followed them from
Jagmohanpur, and settled in Parsandan. In the eleventh generation, the
Lodhs who had never thoroughly acquiesced in their loss of position, sud-
denly rose against the Sengars, and killed the majority of them, but allowed
the women and children to escape. The fugitives did not think it safe to
go to their brotherhood in Parsandan but lied to Jagmohanpur, and return-
ing thence with an accession of strength, the sons of the murdered Sengars,
Askaran on Gopal's side, and Gurbir, on Jagat Sah's side, recovered their
father's possessions in the country. Ever since the time of Salim Shah, the
Pathans of Amethi Dingur, &c., had been growing very powerful, and had
established their authority over a great part of the three parganas of Asoha,
Gorinda, and Parsandan. This invasion has left its traces in the double
names which a great number of the villages of these parganas bear, and the
original Hindu name, and another the Muhammadan. The Sengars, how-
ever, had returned from Jagmohanpur in such strength that they were no
longer inclined to submit to these encroachments, and in a great fight near
Bani, the Pathans were defeated and driven across the Sai.

Part of the Sengars who had returned with Askaran settled in Kantha,
and the rest removed to Manora. The Parsandan family also broke up
into two branches, one of which removed to Kusahri and received the title
of Chaudhri of pargana Gorinda. Thus the clan was divided into five
branches, Parsandan, Kusahri, Manora, and the two houses of Kantha.
This, division remains to the present day, except that in Kantha itself, the
descendant of Jagat Sah, Umrao Singh, took a leading part in the rebellion,
and lost his landed property, and Ranjit, descendant of Gopdl is now the
sole proprietor there. From these four centres the families, branching
out, founded or took possession of other villages. The following statement
shows the number of villages possessed by members of each branch in
1262 F. S. :—

Parsandan ... ... ... Eight villages.

Kuaahri ... ... ... ... Three ,,

Manora „ .. ... ... Nine ,,

Kantha ... ... ... ... Eight ,,

Askaran's son Pranu had two sons, the youngest of whom, Kapdr, was
renowned for his bravery. He defeated Angad Singh, a Naihesta Bais
taluqdar, who attempted to encroach on his ancestral estate. The bard
commemorates his valour, and the power of his opponent, in the following
couplet : —

" Angad tere Dhak men rahe na koi bhir,
Bethar Eawat jab rahe aur Kantha rahe Kapur.
Angad, no man stood thine onset before,
But in Bethar the Eawat, in Kantha Kapur."

ASOHA — Pargana Asoha Paesandon — Tahsil Puewa — District Unao. —
Is a village 10 miles north of the tahsil station and 32 miles east of Unao.
There is nothing known of its foundation excepting that it was peopled
by a sage named Aswasthama* (a personage in the well-known poem

» In the pargana article the foundation of Asoha is ascribed to Asa Rikh.

76

ATfi

Mah^bharat.) It takes its name from its founder. Surface uneven, soil
dumat, (loam) and matiar (clay), jungle none, groves of mango trees and
mahua trees all around the place.

Climate healthy, water fresh.

Population —

Temples 5.

Hindus
Muhammadans

1,250 ■)

Total 1,251.

Latitude
Longitude

26° 38' N.
80° 50' E.

ATEHA Pargana — Tahsil Partabgarh—D /sirici Paetabgarh. — This
pargana is the most northerly in the district ; the river Sai flows to
the south. Its area is 79 square miles, of which 41 are cultivated; its po-
pulation is 44,643, or 565 to the square mile. Of these 5,488 are Brahmans
5,255 are Chhattris, 5,471 are Ahirs, 4,934 are Chamars. The major por-
tion of this pargana belongs to Kanhpurias. The trans-Sai portion of the
district always possessed strong forts, Ateha, Sujakhar, and others, the for-
mer was gallantly defended by the rebels in 1858.

The Settlement Officer writes as follows : —

In this pargana are included 68 villages held as follows : —

Taluqdari.

Mufrid.

Total.

Kanhpuria

43

J3

56

Braliiuan

1

2

3

Kdyatk

0

2

2

Sayyad

0

1

1

Shekh

0

1

1

Pathan

0

2

2

Government villages

0

3

3

Total

ii

24

68

Mr. King writes : — •

" The Bhars were here again, as everywhere, and in Ranki their fort is
I a d Drietors point^d o^*- The landholders are Kanhpurias, mainly
of Sahu's posterity.

" The villagers of Dara, Ambikapur, and Chahin trace their descent from
Uran, third son of Kanh aforesaid. The villages of
Salt villages. Khanipur, _ Rehua, Raha, Tikar, Udaipur, and Muraini

are noted for the salt-producing earth, and are full of Lonias.

"There is but one large estate in the pargana. In 1180 Fasli, Jham
Singh was Taluqdar of Ateha, which appears to have
Taluqa Ateha. -^^^^ -\^^^ ^^g estate, and by his violence and oppression

drew the attention of the Bahli Begam, in whose jagir of Salon this
pargana was. Jham Singh was forced to fly : but in 1184 Fasli, he was
caught and imprisoned at Fyzabad for 12 years. His mother got one
village allotted to her for her maintenance, viz., Rampur Kasia on the Sai

The scene of Brigadier WetheraU's exploit in November 1858, when the fort was fired bv
ThelwaU's Sikhs.— P. C. ^

ATE 77

" The fugitive cliief s estates were handed over to Bijai Singh, zamindar
The Mustafabad es- of the village of Lakehra, who held them up to 1205
*^^^- Fasli. Jham Singh never recovered anything ; and,

after gaining his liberty, died in 1214 Fasli. His son Dirgpal formed an
alliance with a freebooter, Zabar Singh of Bundaha, and so disturbed the
country that it was found necessary to keep him quiet by giving him
three villages. From this he rose speedily, and by the year 1243 Fasli,
his son Ram Ghulam had acquired all the villages known as the Musta-
fabad Ilaqa. In consequence of the misconduct of Shiuambar Singh, ta-
luqdar of Rij^pur, a small estate of nine villages, Ram Ghulam, in 1256
Fasli, got this estate and whole pargana in revenue engagement. He
was himself in opposition to the nazim in 1262 Fasli, and in 1263 Fasli
his engagement included only the Mustafabad estate. In 1264 he got
only 11 villages out of the 28 of which that estate was composed.

" In 1266 Fasli, Ram Ghulam adhered to the Baiswdra chieftain Beni
Madho ; and his estates were confiscated and bestowed
IdmSingtr^^"" Oil the raja of Tiloi for services rendered to Govern-
ment, with which I am not acquainted. Thakur Ram
Ghulam is now admitted to interviews with the officers of Government, and
he has a provision of Rs. 1,800 per annum secured by grant of four villages
A hal Khersk noted in the margin in Unao. He is a very good

2. Panahpur. specimen of the Oudh baron, and I consider it a very

3. Barolii. ^ unfortunate thing that he should not have had an

4. JamokaBangar . opportunity of distinguishing himself as a taluqdar.

" Jham Singh aforesaid had two sons, Dirgpal and Barwand ; of the
The Kijapur es- former we had traced the descendants. Barwan's issue

tate. is found in Shiuambar Singh, taluqdar of Rajapur, a

small estate of nine villages paying Rs, 6,199 revenue. These villages
were acquired gradually since 1209 Fasli.

" The TJmrar estate is held by Ishri Bakhsh, a relation of the Kanh-
purias. He traces his descent from an uncle of Jham
The TJmrar estate. Q[^g\^ It is not an old estate ; it now consists of six
villages and pays Rs. 6,065 revenue.

" The estate was acquired by the Kayaths as most of this class have acquir-
.ed them, by service and the favour of Government officials.
The Ateha estate. Lakhapur and Puranipur, however, are said to have
belonged to these Kayaths for a long time.

"Rdnki is the only place of antiquarian note in the pargana. It is un-
doubtedly a place of great antiquity, as I have in my
■^'■^^^' possession two coins which were recently dug out of the

ruins, one of which is an undoubted Bactrian, while the other, at least as
old, has at present defied all attempts at identification by those who possess
some knowledge of the subject. At the same time, I am given to under-
stand that no coin answering to the appearance of the one in question is to
be found in Prinsep's standard work on Indian antiquities. From the ex-
tent of its remains R£nki must at one time have been a very large and
populous place. At one end are to be seen the ruins of the old fort

78 ATE

surrounded by a wide and deep fosse. Mr. Benett has recorded that Ranki
is " the traditional seat of the Government of R^ja Bharthari, elder brother
ofBikram^jit. This unfortunate prince was cheated by his brother out of
a magic fish, the digestion of which gave the knowledge of all things that
occurred in the three worlds. He dissembled his disappointment and re-
tired to the distant solitudes of Oudh,wherehe founded the city of Ranki.
The present inhabitants say that Ranki is the Bhar name for a wine-seller.
Two or three hundred rupees expended in excavations on this spot would
amply repay the outlay in the acquisition of antiquities which would now be
invaluable. The siege and capture of Rampur in 1858 were described as
follows : —

" The column under the orders of the Brigadier, consisted of the 1st
Troop of royal horse artillery, a company of foot artillery with siege guns,
a party of the 79th Highlanders, ,the Beluch Battalion, 9th Punjab In-
fantry, and the 1st Sikh Cavalry and Dehli Pioneers, and immediately in
its line of march to join the head-quarters division, under the Commander-
in-Chief, lay the important position of Rampur, which consisted of a fort
surrounded on three sides by a very strong intrenchment, constructed,
across the neck of a bend of the river Sai. The fortifications consisted of
a line of six bastions, connected by curtains, of a total length of 700 yards,
behind which was a kind of citadel ; the whole being surrounded by a
dense jungle, which concealed a village protected by a small mud fort.
The approach to the place was difiicult, on account of the jungle being
thick and swampy ; and, in one place, it became necessary to construct a
causeway before the troops could advance. The force arrived before the
place at 10 A. M. on the 3rd of November, at which time the strength of
the enemy consisted of about 4,000 men, most of them sepoys of the late
l7th, 28th, and 32nd Native Infantry, many of them still wearing the uni-
form of the Government, and carrying its arms. Soon after 10 o'clock
the heavy guns were put in position, and, under cover of their fire, a wing
of the 9th Punjab Infantry, under Captain Thelwall, advanced towards
the works on the face next the river. Here they were received by a heavy
fire of grape ; but Captain Thelwall, believing he should achieve a great
success by a rapid movement, instead of waiting for his supports, gave the
word to his Sikhs to charge, and in a minute those hardy soldiers dashed into
the intrenchment, through the embrasures, capturing two guns, which they
immediately turned against the fiying enemy. The sepoys rallied, and seeing
that their assailants were but few in number, made a vigorous attempt
to drive them out, but two companies of the 79th, with four companies of
the Beluches, came opportunely to the assistance of their comrades, and
the attack was repulsed : but the rebels fought with great bravery, and
disputed the advance inch by inch.

" A series of hand-to-hand fights ensued, and in the midst of the struggle, a
large mine containing 8,000 lbs. of powder, said to be the principal magazine,
blew up, and hurled many of the combatants into the air. Colonel Farquhar,
in command of the Beluch battalion, was shot through the knee while bring-
ing up the support, and his leg had to be amputated. The fight continued
with unflinching determination on both sides until 3 o'clock in the after-
noon, when the enemy, having made one last and fruitless effort to expel the

ATE— ATW 79

British troops, gave up the contest, and fled through the jungle, pursued, as
■well as possible, by the cavalry. No guns could be sent after them ; but in
the struggle and flight the loss of the enemy amounted to 300 men. Upon
gaining possession of the fortifications, the captors found seventeen guns and
five mortars, most of which were rendered unserviceable; they also discovered
a foundry for casting cannon, an establishment for making gun carriages,
and a laboratory for gunpowder.

" The colours of the 62nd Native Infantry, which had been carried off by
the mutinous sepoys, were also captured, and the rebel bearer of them cut
down by a Beluch in single combat. The loss on the side of the British
force was comparatively trifling ; and after dismantling and blowing up the
fortifications the column pursued its march to join the Commander-in-Chief
at Amethi."

ATEHA — Pargana Ateha — Tahsil Partabgarh — District Partabgaeh.
— The place was founded by Thakur Jodha Singh, who cut down the "
forest. A road from the town joins the Partabgarh andRae Barehroad at
Lalganj ; another road from Salon to Ateha passes through it. The Sai river
is six miles to the souths and Bela, the sadr station, is twenty-six miles to
the east.

This was a famous place in the old times, many a battle having been
fought here. Ranjit Singh, the ancestor of the last taluqdar. Ram Ghulam
Singh, left the old fort here, in accordance with a treat}' made with the
imperial general, and fixed his residence in Rampur. This happened nine
generations ago.

There is a temple here dedicated to a local deity, Bhainsa Swar ; on its
altar are offered buffaloes and goats, and the shrine is greatly reverenced
by the Kanhpuria Chhattris. There is also an imamb^ra and a vernacu-
lar school with 30 boys. The population consists of 858 Bindus and 138
Muhammadans.

ATRATJLI* — Pargana GuNDWA — Tahsil Sandila — District Haedoi. —
Atrauli (2,615). A good sized Bais village, of 376 mud houses, eleven
miles north-east from Sandila. It is one of 81 villages said to have been
wrested from the Gaurs by the Bais eleven generations ago.

There is a weekly market, and a village school averaging 38 pupils.

ATWA PIPARIA AND MAGDAPUR Pargana — Tahsil MvsAMm— Dis-
trict Kheri. — These two parganas present much uniformity of soil and
cultivation. They lie — the latter south, and the former north — between
the rivers Kathna and Gumti.

In each there is low, swampy land along the banks of the former river,
succeeded by a belt of s£l forest to the westward, from two to three miles
broad ; through this the surface gradually rises, and when cultivation is
reached, the soil is high dry loam ; it sinks again in the centre till water in
the wells is found at only 9 or 10 feet from the surface. Towards the

By Mr. A, H, Harington, c, s., Assistant Commissioner.

80 ATW

Gumti the surface rises again, and in the south-west comer almost assumes
the form of sand-hills for a mile or two ; thence going northwards along
the Gumti, the level gets lower and the soil firmer very gradually. The
two pargaaas form the two halves of a parallelogram running north and
south between the two rivers, whose highest elevation and poorest soil is
at the south-west corner, whose best land is in the extreme northern belt,
and whose level sinks gradually from south-west to north-east ; the highest
part is about 530 feet above the sea.

The entire area of Atwa Piparia, including the Government grants and
forests, is 64 square miles ; that of Magdapur is 56 square miles.

Atwa Piparia formed part of pargana Barwar and of the great estate
given to Sadr Jahan by Akbar. (See History of Pargana
History. Barwar).

In 1190 Fasli the raja of Muhamdi was taken prisoner, the estate Avas
then broken up, and engagements were taken from the old zamindari body
consisting of Brahmans and Bachhil Chhattris. The latter are descendants
of the famous Chhipi Khan, whose history is' related in that of Barwar.
The Bachhil Chhattris are said to have had 282 villages on each side of
the Gumti, and to have held Barwar, K^mp, and Gola. They were much
reduced however, a number of them managed to get engagement for their
villages on the break up of the Muhamdi raj ; among them was the father
of Bhagwant Singh, the famous rebel. He was-permitted to engage for
both the parganas, but in 1836, owing to some quarrel with the officials,
he was deprived of part of the estate and commenced a life of dacoity. He
had a fort at Atwa near the ri-ver Kathna, in dense jungle, which extended
then and now down the river to Nimkhar and upwards to the Tarai ;
while across the Kathna stretched the Kukra Mailani forests which reach
the lower range of the Himalayas.

On a little hillock in this spur of the great jungle Bhagwant Singh
settled himself and thence creeping down along the river in the shelter of
the forest, he used to emerge at night and plunder villages as far south as
Sandila, in Hardoi.

Sleeman describes, as follows, what happened on one occasion : —

" Bhagwant Singh, the last Bachhil Rajput, who held the estate of Atwa
Piparia, had been -for some time against his sovereign; he had committed
many murders and robberies, and lifted many herds of cattle within the
bordering district of Shahjahanpur ; he had given shelter in his own estate
to a good many atrocious criminals from that and others of the bordering
districts.

"He had, too, aided and screened many gangs of Badhiks. In 1841A.D.,
the Resident, Colonel Low, directed every possible effort to be made
for the arrest of this formidable offender, and Captain Hollings, the second
in command of the 2nd Battalion of Oudh Local Infantry, sent intelligencers
out to trace him. They ascertained that he had with a few followers taken
up a position two hundred yards to the north of the village of Ahrori,
pargana Gopamau, in a jungle in the Bangar pargana, about twenty-eight

ATW 81

miles to the south-west of Sitapur, where that battalion was cantoned, and
about fourteen miles west from Nimkhar. Captain HoUings made his
arrangement to surprise this party, and on the evening of the 3rd of July
1841 A. D., he marched from Nimkhar at the head of three companies of
that battalion, and a little before midnight he came within three-quarters of
a mile of the rebel's post. After halting his party for a short time, to
enable the ofificers and soldiers to throw off~ all superfluous clothing and
utensils, Captain Hollings moved on to the attack. When the advanced
guard reached the outskirts of the robber's position about midnight, they
were first challenged and then fired upon by the sentries. The subahdar
in command of this advanced guard fell dead, and a non-commissioned
officer and a sepoy were severely wounded. The whole party now fired
in upon the gang and rushed on.

" One of the robbers was shot, and the rest all escaped out on the opposite
side of the jungle. The sepoys believing, since the surprise had been com-
plete, that the robbers must haveleft all their wealth behind them, dispersed,
as soon as the firing ceased and the robbers disappeared, to get every man as
much as he could. While thus engaged, they were surrounded by theGohdr
(or body of auxiliaries which landholders used to send to each other's aid
on the concerted signal) and fired in upon from the front and both right and
left flanks. Taken by surprise, they collected together in disorder ; while the
assailants from the front and sides continued to pour in their fire upon them,
and they were obliged to retire in haste and confusion, closely followed by
the assailants, who gained confidence and pressed down as their number
increased by the quotas they received from the villages the detachment had
to pass in their retreat. All efforts on the part of Captain HoUings to
preserve order in the ranks were in vain. His men returned the fire of their
pursuers, but without aim or effect. At the head of the auxiliaries were
Pancham Singh* and Mirza Akbar Beg of Deoria, and they were fast closing-
in upon the party, and might have destroyed it, when Girwar Singh,
Tumandar, came up with a detachment of special police of the Thuggee
and Dacoity Department.

" At this time the three companies were altogether disorganized and dis-
heartened, as the firing and pursuit had lasted from midnight to daybreak ;
but on seeing the special police come up and join with spirit in the
defence, they rallied, and the assailants, thinking the reinforcement more
formidable than it really was, lost confidence and held back.

" Captain Hollings mounted the fresh horse of the Tumandar, and led
his detachment without further loss or molestation back to Nimkhdr. His
loss had been one subahdar, one hawaldar, and three sepoys, killed ; one
subahdar, two hawaldars, one naik, and three sepoys, wounded and miss-
ing ; Captain Hollings's groom was shot dead, and one of his palanquin-
bearers was wounded. His horse, palanquin, desk, clothes, and all super-
fluous clothing and utensils, which the sepoys had thrown off preparatory
to the attack, fell into the hands of the assailants. Attempts were made
to take up and carry off the killed and wounded, but the detachment was.

* Of Ahrori

82 AUR

so hardly pressed that they were obliged to leave both on the ground. The
loss would have been much greater than it was, but for the darkness of the
night which prevented the assailants from taking good aim; and the
detachment would have been cut to pieces but for the timely arrival of the
special police under Girwar Singh. Four months after, in November,
Pancham Singh, of Ahrori, himself cut off the head of the robber Bhagwant
' Singh, with his own hand, and sent it to the Governor Farid-ud-din with
an apology for having, by mistake, attacked Captain Hollings's detach-
ment. The Governor sent the head to the king with report, stating that
he had, at the peril of his life and after immense toil, hunted down and
destroyed this formidable rebel. His Majesty, as a reward for his valuable
services, conferred upon Farid-ud-din a title and a first-rate dress of honour."

After the murder of Bhagwant Singh, the estate of Atwa Piparia was
held under the direct management of the chakladars, or the villages con-
stituting it were let out to farmers.

Musammat Gaura, widow of Bhagwant Singh, was allowed to hold the
village of Atwa revenue-free up to annexation. The regiment of Captain
Fida Husen was posted to the Muhamdi chakla. He was entrusted with
the management of the entire estate from A. D. 1850-51 up to annexation
in 1856. He holds it still. Fida Husen Khan obtained from Raja Ashraf
Ali Khan, who had no concern with the estate, a deed of gift for it in lieu
of a sword. In reality the possession of Fida Husen Khan was no more
than that of a Government manager ; but the summary settlement of
1858-59 having been made with him, and a taluqdari sanad having been
granted to him, he has thereby obtained a permanent, hereditary, and
transferable proprietary title. The entire pargana belongs to Fida Husen
Khan, except one village held by qanungos ; two hamlets have been decreed
in subordinate right to members of the Bachhil clan. There are 30 mauzas ;
the population is 8,796, or 201 to the square mile, leaving out the grants.

Ahirs are the most numerous caste, but Kisans and
History o ag apur. Jj^tji-^os are present in more than average proportions.

The history of Magdapur is the same as that of Atwa Piparia up till
1851 ; then the Rdja of Muhamdi obtained possession as a farmer. There
is a separate article on this pargana.

Six years afterwards, at annexation, the Rdja was recognized as the pro-
prietor of the whole pargana, except six villages held by Bdchhil Chhattris,
Brahmans, and others. The area of the pargana is 56 square miles. Of
these 36 villages the summary settlement demand was Rs. 6,177-3-0, or 2
annas 9 pie per culturable acre. The population is 9,949, of whom Ahirs
form 22 per cent.

Two unmetalled roads pass through the pargana, both leading by different
routes from Lakhimpur to Muhamdi. There are no tovms, trade, or manu-
factures worthy of notice. Rice and millet are the principal crops.

ATJRANGABAD — Pargana Axjeangabad — Tahsil Muhamdi — District
Kheri — A town from which a pargana in the district of Kheri derives its
name, was founded by Nawab Sayyad Khurram in the time of Aurangzeb,
Emperor of Delhi, and called after his name Aurangabad. It is situated

AUR 83

about six miles north of the road from Sitapur cantonments to that of Shdh-
jahanpur ; it is about twenty-eight miles north-west of the former and
thirty-eight miles east of the latter.

Latitude 27° 47' ; Longitude 83° 27/

Tieffenthaler describes it as " having a brick built palace enclosed with
a wall, and adjoining a fort of quadrangular ground plan, and having
hexagonal towers." This building and fort were built by the said Nawab at
the time of the foundation of the town. The former, in a decayed state,
is in the possession of the descendants of the founder, and the latter is in
utter ruins The walls of one solitary bastion are standing, and a part of
it after necessary repair is occupied by the local police station. Its site is
surrounded by an open fertile country, though the land is not of the best
quality. Since 1785 it has been Government property, and has been
declared such by a judicial decree, dated 27th September 1866. A small
market is held here twice a week, on Tuesdays and Sundays ; articles of
country consumption are exchanged and sold. The annual average values
of Native and European cotton and silk fabrics do not exceed Rs. 500 and
E.S. 400 respectively.

Population 2,842 — Hindus 1,944, Muhammadans 898.

AURANGABAD — Pargana Atjeangabad — Tahsil Misrikh — District Si-
tapur.— Contains 3,000 souls, and is the residence of the Taluqdar Mirza
Agha Jan, whose ancestor, Bahadur Beg, acquired the surrounding country
in jagir from the Emperor Aurangzeb, in whose honour he named the town.
It had been previously in existence under the name of Balpur Pasau hav-
ing been founded by the Panwar Rajputs.

The town is four miles to the east from NimkhSr and the Gumti. A
bazar is held twice a week ; cotton and salt are sold to a considerable
amount, the annual value of the sales being put down at Rs. 66,060.

The climate of the place is salubrious, the soil good. It contains only
one pakka mosque. To the north there is a tank, held holy by the
Hindus.

The boys attending the school number 46. The kachcha houses are 589,
and few pakka.

AURANGABAD Pargana — Tahsil Muhamdi — District Kheei. — This
pargana is the most southerly in Kheri, projecting into the Sitapur dis-
trict ; it is bounded on the north by Magdapur, on the east and west by
the Kathna and Gumti ; the latter a navigable stream. It lies high, the
town being 484 feet above the sea, the same elevation as Lakhimpur ; the
drainage is good.

At the time of the assessment the pargana consisted of 114 regularly
demarcated mauzas, of which nine were jungle grants along the banks of
the river Kathna. Subsequently, certain grants were amalga,mated with
adjoining vilUages. Therefore 107 villages, including 4 muafi villages, have
been separately demarcated ; they comprise an area of 61,377 acres, out

r 2

84 AUK

of which 32,835 were under crops, being 60'05 per cent, of the total assess-
able area of 54,681 acres. Of the 6,696 acres unassessed, 1,199 are under
groves and 759 were held revenue-free. The percentage of irrigation is
only 20"55, which is smaller than what has been found in other parganas.
The reasons appear to be that 47 per cent, of the cultivated area is under
kharif crops, to 38 per cent, in the adjoining pargana of Pasgawan. There
is much high and undulating land in this pargana along the river Gumti
where wells cannot be used, and, except in very dry years, much irriga-
tion is not resorted to for the wet cultivation on the lower levels of the
Gumti. The average number of acres of cultivation to each plough is
6'66 ; 1-33 acres of cultivated land to each head of the population.

The pargana comprises a total area of 116 square miles, with a popula-
tion of 248 to the square mile ; but if the area under grants be deducted
in order to obtain better data, then the area assessed will stand at 99 square
miles, and population at 283 per square mile. The general features of
the pargana will be best understood by drawing a line from north to south
through the centre of the pargana passing through Qasba Aurangabad,
dividing it into equal parts ; when the half of the pargana lying to the
west of this line will be found to consist of high, arid, sandy plains,
undulating and broken over the river Gumti, along which are ranged the
poorest class of villages, and those owing to the sailab cultivation along the
river.

The eastern half of the pargana consists of villages of the first and
second classes, with dumat soil generally of different shades of fertility.
Here water is nearer the surface, and kachcha wells stand for a year or more,
according to locality. Dofasli crops are met with in the " jhabar" depres-
sions by the river, and the cultivation is much superior in every respect,
reaching up to the edges of the belt of jungle grants.

Aurangabad, in common with all the parganas lying between the Gumti
and the Kathna, greatly requires irrigation ; the two streams above-men-
tioned lie much below the level of the country.

Aurangabad was one of the seats of the great Sayyad rdj which governed
the country from Pihani to the Gogra. Their history is told under district
Kheri. In Aurangabad they met the advancing forces of the Gaur
Chhattris and were defeated.

The population of the pargana is 28,823, of whom Musalmans are only
1,737 ; this is rather remarkable, as Musalmans have been the chief pro-
prietors for many years. Brahmans number 3,696 ; Chhattris, 2,021.

The soil being light, cultivators of good caste are very few.

The town of Aurangabad with its ruined fort, and the monument erected
over the spot where the Shahjahanpur fugitives were massacred in 1857,
are the principle objects of interest. ' The metalled road from Sitapur to
Shahjahdnpur runs through this pargana.

AURANGABAD Pargana — Tahail Miseikh — District Sitapur. — Pargana.
Aurangabad is bounded on the west and south by the river Gumti, which

AUR S5

separates it from the Hardoi district, on the north by pargana Misrikh,
and on the east by Kurauna. Its area is 60 square miles.

With the exception of a few villages to the north-east, the pargana is a
poor one. If it be divided into two parts by a line running paralled to the
Gumti and about 4 miles from it, we shall find that the villages, between
the line and the river are very indifferent. The soil is bhur, there is no
tarai, and the sand which is blown over them from the river banks is very
destructive to vegetation. The other part of the pargana is good, especially
the villages round about and including Aurangabad Kh4s. Irrigation is
rare. There are no lakes, forests, tanks, or rivers within the boundary of
the pargana. The percentage of first class crops is small.

The area is thus classified : —

Acres.
Cultivated land ... ... ... 24,806

Culturable „ ... ... ... 8,550

Muafi „ ... ... ... 90

Barren „ ... ... ... 4,856

Total ,.. 38,302

and on this the incidence of the Government demand is as follows : —

Es. A. P.
On cultivated ... ... ... ... ... 13 7

,, malguzari ... ... ... ... ... 0 13 7

„ total area ... ... ... ... ... 0 11 10

The population numbers 19,365, which is thus distributed :-^

„. , (agricultural ... ... ... 10,037

nrnaus •••(non-agricultural ... ... ... ;',068

,., , I agricultural ... ... ... 834

Musalmana .- j nSi^.agricultural .. 1,426

The Musalmans thus are llj per cent, of the entire population. There
are 323 souls to the square mile. To each head of the agricultural popula-
tion there are about 2| acres of cultivation and 3 acres of malguzari land.
The people live in 4,064 houses, to each of which there are thus 4'7 inha-
bitants. Two roads run through the pargana, one from Sitapur through
Ramkot and Misrikh, the other from Khairabad through Machhtehta.
They meet at Nimkhar (see Town History) on the Gumti, which is
fordable at that place during the dry weather, and from which a road runs
to Hardoi. Water communication is afforded by the Gumti. The princi-
pal bazars are held at Aurangabad Khas and Mmkh^r or Nimsir, to the
histories of which towns the reader is referred for particulars regarding the
markets, as ako the sacred buildings and old fort at the latter town. The
- pargana produces nothing beyond the ordinary staples of the province.
No manufactures are carried on ; no mines or quarries are worked.

Aurangabad is not mentioned in the " Ain-i-Akbari," because its forma-
tion into a pargana dates only from the British annexation. But under
Todar Mai the lands were included in Nimkhdr, which embraced the lands
of six muhals, namely, Maholi, Misrikh, and NimJchdr in Sitapur and
Kasta, A'bgdon and Sihandardbad in the Kheri district, and which formed
part of Sarkar Khairabad. All this territory of Nimkhar was granted by the

86 AUE,— BAB

Emperor Aurangzeb in jagir to one Mirza Bahadur Beg, who founded a
new town where Balpur stood, and called its name Aurangabad, in honour
of his royal patron. This was in 1670 A. D. The Mirza did not long
possess this enormous property. What remained at his death was divided
between his two sons, the elder taking what is now known as the Aurang-
abad taluqa, the younger taking the Qutubnagar estate.

As the pargana stands now, it consists of thirty-four villages, seven of
which are a recent addition from Misrikh, and these are distributed as
follows : twenty-seven, taluqdar of Aurangabad, one, taluqdar of Saadat-
nagar, "Raja Shamsher Bahadur Beg, one, Musalman zamindar, one,
Gosham zamindar, four, Kayath zamindars. Raja Shamsher Bahadur -
got his villages on the occasion of a marriage. It is noticeable that there
are no Rajput zamindars in the pargana, and that too, though before the
time of Mirza Bahadur Beg above-mentioned, it was owned by Panwdr
Rajputs.

For notices of the Qutubnagar and Saadatnagar taluqdars, the reader is
referred to the history of pargana Misrikh, in which their estate and
ancestral villages are situated.

AURAS — Pargana Mohan— Auras — Tahsil MoniN — District Unao. —
Lies sixteen miles north-west from tahsil, and twenty-six miles north
from sadr station Unao. An unmetalled road from Unao to Sandila
passes through it. The Sai runs past one mile to the south, where it has
lately been crossed by a masonry bridge.

Some five hundred years ago the merchant tribe called " Ursaha," resi-
dents of Sandila, made this their route for traffic. At that time there was
a great wood here. Ram Mai, one of the tribe, had the jungle cut down
and peopled the village, calling it Aurds after the tribe of Ursaha.

The soil is principally loam ; in some places it is very light. The surface
is level, there is no jungle near, climate good, and water fresh. A school
for Urdu and Nagri established here by Government. There are 46 boys —
41 Hindus and five Musalmans. There are two markets weekly, where are to
be obtained com, tobacco, vegetables and English and country-made cloths.
Annual sales amount to about Rs. 500. Earthenware, gold and silver
trinkets, are the principal manufactures. The population is divided as
follows : — Hindus, 1,330 ; Muhammadans, 47 : total 1,377.

There 'are 307 mud-built houses.

Latitude 26° 54' north ; Longitude 80° 33' east.

B.

BABHNIPAIR* Pargana — Tahsil TJinAJiLA— District Gonda.— The small-
est pargana in the Gonda district, covers an area of 42,985 acres, or
67 square miles. It lies on the southern frontier, and is bounded on the
north by the parganas of Manikapur and Burhapara, on the south and east

* By Mr. W. 0. Benett, c. s., Assiatant Commissioner.

BAB

87

by tbe North-Western Provinces district of Basti, and on the west is co-
terminous with pargana Nawabganj. In shape it is a long, narrow strip
running east and west, and broadening in the centre, with a greatest length
of seventeen and a greatest breadth of seven miles. The eastern half of its
northern frontier is washed by the river Bisuhi, which is separated from
the cultivated tracts by a narrow belt of jungle. The rest of the pargana is
densely populated and under minute and careful tillage. The whole is a
perfectly level, slightly raised plain, with no distinctive natural features
beyond a number of small lakes which accumulate the water of the rains.
Irrigation is very general, a^nd water found within from 10 to 20 feet of
the surface : 6,700 acres are irrigated from wells, of which 737 are of brick ;
while 492 tanks and ponds water 5,415 acres, giving a total irrigated area
of 12,115 acres, or nearly half of the whole cultivation.

The pargana may be divided into two distinct tracts — the jungle belt
which has been apportioned between six Government grantees, and the old
cultivated villages on which land revenue has been assessed. The latter
number 135, with a total area of 36,647 acres, of which 24,924 or 69 per
cent., are under cultivation ; while the grants cover 6,327 a"cres, of which
only 2,017, or 32 per cent., having been brought under the plough, the
total proportion of cultivation to non-cultivation being G24 per cent, over
the whole pargana. The land is all of a good dumat, or mixture of clay
and sand, never rising to pure clay, or so sandy as to be incapable of
tillage : 18,865 acres are under autumn and 18,655 under spring crops,
while 11,535 acres bear two harvests in the year.

The principal agricultural products are autumn rice and wheat, and the
areas under each of the main crops are shewn in the following table : —

Autumn rice.

Winter rice.

Wheat.

Gram.

Aid.

Poppy.

13,140

3,350

4,795

3,530

3,090

9G0

The population amounts to 31,029, or 463 to the square mile, and is dis-
tributed according to the settlement, which on this point are more trust-
worthy than the census returns over 575 hamlets and detached houses.
There is not a single place of importance, or one village of above 1,000
inhabitants, and the people are wholly engaged on agriculture. The census
o-ives 7,675 inhabited houses, with an average of 4'04 persons to each ;
while the number of inhabited houses according to the settlement returns
is only 5,365. Hindus are in an overwhelming ma,jority, counting 29,785
souls against 1,244 Muhammadans. The most numerous castes are Brah-
mans, Chamars, Ahirs and Kurmis, who number by the settlement returns
respectively, 4,169, 4,510, 3,740, and 2,994 persons. The pargana is utterly
undistinguished either for any manufacture or commerce. There are no
roads, except the rough cart tracts which connect the villages with one
another, and enable them to pour their surplus rice and oil-seeds into the
marts of Nawabganj or Shdhganj on the banks of the Gogra.

The only place of any religious importance is the new shrine of Chhipia,

88 .BAB

which is treated in a separate article. The old limits of the raj, were once
much more extensive than they are at present, and succes&ive losses reduced
it at annexation' to the three small tappas of Pipra, Chanda, and Babhni-
pair Khas. Since then there has been no change in its boundaries. In
1800 A. D., the Government demand was Rs. 7,723, which rose in two
years to Rs. 12,744. This seems to have exhausted the riches of the place,
and for the next fifteen years the revenne remained steadily at about Rs,
8,000. In 1818 A. D. it rose again to Rs. 10,520, and continued to increase
from Rs. 16,000 ( 1821 to 1826 ) to Rs. 20,000 ( 1829 to 1836 ). In 1837
Raja Darshan Singh wasnazim, and screwed up the demand to Rs, 27,568,
an extortion from which the pargana did not recover for the remainder of
native rule ; for, though the same official managed to collect Rs. 20,991 in
1842 A. D., the average receipts till amiexatioai varied from Rs. 13,000 to
Rs. 15,000 per annum. When we took over the country it was found
that 17,802 acres were under crultivation at a rent of Rs; 34,868, and the
land revenue was fixed at Rs. 21,655. Within fifteen years the increase
of cultivation has been enormous, and when the land was re-surveyed for
regular settlement in 1871, it was found that 26,941 acres were under
cultivation at an admitted rent of Rs. 61,756.

It was impossible to take full rents at once from the villages recently
reclaimed from the jungle, and the Settlement Ofiicer proposed a progres-
sive demand as follows ;—

Es.
1873 to 1877 ... ... 42,055

1878 to 1880 ... ... 42,825

1881 to 1883 ... ... 44,100

and for the remainder of the thirty year settlement Rs, 44,390 ; the rates
being in the final year Rs. 1-12-6 per cultivated acre, and Rs. 1-5-0 per
acre on the whole area of the assessed portion of the pargana. The Gov-
ernment grants have not yet come under assessment.

The present Raja of Babhnip&r is the head of the only legitimate family
of descendants from the old Kalhans Rajas of Khurasa, whose sway extend-
ed from Gonda far into the Gorakhpur district. As the famous Ratan
Pande (See Gonda pargana article) was sitting dhama on Achal Narain
Singh, the last Kalhans Raja, for his sins and profligacy, the younger Rani,
who was bom of a Chhattri house in the present pargana of Rasulpur
Ghaus,* took compassion on the old man's sufferings and offered him food
and drink. This he declined, but in return for her civility he prophesied
to her the coming ruin of her family, and exhorted her to fly for safety to
her father's house, adding that her progeny should be Rajas ; but that even
as his eyes had sunk in through fasting, so should every chieftain in her
family be blind. The curse has only been partially fulfilled, as though
there have been one or two blind Rajas of Babhnip^ir, the majority of them
have been unaffected in their eyesight. Bhing Singh, the posthumous
son of Raja Achal Narain Singh, was bom a few months after the fall of
the Khurasa raj, in what is now the Basti district, and when he grew up
possessed himself of a small chieftainship, embracing the present parga-
nas of Raslilpur Ghaus, Babhnipair, BurhapSra, and part of tappa Hathni

• Of the Basti district.

BAB— BAG 89

m Manlkapur. He was soon afterwards stripped of the Burhapdra par-
gana by Alawal Khan, the aggressive leader of the Pathans of Utraula,
who after a long struggle, which utterly depopulated the pargana, finally
expelled the Kalhans. Sixth in descent from Bhing Singh was Madhukar
Singh, whose sons. Raj Singh and Himmat Singh, divided the inheritance,
the former taking Rasulpur Ghaus with the title of rdja, the latter, as
babu, Babhnipair. The grandson of Raj Singh, Kesri Singh, was killed in
battle by RAm Singh, Raja of Bansi, who forcibly possessed himself of
the pargana of Rasulpur Ghaus. The murdered man left an infant grand-
son, Shuja Singh, who was adopted by his cousin, the childless Babu RSm
Singh of Babhnipair, and transferred the title of Raja to that pargana. His
son, Abdhut Singh, held the raj till 1821 A. D., and was succeeded by the
blind Raja Jai Singh, who died only a few years before annexation. As
he had no children, his nephew, Indrajit Singh, became Rdja, but did not
enjoy the honour long, and was succeeded by his infant son. Raja Udit
Pragash Singh, during whose minority the ancestral estates are held in
the guardianship of the Court of Wards. Almost all the villages are held
by Brahman birtias, who, however, enjoy the minimum of rights. If the
village was held at grain rents, they were allowed one-tenth of the land-
lord's share in the produce ; and if money rents were agreed upon, they
simply paid the full value of the village without getting any drawback, as
was usual in the case of birtias in other parts of the district. Sometimes
the villages assigned them in birt were entirely withdrawn from them, and
they were allowed instead small plots of rent-free sir. They were all
Brahmans and as Brahmans generally do, have increased in numbers, till
the rent is barely enough to keep them alive : they know no trade, can
get no service and to plough they are ashamed.

BACHHRAWAN — ParganaBACK^RAwAN — TahsilBiGBUAiGANj — District
RaeBaeeli. — This town is situated on the road from Rae Bareli toLucknow,
but three other roads exist from this town to Sultanpur, Unao, and Haidar-
garh.

The country is rather bare of trees, but the soil is fertile. The popula-
tion is 4,934, of whom 1,136 are Kurmis and 928 Brahmans ; these all wor-
ship Shiva. There is a Government thana ; a school attended by 55 pupils.
There are five temples to Mahadeo, and a market three times a week.

BACHHRAWANPargrawa — Tahdl Digbijaiganj — District Rae Baeeli. —
This pargana derives its name from the principal town which was found-
ed by Bachhraj Pande, the chaudhri of the place. This pargana also, like
others of this estate, was in the possession of the Bhars, notwithstanding they
were subdued successively by Malik Taj-ud-din of Masalid's army and the
Bais Rajas. The pargana was at length taken from them in 820 Hijri, when
Sultan Ibrahim of Jaunpur totally annihilated them. At that time one
Qazi Sultan, descendant of Qidwa-ud-din, (who had entered Oudh at the
invasion by Qutub Shah of Delhi), joined with a few attendants the Sultan
of Jaunpur in his expedition against the Bhars, and therefore was granted
the zamindari of this pargana, and he took up his residence in the village
Thulendi (which was founded by Thula, a Bhar nazim of the place), ap-
pointing it the head-quarters of the pargana. Ibrahim of Jaunpur then
divided the whole of this pargana into two tappas or divisions, tappa

90 BAG

Ashan and tappa Sidhauli, each of which he placed under the charge of
a collector or amil, and called this pargana Thulendi.

This arrangement remained till the time of Nawab Asif-ud-daula, when
Hdja Niwaz Singh, a Brahman nazim, transferred the head-quarters of
the pargana from Thulendi to Bachhrawan, and since then it has been called
pargana Bachhrawan. Now the pargana comprises fifty-eight villages ;
its length from east to west is twelve miles and breadth from north to south
nine miles, and its area is ninety-four square miles. It is bounded on the
east by pargana Hardoi ; on the west by parganas Nigohdn of Lucknow and
Mauranwan of TJnao ; on the south and north by parganas Bareli and
Kumhrawan, respectively.

The pargana was formerly nearly all in the possession of the descendants
of Qazi Sulta,n, but gradually they were deprived of the greater portion
of their estates by the Kurmis and Bais. The Kurmis, called Jaisw^rs,
came from the neighbourhood of Kanauj some four hundred and seventy-
five years ago, when a great famine had caused much distress in that
country. One Kesho Das, the ancestor of the present Kurmis of this par-
gana, entered the service of Bachhraj Pande Chaudhri, the founder of the
village Bachhrawdn, and the latter having been killed by the then governor
of the place, Kesho Das joined the governor ; he gave proofs of fidelity, and
was therefore nominated to succeed the Chaudhri BachhrJij Pande. He
obtained a good estate in zamindari, but his descendants gradually incur-
red debts, and have mortgaged and sold a great portion of the so-acquired
estate to Chandan Lai a Khattri banker of Mauranwan ; the villages so trans-
ferred being combined together, are called the taluqa of Thulendi.

The Bais Har Singh Rae, the son of Karan Rae, separated himself from
his brothers in Nahesta, and brought Sidhauli and some other villages into
his possession by the sword ; his descendants increased their possessions by
degrees, till one descendant, Eaja Hindpal Singh, came to hold the taluqa
of Karauli-Sidhauli, and another, Thakur Bhagwan Bakhsh, the taluqa of
TJdrahra. Of the ancestors of Raja Hindpal of Karauli-Sidhauli, Bhdn
Singh was the most powerful, and to his estate belonged the Pargana
Sissaindi, which was granted to the ancestors of Raja Kashi Parshdd, the
present taluqdar, as a gift. The descendants of Qazi Sultan now possess
only six villages, and these also are mortgaged to the Thulendi taluqdar.

The system of tenure is as follows : —

Taluqdari ... t.. ... ... 441

Grant ... ... ... ... X

Zamindari ... ... ... ... 51

Pattidari ... ... ... ... 7

Total ... 58 villages.

The area of the pargana is 60,395 acres, and the Government revenue
Rs. 1,40,192, the rate per acre being on an average Rs. 2-6-0.

The population is composed of all castes, high and low. The Muham-
madans are chiefly of the Sunni sect. The higher caste Hindus — Brah-
mans, Kayaths, and Chhattris — belong to the Shaivi creed, and are more

BAG 91

numerous than those of Vaishnavi and Shakti faith ; of the lower castes,
the Kurmis number nearly 6,000 in this pargana, and they are well skilled
in the art of agriculture, and rank next to Kachhis and Muraus in this
respect. But there is nothing in the caste statement to account for the
high jama. The total population of the pargana amounts to 60,867, of
which 48,090 are Hindus and 2,777 Muhammadans ; this is at the rate of
563 to the square mile. Of the rivers, the Sai forms the boundary between
this pargana and pargana Maurdnwan of Unao, and then flows away to
pargana Bareli. It is of no use for purposes of irrigation, but on the con-
trary sweeps away the standing crops when it overflows its banks. There
is another river in this pargana, called Naiya, which dries up altogether
after the rainy season is over. These are the only two rivers. The soil is
chiefly loam and clay ; bhur or sandy soil is scarcely found, save in the
western parts near the river Sai. Irrigation is carried on for the most part
by tanks. Water is found at an average depth of 32 feet.

This pargana is very fertile owing to its having a' good number of tanks.
During the king's reign salt was manufactured in twelve villages, about
280 maunds, of the value of Rs. 171 per annum ; but it is not made now,
though the manufacture of saltpetre is still carried on in eleven villages ;
the outturn amounts to 1,050 maunds per annum. The pargana abounds
in groves of mango and mahua trees. Other trees are met with — jamun,
kathal, gular, tamarind, bel, bargad, pipal, and babul ; but these are
neither plentiful, nor are they of much value. There are six markets held
in this pargana, viz., Girdharaganj, (2) Hasanganj, (3) Kundanganj in vil-
lage Karanpur, (4) Rampur Sidhauli, (6) Rajamau, (6) ShekhpUr Samodh.
The first is held on Tuesdays and Fridays, the second, third and fifth are
all held on Saturdays and Wednesdays, the fourth is held on Mondays and
Fridays, and the sixth on Sundays and Tuesdays. The fourth, fifth and
sixth, viz., of R£mpur, Rajamau and Shekhpur, are not of any importance.
On the day they are held, the traders of the few neighbouring villages
assemble and carry on their business. The usual articles offered for sale
are com and cotton. The markets of Girdharaganj, Kundanganj and
Hasanganj are of most importance and best known, as they stand exactly
on the roadside from Bareli to Lucknow. There are saraes also for the
accommodation of travellers and merchants, and there are some shops in
these ganjes in which necessaries can be purchased at any time. In all
these three markets on the days they are held almost every kind of com-
modity is brought from other districts, as salt and cotton from Cawnpur,
utensils from Mirzapur, cotton from Benares, Tanda, Farukhabad, &c.

The cattle market is that of Girdharaganj, and the cattle dealers attend
this market chiefly in the rainy seasons from beyond the Gogra, and from
the district of Tirhut. !N othing is exported from this pargana except gur
and rice, which are sometimes bought to be sold again at Cawnpur. No
fair is held throughout this pargana, and neither is there any place of pil-
grimage for Hindus or Muhammadans.

In the village Thulendi there stands the tomb of Taj-ud-din, who was
of Masalid's army, and two reservoirs, one called ChhotaHauz (small reser-
voir), and the other Bara Hauz (large reservoir), both erected by the
same TSj-ud-din. The remains of a mud fort built by Sultan Ibrahim of
Jaunpxir are also to be seen in Thulendi.

92 BAD

BADO SARAI — Fargana Bado Sarai — Tahsil Fatehpue — District Baea
Banki. — Bado Sarai is situated on the district road from Ramnagar to
Daryabad, about twenty miles north-east of the sadr, and is said to have
been founded some five hundred years ago by Badd<i Shah, a faqir. It lies
3 J miles west of the river Gogra.

Latitude 27° north, and longitude 81° 30' east.

There are several muhallas or wards — muhalla Rastogian (a caste of
Banians), muhalla Bazdar£n (formerly king's regimental bandsmen),
muhalla Mah^ Brahmanan. To the west of the river lies the shrine of
Mald,mat Shah, faqlr, who died about one hundred and fifty years ago. It
is not visited by people from a distance, but is considered a place of great
sanctity in the neighbourhood. Offerings are daily made, and the disciple
in charge, after putting aside what he requires for his own use, leaves
his hut at dusk, and with a peculiar cry calls the jackals, who dispose of
the remainder. The people credit the jackals, with a supernatural
sagacity, in distinguishing between the gifts which have been offered up
from sincere motives, and those which the donors have given only to be
seen of men, asserting that the animals eat the former and refuse the
latter. A religious tiger is also said to come over from Bahraich and pay
an annual visit to the shrine. There are a great number of petty Musal-
man proprietors. During the reign of Nawab Asif-ud-daula, the pargana
of Bado Sarai was held as a jaglr by one Afrid Ali, an eunuch, who gave
away numerous plots of ground rent-free to the Musalman inhabitants of
this town, and of Katra, a Muhammadan village situated half a mile east
of Bado Sarai.

At a distance of four miles east-south-east of the town is the temple of
Jaganndth Das, of the caste of faqirs called Sattnami.

In front there is a fine ijrick tank, in which thousands bathe during the
fair held in April and October.

BADO SARAI Pargana — Tahsil Fatehpue — District Baea Banki. — This
pargana lies west of the Gogra river, east of pargana Bhitauli and Daiya-
bad. It partly consists of the high lands west of the old bank of the
river, and partly of the low tarai extending to the present channel. This
part of the pargana requires no irrigation. Its area is forty-eight square
miles, of which twenty-four are cultivated. There are fifty-six villages
with a population of 27,4.13, or 571 to the square mile. Of these, 4,550
are Musalmans. The pargana is called from the town, which see.

It anciently was the property of the Raikwars : its administrative his-
tory is that related by the q^nHngos : it is reprinted here as a specimen of
the official annals of an Oudh district, they merely record the changes of
oppressors.

Formerly the parganas Bado Sarai, Ramnagar, Muhammadpur, and
Lalpur-Rampur Mathura (trans-Gogra), formed pargana Sailuk The
Amil of Oudh resided in Bado Sarai, whither the collections were brought.
The q^nungos all belonged to one family. On Surat Singh's ancestors
acquiring power, the other parganas were separated from Bado Sarai.

BAD 93

1207 to 1225J'.— In 1207F, Bado Sarai, then containing one hundred

, „. , mauzas, was given in jagir to Mir Afrid Khan Khw^ja

fatti'o?sr"sS ■ Sara, and was retained by him up to 1225F In

1226 it was again made Khalsa. The jagirdars

collections were Rs. 44,000 of which grant to —

Mirza Melmdi All Khan, Ndzim ... ... Es. 7,000

Balance to Jagirdar .. . ... ... ... -,, 37,000

1239i''. — Bado Sarai was leased aHong with pargana Daryabad to Amirt
Lai Pathak of Sarae. This chakladar plundered
Estimates of Pdthah's colkc- the two parganas in such a way, that a large
1239F '*""*_ g portion was thrown out of cultivation, and the

1240F .". '.". 76,475 0 0 zamindars compelled to mortgage their estates ;
a24lF '.'.'. '..'. 57,205 0 0 and in 1241F. the collections were Rs. 16,967

less than those of 1240F.

1241J'. — Amirt hil Pdthak died, and on account of the state into which
the parganas had fallen, no farmer would renew the contract. Ehsan
Husen Khan, son of Subhan Ali Khan, Kamboh, was appointed to make the
collections " amdni." The two districts began to
1244 to 1250F. recover, and in 12442''. were incorporated in the

nizamat of Sultanpur under the control of Raja Darshan Singh, who re-
tained them till 1250. No increase or decrease of the capabilities of the
two parganas seems to have taken place in this interval ; no villages were
thrown out of, or brought into cultivation. 1251i^. — Bado Sarai along with
pargana Daryabad Rudauli was contracted for by Raja Imddd Ali Khan.
He transferred the taluqas of Kajri and Marochih from pargana Bado Sarai
to Islamabad alias Haraha, pargana Daryabad. 12511'. — Owing to these
transfers the jama of 125li'. was Rs. 35,605 (Bado Sarai alone). 1252,
1253, and 1254i^. — Bado Sarai with chakla Daryabad was in Raja Man
Singh's contract : things remaining as before. 1255F. — In accordance
with the remonstrances of the Resident, the whole ilaqa was made amdni,
pargana Bado Sarai and chakla Daryabad Rudauli were entrusted to
Munna LAl, Kayath of Lucknow.

1256 and 12572^. — Girdhara Singh, Kumedan (Commandant), on the
security of Gur Sahae, Diwan, nominally amdni, really by contract col-
lected for two years. No enquiry was made, and as much was extorted
as could be got, and some villages were in consequence thrown out of
cultivation.

1258, 1259 and 1260F. — Bakhtdwar Singh, amdni, made his collections
after enquiry as to capacities, &c., reducing the amount to Rs. 28,872.

During the three years of Bakhtawar Singh's tenure the pargana
recovered from Girdhdra Singh's extortions. 1261i^. — Bado Sarai alone
was entrusted to Muhammad Husen of Lucknow, amdni, whose collections
are estimated at, in 1261, Rs. 34,156 ; in 1262, Rs. 34,456.

There are several kinds of soil and cultivation, &c. Chief productions —
sugarcane, wheat, rice.

94 BAH

BAERAICH DISTRICT ARTICLE.*

ABSTEACT OF CHAPTERS.

I. — Natural features. II. — History. III. — General, Materla.l,

Social, Economical, and Administrative aspects.

IV. — Land tenures.

CHAPTER I.

NATURAL FEATURES.

Latitude, Longitude, Area, Position, and Boundaries — Re-distribution of territory between
Bahraioli, Gonda, and Bara Banki — Physical features determined by the course of the
Gogra and RApti — Centre plateau— Its limits — The plain of the Gogra— Evidence of
fluvial action — -The Kauriala river — The Girwa — The Sarda and the Sarju — The old
coarse of the Sarju — Other affluents of the Gogra — The Tirhi — The soil of the plain of
the Gogra — The Eapti — The Bhakla — Navigation of these rivers — The Bhinga and
Tulsipur Tarai — Lakes and stramps — Forests— Tulsipur forest — Ikauna jungles —
Climate — PreVailing winds, &c. — Rainfall — Hailstorms — Roads — Imperial roads— First
class district roads — Second class district roads — Forest roads^Main ferries on the
Gogra — Minor ferries on the Gogra — The Girwa and Rapti ferries — Market towns.

The Bahraich district lies between latitude 28° 22' 50" and 27° 4' 3"
north, and longitude 82° 10' 46" and 81° 8' 46" east,

tude'ancfarea'^'^ ^°^^^' ^^^ ^^'^ ^^ ^^^^ °^ 2,682 square miles prior to some
minor rectifications of boundary which are to be
noted.

Position and bound-

It is one of the frontier districts of Oudh, its
northern boundary marching with the Naipal State
for a distance of 80 miles.

This line which runs in a south-east direction, parallel with the trend
of the Himalayas, forms one of the sides of the very perfect triangle,
which comprises the district. The western side of this triangle is pro-
vided by the Kauriala river, called in the lower part of its course the
Gogra, the base by the Gonda district. The apex is at Kates near Bhar-
thapur, and 94 miles from Rohonda, near Bahramghat, which forms the
southern extremity of the base, the northern end being at Sandhaura
Tarai near Durgapur. The base is _ 55 miles long in a direct line, but
its line is more irregular than the sides of the triangle. The population
is 774,640, being at the rate of 285 to the square mile.

* The Bahraich article is mainly drawn from the Settlement report by Mr. Boys, c. s,
The editor has contributed little except to Chapter III.

BAH
TABLE No. I,
District Bahraich, area and population.

95

Pargana,

Si
=1

a o

Area in British
square miles.

Population.

o

" ID

■3

i

o

13

1
o

137

146

136

17

s

Id

a

1

1
1

i

tl

p

i

Bahraich ,

Ikauna

Bhinga

Tulsipur

Total

Fakhrpur

Hisdmpur

Total

Nanpara

Charda

Dharmanpur

Total

District Total ...

Europeans

Eurasians

Prisoners and em-
ployes in jail ...

Grand Total ...

329

213

1.57

32

721

314
363

677

314

177

66

333

261

305

93

84,777
75,799
67,171
10,128

17,391

3,622

7,357

318

53,680

40,813

38,737

5,573

48,488

38,608

35,791

4,871

102,168
79,421
74,528
10,446

307
304
244
112

992

436

237,875

28,688

138,803

127,760

266,563

266

i {

m 1

15 i

383

298

205
168

125,899
107,486

14,200
22,105

74,045
67,928

66,054
61,663

140,099
129,691

366
435

M I

681

373

233,385

96,395

141,373 127,717

269,690

366

i

521
212
304

260

139

50

124,100
58,326
22,627

24,472
6,965
1,694

78,385
34,031
13,552

70,187
31,260
10,769

148,572
65,291
24,321

238,184

285

309

81

^ L

557

1,037

449

205,053

33,131

125,968

112,216

229

1,965

2,710

•,1,258 676,313

98,124

406,744 367,693

774,437

285

'**

20
5

156

14
1

7

34
163

...

1,965

2,710*

1,258 676,313

98,124

406,925

367,715

774,640

285

Subsequent to the commencement of settlement operations the excres-
cences of the district on the south have been lopped
Kedistribution of ter- off and made over to Gonda, so that now the border
Ind'oondr^''^^^''''"'^ ^^^® between thq districts is fairly straight. Gonda has
compensated Bahraich for these cessions by the
transfer to the latter district of 32 villages comprising 64 square miles of
the Tulsipur pargana. This additional bit of territory gives Bahraich a
portion of the first of the hill ranges, the watershed of which forms here
the boundary between Naipal and British India ; recent negotiations with
Naip^l have, it is believed, brought the boundary down to the foot of
these hills.

At the same time that this re-distribution of territory was made, the

* 2,598 according to Settlement Report.

96 BAH

Bhitauli estate, the only Cis-Gogra part of Bahraich, was transferred to

Bara Banki, and the district thus made conveniently

Ee-distribution of ter- compact and symmetrical ; as redefined, it measures

TndBark B^nld ''^'^''''''' ^,598 square miles, but this is exclusive of grants,
and forests. *

The physical features of the district are well marked and are deter-
mined by the course of the two fine rivers which
Physical features de- flow through it, the Gogra and the Rdpti. A belt

termmed by the course ?• i i • i .°t,i i j ■ j ""^ An r j.

of the Oogra and Rapti. 01 comparatively high table-land, raised some 40 leet
above the level of the country on each side of it,
The centre plateau. ^^^^ through the district in a south-east direction,,
forming the watershed of these two rivers.

This belt is very well defined, and has a nearly uniform breadth of
about 12 or 13 miles.

The river Bhakla, called in the lower part of its course the Singhia,.
J, y ., an affluent of the Rapti, determines its limits north-

eastwards, while its south-western bank runs from
the Chakia jungle past Sara and Nanpara to Bamhni ; thence making a
bend eastwards it reaches Bahraich itself, which is built on its very edge.
Near Bahraich the Tihri, a drainage stream, takes its rise, and flows for
some distance under the bank ; then, keeping to the north-east of Baghel
Tal, leaves the district not far from Gangwal.

This belt of high ground comprises the western portion of pargana.
Charda, the eastern half of Ndnpara, nearly the whole of pargana
Bahraich, and about half the southern half of Ikauna. It measures about
670 square miles in extent.

The great plain of the Gogra stretches away from the edge of this high
ground to the river itself, which flows in a direction
Go-Sa ™ ot t e gguth-east at a distance varying from 10 miles in
the north to 3-5 in the south. Common tradition
asserts, and the whole face of the country supports the theory, that in ages
past the Gogra flowed immediately under the high bank described above,and
that it gradually receded westward until it reached its present course.

The numerous channels with which this alluvial plain is scored in aU
parts testify to the fact that it has been subjected at
action ""^^ different times to fluvial action. These channels, of

which some now form mere drainage streams and
some are dry throughout the greater part of the year, have a general direc-
tion, tortuous as their courses are, parallel to that of the river and thus
suggest the notion that at sometime or other they formed the actual bed
of the river which has now deserted them, while such lakes as the Nigri,.
Ganaur, Anarkali, Chittaur and Baghel Tal, can never have been scored
out by anything but a very large volume of water such as now finds its
way in the Gogra, known in the upper part of its course as the Kauridla.

* The area is differently stated at 2,710 and 2,636 square miles in statistical tables of
1873, pages II and XXV, at 2,652 in census table No. Ill, prepared in December 1874>
The attempt to attain accuracy is hopeless,

BAH 97

The Kauriala issues from the hills of Naip^l at a place called the Shisha
The Kauriala river. P^ni or " Crystal Waters," some 24 miles north of
Bharthapur. Flowing deep, clear, and silent through
the gorge which affords it an outlet from the mountains, it finds itself
within sight of the plains through which it has to run its course ; it then
sweeps violently down, rapid after rapid, over immense houlders, which it
has during the course of ages brought down with it from the hills.

Almost immediately after it debouches, the stream splits into two, the
The Girwa Girwa flowing eastward with a volume of water

superior to that of the main stream. Even in the
cold season when the waters are at their lowest, in most places it is with
difficulty that an elephant can cross these streams, parted though
they are, so violent is the rush of water. After a course of about eighteen
miles through the midst of fine sal forests and over rough stony beds, the
twin streams enter British Territory at the very extreme north-western
corner of the district where the Kauriala is joined by the Mohdn. A
few miles below Bharthapur, they reunite ; from the point of junction
their bed is sandy.

Almost immediately below the confluence of the Kauriala and Girwa,
The Sarda. *^® stream is joined by the Suheli from the Kheri

district, but it receives no affluents of any import-
ance from the Bahraich side until, after forming the boundary of the
district for about 47 miles, it is joined at a point just above Katai Ghit
by the Sarju.

This stream, which enters the district from Naip^l about 22 miles from
the Kauriala down the frontier line, is separated from
The Sarju. ^j^^ latter by a high tract of forest land ; it flows almost

due south with an exceedingly tortuous course of 70 miles (from point to
point 30 miles only), and falls into the Kauriala at the place noted above.
Less than eighty years ago, however, this stream, instead of joining the
Kauriala in this district, flowed in a distinct channel of its own, and united
with the Gogra in the Gonda district. It was a European merchant trading
in timber who found the Sarju channel a difficult and tedious road, and by
way of securing more expeditious river transit for his logs turned the stream
into an old channel which ultimately conducted its waters into the Kauriala.

The old stream flowed from a point just below Takia Ghat between

Bitinhiyan and Patruyia and between Kakaraha and

The old course of the j^t^^ira Kalan, whence its course is marked to the pre-

^^^^' sent day by the Chhota Sarju. This last mentioned

stream stiU conveys surplus surface water southwards in the old channel,

passing within a mile of Bahraich itself and running through the Hisampur

pargana. It ultimately joins the Gogra at Paska in the Gonda district.

At Katai Ghat, just below the confluence of the Kauriala and Sarju th&

united streams are swelled by the Chauka and

Other affluents of the D^hdwar from the Kheri district, but the river, now

°^*' called the Gogra, receives no more affluents from the

east side after the Sarju as long as it remains the boundary of Bahraich at

G

98 BAH

Bahramghat ; however, it is joined from the west by a branch of the Chauka,
which with it, forms the Duab in which lies the Bhitauli estate aboye-
mentioned.

The Tirhi may also be considered as belonging, so far as Bahraich is

The Tirhi concerned, to the plain of the Gogra ; it is an unnavig-

able, sluggish, weedy stream, flowing from Chittaur

Jala, about 3 miles from Bahraich town, in a southernly direction until it

passes into Gonda.

The whole of the Gogratic plain consists of alluvial soil of various dates,

but in many parts, more especially in the north and

of th^^Gbgrf *^^ ^^*™ particularly in the valley of the Sarju, almost annual

deposits of fertilizing soil are left by the retiring floo4s.

The R^pti, whose valley lies on the northern side of the plateau described
The Eapti above, enters British Territory from Naipal, about

midway between the two extremities of the frontier
line of the district, and has a course of 81 miles (from point to point 42
miles) from Gulariha in Charda to Qalandarpur in Gidrahiy^n ilaqa. It
is a very sinuous stream, and it is continually changing its course, but it
flows in a deep channel confined by high banks, and only in more than
ordinarily wet seasons overflows to any great extent. These overflows,^
however, are sufficiently frequent to keep the alluvial soil of- the villages
within their range fresh and productive.

The Bhakla is a Tarai stream which comes from the NaipAl lowlands,
and in the dry weather is fordable at all points, but a
* *■ sudden fall of rain commits such a volume of water to it

to be carried off that it rises some 20 feet in less than as many hours. It
swirls down on these occasions with such violence that several attempts of
the district authorities to bridge it have failed. It flows for the greater
part of its course almost immediately under the high banks previously
mentioned, and it joins the Rapti under the name of Singhia, just above
Sahet Mahet. The Duab included between these two streams is one of
the most fertile portions of the district. For the river traffic see the sec-
tions on the trade.

All of these rivers are navigable. The R^pti and the Kauriala for boats
carrying 1,200 local maunds, or 20 tons, the others for smaller boats through-
out the year, but during the rains large barges ascend the river Sarju to
Khairi bazar and thence carry grain.

The smaller boats used will carry 200 local maunds, or 3 tons, and
require 2 feet of water when loaded; they are hollowed out of rough trees,
cost about Rs. 80, and will last with care and with none but minute repairs
for twenty-five years. They are owned solely by Gorias, vulgarly believed
to be a branch of the Kahdrs, who hire out their boats and their own ser-
vices, if the owner is not the oarsman; half the hire goes to the former, half
is divided among the latter.

Except the grain traffic there is nothing of any importance. Sugar
comes up from Azamgarh, There is no river side population, The fisheries

BAH 99

are small; for instance, 8 miles of the course of the "Sarju have. been
let for years for Rs. 40, now raised to Rs. 100 per annum, and the lessee
has only planted Narkul seed in his property. None of the rivers have
been embanked or dammed. The Sarju offers great facilities ; the old
course of this river forms a loop as it were, leaving the Gogra at Khairi
Ghat and rejoining it at Kamyar Ghat ; it might easily be made naviga-
ble for the whole of the year.

At the north-east corner of the map lies the only bit of genuine Tarai
Th Bh' <i T 1 country in Bahraich, viz., the Durgagur iMqa and

sipur Tarai* ^^ " ' *^® northern portion of Bhinga. To these must be
added the Tulsipur villages transferred from Gonda.
This tract of land is separated from the valley of the R^pti by a belt of
forest 20 mUes long and about 5 broad, which follows the line of that river.
It lies very low, and is a great rice-producing area, being, during the rains,
almost continuously under water. It is drained by a number of small
hill streams, which, though almost dry in the cold season, bear a very
different appearance in the rains. These ultimately all join the Kaihan
which falls into the R^pti, about 8 miles above the confluence of
the Rapti and Singhia.

The chief lakes and swamps of the district have been named already as
being evidently the result of the scouring of the
Lakes and swamps. q^^^ The largest of them, Bagh'el Tal, is a fine
sheet of water 2^ square miles in extent. The Ganaur and Anarkali lakes
each measure about 450 acres, the Nigria Jhil 380 acres. To these may be
added Maila Tal, 150 acres, not far from Rahwa, Mde Tal, in the Rapti
valley, 85 acres, and Sita-dohar Tal, 380 acres, 4 miles west of Ikauna.
The last mentioned owes its existence partly to the Buddhist mounds and
m.onuments on its banks, the materials of which have all been excavated
from this lake ; most of them are navigable by flat-bottomed boats.

The Bahraich forests lie along the Naipdl frontier, and are for the most
Torests P^"^ continuations of the tracts of jungle included within

that territory.

They have an area of 281 square miles, and geographically may be di-
vided into five sections, though departmentally there are seven divisions.

1st. The Bharthdpur Forests. — These have an area of 13 square miles,
and are included between the Kauriala and the Girwa.

2ncl. The Bharmdnpur Forest. — This with the Ainchwa or Babai
jungles forms the watershed of the Kauriala and Sarju. The area is 173
square miles.

3rd. The Chakia Jungle. — This lies on the western bank, of the high
ground which forms the watershed of the Sarju and Rapti.

Aith. The Charda or Bhuria Jungles. — These lie on the eastern bank
of the same ridge, and look down upon the Duab included between the
Bhakla and Rapti. They form a small and not very valuable section, the
area being only 13 square miles.

G 2

100

BAH

5th. The Bhinqa Forest. — This has been mentioned as separating the
Tarai from the valley of the Rdpti. Its area is 61 square miles.

The Tulsipur forest lies under the first range of hills ^stretching away

Tiilsipur Forest. ^™^ ^"^^^^ ^°'^* ^^*° ^"^^ plain for a distance of about 4t
to 5 miles, and up the sides of the hills to the frontier
line, which here is the ridge crest, or was till recently.

Ikauna Jungles.

Besides the above, which are reserved tracts, may be mentioned the
Ikauna jungles, which run in a belt 20 miles long and 3
miles broad, in a south-east direction, through the pargana
of that name. This tract has no timber of any value, but it affords capital
grazing ground and fuel supply for the villages around.

In point of climate the district assimilates in some points to Bengal.
Climate '^'^^ temperature is certainly cooler by several degrees

than that of districts south of the Gogra, but the air, as a
rule, is more laden with moisture, and is therefore not. so bracing. Natives
in Government employ who are residents of the cis-Gogra tracts, usu-
ally, evince great reluctance to serve in these parts. It does not appear,
however, that the climate is bad for Europeans, and the reputation that
the station has got for ' Bahraich fever ' is hardly deserved.

The prevailing winds are from the east, and even when in Bara Banki
Prevailing winds, &o. the hot blasts are blowing steadily from the west, the
wind here presses up towards north-west.

For the last eleven years the rainfall has averaged at Nanpara, the most
Kainfall northerly of the registering stations, 4-5 inches, at Bah-

raich, the central station, 46 inches, and at Hisampur,
the most southerly, 44 inches. It is remarkable that Nanpara, which is
near the hills, and the forests which are known to attract the clouds, does
not show a heavier fall than the southern stations.

Btatement of rainfall in Bahraich district for fourteen years, from 1860-61

to 1873-74.

Bahraich.

Kordaar.

NSnpiira.

TearSi

Inches,

Tenths,

Inches.

Tenths.

Inches.

Tenths.

1860-61

27

31

39

i

28

5

31

1861-62

70

10

66

%

60

4

621

1862-63

49

2

43

9

62

3

511

1863-64

56

81

52

54

48

0|

52J

1864-65

20

9

23

3

27

8

24

1865-66

47

n

35

2

43

4

4l|

BAH

101

Eahraioh.

Kordaar.

Nitnpdra.

Years.

Inches.

Tenths

Inches.

Tenths.

Inches.

Tenths.

1866-67

32

If

41

5

38

2

37

1867-68

30

4

41

39

9

37

1868-69

41

9i

38

6

28

7i

m

1869-70

38

8

34

2

43

5

381

1870-71

78

2

87

6

72

6

79i

1871-72

71

4

83

...

69

9

74f

1872-73

36

37

49

5

401

1873-74

31

35

...

31

32J

1874-75

43

3

55

4

51

3

50

Averag«

! for 14 years

54^

This table is derived from otter sources ; it harmonizes pretty well with the remarks
in the text.

Note. — I may here describe the effects of Bahraich hail extracted from a report. " The
storm which occurred on the evening and night of the 1st February 1874 came from the
south south-weat, and seems to have crossed the country to the north-east, in a belt about
2 miles broad in the Bahraich pargana ; there may be another zone of disturbance still fur-
ther to the west. I could not study the matter for want of a good map.

" The principal damage done was to the wheat ; in some places I counted ten white ears
in the square yard ; these were all, or almost aU, standing, but on lifting the head it came
away, the stalk had rotted for about a quarter of an inch, and on placing the stalk beside
the sheath, the rotten part always reached down to a corresponding little white soar on the
outer sheath.

"The stalk had been struck by the hail and not broken, but paralyzed, and the
head had turned white. For one head of this description there were five which were not
upright, but with broken stalks often at an acute angle yet still alive and vigorous . These
had been struck on the head, forced down, and the stalk bent without being killed.

" The curious thing was that those which were really beheaded were standing in'almost
all cases quite erect. The gram was very much injured in village Lengri Gular ; it was difld-
cult to determine what damage had been done by worms and what by hail ; the former in
every case leave a hole behind them, which it is not easy to see from above ; the hail kills
the gram by paralyzing the pod with a blow. It was so backward in Pachdeori, or already
ruined by drought, that the hail had caused little injury . The effects of the storm were very
unevenly distributed. In some fields the loss was, I should think, one-fourth of the whole
in Lengri Gilar, in adjoining fields not one-twentieth.

"I noticed that the much damaged fields all lay near groves, and that the grain was
laid in these fields in a way which high wind might account for, but not hail.

' ' There was perhaps other agency, and at last it was admitted that these groves were the
covered ways through which the Nil-gae entered and left the cultivation at night froni the
adjoining grass jungles. These fields were not protected by wattle hedges; the Nil-gae had
lain down on or pressed down the stalks, and wherever this had occurred the hail had struck
the larger surface exposed by the horizontal stalks, often breaking them off at the knots,
and thus done much more extensive damage than when the crop was standing."

102 BAH

The roads in the district are of foxir classes : —

1. Imperial. 2. First class district roads. 3. Second class district
Roads. roads. 4. The ordinary bullock-cart tracks.

Of the imperial roads there are two : —

1. To Lucknow, vid Bahramghat. This line runs direct south from
Imtierial roads Bahraich for 34 miles through this district. It

is embanked and bridged throughout, but during
the heavy rains in 1871, the fine bridge over the Chhota Sarju was washed
away by the floods. It is intended to metal this road. At Bahramghat
there is a bridge-of-boats in the dry weather which connects it with the
metalled line to Lucknow and with the railway, the terminus of which is
at the southern end of the bridge.

2. From Bahramghat to Gonda. This line runs throughout this district
for 14 miles in an almost due easterly direction from Bahrampur, passing
through Colonelganj.

There are several first class district roads, all ra-
roSr* "^^^ '^'^*"'"' diating from Bahraich, which is itself in the centre
of the district.

1. To Nanpara, 21 miles almost direct north and thence to Naipdl-
ganj on the other side of the frontier, the line running for 12 miles beyond
Nanpara in a north-east direction within British Territory ; this line is
bridged throughout.

2. To Bhinga, 23 miles. This road crosses the Bhakla and the Eapti,
both unbridged. It is embanked in some places.

3. To Ikauna, 23 miles, and thence to Balr^mpur in Gonda for a dis-
tance of 6 miles more up to the new boundary of the district. This line
is bridged and embanked in some places.

4. To Piagpur, 18 miles, and thence to Gonda for a distance of 6 miles
further within the Bahraich limits.

5. To Colonelganj (now transferred to Gonda) 33 miles. This is a fair-
weather road only.

The second class district lines run for the most part in a circle round
Second class district Bahraich, crossing the main district roads, at a dis-
^°^^- tance averaging about 20 miles from Bahraich.

1. Nanpara to Bhinga ... ... ... ... 29 miles.

2. Bhinga to Ikauna

3. Ikauna to Piagpur ...

4. Piagpur to Kurasar . .

5. Kurasar to Sisia

Saimgiion near Baujidi

6. Sisia to Shiupur

7. Shiupur to Nanpara ...
Thus completing a circle of 118 miles.

class district lines run from Nanpara to Motipur
vid Saraghat, 14 miles ; Bahraich to Chahlari-
ghat, 20 miles ; Bahraich to Katai^at ... 90 ,,

The Forest Departments are now cutting roads through the forest sec-
j, ^ , , tions, which will greatly improve the means of corn-

ores roa . munications between the different parts of the dis-

trict in the north.

... 12

... 14

... 17

... 0

... 21

... 17

... 8

Other 2nd

BAH • lOS

Main ferries on "^^^^ main ferries across the Gogra are at: —

the Gogra.

1. Kat^igh^t at the meeting of the roads from Ndnpara and Bahraich
to Kheri, seven small boats.

2. Chahlarighat at the meeting of the roads from Bahraich, Ndnpdra,
and Kurasar to Sitapur, ten small boats.

3. Faruaghat on a cart track from Baundi to Biswdn, three large boats
and two small.

4. Bahramghat on the road to Lucknow. There is a bridge-of-boats
here throughout the dry season, and a ferry well served with large boats
during the rains.

Minor ferries on There are other smaller ferries as follow, coming from

the Gogra. the north —

1. Kamnagarghdt, on a cart track from Naipdl through Kates to Khai-
rigarh, one small boat.

2. Bharthapurghat, three small boats.

3. Shitabighdt, opposite Chhilwa on a cart track from the northern
part of Dharmdnpur pargana to Khairigarh, three small boats.

4. Matehraghat, on a cart track to Kheri, one small boat.

5. Zalimnagarghdt, on a cart track from Mangauria to Isanagar, two
small boats.

6. Thathu^ghat, on a cart track from Nanpara to Isanagar, two small
boats.

7. Ghanapurghat, on a cart track from Nanpara to Firozabad, two small
boats.

8. Bamhnighat, a little below Chahlarighdt, one small boat.

9. Keoraghat, on a cart track from Baundi to Biswan, four small boats.

10. Far^ighat, on a cart track from Nang^on to Eamnagar in the Bara
Banki district, three large and two small boats.

The Girwa and ^^ *^® Girwa there is a ferry at Bhawaniapur, with

Eapti ferries. one small boat, and on the Rapti there are ferries at —

1. Gangapur, on a cart track from the north of the Charda pargana to
Naipal, one small boat.

2. Guka, at the meeting of the boundaries of the Bhinga and Charda
parganas with the Naipdl line, two small boats.

3. Pipraghdt, on the road from Bahraich to Bhinga, two small boats.

4. Parasrampur, three small boats.

6. Harhai, on road from Ikauna to Bhinga, one small boat.

6. Gurpurwa, on a cart track from Ikauna to Durgapur.

7. Tumaighdt, where the eastern boundary of Durgapur iMqa touches
the Rdpti, two small boats.

104

BAH

MAEKET TOWNS.

Marlcets are held at the following places in the district, the commodities sold

being mainly for local consumption only, except grain,

which is brought for exportation.

W

Name of bazar.

Siaia

Mahrajganj
GolSganj
Baundi Kli^s

Jaitapur

Marowa

Khaira
Pachdeori

Jarwal

Khatgaghat
Bahrampur
Saugana
Gandhara

1st, 2nd,

or
3rd class,

2nd class

2nd
3rd
2nd

1st

3rd

3rd
3rd

2nd

1st

2ud

3rd

2nd

Where situated.

On the Gogra, on
road from Bah-
raich to Sitapur.

On the Chahldrighat
road.

To the west of Baun-
di.

Near the road from
Kurasar to Sisia.

Four miles o£f the
road (west) to Bah-
ramghat.

In the
estate.

Chahlari

In the Eahwa estate

In Baundi near Ka-

taighit.

On the Bahramghat
road.

Four miles north of
HisAmpur on the
lesser Sarju.

At the end of the
Bahramghat road.

Two miles south-
west of Kurasar.

The head-quarters
of the Aubhfipur
taluqdars.

Market days..

Sunday and
Tuesday,

Saturday and
Tuesday.

Friday and
Monday.

Tuesday and
Saturday,

Sunday and
Thursday.

Tuesday.

Tuesday and
Saturday.

Tuesday aud
Friday.

Monday and
Friday.

Tuesday and
Saturday.

No open mar-
ket here on
Tuesdays.

Monday and
Friday.

Thursday.

Bemarks,

The head-quarters
of the Bayyads of
Jarwal.

A large assemblage
of the country
people.

This is a cattle mar-
ket.

BAH

MARKET TOWl^B.— (Continued.)

105

1

■s

i

I^ame of bazar.

1st, 2iid,

or
3rd class.

Where situated.

Market days.

Eemarks.

■ij

Katwa

3rd class

Near Jarwal.

Tuesday and
Saturday.

1 -

Kiirasar

2]id

51

On the Bahramghat
road.

Tuesday and
Saturday.

Belwapara

3rd

>J

Tuesday ...

A small fair at Ma-
liiiblr's temple.

Patupur

3rd

))

Near Harharpur.

Friday and
Saturday

Colonelgaiij
Nanpara

1st

1st

»»

Fourteen miles east
of Bahramghat.

On the road to Nai-
pal.

Every day.
Ditto.

The centre of the
(jrain-trade ia
Itahraich. Large
barf^aji.s are made
here, and the graia
sent down the
river. The mart
is now included
in the Gonda dis-
trict.

KJiaira bazar
Sbiupur

1st
2iid

5»

On the road to Kheri
vid Kataighat, on
the Sarju.

On the road to Katai-
ghat.

Ditto.
Ditto.

Large grain bar-
drains are made
here, and the
grain exported by-
way of the River
Gogra.

Ditto ditto

Burui

1st

>t

Ditto ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto ditto

L
fc

Katgliar

1st

)J

North of Nanpara,
four miles east of
the Sarju.

A lartje share of the
Naipdl trade passes
through this bazar.

1^

Jbala

3rd

J»

In the south of the
pargana.

Tuesday and
Saturday.

Ikauna

2nd

If

On the road from
Bahraich to Bal-

No fixed day.

^

rampur.

K

5 ^

M

M

Lacbbmaiipur ...

3rd

JJ

In the Durgapur, on
north bank of the
Eapti.

L

Gangwal

2nd

J?

South of the road to
Gonda.

The head-quarters of
the Gangwal taluq-
dar.

106

BAH
MARKET TOWNS.— (Continued.)

E-!

K

Name of bazar.

BMaga

Bhangha

Harharpur

Katra Mudfi

Nawabganj Aliabad

Charda Khaa

1st, 2nd,

or
3rd claaa.

2nd class

2nd

3rd

2nd

2nd

3rd

3rd

Wiere situated.

One mile from
north bank of
Eapti.

the

the

One mile from the
south bank of the
Rapti.

On the south bank
of the Rapti, on
the road to Bhinga.

Seven miles north of
Nanpara, on the
road to Naipalganj.

On the Rapti

The head-quarters of
Nawab Nisar Ali
Khan, on the bor-
der of the Nanpara
pargana.

T\fo miles off the
Naipalganj road,
east.

Market days.

No fixed day.

Every day.

Ditto.

Tuesday and
Saturday.

Monday and
Friday.

Remarks.

The head-qnarters of
the Bhiuga taluq-
dar.

Bardar Sher Sinph'a
head-quarters, for-
merly a first class
mart for Naipdl
products, iron, &c.
Naip&lganj on the
other side of the
frontier has now
taken the trade
from here.

Established by the
taluqdar, a loyal
grantee.

Established by ma-
h^rdjaof Balrdm-
pur, of whose es-
tates in this dis-
trict this place is
the head-quarters.

BAH 107

CHAPTER II.
HISTOEY.

Tie Gandharp Ban and Banaudlia — Uttar-Kosala, the kingdom of Lava son of Earn — Srilvasti,
his capital -Description of the ruins of Sravasti — The (Jharda fortress-city — Uttar-Kosala,
the cradle of Buddhism — Hian's account of Sravasti— The decline of Buddhism and of
Sravasti — Other Buddhist remains — The Bhars and Bhar remains — Their origin — No
traces of them in the existing population — The period of their rule and of the Tharu
dynasty of Gonda — Sayyad Salar's birth and youth — He invades Hindustan — The religious
raid of Sayyad Salar — The " Mira-at-i-Masaudi" — He reaches Satrikh — A detachment sent
against Bahraich — The north and south confederacy— Sayyad Salar arrives in Bahraich — The
battles on the Kosdla and final defeat of Sayyad Salar — This invasion is connected with
the expedition of Ahmad Nialtagin — Points of coincidence in the two invasions — Explanation
of Barhaqi's silence regarding Salar Masaud — No permanent hold obtained on the country — ■
Nasir-ud-din overthrows the Bhars — The Ansaris of Hisampur — Nasir-ud-din, brother and
namesake of the Bhar destroyer, is made Governor of Bahraich — Shams-ud-din Bahraichi —
Bahraich a separate Government from Oudh at this time — The aspect of country in 1250
A.D.— Dugaon— The district from 1250 to 1340 A.D. —Muhammad Tughlaq's visitto Bahraich
■ — The sketch continued by estates — The Sayyads of Jarwal, their origin and early history —
Ghayas-ud-din bestows a muafi grant of 25,000 bighas on Jamal-ud-din in Jarauli — Date
of this settlement — Firoz Shah's march through Bahraich — Bariar Sah his Risaldar — Kroz
Shah's visit to the shrine of Sayyad Salar in 1374 A. D. — Bariar Sah establishes himself at
Ikauna — The Eaikwars migrate from Kashmir and settle in Eamnagar — Saldeo is brought
to Bamhnanti — The Raikwars establish themselves in the west — The district at the end of
the fifteenth century — Bahlol Lodi and his nephew the Black Mountain — Parganas JBUjhat,
Sultanpur Kundri, and Dangdun — The legitimate inferences from these revenue statements
— Sarkar Bahraich — The modern parganas corresponding with muhals of the " A'ln-i-Akbari"
— Evidence that the Muhammadan hold on the north was very weak — Eaja Harhardeo's grant
Harhardeo founds the Harharpur ilaqa — The separation of the Eahwa audChahlari ilaqa from
Bamhnauti or Baundi — The Katha estate — The separation of the Balrampur branch — Maha
Singh — The extent of his grant— The Charda, Gujiganj, and Bhinga oflf-shoots and the
Bahraich birts — The Gangwal branch — The northern parganas during this period— Salouabad

Nanpara — Himmat Singh's clearing lease — His success — Madar Bakhsh of Naupara —

The progress in Nanpara— Munawwar Ali Khan — He marries the daughter of Mehndi Quii
Khan — The disastrous quarrels of the ranis — Sir J ames Outram's account — The Luoknow
parasites — The increasing prosperity of the estate — The fate of the Gujiganj ilaqa — The pro-
gress in the north not materially affected by the changes in the administration— The
Sujauli (Dharmanpur) pargana— The acquisition of the Tarai parganas — The Naipal war
and the cession of the Tarai — The grantees of the ceded lands— The suppression of the
Banjaras, a result of the cession — The whole of the SujauU pargana thus thrown into the
hands of the Jangre Thdkurs— The Charda ilaqa-^Itg condition at annexation — The
MaUapur ilaqa — Ihe restoration of the Tarai parganas to Naipal in 1860 A. D.— The
Bhinga pargana — At first held by members of the Ikauna family — Afterwards trans-
ferred to the Bisen — The Bhinga ilaqa included in the Bahu Begam's jagir — Half the
estate confiscated — The history of the southern parganas during the Nawabi— Raja
Datt Singh of Gonda — Alawal Khan — Alawal Khan and his Afghans — Jagirs in Bah-
raich The system continued down to the time of Asif-ud-daula — The resumptions by

Asif-ud-daula — No jagirs granted after the accession of Saadat Ali Khan — The taluqdars'
position under the first five Nawabs — The Raikwars, an exception to that rule — The con-
tract system — The Piagpur estate — Its extension subsequent to the death of Saadat Ali ,

ji^han Number of khalsa villages in 1815 A. D. — Bahraich khalsa— Fakhrpur khalsa

His&mpur khalsa — Meaning of the word " khalsa" — Hakim Mehndi — Hadi Ali Khan com-
mences the incorporation of the khalsa lands in the taluqdars' estate — The extent of the
absorption — The Jarwal estates ; their ruin — Mir Hadi Ali Khan's administration— Darshau

gingh RaghubarDayal — Captain Orr's description of the district afterthe two years' adminia-

tration of Raghubar Dayal— The district has not yet recovered from the effects— The estates
which suffered most — Colonel Sleemau's notes— Comparison of the revenue before and after
Raghubar Dayal's administration — Subsequent nazims— Oudh is annexed— The Bahraich
staff of officers— Their work— The results of summary settlement of 1856 in the taluqdari
estates Ihe rebel taluqdars — Confiscations — Conclusion.

108 BAH

SECTION 1.— Mythic Period.

There is but little in the Hindu Epics from which information can be
The Gandharp Ban gathered of the dynasties which held sway in an-
and Banaudha. cient times in the country to the north of the Sarju

or Gogra. The portion of that country now included within the limits
of Bahraich formed a part of the Gandharp Ban, the vast forest, the
remains of which still exist unfelled, to the north of the district and in
the Tarai country of Naipal, The Gandharp Ban was separated from the
Banaudha which covered the country between the Sarju and the Gumti
by the former river. Accordingly Brahma himself is said to have chosen
this district as his own especial kingdom, and calling together a company
of holy Rishis to have established his worship in the midst of these lonely
wilds. Hence arose the name ("Bahraich or Brahm-aich",) the assembly
of Brahma.

Under the name of Uttar-Kosala the same country north of the Sarju

formed a portion of the great kingdom of Ajodhya,

Uttar-Kosala, the and was governed by Lava, the son of Rama, but it

oriw"^ ^'■™' '"^ seems that the name of Uttar-Kosala should more

strictly be applied only to the trans-Rapti portion of

the country, the cis-Rapti districts being known as Gauda, a name which

survives in " Gqnda."

The capital of Lava was doubtless the city of Sravasti, now known as

Sahet Mahet, the remarkable ruins of which are situ-

Sr^vaati, his capital. ^ ^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ borders of this district on the south bank

of the river Rapti. This city is said to have been built by Raja Sravasta
the son of Yuvanaswa, of the solar race, and the tenth in descent from
Surya himself.

The following description of these most interesting ruins is by General
Cunningbam who visited them in 1861 A D. : — " The
niSfrf &sti^ ^''^ '^'"^^'i '^ity of Sahet Mahet is situated between
Ikauna and Balrampur, 5 miles from the former and
12 miles from the latter, and at nearly equi-distance from Bahraich and
Gonda. In shape it is an almost semicircular crescent, with its diameter
of one mile and a third in length curved inwards and facing the north-east
along the old bank of the Rapti river. The western front whieh runs due
north and south for three quarters of a mile is the only straight portion
of the enclosure. The ramparts vary considerably in height ; those to the
west being from 35 to 40 feet in height, while those on the south and
east are not more than 25 or 30 feet. The highest point is the great north-
west bastion which is 50 feet above the fields. The north-east face or
shorter curve of the crescent was defended by the Rapti, which still' flows
down its old beds during the annual floods. The land ramparts on the
longer curve of the crescent must once have been defended by a ditch, the
remams of which yet exist as a swamp, nearly half a mile in length at
the south-west corner. Everywhere the ramparts are covered with frag-
ments of brick of the large size peculiar to very ancient cities ; and though
I was unable to trace any remains of walls except in one place, yet the
very presence of the bricks is quite sufficient to show that the earthen
ramparts must once have been crowned by brick parapets and battlements.
The portion of the parapet wall which I discovered still standing in the

BAH 109

middle of the river face was 10 feet thick. The whole circuit of the old
earthen ramparts, according to my survey, is 17,300 feet, or upwards of
3i miles."

There are the ruins of another city of smaller dimensions, but of almost
exactly similar character, at Charda in the Charda
^_ The Charda fortress- pargana in this district, about 40 miles to the north-
west of Sahet Mahet, and there cannot be a doubt
but that it dates from the same age as that larger and better kntjwn
fortress-city. It probably formed one of that chain of fastnesses which
are to be found lying along the foot of the Himalayan range, and agreeing
with this view is the derivation assigned by the natives to its name,_ it
being they say, the fourteenth " chaudah" of this system of forts.

Section II. — Buddhist Period.

It is, however, not until the time of Sakya Buddha, viz., the sixth
century B. C, that anything approaching historical
cuL^rBuddhism^^ '"'^" ^^''°^^ ^^ attainable regarding this district. Uttar-
Kosala may without any presumption claim to have
been the cradle of Buddhism. It was at Kapilanagara (now Nagar near
Basti), the country of the Sakyas, that Buddha was born, and it was at
Sravasti that he passed nineteen years of his life in retirement and
preparation for Nirvana. King Prasenajit, son of Maha Kosala, then
reigned in Sravasti (570 B. G.,) and together with his minister Sudatta
became a convert to the new faith. It is not then to be wondered at that
the city should be crowded with buildings erected during Buddha's life-
time, and subsequently for the propagation of the creed and in honour of
its prophet.

We find accordingly from the account of Fa Hian, the Chinese pilgrim
who visited this city in search of relics and Buddhist
S VaS^'"'^ account of -^^^^^^ in 410 A D., and who has left a most interest-
^^^^^ '■ ing description of his travels, that the fortress (then

in riiins) abounded in the remains of monastic buildings (viharas), memo-
rial pillars, shrines, &c., all connected with the rise and propagation of
Buddhism. These relics which are described with some minuteness by
Fa Hian, who also gives the legends connected with them, have most of
them been identified by General Cunningham and detailed in his archae-
ological report (Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, Part I, No. IV, 1865).

Fa Hian describes the city at the time of his visit 410 A. D., as contain-
ing only about 200 families, as the Ceylonese annals
The decHne of Bud- g ]j. ^f ^^g Khir^dhara as king of Swatthipura
hism and of Sravasti. ^^^ Srdvasti) between A. D. 275 and A. D. 302.
General Cunningham concludes that the decline of the city must have
taken place during the fourth century, and that it was probably connected
with the fall of the Gupta dynasty.

Other Buddhist remains have been identified at Tandwa, a village about

Other Buddhist re- 9 miles to the west of Sahet Mahet, and in this

nxains. village to this day the Hindus worship under the

no BAH

name of Sita Mai, a statue of Maha Maya, Buddha's mother. In the
neighbourhood of Charda fort mentioned above are several mounds and
ruins of enclosures which excavation would doubtless prove to be' monas-
teries and stupas similar to those of Sahet Mahet. Buddhist coins have
also been found in an old site of a building on the banks of the Gogra.

Section III. — The Bhars.

The gleam of light that the Buddhist pilgrim's records throw upon the

history of this part of the country completely fails us

Tlie^Bliars and Bhar ^^^^^ ^^^ ^f^j^ Century A. D., and for four hundred years

there is no clue beyond the merest tradition to the
state of the country or the races which ruled it. In common with the rest
of Eastern Oudh the district is said to have been under the dominion of
the Bhars dtxring this period, and every ruin with any claim to antiquity is
ascribed to these people. The name of Bahraich itself finds another deri-
vation from this race. In the Hisampur pargana there are a number of wells,
small ruined forts, and old village sites, the principal of which are in Pu-
rem, Kamae, Jarwal, Mohri, Bhokaura Sakantha, Kasehri-Buzurg, Has-
na Mulai, Waira-Qazi, and Bhauli-Dih, and all of which, according to local
tradition, owe their existence to the Bhars, while in the north the large
city forts described above, Sahet Mahet and Charda, are also by the com-
mon folk believed to have had a like origin.

Whether they were aborigines or the remnants of Chhattri races which
_, . . .^ remained in this part after their suppression by

the kings of the Gupta dynasty, and which as
soon as that dynasty fell rose upon its ruins to an independent position
with what approached sovereign power, until in their turn they had to
give way before the advancing wave of Rajputs from the west, can only as
yet be matter of conjectiire. In support, however, of Sir H. Elliot's theory
that they are connected with Ahirs, I may mention a traditionary rite in
the Raikwari families of this district, by which certain customary offices
are always performed for the children of this caste by an Ahirin, the suc-
cessor and representative of the widow of a Bhar raja, who was slain by
the founder of the Baundi house. The Bhar princess is said to have gone
to Delhi to obtain redress for the murder of her lord, and to have only
desisted from pursuing her vengeance to its end on the promise of Raik-
war to allow her to perform the rite alluded to.

If there is any truth in the fact that Bahraich was peculiarly the country

of this race, it is somewhat surprising that not a

thfrJZIplpuSoa. tr^<=e Of them is to be found in the existing popul^

tion. ihe descendants of those who escaped the sword,

and who did not noigrate, must either have died out gradually or have been

absorbed during the last six centuries in the rest of the population, but I

can quote no instance of any family which is of reputed Bhar descent.

There is no evidence here in support of the theory, though, of course, it is a

possible one and certainly as good as any other, that the remnants of this

people have gradually been received into the " elastic fraternity of

Rajputs."

BAH 111

The Bliars seem to have been the dominant race from about the end of
the eleventh, though it is possible that the Thdru dy-
rnle^a d^f f°th ° Th'*^'" ^^^^7 °^ Gonda contested the supremacy with them
dynastyof Gonda. ^ '^ during the tenth and eleventh centuries. General Cun-
ningham gives the traditional genealogy of the Thdru
r^jas of Gonda and their probable dates as follows : —

A. D. 900 1. Mora-dhaj or Maynra-dhwaja.

,, 925 2. Haus-dhaj or Hansa-dhwaja.

,, 950 3. Makar-dhaj or Makara-dhwaja.

,, 975 4. Sudhanwa-dhaj.

,, 1000 5. Suhridal-dhaj.

This last mentioned prince is called also Suhal-ddr, Sohil-dar, and
Suheldeo, the last name being that by which he lives in the mouths of the
common folk.

He is also variously stated to have been a Th^ru, a Bhar, a Kalhans, or
a Bais Rajput, or a Sarawak, but of his religion and of his date there can
be but little doubt. Some curious old legends show him to have been
a Jain, and universal tradition connects him with the only historical event
of those times affecting this district of which we know for certain the
exact dates, viz., the crusade or " crescentade" of Sayyad Salar.

Section IV.

The account of this event is given in an historical romance written by
The religious raid of 9.^f , Abd-ur-Rahman Chishti during the reign of
SayyadSalir of Mira-at Jahangir, entitled " M^ra-ut-^-31asaud^. Iheworkis
-i-Masaudi. said by its author to have been mainly based on a

book called the " Tawarlkh-i-Mahmlldi," written by one Mulla Muhammad
Ghaznavi, who was servant of Sultan Mahmlid Subuktagin, and who,
following in the train of Salar Sahti and of the Prince of Martyrs, related
events of which he had personal knowledge. Though perhaps but little
reliance is to be placed on the details contained in this history, it may be
accepted as a trustworthy account of the main facts of the campaign and
as being at any rate a true representation of the then tradition.

Sayyad Salar Masaud was the son of Salar Sahti, one of the generals of
Sayyad Salax's birth Sultan Mahmud and of Sitr Mualla, own sister of that
and youth. conqueror. He was bom in the year 1015 A. D.,

and passed his youth in the field, accompanying his father and his uncle
in "the victorious campaigns which time after time laid waste the north-
west of India and made Mahmud its master, though not its possessor.
When he was sixteen years of age he was advised by his uncle to quit
the army for a time until the enmity which the Sultan's marked
preference for him and even for his counsels had excited in the nobles of
the Court had subsided, and Sayyad Salar, inspired by martial and reli-
gious fervour, begged to be allowed to carry the sword and Islam into the
interior of Hindustan.

Crossing the Indus and occupying Mooltan he
HeinvadesHindustan. arrived before Delhi eighteen months after setting out.

112 BAH

Here he was reinforced from Ghazni and the city fell into his hands.
Remaining there six months, he proceeded to Meerut, which he occupied
with resistance, and passed on to Kanauj, the Rae of which place receiv-
ed him as a friend, but passed him on to his neighbours.

After ten days' march the invader reached Satrikh, which is said at
that time to have been the most flourishing of all
e reao es a n . ^j^^ towns and cities of India. It was moreover a
sacred shrine of the Hindus and abounded in good hunting grounds.
This place has been identified with Satrikh in the Bara Banki district,
but its description tallies better with Ajodhya, the old name of which is
Vesakh.* Here Salar Masaud fixed his head-quarters, sending out his
lieutenants on every side to proselytize and conquer the country.

Sayyad Saif-ud-din and Mian Eajjab, the kotwal of the army, were

despatched against Bahraich, Mir Sayyad Aziz-ud-din

^A detachment sent -^q^ celebrated as the Lai Pir, against Gopamau, and

Malik Fazl against Benares, Bahraich at this time

seems to have been a desolate country, for supplies had to be procured by

Salar Masaud from Saddahur (now Siddhaur) and Amethi, two towns

between Satrikh and Karra Manikpur, and conveyed to the division of

the army in Bahraich.

A confederation of the Raes of Bahraich and the other northern districts
The north and south and of the Princes of Karra Manikpur in the south
confederacy. now threatened Masaud, but Salar Sahu, his father,,

who had joined him at Satrikh, marched against the latter chiefs and
overthrew them. In Bahraich, however, the pagans were pressing the
army of Islam very hard, and Masaud determined to go and retrieve the
day.

The date of arrival in Bahraich is fixed as the I7th of Shaban in the
Sayyad Salstr arrives year 423 H. = 1033 A. D. In the neighbourhood
in Bahraich. of Bahraich there was a tank with an image of the

sun on its banks, a shrine sacred in the eyes of all the unbelievers, and
Masaud, whenever he passed by it, was wont to say that he would like to
have the spot for a dwelling place, when he would, if it pleased God,
through the power of the spiritual sun, destroy the worship of the
material.

The E.aes of the country who were at first daunted by the presence of
The battles on the *^® joung warrior gradually took heart and assem-
Koaala and final defeat bled in force on the banks of the river Kosala. This
of Sayyad Salar. -^^as probably tbe Kauriala, in the direction of which

stream the Hindus would naturally retire before
a foe advancing from Ajodhya. Masaud defeated them there, time
after time, until the arrival of Sohar-Deo or Suhel-Deo in the unbelievers'
camp turned the tide of battle in their favour. They now closed in on
Masaud's quarters at Bahraich, and on the 18th day of the month Rajjab-
ul-Murajjab in the year 424 H. = 1034 A. D., the Pnnce of Martyrs fell

* Satrikh in the Bara Banki district is undoubtedly the correct locality ; there is a shrine in
honour of the martyr and his father who died here, and a great annual gathering still celft'
brates the event.

BAH 113

with all his followers. The soldier saint was buried by some of his ser-
vants in the spot which he, had chosen for his resting place, and tradition
avers that his head rests on the image of that sun the worship of which
he gave his life to overthrow.

There can be but little doubt but that the expedition, an abstract of the
This invasion con- account of which has just been given, was the pre-
nected with the expe- Cursor, Or perhaps a part, of the invasion undertaken
^tion of Ahmad Nial- in the Same year, 1033 A. D., by Abmad Nialtagin, a
° '. reputed son of Mahmud's. This general, who was

appointed Governor of Hindustan, is related. to have "exacted ample tri-
bute from the Th^kurs/' Crossing the river Ganges and marching down
its left bank, he penetrated as far as Benares and returned to Lahore
laden with spoil.

There is a remarkable coincidence in the causes 'of the two expeditions
^. , . as related in the "Mira-at-i-Masaudi" and the "Tarikh-

inaTtVlTnvalTr us-Subuktagin" Written by Abul Fazl Baihaqi in
the year 10.59 A. D., vtz., the enmity and jealousy of
the chief minister of Mahmud Khwaja Hiisan, who naturally was quite
willing to see his rivals despatched on such dangerous missions. Again,
Sayyad Salar Masaud was the nephew of Mahmud, and Ahmad Nial-
tagin was his reputed son ; both were in high favour with the Sultan, and
it would therefore be not at all surprising to find them making a joint
expedition into Hindustan, to be free from their common enemy the Khwaja.

It is difficult, however, to explain why Baihaqi makes no mention of

Salar Masaud. Perhaps the reason may be found in

WrsuLncrregarding *^® reluctance of the historian to record anything so

Salar Masaud. disastrous as the results of this expedition, but in all

the six copies of the " Tarikh-us-Subuktagin" that

exist, a vacuum occurs immediately after the account of Ahmad Nialtagin's

raid to Benares, and it is therefore not unreasonable to conclude that the

last pages would have given us some account of Masaud's crusade.

, Section V. — Subsequent Muhammadan invasions and settlements.

Whatever may have been the immediate effect of these invasions, it is
clear that they did not give the Muhammadan power
obfa^eZnttetunt^ry^ «f ^^^ ^««t any permanent hold on the country, and
it IS not until the middle of the thirteenth century
that anything like a government was established in the trans-Gogra dis-
tricts.

In ,1226 A. D. Malik ISTasir-ud-din Miihammad, elder son of Sultan
Sbams-ud-dm Altamsh, who was appointed to Oudh,
throws tlfeBhaT''" " overthrew the accursed Bartuh (Bhars) under whose
hands and swords more than one hundred and twenty
thousand Musalmans had received martyrdom ; he overthrew the rebel
infidels of Oudh and brought a body of them into submission,"* and it
was doubtless under his auspices that the first colonies of Muhammadans
settled in the south of the Bahraich district.

* Tabaqat-i-Nasiri by Manhaj-ua-Siraj.

H

114, BAH

These were the Ansaris who, driving out the Bhars, settled themselves

in Pachamba, Hisampur, and Tawakkulpur, occupying

The Ansans. ^^^ bringing under cultivation some two hundred and

fifty villages. In the last mentioned village they are said to have built

an imposing fortress with fifty-two towers.

It was they who gave the name of Hisampur to the old town of Pureni,
Hisampur ^^^ capital of the Bhar Chief Pliran Mai, who is said to

have been overthrown by Hisam-ul-Haq, one of the
comrades and co-martyrs of Sayyad Salar. It is, however, not unlikely
that the name was bestowed with a more interested motive than the wish
to show respect and honour to the dead, and that it was a compliment to
Malik Hisam-ud-din Tughlaq, who was Governor of Oudh about the year
1240 A. D.*

In 1242 A. D. Sultan Alla-ud-din, son of Rukn-ud-din, came to the
throne, and one of his first acts was to release from
Nasir-ud-c'i i, brother prison his uncle Nasir-ud-din, brother and namesake
mtrSSr.isJd: Of the destroyer Of the Bhars, and to appoint him to
Governor of Bahraioh. the charge of the district of Bdhraich. Nasir-ud-din
came with his mother, and "in that country and in the
hills he fought many battles against the infidels. Under his kind rule
Bahraich attained great prosperity. The fame of victorious and success-
ful government spread in aU parts of Hindustan, so that the princes and
nobles who were disgusted with the rule of Alla-ud-din sent letters to him
pressing him to come to the capital."-!- He started from Bahraich in a
litter disguised as a woman, and ascended the throne immediately on
his arrival at Delhi. This was in 1246 A. D.

The new Sultan does not seem to have forgotten old friends, for we find

him summoning one Jalal-ud-din from Oudh to take

raich*"^ " ' ' ^ ' up the office of qazi of the State, and soon afterwards

in 1853 Shams-ud-din of Bahraich was honoilred in

the same way.

It is clear that Bahraich was a distinct government from that of Oudh
at this time, for Imam-ud-din Rihan, the disgraced
Bahraioli a ^epar^e minister of Sultan Nasir-ud-din, was relegated to his
at tWa time. ™™ ^ ^®^ °^ Bahraich in 12.54 A. D., at the same time that
the Government of Oudh was held by one Katlagh
Khan. Taking advantage of his distance from the court, the ex-minister
employed his time of exile in hatching plots, in consequence of which his
fief was bestowed on Malik Taj -ud-din Sanjar, who, though kept in du-
rance for some time by Imam-ud-din's friend Katlagh Khan at Ajodhya, -
at length managed to escape across the Sarju and make good his position
in Bahraich.

Section VI. — The district in the thio'teenth century.
It is probable that up to this time the jungle held its own as far south and
The aspect of country west as the edge of that belt of high ground which has
in 1250 A. D. fceen described as running through the district in a

lui . : , —^

* Tabaqat-i-Nasiri.
t Tabaqat-i-Nasiri.

BAH 115

south-easterly direction (see geographical description), and that the plain of
the Sarju and the Gogra alone yielded anything to the inciperial treasury.

On the edge of this same tabk-land and on the banks of the Sarju, about
Dugaon. ^^^^ miles west of the present town of Ndnpara,

there exist the remains of a very large and most
substantially built town. The houses (for the ruins appear to be merely
those of private dwellings and not of temples or tombs) are built of burnt
bricks, and it must have been a place of considerable importance. It bears
the name among the country folk of Dugaon, and ^ is unmistakeably the
same city as that mentioned by Abul Fazl in the Ain-i-Akbari as a com-
mercial centre of mark, the trade with the hill people being considerable.
Here also there was a mint for copper pice. As we are told that Nasir-
ud-din during his brilliant administration of this district made his power
felt even in the hills and rendered Bahraich prosperous in the extreme, it
is not improbable that it was under his auspices that this town was estab-
lished. By the end of Shah Jah^n's reign it was deserted, the legend
being that a saintly mendicant in a fit of ill -humour cursed it so effectually
as to cause the inhabitants to leave it en masse. The tomb of the spite-
ful old man Shah Sdjan is now the resort of pious pilgrims, and a large
fair is held on the site of the old town.

For the best part of a century after Nasir-tid -din's reign there appears

The district from 1250 to be nothing to record regarding this district. The
to I3i0 A. D. Ansaris were gradually extending their hold over the

country in His^mpur, but the Bhars were evidently not yet crushed, for as
late as the end of the fourteenth century Bhar chieftains held sway both in
this pargana and in Fakhrpur. In the year 1340 A. D. the first of the series
of grants by the reigning power was made from which sprang the great-
ness of most of the taluqdars' houses in this district.

It was in this year that the Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq paid a visit to

Muhammad Tugh- the tomb of Sayyad Salar at Bahraich, and it was doubt-
laq's visit to Bahraich. less in connection with this visit that the Sayyads of
Jarwal first obtained a footing in Hisampur.

Having come so far in this historical sketch, it will be well now to follow
it up as much as possible estate by estate, giving the

The sketch conti- account of each of the settlements during the fo.ur-
nued by estates. teeuth and fifteenth centuries on which the subsequent

history of the district turns.

Section "VH — TTie Muliammadan and Rajput settlement, — 1340 A. D.

1450 A. D.

The ancestors of the Sayyads of Jarwal came from Persia, Sayyad Abii
f T Talib having to fly before Changez Khan with all his
wa?thetrorigiu and family to Khurdsan. Finding himself still unsafe
early history. there he came on to Lahore, where he died. His son

Aziz-ud-din in the year 1286 A. D. came on to Delhi, and AlM-ud-din, his
son came into Oudh and took up his quarters at Bado Sarai in the Bara
Banki district : JaMl-ud-din and Jamal-ud-din, Alld-ud-d(n's sons, succeeded
their father, and Jalal-ud-din falling under the unmerited displeasure of
the Sultan Ghayas-ud-din, paid the forfeit with his life.

II 2

116 BAH

This circumstance established the fortune of the family, for the king
Oh ' d-dm be- relenting when it was too late, endeavoured to make
stows a muafi grant of amends by bestowing on the brother Jamal-ud-dm 25,000
25,000 bighas on Ja- bighas of land, revenue-free, in Barhauli and the same
ma-ud-din in Jarauli. ^^^ -^ Jarauli on the Bahraich side of the Gogra. The
grantee found no difficulty in gaining possession of the estate on the south
bank, but he found it no easy task to establish himself in Jarauli. A Bhar
E,aja,Ghhatarsal by nameheldthe villages, and itwasnot until Sayyad Zikria,
son of Jamal-ud-din, obtained possession of the fort of Jarauli by stratagem
that the Muhammadans succeeded in making good their position.

This is said to have happened in the year 1340 A. D., the year of Muham-
Date of thia settle- mad Tughlaq's progress through the country to
ment. Bahraich, wherein doubtless lies the true explanation

of the successful occupation.

The next reign, that of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, was celebrated for several
Firoz Shat's march expeditions to Bengal, and from the account given in
tbrough Bahraich. the Tarikh Firoz Shahi of Shams-i-Siraj Afif of the

first of these campaigns, there can be no doubt but that the Sultan's line
of march lay through this district. He is said to have marched towards
Bengal to a point on the Kosi near its junction with the Ganges, but
finding the passage difficult, he marched for 200 miles up the Kosi and
crossed it below Chumparan at the place where the river issues from the
mountains. Chumparun is situated in the hills to the south-east of
Almora, and it may safely be concluded that the Kosi here mentioned is
the same as the Kosala of the author of the Mira-at-i-Masaudi which has
above been identified with the Kauridla. The point of crossing was pro-
bably near the Shisha Pani, and the description of the torrent of water
which " carried down stones of five hundred maunds' weight like straws"
gives a good idea of the rapidity of the Kauriala as it escapes from the
hills. Continuing his march eastward by Rachap (Rajhat), Khorasa
(Khurassur in Gonda), Gorakhpur and Tirhoot, the Sultan arrived in Ben-
gal, where we need not follow him.

Accompanying him probably on this march was a young Risalddr by
BaridrSahhiaRisal- name Bariar Sah, the younger of six sons of a Janwar
^^^- chief whose home was in the fort of Bomgarh near

Neemuch. The young soldier had joined the imperial army to seek his
fortune, and it is not difficult to imagine him coveting a grant in the wild
tracts of Bahraich through which he passed.

In the year 1374 A._D. the Sultan again visited Bahraich, but this time
Kroz Shah's visit to with the pious object of paying his devotions at the
the shrine of Sayyad shrine of the martyr prince, and once again the Risdl-
Salar in 1374 A. D. (J^j-^ accompanied him. The eastern portion of the dis-
trict was at this period infested with lawless marauders, and Firoz Shah,
looking about for some one to rid him and the country of the gang, select-
ed the Janwar soldier and chained him with the duty. So speedily and
completely did he accomplish his task that his master made over to him
the whole of that tract of country in which he had restored order.

BAH 117

The Risalddr took up his position at Ikauna, then called Kh^npur MahSda

Bariar Sah estab- ^^^ became the founder of that great family -which

liskes himself at Ikau- has provided in the course of seventeen generations

"*• lords for so many estates in this and the neighbouring

districts of Gonda.

It was about forty years aftej: the Janwar settlement was effected, viz..
The Raikwars mi- ^-bout 1414 A. D., during the anarchy that prevailed
grate from Kashmir throughout Hindustan on the decline of the house of
and settle in E&una- Tughlaq, that two brotbers, Partab Sdh and Dtinde
Sah, Surajbans Rajputs, migrated from Raika in Kash-
mir and finally took up their abode at Ramnagar in the Bara Banki district.

Partdb Sdh died, and his two sons Saldeo and Baldeo made away with
their uncle and sought service with the Bhar raja of
to^Bamhnauti ^"'°''2^* Ramnagar. The Raja of Bamhnauti on the Bahraich
side of the river, by name Dipchand, also a Bhar chief
during a visit to his relative of Ramnagar was struck with Saldeo's capa-
city for business, and on his return home brought him back with him to
Bamhnauti. The Raikwdr (the emigrant from Kashmir had taken a tribal
name from their native village) served his master so well and increased
the revenues of the estate so satisfactorily that the raja in his pride took
to resisting the authorities. Saldeo took advantage of the opportunity,
slew his master, and possessed himself of the estate. This was probably
about 1450 A. D.

From that day to this, the Raikwars have been masters of the western
portion of the district. The three great estates of
The Raikwara estab- Baundi, Rahwa and Ohahlari, besides the 52 villages
Ush^themselves in the ^^0^^ ^^ tj^e Kaikwari Muhals which are now includ-
ed in the northern portion of the Hisampur pargana,
were all held by descendants of the enterprising Saldeo.

Section VIIT. — The district at the end of the fifteenth century.

The district at the end At the end of the fifteenth century then we find
of the fifteenth century. the district occupied much as follows : —

The Ansaris and the Sayyads in the south (Hisampur), the Janwdrs in
the east (Ikauna), and the Raikwars in the west (Fakhrpur) held the southern
portion of the district, while the northern parganas were in all probability
quite independent under the sway of hill chieftains.

Bahlol Lodi had re-established the Muhammadan empire and extended its
territory once more to the foot of the Himalayas dur-
Bahlol Lodi and his ing his reign of thirty-eight years from 1450 A. D.
nephew the Black Mouu- ^.^ ^^33^ ^^^ -^ ^^^ under the government of his
^^^' nephew Muhammad, famous by the name of " Kala-

pahar" or "Black Mountain," who was appointed by his uncle in 1478 A. D.
to the fief of Bahraich, that these northern districts were reminded once
more of the days of Nasir-ud-din, but it is unlikely that the operations of
his troops in this part were anything more than mere raids or that any
permanent hold was obtained over the country.

118

BAH

ence from these revenue
statements.

As long as this energetic soldier held the district, it is possible that the
hill chiefs acknowledged the imperial sway, and it

ParganasEajhatjSul- appears from some revenue accounts of 1488 A. D.
D^'dtm ^'"''^"' '''"^ that in that year the Tarai pargana of Rajhat (B^nki)

^^ ™" was held by Raja Sangram Sah of Sali^na in the

hills who nominally paid a revenue of Rs. 64,921 for it. At the same time
Sultanpur Kundri (Jamddn and Malhipur) is recorded as paying Rs. 25,983,
and Sujauli (Dharmanpur and Padampur Mahalwara) Rs. 99,413. Dangdtin
(Bhinga) vfas held by a hill raja named Udatt Singh at a jama of Rs. 81,325.

These statements of revenue, however, were probably mere boasts, and it
may safely be assumed that such a remote part of the
The legitimate infer- empire as this paid nothing to the imperial treasury
save what was levied by the troops that subjugated it.
The record of the nominal payment, however, serves to
prove that these northern parganas were at this time at any rate partly
under cultivation. It seems to have been the high belt of country, des-
cribed in paras. 6 and 7 of the geographical section, and which forms the
watershed of the two rivers the Gogra and Rapti, which longest resisted
reclamation, where the jungle till within the last eighty years has defied the
axe. The low alluvial lands of Jamdan and Malhipur seem to have been
under the plough from an early date, and the villages belonging to Qasba
Dugaon were doubtless those lying in the fertile basin of the Sarju.

Section IX.—Akbar 1556-1605 A. D.

In the time of Akbar, this district, together with a portion of the Tarai,
. was formed into the administrative division called

SarkarBahraioli. " Sarkar Bahraich." The following form shows the

area and assessment of the eleven muhals or parganas as assessed by Todar
Mai and recorded in the Ain-i-Akbari. The areas recorded are those of
cultivation only, and are shown in pakka bighas. The revenue is shown
in dams (40 dam = one rupee.)

M .. p. .

Forts.

Area in

Revenue in

ReTenue-free

No. of

No. of

litighas.

dims.

in dims.

horsemen.

footmen.

Bahraicli

Masonry on
bank of
Sarju.

619,226

9,134,141

402,111

600

4,500,

Behra

926

37,135

Hisampur

Masonry ...

107,400

4,747,035

1,601

500

Dangdoi

80,436

440,562

900

2,000

Kajhat

4,064

166,880

1,000

Bajauli

124,710

877,007

Sultanpur

20,141

166,000

...

700

Pakhrpur

Ditto ...

101,720

3,157,876

56,765

Firozabad

Masonry ...

108,301

1,933,079

4,107

200

700

Qila Nawagarh

470,301

2,104,858

50

1,000

Khurasa

Masonry ...

27,489

1,315,051

2,628

100

1,000

Total

1,664,714

24,079,624

467,212

1,850

11,400

BAH

119

The modern parganas
corresponding with
muMls of tlie Alu-i-
Akbari.

The muhals •which are given in the above form
correspond with the parganas as at present defined as
follows : —

Old name of mu-
h^liiithe Alu'
i-Akbari.

Bahraioh .. ■

Behra ...-

Hisampur

Dangdoi .

Sultanpur -
I

r
I

Eajhat ...■

Bajauli(see
Sujauli .

Present name o£ pargana, estate, Ac, corresponding with
muhill ill column I.

I. — All Baliraiijli pargana

IT. — All Ikauua pargana except the trans-Eapti portion,
1782., Durgapiir Ilaqa
III.— All Nanpara, except the Mallapur villages (63 villages)

and 70 villages in the north-west comer
IV. — All Charda, except the Duab between the Bhakla and
the Eapti

V. — Bhinga, the portion which lies between the Bhakla
and the Eapti ...
I. — Bhinga pargana, (a portion) 65 villages, viz., those
lying between Rapti and Oudh Forest, Sections
VI and VII ...

II.— Naipal, 77 villagea, held tUl 1816 A. D. by Eaja Ddng
of Naipal ; they were ceded to the British by the
Naipal Sovereign by the Treaty of Sigauli and were
made over to the Oudh Government. The raja
of Tulsipur held them till annexation under the
name of Ilaqa Banki. They have now been again
made over to the Naipal Grovernment...
I. — Hisampur pargana, except the Raikwari muhals now
included in it to the north ..

Note. — The remainder of old Hisdmpur is now included
in the Gonda district
I. — Bhinga pargana, a portion, 78 villages, i)iz., those
lying in the Tarai between the forest and the
Tulaipur pargana

II. — Tulsipur pargana, 83 villages, viz., lying between
Bhinga and the hills, and lately excluded from
Gonda district and included in Bahraioh
III. — Ikanna pargana, a portion, viz., the trans-Eapti por-
tion known as the Durgapur ilaqa
I. — Charda pargana, 70 villages, known as Ilaqas Jam-
dan, Jdmnahan, and Malhipur, included in the
Duab between the Bhakla and the Rapti

II. — Naipal, 21 villages, held by the hill r^ja of Saliana
up to 1816 A. D., when they were ceded to the
British and made over to the Oudh Government.
They were held by the Tulaipur raja in his Banki
estate, and were restored to the Naipal Govern-
ment in 1860
L — Naipil. The whole of Eajhat with the exception of
70 villages is now included in Naipal. It was held
prior to 1816 by Eaja Kansa Sah of Saliana, was
ceded to the British by the treaty of Sigauli, and
has been held since by the Tulsipur raja in his
Banki estate. It has now been restored to Naipal...

II. — Nanpara pargana, 70 villagea. These lie in the ex-
treme north-west comer of the Nanpara pargana ...
I. — Dharmanpur pargana, comprising the present ilaqas,
Bharthapur, Amba, Tehri, Dharmanpur, and Man-
gauria

II. — Naipal, 72 villages, held by Eana Kulraj Singh up
to the mutiny under the name of the Padampur-
Mahalwara estate, ceded to the British in 1816 and
again restored to Naipal in 1860

Name of district or
territory in whicii
the muMl is now
included.

Bahraioh.

, Bahraich and

Naipal.

J

f Bahraioh and
( Gonda.

Bahraich.

Bahraich and
Naipal.

NaipEil and
Bahraich.

Bahraioh and
Naipal.

120

BiAH

Old name of
mulial in the
AIn-i-Akbari,

Present name of pargana, estate, &c., carrespbnding with
muhal in column I.

Name of district or
tenitory in which
the muhdl is now
included. ■

■(
I

Faklirpur ■{

L

Qila Nawa-
garli

Firozabad

Khurasa ...

I.— Faklirpur pargana, except the north-western portion

comprising the ^hahlaji and part of the Baundi

estates

II. — Hisampur pargana, the Eaikwari muhals, viz., the

northern section of the present Hisampur pargana . . ,

III. — Pargana Firozabad in Kteri...

L — Fakhrpur pargana, a portion, viz., that comprising

the (Jhahlari and a part of the Baiindi estates

IJ. — Nanpara pargana, a portion, viz., that comprising the

Mallapitr villages
Note. — The remainder of old Firozabad is in the Kheri

district.
All in the Gonda district

V Bahraich.

Kheri and
Sitapur.

Bahraich &
Kheri.

Gonda.

that

Muhammadan hold on
the north was Very-
weak.

From this identification of muhals and from a glance at the small aniount
Evidence that the ^^ revenue leviable from the northern Tarai parganas,
Rajhat, and Behra, it is clear that even under Akbar's
rule the Muhammadan sway was almost nominal in
these remote districts. In Rajhat, too apparently, a
force of 1,000 footmen had to be maintained to keep possession even of
the few thousand bighas that did pay revenue to the Delhi Government,
while in D^ngdoi, the Tarai pargana to the east, a still larger force of
2,000 footmen and 900 horse had to be maintained to keep the hill chief-
tains in check.

Section X. — The Raihwdrs.

It was in the time of Akbar that the Raikwar Harhardeo, fourth in des-
, cent from Saldeo of Bamhnauti, who had been sum-
Rdp Harhardeo s j^^^g^j ^q ^.^^j^ ^ explain a breach of good manners
in levying toll from one of the princesses as she
passed through his estate on a pilgrimage to Sayyad Salar's shrine, ren-
dered such assistance to the Sultan in the expedition organised by him
against I'dgar, the rebellious Governor of Kashmir, that he obtained the
grant of the zamindari of nine parganas or portion of parganas as follows :
Fakhrpur, Hisampur, half Firozabad, Rajpur (Chahlari), Bansura (in Sita-
pur), Seota (in Sitapur), Sailuk (Bhitauli), Garh (in Kheri), Bamhnauti
(Baundi), but this grant does not appear to have consisted of anything
more than a certain rent charge of the land, and possession did not neces-
sarily accompany it.

Harhardeo returned about 1590 Ai D. to his home to find his son Jitdeo
seated on the gadi, the Raikw^rs having despaired
th?HX°uril£."'' Of the return of their chief. The father refused to
oust his son, and retirmg to Tappa Baunraha which
was owned by a Brahman, he married his daughter, an only child, and
founded the -Harharpur iMO[^ of fifty-two villages still owned by his
descendants, but now split up into no less than fourteen distinct muhals.

BAH

121

About the year 1600 A. D. the Baundi or Bamhnauti estate was split
separation of ^^^'^ ^^O' Parasram Singh, the elder son of JItdeo,

The _.^ _. .

the Eahwa and taking fths of it and his brother Gajpat fths, to which

B^^" f'^°"^B ^di"^ ^® ^^^® ^^^ name of Rahwa, and about thirty years
later a third branch estate was founded by Dharm-
dhir Singh, grandson of Parasram, who took the pargana of Rajpur and
set up for himself in Chahlari. It was at this time that the " Haq Chaha-
rum " in five out of the nine parganas granted to Harhardeo was resumed,
viz., in Fakhrpur, Hisampur, half Firozabad, Bansura, and Sailuk.

After the division of the original estate above noted, the three ilaqas.
The Katha estate Baundi, Rahwa, and Chahldri, suffered no more

disruptions except in one instance in the Rahwa
family, one of the younger sons of which, a grandson of Gajpat, turned
Musalman, and with Delhi Court influence managed to set up for himself
with twenty villages (the Katha estate). These were, however, afterwards
absorbed into the Rahwa ilaqa. The genealogical table of the family is
annexed.

Pedigree of the Raikwdr family, shoxoing the three main branches,
Baundi, Rahwa, and Chahldri.

PartSb Sah _

from Ralka in Kashmir

_DtindeSah

S^ldeo (Bamhnauti)

I
Lakhandeo,

Bharmdeo.

I
Harhardeo.

Bdldeo (Rdmnagai).

by 2ud Trite

Jitdeo

SangrAm (Tappa Baunraha, 52 villages, now called
Harharpur, Haikwari muh^ls.

Parasram Singh (-Iths of the iliqa) Baundi.

Mdn Singh.

Gajpat Singh (^hs of il4qa) Rahwa.

Harnar^tiB Singh (16 villages in Bhaydi,
ancestor of Hanwant and Kaghblr of
Marauncha).

Taj Singh.
I

Bubal Singh.

Dharmdhir Singh, (ChahUri).

I

Bdj Singh. Nasir Singh aliag
Isliim Singh, Katha
" I j iliqa.

Nasilb Singh.

Sujfo Singh (Garh
naqa).

Bambhar Singh died childless ; his
widow adopted younger son of
Eimmat Singh Chahldri.
I
Madan Singh.

Daswant Singh (killed at Bdmnagar).

Succeeded by a bastard son Shitipar-
shdd Singh.

(Matda Singh (died Hiromat Pah^r Singh,
childless). Singh. |

Debi Singh.

I
Udatt Singh.

Pirthi Singh.

Ranjlt Singh,

Baridr Singh.

Madan Singh adopted Niwdz Singh,
by the widow of |

Sambhar Singh of Gend Singh.
Bamhnauti. |

Parshdd Singh.

Bdz Singh-

■I
Jaskaran Singh,

I

I

Dhaukal Singh.
Jaewant Singh,

MindMta Singh, Bahidur Singh Pirthtpiil Singh. Sripal Singh,

I (Bakaln iliqa) I I

I Bhayii. _^___::^;i__ '

Hardatt (died at -Shiiidarshan Singh Balbhiddar Singh, rebell ChHatatpdl Eaghitodth Singh .
Port Blair). (Bukain ildqa, I , , , ^mh I

Bhayai). Dngbjjai Singh, dead; dead.

122 BAH

Section XI. — The Janwdrs.

In the meantime the Janwars in Ikauna were fast extending their
possessions. Mddho Singh, seventh in descent from
The separation of Bariar Sah, had retired to Balrampur, leaving his
branch ^''■^'*™P"'' brother Ganesh Singh in the ancestral village. Whether
Madho was the elder or the younger brother is naturally-
disputed, now that the branch house has eclipsed the glory of the main
line.

Ganesh Singh's son Lachhminarain is reputed to have been a man of
M h' Sin h strong hand with a lust of power and conquest, but it

™^ ■ was Maha Singh who was the hero of the family. This

noble was contemporary with Shah Jahan, and in 1627 A. D., obtained a
farman from that emperor by which were granted to him a similar per-
centage of the Government revenue under the name of " Haq-Chaudhari,"
as that granted to the Eaikwar Harhardeo.

The extent of the grant was very large, the parganas Bahraich, Salona-
bad, Sujauli, Raj hat, Sultanpur Kundri, Garh Qila Na-
The extent of hia ^^^ Ddngdun Behra, together with Tappa Bihti in par-
' gana Kurasar and Tappa Ramgarh Gauri in Gonda,

being comprised in it. The percentage was Rs. 19-11 annas in theRs. 100
from all revenue-paying villages and 4 annas per 1 Rupee and 6 sers per
maund of grain, in all "aimma" (revenue-free) estates, besides the one-
fourth of all rights in waters (jalkar), grazing and transit dues, &c. In
short, a footing was given to the Janwars in the whole of the northern por-
tion of this district.

Maha Singh does not seem to have been slow to follow up the advantage
TheCharda Gdii- ^^^^h this grant gave him. Already one Jagannath
ganj, and Bhinga Singh of his family had migrated to the Charda ilaqa,
off-shoots and the and now Maha Singh's own brother Rudr Singh went
Bahraich birts. westward also and founded the Gujiganj estate (Jam-

ddn and Malhipur ). It was probably before this that a cadet of the family
crossed the river and took possession of the Bhinga ilaqa, and in Bahraich
pargana, Maha Singh, evidently under the authority of that the farman
gave him, gave birts to enterprising Brahmans and others, of deserted and
jungle villages. He never, however, seems to have ever held any actual
possession of Bahraich villages, and he was probably never able to make
good his hold on any of the Tarai parganas except Dangdiin.

In 1723 A, D. Partab Singh, younger brother of Chain Singh of Ikauna,
grandson of Maha Singh, was deputed by the taluqdar,
branch, ^^"^ his brother, to guard the border estate of Dubaha from
the attacks of the Bisen raja of Gonda. This part of the
Ikauna estate lay south of Ikauna, and was peculiarly exposed to attacks
from this quarter. Partab Singh occupied the outpost and kept the raids
off the estate ; but feeling himself strong enough, he at length set up for
himself and founded the Manikapur estate, afterwards called the Gant^wal
ilaqa, comprising in all about ninety-six villages.

BAH 123

Section XII. — The Northern parganas.

While the Raikwdrs and the Janwars were thus spreading themselves
The northern par- °^®^ west and east, the north was still held by the
ganas during this hill chiefs and by the tribes of Banjaras, who, under
P^"°*^- cover of the woods, penetrated far south.

Shah Jahan at the beginning of his reign had conferred on Salona
Begam, wife of his favourite child Prince Dara, 148
a ona a . villages in what is now the Nanpara ilaqa, and had

given the name of pargana Salonabad to the grant. The attacks of the
Banjaras, however, prevented the occupation of the estate, and the jagir
was abandoned by the lady, for in Maha Singh's farman pargana Salon-
abad was one of those made over to that noble.

In 1047 H. = 1637 A. D., Rasul Khan Togh, Pathan, a Ris^ldar in the
service of Shah Jahan, was appointed keeper of the fort
dnpara. ^^ Bahraich, and for the pay of his company of soldiers

five villages of very doubtful value were assigned him in Pargana Salona-
bad, These five hamlets were, however, destined to become the nucleus
of one of the finest estates in Oudh, that of Nanpdra. The Risald^r lived
at Kumaria in Baundi, and Rastil Khan and his son Jahan Khan are
buried there. Muhammad Khan, the second in descent from Rasul Khan,
was the first to settle in Nanpara, and it was his son Karam Khan who
may be said to have founded the estate. The office of fort captain had
probably been relinquished when Muhammad Khan left Bahraich, but
the family still continued to be mansabdars and to hold their jagir some-
what increased in extent. Karam Khan, however, exerted himself so
successfully against the Banjaras that he gained among the country folk
the title of rdja, and left his son Mustafa Khan an estate apart from his
jagir, which was .sufficiently large to pay revenue to the amount of Rs. 6,000,
the sum demanded from him by Major Hancock on the part of the Oudh
Government. Refusing to pay, he was carried off to Lucknow, where he
died in 1777 A. D.

During this period Pargana Rajhat and half of Sujauli was held by the
Hill Raja of Saliana, while Guman Singh of Jagan-
clea^^"ease ^'°^^'^ nathpur, probably one of the Ikauna family, held
nominally the remainder of Sujauli and a part of
Sultanpur Kundri. That the jungle, however, was too much for Janw^r
colonists is evident from a clearing lease deed given by Asif-ud-daula's
orders to Himmat Singh of Piagpur in the year 1788 A. D. From this
document it appears that out of 1,734 villages embracing the whole of the
country comprised in what is now in Nanpara, Charda, Dharmanpur, and a
portion of the Naipal Tarai 1,486 were entirely deserted and were leased to
Himmat Singh for ten years at a progressively increasing jama, rising from
Rs. 1,101 to 17,808.

This same lease deed shows that in that year the Nanpara ilaqa con-
sisted only of fifty-nine villages besides twenty-three villages jagir.

With the last decade of the eighteenth century there set in an era of pro-
gress for these northern tracts. Himmat Singh's exer-
His success. ^j^^^g y^^j-Q jnainly directed to clearing the dense jungle

124 BAH

which covered the Charda pargana. His success was complete, and from
that day to this the forest has been driven back steadily- to the edge of
the high bank of the Bhakla.

In Nanpara Sali Khan succeeded Mustafa Khan, and in 1790 A. D. left

the estate to Madar Bakhsh, who in sixteen years so

Madar Bakhsh of extended the cultivation that the revenue rose from

On the death of Madar Bakhsh in 1807 A. D. his son Munawwar Ali

Khan was a child of only a year old, and the estate

The progress m mn- ^^ j^^j^j j^j^.^^ ^^^-j jg^g ^ j)^ ^j^^^^ Munawwar Ali

Khan's mother filed her engagement for Rs. 1,10,000,
a clear proof of the extension of cultivation and of the increasing prosper-
ity of the ilaqa.

When, however, Munawwar Ali Khan in 1827 A. D. took the manage-
ment into his own hands, he succeeded in resisting the
Munawar Ah Khan, demands of the chakladar so far as only to pay from
Rs. 50,000 to 60,000. This taluqdar was a man of energy and great
courage, but his contentions with Raja Darshan Singh must have thrown
back the estate considerably. Raghubar Dayal, however, the scourge of the
Fakhrpur and Bahraich parganas, did not venture to interfere with him.

In 1847 A. D., in an iU-starred moment, he married one of the fashion-
He marries the ^^1® ladies of the Lucknow Court, the daughter of
daughter of Mehndi one Mehndi Quli Khan, brother of a Kumedan of a
QuhKhan. Najib corps. From that day to this the estate has

been cursed.

The Raja returned to Nanpara with his bride and died* a few days after.
The elder Rani succeeded to the management in the
reu'oftheS '^''^'" ^^me of her infant son Jang Bahadur, and for two
years ruled peaceably, but the younger wife contrived
to obtain the support of the queen mother in Lucknow, and for five years
an unceasing warfare raged throughout the ilaqa between the partisans
of the two women. This disastrous contention found a prominent place
in the report submitted by the Resident on the state of Oudh in 1855,
and may be said to have been one of the chief instances of the misrule
which then prevailed, which ultimately induced the Court of Directors
to issue its fiat for annexation.

Sir James Outram then wrote : " Nanp£ra, one of the richest districts in
. , Oudh, with magnificent fertile plains intersected in all

accLit ' "" ^ directions by rivers and streams, and yielding Munaw-

war Ali Khan, the late Raja, upwards of three lakhs of
rupees yearly, since the Raja's death is reduced to such a state that it does
not now yield the king anything at all, though upwards of 1,20,000 rupees
have been spent every year on the troops stationed there. The whole of

* He was shot through the body by the accidental discharge of a gun, one barrel of which
he was loading in a hauda, his only companion in which was, it ia said, a dancing girl, who
tried in vain to staunch the blood.'

BAH 125

the villages are deserted and in ruins ; not a single chhappar (thatch) is to
be seen for miles and miles. Kalian Khan, the elder rdni's karinda, about
four years ago burnt down the whole of the villages in the district "

At annexation the rightful heir was of course admitted to engage, and
The Lucknow para- Mehndi Quli Khan and his party had to retire into

^^*^^" seclusion. It was not long after re-occupation however

before they again appeared in Ndnpdra.

The natural capabilities of this ilaqa are such that it is impossible but

that the estate should prosper, and within the last ten

^The increasing pros- years the cultivation has been extended 84 percent.

pen y o e es ate. ^fhile its revenue has been increased 120 per cent. It

now numbers no less than 286 villages ( hadbast ).

Shortly before Madar Bakhsh's death in 1807 A. D., the Gujiganj taluq-
dar, Dariao Singh, the great grandson of Rudr Singh,
The fate of the brother of Maha Singh of Ikauna, had by his re-
"Jifian] qa. cusancy drawn down upon himself the strong hand of

Sa^dat Ali Khan. He was attacked in 1806 A. D., by a confederacy of
the neighbouring nobles, acting under orders from Lucknow, was crush-
ed, andhis estate divided among the taluqdars of Nanpara (Madar Bakhsh),
of Piagpur (Himmat Singh), and of Charda (Duniapat Singh). They first
took the villages which lay on the eastern border of his estate about Dandi
Kusan, the Pidgpur man got the southern portion of the du£b between the
Bhakla and the Rapti, now called the Malhipur estate, and Duniapat Singh,
(nephew of Himmat Singh), who had managed during the period that
had elapsed since the date of the clearing lease to make himself independ-
ent of his uncle, added to Charda the Jamdan villages which formed the
northern portion of the same duab.

The taluqdars of the north now yearly increased in importance, and, as
The progress in the ^^^ growth of their estates_ was but little affected by
north not materially the changes in the administration which materially
afiected _ by the influenced the position and landed interests of the
mi^ftTation ^^^ ^^' S'"®^* zamindars of the more southern portion of the
district, it will be better to follow their annals to the
close of the Nawabi.

The Sujauli pargana at this time, i. e., prior to 1816 A. D., was almost
The Sujauli (Dhar- entirely held by Banj^ras, who refused to pay tribute

manpur) pargana. to any one. In Himmat Singh's patta, dated 1788 A. D.

Aijun Singh, a Banjdra, is mentioned as holding 155 villages, while no

less than 800 villages were deserted owing to the, raids of these very fierce

foresjiers.

Some years after this, the Dhaurahra Raja, on the other side of the river,
managed to get a footing in the Bharthapur and Amba Tehri ilaqa which
now form the northern portion of the Dharmdnpur pargana, and the Isd-
nagar taluqdar, who was of the same house as the Dhaurahra man, ob-
tained a similar hold on a tract in the south of the pargana, 'wrhich was all
nominally included in one village, Mangauria. The centre .pprtion, of the
pargana, however, was still held by the Banjaras.

126 BAH

But an event was impending which considerably strengthened the power
The acquisition of of the Oudh Government in this part of its dominions,
tlie Tarai parganas. and which rendered these nobles of the north more
secure in their possessions than they could have been, while the Banjaras
and the hill tribes were ready both in their front and on their flank to
harass and even despoil them. This was the acquisition of the Tarai
parganas.

In 1814 A. D. the attitude assumed by the Naipdl Government towards
The Naipal war and the Honourable Company became so aggressive that
theceasion of the Tarai war became inevitable. It was declared on 1st No-
vember 1814 and resulted in the treaty of Sigauli, which was signed on 4th
March 1816. By the 3rd Article of this treaty the whole of the lowlands
between the rivers Kali (Sarda) and Rapti, besides other territory to the
east, was ceded to the Company, and on the 1st of May following, these
lands, together with the district of Khairigarh, were made over by the
British to the Oudh Government in satisfaction of a loan of a crore of rupees
borrowed by the Company from the Nawab Wazir in the previous year.

The Chauhan Raja of Tulsipur profited most by this arrangement and
The grantees of the obtained the larger portion of the ceded territory, the
ceded lands. former holder Raja Kansa S^h of Saliana in the hiUs

being killed by the Tulsipur grantee in 1821, and his estate, called after-
wards the Banki ilaqa, being occupied by the Chauhan. The western por-
tion of the ceded lands have been held by the family of Rana Kulraj
Singh, the taluqdar of Padampur Mahalw^ra.

As a result of this annexation and cession may be noticed the suppres-
The suppression of sion of the Banjaras in the Sujauli (Dharm^npur)
the Banjaras a result pargana. The taluqdar of Isanagar was at this time a
of the cession. minor, but his guardian and uncle Bakhtawar ren-

dered such signal service to the Chakladar Hakim Mehndi in his expedi-
tion against these turbulent gentry, that they were no longer able to hold
out, and their villages were made over to the assisting noble. It was no
doubt the cession of the Tarai to the north that encouraged the Hakim to
sweep away these Banjaras once for all.

The confiscation of their lands threw the whole of the pargana, barring

The whole of the Su- ^ ^^^ villages on the east held by the Nanp^ra raja,

jauli pargana thus into the possession of the Jangre families who held

thrown into the continuously until annexation. , The pargana was

TUkurs ^""^^ ^^T^'^ included in the Bahraich nizamat, the revenue

being paid into the Khairabad treasury.

Regarding the Charda ilaqa there is but little to record. From the time

that Himmat Singh first obtained his clearing lease

The Oharda Ilaqa. ^^^^i annexation, it was a period of stea,dy progress,

the successive Taluqdars, Duniapat, Mahipat, and Jodh Singh, extending

the cultivation by means of labour imported from the Gonda district. The

pargana suffered much, however, during Raghubar Dayal's reign of terror.

At annexation there was comparatively but little waste left to come

Its condition at an- under the plough, and the estate which the Taluqdar

nexation. Jodh Singh forfeited by his non-submission under the

BAH 127

term of the proclamation was an exceedingly valuable one. It has noW
been bestowed on the maharaja of Balrdmpur, Sardar Hira Singh, and
Nawab Niwazish Ali Khan. It numbered 428 villages (Nawabi).

The portion of the Gujiganj ilaqa which the R^ja of Piagpur secured

Tke Malliipur iHqa. for himself in 1805 A. D., has always been more or

less under cultivation from very early times. It is

still held by the Piagpur man under the name of the Malhipur iMqa, 23

villages.*

It is perhaps hardly necessary to record that after the suppression of the
The restoration of sepoy rebellion, the English Government, to mark its
the Tarai parganas to sense of the value of the support rendered to it by
Naipal in 1860. the Naipal Darbar, restored the whole of the lowlands

lying between the river Kali (Sarda) and the district of Gorakhpur which
had belonged to the State of Naipal in 1815 and were ceded to the
British Government by the treaty of Sigauli. The treaty effecting this
•restoration was signed on 1st November 1860. The territory so ceded cor-
responds" almost exactly with the old parganas of Rajhat and Behra and
a portion of the Sujauli pargana. It comprised the Padampur, Mahalwara,
and B^nki estates.

To complete the sketch of the history of the northern portion of the dis-
trict, it is necessary to pass eastward to the Bhinga
The Bhmga pargana. pargana ; as in the case of the Tarai parganas lying
farther west, the hill Rdjas held possession of a portion of this one also
as late as 1669 A. D. The Rdja of Phalabang held 20 villages and a
Raja of Jartili held 58 villages in Dangdun, which corresponds as nearly
as possible with that part of Bhinga which is trans-R^pti and a portion
of Tulsipur.

These villages lay to the north of the pargana, but the Ikauna family

At first held by mem- ^^'^ already established themselves in Durgapur on

beis of the Ikauna the north side of the Rapti. A cadet of this family

fanuly. also at this time held that portion of Bhinga which

includes Bhinga proper and the Kakardari ilaqa.

The Banjaras, however, were as troublesome here as in the north-west of
the district, and the Janwd,r was fain to make over his
Afterwar(fe trans- interest in the estate to a marriage connexion by name
^"^^ " Bhawani Singh, a Bisen, a younger son of the Gonda

Raja. This man succeeded well in repressing the Banjaras and estab-
lished his position securely. He brought under his sway all that portion
of the pargana which lies between the Rapti and the forest, as well as a
considerable portion of the Tardi which lies to the north of the belt of
forest, and in time he acquired a number of villages on the south bank of
the river. There was probably no jungle on the lands, occupied in this
way, nor does it seem that any attempt was ever made to clear the belt
which runs parallel to the R^pti.

* Concerning the connection between the Piagpur snd Charda families, see article "Charda.'

128 BAH

Up to 1816 A. D. the ilaqa was included in the j%ir of the Bahii

The Bhiuga ilaqa in- Begam, and, like all the estates assigned to her,

eluded in the Bahu felt the irnmeasurable advantage of being exempt

Begam's jagir. from the interference of the grasping revenue

officials. The present Raja is the seventh in descent from Bhaw^ni

Singh. Some cannon were found concealed on his

fisSted*^^^'*^*^""'"' father's estate, and as a penalty for this he forfeited

half of his possession. The confiscated portion in the

district is now held mainly by the Maharaja of Balrampur.

Section XIII. — The Southern, pO'fgwnas during the Nawahi rule.

The history of the southern portion of the district has been carried down

to the commencement of the independent rule of the

soJh:™aLldur! NawabWazirsofOudh. _ It is necessary now to sketch

ing the Nawabi. the condition and administration of these parganas

during the reigns of those princes.

It has been mentioned that in 1723 A. D., a member of the Ikauna

family established himself in an independent position

Gondr, AlllariLn"^ i° t^^^ South of the Ikauna estate. His doing so was

the signal for the commencement of a series of raids

and counter-raids between the Raja of Gonda, Datt Singh, and the Bahraich

Pathans who came to Partab Singh's assistance under Alawal Khan.

This gentleman was a captain of free lances who had his head-quarters
.Sit Bahraich, and who was ready to lend his merce-
hisAfehana ^^ ^ naries to any one who could offer good pay or a fair
chance of plunder. He , and his co-bandits were pro-
bably descendants of some of those Afghans who swarmed in the Court of
the Lodis and who were sent flying across Oudh by Humdyun, Babar's
eldest son, in 1526 A. D. However this may be, they seem at this time to
have been very, numerous and to have been almost masters of Bahraich.
It is within the memory of residents of the town still living that at the
Muharram festival, the tazia processions were attended by a troop of some
300 of these Pathan musketeers, and to this day on the same occasion the
kettledrums of Datt Singh of Gonda which were carried off in the fights
above alluded to are paraded in triumph through the streets of Bahraich.,

At this time the assignments of lands in the district in revenue-free
'- ■ -R \. • -i, service tenure were very extensive. In Pargana Bah-

Jagira m Bahraich. ^^-^j^ ^^one no less than 858 villages were held by one
\Nawab Mirza Muhammad Jahdn in jagfr, while another grantee, Sayyad
Muzaffar Husen, held 60 villages, and 127 more were assigned in ordinary
revenue-free tenure to others.

The same system of jagirs was pursued by Saddat Khan's. successors down

to A'sif-ud-daula. In 1750 A. D., Raja Newal Rae,

The system continu- Safdarjang's minister, held 54 villages, and in 1756,

rfA-Xd-dauK *"^' Mairam Ali Khan was .granted ,148 villages on this

tenure, while Giiji Beg Khan and Sayyad Mir Was&a

Khan held for niany years betw;een them, no_ less than 346 townships.

BAH 129

In 1775 A. D., however, Shuj^-ud-daula died, and his successor, A'sif-
„, ud-daula, pressed by his pecuniary obligations to the

Aaif-ud-daida. ^°"^ ^ British Government, resumed all these grants with the
exception of 255 villages which that Nawah's minis-
ter, Mir Afrid Ali Khan, managed to retain for himseE No sooner was
Asif-ud-daula dead, than the minister had to relinquish his hold of this
grant which was resumed and brought on the revenue roll. The nazim
of the day, however, Rae Amar Singh, thought it a pity that such an estate
should have no master, and therefore appropriated it.

Since the accession of the reformer and economist Saadat Ali Khan no

jagir has been granted in Bahraich, save the Bhinga

No jagi'rs granted estate, which, under the engagement executed by that

of Saadat Ali^Kiran""^ Nawab in favour of the Bah6 Begam, was, together

with Gonda, made over to the lady in 1798 A. D.

She held undisturbed possession of this jagir until her death in 1815 A. D.

During the reigns of the first five Nawab Wazrrs of Oudh the great

taluqdars of the district were held thoroughly well in

The taluqdars' posi- check. They can hardly be said to have been masters

Nawabs.''*^'^''* ^^^ i^ t^eir own estates. A tahsildar resided in each of

the ilaqas, Ikauna, Gangwal, Piagpur, and Charda,

and watched the Government interests ; the taluqdars having little to do

with the management of their estates beyond assisting the tahsildar in his

collections and enjoying the produce of a few villages set apart for their

maintenance.

The Raikwar taluqdars, however, seem to have been more favoured than
The Eaikwar an ex- their feUow-nobles in the east of the district, and be-
ception to this rule. tween the years 1796 and 1816, the Baundi Raja in-
creased his estate from 67 villages to 261, obtaining 114 from the portion
of pargana Firozabad which was transferred to the Bahraich nizamat in
1796 A. D., and 80 villages from the crown or khalsa lands of Fakhrpur.
The Rahwa man in the same way acquired 32 villages from the khdisa
lands and 5 from Firozabad during the same period, his estate consisting
of 42 villages only in 1796 A. D., and of 79 villages in 1816.

Saadat Ali Khan had on his accession instituted the contract system.
The contract system, under which the local governors were bound to pay
mto the king's treasury a certain stated sum and were
allowed to appropriate any excess collections. The system worked well
enough while its author held the reins, and this district was peculiarly for-
tunate in its nazim for this period. The ten years of the rule of Balki-
das, qanungo, and his son Rae Amar Singh from 1807 to 1816, were the
most prosperous of any that Bahraich has experienced under native go-
vernment. It was not until the accession of Ghazi-ud-din Haidar that the
disastrous effects of the farming system showed themselves. From the
death of Saadat Ali Khan until the deposition of Wajid Ali Shah the dis-
trict scarcely enjoyed a single year of rest or freedom from the merciless^
exactions of its grasping administrators.

ISO B4-H

Before entering on the history of the aggrandisement of the taluqdars
™ p., , , and the absorption of the kh^lsa lands into their ilaqas,

lagpur es a e. ^^^^^i were the result of the lax administration of the
last four decades of the Nawabi rule, the rise of the Piagpur estate must
be noticed. The founder of this ilaqa, Bhayya Himmat Singh, was fourth
in descent from one Prag, a successful agriculturist who held some four or
five villages under the protection of the Ikauna taluqdar, with whose fa-
mily the Piagpur man claims to be connected. The Janwd.rs of Ikauna
and Gangwal, however, disclaim any sort of relationship with him, and
assert that he is of another tribe (gotr) of Janwdrs altogether. Himmat
Singh was the same who has been noticed above as being the protegd of
jfeif-ud-daula and the lessee of Charda. He is said to have held 30,000
bighas of cultivation turned with his own ploughs, and to this day his
"sir" is proverbial. The Charda clearing lease gave him in 1788 A. D., a
start in the world, and he is reputed to have kept A'sif-ud-daula in remem-
berance of him by sending him a princely present of supplies on the occa-
sion of the marriage of one of the king's sons. His object was attained,
and he acquired independent possession of a number of villages which
formed the nucleus of the very fine estate which his descendant now
possesses*

It was, however, not until after the death of Saadat Ali Khan in 1814

Its extension subae- -A- D-j that this estate, in common with those of all

quent to the death the nobles in the district, entered on that period of

of Saadat Ali Khan. extension which rendered them tempting objects of

spoliation to successive n£zims.

At this time the independent villages held under direct engagement
Number of khalaa with the State and commonly called khalsa numbered
villages in 1815 A, D. qq less than 1,295, as follows : —

Parganna Bahraich
,, Fakhrpur

„ Hiaampur

Vaiages.

Kevemie.

621
209
465

1,55,835
59,551
80,497

1,295 2,95,883

The Bahraich khalsa lands, 621 villages, comprised the estate of 255
Bahraich khalsa. villages which has been noticed above as forming the

jagir of Mir Aiiid Ali Khan, afterwards held by Rae
Amar Singh, the Tiparaha estate of 24 villages, and the Sfikha estate
of 10 or 12 villages held by some Sayyads. The remainder consisted
of small estates held some by the birtia grantees of Maha Singh of
Ikauna, others by hereditary muqaddams (head-men) of the Kurmi agricul-
tural class, whose position differed little, if at all, from that of zamindars,
and others by nominees of the nd.zim of the day.

* The Janwar family declares its descent from one Prag, who along with his brother Joga
came from Balapur Tirha and got a village or two together.

The estate was first called after its founder Pragpur, then it became Pi£gpur. This
family now has commensality with that of Ikauna and Balrampur, although it i^ denied
that they are of one blood. The fact is most curious if true, and it is to be expected that
litigation will, some time if it has not already, shed light upon it, because we have here the
formation of a clan by a kind of confarreation when there was no common ancestor.

BAH 131

The khalsa in Fakhrpur consisted almost entirely of the Raikw^ri co-
Faklirpur khalsa. parcenary community mentioned already, comprising
108 villages, and the Kanera and Butora iMqa of 28
villages owned by the old qdnfingo family of Fakhrpur.

In Hisimpur the villages held by the Sayyads, numbering no less than
Hisfimpur khdlsa. ■^^'^' ^^^ ^^^ Amb^pur estate, 49 villages, held by a

Shekh family of qdnlingos, composed for the most part
the so-called khalsa, a word which does not necessarily imply any more
exclusive right of property on the part of the State in these lands
than existed in theory with regard to the estates held by the taluqdars.

The word seems to have had its origin in the qanlingo's office, and to have
Meaning of the word been Originally applied to all those estates the accounts
" l^^a-" ofwhich were then kept distinct from those of the more

influential taluqas. As will have been inferred from the above detail of the
kh£lsa villages, many of the properties included under that heading were
ancestral estates that had been held by their owners for quite as many gene-
rations as the nobles themselves could count in their pedigrees. The Sayyads
of Jarwal and the Raikwars of Harhaxpur are notable instances of this.

R^e Amar Singh held the contract for Bahraich for two years after the
Hakim Mehndi death of Saadat Ali Khan, but in 1817 Hakim Mehndi

who already held the farm of the adjoining districts of
Khairabad and Muhamdi, bid a lakh of rupees over the Lala's payment
for the previous year and obtained the district. The account of the murder
of the Rae by this man is given in Sleeman's Diary (Vol. I, page 50.) He
held the contract for two years, when he was compelled to retire before
the machinations of those whom he left behind him at Lucknow. Although
a murderer, be was then justly regarded as a man of high character.

Hadi Ali Khan alias Saif-ud-daula, succeeded, and he at once demanded

an increase of two annas on the demand in Rae Amar

Hadi Ali Khan com- Singh's time. He found it difficult to realize this

mences the i?<=orpora. exorbitant demand, and as a means to this end com-

tion of the khalsa lands i ,, , • ^- p j.i i i ^i i i • ,-,

in the taluqdars' estate, menced that mcorporation 01 the khalsa lands in the
taluqdars' estates under which, at the expiry of his

term of office in 1827 A. D., a period of nine years, no less than 439 villages

had been transferred to the nobles.

Under his successors the same nefarious system was pursued, and between
The extent of the ab- the years 1816 and year of annexation; 1856 A. D.,

sorption. 788 villages were thus absorbed in the great estates.

The taluqdars who divided the spoils were as follows : —

Baja of Ikauna

„ Piagpur

Baundi

Kalhans Rajputs of the Chhedwara estate

Baja of Hahwa

„ Gangwal

,, Nitnpara
Taluqdar of Charda .,.

„ Bhinga ...

788 4jOS

I 2

Villages.

Revenue.

224

1,03,047

186

95,041

172

77,270

110

73,543

41

28,397

25

18,846

16

9,402

12

3,668

2

570

788

4,09,784

132 BAH

while tlie Tiparaha taluqdar during the same period had increased his
estate from 24 villages to 48. The revenue noted above is that at which
the villages were included in the ilaqas, and which, it may be assumed,
was the very utmost that they were capable of paying. No sooner had
the taluqdar got a village fairly in his grasp than he scorned to pay any
but a sum considerably less than that which had been realized from it
hitherto.

The 110 villages acquired by the Kalhans Eajputs of Guw^rich pargana
in Gonda, and many of those absorbed by Baundi, were
th^irruiQ^^^ estates ; crested from the old family of the Jarwal Sayyads, who
in 1816 A. D. held no less than 247 villages, but who
prior to annexation had lost all but 138. The story of their ruin goes that
the Nazim Mir Hddi Ali Khan was anxious to obtain the daughter and
heiress of the old Sayyad, the head of the principal branch of the family,
in marriage for his son. The honour was declined, and the nazim resolved
that the slight should, not go unpunished. The Jarwal estates had been
under protection of Huzur Tahsil for some years, but before Mir Hddi left
the district he got them brought under his own management and accom-
plished his end. In the year 1827 A. D., 98 villages of the Hisampur
khalsa were made over to the Kalhans and other Rajput taluqdars, nearly
all of these being the property of the Sayyads.

Mir Hadi held the district a second time a few years later, and notwith-

' standing the course of action described above, his ad-

f ^.^fd'+Tn; * ministration of the district contrasts well with that of

aclmimstration. ir.

some 01 his successors. He was the first who held the
districts of Gonda and Bahraich united under one nizamat, and after the
first few years of his holding office, he seems to have been able to entertain
hopes of keeping his charge more or less permanently, and to have restrained
himself from those more oppressive acts of extortion and violence which
the contract system encouraged.

Darshan Singh, the father of the late Maharaja Mdn ' Singh, succeeded
Darstan Singli. ^^^ Hadi, and on the first occasion of his holding

office he did no harm, but when in 1842 A. D., he
resumed charge of the nizamat, he came commissioned to coerce the great
landholders who, under the measures, of the last twenty-five years, had
been gradually attaining a position from which it was difficult to dislodge
them. It was during his two years' administration in 1842-43 that he
made the fatal mistake of embroiling himself with the Naipal Government
in his pursuit of the young E^ja ofBalrampurinto that Darbar's territory.
On account of this, such pressure was brought to bear on the Court at
Lucknow that Darshan Singh was banished, only, however, to be recalled
two months after. He died soon after, leaving three sons, R^madhin, Ra-
ghubar Singh, also called Raghubar Dayal, and M^n Singh.

The second of these sons, Raghubar Dayal, held the contract of the Gonda-
Eaghubar Day^. Bahraich nizSmat for 1846 and 1847 A.D., and terri-
ble those years were. It was a reign of terror such as

has seldom been experienced by any province under the worst days of

native rule.

BAH

133

Captaia Orr's descrip-
tion of the district
after the two years'
admiaistration of Ra-
ghubar Dayal.

Captain Oir, -who was deputed by the Eesident at Lucknow to pass
through the district that had been affected by this
scourge, writes in 184I9 : "The once flourishing districts
of Gonda and Bahraich, so noted for fertility and
beauty, are now for the greater part uncultivated ;
villages completely deserted in the midst of lands
devoid of all tillage everywhere meet the eye : and from Fyzabad to Bah-
raich, I passed through these districts, a distance of eighty miles, over
plains which had been well cultivated, but now lay entirely waste, a scene
for two years of great misery ending in desolation."

It is unnecessary here to recount all the atrocities committed by this
The district has not man. Colonel Sleeman in his Diary, Volume I, pages
yet recovered from 70-95, has given a vivid description of them ; as he
the effects. remarks, " no tjrrant ever wrote his name in such a

legible hand," but the execration in which that name is held in this district
will outlast even the effacement of the handwriting. It will be long, how-
ever, ere the district recovers from the wholesale devastations of Rughu-
bar Dayal and his crew. Bahraich suffered far more from him than Gonda,
and it is not too much to say that the scanty population of this district as
compared with Gonda is due in a great measure to this fact. He not only
devasted the country, he actually depopulated it.

The estates that fared the worst under his infamous rule were the ilaqas
The estates which Baundi, Rahwa, Piagpur, Gangwal, and Charda.
suifered most. Nanpara, Bhinga and Ikauna owed their comparative

impunity, the first named to the strong hand of its master, Munawwar
Ali Khan, and the two latter to their distance from Raghubar Dayal's head-
quarters. The cis-Rapti portions of Bhinga, however, and the Ikauna
lands situated in the Bahraich pargana did not escape.

Colonel Sleeman, who made a progress through the district in 1849,

-,,,„! . i makes the following report on the condition of the

Colonel Sleeman s notes. .., ^^ , •.i^-ni -i i/~( i i-

principal estates m the Eanraich and Gonda dis-
tricts : —

Names of estates.

Present Condition.

f Baundi

Almost waste.

1 Eahwa

Ditto.

1 Nanpara

FalUng off.

J Charda
•■• 1 Gangwal

Ditto.

Bahraich

Much out of tillage.

1 Piagpur

Ditto.

Ikauna

Ditto.

, Bhinga

Recovering.

Balrampur

Well tilled.

Tulsipur

Ditto.

TJtraula

Much out of tillage.

Manikapur

Ditto.

Babhnipair

The Chhedwara estates

Ditto.

Gonda

*«■ '

All well tilled.

Bishambharpur ...

Kaja Debi Bakhsh, in good order.

Akbarpur

In good order under Eamdatt Pande.

Singha Chanda ...

Ditto. ditto.

.Birwa

A little out of tillage.

134 BAH

In 1845, under Wajid Ali, the nizamat of Gonda-Bahraich actually
f, . J., paid into the treasury 11| lakhs. In 1846 Eaghu-

venurbefor™and after bar Dayal paid 14 lakhs, but in 1848 under Inchha
Eaghubar Dayal's ad- Singh it was with difficulty that 6 lakhs could be
numstration. realized, while nearly the whole of this reduced re-

venue was collected from Gonda. It is scarcely matter for wonder that
the incidence now of the revised jama in the one district should be so
much lighter than in the other.

Bahraich now offered but little spoil to tempt its nazims to any further
«„i,=,„„„o^+ „i:,™= devastation, but inasmuch as the main agent of
liaghuDar Uayal m his atrocities, Gauri bhankar, re-
mained in the district as a tahsildar under Inchha Singh and Man Singh,
the former uncle and the latter brother of Eaghubar Dayal, it could hardly
be expected that the land should have much rest.

Section XIV. — Annexation.

Eetribution for this misrule and relief for the oppressed people was, how-
Oudh is annexed ever, near at hand, and on the 7th of February 1856,

Sir James Outram, Eesident at Lucknow, issued the
proclamation by which the government of the territories of Oudh was
thenceforth vested exclusively in the Honourable East India Company.
The masterly and statesman-like letter of the 4th of February from Mr.
Edmonstone, Secretary to the Government of India, to the address of the
Eesident, detailed the constitution of the Commission to which the destinies
of Oudh were to be entrusted.

Bahraich was made the head-quarters of a division, Mr. Wingfield being
appointed Commissioner. Captain Bunbury was

officers ^ ^^^^ ^ ^ ° Deputy Commissioner, but he was shortly succeeded
by Captain Eeid. Mr. Cunliffe, a civilian, and Mr.

Jordan, of the Uncovenanted Service, completed the staff.

The work that devolved upon, and was accomplished by, these officers in
the course of the next fourteen months seems in

Their wor . review to have been incredible. The formation and

organization of police and tahsildari establishments, the institution of the
various courts of justice, the arrangement and supervision of jails, the
investigation of claims to revenue-free grants, excise, and, above all, the
settlement of the land revenue, formed the chief points to which they
had to direct their attention. This work was diversified by an occasional
scour across country to suppress a famous band of dacoits under Fazal Ali,
who had been in the service of one of the contending parties in the Ndn-
para estate, and who, now that their occupation there was gone, declared
themselves sworn enemies to the new order of things, which bid fair to in-
terfere with their profession.

It would be out of place in a sketch like this to discuss Che principles
The results of summary upon which the summary settlement of the land reve-
settlement of 1856 in the nue was made, but it may be noted that the changes
taluqdan estates. pf possession in property, owing to the adoption of

those principles, were in this district only very slight. Out of 3,682 vil-
lages which, in the year preceding annexation, were held by the taluqdars.

BAH 1S5

they were maintained in possession of 2,998. Of the remaining 684,305
were included in one estate (Baundi) from which the taluqdar was excluded^
not as having no right to these villages, but on account of defalcation in the
payment of the revenue, while 230 were deserted villages, and on that
account settled with no one. From 78 villages only were the taluqdars
ousted, the adverse claimants being declared the owners of the properties.

This being the case, it is matter for surprise that so many of the large
The rebel taluqdara landholders in this district should have declared
against us in the troubles which ensued as to neces-
sitate, on our re-occupation of the province, the confiscation of no less than
1,858 villages belonging to them. The chief delinquents among them
were the Rajas of Chahldri and Dhaurahra, the Bhitauli Raja, and the
Raja of Baundi. These took an actively hostile part against us, but the
three first named can hardly be said to have disgraced this district, as the
estates of the two first on this side of the river were included at that time
in Sitapur and the Malldpur districts, respectively, while the estate of
Gur Bakhsh Singh of Bhitauli belonged to Daryabad. The Raja of Baundi
naturally objected to the rule of those who had enforced so strictly their
legitimate demands, and it is scarcely to be wondered at that he should
have endeavoured to seize the opportunity afforded to him of recovering
his estate and resenting his ejectment.

The villages belonging to the above-named taluqdars, which were after^
Confiscations. wards confiscated, numbered 440, as follows : —

Eija of Chahliri ... ... ... 33 villages.

„ Dhaurahra ... ... ... 26 ,,

,, Bhitauli ... ... ... 76 ,>

,, Baundi ... ... ... 305 ,,

Total ... 440

The remaining 1,418 villages, which were confiscated for rebellion were
held by the following taluqdars : —

Eaja of Ikauna
„ Charda
„ Tulsipur
,, Eahwa

Taluqdar of Bhinga
,, Tiparaha

...

506 villages

428

313 „

14
138

19 „

Total

1,418 „

Those of the last three in the above list were forfeited on account of
cannon which were found concealed on their estates subsequent to re-occu-
pation ; those of the three first for failure to surrender themselves within
the time allowed by the proclamation.

Note. — The Kaja of Dhailrahra was a boy ; the Thakur, not Raja, of Chahlari was ail
infant. It is true his father was killed fighting gallantly at the battle of Nawabganj against
Sir Hope Grant, but at that time hardly any taluqdara had submitted themselves. The
fact was that the Bhitauli, Chahlari, and Baundi chief were all Eaikwars ; the two former
were guided by the head of the clan, the lord of Baundi. The Queen of Oudhhad secured
his devotion by going to his fort after the capture of Lucknow and throwing herself upon
his protection.

136 BAH

CHAPTER III.

GENERAL, MATERIAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMICAL, AND ADMIN-
ISTRATIVE ASPECTS.

Situation of the district unfavourable to trade — Trade centres formerly limited to seats of
Government, &o. — Risk in transit in the Nawabi — Signs of security in present times —
The Naipal trade— Timber — Bahramghat timber market — Timber from Government forests —
The Niinpara cattle a myth — The railway to Lucknovir — Main lines of traffic — Manufactures
— Schools — Four classes of schools — The zila school — English town schools — Vernacular
town schools — Village schools— List of village schools in the district— Indigenous schools —
The difficulties met by the Education Department — ^A weak point in our village schools —
Density of population per square mile of cultivation — Hindus and Musalmans — Agricul-
turists and non-cultivators — Oaate — Distribution of population — Size of villages — Detail of
castes — Distribution of certain castes — Infanticide — The land-owning castes — The condition
of the cultivator — Signs of improved condition — The peasant and the money-lender — The
rate of interest^Grain loans— Several social and economical agencies — Emigration —
Immigration — Rise of prices — Droughts — Moods— Agriculture — Wages — The Smoak system
of servitude— Contract labour — Rents ; Their increase — Grain rents : Their bad effects —
Causes of rise of rents— Indebtedness of the peasantry — Agricultural operations and
instruments — Irrigation — Droughts of 1868 and 1873 — Grain rents an obstacle to irrigation
• — Produce — Crop area — Main staples — Mixed crops— Outturn — Rice- Size of farms —
Extension of cultivation — Prices — Famines— Value of landed property — Municipalities
— Character of the Committees — Improvements — Revenue of ditto — Dispensaries —
Number of cases treated, cures, failures and death— Cost — Diseases — Goitre — The main
use of dispensaries — Opium, only a small area under poppy— Outturn and value — Amonni;
consumed in district — Distilleries — Outturn — Duty— Three kinds of liquor— Nawabi
prices compared with present prices — Administration of the forests — The drawbacks to
their conservancy — The excellent roads — Frontier roads — Revenue — Contract system-r-
List of trees, &c. — Post Office — Imperial lines — Rural post offices — Mr. Currie's scheme —
Weights and measures — Table of weights in the Nawabi — The "ratti" and "ghunghchi,"
difference in weight — Difference between the English Government tola and the Bahraich
tola — The new Government ser— Liquid measures and measures of capacity — Local
weights still in use, the paseri— Liquid measures and measures of capacity- — Long measure
— Yard measure — Coinage — The Gorakhpuri paisa — Other copper coins — The exchange
effected by Sayyad Salar's fair — The Government S-pie piece — The value of Re 1 in the
various copper coins — The rupee pieces current in the Nawabi— The Company's rupee less
valuable than the native coins — General administration — Revenue — Expenditure — Courts :
Criminal, Civil, Police — Crime — Accidental deaths.

Bahraich has little trade except the export of grain, ghi, timber, down
Trade and Manufac- its rivers. This produce is all credited to Fyzabad in
t»res. the official returns, because it is not estimated till in

its down-river journey it reaches a statistical office, which happens to be in
that district. The trade is not what might be expected from the fertility
of the soil and thinness of the population. That with Naipal alone is
recorded officially: for 1873 the exports thither were valued at Rs. 1,53,166,
of which Rs. 1,06,000 consisted of cloths, English and Indian : the only
other matters of any importance were —

Cotton Es. 7,164

Salt „. „ „ 11,403

Hardware «. „ 7,063

Bahraich, if properly cultivated, ought to send great quantities of sugar
and tobacco into Naipal ; as it is, it has a mere transport trade.

The imports amounted to Rs. 26,800, grain, ghi, and spices being the
main items. The trade across the boat-bridge at Bahramghat is not re-
corded either ; it consists mainly of rice, ghi, hides, lac, and kutch.

BAH

137

Signs of security in
present times.

The only import worthy of notice, besides the piece-goods and salt
already enumerated, is dcii or split lentils, such as urcZ and arftar; this
from Lucknow and Cawnpore. Trade no doubt will increase.

The Settlement Officer takes a favourable view as follows : —

" Since the establishment of our rule the district has experienced a change
in this respect which must impress even those who
are the most loth to admit the advantages of our
administration. The long trains of grain-carts going
south and east, which are now met filtering in from the outlying villages
to join the main roads, and the salt wagons filing up from Bahramghat
■northwards to Bahraich and on to Naipal, are sufficient to indicate the
readiness with which the trading commimity appreciate safe roads and
sure markets."

As no means are taken to obtain any returns of the imports and exports
from this district, except those from and to Naipal,

The Naipal trade. -^ would be difficult to give even an approximate

estimate of the amount of produce which is supplied by this district to the
rest of India ; but the following statement, showing approximately the
annual trade with Naipal, is interesting : —

Exports to Naipal.

Imports from Naipal.

Articles.

Quantity.

Value.

Articles.

Quantity.

Value.

Mds.

Es.

Mds.

Es.

Salt

2,286

15,161

Cereals

82,598

1,24,967

Sugar

2,926

10,203

Oilseeds

25,450

52,577

Metals, brass vessels, &o.

381

12,520

Iron ...

1,297

11,370

Cloth, piece-goods, &o. ...

...

1,60,398

Spices...

7,482

73,655

Miscellaneous

9,498

Hides ...
Timber
Ghi ...

843
5,224

2,200

Total

...

2,07,780

8,223

30,621

Miscellaneous
Total

...

1,229

... .

3,04,842

The above figures are merely for the trade which passes the frontier at
Gularia and on the roads to Nanpara and Katghar. These are the main
lines for the traffic. As might be expected, the main exports to Naipal are
piece-goods and cloth of kinds, while the registered imports consist chiefly
of cereals, oilseeds, spices, and ghi.

The timber from the Naipdl forests, great quantities of which have been
felled during the last ten years, is mostly conveyed
Timber. down the rivers Kauriala and Etipti on rafts.

138 BAH

Two .fair-sized canoes lashed together are sufficient to float some fifteen
or sixteen average-sized logs. The number of logs which have passed down
the Rapti during the past three years is estimated at 5,977. No correct
register has been kept of the timber imports from Naipfil down the Kauriala,
but in 1868 about 44,000 logs were sold at the Naipalese dep6ts on the^
river and its tributaries. These logs have been coming down ever since,
no sales having been allowed since that year. It is, however, reported that
75,000 logs are now collected at the dep6ts, and that a sale of these will be
effected shortly. Timber is no longer sold to contractors in the forests as
formerly. It is cut by Darbar agency and carted to the depots, where it is
sold by auction.

The logs average about 40 cubic feet, and sell at the dep6ts at about 12
annas per cubic foot. The price at Bahramghat is about Rs. 1-4 per cubic
foot, but Rs. 2-12 if cut and squared.

The main timber mart on the Gogra (Kauriala) is at this last-mentioned
place on the right bank of the river, whence the logs

maS'"^''^* *™'^^'' ^^e conveyed southward to Lucknow a,nd Cawnpur
by road. A large quantity, however, is worked up

into scantlings at the Government workshops which are established here.

The Government forests have not as yet turned out much timber from
the Bahraich forest sections. During this past year,
me^tforeatr"' ''^™" ^lo^evsr, the Bharthlpur section has suppKed a large
number of sissoo trees to the Gun-carriage Agency,
which has a dep&t and workshops at Bd.zpur, a frontier village in the extreme
north-west corner of the district. The contractors for dry wood also have
succeeded during the past years in removing from the forests a vast quan-
tity of inferior timber which is said to have clogged the market to a con-
siderable extent.

The Bahraich district is generally credited with a source of wealth, of
which I have in vain sought for any trace, viz., the
^Tte NSnpara cattle a N^^p^ra breed of cattle. The less said about this
famous breed the better, for the cattle of the Nanpara
district are as wretchedly small and weak as those of any other part of
Oudh. In the Khairigarh ilaqa, however, on the other side of the river
opposite Ndnpara and Dharmanpur, the class of cattle is very fine, and it is
possible that some of these bullocks coming from the north vid Nanpara
have obtained for that place a name which it does not deserve.

The Khairigarh animals are deservedly famous, and are thoroughly ap-
preciated in this district, to which numbers are annually brought by well-
to-do cultivators, who themselves visit Khairigarh to make their purchases.
A couple of young steers of this breed will cost as much as Rs. 60 to Rs.
80, while three-year-olds wiU cost fully Rs. 120 the yoke.

The opening of the railway from Bahramghat to Lucknow may be ex-
pected to give a great stimulus to the trade of Bah-
■Hie railway to j-aich, and will serve in some measure to break the
°^' isolation of the district which at present checks the

development of its commerce.

BAH 189

At present the main lines of traffic lie in the north ,of the district to
Main lines of traffic, ^^^lairighat on the Gogra, while the gi-ain of the
eastern parganas for the most part finds its way to
Nawabganj opposite Fyzabad, going by the Gonda road. The whole of
the produce of the Bahraich, Fakhrpur, and Hisampur parganas, however,
and a very large portion of the through-traffic from Naipal, is brought
down to Colonelganj (now transferred to Gonda) and to Bahramghat,
whence it is either sent down the river or passes on to Lucknow.*

Of manufactures there may be said to be none. Everj^ pargana has its

J- . villages, with small colonies af weavers who turn out

a fair quantity of coarse cloth, and Bahraich itself

boasts of some very good felt, the manufacture of which is a speciality of

that town and Jarwal.

Education. Four The Government schools in this district as in

classes of schools, ^^j^^^^ ^^^ ^f f^^^. ^j^g^^g ._

1st. — ^Zila schools, which prepare their pupils for matriculation in the
Calcutta University.

271x1. — ^Middle-class English, or, as they are also called, English town
schools, which prepare youths for ordinarj' clerkships, &c.

2rd. — Vernacular town schools, which give the best educatio'n that can
be given in the vernacular.

4i/i. — Village schools similar to English national schools, where the
general population can be well grounded in the rudiments.

In Bahraich town there is the zila school with 105 boys and 6 masters
while there are three branch schools in the suburbs

The zila schools. ^-^j^ ^ masters each and 50, 41 and 40 boys, respec-

tively ; total number of boys, 236. Persian, English, and Urdu are taught
at this zila school, Nagri only at one of the branches, and Urdu only at
the other two. The cost of these establishments is about Es. 420 per
mensem.

At Baundi and Ikauna, the tahsils of the Edja-e-R^jgan of Kaplirthala,
there are two English town schools ; that at Baundi
EngHsh town schools. ^^^^^ >jq ^^y^ and 3 masters, that at Ikauna 50
boys and 8 masters. The cost of these schools, Es. 176 per mensen, is
borne half by Government and half by the Eaja-e-Edjgan. There is also
a school of this class at Bhinga maintained entirely by the taluqdar
with 79 pupils.

Of Vernacular town schools there is only one, viz., at Nanpara. This
has 74 boys and 2 masters, its cost being Es. 46 per

Vernacular town mensem; but Nawab Nisar Ali Khan supports a
schools. somewhat similar school with 43 boys at Nawabganj

Aliabad in the Charda pargana.

* An internal trade during the rains is kept up on the Sarju river ; boats drawing three
feet come up from the Gdgra ; leaving it at Kamyarghat, they load gram at Banjanaghat
near Bahraich. This avoids some cart carriage to the bank of the Gogra.

140 BAH

It is intended that ultimately there should be 75 village schools, but at

present there are only 39 established. There are only

age so 00 . 1^406 boys in the village schools : the entire number

attending school is under 2,000, not more than 2 per cent, of the boy

population.

Of indigenous schools it is difficult to get any returns, but in Bahraich
town there are 12 schools kept by pandits, molvis

n igenous so oo s. ^^^ others, at which 213 boys are educated ; and the
American Mission has a school of 42 boys : about half of these learn
Persian and read the Koran, the other half reading Nagri and Kaithi.

The Education Department has had to make the most of a very small
Ti,„ A-ffi„ uv» ™ 4- income from the cess in this district hitherto, and the

The difficulties met pi -it iii. o i. t.

by the Education De- expenses 01 building school-nouses, ojc, nave been
partment. heavy at starting. Now that the revised assessment

has come into force, we may hope to see the full complement of village
schools instituted. Some of the taluqdars of ihe district take a real in-
terest in the spread of education.

A point in which our village schools seem to fail is in the class of boys
that at present attend them. This is mainly compos-
out viSre schools '"^ ^^ °^ children- of the Banian and Kayath castes.
Before our educational system can claim to be called
national, it must be able to draw into the village school-house not only the
children of classes with whom already a modicum of elementary knowledge
is a tradition, but also the sons of the purely agricultural classes, — the
Kurmi, the Lodh, the Ahir, and the Chamar. In proportion as the attend-
ance register shews a higher percentage of these and other non-profes-
sional and non-commercial castes, in the same degree may we hope that
we are reaUy getting hold of the rural population. By a settlement
officer no result can be more devoutly desired than ■^hat the ryot should
be able to make his own estimate of his fair share of the grain on the
threshing floor, to confute the patwari by his own papers, and to calculate
with some degree of accuracy the loss that he incurs by getting into the
Banian's books.

The total population of the district as assessed is 835,826, giving an

. average density of 347 souls per square mile of total

opu a ion. ^^g^ (excluding reserved forest tracts), and of 639

souls per square mile of cultivation. The relative density per square mile

of total area in the eight parganas is shewn as follows: —

1. Hisampur 458 souls per square mile o£ total area.

2.

Bhinga

401

ditto

ditto,

3.

Palchrpur

367

ditto

ditto.

4.

Charda

338

ditto

ditto.

5.

Ikauna

S13

ditto

ditto.

6.

Bahraich

311

ditto

ditto.

7.

Nanpara

310

dftto

ditto.

8.

Dharmanpur

173

ditto

ditto.

BAH 141

If, however, the population per square mile of cultivation be taken, the
Per square mUe of parganas will rank thus—
cultivation.

1. Hiadmpur 870 souls per square mile of cultivation,

2. Bahraich 804 ditto ditto.

3. Fakhrpur 646 ditto ditto.

4. Nanpara 580 ditto ditto.

5. Ikauna 570 ditto ditto.

6. BMnga 532 - ditto ditto.

7. Dharmanpur 507 ditto ditto.

8. Charda 463 ditto ditto.

Hisampur, it will be noticed, keeps its place, but Bahraich goes up from
6th to 2nd, while the rice-growing parganas Bhinga and Charda fall to the
bottom of the list.

Of the total population, the Hindus form 87'3 per cent, and the
Hindus and Musal- Musalmans 127 per cent, — the Musalmans being found
mans. chiefly in Hisampur and Nanpara, the districts res-

pectively, of the Sayyads and the Pathins, and in the town of Bahraich
itself. In all the northern parganas, with the exception of Nanpara, they
are very scarce indeed.

Out of a total Muhammadan population of 103,659, only 54,717, or
53 per cent, are agriculturists. Of the Hindus, on

cuSurists'^^ ^'^^ °°°' *-^® °*^^ ^^^^' *^® agriculturists comprise 66 per
cent, of the whole body. I may remark here, how-
ever, that the above returns, which are those of the census taken in
1869 A. D., under-state, I feel sure, the proportion of agriculturists. It is
quite impossible in a district like Bahraich that one-third of its population
can be non-cultivators. It is probable that many of the castes whose
names indicate a non -agricultural calling have been entered in the census
papers as non-cultivators without any enquiry as to whether they actually
follow that calling, or whether they do not combine cultivation with it.
According to settlement returns the proportion of culturists to non-cultur-
ists is nearly 5 to 2 instead of 4 to 2 only.

That the population is well distributed throughout the district may be
judged from the fact that, in addition to 1,930 in-

Distribution of po- jjafcited villages, which give their names to their res-
^" ^°^' pective demarcation circles, there are in the district

6,315 hamlets, making in all a total of 8,245 separate clusters of home-
steads, or, as near as possible, 3 to every square mile of total area. In
Hisampur there are 6 such separate hamlets to every square mile ; in
Fakhrpur there are 4 ; in Ikauna, Bhinga, Nanpara, and Charda, there
are 3 • and in Bahraich and Dharmanpur 2 only.

Out of the 2,021 hadbast circles in the old district, 91 have no inhabit-
ants, and of the remainder, 788 have under 250 inhab-

Size of villages. -^^j^^g . ggg ij^ve over 250 and under 500 inhabitants.

272

500

750

157

750

1,000

50

, 1,000

1,250 , ,

23

, 1,250

1,500

31

, 1,500

2,000

21

, 2,000

inhabitants.

142

BAH

In the detail of castes the different classes have been arranged in the
order of numerical superiority. The percentage of each
caste is as follows : —

Detail of castes

cas

Order.

Caste.

1

Ahir

2

Kurmi

3

Brahman

4

Chamar

5

Kori^

6

Kahar

7

Lodh

8

Pasi

9

Murao

10

Kajput

11

Pathans

12

Nao

13

Banian

14

Gararia

15

Lonia

16

Teli

Nwmher.

11-6

91,479

10-2

79,723

9-6

71,215

7-3

56,329

4-7

37-500

4-3

32-319

4-1

31,231

3-7

29,808

2-7

21,411

2-7

20,514

2-6

21,288

20

15,740

2-0

15,725

1-9

15,068

1-9

14,064

1-9

13,253

29-8

1000

Others

With such a population the district cannot but be considered as singu-
larly favoured ; the -whole of the above castes, -with the exception of Nos.
3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, being good cultivators.

The Brahmans are found in the greatest numbers in Fakhrpur, Bahraich,
and Ikauna parganas, there being very fe-w indeed in
the northern parts. The Ahirsare fairly equally
distributed throughout all the parganas, while the
Kurmis are found thickest in Hisampur, Nanpara, and Charda. The
Muraos, as might be expected, affect chiefly Hisampur, though they also
are found in fair numbers in all parganas ; and in the very depths of the
jungles of Dharmanpur, snug colonies of these industrious cultivators,
with fine turmeric gardens, are met with.

The land-owning castes. The Rajputs 0-vm 749 Villages out of 2,011 thus : —

Distribution of cer.
tain castes.

Janwar

Kaik-war

Biseu

Kalhans

Chauhan

Panwar

Others

368 -Tillages.

157

103

81

27

4

8

749

The other principal land-o-miing castes are : —

Sikh

Pathan ...
Sayyad ...
Shekh ...
Kayath ...
Nanak Shahi faqir
Khattri . . .
Brahman ...
Others

490 -yillages.
391

76

66

64

55

16

21

83

BAH 143

Of the 490 villages now held by Sikhs, all, with the exception of about
20, were owned in the Nawabi by Janwars and Eaikw^rs.

None of the castes in Bahraich call for special mention ; there are no hill
tribes, or any of distinct aboriginal extraction : the pnly one of local in-
terest is the Thdru, described fully in the Kheri and Gonda articles ; they
number 1,741 in this district. Nearly the whole population is agricul-
tural, and the statistics about those engaged in other occupations are not
trustworthy.

There can be little about but that the general condition of the cultivat-
ing class is improving very fast in this district. Popu-
cultivator ^°^ ° ^ lation is still sufficiently scanty to set agriculturists
at a premium ; and though in some estates they are
probably as much disinclined to shift their quarters as the ryots in more
populous districts, and thus are more likely to tolerate oppression at the
hands of the landlord than they otherwise might be, stiU the existence of
the immense tract of waste land owned by men who are bidding for culti-
vators on all sides, cannot but give the ryot a great advantage in the
settlement of the terms on which he is to hold.

As a rule, now-a-days the cultivator sets apart his own seed-grain at
harvest time, and even though hard pressed during the
condHL"^ ""P^^oved yg^j.^ refrains from touching this sacred store. No
sign can be better than this, for no link in the chain
which binds him to the Banian can possibly be stronger than such a
necessary loan as seed. At the doors, or just within the threshold of most
cultivators' houses, may be seen those earthenware amphora-like granaries
(dheri), which are a sure indication of thrift and independence of the
money-lender ; and if we penetrated farther into the dwelhng, we should
find in most cases a full set of brazen vessels.

Notwithstanding, however, these proofs of comparative prosperity, it is
too much to expect that such a creature of habit as
throne" Jeiider ^^^ *^® ordinary Indian peasant can altogether break off
his connection with the village usurer. However little
necessity there may be for it, he cannot avoid every now and then borrow-
ing a little at ruinous interest, and there are many who actually think that
their respectability is at stake in this matter. The taluqdars themselves
are not free from this mistaken notion, for many of them, notably one
who has one of the finest estates in the district, come periodically into
Bahraich to transact a little business with their bankers.

The rate of interest varies from Ks. 2 to Rs. 3-2 per cent, per mensem,

being equivalent to Es. 24 to 37| per cent, per annum ;

The rate of interest. ^^^^ when it is remembered that as long as the loan is

not a very heavy one the security is fairly good, it makes it a matter of

wonder that the asdmi cannot be made to see his own interest.

It is, however, more often the case that grain is advanced to the ryot to

be repaid at harvest time at the current rate, and

Gram loans. something more by way of interest. The peculiar

form of loan called " up" is one which is never made except a few weeks

144 BAH

before harvest. It is then that the last year's stock of grain stored in the
dheri begins to run low, and the ryot finds himself tempted to run up
an account at the Banian's.

Instead of doing this, however, he borrows a sum of money as lip, the
conditions being that the loan should be repaid at harvest time in grain at
the market price of the time, with five or ten sers of grain per rupee
extra by way of interest. These are very stringent conditions, considering
the short period for which the loan is made."

Several matters bearing upon the condition of the people may be briefly
indicated. There is little immigration into the district as a whole, but the
more thinly peopled parganas have received a considerable influx since
annexation, more, however, as the result of peace and order than from any
voluntary effort of population elsewhere to relieve the pressure upon land,
many of those who were emigrants in former days having now returned.
' Prices are rapidly rising, — vide the accompanying table, under heading
" prices," giving the rates for the last ten years. Famines have been
referred to in the Fyzabad article. Bahraich has suffered from flood,
drought, cattle-disease and fever, very considerably during the last ten
years. The remarks made on this subject in the Kheri article apply
equally to this the adjoining district. Floods are common, for Bahraich
has the heaviest average rainfall of any district in Oudh except Kheri.
In Bahraich tahsil its average for the last nine years has been 47 inches,
but it has sometimes had 79 and 74 inches as in 1870 and 1871, and
sometimes 31 or 32 inches as in 1868 and 1873.

Tested by the character of the agriculture, the condition of the people

cannot be regarded as prosperous. The better crops

gricu ure. requiring more laborious cultivation and repaying it

by a heavier return are conspicuous by their absence. Further on are

given crop returns borrowed from the settlement report.

The entire cultivated area is 751,000 acres. Allowing for the fact that
about one-fifth of the land is double-cropped, there will be each year
almost exactly 900,000 acres of crops sown and reaped. Of this vast area
only 8,200 are planted with garden crops as follows : —

Cotton ... ... ... ... 2,900

Tobacco ... ... ... 700

Sugarcane ... ... ... 2,500

Vegetables ... ... ... 2,100

8,200

This is less than one per cent., while the proportion in other districts
reaches four per cent. The cultivation consists mainly of rice, barley,
Indian-corn, and mixed crops. They require little labour either in plough-
ing or irrigating. Cultivation is of a perfunctory nature ; the out-turn is
poor, the ca|pital invested in agricultural improvements, such as wells, is
small ; the people consequently are not able to bear hard times, to resist
the stress of bad seasons, or bear up against the burthen of heavier rents
by the application of increased industry. There is little steady industry in

BAH 145

feet, and consequently the condition of the people has altered since the
settlement report was written.

Wages in Bahraich seem, when paid in money or grain by the day or
_ month, to be about the same as in other places. A

common rate is one anna, and a kachcha seroicha-
bena or parched grain, generally maize, per day ; this is worth about eight
annas in the month ; and we have again the rate of Rs. 2-4 per month of
twenty-eight days, which is usual in Sitapur, at least in the thinly-peopled
parts of that district

One anna alone without the grain allowance is paid to well-grown youths.
There is less irrigation in Bahraich, and consequently less demand for labour
at the wells and tanks. The people state that the ordinary rate of wage is
five pice if the labourer offers his services, but one anna and parched grain
considered equal to half an anna if the employer makes the first advances.

The sdwak system, here pronounced saunJc, is in full force, as indeed every-
, where east of the Gogra. Under it a man of any of the

e sawa sys em. £^^^ castes — Lodk, Chamdr, Kori, Kurmi — ^receives
an advance from a farmer and becomes his bond serf for life, or till he pays
off the advance, which, it must be noted, does not bear interest. The or-
dinary sum so given varies from Rs. 30 to Rs. 100, and for this a man binds
himself and his children down till the remotest generation. It is quite
common to meet men whose fathers entered into these obligations, and who
still labour in their discharge, although well aware that they can discard
them and be free to sell their labour in the open market whenever they
choose. I have also met instances of swank in which men had been turned
adrift by their masters who, owing to the drought, had either no employment
or no food for them ; they professed at any rate their willingness to return
whenever their masters' circumstances allowed it, and admitted their
right to recall them.

Such men receive nominally one-sixth of the crop, whatever it be, on
which they have laboured as ploughmen and reapers. The general division,
though, is slightly different. The unit of measurement and sub-division is
ten. fcmseris, or fifty local sers, from this is taken IJ panseris or l| sers
for the ploughman, and 2^ sers or half a fanseri for the ploughman's
wife ; but this last payment is conditional upon her performing the two
duties of grinding grain for the master's family and of making the cowdung
cakes which are used as fueL The farmer is not bound to concede these
privileges and their payment, nor the labourer to undertake them. The
former thereby retains some check upon the females of his hinds, whose
tongues he dreads with terror which Englishmen can hardly conceive.
When the crop is a bad one, of course the saunkia suffers with the rest, —
more so, in fact, because it is almost impossible that he can have any fund
of savings to fall back upon.

The farmers complain that this ancient form of servitude is now broken
at pleasure, and that they have to humour their labourers into a continuance
of voluntary dependence. Otherwise they simply defy their masters to put
them into the civil jail, in which they cannot be kept more than six months,
at a time, and are maintained by their masters.

K

146 BAH

It would be hardly possible legally to uphold this ancient custom, because
the reciprocal right of the labourer to be maintained by the farmer, in case
his share of the crop be insufficient, would have also to be provided for.

The name is derived, it is said,* from Srdwak, Sanskrit for a pupil, and is
the same ordinary Jain word for a layman. This may be ; the word may
have been transmitted in passing through the Buddhist transition period ;
but the change is a radical one, for the Sanskrit word which means a pupil,
and which can only refer to one of the twice-born to whom the hearing of
the sacred books is confined, has now been applied exclusively to the lowest
class, that which is forbidden even to hear read, much less to read, the
Vedas. The fact that Sawaks are confined to the four castes — Chamars,
Koris, Lodhs, and Kurmis — ^is very curious. Are they the descendants of
the original Sudras — a, name which is now rarely heard in Oudh, except
from some Kayath, who wishes notice to be taken of the fact that he does
not admit his own Sudraship ? According to Manu's system the duty of
the Sudras was to serve the other three castes ; these four castes now per-
form that duty and are to a certain extent in the position of slave plough-
men, yet it would be a great mistake to call them slaves.

They have definite duties to perform, and some of the household work
their wives may or may not execute; and they have fixed wages, from which,
if Oudh seasons and soil were more favourable, they might save money. A
Siwak is attached to every plough. Only one plough is allowed on the
average for about seven acres and a half, and supplementary spade husbandry
is largely used so as fully to employ the Sawak's time.

An average crop ftom this Avill be about 7,000 lbs. ; at 900 lbs. to the
acre, the Sawak's share, including his wife's, will be 1,400 Sbs., half of it
superior grain which he can exchange for 1,000 lbs. of inferior but whole-
some grain. His whole earnings will then be 1,700 lbs. of grain, from which
a man with a wife and two children cannot properly be sustained.

It would not appear, therefore, that a status which must be generally
one of annually increasing indebtedness can ever have been the fixed and
authentic condition of a large class. Further, we have here the distinct
element of contract supervening. Are we to suppose that when the class
of Sudras emerged partially from servitude, this contract system was devised
to perpetuate the old theoretical status, when the actual situation of the
parties accorded with the latter ? It is more likely that the system arose
in time of famine when the richer class maintained their poorer neighbours
and their families, and the head of the family in return bound himself to
serve for mere subsistence.

In many . individual instances the plan was adopted in order to secure
harvest labour at a time when it was scarce ; it was regarded as a means of
compelling men to labour hard and regularly in a time of rude plenty and
thin population, when a half savage people, as now in Jamaica, satisfied its
hunger without difficulty, and refused to work till again pressed by want.

At present the only motive for entering into the contract is want of food,

* Gonda article.

BAH 147

and that this is an increasing motive, is shown by the increasing numbers
of Sawaks.^ Every second man met with in the fertile plains of Hisdm-
pur is a Sawak, and it seems strange to an Englishman to listen to the
proprietor pointing to them as they stand behind or drive the four-footed
cattle at the ploughs. He descants upon the sums he paid for them ; — fifty-
one rupees for that one, sixty for his neighbour, because the latter had a
large family, which went with the lot.

Further, of recent years it is said, mainly since annexation, the Ahir
caste has been drawn reluctantly into the Sawak status. The caste as
yet protest against it, and when the matter is brought before the brother-
hood formally, the oifender is expelled from amongst them, — in local
phrase, has his pipe put out. The pressure of poverty is too great, and
the caste winks at all but the most open violation of their rule.

There is also in Bahraich the contract system under which a labourer
Contract labour. breaks up waste land with spade husbandry at a fixed
rate. For average land that now current is two bfghas
for one rupee ; this includes merely turning over the clods with a large
hoe. A stout man can do his two bighas and earn his rupee in ten days,
or nearly three rupees per month, by job-work ; but such a labourer will
be rather an athlete, and will eat one ser of flour per day. An ordinary
labourer will spend fourteen days over his two bighas, and earn only two
rupees per month. A modification of the sawak system called the ulti
sdwaJc has been recently introduced. Under it a labourer receives an advance
of six to twelve rupees, and gives his services for one year, receiving in
addition the usual share — one-seventh of the crop. Other landholders pay
their labourers two rupees a month, a blanket in winter, and possibly a
couple of local maunds of grain as a reward at harvest.

The district, on the whole, is in a very backward condition ; there are
Eents ^'^ mines or European industries of any kind ; there

are no reform societies, local institutions or printing
presses.

It is believed, however, that the tenantry are better off than elsewhere in
Oudh, at least the local officers assert it.

Rents are lower than in other districts. The last official return is as

follows : —

Es. A. P.

Per acre, land suitable for rice ... ... ... 3 14 2

wheat

maize, barley
cotton

opium
oilseeds
sugar
tobacco

3 14 2

3 5 8

3 8 9

9 12

3 6 6

7 7 0

8 4 0

It is no doubt true that plenty of good land can still be got at such rates,
but the average rents paid are considerably higher, perhaps about ten per
.cent, lower than those recorded as prevailing in Bara Banki.

Cultivation is of a backward character. Little sugarcane or garden crops
are grown. There is good tobacco, but not in large quantity ; consequently

K 2

148 BAH

low rents may press as hardly upon fciadly-cultivated land as higher rents
upon more productiye areas. I found four rupees per local bigha, or about
twenty rupees per acre, p3.id for good tobacco land, and one rupee to one
rupee four- annas per loe^I bjgha, five rupees to six rupees four annas per
acre, as the ordinary ra.te for wheat, peas, rice, arhar, in south Bahraich,

In two villages taken at random in pargana Fakhrpur, leaving out the
Neotala Haudigaon Brahmans who on account of their religious position
hold at favourable rates, all the rest of the tenants
belonging to above twenty different castes hold according to the taluqdars'
rent-roll 4,675 bfghas recorded at 1,640 Government bjghas, or 1,025 aeres,
paying Es. 5,195, or above Rs. 5 per acra AJloAving for the usual under-
statement of assets, eleven shillings per acre would be about the rate.
There was rto sugarcane in these viliages, and they comprised an average
of bad pultivators, such as Chhattris and Musalmans. Rents exhibit more
variation between the different classes, and more consideration for the
Brahman and Chhattri clans in Bahraich than in cis-Gogra Oudh. Brah-
mans pay twelve annas where other castes pay one rupee generally. They
give the landlord only one-third of the gross grain produce when other
castes pay one-half. The rise of rents has been very rapid of late. In six
or seven years that of Brahmans has risen over extensive tracts of country
in south Bahraich from 8 annas to 12 annas, or 50 per cent., while other
castes have been raised to 20 amias for ordinary land, from 10 annas or
from grain rents.

The increase of grain rents is also noted ; it was formerly customary for
tenants breaking up wastelands to hold on exceptionally low terms for two
or three years so as to remunerate them for the labour and expense incurred.
Tenants now, at any rate in southern Bahraich, break up land paying half
the crop as grain rents from the first year. The landlords defend the rise
of rents on the ground that the tenants are very lazy, and that they require
the spur of high rent to induce them to cultivate properly. This is partially
true ; the Brahmans are extremely lazy ; they depend for their cultivation
almost entirely upon their Sawaks alresidy described ; they will not touch a
plough with their own hands ; they occasionally condescend to handle a
spade for an hour or two in the day, but continuous hard labour is apparently
beyond their powers. On the other hand, however, it must be remarked,
that they have no inducement to be industrious, for, adjoining theirs are
the fields of Muraos who have been paying high rents, but have been recent-
ly raised still higher.

I quote a few instances out of many. A Mur^o in Rampurwa has
8 local bighas of garden cultivation near the village site and 9 in the
outer lands, the hdr ; for this he paid Rs. 24 six years ago ; it was
then raised to 25, then to 35, and this year, although harvests have
been bad for three seasons, to Rs. 41. A fair rent for the land, which
was ordinary, would have been Rs. 30 at the utmost, and the Govern-
ment revenue, which is supposed to be half the rent, was not more than
Rs. 15. It is obvious that in such cases rents are only limited by the possi-
bility of exaction from the helpless, for the Murao was of course in debt, and
could not leave the village to seek a more profitable farrh elsewhere. The
rise of rents is well exemplified by the garden lavnds. These consist really

BAH 149

of ordrsary fields worth about One rupee per local bfgha, tolerably near the
village site. The Mur^o occupies them ; the first year he pays one rupee
per bigha or thereabouts ; after two years he pays Es. 1-8, and after three or
four he finds himself at Rs. 3-S, which seems the ordinary rate for good
garden lands in south Bahraich. This is equal to Rs. 17-8 per acre.

In addition, he will pay one anna in the rupee for the chaukidar and the
patwdri jointly. This is not an unfair tax, if not Superadded to a too
high rent ; jts amount will not exceed by more than fifty per cent, the
actual cost of the two village officers named. There is a considerable im-
migration from Sitapur and Bara Banki to the more favoured parts of
Bahraich, which has a more equable climate and steadier rains. This in-
flux perhaps causes a greater rise of rents than in other districts.

Withal, the tenantry in Bahraich Seem better fed and healthier than
those in Bara Banki or Sitapur. There are very many under-fed and meagre
creatures no doubt, but the proportion of such is not so large as elsewhere :
perhaps high rents have not had time to produce any noxious effect.

In many cases in this district grain rates are simply half and half, in
other cases the tenant gets allowances for his ploughmen, such as are de-
scribed in the Sitapur article.

The village ren-t-rolls do not exhibit in 1874 any great increase upon past
years, at least nothing commensurate to the increase
Eiae of rent stated by the tenants, and admitted to have occurred
by the landlords' agents. But these rent-rolls are very incorrect ; they do
not include the sir or home farms occupied by the landlord or lessee, nor
do they include in many cases the lands held upon grain rents. Much of
the real increase is concealed. It is only by taking the names of indivi-
dual tenants from the mass, and testing their tenures and terms, not only
by the rent records both of past years and present, but also by the revenue
survey measurements, that a conclusion can be arrived at. This laborious
process I have had to perform. Further, the leases of entire villages
exhibit almost uniformly a steady rise. It is true the lessees in many
cases have lost money and been sued for the amount due under these
leases ; but unless there had been at any rate a nominal increase in the
rents imposed upon the cultivators in detail,, the village lessees would not
have bid such high sums.

The Brahmans in the mass do not probably pay much higher sums than
formerly, because some of them allow the increased rent to accumulate,
and then wipe out the balance by disappearing. In many cases they
return, as there is great difficulty in getting other castes to occupy the
la^nd from which Brahmans have been ejected.

As every S'awak is a bankrupt, and as the S^waks form a large propor-
Indebtedness of tliB tion of the whole, it may be gathered that the agri-
peasantry., cultural classes are deeply embarrassed. That their
condition is becoming worse receives support from the fact that a caste
formerly exempt from this servitude is now subject to it— that of the Ahirs.
The price of a Sawak has also declined from an average of about Rs. 100
tc ani average of Rs. 40: This, it appears to me, is mainly, if not altogether,
due to th^ grestbei? supply of tobour owiiJg to^ greater poverty.

150 '" BAH

The farmers, it is true, state that their Sawaks run away more often than
formerly, but this complaint does not seem well founded ; they can only
now escape to Naipdl, but they could formerly run there and anywhere
else in Oudh either ; there were no courts to enforce the bonds and compel
the runaway's return. At any rate they engage just as many Sawaks or
even more than formerly, but they pay less money for them, possibly
because the courts will not recognise this same slavery.

There is little calling for special remarks under this head. Ploughing
Agricultural opera- is performed in the usual way. Five acres in
tions and instruments. the upper lands and seven in the Tar^i where the
cultivation is mainly of kharif, is considered a fair allowance for one
plough. A pair of ordinary plough bullocks cost from Rs. 10 to Rs. 15 per
head, but if of such size and strength as to be suitable for road work, a
pair will cost Rs. 50 to Rs. 80.

A good pig costs Rs. 3, a male buffalo Rs. 10, a female Rs. 16.

A plough complete, including the share, will cost Rs. 1-4. A harrow,
which is merely a log of wood, may be got for 8 annas ; a pick -axe, more
like a hoe, costs 12 annas ; a khurpa for digging up grass and roots costs
2 annas.

The entire stock for a farm of five acres will not be worth more than
Rs. 35, not including sugar-mill or boiling-pans, which are little required
in this district.

The subject of the cottier farmer's profits has been treated in detail in
the account of Kheri.

In Bahraich irrigation is less attended to than in other parts of the
province, partly perhaps because the rains are more
Irrigation. constant, and partly because the popxilation being more

sparse and cultivation more careless, less labour is undergone.

The whole of the uparhiCr estimated at 1,200 square miles, needs irriga-
tion. Wheat, peas, sanwan, masur, should be watered from three to five
times. When the September rains close early, as on the 16th September
1873, the rice also requires copious irrigation. As there were no sufiicient
means at hand it dried up in the year in question.

The area irrigated recorded in the settlement papers is entered at 43,128
acres, but this is wholly incorrect, being only 5 per cent, of the total acre-
age ; probably 200,000 acres are commonly irrigated whenever wheat or
garden crops are grown. More wells are visible from the Bahraich and
Gonda road than from any other Oudh highway which I have seen. Irri-
gation is conducted partly from rivers and tanks, but mainly from unlined
wells at which the dhenklis described in the Kheri and Bara Banki articles
are used. On the average, water is met with at 10 to 14 haths, or 15 to
21 feet from the surface in the uparhar. The levers are worked all day ;
two men will water eight to ten local biswas in a day, so the water-supply
is better than in Bara Banki ; an acre wiU then be watered once in eleven
days at a cost of Rs. 2-1, each labourer costiag one anna and a half Wheat,
which takes three waterings, will cost Rs, 6-3 per acre, and with the

BAH 151

expense of digging the well which falls in ev«ry year and will water only
four acres during the season, the entire cost per acre for wheat may be
estimated at Rs. 6-8 ; but, again, every third year the winter rains are so
heavy that one or two waterings may be dispensed with. An average cost
of Rs. 4-12 per acre for wheat per season maybe estimated. Sdnw£n takes
five waterings and wUl cost Rs. 6 ; it is sown in February and reaped in
May, and cannot be trusted to the rains.

River water is used even for tobacco in Bahraich ; it is watered six or
eight times. Some of the rivers, such as the lower or ancient Sarju, might
very easily be dammed. There are large natural basins, some of which it
is almost impossible to believe are not artificial, everywhere within ten
miles of the Gogra ; they represent ancient channels of its waters ; cultiva-
tion on the banks is excellent, and crops luxurious. By damming the
sluggish streams these abundant harvests might be extended over the
thirsty and starved-looking crops which are met -with, on the uplands. Nor
is it likely that tenants-at-will will go to the expense of making irrigation
channels and raising a large crop by copious waterings when the probable
result is that their rent will be increased.

The tank water is raised in small wicker baskets, which do not hold half
as much as those used in the more populous southern districts ; in other
words, labour is lighter where the population is more sparse. In many
cases there are five waterings given to the crop ; one or two to soften the
land before it is ploughed, and three after the crop germinates. A few,
very few, masonry wells have been made in places where the water lies
near the surface. A well in which two levers can be worked at once can
be made if water is only 15 feet off, and firewood abundant, for Rs. 90.
From it two local bighas or f ths of an acre can be irrigated in a day with
the labour of four men, and it will supply ten acres in the year with
whatever water is requisite.

The ten acres will be watered once in 25 days at a cost of 6 annas per
day, or Rs. 9-6 for the whole : this will be 15 annas per acre, or Rs. 2-13
for three waterings. But to this sum must be added interest on the cost
of the weU, at 15 per cent., Rs. 13-8 per annum, or Rs. 1-5 per acre. The
total cost will be Rs. 4-2 per acre for three waterings, or Rs. 3-3 for two.
Of course tenants on grain rents will not and do not make wells on such
terms, nor indeed will it be to the interest of others to do so.

The following table gives the rainfalls on the occasions of the last two
droughts in 1868 and 1873 which preceded the scarcities of 1869 and
1874. Their features, it will be observed, have much in common. In
each there was no rain from> about September 20th till January or Feb-
ruary of the ensuing year. The monsoon closed three weeks too soon, but
in 1868 the latter rain,m2!.,in January and February, was also almost wholly
deficient. In 1873 the former rain, that in June, amounted to only half
an inch instead of the average five inches. This of course in each case ag-
gravated the loss caused by the failure of the main monsoon. In 1868 the
rabi or winter crop was the main sufferer ; in 1873 the kharif was sparsely
sown because the rain commenced too late, and suffered from drought

152

BAH

because they closed so early. The necessity of artificial irrigation is thus
manifest :— -

186S.

1873.

Total rainfaU.

Rainfall from 1st June to 1st October

46-6

27-5

„ from Isfc October to Slat Deeember

00

ffQ

„ in June .. „.

6-9

0-6

,, in September.

6-4

6S

„ in October

0&

00

Bate of rain oommenomg

5th Jtme

1 8th Jimei

„ of rain ending

21st September

16th September.

Eain in January, February of ensuing year

0-4

3-3

The Settlement Officer reports that irrigation is in great measure dis-

-.,... j^ eouraged by the system of grain rents. Very few

by^J^ rentt'""""^ ^naats will work all day at the bucket when half

the increased produce dne to the labour will go to

the landlord.

It is not exactly apparent why the same argument does not apply to
ploughing. There is no doubt that grain rents tend to slovenly and care-
less tillage of all kinds, but probably they affect irrigation no more than
ploughing, harrowing, or weeding. The rent-paying lands in the district
amounted in 1870-71 to 311,776. acres, or 41 per cent, of the whole ; 59
per cent, then, is still under this bad rent system ; it is giving place to a
better one with a fair rapidity. The Settlement Officer writes as follows : —

The prescribed returns (No. 10) show the areas under each class of crop
, as entered in the khasra of the year of measurements

ro uce crop areas. ^^^ ^^^ pargana. The areas for the whole district
are as follows : —

Crop.

Area in acres.

Pencentage of
Khart.

Percentage

of total
cultivation.

Eharif.
Eice

Indian-corn.
Juir
Mash
Kodo ... ... .^

Other kharif

167,041

76,217

10,565

I 12,388

' 17,104

67,012

47-7

21-8

3-0

1

3,&
19-0

28-0

9-1

1-3

1-5

' 2.-4

I 8 0

ToiAi Kha.r£p ...

850,327

100-0

BAH

153

Baii.

Area in acres.

Percentage of
Eabi.

Percentage

of total
cultivation.

Wheat...

Barley...

Wheat and barley mixed

Kape seed

linseed...

Sarson ...

Cotton ...

Gram ...

Masur ...

Arhar ...

Tobacco...

Sugarcane

Peas

Other rabi

Vegetablea

54,411

65,416

37,936

24,935

8,059

1,256

2,932

12,711

9,731

11,95&

724

2,480

3,397

1,63,416

2,122

13-6

16-3

9-4

6-3

20

■3

•7

3-2

2-4

3 0

■2

•6

•8

40-7

■5

65

7-8

4-5

30

•9

•1

■3

1-5

11

1-4

•1

■3

•4

19-5

•2

Total Eabi ....
Recent fallow

TOTAE CuLTlVATIOir ...

4,01,481
84,349
8,36,157*

100

100
100

The mam staples thus are shown to be in order of breadth of land sown :
first, rice ; second, Indian-corn ; third, barley ; fourth,
Main staples. wheat ; and these four grains alone cover 47'9 per

cent, of the whole cultivated area.

Of the areas under rice and Indian-corn, no less than 54,904< acres of the
former and 41,&81 acres of the latter, in all 96,885 acres.
Double crop area. ^^^ cropped a second time at the spring harvest.

It is a very prevalent custom in this district to sow mixed grains, no less
than three or four different crops being commonly seen

Mised crop. growing together. It is a custom which usually accom-

panies careless cultivation, and it will gradually die out as it becomes
necessary for the agriculturist to abandon a haphazard style of tUlage, and
to make the most of his land. A large portion of the area entered as
" other rabi" consists of these mixed crops, which it was impossible to
classify under any other head.

The average out-turn of the main staples on which the produce estimates
were based was determined by the settlement depart-

Outtum. ment. The estimated out-turn of each crop differed

somewhat in each pargana according to the character of soil, &c.,. but
the following may be taken as the average : —

Wheat ... "■. •" 7 maunda per bigha.

Wheat and barley mixed

Barley

Itape seed

Other rabi

Bice

Indian-corn

Other rabi

&

ditto.

6

ditto.

6

ditto.

H

ditto.

6

ditto.

6

ditto.

4

ditto.

* This return is apparently fairly correct, much more so than others elsewhere printed.
Vide Appendix J., Sarda Canal Ktepoxtj and Anijual Statistical Forms.

134 BAH

The out-turn of fodder, chaff and straw is an important matter from a
military point of view. It is generally supposed that a
Fodder. ^^^^ q£ wheat or rice grain should yield about the same

■weight, and a quarter more, straw and bhusa ; thus an average crop of
wheat is twelve maunds or 984 lbs. per acre, the straw will be 1,230 lbs. per
acre. In this district, owing to the abundance of grazing, such fodder is
remarkably cheap. After harvest five maunds for a rupee is an ordinary
price, while the Lucknow market rate will be eight annas a maund. The
straw of gram or maize bears a larger proportion to the grain.

It will be apparent from the above statistics that the cultivation in
Bahraich is inferior. Tobacco, sugarcane, and garden crops only reach
together about 10,000 acres, or little more than one per cent.

The cultivation of sugarcane is prohibited by local custom in some places,
but the same superstition prevails in Kheri, which nevertheless exhibits
about five per cent, of high cultivation.

Rice is, as will appear above, the most important
^°®" crop in Bahraich ; a few details may therefore be given.

The entire crop may be divided into two great classes : —

First, the kharif rice, which is sown in Asd,rh, about the beginning of
July, and is cut in Kartik. The most important species in this district are
the sathi, batisa, mutamari, anjani.

Second, the aghani rice, which is sown in Sawan, July — August, and is
cut in Aghan, November. The most important kinds are gauria, jarhan,
bilar, sutiari, raitasi, rudwa, karangi.

Third, the transplanted rice, the mahin or bhartw^ri ; this is sown with
the first and reaped with the second : the extra time required is due to the
delay and impeded growth caused by transplanting, which is done when
the water is from six to sixteen inches deep.

The principal species used for transplanting are dherwa and latera.
All the rice is, as a rule, sown in water, but rice for transplanting may
be sown in moist earth, although it, too, must be transplanted into water.

Good crops are per acre for BiaAfo 14 to 18 maunds.

» „ for aghani 8 to 12 „

„ tor kharif .^. ... 6 to 10 „

No improvements have been made in the quality or length of staple.
The average area tilled by each cultivator ranges from 3'47 acres in
Size f farms Hisampur to G'ST acres in Charda pargana ; the aver-
ize 0 arms. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^-^ ^^^^ adult cultivator with his family is
5 J acres throughout the district.

According to the census returns the agricultural population of the dis-
trict is 495,750,* and there will be If acres to each member of the culti-
vating community. But this return is incorrect ; the numbers of the
agricultural population are considerably larger. Of the total population,
774,000, 600,000 will be dependent upon agriculture. The crop area is
752,000 acres : this will give exactly an acre and a quarter for each agricul-
tural inhabitant, and less than one acre for each of the entire population.

* Census Eeport, page 35.

BAH

153

All the people are dependent upon the district itself for food, there being
no import of grains except a little pulse from Bara Banki.

If the statistics given in the settlement report can he relied upon, there
Extension of oultiva- has been a great increase of cultivation from 609,742
tion. acres in 1858 to 837,253 acres in 1868. This is equi-

valent to an increase of 64 per cent.

In this latter area, however, fallow has been included ; in the former it
has not. It would be almost impossible in fact in the grain rented lands
for the village accountant to record the area of fallow, and it is never done.
We may therefore deduct the fallow 85,000 acres, and the actual area under
cultivation is 752,000 acres. The real increase therefore is only 49 per
cent. Much of this increase, however, is deceptive. In 1858 a good part
of Bahraich was in rebellion, and the Begam of Oudh's forces threatened
the country from across the Il^pti up till 1859. Much of the land would
therefore have been waste temporarily on that account. Still the increase
of cultivation, after all allowances, must have benefited the people.

A table showing the range of prices in Bahraich for the last ten years is
Prices, and famine. appended. They are, it will appear, about 10 per
cent, lower than those prevalent in Lucknow, but are
rapidly rising : —
Statement showing details of produce and prices in HaTiraicTi district for tJie
ten following years 1861 to 1870.

:

ffi

S

CD

O

p

«

s

O

O

1 ■

bj]

(30

bD

bO

M

bfl

bp

bo

tm

^ s

ca

ca

^

CS

ea

cS

CO

O 01

€

F->

U

b

h

s

n

(U

ff

O

?

<o

?

O >t

Description of produce.

%

%

i

%

5

%

g

s

s

&

gS

TjT

lO*

oT

o"

s ■**

U)

<o

CD

ts.

Ch

41

534

58J

50

CO

461

■ s

2

2

CO

CO

564

■5

Paddy

464,

,53

53

584

51A

Common rice*

19J

22

214

m

14i

12|

15f

144

114

14

16A

Best rice

16

164

16

15i

11

lOf.

12

llf

10

13i

13i

Wheat

26f

42i

36i

20i

J44

14 ■

26f

25i

13i

19i

23*

Barley

45i

59J

59J

59

20

19i

48f

414

33

26i

42i

Bajra

Juar

...

,,,

25i

25i

d\

ssj

56i

56"

26i

24i

424

43

22i

27i

40tV

Gram

28i

444

484

40i

20

16i

284

33f

15

I7i

31t'o

A.rh&^iCytis'US Cajan)

394

44

43

35|

21i

m

38i

431

181

191

32tV

XTrd or Maeh (Pha-

seolus Max)

29J

36

314

23

12f

13i

20J

271

13|

12

22

Mothi (PTiaseolus

AconitifoUus)

30^

431

39

314

17

I7i

26|

38i

lU

134

28t°o

Mting {Phaseolus

Mungo)

23i

26i

16J

16

12i

12J

274

14i

lOi

Hi

16t%

Masur, (Urintm liens)

384

564

61

39i

214

17

39i

45

19

194

34i

Ahsa or Matra (Pisnm
Sativum)

36

58i

63

57

25i

m

374

m

15|

374

Ghuiyan {Arum Colo-
casia)

35|

48

31i

39

34J

36

35|

38

38

42

37 i

Sarson (Sinapis Dioho-

tOW/d •'•

161

16J

15i

15i

144

144

14

131

12i

111

144

Lahi, (Sinapis nigra)
Eaw sugar

20i
3

181
2f

18|
3

21
3

164
3i

18
3

19i
3i

10
3

14f
3

15i
3

18i
3

* The rate entered for " common rice" must be wrong.

156 BAH

Kodo is tbelo-west-priced grain, btit its stipply is not Ve*y regular, nor is
that of sanw^n. The stibject of prices is, however, so closely connected with
that of famine and scarcity, that they must be treated together.

The districts of Bahraich and Gonda may be considered as ofle, and first a
sketch of what is now (February 1874) occurring in Gonda-Bahraich may
be given, as it seems to be typical of every year of scarcity. _ From the
soutbem portion of those districts an immense export of kodo, juar, maize,
and a little rice is going on from every ghat on the river Gogra, which
forms their western boundary, and by country carts to Oolonelganj and
Nawabganj.

Meanwhile, in the nOTthern portions of those very districts, many would
be starving if large Government relief works were not in progress, yet there
is abundant communication, good roads and rivers, connecting the export-
rag and the starving portion of the districts.

The starving parganas are Balrampur, Utraula, Nanpara. The following
are the prices now current (February 15, 1874) in that neighbourhood: —

Kodo, grain

Kodo, husked ~

Wheat

Gram ... ... _

Bice ... >

Ju^r

Maize ... ... ...

In Gonda, itself the following are the rates :-

Wheat .,

Maize ,

Ju^r ... M.

Kice ,« 13

The latter rates also prevail in the central station, Bahraich.

These are not famine prices. Wheat in IS&O- was 8 sers for the rupee ;
in 18^5, 10 sers for the rupee ; in 1861—10 sers for the rupee, yet there
was no famine. Now there is a partial famine when wheat is 14 sers, and
one grain, kodo, wholesome enough if unmildewed, can be got at 22'7.
Therefore comparatively high prices in one year do not indicate scarcity,
nor a compaira.tively low price abundance. Again, the high prices of Bal-
rampur and Nanpara do not attract grain thither. On the other hand, at
any rate up' till a very recent period, there was exportation to a large extent
from Nanpdra to districts where the present rates are no higher, or even
lower, than in Nanpara.

In point of fact, the graim prices m a district stricken by famine apply
merely to a portion of the food of the people. Famines commence first
with a want of money and employment ; there is no great competition for
the grain, for it is beyond the means of the masses, and it makes no dif-
ference to. tha ma^iO£ity whethea: j,iiaK,. theia; mam f^od now, is 16 sers or 24
per rupee.

Sera per rupee.

22 7

...

14-

...

14-5

14-7

...

12-2

..."

15-7

15-7

Sers

per rupee.

14

!••

16

BAH 157

They live on the wild fruit of the gdlar, the corolla of the mahua, the
calyx of the semal or cotton tree in Gonda-Bahraich. I have repeatedly
heard the comparatively good effect of these diets discussed recently. The
demand for grain does not increase, and the Banian does not raise his prices
till he finds that more people are "willing and able to buy than he can
supply. So in XJtraula, BaJrampur, and Nanpara, prices have not risen
high. The people have no m.oney and no employment, so they do not
compete for the stores remaining. There are as yet supplies of grain in
the immediate vicinity. A fair spring harvest of wheat is rapidly ripen-
ing, and here we find another principle at work, checking the upward
tendency of prices ; in fact, there are so many crops that there is always a
chance or a probability of one or other turning out well If a grain-dealer
holds out for the rising rates, he may be disappointed and find himself
foiled by the new harvest coming into the market. On the other hand, a
Liverpool merchant knows pretty well that when one crop is harvested no
new one can come in for a twelve month ; he can tell what the supplies
are and what scarcity will occur.

This year the October rice harvest did pretty well ; the November one
was a failure, but the maize, kodo, and m£sh reaped in those months have
done tolerably well. Wheat, which will be ripe in the middle of March,
is doing very well ; arhar and gram are doing badly, but s^nwan is being
now largely sown, to be reaped in May, and it may turn out well.

So the local dealer at these extremities of civilisation does not raise his
prices, for the few who now buy from him would become still fewer, and his
stock might suddenly be thrown on his hands ; nor does the foreign dealer
send cargoes to these places, for an additional supply would not be taken
up by the famishing at the previous rate; it would supply a slightly larger
circle at a slightly lower rate, and it would go off very slowly. Grain, in fact,
will only seek a mart wliere there is not only a high price, but also plenty
of money causing an effectual demand.

If, then, high prices of former years were not accompanied by famine,
what do they indicate ? Most probably they were the result of real high
prices caused by scarcity elsewhere, although in these parts labour and
money or grain were sufficient for the maintenance of the people. In these
parts the people are extremely poor and have no savings ; if not mere ordin-
ary rates for the staples would not be beyond their means, as they now
are. Generally we may say that there are numerous factors of what is
commonly called famine.

First. — ^Want of employment for the day-labouring class. This has
happened in Nanpara, where the rice crop died, and the annual labourers
were turned off, because their masters had no stores of food wherewith to
feed them.

Second. — Deficiency of grain in the store-houses and in the field. We
cannot tell whether this has happened or not. The wheat Crop is a good
one so far ; it may have been, and apparently has been, sown on a much
more extensive area than usual. It may largely make up for other fail-
ures. ■

158 BAH

Third. — High grain or money rents, accompanied by a heavy demand
for grain in Bengal or elsewhere, will certainly bring on chronic scarcity,
which either of the former causes may aggravate into famine.

As a rule, in north Oudh there can be no absolute famine till after the
rabi crop has been gathered in. The reason is as follows : —

The lower classes live during ten months of the year on the kharif
grains, rice, kodo, juar, bajra ; these are the food of the masses. In almost
any case of bad seasons there must be at any rate a five-anna crop of these.
What is comparative drought for the rice is good seasonable weather for
maize ; there is therefore, even in the worst years, at any rate sufiScient
stock of these crops in the country to last for four months, from November
tiU March, when the supply is eked out by the wild fruits already men-
tioned.

If, however, there is a bad rabi or spring crop succeeding, or if there is
a large export of kharif grain to pay rent or revenue, there may be famine.
This year the latter cause has been at work : from every part boats have
been lading for Patna and Bengal. During much of this period consump-
tion prices have been actually higher than in Patna,

Nanpara. Balrtopur. Patna.

Wheat ... ... ... ... ... 14 16-

Barley ... ... ... ... None ill market 19-
Gram ... ... ... ... ... 19 147

Juar ... ... ... ... ... 19 157

But, it may be repeated, the former is not an effectual demand : it is the
demand of paupers who will take the grain at those prices but on credit.
It will be gathered from the above that it is impossible to determine what
are famine prices in districts like Gonda and Bahraich. When there is
any general scarcity, they will be the first to suffer, as in the limbs of the
dying the pulse ceases to be perceptible, while the heart is in full action.
There may be scarcity of food, or there may be a scarcity of money, or
there may be both. Now at any rate the effect of a bad season cannot be
alleviated by the stores of former abundances.

The Bahraich famines of former years have been sketched in the Fyza-
bad article. The local authorities declare that famine prices are 12 sers
for wheat and 18 sers for maize. But no rule of the kind can be laid down.
We had no famine when wheat was at 10 sers, and we have famine when
kodo can still be got for 24 sers. On the comparative prices of wheat and
maize in times of plenty and scarcity I cannot enter. The ofiicial returns
though roughly correct for wheat, are very incorrect for the poorer grains.

The only rule to be laid down is, that when the cheapest grain com-
monly sold in the market reaches 20 sers for the rupee, or when the maizes
as ju£r, bajra, reach 17 sers, it is then time to test whether the people
have money to buy at those rates by opening public works. Some of the
features of the grain trade are hardly explicable on any theory of price.

For instance, now, in February 1874, carts may be met taking Indian-
corn on the same road from Nawabganj to Gonda, and other carts from
Gonda or the immediate neighbourhood to Nawabganj. It was clear that
the one was to supply the retail trade, the other the wholesale trade.

BAH

159

The direction in whicli the dealer sent his stock was also partly influenced
by his residence, by his mercantile connexions and their locality ; but after
making all these allowances, the conclusion is nearly inevitable that some
of the transactions and prices cannot be explained by any ordinary prin-
ciples of commercial dealing. The prices of grain in the scarcity of 1869-70
are given in the following table from the Government Gazette. It un-
fortunately contains no reference to kodo.

Statement op Prices.

Retail Sale, quantify per rupee.

Articles.

July
1869.

August.

Septem-
ber.

October.

Novem-
ber.

January
1870.

February
1870.

M. S, C.

M. S. C.

M. S. 0.

M, s. c.

M. s. c.

M. S. C.

M. S. C.

Wheat, Ist quality...

0 13 6

0 13 10

0 14 4

0 12 10

0 12 2

0 11 8

0 0 0

Do. 2nd quality...

0 14 0

0 14 10

0 14 12

0 12 14

0 12 10

0 0 0

0 0 0

Gram, 2ud quality...

0 20 0

0 17 0

0 17 6

0 15 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

B4jra

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

JuAr

0 19 8

0 18 0

0 18 0

0 31 0

0 28 0

0 26 12

0 0 0

Arhar

0 19 12

0 18 0

0 18 0

0 15 0

0 12 0

0 13 0

0 0 0

Urd

0 13 2

0 12 0

0 12 12

0 11 8

0 8 li

0 11 0 'o 0 0

Mas6r

0 20 12

0 18 0

0 18 0

0 15 0

0 10 2

0 16 0

0 0 0

Mting

0 10 0

0 9 0

0 9 0

0 8 4

0 10 8

0 11 12

0 0 0

Eice, 2nd quality ...

0 11 0

0 10 4

0 10 0

0 11 0

0 14 0

0 14 0

0 0 0

Transfers of landed property have not been sufficiently numerous to
Value of landed pro- enable US to deduce its average market value from
party. Sales. such transactions. In Hisdmpur 2,129 acres assessed

at Es. 1,943 have been sold for Es. 28,689-3-9, or at the rate of Es. 13-7-7
per acre, being 14f years' purchase. These properties were ordinary
village lands, for the most part under cultivation. In the Nanp^ra par-
gana a jungle grant of 6,070 acres in extent, which had been purchased at
a sum slightly in excess of the Government upset price, was sold by the first
grantee after an occupation of only one year for Es. 54,120, the purchaser
being liable for Es. 12,150 more, the balance of the original price remaining
unpaid to Government. The full price paid therefore was Es. 66,270, or
Es. 10-14-8 per acre. No revenue is payable on this grant.*

Considering the improvable character of most of the estates in this dis-
trict and the moderate revenue which has been assess-
ed upon them, I am of opinion that it would be

* In 1873 and 1874 there were 557 mortgages and sales of landed property and houses
registered ; the amounts of the transactions aggregated Rs, 12,97,216.

General value.

160

BAH

exceedingly difficult to purchase land anywhere in this district at less than
fifteen years' revenue, and far the larger number of properties would fetch
considerably more than this.

Municipalities have been established in Bahraich and Nanp^ra, and, so
far as the experience of two years in the case of the
raSric^mmiuils: former town, and one year in tha,t of the latter, justi-
fy a judgment, have been worked with moderate suc-
cess. The non-official members who have been appointed consist of two
loyal grantees, the agent of the E.aja-e-Eajgan of Kaptirthala, and several of
the principal mahajans of the city. When sufficient confidence and sense of
their responsibility shall have been acquired by these parties, it is probable
that the committee wiU benefit by their opinions independently expressed,
and be entitled to esteem itself a representative body. At present the view
that is taken of town government by these gentlemen is somewhat one-
sided and self-interested, and all endeavours that have been made by the
vice-president and the other official members to reach with taxation the'
Banian and other well-to-do classes have been thwarted by the opposition
of the commercial element ; while even those other members- of the com-
mittee who are more educated and enlightened, and from whom assistance
might have been expected, have not been able to free themselves from the
tendency which most men have to dislike and resist taxation which affects
directly their own incomes.

Notwithstanding these difficulties, however, a great deal of good has

been effected ; the conservancy establishment works
mprovemen 3. ^^jj^ ^^^ ^-^^ ^^^^ ^-^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^j^ ^ ^iee^p

the outside of the platter clean is certainly gaining ground.

The town police too are, it is believed, considered by the people to have
rendered property much more secure than it was before a regular system of
ward and watch was established. At present this is as much as we can
expect, and if we can discern a decided improvement under the above two
heads, the municipality may be said to be worth its salt.

The revenue is mainly realized from the octroi collections, which amount
to Ks. 11,700 per annum. A poll tax of half anna on
pilgrims to the shrine of Sayyad Salar at the last
annual fair yielded more than Es. 2,000.

There are two charitable dispensaries in the district, one at the sadr

. station and the other at Hisampur. The returns shew

lapensanes. ^ steady increase in the number of applications for

relief. For the last four years the average number of patients has been as

follows ; —

Revenue.

g

S

Out-door.

3

Average daily attendauoe.

In-door.

Out-door

Total.

Bahraich ...
Hisampur ...

165
55

5,542
2,365

5,707
2,420

8-50
3-55

37-91
31-56

46-41
35-M

Total

220'

7,907

8,127

12-05

69-47

81-52

BAH

161

Of the 8,127 persons ttus annually treated, tlie num"ber of cures, failures,
and deaths is shewn thus : —

Cured aiii
relieved.

Ceased, to
attend, or
no better.

Died.

TotaL

Bahraich
HisSmpur

4,978
2,315

710
103

19
2

5,707
2,429

Total

■

7,293

813

21

8,127

89 per cent, being successful cases. The number of capital operations, on
the average, is at Bahraich 17 per annum, and the number of minor opera-
tions is at Bahraieh 128 per annum, at Hisampur 80 per annum.

The whole cost of the maintenance of these establishments is very
Coat. moderate.

The average receipts are : — ■

Baliraich
Hisampur

Total ..

SabscriptaoHfc,

Government
grant.

Other sources

Total.

■ European.

Native.

Es. A. P.
210 0 0

Es. A. P.
627 8 0
181 12 0

Ra. A. P.

1,127 12 0

582 12 0

Ea. A. P.
123 12 0

Ea. A. P.

2,089 0 8

764 8 0

210 0 0

709 4 0

1,710 8 0

123 12 0

2,853 8 0

The average expenditure is : —

Establisliment,

Dieting patients
and bazar
medicines.

Contingencies.

Total.

Es. A. P.

Ks, A, P.

Es. A. P.

Rs. A. P.

Bairaich

1,317 4 0

263 12 0

250 8 0

1,831 8 0

Hisampur

Total

604 4 0

82 4 0'

39 4 0

625 12 0

1,821 8 0

346 0 0

289 12 0

2,457 i 0

Thus it appears that each patient treated costs as near as possible 4 annas
10 pies, not a very extravagant doctor's bill.

h

50-2 per cent.

13-3

6-1

60

3-3

2-9

2-8

2-3

1-8

1-2

1-2

1-0

■9

•7

61

1000

per cent

162 BAH

The percentage of the various classes of diseases treated at the Bahraich
sadr dispensary during the last two years is as
Diseases follows :—

Goitre

Skin diseases ...

Fever

Abdomen ...

Genito-urinary disease

Rheumatism

Syphilis

Chest disease ...

Injuries ...

Diarrhoea

Bye disease

Ear disease

Leprosy

Dysentery

Other diseases ...

The goitre disease is excessively prevalent in the lowlands about Fakhrpur,

and nothing has contributed more to the popularity of

Goitre. the dispensary than its. successful treatment of this

class of cases. No. less than 5,875 sufferers from this repulsive disease

have applied for, and in almost every case obtained, relief during the past

two years.

It is in dealing with special diseases of this kind, skin diseases, &c., that
our dispensaries are particularly useful. As a rule,
those who are attacked with fever, diarrhoea, dysent-
ery, &c., prefer to remain and die in their own homes.

Indeed, in almost all cases of this kind, they are unable from weakness to

attend as out-patients, and there would be room for only a very small

number as in-door patients.

Owing probably to the distance of this district from the head-quarters of
any opium agency, but very little opium has been as
Opium. yg^ grown in the district. The opium agent was

withdrawn from Bahraich in 1863, but the department determined on en-
couraging poppy cultivation, and has deputed an assistant to promote its
extension. The area under poppy during the ten years ending 1870, is
shown below : —

The main use of dis-
pensaries.

Season.

Cultivation in agency
bSghas.

Produce in maunds.

186,0-61

682

164

32 5|

1861-62

1,594

'l9

...

257

144

1862-63

2,243

• ..

336

5 '

34

1863-64

3,120

13

...

485

12

10

1864-65

2,719

15

...

282

22

41

1865-66

Nil.

Nil.

1866-67

mi.

mi.

1867-68

5,512

...

831

20

8

1868-69

6,583

'l4

...

884

21

%■

1869-70

7,536

...

...

964

6

V.

BAH 163

From this statement it appears that the average gross out-turn of opium

„ ^ , , , per bigha is 6 sers 1 chhatak. For this the cultivator

Out-turn and value. ■ -jii-L j^ r -n r- r n

IS paid at the rate oi Rs. 5 per ser tor ail opium

delivered at the agency at Fyzabad. To the cultivator therefore the

value of the average produce is Rs. 30-5-3 per pakka bigha.

Opium is sold retail at the Government treasury at the sadr station,
, and at Nanpara and Kurasar, at the rate of Rs. 16 a

in the district. "™* ser, and the average receipts for the last 10 years
have been about Rs. 4,160, showing a total consump-
tion of 260 sers, or of one tola weight for every two dozen adults in the
district. Little as this seems, the consumption is steadily on the increase,
the amount sold now at Bahraich being more than double what it was
ten years ago. That the consumers mostly reside in the towns of Bahraich
and Ndnpara is what would be anticipated, both these towns comprising a
large number of Muhammadans among the population. This idea is con-
firmed by the fact that at the outlying tahsil at Kurdsar, where there is no
urban population, the sale is almost nil, though the density of the general
population there is much greater than in the northern parganas.

Under the central system there is only one distillery in the district, at

which there are 21 stills turning out, on an average of

DiatiUenes-out-turn. ^^^ j^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 5q 321 gaUons of liquor per

annum. This out-turn gives a consumption throughout the district of as
nearly as possible one gallon per annum for every ten adults. Consider-
ing the character of the Bahraich climate, this amount is certainly not
excessive, and though the returns shew that the consumption is year by
year increasing, there are hardly grounds at present for the charge that we
are teaching the natives to drink. There are 357 retail vendors' shops in
the district, being about one to every 7^ square miles of area.

The duty on the spirit as it is issued from bond is 1 rupee or 12 annas
per gallon according to the strength, the limits of
^°*y- which is fixed at 24 degrees below proof for first

class liquor, and 30 degrees below proof for second class.

Far the larger portion of the spirits distilled in this district is obtained
Three kinda of liquor. ^^^^ mahua, this kind of liquor being the most po-
pular, as it is the cheapest. The spirit distilled from
molasses is of two kinds, that obtained from gur being more expensive
than that obtained from shira. The out-turn of the past year of the several
kinds and the price of the same is shown below : —

Gallons . Price per gallon.

Mahua „. ... ... First clasa") ej 254 f 1 12 8

... Second ,, 'j ' (.1

Shira
Gur

5 0

First class ) o nnn f 2 10 1

Second „ \ "^''^^ 1 1 14 0

First class i o noo f 2 12 9

Second „ i ^'^^^l 2 0 0

Total of all Wnds ... 56, 996

Average price, Rs. 2 per gallon of 6 bottles.

l2

Ui BAH

In the Nawabi the standard measure for spirits was the hdnels or bottle,
which held from 10 to 12 chhatiks weight of liquor, and
Nawabi prices com-
pared witli present 8 bottles of ttis size of first-class sharab "^
prices. 12 ditto „ second „ j, > cost Ee. I.

16 ditto (, third „ ,, }

It thus appears that the price of liquor is now on the average nearly four
times that at which it was Sold in the Nawabi. In face of these figures
our dbkari system can Scarcely be charged with eiicouraging drunkenness.

The seren sections into which the forests are divided departmentally
are under the charge of an assistant conservator, with
tion prior ttm^T^m.'^ ^ ^*^^ °^ rangers and foresters. Prior to the year
1868 the forests seem to have been left pretty much
to themselves. The conservancy was entrusted mainly to native agency
or to European superintendence (supervisors of a class from which nothing
but a lax discharge of duties and confused accountfi could be expected).

A marked improvement in the management of the forests has resulted

from the appointment to the charge of them of re-

The drawbacks to sponsible officers. The conservancy now is as strict

conservancy. ^ •. n -u i • '' ■ -xx j j

as it well can be as long as grazmg is permitted, and
the " three-mile rule" (which allows all residents within that distance to
cut the unreserved woods for private use) holds good. It certainly is not
desirable that either of these rights should be confiscated, but there is no
objection that can be reasonably urged against shutting up certain por-
tions of the forest into which no one but the foxest officers should be
allowed entry.

The excellent roads which are being driven through the various sections
Forest roads dividing the forest into convenient blocks, will mate-

rially facilitate the carrying out of such a system,
at the same time that they render timber operations more feasible, and
confer a benefit on the surrounding country by opening up communica-
tions.

One line deserves especial mention, viz., that which, in all the sections
Frontier roads. adjoining the Naipal territory, has been cut along the

frontier, thus serving the double purpose of a road
and a permanent boundary. It would not be difficult to connect the ends
of these roads by a similar track carried along the frontier, and thus secure
a line of communication which would be very useful in the event of disturb-
ances on the borders.

The more systematic administration of the forests has resulted directly

revenue ^^ increased revenue, the net profit from the division

being in 1867-68, Rs. 7,432-14-4 ; in 1868-69, Rs.

21,892-12-1 ; and in 1869-70, Rs. 25,691-15-0. For the past three years--

The average receipts have been ... ... Ra. 33,219 3 8

The average expenditure ... „ 13,175 13 11

Average net pfofli ... Ks. 20,043 5 9

BAH 165

There can be no doulat but that the revenue collected by the department
Contract system. would have been considerably more than this if the
ruinous system of giving contracts for forest produce,
&c., had not been adopted and adhered to long after it was found to have
failed. It is almost impossible at the auctions to prevent combinations,
which, when effected, completely defeat the efforts of Government to secure
fair bids.

The general post office has two main stations in the district, viz., at

ffl T -1 Bahraich and Nanpara, and an imperial post runs

lines °^ 0 ce. mpena every day to and from these post offices and to Luck-

now vid Bahramghat, to Gonda and Fyzabad via

Pidgpur, and to Sitapur vid Chahlarighat.

The scheme for the rural post offices was drawn up by the settlement
officer, and these are now in full working order, the

Eural post offices. ^^^^^ ^^^^^ defrayed from the dak cess, which amounts

in this district, as re-defined, to Rs. 2,773-8-4, and from the Government
subsidy amounting to Rs. 576. Fifteen post offices have been opened,
situated for the most part on the district lines of road, and at such distances
apart as to secure for each office a circle area of not more than 5 miles in
radius. All police stations were selected as centres of circles. This course
was followed with a regard to administrative convenience, and also to give
the district officer an opportunity of supervision through his thanadar.
Since however the scheme has been started, the direction of these rural
offices has been taken by Government out of the hands of the local officials,
and made over to the imperial postal department.

The table of weights in use prior to annexation

Weightsand measures. ^^^ ^^ foUoWS :—

4 jau or barley corns
8 ratti ..

12 masha

5 tola ...

20 tola = 4 chhatak
80 tola = 16 „
2 sera = 160 tola
2 panseri = i sers
40 sers

1 ratti.

1 mdsha.

1 tola.

1 olihatak.

1 pao.

1 ser.

1 panseri, kachoha.

1 dhara.

1 maund,

The ratti is the seed of a jungle creeper, white, hard, and dry. It is
„, ,,. , . ,, slightly heavier than the ghunghchi, also a seed of a

The ratti and ghungh- & ■'-,■,, j -,, ?i i j. i • "u • i •

cM • difference in Creeper, bright red with a black spot, which is used m
weight. Lucknow as the standard weight, and consequently the

Bahraich weights all through the table were proportionately heavier than
those in use in that city.

The difference amounts to one in twelve, twelve Lucknow m^shas being
only equal to eleven Bahraich mashas.

The English Government tola falls short of the Bahraich tola by 12
between ^^^^^^ OT 1^ mashas ; in other words, the former is one-
the EngUsh Qovern- eighth less in weight than the latter. Thus the Gov-
ment tola and the Bah- ernment ser of 80 tolas (Government) contains only
raich tola. jq ^o^^s Bahraich weight, and the Government maund

of 40 sers (Government) is equivalent to 35 Bahraich Nawabi sers.

1€6 BAH

The late Coinage Act has brought the regulation ser very much nearer
the local ser, thus : —

The old Government ser = 32| ounces = 80 Government tolas.

Tie new Govern- The new Government ser = 36 ounces = 87|

ment ser. Government tolas. The old Nawabi ser = 37| ounces

= 91f Government tolas. It still, however, falls short of that ser by

1| ounces.

We may remark that for all practical purposes of an agricultural commu-
nity this ser described so elaborately does not exist except in the town of
Bahraich itself. The above divisions of the ser are the same as those
detailed in Prinsep's Useful Tables, page 96, and in the ordinary Indian
almanacs, and it is possible that some such work was drawn upon for the
details, whose authenticity is thereby assured. The real Bahraich ser, as
indeed that in indigenous use everywhere in North India, is not a paJcJca
ser but a kachcha ser, whose weight varies infinitesimally, but with cer-
tain rather narrow limits. The number of rupees is the initial element of
the variation with which the two series diverge.

In southern Bahraich, at Sisia for instance, the scale is as follows for the
kachcha or local ser : —

Maund. Panseri. Ser. Chhatak or ganda. Es. or tolas. Mashaa.

1 = 8 = 40 = 260 = 1,595 = 15,697

1=5= 32i = 299 = 1,962

1 = 6^ = 371 = 392i

1 = 5J = 60J

1 = lOi

Now the pakka ser diverges from the above both in the number of rupees
in the ganda and the number of gandas in the ser.

The former seems a divergence which may be a local irregularity without
formal or extensive sanction, the latter is so broad and of so extensive
adoption that it seems based on some different principle of measurement,
perhaps belonging to a different era, or adopted by a different race or em- .
pire from that which used the pakka ser. The two sers are compared
through the medium of the panseri and the Jcachcha maund in their rela-
tions to the pakka ser and the pahJca maund.

The panseri* is popularly said to be equal to 2, 2|, or 2| pakka sers in
different parts of Bahraich, or indeed of Oudh, and the kachcha maund
equals 16, 18, or 20 pakka sers ; but in reality there are numerous minute
variations : the local maund used in Bahraich, as above detailed, weighs
1,495 tolas or 15,697 mashas ; the tola is the old Chihradar rupee of 173
grains. It would appear that the masha, which consists of eight rattis
natural grain, is a fixed weight all over India, although of course it may
vary infinitesimally. The rupee or tola is designed to be twelve mdshas,
but the covetousness of princes debasing the weight of the coin, lowered
it to ten mdshas or ten and a half ; then the community, finding their
weighing unit less than what it was, rather than change the rest of the
scale, increased the number of these tolas in the next unit, the chhatak :

* Five local or small sers.

BAH 16?

tKus they took 5| of the new tola instead of 5, and it will be observed
that they thereby retained the chhatak at 60 ni5,shas. They avoided, in
fact, the interference of the coinage and its variation with their weights
by increasing the number of the coins when the latter were diminished in
weight.

So far therefore the two metrical systems proceed together ; they diverge
at the ser ; six and a half chhataks go theoretically to the kachcha ser, and
sixteen to the other. The former is evidently the old system of North India
adopted by Akbar, whose maund was 34| lbs., just about the average of the
local maunds above described.

The present English bazar ser being equal to 87f tolas of 173 grains each
or 35J ounces, the local maund is equal to about 17J sers or 38 lbs.
avoirdupois when the local panseri consists of 32 gandas or chhatak ; if it
is less, as sometimes of 30 gandas, a proportional reduction must be made.
In order to find out what are the values of the local weights, this last is
the question always to be asked. The panseri and the ganda are the
local units ; the number of rupees or tolas in the ganda must also be
asked, because six rupees is the number in use here, but four rupees in
Gonda,{vide that article); the panseri contains 25 to 28 gandas of six rupees.
When the panseri equals B2^ gandas the Bahraich kachcha ser iS equal
therefore to 6§- chhataks of the Government ser and the local maund con-
tains 17 Government sers. The panseri contains 2^ Government sers, or
about 79-5- ounces of 437J grains ; the ser is therefore almost equal to a
pound avoirdupois, and for small measurements may be used as its
equivalent.

The universal use of the panseri, as also of the term pdnohonmdl, for the
entire produce of the field, and the assignment of one equal share, apart
from these five, viz., of one-sixth to the ploughman or actual labourer, all
seem a part of the ancient system recorded by Manti, under which one-
fifth went to the king. In Bahraich there is, as stated in the settlement
report, a local large or pakka ser but its derivation is not given. It is
derived from the panseri of 32 gandas and is half of that weight. The
origin of this local unit is unknown, and its application is very limited ; in
Bahraich itself the batisi panseri is used collaterally, and exclusively in
the neighbouring local marts.

The large ser is 16 gandas, and as the Government ser is supposed to
be 14 gandas, the present grain rates are found by deducting one-eighth
from the market rate of the larger or lambari ser. But this is not strictly
correct. If the ganda is calculated as equal to six of the present rupee
weighing 180 grains, then a pound avoirdupois is equal to 6'47 gandas,
and the standard ser to 14-26 gandas. The native avoided any such
complication by using a ganda of 5f Government tolas or rupees.

In the above calculation I have used the following elements of ac-
count : — One tola or rupee = 180 grains avoirdupois, about eighty-five of
which form a Government ser ; 5f tolas = one ganda ; sixteen gandas =
one local large ser ; fourteen, or more correctly fourteen and one quarter,
= one Government ser.

168 BAH

Tke -whok subject is mvolred in confusion because we have broken
down the panseri system. "We have raised the weight of the rupee on
which it was based from 172 to 180 grains ; we no longer furnish the
legal unit of weight upon which the whole metrical system of Upper
India, at least as far as I know, was founded. The rupee, the ganda, the
panseri, the kachcha maund, formed the ancient series; but the rupee,
was, I know, originally 173 grains, — see Prinsep's Useful Tables, page 8,
and for the LucknoW coinage, page 56.

The present rupee , weighs 180 grains ; the local dealers after a time
follow each variation of the unit, and endeavour to adopt their panseri to
it ; bxit as there is no legal unit of weight a simple multiple of which
Would constitute any weight in ordinary bazar use, it is almost impossible'
to test the correctness of any bazar weight except by comparison with
those used by men of probity in the immediate neighbourhood.

In conclusion I may simply state that th-e panseri, the local unit, should
weigh 32 gandas ; that each of those gandas should weigh about 5^ rupees
sikka of 192 grains, or six Farukhabad rupees of 180 grains. The Gov-
ernment ser and maund weights have been introduced, and it is to be
hoped that their adoption will shortly be rendered compulsory. Practical-
ly, the rupee is the initial unit, and all inquiry into rattis or ghunghchis
is, for agricultural or trade purposes, useless.

The uncertainty of the weight not only opens a door to fraud, but.
renders conviction for it practically impossible, when local officers are
ignorant of principles which guide the native metrical system — a system by
which nine-tenths of all trade operations are still conducted. In Bahraich. .
bazar I tested a grain-dealer's panseri weight ; he admitted it ought ta
weigh 32 gandas each of six Machhlidar rupees (each 173 grains, vide
Prinsep's Tables). It did weigh two sers and six chhataks. Now a ser
equals 14,400 grains, and it will appear that it really did weigh 32 gandas,
each of six rupees of 178 grains, and that the local maund :so weighed will
weigh exactly 18 bazar sers or 17| imperial sers. According to the pro-
portion used by Gtovernment in making up the official grain-rates, the
panseri should have been f |- of the Government ser, or two sers four and
a half chhatdk. By his own admission this grain-dealer's weight, which
w^as only used in huying grain, was nearly four per cent, too heavy.
The weight consisted of a large stone to which additional matter had
been glued on at the bottom with strong resin. This dealer had adroitly
adopted the altered coinage so as to get his grain cheaper. The tobacco
'maund in Bahraich, as in Sitapur, consists of 25 panseri, or more than
three ordinary maunds.

The liquid measure was referred to weight, the "kanch" or bottle con-
Liquid measures and ta™°f .t^^^ee pao Or sixty tolas weight of liquid. In
measures of capacity. stich things as Oil, &c., no fixed measure was used, the
actual weight only determining the quantity. The
" kanch" was used chiefly to measure wine and spirits. Fixed measures
of capacity there were none.

The standard measure for length was the " hath," which was the average

Long measure. length of the forearms of three men taken at random.

From a comparison of the different standard yard

BAH 169

measures in use in the Bahraich bazax, I have ascertained that the cubit
thus determined was as nearly as possible equal to 18f inches. The table
then proceeded as follows : —

3 Haths = 1 gattha or kasi = 56 inotes.
20 Kasis = 1 kachcha jarib = 93 feet 4 inches.
110 Jaribs = 2,200 kasia = 1 kos = 3,422 yards 0 feet 8 inolies.

Thus the kos was short of two English statute miles by about 98 yards.

Yard measure. '^^® J^^ measures mentioned above are as follows,

three in number : —
First. — The bazzazi or sikandari gaz = 1| hdtha = 2 feet 4 inches.
This yard is by far the oldest of the three, and has from time immemorial
been used by the weavers and the cloth merchants, also for measuring all
kinds of country-made cloth.

Second. — The Qatai gaz = IJ haths = 2 feet 8| inches.

This is used by the tailors in measuring the cloth when they make it up,
and also by masons, carpenters, &c., in all measurements in work connected
with their trade. The cubic contents of all excavations effected by hired
labour will be determined by this yard.

Third. — The ilahi gaz = 2J haths = 42 inches.

This yard was only introduced about 40 years ago when European

piece-goods for the first time began to find their way into the market.

Among the natives it is universally looked upon as an English measure,

and to this day European cloth and nothing else is measured by this yard.

The local land surveyors state that in their reckoning 2\ ungals equal
one girah, ten girahs equal one hdth or cubit, and three haths are equal to
one kasi, which is generally measured by a man taking two paces, equi-
valent to 75 ungals or fingers'-breadth.

There are none of the elaborate differential scales used in surveying.

According to the standard mentioned by the Settlement Officer, a local
bigha will be a square of 93 feet 4 inches, viz., of 968 square yards, not
one-third of the Government bigha of 3,025 square yards, and curiously
enough this is exactly one-fifth of the acre of 4,840 square yards. Others
state that the local bigha has been determined, and that 2 bighas 17 bis was
16 biswdnsis of the local bigha are equal to one Government bigha.

No authority could be quoted for the latter statement.

The copper currency of the district in the Nawabi consisted mainly of
the well-known Gorakhpuri paisa. One paisa of this
Coinage. The Gorakh- currency was worth some 30 years ago from 20 to 24
pun paisa. gandas or '' fours" of cowries. For the last two or

three decades, however, the value of the coin, as measured by cowries, has
been decreasing, and at the present time its market value varies from 12
to 8 gandas of these shells.

The Sher Shahi paisa was also current, being worth only 16 or 16^ gandas,
while the copper coin current on the other side of the
Other copper coins. Qogj-a, in Bara Banki, called Maddu SAhi and Nawab
Sihi, was worth from 21 to 26 gandas.

170 BAH

The fair at the Sayyad Sdlar's dargah is said to have considerably

The exchange affect- affected the exchange for some time after its occur-

edby the Sayyad Salar rence in each year, owing to the large influx of cowries

fair. at that time, the poorer class of pilgrims casting in

their offerings in these mites.

The Government 3-pie piece, though containing far less copper than

the Gorakhpur coin, commands a higher price, fetch-

The GoTemment 3- j always one ganda more than its unofficial, though
pie piece. °. ^ ,. •' , ,,° ' °

weightier, brother.

The number of Gorakhpuri paisa in one rupee varied from 18 to 22
The value of 1 rupee gandas, and at the present time it stands at 19^
in the various copper gandas. The Government 3-pie piece (or " double"
''o™^- as it is called), however, exchanges invariably for its

standard value of 16 gandas or 64 to the rupee, this rate of exchange'
being determined solely by the fact that it is received at this value at the
Government treasury.
The rupee pieces The rupees which were most commonly current

current in the Na-wabi. were as follows : — -

1. " Chihradar" or Company's rupees, weight 10| mashas.

2. " Shamsher Shdhi" coined at Lucknow by Amjad Ali Shah, weight
10 mashas, but worth more than No. 1 by one paisa.

3. " Sher Shahi" coined at Lucknow by Ghazi-ud-din Haidar,10 m&has
weight, worth the same as INo. 1.

4. " Paridar" or fairy coin, coined at_Lucknow by Wajid Ali Shah, 10
mdshas weight, worth one paisa more than No. 1.

5. " Putlidar" or puppet coin, coined at Lucknow by Muhammad Ali
Shah, 10 mdshas weight, worth the same as No. 1.

6. " Machhlidar" or fish coin, coined at Lucknow, but in the name of
the Delhi Emperor Shah Alam, 10 mashas weight, worth 1| pice or 2 pice
more than No. 1.

7. " Gararidar" or edged coin, coined in Farukhabad in the name of
Shah A'lam, 10 mashas 3J rattis in weight, same value as No. 1.

8. " Farukhabadi," named from the place at which it was coined,
Muhammad Shah of Delhi, 10 mashas weight, same value as No. 1.

9. " Kaldar" or ribbed coin, coined by Shah A'lam at Farukhabad, 10
mashas 3^ rattis in weight.

10. " Chdryari," coined by Akbar Shah at Delhi, weight 10 mdshas 2
rattis, worth 2 annas more than No. 1. This coin is square in shape.
Its silver is peculiarly pure, and it is - popularly said to have the excellent
virtue of betraying the thief who should be unlucky enough to be put to the
well-known rice test in its presence.

11. "Pahari" or hill coin, from the mint of one Bikram Sah, a hill
chieftain, weight 5 md,shas, value 6J annas.

12. " Dakhain" or " Kurwa," also called " Rakabi," a thick but small
coin, with Hindi characters, weight 9 mashas 6 rattis, value 12 annas. I
have been unable to ascertain whose coin this is.

BAH

171

It will be noticed that the Company's rupee, though heavier by half a
The Company's mitsha than most of the coins from the native mints,
rupee less valuable has always been considered so far alloyed as to reduce
than the native coins, j^s value below them. Very few rupees other than those
of Government currency are now found in circulation, the old coinage hav-
ing been mostly melted down by the silversmiths, its re-issue having been
prohibited by Government when it had been once paid into the treasury.

Bahraich is administered by a deputy commissioner, and generally four

General Admin- assistant and extra assistant commissioners, besides

istration. three tahsildars and nine honorary assistant magistrates :

all of the latter have criminal powers, four civil, and one only has revenue

powers.

The revenue and expenditure appear in the accompanying tables.

The latter was Rs. 1,23,871 in 1872, or twelve per cent, of revenue ; but
the temporary settlement department has now concluded its labours and the
cost of administration in 1873 is about Rs. 90,000, or less than nine per
cent, of the revenues.

This sum, however, does not include the district police which is paid Rs.
55,052 by the local Government,* nor the other departments, whose cost
since 1871 has been defrayed from provincial funds and an imperial grant.-[-

Income tax is now abolished ; it yielded in 1873 Rs. 13,022, paid by
184 persons, of whom 55 were in trade or banking,
one was a lawyer, three were in service, and 125 were
connected with the land as owners or occupiers.

Receipts in 1872. Es.

Recent settlement revenue collections ... ... ... 9,15,416

Income tax.

2. Bents of Government villages and lands

3. Income tax

4. Tax on spirits and drugs

5. Stamp duty

6. Law and justice

Total

Expenditure. 1871-72.

Revenue refunds and drawbacks

Miscellaneous refunds

Land revenue ... ••■

Deputy Commissioners and establishment

Settlement

Excise or abkari

Assessed taxes

Stamps ...

Law and justice

Ecclesiastical
Medical ...

( Service of process...
\ Criminal courts . . .

Total

19,865

32,185

63,178

3,593

10,34,237

1,240
1,515

37,009

38,143

2,814

207

1,831

4,541

29,971

6,600
1,23,871

The tabular form subjoined is borrowed from the Police Report

* Annual Report, 1872.

" + Their cost in 1873 was Rs. 72,166; including education, dispensaries, and public
works the entire cost of administration was Rs. 2,16,200, at least this amount only was
STjent'in the district. The expenses of the sujpervising executive agency and of the
appellate courts external to the district are not included in the above.

172

BAH

There are eight th^nas or police stations whose names, and the popula-
tion subject to each jurisdiction, are given in the accompanying table.
The rural police numbers 2,467. Another table shows the criminal sta-
tistics for the last six years. It will appear that crimes against pro-
perty have more than doubled during the period ; accidental deaths aver-
age about 420 per annum ; snake-bites caused about 145 deaths per annum.

A reward of two annas per head is paid for each snake destroyed ; the
number brought in varies from 20 to 132sannually, and the charge upon
the revenues consequently becomes as much as Rs. 16-8 per annum. Thirty-
five wolves have been killed, and three hundred and eighty-eight wolf
cubs in the last seven years. The reward is five rupees or five rupees eight
annas. Fifty tigers have been slain in this space of time, but many are
killed by sportsmen who do not claim the reward. In one year, 1869-70,
thirty-four tigers were accounted for.

Statement showing the Population of Thdnas in the district cf Bahraich.

Name of Th^na.

Populatioi

1.

Bahraich

.. 100,094

Ikauna

... ,,, ,,, , ,

44,138

Ehinga

... •■• ■■■ ...

... 126,119

Piagpur

.«•

78,656

Sisia

... ... ... ...

>■•

73,597

Kurasar

... ..> ...

... 143,019

Nanpara

1-

., 143,382

Motipur

Total

64,698
... 773,775

Statistics of the Police in 1873.

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176 BAH

CHAPTER IT.

LAND TENURES.

The nature of the ancient tenures doilbtf ul— Thetennrea now mainly talttqdari-^ Their growth
due to (1) grants of waste lands to nominees of the Government — Examples— Or (2) tO dOiH'
missions granted to oflBcers selected for the administration of the country — Examples — Or
(3) in a grant by the State of a certain percentage of the revenue — Or (4) a lordship would
be evolved out of a coparcenary community — Examples — Or (5) the taluqdar has been
superimposed over the zamindars — Talnqdari estates in Eahraich classed— Their origin—
Occasionally separated from the parent estate — Primogeniture and the Hindu law of par-
tition— The Raihwdri complex muhdls — Origin of biris — Rights acquired by the birtia —
Large sums paid for these birts — Security of tenures — The independent position of
birtias in certain cases — Birts given by the Janwars — Specimen — Birt deed — Charitable
birts — Dih, its nature— Specially mentioned in deeds of sale — J)ih in some peculiar cases of
m.ortgages— Significance of this — Ndnhdr the same as in other districts — MdnkAr Delii —
Lessees' Nankar or Ohahdrum — Ndrikdr tanihwdhi — Ohahdrum and daswant — Their origin
in clearing leases — Sir — Its nature, extent, &c. — Its wide signification — Compared with
the relics of commonable properties in England — The parallel of the common mark — Groves
■ — Two classes of tenures — Class I — Class II — The extent of rights in ponds — Minor
zamindari riglits — Anjuri — Biswa — The status of the muqaddam — Qaasi-^nuqaddams — In
the khdlsa prescription availed^Chaudhris— Customary freehold in the west— Period
during which the courts have been open — The numbers of claims moderate — Eesuit of
this part of the litigation — Sub-settlements — Very few claims in the northern jparganas —
Reason of this — The condition in the southern parganas diflferent^The claims m Bahraieh
and Ikauna — Results of the litigation iu sub-settlements — Shares — Sir in taluqa —Claims
■withheld — Reasons for this — Result of claims to sir, nankar, tfcc, in taluqas — No right of
any kind decreed in 1,522 ta.luqdari villages — Birts, small holdings— Character of the litiga-
tion— The realizable revised demand — Will be increased by the rasadi jamas and by
resumption of revenue-free holdings — Incidence of the revised demand — Area under per-
petual assessment — Confiscation and loyal grants — Statement of reve nue survey of the
district^Statement of lands confiscated by British Government in 1868 A. D. — List of
taluqdars of the district, with the names of their estates — Amount of area and jama.*

The comparatively deserted and waste condition of the country on this
side of the Gogra in olden times may account for the

The nature of the absence of any traces of the more ancient land tenures
ces'sarily doubtful!" ^^^ ^^i^ district. Portions of it were cleared of the
jungle only to be deserted once more, when the effects
of the climate, the attacks of wild animals, and predatory habits of the
woodmen of the north, had rendered the struggle with the forest an
almost hopeless task. Of the northern tracts, such an account would
certainly be true until a very recent date, and it is therefore not to be
wondered at, that in this part of the district there is absolutely no vestige
remaining of the proprietary system which was prevalent in bygone days.
In all probability no such fixity of residence was ever obtained by any of
the bodies of the colonists as to generate even any definite system of
collective property, much less any recognition of individual ownership.
Where land was so plentiful and ploughs so few, there could have been
but little necessity for any but the most simple rules for the definition of
each man's right, and the regulation of the agricultural affairs of the
community.

* The tenures of Bahraioh are treated at great length in the settlement report, and the
information there given has been largely transferred to these pages, as it applies with more
or less exactness to tlie districts of Gonda and Kheri also.

BAH 1V7

In the southern portion of the district, however, it might have been
expected that some trace of the original proprietary bodies would have been
found. This, however, is not the case, and all the remnants of proprietary
communities, such as these referred to, now in existence, trace their origin,
a few of them, to dates earlier than three centuries ago, and the greater
number of them to a very much more modem period.

The estates of Bahraich are now held, as might be expected from a

^, ^ . perusal of the historical sketch (Chapter II), for the

Ihe tenures now mam- . j.-j.ij-i Ix. ■

ly taluqdari. most part, m taluqdari tenure, the superior proprie-

tary right resting in one single person — the lord of
the domain, and perhaps in no district in the whole of Oudh can the ffeudal-
ization of the country be said to have been so complete at annexation as
here. The conditions necessary to the quick development of feudal tenures
have from the first been especially favourable in this district. The large
tracts of waste, the almost total absence of strong proprietary communities
capable of resisting the encroachments of the taluqdar, and the isolated
situation of the country, cut off as it was from the seat of Government by
a river difficult to cross, combined to expedite the acquisition by the lord
of that suzerainty which the policy of the British Government has now
secured for ever.

The attainment of this superior and independent
suzerailtieT* du°e^ to 0 ) Position by the taluqdar was effected in various ways,
grants of waste lands to A tract of the waste land alluded to would be made
nominees of the Gov- over by the Government or its representative to some
emment. enterprising Soldier or courtier, or to some cadet of a

house already established, either with the direct object of getting the
country under cultivation or in reward for some service rendered, or per-
haps with the view of securing the grantee's absence from the court where
he had rendered himself troublesome. In such cases as these the lord's posi-
tion from the very first would be absolutely independent, and all cultivators
settled by him would really be in a state of villenage, enjoying no rights
but such as were granted by the free wiU of the lord, or were purchased
from him.

A very simple example of this tenure exists in the Chard a ilaqa. Eighty
P , years ago this estate was completely waste, and was

made over to the ancestor of the ex-taluqdar of the
present day to make what he could of it. It was not apparently at first
made over ill full proprietary right by the king, but the tailuqdar was never
interfered with, and the ancestor of every ryot on the estate — a very large
one — has been located by the lord himself, or by those to whom he dele-
gated the work. Under such circumstances no right could possibly exist,
on the part of the cultivators which were not created by the taluqdar him-
self The Nanpara estate, one of the largest in Oudh, was formed in a very
similar way. The account of its growth will be found in the historical
sketch. In this case also far the larger number of the villages which are
now comprised within it were established by the taluqdar himself, and
those which were obtained by conquest had been, most of them, settled in
a similar way by the person: from whom they ■tt^ere wrested. Here again
the taluqdar was sole lord from the first.

M

178 BAH

In other cases an officer of the Government, generally in those days

^ /„. , ■„„•„„„ a soldier, -would be sent to a particular district, more

Or (2) to oommiasions nii iin, n i

granted to officers of tlie than usually lawless and lordless, to restore order, and
Government for the ad- if possible, exact the revenue due to the State. In
mmatration of the payment for these services, and sometimes to enable
him to maintain the necessary forces to keep his
charge in quiet, he was often granted whole or part of the revenue which
he could collect from his district. He was, in fact, a great beneficiary, en-
dowed with all the powers of the Government, from which his grant
emanated, for the collection of the taxes, repression of crime, and the
general administration of his fief The office and grant so obtained were
seldom originally bestowed for more than the single life, but it is not
difficult to understand that, in a wild district like Bahraich, both the office
and the privileges attached thereto would have a tendency to become
hereditary. The lawless bands who had thus been reduced to subjection
would after a time gradually come to regard their controller as their
natural lord ; while he on his part, in order to strengthen his position, would
be ready to accord the leading men among them substantial privileges on
condition of service. Rights, however, apart from those of his own creation,
he would be slow to recognise, and in estates which have been formed in
the above manner under-proprietary rights not based on grants or purchase
from the lord are unknown.

The great Ikauna estate (see historical sketch) is a notable instance

of a fief acquired in this way. For seven gener-

Examples. ^ ^^^^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^-^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ Risaldar,

and enjoyed without making any payment to the State the whole of the
revenues of his benefice, the fiction being maintained that he was only
the servant of the Government. When the office was abolished and the
revenue-free grant resumed, the grantee's position had become so strong
that he was without hesitation regarded as the lord of the soil.

Another somewhat singular mode in which the suzerainty of an estate
Or (3) in a grant by '^^p acquired is also illustrated in the same ilaqa.
the state of a certain Originating apparently entirely in the favour of the
percentage of the re- Delhi sovereign, a grant was made to one of the most
influential of the Ikauna line of a certain percentage
of the revenue of all villages comprised in a very wide area of country
outside the limits of the ancestral estate, The grant also detailed certain
other dues, to a share of which the grantee was entitled in the same vil-
lages. It is noticeable that the taluqdar never apparently obtained any
possession of the lands named in the deed, but he seems so far to have
exercised his right under it that he sold and bestowed on various parties
the right to bring under cultivation certain areas of land hitherto waste,
conferring on them all the rights within those areas which have generally
been considered the perquisites of the owner of the soil. The right thus
exercised by the lord of dispo'sing of the waste lands of the country declared
to be included in his fief tallies almost exactly with the right of approve-
ment exercised by the great feudal lords in Europe. The tenures thus
created will, however, come more particularly under examination when
we consider the nature of birts, A similar suzerainty over several

BAH 179

sub-divisions of territory was conferred also on the Raikwdr Raja of
Baundi, and in right of this we find him claiming a lordship over villages
outside his own estates. His authority, however, here seems to have been
only nominal, and there is no trace of his having exercised any such right
of approvement over the waste as in the Ikauna case.

A fourth mode in which the taluqdar came into existence was one in-
Or (4) a lordship dependent of any grant from the ruling power. The
would be evolved out members of a coparcenary community, so long as their
of a coparcenary com- numbers were Small and the shares in the estate few
"'"^' and well defined, would be able to maintain equality

among themselves, and no member would aspire to a superiority over the
rest, but with the extension of the area of the estate and an increase in the
number of members composing the community, separation of interests
would be inevitable. The act of separation would estrange those who
formerly held well together ; quarrels between the holders of the shares
would arise, originating in the very partition itself, and continuing until
the owners of one portion of the property had acquired most decided super-
iority over the rest. To attain this superiority, it would be absolutely
necessary for the division aspiring to it to choose a leader, and there would
be every opportunity for this leader, whose ofiice would naturally tend to
become hereditary, to aggrandize himself and his family at the expense
of those whom he represented. In fact, the lord would be evolved out of a
community of freemen.

Of suzerainties of the class above described. I can name no notable in-
stance in this district, unless it be that of the Sayyads
Examples. ^^ Jarwal. The number of shares into which the inhab-

ited quarter of the village of Jarwal itself is divided, is clear proof of the
equality of the interests of different divisions of the family in former days;
but fifty years ago we find that there was only one man of mark in the
whole family, who owned well nigh all the estate. The Balrdmpur estate
is a more modern instance of the gradual absorption by the chief of the
family of all the rights belonging to the brotherhood. In this case, on
our assumption of the Government of the province, we found the younger
members of the families still struggling to free themselves from the hold
attained over them by the head of the family. Our decrees in the settle-
ment court have now stereotyped the state of things which we found exist-
ing, and the position of the head is permanently established.

There remains the well-known and often-described method by which,
during the last four decades of the Nawabi rule, vil-
Or (5) the taluqdar lages which had hitherto been independent were
OTer^the zaSa^r?'^*^ gradually absorbed into the estates of the great taluq-
dars. The process finds illustration in the historical
sketch. It is most pithily described by the native expression that a taluq-
dar first " approved" of a village and then " digested" it. The period
required for the satisfactory digestion of a township varied, as may be sup-
posed, with the toughness of the morsel. In some cases the former zamin-
dar or proprietary community had been already so broken by the tyranny
of the ndzim that for the sake of peace and quietness they gladly saw their
rights pass from them so long as they could be tolerably well assured of

M 2

180

BAH

not being ousted from the land actually in their own occupation. The
taluqdar, finding them complaisant, would allow them this much, and would
be pretty sure to permit them to hold the bits of land around the homestead
denominated " dih." Where, however, the cultivatijig community were
strong in themselves and \mited in their determination to resist the lord's
encroachments, he sometimes had to abandon it. This, however, but very
rarely happened, for, as has been noted above, this district has, with the
exception of the Raikwari muhals, been always well-nigh destitute of such
strong proprietary bodies. As a rule, the extinction of all valuable righta
on the part of the ex-proprietor was prompt and complete.

The taluqdari estates in this district are thirty-six in number and com-
prise 1,760 villages, the revised assessment of which
Bal^ldoh^dassed!'^^ ''' ^* ^^ 9,61,481-9-a Of these eleven are ancestral,
seven have been acquired within the forty years imme-
diately preceding annexation, while eighteen are estates which having
been confiscated from their original owners, have been conferred on loyal
grantees. The number of villages comprised in these three classes of es.-
tates is shown thus : — ■

Class op Estate.

Number

of
estates.

Number

of
villages.

Revised

Government

demand.

Ancestral

Newly-acquired

Loyal grants

11

7
18

828
138
794

Es. A. P.

4,76,811 5 6

81,196 13 2

3,83,473 7 0

TOTAI.

36

1,760

9,41,481 9 8

It must also be borne in mind that the 794 villages which are now held
in loyal grant were confiscated from parties who had held the greater
number of them for many generations, — one ilaqa, that of Ikauna, being
one of the oldest in Oudh.

In connection with the description of the mode in which the taluqdari
tenures arose, should be noticed the species of tenure
tlifix'Jrigin. ^''' ^^o^^ ^s Bhay^i. In nearly all of the families of
the lord in this district the principle of primogeniture
has regulated the succession to their estates. Inasmuch, however, as this
principle debarred the younger members of a family from all share in the
property, and in but few cases did these brethren leave their father's house
for service, or with any other object, it became necessary for the heir on
succeeding to his ancestral estate to provide for them. This was done
usually by apportioning them one, two, or three villages each for their
maintenance, to be held rent-free. The number of villages so assigned
depended entirely on the generosity of the donor or his apprehensions of
trouble in the future if he neglected to provide suitably for his portionless,
but perhaps high-spirited, brethren. For the first generation the villages

BAH 181

would probably be held free of demand, and on the death of the recipient
a low rent would be fixed. Ultimately, when two or three generations
had passed and no ties of near relationship restrained the head of the family
he would resume the grant altogether, and the descendants of the Bhayya
would be found in the same villages, perhaps, holding their immediate
cultivation at favourable rates, but in no other respect in any better posi-
tion than ordinary cultivators.

Occasionally it happened that the Bhayyas waxed sufficiently strong to
Occasionally separ- f^ce the taluqdar and get their appanages separated
ated from tte parent from the parent estate. In such cases, however, we
*^***^- always find the lord watching his opportunity, and it

is seldom the recalcitrant villages are not sooner or later re-united to the
main property.

Among the Raikwars of Fakhrpur there has always been a struggle going
on between the rule of primogeniture and the ordinary
Hinrir"otpart.w' Hindu law of partition. The separation of the Rahwa
and Chahlari estates and the temporary separation
of two other clusters of villages subsequently recovered by the lord, illus-
trate the triumph of the latter principle.

The independent villages owned by others than taluqdars number only
251, and of these far the larger number are held by
iti^^*''°^''*''^'"'°™"°" zamindars, the nature of whose tenure only so far
differs from that of the taluqdars' suzerainty that
the property is liable to sub-division among the heirs of an owner deceas-
ing.

In some instances the ownership at present rests in one or perhaps two
or three individuals, and it will be several generations probably before par-
tition breaks the properties up into what are known as pattidari estates.
Only 24^ villages in the whole district are at the present time held by
coparcenary communities, the members of which hold their shares in sever-
alty, while for fiscal purposes their estate is considered as undivided.

The Raikwari intermixed properties, mention of which has been made
in the historical sketch, form now for the most part
Tlie Eaikw£rl complex distinct and separate estates, the sharers in which
™" '^ ^' hold in common, and they therefore cannot strictly be

classed under the head of pattidari. About thirty years ago, however,
before the severance of the shares of the different branches of the commun-
ity was completed, these estates would have afforded a most perfect example
of a large coparcenary property. In these properties at the present day
there are no less than twenty-five distinct muhals running through ninety-
six villat^es, but in only eight of these estates do the shareholders hold in
severalty. Eighteen out of the twenty-five estates are covered by the
sanad of the Mahant Harcharan Das.

This very singular tenure, which so far as whole villages are concerned

may be said to be peculiar to the northern tracts of

Birt9. Their origin. ^^iQ province^ is confined in this district to two

182 BAH

parganas, Ikauna and Bahraich. Originating doubtless in first, the desire
of the great landlords to bring under tillage the vast wastes which in early
times in these districts formed the greater part of their fiefs ; and secondly,
their desire to make the reclamation immediately remunerative so far as
their own revenues were concerned, a birt consisted in the sale of the right
to settle on a certain plot of waste, and to enjoy all such valuable perquisites
as would necessarily result from that occupation.

Thus, all tanks dug and groves planted by the birtia, all dues leviable
KigMsacquiredbytlie from the Cultivators, would be secured for ever to
birtia. Hm.

In addition to these rights, the dahyak or the tithe of the gross produce of
the village was often stipulated for and obtained by the birt purchaser. In
this district, however, out of the numerous claims that have been based on
birt grants, in only one has any mention been made of this right.

These privileges were often purchased for sums which in old days seem
to have been altogether out of proportion to the
thesTbirts""^^ ^^^ °^ annual profits which, under ordinary circumstances
in later times, could be extracted from the manage-
ment of a malguzari village.

This would induce a belief that the security of tenure in such cases was
Security of tenures, more than usually good, and that^ a birtia making
such a purchase would probably calculate on being
maintained in possession for at least a generation. It is remarkable, too,
but that the birtias were almost invariably Brahmans, and even though the
birt did not in any cases of sale partake of the nature of a gift made for
devout reasons, still the high caste of the purchaser, doubtless rendered his
tenure more secure than it would otherwise have been. Again, it would
not be the interest of the lord to disturb the birtia in his village as long as
he was improving its value, and thus it may be taken for certain that for very
many years after the purchase the birtia retained. the management of the
village, while, under ordinary circumstances, it would be most natural that
he would remain the headman responsible to the lord for generations to
come.

There is, however, no trace in any birt deed that has been produced that
any right of management was conferred by such
No rigM of lease or sales. On the contrary, the terminology of the usual
ma^gement conferred conditions implies that no such privilege was con-
templated in these transactions. An express provi-
sion was almost universally made, that the beneficial interests above noted,
which were strictly limited in their extent, should belong and be secured to
the birtia, whether he held the lease of the village, or the lord collected his
rents direct from the cultivators. It was manifestly more convenient that
the birtia, connected intimately as he was with the village and its concerns '
from the very date of its settlement, should be the one to engage for the
due collection and payments of the rents to the lord ; but there is nothing
to indicate that the lord's power of giving the lease where he willed was
controlled in any way save by his own sense of what was fair or conducive

BAH 183

to his own interest. In but few birt pattas is any mention whatever made
of the amount of rent payable or to be paid, and in none (which there is
reason to believe are genuine) is any fixed rent mentioned. In fact, the
measure of the birtia's right is the limited beneficial interest above de-
tailed, extended by the favour or self-interest of the lord.

Already in this chapter mention has been made of a peculiar mode in

which a lord exercised his rights as suzerain, bestow-

^.'^''^i'?4^P<'''4^''*P°^.i- ing on certain parties what may be called his "right
tion 01 birtias in oertam „i' „ I" • j.t_ j. j? j.i_ j. j • ^ • j.

eases. °* approvement m the wastes of that district over

which he had received from the sovereign a nominal

proprietary right. These birtias seem from almost the very first to have

been independent of the lord from whom they derived their right to settle,

and, generations afterwards, we find the villages so colonized undergoing

the process of feudalization a second time and becoming absorbed into

the estate of that very lord who Originally alienated his right in them. The

birtia having established his village, and his descendants having formed

a proprietary village community, the lord comes upon the scene again, and,

incorporating the township in his estate, bestows on the members of the

ex-proprietary body their nankar, &c.

On the other hand, those of the birt villages of this class which escaped
this process of re-absorption, retained aE. characteristics of zamindari vil-
lages, and now form some of the few independent townships in this
district.

Birt grants in this district are identified with and almost exclusively
confined to the Ikauna family, or owners of estates
J n"ar' ^^^° which have been at, one time or another connected

with that house, and the practice seems to have been
borrowed from Gonda, where these cessions were far more common than they
were here. The great Maha Singh (see historical sketch) seems to have
been the first to adopt the custom to any extent. The Gangwal taluqdar,
whose family, however, is an off-shoot of the Ikauna house, granted birts
in later times.

SpEoniEK. BietDeed. . A specimen patta is

Birt patta dated Sdwan Sudi 8, 1288 F. Patta given in the margin, the

executed by Sri Krishnparshdd Singh. genuineness of which is

I have given Tulsiram Misr a birt. He is to get ^A-mUfpA „„rl nn +Tin

continuously village Ganeshpur, tanks, groves "dill," admitted, and On the-

parja (house-dues), "anjuri, biswa, bondha." He is to Strength 01 wnicn the

get continuously the zamindari dues, whether the birtia, with the taluqdar's

S:iSentrL°'^70rvfbeenyLn° *^'^ ^"^^^^^ consent obtained a decree

Witnesses,— Bankan Singh, Sangam Misr, written lOr SUD-Settlement — pos-
by Bhawdiii Bakhsh, scribe. Note. On the top of this is session to be hereditary
the K^ja's sign-manual. ]but not transferable.

Bishunprit birts were cessions similar in almost every respect to the bai
or purchased birts, save that these were given to
Charitable birts. Brahmans for the honour and glory of God (if not for

that of the giver), and no consideration was taken.

It was seldom that such grants were resumed within the lifetime of the
giver, and the stricter course was undoubtedly not to resume them at all;

184 BAH

but in few cases did any such scruples act, and It may be assumed ttat feiV
of the more valuable privileges attaching to the grant survived the donor.

This tenure is by no means peculiar to this district, but I believe that it
jy„ . , , is far more generally met with in the northern, and

particularly in the trans-Gogra parts of the province
than elsewhere. The word in its primary sense means the deserted site
of a village ; but in the mouths of claimants in the courts it universally
means that portion of a village which was once covered with houses, but
which now, either from decay or desertion of the buildings, has become
once again open waste, or has been taken up for cultivation. Thus, the
dih land in a village which has been founded for some years will be found
lying in and aboiit the inhabited quarter, usually cultivated and always
well-known and recognised by the community. Existing houses, with
their small plots of cultivation adjoining (Bhara or Ghar-ke-pichhwdra),
are not " dih," which is strictly confined to the sites of former buildings.
It follows that no dih land can exist in a newly-founded village.

The land so rendered vacant was always considered the special property
Dill the peculiar pro- of the owner of the village, and the right to hold
perty of tte owner of the possession of it, free of all demand whatever, was one
■^^*S®- which he generally managed to retain intact long

after he was stripped of all other signs of proprietaryship. So closely did
an ex-proprietor cling to his dih land, that the mere fact of a man other
than an ordinary farmer of the village holding possession of it rent-free
raises a presumption in favour of his being an old proprietor, which it is
generally safe to trust as a guide in an inquiry into his antecedents.

In all deeds of sale the dih universally is specially mentioned, together
Specially mentioned with the groves, tanks, house-dues, and other per- -
in deeds of sale. quisites which form the customary manorial rights in

the village.

It would often happen that a proprietor of a village would mortgage it .

Dih in some peculiar in the usual phraseology, but that the mortgagee
cases of mortgage. would Only obtain possession of the rights above noted,

the mortgagor being left to manage the village, to be responsible for loss,
and to enjoy the profits as before. In fact, the dih, tanks, groves, &c., and
where it existed, the nankar, represented the extent of a proprietor's rights ;
and when he parted from these he made known to the whole world that he
had parted with all claim to the dominium.

Nothing could more clearly indicate the absence of all necessary connec-
Signifioance of this. *^°" between the ownership of a village and the right
to engage for it under native rule. Indeed, the right
to engage was always such a questionable advantage, that it was not
reckoned among the benefits appertaining to ownership. The enjoyment
of the manorial rights, including the dih, was, however, a privilege having
a definite value, and consequently could form the subject of transfer and
hypothecation without any difSculty being experienced in estimating the
amount of consideration. The mortgagee would, in most cases, probably
be rather glad than otherwise to allow the mortgagor to retain the

BAH 185

tnanagement, so long as he held all the tangible and certain sources of profit.
The right to engage, or perhaps, to speak more correctly, in many instances,
the duty of engaging, might or might not pass with the transfer of pro-
prietary right. It was in the power of the revenue authorities to allow
the proprietor to engage or not ; and though in the majority of cases it was
manifestly more convenient that he should do so, still very often a farmer
was appointed and the proprietor restricted to the enjoyment of his actual
rights, which, as we have seen, were of a very limited, though definite,
value : when sales took place the prices obtained were consequently low.

There is nothiug in this subordinate tenure to distinguish it from the
„. . , , right or the privilege known by the same name in other

in other^dLtriote °^^ *^ districts. It consisted originally in the drawback al-
lowed to the zamindar by the revenue authorities from
the demand made on the estate, and constituted the main portion of the
ostensible profits of the property. Its amount varied with the extent to
which the landlord could manage to ingratiate himself with the nazim of
the day, or with the influence which he could bring to bear in still higher
quarters. In the case of taluqdars, it took the form usually of revenue-
free land, villages from one to ten in number being held thus free of all
demand by most of the principal landowners. With petty zamindars the
allowance was generally made in cash, and it may be doubted whether in
many cases the demand was not often fixed with reference to the amount
that would have to be remitted in nankar. The only check upon such
double-dealing would be the obligation under which the revenue collector
would be of allowing the zamindar his nankar in hard cash or land in
lieu, if engagement on his terms was decUned.

A few of the minor subordinate rights can here only be indicated.
Dehi ndnkdr is an allowance in money from the taluqdar to the under-
proprietor.

Ndnkdr tankhwdhi was an allowance made to qantingos, chaudhris, and
other officials from, each village.

Chhorwa was an allowance made as of grace to lessees.

Chahdrum and daswant mean, the former one-fourth, the latter one-
tenth ; they were originally probably grants made to the man who cut
down the forest and settled the cultivators. In other cases they were
granted to old proprietors or influential residents of the village to keep
them contented and loyal. They came to be other forms of nankar, and
as such were often encroached upon and sometimes forfeited by the land-
lord.

This gain differed in scarcely any point from the tenure as known in

other parts of Oudh. It may be said to have consist-

Sfr. Its nature, ex- ^ ^^ ^^ ^-j^^ j^^j^^j ^^ ^j^g immediate occupation of the

' "■ original proprietors at the time that the village was

incorporated in the ilaqa. No land subsequently taken up by their ploughs
would be considered sir except by the express permission of the lord, and
on such extra fields the under-proprietor would pay full rates, or, as was the
more general rule, rent in kind. The sir thus defined, might be cultivated

186 BAH

after incorporation by the under-proprietors themselves or by cultivators
put in by them. It always, in this district, paid rent, the rate being
somewhat lower, but not as a rule very much lower, than that paid
by ordinary cultivators. It was not the policy of the taluqdar to drive
the ex-zamindar from the village, however much it might be his object
to crush out his independence in other ways.

Had he done so, a large number of the old cultivators would probably
have followed their old master, and the village would not have recovered
such a blow for many years. It was rather his plan to keep the ex-pro-
prietor in his old position as the headman of the village, provided this
could be secured together with a due amount of subjection ; and to effect
this it was absolutely necessary to allow him to retain his home cultivation,
while the somewhat favourable rate at which he was allowed to hold soothed
his pride, always an important element to be considered in the settlement
of such questions, and recoiiciled him to the new state of things.

In its wider signification, of course, the word sir indicates all the culti-

Its wider significa- vation tilled with the private ploughs of any one in

tion. possession of, or charged with, the management of

an estate, — the " home-farm" in fact ; but as a sub-tenure its meaning is

limited to the definition above given.

The tenure, as it exists now, may be most aptly compared with the relics
Compared -with the of the " commonable" fields in England and Scotland,
relics of commoDable attention to the existence of which has lately been
properties in England. drawn by Sir H. Maine in his " Village Communi-
ties." The Burgess acres of the Burgh of Lauder noticed by him (page 95)
may almost certainly be said originally to have constituted the separate
share, if not the " sir," of the 105 members of the old agricultural com-
munity. Generations hence, when the sir lands, which have now been
decreed to ex-proprietors in accordance with their shares, have passed by
numerous transfers out of the hands of the particular family to whom they
have been adjudged, the various plots thus held in subordination to the
landlord, but in a measure independent of him, will be the only trace that
we shall have of the existence of the old communities.

It has not unfrequently happened that claims have been preferred by
Kakhanna. The tenure members of the old cultivating community to certain
described. plots of meadow land as " pasture" grounds.

The right is never claimed as a general one over all the waste land in
the village, but a particular area, a portion of such waste, is always named.
The meaning of the word, which is " land set apart," would support the
idea that separate portions of the waste were thus made over to, or rather
retained by, the ex-zamindar when his property was merged in the lord-
ship. The holder of this rakhauna would have the exclusive right to
graze his cattle thereon, to cut the thatching grass, &c., but it is uncertain
whether he would be allowed to break up the land for tillage or not.

My inquiries lead me to believe that this was not permitted, and that
the holder of raJchauna, so breaking it up, would be liable to pay full rent
on it.

BAH 187

The parallel of the In this instance, again, we have the corresponding
common mai-k. common mark in England wherewith to compare it.

Sir H. Maine, page 92, quotes Marshall's description of ancient common-
able lands — " On the outskirts of the arable lands, where the soil is adapted
to the pasturage of cattle, one or more stinted pastures or hams were laid
out for milking cows, working cattle, or other stock which required
superior pasturage in summer." Let us suppose, when one of these Eng-
lish communities passed under the yoke of the lord, and the township
became the manor, that the freemen of the community, besides retaining
their portion of the arable mark (their sir), succeeded in retaining these
stinted pastures (raJchauna), and we have the parallel exact. The lord, we
may be quite sure, would resist any attempt on the part of the freemen to
bring these pastures under tillage without bis express permission, which, if
given, would probably be accompanied by stipulations as to rent, &c., more
stringent than those already in force regarding their free tenemental acres.

It is not impossible that in this we may have the key to the difficulty
met with by Sir H. Maine in the fact that, intermixed with the tenemental
or freehold lands, are found many large tracts which are copyhold of the
manor, while some also are held by the intermediate tenure known as
customary freehold. May not these intruding tracts held on these base
tenures have originally been the rakhauna of the freemen, subsequently
brought under cultivation under special provisos ?

Grove tenures may be divided into two classes : — 1st. Those cases in
GroTes ; two classes which the grove was planted by the under-proprietor,
of tenures. while he was in proprietary possession of the village,

and of which he has retained possession.

2nd. — Cases in which the grove has been planted by a cultivator or
under-proprietor subsequent to the incorporation of the village in the ilaqa.
All other cases are exceptional, and depending, as they do, on special cir-
cumstances, need not be noted here.

In the first class noted above, the grove, together with the land on which
-. it is planted, constitutes an integral part of the under-

proprietary holding of the ex-zamindar. He had full
power to cut down the trees, to replant, or to make what use he liked of
the ground.

The taluqdar did not interfere with his full right to sell and mortgage
the grove, and never dreamed of exacting rent from him. If the trees fell,
and the ground thus became available for cultivation, it would still remain
the property of the under-proprietor, and would probably be considered
an adjunct of and subject to the same rules as to rent, &c., as his other
lands in the village. If the under-proprietor held rent-free lands in the
village, the vacated plot would be held rent-free also ; if they were subject to
a low rent, a similar rent would probably be demanded from this plot also.

In the second class of cases, the customs regulating the tenure differed
_ somewhat in different estates ; but in all parts of the

^^^ ■ district the following customs held good, provided

that the grove was planted with the permission of the landlord.

188 BAH.

The piece of land being made over to the planter, he was allowed to sow
it and to reap all the crops which the land might bear ; as long as the
trees were young, he could make arrangements with some other cultivator
to tend the trees for him, allowing him the use of the ground in and
among the trees for his trouble. When the grove arrived at maturity,
in its whole produce, including the fruit, the fallen and dead wood, &c.,
was the sole property of the planter, so long as the trees stood. He alone
had the privilege of cutting the long grass ( sarpat ) generally planted in
the first instance around the grove for its protection from cattle. He had
also the sole right to the grazing of the land of the grove. If, however,
the trees fell and the land became thus vacant, the landlord alone had the
right to cultivate it, and the grove-holder could not replant without per-
mission. Neither could he cut the trees except one or two now and then
for his own immediate use without the zamindar's permission. He had,
however, the freest power of sale or mortgage of all the rights above detailed;
all groves left ownerless by the extinction of the family of the owner or
by its desertion of the estate became the property of the zamindar.

No one of the very few privileges enjoyed by the ordinary cultivators
fn,» ^.,==«c=,;«„ «f „ has tended more directly to raise their character, or

J.I16 possession oi di ^_ •/» •!• i i •

grove induces a feeling rather keep it from smkmg lower than it would
of independence. otherwise have done, than the possession of these

rights in the mango groves planted by their ancestors.

It is seldom that we find the grove in possession of any one but the
descendant of the original planter. It may have been mortgaged over
and over again, but a sale outright seldom occurred.

The tdl was always one of the rights enumerated in deeds of sale, &c..
The extent of rights as the unquestioned right of the original proprietor of
in ponds, &o. the village. The interest extended to all the sponta-

neous products of the ponds, — fish, reeds, wild rice, water-nuts, &c.; and
if the under-proprietor's fields lay near to them he probably would be en-
titled to draw water from them for the irrigation of his fields before the
other cultivators. The rights in excavated tanks would be better defined
and more freely acknowledged than in the natural hollows, or in swamps
and marshes.

Minor zamindari This, though not a tenure, may properly be

rights. Anjuri. noticed under the above heading.

The old zamindar or hirtia was entitled to four chhat^ks of grain for
every maund in the outturn of each cultivator's plot. This amounted to
25 seers per 100 maunds. It was strictly a zamindari perquisite, but was
never levied by taluqdars or by zamindars other than Brahmans, as the
due partook of the nature of alms, and Brahmans only could accept charity.
Zamindars not of this caste would nominate some pandit or Brahman,
of the village to receive the due instead.

Anjuri of another kind was a purely eleemosynary custom. It was
then called " hdth uthwa, " and consisted of a few handfuUs of grain placed
around the corn heaps by the cultivator for the bhumhdr, the attendant
on the village gods, the pandit and the faqir. There was no measure for this,

BAH 189

but it was doled out according to the generosity or close-fistedness of the
donor. The recipients were denominated " dehabirti," and it was open to
the zamindar to remove these men from their office and appoint sub-
stitutes.

This again was a zamindari right in some instances, one biswa of land

in each man's cultivation being set apart for the za-

iswa. mindar or birtia. Like the " anjuri " it is not taken

by non-Brahman zamindars. The same amount of land is also set apart

by each cultivator for the pandit, whose duty it is to name the propitious

time for sowing. We will now describe the muqaddam or farmer.

The status of the thrifty and industrious muqaddam varied from that
The status of the of a head-man temporarily appointed by the revenue
muqaddam. authorities to carry on the agricultural management

of a village, and invested with no rights of any kind and no authority
save that which he derived from the express commission of those who
appointed him, to that of a quasi-zamindar, possessed of privileges
no less valuable and no less recognised than those of the landlord
proper.

The different degrees in their positions depended on various circum-
stances, the chief of which was doubtless length of tenure. A muqaddam
appointed for a season or for a special purpose might, favoured by the
course of events, retain his hold on the village until by prescription he
acquired a standing fully as good as that of the zamindar. He would
gradually establish his right to ndiikdr, dih, and all other zamindari rights
in the event of the revenue authorities holding his village direct. He
would even acquire the right to sell and mortgage, and such transfers
would be held good. It was, however, only in the khalsa lands or villages
held direct from the nazim that such complete rights as these were, or,
from the nature of the case, could be acquired.

It is not seldom that we find even in the lords' estates men in the man-
atyement of villages calling themselves muqaddams ; but, unless the origin
of their incumbencies can be traced to a time antecedent to the incorpora-
tion of the village in the estate, the tenure will be found to have nothing
in it of a proprietary character, and the muqaddam himself to be nothing
more than a head steward removable at pleasure and claiming no privileges
other than those accorded him by the taluqdar.

In the khalsa villages, on the other hand, the continual changes of the
district officials allowed the origin of the tenure to fall
In the khalsa villages more quickly into oblivion ; and inasmuch as the class
presorip ■ from which these farmers were almost universally

taken is that of the most industrious cultivators, it was directly to their
interest to maintain the muqaddams in their position even when doubts
might exist as to their exact status.

The position and duties of chaudhris in some estates corresponded in

. great measure with that of muqaddams of this class,

the main difference being that chaudhris, as a rule,

had the management of five or six villages, while the latter's charge was

confined to one or at the most two.

190 BAH

Looking once more to the traces of ancient tenures in the west, it is by

no means improbable that some of those intermediate

Customary freehold ^g^urgg known as customary freehold, which are said

by the jurists to exist only on lands that once formed

a part of the king's domain, may, in their origin and nature, not differ

materially from these muqaddami holdings.

In both cases the rights enjoyed were of various strengths, ranging from
those of the freeholder down almost to those of the villein. It is not im-
possible that in the west the king would accord privileges to villeins set-
ling on his own reserved lands, similar in character, though varying in
degree, to those accorded by the lord to the members of the old proprietary
community, — just as in the east the nazim would be willing to grant to
enterprising farmers of a good class, who might be induced to improve the
state lands, a beneficiary interest in the villages so occupied by them
similar to that held by ordinary zamindars, and similar also in kind to
those rights which were accorded by the taluqdar to the members of an
ex-proprietary community.

The courts were open for the preferment of claims from the commence-

Keeord of rights. ment of settlement operations in October 1865 until

the 31st March 1871, a period of 6 J years, and their

business may be said to have been concluded on the 30th September 1871.

During these six years, 7,496 claims of all kinds have been adjudicated,

a number which is sufficient of itself to indicate

m^deUr *^e mildness of the litigation when compared with

that of other districts. I propose in going through

the figures to make such remarks as seem necessary regarding each

class of cases.

Proprietary right. — The greater portion of the district being held under

sanad, the claims to proprietary right were necessarily

Claims to proprietary few ; at summary settlement only 259 villages were

ufnumbeT''"^^^"^* settled with others than taluqdars, and it is only in

the independent muhals that claims to the superior

right were admissible. Of the 1,154 cases that fall under this head, 386

were merely formal claims preferred against Government, and the number

of real suits is therefore reduced to 768 ; out of this number the claimants

have been successful in 111 or in 14'6 per cent.

The result of this litigation is, that of the 259 villages settled with others
-o 14. ftT.- ^ f '^^^^ taluqdars 10 have been decreed to taluqdars
thSaW " ^ ^^d 35 have been decreed the property of Govern-

ment. The remammg 214 are still held by non-
taluqdars, and in 44 out of these the ownership has changed hands.

These mutations, however, are more apparent than real ; only forty-seven
villages have actually changed hands throughout the whole district, com-
prising 2,011 villages.

When it is noticed that at summary settlement 1,760 villages were
settled with the taluqdars, and that now no less than than 1,825 claims4o

BAH 191

sub-settlement have been preferred, it migbt perhaps be inferred that

the rights of under-proprietors are very strong in this

Sub-settlements. Tte district, at any rate in the imaginations of the claim-

very'weak!'^ ° '^'^^'^^ ^^^^ themselves. No idea could be more erroneous.

The fact that 570 or nearly one-third of the whole

number of claims were withdrawn before being called on for hearing, is of

itself a strong indication of the weakness of the general run of the cases of

this description ; and of the 1,003 which were dismissed on trial, far the

larger number were consigned to the records without the statement of the

defendant being recorded.

The plaintiff's own deposition was sufficient to show that he had no
shadow of claim to any such right as is conferred by a sub-settlement.
Many who had never held any sort of proprietary connection with the
village came forward in the hope perhaps that they might get something.

In the northern parganas scarcely a single claim to sub-settlement was
preferred save in estates which had been conferred
thJnortheni pargauas™ °^ ^^^^^ grantees, and in which perhaps the claimants
took this mode of showing that they did not alto-
gether approve of the change of masters.

In the north, however, as will be gathered from a perusal of the histo-
Keaaon of this ^^^^ sketch, the head-men of the villages, where they

existed at all, had no grounds whatever for imagin-
ing that they had any rights in the land other than such as they had ob-
tained through the favour and protection of the taluqdar, for nearly the
whole of this part of the country dates its permanent colonisation from
such a recent date that each man's family history is known to his neigh-
bour, and there is no room for a vague appeal to that ancient and ancestral
connection with the village which is generally advanced as the real ground
on which a decree is claimed.

In the south, on the other hand, the villages have been long established,
and any member of a family more influential thaa
The conditions in the the rest in the hamlet who could look back upon
fere^nt^™ pa^ganas dif- generations during which perhaps the village may
have changed hands more than once, while his an-
cestors retained their homesteads and their position as head-men, would be
far more likely to persuade himself that he was possessed of such a right
as the sarkdr would recognise.

In the Ikauna and Bahraich parganas, however, claims were preferred
The claims in Bah- which undoutedly were based on bona fide rights

raich and Ikauna. acquired in the villages in older times. The origin of

these rights has been alluded to in the historial sketch.

Of the 173 claims to sub-settlement which were either settled by com-
Eesults of the litiga- promise or decreed in favor of the plaintiffs, 168 were
tion in sub-settlements, in pargana His^mpur and 127 in one estate, namely,
IMqa Ranipur. The villages comprised in this estate belong to the Raik-
war community mentioned in historical sketch and chapter on tenures, and
were only included in the Mahant Gurnardin Dfe's qubdliat a few years
prior to annexation. Some of these were mortgaged to the taluqdar and

192 BAH

some were merely entrusted to him. In all of them amicable agreements
were effected, the taluqdar giving the plaintiffs most favourable terms.
Throughout the district 68 villages and one portion of a village have been
obtained in sub-settlement by the under-proprietors the claimants having
obtained terms as follows :—

18 Tillages and ) at rental 10 per cent. | in excess of the Government

one portion J '^ \ revenue.

42J ditto ditto 10 to 20 per cent. ditto ditto

8 ditto ditto above 20 ditto ditto ditto

684

Besides these, one village and one portion of a village have been decreed
in farm in hereditary but not transferable right; Of these 68^ villages 45|
were decreed in the estate above mentioned, Ranipur, and 7^ in Waira
Qazi, one of the estates held by the Sayyad of Jarwal. Of the remainder
5;^ villages were awarded in sub-settlement by the British Indian Associ-
ation.

The zamindari and pattidari estates only comprise 251 villages in this

gjjg^j.gg district, and it is therefore no matter for surprise that

there were only 647 claims to share instituted : nearly

one-half of these were amicably settled, rather more than one-fourth were

dismissed, 60 were judicially decreed, and 100 were withdrawn.

Notwithstanding that a large number of the claims to sub-settlement of
Sir in taluqa whole villages were altogether groundless, there was

a sufficient proportion of cases in which the claimants
had doubtless at one time or another held connection proprietary or quasi-
proprietary with the village, to justify the expectation that a fair amount
of sir, nankar, would be decreed. These anticipations have not been real-
ized, the amount of land and cash decreed in sub-tenures and under-pro-
prietary right in taluqas being excessively insignificant compared with the
vast area of these large estates.

This is partly accounted for by the fact that in two parganas where it is
Claims withheld. likely that such claims would have been decreed most

freely, namely, Bahraich and Ikauna, very few of those
whose suits for the whole villages have been dismissed have come forward
to secure minor rights. In the Ikauna ilaqa, in which probably many an
old birtdar who failed to establish his claim to an entire village might
have obtained something in the shape of dih, sir, &c., not a single man has
come forward. In this estate no under-proprietary rights of any sort have
been recorded.

This reluctance on the part of under-proprietors to prefer their claims
Eeasona for this. ^^J ^® accounted for partly by their unwillingness to
risk anything more in the court. They saw petition
after petition consigned to the records when the claims to whole villages
were under investigation, and they did not gather much hope from this of
being successful in more humble suits. A still more powerful reason, how-
ever, for acting as they did is to be found in the course followed by the
agents of the loyal grantee who holds the estate, in making it thoroughly
well-known throughout the ilaqa that the under-proprietor's only chance

BAH

195

of obtaining anything from them lay in looking only to them and not to
the courts for what they wanted. It is impossible to say how far the
demands of the under-holders in this and the other iMqas of the Kaja-e-
E,ajgd,n of Kapurthala may have been settled out of court, but I am
inclined to think that now that the settlement courts are closed and claims
can only be advanced on full stamp, the agents will not be hard upon
those who have not opposed them.

Out of 938 claims to sir, dih, daswant, nankdr, dldafi, &c., in all taluqas

483, or rather more than half, have been decreed,

Result of olaima to while in 43 more the petitions were withdrawn, and

tS.uqaa. ' *°" "" i* ^^J therefore be concluded that in these also the

plaintiffs got something. The amount decreed is as

follows : —

Ndnkar land rent-free

Daswant rent-free

Dih rent-free

Total cultivation rent-free

Sir land at favorable rates

Homesteads

Groves in under- proprietary riglit

Ponds and marshes

Pasture land

Total land decreed in taluqas „

Cash nank£r m ditto

By
consent.

Decreed on
trial.

Bfghas.

570

312

84

966

1,228

67

5.35

53

34

2,883

Es. A.

128 8

Bighas.

779
611
268

1,658

5,501
185

2,398

75

290

Total.

Bighas.

1,34»
923
352

10,107

Es. A.
2,148 8

2,624

6,723
252

2,933
128
324

12,990

Es.

2,277

Inasmuch as the whole of the above land and cash has been awarded in
176 villages only, such settlements having been de-
No rights of any creed in 69 others, it will be seen that the under-pro-
prietary rights recorded in 1,515 villages out of 1,760
owned by taluqdars are absolutely nil.

kind decreed in 1,522
taluc^dari villages.

Very few suits have been registered under the head of birts, as all claims
to entire villages in virtue of birts have been included
Birts, small holdings ^^der the head of sub-settlement. Birt grants of
small holdings were very rare in Bahraich.

The district may be certainly congratulated on the mild character of the
Character of the liti- litigation from the first to last. In very few cases
gation. has any bitter feeling been generated, and if the claims

preferred in some of the loyal grantees' estates had been met in a some-
what more generous spirit by those who have themselves received such

N

19^ BAH

substantial proof of the liberality of Government, there would be little
cause to regret the action of our courts in any but a very few cases.

The revenue which' is actually realisable under the revised assessment

The realisable revised is aS folloWS : —
demand.

Es. As. P.
Estates assessed at the ordinary rate of assessment ... 9,56,065 14 1
Estates paying a q^uit-rent only 5&,2-i2 0 0

10,15,307 14 1

This gives an increase of 798 per cent, on the summary demand. The
ubove, however, does not include the jama which has been assessed on
revenue-free areas resumable after the first or second life.

The incidence of the revised assessment for the' whole district (under-
Incideuce of the re- standing by that term in the revenue-free and quit-
vised demand, rent estates the assessment as calculated for the pur-
poses of estimating cesses) falls with an incidence —

On cultivation @ 1 6 7 percent.

On assessed area ... ... ... ._• ... „ 0 14 0 ,,

Ontotalarea , „ 0 12 3 „

and it varies on cultivation from Rs. 1-11-10 per acre in His^mpur to
Es. 1-1-2 per acre in Dharmanpur, while on total area it varies from
Rs. 14-8 per acre in Hisampur to Rs. 5-11 per acre in Dharmdnpur.

The total area (equivalent to 23 percent, of the whole district as assess-
Area under perpetual ed) now held under perpetual assessment is as

assessment. follows : —

Area ia acres. Hevenue, Incidence per acre

total area.

Es. A. P.
Eaja-e-Eajgan of Kaptirthata ... 247,122 59,242 0 3 10

Maharaja of Balrampur ... 117,889 1,24,305 1 0 lOJ

Total 365,011 1,83,547 0 11 10

It has already been mentioned, in historical sketch, that out of 3,682
Confiscations and loy- villages and hamlets held by the taluqdars in the
al grants. year prior to annexation, no less than 1,858, or morp

than half, were confiscated for complicity in the rebellion of 1857 A. D.
Of these, 313 were comprised in the Tulsipur estate which has been made
over to the Naipal Government,

In 1869 A. D., therefore, the Government found itself with 1,545 villag-
es at its disposal, having an aggregate area of 657,153 acres or 1,027
square miles, being as near as possible ^V of the district as now assessed.
The estimated rental of these lands at the present time is Rs. 10,54,005-2-8.

This large and valuable area has been distributed partly in revenue-fi-ee
tenure, partly in perpetual settlement, and partly at the ordinary rate and
term of assessment, among the parties whose names appear in the state-
ment appended. All those grantees, with the exception of those marked*,
obtained these assignments for loyal service rendered to the Government
either during the troubles of 1857 or on some previous occasion.

BAH

195

It will be seen that tKe Edja-e-Rdjgan of Kaplirthala has obtained the
hon's share of the grants, having received in acknowledgment of the sig-
nal services which he rendered us during the mutiny no less than 887
villages (sumnaary settlement). Of these, 381 villages, viz., the iMqas
Baundi and Bhitauli, are held by him at a perpetual rate of payment,
equivalent to half the summary assessment. His rental is Es. 6,4!O,OO0rhis
revenue Rs. 1,83,000, his profits Rs. 4,57,000.

The Mahdrdja of Balrampur also holds all his villages, 424 in number,
in perpetual settlement, but at the revised rate of assessment.

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198

BAH

Comparative statement of the Revenue Survey, district Bahraich.

Name of pargana.

■s

1

Area in acres by tlie Revenue SurFey.

Xame of
tahsil.

1

3

1

1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

s

Kurasar...

(■Hisampur
(.Pakhrpur

Total

C Bahraich
-{ Ikauna
LBhinga

Total ...

fNanpara
■{ Charda
L Dharmdupur ...

Total ...

Total ...

Grants

Oudh Reserved
Forests

Grand Total ...

447
288

138,215

122,440

72,853
66,763

48,614
53,013

259,682
242,216

735

260,655

139,616

101,627

501,898

Bahraich...

327
241 '
156

76,821

100,714

88,419

97,118
63,898
17,293

35,108
21,094
11,241

209,047
185,706
116,953

724

265,954

178,309

67,443

511,706

Nanpara ...

311

177
64

158,696
88,863
28,959

110,625
21,043
44,303

35,996

8,287

14,391

305,317

118,193

87,653

552

276,518

175,971

58,674

511,163

2,011

803,127

493,896

227,744

1,524,767

11,579
180,028

4
6

887
2,253

10,242
165,624

450
12,151

2,021

806,267

669,762

240,345

1,716,374

BAH

199

1
a

aundi is
Istimrari
Es. 49,006.

bis man is
dead lately,
no heir ia
named.

Muafi for life,
has estates
in Gonda

1

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. . .

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s

: : :

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Ditto
Ditto
Bahraich an

'• ■ ;

U '•

en
to

1

ft

o

<D

1

>5

Bahraich
Ikauna a
Fakhrpur.
Nanpara

1

Ikauna

Fakhrpur

Bhinga

i

Kuraaar
•Hisampur
Ditto

tuaampur
Hisiimpur
Ditto
1 Ditto

Charda

1

Ditto
Fakhrpur
Bhinga

Dharm :npu
Ditto

Total

3

O

Eaja Narpat Singh ...
MaharajaKharg Singh

of Kapurthala.
Eaja Jang Bahadur

, Khan.

Maharaja Drig Bijai
Singh of Balrampur.

EajaSitlaBakhshSingh

Edja Eaghunath Singh

Bhayya Udaipartab
Singh.

Thakur Fateh Muham-
mad.

Nirman Singh

Niwazish AU

Eaja Sher Bahadur
Singh.

Eaghubar Siagh

Zafar Mehndi

Mahant Harcharan Das

Mirtunjai Bakhsh Singh
Indarjit Singh
Ka7,ini Husen
Nawab Niwazish Ali

Khan.
Sardar Hira Singh . .
Sardar Jugjot Singh ...
Sardar Baghel Smgh,

son of late Suchet

Smgh.
Rao Muneshur Bakhsh
Raja Ranjit Singh ^.

1' ;^ ;

; : :

: : :

: : :'tJ

. . 08

: i

1
2

Piagpur

Ikauna and Bann

Nanpara

1

Gangwal

Rahwa

Bhinga

1

Inchhapur Umri

Ambapur

Barhauli

Bhundiari

Alinagar

Katka Morauta
Mustafabad
Waira Qazi
Nawabganj Aliab

Jamdan
Chahlari
Bhangha

•aeqranii

rH IN n

Tt^

in tot*

CO

OSO .-H

(MM-*
r~i t^ r^

•H rH r^ rH

SSS

M CO

200

BAH

BAHRAICH* Pargana — Talisil Bahraich — District Bahraich.— The
pargana of this name of the present day comprises only about one-third
of the area included within its limits under the native government.
Bhinga and Ikauna, with a portion of the Nanpara and Charda parganas,
which are creations of the English Government, all formed a portion of
Bahraich ; at present the pargana is bounded on the south-west by the
Hisampur and Fakhrpur parganas, on the east by Ikauna, and on the
north by Bhinga, Charda, and Nanpfira.

Its area is 329 square miles ; its- greatest length from south-east corner to
the north-west being thirty-two miles ; its average breadth thirteen miles.
It forms a portion of a belt of low table-land which runs through the dis-
trict in a south-easterly direction, having Nanpara and Bahraich towns on
its south-Western edge. This plateau, about 30 feet high, forms the water-
shed which divides the two river basins of the Rapti and the Gogra. It is
well-known that in old days the latter river flowed close under the high
bank which limits the pargana on the south-west, and it has left its traces
in several large jhils and lakes which doubtless formed originally part of
its bed, notably the Aaaikali Jhil and Baghel Tal.

The high level of the country accounts for the absence of rivers. The
pargana is well wooded, some of the mango groves being of unusual size,
but the most marked feature, perhaps, of this part of the district is the
wide expanse of waste land. Out of a total area of 329 square miles, only
111 were at time of measurement under the plough. The soil is generally
a good loam consisting of about frds clay and ^rd sand. With fair farming
and irrigation it is calculated to produce excellent crops. Water is met
with at an average depth of 18 feet : the mode of irrigation most in vogue
being the levers or " dhenklis " which are generally found placed in clusters ;
about ^rd of the total area of cultivation is under irrigation. The follow-
ing table shows the crop areas of the year 1866 A. D. in acres : —

1

13

1

1

ii

a o
1-1

S3

O M

t5i

Ii

8,015

5,850

4,248

67

30,780

3,614

10,154

23,213 1 65,941

15,384

81,325

The revised Government demand is distributed as follows :-

o

1^

S W

1^

Incidence of Government
demand.

Class of Tillage.

j0 .

11-
CSS

1.

.fj fTerpetual settlement
^ 30 years ditto

I'j Total

Independent villages
Eevenue-free for lifetime only
Eevenue-free for ever

8^

2eo

2
278

280

Ks. A. P.

245 0 0

88,199 12 8

Es. A. P.

0 7 5
14 7

Es. A. P
0 3 6
0 9 0

Bs. A. P.

OSS
0 7 11

88,444 12 8

1 4 7

0 9 0

0 7 Jl

m

16i
6i

32
13
3

4,115 S 9

1 10 10

0 12 1

0 11 2

TOTAl

21i

16

...

...

^Gbakd Total

,. 327

328

1,02,560 2 6

15 2

0 9 4

0 8 3

* ]<y Mr. H. S. Boys, c, s., AsBistaut Commissioner.

BAH

201

The population is shown

ini

bhe following

table :-

—

Agriculturists

50,523

-g ^ 1 Brahman s ...
S B I Chhattris

13,808

2,566

2,000

1,751

351

roentage is —
2 per cent.

9 „
9 „

8 „

rom the Chhedtrara
ome from the Ikauna
xs from Baundi.

1

Non-agriculturists

34,254

1

1

o

Kay aths
Others

Total ...

84,777

Ahfr

Pasi

Teli

Chamar

Dhobi

Kurmi

Kahdr

Kori

Murao

Lodh

Lonia

Lohar

Others

9,617

4,807
2,135
4,693
2,144
8,712
3,097
8,703
2,393
1,602
1,507
1,123
8,141

t
t

<

Agriculturists

5,072
12,319

S CO M rt ■"OK

Non-agriculturists

^ JK tH ■'(3 *rt d ^ ja

Ph -3 ^ S '3 J :S ^ »- fS

1

Total ...

17,391

Agriculturists

55,595

i

." •*^

Non-agriculturists

46,573

Sayyad

Shekh

Pathan

Julaha

Ghosi

Others

480
1,491
1,774
801
823
360

CJ3U ^ « ^

IT""

Hi

1

Males

53,680

Ph . . . .

-d

H

Females

48,488

s

ic.s'-S'

Miscellaneous
Total ...

2,662
102,168

s Brahma
Sarwari
Kanauj
Sangalc
Others

Grand Total ...

102,168

307

rg

1

D. 01 souis per sq^uaitj
nile

o

District roads run through the pargana from —

Bahraich towards ... ... ... ... ... Gonda.

Ditto to ... ... ... ... ... Ikauna.

Ditto to ... ... ... ... ... Bhingd.

Ditto towards ... ... ... ... ... Nanpara.

while cart tracks ramify in all directions. The traffic is mainly grain,
which is exported from the pargana to the bazars of Colonelganj and Na-
wabganj in Gonda district, and vid Bahramghat to Lucknow.

Bazars there are none, save the Bahraich market, which itself has no-
thing in it but articles of everyday local consumption. There is an immense
annual gathering of the common folk at the fair held in May at Sayyad
Salar Masaud's shrine, but this mela is not frequented by the better class
of natives ; and little but pots and pans, women's ornaments and cloths of
sorts, is bought or sold. Th ere are Government village_schools at —

... 32 boys.

26 „

36 „

40 „

Piagpur

Barwan

Raepur Madanjot.

Eaedih

besides the Bahraich town schools, (which see).

134 boys.

202 BAH

There are district post offices at Pi^gpur, Tilokpur on the Ikauna road,
and Kakandu on the road to Bhinga. It is possible that this pargana,
which is a part of the ancient Kosala country, was the scene of the labours
of Buddha to redeem his fellow beings from the " assembly of Brahma"
(see Bahraich town), for on the borders of this district in the Ikauna ilaqa
originally included in this pargana, is situated the great city of Sahet
Mahet, which is identified by General Cunningham as the retreat of Bud-
dha, while at Tandwa village, also in the Ikauna ilaqa, still exists a mound
which is probably identical with that raised over the relics of the body of
Kasyapa Buddha. Tandwa or Towai was the birthplace of the " expected
one," while to this day Hindus worship under the name Sita an image of
the mother of the prophet and reformer.

In the Charda ilaqa (which see), which was also included in this pargana,
there is another of these forts surrounded on different sides by mounds of
ruins which may once have been stupas similar to those of Sahet Mahet,
and the wilds of the Gandharp Ban (see Bahraich town) may well have
favoured the attainment of that state of self-absorption which was the
object of the Buddhist. The Bhars by their very name claim this part of
the country as their own, and it was not until two centuries after the
religious raid of Salar Masaud that' they seem to have commenced to
migrate. The history of this pargana up to the end of the fifteenth century
is to be found in the district article. In 1478 A. D. Muhammad, sumamed
the " Black Rock" (Kalapahar), nephew of Bahlol Lodi, was appointed by
his uncle governor of Bahraich, and it seems that under his strict rule the
district was once more reminded of the days of Nasir-ud-din, for in that
year the most northern parganas are recorded as paying by no means a
contemptible sum as revenue into the imperial chest. After this the his-
torians are silent regarding this district until the reign of Muhammad
Shah Tughlaq when, after the suppression of a revolt on the part of A'in-
ul-Mulk, vicegerent of Oudh, the Sultan paid a visit to Bahraich and
" devoutly made offerings to the shrine of the martyr Sayyad Salar
Masatid." This was in 1340 A. D.

Sultan Firoz Shah succeeded Muhammad Shah, and he also towards the
end of his reign received the tonsure and made a pilgrimage to the tomb
of Salar Masaud in the year 1374 A. D. It was in his reign that the first
Rajput settlement was made in this district (see Ikauna). From the
Janwar, who then received his grant, have sprung the founders of several
other estates in these parts, some of which survived the vicissitudes of
Nawabi rule, and some are known only to tradition. The ilaqas of Ja-
gannathpur and Gtijiganj (see Charda) and the Bhinga estate (see Bhinga)
were all once held by cadets of this house, while Gangwal and Balrampur
in Gonda are still held by members of the same family. The Pidgpur
Raja, a Janwdr also, claims to be of the same stock, but his pretensions are
not admitted. In the time of Akbar there were jSgirs held in this pargana
to the value of Rs. 10,050, and the country was sufiiciently disturbed to
require a force of 4,500 footmen and 500 horse to keep it in order. The
cultivation then measured 6,19,226 bighas pakka, which, however, only
yielded a revenue of Rs. 2,53,353, or about 6^ annas per bigha, another
indication of the backward state of this pargana, for in His^mpur to its

BAH 203

soutli the revenue assessed by Todar Mai averaged Ks. 1-1-6 per Ibigha.
The system of jagirs was pursued by the Nawab Wazirs of Oudh up to
the time of A'sif-ud-daula, the management of the lands so given being
carried on distinct from that of the revenue-paying estates. In 1713 A.D.
one Nawab Mirza Jahan held no less than 858 villages, and another
grantee 80 villages, out of 2,430 in this pargana, -while, besides these
extravagant assignments, 127 villages were held in ordinary revenue-free
tenure. During the next sixty years other jagirdars held similar grants
amounting to 548 villages, nearly all of which were in the Bahraich par-
gana. In 1775 A. D., however, Shuja-ud-daula died, and his son i^sif-ud-
daula was so pressed by his pecuniary obligations to the British Govern-
ment that the jagirs all came under resumption, save one of 255 villages,
which one of Asif-ud-daula's own ministers took care to secure for himself
On the death of Asif-ud-daula in 1798 this also was resumed, sgid no more
jagirs have since been granted in this district save the Bhingailaqa, which
Saadat Ali Khan made over under treaty to Bahu Begam under the
guarantee of the British Government. This jdgir was held by the lady
till her death in 1815 A. D.

Up to the death of Saadat Ali Khan it had always been the policy of
the Lucknow Government to keep the independent villages that were held
by their occupants immediately under the Crown out of the grasp of the
great taluqdars of the district, but the commencement of the reign of his
successor saw also the beginning of that process of absorption which has
left in the whole of this large pargana out of 621 khalsa villages that
existed in 1816 A. D. only 80 undigested. Since that year the Raja of
Ikauna managed to secure for himself no less than 224 of these villages,
while Piagpur has absorbed 178 and the Tiparaha taluqdar 48.

Prior to 1817 A. D., in each of the five great estates which were com-
prised within the limits of this pargana viz., Ikauna, N^npara, Piagpur,
Charda, and Gangwal, a tahsildar was appointed on the part of Government
to look after its interests and hold the power of these taluqdars in check,
but on the accession of Gh^zi-ud-din Haidar, the reins were loosed, the
tahsildars withdrawn, and the nobles allowed complete control within their
estates. The contract system had lately been adopted, and its effects upon
this pargana and the Bahraich district generally under such men as Hakim
Mehndi (1817-1818 A. D.,) Raja Darshan Singh (1836 and 1838), and
the fiendish Raghubar Singh (1846-1847), are well described in Sleeman's
diary, volume 1, pages 48-122. The pargana has not yet recovered the
devastations of this last mentioned tyrant, and fine groves of mango trees
which break the monotony of extensive plains of grass- mark the sites of
villages which were laid waste at that time. Now that the revised revenue
demand has been fixed the cultivation is advancing with rapid strides, and
it will not be many years before the park-like aspect of the country will
dissolve into that of a vast garden.

BAHRAICH Town* — Pargana Baheaich — Tahsil Bahraich — Dis-
trict Baheaich.— Bahraich (latitude 27° 35' north; longitude 81° 40' eastj
approximately 470 feet above the sea level) is the sadr station of the
frontier district of the same name. It is situated in nearly the centre of

* By H. S. Boys, c. s. Assistant Commissioner,

204 BAH

the district on tlie road from Bahramghat to Naipdlganj, being thirty-six
miles north of Bahramghat, and twenty miles south of JSTanpara. Placed
on the edge of a high bank under which once flowed the river Gogra, it
claims to be the prettiest of all the stations in the province. The ground
undulates in all directions, affording excellent sites for the houses of the
European residents and for the Government offices, while the fresh green
of the tamarinds and date palms which here abound is most grateful to
the eye. The climate assimilates in many respects to that of Bengal, and
is cooler by several degrees than that of the more southern districts. The
average rain-fall for the years 1861 to 1869 was 40 inches.

The name Bahraich has more than one derivation assigned to it.
Brahma is said to have settled a number of holy priests in the Gandharp
Ban, and hence, according to some, the place was called Brahm-aich
"assembly of Brahma" : another and more probable origin of the name lies
in the fact that formerly the whole of the country around was held by
the Bhars. The first historical event connected with the place is the
crusade A. H. 424 of Masaud, son of Salar Sahu (see Bahraich pargana),
who IS buried here. His shrine is one of peculiar sanctity, and is said to
have been erected over a spot formerly sacred to the worship of the sun,
the place having been selected by the martyr for his final resting place,
who said that he would, if it pleased God, through the power of the
spiritual sun, destroy the worship of the material. The shrine is main-
tained by the reputed descendants of some servants of the hero, and is
visited on the first Sunday in Jeth and during the week succeeding by
crowds of pilgrims of the lower order, both Musalmans and Hindus, from
all parts of Upper India. It is estimated that at least 150,000 people
assemble at this fair. The tombs or dargahs of several fellow-martyrs of
Masaud are situated in and around Bahraich, and are more or less the
objects of veneration. The best known of these is that of Rajjab Silar
or Mian Rajjab, the confidential slave of Masaud's father and the kotwal
of the army. The author of the Mira-at-i-Masaudi takes pains to correct
two erroneous reports that were, and, indeed, still are current concerning
this man, some saying that he was sister's son to Masadd, and others that
he M-^as the father of Firoz Shah. The latter idea no doubt has its origin
in the similarity of the names and in the fact that Firoz Shah paid a visit
to Bahraich (see Bahraich pargana.) There exists also here a famous
Muhammadan monastery founded in 1030 F. by one Mir Inayat Shah, a
saint from Mooltan. Another holy man, by name Amir Shah, came in 744
Hijri from Baghdad by way of Lahore and Delhi to take up his residence
at Bahraich, where his shrine, at which miracles are still reputed to be
wrought, is to be seen. Firoz Shah Tughlaq, Emperor of Delhi, who
made a progress through Bahraich in 776 Hijri, is said to have had an
interview with this saint and to have bestowed on him and other good
Musalmans very substantial gifts in the way of muafi and jaglr. Since
the time of Akbar the town has been the administrative centre of
Government in Sarkar Bahraich, which included a portion of the Gonda
district, and the population has always mainly consisted of the idle
followers of the revenue officers for the time being. Asif-ud-daula, who
was fond of the good sport which this .district has always afforded, sojourned
here for a while several times and built the Daulat Kh^na, a handsome

BAH 205

range of buildings now in ruins, for his residence. E^e Amar Singh, who
was nftzim from 1811 A. D. to 1816, also built a very substantial house
for himself, which now serves for a police station and dispensary. As a
commercial town Bahraich never seems to have thriven. The inhabitants
are poverty-stricken in the extreme, and it is with difficulty that the
municipality lately established raises funds to meet its necessary expend-
iture. The trade is almost entirely for local consumption; the total
value of goods paying octroi in 1870-71 being Rs. 3,72,276, of which sum
E,s. 1,65,756 represented grain, Es. 43,919 sugar and gur, Es. 20,172 ghi
Es. 23,839 dried fruits, Es. 27,067 oil, Es. 24,362 spices, dyes, &c.

The through traffic was reckoned at Es. 2,19,594, and consisted princi-
pally of gi-ain, Es. 51,988; sugar and gur, Es. 14,238; ghi Es. 42,524;
oil Es, 76,950; timber Es. 14,414; and tobacco Es. 10,816; neither of the
above returns includes piece goods and copper, in which the local trade is
fairly brisk. Hides also come from the north and pass southward in
considerable quantity. There is a Government zila school, which, with
three branches in various muhallas of the town, numbers 240 scholars
under twelve masters. There are also twelve indigenous schools with 211
scholars, who learn, about half of them Persian, and half of them Nagri
and Kaithi. The American Methodist mission have stationed a native
pastor in the town, who has a school with forty-two boys learning Nagri,
Kaithi, and Urdu. The population with that of the suburb of Bashir-
ganj numbers 20,213, of whom 10,908, or rather more than half, are
Musalmans. There are 4,260 houses, of which 393 are of brick, 43 being
private dwelling-houses, and 350 shops. The police station has a force of
eighteen foot constables and one mounted, with four officers and a deputy
inspector. The Government dispensary has an average daily attendance
of forty-five patients, its annual cost being Es. 1,718. At the sadr dis-
tillery there is an annual out-turn of 55,996 gallons of spirits from twenty-
one stills, yielding a revenue of Es. 28,949.

BAHEAMPUE* — Pargana Hisampur — Tahsil Kurasar — District Bah-
raich.—(Latitude 27° r 33" N., longitude 81° 32' 03" E.), lies on the left
bank of the Gogra, thirty-five miles from Bahraich, on the main road from
that place to Lucknow. The river here is spanned from November till May
by a bridge of boats, but during the rains the waters rise in many years so
high as to flood all the surrounding country on the north bank. Bahram-
pur itself is fast being cut away by the action of the river, which year by
year here changes its course. It is well-known that centuries ago it flowed
immediately under Bahraich, thirty-five miles to the north. The village is
said to take its name from Bahram Khan, one of Sayyad Salar's ofiicers,
who met his death, in the invasion of 425 H., at the hands of the Bhars,
who then held the neighbouring country. The martyr's tomb has only
lately been washed away hy the river. Asif-ud-daula founded a bazar
here, known as Nawabganj, but the trade is but small. The grain bar-
gains are all made at Colonelganj, a village fourteen -miles to the east, and
Bahrdmpur sees but little of either exports or imports except in transit.
The main articles of export from the Bahraich district by this route are

* Mr. H. S. Boys, c. s., Assistant Commissioner,

206 BAH— BAI

grain, timber, skins, ghi, bliang, tobacco, mats, iron, and hill honey. The
imports are mainly cloths and silks, iron and brass utensils, salt and
prepared leather. A large quantity of the exports goes direct by boat to
Simaria Ghat near Patna. The population numbers 1,3-56 souls, of whom
1,204 are Hindus and 152 Musalmans. There are 411 mud houses, two
shiwd,las, and two thdkurdwdras ; three mosques, a school, and a sarae.
The school has forty-five boys. The imperial line of road from Bahraich
to Lucknow passes through this place, and is metalled from Bahramghat
to Lucknow, thirty-nine miles. The terminus of the branch line of rail-
way from Bahramghat to Lucknow is at the southern end of the bridge
of boats.

BAHTA MUJAWIE, — Pargana Bangaematt. — Tahsil Safipur — District
Unao. — This village is 18 miles distant from the tahsil and 35 from the
sadr station Unao, in a north-westerly direction. The unmetaUed road from
Unao to Sitapur through Sandila passes one mile from it. There is no
large town near. The river Sai runs past about one mile distant to the
north.

The date of its foundation is not known, but as it was inhabited by the
Mujawirs (attendants) on the monuments of AUahhaq in B^ngarmau, it is
now called Bahta Mujawir.

It is situated on a plain and has a jungle towards the south, about a
mile or two distant.

Hindus are more numerous, but they and the Muhammadans live amicably

It has a pleasing appearance, good climate, and sweet water.

There are two fairs during the year, one in March, and the other in
August at which nearly 400 people assemble on each occasion, sweetmeats,,
toys, &c., are brought for sale. These fairs last one day each.

There are 247 mud-built houses here, and the population amounts ta
1,209, of whom 1,106 are Hindus, and 103 Moslems.

Latitude 26°55' north.

Longitude 80°20' east.

BAHURA'JMAU — Pargana Harha — Tahsil Unao — District UnAO.— A
village in pargana Harha, fourteen miles south-east of Unao, on the road
from that town to Rae Rareli. The Mahror Kahars mentioned in pargana
Harha obtained the land surrounding the place from Raja Tilok Chand,
and called it after the Bahti Raja or the Raja's wife, who selected the
spot for them. The population is 1,229, of whom 245 are Chhattris,
mostly of this Mahror clan. The place is of little importance.

BAILA BHELA — Pargana Rae Baeeli — Tahsil Rae Baeeli — District
Rae Baeeli. — This town, or rather collection of hamlets, is situated two

BAI— BAK 207

miles to the east of the Bareli and Dalmau road. The country round is
well cultivated and fairly wooded. The population is 4,887, of whom 294
are Chhattris and 260 Brahmans. There is a school at which forty-one
boys learn Urdu. There is a temple to Mahadeo, the principal deity of
the inhabitants. Markets are held twice a week.

BAILGA'ON — Pargann Puewa — Tahsil PuRWA — District Unao. — Is five
miles north-west of the tahsil and sixteen miles south-east of the sadr sta-
tion. The Lon stream runs near the north-east corner. The time of its
foundation is unknown, but it was very long ago. There is the ruin of a
fortress built by Raja Achal Singh, Bais. There is a Nagri school attend-
ed by about thirty-two boys. Two markets weekly. About four or five
thousand people attend. The trade consists in jewellery, in wood and iron,
implements of husbandry, and cloth. Dumat and matiar soil. The site
is uneven ; a tolerable climate and good scenery. Groves of mango trees
and mahua surround it. No jungle, and the water is both fresh and salt
in different wells.

Population —

Hindus^ ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,199

Muliammadans ,., ... ... ... ... ••• 20

Total ... 1,219

Temple

Annual amount of sales ... ... ... ..• Est

BAXSAR — Pargana Daundia Khera — Tahsil Purwa — District TJnao. —
This village in pargana Daundia Khera lies on the Ganges, 32 miles south-
east of Unao ; it was the first seat of the Bais clan, and conquered by Raja
Abhai Chand, who called it after the shrine of Mahddeo Bakeswar. A
great fair is still held here in Kartik, when 100,000 people assemble to
bathe in the Ganges, said to be particularly sacred at the place because it
flows slightly towards the north ; the sales at the fair reach Rs. .5,000. The
population is 1,222, of whom 12 are Musalmans. It was at this spot that
the fugitives from Cawnpore came ashore and took refuge in a temple
where most of them were massacred ; the affair is thus related by Major
De la Fosse : —

" We got down to the river and into the boats without being molested in
the least ■ but no sooner were we in the boats and had laid down our
muskets, and had taken off our coats, to work easier at the boats, than the
cavalry (our escort) gave the order to fire. Two guns that had been hid-
den were run out, and opened upon us immediately, while sepoys came
from all directions and kept up a brisk fire.

" The men jumped out of the boats, and instead of trying to get the boats
loose from their moorings, swam to the first boat they saw loose. Only
three boats got safe over to the opposite side of the river, but were met there
by two field-pieces, guarded by a number of cavalry and infantry. Before
these boats had got a mile down the stream, half our party were either

208 BAL

killed or wounded, and two of our boats had been swamped. We had
now only one boat crowded with wounded, and having on board more than
she could carry. The two guns followed us the whole of the day, the
infantry firing on us the whole of that night,

" On the second day a gun was seen on the Cawnpore side, and opened
on us at Najafgarh, the infantry still following us on both sides. On the
morning of the third day the boat was no longer serviceable. We were
aground on a sand-bank, and had not strength sufficient to move her.
Directly many of us got into the water we were fired upon by thirty or
forty men at a time. There was nothing left but to charge and drive them
away, so fourteen of us were told to go and do what we could. Directly
we got on shore the insurgents retired ; but having followed them up too
far, we were cut off from the river, and had to retire ourselves as we were
being surrounded. We could not make for the river, but had to go down
parallel, and came at the river again a mile lower down, where we saw a
large force of men right in front waiting for us, and another lot on the
other bank, should we attempt to cross the river. On the bank of the
river, just by the force in front was a temple. We fired a volley and made
for the temple, in which we took shelter, one man being killed and one
wounded. From the door of the temple we fired on every insurgent who
showed himself. Finding they could do nothing against us while we re-
mained inside, they heaped wood all around and set it on fire.

" When we could no longer remain inside, on account of the smoke and
heat, we threw off the clothes we had, and each taking a musket, charged
through the fire. Seven of us out of twelve got into the water ; but before
we had gone far two poor fellows were shot. There were only five left
now, and we had to swim, while the insurgents followed us along both
banks wading, and firing as fast as they could. After we had gone about
three miles down the stream, one of our party, an artilleryman, to rest
himself, began swimming on his back, and not knowing in what direction
he was swimming, got on shore, and was killed. When we had gone down
about six miles, firing on both sides ceased ; and soon after we were hailed
by some natives on the Oudh side, who asked us to come on shore, and
said that they would take us to their Raja*, who was friendly to the Eng-
lish. We gave ourselves up, and were taken six miles inland to the R£ja,
who treated us very kindly, giving iis clothes and food.

" We stayed with him for about a month, as he would not let us leave,
saying the roads were unsafe. At last he sent us off on the 29th of July,
to the right bank of the river, to a zamindar of a village, who got us a
hackery."

BALAMAU — Pargana Balamatj — Tahsil SANDfLA — District Hardoi. —
Balamau (2,376). — A rich Kurmi village of 518 mud houses, near the left
bank of the Sai, fourteen miles north-west from Sandila, and three miles
to the west of the Lucknow road, district Hardoi, gives its name to the
Balamau pargana. There is a daily market and a village school averag-
ing forty-four pupils.

The Tilok Chaudi Bais, Eaja of Moramiau.

BAL 209

BALAMAU Pargana* Tahsil Sa-sj){la.,— District Hardoi.— A little par-
gana of fourteen villages, lying in the north-western corner of the Sandila
sub-division, district Hardoi. The Sai flows along its western side,
separating it from parganas Bangar and Mallanw^n; on the north it is bound-
ed by pargana Gopamau, and on the east and south by Sandila. Its
greatest length and breadth are eight and a half and four and a half miles.
It covers twenty-five square miles, of which eighteen are cultivated. The
surface is level except to the west, towards the Sai. The soil is productive
though light. A rich strip of ' tarai' land fringes the river, flooded at times
after late and heavy rains, and generally in-igable from the river until the
end of December. A good deal of jungle has been broken up since
annexation, and little now is left. About a quarter of the cultivated area
is irrigated, partly from weUs, but chiefly from tanks and ponds, of which
there are a hundred and eighty-two, and from the river. Mud wells
can be made almost everywhere. In the light soil towards the river the
cheap little hand wells ( dhenkli ) are chiefly used. These are dug for a
rupee or a rupee and half, and generally have to be renewed each year. To
the east, away from the river, where the soil is more stiff, larger kachcha
weUs are made for six and eight rupees and last for from three to five years.
The staple products are wheat, barley and gram. Beds of the nodular
limestone (kankar) are found in Bara Guman, Katka, and Balamau.
Kachhwaha Chhattris hold eight of the fourteen villages ; Nikumbhs,
two ; Kayaths and Kashmiri Brahmans, one each ; Sukul Brah-
mans, two. Four villages are taluqdari, two zamindari, the rest imperfect
pattidari. The Government demand, excluding cesses, is Rs. 20,408, and
falls at the rate of Rs. 1-12-6 per cultivated acre, Rs. 1-4-11 per acre
of total area, Rs. 11-2-5 per plough, Rs. 2-13-4 per head of the agricul-
tural, and Rs. 1-13-8 per head of the total population. The population is
11,1-59, or 446 to the square mile. Of these, 10,329 are Hindus, and only
830 Muhammadans. A fifth of the Hindus are Cham£rs ; an eighth Brah-
mans ; Barhis and Kurmis each make up a ninth ; Chhattris are only a
fourteenth. Ahirs predominate among the remainder.

Males to females are 5,859 to 5,300 ; agriculturists to non-agriculturists,
7,197 to 3,962. There is a daily market at the pargana town Balamau.
There, too, is the only school, a village one, averaging forty-four pupils.

At Kalauli, two miles east from Balamau, a mela is held in April, attended
by some six thousand persons. The pargana is not mentioned in the
Ain-i-Akbari, but is said to have been formed towards the end of Akbar's
reign. It takes its name from one Balai Kurmi, who flying northwards
from D^dhia Tiriva some three hundred years ago, to escape from the
oppression of the Chandels, found an asylum with the Kachhwahas of
Marhi, through whose lands he passed. Settled by them in the neigh-
bouring forest, he cleared and peopled it, and founded the village of Balai
Khera, now Bdlamau.

At first the pargana contained forty-two villages, but during the present,
century Raja Gobardhan Lai, Faqir Muhammad Khan and Chaudhris

By A. H. Harington, Esq., c. s., Assistant Commissioner.

210 BAL

Mansab Ali and Hashmat Ali, the Chakladars of Mallanwfin, Kachhandan,
Sandila and Malihabad, threw two-thirds of them into pargana Sandila.

Another tradition tells that five hundred years ago, Tiwari Brahmans
held the tract ; that they were expelled by Kachhwdhas, and that years
afterwards Balai Kurmi assisted the Kachhwahas to beat off a Musalman
raid upon Marhi from Roshanpur near Bilgram, and was rewarded by
them with a strip of their jungle.

BALMIAR BARKHA'R — Pargana Muhamdi — Tahsil Muhamdi — District
Kheri. — ^A village in pargana Muhamdi, situate at a distance of about
four miles from the west bank of the Gumti, having a tank towards the
north-west.

In Hindu books it is related to have been the residence of RSja Bairat,
the ruins of whose fort are still seen. There are visible marks of its hav-
ing once been a magnificent city. There is a Hindu temple. Balmiar Bar-
khar and several other villages formed the jagir of -Raja Newal Rae, who
was deputy of Nawab Mansiir Ali Khan of Oudh. The said Rdja trans-
ferred by gift this Balmiar Barkhar to Nirohin, who was ancestor of the
Chaube community, to whom it now belongs, and whose right has been
confirmed by a judicial decree of 25th October 1867 A. D.

The population amounts to 419, of which 409 are Hindus and only 10
Muhammadans. *

BALRAMPTJR Townf — Pargana BalrImpvu-^— Tahsil UTEAULA^-Dis-
trict GoNBA. — Balrampur, the largest town in the Gonda district, is
situated on the north bank of the Suwawan river, and about two miles to
the south of the Rdpti. One kachcha road connects it with Gonda, from
which it is distant twenty- eight miles; and another runs through it from
TJtraula, sixteen miles to the east, to Bahraich, which is forty miles to the
north-west. A removable bridge-of-boats at the Sisia Ghat admits of the
transit of carts across the R£pti from December to the beginning of the
rainy season. The site, a little raised to the north, slopes into swamps
along the Suwawan, and the overflows of that river and the Rapti join
during the rains, covering all but a few high spots, and occasioning great
misery at the time, and some fever when the floods abate.

The population at the last census numbered 14,026, of which 3,402 were
Muhammadans ; and there are 3,035 houses, of which only 25 are of brick.
Of the religious buildings, 37 are dedicated to Mahadeo, 9 to Vishnu, 5 to
Kali, 2 to Mahabir ; and there are 17 mosques, none of any great preten-
sion. About a mile to the north of the town, the Mahdrdja a few years
ago noticed a small brick temple dedicated to Bijleshwari Debi, and re-
marked that, were it not for the sacred banian tree which shaded it, he
would build the goddess a lofty house of stone. On that very night, it is
said, the tree was uprooted by a hurricane, and the Mab^rija is now

• For an account of the antiquities of this place, see article Kheri.
t By W. C. Benett, Esq., c. s., Assistant Commissioner.

BAL 211

erecting on the spot a very handsome stone temple, profusely carved by the
best artists of Benares. Once a week the inhabitants of BaMmpur troop
forth in their best clothes to pay their respects at the place which the
goddess had so palpably singled out for her favour. A school and a police
thSna are the only public buildings. The former was built by the Maha-
rdja, and is largely indebted to his liberal support. One hundred and
forty boys are instructed in English, Persian, Urdu and Hindi, and
the best of them have attained considerable proficiency, reading difficult
English poetry fluently. The principal private building is, of course, the
Maharaja's house, an imposing pile in the Indo-Palladian style of architec-
ture, enclosing a large court, on one side of which are ranged the dwelling-
houses and offices, on the other the stables and out-houses for the accom.-
modation of its master's hundred elephants. A garden, a deer enclosure,
a caged tiger, and a few chained leopards, complete the establishment.
Not far to the west of this is a very fine solid house, built three storeys
high, round a central open space, as in Italian houses. The founder of
this was one Moti Gir Goshdin, a wealthy jewel merchant. His descendants
now live on the ground-floor and out-houses, while the upper story has
been occupied by the Maharaja's lithographic printing press, whence are
issued books in Hindi and Urdu, dealing chiefly with morality, medicine,
religious ceremonial, and the history of the owner and his ancestors. A
collection of Hindi poetry has been published, and a Hindi translation of
the Raj-tarangini and an edition of the chief local ballads are promised.
The old bazar was a little narrow street running down to the Suwawan,
but this has been almost entirely deserted for the new and more commo-
dious shops built in two cross streets of a respectable width by the present
Maharaja. Here are found a few good clothiers who supply the wants of
the Maharaja and his principal dependents, and the usual braziers, grain-
dealers, grocers and druggists, form the population of the town and its
neighbourhood. There is sufficient custom to admit of a daily bazar.
The principal grain merchants of the south of the district find this a
convenient dep6t for the surrounding rice country, and till Sir Jang Baha-
dur adopted his present closely protective commercial policy, numbers of
Naipalese used to flock here to barter the spices and iron of the hills for
cotton clothes, blankets and salt.

There are no manufactures of great importance, but coarse cotton cloth,
coarse blankets and felt, knives, and round clothes' baskets (pitdras) of
cane from the neighbouring banks of the Kuwana, are produced in limited
quantities. A force of twenty-two town policemen preserves order and
indifferent cleanliness. Except two houses of the Shankarach^rj Goshains,
which are common in these parts, there is no peculiar religious sect ; but
this is the only town in Oudh where I have seen the ancient custom of
the Ohaturmasha retirement, recalling the earliest legends of Buddhism,
regularly observed. Hundreds of travelling mendicants collect here for the
rains, and when they again depart oh their pilgrimages receive a small
present of clothes from the Mahdrdja. There are no great fairs, but on the
ninth day of Muharram, about 6,000 Muhammadans collect with flags at a
spot sacred to Kardmat Ali, a local saint. It is singular that they should
have poached on the traditions of Buddhism, and point out a small sakhu

02

212 BAL

tree as the growth of the tooth-brush of the object of their venerations *
The town is comparatively modern, and derives its name from the pargana ;
the original seat of the, Balrdmpur Rajas being the little village of Dhosahi,
contiguous to the west. It has no peculiar history. On the rare occasions
when the whole pargana was kachcha, it was the seat of a Government
tahsildar, and a royal news-writer was maintained to report on the occur-
rences in the Tarai,

BALRAMPTIR Pargana — Tahsil TJtraula — District Gonda. — A large
pargana in the Gonda district. Is bounded to the north by the Tulsipur
pargana, to the west by Bahraich, the south by the Kuwana river, pargana
TJtraula, and the Rapti, and to the east by Tulsipur and the district of
Basti in the North-Westem Provinces. Its total area is 396 square miles,
its greatest breadth twenty-four, and greatest length thirty-three miles. In
shape it is something like a retort, the bulb being to the west, while the
stem runs out between the two Raptis and the parganas of Utraula and
Tulsipur.

It falls naturally into three divisions, one lying between the Rapti and
the Kuwana, in which the soil is generally of a fair dumat, but poorly popu-
lated, and not under careful cultivation. The banks of the Kuwana are
fringed by dense cane brakes, which are haunted by a few leopards, and, it
is asserted, a solitary tiger. These are succeeded by a narrow belt of forest,
consisting generally of small sal trees, and fuU of spotted deer, nil-gae, and
pigs. After this comes a low-lying plain, covered with khar grass, and con-
taining patches of very inferior cultivation, graduating into the more fully
tilled vfllages of the northern half. In the rains the Rapti overflows its
banks and spreads a destructive flood over the low lands as far as the
Suwdwan river, which cuts the division in half, and, an inconsiderable
stream at other times, is then a copious river.

The second division is the duab between the Rapti and the Btirhi
Rapti, a long strip extending across the whole breadth of the district, and
widening towards the Basti frontier. It contains a few good villages, but
generally suffers greatly from the floods of both rivers, which in many
places join during the rains, leaving generally a barren sandy deposit.
Higher at both extremities, the centre of this division is occupied by an
extensive tract of grass waste, which is for months under three to five feet
of water, and can only be reclaimed by the erection of expensive embank-
ments. The land to the north of the Btirhi Rapti is generally of a fine
clay and well cultivated. Its most striking feature is the number of hill
torrents by which it is intersected. Flowing between high cliffs for a few
miles after they leave the jungles of the Tarai, they encounter at the Bal-
rampur frontier a low plain sloping gently to the south, and at their junc-
tion with the Burhi Rapti, run level with surrounding fields. Generally
shallow streams of water, they are subject to sudden flushes at the end of
the hot weather and in the rains, and breaking down huge fragments of the

* Vide Julien's Memoirea sur lea contrfes Ocoidentales, par Hiouen Tsang Vol. I. p. 292.
BndcLha's tooth-brush is said to have sprouted into a tree at Vaisakh, wrongly I think iden-
tified with Ajodhya, by General Cunningham, Archseological Journal Vol. I, S18,— Editor,

t By W. C. Beuett, Esq., c. s. Assistant Commissioner,

BAL 213

cliffs, which confine them to the north, inundate the surrounding country
and deposit far and wide the detritus of the hills. The destruction they
occasion is worst on the low-lying lands bordering the Burhi Rdpti, which
are for miles blinding wastes of white sand. This sand is, however,
occasionally varied by a deposit of rich stiff clay, which in a short time
amply repays cultivation. It follows that the whole surface of this division
of the pargana is being gradually raised, and the low lands which formerly
produced fine rice are being converted into wheat and gram fields ; the
proportion of the spring to the autumn and winter crops is being constantly
changed to the advantage of the former. The rivers have already been
mentioned ; of them, the Kuwdna is a sluggish, steady stream, prevented
by its sloping banks and their thick jungles from doing any damage to the
surrounding lands. The Suwawan has not sufficient volume materially to
alter the character of the country, but the Rapti and Burhi Rdpti are
impetuous torrents, whose low, bare, sandy banks enable them to change
their courses every year with a caprice that defies calculation or prevention.
Whole villages pass from one side to the other in a single rainy season.
There are a few jhils to the south of the Rapti, but hardly any elsewhere,
and now here, except in the Kuw^na jungles and the immediate neighbour-
hood of the capital, is the country well-wooded.

Water is everywhere near the surface, and is struck at an average depth
of not more than ten feet. Small kachcha wells can be made at the
expense of a rupee, and in the stiffer soils will sometimes last for two sea-
sons, but, except for poppy and other garden crops, they are rarely used, as
rain usually falls in the middle or at the end of February, and the excess of
water ruins crops that have been artificially irrigated earlier. For drinking
purposes, square wells lined with planks of wood can be constructed for
Rs. 10, and will last from fifteen to twenty-five years.

The principal agricultural products are winter rice and various kinds of
chik peas, while fair wheat crops are grown all over the pargana, and au-
tumn rice is very common. Lahi, a description of mustard used for making
oil, is largely raised for exportation, and yields a very valuable return to
the minimum of labour. The number of acres under each of these crops

is as follows : —

Winter rice 45,640

Autumn rice „ 23,030

^/*™ - ??'^^^] 35,200

Masiir _ 11,700) '

Wheat 23,730

Lahi 10,U5

The total area under cultivation is 186,000 acres, leaving 66,000 acres, or
about 27 per cent, of the whole, uncultivated. Thirty-three thousand
acres or not quite 18 per cent, of the cultivation, is under two crops. The
tillage is not usually of a high class, and the small proportion of the popu-
lation to the total area, combined with the natural productiveness of the
soil, leads to the practice of roughly breaking up outlying fields with the
spade and sowing them scantily with inferior grains, such as gram and
peas, the cultivator being remunerated by the smallest return. As a na-
tural consequence, rents are almost always in kind, money never being paid
except for the few highly manured fields round the homestead, which are
devoted to poppy or vegetables, or very rarely a poor sugarcane crop.

214 BAL

Much of the ploughing — ^in fact all where the cultivators are Ohhattris
or Brahmans — is done by ploughmen of the peculiar status described at
length in the district article. The superior value of labour in a scanty
population is shown by the fact that, besides other exceptional privileges,
the slave here takes as his share of the produce one maund out of five,
while his less fortunate brother in the crowded southern parganas only
takes one of seven. Common cultivators are enticed and retained by the
provision of materials for their huts, and a small standing loan of about
Rs. 10, and bearing no interest, for the purchase of plough cattle ; both
house and loan are forfeited, if the settler abandons or declines to cultivate
his fields.

It is said that formerly the town of Balrampur was the centre of a con-
siderable trade with Naipal, and that the highlanders used to come down in
large numbers to barter the products of their hills — gold, spices,and horses —
with the rice and cotton cloths of the plains. Any commerce of this kind
which may at one time have existed, has been entirely crushed by the repres-
sive policy of Sir Jang Bahadur of Naipal, who draws a large revenue from
bazar fees, aM consequently endeavours to confine all dealings to his own
markets. The Goshains of Balrampur are reputed to have been great jewel
merchants, or rather smugglers ; and a story which relates how one Moti Gir,
whose fine house is still in existence at Balrampur, on being overtaken by
the soldiers of the Naipal king, discharged into the air two hundred match-
locks full of pearls in order to avoid detection, illustrates at once the
extent and the risk of this form of traffic. At present the chief trade is
through Nawabganj with Bengal, where rice and oil seeds are exchanged
for salt, clothes and coined silver. The local markets of Mathura and
Bakampur are described in separate articles. One unmetaUed road passes
through the pargana and connects Utraula to the east with Bahraich to the
w«st ; another runs from BaMmpur to Gonda. The villages are connected
by rough cart tracks and communication between the northern and southern
banks of the Rapti is kept up by means of large flat-bottomed ferry boats,
and a stationary bridge of boats at Sisia, at the nearest point to the town
of Balrampur.

The population by the settlement returns is 135,586, and by the regu-
lar census taken two years before, 160,237. It is spread over 228 demar-
cated villages, or 992 hamlets, at the moderate density of 368 souls to the
square mile according to the settlement, and by the regular census 405.
The settleinent statistics give the high average of 11 acres to each culti-
vating family, and 8 acres to each plough ; but the prevalence of spade
labour makes the latter average easily intelligible. Of the total census popu-
lation, 140,641 are Hindus and 19,596, or nearly 14 per cent., Muham-
madans. The percentage of males to females among the Hindus is 94-7»
and among the Muhammadans, 92-4. Practically, the whole population is
agricultural; manufactures are wholly wanting, and if a man does not plough
himself, (and there are few families of carpenters, blacksmiths, or banians,
who do not cultivate small tenements in addition to their regular employ-
ments,) he is at any rate immediately engaged in facilitating the ploughing
of others. The census division into agricultural and non-agricultural was
clearly not understood by the men who took the returns, and is of no value;

BAL 215

it may also be remarked that the census was taken here before the revenue
survey, and that, in consequence, all its areas are wrong. For the distribu-
tion of castes I have been obliged to rely on the settlement returns; and if
their numbers are slightly under the mark, they may at any rate be
depended on for tolerably accurate proportions between the different classes
of inhabitants. Of these, by far the most numerous are the Kurmis,
Brahmans, and Ahirs, who head the list with 3,630, 3,190, and 2,961
houses, respectively, or, allowing 4^ to each house, 16,335, 14,355, and 13,325
souls. The Kurmis are, as elsewhere, excellent agriculturists, and belong
almost all to the Gujarati division — another sign of the curious connexion
which exists between this country and the distant Gujarat. The Brahmans
belong to the Sarwaria division, and claim a superiority not conceded to them
by their Kanaujia brethren on the score of abstinence from meat of all
kinds and smoking tobacco, and refusal to touch a plough. There are nearly
1,700 houses of Koris, who are usually bond slaves, and whose families spin
at their homes large quantities of coarse cotton cloth. Chhattris are unusu-
ally scarce, and the returns only give them 400 houses in the whole par-
gana. A few scattered houses of Bhars and Tharus yet remain, but the
mass of the old aboriginal population has been displaced by more careful and
thrifty classes of cultivators, and taken refuge in the fever-guarded fastnesses
of the Tarai jungle. Wandering encampments of people, akin to the great
Gipsy family, are very common — Siarkhawwas — wild smart men, but with
good straight features, who hunt on foot with spears and a fine breed of
dogs, jackals and pigs, and are said not to refrain even from fairly fresh
carrion ; or Qalandars, a tribe which subsist chiefly on begging, breeding
asses and mules, and prostitution, and profess a rude and superstitious form
of Muhammadanism. Some of the wealthiest men in the pargana are the
Shankarach£rj Goshains, of whom a short sketch is given in the district
article. Many of them are large grain merchants, and they almost ^mono-
polize the trade in jewels, spices, unwrought gold, and asafoetida. Their
celibacy and usual practice of only adopting one son as successor prevents
their being very numerous.

The native assessments since 1799 A. D. are preserved in the q^ntingo's
papers, and show with extraordinary distinctness the rapid progress of the
pargana in population and wealth. In the first year, for which records
exist, the Government demand was Es. 48,247, which rose within four
years to Rs. 61,000, and after annual fluctuations fell again in 1816
A. D. to Rs. 30,291. This was followed by a tolerably steady rise, till
in 1833 A. D. the demand was Rs. 1,67,925 ; this fell in 1837 A. D.
to Rs. 89,133, but three years later again rose to Rs. 1,43,920. With
the exception of one year, the revenue remained steadily within a few
thousands of this sum, and at annexation stood at Rs. 1,38,000. The
exceptional year was when Raja Darshan Singh, is said to have collected
Rs. 2,88,823 ; and as he had chased the rdja into Gorakhpur, and made
a practice of transferring to his own treasury not only the whole rents,
but, as far as he could, the whole agricultural stock of every district
which was fortunate to own him as nd.zim, it is possible that the account
is correct. At annexation the Raja submitted his village accounts, and
the Government demand was fixed at Rs. 1,34,035. In the winter of
1871-72 A. D. the pargana was again assessed, and the Government

216 BAL

demand fixed at Es. 2,37,090, giving a revenue rate per acre of Ks. 0-15-2
on the whole area, and Rs. 1-3-2 on cultivation, and Ks. 1-4-10 per head
of pppulation. The rates on ordinary villages were very much higher, and
ranged from Rs. 1-6-0 to Rs. 2-3-0 per acre, but the average was reduced
by the large sandy or marshy tracts which were entered as cultivation,
though the sowings were in the one case with the object rather of reclam-
ation than of immediate profit, and in the other case only of the half wild
pea which is used for fodder, and not divided with the ordinary grain
crops. Attention was also paid to the fact that, in a country of grain rents,
the out-turn of rent is much more variable and^dependent on the seasons
than where money rents are in use. As a reward for his loyal and distin-
guished services in the mutiny, the Maharaja has been allowed a deduction
of 10 per cent, on this assessment, which has also been fixed for perpe-
tuity. The receipts of Government are further reduced by Rs. 20,235 of
revenue remissions, the greater part of which are for the life of the present
Maharaja. With the exception of a few very small independent holdings,
not amounting to ^ per cent, of the area, the whole pargana is the sole
property of the Maharaja. The sub-proprietary right cases have not yet
been all decided, but the majority of claims have been dismissed, and it is
not likely that such rights will be decreed in more than a very few villages.

For many centuries previous to the first Muhammadan invasion, this
must have been a densely populated district, as it was the centre in turns
of powerful Buddhist, Brahmanical, and Jain kingdoms ; but all that is
known of its earlier history is connected with the ancient town of Sahet
Mahet, and has been recounted at length in that article, so it need not be
repeated here. On the destruction of the last local dynasty by the Rathors
of Kanauj, about 1072 A. D., we find one of those phenomena so common
in Indian history, and so diflScult to realize. The remnants of the defeated
ruling clan migrate in a body to the hills, the once populous villages become
waste, and the fertile fields of wheat and rice give place to a dense jungle
of sal and mahua ; fever and dysentery complete the work : and three
centuries afterwards, when the curtain of history is again lifted, the new
settlers find a trackless forest, broken here and there by rare clearances of
aboriginal tribes, Bhars and Tharus, fever-proof by constitution, earning
a precarious livelihood by the chase and rude tilth, and owing a distant
allegiance to the Dom kingdom of Gorakhpur. The new comers were the
Janwars who assert that they were originally Chauhans of the Narbada
valley, and who arrived in this district towards the middle of the fourteenth
century. A curious tradition relates that as one of the earliest of their
Rajas was hunting, he saw a wolf pick up a child and carry it to his den.
The Raja pursued it, and after having followed up the winding passages
of the cavern for some time, came suddenly upon an open space, where he
saw a venerable faqir sitting with the boy on his knees. He recognized
at once that the wolf was nothing less than a jogi, who had assumed that
form, and prostrated himself in silent reverence. In return for his religious
conduct, the holy man blessed him and his offspring, that for all time to
come no wolf should prey on a Janwar's child, and the blessing is said to
exist in full efficacy to the present day. The first six of the Janwar
chiefs ruled in undivided power at Ikauna, and their history belongs to that
pargana. No separate pargana of Balrampur then existed, but the whole

BAL 217

was included even as late as the Ain-i-Akbari In the vast sub-montane
division of Rdmgarh Gauri, which embraced in the two tappas of Tulsipur
and Daman-i-koh the future raj of Tulsipur. In the seventh generation
from the original invader, Madho Singh, Janwar, separated from his brother
Ganesh Singh, the Ikauna Raja, and reduced a tribe of Barhis (carpenters),
who held, under the leadership of one Khemu Barhi, the tappas of Ch^wal
Khata and Paydlpur between the Rapti and the Kuwana.

His son, Balram Das, early in the reign of Jahangir, founded the present
town of Balrampur, and re-named the pargana. This appears to have
been here, as elewhere in Oudh, a period of active development of power
with the Chhattri tribes ; and Balram Das, assisted by his cousin. Raja
Lachhmi Narain Singh of Ikauna, reduced in succession the small chief-
tainships of Mathura and Itror to the north of the Rapti, which now form
the western and eastern halves of the raj on that side of the xiver. Who
the defeated lords were, there are now no means of ascertaining ; but
tradition asserts that they were Janw^rs of the same family as their con-
querors, and gives them, according to the conventional computation in
use here, each a chieftainship of seven hos in extent.

The Balrampur raj had at this time attained its greatest extension ; to
the west the boundary between it and Ikauna passed, as it does now, nearly
due north and south the ruins of Sahet Mahet ; to the north the Tulsipur
pargana was a vast unnamed forest, whose scanty settlements of Kurmis
had not yet been subjugated by the Chauhans of Naipal, and who, by
admitting the zamindari of the Balrampur Raja, laid the foundation of
a dispute, which was not settled till both parganas were again united
under one chieftain after the mutiny. The eastern boundary was then,
as it always has been since, contested with the Pathana of Utraula, but
probably differed but little from the one now laid down ; while the forest
tract between the Kuwana and the Bisuhi to the south had not been wrested
from the Janwars by the superior power of the Bisens. The next war was
in the latter half of the seventeenth century, when the Pathans of Utraul%
under their able leader Pahar Khan, harried the country as far as Ikauna,
This probably happened during the chieftainship of Pran Chandar, who was;
the grandson of Balram Das, and contemporary with the weak reign of Raja
Chhatars^l Singh of Ikauna. The next fifty years are not distinguished by
any events of importance, and there is nothing worth recording till the
development and consolidation of the great power of the Bisens made
themselves felt by their northern neighbours. The Gonda raj was finally
and definitely extended over the tract between the Bisuhi and the Kuwana,
while a Bisen was put in possession of the old JanwSr lordship of Bhinga,
The superior power of Raja Datt Singh, Bisen, seems to have prevented any
serious resistance to his encroachments, and the southern and north-western
boundaries of BaMmpur have not been altered since. The Janwar Rajas,
Chhatar Singh and Narain Singh, resisted in two pitched battles, but
without success, the first lieutenants of the dynasty who commenced with
Sa^dat Khan, and set an example of resistance to the exactions of the
Lucknow court which was followed by aU their descendants till annexation.
In 1777 A. D., Raja Newal Singh ascended the gaddi of Balrampur, and
is remembered as one of the most famous warriors of bis race, Oftea

218 BAL

defeated but never subdued, he engaged the royal nazims in twenty-two
pitched battles, and succeeded in keeping the revenue paid for his pargana at
a pitch which made it little more than a tribute. He was visited in 1795
A. D. by another Raja Newal Singh, a Chauhan chieftain, who had been
driven out of an extensive principality in the lower Himalayan valleys by
the King of Naipal. He sought and obtained the friendship of his Janwar
namesake, and possessed himself, apparently without resistance, of the
eight forest tappas which now make the Tulsipur pargana. The pride
of the old Janwar chief was respected, and his ancient zamindari claims
acknowledged by the promise of a small annual tribute. Of Newal Singh's
two sons, the eldest, Bahddur Singh, spent the whole of his short life in
fighting, first, the Tulsipur Eaja, Dalel Singh, who, on succeeding to the
chieftainship, promptly repudiated the engagements made by his father, and
next with the Nazim Ahmad Ali Khan by whom he was defeated and slain.
The second son, Arjun Singh, became Raja on the death of his father Ne-
wal Singh, after a long reign of forty years, in 1817 A. D., and died in 1830
A. D., after having signalized himself in two fights with his Bhinga
neighbour. He was succeeded by Raja Jai Narain Singh, who died young
and without ofifspring in 1836, and was succeeded in his turn by his bro-
ther) the present Mah^rdja Sir Digbijai Singh, K. c. s. i., then a boy of
eighteen. The new Raja inaugurated his reign by an attack on the Utraula
Raja, Muhammad Khan, and in a sudden foray defeated the Pathdns, burnt
Utraula, and carried off as trophies the Korans of his rival. He next sent
a message to the powerful Raja of Tulsipur, demanding the zamindari dues
which had been so often claimed by his ancestors. The demand was of
course taken as an insult, and furnished the pretext for an irregular war-
fare which lasted for some time without any decisive results. The turbu-
lent and aggressive spirit of the young Raja combined against him all the
old enemies of his family, and he found it advisable to take refuge for a
time with the Raja of B^nsi. On his way there, he and his seven follow-
ers were waylaid by Nal Singh, an old agent of his own, who had lately
taken service with the Raja of Utraula, and escaped with difficulty the
greatly superior force of the Pathans, losing one of his retainers. His
return to Balrampur was followed by a few years of peace broken only by
an unimportant engagement with Shankar Sahae Pathak, the celebrated
niizim. Two years later, the terrible Rdja Darshan Singh was appointed
to the Gonda-Bahraich division, and at once proceeded to loot and bum
the town of Balrampur. Its Raja fled to Gorakhpur, and in the next year
attempted to return to his people by the lower range of the Naipal hills.
Darshan Singh received intelligence, and at once by an extraordinary forced
march crossed the frontier an,d surprised the Raja's encampment, who barely
escaped with his life. The punishment of Darshan Singh for this daring
violation of the territory of a friendly power is a matter of Oudh history.
On the removal of the dreaded nSzim, the Raja came down from Naipdl
and resumed the engagement for his entire rdj, which he held uninterrup-
tedly till annexation. The unnatural war between the Raja of Tulsipur
and his son enabled him again to advance in arms his zamindari claim,
and the dispute was compromised on the part of his enemy by the pay-
ment of a small sum in money and the revenue-free grant of a cluster of
villages under the Tulsipur forests. In the principal of these, Bankatua,

BAN 219

he built a small fort, and now has a large and comfortable shooting-box.
The last four or five years before annexation were employed in inces-
sant frontier disputes with the Raja of Utraula, which completely desolat-
ed the country for miles on either side of the doubtful line. When the
mutiny broke out, he alone of all the chieftains of the division never wav-
ered in his allegiance to the British power. The commissioner and district
officers were then at Secrora, the civil station of Colonelganj, and the Raja
sent a powerful escort to protect them from the mutinous soldiery. On their
arrival at Balrampur he removed them at first to his strong fort of Pathan-
kot between the two Rdptis, and finally sent them on with a sufficient
guard to Gorakhpur. This loyal behaviour exposed him to the hostility
of the rebel Government and a farman was issued from Lucknow dividing
his dominions between his old enemies of Utraula, Tulsipur, and Ikauna.
At the same time the rebel nazim was directed to burn down Balrampur
and carry out the partition. He marched into the pargana, but though
the hostile forces remained in opposite encampments for a few days, neither
of them cared to attack the other, and the Government officer was soon
called away by more pressing necessities. In the trans-Gogra campaign
which concluded the mutiny, the Begam, Raja Debi Bakhsh Singh of
Gonda, the Nazim of Gorakhpur, and the Marahta leaders, had all con-
centrated their broken forces at the foot of the hills. Rdja Digbijai Singh
joined the advancing British force, and remained with it till the remnants
of the rebel army were finally driven into Naipal. For his distinguished
loyalty he was granted the whole of the confiscated pargana of Tulsipur,
besides large estates in Bahraich ; 10 per cent, of the Government revenue
on his ancestral estates was remitted, and it was promised that the first
regular settlement of his estates should be perpetual. He was also honoured
with the title of Maharaja and the Knight Gommandership of the Star of
India. The last fifteen years have been marked by that peaceful progress
in wealth and population which leaves nothing for the annalist to record.

BANGAR Pargana^ — Tahsil Hardoi — District Hardoi. — ParganaBangar
lies high and level along the right bank of the little river Sai in the
heart of the Hardoi district, midway between the Ganges and the Gumti.
Along the greater part of its eastern side the Sai separates it from
parganas Gopamau and Balamau : Bawan bounds it on the north : Sandi
and Bilgram on the west ; Mallanwan on the south.

Populous, well-wooded and watered, and fairly tilled, its 96 villages cover
an area of 143 square miles, of which 85 are cultivated. Its greatest
length and breadth are twenty and fourteen miles. Rivers and streams it
has none except the Sai, here called Bhainsta ; but a wealth of jhlls
and ponds (1,252 ) spreads over it, and a host of wells (2,736) attests the
copiousness of the water-supply. Thirteen per cent, of the total area is
returned as barren, 58 per cent, is cultivated, and 29 per cent, culturable.
Of the cultivated area a third is irrigated : tank irrigation is somewhat in
excess of that from wells. Some parts of the villages along the Sai are
irrigated from it. A third of the soil is third class ( bhtir ) but except
towards the Sai on the east, where, as in the neighbourhood of all rivers,
it is Hght, uneven, and sandy, the bhur is generally of fair quality and

• By A. H. Harington, Esq., c. s., Assistant Commissioner,

220 BAN

irrigable. The depth at which water is found ranges from 15 to 26 feet,
except near jhils, where, from percolation, it is exceptionally near the sur-
face. The wells most in use are little hand ones, worked with two earthen
pots and a string over a revolving pulley (charkhi), and dug at a cost of
from one to three rupees. They water from 5 to 10 kachcha biswas daily,
or from -Vth to |th of an acre. At Tas Khera, near the Baita jhil, they are
dug for six annas. The large leathern bucket (pur) wells worked by bullocks
were found at survey in only two, and lever wells (dhenkli) in only four
villages.

The wells fall in for the most part and have to be renewed every year ;
in about a fourth of the villages they last for two years, and in a few
places as long as five years. Much of the jungle has been cleared since
annexation, but a good deal still remains and almost every village keeps up
its patch for grazing and firewood. The pargana is crossed by four un-
metaUed roads. Three of these diverge from Hardoi, the head-quarters of the
district, at the northern apex of the pargana, towards Sandi, Bilgram and
Sandila, passing respectively along the north-western edge, down the west
centre, and along the eastern edge and the south-eastern corner is crossed
by the new road from Sitapur vid Misrikh and Nimkhar to Madhoganj and
Mehndigh^t on the Ganges near Kanauj. This road it is intended to metal.

The Oudh and Eohilkhand Railway, too, from Lucknow to Shdhjahanpur,
runs roughly parallel to the Hardoi and Sandila road within a mile of
the eastern border. But the centre of the pargana, a triangle with its apex
at Hardoi, and its base twelve miles south and as many in length, is without
any made roads, — a want that helps to keep rents low and cultivation back-
ward. The staple products are the cereals — barley, b4jra, wheat, arhar, and
gram. At survey these occupied nearly four-fifths of the cultivated area —
barley and bajra alone amounting to nearly half of the whole produce ;
mash, judr, rice, country cotton, and moth, made up nearly another fifth ;
sugarcane was returned for only 776 acres ; and garden vegetables, opium,
tobacco and indigo, for only 400 acres. After making due allowance for
suppression of assets, these figures point clearly to a backward state of culti-
vation. There are a few beds of kankar, but no stone quarries. Saltpetre
might be manufactured. The climate of the tract is good, especially to
the north, towards Hardoi. The ninety-six villages are grouped into fifty
muhals. Thirteen villages are taluqdari, thirty-eight zamindari, forty-four
pattidari, and one bhayyachara. The Chamar Gaurs predominate among
the proprietors with forty-four and a half out of ninety-six villages. The
Gahilwars and Dhakaras each hold nineteen in the north-west and south-
east of the pargana ; Kayaths own ten, Sayyads two, and Brahmans and
Ahirs one each. The Government demand is Rs. 85,990, excluding cesses —
a rise of 68 per cent, on the summary assessment. It has been collected
since November 1866. The pargana contains 54,494 inhabitants, or 381
to the square mile. Hindus to Muhammadans are 52,337 to 2,157; males
to females, 30,467 to 24,027 ; agriculturists to non-agriculturists, 38,884
to 15,660. Chamdrs, Basis, Ahirs, and Gaurias, constitute nearly half of the
population ; Brahmans and Rajputs rather more than a sixth. There are
3,061 Muraos and 1,796 Vaishyas. There are no fairs of any size or im-
portance. At Harjioi there is an Anglo- Vernacular zila school averaging

BAN 221

109 pupils ; a branch (44) in the town, and another in Maholia, a neigh-
bouring village (20).

There are village schools at Turtipur (37) and Khajurahra (37). There
are no female schools. Markets are held at Hardeoganj in Hardoi, and at
Pakohra on Sundays and Wednesdays, and at Sathji in Khajurahra on
Thursdays and Mondays.

History. — The early history of the Bangar closely resembles that of
pargana Bawan. The name is used here, as in the North-Western
Provinces, to denote high-lying lands out of the -reach of river action, as
distinguished from the low-lying ' Kachh' or ' Khadir' tracts.

Here, as in pargana Bawan, the earliest historical event known to local
memory is the passage of Sayyad Salar's army in 423 Hijri (1032 A. D.).
In mauza Isauli is to be seen to this day the grave of one of the martyrs
(Shahid Mard). The expedition in which he feU may, probably, have been
that led by Sayyad Aziz-ud-din, the Lai Pir, from Satrikh, against Gopamau,
mentioned in Chapter III of the Mira-at-i-Masatidi. The date assigned by
the author of this work to Sayyad Salar's invasion is of very doubtful
accuracy. Of greater interest and importance are the traditional accounts
of the coming of the Eajput clans, and the expulsion of the Thatheras.

The earliest Rajput immigrants seem to have been the Gaurs. The
favorite account current at Khajurahra, the central village of the Gaur
taluqa of (the late) Dal Singh, runs thus : — Of old, Khajurahra was held
by the Thatheras. Eleven hundred years ago, our ancestor, Thakur Raghu-
n£th Singh of Ndrkanjari, near Indor, served under the Raja of Kanauj,
and in reward for gallant service was made Amil of Bangar. Bihar was
chosen by him for his residence, and thence he used to send the tribute
collected by him to Kanauj. Once he had to go on special business to
Kanauj to see the Raja.

While he was away, a son was born to him, of whom the astrologers fore-
told that his star was fortunate and that he would become king of the land.
The Thatheras were then lords of this country, and they, fearful of the
future, caused the astrologers to spread it abroad that if the babe's father
should set eyes on him, he would surely die. Thus they did ; and the
child's mother, to avert her husband's doom, buried her little one alive.
But when Raghundth Singh returned and heard what had happened, he
hastened and dug out his child. And lo, it was still living, but one of its
eyes was blind, and they named him Ganga Singh Kdna, or one-eyed,
and he grew up brave and wise ; and when Raghund.th Singh died, one-
eyed Ganga was appointed in his stead. In those days the Thatheras had
waxed rebellious and refused tribute. So one-eyed Ganga sought aid from
Kanauj and brought an army from thence, and fought and slew the rebel
Thatheras and crushed the revolt, and such as he did not put to the sword
he drove out from their homes to be wanderers over the face of the land.
And the Raja was glad, and bestowed upon him all the realm of the
Thatheras for his own. Now Ganga Singh had two sons, Jaskaran and
Amda, and they divided the inheritance between them. Jaskaran took
what are now Baragdon and Maholia Rawat, Hardoi, Kasr^wan, Bhitauli,
Sarayyan, Mawayya, and Amdaha ; and Amda Singh took Khajurahra, and

222 BAN

Nir, and Isauli, and Dhir Maholia, and Behta Chand, and Keoli, and
Naiagaon.

Another account runs in this wise : —

In the Treta Yug, the Gaurs were of the Siirajbans stock. Eight
hundred years ago, in the time of Raja Jai Chand of Kanauj, Kisar Baha-
dur Singh came from Narkanjari to bathe at Nimsar. Before this time
the Thatheras had held the Bangar, but now the land was well nigh waste
and desolate : and Klsar Bahadur sought and got it as a gift from his king
and took possession of Bangar and Bilgrdm ; but afterwards the Muham-
madans drove out the Gaurs, but not altogether.

The Gaurs of Turtipur thus relate the story of their settlement : —

" About 700 years ago, our ancestor Bhat Deo came from Ndr Nol, near
Delhi, and, under the protection of the Raja of Kanauj, settled at Ndr-
kanjari, about twenty-two kos to the south-east of Kanauj, and there he
lived for many years ; and when his descendants had become great i^i num-
ber, one of them crossed the Ganges and took up his abode here, and named
the place Bhat Deo, in honour of the founder of his house (now a deserted
site at BihSr, with an ancient masonry well and bargad tree), and his
descendants multiplied and spread themselves around on every side;
and one of them founded Bihar, and one, from whom we are sprung,
founded Maholia. And from Maholia, Rdja Sale Singh moved to Hardoi,
and from Hardoi, Hdthi Singh and Hazari Singh cleared away the forest on
all sides, and founded Turtipur on a deserted village site of the Thatheras,
known as Deb Turtipur, and kept up its ancient name ; and from that
time till this the Gaurs held it."

In Hardoi itself they tell a somewhat different tale, — " About 700 years
ago. Sale Singh, Ghanidr Gaur, came from Narkanjari, near Indor, with
the army of Alha and Udal and drove out the Thatheras, who then reigned
here and seized their lands. And Sale Singh had two sons, Anang Singh
and Narain Singh, and the first of these had two and the other three sons,
and the five cousins divided the Hardoi lands among them. To the two
sons of Anang Singh was given Thok Uncha, and to the three sons of
Narain Singh, Thok Ran Mai and Thok Chauhdn and Thok Alu, and
from that time till now we Gaurs have always held the three Thoks."

" The parent village of the Dhakaras is Bfkapur. Some of them claim
to have come hither direct from Dharwar, others from Mainpuri. Thus the
Dhakaras of Ajramau, Udru, and Khajuri, say : —

" Long, long ago, our ancestor Bhtiran Singh came from Dharwdr in the
west and slew and drove out the Thatheras and seized their fort at Kordra,
which lies between Ajramau and Bikapur, and his descendants spread on
each side, to Bikapur and to Banapur, and Munna Singh and Subha Singh,
from whom we are sprung, left Banapur and settled at Ajramau sixty
years ago."

But others of the clan say : " Our ancestor was the Raja of Mainpuri a
thousand years ago. Thence he with an army to bathe in the sacred
waters of Nimkhar-Misrikh. The Thatheras then ruled in this land and

ba'N

223

our Rdja saw that it was good, smote the Thatheras in their stronghold
of Korara and crushed them utterly and seized their lands for himself.
The parent village of the Gahilwars is Gaura. Seven hundred years ago,
say they, our ancestors Damar Singh and Mohan Singh went out from
holy Kdshi (Benares) in quest of service, and found it under Raja Jai
Chand of Kanauj, and settled at Singhirampur (near Kanauj) ; and after
a time, to reward their good service, he bestowed upon them twenty-four
villages on this side of the Ganges, and they drove out the Thatheras and
settled down in Gaura (Gaura Khera is one of the dihs, or deserted village
sites of the Bangar), and each of them took twelve of the villages. Damar
Singh took Sara and the villages that pertain to it, and Mohan Singh
took Bhadaicha and the villages that pertain to it, and their descendants
grew and multiplied."

Mohan Singh.
MIn Singh.

The Gahilwar pedigree does not support the tradition. It gives only

eight generations, or two hundred years
since the time of Mohan Singh's immi-
gration. The Ain-i-Akbari makes no
mention of pargana Bangar. It was
not constituted, in fact, till 1215 F (1807
A. D.). Up to that time it was included
in pargana Bilgram. Inthatyearpargana
Bilgram was diAdded into Kachh and
Bangar, or low lands and high lands.
The division had been decided on six
years before, in 1209 F., when R^ja
SitalparshM Tirbedi was n£zim of
Bilgram, but it was not effected tUl
1215 F., when Mirza Agha Jdn became
chakladar under Hakim Mehndi Ali
Khan. At this time, too, both parganas were transferred to the nizamat of
Khairabad. Up to that time they had been included in Sarkar Lucknow.

The condition of the Bangar during the later days of the native govern-
ment of Oudh has been graphically described by General Sleeman. When
he visited it twenty-three years ago, the term covered a far wider area
than that comprised in pargana Bangar only. His description will be
found under the heading Gopamau, to which it more appropriately belongs.

Nirpat Singh,
Jai Singh.

Mardau Singh.
Gunai Singh.

Bhupat Singh.

Naina Singh.

Hanwant Singh
(now alive).

Bhiman Singh.

Bhlkham Singh.

Nar^in Singh.

Sewa Singh.

Khushal Singh,
(now alive).

BANGARMAU Pargana — Tahsil Safipub — District Unao. — This large
pargana lies at the north-west comer of the Unao district, bounded
on the north by the parganas of Mallanwan and Kachhandan, in the
Hardoi district ; on the west by the Ganges ; on the south by Fatehpur.

It is nineteen miles long and fourteen miles broad ; the area is 173
square mUes, or 112,377 acres, of which 65,833 are cultivated, 26,104 are
arable, and the rest is barren. The population is 89,419, or 518 to the
square mile. The soil is chiefly loam and clay ; water in the wells to the
west and south of the pargana is to be found at 15 feet from the surface,
but this is in the tarai of the Ganges. To the north and east the wells are
48 feet deep.

224 BAN

Fever is prevalent in the low land. The land is held under the different

tenures, as foUows : —

Acres.

Taluqdari

... 25,600

Pukhtadari

... 1,986

Zamindari

... 5.3,741

Bhayyachara ... ...

... 1,865

Pattidari

... 28,776

GoverDment

408

The land revenue is Es. 1,37,140 or Rs. 1-2 per acre. There is no jungle,
but nil-gae and black buck are to be found on the high lands, and wild pigs
abound near the river. There are seven bazars in the pargana, and near the
Ganges two small fairs are held, but they are of no interest or importance.

The earliest Muhammadan settlement in the Unao District was founded
at Bangarmau, about the year 1300 A. D. At that time the town of
Newal, close to Bangarmau, was occupied by a Hindu Raja, named Nal,
regarding whose history or caste tradition is silent. The Muhammadans
after conquering Kanauj had settled there in large numbers, and from it a
saintly man, named Sayyad AUa-ud-din came to Bangarmau, wishing to
remain quietly in the neighbourhood of the city. Raja Nal would not
permit this, and sent men to turn him out, on which the saint 'cursed him,
so that he and aU his people perished ; and by the power of the curse the
town was turned upside down, and remains so to this day. The ruins of
it are still to be seen stretching to a considerable extent along the banks
of the Pachnei nadi, and the present village of Newal is built on the
mound. Whenever the plough or the spade turns up relics of the ancient
town, such as iron tools or stone vessels of domestic use, they are all found
to be lying topsy-turvy in the ground. After this Sayyad Alld.-ud-din
founded the city of Bangarmau, and when he died he was buried there, and
they buUt a shrine over his grave, the inscription engraved on which
gives the date 702 A. H., or 1302 A. D. His descendants are still guard-
ians of the shrine, which formerly was rich and famous, but now is decayed
in popular esteem, and has been deprived of the revenues with which a
more pious age had endowed it.

Newal was occupied by one of his disciples, whose descendants still
inhabit it, but Bangarmau never became a thoroughly Muhammadan town.
Several families of all classes of Muhammadans, Sayyads, Shekhs, and
Pathans, live in it, but not in any large numbers, and they are almost aU
families of men who have been induced to settle there by grants they have
received from Government.

BANGARMAU — Pargana Bangaematt — Tahsil SAFiPtrR — District UnAO.
— The town in the pargana of same name and tahsil of Safipur lies thirty-
one miles from Unao on the north-west near the river Kalyani, and the
road from Unao to Hardoi. The land lies high, and the soil is sandy. The
population is 7,619, of whom Muhammadans amount to 3,046 ; Brahmans
are 714, and only one Chhattri. There are no fewer than sixteen mosques ;
only one temple ; 781 masonry houses, nearly half of the entire number.
There is a school with 60 pupils, of whom only 11 are Musalmans. There
are markets every Sunday and Wednesday. The water in some of the weUs
is very brackish, but the place is healthy. The history of the ancient town
is given under Pargana Bangarmau.

BAN— BAR 225

BANSA* — Pargana MALLANWi:N — Tahsil Bilgr^m — District Haedoi,
2,116 inhabitants. — A fine thriving village of Kanaujia Kurmis, six miles
north-east from MaMnwan, in the Mallanwdn pargana, district Hardoi :
518 mudhouses: a village school, averaging thirty-eight pupils. Bansa
has been held by Kanaujia Kurmis for more than seven centuries. Their
ancestor, Basu, for loyal service to the Hindu Raja of Kanauj in expelling
the rebellious Thatheras at some uncertain period before the fall of Kanauj,
was rewarded with a grant of land and founded B^nsa upon it.

BANSURA — Pargana Sadkpvr— Tahsil Bari— District Sitapxje. — Is nine
miles south-east across country from Sadrpur Kh^s, and thirty-nine miles
from Sitapur. No high road runs through or near it, but good water
communication is afforded by the Chauka, on the right bank of which
river it is situated. Five miles to the east, and across the river, lies Rdm-
pur Mathura. The population numbers 2,822, residing in 253 kachcha
houses. There is not a pakka house in the town. The Government build-
ings are an opium godown and a school, which is attended by fifty-one
scholars. At the bazar, which is held thrice a week, the annual yearly value
of the sales is Rs. 4,500. The place is not notable in any way ; it is the
property of the Mahmudabad taluqdar.

BANTHAJR, — Pargana Haeha — Tahsil TJnao — District Unao. — The town
lies on the road from Purwa to Cawnpore, in pargana Harha, five miles
south of Unao. Thakur Kesri Singh Gaur, the leader of his clan, lived
here formerly ; vide pargana Harha. The soil is sandy ; the village is
surrounded with numerous mango groves ; it is healthy, although the water
is brackish. Gaddis are said to have lived here formerly in the forest ; they
were all slaughtered, and this town was founded by Garabdeo Gaur, who
called it from the ban or forest which he found on its site. A vernacular
school, with twenty-seven pupils, five temples to Mah^deo and one to Debi
are the institutions of the place. The population is 2,807, of whom fifty are
Musalmans and 780 are Brahmans. A few of the houses are masonry.

BARA — Pargana Bhagwantnagae — Tahsil VvnyfA—District Unao. —
Is sixteen miles south of tahsil and twenty-four miles east, of Unao. An
unmetalled road passes through this village to Baksar. The Ganges flows
five miles to the south. No large town near : it was founded by Raja
Pann's brother. Raja Bara of the Bhar tribe, some two thousand years ago ;
takes its name from the founder. Some fresh and some brackish water
here. There is an indigo manufactory.

Goldsmiths and carpenters work here.

Distribution of population.

Hindus. Musalmans Total.

Brahmans ... ... 485 55 1,738

Chattris
Kayatha
Fasis
Aliirs
Other castes

139

26 There are 177 mud built houses, and
55 two temples dedicated to Debi.
0

948

Total ... 1,683

Latitude 26° 21' north; longitude 80° 46' east.

* By Mr. A. H. Harington, c. s., Assistant Commissioner.

226 BAR

BARA BANKI DISTRICT ARTICLE.

ABSTEACT OF CHAPTERS.

I. Nat UEAL FEATURES. II. — Ageicultuee. III. — Administration.

IV. — HiSTOET.

CHAPTER I.

NATURAL FEATURES.

Situation of the district, natural features, general aspect, change of head-quarters from
Daryabad to Bara Banki — Table showing the area and population — Table showing details
of land revenue, number of villages and division of proprietary tenures — Statement
showing to what castes the villages were decreed at the regular settlement — Elvers —
The Gogra— The Gumti — The Kalyani — The Jamuriha and Eeth — The means of com-
munication afforded — Drainage — Eoads — The railway — The unmetaUed roads, tanks,
and jhfls — ^WeUs — Groves— Climate— EainfaU — ^Wild animals — Flora.

Physical features and geography. — The Bara Banki district, a component
of the Lucknow division, lies at the very heart of Oudh, and forms as it
were a centre from which no less than seven other districts radiate. It is
situated hetween 27° 19' and 26° 30' north latitude, and 80° 81' east
longitude ; it runs in a soxith-easterly direction, confined by the nearly
parallel streams of the Gogra and Gumti. With its most northern point
it impinges on the Sitapur district, while its north-eastern boundary is
washed by the waters of the Gogra, beyond which lie the districts of
Bahraich and Gonda. Its eastern frontier marches with Fyzabad, and the
Gumti forms a natural boundary to the south, dividing it from the district
of Sultanpur. On the west it adjoins the district of Lucknow. The ex-
treme length of the district from east to west may be taken at fifty-seven
miles, and the extreme breadth at fifty-eight ; the total area is about one
thousand seven hundred and sixty- nine square miles : its population amounts
to 1,102,165, being at the rate of 630 to the square mile.

General aspect. — To the eye of the traveller accustomed to hiU scenery,
the fair level district presents a tame appearance ; it is for the most part
flat to monotony, there is an utter absence of mountains ; the most elevated
point is about four hundred and thirty feet above the sea ; and there are few
points of view from which any expanse of country can be surveyed. The
verdure and beauty of the groves with which it is studded in every direc-
tion redeem the prospect from bare ugliness, and when the spring crops are
green and the jhils yet fuU of water, the richness of the landscape is very
strikiag. Here and there patches of uncultivated waste are to be seen,
but a high assessment and security of tenure are rapidly converting them
into waving fields of com. Towards the north, especially along the old
bank of the Gogra, the ground is undulating and richly wooded, while to
the south there is a gentle slope down to the Gumti. The monotonous level
is broken on the north by an abrupt fall, the ridge running parallel to the
Gogra at a distance of from one mile to three miles, is said. to indicate what
was formerly the right bank of the river. The district is intersected at
various parts by rugged ravines.

BAR

227

Change of head-quarters. — ^The sadr station was placed at annexa-
tion, and also after the matinies at Daryabad ; but owing to the stagna-
tion of water in the immediate vicinity of the town, and to the prevalence of.
fever, the head-quarters were removed in 1859 to Nawabganj Bara Banki.

The Government ofi&ces and private houses are now built on a plain
which is well drained by ravines ; the situation has hitherto proved to be
very healthy. Indeed, it is understood from the surgeon of Her Majesty's
75th Regiment, when the regiment was stationed here in 1858-59, that their
sick list had never been so small as at Bara Banki. With the exception of
the neighbourhood of Daryabad, the health of the district has been year
after year remarkably good. The district originally contained three tahsils
and thirteen parganas ; but Bhitauli was transferred from Bahraich, and in
1870 two parganas — Dewa and Kursi — were added from Lucknow, pargana
Haidargarh from Rae Bareli, and pargana Subeha from Sultanpur. Twenty-
three separate villages of the Lucknow district were also included in Dewa.
The area and population of the district are now as shewn in the following
table : —

Table No. 1.

District Bara Banki — Area and population.

Paiganas.

i

a .
■sa

1^

Area in Bri-
tish square
miles.

Population.

P.

1

.J

!

50
82
32
25
40
229

1

i
a

1^

i

1

•i

■3g,-S

■all

Bara
Banki.

Nawabganj
Dewa
Satrikh

Siddhaur, North
Partabganj

Total
Siddhaur, South
Haidargarh ...
Subeha

Total
Surajpur

Daryabad ...
Rudauli .»
Basorhi
Mawai MahoMra

Total
Fatehpur
Kursi

Muhammadpur ...
Bhitauli ...
Eamnagar
Bado Sarai

Total
European
Eurasian

Prisoners and em-
ployes in jaU ..,
Grand total

77

163

42

56

54

3^2

168

118

86

372

107

241

196

44

51

639

251

91

83

41

168

56

690

2,093

79
141
46
35
56
357

47,808
62,235
21,694
21,221
32,149

185,107
62,720
67,676
54,037

184,333
62,955

118,458
94,861
18,585
38,884

15,030
9,687
2,463
4,249
6,019

37,448

12,747
3.882
4,690

21,319
2,998

14,288

26,041
4,369
3,971

33,273
37,723
12,229
13,036
19,544
115,805
39,106
36,307
29,032

29,565
34,199
11,928
12,424
18,624

106,740
37,272
35,251
29,695

102,218
32,356
64,399
61,177
11,377
21,436

190,748

62,838
71,922
24,157
25,460
38,168

795
510
525
722
683

222,545

705

Us

106
103

88

297

74

59

48

181

76,378
71,558

58,727

722
694
644

104,445
33,594
68,347
59,725
11,577
21,419

194,662
48,980
19,719
17,463
14,133
43,405
14,224

206,663

685

Ij

96

214

173

34

71

588

154

89

62

62

112

48

527

X769

62

137

113

25

38

375

102

47

44

.S2

SO

24

329

65,953

132,746

120,902

22,954

42,856

687
620
695
675
603

M

333,743

51,667

385,410

655

1,

76,905
30,966
31,191
25,320
71.546
22,863

16,888
6,493
1,905
1,344

10,453
4,550

44,813
17,740
15,633
12,531
38,594
13,189
142,500

93,793
37,459
33,096
26,664
81,999
27,413

609
421
534
430
732
571

^

258,791

41,633

157,924

300,424

570

...

152,067

37
6

123

566,190

30
3

12
545,975

67
9

i;-i5

•■■

1,099 961,974

11,12,165 6.^0

p2

228

BAR

Land Revenue.— Th-e following table gives details respecting land
revenue of the former district.

Name of pargana.

Demand of sum-
mary settlement.

Eevlaed demand
excluding cesses.

Revised demand
including cesses.

Rate per acre of
revised demand
excluding cesses.

Es. A.

P.

Ea.

A.

p.

Ea. A. P.

Ea. A. P.

Nawabganj

...

72,349 0

I

9.3,335

0

0

95,668 6 0

1 13 6

Partabganj

...

52,210 2

1

66,635

0

ol 68,300 14 0

1 13 9

Satrikh

...

41,039 0

0

49,245

0

0

50,476 2 0

1 10 10

Siddhaur

...

1,39,444 0

0

1,78,095

0

0

1,82,547 6 0

1 15 5

Efimnagar

...

63,309 4

0

93,843

0

0

96,189 1 4

1 4 11

Bado Sarai

... ...

22,562 0

0

27,971

0

0

28,670 4 4

0 14 7

Fatehpur

...

96,115 0

0

1,33,947

0

0

1,37,295 10 9

1 5 10

Muhaminadpur

26,234 5

0

41,002

0

0 42,027 0 9

10 7

Dajryabad

... ...

1,28,671 13 10

1,87,764

0

0 1,92,458 1 7

1

1 5 11

Eudauli

...

83,609 0

7

1,55,549

0

0 1,59,437 11 9

I 6 6

Surajpur

...

59,088 6

9

1,00,910

0

0

1,03,432 12 0

1 10 2

Mawai Maholara

32,077 4

0

67,762

0

0

59,206 0 9

14 3

Baaorhi

... ...

19,295 0

2

34,152

0

0

35,005 12 8

1 8 11

Total

8,35,994 4

6

12,20,210

0

0

12,50,715 3 11

17 8

The district of Bara Banki, as it existed before these additions were
made, covered an area of 1,285 square miles, or 828,011 acres ; the revised
jama was Es. 12,55,840, or Es. 1-8 per acre. The rate per acre on cultiva-
tion was Es. 2-4-7, and on arable area, Rs. 1-15-1 per acre. There were
1,595 villages in all. Of these, 1,032 belong to taluqdars or other large
proprietors. See the table near the close of this article.*

There are now 2,093 villages, and the proprietary tenures are divided,
as appears in the following table, among the Hindus and Musalmans. It
will appear that the Musalmans have 938 villages, or nearly half, 47 per
cent, of the whole ; they form 11 per cent, of the population. The Chhat-
tris are mainly Eaikwars — see article Bhitauli ; and Si'irajbans Chhattris
— see SloTajpur and Daryabad,

* The land revenue of the present district is Es. 15,77,678, being Es. 2-3-10 per acre o£
cultivation.

BAR

229

Statement shoiving to what castes the villages were decreed at the
Regular Settlement of Bara BanJd.

Name of tahsil.

RjimSaneliiGhat
Haldargarh
Fatehpur
Nawabganj

Total

639 266
372 279
690 1 331
392 j 60

20931 826

I
m

I 1^

7 2

SI S

ga

m

Is

11

Rivers : The Gogra.—lihe principal river in the district is the Gogra, at
a short distance from Bahramghat; in the Fatehpur tahsil the rivers
Chauka and Sarda meet, and their united stream is called the Gogra.
Both those component rivers take their rise in the Himalaya and at their
confluence form a stream, which at Bahramghat is in the rainy season
from one and a half to two miles, and in the dry season half mile in breadth.
The Gogra divides the Bara Banki district from the districts of Bahraich
and Gonda. It flows in a south-easterly direction past Fyzabad, and fin-
ally empties itself into the Ganges at Arrah, above Dinapore. This river
is navigable for flat-bottomed steamers as far as Bahramghat, a few such
vessels having got up so far during the year of mutiny, 1857; but the
traffic is at present confined to country boats which ply in considerable
numbers between Bahramghat and Sarun district, carrying grain, rape seed
and linseed. It has been stated that the ancient course of the river is
indicated at a distance of from one to two miles from the existing right
bank by a ridge about 20 feet high. The low lands between the ancient
and present channels generally have fine crops of rice, but the water some-
times lies too long after the rains and rots them, and the spring crops
cannot be sown. The river is not utilized for purposes of irrigation.

The Qumti. — Next in importance is the Gumti, which runs through
the tahsil of Haidargarh and separates the Bara Banki district from the
districts of Lucknow, Sultanpur and Fyzabad. It runs like the Gogra in
a south-easterly direction, has a well-defined bank and a stream which is
fordable in the dry weather, and is about 40 yards broad. There is con-
siderable traffic on the Gumti by country boats, and large quantities of
grain have been exported from Oudh to the Lower Provinces by this
route in times of scarcity. This river has hitherto been but little used
for irrigation, its only affluents in the district are as follows : —

Kaly&ni. — The Kalyani rises in the Fatehpur tahsil, and after wan-
dering through the district in a most tortuous course, empties itself into
the Gumti near the village of Dw^rk^ur. In the dry season it is a mere
thread of water confined between steep banks, but in the rains it is subject
to heavy floods. The water of this stream is not extensively used for irri-
gation.

230

BAR

The Jamuriha and Retk— The Jamuriha and Reth, both in the Nawab-
gani tahsil, are the only other streams in this district worthy of notice.
Their general characteristics are the same : steep and rugged banks broken
by innumerable ravines, mere drains in dry weather but becoming angry
torrents during the rains ; they flow into the Gumti. There are no towns
on the banks of the rivers, and no large communities living either by fish-
eries or by river traffic*

Means of communication afforded.— Details concerning these rivers,
and the traffic upon them, wiU be given under their several names. The
Gogra flows for forty-eight miles on the border of the district ; the dry
weather discharge is 19,000 cubic feet. The principal ferries are at Kai-
thi, Kamiar, and Paska Ghat ; there is a boat-bridge during the cold sea-
son at Bahramghat.

The Gumti flows for 105 miles through, or on the border of the district,
but its course is so circuitous that the direct distance from the point of
entrance to that of exit is only forty-two miles ; it is not therefore so use-
ful for navigation, and it lies too low for irrigation ; its dry weather dis-
charge is 500 cubic feet. Its water is actually at a lower level than that
of the Gogra. At the junction of the Kaly^ni the former is only 301 feet
above the sea ; at Rudauli, the watershed between it and the Gogra the
altitude is 340 feet; and at Kaithi Ghat the Gogra is 314 feet.

The drainage of Bara Banki is very good. The level of the watershed on
the north of the district, between the Gumti and the Gogra, is about 414
feet near Fatehpur ; thence it sinks to 340 feet at Rudauli. The level of the

* In tlie rains of 1872, tlie river Kalyani presented a vast volume of water 269 feet
broad, 337 feet deep, rushing along with a velocity of 574 miles per hour and with a,
discharge of 51,540 cubic feet per second. In ordinary monsoons the highest discharge is
about a quarter less than this.

The river is crossed by the railway with a girder bridge with (6) six openings, each
of 60 feet.

The flood discharges of other rivers of the district were as follows where they are
crossed by the railway —

Flood dis-

Pargana,

Elvers.

Water-way
lineal feet.

Height.

Mean
Telocity.

charge per

second

Cubic feet.

Eudauli

Kasera

90

20-2

2-61

3,562

Ditto

Bumria

120

147

6-42

7,711

Daryabad

Bamhinia

60

10-0

3-26

1,966

Ditto

Saipur ndla

60

187

4-17

2,005

Partabganj

Jamuria

60

22-5

277

3,240

Ditto

Keth

15

127

8 -as

1,590

Hamnagar

Jamuria

60

157

874

6,771

Ditto

Jamuria ...

30

9-5

9-17

2,772

Ditto

Sidnapur

75

5-5

3-21

1,928

Ditto

Bahonia

150

13-0

3-55

5,485

Ditto

Nurhia

120

10-2

3'96

4,759

Haidargarh

Gumti ^.

588

417

357

34,869

It is difficult to determine in every instance what are the rivers referred to in the
above list which has been received too late for local correction and identification. The
revenue survey maps and the Indian Atlas do not exhibit them.

BAR 231

Gumti is, as we have seen, 301 feet ; so there is a fall of 113 feet in about
forty miles from north-west to south-east ; while the lateral declensions of
the watersheds towards the Gumti and Gogra are as much as 90 feet in
fifteen miles. The consequence of these slopes is that, towards the Gumti
and Kalyani, there is a rapid flow of water in the rains ; the torrents cut
for themselves passages. From both rivers ravines radiate out in all direc-
tions wrinkling the level of the country ; these are filled with brush-wood,
and were the haunts of the robbers who made this place so notorious in
the Nawabi. There are several higher levels than those given above, re-
corded on the Government maps and' the Atlas of India ; but these latter
are the artificial levels raised on certain pinnacles erected for the purpose
by the surveyors at regular intervals.

Roads : LucJcnow to Fyzahad. — The imperial road from Lucknow to
Fyzabad enters the district at about twelve miles from Lucknow, and passes
for forty-six mdes through the district ; it is well aligned, raised, metalled,
and bridged : trees are planted on each side at drainage and level, and
there are good encamping grounds from ten to thirteen miles apart.

Frotn Nawahganj to Bahramghat. — About a mile eastward of Nawab-
ganj the high road sends an off-shoot to Bahramghat, which is also metal-
led. Th is is the direct route from Lucknow to Bahraich and Gonda, and
before the opening of the railway carried a considerable timber traffic, the
logs being floated down from the forests in Naipd.1 and the Tardi and land-
ed at Bahramghat.

The Railway. — The traffic along the metalled roads from Lucknow to
Fyzabad and Bahramghat has lately been partially absorbed by the Oudh
and Rohilkhand Railway which was opened from Lucknow to Nawabganj
in April 1872, and to Bahramghat and Fyzabad in November 1872.

Unmetalled roads. — TJnmetaUed roads, completely bridged, connect all
the principal towns and markets. The following are the most important : —

Nawabganj to Debiganj via Zaidpur
Nawabganj to Fatehpur vid Dewa
Kamnagar to Fatebpur

„ ,, Saadatganj

„ ,, Daryabad
Daryabad to Eudauli

„ „ Tiiaitnagar
Debiganj to Naipura Ghat on the Gumti towards Haidargarh ,

Tanks and jhUs. — Tanks and jhils are numerous, especially in the tah-
sils of Daryabad, Ram Sanehi Ghat, and Nawabganj. Seven per cent, of
the area is covered with water; many of the tanks are in course of being
deepened, the earth taken out of them being used to replenish cultivated
land, and doubtless much more would be done in this direction but for the
difficulty of adjusting conflicting rights in the tanks. Some of the jhils
are navigable by small boats for purposes of sport or pleasure. The finest
jhil in this district, that named Bhagghar, is situated in the Ramnagar
pargana ; it does not cover above two square miles. There is another in
Dewa, covering about five square miles with water and marsh.

Wells. — Kachcha wells for irrigation can always be constructed when the
soil is sufficiently firm to render them durabloj and under the most favourable

22

miles.

18

14

Ti-

ls

15

4

21

»

232

BAR

circumstances they will last as long as forty years. Water is generally
at about 30 feet from the surface, and is drawn in the usual manner in a lea-
thern bag worked by a pair of bullocks. In no case are two buckets used
from one well. North of the Kaly^ni river kachcha wells, as a rule, cannot
be dug.

Groves. — The district is rich in mango groves, the total area of these
groves being no less than 43,172 acres. Up to the present time the trees
have not been subjected to any destructive agency beyond a few being
felled for burning bricks for bridges. The people love their groves both
for the fruit they yield, and still more on account of their grateful shade,
and when land is taken up for public purposes it is found that proprietors
part with their groves with more reluctance than with their cultivated
land. Under the liberal orders of Government, that 10 per cent, of the
area planted with groves shall not be assessed, there is no reasonable
excuse for their destruction.

Climate. — The average rainfall for the last nine years has been 41 inches,
namely —

1865.

1866.

1867.

1868.

1869,

1870.

1871.

1872.

1873

83.

31.

53.

21.

36.

62.

64-

40.

33.

but the fall in 1870-1871 was quite exceptional in amount; the extraordin-
ary variations in annual rainfall will be noted. In all respects the district,
as might be expected from its situation, is an average one, and its rainfall
is exactly the average of the province. The rain returns furnished from
the district do not agree with those printed in the Eevenue report of 1872.

In 1870 and 1871 the district suffered considerably from floods, especially
in the neighourhood of Daryabad and along the course of the Kalyani ; in
1873, as in 1868 and in 1865, there were droughts, but not very serious.

Wild animals. — The feroe naturoB are the same as in Lucknow, except
that black buck get very scarce as the sportsman proceeding eastward
approaches the valley of the Gogra ; they are found in scanty numbers
along the western portion of the district, on the bare plains on the Gumti
slope of the watershed. The nil-gae, on the other hand, are common in the
jhau or tamarisk jungle near the Gogra, The deaths from snakes and
wild beasts are given under the administrative section in a tabular form.
Although 7* per cent, of the area is recorded as covered with water, there
are few good lakes for wild fowl shooting.

The Flora. — The flora of the district is the same as that fully described
in other parts of this work. Groves cover almost 5 per cent, of the total
area, but the railway and its demands for firewood have largely reduced
their amount lately. The large jungles which formerly existed near Sdraj-
pur have been, in great measure, brought under the plough but some are
still kept as firewood reserves : they consist mainly of — dhak,^ karaunda,^
rus,^ intermingled with pipal,* babdl,^ bel,^ semal,'' and amaltas.

* 6-98.

1 Bastard teak, Buteafrondosa.

2 Corinda, Corissa carcmdas.

3 Malabar nut, Adhatoda vaaica.

4 Ficus religiosa.

5 Acacia Arahica.

6 Aegle marmelos.

7 Bed cotton tree, Bombax Jiepiaphyllu

BAR 233

CHAPTER II.

AGRICULTURE.

Agricultural classes and operations — Crops — Irrigation — Tlie oustomof well digging —Wages
—Rents — Size of thebigha — The people — Condition of the people— Land improve-
m^ts — Reasons why little progress is made — Embarrassments of the landlords —
Prices — Famine — Fisheries — Railway traffic — Manufactures — Weights and measures
— Principal castes.

Agricultural classes or operations. — The principal agricultural caste is
that of the Kurmis, who are very numerous in this district, nunihering
149,460; but cultivators belong to all castes. The area under cultivation
in the year of survey amounted to 703,360 acres. Nor has this area largely
increased. According to the of3Bcial returns, the crops covered in 1871 an
average of 678,000 acres, which must be wrong, as the dofasli (two cropped
land) lands should raise the area to at least 800,000 acres. Wheat is the
principal crop, the average is about 200,000 acres : rice about 130,000 acres.
The staples are the same as those described in the Lucknow account.*

Of the 534,000 acres of cultivation in the old district, 156,000, or only
28 per cent., were irrigated mostly from wells. The jhlls are not utilised for
purposes of irrigation so much as they might be. Sub-division of property
and want of energy hinder the landlords from making the most obvious
improvements. A great jhil and swamp near Dewa covers about five
square miles ; an easily made and repaired embankment would reclaim
three, besides rendering the water available for irrigation at a higher
level.

The Settlement Department supplied the statistics in the accompany-
ing table ; they are similarly deficient because the double crops are not
entered.

One fact, however, may be gathered from them, which is, that the irri-
gated area must be considerably larger than that which is given above.

There are in this return 191,000 acres of crops which are always irrigated.

Besides, there will be about 20,000 acres of peas which are always irri-
gated, and barley is sometimes watered ; probably the generally irrigated
area of the district will be 220,000 acres, or 41 per cent., instead of 28
per cent, the official estimate, and the area which can be irrigated is always
larger than what is irrigated in any particular year. This view is con-
firmed by comparison with the adjoining district of Fyzabad, the irrigated
area is 58 per cent, in the latter district, it is a mere continuation of the
same plateau running south-west between the Gumti and the Gogra which
forms the district of Bara Banki, the tillage, the water level, the strata of
the subsoil are similar in the two districts, and such a variation in their
areas of irrigation as 28 and 58 per cent, is impossible.

* The above are from the annual statistical returns.

234

BAR

This will be seen more clearly by comparing their crop areas drawn from
the settlement returns : —

Crops ordinarily

Crops

Percentage

irrigated.

nnirrigated.

of irrigation.

Ba;a, Banki

220,000

314,000

41

Fyzabad

220,000

386,000

36

It will appear that when the crops requiring and receiving irrigation are
produced in about the same proportions in the two districts, the land
capable of irrigation in one district will approximate in area to that in
the other.

The salient features ef Bara Banki cultivation are wheat and rice, which
occupy three-sevenths of the area. Sugarcane is much attended to.

Opium cultivation has increased from 2,681 acres in 1868, to 7,111 acres
in 1873, but this has probably been attended with a decrease in garden
crops, such as sugarcane tobacco ; all of these require high cultivation, and
came to 27,200 acres, or 5 per cent, of the total area in 1868.

The average out-turn of opium is now 1,400 maunds annually, for this,
at Es. 5 the ser. Government pays the cultivators Rs; 2,80,000. The
average out-turn in 8J sers per acre.

Areas of crops, Bara Banki*

Unirrigated.

Irrigated.

Juar

16,291

Juar and bajra

12,685

■ a*

Eice

83,579

Wheat

...

1,63,736

Cotton

883

Sugarcane ... ... —

•••

20,082

Indigo ... «

•••

48

Tobacco

•»

1,162

Barley

53,103

.^

Gram

47,582

...

Poppy

•■•

2,681 .

Vegetables

...

2,564

Oilseeds

5,704

(*-

Miscellaneous

1,24,093

Total

3,43,037

1,91,156

=5,34,193

Irrigation. — Irrigation is very costly, at least in most places ; the water
will be raised by three or four lifts from the pond ; at each lift two men,
relieved every hour, work the swing basket in ordinary use, and two
men are in the field guiding the water. Eighteen men will work therefore
at a four lift water-course ; and there are some with seven lifts, they
will labour all day and irrigate three and a half kachcha bighas, about 3,600
square yards. They will receive each one anna per day and a kachcha ser of

Old district.

BAR 235

roasted ju&. At present,* i. e., just after the harvest when judr is cheapest,
it is worth nine panseris or 20 pakka sers per rupee. Therefore, the
eighteen men will get a little ahove seven annas worth of grain each.
One irrigation of these, 3,600 yards, will therefore come to one rupee
nine annas, or three rupees two annas for the two waterings which are
absolutely required in most seasons ; this will be four rupees three annas
per acre. From a small kachcha well, about eight kachcha biswas — the
people allege six — can be watered by a man and a boy in a day : the man
pulls up a water pot over a pulley, the boy guides the water.

They will thus water an acre in twelve days at a cost of two rupees
four annas, or four rupees eight annas per acre. In addition, this kind of
well has to be dug afresh every year ; this costs about one rupee eight
annas, to be distributed over five acres : so that this kind of irrigation will
cost about four rupees thirteen annas per acre.

A cheaper kind of apparatus can be used in some wells, namely, a leather
bucket drawn up by a pair of bullocks or four men ; they will work contin-
uously about two-thirds of a day and water one bigha and a half, or
one thousand six hundred square yards, costing with the man to guide the
water only 7^ annas, or 22|^ annas per acre : two rupees thirteen annas
for the two waterings required. Most of these wells, however, will cost
at least five rupees, being larger and deeper ; they will water about ten
acres and generally have to be dug afresh every year ; therefore eight
annas per acre must be added, and the cost of the well will be three
rupees five annas per acre. The land-owners here whom I have con-
versed with never heard of unlined wells lasting for forty years, or for
four either, except in rare cases. Artificial irrigation, which for wheat and
other cereals would supply three waterings at Rs. 2-8 per acre, would be a
boon undoubtedly if the peasants would find another market for their labour
made idle by a canal. Whether the increased cultivation of garden crops,
high farming generally, and the breaking up of waste lands would furnish
that, is the question. The crops ordinarily irrigated, are wheat, sugar-
cane, peas, maslir, besides the garden crops, which require more copious
waterings.

In another kind of well six men will puU up the leather bag ; three men
will relieve half of them every hour, two men will work the buckets, and
three distribute the water ; they wiU receive each a panseri or five sers
kachcha mash, at present (December 1873) worth two annas almost;
therefore the two bighas or two thousand one hundred square yards wiU
cost Rs. 1-12 for one watering, or four rupees an acre. With such wells
the owners say that they cannot afford to water more than once.

Beyond the Kalydni river to the north and east, all the weUs are of the
small kind, in which only gharas can be used, suspended either from pulleys,
or the most expensive kind of all, from dhenklis or levers. These wells in
many villages may be seen in every second field ; water is only about 20
feet from the surface, and to the careless observer the supply of water will
seem certain and abundant. Closer observation, however, will discover that

» December 1873.

236 BAR

a great number of the long-armed levers which, loaded with a heavy mass of
clay impend over the mouths of the wells, are idle even in the watering
season, and a look down the cavity will reveal the fact that the sides of the
well have fallen in, and that the owners are digging it out again.

As a rule, the wells have to be scooped out and the twig lining replaced
every second day, often twice a day : further, the water is hardly ever
deep enough to fill the clay pitcher which is used ; it comes up half full, a thin
stream trickles along the channel, and in many villages only five to
seven kachcha biswas can be watered by two men working, as they say
themselves, far into the night. A kachcha biswa is about 55 square yards ;
it will take two men fourteen days to water an acre once, and will cost
Es. 3-4. As a general rule, the as^mis, when questioned, said they could
not afford to water twice, the labour is so enormous ; those who do admit
that two or three waterings are advantageous. Melons and sugarcane get
seven or eight waterings. Many of the tenants decline to dig these wells where
the subsoil is sandy ; they point to heaps of earth evidencing vain attempts
previously made, and say that it does not pay to make three or four wells
which fall in before any water is drawn. In some districts it is like pros-
pecting for minerals or digging for treasure rather than a regular agricul-
tural operation. I give an actual example of the difficulties encountered.
In Fatehpur, Kale Khan, Shekh, employed twenty-eight men, to each of
whom he paid one anna and one ser and a half of juar to water four
kachcha bighas of wheat once from a distant tank ; this cost him Es. 3-12
or Es. 4-6 per acre for one watering. Further, when his waterinsc Tvas half
finished, the old yeomen proprietors of the village, now included in a taluqa,
rose and threatened to burn his haggard if he drew any more water,
although he had been authorized to draw from this tank by the lord
of the manor. The cultivators declare that well water is superior to
that from tanks for irrigation in the proportion of ten to seven.

The custom in well The following official note on the subject of digging

'iiggi'^g- wells in Bara Banki is by the late settlement officer

of the district : —

" As to actual practice with respect to construction of kachcha wells,
&c., by cultivators not possessing right of occupancy, and as to the dig-
ging of kachcha wells by the above class, I beg to report that e. little differ-
ence of opinion exists as to the tenant's right to dig a well without ask-
ing permission. I am clear, however, that in the majority of cases no such
permission is asked ; and where it is, there is some special reason. One
very usual incident is that the well is dug not exactly in the tenant's
holding, but in the patch of '^sar land outside ; here permission would
naturally be asked from the lord of the soil, as also where the landlord's
sanction is required for a carrying water-course across intervening holdings.
The pure and simple digging a kachcha weU in the tenant's own land I
believe to be whoUy within his power. I may add that tenants having
leases do not vitiate them by digging wells, or even by a really objection-
able practice from the landlord's point of view, viz., planting groves.
The landlord only insists on his power of cutting down the grove at
re-entry, leaving the wood with the lessee or his grantee. The landlord
gives no aid in the making of kachcha wells. The ordinary cost of a

BAR 237

kachcha well varies from Rs. 2-8 to Rs. 8. The average cost is about
Rs. 3. I may be excused poiixting out that it would be bad economy, and
from a Hindu point of view, irreligious too, to hinder the digging of wells,
Asking permission would be a mere form, and, if it ever existed, has fal-
len into desuetude. The practice with reference to pakka wells is differ-
ent,— the asami does ask verbal permission and for several reasons :
First. — Because, as a general rule, the zamindar supplies wood to burn
the brick, and gives permission to dig for clay. Second. — Because the
digging a pakka well gives the asami tacitly or expressly a quasi occu-
pancy-right in his holding, i. e., the asami's expenditure gives him certain
interest in the soil, whose creation requires the zamindar's assent. The
amount and kind of the interest varies ; the custom of some villages is
that the asamis shall hold at a lower rate than he previously paid for
five years ; of others, that his rent shall not be raised for fifteen years ;
of others, that he gets a patch of mwcl/i land, as Mr. Wood assures me;
of others, that he holds at the same rate for five years, and that the then
increment shall have certain limits for ever. In many cases express ver-
bal contracts are entered into on this matter ; in others tacit assent to
the custom of the village is presumed ; the landlord who agrees to the
digging of a well is supposed to know and accept the consequences. It
must be remembered that, as a rule, owing to the intermingled nature
of holdings, the well will water many fields besides those of the digger,
who is only entitled to first serving. The rent of those who share in this
water wiU be raised by the landlord, who will thus profit largely in the
increased value of the surrounding land from his tenant's expenditure. I
have heard it quoted as a proof of mere tenant status, that the occupier
had asked permission to dig pakka wells which a holder of sir could build
at his pleasure."

" With reference to planting trees, the consent of the landlord is neces-
sary ; in fact, nothing can be more certain, so that there is no necessity for
quoting authority or urging argument."

" I have already pointed out that a lessee for a term of years may plant
a grove ; a yearly tenant would find any such attempt met with by
prompt rooting out of his young trees."

According to the returns of the old district, the details of irrigation are
as follows : —

Acres.

Irrigated by jhfla or tanks ... ... ... 53,505

,, by streams ... ... ... ... 21,368

„ byweUs ... ... ... ... 106,980

Unirrigated 383,610

The tank water is, of course, more or less precarious ; in dry seasons they
are early exhausted. On the other hand, in such emergencies, wells are more
copiously dug.

Wages. — Ordinary wages are Rs. 2-8 per mensem for a skilled agricul-
tural labourer ; in addition, one kachcha maund of grain worth about one
rupee, and a blanket worth about Rs. 1-8, raise the remuneration for labour
to Rs. 33 per annum in the neighbourhood of towns in rural districts ;

238 BAR

Rs. 2 per mensem is more common. These farm servants state that
their wives do not, as a rule, work.

In the preceding paragraphs we found labourers working at irrigation
from tanks receiving one anna per day and grain worth three-fifths of a
rupee in the month. This would be Rs. 2-5 per mensem if the labourer
worked twenty-eight days ; but it is evident that this is an unnaturally
low wage — the result of custom — and only maintained because each one in
his turn accepts and pays his wages. In the case of the labourers at the
wells, perhaps harder work, we found that the labourer got five sers kach-
cha, equal to 2J sers pakka, in Fatehpur, worth about two annas, or Rs.
3-12 per mensem, if regularly employed, which in the case of such labour
is, of course, impossible. Labour on the roads is paid at the rate of two
annas a day for excavators and one and a half anna for hodmen : carpen-
ters and smiths get three annas per day ; wages have not risen.

Rents. — Rents in Bara Banki are very high. Ordinary rates are, says,
the tahsildar, Rs. 7 to Rs. 8 per kachcha bigha for garden lands : this
would be Rs. 32 to Rs. 37 per acre in Kuntur, Muhammadpur ; they rise, he
says, to Rs. 21 per kachcha bigha, or Rs. 96 per acre. My own inquiries
show that in Dewa, Nawabganj, thirteen fields, not under garden crops,
selected at random, were locally measured at 53 bighas ; their aggregate
area was 54,260 square yards, or llj acres, and their rent was Rs. 129, or
Rs. 11 per acre. Six fields of garden crops were rated — 9^ bighas, mea-
sured 7,907 square yards, and paid rent Rs. 29-15, or Rs. 18-5 per acre.
The highest admitted rent amongst those tested was. Rs. 3-8 per nominal
bigha, although Rs. 6 was stated to be paid. But rents seem to be raised
rather by diminishing the size of the bigha. The kachcha bigha ought to'
measure 2| to the Shahjahanpur bigha of 3,025 square yards ; it ought
therefore to be 1,212 square yards, or exactly one quarter of an acre : but
the foregoing statistics prove that it averages about 1,000 square yards in
the ordinary lands. In garden lands the bigha averaged 830 square yards
and sank as low as 528 square yards. In this way one field nominally at
Rs. 3-8 per bigha, and containing 658 yards, paid a rental of Rs. 4-6, or
about Rs. 32 per acre. The tahsildar in his averages is perhaps not far
wrong ; and an average rent of Rs. 10 per acre for ordinary lands, and
Rs. 25 for garden lands, may be accepted as usual ; but in lands which
cannot be irrigated, about Rs. 7 per acre. A number of fields taken at
random in Fatehpur gave a rent of Rs. 685 for 98 acres. One rupee per
bigha, or Rs. 4 per acre, seems the ordinary rate for lands on the outer
edge of the village ; but if the soil is saline, or sandy, rates are lower than
these.

The tenantry complain that the bigha is liable to change, and that it is
smaller than in the Nawabi ; they admit, however, that prices of grain are
higher, but affirm on the other hand that crops are smaller, so that on the
whole their balance and livelihood are smaller and equally uncertain.

An average farm is about 4 acres. The tenantry are deeply involved in
debt ; they complain now that the money-lenders refuse to advance them
any more. The rates of interest are the same as in the Nawabi, Rs. 2 to
Rs. 3-4 per cent, per month, besides the usurious rates called " up", and other

BAE 239

names described in the Kheri article and equivalent to 150 per cent, per
annum. Rents are rising rapidly : numerous tenants examined stated that
they paid more than they had been paying five years ago. The average rise
was, as appears from my note-book, 14 per cent, upon men who continued to
cultivate the same fields ; but much larger increases were taken from new
men who had taken lands in place of ejected or emigrated tenants.

Condition of the people. — The majority of those who were inspected
and examined gave very deplorable details. This may partly be due to
the fact, that the better class of tenants do not themselves labour, and
only those who are poor and reduced are met with in the fields.

A pair of bullocks fit to plough with is worth Rs. 25, so the security was
insufiScient. A paucity of bullocks was very apparent : one man with only
two pairs of buUocks was working 83 village bighas, or about 18 acres ; he
had sold the rest. The day labourers generally owed only Rs. 8 to Rs. 10,
but the small farmer's men with 3 to 15 acres, owed, as a rule, Rs. 40 to
Rs. 100. The universal cry was one of uniform decay, — bad crops, and
rack rents ; there were certainly no prosperous men in the field, some
looked hardy and healthy enough ; it turned out generally that they had
relations in service. There was no attempt to exaggerate, nor to flatter
the sahib ; their statements about rent when tested by the patwaris' books
turned out to be true , they spoke, some plaintively, some few sullenly,
most in a dull, hopeless tone. Their rice crop had been in 1873 an utter
failure, and half of their cold weather crop was either destroyed or in a
very perilous condition, but they worked away doggedly, pulling up the
pitchers of water, struggling to save the wheat and peas on which alone
they could place any reliance.*

Land vrnproveinents. — Besides, there were in some instances enormous
tanks, useless owing to the dissensions or want of enterprise of their land-
owners. I will quote an instance.

A mile south of Fatehpur, one Raja Gobardhan dug a great tank ; the
huge mounds of earth which surrounded it on four sides have now become
hard as granite ; it is well situated, I believe, to catch the flow of water
from the north, but unfortunately one corner of about twenty yards, to-
wards which the incline lies, has been left without a mound ; consequently
the water flows away as fast as it flows in. An expenditure of Rs. 50 upon
earthwork would have filled up the breach, but there are joint owners
deeply in debt, and quarrelling ; consequently a great and picturesque
public work is useless. Crops all round it are dying from want of water,
and beneath its massive rampart the peasants were laboriously raising a
scanty and costly supply of water with the primitive levers and the fragile
pitcher. Just as the builder, a Government collector, left it unfinished
two hundred years ago, so it is now. So rarely in the course of the cen-
turies does an energetic and enterprising land-owner come forward. Hun-
dreds of other tanks which the industry of ancient times provided are

* A curious piece of evidence as to the value of time in India and the small remuneration
of labour is afforded by the gleaners ; they come out to the harvest field as in England, but
they gather up not entire heads, but single grains of wheat ; entire heads are rare, for the
latter they compete with the ants.

240 BAR

allowed to silt up, althougli a little expenditure of labour in carrying away
the deposit to the fields would be doubly repaid by the excellent manure
so afforded, and the increased capacity of the basin for the storage of water.
But the tenants will not labor to improve fields from which they can be
ejected whenever their spring crop has been reaped.

Among improvements which are popularly supposed to be made regu-
larly in Oudh, are masonry wells for purposes of irrigation ; some twenty
thousand of such are recorded as being now used for agricultural purposes
in Oudh. I have never seen a masonry well built for irrigation purposes
in Bara Banki ; I have only seen one being so used even, and that was for
the Deputy Commissioner's garden. I have been told of three or four being
so applied near the qasbas, but the application was limited to two or three
bighas of garden land or sugarcane in the immediate neighbourhood, and
was supplementary to the proper and original purpose of the well, that of
providing drinking water for men and cattle.

In many cases the masonry wells would not bear the exhaustion of their
water by irrigation, the sides would fall in. The water is required for other
purposes ; often it would be dirtied by using the big leather bucket. These
masonry weUs might no doubt be used more than they are, but in any case
extensive irrigation from them cannot be expected, and it would be most
expensive. While I write in a season of utter drought, December 29th,
1873, not one is being used for this purpose in the large town of Fatehpur,
although two have been used, each for two or three bighas, previously
during the season. Tanks are not any longer made for irrigation purposes,
although still occasionally constructed for ornament, or in the formation of
villages.

Reasons why little progress is made. — The reason of this is variously
stated ; all admit the fact ; some urge that the landholders are idle and
improvident, many of them are not so ; yet they do not construct tanks
which would drain their villages in wet seasons and irrigate their lands in
dry.

Others think that there is distrust of Government ; but if this was gener-
al, land would not sell for such high prices. An able writer in the Indian
Observer thinks that these tanks were made in former times by landlords
when division of grain between them and tenants was the mode of land
tenure in vogue. This may be, but there are extensive areas in which this
division stUl prevails, and they are just as backward in this respect. The
writer urges that the landlord would be inclined to make tanks himself if he
would share equally in the increased produce due to irrigation. But he may
now share equally — ^nay, take the lion's share ; yet he makes no tanks.

The truth seems to be, that these ancient tanks are of two kinds : first,
those constructed from benevolence or ostentation by the local raja when the
empire was parcelled out of among some hundreds of Hindu principalities
— doubtless many were also made in times offamine from necessity ; second,
those constructed for purposes of land improvement and profit by the
village communities, which under Manu's laws only paid one-sixth of their
produce to the sovereign and had practically fixity of tenure. Formerly
there were only two sharers in the produce of the soil— the raja and the

BAR

241

ryot ; both had their proportions defined by law and prescribed by custom
—the cultivating community' — ^men who would see most readily and clearly
what improvements were needed, who could carry them out most cheaply
m spare hours, and who would profit most largely — ^namely, five-sixths by
them,_ doubtless willingly entered upon such works. The proof of this is,
that in Madras the village communities which form the nearest present
parallel to the ancient system do engage largely in such labours. There
are now three classes who share in the produce of the soil, — the ryot, who
gets half or three-fifths, but of this the whole is absorbed by the expense
of the more costly cultivating processes ; the landlord, who gets one-fourth
or one-fifth ; and the Government, which gets one-fifth or one-sixth. Of
the three, the last alone has a fixed share in the produce, and it alone
evinces any inclination to make permanent improvements. The tenants,
cannot, for they are too heavily in debt, have too smaU a share in the
produce, and no security that that share will not be curtailed. In fact
there is an ever present risk that if they improve a field by putting on
more manure or more water, the rent will be raised permanently on
account of an improvement which may be only temporary.

The cultivating village proprietary communities in Oudh are the only
class which might be expected to' make works of this class. But they
are too much in debt ; the individualism and litigious spirit of the present
society doubtless obstruct such joint labours for the general good.

That the large proprietors do not make such works is due partly to
their dread of an enhanced land assessment, partly to the difficulty and
obloquy which still attend a general rise of rents, but mostly to their
own want of money, to their indifference to the state of their ryots, and to
personal extravagance. In fine, no one class has a strong motive or an
undivided interest in making improvements, and public spirit is practically
dead.

Embabeassments- of the Landlords.

This naturally leads to the debts of the land-owning classes.

In Bara Banki, in 1872, the following transfers or liens were effected :—

Description.

Amount.

Deeds of gift

Deeds of sale above Rs. 100
Deeds of sale less than Rs. 100
Deeds of mortgage ...

Total

I have not been able to obtain the details for previous years; but in
Fatehpur pargana, for instance, during the period which elapsed from
July 1871 to November 1873, there were 95 deeds of sale, whose amount
was Rs. 46,197 ; and 304 deeds of mortgage creating liens upon property
to the value of Rs, 1,17,638.

Q

242

BAR

Now, three-fifths of all the villages in Bara Banki are the property of
wealthy talnqdars, who do not mortgage their villages ; the land revenue of
Bara Banki is Rs. 15,44,000 : therefore in one year the smaller proprietors
involved their estates to about the extBnt of one year's revenues ; at this rate
they would part with all their property in about twelve or fourteen years.

In 1873 the transactions were as follows : —

Description.

Number.

Amount.

Deeds of gift ... .».

Deeds of sale

Deeds of mortgage ...

16

420

1,857

Es.

840
1,69,570
3,67,253

Total

2,293

5,37,663

It would appear from the above that there wiU shortly be little land left
to mortgage.

In Fatehpur the Government revenue is Rs. 1,32,192 ; in this pargana
the great landholders of Jahangtrabad, Bilahra, Bhatwamau, Mahmudabad,
own just half the pargana ; they have not mortgaged any of the property.
Therefore, in two years and four months among properties assessed at
Rs. 66,000 there have been mortgages or sales to the extent of Rs. 1,64,000 ■
at this rate, too, all the small estates in the pargana will be transferred in
about twelve years, valuing land at twelve times the Government revenue.

There is, however, one consideration, which is, that the sales very largely
represent not entirely new transactions, but the results of previous mort-
gages, with small additional loans or accretions from interest. The initial
transaction in each case is generally the mortgage. After making every
allowance for this, the prospect is still alarming.

Prices. — I append a return showing the prices during the last ten years
prepared for the Secretary of State ; this does not contain some of the
cheapest grains, such as kodo, sanwan, which are generally about 15 per
cent, cheaper than juar and moth.

At present (December 1873) in Fatehpur the following are the prices
for the chief food-grains, and they are thought rather alarming :

Kodo^
Sanwan ...
Bari juar ...
Chioti jufo
Moth
Gram
Mastir

Wheat ...
Barley
Eioe
Urd
Arhar

... 28 sers for the rupee.
... 28 ditto,

20 ditto.

20 ditto.

20 ditto.

18 ditto.

17 ditto.

15 ditto.

not to be seen.

17 sers for the rupee,

17 ditto.

13 ditto.

BAR

243

"With reference to kodo, it must be remarked that the above is the price
for the entire grain ; if it is husked, in which case it can be boiled as rice,
it is then also 20 sers for the rupee. In fact, there seem to be three kinds
of food-grains as respects price : first, the cheap and nasty, which are un-
wholesome ; they are about 28 sers now, but wiU rise rapidly in price as
the stock from the last harvest diminishes ; second, there are the cheap and
sound, but unsavoury, grains — moth, judr, bdjra ; these are at 20 sers the
rupee: then come the nutritious and savoury grains — arhar, gram, rice, wheat;
these vary from 18 to 13 sers per rupee, according to the kind of preparation
used and the abundance of the crop. A poor man will now eat his morning
meal of juar ground and made into coarse, unleavened cakes ; this is eaten
without any relish ; at evening he will eat kodo, husked, and made into
pottage called kodo-ka-chdwal, or he will eat in the middle of the day
roasted juar called chabena ; he will possibly eat a little arhar along with
his evening pottage, but that is a luxury which his Banian may or may
not allow him.

Statetnent showing details of produce and prices i/n Bara Banhi district
for the ten following years from 1861 to 1870.

Description of produce.

%

IS

g
1

5

i

1

6
1

^

^

■si

<

34i

s

341

i-

34i

00

26

s

CO

22g

21?

pH

oo"
1

m

1

o

S

Paddy

224

28f

16?

194 25

Common rice (husked)

lt\

14i

141

13?

log

10|

llg

15?

9?

124

12t%

Best rice (husked) ...

7

7

7g

5J

5i

5J

54

5?

54

54

5t

Wheat ... ... ~-

23?

311

341

194

191

12?

151

224

12?

144

20|-

Barley

30g

19g

37i

231

241

20?

23J

261

174

164

24

Bajra

21i

m

31S

17S

201

17?

201

20|

lOf

154

19t^

Juar

3U

36i

281

2ii

231

17!

23

27i

174

211

24f

Oram

27i

35i

40g

24J

18

181

21?

34g

124

18

25

Arhar, Cytisus cajwn...

341

43

344

m

26J

15

151

38?

171

20

274

Urd or Mash, Phaseolus max ...

28^

m

274

131

131

11 V

14?

284

13?

14

19t^

Mothi, Phaseohta aconUifolius...

22|

181

31g

24§

17

174

16

354

15

174

214

Mxmg, Phaseolus mwago

221

241

234

m

12*

9?

144

14

111

111

154

Masur, Ervum lens ...

261

30

16^

201

19g

174

154

34S

164

174

2H

Ahsa or Matra, Pimm sativum. . .

m

38J

434

17f

23A

18?

181

384

134

19J

27

Ghuiyan, Arum colocasia

41i

28

44g

331

291

184

344

34|

291

28i

32i

Sarson, Svna^ dichotoma (Roxb.)

16^

m

13J

15^

161

154

134

13i

15?

121

14t'o

Lahi, SinapU nigra ...

171

151

15i

14J

16#

154

m

151

154

134

15*

Kaw Sugar...

H

4

_H_

_Jh

3S

4^

31

_3J

H

4j' 4

N, B.-T

hese

rates

are al

)out5

!Oper

cent, 1

00 hi

gb.

Q 2

244

BAK

Fami/ne. — The subject of famine is treated under th.e articles Lucknow
and Fyzabad. The last great famine was in 1837 ; at that time grain rose to
five sers for the rupee; in I860, 1869, flour was for some months at eight
sers for the rupee, in 1873 at eleven sers.

Famine will be indicated as approaching whenever the millets or barley
are at eighteen sers for the rupee for more than a month ; but great floods
cause more urgent distress than droughts, even when they only do the
same damage. The effect of droughts is that there is an abundant
demand for labour on irrigation works, while floods put a stop to all
agricultural operations. In 1871-72 floods raised the price of wheat to an
average of twenty-four and eighteen sers respectively, but in 1873 drought
has raised it to fifteen sers. Bara Banki has two navigable rivers, besides
direct connection with the great cities of Cawnpore and Lucknow. The
railway within the district is laid for about seventy-three miles with a
single line of rails ; importation or exportation of grain upon a large scale
is always feasible.

Statement of prices current for the under-mentioned months during
the scarcity of 1869-1870.

Eetail Sale, — Quantity per Rupee.

Articles.

July 1869.

Aupnisfc
1869.

September
1869.

October
1869.

November
1869.

January
1870.

February
1870.

Wheat, 1st quality

M. S.

0 11

c.
8

M. S. C.

0 12 0

M. S.
0 10

c.
8

M. S. 0.

0 10 0

M, S. C.
0 9 12

M. S. C.
0 0 0

M. s. 0.
0 11 8

„ 2nd „ ...

0 12

0

0 12 4

0 11

0

0 10 4

0 10

4

0 0 0

0 12 0

Gram, 2nd „ ....

0 13

8

0 13 8

0 12

4

0 10 12

0 11

0

0 0 0

0 10 0

Bajra

0 0

0

0 0 0

0 0

0

0 0 0

0 14

0

0 0 0

0 16 0

Juar

0 0

0

0 0 0

1 2

0

0 21 0

~0 18

0

0 0 0

0 16 0

Arliar

0 19

0

0 14 0

0 13

0

0 10 0

0 10

0

0 0 0

0 12 0

Urd

0 12

0

0 11 14

0 10

0

0 9 0

0 13

0

0 0 0

0 14 8

Masur

0 15

0

0 14 0

0 10

0

0 10 0

0 11

0

0 0 0

0 12 0

Mfing

0 12

0

0 9 0

0 9

0

0 8 0

0 11

0

0 0 0

0 14 0

Eice, 2nd quality...

0 9

0

0 9 0

0 9

0

0 7 0

0 13

0

0 0 0

0 14 0

Fisheries.— The following account of the Bara Banki fisheries is drawn
from the Inspector General's report of 1873 : —

" The tahsildar of Fatehpur states that no persons give themselves up
to fishing as a sole pursuit, but the castes that fish are Guryas and
Kahars. The weekly_ market is stated to be sufficiently well supplied, the
cost of large fish being one anna, and small fish half an anna a ser.
A larger proportion of the people, it is asserted, would be consumers of
fish could they obtain it. The supply, has not increased, and the size of
the smallest mesh of the nets is givei) at one inch or thereabouts. Fish

BAR

245

are trapped in the irrigated fields during the rains. The implements
used in fishing are jdl, tdpa, halqa, paihra, dagganshist, barbat, chaundhi,
chan, dorpauri, khawri.*

" The tahsildar of Nawabganj reports there being 200 or 300 persons
who fish, but all pursue other occupations. The fishermen castes are
Guryas and Kahars. Very few fish, and only in the cold season, are sold
in the weekly markets ; the larger sorts at one anna and the smaller at a
quarter of an anna a ser ; whilst first class mutton fetches three annas
and second class two annas a ser. A larger proportion of the population,
it is observed, would eat fish if they could obtain them. The supply has
not increased. The smallest mesh of nets is given at half an inch square.
Fish are trapped during the rains in the irrigated fields. Nets and
implements for taking fish are katia, balbishist, and tapa.""I-

Railway Traffic. — The principal seat of goods' traffic upon the rail-
way is Bahramghat. The accompanying table furnished by the railway
authorities represents the details of the exports and imports in 1873, The
principal passenger station is Nawabganj, also the head-quarters of the
district. Another table shows the goods and passenger traffic for 1873 : —

Bahramghat Rail/way Station Returns.

GW.

Bice.

Judr
grain.

Cotton
seed.

Hides.

Kutch.

Lao.

Salt-
petre.

Timber.

May

June

July

August

September ...

October

mds.

35

78

421

1,065

1,473

1,060

mds.

23
69

172
135

105

mds.

620

1,734

510

231

147

mds.

158

76

332

184

mds.

49
39
26
36
92
114

mds.

260
164
102
18
72
200

mds.

"3
100
131
193
130

mds.

243
...

"23

"55

mds,

6,387
3,734
8,689
15,321
3,261
8,121

Outward.

Total ...

4,132 504

3,242

750

356

876

557

321

45,513

Piece-goods

Salt.

Linseed.

May

June

July

August

September ...

October „.

mds.

324

240

45

57

71

300

mds.

1,173
2,596
1,027
845
2,146
2,640

mds.

3,765

2,192

2,255

250

35

Inward.

Total ...

1,0

37

10,4

27

8,4

97

There is a large trade over the boat bridge at Bahramghat, consisting
mainly of timber, rice, and other food seeds, oil seeds, cattle, hemp from
Bahraich, of cotton cloths, metal utensils, salt and pulse, such as urd, from
Southern Oudh and Cawnpore ; the receipts from passage duties amounted

* Para. 298, " Francis Day's Fresh Water Fish and Fisheriea of India and Burma."
t Para 297, " Francis Day's Fresh Water Fish and Fisheries of India and Burma."

246

BAR

to Rs. 2,01,767 in the fifteen years 1859 — 1874, or an average of Rs.
13,451 per annum, the expenses of maintenance in the same period
amounted to Rs. 1,02,781 or Rs. 6,852 per annum ; during the last eight
years the average receipts have been above Rs. 16,000, a fact which
.evidences the increase of trade.

In 1873 the traffic at the various stations on the railway within the
boundaries of the Bara Banki district was as follows : —

Outward.

Inward.

1

43

.

4=-

4^

d

^

a

stations.

^

i

1

i

S

1

g

•§.

M

§

fl

a

1

g

g

3

s

1

3

S

s

S

1

i

£

ii-

.a a

R

No.

£

Tons.

£

No.

£

Tons.

MUes.

Rudauli

20,617

849

102

52

21,003

906

927

302

56

Makhdiampur

6,873

246

34

20

6,387

219

322

129

47

Daryabad

13,750

489

42

24

13,606

484

184

88

42

Safdarganj

11,124

334

27

13

11,080

304

6

3

30

Nawabganj

71,396

2,095

1,152

451

68,724

1,933

1,579

682

18

Damlidapur . .

2,588

33

7

2

2,032

15

...

21

Biudaura

7,800

175

7

4

6,855

139

225

97

29

Ramnagar

9,960

249

150

32

9,364

218

16

7

33 '

Mahadeo

2,813

60

3,404

78

...

37

Bahramghat

22,344

1,129

3,667

1,487

22,672

1,125

1,473

691

39

Juggaur

1,602

26

1

1,087

14

>•■

11

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Manufactures. — List of cloths manufactured by weavers of the Nawab-
ganj tahsil, with the number of weavers residing in the tahsil : —

Tapti, of English thread.

Garha, of country „

Gazi „ „

Dhoti „ „

Mahmlidi „ „

!&hasa „ „

Charkhiina for petticoats, both of English and country thread.

Adhotar, of both English and country thread.

Susi, n „ „

Bilra „ „ „ .

Weavers are 1,910, of whom Koris number 141 and Julahas 1,769.

Weights and measures of length and capacity. — The local Jeos is about
one mile and a half. Forty sers make a maund here as everywhere else ;
but the local maund varies in every bazar. In Jharka, five local sers are
equal to two Government , sers, and the local maund to sixteen sers ; in
Nawabganj, five sers equal to 2^ regulation sers ; in Ramnagar, Dewa,
Zaidpur, Tikaitganj, to 2^; in Fatehpur to 2^, and the local maund
equals l7, 18, and 20 regulation sers respectively.

Even when the Government ser is nominally used, it is varied to suit
the convenience of the capitalist. Sugar is bought by the ser weighing 92
rupees or tolas, and sold by one weighing 80. The selling ser of ghi is the
same as for sugar, but the buying ser is 99 tolas. This 92 tolas ser is
called the dahsera, and is used also for tobacco and spices. I have entered
into the question of land measures in connection with rents,

BAE 247

I may add that in Fatehpur, where the bighas and maunds are both
large, it turned out from inspection of a number of village papers that
1,772 regulation bighas equalled 5,141 village bighas; therefore each
village bigha equals 1,040 square yards. There 4f make an acre, but
here, as elsewhere, the bigha was quite arbitrary, varying from 750 to
1,200 square yards.

Principal castes. — The principal castes of Bara Banki are as follows,
with their respective numbers : —

{Sayyad ...

Shekh ...

Pathan ...

Julaha ...

Kunjra ...

Brahman...

Chhattri ...

Ahir

Chamar .,.
] Kahar
I Kurmi ...
I Piisi
(."Vaishya ...

Hindus

Approximate per

Number

centage to entire

population.

6,830

<••

29,694

24

16,704

14

32,357

3

7,209

04

96,152

9

45,543

4

130,136

12

62,925

54

23,703

2

149,460

14

99,602

9

18,311

n

The only matter worthy of note is the great number of Kurmis. They
prevail mainly in this district and in Partabgarh.

The occupations of all the above castes are mainly agricultural, except
Julahas, who are weavers — the Kunjras, who are green grocers and dealers
in, not growers of, market produce — and the Vaishyas, who are traders
and shop-keepers. The castes are the same as those detailed in Lucknow,
the adjoining district. The caste system acquires a local interest in con-
nection with the distribution of property.

Sayyad and Shekh* Musalmans hold above 900 villages out of the
2,038 in the district, nearly half of the entire land ; they number in all
only 36,524. Chhattris hold 826 villages, or 40 per cent. ' in number ;
they are only 4 per cent., and the possessors of the land only form a mere
fraction even of these few. On the other hand, the whole body of the
aboriginal population, the P£sis, the Kahars, the Chamd,rs, have no right
in the land whatever. The Kurmis, who are, 14 per cent, of the popula-
tion, have 1^ per cent, of the land. The Ahirs, a powerful and intelligent
body of men, who form 12 per cent, of the entire population, have only a
single village. It appears, then, not only that landed proprietors are a
mere fraction of the population, but that the greater portion of the
people — the great majority of the races which inhabit the district, and
which have no kinship, fellowship, or commensality with the minority —
has either no share in the land, or such a minute one as to be not worthy
of mention. Of 104 castes which are to be found in the district, only six
have any right in the soil worthy of mention ; these are the Brahmans,
Chhattris, Sayyads, Shekhs, K%aths, Kurmis.

* I assume that the Khanzadas, as alleged by themselves, are („) gg^ cameg/s Notes on
Shekhs. (a) JJaces, page 69.

243

BAR

CHiiPTER Tir.

ADMINISTRATION.

Adnuniatrative divisions and staff— Eevenue — ^Expenditure— Taxation — Police and crimes. —
Table of accidental deaths— Education — Post Ofiace— Table shewing area of estates.

Administrative divisions and official staff. — There are four tahsils
whose population has been already given ; each is presided over by an
officer who collects the revenue and exercises civil and criminal jurisdic-
tion. The thdnadars or police officers are nine ; their stations, with their
respective jurisdictions, are as foUows : —

TMna.

Population.

Nearest tahsil.

Nawabganj

■•1 '

168,975

Nawabganj.

Zaidpur

...

101,878

Ditto.

Tikaitnagar

•••

• ••

...

133,357

Ditto.

Sanehi Gliat

...

118,199

Eiini Sanehi Ghat.

Bhilsar

...

150,754

Ditto.

Fatehpur

...

• .•

••.

109,590

Fatehpur.

Kursi

• f*

• a.

84,719

Nawabganj.

E&mnagar '

...

■ ••

• ■a

11.9,275

Ditto.

Haidargaib

Total

...

aaf

128,506

Haidargarh,

1,116,253

Courts. — There are a deputy commissioner, two assistant commissioners,
three extra assistant commissioners, four tahsildars, and four honorary
magistrates — all of these gentlemen have civil, criminal, and revenue
powers.

Revenue. — The revenue of the district in 1871-72 is shewn in the
following table : —

1871,

1872.

1. Eeoent settlement revenue collections

2. Eents of Government villages and lands

3. Income Tax ...

4. Tax on spirits...

5. Tax on opium and drugs ... „.

6. Stamp duty ... ..,

7. Law and Justice

Es.

15,75,056

65,000

5,923

60,251

Es.

15,75,217
1,860
20,228
44,34-6
5,359
56,995
10,251

Total

••••-•

17.14,356

The expenditure was Rs. 1,11,803, or less than 7 per cent, of the
revenue, which is the largest of any district in Oudh. Comparisons
between this year and 1860 are not given, because the area has been
considerably enlarged since that date, The above is, hpwever, only the

BAR 249

imperial expenditure ; police and other local matters are paid for from
provincial funds, from wliicli an allotment is annually made. The local
funds in 1872-73 amounted to Rs. 2,31,742, the expenditure to Rs. 65,571.
It is obvious that such a state of things was due to exceptional causes, and
the details are therefore of no value and will not be given here.

The following table is from the Accountant General's Financial State-
ment : —

Imperial Expenditure, 1871-72.

Eevenue refunds and drawbacks

Miscellaneous refunds

Land revenue

Deputy commissioners and establishment

Settlement ...

Excise or abkdri ... ...

Assessed taxes ... ...

Stamps

T _. J • J.- S Service of process

Law and justice | Criminal courts

Bcclesiastical
Medical

Es.

1,747
3,522

- I 52,677

!!". 15

3,139

366

1,008

5,371

38,242

... 4,200

1,10,287

Police. — The district police numbered in 1871-72 four hundred and
ninety, costing Rs. 43,703, according to annual report; but the police
report of 1873 puts the cost at Rs. 65,750.

Taxation. — Few remarks are called for on this head.

The land tax in the former district of Bara Banki was at annexation,
excluding local cesses, Rs. 8,35,994 ; during the years 1865 to 1867 it was
raised to Rs. 12,25,21*0, a rise of 40 per cent. The revenue in general —
what with an intrinsic increase of the rate, and what with additions to its
area— has nearly doubled ; the expenditure has increased very slightly.

Under the Income Tax Act of 1871, only 855 persons were brought
under assessment, which yielded Rs. 14,456 ; of these persons, 212, paying
Rs. 11,634, were owners of land.

Cri/mes. — There is nothing exceptional about the crime or criminals of
Bara Banki. The following table exhibits the crimes of the district. It
will appear that in six years the reported cases of house-breaking or
house-trespass increased from 2,037 to 6,611, and the convictions from
100 to 361. Infanticide does not appear in this, as convictions are never
obtained. A census is taken annually of aU Chhattris families in certain
suspected villages to whom the criine is almost confined.

In 1871 a census was taken of the entire Rajput population in 900
villages of this district, but in none of the thfinas did infanticide appear
to flourish so generally as in parts of the adjoining districts. In Rdmnagar
alone the Raikw^rs seem to be very prone to the practice of this crime.
In 63 villages the proportions were as follows : —

Adult males 1,026 females 673.
OWldfeu „ 293 „ 195.

250

BAR

The females then are only 39 per cent, of the total, or 65 per cent, of
the males ; they should be 92 per cent ; it would appear from this, that
41 per cent, of the females, or two out of every five born, have been made
away with.

The following table exhibits curious results : —

No. of villages.

Children up to 4,
Male Female,

Persons above 4.
Male Female.

Percentage of
girls to boys.

Of womeu
to meu.

1867 ...
1872 ...

... 133
... 145

658 615
641 569

4,871- 3,680
7,450 4,831

95
89

75
64

We do not know how many of the women are married ; this informa-
tion would be valuable because women hardly ever marry in their own
villages.

Native opinion declares that a daughter is shanhalp, a gift sanctioned
by religion, and it is not, strictly speaking, becoming for a father even to
see his daughter after marriage ; consequently young girls when they .
attain the age of puberty are married off into other villages, only the
unmarried girls are natives of each village ; and for them only the village
is accountable.

Crime Statistics for Bar a BanJci district

Cases reported.

Cases convicted.

^

»

rJ

CN

s -

S

19

7

12

CO

8

8

13

rH

Murders and attempts

9

15

11

16

11

3

Culpable homicide ...

7

6

3 .4

6

10

5

4

2

S

1

7

Dacoity ..,

•■■

3 4

3

7

■ ••

• ••

1

.,

2

Robbery ...

7

7

11

40

44

32

2

3

3

16

7

8

Eioting and unlawful assembly

27

36

30

37

50

42

24

30

27

32

39

31

Theft by house-breaking or

house-trespass

2,037

2,877 3,629

3.868

4,229

6,611

100

90

204 169

179

361

Theft, simple

774

1,004 1,406

1,406

1,419

1.757

208

255

336

,356

314

621

Theft of cattle

106

81

156

122

204

260

13

23

30

22

47

115

Offences against coin & stamps

5

6

4

8

4

11

4

3

3

5

2

6

Comparative inemorandum of accidental deaths for the years 1867,
1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, in district Bara BanU.

Suicides.,

drowning.

By snake-
bite.

By
wild quad-
rupeds.

By fall

of

buildings.

By other
causes.

Total.

Tears.

"i

19

14

■3

25
38

1

56

41

82

123

109

134

54

72

67

108

137

166

■3

19
45
69
44
36
53

1

33
76
71
66
64
65

1
1

• ••

"i

1
&

1

"i

1

14

2

7

22

112

7

.2
iS

4
1
3

24
101

14

i

21
21
36
25
38
61

7
. 6
12
14
18
16

Ill
1-09
184
215
315
254

!

1867

1868

1869

1870

1871

1872

99
165
163
223
346
-241

BAR

251

Statistics of the police of the district of Bam Banlci in 1873.

«

■s

1
II

1

1

s

■s

1

ID

a.
II

u

a

<D d

6

a

o

1
s

1
1

8

1

■s

1

8

umber
Sums

ative 0

^

fl

SS2

1^

1

l|

II

1

3

^

a . ^

l2i

<

fi

a*

IZi

!5

i2i

15

ig

Eegular police

65,750

3

82

343

...

f 1 to

I 5-19

1 to ■)

2,893 5

2,466

7,667

4,128

3,134

983

Village watch

90,316

...

65

3,370

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Municipal police ...

4,308

...

5

63

...

...

...

...

...

...

Total

1,60,374

3

142

3,776

3,921

...

2,466

7,667

4,128

3,134

985

Education. — There is in Bara Banki itself one central school at which
English is taught and boys are prepared for the University Entrance
Examination. The number of the pupils on the rolls amounted to 247
in 1871, and 298 in 1872. There were also a number of vernacular
schools whose progress and statistics are shewn as follows : —

1871
1872

No. of
Bchools.

68
90

No. of pupils
on rolls.

2,829
8,889

Average Fees

attendance. collected,
fis

1,960
2,565

632
822

Post Office. — The Post Office returns appended exhibit the first the
working of the entire system, the second that of the rural d^k only, a
comparative statement is given of the latter for 1864 — 1874.

It would appear that the institution is thoroughly valued, as the num-
ber of letters conveyed by the district d^k has increased 60 per cent, and
the last return shows 1,66,000 letters and papers delivered in one year.

Baea Banki.

Statistics shewing the number of letters and papers received in the
district office in 1873-74.

Letters.

Papers.

Packets.

Parcels,

Number of

letters given

out for

delivery.

Number

of letters

returned

undelivered.

Number of

papers given

out for

delivery.

Number of

papers

returned

undelivered.

Number of

packets

given out for

delivery.

Number of

packets

returned

undelivered.

Number of

parcels
given out

for
delivery.

Number of
parcels
returned
undeliver-
ed.

155,428

8,710

10,634

390

1,716

26

988

32

252

BAR

Baba Banki.

Statement shewing the working of the district dak in 1864 aTid 1874.

1S64.

isr4.

Number of miles of dAk line

„ „ runners ... • ...

Cost

Number of covers delivered...

„ „ returned undelivered
Total number of letters sent to District Post Office
Postage realized...

Rs.

Hs.

63

14

771

15,755

4,732

19,787

2,269

Es."" 3^761

24,687

2,249

26,936

List of taluqdars paying a Revenue of Its. 5,000 and above in the i
trict Bara Banki.

1

2

3
4
5

6
7
8
9

10

11
12
13
14
15

16
17

18
19
20
21

22

23
24
25
26

27
28

29

Name of taluqdar.

I

Eaja Amir Hasan Khan
Raja Sarabjit Singh
Eaja f arzand All Khan
Maharaja Kharak Singh
Widow of Maharaja Man

Singh
Eaja Narindra Bahadur
Eani Lekhraj Kunwar
Raja Kazim Husen Khan ...
Eaja Sher Bahadur Singh.,.
Eaja Nawab Ali Khan

Baja Thakni; Singh
Kite Abhiram Bah
Mi'r Eazzaq Husen
Badshah Husen Khan
Mir Buniad Husen and Am-

jad Husen
Mir Amjad Husen
Hakim Karam Ali
Qazi Ikram Ahmad
Pande Bahadur Singh
ChaudhriMuhammad Husen
Muhammad Amir and Ghu

lam Abbas
Ahmad Husen and WAjid

Husen
Nasir-ud-dm
Bakhshi Harparsh£d
Riasat Ali
Shin Singh
Sayyad Husen
ChaudhriGhulamFarid and

Mahbub-ur-Eahman.
Ihsan Easu]

Number

of

Name of t^luqa.

i

1

•1

•s

1

72

1
.33

Koandanda

Eamnagar

195

71

Jahangirabad ...

65

16

BhitauU

46

Garhi Ahar

14

2

Haraha

50

16

Surajpur

61

7

Bilahra

37

4

Kamiar

7

3

Adampur Bhat-

'

purwa

6

1

Tirbediganj

5

1

Rampur

29

10

Narauli

K5

10

Bhatwdmau ...

21

4

Bhanmau

8

Suhelpur

9

1

Guthia

18

Satrikh

11

1

Usdamau

14

.>>

Karkha

11

4

Shahabpur

6

2

Gadia

8

8

Gaura

6

fi

Xilauli

8

.3

Shekhpur

6

12

Muhammadpur

5

22

Purai

6

8

Barai

24

22

Amfrpur

6

8

Total area.

E. P.

37,063

1,09,121

39,698

43,118

13,100
39,856
37,530
15,596
13,560

3 27
2 5

2 26

3 10
1 30

6,940 0 17

Government
revenue.

Es. As. P.

1,868

0 30

17,448

0 30

23,359

0 0

9,226

0 0

2,683

2 10

4,318

2 5

6,473

3 15

10,843

2 32

5,657

1 13

6,598

1 21

4,144

3 12

9,020

1 20

3,792

3 25

2,764

1 10

4,063

1 18

5,164

2 30

6^958

2 25

18,563

3 0

4^683

1 10

50,346

0 0

4,24,381

4 6

61,467

2 8

10,586

0 0

13,080

0 0

53,856

0 0

59,563 10 0

18,659

0 0

6,115

0 0

9,273

0 0

3,019

0 0

24,585

3 0

28,232

8 0

10,139

3 9

5,045

0 0

8,965

0 0

13,975

0 0

18,875

0 0

8,201

8 0

13,362

U 8

8,763 13 0

20,450

0 0

5,840

6 8

3,280

0 0

6,811

12 9

6,551

10 0

8,067

0 0

26,744 14 0
7,030 14 0

BAR

253

List of talug[dars paying a Bevenue ofBs. 5,000 and above in ihe district
Bara Banki. — (Continued.)

ITame of t'aluqdar.

Name of taluqa.

Number
of

Total area.

!_

!

■s

GoTernment
roTenue.

A.

R. P.

Rs. A. P.

30

Nawab Ali Khan

MaUa Eaeganj

4

8

2,858

1 35

6,220 0 0

31

Inayatulla and ImamuUa

and Ikram Ali

Saidanpur

13

1

4,807

2 25

10,400 0 0

32

Thakur Shiu Sahae

Simrawan

6

3

3,281

0 0

7,125 0 0

33

Raghunath Singh

Rech

1

, 1,182

3 35

2,100 0 0

34

Girdhari Singh

Gokulpur

6

3

4,765

1 38

9,182 8 0

35

Sher Khan

Neora

1

13

3,325

2 31

4,711 4 0

36

Warn r Ali Khan

Barauli

4

36

5,674

0 10

7,973 7 0

37

Autdr Singh

Ranimau

10

4

5,405

1 0

7,433 0 0

38

AU Bahadur and Autar

Singh

Usmanpur

21

4

8,260

1 20

16,620 0 0

39

Thakur Guman Singh and

Rudr Partab Singh ...

Bhikhampur &c.

3

1,057

3 20

925 0 0

40

Thakurain Ikhlas Kunwar

LUar

2

6

2,861

1 23

2,082 5 4

41

Chaudhrain Beohl-un-nisa

Bhilwal Kh4u-

and Murtaza Husen ...

pur

35

8

28,504

3 0

34,946 6 0

42

Raja Bhagwant Singh ...

Pokhra Ansiiri

23

3

28,859

0 0

25,224 0 0

43

Thakur Pirthi'pal Singh ...

Ramnagar

8

1

5,621

0 0

8,234 8 0

44

Babu Bhikbam Singh ...

Akhiapur

3

1,551

0 0

2,325 0 0

45

Raja Bihari Lai

Rabhi

1

277

0 0

380 0 0

46

Shiuratan Singh .

Sarde Gopi ...

3

...

1,326

0 0

1,335 12 0

47

Babu Nabi Bakhsh Khan

Chak Duna ...

1

65

0 0

102 6 0

48

ShekhAbidAU

Saidahar

10

12

6,261

2 39

8,670 14 6

49

Musammat Said-un-niasa

Ganaura

3

831

3 35

2,550 0 0

50

Babu Pirthipal Singh ...

Udahpur

4

2,102

0 35

2,450 0 0

51

Chaudhri Musahib Ali and

Karfm Bakhsh

Din Panah ...

5

1

6,949

1 0

5,600 0 0

52

Shams-un-nisa

Jasmada

3

920

0 15

3,200 0 0

234

BAR

CHAPTER IV.

HISTORY.

District has always been turbulent and ill-conditioned — Statement of towns, houses,
wells, and religious buildings in the district — History of the district—Colonel
Sleeman's description of Eamnagar DhaiDeri, &o. The Bahrela Rajputs — the story
of Ganga Bakhsh Rawat— taluqas of Eamnagar, Haraha, Surajpur, Jahangirabad,
ilaqas of Barai, JRudauli, Bara Banki during the rebellion— Medical aspects.

District has always been turbulent and ill-conditioned. — This district
has always been a most turbulent . and ill-conditioned one. The reason
probably is that the Musalmans and the Rajputs, or, in other words, the
town party and the country party, are pretty equally balanced. There are
here a number of great Musalman colonies, and their inhabitants have not
been so tolerant as in other parts of Oudh.

In Zaidpur, for instance, a town with a population of over 10,000, the
majority of whom are Sunnis and Hindus, there is not a single religious
edifice for the use of either. The lords of the soil are Shias ; they form a
mere fraction of the population; but seventeen mosques have been provided
to attest their zeal and their intolerance. The following table conveys some
interesting information concerning these towns. It appears that there are
eighty-six Hindu temples, four Jain shrines, and 144 Musalman mosques
or meeting houses. In all there are 234 religious edifices. These are of
masonry.

The temples of Mahadeo in his ling representation are as numerous as
those of all other deities put together.

Statement shovn/ng the towns of Bara Banki district with their houses,
wells, religious buildings dhc.

Number
of

Number
of

Hindu

Muhammadan reli-
gious buildings.

houses.

wells.

buildings.

Sunni.

Shia.

Names of mauzas.

^

.a

i
t

M

19
29

8
26
10
20
14

9
39

48
4

226

3

7
1
0
6
6
1

"3

1

1
14

1

1

3

ID

Q

1

1
1

i

1
2

U

S

a

1

1

3

1

3

1

8
1

f

R

1

1
1

1

2

1

1

W

1

H

Nawabganj

Bara Banki

11

3

10

385

100

71

20

31

39

3

13

99

785

3,695

627

863

1,115

1,605

2,784

329

52
15
22
20
71
107
23

7,411
2,728
2,177
4,305
2,890
4,847
801
2,269

4,805
2,136
3,267

3,195
1,265
1,407
6,375
2,509
6,770
933
1,793

"909
1,314
3,927

10,606
3,993
3,584

10 680

Satrikh

1 R

1

"7
1
2

io

"2

Zaidpur

Daryabad

EudauU

Aliabad

3
1

"2
2
1

6
3

1
2
3

1

1
2

1

1
1

"i

12
25
4
8
4
1
6
8

"e

5,399
11,617
1,734
4,062
3,200
5,714
3,450
7,194

Siddhaur

914 19

4

Bado Sarai

Eamnagar

638
1,305

834
1,921

155
69
43

157

1

Kuntur

1
2

15

"4

15

1
2

20

2

Fatehpur

6

5

1
4

4

1

Total „. ...

16,630

753

42

18

22

7

85

37,636

30,397

71,233

BAR 255

History. — The early history of the Bara Banki district is perhaps more
obscure than that of any other in Oudh, partly because less perhaps has
been done for its elucidation, partly owing to the change in the ownership
of land. About half of the district is now owned by Musalmans ; it is not
known when they acquired this predominance.

The following parganas are mentioned in Akbar's time with their re-
spective owners — vide A'm-i-Akbari.

SarJcdr Oudh.

Sailuk (now Ramnagar aud Muhammadpur) ... Raikwars.

Daryabad ... ... ... ... Chauhans, Eaitwara

Eudauli ... ... ... ... ... Bais, Chauhans.

Subeha ... ... ... ... Kajpiits.

Satrikh ... ... ... ... ... Ansari Musalmans,

Bhitauli ... ... ... ... ... Eajputs, Jats.

Dewa ... ... .». ... ... Eajputs.

Sihali ... ... .... ... ... Eajputs.

Siddhaur ... ... ... ... ... Nayazi Afghans, Eajputs.

Fatehpur ,.. ... „. ... ... Shekhzidas, Eajputs.

Kursi ... ... ... ... ... Eajputs.

The disintegration of the^ Hindu clans in this district is sufficiently
apparent from this list ; the proprietary possession of large, continuous tracts
by one single Chhattri caste, which prevails elsewhere in Oudh, does not
appear here. The Musalman invaders had made their first permanent set-
tlement in this district at Satrikh, in H. 421, A. D. 1030 ; from thence
they had for years waged a fierce and proselytizing war. In successive
battles the Hindu had been defeated ; their attempts to poison or assassin-
ate Sayyad Salar had failed, but the war of extermination which ensued
crushed the remains of Hindu independence and annihilated the faith in
large districts by the wholesale massacre of its professors. Sihd,li, for in-
stance, was conquered, ancj its sovereign, a Siharia Chhattri, was killed.
Kunttir was captured, and its Bhar queen, Kintama slain. The death of
Sayyad Salar, 1032 A. D., was merely a temporary check ; the Musalman
invaders were now animated by a desire to revenge their young martyr, as
well as by the usual motives of plunder, proselytism and conquest ; a
second invasion consequently ensued.

In A. D. 1049, 441 H., the Kings of Kanauj and Manikpur were
defeated and driven from Oudh by Qutub-ud-dm of Medina. The Musal-
man invasion was more successful in Bara Banki than elsewhere. In 586
H., 1189 A. D., Sihali was conquered by Shekh Nizam-ud-din of Herat,
Ansari. Zaidpur was occupied by themin H. 636, when Sayyad Abdul W^hid
twenty-three generations ago turned out the Bhars, altering the name of the
town from Suhalpur. The colony of Musalman Bhattis, which now occupies
Mawai MahoMra, is reported to have arrived about the same time, although
some place it as early as H. 596, 1199 A. D. They came from Bhatnair
or Bhattiana, in the Punjab and Rajputana ; it is possible that, as they
allege, they were a colony left by the Ghori king, who five years before
had taken Kanauj ; but it is more probable that they were converts and
emigrants from the parent city, when Jessulmere was

See Tod's Kajasthan, ^^^^^^ ^^^ sacked by AlM-ud-din in 1295 A. D. Bhat-

256 BAR

under Imdm Joth Khan and Mustafa Khan, they drove out Bais Chhattris
from Barauli, Brahmans and Bhars from Mawai.

Rudauli was occupied about H. 700, in the -reign of Alla-ud-din Khilji,
whose forces had just about the same time destroyed Anhalwara, Chittor,
Deogir, Mandor, Jessulmere, Gagraun, Bundi, in fact nearly every remain-
ing seat of Chhattri power. Easiflpur was conquered about 1350 A.D. 756 H.
Daryabad was founded about 850, H. 1444 A. D., by Dari^o Khan
Subahdar. Fatehpur was colonized by Fateh Khan, a brother of Darido
Khan, and about the same time.

The villages of Barauli and Barai, near Rudauli, were occupied, and gave
their name to large estates about the middle of the fifteenth century.

Simultaneously, however, with this latter immigration of the Musalmans
there was one of Chhattris. The mysterious tribe of Kalhans, which
numbers some twenty thousand persons, are said to be descended from
Achal Sing, who came in as a soldier of fortune with Dariao Khan about
1450 A. D.

At this time Ibrahim Shah, Sharqi, reigned at Jaunpur. Oudh was the
battle ground — ^the border land between that dynasty and the Lodis of
Delhi — and their princes, as the tide of conquest surged backwards and
forwards, settled Hindu soldiers as garrisons, — the war being now one
between Moslems, and no longer one of religion. The Kalhans are said to
have come from Gujarat, the same nursery of Chhattris from which the
Ahban, the Panwar, the Gahlot, the Gaur, the Bais, and many other Oudh
clans, are believed to have emigrated.

This Achal Singh is declared to have been of an Angrez bans or stock,
and there is no doubt that on the borders of Gujarat and Baluchistan many
foreigners who had arrived both by land and sea voyages did settle down
and gradually blend with the Hindu race, assuming suitable places in the
caste system. A migration further east, far from all local traditions of
original impurity, would in time render their origin one of unquestioned
orthodoxy in popular repute, just as Indo-Scythians,* and even Portuguese
are said to have blended with Western Rajputs. At any rate, this Rdja
Achal Singh is a great name in the middle ages of Oudh ; he had large
property — some state that his capital was Bade Sarai, on the old bank of
the Gogra ; and the story that he was overwhelmed with nearly aU his
houses by an irruption of the Gogra -f- because he had perjured himself to
his wife's family priest, is a favourite tradition of Oudh. He had, it is
stated, only a grant of eight villages originally; now his descendants have
six great taluqas, mostly situated in Gonda, Kamiar, Paska, Shahpur,
Dhanfiwan, Pardspur Ata ; they hold on both sides of the Gogra, just as
the Raikwars do to the north, and the J^ngres beyond them again in
Kheri and Bahraich. Similarly, the isolated Sdrajbansi estate of Hard,ha
and the Sombansi Bahrelia estate of Surajpur were establised by small
colonies of Chhattri soldiers, who had been dismissed from service about
eighteen generations ago. These S^rajbans assert an emigration from
Bansi in Gorakhpur and a connexion with the Sirneyts ; the Chauh^ns of

* Wilson's Vishnu Parana, Hall's Edition, Vol. II. p. 134.
+ Camel's Caster of Oudh, p. 47.

BAR 257

Fyzabad, Sombansi of Partabgarh, and Gaur of Amethi, send them daugh-
ters ; they marry their own to the Bais and Chauhdns of Mainpuri.

The great Raikwdr colony of Baundi E£mnagar, deserves more detailed
notice. The estates of Baundi Ramnagar (originally Keshw^mau), Rampur,
Chahl^ri, Rahwa, Malldpur, up till 1858, extended along both sides of the
Gogra for about sixty miles in the districts of Bara Banki, Sitapur, Kheri,
Bahraich. Baundi* and Chahlari were forfeited for rebellion, but the others
are still owned by Raikwar chiefs.

These Raikwars are said to have originally colonized this part of the
country under the orders of Alla-ud-din Ghori ; they came from Raika, in
Kashmir. Partab Sah and Dunde Sah settled at or near Sailuk ; Partab
Sah died, leaving two sons, Saldeo and Baldeo. The family was unfortu-
nate. The nephews pretended a prophecy that the uncle must be sacrificed
for the future greatness of the family. Propitious signs indicated the
right place, and then Dunde Sah, weary of life, held out his head to be
struck off by his nephews. Henceforth the family was prosperous. There
were two Bhar Rajas ruling on opposite sides of the river, one at Ramnagar
in Bara Banki, one on the eastern bank at Bamhnauti, now Baundi. Bfil
took service with the former, Sal with the latter ; each in time acquired
the confidence of his master, and then supplanted or slew him. Little
more is known of the Raikwar clan in Bara Banki for many years.

Nominally, at any rate, Sailuk which included Ramnagar and Muham-
madpur was granted to the Baundi Raja-f" Harhardeo by the Emperor
Akbar, but it is not known whether the cis-Gogra Raikwars really remained
independent, or not. In 1165 H., A.D. 1751, the Raikwars seem to have
headed a great Hiadu movement to shake off the Musalman Government.

Safdar Jang, the wazir, had been absent at Delhi ; his naib, Newal Rae,
had been defeated and killed at the Kali nadi three years before by the
Baugash Afghans of Farukhabad, who then overran the whole province
except a few of the fortified towns. In 1749, Safdar Jang himself, with an
army of 60,000 men, was defeated by them ; and if at this time the Oudh
Chhattris had risen, the Mughal authority might have been overthrown,
but they waited till after Safdar Jang, in 1750 A. D., 1164 H., had bribed
or beaten the Rohillas oat of the country.^

Then the tribes gathered themselves together under the leadership of
Anup Singh, the Rdja of Ramnagar Dhameri ; the JanwSr of Balrdmpur,
the Bisens of Gonda, and numerous other lords assembled their forces for
an attack on Lucknow, now denuded of the troops which had gone into
Rohilkhand. The Shekhzadas of Lucknow came out to meet the enemy,

* Tte obstinate rebellion of the Raikwars seems to have been mainly due to the unfortu-
nate fact, that the Queen of Oudh on being driven from Lucknow, March 1858, threw her-
self into the fort of Baundi, where she remained for some months — the chivalrous owner
became enthusiastic in her cause.
+ Bahraich Settlement Report, p. 34.
t History of the Rohillas pp. 109—112.
Imad-us-Saadat, pp. 7, 25, 33.
MiU's India. Vol. ll., p. 328.
Dow's Hindustan, "Vol. II., p. 319.

R

258 BAR

they were joined by the Khanzadas of Mahmudabad and Bilahra, who
were connected with them by marriage.

The battle was fought at Chheola Ghat on the Kalyani, on the road to
Lucknow. The Musalmans, headed by Nawab Muizz-ud-din Khan of Mah-
mudabad, won the day. The Balrampur raja was killed it is said, and an
immense number of the allied host, some 15,000 were killed or wounded
on both sides. Nor would this number be at all remarkable when large
armies, inflamed against each other by religious hatred in addition to the
ordinary motives, fought at close quarters. From this event dates the rise of
the Khdnzadas. The Raikwars were proportionately depressed ; the estates
of both Baundi and Ramnagar were broken up, and but a few villages left
with the raja. The process of agglomeration commenced again, seventy years
afterwards, about 1816, on the death of the sagacious Saadat Ali Khan,
and before annexation, in 1856, the E,d,mnagar raja had recovered the
whole family estate and added to it largely, while his brother of Baundi
had similarly added 172 villages to his domain.* An account of the Raik-
wars, slightly differing from the preceding, is given under article Bhitauli.
The clan declares itself to be of Slirajbans origin ; they marry their daugh-
ters to Bais and Chauhans, they receive the daughters of Surajbans, Chan-
del, Bisen, and Janwar. There are other Cbhattri clans in the district, but
they have generally sunk from the position of proprietors to that of culti-
vators. Above all, this is the case with the Chautians ; they formed a por-
tion of the great colony which occupies the west of Fyzabad, Pachhimrath,
and Mangalsi, extending into Rudauli and Daryabad in this district. There,
too, they have succumbed to chakladars and taluqdars ; they are very nu-
merous, very proud, and poor ; they number about 3,000 in Bara Banki
and 9,000 in Daryabad, and had 565 villages. The great estate of Maha-
raja M^n Singh in Fyzabad and Bara Banki was formed mainly out of
their possessions, much of it recently. Some villages, like Intg£on for
instance, were acquired since annexation.

The principal chiefs of Bara Banki are thus referred to in the settlement
report : —

Taluqa of Bdmnagar. — " The large property consisting of 253
villages belongs to Raja Sarabjit Singh, of whom mention has already
been made. The Raja is the head of the Raikwar clan, who, accord-
ing to Mr. Elliot, " immigrated to Oudh from the hill country about Kash-
mir eighteen generations or 450 years ago, that is, about 1400 A. D. It is
a curious fact that whereas all Rajputs place a special value on the wood
of the nim tree, theRaikwars alone are forbidden to use it."

Taluqa of Hardha. — The present proprietor of this taluqa is Raja Na-
rindr Bahadur, the head of the Sdrajbans Thakurs. His father, R^ja
Chhatarpat Singh, is yet alive. Both father and son are afflicted with
mental incapacity. The estate, which consists of sixty-six villages, paying
a revenue of Rs. 55,000, is under the management of the local authorities,
and there it is likely to remain. Certain members of the Raja's family
fortunately held the estates of Ranimau Qiampur in a separate qubtiliat

* Bahraicb Settlement Keport, page 49.

BAR 259

in the Nawabi, and they have thus escaped being placed under the taluq-
dar's sanad.

Taluqa of SlJ,rajpur. — This estate comprises fifty-six villages. The pre-
sent proprietor is Raja Udatt Partab Singh, the head of Bahrelia Bais Tha-
kurs. Here, again, the Raja is mentally and physically unfit to manage
his estate ; but so long as his maternal grandfather, Udatt Narain, livas
there is no fear of under-proprietors, tenants or patwaris defrauding the
family.

The late Rdja Singji was a most formidable and violent landholder until
he was attacked by Maharaja Man Singh, captured and taken prisoner
to Lucknow, where he died in jail. It was mainly owing to the bad
example set by Singji that the Daryabad district was so turbulent un-
der the native Government, that amils and chakladars were to use a
native expression unable to breathe in it — (S'dk men dam charhta
tha.)

Taluqa of Jahdngirabad. — The taluqdar of Jah^ngirabad is a Qidwai
Shekh, Rdja Farzand Ali Khan. He owes his position to two circumstances :
(1) his marriage with the daughter of R^ja Razzaq Bakhsh, the late
proprietor of the taluqa ; (2) to a fortuitous incident which occurred about
three years before annexation. Farzand Ali was the darogah in charge of
the Sikandarbagh at Lucknow. On one occasion of the last king of Oudh
visiting the garden, he was struck with the appearance of this young man,
and presenting him with a khilat, directed him to attend at the palace.

With such a signal mark of the royal favour, Farzand All's advance-
ment was rapid, and, under the interest of the influential eunuch, Bashir-
tid-daula, he obtained a farman designating him the Raja of Jahanglra-
bad. This taluqdar followed the deposed king to Calcutta, and was there
during the mutinies. Raja Farzand Ali is very intelligent, and well able
to manage his estate with prudence and circumspection.

Taluqa of Barai. — Chaudhri GhuUm Farid, a Siddiqi Shekh, is the
largest landholder of the Rudauli tahsil. He owns thirty-nine villages. At
the summary settlement before annexation, he contemplated depriving the ,
children of his cousin, Mumtaz Ahmad, of their share in the estate,
unmindful of the past long possession of his cousin; but at the earnest
representations of Sayyad Abdul Hakim, an extra assistant commissioner,
who was respected throughout the district, he made a fair division,
which is in force up to date ; in fact, he gave them half the estate.

Taluqas of Rudauli. — It would be too long a story to mention each ta-
luqa, for there are in all forty-three.

An account of the remaining great families is given under the headings
of parganas Bhitauli, Daryabad, and Sdrajpur, in which they reside.

Events of the 7nutiny.—A few remarks may be made about the events
of the mutiny. Unlike what occurred in the districts of Hardoi, Gonda,
and Lucknow, the whole body of the taluqdars in this district joined the
cause of the deposed king and the mutineers. They offered no resistance
however, of any moment to the advance of the British troops after the

b2

260 BAR

capture of Lucknow ; in the battle of Nawabganj, described further on,
the English fought with the Raikwar levies of Baundi and Chahldri from
Bahraich and Sitapur, not with the Musalmans of Rud-auli or Daryabad.

The following extracts from Sir Hope Grant's " Sepoy War" refer to
three of the largest estates or principalities in the district — Bilahra, Bhitau-
li, and Jahangirabad : —

" On the 16th April we reached Bilahra, from whence I made a recon-
noissance to a ford in the river Ghurshupper, but found it impracticable
for guns. On the 19th April we marched for Ramnagar, six miles from
Bhitauli, and belonging to a raja of considerable importance, who was said
to have a strong force. On our arrival we found, as usual, every thing de-
serted. I sent the cavalry forward to reconnoitre, and they brought back
a magnificent elephant with two splendid tusks, and a large sawari camel.
The rider looked the greatest villain unhung, and must have belonged to
one of our irregular regiments. The same afternoon I took the cavalry and
Middleton's battery to look up the Begam, but found she had bolted ; -
we nearly lost three of our guns and a team of horses by taking the wrong
channel.

" We started before daybreak on 21st April, and arrived at Mussowlie,
half-way to Nawabganj, where Jang Bahadur's Gurkhas, were stopping.
The European officer in command had great difficulty to contend with in
marching through a country so filled with rebels. His force consisted of
8,000 men, with twenty guns ; yet, he could only reckon on 2,000 men for
actual fighting purposes.

" He had 2,000 sick and 4,000 carts ; and each of the latter being filled
with tents, private property, and loot, required, according to the usages of
these troops, a man to guard it. On 22nd April I heard that there was in
the neighbourhood one of the strong Oudh mud forts, Jahangirabad,
surrounded by a jungle which was almost impenetrable, and traversed by
few roads.

" This fort belonged to a chief of the name of Rivja Razzaq Bakhsh, who
had been playing a double game throughout the mutiny, and I thought it
would be well to teach him a lesson. The same morning he came into
camp with profuse protestations of good behaviour and fidelity, and offered
to hand over to us the only three guns which he said he had in his posses-
sion.

" I took with me two squadrons of cavalry, and after picking our way for
some time through the jungle, we came to the gate of his stronghold,
which we entered. Inside was a dense jungle of bamboo and a thick thorny
plant, through which it was impossible to advance, except by a narrow,
tortuous path. At last we came up to a miserable mud house, which he
called his palace. The people were very civil, and told us that the guns
had been sent away to the Commissioner ; but one of our Sikhs, who are
famous hands at making discoveries of concealed property, found out two
guns in an enclosure where no one had thought of looking. We imme li-
ately caused the gate to be burst open, and secured a 9 and a 6-pound t.
I sent for some bullocks of the worthy Raja, and found that they were
Government animals which the old scoundrel had stolen, A native also

BAR 261

informed me that there was another gun close to the gate by which we
entered; and on further search we found a 9-pounder, most skilfully
masked, facing the road along which we had travelled, double-shotted
with grape and round shot, ready primed, and having a slow match fixed
and lighted. All this looked very suspicious, especially as at the same
time an ofiicer reported that he had found a number of treasonable papers
in the Rdja's house.

" I therefore resolved not to let the old gentleman off, and the next day
I sent a force, under Brigadier Horsford,* from Nawabganj to destroy the
place. This was thoroughly carried into execution; — the jungle was
burned, and the palace levelled to the ground."i-

Sir Hope Grant writes as follows of the battle of |Nawabganj : — I
" A large body of fine, daring zamindari men brought two guns into
the open and attacked us in rear. I have seen many battles in India, and
many brave fellows fighting with a determination to conquer or die ; but
I never witnessed anything more magnificent than the conduct of these
zamindars.

" In the first instance they attacked Hodson's Horse, who would not face
them, and by their unsteadiness placed in great jeopardy two guns which
had been attached to the regiment. Fearing that they might be captured
I ordered up the 7th Hussars, and the other four guns belonging to the
battery, to within a distance of 500 yards from the enemy ; they opened a
fire of grape which moved them down with terrible effect, like thistles
before the scythe. Their chief, a big fellow with a goitre on his neck,
nothing daunted, caused two green standards to be planted close to the
guns, and used them as a rallying point ; but our grape-fire was so de-
structive that whenever they attempted to serve their pieces, they were
struck down. Two squadrons of the 7th Hussars under Sir William Eussell
and two companies of the 60th Rifles, now came up and forced the surviv-
ors to retire, waving their swords and spears at us, and defiantly calling
out to us to come on. The gallant 7th Hussars charged through them
twice, and killed the greater part of them. Around the two guns alone
there were 125 corpses. After three hour's fighting the day was ours ; we
took six guns and killed about six hundred of the enemy. Our own loss in
killed and wounded was sixty-seven ; and, in addition, thirty-three men
died from sunstroke, and 250 were taken into hospital."

Concluding remarks. — The population of Bara Banki is very dense,
six hundred and thirty to the square mile ; the owners of property are, to
an unusual extent, Musalmans ; they are dissevered from the Hindu people
by religion, custom, and residence ; they are extravagant in their personal
habits, and charitable to their numerous kindred ; many of the estates are
small ; the result is that the landlords press hard upon the cultivators, and
rents are perhaps higher in Bara Banki than in any
^®°*^- other district of Oudh, Nor are commerce and ma-

faetures more flourishing.

• Now Major General Sir Alfred Horsford, K. c, B., Commandiiig tlie South-Eastern District,
+ Pages 264-270.— "Tie Sepoy War," by Sir Hope Grant.
J Pages 291-292,—" The Sepoy War. "

262 BAR

There still exists a considerable manufacture of coarse cloth in this district
the weavers reside chiefly in Siddhaur and Nawabganj ; their productions
are of the commonest kind, and their earnings are miserable — about one
and a quarter anna per day for each adult.

It has not been considered consistent with the scope of this Gazetteer to
mention in this place other facts which are recorded in the settlement re-
port, which, however, are of importance in estimating aright the condition
of this district and its future prospects. The following account of medical
aspects is by the civil surgeon : —

Fevers. — Malarial fevers are endemic in this district, prevailing through
the entire year, but with greater intensity during, and immediately after,
the rainy season.

Intermittent fever. — Intermittent fever of the quotidian type is that
most commonly met with, and is undoubtedly the cause of about one-third
of the sickness of the district. The tertian tjrpe is not so frequently seen,
being in proportion to the quotidian of 1 to 25.

Remittent fever. — Eemittent fever is not a common disease here. The
following return of admission^ during 1873 to the Sadr Dispensary may
be taken as a fair example of the relative numbers attacked by these
diseases : —

Ague, quotidian 1,036

,, tertian ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 42

Eemittent fever 45

Malarial poison. — The malarial poison does not generally exist in a
concentrated form, and most of the cases seen in this district are of a mild
character. Comparatively speaking, this part of the province may be said
to be particularly free from fever of a fatal type.

Causes. — The causes of this disease are the absence of proper sub-
soil drainage, want of cultivation, the existence of numerous jhils, the
water of which, highly charged with decomposed vegetable matter, is gra-
dually dried up ; the miasma arising from the muddy bed as the water
recedes ; contamination of water in wells in seasons of flood ; drinking of
jhil and tank water which is always charged with malarious poison.

Predisposition to disease. — The mass of the people are predisposed
to the disease ; they are badly fed and suffer from many privations ; this,
by depressing their mental and physical powers, renders them more sus-
ceptible to the influence of the malarious poison.

Cholera. — The deaths from cholera during last five years are reported
as follow : —

1869 ... 1,272 1 1871 ... 4,612 I 1873 ... 86

1870 ... 910 I 1872 ... 1,536 I

This disease is epidemic, and is generally introduced to the district
by pilgrims returning from some cholera infected fair, to spread with
greater or less severity according to the season of year or condition the
people may be in. The hot months April, May and June, and the months
immediately succeeding close of rains, October and November, seem most
favourable to its spread.

BAR 263

Small-pox. — This disease may be said to be epidemic in this district,
every month in the year returning deaths under this head.

Cattle disease. — No cattle disease has been reported in this district
since 1871-72. A few cases occurred during those years in the Kursi,
Fatehpur, Ramnagar and Nawabganj portions of the district.

There is no record to show the number of cattle attacked, or the number,
which died ; so far as I can learn, the cattle of this district have not
suffered from the extension of cultivation at the expense of the pasture
lands.

Fairs. — The following are the principal fairs and religious festivals held
in this district.

Lodhora. — At Lodhora, a village one and a half miles from Ram-
nagar, two annual fairs are held ; they take place generally in the last
quarter of the moon, in February or March ; and in October or November,
about 8,000 to 10,000 persons assemble — all Hindus. The fair lasts from
twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Respectable females do not attend the
February and March fairs for fear of being insulted during the holi, which
commences immediately after the fair. In the fair held in October or
November, there are more women than men present. The principal cere-
money consists in pouring holy water over the idol of Mahadeo, and then
the offering of a few pice and sweetmeats. Vows are made, and requests
are supposed to be granted. This idol is the principal attraction. Sweet-
meats, parched gram, sugarcane, are the principal articles sold. A few
cloth merchants from Cawnpore generally visit this fair.

Kotwa. — A fair is held at Kotwa in the November of every year ;
from sixty to seventy thousand Hindus generally assemble. The ceremony
consists in the offering of pice and sweetmeats to the idol Mahadeo in the
temple, and bathing in an adjoining tank, which is supposed to wash away
all their sins. Cheap jewellery, sweetmeats and Manchester goods are the
principal things offered for sale.

Satrikh. — At Satrikh, a village five miles from Nawabganj, a fair
is held by the Muhammadans at the shrine of one of their saints. It
generally takes place in the month of May. Fifty to sixty thousand true
believers assemble and remain a couple of days ; offerings of small coins and
handfuls of grain are made at the shrine of Salar Sahu. Sweetmeats and
dishes of roast beef are sold. The fair is very profitable to the proprietors
of the shrine.

Makhd-O/m Sdhib-ka-mela. — Makhdfim Sahib-ka-mela is held at qas-
ba Rudauli in the May of every year, about the same time as the
Satrikh fair. It is a Muhammadan assembly, at which about fifty
thousand people attend : it lasts a couple of days. Prayers are offered up
at the shrine of one of their saints, and offerings of money, cloth and grain
are made.

BARA BANKI — District Bara Banki. — This may be considered the head-
quarters, it gives name to the district. It is about a mile to the north
of Nawabganj, and the civil station is built for the most part on land

264 BAR

belonging to it. This is a place of great antiquity, and wiis known befdre the
Muhammadan conquest as Jasnaul, — from Jas, a raja of the Bhar tribe,
who is said to have founded it some nine hundred years ago. With a
change of proprietors came a change of name. The Musalman owners divid-
ed the lands into twelve shares, over which the respective proprietors quar-
relled so incessantly that they were called the " Barah Banke," or twelve
quarrelsome men. Banka, in Hindi, meaning a bully or brave. The
present coparceners fully keep the reputation established by their ancestors.
Others derive the name from ban, meaning wood or jungle, and interpret
Bara Banki as the twelve shares of jungle. The lands belongmg to this
town are much sub-divided, and the inhabitants are chiefly small Musalman
proprietors and their dependants. The American Mission has established
a school in the town, under the supervision of a native preacher.

The population, with Nawabganj-, amounts to 14,4'89. Further particu-
lars are given under that town.

BAEA'GAON — Farganoi Maholi — Tahdl Misrikh — District Sitaptje. —
Baragaon, in pargana Maholi, district Sitapur, lies north-west from
Sitapur 17 , miles as the crow flies. No high road, canal, or river, passes
through it. The nearest road is that which joins Maholi to Mitauli ^nd
Kasta, and that is five miles distant. The population numbers 2,066, who
live in 442 mud houses ; there not being a masonry house in the town
with the exception of a few shops in the bazar. It dates from very
remote times, and its founders were Hindus. Two good bazars are
held here, at which cotton, salt and iron from the North -Western Pro-
vinces are sold. The bazar contains also a number of sugar-dealers' shops
in which sugar made on the spot is sold, and there are also cloth-merehants
and mahajans. The yearly value of these sales is estimated at Es. 57,852.
The town boasts of a school, at which the daily attendance averages 57.
Besides a shivala there are seven masonry tanks. The climate and soil
are both good.

BARAI — Pargana Bihae — Tahsil Kvsda— District Paetabgaeh. — This
village lies near the road from Bihar to Manikpur, 87 miles from Bela and
40 from Allahabad.

The population consists of 1,901 Hindus and 712 Musalmans.

There is a tomb here of one Pir Bahr£m, to which Musalman disputants
gather and take an oath over the saint's remains.

There is a Government school.

BARETHA— Pttrgrawa Haweli Oxtkh — Tahsil ¥YZABAD~District FvzA-
BAD. — A small town three miles from Fyzabad ; the place is said to
have been founded by Raja Ram Chandar's washerman (Baretha). It stands
on the bank of the Gogra. The road from Surajkund to Ajodhya and the
road from Fyzabad to Ajodhya cross each other here. The population is
2,550, of whom 50 are Muhammadans. There are 610 mud-walled houses.
There, are 32 temples, of which 27 are in honour of Vishnu and 5 of
Mahddeo; there is also one masonry mosque.

Three-fifths of the population are of the Vishnivite sect.

BAR 265

BARI Pargana — Tahdl Bari — District SiTAPtTE. — ^Pargana Bari, which
takes its name from the town of Bari, is bounded on the north by Par-
gana Pirnagar, on the east by Pargana Mahmudabad, on the south by
Pargana Manwan, and the west by the Sarayan river {vide Sitapur.)

In shape it is rectangular, the longest sides being the north and south,
and its area is 125 square miles, of which 80 are cultivated. The detail
in acres is as follows: —

Cultivated acres ... ... ... ... 50,309

Culturable „ ... ... ... ... 11,699

Rent-free „ ... ... ... ... 966

Barren „ ... ... ... ... 16,2S5

The incidence of the revised jama is —

Es. As. P.

On cultivated ... ... ••• ... 1 14 5

On culturable ... ... .... ... 1 7 10

On total area ... ... ... ... 1 2 10

The population numbers 50,337, and is thus distributed —

Hindus, agricultural ... ... ... ... 29,322

„ non-agricultural ... ... ... ... 16,367

Total ... 45,689

Musalmans, agricultural ... ... ... ... 338

„ non-agricultural ... ... ... 3,310

Total ... 4,648

and these 50,337 live in 10,105 Bouses.
These figures give the following averages: 402 individuals to the square
mile, 4'8 to each house.

The Musalmans are 9 per cent, of the entire population. To each head
of the agricultural population there are If acres of cultivation and two
acres of malguzari land. There are 129 hadbasti villages which are thus
held: taluqdari 46; zamindari 83. i

There are no very marked physical features except on the west side,
where the drainage into the Sarlyan has cut up the villages bordering on
its banks to a considerable extent. The banks of this stream are steep;
no tarai lands are found along it, and irrigation from it is unknown. The
only high road through the pargana is the metalled road from Lucknow
to Sitapur, which runs within two miles to the east of Bari Khas. There
is a cross country road to Misrikh, which crosses the Sarayan at Dhaurahra
Ghdt.

There are no melas or fairs in the pargana. The bazars are six in
number, as follows: — Bhandia, Incha Khera, Mirzapur, Bari Tirsoli,
Turain ; at these nothing but the ordinary necessaries of life are to be
purchased. There are no manufactures peculiar to the pargana, nor any
special agricultural product, mines or quarries.

The general character of the soil is good. Irrigation is plentiful from
the many jhils which here exist; water is fetund at a depth not exceeding
20 feet from the surface of the earth, and kachcha wells stand well.

266 BAR

The pargana was formed as sucli by the celebrated Todar Mai, out of
215 villages belonging to Manwdn, which were subsequently increased to
825; and thus remained up to annexation. They were demarcated at
regular settlement into 129 mauzas.

The early inhabitants are said to have been Kachheras and Ahirs, who
held the district till 500 years ago, when they were dispossessed by one
Partab Singh from pargana Kursi. • He received a farman for the property
from the Emperor Tughlaq as a reward for his having adopted the faith of
Islam and taken the name of Malik Partab. One hundred and seventy-five
years later, and twenty-five before Tibdar Mai's settlement, Mubarak a
son of the Emperor Humayun, came to hunt in the neighbourhood and
built a shooting-box — in the Hindi tongue a Bdri — where now Bari Khas
stands. Round this Bari sprang up the houses of his followers, and one
Makhdiim of Khairabad built a house of prayer in the town, which is
there now. The place became a qasba, and when Todar Mai's settlement
officers came to demarcate the pargana, they found a Qazi and Kayaths
already in office there. It is the head-quarters of a tahsil.

The greater part of the pargana is held by Bais, of whom the chief
proprietors are Beni Singh ofKanhmau, and Jawahir Singh of Basahidih:
both taluqdars. There are some Panwars also, part of the great Panwar
colony, who possess the neighbouring pargana of Manwan or Mannaudi,
to the history of which pargana the reader is referred for the date of their
occupation of the country.

The Bais settlement is of anterior date. In 1035 Fasli, or 250 years ago,
Bhikhamdeo and Bhan Singh, great-grand-sons of Tilok Chand, the cele-
brated progenitor of the Bais of Baiswara, were appointed as nazims under
Kesho Das, the diwan of the Oudh Subahdar of the period, and the holder
injagirof this part of the country. In 1038, the jagir was confiscated, but
the two nazims remained in possession as taluqdars. In 1051 the property
was divided in two, each taluqdar taking one-half of it. In 1075 Bhan Singh's
estate was sub-divided into three, between his three sons Rup Singh, Jagat
Singh, and Dariao Singh. From Rup Singh are descended the lambardars
of Jairampur and Phulpur, and from Dariao Singh sprang the zamindars of
Maheshpur and Bikrampur. Jagat Singh had two sons, Gend Singh and
Madkar Sdh. This estate was divided between them. From the former
came the taluqdars of Kanhmau ; from the latter the taluqdars of
Basahidih.

PEDIGREE TABLE.

Bhikliaindeo. Bhan Singh.

Eup Singh. Jagat Singh. Dariao Singh.

Gend Singh. , Madkar Singh.

Lambardars of Kanhmau, taluqdars. Basahidih, taluqdars. Lambardars of
Jairampur, Phul- Maheshpur and

P'^r- Bikrampur.

BAR 267

Partdb Singh, above-mentioned, had three sons before he turned from
Hinduism to Islam, and one subsequent to his conversion by a Musalman
wife. The descendants of the former are still in possession of some of
their ancestor's villages, but the gi-eat bulk of his estate went to his
Musalman son, whose descendants became hereditary chaudhris of the
pargana, and the present representative of the family, Lutf Ahmad, is still
recognized by that title.

BArI Town — Pargana B/Cri — Talisil Baei — District Sitapue. — Bdri is
said to have been founded by Mubarak, son of the Emperor Humayun,
about 24 years before Todar Mai's settlement. The prince having come
to hunt in the Oudh jungles, built a shooting-box and country house — a
Bdri — on the spot, round which a tbwn sprang up.

Another account states that the name is derived from the Bdri caste of
Musalmans who once lived here, but it is mentioned by the Arabian Geo-
graphers.*

The town is 23 miles south from Sitapur, and is two miles west of the
metaUed road, which joins that place with Lucknow, from which city it is
29 miles to the north. An unmetalled road 20 miles in length, connects
it with Mahmudabad in the east, and one mile to the west is the Sarayan
river, fordable during the dry season, but rising to a great height in the
rains. There are no other communications.

Bari has a population amounting to 3,042, who reside in 860 mud
houses.

It is a poor place, without any trade, the annual value of the bazar sales
beino- but Rs. 7,000. As a seat of a tahsil it has some local celebrity, and
there are the usual Government institutions in it, viz., a post office, a police
station, a school, where seventy boys attend, and a registry office. The
tahsil and police station are on the site of the old Government fort. The
place is well wooded.

There are no manufactures, nor is there any ancient building in the town.

BARI THANA — Pargana Sapivvb.— Tahsil Safiptje — District TJnao. —
This small town lies 24 miles north of the sadr station Unao on the road
from Mianganj to Bangarmau. It was founded by Sayyad Abdul Bdri in
1796 Hijri, during the reign of Sikandar-bin-Nasir-ud-din. Abdul Bari
conquered the country from the Shd,hi tribe. Sayyad Salar Sahli, uncle
of Salar MasaM, had previously visited this place. The town is pleasantly
situated. There is a vernacular school here attended by seven Hindus and
sixteen Musalmans. Population 1,633, of whom 213 are Musalmans.

BARSINGHPUR — Pargana Jhalotae Ajgain — Tahsil Mohan — District

Unao. This village lies 12 miles south-west of the tahsil and eight miles

north of the sadr station, Unao. An unmetalled road runs to Rasulabad.
No town of any importance near. It was peopled by one Barsinghdeo,

* Kanauj has now fallen into neglect and ruin, and Bari, which is three days journey from
it on the eastern side of the Ganges, is now the Capital.
Al Biruni quotpd in Elliot's Index, Vol, I, page 54,

268 BAE

ancestor of the present possessors, about 400 years ago, previous to -whicli
time it was all jungle.

It takes its name from its founder. The soil is principally sand with
some clay. It is on level ground, and the neighbourhood void of jungle.
The situation is tolerable. Climate good and water fresh. No bazar or fair,
and no manufactures.

The population is divided as follows : —

Hindus,

Muhammadans,

Total.

Brahmans ... 350
Chliattria ... 317
Kayaths

Pasis ... 164
Ahirs ... 267
Other castes „. 1,163

21

2,285

Total

.. 2,261

There are 402 mud built houses and one temple to Mahadeo.

BARWAN Pargana* — Tahsil Haedoi — District Haedoi. — A backward,
roadless, and somewhat inaccessible pargana of the Hardoi district lying
along both sides of the Garra, between the central " hangar" or high lands,
and the low-lying " kachh " country along the Ganges and Eamganga. It
is the westernmost portion of the Hardoi tahsil, and is bounded by Parganas
Katiari and Sandi on the west and south, Bawail on the east, and Saroman-
nagar and Pali on the north. It contains 69 villages, and covers an area
of fifty-three square miles, thirty-three of which are cultivated. Its great-
est breadth from east to west is ten and a half, and length seven miles.

It lies immediately to the west of, and below the sandy ridge that marks
the western edge of the hangar, the point from which, centuries ago, the
Ganges and its tributaries, the Ramganga and Garra, commenced their
gradual recession westwards. Its natural features are a high irregular
bank of sand on the east, sinking at first with a sudden drop of some
twenty feet, and then more gradually westward into a low marshy tract,
watered by winding streams and numerous jhils, and overgrown here and
there with patches of low dhak jungle.

The Sukheta separates this tract from a narrow strip of clear good land,
beyond which the Garra flows from north to south of the pargana, dividing
it into nearly equal portions. To the west of the Garra there is very little
jungle, but a quantity of low level land, subject to floods, and covered,
where not cultivated, with coarse grass, and changing gradually from stiff
clay to light unproductive bhllr as it rises almost imperceptibly from the
flood basin of the Garra to the western edge of the pargana midway between
the Garra and Eamganga.

The Sendha nala and its tributary, the Gudhia, flow along part of this
western side, but no river or stream intervenes between it and the Garra,
while marshes and jhils so numerous to the east of that river are here few
and far between. The Gauria and Karwa are, next to the Sukheta, the

* By Mr. A. H. Hariiigtoji, c, s. Assiatant Commissioner.

BAR 269

cMef streams in the eastern tract. After heavy rains the Garra and Su-
kheta overflow their banks and flood all the lower portion of the pargana.
In such years the autumn crop is altogether lost, and ploughing for the
spring harvest is delayed so long as to diminish its out-turn.

The pargana seems to divide naturally into six tracts, viz., the villages
lying along and on the sandy eastern ridge ; the jungle, and lower down to
the south, the tarai villages between the ridge and the Sukheta; the
rich, damp villages enclosed between the Sukheta and the Garra and lying
along both banks of the Garra ; the tarai villages beyond the Garra ; and
lastly, the sandy tract in the west of the pargana. Only five or six villages
belong to the first of these divisions. They are characterized by an uneven
surface of very light, unproductive sandy soil, few wells, and low rents.
The villages on the ridge are the worst. The country gradually improves
as it sinks westwards into the tar^i.

The jungle villages are twelve in number. All have been assessed as
second or third class. They suffer from the ravages of wild hogs and
nil-gae in proportion to the extent of the adjacent jungle. The soil is
for the most part fair, but in places clayey, stiff, and difiicult to work.
Water is everywhere near the surface, so that the lever (dhenkli) wells
can be dug for from 1 to 3 rupees. Owing, however, to the frequent
floods, they rarely last here for more than a year. Here and there the
large wells worked by bullocks are made cheaply for Rs. 3 and 4. In
this tract rents are slowly rising, and cultivators seeking for land. The
jungle country falls gradually southwards with the streams which water
it into the eastern tar^i " chak" of fifteen villages. Among these there
is not a single first class one. In all there is too much water. In only
three are wells required or made. All suffer much from the overflowing
of the Garra, the Sukheta, their affluents, and the jhils and tanks.
Much of the soil is cold, stiff clay, hard to work, and indifferently produc-
tive. But in spite of these drawbacks none of these villages are really bad,
and all have been rated as second and third class. Crossing the Sukheta
you reach a belt of fourteen villages lying along or near both sides of the
Garra. Their liability to flood and diluvial action prevents most of them
from being placed in the first class, but they suffer less from the overflow
of the Garra than villages farther from it to the east and west. Irrigation
here is cheap and plentiful. The lever wells are in vogue. They fall in
every year, but are dug for 1 or 2 rupees. Beyond this tract lies the western
tarai group of seven villages. It differs from the eastern tarai in being
subject to flooding from the Garra only. There is much less jungle. There
are no jhils or ponds.

The proportion of cold clayey soil is smaller. The lever wells are made,
where required, for from Rs. 1-8 to 3. The western bhiir tract, of fifteen
villages occupies the whole of the space between this group of villages and
the Sendha nala on the border of the pargana. In about half of these
villages the soil is so sandy and bad that wells are not made at all. The
kachcha wells fall in before the water is reached, and the people have not
foresight or energy enough to apply for taqawi advances and build masonry
ones. Here and there sand hills break the level, wherever the soil is lightest
and water most scarce. In the other half, levsr wells can be made for 1 .and

270 BAR

2 rupees, but have to be renewed every year. The larger wells worked by
bullocks- are rare. Barley, wheat, bajra, and rice are the staple products.
Nearly a third of the cultivated area is under barley, a fifth under wheat,
another fifth under bajra, and about an eighth under rice. Gram, arhar,
moth and juar cover most of the remainder. Sugarcane might be grown
to a considerable extent, but during the year of survey only 142 acres of it
were shown in the field registers. Roads are sorely wanted. The Sandi
aud Shahabad road just skirts the pargana on the eastern ridge, but there
is not a yard of road besides.

The maps show a road from Tiria to the Garra, but it is only a cart-track,
almost impracticable for the greater part of the year. The western half
of the pargana is more open, and carts can get along, though not without
difficulty, to Sandi, Fatehgarh and Pali after the floods have run down and
the country has dried. Beds of nodular limestone (kankar) are found at
Sahra, Motipur, and Chatorha. Sombansi Thakurs hold 68 of the 69 vil-
lages. The Chamar Gaurs own one.

The Government demand, excluding cesses, is Rs. 28,435, a rise of 53
per cent. The rate is Rs. 1-5-8 per cultivated acre ; Rs. 0-13-6 per acre
of total area; Rs. 8-9-10 per plough; Rs. 2-1-11 per head of the agricul-
tural, and Rs. 1-7-6 per head of the total population.

The pargana is inhabited by 18,739 Hindus and 467 Muhammadans : total
19,206, or 362 to the square mile. Males to females are 10,752 to 8,454,
and agriculturists to non-agriculturists 13,402 to 5,804. In the Hindu
agricultural population of the pargana, half of which consists of Sombansi
Rajputs, the percentage of females to males is only 75 '6. Nowhere else
in Oudh, except in pargana Chandra, in the Sitapur district (75 "7,) does so
low a proportion of females exist in this branch of the population, the
percentage of the province , ranging from 95'7 in Rae Bareli to 831 in
Hardoi, with an average of 90-7.

The only other Hardoi parganas which show as badly as Barwan in this
respect are Alamnagar and Pachhoha (761.)

Sombansi Rajputs constitute nearly a third, and Chamars nearly a sixth
of the total Hindu population. Brahmans one-fourteenth ; the remainder
is mainly composed of Muraos, Kahars, Pasis, and Ahirs.

On the 29th of November and 7th April a rather large mela is held at
Barsuia at the tomb of a faqir. From ten to- fifteen thousand persons
attend it. It lasts only one day.

There are village schools at Barwan (50) ; Sakra (31) ; Aub^dpur (35) ;
Lonar (35) ; and a female school numbering 20 pupils has been started at
Barwan. IJntil towards the close of the twelfth century A. D., the Barwan
country was held by the Thatheras, tributaries of the Chhattri Rajas of
Kanauj. Its chief village (now Barwan) was then called Baburhia.

A strong body of Sombansis, headed by Raja S^ntan, moved southwards
from Delhi, at some uncertain period before the fall of Kanauj, and
established themselves at Santan Khera (Sandi).

Thence they gradually extended their dominion over what are now the
Barwan, Pali, and Saromannagar parganas, expelling the Thatheras from

BAR 271

all that they had been able to hold against the Gaur invaders under Kuber
Sah. In the beginning of the 15th century (see pargana Sandi) Raja
Barwan, grandson of S^ntan II, who had fled away to the Kumaon hills,
was allowed by the Governor of Kanauj to resume possession of his grand-
father's domain and to establish himself at Baburhia, the deserted town of
the Thatheras which he re-named Barwan.

In his old age Raja Barwan determined to go on a pilgrimage to Kashi
(Benares) and sent for Lakhmi Sen, the eldest of his four sons, to make over
the kingdom to him. Lakhmi Sen was out fishing, and refused to come
till he had finished his sport ; so Karan Sen, the second son, became Raja
and left Barwan and settled at Siwaichpur in Pargana Pali.

His two other brothers, Randhir Singh and Ram Singh, remained at
Barwan. After a time they quarrelled, and Randhir Singh killed Ram Singh
and fled away to his wife's family in Khakatmau Dahelia, in Farukhabad.
The widow of the murdered Rdm Singh returned to her father's house in
Aiha (Farukhabad), and there gave birth to a posthumous son, who was
named Udiaj it. When Udiajit grewup he married a Dhakar Thakurain,
and collecting followers from his own and his wife's clansmen, marched
to Barwan, drove out the Thatheras who had again possessed themselves
of it, and established himself in his grandfather's place. Udiajit had
two sons, Askan and Har Das, and seven grandsons. Six of these left
Barwan and settled in Chandpura, Nagamau, Gobindpur, Behgaon and
Baranra, — villages which to this day are held by their descendants. The
seventh, Parmanand, the son of Askan, remained at Barwan and built a
strong fort upon the ruins of the old Thathera town. His three sons Bas
Deo, Todar Mai, and Bhagwan D^s, were men of mark. Bas Deo found a
career under his mother's father Kalka, a Bais, Raja of Partabgarh, whom
he succeeded, Kalka dying sonless. Todar Mai and Bhagwan Das attend-
ed no court and paid no tribute. They and their clansmen were for-
midable archers. AH attempts to coerce them failed. At last they were
persuaded to send their sons Ghazi and Bahadur to Akbar's Court at Delhi.
These young warriors took military service under the great emperor, and
so won upon him by their prowess in the Deccan campaign, that he bestow-
ed upon them the title of Khan and a rent-free grant of Barwan. The deed
of grant has been lost, but the grant has been respected ever since. It was
one of the few muafis upheld by Saadat Ali Khan, and has been maintain-
ed in perpetuity by our own Government.

Pargana Barwan is said to have been constituted in 990 Hijri (1582
A. D). The Ain-i-Akbari gives its area at 66,052 bighas ; revenue 2,00,000
dams, cesses 26,385 dams ; garrison 500 foot soldiers and 20 troopers. In
those days it is believed to have consisted of 84 villages. At present there
are only 69. The Sombansis have held it uninterruptedly for four and'a
half centuries. They have alwaj's given much trouble to the revenue
authorities, and were, till lately, notorious thieves and cattle-lifters.

Once, about a hundred years ago, the Chakladar of Sandi Pali unsuccess-
fully bombarded the Barwan fort for nine days. Forty years ago another
Chakladar of Sandi, Qutub-ud-din Husen Khan, attacked it with a superior
force. The Sombansis evacuated it by night. • Their fort was razed, the
town burned, and a Government police post established on its ruins. For'

272 BAE— BAS

four months Barwan lay desolate and deserted, but when Qutub-ud-dm
Husen Khan was succeeded at Sandi by Molvi Far?d-ud-din' Husen Khan,
the Sombansis were allowed to return and rebuild their town and fort.
Once again, thirty years ago, the king's troops under Captain Barlow
attacked Barwan, and twenty lives were lost. And in 1848 the village
was burnt down by Captain Bunibury, of the King's army, and his regiment
" without any other cause," says General Sleeman " that the Barwan
people could understand save that they had recommended him not to
encamp in the grove close by. The fact was that none of the family
would pay the Government demand or obey the old amil Hafiz Abdullah
and it was nesessary to make an example." In the mutiny, Madho Singh,
the present head of the Barwan muafidars, who had been appointed thana-
dar of Barwan at annexation, was attacked and surrounded by a rebel force.
Some blood was shed, and the town burned. At re-occupation the fort
was destroyed. A police post has since been established at the neighbour-
ing village of Naktaura, two miles north-east of Barwan. Within its area
of 53 square miles, the pargana contains twenty-one " dihs" or deserted
village sites, most of which are believed to be of Thathera origin.

BARWAN — Pargana Baewan — Taksil Hardoi — District Hardoi, 1584
inhabitants. — The village which gives its name to the pargana, is now an
insignificant village of S44 mud houses, with a .population of 1,087 agricul-
turists and 407 non-agriculturists.

It lies on the right bank of the Garra, 13 miles west of Hardoi, 19 miles
east of Fatehgarh, and 7 miles north-west of Sandi. It has little trade of
its own ; but cotton, grain, timber, hides, and sugar pass doAvn the Garra
by boat in quantities from Bareli, Shahjahanpur, Anupshahr, and Pilibhit
on their way to Cawnpore, Mirzapur, and Benares.

BAEWAR — Pargana Pasgawan — Tahsil MuHAMDi — District Kheri. —
This town is situated on an open plain of fertile soil, having groves and
cultivated country all around. Latitude 27° 50', longitude 80° 24'.

There are the remains of a brick -built fort which was built by Nawab
Muqtadar Khan, great grandson of Nawab Sadr Jahan, in the time of
Aurangzeb, and of a decayed mud-walled sarae, which is not frequented
now. Barwar has no market, but a sugar manufactory. It has four
mosques and one Hindu temple. It has been Government property since
A. D. 1785, and has been declared as such under a judicial decree.

Population
Tj- J (Male

Hindus ... I Female,
( Male
Mubammadans [pej^ale!

3,407
1S}2,500

482 j 907

425 \

BASKHA'RI — Pargana Birhae — Tahsil TisTiA.— District Ftzabad. —
This little town is situated about nine miles west of Birhar, 50 miles south-
east of Fyzabad. For the foundation of this town and the tradition which
recites how it came by its name, see the account of Birhar. The famous
saint Makhdum Ashraf was the founder, and his. family still owns it

The road from Fyzabad to Azamgarh passes through the town ; the
population consists of 612 Musalmans and 1,894 Hindus. Of the latter,
217 are Brahmans ; 'the- others axe mostly Kurmis, Banidns, and agricultural

BAS 273t

castes. There are only two Chhattris. There are three mosques, two tem-
ples to Mahadeo, and one to Debi. A small police station or chauki, and a
Government school are among the institutions of the place.

BASORHI Pargana^Tahsil Ram Sanehi — District Bara Banki. — This,
small pargana lies north of Mawai Maholdra and south of Daryabad. The
river Kalydni, abounding in ravines, and bordered by high jungly banks, is
on the west. Its area is 34 square miles, of which 25 are cultivated ; there
are 44 villages, of which 14| belong to taluqdars and 29i- to zamindars.
The population is 22,954, being at the rate of 675 to the square mile.
Of these, 4,369 are Musalmans. The pargana was a very turbulent one
under the native sovereigns of Oudh ; here is an incident culled by Sleeman
from the annals of the neighbourhood.

" The Amil rode by my side, and I asked him about the case of the marriage
procession." " Sir," said he, " whatyou heard from Seoraj-od-Deen is.all true.
Imam Buksh had a strong fort in his estate of Ouseyree, five miles to our
right, where he had a formidable gang that committed numerous dacoitees
and highway robberies in the country around. I was ordered to attack him
with all my force. He got intimation, and assembled his friends to the
number of five thousand. I had not half the number. We fought till he
lost seventy men, and I had thirty killed and fifteen wounded. He then
fled to the jungles, and I levelled his fort with the ground. He continued,
however, to plunder, and at last seized the bridegroom and all the marriage
party, and took them to his bivouac in the jungles. The family was very
respectable and made application to me, and I was obliged to restore him
to his estate, where he has lived ever since in peace. I attacked him
in November 1848, and he took off the marriage party in February
following." " But" — said a poor hackery-driver who was running along by
my side, and had yesterday presented me a petition — " You forgot to get
back my two carts and bullocks which he still keeps and uses for his own
purpose, though I have been importuning you ever since." " And what
did he do to you when he got you into the jungles ?" " He tied up and
flogged all who seemed respectable and worth something, such as merchants
and shop-keepers, and poked them with red-hot ramrods till they paid all
they could get, and promised to use all the influence and wealth of their
families to force the Amil to restore him to his estate on his own terms :"
" And were the parties married after their release ?" " Yes, Sir, we were
released in April, after the Amil had been made to consent to his terms,
and they were married in May ; but I could not get back my two carts."
" And on what terms did you restore this Imam Buksh to his estate ?" " I
granted him a lease, sir, said the Amil, at the same rate of five thousand
rupees a year which he had paid before."*

Area of crops.

Acres.

JuAr and baira ... ... ... ... .., 200

Kice 3,006

Wheat ... 5,029

Sugarcane ... ... ... ■•• ••. ••• 2i)0

BaJley 2,012

Gram — ... ••• ••• ••■ — ^15

Miscellaneous ... ... ... ... ••• 4,242

* Sleeman'a journey through Oudh, Vol. IL, p. 252.

274 BAW

BAWAN BUZURG — Pargana Bareli — Tahsil Rae Bareli — District Rae
Bareli. — This town is situated on the road from Bareli to Digbijaiganj.
It was founded by the Bhars and conquered from them by Faqir Khan,
an Afghan follower of Ibrahim Sharqi ; his descendants still own it.

It is embosomed in trees, and boasts of twelve masonry houses. There
is a school attended by only 27 children ; the manufacture of shields was
formerly carried on here with great success. The population is 4,607.

BilWAN Pargaria* — Tahsil Hardoi — DistrictKAHDOi. — Pargana Bdwan,
district Hardoi, lies midway between the rivers Garra and Sai, and forms
part of the watershed of both. Parganas Sandi and Bangar bound it on
the south, Barwan and Saromannagar on the west, North Sara on the
north, and on the east South Sara and Gopamau. With an extreme
length and breadth of 11| and lOJ miles, it covers an area of 69 square
miles, 45 of which are cultivated. No stream or river fertilizes it, but
there are numerous (591) jhils and tanks, especially down the middle and
eastern portion of it. From these a tenth of the cultivated area is irrigat-
ed, and two-tenths more are watered from wells.

For the most part the tract is level, but here and there on its western
side it breaks into slight undulations, especially where it nears the sandy
ridge that, running from north to south through the district nearly parallel
with the old high road from, Bilgr^m and Sandi to Shahjahanpur, seems
to mark the easternmost point from which at some remote period the
Ganges commenced its gradual recession westwards. Here, as elsewhere,
the predominance of light, sandy, uneven bhtir indicates that the area in
which it occurs was once wandered over by a shifting river. Such soil
covers two-fifths of the cultivated portion of the pargana. Water is pro-
curable at a depth of from twelve to eighteen feet on the right western
side, and from twenty-five to thirty-five feet on the east. On the bhiir,
hand wells (" rahti" or " charkhi"), costing from eleven to three rupees, are
mainly used. They rarely last more than one year. On the eastern side,
where the soil is more tenacious, the large (pur) wells worked by buUocks
are used, as well as the smaller hand and lever ones.

In the south and east of the pargana there is still ^ considerable quantity
of dhak (Butea frondosa) jungle, but it is rapidly disappearing. As the
country is generally open, and nowhere cut up by streams or rivers, it suf-
fers less than other tracts from the want of good roads. The unmetalled
road from Lucknow to Shahjahanpur vid Hardoi and Shahabad traverses
a great part of its eastern side, while a few villages on the west lie on the
district road (like all the Hardoi roads unmetalled) from Sandi to
Shahabad. In the south the pargana is crossed by a cart-track leading
from Hardoi to the Garra on the way towards Farukhabad. This line of
road has never been finished, and the portion of it which was lined out
as far as the Garra is not now repaired and kept up. The Bawan country
to the west will greatly benefit whenever funds can be found for opening
up this, the most direct route to Farukhabad, as an alternative to the
present road vid Sandi.

* By Mr. A, H. Harington c. s., Assistant Commissioner,

BAW 275

The staple products are barley, wheat, b^jra, moth, arhar, millet, sugar-
cane, and mfeh. Of these, the first three represent about four-sevenths of
the cultivation of the pargana. Sugarcane in the year of survey occupied
only a twenty-fourth part of the cultivated area. Kankar is found in
Thatheora and Behti near the winding Baita jhil.

_ The Chamar Gaurs hold 35 villages, more than half the pargana ; five
villages belong to Raghubansis ; four to Sombansis ; one each to Chandels,
Eaikw^rs, Bais, and Chauh^ns. Muhammadans own four, Kayaths two,
Brahmans one. One is a jungle-grant sold to a European. One is held
in severalty by Gaurs, Kayaths, and Sayyads. In 44 villages the tenure
is pattidari, in 13 zamindari.

Excluding cesses, the Government demand is Rs. 45,251, a rise of 48
per cent, on the summary assessment. It falls at Rs. 1-9-3 per acre of
cultivation; Rs. 1-0-6 per acre of total area; Rs. 11-12-0 per plough ;
Rs. 2-6-7 per head of the agricultural, and Rs. 1-11-10 per head of total
population.

The pargana is populous. The total number of inhabitants is 26,037, or
377 to the square mile. Hindus to Muhammadans are 25,173 to 864 ;
males to females 14,108 to 11,920 ; agriculturists to non-agriculturists
18,769 (72 per cent.) to 7,268. More than a fifth of the Hindus are
Chamfe ; a fourth are Chhattris, principally Chamar Gaurs ; Brahmans
and Basis, about equally numerous, make up another fifth. Among the
remainder, Ahirs and Gararias predojninate.

A bathing mela is held in honour of Darshan Debi at the Sdrajkund,
or tank of the sun, at Bawan on the first Sunday in Bhadon. It is said
that up to forty years ago, between two and four thousand persons assem-
bled, but now-a-days the attendance has diminished to a tenth of that
number. Another sacred spot in Bdwan is the place where Makhdtim
Sahib Abul Qasim, a contemporary of Sayyad Sdlar Masaud, is said to
have spent a forty days' fast. Every Thursday evening some two hundred
persons visit his shrine and offer sweetmeats, and light small lamps in his
honour. At Kalhaur, the deserted city of the Thatheras, he is worshipped
in Baisdkh.

There is an aided vernacular town school at Bawan (95) ; a branch of
the zila school at Thatheora (25) ; a girls' school at Bawan (16) ; and
village schools at Kaundha (40) ; and Manpur (58). Bawan, the chief
town of the pargana, is said to have been founded by Raja B^l, a Daitya
(probably a Turanian prince) before Dasrath and Rdma reigned in
Ajodhya. The earliest historical, or nearly historical, event remembered in
local tradition is, that on the arrival of Sayyad Salar Masaud at Kanauj,
a detachment of his army was despatched to Bawan and fought there.
Those of the invaders who fell were buried near the Slirajkund in Bawan.
The next and chief historical event of the pargana is the expulsion of the
Thatheras by the Gaurs shortly before the Muhammadan conquest of India.
Kalhaur, or Kilho as it is popularly called, was the chief stronghold of the
Thatheras in this part of Oudh. That it was of considerable size is shown
by the height and extent of its debris which cover several acres in the
heart of the tree-jungle of Danielganj. The remains of a huge masonry

S2

278: BEH

well, 15 feet in diameter, and a ruined tank called Rdmkund, are still to
be seen. Tradition says that Raja Jai Chand of Kanauj deputed Mahd
Singh, Gaur of Narkanjari, and Kuber Sah, Gaur of Garhganjana near
• indor, to collect annual tribute from the Thatheras in what are now
parganas Bawan and Sara. For three years these crafty Gaurs received
the tribute, but instead of remitting it to Kanauj, represented to the
itaja that the Thatheras were rebellious and refused to pay. So a strong
force was despatched from Kanauj. The wretched Thatheras were burnt
out and put to the sword, and the Gaurs settled down on their lands.

Another form of the tradition closely resembles that current in the
Bangar (see article Bangar). Kuber Sah had gone to Kanauj to deliver
the annual tribute. While he was away from home twin sons were born
to him. Of these the Brahmans in attendance on the Thathera chief pre-
dicted that they would achieve greatness and expel him from his kingdom.
To avert such disaster the Thathera chief ordered the babes to be done
away with, and the Brahmans giving out that if Kuber Sih should return
and look upon his children's faces he would die, caused them to be buried
alive. Hardly had the deed been done when Kuber Sah returned, heard
the evil news, and had the babes dug up. Both were still alive. One of
them had lost an ej'^e, and was accordingly named Kana (one-eyed). The
other was named Anai and Pakhni (lit. " under the wall"). From them
are sprung the Kana and Anai (or Pakhni) sub-divisions of the Gaurs.
On more than half the pargana the Gaurs have retained their hold till now.

The Am-i-Akbari gives the area of the pargana as 60,063 bighas, and the
military force posted in it as consisting of twenty troopers and a thousand
foot. A few of the Bawan villages have since been added to parganas
Barwan and Sandi. There are eleven " dibs" or deserted village sites, all
of which are attributed to the Thatheras.

BEHTI OR BETI — Pargana BihXr — Tahsil KvNDA-^Distrid Partabgarh.
— This village is beautifully situated on the bank of a large lake covering
in the rains about ten square miles ; to the north is a high bank covered
with groves of magnificent trees ; the lake, edged with rich crops and
orchards, stretches away to the south, and three miles off flows the Ganges,
in the dry bed of whose ancient channel the lake lies. The depth varies
from three to eight feet. In 1241 this lake was dry ; its bed was sown
with wheat, and a lac of rupees worth is said to have been the out-turn of
the grain. The Government sent down an officer, Harpal Singh, to
attach the proceeds ; in the fight which took place 500 men were killed.

In dry weather the area covered with water is 2,810 bighas, or
nearly three square miles. It is reported that this lake was dug by the
Raja of Ajodhya, as a religious jagg, or votive offering, and burnt grain is
still dug up in great quantities from beneath the surface.

An ancient building exists on an island in the middle of the lake, which
is celebrated for its wild fowl and fish ; a royal prince built this for a shoot-
ing lodge. The population consists of 1,733 persons ; there is one temple
to Mahadeo, one to Mahabir, and one to Vishnu,

BEH— BET 277

BEHTI KALAISr — Pargana Sareni — Tahsil Lalganj — District Rae
Bareli. — The river Lon flows to the south of this town, which is of no
importance ; it is embosomed in groves over which rises the spire of a fine
Hindu temple to MahAdeo recently erected at a cost of Rs. 50,000. A
small school attended by thirty-two boys is another institution ; the popu-
lation is, 4,798. No road passes near the town.

BELA — Pargana, Partabgarh — Tahsil Partabgarh — District Partab-
GAKH. — This town is called after Bela Bhawdni, whose temple is on the
bank of the Sai. In 1209 Fasli, the place was settled as a cantonment
for the Oudh auxiliary force. It is on the metalled road from Allahabad
to Fyzabad ; it is four miles from Partabgarh and thirty-six from Allaha-
bad. A fine bridge of nine arches over the Sai was destroyed in the
floods of 1870 ; it has since been rebuilt. The population is 2,746. There
are four mosques, one Anglo-vernacular school, attended by thirty-five
Musalmans and 97 Hindu youths. MacAndrewganj adjoins this town ; its
annual sales are about Rs. 60,000. Here the Government district officers
reside and have their offices.

BENIGANJ* — Pargana Sandila— Ta/tsiZ Sandila — District Hardoi —
Beniganj — 2,284 inhabitants, a good-sized village, mainly Ahir, of 545 mud
houses, 21 miles south-east from Hardoi, and sixteen miles north from San-
dila on the unmetalled road from Sitapur and Nimkhar, which here bran-
ches off to Sandila and Bilgram. The old name of Beniganj was Ahmada-
bad Sarsand. Its earliest owners are said to have been Jogis and Arakhs.
Some six hundred years ago a body of Janwars who had settled in the
neighbouring villages of Gaju and Tikari under the leadership of Dewa
Rae, Prag Rae, and Nek R£e, drove out the Arakhs from this and forty-seven
other villages. Rather more than a hundred years ago, Beni Bahadur,
Kayath, Diwan of the Nawab Wazfr Shuja-ud-daula, built a row of shops
and called the place Beniganj. About eighty years ago proprietary pos-
session passed into the hands of one Ram Das, an Ahir from Akia beyond
the Ganges. After holding the village for twenty years the Ahirs had to
strengthen themselves by an alliance with Gobinde Kayath, Chaudhri of
Khairabad, and purchased his assistance with half their lands. Since
then Kayaths and Ahirs have held Beniganj in equal shares. Ten years
later it was included in the Kakrali taluqa by Chaudhri Mansab Ali, fa-
ther of the late Chaudhri Hashmat Ali.

There is a police station at Beoiganj, a village school averaging fifty-
two pupils, and a weekly market on Saturdays. The open plains round
Beniganj teem with antelope.

BETAGAON — Pargana Knimis-^TahsiZ Lalgasj— District Rae Bareli.
A large village, or rather collection of hamlets, in the Rae Bareli dis-
trict in tahsil Lalganj. It is on the road from Bareli to Cawnpore at a
distance of twelve miles from Bareli. There is one temple in honour of
Anandi Debi, also a school attended by about forty boys. Markets are held

» By Mr. A. H. Haringtop, c. s. Assistant Cpumrosjoiie;:.

278 BHA

twice week, and about 5,000 people assemble at a fair in honour of Anandi .
Debi. The population is 4,297.

BHADAESA — Pargana Haweli Oudh — Tahsil Ftzabad — District
Ftzabad.— This little town is situated on the road from Fyzabad to Sul-
tanpur, ten miles south of the former place ; the little river Madha runs
past it. For its history, see account of Haweli Oudh.

The population is as follows : —

Muhammadans „. [ ll^^ - ^'45| of whom 9 are WaMbia

Brahmans ... 121
Hindus ... .. ] Kayaths ... 127

f Bk

.. ] K4

C Otl

Others ... 2,306
4,311

There are six places of Musalman worship, 1,018 houses, all of which
have mud walls. There is a. fair at Bhdratkund, at which 5,000 people
assemble. Ram Chandar is said to have visited this place in company with
his brother Bharat, and the place takes its name from this visit, " Bhayya-
dars" meaning the meeting of, the brothers.

BHADRI — Pargana Bihar— Tahsil Kunda — District Paetabgaeh.
— This town lies on the road from Bihar to Manikpur ; it is 32 miles
from Bela and 28 from Allahabad. The Ganges flows 5 miles to the south.
The fort of the Bisen taluqdar of Bhadri was here. Its ruins are still to
be seen, covered with picturesque clumps of bamboos.

In 1209 Fasli the nazim of the period, Mirza Jani, encamped here,
demanded a higher revenue from the taluqdar Daljit Singh, and in the dis-
pute killed him. Numerous other fights occurred here. The population
consists of 1,021 Hindus, and 113 Musalmans. There is one stone temple
recently erected at a cost of Ks. 10,000 by the present owner.

BHAGWANTNAGAR*— PargfaTia Mallanwan— fa^sii Bilgeam— Dis-
trict Habdoi. — Bhagwantnagar 3,247 inhabitants. A small town of 25
bricks and 62 mud houses, chiefly occupied by Misr Brahmans, one mile to
the south of Mallanwdn, pargana Malldnwan, district Hardoi, founded
a hundred and eighty years ago during the reign of Aurangzeb by Raja
Bhagwant Rae, Diwan at the Delhi Court. It has a considerable
manufacture of plates and drinking-vessels from beU-metal (phul). Market
days are "Wednesdays and Sundays.

BHAGWANTNAGAR Pargana^Tahsil VvnwA— District Unao.— This
pargana was formed and the name of Bhagwantnagar given to it

* By Mr. A. H. Harington, c.s., Assistant Commissioner.

BHA 279

by R^o Mardan Singh, the ancestor of Bahu R^m Bakhsh of Daundia
Khera, who was the nd,ziin of the place.

In earlier times the villages comprised in the pargana Bhagwantnagar
were included in others adjoining it, but a hundred years ago, when R^o
Mardan Singh's wife, Bhagwant Kunwar, founded this village and called it
by her own name, her husband made it the head-quarters of the pargana.
During the king's reign a tahsildar resided here, and after some changes
under the British rule, the village Bhagwantnagar was fixed as the head-
quarters of a tahsil at the end of the year 1866, but it was again trans-
ferred to Bihar in 1867. The pargana comprises 53 villages under the
proprietorship of individuals of different castes and clans. This pargana is
in shape a parallelogxam ; its length from east to West is twelve miles, and
breadth from north to south ten.

It is forty-five square miles in area, and is bounded on the east by the
villages of parganas Khiron and Sareni, on the west b}' Katra Diwan
Khera of pargana Ghatampur, on the north by parganas Bihar, Pdtan,
and Magrayar, and on the south by pargana Daundia Khera.

The proprietary rights are as follows : —

Taluqdari

Grant ,,, ... ... .».

Zamindari

Fattidari ,,. ...

The area is 28,744 acres, and the revenue paid to Government amounts
to Rs. 67,710, averaging Rs. 2-5-8 per acre. The population is composed
chiefly of Brahmans and other higher castes, and numbers 26,565. The
river Kharhi, which flows through this pargana, takes its rise from the tanks
Belha and Balganj in pargana Daundia Khera, and passing through Bhag-
wantnagar and also Bih^r joins the river Lon. There is also a river named
Suwawan, which has its source from a tailk in village Bhadewa of this
pargana, and then flowing through some villages joins the river Lon in
Bihar. Both these, however, are not of much service to the country, but
are on the contrary, sometimes mischievous, overflowing their banks and
inundating the whole of the land around, thus causing great loss to the
landlord and tenant. The soil is principally loam and clay. The principal
autumn crops are cotton, rice, millet, mung, vetches, Indian corn, oil-seeds,
ghuiyan (arum colocasia), sweet potato (convolvulus batatas). And the
spring crops are wheat, barley, gram, peas, oil-seeds, and sugarcane. The
irrigated soil in this pargana is four times as much as the unirrigated, the
water in wells is found at an average depth of 40 feet. The climate is, on
the whole, good and suited to the constitution of the people. There is a
market held in Bhagwantnagar Khas on Mondays and Fridays. It is a good
one, and bankers and braziers do a good business.

There is no separate cattle market. The country oxen are purchased at
the fairs of Batesar, of Benduki or of Makanpur, ,

1

village.

1

It

25

villages.

26

j»

53

villages.

280 BHA

BHAGWANTNAGAR— Par^^ana BuAGWAST^AOAH—Tahsil Purwa—
District TJnao. — This town, in the pargana of same name, lies thirty-
two miles south-east from Unao, six miles from the road from
Baksar to Bihdr ; it was founded by Bhagwant Kunwar, wife of E£o
Mardan Singh, the Bais chief of the famous Daundia Khera fort.
The population is 4,923 of whom 950 are Brahmans, and strange to say,
only 13 are Ghhattris and 145 Musalmans. There are six temples, and
one vernacular school attended by eighty pupils.

BHi^I — Pargana Dalmatj — Tahsil Lalganj — District — ^Rae Baeeli. — The
town is situated three miles west of Dalmau on the road leading from
Dalmau to Lalganj ; its site lies very high, and this elevation with numerous
groves renders the place rather picturesque. The population is 4,023, of
whom 1,234 are Musalmans, all Sunnis.

BHANGHA*— Pargana 'BmiSGh.— Tahsil Bksrkigb.— District Baheaich.
—(Latitude 27°44'36" North, longitude 81° 52' 11",) lies twenty miles to the
north-east of Bahraich and seven miles north-west of Bhinga, in the rich
duab between the Rapti and the Bhakla rivers, about one mile' from the
banks of* the former and one mile off the road from Bhinga to Nanpara.
It is prettily situated in the midst, of mango groves, and has a fertile
alluvial soil. Formerly owned by the Taluqdar of Bhinga, having been
founded by him some 100 years ago, it has only become a place of any
importance since 1814 A.D., in which year the bazar, which is now well
frequented, was first established. It is now owned by a loyal grantee, Sher
Singh, this portion of the Bhinga ilaqa having been confiscated by the
British Government. It contains 2,754 inhabitants, of whom 605 are
Musalmans and 2,149 Hindus. There is no trade except for local con-
sumption, and there are no manufactures. There is a Government village
school with thirty-three boys. <

BHARA'WAN— Pargrawa Gundwa — Tahsil Sand/la — District Haedoi.—
Bharawan 13,193 inhabitants, population chiefly Brahmans. A large village
of 684 mud houses fourteen miles north-east from Sandila, Raja Randhir
Singh Bais resides at Bharawan, and his taluqa is named from it. There
is a village school averaging 53 pupils.

BHATPURf — Pargana Gundwa — Tahsil SANofLA — District Haedoi. —
Bhatpur a Bais village of 357 mud houses and 2,504 inhabitants. It
lies on the right bank of the Gumti twenty miles east-north-east of
Sandila, six south of Bari, and twenty-one east-north-east from Maliha-
bad, with which it is connected by an unmetaUed road passing through
Pipargaon.

BHAULI — Pargana Jhalotae Ajgain — Tahsil MohaN — District Unao. —
This town lies eight miles south of Mohan, and ten miles north-east of
Unao, on the road from the Ajgain Railway Station to Ras^labad,

* By Mr. H. S. Boys, c. s., Assistant Commissioner,
t By Mr. A. H. Harington, c. s,, Assistant Commissioner.

BHA-;BHI 281

It was founded 350 years ago by Ganesh Singh Th^kur Dikhit, and called
after Bholi Debi. The population is 3,453, of whom 172 are Musalmans.
There is one school and one temple. The soil is sandy, the water good.

BHAUNTI*— Parc/a'na Kaltanmal — Tahsil SANDfLA — District Hardoi.
— a Chandel village of 517 mud houses and 2,105 inhabitants, eight
miles north-east from Sandila.

It was included in the Sarwan Baragaon taluqa of Raja Fateh Chand
eighty years ago, when Rae Jai Sukh Rde, Diwsin of Saadat Ali Kban,
rose into power, and formed a taluqa of 54 villages. The Chandels hold
a permanent lease, (sub-settlement of the village.)

BHA'WAN — Pargana Rae Baeeli — Tahsil Rae Baeeli — District Rae
Baeeli. — This town stands six miles south-east of the principal station of
the district, it is sixteen miles north-east of Dalmau and twelve miles
north of JalaJpur Dehi. It was founded by Bhawan, the brother of Dal,
the Bhar chief, who built himself a castle here and took up his residence
in it. The exact date of its foundation cannot be ascertained, but it must
have been about 500 years ago.

The soil is chiefly loam, and the town stands on a level surrounded with
groves, in the middle of richly cropped fields and grassy plains. The
climate is salubrious. The zamindari of this town was granted by Sultan
Ibrdhim of Jaunpur, after the destruction of the Bhars to Burhan-ud-dia
Qittal, and the king had a masonry fort built here in 820 Hijri, and pulled
down the castle built by the Bhar chief The fort does not exist now; its
remains can be seen only in the shape of mounds. The population
amounts to 1,101, of whom 311 are Muhammadans, of the Sunni profes-
sion and of Hanafi sect. There are 34 Brahmans, and 40 Kayaths, both
of the Shaivi, and Shakti creeds, the remaining 716 being composed of
lower castes. There is one masonry mosque built by Shekh Abd-us-
Samad 45 years ago, and 140 mud houses. No market is held here, nor
fair, nor is any manufacture of note carried on.

Latitude 26°26' North.

Longitude... ... ... ... 81°18' East.

BHILWAL — Pargana Haidargaeh — Tahsil Haidaegaeh— Disirici Baea

Banki. This village stands on the road from Sultanpur to Lucknow,

and on the bank of the Gumti. It is pleasantly situated on the high and
undulating ground with groves to the south-west. The soil is light, and in
places sandy, but the place is healthy, and is the residence of the taluqdar.

The town is said to have been founded by Bahla Pdsi and called after him.
Mtisalmans have owned this village since the time of Ibrahim Sharqi.
The population is 2,680, of whom the majority are Musalmans, all Sunnis.
There is a sraall vernacular school ; markets are held twice a week.

* By Mr. A. H. Harington, c. s., Assistant Commissioner.

282

BHl

BHINGA Pargana*—Tahsil 'Bks&kiGU— District BahraiOH— Bhinga
pargana lying at the north-eastern angle of the district of Bahraich, is
bounded on the north by Naipal and the Tulsipur pargana, on the east by
ilaqa Durgapur, on the south by the Ikauna and Bahraich pargana, and
on the west by Charda pargana. It has an area of 247 square miles, with
an extreme length of 19 and an average breadth of 14 miles. Bisected by
the river Rapti. which flows with a very tortuous course from north-west
to south-east, the pargana has peculiarly well-defined physical features.
The portion to the south of that river, together with the land lying along
its north bank, forms the basin of the Rapti and its affluent the Bhakla,
which two streams flowing parallel to one another embrace a duab of
unusually rich alluvial soil. Skirting the north of this tract is a belt of
reserved forest about four miles wide, and which being on high ground
once boasted some fine sal timber, but which now contains little wood of
value. To the north of this again lies a tract of low tarai land, which
stretching away through the Tulsipur pargana is bounded by the forest
which lies along the foot of the first range of the Himalayas. Here are
the finest rice grounds of the district. In the southern portion of the par-
gana wheat and Indian-corn are the staples. Of the whole area 140 square
miles are under cultivation, 28 square miles are culturable waste, and 61
square miles are reserved forest. There is scarcely any irrigation, the wa-
ter lying so near the surface in the south that it is not required, while to
the north little but rain crop is grown. The pargana originally comprised
no villages but those of the Bhinga estate, but half the ilaqa having been
confiscated on account of arms having been found concealed upon it, it is
now held as follows : —

1
■3

1

o3

1
1
1

•S
1

•a
1

1

Incidence of Government
demand per acre.

Class of village.

a
1

o

'3
o

CI

o

Taluqdari.

Perpetual settlement

Thirty years' ditto ..,

40
115

47
139

Es.
31,775
84,592

Es. A. P.
16 9
1 4 2

Ks. A, P.
-1 2 11
1 0 10

Es. A.P.
1 0 10
0 15 4

Total, ...

155

186

1,16,367

1 4 9

1 1 4

0 15 8

Independent villages

1

140

10 3

0 14 4

0 13 5

Grand Total

156

186

1,16,507

1 4 9

114

0 15 8

* By Mr. H, S. Boys, c, s., Assistant Commissioner.

BHI

283

Nearly the wtole pargana is held by the Mahardja of jBalrdmpur, and the
Taluqdar of Bhinga. The following statement gives the population : —

u

^■3

i

Total population.

Muhammadans.

Hindus.

-J

i|

■ss«

P a cc

^ a a

S

1

1
1

1

1
<

1

1

§

•3

1

1

.-4

1

!

!2!

j

0

401

74,528

35,791

38,737

28,397

46,131

7,357

3,150

4,207 67,171 25,249

41,924

Muhammadan and others.

Hindus.

1

to
00

*

Brahmans ... 5,571
Vaishyas ... 2,193
Ahir ... 11,428
Pasi ... 5,268
Chamar ... 3,246
Kurmi ... 11,464
Kahar ... 2,581
Kori ... 4,381
Murao ... 2,232
Others ... 18,805
Shekli ... 404
Pathfius ... 1,873
Juldha ... 878
Ghosi ... 704
Others ... 2,357
Miscellaneoua ... 1,151

Shiugarh

Gotwah

Patna Khaighuria

District roads run from Bhinga to Bahraich, to Nanpara, and to Ikauna,
and good lines have lately been cut through the forest by ^ the Forest De-
partment. Of trade and trafec, however, there is but little, — the only
export being grain, chiefly rice, and a small amount of inferior timber.
Besides the raja's school at Bhinga itself, there are Government village ,
schools at —

32 boys.

32 „

20 „

••• ■•* ••• *J*J })

At Bhinga and at Sonbarsa in the tarai there are district post offices.
This pargana was formerly comprised partly in Bahraich and partly in the
tarai parganas of D^ngdun and Behra.

In 1483 A. D., Dangdun was held by a hill raja by name Udatt Singh,
and Behra was then probably under the sway of Raja Sangram Sah, who
held the neighbouring pargana of Rajhat. The cis-Rapti portion was
held by the Ikauna raja. Between this date and 1650 A. D,, the Ikauna
taluqdar had extended his sway across the Rapti, and in the time of Shah
Jahdn he owned 92 villages of pargana Dangdixn ; part of these and proba-
bly the Behra villages also were held by a cadet of the house, but the

* There are 793 Chhattris and 25 Sikhs, so not only do two individuals absorb the entire
landed property but they have no kiuehip or race affinity with the vast mass of the
population.

284 BHI

Testate, which was always open to the raids of the Banjaras, was a trouble-
some one to manage, and the taluqdar, Lalit Singh, who was connected
with the Gonda family by marriage, yielded his rights in favour of Bhawd-
ni Singh Bisen, younger son of Ram Sjngh of Gonda. The present taluq-
dar is sixth in descent of Bhawani Singh.

BHINGA* — Pargana Bhinga — Tahsil Bahraich— Disfrici Bahraich. —
Bhinga (Latitude. 27° 42' North, longitude 81° 57' 26" East) is situated
24 miles to the north-east of Bahraich, on the left bank of the R^pti river,
and on the borders of a broad belt of reserved forest which here fringes
the Tarai. A Government district road goes to Bahraich, another to
Nanp^ra by Malhipur, and another to Kurasar by Ikauna and Piagpur.
There is here a police station with a force of twelve constables, and three
officers, and it is the head-quarters of the taluqdar, who owns the estate of
the same name. The village is said to have been founded and the ilaqa
acquired about 300 years ago by one Bhayya Dar Singh, Janwar, a cadet
of the house of Ikauna, in the name of whose head manager, Bhagga Singh
the name Bhinga had its origin. For 160 years subsequent to its founda-
tion it was an unimportant village, but about 150 years ago, some Ban-
jaras having seized it, it was recovered by Bhawani Singh Bisen, a younger
brother of the Gonda raja, and a marriage connexion of the Janwar, by
force of arms, and since then has risen in importance.

The population numbers 4,341 of whom 1,080 are Musaltaans. There
are 1,615 houses, of which the only one of importance is that of the
taluqdar in the old fort. It was in a grove within a mile of this fort
that Mr. Ravenscroft was murdered in 1823 A. D., (see Sleeman's Diary).
The taluqdar maintains an English town school with 79 boys, has built a
dispensary, and is otherwise improving the place ; which has a well-to-do
appearance. There is, however, no trade of any importance beyond grain
which mainly goes south by the Bahraich road, but which on occasions
of scarcity down country is sent down the river by boats ; and timber, which
also goes south-eastward by the river.

BHIRA — Pargana Bhue — Tahsil LAKHfMPUE — District Kheei. — Is
situate at a distance of about 2 miles, south of the Chauka, 32 miles
north-west of Lakhimpur.

A market is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays in which articles of couhtry
consumption are sold ; the average value of cotton fabrics and of salt sold
is estimated at Rs. 50 and Rs. 10 respectively. There is a police station.
It is the residence, of one of the Bhiir taluqdars. It is on the road from
Kukra to Marauncha Ghat, and suffers much from fever.

, ( Male (Adults 724

I Jllale ... ... I j^iinors 258

Population 1,741 ... { ,^^^1^3 561

C ^^'^^^^^ [Minors 248

BHITATJLI — Pargana MAURi[NwiN — Tahsil PuRWA — District Unao. —
This large village lies twelve miles east of Purwa, and thirty- two miles
east of Unao, close to the river Sai. It is pleasantly situated among
mango groves in a sandy soil. It is alleged to have been founded 600

* By Mr. H. S. Boys, c. s,, Assistant Commissioner.

BHI 285

years ago by Hanomaa and Banw^ri Kayaths ; the place has no history ;
one Madhab Thakur, a man of note resided here, and the tradition remains
that his field near the village never requires irrigation, however dry the
season. A vernacular school attended by 64 pupils, and a mosque are the
institutions of the village. The population is 4,656, of whom 2,700 are
Chhattris, 166 are Musalmans. There are no masonry houses or market,
and the place is singularly rural for its size. The large Chhattri population
is its only feature of interest.

BHITATJLI Pargana — Tahsil Fatehpur — District |Bara Banki. — This
pargana adjoins Ramnagar; it was formerly in the Bahraich district;
it lies west of the Kauridla, between that river and the Chauka. The
area of the pargana is 62 square miles, of which 32 are cultivated;
the population is 26,664, at the rate of 430 to the square mile. The Go-
vernment demand is Rs. 9,263 being at the rate of 5| annas per arable
acre — the lightest assessment in Oudh, taking everything into considera-
tion. It originally belonged to the Raja of R£mnagar ; it is now the pro-
perty of the R£ja of Kapurthala, who resides in the Panjdb. The agent
of the landlord resides in Bahraich. As this former gentleman is now
almost the only titled representative of the Raikwdr clan, and as Bhitauli,
their residence, a strong fort lying in the tongue of land between the Chauka
and the Kauriala, was rather celebrated during the mutinies, it is desirable
to give here an account of the Raikwar clan.

It settled on both sides of the river Kauriala or Gogra, for some unac-
countable reason. As a rule, a great river divides a clan, but here we have
the Raikwars in Bahraich on one side, in Kheri, Sitapur and Bara Banki
on the other. The following is the account of the family given by Mr. H.
B. Harington : —

" Some 600 years ago, three brothers, Sal, Bal and Bhairwanand, left the
city of Raika, near Jummoo, on the borders of Kashmir.

" They first passed on to their connexion, the Raja of Kanauj ; thence to
Bukheri, at that time a portion of what has since been known as the
Bhitauli estate, in the old pargana of Sailuk.

" Bukheri was washed away by the Gogra, and finally they settled in
Chanda Sihali in pargana Fatehpur, a village on the borders of Suratganj.
In this village a large chabutra standing by a masonry well, which is stated
to have been made by the Bhars, marks the tradition that one of the three
brothers, Bhairwanand, fell into the well and was allowed by the other two
to remain there under the hopes that a pandit's prophecy might be realised,
that their raj in Sailuk would endure so long as Bhairwanand remained at
the bottom of the well. To the present day the Raikwars make an annual
pilgrimage to do worship at the chabutra of Bhairwanand. The remaining
brothers are said to have taken service under the Bhar rdjas, Sarangdhar
and Kaplirdhar, who held large territories on either side of the Gogra. Sdl
represented their interests as their wakil at the Delhi Court and Bal became
their ndib. The Bhar rajas fell into arrears and refused to pay up the
balance due. Thereon a force was sent from Delhi. The Bhar rajas were
overcome and slain, and their territories made over, those trans-Gogra and
known as Bhaunri to Bal, and those on this side to S^l.

286 BHr

" The latter territories comprised the Sailuk* pargana. In this pargana
were four muh^ls, viz., Bado Sarai, Eamnagar (which seems to have been
later established), Muhammadpur, and Ldlpur (trans-Chauka). These
were sub-divided into 7 tappas, viz., I, Kuntur;,2, Sihdli;3, Bindaura;
4, Basorhi ; 5, Chheda ; 6, Ganjar ; and 7, Gudhara. Of these Ganjar and
Gudhara were contained in Lalpur and comprised the Bhitauli estate re-
cently made over to the Maharaja of Kapurthala. From Sal or Bdl every
Eaikwar claims descent. From the time of Sal the clan was for eight gene-
rations represented by a chaudhri. In the ninth generation Ram Singh
adopted his connexion Zorawar Singh, who became the first raja of the clan.
His grandson was Eaja Anup Singh, the father of Surat Singh, and grand-
father of Raja Gur Bakhsh Singh. An6p Singh fought the great battle
on the Kalyani with the Lucknow Shekhs, which is referred to in the
account of the Bara Banki district.

" In the time of Saadat Ali Khan the whole of the estates were at first
made khdm and Surat Singh absconded. But in 1216 F. he was restored
to power, and the whole of the parganas of Eamnagar and Muhammadpur
were under him made huz'^r tahsil. Siirat Singh seems to have
yielded his powers as landlord and as chakladar with discretion and
■kindness.

" He granted the zamindari of their respective villages to those of the
clan who were entitled to them, and fixed the jama at a uniform rate which
lasted throughout his life-time. In the latter portion of it, however, he
fell into arrears and was confined in Lucknow. On his solemn promise to
make all good he was released on the security of Raja Gobardhan Das
Kayath, of Sandila, ancestor of Dhanpat Rae.

, " On Siirat Singh's failing to pay up he was besieged by Gobardhan Das
in the fort of Chheda, and during the siege died — a visitation, it was
thought, for failing to keep his word.

" In 1233 to 1245 F. Eaja Gur Bakhsh succeeded to the office and duties
of his father, Surat Singh. From 1 246 to 1250 F. Eaja Bahadur Darshan
Singh made the Eamnagar Dhameri estates hachcha and settled with
whom he chose — generally with the resident muqaddams.

" In 1251 F. Eaja Gur Bakhsh Singh recovered the Edmnagar Dhameri
estate, and the chakladari of the Muhammadpur pargana. (He was re-
cognised under the title of taluqdar, but in the Muhammadpur pargana he
was in reality not taluqdar but chakladar). During this interval Rdja
Girdhara Singh Kayath, nazim, on several occasions employed jamogdars
to collect the revenue. The attempt to make the estate kham seems to
have failed.

" In 1261F Eaja Sarabjit Singh, the son of Eaja Gur Bakhsh, quarrelled
with his father and obtained the qubilliat of the Eamnagar and Muham-
madpur parganas. Eaja Gur Bakhsh retained Chheda, 18 mauzas, and
Eadhamau, 22 mauzas, and Para Deori, 7 mauzas (since given to the
Mahardja of Kaplirthala).

* Sailuk has since been washed away by the Gogra.

BHI 287

" In 1262 the qubllliat remained with Sarabjit Singh, but QudratuUa
Beg Avas sent to collect as jamogdar. His extortions are said to have been
so great that a large portion of the estate was thrown out of cultivation.

" At annexation various muqaddams (and in one instance a chaUkidar)
were settled with. The qanungos state that of the 420 villages retained
in the qubuliat of Gur Bakhsh and Sarabjit Singh previously to annexa-
tion, 200 were their ancestral property, in which they had bond fide pro-
prietary rights acquired rather by inheritance or mortgage, a few of course
by force. In 220 they had no actual proprietary rights. In 1264 F. at,
annexation 50 villages were settled with Gur Bakhsh and 49 with Sarabjit
Singh. In 1266 F. (A. D. 1858) 105 with Sarabjit Singh, none with Gur
Bakhsh Singh. One hundred and seventy-eight villages comprising the
Bhitauli estate were confiscated and made over to the Mahdraja of Kaplir-
thala. Most, if not all, of these are said by the qdnungos to have pre-
viously become the property of the Raikwar rdjas."

The following extract is from Colonel Sleeman : —

" The greater part of the lands comprised in this estate of Ramnugger
Dhumeereea, of which Raja Gorbuksh is now the local governor, are heredi-
tary possessions which have been held by his family for many generations.
A part has been recently seized from weaker neighbours and added to
them. All the rest are merely under him as the governor or public officer
entrusted with the collection of the revenues and the management of the
police." — VoluTne I., p. 25.

The above is, as far as I can ascertain, a fair relation of the history of
Raja Gur Bakhsh Singh and the clan to which he belongs. We learn in
addition or contradiction to the above from the raja's family history that
his ancestors had formerly 616 villages paying, a revenue of Rs. 4,68,000.
Raja Surat Singh received a perpetual money nankar of Rs. 1,000 for
reducing the contumacious Raja of Nanpara ; the allowance was forfeited
by Wajid Ali Shah. When Ghazi-ud-din Haidar went to see the Gover-
nor-General, he placed Sfirat Singh as Governor of Lucknow in charge of
the police, receiving Rs. 500 per day.

We now come to the trans-Gogra settlements of the clan. The Bahraich
branch of the Raikwars prospered exceedingly, if we are to believe their
own account. The estate of these Raikwars originally was only one, that
of Bamhnauti or Baundi in Fakhrpur pargana.

Harhardeo, the Raja in Akbar's time, fourth in descent from Saldeo, took
toll from a princess of the royal household travelling through his dominions
on pilgrimage to Sayyad Sdlar's shrine. He was called to court to give an
explanation ; he did so and remained to help his sovereign in an expedition
against Idgar, the rebellious viceroy of Kashmir, his own family domain.
He rendered good service and was granted the zamindari of nine parganas,
— Fakhrpur, HisSmpur, halfFirozabad in Kheri, R^jpur Chahlari, B^nsura
in Sitapur, Seota in Sitapur, Sailuk in Bara Banki, Garh Qila in Kheri,
Bamhnauti in Bahraich. In other words, a territory extending from Bado
Sarai in Bara Banki to Ramia Bihar in Dhaurahra, a territory 90 miles long
and averaging about 35 in breadth, or above 3,000 square miles. It is
unlikely that- this grant was ever made; it is inconsistent with the

288 BHI

zamindari of the Bhitauli branch on the west side of the river, with that of
the Jarwal Shekhs in Hisampur, who had 250 villages as late as 1816, and
with the traditional history of Garh Qila Nawa, whose inhabitants admit
having been governed by many castes and rulers since Alha and Udal, but
know nothing of the Raikwar's authority. About 1590 the Harharpur
estate was severed from that of Baundi. In the seventeenth century the
two estates of Rahwa and Rajpur Chahlari were split off from Baundi (see
article Bahraich).

Still the latter remained a great raj ; it increased from 67 villages in
1796 to 261 in 1816 ; no less than 172 villages were added to it between
1816 and 1856, and it contained these 433 at annexation, which were all
forfeited after the mutiny, as were 33 belonging to Chahlari and 14 to
Rahwa, also Raikwar estates.

The estates of the Raikwars forfeited during the mutinies were as
follows : —

Name. No. of villages. Area in acres.

(Baundi ... ... 305 ... 189,000

Bahraich ... } Rahwa ... ... 14 ... 4,278

(Chahlari .. ... 33 ... 19,250

BaraBanki... Bhitauli ... ... 76 ... 57,438

SiTAPUB „. Chahlari ... ... 18 ... 15,772

446 285,738 or 450 square

also miles.

Hakdoi ... Euia 40 ... 20,000

The present Raja of Ramnagar has still 253 villages, covering an area of
108,000 acres, and Rahwa and Mallapur have still large properties, but
the glory of the family has departed. The Raikwar is rather peculiar in
his habits ; he will not clean his teeth with nim twig, and his chiefs were
nearly all rajas. There was a Raja of Baundi, another of Ramnagar,
another of Rahwa, and he of Mallapur hesitates between rao and raja.
The history of part of the Bhitauli estate was analysed with great care
by Mr. Woodbum, and from his enquiries it appeared that prior to 1816 a
very small portion of the estate was in the hands of the raja. It appears
from the above that the power of the clan was of recent growth ; that it
was at its height in the thirty years prior to annexation. The Raikwars in
their own family history lay no claim to being Stirajbans ; on the other
hand the Siirajbans are specially mentioned as inhabitants of Jammoo, and
the Raikwars of Raika. It is yet a mystery why this small clan should
have turned so bitterly on the British. Of the rebel leaders, three — Nar-
pat Singh of Ruia, Gur Bakhsh of Bhitauli, and Hardatt Singh of Baundi
— were Raikwars. These three chiefs led a force of 25,000 men even after
the fall of Lucknow. Baundi for months sheltered the Queen of Oudh and
her paramour, Mammu Khan. Bhitauli was a head-quarters of rebellion.
In Ruia, the Molvi of Fyzabad ensconced himself, and under its walls,
beside the lovely lake of Riidamau, in the deep shade of a mango grove,
lie the bones of Adrian Hope, perhaps the most mourned of aU the English
soldiers who died on the battle-fields of 1857-1858.

The following specimen of official history is given as shedding light on
the relation of Government, rdja, and ryot, during the last years of Oudh
independence in the estate of Ramnagar Bhitauli.

BHI

289

In 1246 F. to 1250 F. these parganas were in the contract of Eaja
Ramnagar, Muham- Darshan Singh at Rs. 2,12,000, who allowed Gur
madpur, BhitauU. Bakhsh Singh to engage under him for 46 at—

Jama

Nazrana

Balance of former years

2,12,000
40,000
35,000

2,87,000

Gur Bakhsh Singh's balance of 75,000 gave rise to a quarrel, and Darshan
Singh made the parganas kachcha.

During Darshan Singh's tenure the estate was ruined, having gradually-
declined since the chakladari of Mendu Khan in 1238 F., and the small
receipts of 1249-50 were due to the extortions of Darshan Singh in
1247-48 F. The zamindars had even been reduced to selling their daugh-
ters. 1251 F. The contracts of the two parganas were given to Gur
Bakhsh Singh, who had presented himself in Lucknow, at 1,80,000. The
balance at the year's end was 60,000.

Ea.

1252 F.

Gur Bakliah at
Paid in

1,46,000
1,25,000

Balance

21,000

1253. Five years' engagement given to Gur Bakhsh.

were as. follows : —

Es.

His collections

1251

1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257

1,75,000
1,75,000

1,70,000
1,75,000
2,00,000
2,00,000
2,00,000

These were not extortionate,
nor were the zamindars ruined,
no great rise and no reduction
''being made, and no new villages
brought into or thrown out
of cultivation.

In 1258 the parganas were incorporated in the nizdmat of Khaifabad
under the control of Husen Ali Khan. He gave Raja Gur Bakhsh Singh
the engagement at Rs. 1,50,000.

1259. Girdh^ra Singh became Nazim of Khairabad ; he allowed Gur
Bakhsh Singh (1260) to hold as before.

During this tenure one-fourth of the estate fell out of cultivation. (The
collections had been by jamog.)

1261. Raja Sarabjit Singh, presenting himself in Lucknow obtained
the contract of Ramnagar, Muhammadpur, and Bhitauli at 1,51,000,
Bhitauli 29,000, Ramnagar and Muhammadpur 1,22,000.

Although the collection^ were-

BWtauli

KAmnagar and Muhammadpur

Ea.

40,000
1,60,000

2,00,000

Sarabjit Singh only paid in Rs, 53,000, leaving a balance of Rs. 98,000.

T

290 BHI— BHU

1262. QudratuUa Beg became amdni chakladar, and held Bhifaulf,
Eamnagar, and Muhammadpur at Es. 1,54<,000, which was paid in. The
actual amount of his collections is unknown, but the country was ruined
by the outrageous extortions of tahsildars and jamogdars. It is supposed
that Ks. 3,00,000 were collected. Several villages fell out of cultivation, '
asamis having sold their ploughs and oxen.

It wiU be observed from the foregoing that the revenue paid by the taluq-
dar was genferally Ks. 1,50,000, varying from Es. 1,80,000 to 1,46,000.
It was optional with the Government of the day to leave the estate to
the owner ; even when it did do so it often collected direct from the tenants
and oppressed them. Now Government has given the owners a lease at
Es. 1,64,561 for thirty years, and engages to renew the lease at the expiry
of that period on similar moderate terms : they collect above Es. 3,50,000
from the tenantry in the three parganas.

BHUE Pargana* — Tahsil LAKHfMPUR — District Kheri.— Pargana Bhnr,
as it is at present constituted, consists of all that part of the old pargana
of the same name which lies to the south and west of the river Chauka, and
of the whole of the old pargana of Aliganj. It is one of the largest
parganas in Oudh.

The tract of country which forms the present pargana is in shape an
irregular parallelogram, somewhat resembling a wedge, extending from
north-west, which is the narrow end, to south-east, the wide end.

On its north side the pargana is 42 miles in length, and is bounded for
18 miles, beginning from the west, by pargana Palia, and for the next
24 miles by pargana Nighasan, from both of which it is separated by the
river Chauka, except for a space of nine miles near the north-west corner
of the pargana, where the river has encroached towards the north-east and
left portions of seven villages of pargana Palia on its southern side,
touching Bhur. The area is 376 square miles. At the west extremity
the pargana is only 2J miles wide, and touches the districts of Pilibhit
and Shahjahanpur in the North-West Provinces.

Along the south, Bhur is 38 miles in length ; beginning at the west, it
is bounded for 9 miles by Shahjahanpur, for 19 miles by pargana Kukra
Mailani, for 8 miles by pargana Paila and for 2 miles by pargana Kheri.
The river Ul takes its rise from a marsh at the western extremity of the
pargana, and forms its southern boundary for the whole length of 38 miles.
At the eastern end Bhur is about 15 miles in width, and is bounded by
pargana Srinagar ; there is no natural boundary, and the line of separation
is very irregular and about 21 miles in length.

Bhur possesses one very marked geographical feature which imparts a
distinctive character to the pargana and marks it off into two natural divi-
sions, the upper country and the lower country or ganjar. This is a high
bank, forming a sudden rise of from 20 feet to 50 feet in the land from
the north to the south. The bank runs in a direction generally about
paralled to the river Chauka, and the river at one time flowed just under

* By Mr. J. 0. Williams, c. s., Assistant Cozflinissioiier.

BHU 291

it ; it nowtouches the river at Aliganj at the -western extremity of the
pargana; is never more than 5 miles distant from the stream, and rejoins
it at Bharguda, about 31 miles to the east of Aliganj.

This bank marks the old course of the Chauka river, and the g^njar or
tract of land between the high bank and the river, consisting of about one-
fourth of the whole pargana, is a very low plain, extending over about
eighty square miles, which is regularly inundated by the river during the
autumn rains.

In describing the pargana I begin with the ganjar. The plain is very
sparsely inhabited, abounds in large tracts ofgxass jungle," jhau, khajtir,
and underwood, and the villages and hamlets are very widely scattered,
those spots being selected as sites which are a few feet higher than the
surrounding country, and which, therefore, escape the floods, except in very
rainy seasons.

Groves of fruit trees are very few and far between, but the whole face of
the country is thickly dotted with catechu and wild fig-trees. Throughout
the whole of this tract water is only about 3 feet below the surface, and
it is intersected by an immense number of streams flowing in almost all
directions, but with a general inclination from north-west to south-east.

Many of these are back-waters on a higher level than the Chauka, and
frequently flowing at right angles to it ; they are dry for six months of the
year, but rapidly fill with the first rise of the stream, and carrying off its
surplus waters, distribute them over the low plain lying between the
present bed of the river and the high bank a few miles to the south.
They then gradually dry up, and can frequently be crossed dry-shod
in the cold weather.

The river Chauka did not leave its old bed under the high bank and
flow off into its present bed all at once. At some period, which, as it is far
beyond the memory of the present inhabitants, is referred by them to times
of remotest antiquity, the river which till then had flowed in its old bed
under the high bank as far as Jagdispur left its old bed at that point, and
going off in a due easterly direction joined its present bed opposite Patwara
Ghat. The village of Shahpur contains the ruins of an old fort, and tank,
ascribed to Raja Ben, which were built at a time when the Chauka flowed
under Shahpur, which is nearly 5 miles south-west of Patwara, where the
river flows now, and 3 miles south-east of Jagdispur, where it flowed up
to about thirty-five years ago.

But there are many persons still living in the pargana who can remember
the last great change. Up to about thirty-five years ago the river flowed
under the high bank from the ruins of the old fort of K^mp close to Ali-
ganj down to the villages of Bhtir, Barheya Khera, and Jagdispur, the head-
quarters of the great taluqa of Bhur. The ruins of the fort of Jagdispur
destroyed after the rebellion are now 5 miles from- the river, but the fort
was built at a time when it commanded the stream. At the last settlement
of pargana Palia, fifty-two years ago, the whole of the pargana was to the
north of the stream, whereas now there are parts of seven villages to the south.

T 2

292 BHU

At a distance varying from 12 to 20 miles to the north of the high
bank or ridge which I have been describing, and to the north of the
Chauka, there is in pargana Khairigarh another high bank, which runs
nearly parallel to and at a short distance from the north of the river Sarju,
in the same manner as the Bhiir ridge is parallel to and at a short distance
from the south of the river Chauka.

I think it probable that an examination of the geological formation of
this part of Oudh would result in establishing the fact that at a period
which, geologically speaking, may be considered to be comparatively recent,
the large tract between these two high banks formed the bed of a large
inland lake. Not only the whole surface of the soil of the low plain along
the south of the Chauka in Bhur which is annually flooded, but also manj
portions of the comparatively higher plains to the north of the Chauka
in pargana Nighasan which are now never inundated, seem to bear
evident marks of having been at some remote time subject to fluvial
action.

Take, for instance, the peculiar formation of jhil known in the local
dialect as a bhagghar. These bhagghars are very numerous all over the
tract between the two high ridges in Bhur and Khairigarh, and always
exactly resemble each other. A bhagghar, then, is a large jhil of semicir-
cular shape, not always or seldom communicating with any stream, and
having a steep high bank on the convex side of the semicircle, and a low
marshy flat shore on the concave side, stretching from one horn to the other
horn of the semicircle. The water is often very deep under the high bank,
and towards the other side gradually becomes quite shallow. Every
bhagghar seems to me to mark some place where the Chauka has at one
time or another flowed, or, in other words, the bhagghars and their high
banks mark the successive recessions by which the great inland sea has
in process of ages been transformed into the series of parallel rivers which
we now find existing. The discussion of this problem, however, more
properly finds a place in the description of pargana Nighasan.

Besides the changes in the river's course just mentioned, there have
been other and slighter changes in its course quite recently ; in fact hardly
a year passes by in which the stream flows in exactly the bed in which
it flowed the year before.

The fluvial action by which the change is efiected is of two kinds ; some-
times it is from below the surface of the ground ; the river undermines a
high bank, causing it to crumble away bit by bit and gradually sink to the
level of the water. This action is most destructive ; cultivated fields, groves
of fruit trees, and weU-peopled villages are swept away by the water, and the
process when once begun continues with no intermission until some chance
event, such as a heavy fall of rain, or a tree projecting from the bank, or
the gradual formation of a sand bank by the accumulation of fallen soil,
or a stranded boat, turns off the water into another channel in its wide
bed.

On the other hand, sometimes the fluvial action is from above the surface,
and it there does very little injury, as its effects are not permanent. The
river in a high flood rises over its banks at some spot where it is rather

BHU 293

low, generally where a back-water or sota joins the main stream, and
sweeps off in a new direction down the back-water, entirely forsaking the
old bed ; in this case, however, though the waters may for a time rise over
the banks of its new channel and inundate the neighbouring country to
the depth of a few feet, they are generally brought back after a winding
course of a few miles into their old bed by the same channel by which they
left it, and the country flooded is benefited rather than injured.

Both these processes have recently been going on at Bharguda in Bhur ;
on the south the river is cutting away the high bank, and on the north it
has suddenly turned off and wandered away into a new channel in pargana
Nighasan, to the north of village Dhundela and part of the jungle grant
No. 12, and now rejoins its old bed opposite Kardheya, five miles to the
south-east of Bharguda.

Another and very important change in the river course occurred many
years ago at Basaha, two miles above Kardheya, which has been noticed
under pargana Srinagar.

The ganjar country or low plain to the south of the Chauka rises by the
high bank above noticed into a comparatively high plain with a generally
level surface, which occupies the rest of the area of the pargana. Numer-
ous streams water this plain. They all rise in the sal forests in the south
and west sides of the pargana, and flow in a parallel or almost parallel
direction to the Chauka, i. e., in a course almost due south-east, and even-
tually they ail join it.

The first is the Barauncha, a shallow river rising in the forests opposite
Bhira. Sixteen miles to the south-east of that village it trickles ankle-
deep over the high ridge at Daryabad, but immediately on reaching the low
plain it becomes a wide and deep river, unfordable by elephants and after
a further course of four miles flows into the Chauka at Belha Siktaha.

About three miles south-west of the Barauncha is the Junai, and four
miles south of the Junai is the Kandwa, and between these streams about
the centre of the old pargana of Aliganj, is a large forest consisting prin-
cipally of sal trees and comprising perhaps six square miles. No part of
it has been appropriated by Government, and it was all apportioned among
the neighbouring villages. The Junai has a course of only 1.5 miles, the
first 8 of , which are in Bhur and the last 7 in Srinagar ; the Kandwa has
a course of 21 miles, the first 12 being in Bhiir, and the last 9 in Srinagar.
These streams, but especially the Kandwa, are notorious for the badness
of their water ; they are each about 15 yards in width, they rise greatly
in the rains, the lands bordering them become swamps of black mud, and
the villages on their banks suffer greatly from malarious fevers. On the
south of the Barauncha and again on the south of the Junai the land
rises very slightly, but on the south of the Kandwa it rises about
12 or 15 feet into a flat broad plain, with a good loam soil and an
average width of 6 miles. This plain extends to the river Ul on the
southern boundary of the pargana, and sinks into the terrace of the river,
which is generally about a mile in width. The fourth river in the higher
part of the pargana is the Ul. This forms the boundary of the pargana
for about 38 miles ; it is a deep stream, very seldom fordable on horseback ;

294. BHU

it has a slow current and an average width of 25 or 30 yards, and it joins
the Chauka in the Sitapur district after a course of about eighty miles.

These are the four rivers of the upper country, beginning from the north.
Returning now from south to north, we find the flat plain between the Ul
and Kandwa is by far the best and richest part of the pargana, and con-
tains many large and populous villages. The principal one is Aliganj,
which once gave its name to a pargana. It has the remains of an old fort,
and is divided into four muhallas : 1, Aliganj ; 2, Sarae Ramuapur ; 3, Kus-
mauri ; and a fourth. There are several other very large villages which are
heads of small taluqas, such as Rasulpanah, Chaurathia, and Bdnsi.

They are all embowered in magnificent groves of fruit trees, and many
have large masonry buildings, mosques, temples, and tombs, and a very
dense and apparently prosperous population. The soil is excellent, facilities
for irrigation are very plentiful, water is found at an average distance of 12
or 15 feet from the surface, and the best crops flourish. Beyond the Ali-
ganj plain and the river Kandwa to the north, the land, as has been seen,
sinks somewhat ; and the tract between the Kandwa and the Junai is
inferior in richness of soil to the plain round Aliganj, though it formed a
part of the old pargana of that name. There are a few large fine villages,
the heads of small taluqas, such as Agar Buzurg and Agar Khurd, which
are almost equal to the villages already mentioned in population and pros-
perity. But the soil is worse ; it is too damp, water is within eight or nine
feet of the surface, and inundations from the Kandwa and Junai are in-
jurious to the soil, and frequently leave a saliferous deposit.

The Junai river was the boundary between the old parganas of Bhiir
and Aliganj, from the point where it fiows on the south boundary of Bhur
into Srinagar, up northwards as far as its source in the large patch of sal
forest still left in the centre of Aliganj pargana ; and thence the boundary
passed between the villages of Nausar Jogipur and Munria Hem Singh
and joined the Barauncha river, which was the boundary from that point
up to the sdl forests on the west.

The tract of country between the Junai and the Barauncha towards the
north and the Junai and the high bank bounding the ganjar country on
the south greatly resembles in character the country between the Kandwa
and the Junai, and somewhat similar to them also are the few villages
that lie beyond the Barauncha and between that river and the ganjar
country. The farther we go to the north, the less populous is the country
and the more scattered the villages. Beyond the Barauncha the only
large villages are Bhira and Bijwa, both head-quarters of the great Bhiir
taluqa, and far away to the north the village of K^mp, with the ruins of its
ancient fort overlooking the Chauka.

To the west and south of the country watered by the Barauncha, the
Junai, and the Kandwa, but to the north-west of the Aliganj plain, lie
the great sal forests in the terrace of the river Ul. They extend about 28
miles in length from Aliganj to Kamp, and have an average width of
about 3 miles, and an area, therefore, of about 80 square miles. These
forests contain many low swamps and marshes, from which proceed mala-
rious exhalations which cause the villages bordering on the forest to be

BHU 295

exceedingly unhealthy. This forest was appropriated by Government at
annexation, and has been demarcated into eighteen grants ; of these three
are held under the lease rules and four have been purchased in fee simple.
The other 11 are held as nazul lands by the Deputy Commissioner, and
all of them will probably eventually be made over to the Forest Depart-
ment. The forest itself is really of much greater extent than the area of
these eighteen grants, as it stretches for a considerable distance into the
districts of Shahjahanpur and Pilibhit, and also some portions of it have
here and there been demarcated within the neighbouring mauzas.

There is a tradition wide-spread and generally believed all over Bhtir
pargana that there was a time when populous villages flourished and crops
of grain waved all over the extensive la.nds now covered by these forests.
I am inclined to credit this tradition, but am quite unable to hazard an
opinion as to the age of the forest. I have been told vaguely in many
places that the trees were above 200 years old. But all along the edge
of the forest there are found remains of the deserted villages or " dihs,"
and in the most remote spots within the forests herdsmen occasionally
come upon remains of masonry wells, and here and there the earth near
the well has been dug up, and the faith and labour of the digger have
been rewarded by the discovery of coins and brass implements and rusty
weapons.

What are called the " jaur" form a peculiar feature of the upper country
in pargana Bhur, as the bhagghars do of the ganjar. I believe the word
"jaur" is local ; a jaur may be defined as a long and narrow depression of
the soU, forming, after a heavy fall of rain, a string of marshes connected
with each other and having perhaps 2 feet of water, beneath which there is
black mud of a depth of about 18 inches. These jaurs are cultivated with
rice, and are generally entered in the settlement records as fields and not
as jhils.

The Aliganj plain is drained by two jaurs, the Kursoi, which flows into
the TJl, and the Kathna, which goes ijito pargana Srinagar, and after
becoming a flowing stream eventually joins the Kandwa.

The trans-Barauncha villages along the high ridge are drained by the
Kulwari jaur, which flows into the Barauncha under Bijwa; the Junai
itself is hardly more than a jaur in places, and there are one or two other
nameless jaurs which are connected with the Junai.

There is»a great difference between the upper and lower country in
Bhur pargana. The general aspect of the landscape in these low ganjar
plains is by no means picturesque. It used to remind me of the fen
country round about Cambridge and Ely, whiph is known to have formed
at some remote period an estuary of the German Ocean. The lower flat
-plain is devoid of the noble groves which generally give so much beauty
and variety to a landscape in Northern India ; or if here and there groves
of a few mango trees be found, they are small and stunted, and their trunks
are covered with a .white coating of silt and mud left by the floods,
adhering to the trunk to a height of 4 or 6 feet from the ground, and
-spoiling the beauty of the trees.

296

BHtr

The great pools of stagnant -water and their banks lined with reeds look
inert and lifeless ; the single trees, mostly wild fig and catechu, that are
scattered about in great numbers, but which never stand together in groves,
give a monotonous sameness to the scene, which is added to by the want
of variety in the crops : for miles upon miles nothing meets the eye but
plains of yellow rice in the autumn and plains of yellow barley in the
spring ; in place of forests of many-colored trees, a wide prairie of tall
grass and underwood, or a barren expanse of dreary white sand, skirts the
horizon. The sides of the great rivers, except here and there where they
flow between high banks or with a high bank on one side, are singularly
ugly and uninteresting. There is hardly a sign of life to be seen , and
nothing meets the eye but the wide grass prairie or the barren sandy
beach.

One cgnnot imagine a greater contrast than is presented, say by two
villages within a mile of each other, similar in many respects, each with
2,000 acres and 1,000 inhabitants, but one situated in the upper country,
the other in the ganjar. With the aspect of the former every North Indian
official is familiar: the village of substantial mud houses nestling close
under the mango grove, the masonry well under the old tamarind or banian,
the temple newly painted and repaired by the village bankers, and peeping
forth from under the trees over the blue jhil. Beyond this the cultivated
plain with its endless variety of crops ; the graceful sugarcane, the awk-
ward giant millet, the diminutive gram and peas, and in the comer of the
plain a small hamlet, a young imitation of the parent village.

The ganjar village is utterly different. The inhabitants, instead of being
gathered together in one collection of houses, would be scattered in ten
different hamlets, each consisting of some twenty huts built of reeds, with
a well made of the trunk of a tree let down into the ground, and in place
of the alternation of groves and fields ajad water, there extends the flat
plain of rice dotted with stunted trees and ending in the dreary sands or
the dismal prairie.

Adding the twenty-five grants the area of the pargana is as fol-
lows : —

Total area.

Total
population.

Foinilation per
square mile.

164 revenue-paying villages
25 grants

167,834
69,935

69,983
1,154

267
11

Total

237,769

71,137

191

The population of the present pargana has been made out in the fol-
lowing detail from the vernacular registers compiled in the Census
Office :—

BHtr 297

The present pargana lias been constituted since the Census Report was
published ; and there are no data for obtaining the exact numbers of the

various castes ; they may be approximately estimated as follows : —

Muliammadaus ... ... ... ... ... 4,800

Brahmana ... ... ... .. ... 5,000

Chhattria ... ... ... ... ... 1,900

Vaishyaa ... ... ... ... ... 1,000

Ahirs ... _. ... ... ... 7,000

Banjaras ... ... ... ... ... 1,000

Paais ... ... ... ... ... 4,600

Cliamars ... ... ... ... ... 8,500

Kurmia ... ... ... ... ... 5,300

Kahara ... ... ... ... ... 2,000

Kori ... ... ... ... ... 1,000

Garariaa _. ... ... ... ... 1,600

Muraoa ... ... ... ... ... 4,000

Lodha ... ... ... ... ... 2,200

Loniaa ... ... ... ... ... 1,400

Nads ... ... ... ... ... I,0r0

All other castea having leaa than a thousand each ... 18,837

Total ... ... 71,137

The distribution of castes in Aliganj is shown as follows in Table IV. of
Census Report : —

Muhammadana ... ... ... ... ... 3,303

Brahmana ... ... ... ... ... 3,032

Chhattria ... ... ... ... ... 1,061

Ahirs ... ... ... ..• ... 2,056

Paaia ^ ... ... ... ... ... 2,786

Chamara ... ... ... ... •■■ 4,830

Kurmis ... ... ... ... ... 4,507

Muraoa ... •.• ■■• ••• ■■• 1,395

Other castes having a population of less than 1,000 ... 11,267

Total ... ... 34,237

The means of communication in Bhtir pargana are very limited ; the
Chauka of course forms or might form a great highway of traffic, but is
little used. There is not a single metalled road. Wedged in between the
sal forests of the XJl and the jungles of long grass bounding the Chauka
the pargana is difficult of access from the north and west ; on the south
and east there are roads communicating with Gola in pargana Haidara-
bad Sikandrabad, which was for many years the head-quarters of a tahsil
and with the sadr station of Lakhimpur. One road from Aliganj to Gola
crosses the river Ul by a new bridge at Kusumbhi. There is another road
from Aliganj to Lakhimpur which crosses the Ul by a ford at Nukaha ;
there was a bridge here once which was swept away in the floods of the
autumn of 1870. A third road from Aliganj to Bhira was commenced and
made as far as the beginning of the sal forest, where it now ends ; a fourth
road goes from Aliganj through the forest to Kukra Mailani, crossing the
Ul half-way, but as the river is not bridged there, and the ford is deep,
this road is not much used. The only other road is that from Lakhimpur
to Sirsighdt, which follows the course of the high ridge bounding the gan-
jar, and has a considerable traffic ; throughout the rest of the pargana shut m
bet-vaeen the rivers Chauka and Ul there are no roads at all, and the traffic
being very inconsiderable, there is hardly at present much need of them.

298

SHU

There is of course no bridge over tte Chauka; tlie average breadth of the
stream with the sandy beach on each side is about a mile or a mile and a
half There are five principal ghats : 1, Marauncha ; 2, Patwara ; 3, Mur-
gaha; 4, that one opposite Lalbojhi which is known by the name of Sirsi ;
and 5, Pachperi. The roads approaching these ghats pass over plains of
drifting sands skirting the river, and the passage is only accomplishBd by
bullock-carts with great difficulty and occupies an entire day. It is notice-
able that all these ghats are named from villages on the north side of the
Chauka, showing that here the usual course of trade and traffic has been
from the north to the south, and therefore the necessity of discovering
fords has been forced upon persons coming from the north to the south. I
know of no ghat which is named from a village on the southern side of
the river.

There are no buildings in the pargana that call for notice ; there is a
police thana at Bhira and a school at Aliganj. The masonry mosques and
tombs in a few villages have been already mentioned, as well as the ruins
of forts at Ahganj, Kamp, and Jagdispur.

I now come to the distribution of proprietary rights. It will be conve-
nient here to make a distinction between the cis-Ghauka portion of old
Bhur included with present pargana and old Aliganj.

The areas of the two divisions are as follows : —

Old BMr.

Aliganj.

Name of chaks.

ViUages.

Acres.

Villages.

Acres.

The grants

71
18

99,536
50,903

93

7

CS,300
19,027

Total

8<)

150,444

100

87,327

The cis-Ghauka portion of the old pargana of Bhur consists of 71
villages and 18 grants ; of the latter 7 consists of jhau jungles on the
Chauka and 11 of sal forests on the Ul. The enormous taluqa of Bhur,
almost coterminous in its limits with those of the pargana, is divided into
several portions among four sharers. By far the largest portion, (jontain-
ing 52 villages, is held jointly by all four : —

I. — The widow of Raj Ganga Singh ;
II. — Her husband's nephew, R^j Dalipat Singh ;
III. — Raj Guman Singh ; and
IV. — Raj Gobardhan Singh.

The old name of the taluqa was Bhira Garhia, both of which places
have been in former times head-quarters of the taluqa.

Besides the enormous joint estate, the rani has seven villages, and resides
in one of them, Barheya Khera, which adjoins Bhira, and is now looked on
as the head-quarters of the whole taluqa. Her nephew. Raj Dalipat, has

BRt

299

five villages, and resides in one of them, Jagdispur, which adjoins Barheya
Khera, and had a fort which was destroyed after the rebellion. Raj Gobar-
dhan Singh is a cousin of, but is removed by several degrees from, the
rani's husband ; he has two villages, and lives in one of them, Bijwa.
Raj Guman Singh, who is a distant cousin both of Dalipat and of Gobar-
dhan, and lives with the latter at Bijwa, has no separate estate in Bhur
pargana, though he has in Nighasan but his mother, the Thakurain of
AhlAd Singh, has one village. Rdj Narpat Singh, another member of the
family, has one village.

One village, Kardheya Manpur, is owned by the old qanfingos of the
pargana ; one village, Gum, on the Srinagar frontier, was appropriated by
Government at annexation as waste land, and after having been held for
some years on lease by the zamindar of Patihan has been now decreed to
Government ; and one village, Baragaon on the Srinagar frontier, which
formerly formed part of that pargana, belongs to the Thakur of Mahewa.
With the exception of the last three villages, the rest of the cis-Chauka
portion of old Bhur pargana, or 68 villages, belongs therefore to the family
of the Bhur taluqdars, who are Ghauhiin Rajputs, and 66 of these 68
villages are held on taluqdari tenure.

Most of the grants in this pargana are now the property of Govern-
ment. The attempt made by Messrs. Saunders and Menzies to bring
their large grants into cultivation failed ; the latter is dead, the former
sold his share in the estate to Messrs. Jardine, Skinner, and Co., of
Calcutta, and they are at present doing nothing whatever to bring the
land into cultivation.

There are besides in Bhur 18 grants aggregating ... 50,907 acres,
in Aliganj 7 grants do. ... 19,027 „

Grants in Bhi^r, old pargana, cis-Chauka portions.

Name of grant.

Holder.

Area in

Tenure.

acres.

180
686

Grant No. 7

Hlripur No. 8

I Government

Ditto

9082'll

j. Resumed in 1869.

7

Hamlrgarh No. 5

) Messrs. Menzies, and Jardine,
j" Skinner, and Co

; Held on lease rules iij part-

ISS

Bhadaura No. 6

8986'66

3 nership.

621

LaukiaNo. 814 ...

Ditto ,

11097-

Purchase in fee simple.

190

Grant No. 1

Mr. Webb

2305 54

Ditto.

8

Aliganj No. 2

Mr. AUen

6430'26

On lease rules.

194

Grant Bhadaura No. i ...

Government

683'66

Leased to Rinl of Bhilr.

191

Grant No. 1

Ditto

1360-29

Ditto,

192

„ No. 2

Ditto

938-27

Ditto.

193

„ No. 3

Rini of Bhur

1620-69

On lease rules.

195

„ No, 5

Government

809 66

Leased to Rdni of Bhtir.

196

,, No 6, Majhanra

RfciofBhtlr

645-46

Settled -with Etoi of Bhdr.

197

„ No. 7

Government

1640-12

Leased to Rdni of BhUr.

198

„ No. 8

Ditto

1102 -.57

Ditto.

199

„ No. 9

TuMrSm

607-68

On lease rules.

200
201

„ No. 10

No. 11

1 Government

i Ditto ....

941-7
3856-26

!■ In kh&m management.

60907-

In the old pargana of Aliganj proprietary rights were more divided ;
it consisted of 39 mauzas and seven grants on or near the river Ul, con-
taining sal forests.

300 BHtJ

Proprietary rights are thus divided : —

Name ol taluqdar.

Caste.

Name of taluqa.

s
■g

i

Eemarks.

The -vrido-w of Hazari
Lai.

Kayath

Agar Khurd

12

HabibuUa Khan ...

Musalmau Ahban

Bhfirwara ... „.

14

Widow of Niamat-
ulla Khan.

Ditto

Agar Buzurg

16

Government

Ditto

Ditto ... ... „.

10

Formerly part of estate
of Lone Singh, Eiija of
Mitauli, Ahban.

Ibrahim Khan, grantee

Pathan

LukhraTvan

5

Ditto.

Captain W. Hearsey,
grantee.

Englishman ...

Kukra Mailani in
pargana ditto.

4

Ditto.

Hardeo Bakhsh

Hindu Ahban ...

Bansi

14

Narain Singh

Ditto

Ambara

5

Hardeo Bakhsh and
Thakur of Mahewa.

Ahban and Janwar

Ditto

3

Half of each village is
mortgaged to Thakur
of Mahewa, Hardeo
Bakhsh being mortga-

Thakur Balbhadar
Singh.

Jauwar

Mahewa, pargana
Srinagar.

2

Obtaiued by lapsed moi-t-
gage.

Raja Anrudh Singh
The Parga,T)a Qandago

Ditto

Kayath

Oel, pargana Kheri
Ditto ... ... ...

6

1

Obtained by mortgage
and sale from Hazari
Ldl.

,, Qazis ...

Musalman

Ditto

1
93

Uninhabited.

The great proprietary caste in Aliganj is the Ahban Rajput, which is
divided into two clans, the Hindu and Muhammadan. The latter hold
30 villages divided among two taluqas. The former had 41 villages, of
which 19 belonged to Raja Lone Singh, the chief of the Hindu Ahbans,*
and were forfeited for his rebellion, and of these 10 are still in the hands
of Government and 9 have been given away. Twenty-two villages are
still held by Hindu Ahbans, Hardeo Bakhsh and Narain Singh. The
former holds 17 villages on a taluqdari tenure, but he has not received a
sanad as taluqdar. The latter holds on zamindari tenure; therefore 71 out
of 93 villages belong or belonged to various branches of the Ahban clan
whose territories were separated by the little streams of the Junai and
Barauncha from those of the Chauhan Rajputs of the great taluqa of Bhur.

The rest of the pargana, containing 22 villages, consists of a taluqa of
12 villages belonging to a Kdyath; 8 villages belonging to Janwar Rajputs,

* See article Kheri.

BHt— BIH

301

the taluqdars of Oel and Mahewa, and two more held by the pargana
qantingo and qazi.

The land tenures for the whole of the present pargana of Bhiir therefore
are as follows: —

Total

Taluqdarl

Held by
grantees.

Held by
Government.

Zamindari.

Total.

Old Bhiir
Aliganj

66'
67

9

1

10

4
7

71
93

133

9

11

11

164

The history of Bhur will be found under Kamp, its ancient capital, and
some reference to it under Dhaurahra.*

BIGAHPUR KALKN— Pargana Migrayar — Tahsil PuEWA — District
Unao. — This is a Isrge village of little importance, only remarkable for
the number of the sacerdotal caste. The population amounts to 1,889 of
whom Brahmans are as many as 723, and Musalmans only 59. There are
372 mud built houses and three masonry ones, four temples — two to
Mahadeo, and two to Debi.

BIGAHPUn KHURD— Pargfana Uaoray An— Tahsil F-aswA— District
TJnao. — ^Very similar to Bigahpur Kalan. No school here. Two markets
weekly at which the chief articles sold are sweetmeats, country and En-
glish cloths, vegetables, &c., the population amounts to 1,481. The Brah-
man 888, Chhattris 106, and Moslems only 13. There are 297 mud built
and two masonry houses; two temples dedicated to Debi. Annual
amount of sales at bazar Rs. 18,000.

BIHAR — Pargana Bihar — Tahsil Bihar — District Partabgarh. — The
town is pleasantly situated on the road to Manikpur, 29 miles from Bela.
A Vihar or Sanscrit College was established here by Raja Mandeo, hence
called Bihar. There are groves to the east, and a deep jhll which
apparently is of artificial formation, as several high mounds adjoin it.

There was a Bhar fort here whose remains are to be seen still at Sarde
to the east. The Brijbasis settled here in great numbers; their women
used to cohabit indiscriminately. About forty years ago, the taluqdar of
Bhadri turned them all out and took possession of the place. It was for-
merly a place of note and wealth, but recently, by the turbulence of the

* The proprietors are almost entirely Alibans and Chauhans of the J£ngre sept; they own
about 360 square miles in this pargana, besides 251 in Nighasau; the owners are in number
about fifteen including their families, their relatives and clansmen may number as many
more, and the rest of the 71,000 inhabitants have no interest whatever in the soil or right
of any kind, except in rare instances a few acres of grove or farm land.

802 BIH

taluqdars, it has become much reduced. Population 4,130. There are five
masonry houses, four temples to Mahadeo, and one tomb to Sayyad Jalal,
there is a thana, and a Government school here attended by 52 boys ; the
tahsil has been recently removed.

BIHAR — Pargana Bihae — Tahsil PuRWA — District Unao. — The town
lies twelve miles east from Purwa and 28 miles south-east of Unao on
the road leading from the town of Rae Bareli; the river Lon flows to the
west, and is spanned by a handsome bridge erected by the English Govern-
ment. Another road leads to Eanjitnagar. The water is good. The
surrounding country is rather bare from the presence of lisar. A .great
battle took place here between the Edos of Daundia Khera and the Eaja
of Mauranwan and the chief of Shankarpur, all barons of the Bais clan.
This happened 100 years ago. The population is 2,242, of whom 343 are
Musalmans. There are two temples to Debi, a masonry tank, and a school,
in which 100 boys are taught Urdu and Nagri. A religious fair is held
in honour of Biddia Dhar faqlr, at which 5,000 people assemble.

BIHAR Pargana — Tahsil Purwa — District Unao. — This pargana seems
to have been granted by the Bais (after the annihilation of the Bhars) to
the Janwars, which clan still holds a great part of it in their possession.
The town Bihar is said to have been founded by Birbhiin, the ancestor of
the present taluqdars, Arjun Singh and Mahesh Bakhsh. Birbhan named
it "Birhar" after his own name, but by general usage it has been corrupted
into Bihfo. A far more probable story is, that it is called from Vihar, a
Buddhist monastery. It was established as a pargana by Akbar Shah, and
was fixed upon as the seat of a tahsil in 1267 Fasli (A. D. 1860) by the
British Government, in the Rae Bareli district.

In the last change of parganas it was placed in the Purwa tahsil, and
the tahsil of Bihar was abolished. This pargana now comprises 26 vil-
lages and is in shape a parallelogram 7 miles in length from north to south
and 5 miles in breadth from east to west. Its area is 24 square miles. It
is bounded on the east by pargana Khiron, on the west by parganas Pan-
han, Bhagwantnagar, Patau, on the north by pargana Khiron, and on the
south by pargana Bhagwantnagar.

The system of tenure is as follows: —

Taluqdari ... ... ... .., ... 22

Zamindari ... ... ... ... ... 2

Pattidari ... ... ... ... ... 2

26 villages.

Their total area is 15,130 acres; the revenue amounts to Rs. 39,648, and
the rate per acre being on an average Rs. 2-9-11.

The population is chiefiy composed of Brahmans and Bais Chhattris of
the higher castes, and Ahirs and Chamdrs of the lower. The Musalmans
number very few. The total population amounts to 13,086 of which 12,788
are Hindus and 298 Muhammadans. It is 500 to the square mile. There
are two rivers in this pargana, viz., the Lon and the Kharhi. The Lon
takes its rise from a tank in Unao, and passing through Kundarpur,

BIH 303

Rawatpur, KidarKhera, Machakpur,NamaKbera, Bajora, Sarganpur, and
Jamirpur flows eastward to the pargana of Khiron; and the other the
Kharhi commences its course from a tank in pargana BUagwantnagar, and
flowing through the villages Kiratpur, Kaliani, Machakpur, and Nama
Khera, joins the Lon. The soil is of three kinds, half of it is loam, and
about one-fourth each clay and sand.

It is principally irrigated by wells, water being found on an average at
the depth of 30 feet, and the proportion of irrigated to unirrigated is as 3
to 1. The climate is in general salubrious. There are two market places
in this pargana, one Durgaganj and the other Radhaganj. Durgaganj is in
a dilapidated state, as the market has not been held there since the re-
occupation by the British of this province. Eadhaganj was built
by Shiiidin Singh taluqdar in 1242 Fasli (A. D. 1846) in honour of the
famous Eadha, the fair companion of Srikrishn. There is also a temple in
honour of Radha erected by the same taluqdar. This market is held on
Saturday and Wednesday. There are some resident shop-keepers here.
There is one fair in honour of Biddia Dhar, a Hindu darwesh who died in
the village of Bakra Khurd. Arjun Singh, the taluqdar, was a professor of
this Darwesh's faith, and having buried his pestle and mortar (klindi)
(used for grinding bhang) in the town of Bih^r, raised a platform over the
place in honour and remembrance of him.

The fair takes place in the month of Pus ( December and January ) ;
about 14,000 persons assemble. Sales are effected of the ordinary articles,
such as cloth, brass,, copper, iron utensils, gur, (molasses ).

In some villages kankar is found, which is used in constructing and
repairing the roads.

In the time of the kings, salt was manufactured in eight villages, about
48,842 maunds to the value of Rs. 18,618, and saltpetre was also manu-
factured in the village of Kaliani. The out-turn was 1,634 maunds, and
the value Rs. 3,268 per annum, but neither is worked now.

A road from Rae Bareli to XJnao passes through the pargana, also
through the parganas Patan and Magrayar of Unao, and thence direct on
to Cawnpore. Another road leads from Bihar to Lalganj and Dalmau ; and
a third leads from the village Jhangi of this pargana to Fatehpur, through
the parganas Daundia Khera and Bhagwantnagar vid Baksar Ghat. There
is also a fourth road leading through pargana Panhan from Bihar Khds
to Mauranwan of the Unao district. There is a masonry tank in Bihar
Khas built by the late tahsildar Ikramulla in 1862 ; the cost of its erec-
tion was defrayed by a subscription collected from the taluqdars. The tank
is called after Ikramulla. There is also a mud built sarae near the old
tahsil buildings. There is one vernacular school in Bihar Khas, in which
25 or 30 boys are taught. There are no buildings of note here.

BIHAR Pargana — Tahsil Bihar — District Paetabgaeh. — This pargana.
lies north of the Ganges at the extreme southern extremity of Oudh ; ib
is bounded on the east by the Allahabad district ; it is one of the most
beautiful and fertile districts of Oudh, and is celebrated for its magnificent
groves, mostly of maEua trees, for the numerous lakes and jhils, including

Taluqdari,

Mufrad.

Total.

. 184

21

205

• jj

1
2

1
2

4

8

3

12

4

8

3

12

ji

2

2

304 BIH

Behti, the largest in Oudh, which stud its surface ; its area is 228 square
miles, of which 108 are cultivated. Its population is 119,469, which is
524 to the square mile ; of them, 16,811 are Brahmans, and 6,728 are
Chhattris. Ghamars are only 11,908 ; so that the proportion of high caste
is above the average. It will be observed from the following table that
these Brahmans hold only four villages. The Ahirs, who number 16,000,
also, hold' none, nor have the Kurmis, who number 6,000. Four
men have 184 out of the 227 villages, 480 others share the remaining 51
and the subordinate rights, so that, at any rate, 116,000 out of the 118,000
have no right in the soil.

The pargana is divided into 237 townships, held as follows : —

Bisen

Raikwar

Bais

Brahman

Kayath

Sayyad

Shekh

Pathau ... „. ...

Total ... ... 184 53 237

The taluqdari villages, 184 in number, constitute the Bhadri, Kundra-
jit, Dahiawan, and Shekhpur Chauras estates, the owners of which are
sanad holders, and have their names entered in the lists attached to Act I.
of 1869. Under pargana Rampur, and in connection with the Rampur
taluqa, I shall introduce Mr. King's account of the Bisen clan. Meantime,
his remarks concerning these four estates just mentioned will not be out
of place here. After they had slain the Ndzim Jiu Ram Nagar at Ma-
nikpur in 1748 A. D., " the Bisens made their peace with the Delhi au-
thorities, &c., through the intervention of a darogah of artillery, and Jit
Singh, the chief of the Bhadri family, attending a darbar got the title of
Rae conferred on him.

" This family figured in another collision with the officers of Government

about fifty years afterwards, when a Nazim Mirza

The Bhadri family. j.^^^ ^-g-^g^ g-j^.^. ^^^ encamped in Sarae Kirat, close

by the taluqdar's fort, with a small force. The Taluqdar Daljit Singh, was
summoned and questioned regarding his revenue, with a view to revision
of the demand. A quarrel and encounter ensued, and Daljit Singh was
killed. Rae Zalim Singh, son of Daljit, fled, but was afterwards allowed
to return and hold the estate.

" In 1217 Fasli (A. D. 1810) this taluqdar was imprisoned for non-pay-
Thikurain Shiurdj ment of revenue, and the estate was held 'khlam'.

Kunwar. While her husband was a prisoner in Lucknow,

Shiiiraj Kunwar, the Thakurain, visited Bhadri, under pretext of per-
forming rites of worship, and getting the clan together, found means to
stop there and collect rents. The Chakladar, Jagat Kishor, invested the
fort of Bhadri, and for eight days besieged her. This energetic proceeding
on his part was stopped by orders from Lucknow, and the courageous lady

BIH 305

was permitted to occupy the castle. In 1222 Fasli her husband was re-
leased and recovered the estate."

" Again in 1240 Fasli, or 1833 A. D., Ihs^n Husen was nazim. His
„, . TT. ' TT demands for revenue were deemed excessive by Jag-

NazimDisa^Huseu. ^^^^^ g.^^^j^^ ^^^ ^^ ^alim Singh aforesaid. The

nazim had considerable forces at his command ; 50,000 men and guns are
said to have composed his army. He beleaguered the fort of Bhadri for
twelve days, when a compromise was effected. The next year matters
were not so easily accommodated. The nazim proceeded to coerce a
number of taluqdars, among whom was Lai (now Raja) Hanwant Singh
of Dharupur. There a fight took place, and the nazim lost two guns.
At Behti he encountered the Bisens again and lost two more guns. As-
sembling greater forces he invested Bhadri, and after a prolonged siege,
Jagmohan and his son Bishndth fled across the border to British territory.
At Ram Chaura on the Ganges, in fancied security, they were surprised
by a party of the enemy headed by the nazim himself, and both were
killed on the ghat of Ram Chaura.

" At this vigorous action in his master's service the British Government

Intervention of ^°°^ great offence, and in order to atone for the
British Govern- violation of British soil, he was removed from office,
ment. The Oudh Government had also to make good all

damage done by the inroad into the neighbouring territory.

" The Taluqdars of Kundrajit do not give much matter for our chronicles.

The Kundrajit It may be enough to state that they were in opposition
estate. to the Government officers from 1228 to 1234 Fasli,

and in 1257 Fasli ; thus for eight years the estate was held kham.

The Shekhpur " The Shekhpur Chauras estate has no notable

Chaurfc estate. annals.

The Dahiawan " The Dahiawdn estate was kachcha or kham in

estate. 1858 ; it is a small estate and was easily managed."

There are only two Raikwar proprietors of villages in the whole tahsil,
E 'kwars ^^^ ^^ pargana Bihar, and the other in pargana Manik-

pur. The former is a grantee under our Government.
The Raikwars, as has been previously stated, were the predecessors of the
Sombansis in pargana Partabgarh. A stray member of the clan appears
to have migrated to the neighbourhood of Manikpur, and to have obtained
a grant of land from the Gardezis of the latter place.* The Bais of this
and adjacent pargana are the " Kath-Bais."

Of the Brahmans of the Kundaf tahsil Mr. King
Kunda Brahmans. ^^^^ ^-^^ foUowing account :—

" The most numerous caste of Hindus is the Brahmans, but they are
nowhere of importance or in power. There is much related of them
which is not worth recording; but it is noteworthy that in the
tahsil of Bihar, Brahmans are not of any high account among their
fellows, for their origin, it is said, is traced to Raja Manikchand,,

* Mauza Eahipur, the Eaikwdr village alluded to, is only four mUea from Manikpur,
t Formerly caDed BOiar.

U

306 BIH

wto once upon a time vowed that lie would make a solemn feast to
125,000 Brahmans. The word haviag been spoken, it was necessary to
make it good ; nothing like this number could be found ; and so the rdja
was obliged to send out into the highways and hedges and compel all
sorts of riff-raff to come in that his house might be full. In this way
a Kurmi, or Ahir, or Bhat, found himself dubbed Brahman, and invested
with the sacred thread, bestowed his valuable blessing on the devout raja,
and their descendants are Brahmans to this day."

The eight villages in possession of Kayath proprietors are composed
Kayath landown- of seven villages of the Chachamau muhal, the pro-
ers. perty of Dindayal &c., the hereditary qantingos of

the pargana, and of a single village, Namdeopur, held by one Debidin of
obscure origin. The Chachdmau muhal also comprises two villages in the
Manikpur pargana. These nine villages have been gradually acquired by
the family. As was customary in former days, the qanungos, always on the
look out for villages in farm, succeeded in course of time in obtaining from
the nazim, or from head-quarters at Lucknow, zamindari title deeds. With
these in their possession, and backed by Court interest, they defied the
rightful owners to oust them. Such, I believe, to have been the history
of the Chichamau estate.

Of the Musalman landowners notice will be taken under the head of
Muhammadan. pargana Manikpur, the town of Manikpur being an
important Muhammandan centre and the circumjacent
country being chiefly in the hands of that class. Their colonization is
intimately connected with the history of the town, which will be found sub-
Places of note. sequently recorded at length. I propose to record a
few remarks relating to Bihar Khas and Bhadri, being
places possessed of either antiquarian or historical interest.

About two years ago wsre found at Bihar a pair of very old and curiously
Bihitr. carved stones, which from the character of the figures

represented,* I have no doubt are Bhar relics. They
are believed to be so by the inhabitants, and the following account of
the stones (which go by the name of Buddha Buddhi f), is current among
them. Bihar Khas was originally inhabited by the Bhars. Fort Sansaran,
remains of which still exist on the east of Bihar, was their stronghold.
Within the fort was a temple which contained idols worshipped by the
Bhars. During the reign of Raja Pithaura, the latter sent a force under the
command of one Bal Singh, a Bais, and ancestor of the present Bais zamindar
of Bihar, to attack the Bhars. A pitched battle ensued, which resulted in
the defeat of the Bhars and the destruction of their fort. Bal Singh
caused the temple, containing amongst other idols two much larger than
the rest called " Buddha" and " Buddhi," to be thrown into the lake which
lies on the south-east of Bihar. After the victory, Raja Pithaura rewarded
Bal Singh with a zattiindari grant of twenty-two villages in this neigh-
bourhood, and Bal Singh came and resided in the town of Bih^r. The
Bais, his descendants, erected a temple on the south of the town close to

* The carved figures are undoubtedly Buddhist. The stones are in the Govemmenij
garden at Bela, and can be seen and examined by the curious,
t i. e., old man and old woman.

BIH— BIJ 307

a pipal tree. In this temple they replaced the stones " Buddha" and
" Buddhi." The temple near the entrance of the fort is of older origin,
and is held to have been built by the Bhars. It had for many years been
in a state of decay, but about forty years ago, one Datd Eam, a Kashmiri
Pandit, on appointment as Tahsildar, rebuilt it. From the Bais temple
he removed the stones, and placed them at the door of the more ancient
shrine, near which they were found in 1868.

The derivation of the name Bhadri, together with the probable date

-gjjg^jjj^ when, and circumstances under which, the place was

founded, are alike unknown. It possessed a strong fort

until A. D. 1858, when all such strongholds were levelled by order of the

British Government. Bhadri has acquired celebrity from the events which

took place here in A. D. 1802, 1810, and 1833-34

'BIKAT—Pargana Miseikh — Tahsil Miseikh — District Sitapxje. — Is 12
miles south-west from Sitapur, and lies about 1 mile north of ihe road
from that place to Hardoi.

No road, or river, or canal passes through the place. It has a popula-
tion of 2,058, who are principally Hindus ; and it belongs to a community of
Gaur Chhattris. This distinguishes it from another village of the same
name lying in the Machhrehta pargana and owned by Kachhwaha
Chhattris.

The town is not notable for anything excepting the excellence of the
work turned out by the iron-smiths. There is a school at which 30 boys
attend on an average every day. There is no bazar held in it. All the
houses are kachcha, and are in number 358. The climate is good, the soil
is light, and in the neighbourhood of the town is a large tract of dhak
jungle measuring 500 bighas. The proprietors acted well in the mutinies
and were rewarded for their loyalty.

BIJNATJR Tmun* — Pargaria Bijnatje — Tahsil Lucknow — District
LuCKNOW. — Bijnaur the chief town of the pargana of the same name is
situated some 8 miles to the south of the city of Lucknow, in latitude 26°44!',
longitude 80° 66'. It is off the line of regular traffic, lying some 2 iniles
to the east of the Lucknow and Cawnpore road, and is connected with
Lucknow by an unmetalled road which stops at Bijnaur.

As a Musalman head-quarters town from which the pargana was. ad-
ministered under the native rule, it was a place of considerable importance
and trade ; but since the introduction of British rule it has sunk into
agricultural quiet, and boasts of nothing but a few brick houses, the
residences of some of the decayed Musalman gentry and the Shekh
proprietors of the village. The population is nearly 4,000, of which one-
third are Muhammadans, and the rest Hindus. It is chiefly agricultural.
The town was once celebrated for its fine cotton adhotars made by the
weavers of the place, but the manufacture has decayed.

One of the Government schools for primary instruction has been estab-
lished here, and there are 44 names on the register. There is also a
registration office presided over by the old pargana qdzi.

* By Mr. H. H. Butts, Assistant Commissioner,

u2

308 BIJ

Just outside tbe town to the south are the remains of the old Govern-
ment fort where the tahsildars and Government officials used to live, and
on the west side are extensive remains of brick tombs built over the Musal-
mans who fell in battle against the infidels. The place is called the Ganj
Shahiddn, or martyrs' gathering-place. The bricks,, they say, were
brought from Ghazni on camels' backs, for none good enough could be
found in the place. Sayyad Masaud, the first Musalman invader, is said
to have passed through here, and close to the Ganj ShaMddn is a large
tomb ascribed to Malik Ambar, who, it is said, was killed with his master
in Bahraich, but wandered back to Bijnaur. A headless trunk on his
horse reached at length the place of his tomb, when the earth opened
and received him and his horse.

The tomb is of immense size, and probably his horse was buried with
him. But it is doubtful whether Sayyad Masaud did ever pass through
this place. It seems more probable that the first Musalman invasion of
it did not take place till the time of AUa-ud-din, or end of the 12th
century, when it was attacked and taken by Qazi Adam, who, it is
asserted, was the progenitor of the Shekhs of Lucknow. His descen-
dants were the Pirzadas who held the proprietorship of the town
for some generations, till at length one son of the family quarrelling
with another and blood being spilt, the Pirzada disinherited his of-
fending son and destroyed all his title-deeds. It then came into the
possession of the Shekh chaudhris and qanlingos, who hold to the
present day, yet the latter assert that under qazis Nizam and
Muin-ud-din they conquered the place from the Hindus in the time of
Akbar Shah. Another wonder of the place is a large well which overflows
on the day of the Musalman festival of the Baqarid, and round which
the faithful crowd to dip in their hands. The town is said to have been
founded by, and to take its name from, Bijli Eaja, a Pasi, who built the
great fort of Nathawan, which lies in the plain about a mile to the north
of the town, and who was probably driven out by the first Musalman
invaders. There are Pasis in the town who assert that they are descended
from Bijli Raja, and look upon themselves as the true owners of the
soU.

The town is prettily situated amongst trees, and the cultivation round
the village is very fine, though it is surrounded on all sides by wide bar-
ren plains.

Of the population 1,376 are Musalmans, and 2,394 are Hindus : the
bazar sales amount to Rs. 32,424.

BIJNAUR Pargana* — Tahsil Lucknow — District Lucknow. — ^Pargana
Bijnaur is one of the three parganas into which the tahsil of Lucknow is
divided. It is compact, though of irregular shape, and is situated to the
south of Lucknow, bounded on the north by that pargana and Kdkori, on
the east by Mohanlalganj and Sissaindi, on the south by district Unao,
from which it is separated by the Sai river, and on the west by MohSn
of Unao and Kdkori.

* By Mr. H. H. Butts, Assistant Commissioner,

BIJ 309

The area of the pargana is 148 square miles, but of this only 67 are
cultivated, and probably the limit of cultivation has been reached. The
pargana is entirely cut ap by barren lisar tracts. The barren land amounts
to 43'5 of the whole area, and though nominally there is 11-3 per cent, of
culturable land, some 22 per cent, of this is devoted to groves, and the
rest is probably worth very little. Owing to the fisar plains, the pargana
is bare and desolate in the extreme. Towards the western extremity the
land lies low, and has resulted in the formation of a series of jhils, which,
connected one with the other, end in the Bank nadi, which flows south,
and passing by the town of Mohanlalganj, falls into the Sai at the south
of pargana Sissaindi. These jhils drain the eastern part of the pargana,
and the western is drained by the Nagwa nadi, which rises in the Mohdn
pargana of Unao, and receiving two or three affluents that flow from the
north of the pargana, falls into the Sai river a little to the west of the
Cawnpore road. Neither jhils nor the streams are fully made use of for
irrigation on account of the barren nature of the soil lying on their banks,
but nearly 62 per cent, of the whole soil is irrigated, of which 8217 is
from jhils and tanks and the rest from weUs. In the latter, water can
apparently be met at 20 feet below the surface of the soil, but the average
depth is small. More than half the wells are of brackish water,
which is probably owing to the lisar plains. The soil is dumat, matidr,
and 6Mr. Matiar is high owing to the jhils, and the bhur is due to the Sai
river, which washes the southern boundary of the pargana.

The cultivation is very fair round the villages. All the cereals and
pulses are grown, and a great deal of rice round the jhils.

The cultivators are Brahmans and Chhattris in more than the usual
numbers ; and the low caste Ahirs, Lodhs, Basis, and Chamars, Kachhis,
or Muraos, are fairly numerous.

The average holdings of the cultivators are, on the whole, small. They
are only 3^ acres per cultivator. The average rates for the ordinary
cultivator vary from Es. .5-4 to Rs. 4-4, and the Kachhis do not pay more
than E.S. 5-12 per a,cre, which is unusually low. On the whole, it cannot
be pronounced to be a good pargana even for its cultivation, for where
the land is even slightly touched by usar, the crops, though apparently
fine, are usually light. Yet round the large villages sugarcane and all the
finer crops are grown. The revenue falls at Re. 1 per acre on whole area,
Rs. 1-5 on mSlguzari area, and Rs. 2-4 on cultivated area.

The pargana is divided into 102 villages or townships, and 111 different
muhals, and the average area of a village is 940 square acres. This is
large, and is due to the lisar plains already mentioned.

The largest town is Bijnaur, which contains 3,950 inhabitants. It lies
about 8 miles to the south of Lucknow, The only remaining towns with
a population of more than 2,000 are Rahimnagar Bandi^wS,n, Amosi, and
Ani. There are twelve others with a population of between 1 and 2,000 ;
they are Banthra, Behta, Bhatg^on, Pipars and, Parwar Pachchim, Tirwa,
Jaiti Khera, Kharka, K^lipachchim, Mati, and Narainpur.

Of these, schools are in Banthra, Bhatgaon, and Narainpur, as well as

310 BIJ

in Bijnaur itself, and the larger villages of Araosi and Rahimnagar Pan-
diawln. The villages are not otherwise remarkable.

At Banthra, which is situated at the southern end of thepargana on the
Lucknow and' Cawnpore imperial road, 5 miles from the boundary, is a
police thana at which 18 men and a chief constable are stationed ; and at
Bani bridge, on the Sai, which bounds the pargana, is a small police post,
where a force of five more has been placed.

The metalled road from Lucknow to Cawnpore passes over this bridge.
It is about 15 miles from Lucknow. The other roads are two unmetalled
roads that run from Mohanlalganj to Jandbganj, an old bazar a mile to
the north of Bani bridge, and from Bani bridge itself to Mohan. They
are substantially bridged throughout.

The town of Bijnaur has a road to itself. There are no great bazars in
the pargana. It is too near Lucknow, and, moreover, a great deal of the
produce is exported south to Cawnpore.

To the west of the imperial road runs the Lucknow and Cawnpore Rail-
way, which has a station at Harauni, where the unmetalled road from Bani
to Mohan crosses the line. The population of the pargana is 67,353, or 400
to the square mile, but it falls at the rate of 1,005 on the cultivated area.

It is thus distributed between the two creeds of Hindus and Musalmans,
and between the two classes of agriculturists and non-agriculturists : —

Hindus... ... ... ... ... ,,.. ... 93 '3 per cent.

Musalmans ... ... ... .. ... ... ' 67 ,,

Agriculturists ... ... ... ... ... ... 58'9 ,,

Non-agriculturists ... ... ... ... ... 41'1 ,,

In its percentage of Musalmans it is one of the lowest of the parganas
in the district. The Lodhs and Basis seem to have been the earliest
colonists. The name Bijnaur itself is said to have been derived from Bijli
Raja, a Pasi, whose fort was at Nathawan, about a mile to the north of
Bijnaur ; an elevated mound of considerable extent and striking appearance
from the wide plains in which it is situated still marks its site. This raja
is said to have possessed 12 forts, amongst which were Kalipachchim,
Mati, Parwar Purab, lying to the east of the pargana, and others whose
names are forgotten, but which extended up to Sars^wan and the Gumti
in a direction north-east. The pargana still stretches up to the same
point. The subjugation of this raja is uncertain. It is claimed by the
Hindus and it is claimed by the Musalmans. The cause of war is a com-
mon one in tradition. The Pasis were powerful, and they wished to force
on a family of Brahmans an alliance with one of their sons. The Brah-
mans temporised and in good time received assistance from Jai Chandar,
the Raja of Kanauj, and the Pdsis were overcome and expelled.

This is the story of the P^sis themselves. And it is told by a tribe of
Gautams, who live at and formerly colonised Sissaindi, some 10 miles to
the south of Bijnaur, but who have applied the story to a chapter in their
own history; and certainly it is a widely-spread tradition that when
Alha and ITdal, the two captains of Raja Jai Chandar of Kanauj, came to
coerce the refractory Bhars and pitched their camp below Lachhman Tila,

BIJ— BIL 311

tKe fort of NathAwali was one of the objects of their conquest. But the
Musalmans say that it was they who came to the aid of the Brahmans,
and, under Qazi Adam in the time of Alla-ud-dln (1152 A. D.) drove
out the infidels. This is unlikely : Musalmans did not help Hindus in
those days, and it is only additional testimony to the power of the Basis
or Bhars.

But it is probable that the Musalmans did invade the pargana at about
this time or at about the end of the twelfth century. They had a hard
fight with the infidels outside Bijnaur. On the west side of the town are
remains of an extensive graveyard where the fallen were buried, and re^
moved a short space from the rest is the tomb of Shah id Malik Ambar,
who, they say, was killed at Bahraich, with his leader, Sayyad Masadd, but
who wandered about on his horse a headless corpse till he reached this
spot, when the earth opened and received him.

Qazi Adam is said to have been the progenitor of the Shekhs of Luck-
now. From another of his sons sprang the Pirzddas, who held for some
time the proprietorship of Bijnaiir. But they do not seem to have spread
through the pargana till the time of Akbar, when it is said that one of the
family, while on a hunting expedition, fell in with Eam Das, the Rajput chief
of Amosi, lying a few miles to the west of Bijnaur, and was killed by him.

The crime resulted in the surrender by the Rajputs of the greater part
of the villages held by them. It is said that they were allowed to keep
only 28, and certainly the Musalman proprietorship increased from that time.

The Rajputs mentioned belong to a tribe of Chauhans, who by their own
account came into the pargana under Binaik Bfiba somewhere towards the
middle of the fifteenth century. They made Amosi their head-quarters,
from which they drove out the Bhars, and they give circumstantial ac-
counts of their conquest. They presently, however, separated and divided
themselves into the tappas of Amosi, BibipUr, and Narainpur Kaithauli.

Their possessions extended straight through the pargana to its southern
boundary, and they say that they found the villages as they now hold
them, thus settled by their former proprietors. Nearly one-half of the
villages in tbe pargana belong to these Rajputs, ten villages to Brahmans,
and the remainder to Musalmans, who extend in a band to the north and
south of the town of Bijnaur itself The tenure is chiefly zamindari.
Not above 11 villages belong to taluqdars. The only resident taluqdar is
Mirza Jafar Ali Khan, who purchased two villages from the zamindars.

BILGRA'M* — Pargana BilGeaM — Tahsil Bilgea'm— Disiric'f Hardoi.—
Bilgram, with its population of 11,534, ranks twelfth among the towns of
Oudh. It lies near the old left bank of the Ganges, 15 miles nearly south
from Hardoi, 10 north-west from Kanauj, 8 south-east from Sandi, and 33
(via Sandi) south-east from Fatehgarh. It is the chief town of the Bilgrdm
sub-division of the Hardoi district. There are 2,454 houses, of which 630
are of brick. Of the population, 6,933 are Hindus and 4,601 Muhamma-
dans.

* By Mr. A. H. Harington, c. s., Assistant Commissioner,"

S12 BIL

The "tila," round which lies the older portion of the town, seems to hare
been originally a high bluff on the edge of the eastern bank of the Ganges.
Its natural height has been increased by successive strata of debris of the
habitations of probably Bhils (an aboriginal tribe), Thatheras, Raikwars,
Shekhs, and Sayyads.

In no town that I have yet seen are blocks of hewn kankar, relics of
temples and palaces of the past, so frequent. There is reason to believe
that they are the remains of the old town of Srinagar (see Bilgram par-
gana), its fort, temple, and tank called Sagar.

Six years ago, on the traditional site of Raja Sri's tank Sagar, in the
Haidarabad muhalla, a flight of hewn kankar steps was found under a
deposit of mud and rubbish. These blocks were speedily used up for build-
ing purposes. Everywhere such blocks are to be traced in the foundations
and lower courses of mosques and houses, in wells, and at door steps ; many
of them are grooved, showing that they have been taken from some older
building. This tank Sagar gives its name to a portion of the town Ijdng
at the foot of the high mound, or " tila," on which stood Raja Sri's fort,
and between it and muhalla Maid^npura. This quarter (Maiddjipura)
seems to have been founded on a flat piece of land (maidan) left by the
recession of the Ganges.

The town abounds with fragments of carved stone bas-reliefs, pillars, and
capitals of old Hindu temples. The best of these are to be found at the
shrine of Gudar Nath in Lamkania Tola, the Brahmans' quarter lying to
the north of the fort, round a mound (khera) attributed to the Thatheras^
and on which traces of their smelting-houses are stiU to be seen.

Along the ridge that separates the Haidarabad and Maidanplira muhallas
remnants of boats are found from time to time in sinking wells. A
little saltpetre is manufactured in Qazipura. There is no indigo manu-
factory.

The main buildings are the Government tahsil and th^na ; the school,

built on the remains of Raja Sri Ram's fort ; a sarae
Principal buddings. -^^ g^^,^ ^^^^^^ ^^. j^ g^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ Hakim Mehndi

Ali Khan, the celebrated farmer (ijaradar) of the Muhamdi and Khairabad
districts from 1804 to 1819 (the water of the sarae well is bad and brack-
ish) ; an imambara and two mosques built by the same officer, and eight
other imambaras and mosques built within the last 90 years.

There are some old masonry wells ; two, the " Sahjan" and the " Tarli,"
of Akbar's time ; and three built two hundred years ago. There are two
bazars, the Bari and Chhoti. Both were built by Hakim Mehndi Ali Khan,
nazim in the reign of Ghazi-ud-din Haidar. He, too, built Kifayatganj,
now an extensive grain mart, a mile and a half to the south of Bilgrdm.
Market days at Kifayatganj are Tuesdays and Fridays. Wheat and bar-
ley are despatched from it in large quantities to Kanauj, Farukhabad, and
Cawnpore. The most noteworthy things made and sold at Bilgram are the
brass pan-boxes (gilauridans) made by Hulas and Manr^khan, Lohfc,
" laddu," sweetmeats, and the shoes made by Mendu.

BIL 313

The Araish-i-Mahfil gives the following description of Bilgram, partly
borrowed from the Ain-i-Atbari, and translated as follows in Mr. J. C.
Williams' Census Report, App. E. p. vii : —

" Bilgram is a large town, the inhabitants of which are clever and
poetical and men of genius. In this town there is a well, and if any
one drinks its water for forty days continuously, he will be able to sing
excellently. Besides this, too, the people are mostly very proficient in
learning. Sayad Jalil-ul-Kadar Abd-ul-Jalil Bilgrami was a great poet,
and a great proficient in the Arabic and Persian languages. He flourished
in the time of Farrukh Sir, and he received the appointment from the
imperial court of reporter of occurrences in Sindh. After this great man
came Mir Ghulam All Azad, who was unequalled among his contempo-
raries for his poetical composition, his eloquence, knowledge, and virtue ;
even his Arabic poems are written with the utmost eloquence and in beauti-
ful diction, and are very voluminous. No other inhabitant of Hindustan
ever composed such poems before him. His book of odes is a proof of this,
and the eloquent men of Arabia blush with shame as they recite his
praises. He was bom in the year 1114 H. and died in the year 1202 H."

Mr. Williams has noted upon this (Note L) : " The learning of the
men of Bilgram has been notorious for ages. Several works on history
and philosophy, as well as poems, have been produced here. In Volume
XXIII. of the Journal of the Asiatic Society for 1854 there is an article by
Dr. Sprenger on the collection of manuscripts made by Sir Henry Elliot.
Among them I find the following works mentioned : — No. 190, Mas-
navi-i-Mir Abd-ul-Jalil Bilgrami. Dr. Sprenger states that this poem
celebrates the marriage of the Emperor Farrukh Sir with the daughter
of Maharajah Ajit Singh in 1128 A. H. or 1724 A. D., and that the
author died at Dihli nine years afterwards. No. 175, Maasir-ul-Kuram
by Mir Ghulam Ali Azad. This work consists of biographies of
distinguished Muhammadans in India, and is very highly thought of. The
author is a descendant of the poet above mentioned, but is more famous
than his ancestors. No. 180, Nasrat-un-Nazirin, a history of the famous
saints of Bilgram, a copious and voluminous work of many hundreds of
pages."

To this list may be added the Jinddia and Shajra-e-Taibaq, family
histories of the Bilgram Sayyads, the Sharaif Aswani, a history of the
Bilgram Shekhs, by Ghulam Hasan Siddlqi Firshauri of Bilgram, and the
Sabsirat-un-Nazirin (Persian).

Among the learned men of Akbar's time Abul Fazl mentions Shekh
Abdul Wahid as having been born at Bilgrdm, and as being "the author of
a commentary on the Nuzhat-ul-Arw^h, and several treatises on the
technical terms (istiMhat) of the Sufis, one of which goes by the name, of
'Sanahil.'" Blochmann's translation of the Ain-i-Akbari, (Vol. V, Fasc. VI,
p. 547). Mr. Blochmann notices a work of great historical value by
Amir Haidar of Bilgram: " As long as we have no translation of all the
sources for a history of Akbar's reign, European historians should make
the Sawanih-i-Akbari the basis of their labours. This work is a modem
compilation dedicated to William Kirkpatrick, and was compiled by Amir

314 BIL

Haidar of Bilgram from the Akbam^ma, the Tabaqat-i-Badaoni, Fafishta,
the Akbarndma by Shelch Ildhddd of Sarhind, and Ahul Fazl's lettefs,
of which the compiler had four hooks. The sources in italics have never
been used by preceding historians. This work is perhaps the only critical
historical work written by a native. Bilgram was a great seat of Muham-
mad an learning from the time of Akbar to the present century. For
the literati of the town, vide the Tazkirah by Ghulam Ali A'zid, entitled
'Sarw-e-Azad'" (Fasc. IV, p. 316).

Heber visited Bilgram in 1824. His notes on it are worth quoting :
" Our stage to-day (Mallanwan to Bilgram) of 7 kos through the same
level and fruitful style of country was to Bilgram, a place remarkable as
being the station first fixed on for the British 'advanced force' as it then
was, which was afterwards fixed at Cawnpore. There are still (1824)
several traces of what the king's sawars said were bells of arms and
officers' bungalows, which certainly might be such, but were now heaps of
ruins.

" The town itself is small, with marks of having been much more con-
siderable, but still containing some large and good, though old, houses, the
habitations of the tahsildar, kotwal, &c. Here again after a long interval
I found a good many scattered palm-trees, both of the date and toddy-
species, and there is a noble show of mango-trees in every direction.

" The Gomashta said the soil of Oudh was one of the finest in the
world; that everything flourished here which grew either in Bengal or
Persia; that they had at once rice, sugar, cotton, and palm-trees, as well
as wheat, maize, barley, and peas; that the air was good, the water good,
and the grass particularly nourishing to cattle; but the laws are not good,'
the judges are wicked, the zamindars are worse, the Amins (Amils ?) worst
of all, and the ryots are robbed of everything, and the king will neither
see nor hear. I asked him the rent per bigha of the land. He said
generally Rs. 4, but sometimes 6.

" We passed a neat garden of turnips and some potatoes. These last,
he said, were at first exceedingly disliked, but were now becoming great
favourites, particularly among the Musalmans, who find them very useful
as absorbents in their greasy messes" (Journal II, p. 101).

Under the ex-government Bilgram produced many officers of rank and
distinction. Among them may be mentioned the following: Sayyads Baqar
Ali, Chakladar of Bangar under Shuja-ud-daula, Hashmat Ali and Chirdgh
Ali, Chakladars of Bithiir and Cawnpore under A'sif-ud-daula, and Qudrat
Ali, Chakladar in Haidarabad; Shekhs Muhammad Ata, Chakladar of
Jalalabad under Ghazi-ud-dln Haidar, and Muhammad Askari, Chakladar
of Rasiilpur under Wajid Ali Shah.

Other Sayyads of distinction were Sayyads Dawar and Muhammad Mdh
at the Courts of Alamglr and Shah Alam; Mir Abdul Jalll, Military Pay
Master (Bakhshi) in Gujarat; Bahadur Ali Khan, Chief of the Police at
Lucknow under Asif-ud-daula; Muhammad Khan, Mir Munshi to the
Governor General, Foreign Department, now a pensioner residing at Bil-
grim; Abu Hasan Khan, Naib N^zim of Rasulabad; Rukn-ul-Amin Khau,

BIL 815

Subahdar of Gujarat; Azim-ud-din Husen Khan Bahadur, C.S.I., late
Deputy Collector of Patna.

BILGRA'M Pargana* — Tahsil, Bilgeam — District, Haedoi. — An interest-
ing pargana of 114 villages, in the south-west of the Hardoi district.
The Ganges flows along its western side, separating it from Farukhabad;
pargana Bandi bounds it on the north and north-west ; Bangar on the
north-west ; Mallanwdn on the south and south-east. With a length and
breadth of 14 and 15 miles it covers an area of 117 square miles, of which
71 are cultivated, the percentages of cultivation, culturable waste, and
barren being 58-37, 19-74, and 19-98. More than a third of the soil (35-24)
is light and sandy, and less than a third (2869) is irrigated from 2,065
wells and 785 tanks and ponds.

The pargana divides naturally into two distinct tracts, kachh and bSngar.
The kachh (or low land) comprises about a third, and lies to the west of
the old bank of the Ganges that runs roughly north and south doAvn the
west centre of the pargana. The gradual westing of the Ganges has left
•a low moist tract between its ancient and present eastern banks, well
watered by the Garguia nala, by the Ganges itself, and on the west by
the Garra. In most of the villages in this part water is within a very few
feet of the surface, so that percolation supplies the place of irrigation and
keeps the surface always green and fresh. Everywhere in the kachh
country there is much risk of loss of the autumn harvests from floods, but
when the rivers subside in time to admit of timely sowing for the spring
crops, these benefit from the thorough saturation of the soil, and by its
enrichment with an alluvial deposit brought do-vm by the Ganges.

The kachh is separated from the bangar by an uneven sandy ridge, the
old bank of the Ganges, sometimes (as quoted from the remark of the
assessing officer, Mr. 0. W. McMinn; see Kachhandan) rising into hills,
sometimes mere bhur slopes. The villages on this are sometimes all sandy,
but more generally will have a corner of very good dumat beside some old
river channel. The common features of this group of villages are a large
proportion of bhur; limited and costly irrigation from deep wells lined
with reeds; absence of kdchhis and valuable crops.

Beyond the above elevation the ground again sinks into the bdngar,
ihils make their appearance, there is much matiar, rice is largely raised,
water is met with at a distance of from 10 to 20 feet, much of the land is
irrigated, and all can be at a slight expense.

The pargana is intersected at its centre, the town of Bilgram,by two unme-
talled roads, — that from Hardoi leading to Neoraghat on the Ganges, a
few miles above Kanauj, and the road from Bangarmau and Mallanwan to
Bilgram, Sandi, Shahabad, and Shahjahanpur, a part of the old Shdh-r^h
or king's highway. The staple products are barley, b^jra, wheat, arhar,
iuar, and gram. Tobacco is largely grown about Bilgram. There are beds
of nodular limestone (kankar) at Balendha, Behti, Durgaganj, Katkapur,
Lalpur, and Shekhnapur. The climate is good, except when the floods are
falling,' when the low lands are infested with a bad type of malarious fever.

* By Mr. A. H. Harington, c. s., Assistant Commissioner,

316

BIL

Gaura

Eaikwars

Katehrias

Bachhils

Bais

Kaghubanaia

Chandels

Total 27

Tiwaris

Dubes

Cliaubes

Miara

Sukuls

Total

Kayaths

Aliirs

Bhata

Total ,

Government .

8
1
1

10

More than half the pargana is held by Sayyads who own 64 villages,

Shekhs and Pathans each hold one only,
Chhattris own 27, Brahmans 9, others 10,
Government 2, as noted naarginally.

58 J of the villages are taluqdari, 34J
zamindari, 21 pattidari.

The Government demand, excluding
cesses, is Es. 74,689, a rise of 34 per cent,
on the summary assessment. It falls at
Re. 1-11-3 per cultivated acre ; Re. 0-15-11
per acre of total area ; Rs. 14-12-9 per
plough ; Re. 1-15-8 per head of agricultural,
and Re. 1-5-3 per head of total population.
There are 481 inhabitants to the square
mile, a total of 56,244. Of these, Hindus
to Muhammadans are 49,163 to 7,081 ; males to females 29,900 to 26,344,
and agriculturists to non-agriculturists 37,716 to 18,628. A seventh of the
total population are Chamars ; Ahirs are a ninth ; Brahmans are rather
less than a tenth ; Muraos are numerous (4,159); Chhattris only 3,173 ;
Sayyads, Shekhs, and Pathdns from 1,000 to 1,600 each.

The only market is held at Kifayatganj, near Bilgram, on Tuesdays and
Fridays.

At Bilgram Khas there is an Anglo-vernacular tahsil school (pupils 154).
Village schools have been established at Durgaganj (40), Sadrpur (30),
Jarauli (38), andBehta(35). At Jarauli there is also a female school (20).

On the last day of Kdrtik from 40,000 to 50,000 Hindus bathe in the
Ganges at Neoraghat, and again on the 10th of light half of Jeth. A
very successful mela has been established during the last nine years at
Bilgram itself on the occasion of the Ramlila festival ; some 60,000 people
attend it.

The pargana was formed in the time of Akbar, and is mentioned in the
Ain-i-Akbari as covering 192,800 bighas and paying a revenue of 51,24,113
dams, and 3,56,690 dams of cesses ; as being held by Sayyads, and garrison-
ed by 1,000 foot soldiers and 20 troopers, lodged in a masonry fort.
It then belonged to Sark^r Lucknow, and included what is now pargana
Bangar. In 1215 F. (1807 A. D.) the contumacy of the Bangar zamindars
made it necessary to make Bangar into a separate pargana. It and Bil-
gram were then transfered from the Lucknow to the Khairabad sarkdr.

The history of the pargana prior to the thirteenth century is obscure.

The earliest event known to local tradition is that Ba-

Hiatory. -^^ Rama, brother of Krishna, at the intercession of the

holy Rishis of Nimsdr, on the Gumti, slew a demon (dano) named Bil or

Bilhs, who dwelt in a lone spot where now stands the town of Bilgram, and

used to persecute the worshippers at Mmsar.

The legend is told in the Bhopat Krit ; ( stanzas 78 and 79, Canto X)
and its translation, the Prem Sagar. In it the danava or demon is called,
not Bil, but Ildl born of BiMl. Bala Rama, brother of Krishna, accompanied
by Brahmans, was making a tour of the holy places of the land. And he

BIL 317

came to Nims^r and found many RisRis engaged in hearing the sacred
Bhagwat read. And one of them, by name, Sita, did not, like the rest, rise
and do obeisance to the hero, wherefore Bala Rama took a blade of kus, a
grass, and smote off his head. But the Brahmans condemned the deed,
and Bala Rama repented him of it and offered to go on pilgrimage anywhere
and do anything that they might appoint to purge away his guilt. So they
required of him two things : that he should instal the son of Sita in his
father's place, and rid them of a terrible dano, Hal son of BiMl, who was
wont to vex the Brahmans of Nimsar by raining blood and filth whenever
they sacrificed. And Bala Rdma consented : and while he was yet at Nim-
slr a mighty tempest arose, and the winds blew from the four quarters of
heaven, and the sky became black as night, and a grewsome rain of blood
and flesh began to fall, and the Rishis knew that the dano was at hand.
Soon he came in view — -a horrible body, with large teeth, swarthy skin,
red eyes, and grizzled hair. Then BelaRdma took up his ploughshare and
pestle and rushed upon the demon and felled him to the ground and slew
him. Then the Rishis were glad and worshipped Bala Rama as a god, and
put jewels upon him, and invoked blessings on his head. A low mound to
the east of the high ground, on which stands the ruined fort of Bilgram,
is still shown as the spot where the legendary demon abode. It is marked
by a small temple built some twenty-five years ago on the ruins of an older
shrine said by the ancients of the quarter to have stood there since the
days of Bil himself.

The precise historical 'significance of the legend is open to question.
Apparently it belongs to the heroic age, when the tide of Aryan conquest
was pouring down the valleys of the Ganges and Jumna, and every conflict
with the aborigines deified the Chhattri conqueror in the imagination of
a degenerate posterity, and conversely bedevilled his aboriginal oppo-
nents. The dano of this and other legends probably represents a black-
skinned pre-Aryan tribe akin to the Dasyas of the Vedas and the Asuras
of the Mahabharata that for a time harassed siiccessfuUy an early Aryan
settlement on the Gumti and forced it to seek protection from a prominent
Chhattri hero of the time.

"We may conceive," says Muir (Sanskrit Texts, II, page 392), "the
Aryans advancing from the Indus in a south-easterly direction into a coun-
try probably covered with forest and occupied by savage tribes, who lived
in rude huts, perhaps defended by entrenchments, and subsisted on the
spontaneous products of the woods, or on the produce of the chase, and of
fishing, or by some attempts at agriculture. These barbarians were of
dark complexion, perhaps also of uncouth appearance ; spoke a language
fundamentally distinct from that of the Aryans ; differed entirely from them
in their religious worship, which no doubt would partake of the most
degraded fetichism and (we can easily suppose) regarded with intense
hostility the more civilised invaders who were gradually driving them from
their ancient fastnesses. The Aryans, meanwhile, as they advanced, and
gradually established themselves in the forests, fields, and villages of the
aborigines, would not be able all at once to secure their position, but would
be exposed to constant reprisals on the part of their enemies, who would
avail themselves of every opportunity to assail them, to carry off their

318 BIL

cattle, disturb their rites, and impede their progress. The black com-
plexion, ferocious aspect, barbarous habits, rude speech, and savage yells of
the Dasyas, and the sudden and furtive attacks which, under cover of the
impenetrable woods and the obscurity of night, they would make on the
encampments of the Aryans, might naturally lead the latter to speak of
them, in the highly figurative language of an imaginative people in
the first stage of civilisation, as ghosts and demons, or even to conceive of
their hidden assailants as possessed of magical and superhuman powers,

or as headed by devils This state of things might last for some time.

The Aryans, after advancing some way, might halt to occupy, clear, and
cultivate the territory they had acquired, and the aborigines might con-
tinue in possession of the adjacent tracts, sometimes at peace and some-
times at war with their invaders. At length the further advance of the
Aryans would either drive the Dasyas into the remotest corners of the
country, or lead to their partial incorporation with the conquerors as the
lowest stage of their community."

In the age of Brahmanical depression and Buddhist ascendancy, this tract,
like the rest of the district, seems to have been held by the Thatheras, till,
at the period of Brahmanical revival, in, probably, the ninth or tenth
century A. D., a band of Raikwars under Raja Sri Ram crossed over from
Kanauj, and in the usual fashion expelled them. The Ganges then seems
to have flowed close under the lofty tila on and round which Bilgram is
built, and to have made the site an admirable one for purposes of defence
and trade alike. So the Raikwar chieftain founded a town on it, and called
it after his own name, Srinagar, and the Raikwdrs held it till the Muham-
madan conquest. To this day they own five of the villages of the pargana.

Srinagar could not have grown into a town of much importance by the
time of Sultan Rlahmud's Kanauj campaign (1018 A. D.), otherwise from
its vicinity to Kanauj it would have been noticed by the contemporary
historians, and by the author of the Mira-at-i-Masaildi in his mention of the
places to which Sayyad Salar despatched detachments from Satrikh in
his Oudh campaign (1032 A. D.).

The Shekhs of Bilgram boast that they came with Mahmud and expelled
the Raikwars in 405 H. (1014 A. D.) and re-named Srinagar Bilgram.
They recall the date of their incursion in these memorial lines : —

Musalman rasida ba Hindustan
Zi qauman hami bud Siddic[iaa
Jinud 0 jalas bud ansariau
Turukwan o aghwau Busarian
Zi chir 0 sad o khams Hijri tamam
Srinagr ra nam sbud Bilgram.

But I can find no trustworthy basis for this pretension. The real conquest
of Bilgram did not take place till 1217 A. D. It is not at all impossible
that Srinagar may have been visited and despoiled, as was Kanauj
itself by Mahmld's army, or that some Shekhs may have remained behind
there, more probably from Sayyad Salar's than from Mahmud's expedition,
as was the case at Gopamau and Mallanw^n ; but there could have been
no political displacement at this date of Raikwars by Muhammadans.

The oldest Shekh tomb to which the Shekhs can point is that of a half
mythical personage,KhwajeMadd-ud-din, a holy man and disciple ofKhwaje

BIL S19

Abu Muhammad Chishti (mentioned in the Mira-at-i-Masalidi, quoted at
page 525, Elliot's History of India, Volume II). KhwAje Madd-ud-din, say
the Shekhs slew the demon Bil by enchantments, and converted numbers
of people to the faith of Islam.

In death the demon, says their tradition, entreated that the town might
be called by his name, Bilgrdm, or the abode of Bil. This saint used daily
to walk across the Ganges to worship at Kanauj, 10 miles off! Another
Shekh account attributes the defeat of the Raikwars to Qazi Yusuf, who
served, they say, under Sultan Mahmiid. The only noticeable point in this
tale is that, according to it, the brother of Raja Sri, in order to save the
Raikwar's domain, became a Muhammadan and was named Mukhtar-i-din,
and his son Iktidr-i-din. A (muniment) sijil by this Qazi Yusuf, dated 438
H. (A. D. 1146) is said, in the Sharaf Usmani, to be in the possession of
the descendants of the Lai Pir of Gopamau.

The extent to which that half of the pargana which has not been absorb-
ed by the Sayyads into their taluqas, has been parcelled out between
different clans of Chhattris, and bet^veen Brahmans, Kayaths, and others,
suggests the inference that the Raikwar colony at Srinagar had either
been unable to clear and occupy, or was too weak to retain a large portion of
the pargana up to the time of the Muhammadan conquest. The campaign
of Shahab-ud-din Ghori in 1193 A. D. and the fall of Kanauj must have
shattered the power of the petty rajas on the Hardoi bank of the Ganges,
so that when, a generation later, in 1217 A D., Shams-ud-din Altamsh
poured in his troops to complete the subjugation of the country, only a.
feeble resistance can have been mad6. Two Muhammadan captains seem
to have reduced Srinagar and the country round it, Shekh Muhammad
Faqih of Iraq and Sayyad Muhammad Soghra, ancestor of the taluqdars
of Bilgram. Of the former the author of " Notes on the races and tribes
of Oudh" writes (page 66) : " A little later, in the time of Shams-ud-dm
Altamsh, 614 H. (1217 A. D.), Shekh Muhammad Faqih of Iraq with a
force took possession of Bilgram. When he and his followers had made
themselves secure, they brought their wives and relatives from their
native land, so say their descendants now. These Shekhs acquired no
estate, but in later times the legal posts of the pargana became heredi-
tary in their family."

From the Jinudia and Shajra-e-Taibaq family histories of the Bilgrdm
Sayyads we learn many facts which possess rather a domestic interest.
The Sayyad leader above mentioned was of the same family as the con-
querors of Sandi and Unao. We may pass to the great battle fought here
between the rival claimants for the Delhi throne in 1540 A. D. Huma-
ylin's army is stated at 90,000, Sher Khan's at 60,000. Neither army
was eager to attack. At length Muhammad Sultan, the pardoned rebel of
Kanauj and Bilgram, again deserted his master. His example was largely
followed. Humdyun was forced to throw a bridge of boats over the
Ganges and crossed. A general action ensued, and Humaytin's army was
driven into the river; the emperor fled to Agra, Delhi, Lahore, and Sindh,
and Sher Shah mounted the throne of Delhi. In his short but brilliant,
reign of five years (1540-1545) he reformed the administration of the coun-
try to an extraordinary extent. "He is said to have divided all Hindustan"

320 BIL

(not including Bengal) "into forty-seven districts, and to tave appointed
proper officers for the Government and protection of each. To restore and
to open the communication between the different parts of his dominions,
and in order to facilitate the safe and easy transmission of intelligence, he
built a line of sardes or hostelries at short distances on the whole
road from the further extremity of Bengal to the Indus through the
entire length of his empire. These saraes were open to strangers of
every rank and religion, and were entrusted to servants who, at the public
expense, furnished travellers with water and victuals as they arrived.
Every sarae had a post-house, and this system of post-houses was extended
over the principal roads in his dominions. On each side of the grand
roads were planted rows of mango and other fruit trees, affording both
shelter and refreshment to the tired and thirsty passenger ; and wells
supported by solid masonry, were dug at short distances. At all the
chief halting places he built mosques, and provided for them an adequate
establishment of imams, muazzans and other servants. He appears also
to have made provision for the indigent sick. The police, which he
established, was strict and vigilant. So safe were the highways that the
most helpless person might carry a basin of gold, and sleep in the open
country without need of a watchman" (Erskine II, 442). " He established
a law that the muqaddams of the villages where any traveller was robbed
should be subject to fine, and for fear of its infliction the zamindars used
to patrol the roads at night" (Note, page 458, Cowell's Elphinstone).
The revenue reforms of Akbar and Todar Mai are believed to have been
modelled on these of Sher Khan, who " was intimately acquainted with
the revenue and agricultural system of India — a knowledge without which
no ruler of that country, whatever 'his abilities may be, can hope to do
justice to his subjects" (Erskine II, page 442).

SalimShah (1545-1553) displayed the same administrative ability as his
father. "The qanungos, who keep the revenue accounts of parganas,
he employed to watch over and report on the condition of the ryots and
the state of the cultivation of the soil, on the crops, and the extent of
offences and crime. He preserved all lands granted for religious or
charitable purposes inviolate. He kept up his father's saraes in their
whole extent, and the distribution of food to travellers, and for that purpose
carefully protected all the lands that had been given to them. In addition
he ordered a sarae to be built between each two of his father's adding
a mosque, a reader, a well, and a water-carrier to each. He also gave the
post-houses so many additional horses as to enable them to convey intelli-
gence with increased speed from place to place. He appropriated to himself
the whole revenues of his kingdom, instead of scattering them by assigna-
tions, and paid his soldiers wholly in money" (pp., 472, 474). " Circular
orders were issued through the proper channels to every district, touching
on matters religious, political, or revenue, in aU their most minute bearings,
and containing rules and regulations which concerned not only the army,
but cultivators, merchants, and persons of other professions." These
matters belong more properly to the history of India ; other facts concern-
ing Bilgram are found under Hardoi. The family of the Sayyads prospered
durmg the reign of the bigot A'lamgir, and in A. D. 1677, 1088 H., one of
them, Muhammad Fazil, conquered pargana Bawan and received from

BIL— BIR 321

the emperor one-third of its revenues in jdgir. They still have a good
estate.

BILKHAWAN — Pargana Mangalsi — Tahsil Tyzabad — District Fyza-
BAD. — A town 18 miles west of Fyzabad, on the road from Lucknow to
Fyzabad ; the railway also passes through it. The town was founded by
Belak Sah, Bais Chhattri, who gave it a name derived from himself The
population consists of 194 Musalmans, all Sunnis, and 1,997 Hindus, — ^total
2,191. There is one temple, a thakurdwara.

BILWAI — Pargana Surhaepur — Tahsil Kadipur — District Sultan-
pur. — There was formerly a tank in this village surrounded by jungle. A
hundred years ago an image of Mahadeo was dug out of the raised bank
of this tank, which has since been regularly worshipped.

The 13th day of Phagun is set apart as a day of fasting in honour of
this idol, when rice, butter, and such like trifles are offered up by 1,000 or
1,200 persons living within a circle of 15 or 20 miles. Articles of food
and brass vessels are alone brought for sale. It is somewhat strange that
in a pargana where the large majority of the present inhabitants are
Hindus, this image should be left in solitude to mark the existence of
their idol-worship, while there are many places dedicated by the Muham-
madans to their religion.

BIRHAR Pargana* — Tahsil Tanda — District Fyzabad. — This pargana,
which is of irregular shape, beautifully studded with clumps of bamboos
and groves, and which is moreover in parts distinguished for the pictur-
esqueness of its scenery, is bounded on the north by the river Gogra, on
the east by zila Azamgarh, on the south by parganas Surharpur and Ak-
barpur, and on the west by the latter pargana and Tanda, all of which
sub-divisions belong to this district.

In addition to the navigable river Gogra, which runs east and west
along the whole northern face of the pargana for a distance of 35 miles,
it is touched on the east border by the Birdha-Sarju, a tributary of the
Gogra while a small unnavigable stream, the Pikya, takes its rise in the
centre of the pargana in the Garha jhil and falls into the rivulet last
named.

As in the rest of eastern Oudh, the Bhars were dominant in this pargana
till about 600 years ago, when they shared the fate of those Hindu dynas-
ties that perished with Pithaura Raja at the fall of Delhi. The Musalmans
soon overcame the Bhars, and the latter have been without landed posses-
sions for about 400 years. The Bhars are locally supposed to have emi-
grated into Orissa, and to be identical with the Bhuyas. It may be noted
that Sir Henry Elliot also traced affinity between the Bhars and Bhuyas.
I however have a theory of my own in regard to the disappearance of the
Bhars which I shall discuss anon.

* By Mr. Patrick Carnegy, Commissioner

X

322

BIR

1.

Koriwan.

2.

CMndipur.

3.

Samaur.

4.

Eudhai.

5.

Hasanpur Khipni.

6.

Saidpur Lirwadih,

7.

Sonhan.

8.

Nathmalpar Bethuria

9.

Pokliarbheta.

10.

Samdih.

n.

Karawan.

12.

Ockahwan.

The usual Bhar remains in the shape of twelve ruined forts are to he
found at the places marginally named in this
pargana ; and three kos to the east of the town-
ship of Birhar, a Bhar chief is said to have built
his fort, in a jungle on the right bank of the
Gogra, in which he placed the image of Chandka-
Debi, the idol of his special adoration ; and from
that image, according to local belief, the village
of Chandipur takes its name. Thus the first por-
tion of the name of the pargana is accounted for,
but the origin of the latter portion is involved in
obscurity.

In Hindi the word " Birhar" j means barren or unproductive, and the-
pargana was doubtless to a great extent an unproductive jungle when it
got its name. It probably means the " Chandipur forest."

The ancient sub-divisions (tappas) are noted in the margin. For more

than 100 years they have fallen
into disuse in the revenue ar-
rangements of the country, it
having been found more con-
venient to adjust fiscal matters
according to properties or muhd,ls.
Of the 978 mauzas which con-
stituted the pargana, 782 were
parent villages (asli) and 196
were off-shoots (ddkhili). These
have now been reduced under our
demarcation operations to 392
mauzas in all, which cover an
area of 140,402 acres, or 220
sc[uare miles.

The landed gentry who succeeded the Bhars in this pargana have not
been without their vicissitudes ; and ail property in the soil should trace
back to any of the following, at one time influential, families.

I. — The Sayyads of RasMpur. — It is popularly believed that Shah
Makhdum Sayyad Ashraf Jahangir was one of the first Musalmans who
settled in these parts. He was the son of Ibrahim, King of Ispahan
KhorasAn, and had the seat of his Government at Samna in Sistan, a pro-
vince of Persia. On the death of his father he succeeded him on the
throne at the early age of 15, and after reigning for seven years, he deter-
mined to devote the remainder (yi his days to the service of religion ; and
in this view he abdicated in favour of his younger brother Mnhammad
Shah. He then assumed the pilgrim's garb, and travelled through
Hindustan. In the course of his wanderings, he fell in with the renowned
Shah Ala-ul-haq of Pandua, the Muhammadan capital of Bengal at the
end of the 13th and first half of the 14th century, a man of profound
sanctity, whose pupil, for a period of twelve years, he then became ; and

No.

Name;

No. of villages.

1

Santi

66

2

BaroW

169

3

_Haieeli

67

4

*^ anaii&fLrpur ... ......

138

5

Hisamuddinpur

20

6

Easulpur

131

7

Chahora

56

8

Hasaur

138

9

Eewri

111

10

Newri

Total ...

82

978

BIR 323

from whom, as a mark of his appreciation, he received the last of his
honorary titles, viz., Jahangir.

The Shah wished his pupil to marry into his family, but the latter
having resolved on celibacy, undertook a journey to the land of his birth
for the purpose of bringing his nephew Abdur Razzdq, who was in due
course married to the Shah's .daughter.

Makhdum Ashraf was after a time deputed to propagate the faith of
Islam in Upper India. A spot was indicated to him, which he was to
recognize from description, and there he was to dwell and erect his tomb.
In the course of his search, he reached the town of Jaunpur, about the
year A. D. 1388, which he found to be under the sway of Sultan Ibrahim
of the " Eastern" dynasty. By this monarch he was favourably received,
and offers were made to him of grants of land for his honourable support,
to induce him to remain there ; but these he steadily declined, and in
obedience to the instructions of his spiritual chief he wandered on in
search of the promised land. This he soon found in the spot where his
tomb still stands in Rasulpur, and the surrounding country he discovered
to be in the possession of one Darpan Nath, a pandit of unlimited fame,
who was then at the head of a gathering of 500 jogis or pupils.

The meeting of these men of opposing creeds is said to have been fol-
lowed by a prolonged struggle for mental superiority, the aid of witchcraft
and sorcery and every other black art being freely resorted to on either
side ; and this great theological duel at last eventuated in the complete
subversion of the idolatrous belief, and the conversion of the pandit to
the faith of the Prophet. He then took the name of Kamal-ud-din, and
his tomb is still pointed out near that of his vanquisher as that of
"Kamal Pandit."

The spot on which Makhdum Ashraf s tonib now stands he selected for
his residence, giving it the name of Ruhabad. Here he ended his days
in the hundred and twentieth year of his age, A. D. 1390.* He left
behind him a historical record of his acts and opinions, of which four
copies only are said to be extant ; and which is known to the student
of the early Muhammadan authors as the Latif-i- Ashraf From it. Sir
Henry Elliot quotes, that " on one occasion when this sainted personage
visited the town of Jais (in this province), nearly three thousand pupils
came out to pay their respects."

Makhdum Ashraf was succeeded by his nephew already named, Haji
Abdur Razzaq, who changed the name of the family residence to Rasulpur,
and added largely to the place.

He left five sons, Shams-ud-dm, who died childless ; Hadi Ahmad, who
settled in the aforesaid Jais ; Farid-ud-din, who settled in the Daryabad
district ; andShah Hasan andShah Husen, both of whom remained inRasfil-
pur. Three generations of the haji's descendants continued to live in

* There must be some mistake in tlie years of the advent and death of this sainted man,
for he could not have done what he did, and acquired so much fame, in the short interval
of two years. Moreover, the " Eastern" dynasty only dates from A. D. 1394, and the
reign of Ibrahim of that line from 1401.

x2

324 BIR

Rasfilpur, and then Shall Jafar,the fourth in descent, having expelled one
Rakamdin, the local Rajbhar chief, from the neighbouring village , of
• Kachhauchha, took possession of it ; while his younger brother. Shah
Muhammad, founded the hamlet which adjoins it on the west, to which he
gave the name of Ashrafpur. Thenceforth the town was known as
Ashrafpur Kachhauchha, which name it still retains.

At a subsequent period, a member of the family, Shah Ali Makhdum,
also established himself in the neighbourhood. It is said, that being
thirsty, he drew water from a well, and having drunk thereof he was heard
to remark " Bas, khari," or, in other words, " enough, it is brackish;" and "
from that hour the name of the town that still exists there has been
Baskhari.

The fame of Makhdum Ashraf and of Abdur-Razzfiq and his descend-
ants, inhabiting Kachhauchha and Baskhari, soon spread far and wide ;
and rent-free grants were from time to time made for the support of
themselves and their establishments by Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurang-
zeb, Emperors of Delhi, the title-deeds of which I have examined. These
grants were recognized until the death of Asif-ud-daula, but in the reign
of his successor Saadat Ali, ten-sixteenths of them were resumed ; and in
after years the remaining aim.ma lands of the family also disappeared
under the usurpations of the chiefs of different clans that then overraii the
neighbourhood. We now find the descendants of Abdur-Razzaq recorded
at the revised settlement as proprietors of the three villages only of Baskhdri,
Ashrafpur Kachhauchha and Rasiilpur, in which latter is the shrine of the
great saint himself, of which more will be said when treating of fairs and
shrines.

II. — The Sayyads of Nasirahad. — Next in antiquity amongst the ex-.
isting families, according to popular belief, come the Sayyads of Nasira-
bad. The first of the stock, Nasir-ud-din, is said to have come from some
place in the far west, in the days of Taimiir ;* to have settled himself
on a small estate of nine mauzas ; and to have given to it his own
name. These villages, in the dayis of Akbar, were held by the Sayyads
under revenue-free (aimma) grants, but the family was subjected to the
same vicissitudes as were the other Sayyads of whom I have already
written. Seven of the nine villages which constituted the Nasirabad
estate were absorbed into the Birhar taluqas more than a century ago.
Of the remaining two, Tnauza Bhora is still the property of the Sayyads ;
they hold sub-tenures only in the parent village Nasirabad.

III. — -The Pathdn Chaudhris of Ohahora. — Contemporaneous with the
advent of the aforesaid Sayyad families, was the arrival of the Pathan
Chaudhris of Chahora. The ancestor of this family was a Chauhan _
Chhattri of Sambhal Muradabad, who is said to have changed his religion
in the days of Taimiir. One of his successors (name unknown) established
himself in this pargana, and he or his descendants must have been both
able and influential, for they acquired much property ; one of them, A'lam
Khan, being ruler of tappa Chahora of fifty-one mauzas ; another Mang^h
Khan, had tappa Hisamuddinpur of twenty mauzas ; and a third, Bhoj
Khan, held taluqa A'inwan of thirty-three mauzas.

* See explanatory nq,ie about Tainnir in the Surharpur report.

BIB S25

In 1207 Fasli the all-powerful Pal war clan finally subdued the Chaudhris
and took possession of their last estate, allowing them some sir for their
svipport. The descendants of this family are still to be found in Chahora,
Hisdmuddinpur, Hathnaraj and A'inwan.

lY.—The Pathdns of Bardgdon. — One Jait Eae, a Tun war Chhattri of
Delhi, is said to have changed his religion in the days of Taimlir, and to
have subsequently established himself, probably in an official capacity, in
mauza Baragaon, and to have acquired an estate of twenty-nine villages.
But the property was absorbed into the Birhar taluqas a century and a
half ago, and the representatives of Jait Rae, Amar Khan, Madad Khan,
&c., now hold sub-tenures only in mauza Udechandpur, with which Bard-
gdon has been demarcated.

V. — The Maliks of Kordhi. — About the time of the coming of the
Pathans last mentioned, a family of Maliks, to which belonged two men,
Ntir-ud-din and Mahmlid, made their advent. They are said to have come
from Nuristan in Persia, and to have founded and settled taluqa Ko-
rahi of thirty-two villages, and taluqa Biddhaur of seven villages. The
latter estate they afterwards held free of revenue (aimma) in Akbar'stime.

Korahi was absorbed into the Birhar taluqas 175 years ago, and Biddhatir
followed in 1222 Fasli. The Malik family is now only to be traced in
Biddhaur proper, where the members still enjoy sub-tenures.

VI. — The Shekhs of Jalidngirganj. — One A'bu Pdnde of Malaon in the
Sattdsi estate, zila Gorakhpur, is said to have settled in this pargana, in
the days when the local saint Makhdum Sahib was in the zenith of his
fame. Being without offspring, this Brahman is said to have embraced the
faith of the prophet, in the hope that through the prayers of the saint in
question he might be blessed with a son.

In due course of time twin sons were born to him, whom he named
Kamal-ud-din and Jamal-ud-din, and these lived to acquire supremacy in
fourteen mauzas of Jahdngirganj. This family, like all the others, gave
way before the dominant Palw^r clan, 1-50 years ago ; and the only repre-
sentatives in the present day are mere cultivators in mauza Jahangirganj.

"VII. The SheJchs of Newri, — A Muhammadan, who is only locally

known as " Shekh Ajmeri," from his having come from Ajmer, is said to
have settled in the pargana on the overthrow of the Bhars, and to have
entered into revenue engagements with the ruling power for the Newri
tappa of twenty-seven villages. The possessions of his offspring were,
however, absorbed into the Birhar taluqas 125 years ago, and the family
now hold sub-tenures only in Newri, Rustampur, and Bhojpur.

VIII. The Shekhs of Hanswdr. — One Shekh Mahmfid is said to have

come from the west with Mir Masaud Bihddni, a great divine, and to have
settled in mauza Biawan, pargana Akbarpur. The latter seems to have
been endowed with large temporal as well as spiritual powers, for he is said
to have authorized the former to assume charge of tappa Hanswdr, con-
sisting of fifty-three mauzas, which he accordingly did. About 200 years ago
one SaduUa Kha;n, Rohilla, obtained this tappa as jdgir from the emperor

826 BIR

of Delhi, and having built a fort, took up his residence in Muinuddinpur
and Norehni. The tenure was subsequently resumed, and for a time the Ro-
hilla held the revenue engagements of the tappa, but having by his oppres-
sions estranged himself from the inhabitants, they, with the assistance of
the Palwars, drove him out, and he was soon afterwards slain by the Ban-
dipur members of the clan just named. All traces of the Rohillas have
been lost for more than a century.

Tappa Hanswar was finally absorbed into the Birhar taluqas 100 years
ago ; and the descendants of the Shekhs are now mere tenants-at-will in
Hanswar proper.

IX. — The Shekhs of Banidni and Jaldlpur. — Two Shekhs, named
Barai and Ladh, are said to have come from the west and to have succeed-
ed the Bhars in the management of taluqas Banidni and Jalalpur, which
consisted of twenty-four mauzas. About 200 years ago. one Paltu Singh
Kachhwaha is said to have encroached, from tappa Kanhain, in the neigh-
bouring Surharpur pargana, and to have conquered these Shekhs, depriv-
ing them of eleven of their twenty-four villages, and settling himself in
mauza Sabiqpur.

Subsequently these eleven villages passed from the Kachhwahas, about a
century ago, into the Birhar taluqas ; but the said tribe, represented by
Shiiiratan Singh and Gajgha Singh, still have sub-proprietary possession
in some of these villages.

The thirteen villages which then remained with the Shekhs were incor-
porated into the Birhar taluqas about 150 years ago, and the Shekhs then
generally abandoned the district and crossed over into Gorakhpur. Shekh
Bakau alone represents the old stock. He lives in mauza Baniani, but he
has no rights left in the soil, proprietary or sub-proprietary.

X. — The Bais ofKalidnpur, &c. — A colony of eight members of this
tribe are said to have come from Baiswara, and to have established them-
selves in these parts, and to have cleared the then existing jungle, about
the time of the overthrow of the Bhars.

These people divided themselves into four parties or taluqas, and acquired
property aggregating sixty-one villages. Of these properties the following
details are known : —

\st. — The Kalidnpur, Pirthmipur, and Norehni party had ten villages,

Ind. — The Hardaspur and Tilkarpur party had twelve villages,

^rd. — The Kharwanwa party had fifteen villages, and

Mh. — The Ramnagar Man war party had twenty-four villages.

The third of these parties was the first to be absorbed into the Birhar
taluqas, and this absorption took place 200 years ago.

The fourth party followed fifty years afterwards; and in another fifty
years the same fate overtook the first and second parties. The Bais tribe
have now s\ib-proprietary rights in only six villages.

BIR 527

XL — TIhe Palwdrs. — Last in order come the Palwars, and they are
likewise by far the most powerful. It has already been shown in the
report of Surharpur that one Pithraj Deo, a Sombansi of Sandi Pali,*
came 615 years ago and settled in thab pargana, where, and in Azamgarh,
he and his offspring acquired much territory. A lineal descendant of this
Pithraj Deo, nine generations removed from him, named Gohraj Deo,
is said to have come into pargana Birhar from Kauria in Azamgarh, some
600 years ago, and to have taken service with the Bhars, residing in
mauza Pokharbheta, which is said to have been made over to him for
that purpose. In process of time this man and his offspring are said to
have replaced the Bhars in the entire management and control of
Tappas Sati Barohi and Haweli, consisting in all of 302 mauzas.

About 300 years ago, in the eleventh generation from Gohraj Deo, this
Palwar famity divided into two branches, the ancestral property being
shared equally by the then representatives Baliram and Maniram. The
elder son founded Balrampur, calling it after himself. At this place a
bazar was afterwards established by Bdbus Raghunath Singh and Jabrdj
Singh, who as a compliment to the ruler of the day gave it the name of
Sultanpur.

The younger son fixed himself in mauza Rajapur, but it is said that the
greater part of the property of this branch was absorbed by the elder
branch a hundred and fifty years ago, and the offspring of Maniram are
now proprietors of two villages only.

Baliram, the elder son, was succeeded in his estates by his son Horal
Singh. The latter had two sons, Ain Singh and Lashkar Singh, and about
150 years ago tJiese brothers divided the ancestral property equally and
separated.

The elder branch, viz., that of Ain Singh, was then subjected to no fur-
ther sub-division till it passed into the seventh generation, when, so recently
as 1261 Fasli, the sons of Babu Munna Singh, viz. (1) Babu Madhopar-
shad (who has since the re-occupation of the province been succeeded by
his son Hardatt Singh) and (2) Babu Kishanparshad, divided their father's
property equally, and are now in possession of their respective estates.

The younger branch, viz., that of Lashkar Singh, was subjected to sub-
division in the fifth generation, when the cousins, Shiudatt Singh and
Jagat Narain, separated, each getting an equal portion ; and at this date
Babu Mahip Narain holds the one property, having succeeded his elder
brother Jagat Narain ; while the other is held by Babu Shiupargas, a dis-
tant relative of Shiudatt Singh, whom he succeeded.

The earliest trace we have of the amount of revenue paid by these
estates is in 1216 Fasli, when the representatives of both branches, Babus
Daljit Singh and Sarabjit Singh, paid between them Rs. 77,589 to the
ex-king. At annexation the demand had fallen off to Rs. 77,604. These

* The Sombansis of Sandi Pali deny the connexion. On this the Birhar men change
ground and say they came from a place called Pali near Delhi, once the seat of a Sombansi
dynasty, but I have been told as a fact that the Palwars come from a village called Pali in
the Partabgarh district, which is likely enough, as that is one of the chief seats of the
Sombansi clau ia these days.

S28 BIR

payments, however, included villages in other parganas also. The revised
demand of the present settlement amounts to Rs. 1,56,766.

It has been stated that the first division of property amongst these
taluqdars took place about 150 years ago, when the sons of Horal Singh,
twentieth in descent from Pithraj Deo, separated, and they seem ever since
to have been at war with each other, as well as with their neighbours gen-
erally. Of the fifty-nine descendants of the said Horal who are named in
the ancestral tree, twelve had died violent deaths during the native rule,
twenty-seven have died natural deaths, and twenty are still alive.

A- detail of those who died fighting will throw some light on the state of
society in the ex-king's time.

(a). The following six persons are of the progeny of Ain Singh, son of
Horal : —

1. Maghundth Singh having obtained the revenue contract for the entire
pargana was killed in mauza Jamlupur while trying to subdue his kinsman
Lalji Singh.

2. Sarabddn Singh was killed in the Azamgarh district, before it was
ceded, while resisting his kinsman Pahlwan Singh, who had obtained the
revenue engagements of the pargana.

3 & 4. PirtMpdl Singh and Bhora Singh, his brother, were killed in a
quarrel about a boundary with a zamindar in the Azamgarh district prior
to cession.

5. Munna Singh was killed trying to subdue his kinsman Deodatt
Singh, at Putharpara, he having entered into engagements for the pargana.

6. Daljit Singh was killed in the Jannesri jungle, trying to resist the
nazim. Raja Darshan Singh.

(&). The following six persons are of the offspring of Lashkar Singh, son
of Horal: —

7 & 8. Jabrdj Singh and his son AdU Svngh were killed in a boundary
dispute with the Raja of Maholi, in Zila Gorakhpur, before cession.

9. Pahlwdn Smgk was killed while trying to subdue his kinsman Sarah-
dan Singh, who was also killed in that fight (see No. 2 above).

10. Parshdd Singh was killed in the famous action of Masora, mentioned
in the Surharpur history, when the Palwar clan was arrayed against the
Rajkumars of Meopur ; and on which occasion most of the chiefs of the
latter house bit the dust.

11. Jagat Nardim, Singh had to give way before his kinsman Daljit,
who had obtained the revenue engagements of the pargana, and in an
attack made by Jagat Nar^in to recover his own fort at Rajapur, which
was held by government officials, some of the latter were slain. For this
he was proclaimed, and having been traced into the Gorakhpur district,
he was there put to death by some cavalry when in a state of comparative
helplessness, and his head was sent over to the Oudh officials.

BIR S29

12. Shv&ddy&l Singh was killed while opposing his kinsman Shiddatt
Singh, who had engaged for the revenue of the pargana.

It may be mentioned for the benefit of those' who delight in ethnologi-
cal speculations, that we have a legitimate and an illegitimate line of de-
scendants of Pithraj Deo, the first Palwar who settled in eastern Oudh.
The former is represented by these Babus of Birhar, now in the 28th ge-
neration ; the latter by the taluqdars of Tigra and Morehra in pargana
Surharpur, now in the 16th generation from the common ancestor Pithraj
Deo ; so that the generation in the pure line average under 25 years each,
while in the impure line they average over 38 years, furnishing an exam-
ple, if such be wanted, of the advantages of the amalgamation of races.

It seems desirable that there should be a permanent record of the pro-
ceedings of the Palwar clan during the disturbances of 1857, and this I
will now supply.

AVhen the Fyzabad fugitives were escaping in boats down the river
Gogra, they were stopped by Babu Udit Nardin Singh, the eldest son of
Babu Mahip Narain, who then resided at the strong fort of Norehni on
the bank of the stream. Such indignities were offered, as demanding the
rings and silk stockings which some of the ladies then wore ; all their va-
luables were taken from them. The fugitives were then allowed to pass on
to Chahora, a fort also on the bank of the same river, the residence at that
time of Babu Madhoparshad, and from him they received some show of
hospitality for three or four days, and they were then passed on under an
escort supplied by Maharaja Man Singh. For the offence above indicated,
Udit Narain Singh, who was at the time de facto manager of his father's
estate, was tried and imprisoned for three years, and the whole of his pro-
perty was ordered to be confiscated, but it was made out somehow or other
that the man had no property of his own, and so the latter part of the
sentence may be said to have befen inoperative.

Babu Madhoparshad, whose conduct, as I have said at the outset, was
good, is said to have been the first of the Birhar bdbus who openly took
up arms against the British Government, having marched against Azam-
garh with his followers in July 1857. He was met at Baroli by Mr. Ven-
ables, and driven back, and he then raised the entire Palwar clan, and was
joined by Babus Kishanparshad, Shilipargas, Pirthipal, and their gather-
ings. They then plundered the town of Manori and got much property,
Shiupargas obtaining an elephant, which he, gave up when order was
restored. They then attacked Azamgarh and drove the defenders before
them through the town ; but the citizens, turning against them, the tribe
was repulsed, whereon they withdrew in such hot haste that they halted
not till they were beyond the borders of the Azamgarh district. A few days
after this, Azamgarh was abandoned by the British, upon which B^bus Udit
Narain and Pirthipal Singh with their followers returned there, and having
proclaimed the supremacy of the Palwar clan, began levying contributions
from the inhabitants. On the re-occupation of Azamgarh by the Gurkhas,
tbe Babus retired without a struggle.

They subsequently lent men to Beni Madho, the Kurmi Raja of Atraulia,
when he fought and was defeated by the Gurkhas at the same Manori

830 BIR

mentioned above, losing three guns; but none of the babus were present
at that action.

Seeing that they could make no head in the Azamgarh district, the
Birhar taluqdars next turned their attention to Gorakhpur, and Babus
Madhoparshad, Shiupargas, and Udit Narain crossed over and joined the
rebel nazim with their followers. Each babu is said to have received
Rs. 100 a day for the support of his men. Babu KishanparshM sent a
contingent under an agent, Thakur Dayal. This man being met by Babu
Madhoparshad, was at once put to death by the followers of the latter,
owing to a quarrel between the masters. On the re-occupation of Gorakh-
pur by the Gurkhas, the babus fled with the n£zim.

When Maharaja Jang Bahddur marched through the Gorakhpur district
en route to Lucknow, a feeble attempt was made by the followers of the
Birhar babus to oppose his operations. At Ghandipur an affair took place
on the I7th February 1858, which is thus described: "Whilst escorting
boats up the river Gogra, Captain Sotheby, R. N., with a force consisting of
130 men of the Naval Brigade, 35 Sikhs, and 60 Gurkhas, with one moun-
tain-howitzer, attacked and captured the fort of Ghandipur on the right
bank of the river, taking two guns, spare wagons and ammimition, besides
all the private property of the rebels. The fort was situated in the midst
of a dense plantation of bamboos, and was garrisoned by about 300 men,
not many of whom were killed in consequence of the thick cover they
fought under. Our loss was four wounded, including Captain Weston,
36th Native Infantry. The river steamer Jwrnuna co-operated with the
land force, and rendered efficient service. The fort and adjacent buildings
were burnt."

Resistance was again offered up the river. The event is thus described
by General Macgregor: " The boats arrived the night before last (21st
February) and Colonel Rowcroft's force at once crossed the river. Yester-
day, Brigadier Gungadoa's brigade joined them, and the whole force
advanced to Phulpur, where they met the enemy, and after an action, last-
ing over an hour, totally defeated them, capturing three guns."

The Gurkha army then crossed over and marched towards Lucknow
through Akbarpur and Sultanpur. They attacked en route the small fort
of Berozpur in this district, which was bravely held by 34 of Babu Umresh
Singh's men, who were all killed; several Gurkhas were killed and wounded
in the attack.*

At a later period of the mutiny, when Kunwar Singh was making his
way from Lucknow, after the capture of that place, to Arrah, he passed
through Birhar, and was joined by Babu Udit Narain, who accompanied
him on his memorable attack on Azamgarh. On the relief of that town,
this babu returned to his home, and it only remains to be mentioned that
these b^bus of Birhar postponed their surrender on the re-occupation of
Fyzabad till the last moment, and the only one of their number who was

* I have since learned from one of the officers engaged, that this encounter arose out of
misadventure. The Gurkhas had upwards of 50 casualties, and Lieutenant Sankey, B. E.,
was recommended for the Victoria Cross for effecting an entrance into the fort, and being
the first to pass through.

BIR

331

ever called to account for his action was Udit Nar£n Singh, to the cir-
cumstances of whose case allusion has already been made.

Such is the generally accepted account of the proceedings of the Palwdr
clan (^rmg the rebellion. I have had an opportunity of comparing it with
the official "narrative of events" in the Azamgarh district, published by
the Government North-West Provinces, and they agree in most particulars.
l)etails have now been ascertained which were not then available, but the
" narrative" has been of use to me in preparing the present account. The
only conclusion to be drawn from this history is that, on the whole, we had
few worse enemies than the Palwars.

Sir Henry Elliot, in his extraordinary ai tides on Chaurdsis mentions a
Chauras of the Palwar clan in pargana Aonla (should be Bhawapar), zila
Gorakhpur,* where their possessions, which have since been mostly confis-
cated for their proceedings in 1857, are said by the tribe to have com-
rnenced with 84 bighas of land, and soon to have swelled to 84 whole
villages. But the fact is, that the whole of the Gorakhpur, Azamgarh,
and Fyzabad Palwars spring from a common ancestor. The system of
reckoning by Chaurdsis and Bedlisis, so much dwelt on by Sir Henry
Elliot, is uncommon in this part of Oudh; in fact, few natives understand
this; but the number 49 seems with these very Palwars to have a special

charm. For instance, they talk of

( 1 ) unchds-kos-ki-bhdt, which
means that on the occasion of cere-
monial gatherings of the tribe to
commemorate a birth, marriage, or
death, all the members inhabiting
the localities marginally indicated,
aggregating a circle of 49 kos,
which area is supposed to represent
their proprietary possessions, are
invited to attend and eat the bread
of sociability. Of these, however,
the Surharpur (Bundipur) branch
is debarred from eating and drinking with the tribe by reason of illegiti-
macy, and the Atraulia branch, because it is stained with blood.

Members of these branches, on such occasions, are obliged to content
themselves with having dry rations served out to them in lieu of cooked
viands. The absurdity of the former of these exclusions, and of the
system of caste generally, is forcibly illustrated in the following instance.
A female of the Surharpur illegitimate branch, and another of the Birhar
legitimate branch, both married into the orthodox Eajkumar family of the
Raja of Dera, and thereafter both branches were alike admitted to the
rija's social board. Both parties then eat and drink with the rdja, but
they still will not eat and drink with each other.

* When the Gurkhas, having abandoned Gorakhpur,^ were marching on Azamgarh, these
Palwdrs made a combined attack upon their camp at Gugha, taking our allies unawares ; the
Palwirs were, however, soon driven off, a number of them were taken prisoners, and these
had their heads chopped off in cold blood by the Gurkhas with their kukris, just as if they
had been so many kids.

Pargana or Tappa.

District.

Koa.

14

7
7
7
7
7

49

Birhar

Surharpur

Atranlia

Kauria

Cheota Gopalpur ...
Ghagha

Fyzabad

Do.
Azamgarh

Do.

Do.
Gorakhpur ...

Total ...

332

BIR

Pargana

)>
Taluqa
Bargaua

Akbarpur
Birhar
Dera
Surharpur

14

14
14

7

(2). If'ticMs-Kos-ki-KumaM is another common expression with these

people, which means that the

taluqdars of Plrpur, Samanpur,
Dera, Birhar, Tigra, and Morehra,
with their gatherings, inhabiting
the areas marginally noted, and
which aggregated 49 kos, were
wont, in the king's time, to make
common cause in opposing the
aggressions of the Meopur faction of Rajkumars and all others.

Distribution of property. — I may now state the manner in which the
392 demarcated villages, which constitute this pargana, are held, thus : —

Total

49

Name of owner.

Residence.

No. of
villages.

Jama.

Name of taluqa*

Summary
settlement.

Kevise.l.

I. Birhar

Hardatt Singh

Hanswar

98

22,385

37,089

IT. Birliar

Kishanparshad

Makrahi

97

21,345

36,586

III. Birliar

Mahip Narain

Lakanpur ...

85

19,645

33,982

IV. Birhar

Shiuparg^s

Sultanpur ...

96

20,557

35,234

Pfrpur

Baqar Husen

Pirpur

1

125

195

Gangeo

Jahangir Bakhsh Khan

Gangeo

3

4,977

4,840

Independent

Zamindara

Total ...

12

5,208

6,503

392

94,243

1,54,429

I have mentioned families of influence who from time to time replaced
the Bhars in this pargana, and back to whom, as a rule, proprietary title
ought to trace ; but there are also minor families who have possessed
villages within the last century or two, and whose original position rested
on rent-free, or service grants, purchase, &c. They owned formerly in all
273 villages, they have now 8, and subordinate rights in 24 others. The
Palwars have risen from nothing to be the owners of 376 villages, besides
lands in Azamgarh and Gorakhpur.

Inhabitants. — The present inhabitants of the pargana may be classified

as per margin.

There are few, if any, ma-
sonry houses ; tiles are seldom
used, thatched roofs being in
the proportion of 75 per cent.
There are no extensive mer-
chants or dealers, while ther-e
are numerous importers of cot-
ton, thread, piece-goods, and salt, and these also send away molasses, sug&r,

Chhattria

20 per cent.

Brahman

25 „

Koris

il5 „

fCurmia

Muaalmans

10 „

Other castes

30 „ .

BIR

S33

and country-cloth. The NSiks of Chahora, and the XJpdddhias of Eam-
pur barae, have annual dealings in cattle to a small amount.

Town.

Baskhiri

Hans war

Sultanpur ...

Chahora

Ajmerpur ...

Badahahpur...

Chandipur .,.

Kstmnagar ...

-Korahi

Daydram Lala ka Bazar

Mausdrganj...

Shekohpur ...

Malpura

Muinuddmpur

The trade
of the par-
gana, such
as it is, is
confined to
the bazars
marginally
noted; there
are no large
towns.

Fairs and Shrines.

The FaqCr's Tanh and Tomb, Ahraula. — Gobind Dds, a renowned men-
dicant, is snid to have settled here and to have dug this tank 70 years
ago. He also built the tomb in which his ashes were placed. The tomb
is known as a Samadh, a term which is generally applied to the resting-
place of one who has been voluntarily buried alive, but in this instance it
is a misnomer. On the 25th of Aghan, a fair is annually held, when
several thousand persons assemble to bathe and make offerings. Sales
are effected of cooking utensils, cloth, and sweetmeats during the three or
four days that the fair lasts.

Thdkurdwdra and Shi/wdla, Chahora. — The former of these was dedi-
cated to the sacred and glorious memory of Ram Chandar and other favorite
incarnations of the deity, the latter for the worship of Mahadeo, by the
prosperous family of dealers known locally as Naiks,* some 50 years ago.
On the 13th of Phagun 3,000 or 4,000 persons assemble to bathe and
commemorate the fast of Shiurattri, or the birth of Mahadeo. Eatables
only are vended during the day. There is a smaller gathering on the 13th
of every month. .

Rdmhdgh, onauza Udechandpur. — Twenty years ago, Ajudhia Singh,
Palwar, voluntarily became a mendicant and assumed the name of U'de
Das. The fame of his prophecies and miraculous cures spread far and wid e,
and having taken up his residence in a grove on a high and picturesque
kankar ridge on the right bank of the Gogra, he gave to the spot the
name of Rambagh. He died 3 or 4 years ago, but 1,000 people still
continue to flock to the place, rendered sacred by his fame and exemplary
life, at the full moon of Kdrtik, and on the 24th of Chait, the birth-day
of Rama, annually ; a smaller bathing takes place every Sunday.

* For an account of these, see Mr. Carnegy's " Notes on the races, &o., of Ondh,''

334. BIS

The Chdndipur Thdkurdwdra. — This was built some 70 years ago by
B^ibu Rammanorath Singh, to the sacred memory of Ram Chandar, and
other deified individuals, and fairs are held twice a year on the days
indicated in the last paragraph, which are attended by from 1,000 to
2,000 persons.

The shrine of Makhdum Sahib is situated in Rasulpur, formerly a
mazra or off-shoot of mauza Biddhaur, but now a separate village. The
history of this man has already been given under the Sayyads of Rasdl-
pur. His shrine is built on a rising ground which is nearly surrounded
by water, and to this spot resort annually thousands of pilgrims from
every part of Upper India to be released from their disorders, mental
and physical. Legions of devils are here annually said to be cast out,
according to the best recognized methods of the exorcist's art, during the
month of Aghan, throughout which the fair lasts. Merchandise of every
description is brought from Lucknovv, Benares, and other distant places
for sale, and a brisk trade is carried on during the gathering.

Sati.— This crime must have been exceedingly prevalent in this
pargana at one period, for the neighbourhood of the bazar of Sultanpur
is a perfect graveyard of monuments, which are all attributed to former
generations of the Banian' caste.

One of these buildings is different from the others, inasmuch that it
has a door or opening, and the rest have not. This building, I am told,
was visited one evening in the rains of 1865 by a party of Banjaras who
encamped close to it, offered living sacrifices, and departed on the morrow,
leaving traces of much digging, whence it is affirmed that treasure was
known to these people to be concealed, and was removed from there by
them. These facts were never reported, nor was any attempt ever made
to elucidate this mystery.

BISUHI River* — District Gonda. — ^A small river entering the district
from west in the Gonda pargana by Kauchna, a little to the north of the
Gonda and Bahraich road. It flows for some way nearly due east, and
then taking a southerly bend, after having traversed the whole of the
north of the Gonda pargana, forms the boundary between SaduUahnagar
and Burhapara on the north, and Manikapur and Babhnipair to the south,
■finally leaving the district after a winding course of nearly 70 miles at
the eastern extremity of Babhnipair, a point 49 miles as the crow flies
from the place of its entry. Flowing as it does for the whole of its course
through the uparhdr, or central table-land of the district, it is restrained
by banks of some feet in height, and drains the whole of the surrounding
country without being able to retaliate on the immediate neigh-
bourhood by destructive floods. As long as it remains in the Gonda
pargana, its banks have been almost completely cleared, but during its
further course it is skirted on both sides by belts of jungle. The jamun
trees (Eugenia jwmbolana) grow right across its stream, and would effec-
tually prevent navigation even if its frequent windings, shallows, and
narrowness, did not render it impassable for any but the smallest craft.

* By Mr. W. C. Benett, c. s., Assistant Commissioner.

BIS 335

From ten to fifteen yards across, when it first enters the district, it
gradually increases to an average width of from forty to fifty, widening
out at places, and embracing small islands covered with cane-brakes and
a luxuriant growth of bushes. It is never very deep, and shortly after
the rains is fordable to foot-passengers at every second or third mile.
It is crossed by three bridges, where it cuts the Gonda and Balrdmpur,
Gonda and TJtraula, and Utraula and Nawabganj roads. Its most valuable
natural products are the mahua, which grows in great quantities in
the jungles on its bank ; and gort, a kind of rush, whose stalks are
worked up into matting, and feathery seed used for stuffing pillows. The
cane, where it does occur, is of no practical use.

BISWA'N Town — Pargana Biswan — Tahsil Biswan — District Sitapur. —
Biswan 27° 29' north, and 81° 2' esist, is 21 miles east from Sitapur, on the
kachcha road which leads to Gonda and Fyzabad through Bahramghat.
Another good road connects it with Laharpur on the north, and a third
takes the traveller east 22 miles to Chahlari Ghat on the Gogra, lying
over against Bahraich. This last-mentioned road meets in its way with
two unbridged rivers, one of which, the Kewani, is fordable in the dry sea-
son ; the other, the Chauka, being crossed by a ferry, though a good sized
elephant can do it on foot. It is 11 miles east from Biswan. The town
is said to have been founded about .500 years ago by an ascetic named
Bishwanath, and to have taken its name from him, and to this very day
there exists his mandhi, built on the spot where he resided during his
sojourn on the earth.

Biswdn, including Jalalpur, has a population of 7,308 souls-, of whom
rather more than one-half are Hindus of various castes, principally Brahmans;
and artizans. It is the head-quarters of a tahsil, and has police, post, and
registry offices, with a school, at which there are 53 boys in daily attend-
ance ; the place was formerly the residence of an amil, the remains of his:
fort being still extant ; but where the dmil and his fighting men held
sway, the schoolmaster now wields his ferule.

The town contains 21 Musalman, and 17 Hindu sacred buildings
built of brick. The bazars are good, and markets are held daily ; the an-
nual value of sales averages 1,50,000 Rs., or £15,000 sterling.

The tasaas and tabuts made up here are famous, and Biswan tobacco' is
well known to those who delight in a huqqa. The trade of stamping
cloth is also carried on to a considerable extent, and the, cloth is exported
to great distances. The climate is good, the water is not bad, and there are
two pleasant encamping grounds for the travellers, who may bB independent
of the caravansarae. Among the sacred places in the town are certain tombs
said to have been built over the bodies of some of the S'ayyad Salar's (Ma-
saM of Ghazni) army, which encountered the forces of the Ikauna raja in
this neighbourhood. There is a weekly- fair held in a grove outside the
town, at a place sacred to Mansa Rdm, a Brahman of character who died
about 125 years ago.

There are 323 masonry and 1,108 mud built houses in Biswan. The prin-
cipal buildings are the palace, mosque, tomb, and caravansarfie, erected by

336 BIS

Shekh Bari. These stately buildings have not been noticed by the district
compiler. The present taluqdars, Sita Ram and Raja Amir Hasan Khan,
are comparatively new-comers ; the latter occupies the western wing of the
mansion, and the last descendant of the owner still lives in a corner of it —
an ancient and decrepid widow called the Thakurain. The mosque was
evidently erected at an early period of Moslem rule, and the minars pre-
sent curious structural features, clearly of Hindu workmanship. The owner
was called the Jalalpur taluqdar. He was also one of the three qandngos
of Biswan, the other two being the ancestors of Arjun Singh and of Anand
Singh. The estate was entrusted to the Nawab of Mahmudabad five years
before annexation, and he now retains possession.

In Biswan there are four villages or revenue units, — Bhitara, Biljharia,
Sarae Darya, and Biswan. These were separate in the Nawabi. There are
also a number of wards-i-Mirdaha Tola,Sarde Judarjit, Pathani Tola, Jhawai
Tola (the mason ward), Kamangari (the bow-makers',) Mangraya Bazar,
Raeganj, Saraogi Tola (the Jains*^ ward), Parwari Tola ( the bani^s'),
Murao Tola (the gardeners'), Qila Darwaza, Bdhmani Tola, Matha Tola,
— fourteen in all.

BISWJJN Pargana — Tahsil BiswaN — District' Sitapxhl. — Biswan is the
largest pargana in the district, and contains 215 demarcated villages. Its
area is 220 square miles, of which 157 are now under cultivation. It is
bounded on the north by parganas Laharpur and Tambaur, on the east by
Kundri, north by Sadrpur, on the south by Mahmudabad and Bari, and
on the west by Pirnagar and Khairabad.

The roads are two, namely, the high road from Sitapur to Bahraich cross-
ing the pargana from west to east, and a cross-country road running north
and south, and connecting Mahmudabad with Laharpur. On the east fron-
tier water communication is afforded by the navigable rivers Chauka and
Kewani ; the Gon nadi on the west is not navigable.

Numerous streams run into the Kewani and cut up the land to the east
of the pargana very much. Between that river and the Chauka the land
lies low, and is periodically flooded, and often suffers from diluvion. West
of this land lies a very rich tract of country, always green owing to the
proximity of the water to the surface, and bearing fine crops. This tract
is known as "tarai," and is separated from the extreme west of the pargana
by the same ridge of land which runs through past Laharpur, Sadrpur,
and which appears to have been once the right bank of the Chauka, which
now flows parallel to it, but 8 miles further to the east. The extreme west
of the pargana is high and dry, water being found at a depth of from 25
to 30 feet from the surface, whereas in the tard.i it is found within 8 feet.

The population at the census of 1869 amounted to 105,155, or 478 to
the square mile, and is thus distributed : —

Hindus, agricultural .. • ,.. ... .^ ... 57,404

„ non-agricultural ... ... ... . . 29,793

Muaalmans, agricultural... ... ... ... ... 5,918

,, non-agricultural ... ... ... ... 12,040

The Musalmans thus are 17 per cent, of the entire population. There
are 5'7 souls to each of the 18,305 houses in which the population live.

BIS 337

The land of tlie pargana is thus classified : —

Cultivated acres ... ... ... ... 100,508

Culturable ... ... ... ... 20,300

Rent-free ... ..' ... ... 180

Barren ... \\\ '" ... 20,068

Total ... ... 141,056

which shows that to each head of the agricultural population there are about
If acres of cultivated and 2 acres of culturable land. There is thus a not
inconsiderable scope for extended cultivation.

The pargana is very well off for bazars, there being, in addition to the
numerous markets of Biswan Khas (quid vide), the following : Dhaukal-
ganj, Mir Sarae, Muhammadpur, Lalpur, Sanda, Jhua, Sarayyan, Mirzapur,
Ratnapur, Pakaria, Jahangirabad, Mathna, Mah^rajnagar, Bilwa, Teola.
These are held bi-weekly, and supply the people with all the necessaries of life.
The bazars in the town of Biswan are numerous, and are held throughout
the week. Here a considerable trade is carried on by the tobacconists, by
the tdzia and tablit manufacturers, and the cloth-stampers. Maharajnagar
is famous in the district for the good lime obtained from its kankar.

There are many melas or religious fairs held throughout the pargana.
The following is a list of the principal ones : —

1. Benipur, in Shawwal and Zihijj for prayer at the Idgdh.

2. At the Dargdh Sayyad Sdldr ; in May for the pilgrims who return
from Bahraich.

3. MaJuirdjnagar ; the Ramlila in September and October.

4. Bilwa ; the " Dhanuk Jagg " in Aghan, to celebrate the breaking of

the bow by Rama previous to his marriage with Sita in Janakpur.

6. Biswan Khas ; in April, in honour of Bishwandth {vide town history) ;
this w-eZa has not taken place for the past three years owing to a
local quarrel.
Biswdn ; Mansa Ram's imela monthly.
Scattered through the pargana are five masonry tanks, namely, —
At Jhajhar ; built by Ganga Bishan.
„ BhagwdnpuT ; very ancient, one side only being visible.
„ Biswdn Khas ; built by the wife of Beni Das, qanungo, with a

shiwala called " Dudh Nath Ka."
In Teola ; built in 1201 Fasli by Bishan Das, a Nanak Shahi

ascetic.

In Muhdrdjnagar ; built by a mahajan beside a shiwala. This

mahajan was a Brahman, and is said to have become a Muham-

madan and accompanied a Mughal captain to Delhi, where he

inherited his patron's fortune, with which, having returned home,

he purchased absolution for his apostasy and was re-admitted

into the brotherhood. This occurred in the last century.

Besides these tanks there are many Hindu temples in the pargana,

Biswd,n Khas boasts of 17, 12 of which are in honour of Shiva, four sacred

to Debi, and the remaining one a Jain temple. There are two Ndnak

Shdhi s'angats in the town, and one in Jhajhar hard by, and a fourth in

T

338 BIS

Muhammadpur. And there is also one of those curious wells called Bdolis,
in a fair state of preservation, built by a Tiwari Brahman named Bhikha.

The Moslem places of worship, too, are numerous. In Biswdn itself are
21, one of which, the mosque of Mumtaz Khan, who lived in the reign of
Aurangzeb, is remarkable for its solidity and for the size of the kankar
blocks used in its construction. In the stone cornice is cut an inscription
showing that it was erected in 1027 A.H., or 262 years ago.

The pargana derives its name from the town, for the origin of the name
of which the reader is referred to the article describing it. Formed by
king Akbar out of the lands of 13 tappas, it contained 786 villages, 54 of
which, constituting tappa Kuchlai, were afterwards transferred to the
Misrikh sub-division. The old name was Muazzamnagar aMas Lona, and
the lands were the possession of Bhars, Kachheras, and Rurhs. These were
succeeded by the Kayaths, Moslems, and Rajputs, settled in it by Todar
Mai : their descendants still hold the greater part of it to the present day.

In 1028 A.D. a battle was fought in the neighbourhood of what is now
Biswan Khas between the Ikauna raja Sohildeo and the Moslem invader
Sayyad Salar, of Ghazni. The scene of the battle is stiU pointed out, and
the town contains the tombs of five of the martyrs who fell in the action.

The 215 mauzas of the pargana are thus held : — ■

Taluqdari : 21 Kayaths, 44 Moslems (Mahmudabad), 5 Bais, 2 Raikwars,
27 Seths. Zamindari : 25 Kayaths, 13 Moslems , 17 Gaurs, 6 Panwars, 10
Janw^rs, 16 Bisen Kunwars, 5 Jangre and Raghubansis, 2 Raghubansis,
14 Bachhils, 2 Bais, 2 Kasbhurias, 2 Muafidars, 2 Seths, or by caste
Khattris : —

81 Eajput villages. | 57 Moslem villages.

46 Kayath „ | 29 Setli Khattris , ,

The chief taluqdars are the Rija of Mahmudabad, the Biswan qdnfingos,
and the agricultural capitalists, Seths Sita Ram and Raghubardayal. An
account of the family of the first-mentioned is to be found in pargana
Mahmudabad. His estates in Biswan have been acquired generally by
mortgages executed within the 12 years anterior to annexation.

The Seths, too, acquired their property chiefly by mortgage, and a few
of the mortgagors in both instances have succeeded in redeeming their
ancestral estates. The title of the qanungos goes further back. In 1150
A.D. their ancestor was granted 20 villages in jagir, which his family
continued to hold for a considerable period of time, until driven out by the
Bhars and Kachheras. They came back in king Akbar's time, and were
then appointed qanungos, which office they hold still. Thakur Dariao
Singh, father to the present taluqdars, behaved well in the mutiny and
was rewarded accordingly by a grant of land of an annual value of Rs. 1,000.
The Seths also, for similar services, were rewarded with an estate worth
Rs. 2,000 a year.

Among the non-taluqdari zamindars is the Musalman Chaudhri Mu-
hammad Bakhsh, of Biswan, whose great-grandfather Deo Singh, a Kdyath,
left an only son, Madar Bakhsh, by a Musalman mother, to whom Deo-
Singh's estate went. He was a member of the family of Dariao Singh
above-mentioned. The Hindu Chaudhris, Arjun Singh and others also
are non-taluqdari zamindars, as also are the Barchatta Gaurs and the Bach-
hils of Bambhaur, and the Janwdrs of TJlra and the Kunwars of Deokalia.

BIT-BUR 33d

Here and there we meet with those curious old mounds of earth called
dihs {vide pargana Pirnagar) containing masonry remains of buildings
which must once have existed. The principal are those in Bambhaur
and banda. The former is of considerable extent, and is said to have been
once a fort of the Sombansis who dwelt in the country before the Bhars
and Kachheras ruled over it.

_ The latter contains traces of the Kachheras (artificers in glass — Jcdch),
m the form of several furnaces, and a square well constructed with slabs
of kankar.

BITB.AR— Pargana Harha— TaAsiZ JJnao— District TJnao.— The
town lies ten miles south-east of Unao in pargana Harha on the road
from Unao to Rae Bareli, two miles east of Harha.

This was the seat of Rawat power, whose rise is related under pargana
Harha. The village is surrounded with many groves, the soil is good, and
so is the climate, although many of the wells contain brackish water.

There are two markets, and a school attended by eighty-six boys of whom
two are Musalmans : there are six temples to Mahadeo and four to Debi :
a large allowance which is accounted for by the proportion of Brahmans,
1,94<9 out of a population of 3,229.

BURHAPA'RA Pargana* — Tahsil Utraula — District GoNDA. — A small
pargana on the eastern frontier of the Gonda district, covering an area of
78 square miles. In shape it is a rough equilateral triangle, with its apex
to the north, a narrow spur running out for about three miles at the south-
eastern corner between the Kuwana and the Bistihi rivers, and sides of
from ten to twelve miles long. It marches to the west with the Sadullah-
nagar pargana, is divided by the Kuwana along the east from the Basti
district in the North- Western Provinces, and on the south by the Bisuhi
from pargana Babhnipair. The whole of the centre is a well-cultivated
and thickly inhabited plain, with no distinctive natural features beyond
the clumps of fine mahua trees, which were kept for their valuable flowers
when the rest of the forest was felled, and give a pleasant park-like ap-
pearance to the landscape, which is, besides, diversified by the mango
groves and small shallow lakes common to almost the whole of Oudh.
The cultivated plain is separated on the north-west and south from the
two boundary rivers by a continuous belt of forest abounding in nil-gae,
spotted deer, wild cattle, pigs, and peacocks, but yielding every year to
the axe and the plough. There is not much valuable wood, and indeed
no effort made to produce it, and the stunted sal and ebony trees only tell
of the loss of timber occasioned by the herds of oxen which eat every new
shoot, and the carelessness of the neighbouring villagers who lop off the
straight branches to supply fresh roofs to their constantly-burned mud
huts. The whole forms part of the uparhdr, or slightly raised table-land,
which runs through the centre of the district, and the rivers are conse-
quently restrained by sloping banks from submerging the cultivation in
the terribly destructive floods which desolate the villages between the

• By Mr. W. C, Benett, c, s., Assistant Commissioner,

T 2

S40

BTJR

Gogra and the Tirhi. Water thougli not so close to the surface as in the
Tarai, is found at a moderate depth of from ten to seventeen feet, and a
serviceable well of burnt bricks imbedded in mud may be built for Rs. SO,
and will last on an average for as many years. The superior dryness of
the soil renders irrigation common, and the crops more certain than in
those districts where the extreme moistness of the surface causes artificial
watering, when followed by late winter rains, to be fatal to the spring
produce. Statistics applied to the whole pargana would be vitiated by
the existence of two sxich totally different tracts as the populous centre
and its surrounding line of jungle, and would be equally inapplicable to
either. I propose, therefore, to consider them separately — a course which
is rendered easy by the fact that the forest tract has been parcelled out by
Government into a number of grants, which are not yet assessed for
revenue, and whose settlement returns are consequently kept separately.
The revenue-yielding tract covers an area of 30,303 acres, or little more
than three-fifths of the whole, and is divided into 119 demarcated villages.
Of this, 18,877 acres, or 62 per cent, of the whole, is under cultivation.
Half of the tilled land, or 9,016 acres, bears two crops, and the area under
each kind of produce is exhibited in the appended table : —

Total Kharlf.

Autumn rice.

Winter rice.

Kodo.

19,434

14,995

2,385

1,616

Total Habi

Wheat.

Gvam.

Alsi.

Peas.

Poppy.

18,060

4,378

5,346

2,470

1,162

1,163

Irrigation from 339 brick and 33 mud wells, with 306 small ponds, extends
over .5,625 acres, or between a quarter and a third of the whole cultivated
area. The average tenure is six acres, and each cultivator has on an
average one plough.

The forest tract is divided into nine grants, with an area of 19,385 acres,
of which 6,053 have been brought under the plough, bringing the total
cultivated area of the pargana up to 24,930 acres, or 50 per cent, of the
whole. The cultivation here is of a rude and unremunerative kind ; the
fields are still full of the stumps of trees which a primitive population has
been too poor to extract ; much of the labour has been done with the spade ;
and the fever, which yet clings to the standing forest and the river banks,
drives the majority of the labourers to live in the adjoining villages at
some distance from their work. The landlord gets no rents for from seven
to ten years after the first settlement ; he is obliged to advance to the
settlers enough capital to provide them with agricultural instruments, and
sufficient food to keep them alive till their first crop is harvested ; and
frequently has the mortification to see his investment wasted by the flight
of whole families, or their death from fever or dysentery.

In spite of these disadvantages, clearance goes on with astonishing
rapidity, and it will probably not be many years before the forest has
entirely disappeared. There are no manufactures except that of the home-
made coarse cotton, and no trade beyond a small export of rice and oil-

BUR Ml

seeds, which ate exchanged against rice and the silver needed to meet the
drain of the land revenue. The villages are connected by rough cart tracks,
and the rivers crossed at short intervals by fords, sometimes supplemented
by a bridge of fagots. Of these, the most important is the Chandradip
Ghat over the Kuwana, by which a fairly passable road runs from the
Biskohar bazar in the Basti district, and joins the Utraula and Nawabganj
road at Machhligaon, in pargana Manikapur. A registration station is
kept up at the ghat itself, and shows a pretty even exchange, rising in some
years to nearly a lac of rupees on both sides of the account, between the
rice of the northern tarai and the salt and cotton, manufactured and raw,
of Central India or Manchester. There are no places of pilgrimage, or
any peculiar local superstition, As might be expected, Samai Bhawani
and Banspati Mai, the terrible she-demons of the woods, have an unusual
amount of respect paid to them, and the solitary traveller deprecates their
wrath by casting another stick on each of the small piles of wood which
mark the forest path.

The total population by the census amounted to 20,544, giving an
average of 263 to the square mile. Of these, the settlement returns show
that 19,054 live in the cultivated centre, -which is, therefore, peopled at
the rate of 402 to the square mile ; while the thirty square miles of forest
allotments have only 1,500 inhabitants, or an average of fifty souls a piece.
There are 5,135 houses, with an average of four souls each, and while the
census shows 236 hamlets and five detached houses, the settlement papers
return no less than 488 detached hamlets. The latter are more likely to
be correct, as, when the census was taken, the Revenue Survey had not
been completed,'and the returns consequently show many errors.

Muhammadans number 4,901, which gives the unusually high proportion
of nearly a fourth of the whole population. Many of these are the retainers
and the descendants of the old Pathan chiefs, and many more converted
Chhattris and Kurmis, who followed the fashion or sought the favour of the
ruling house. Of the Hindus, the most numerous castes are Ahirs and
Ohamars ; these are followed by Kurmis and Muraos, and if the settlement
returns are right, the pargana nlay be congratulated on having only 162
houses of Brahmans. Among the more singular tribes may be mentioned
the Bhars and the Kewats. The former are the descendants of a people
who appear for once on the stage of history as masters of an extensive
kingdom in Oudh and the duab, between the two great Muhammadan
invasions, and then completely fall out of sight. In appearance they
resemble low-caste Hindus, Koris, and Chamars, and I have not noticed
any Mongolian traits in their physiognomy. They have, however, one
striking peculiarity in common with the Tharus — their hatred of the cul-
tivated plain. When land has attained a certainpitch of cultivation, they
always leave It for some less hospitable spot, and their lives are spent in
wandering from jungle to jungle. They commence the struggle with
nature, and after the first and most difficult victory over disease and wild
beasts, leave it to the Kurmis and Ahirs to gather the fruits of their
xiesultory energy. They are very timid, very honest, and keen sportsmen,
untiring in pursuit, and excellent shots with their long guns. They show
the influence of orthodox Hinduism in sparing the nil-gae, but are fond of

842 b6r

the flesh of pigs, washing down their feasts with copious draughts of
spirit of rice or mahua. They offer goats to Samai, and decapitate chickens
before the snake god Kare Deo. Their worship of Banspati Mai is more
Hindu in its character, and their pure offerings of grain and clarified butter
are handed over to be eaten by a Brahman. Marriages are contracted
without the intervention of a pandit, and with the rites in use among
other low-castes, such as Koris and Chamars. With a magnificent assump-
tion of rights not recognized by our law, the bride's father makes over in
shankalp to the bridegroom a small patch of forest to clear and cultivate.
The Kewats or Kaivartas of the Puranas claim to be descended from the
Nishadas of Hindu legend, and frequent the banks of forest streams, living
by fishery, the manufacture of rush mats, the superintendence of ferries,
and a little rude spade husbandry.

This pargana originally owned the suzerainty of the great Kalhans
rajas of Khurasa, and on the fall of that dynasty with Raja Achal Narain
Singh in the fifteenth century, passed with what was saved from the
general anarchy to his posthumous son Bhing Singh, the Raja of Babhni-
pair and Rasdlpur Ghaus. At about this time a fresh power was introduced
into the neighbourhood by the irruption of the Pathans under Ali Khan,
and his establishment of the Utraula raj. The fourth in descent from
him, AMwal Khan, turned his arms .to the south, and subdued the tract
between the Kuwana and the Bisuhi, including the whole of the present
pargana of Babhnipair, which from that time till annexation formed a
tappa of the Utraula pargana. Alawal Khan is admitted to have been the
eldest son, but the newly acquired country had to be maintained in arms,
and he preferred the post of danger, building for himself a fort at Qasba
Khas, and leaving Utraula, with the title of raja, to his younger brother
Adam Khan. He had five sons, and as the chieftainship did not vest in
him, his conquest was divided equally among them instead of goinc to
the eldest. Three of these died without offspring, and two of the lapsed
shares were taken by the elder, one by the younger of the survivors. This
division was maintained till annexation, when the pargana was still
divided into the eastern three-fifths and western two-fifths. The family
has but little separate history, and in war and peace followed the fortunes
of the head of their clan at Utraula. At the beginning of this century Rajjab
Ali Khan and Ali Raza Khan, owners of the |th share, attained consider-
able wealth, it is said, by the discovery of treasure buried long since by
the Tharus. At any rate, the fact is proved by their very fine brick-house
in Qasba Khas, which their impoverished descendants have allowed to fall
into ruin. Their cousin Ashraf Bakhsh Khan, of the fth share, was a very
noted character in the later days of the Nawabi. A good soldier and excellent
scholar, both in Persian and Hindi, he was a leading spirit in all the dis-
putes with the Government officials, and his ability was only equalled by
his turbulence and a disregard of the most solemn engagements, which
was remarkable even in this country. At the mutiny he became one of the ■
favourite officers of Muhammad Hasan, the rebel Nazim of Gorakhpur, and
at pacification he was proscribed and his estateof forty-two villages confiscated
and assigned, in reward for his loyal services in escorting Sir Charles
Wingfield and the Bahraich refugees from Balrampur, to Bhayya Harratan
Singh, who is now the principal taluqdar of the pargana. Almost the whole

BUR 343

of the pargana was parcelled out between birtias, who never, however,
attained the independent position which was held by the birtias of the
neighbouring pargana of IJtraula. They were entitled to a fourth of the
whole profits after deducting the cultivator's share and the expenses of
labour ; that is, when the village was held on grain rents, the whole
produce was collected in the threshing-floor, the ploughman, the inga-
therers, the carpenter, the blacksmith, and the -remaining village servants
first took their dues, the grain left was then divided into two equal heaps,
of which the cultivating occupant took one, and of the other, one-fourth
was taken by the birtia head of the village, the remaining three-fourths
by the taluqdar or Government officer. If money rents were agreed on,
they were based on an estimate of the probable value of the grain heap
after deducting the village dues and the occupant's share. The village was
leased at the full value of this, and at the end of the year one-fourth of
the sum was remitted to the birtia.

The financial records show a continual progress in wealth and extension
of tillage from the commencement of this century. In 1794 A. D., the
first year for which settlement papers exist, the Government demand stood
at Rs. 2,045, which within ten years had risen to Rs. 6,579. A few bad
seasons caused a temporary fall, but from 1819 A. D. the rise was steady,
till 1852 A. D. it stood at Rs. 10,157. In 1854 A. D., Rae Sadhan Lai,
a servant of the great revenue farmer Raja Krishan Datt Ram, was invested
with the nizumat of Gonda-Bahraich, and Gop^l Tiwari, a relation of the
raja, was sent as tahsildar to Burhapara. The same man a few years
before had a misunderstanding with the Path^n leader Ashraf Bakhsh
Kh^n, and his position now gave him an admirable opportunity of gratify-
ing his resentment. Taking a force of 2,300 men, he devastated the whole
of his enemy's estate, burning down the villages, cutting the crops, and,
driving off the cattle. Ashraf Bakhsh was not strong enough to meet him
in open field, so he retreated with a band of desperadoes to the jungles, and
by way of reprisal visited the villages of other proprietors with the atro-
cities marked by the Government tahsildar in his own. The wretched
inhabitants fled in numbers to the protection of English law in the neigh-
bouring district of Basti, and such was the desolation, that the Government
revenue in 1855 A. D. had fallen to Rs. 1,710, the lowest figure at which
it had stood for the past sixty years. Annexation followed, Gopal Tiwari
withdrew his force, and his prisoners escaped from the Dh^nepur fort, the
cultivators re-crossed the frontier, and again took possession of their old
fields, and Ashraf Bakhsh left the forest, and engaged for his estate of
forty-one villages. The remainder of the pargana was settled with the old
zamindari birtias. The progress since then has been extraordinary. In 1856
A. D., an experienced native officer was deputed to roughly calculate the
cultivated area and collect materials for a summary settlement. He reported
that 5,708 acres were under cultivation, on which the admitted rent was
Rs. 9,942 and the Government demand was fixed at Rs. 6,744. Fifteen
years later, in 1871, the pargana was regularly surveyed, and it was found
that the cultivated area had nearly quadrupled, while the admitted rent
had risen to Rs. 35,448. The necessary rise in_ the Government demand
was so enormous, and so much of the land was jungle clearing and held at
yearly increasing rents, that the settlement officer determined on proposing

344 BUE— CHA

a progressive Government demand amounting in 1873-74 to Es. 17,565,
from 1878 to 1881 to Rs. 24,865, from 1888 to 1890 Rs. 26,185, and from
that year to the term of settlement Rs. 26,950. This does not include
the area under grants, and on the m^lguzari area amounts in the first year
to 15 annas per cultivated acre, 9 annas per acre of whole revenue-paying
area, and 14 annas per head of population, and in the year of final rise to
Rs. 1-7-0 per cultivated acre, and 14 annas per acre of assessable area.

c.

CHAMIANI Village — Fargana PtJRWA — Tahsil PtTEWA — District Unao.
— This large village lies on the Lon, about 20 miles south-west from
Unao; it is called from Chimman Deo, a Sukul Brahman, who founded it.

It is pleasantly situated among numerous groves; the water and climate
are good. There is a school with 31 youths in, attendance, and four temples,
two to Mahadeo, one to Vishnu, and one to Sanchal Deo. There are 595
mud-walled houses, containing a population of 3,109, of whom 409 are
Musalmans, 616 BrahmanSi 4 Ghhattris, 90 Banians, 94 Basis. There are
no markets or fairs; coarse cloth is manufactured.

CHAMRATJLI — Fargana Jhalotae Ajgaist — Tahsil MosAs^JDistricf
Unao. — This place, one of the chief seats of the Dikhits, and still a great
residence of those Ghhattris, is situated seven miles east of Unao in
pargana Jhalotar Ajgain.

It was founded by Bimath Dikhit, aud originally called BIrpur, but
being inhabited mainly by Ghamars, it came to be named Ghamrauli.

The population ia ... ... ... ... 3,465

Of -whom Chliattris ... .„ ... ... 1,152

Brahmans ... ... ... ... 375

Musalmans ... .„ „. ... 178

There is one masonry house, one temple, and a school attended by 130
children. This is, on the whole, a most rustic place; the jungle still comes
within a mile, many mango groves surround it; it is considered a healthy
place, but, although the seat of the Dikhit power for geuerations, nothing
is seen which may bear witness to their greatness.

CHANDA Fargana — Tahsil Kadipur — District SultAjSTPUR. — A large
pargana, lying between Patti in Partabgarh on the south, and Aldemau on
the north. It covers 130 square miles, of which 73 are cultivated. There
are 290 villages, nearly all in the possession of the Bachgotis of Patti
Bilkhar. One hundred and fourteen are in the possession of the Raj-
kumars, one branch of that clan, and the Raj wars, another, have 138.

Taluqdars have 146 villages, and zamindars 144. The population is
72,593, being at the rate of 558 to the square mile.

The road from Jaunpur to Lucknow runs through the pargana, which i&
also bounded on the north by the Gumti, and has therefore good means of
communication, "Multani-mitti, " which is used in dyeing cloth, is found in

CHA 845

village Dewar, about 3 miles from the Gumti southwards. The village is
situated on the bank of a rain-stream, and the layer has been found to cover
so much as 8 bighas, lying 3 feet underneath the latter. This layer is six
inches in thickness.

The population contains

Brahmana
Chhattria
Chamars
Ahlra ...

18,717
7,688

11,783
9,616

There is, therefore, a large proportion of high castes.

The summary demand was ... ... ... 64,465

The present assessment ... ... ... 100,235

There are several religious fairs held in this pargana, which are describ-
ed below by a local officer. The landed property is thus divided : —

Taluqdari. Zamindari.

Kayaths ... ... ... ... ... 19

Brahmans ... ... ... ... „. S

Eajkumars .. ... ... ... 22 92

Rajwnrs ., ... ... ... 119 19

Eajwiirs and Kdyaths ... ... ... 5

Other castes ... ... ... ... 6

146 144

Dhopdj) fair— held in village Lotia, of this pargana, on the Dhopap
Ghat of the Gumti. Raja Ram Chandar on bis way back from Lanka to
Ajodhya, bathed on this spot, and from that time it has been called "Dho-
pap," which means that the bathing in it washes away sins. About
25,000 persons gather here for bathing on the day of Dasahra in Jeth,
and about 15,000 on the Kartiki.

llari Bliawiini fair — held in honour of Mari Bhawani at Shahpur. It
is said that while Safdar Jang was erecting a fort at this place, his army
commenced dying of cholera, and the erection was stopped. From this
supposed miracle of Bhawani, she was called "Mari Bhawani." On the
eighth and ninth of the light half of Ktiar and Chait the fair is held in
honour of the said Bhawani. There is no temple, but the nim tree on
which Bhawani is supposed to rest is adored and worshipped. The place
where this fair is held is variously called Shahabad, from the king's fort
having been built here, and Paparghat, a corruption from "mari pari," the
angel of death, who is supposed to have destroyed the army of the Moslem
invader.

It is on the banks of the Gumti.

CHANDRA Pargana — Tahsil MlsmKE— District Sitaptjr. — Pargana
Chandra lies between the Gumti on the west and the Kathna on the east,
both rivers meeting at Dudhuamau in the extreme south. The northern
boundary is formed by the Kheri district. In area it is 129 square miles,
of which 94 are cultivated.

In physical features it closely resembles the rest of the tahsil. There
are no lakes, forests, or mountains. The land along either river, and for

...

82,400

Es.

As.

P.

0

15

U

0

12

5

0

11

4

S46 CHA

a distance of two or three miles inland, is very poor : it is Only in the
centre that soil of the first class is met with. Water is found near the
surface, but the wells fall in sooner than is the case in the other parganas
of the tahsil.

The acreage is classified as follows : —

Acres.
Cultivated land ... ... ... ... ... ... 58,655

Culturable „ ... ... ... ... ... ... 16,543

Barren , 72,002

Total acres
and the Government demand falls thus : —

On cultivated ... ... ... _.

On culturable ...
On total area ...

an incidence the lightness of which is to be explained by the poor charac-
ter of the soil above described. The entire demand is 73 per cent, above the
summary assessment of 1858.

The census of 1869 gives the population thus : —

Hindus — agricultural .. ... ... ... 20, 495 "J 000-9

,, non-agricultural ... ... ... ... 12,357) '

Musalmans — agricultural ... ... ... ... 847 i , . ,„

„ non-agricultural ... ... ... ... 602 j '

Total ... 34,301

These figures show that the Musalmans are only 4 per cent, of the entire
population, and that to every square mile there are but 266 souls ; also
that to each head of the agricultural population there are 2f acres of cul-
tivated and 3| acres of culturable land ; from which facts we see that there
is very considerable room for extension of agriculture and population.

The pargana is well off for communications, both by land and water.
The two high roads from Sitapur to Shahjahanpur and Fatehgarh cross it:
close to its southern frontier runs the road to Hardoi, and the Gumti is
navigable at all times of the year ; the Kathna during the rains.

The pargana was formerly and is still popularly known by the name
" Haweli," which name was changed to its present appellation 200 years
ago by a Gaur chieftain, Kiri Mai, who called it after an ancestor Chandra
Sen. Before Kiri Mai's time Haweli was held by Bais, Ahirs, and Sayyads,
all of whom were in course of time extirpated by the invaders, the Sayyads
being the last to disappear from their taluqa of Neri before the stronger
forces of Kiri Mai's descendant, KajaAnup Singh, in 1119 Fasli. This po-
tentate thus became lord of the whole pargana, and on his death left Neri
to his own sons, whose descendants still possess it. The rest of the parga-
na was sub-divided among his seven cousins, the sub-divisions being as
follows: — 1, Kachura; 2, Kachuri; 3, Bargaon; 5, Pisawan; 6, Badnapur;
7, Ktitra.

Of these, Badnapur has been absorbed by Bargaon, and there are thus,
with Neri, still seven pattis. The proprietors of these pattis all own shares
in certain villages, such as Chandra Khas; the original head-quarters of the

CHA 347

clan. Three generations ago, a junior member of the Kutra branch left
home, and acquired the Pawaria ilaqa, in Shdhjahanpur, which his de-
scendants still hold, in addition to a share in his ancestral state of Kutra,
and he also possesses Wazirnagar in pargana Misrikh. All these pattidars
are at litigation among themselves, and the raj which Anup Singh found-
ed 170 years ago, and which we found as seven compact taluqas, is rapidly-
being split up into small zamindaris.

The pargana originally consisted of 137 mauzas, which were demarcated
as 130 by the survey officer. To this number 20 were added from the Go-
pamau pargana, and the whole number is now 1.50. The original 130 are
all possessed by the Gaurs. The other 20 are owned, 13 by Haja Sham-
sher Bahadur (vide pargana Misrikh), and 7 by petty zamindars, of whom
4 are Kayaths and' 3 are Musalmans.

There are only four bazars held in the pargana, namely, at Kachlira,
Pisawan, Munra kalan, and Pipri Sandipur ; at these nothing but the ordi-
nary necessaries of life may be purchased. There is no special article of
commerce or manufacture throughout the whole pargana. There are no
mines or quarries. The climate is good. The principal interest of this
pargana arises from its being the seat of the Brahman division of the
Gaurs, a Chhattri sept which waxed very powerful during the latter half
of the eighteenth century. See articles Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Kheri.

The only mela or fair in the pargana is held in November at Kutwdpur,
where the road to Fatehgarh meets the Gumti. It has only a local noto-
riety, and requires no notice here.

CHARDA Pargana*' Tahsil NaNPara — District Bahraich, — This pargana
lies along the north-east frontier of the province of Oudh, marching with
Naipal on that side, with the Nanpara pargana on the west and south-
west, aad with the Bhinga pargana on the east. The river Rapti coming
from Naipal skirts it on the north-east, forming the boundary between the
two territories for a course of about 12 miles, after which it enters British
India and divides the Bhinga from the Charda pargana for about 6 miles.
The pargana has no natural boundaries on the south or west. Its total
area is 206 square miles, the greatest length from south-east to north-west
being 28 miles, its average breadth 8 miles.

The pargana divides itself naturally into two distinct tracts, the Bhakla,
a stream which enters the pargana from Naipal and runs through it in
a south-easterly direction parallel with the Rapti, determining the divi-
sion. The country between these two rivers, about two-fifths of the total
area, lies low and has a rich alluvial soil, that to the west of the Bhakla
forming a portion of the table-land described under heading Bahraich par-
gana. The edge of the high ground is fringed with forest, a portion of
which, 13 square miles, is reserved. The remainder has been demarcated
in the neighbouring villages, or made over to' Government grantees.

Of a total area of 206 square miles —
The cultivation is 142 ,, ,,

Culturable waste 51 ,, ,,

Unculturable 13 ,, ,,

* By Mr. H. S. Boys, c. s., Assistant Commiaaioner.

348

CHA

Irrigation is but little practised at present, there being at time of mea-
surements in the year 1867 A. D. only 786 acres watered.

In the eastern low-lying tract the water is so close to the surface that
irrigation would in most villages be injurious, but in the higher lands it
might be tried with great advantage. The following is a statement of
the crop areas in 1867 A. D. in standard bighas: —

P>»

n

A

.a

g

^'

g,

g

TS

t3

to

E

1

J3

gp.

g
d

1

1

3

.

'^'d

1

d

V

c §

E

1

'g

.=3

^■^

cS

1

1

s

.2 -a

-73 fl

1

1

^

PQ

PS

o

M

h-H

(3

fl"

o

«

B

7,980

7,911

8,800

9,148

35,916

30,364

561

23,572

4,755

7,464

8,646

145,117

The Government demand falls with an incidence per acre—

P.S. A. P.

On cultivation
,, total assessable
,, total area

...17 6
... 1 3 ]
... 1 1 10

its total amount being Rs. l,32,.53'5-8-0, which is distributed as follows : —

•s

a

86

88

1

i

■<

89
96

Government
demand. _

Incidence of Government demand
per acre.

Class of village.

On
cultivation.

On total

assessable

area.

On total
area.

■ Perpetual settlement
30 years'" ditto

Total

P. A. P.

68,000 0 0
64,185 0 0

Rs. A. P.

1 7 7
1 7 5

Es. A. P.
1 4 5
1 1 10

Es. A. P.
13 1

10 8

^

174

185

1,32,185 0 0

1 7 6

1 3 1

119

Independent villages
■Eevenue-free for life-time only

n

If
177

1

1

187

350 8 0

1 5 6

1 1 5

1 0 4

■

Grand Total ...

1,32,535 8 0 17 6 13 1

1 1 10

The taluqdar landlords are with one exception (the Raja of Piagpur)
loyal grantees, among whom has been distributed the large estates of Jodh

CHA

349

Singh, the rebel taluqdar of Charda. The population is shown in the
following table : —

Agricultural

56,487

Hindus, low caste. Hindus, high caste.

Brahman ...
Chhattris .,.
Vaishya ...

Ahi'r
Pasi

Teii ;;;

Chamar ... ... "

Kurmi
Kahar

Kori ;;;

Murao
Others

Shekh

Pathau
Julaha
Others
MisceUaneous

Non^igricultural

21,839

3,949

1,485

Total ...

58,326

1,349

i

Agricultural

4,551

6,564
3,347
1,547
3,543

12.867
1,815
5,428
1,583

14,850

a

N on-agricultural

2,414

pi

Total ...

7,065

Agricultural

41,038

S

O
13

03

1

554

o

Kon-agricultural

24,253

2,800

439

1,111

O

o

Males

34,031

H

Females

31,260

2,061

Total population ...

65,291

Total

65,291

No. of souls per square mile, )
excluding reserved Forest >
areas. )

338

The road from Ndnp&a to Naipalganj runs through the north-west
portion of the pargana for 8 miles, and another Government district road
runs through the southern portion from Bhinga to N^npara for a distance of
8 miles. B^baganj, on the first -mentioned road, was, prior to annexation, a
large iron mart, but since the establishment of the Naipalganj bazar, it has
dwindled down to a second-rate market. There is a bazar at Katra in
M^lhipur, and at Charda and at Nawabganj Aliabad there are more recently-
established grain marts. At Bab^ganj and Katra bazars there are Govern-
ment village schools with twenty-seven and twenty-nine scholars, respec-
tively, and at Nawabganj Aliabad there is a vernacular town school with
forty-three boys. The police stations of this pargana are at Nanpara and
Bhinga. There is a district post office at Nfiwabganj Aliabad. In old days
the eastern portion of this pargana was known as Sultanpur Kuhdri, while
the western formed Mahmudabad, a tappa of pargana Bahraich. Its early
history is similar in some points to that of Nanpara, the hill chieftains
penetrating thus far south under cover of thick forests that.then overspread
the country. In 891 Hijri, however, Sultanpur Kundri was nominally
paying a revenue of Rs. 25,983, the holders probably being the hill rajas

350 CHA

of Saliana and of Dang. In Akbar's time the revenue was admittedly only
Rs. 4,172. It was after this time that Rudr Singh, own brother of the
great Maha Singh of Ikauna, settled himself here, on the strength, it may
be, of the farman which his elder brother obtained from Shah Jahan. The
estate founded by him, comprising nearly the whole of the Sultanpur
Kundri pargana, was subsequently called the Gujiganj estate, from Guji
Beg, who obtained it in jagir. Rudr Singh's descendants, however, resented
this grant, and at last became so refractory that orders were issued from
Lucknow, in accordance with which, in 1803 A. D., Dariao Singh, the
taluqdar of the time, was crushed and his estates divided among the neigh-
bouring landholders. The western portion of the pargana seems at one
time to have been called Jagannathpur, after one Jagannath Singh, also a
cadet of the house of Ikauna, who probably established himself here about
the same time as Rudr Singh in Sultanpur Kundri; but prior to his arrival
one Sayyad Abti Muhammad is related to have obtained a grant of fourteen
villages in this part, whence the name Charda, or Chahardah, is said to
have originated. The Sayyads, however, made but little of the jungle tracts,
and about the year 1600 A. D., the year of the cursing of Dugaon (see
Ndnpara) they left the country for the south. Jagannath Singh does not
seem to have done more than bequeath his name to the country side, for
in Shujd-ud-daula's time the jungle had once more claimed its own. The
Raja of N^ripara, Mustafa Khan, then undertook the task of clearing the
forest, but was soon tired of the work, and in 1192, Asif-ud-daula, on a
shooting tour, found the country side deserted. Himmat Singh, of Piagpur,
was named to the king as a likely man to accomplish the hopeless task,
and was granted a sanad for the purpose (see Nanpara). His efforts were
crowned with success, and the last eighty years have seen this portion of
the pargana almost completely cleared of wood. His nephew succeeded
him, and it was his descendant from whom the estate was confiscated for
rebellion and conferred on the loyal grantees who now hold. At Charda
itself there is an old ruined fort similar in every respect to Sahet-Mahet
except in size. It evidently formed one of the chain of such forts which
formerly lined the Tarai. Common tradition assigns it to Raja Soheldeo,
who is said to have been the chief opponent of Sayyad Salar Masaud, but
though it may have been occupied at that time, its construction doubtless
dates from a much earlier period.

CHATPIA* — Pargana North Sara — Tahsil Shahabad — District Har-
DOI. — (population 2,314). — A fine village of 339 mud houses belonging to
the Chamar Gaurs, six miles east from Shahabad, pargana North Sara,
district Hardoi. The population is chiefly Chamar.

CHAUKA, river, a name which the river Sarda takes after it passes
Maraunchaghat, and retains till its junction with the Gogra at Bahramghat,
a distance of about 150 miles. It passes through districts Kheri and
Sitapur.

The main part of the stream since 1865 has forced a new channel for
itself near the village of Aira, pargana Dhaurahra; the larger body of
water now joms the Dah-aura, and with it enters the Kauriala or Gogra
at Mallapur.

* By Mr. A. H. Harington, c. s., Assistant Commissioner,

CHH 351

For further details, see Gogra and Sarda.

CKR1PIA*—Pargana Babhnipair — Tahsil Utraula — District Gonda. —
A small village in pargana Babhnipair, noticeable for its bazar and its
handsome temple. Ninety-five years ago, a boy called Sahajanand was bom
of a Pande Brahman, who had married the daughter of one of the numerous
co-sharers in this diminutive property. At a very early age he migrated to
Gujarat, where he was adopted as spiritual son by Eamanand, the abbot of
the great Vaishnavi monastery at Junagarh. Any detailed account of his
life belongs more properly to the Gazetteer of that province, and it is
enough to say that shortly after his adoption he succeeded to the headship
of the monastery. A learned Sanskrit scholar, and strict ascetic, he soon
established a wide influence, and before his death at the age of forty-nine
had raised his order to the highest pitch of fame and enrolled among his
lay pupils most of the powerful chiefs of Western India. His followers
claimed for him divine honours as an incarnation of Krishna, and worship
and speak of him under the holy name of Swami Nar^in. He divided his
immense wealth among two uncles, who were summoned to Gujarat from
their humble homes in Chhipia, and whose descendants still rule the two
branches of the sect. Of the four orders of his followers, the highest are
the Brahmacharias, who must be Brahmans by birth, and devote themselves
to meditation aud sacred studies. The Sadhus occupy a, slightly inferior
position, may be recruited from any of the twice-born castes, and lead a life
of strict asceticism, being debarred by their vows from touching women,
money, and flesh or fish of any kind, or indulging in tobacco, spirits, or
intoxicating drugs. Next to them conie the Palas, a large class, bound by
no vow but that of celibacy, who are supported by the common funds of the
order, and are employed in building its temples and houses, and conducting
its very considerable trade, which in this district chiefly consists in the-
importation of Gujarati horses. Besides these there are the lay disciples
who simply regard the abbot as their spiritual chief, and include in their
ranks all classes of society, from the field labourer to the raja. Just thirty
years ago the sect in Gujarat determined to erect a temple by the birth-
place of its founder, the exact spot of which is marked by a. small brick cha-
btitra. A number of Palas and Sadhus were sent to carry out the work,
which resulted in the present building. Immediately after annexation, a,
share in the village adjoining the temple was bought at the enor-
mous price of Ks. 600 per acre, and the works subsidiary to the
temple are not yet concluded. The fane itself is entirely of
stone and marble, imported from Mirzapur and Jaipur, and consists
of a porch, approached by a broad flight of steps and surmounted
by a small dome. Behind this is a colonnade surmounted by three
domes iu a line, the centre one being the largest and straight behind
the dome of the porch. In the colonnade, and immediately succeeding
the porch, are two chapels, the one to the left, containing a lingam and
argha, with figures of Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesh, while that to the right
of the entrance is sacred to Hanoman. The colonnade encloses a small
square court, handsomely floored with squares a,nd bezants of black and
white marble, and, in an alcove on the further side of this are three small

Sy Mr. W. C. Benett, c. s., Assistant Commissioner,

352 , CHH— COL

sacella in a row, divided from the vulgar by a_ gilt and painted grating.
The central chapel contains figures of Rdma, Lachhman, Bharat, and Sita ;
that to the right of this is occupied by Sv/ami Narain himself, and his
father and mother, and that to the left by Krishna, Eadhika, and Bala
Eama. Another chapel, under the northern dome, contains relics of
Swami Narain, his huge muslin turban, his pillow, and his bed, the latter
thickly covered with broad bands of solid gold. On the bed is a portrait
of the saint, a fat, fair-headed man, in gorgeous attire, and richly bedizened
with jewels. Behind the domes, and immediately over the central chapels,
rise three spires of the ordinary character, and the colonnade is sur-
mounted by a stone gallery which runs all round the building. The whole,
inside and out, is covered with paintings ; among which, besides various
deities and a harrowing series of tortures in the infernal regions, there is a
large fresco exhibiting Swami Narain on horseback, preceded by a crowd of
Sadhus and Palas, and followed by the princes of India on horses and ele-
phants. The walls are further garnished by fairly spirited statues of
heavenly nymphs and dancers, relieved by groups of wrestlers.

The temple is to be surrounded on three sides by charitable buildings
for the convenience of travellers and the accommodation of the members
of the order. The north side is already finished, and consists of a row of
double-storied brick-houses with a fine wooden verandah carved and paint-
ed in gay colours. The unfinished buildings to the front are broken by a
handsome stone arch, some twenty feet high in the inside, and closed by a
strong iron door imported from Gujarat. Behind the temple is a large
bazar, and beyond this two square brick-houses, with square turrets at each
corner, like large Italian farm-houses, for the accommodation of the
' spiritual chiefs.

The staff on the spot is continually changed, and any attempts at revolt
from the metropolitan are guarded against by the relief once a year of the
superintendent and all the members of the order, by a fresh deputation
from Junagarh. Two great fairs are held, at the Ram Naumi and the full
moon of Kartik, and throughout the year pilgrims, often of high rank, and
from the most distant parts of India, visit the birth-place of the deity.
An ordinary bazar is held twice a week and supplies the wants of the
neighbouring villagers.

CHILAULA — Pargana Dalmatj — Tahsil Lalganj — District Rae
Bareli. — This town lies one mile north of the Ganges, three miles west of
Dalmau ; it is a pretty healthy village, with a population of 2,007, a school,
and a temple to Mahadeo rising over the trees near the river.

COLONELGANJ* — Pargana Guwarich — Tahsil Begamganj — Dis-
trict GontiA. — A considerable village in the Guwarich pargana, district
Gonda, about two miles north of the Sarju, is connected by unnietalled but
serviceable roads with Gonda, at a distance of twenty miles, Bahramghat ten
miles, Jarwal in Bahraich twelve miles, Nawabganj thirty-one miles, and
Balrampur thirty-six miles. The original village was named Sakrora, and
had no peculiar importance, till in 1780 A. D., a force, under the command
of Major Byng, was sent by the King of Oudh to bring to terms the

* By Mr. W. C. Benett, c, s., Assistant Commissioner.

COL— DAH 353

refractory rajas of his trans-Gogra provinces, and uphold the authority of
the ndzims of Gonda Bahraich. Sakrora was selected as the encamping
ground, and a small force remained there for eight years. In 1802 A.D.
another force, under the command of Colonel Fooks, was quartered in the
old encampment, and a bazar, named in honour of the commanding officer
Colonelganj, came into existence. The station remained till annexation,
when it was selected as the military head-quarters for the Commissioner-
ship of Gonda and Bahraich. When the mutiny broke out, the native
force here as elsewhere cast off its allegiance, and the English officers
escaped with difficulty to the loyal protection of Balrampur. At pacification
it was abandoned as a station, and the only trace of English occupation
now is the graveyard, which yet contains a few tombstones, though it
appears that the majority of the lighter slabs have been stolen for grinding
curry-powder on. Its central position between Bahraich, Gonda and Bal-
rampur soon marked it out as an admirable depot for the rice and oil-seeds of
the western portions of the trans-Gogra Tarai, and it soon became the seat
of a flourishing trade, which is still increasing every year in importance.

The trade is almost entirely occupied in the export of grain, and the
chief staples are rice, Indian-corn, and oil-seeds, mustard or alsi. The
import trade is quite insignificant ; salt from Cawnpore, copper vessels
from Bhagwantnagar and Mirzapur, and cotton, raw and manufactured, are
disposed of in small quantities. There are no local manufactures, except
that a few Thatheras sell metal pots, generally of an inferior quality, made
by themselves. Two bazars each week, on Monday and Tuesday, are held
to supply the wants of the neighbouring villages. The octroi is at present
levied only on articles sold for local consumption, and its returns give no
idea of the general trade of the place.

The present population is 5,898, of which 4,730 are Hindus, the prevailing
castes being Banians, Basis, and Ahirs. Of the 1,492 dwelling-houses, one
only is built of burnt brick. There are a few ordinary temples to Mahddeo
and Krishna, and two small mosques and a sarae for travellers. The old
bazar was an oblong space in the centre of the town, but for the collection
of octroi it has been thought better to change this for a treeless plain to
the east of the inhabited quarters. The town is singularly clean, but the
exertions of the eight sanitary officials hardly seem to command as much
gratitude from the people as might have been expected. Eight more
peons, with a clerk at their head, superintend the collection of octroi, and
the presence of Government is brought still more vividly hame to the
minds of the populace by the thana with its staff of constables. The
milder form of authority is exhibited in a school, where 106 boys are
instructed in English, Urdu and Hindi ; and a dispensary for the distribu-
tion of medicine.

D.

DAHIAWA'lSr Village— Pargana BmiR—Tahsil Kv^BA— District Par-
TABGARH. — This village lies 26 miles from Partabgarh, and six miles from
the banks of the Ganges. In 1263 F. a fight took place here between the-
taluqdar and the chakladar, Shekh Mub^rakulla ; the latter was killed^

354 DAL

In 1264 F. = 1858 A.D., a great fight occurred here with the rebels ;

seven hundred were killed.

Population — Hindus 645

Musalmans ... 120

There is a bazar here in which the annual sales amount to about E.s. 7,000.

DALIPTTTRr—Pargana Patti — Tahsil Patti — District Paetabgaeh. —
DaKp Singh Bilkharia founded this town; it is five miles from the metalled
road to Fyzabad, close to the river Sai, six miles from Bela, and thirty-four
miles from Sultanpur. The annals of the family are given under the
pargana history.

The population consists of —

Hindus ... ... ... ... ... 942

Musalmans ... ... ... ... 442

i;384

There is a Government school and a bazar.
DALMAU — Pargana Dalmau — Tahsil Lalgajstj — District Rae Baeeli. —
This town stands on the banks of the Ganges, midway on the road from
Eae Bareli to Fatehpur, and lies 14 miles north of Fatehpur on the right
bank of the Ganges, 16 miles south of the sadr station, and eight miles south-
east of the tahsil. It was founded by Dal Deo, the brother of Eaja Ram
Deo, of Kanauj, and of the Rathor clan of Chhattris. Dal Deo Was granted
this estate by his brother, and he founded this town, giving it the name
of Dalmau, but the letter D or " Dal" (S) being unknown in the Persian
alphabet, Dalmau was changed into Dalmau.

The town of Manikpur, in the district of Partabgarh, is 82 miles east
of Dalmau; Satrikh, in the district of Bara Banki, 60 miles north ; Lucknow
60 miles north-west ; and Cawnpore 48 miles west. It was included in the
Manikpur principality by Mdn Deo, the second brother of the Raja of
Kanauj, who was granted the estate of Manikpur by his brother, and
founded the town of the same name, calling it after himself, when Dal Deo,
the Governor of Dalmau, died issueless. Bal Deo, the Raja of Kanauj'
and brother of the founders of these towns, was a contemporary of the
king Bahrlmgor of Persia ; this town, therefore, may be said to have been
founded 1,500 years ago.

Though it stands exactly on the bank of the Ganges, its great elevation
protects'it from inundation.

The soil is chiefly loam, and the surface is uneven, intersected with
ravines and dotted with groves.

The climate in the summer is healthy and pleasant, and in winter is
uncertam ; but m the rainy season, when the Ganges overflows its banks, it
is very unhealthy. Though there are no remains of buildings, tradition
affirms that the Bhars of the Ahir tribe took possession of this estate after
the death of E£e Partd.b Chand of Kanauj in 530 A.D.

The town was at that time in a flourishing state, and nearly all the
castes, as Khattri, Banian, Sar^ogi, Goldsmith, Gharw^r, and R^wat
inhabited it. '

DAL 355

In 423 Hijri, S^Mr Si\m, the father of MasaM, invaded the place, and
having taken prisoner the chiefs of Kara and M^nikpur, granted this
estate to Malik AbduUa. Since that time the Muhammadans have had
a footing here. This grant and the existence of several tombs (yet standing)
of Ghdlib, Malik s Ali and WaU, and other martyrs, are proofs that they
had possessions here in the time of Sayyad SaMr. This town prospered
during the reign of Altamsh of Delhi about 600 Hijri. At that time, one
Makhdum Badr-ud-din, a companion of the king, resided there. Thence-
forward the town did well till the time of Flroz Shah Tughlaq, who
founded a school for the instruction of the people in Moslem lore. Its
usefulness can be gathered from the perusal of a book called " Chandrani"
in BhS,kha, edited by Mulla Daud of Dalmau in 719 Hijri (1255).
Yusuf, a gentleman resident of this town, had, in the time of the above-
mentioned Firoz Shah, built an Idg£h (where Musalmans go to pray on
the day of 'Id'), and on the same site still stands an Idgah recently erected.
The stone is still visible on which a qita or pair of couplets engraved upon
its surface gives the name of Yusuf, the builder, and the reigning king,
Firoz Shah, and the date 759 Hijri.

In 1394 A.D., at the close of the Tughlaq dynasty in the person of
Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq, ihe above-mentioned tribe of Bhars attained
great power in this country. After 1398, during the same king's reign,
Khw^ja Malik Sarwar, the subahdar of Jaunpur, raised the standard of
independence, ascended the throne, and took the title of Sultan-ush-Sharq.
The provinces of Kanauj, Dalmau, Sandlla, Bahraich and Bihar were
included by him in his kingdom of Jaunpur. As thus settled, it remained
included in the kingdom of Jaunpur, but in the possession of the Bhars.
In the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi, who succeeded in 804 Hijri, Dal, a
Bhar Chief, who lived in the fort of Dalmau, wished to obtain the hand
of the daughter of Baba Haji, a Sayyad. The Sayyad went to Sultan
Ibrahim and asked his assistance. The king marched with a large army,
and having arrived on the day of the Holi festival, he killed Kakor, the
brother of D61, who had opposed him at the village Sudamdnpur, which
is 14 miles distant from this town, and then conquered the whole Bhar
army. The tomb of the same Dal is still standing about two miles from
this town, and the Ahirs, in the month of Saivan, there offer milk on it.
The Bhars were treated with terrible severity, of which traditions still
survive. The author of the " Lataif-i-Ashrafi " writes that there has been
no such terrible expedition in India since the invasion of the Arabs.
There is a caste called Bharonia, a tribe of AhIrs, which is occasionally
found in the villages of this pargana, and among them the custom exists
that their women do not wear the ordinary nose-ring and glass bracelets,
in commemoration of that expedition. After the annihilation of this tribe,
the Shekhs, Sayyads, and other followers of the king of Jaunpur, as also
the descendants of those who had entered this countryin the service of
Masatid, were rewarded for their good services with zamindaris and other
high honours, and settled in the towns Dalmau, Bareli, Bh^wan, JaMlpur
Dehi, Thulendi, &c,, wherever they got permission.

A masonry well and a garden on the bank of the river, erected by Sul-
tan Ibrdhim Sharqi in this town, still exist, and in the same garden there
is the tomb of Muhammad Shah, the grandson of Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi,

7. 9.

356 DAL

who ascended the throne in this town in 1440 A.D., and was killed by his
brother Husen Shah. It is known as the Maqbara-e-Shah-e-Sharqi.

In 820 Hijri Sultan Ibrahim Shah built a number of forts in this pro-
viace in one day, viz., in Bh4wan, Bareli, Thulendi, &c. ; also he repaired
the Bhar fort in this town, which had fallen in some measure into decay
during the Bhar war. This fort* fell into ruin since annexation, but the
twelve-doored house, which was the police station, and the gate with its
high walls, still stand. In addition to the ordinary office-holders, as chau-
dhris, qanungos, qazis, muftis, police officers, city magistrate, and munsifs,
there were appointed here some other office-holders who are rarely found
except in royal forts ; for instance, mutawalli (superintendent), who had
the charge of " aimma," i. e., mu4fis, as the qaniingos were in charge of
khalsa; " muhtasib" (censor), who checked practices contrary to the
religious law ; " khdtib' (preacher), who read the " khutba" /sermon
or oration delivered after prayer on Friday or on the day of " Id") and
certified to the genuineness of deeds of sale ; astrologers' who used to find
out auspicious dates for the public ; " ahdis," who belonged to the army staff
during the reigns of the former kings, and were sent on military expedi-
tions ; " nasihi," who used to teach the rules of the royal court ; mullas,
whose duty was to pray five times daily, to serve as school-masters, and to
read fatiha (prayers offered up in the names of saints), " nay^z" (dedica-
tion) at the commencement of the revenue collection, and also when any
governor arrived there ; " qasbati," whose duty was to supply the officials,
civil and military, with necessaries ; door-keepers, who kept watch at the
door of the fort, and who up till date hold their ancient rent-free lands in
village Daryabad ; " gharidli" (the person who attends the ' ghari' and
strikes the hours), who struck the hirtal on the door of the fort : the
holder of this office still possesses rent-free the village Naslrpur Kirt^li,
and strikes the Jcirtdl still on the door of the fort ; " guldagha," whose
duty was to brand horses of the cavalry and the oxen of the battalions ;
there were also the mace-bearers, who attended the governors. There
are two tombs in this town, one of Ghalib Shahld above-mentioned, and
the other of Malik Mub&ik Shahid, and a mujawir (sweeper of a mosque)
has been employed since annexation to sweep off the dust and kindle the
lamp on the tomb.

During Akbar's reign, Mirza ShukruUa, under whose charge the mosque
of Makhdum Badr-ud-din was repaired, served here as the faujdar of
Dalmau. His stone-built tomb still stands in this town.

In the reign of Shah Jahan, Nawab Sherandaz Khan, the faujdar of
Dalmau, founded a muhalla, Sherandazpur, called after his name. He
also built an imimbara and a mosque within the precincts of the fort.

Nawab Shuja-ud-daula, the Governor of Oudh, erected a brick-built
house, and laid out a garden two miles north of this town. Since annexa-
tion the house has been piiUed down, as it lay on the road then being

* This fort, an imposing ruin on the summit of a lofty artificial mound, believed to be an
ancient Buddhist Stupa, is described in article Eae Bareli.

Dalmau is frequently mentioned in Farishta ; after the erection of this fort it became
a place of importance. Sikandar Lodi, the Emperor, was married here to the widow of
Sheri, its Governor, 900 Hijri, 1491 A. D. «ee Dow's Farishta, vol. II., pp. 58, 59.

DAL S57

constructed from Dalmau to Lalganj ; only the southern wall ■ now stands.
It is said that Saadat Ali Khan, Nawab of Lucknow, was born in this very-
house. In 1146 Hijri, during the rule of Nawab Shuja-ud-daula, the
rent-free tenures granted by the former king were confiscated, and there
was considerable distress in consequence.

In the same year, Pandit Gopal Rao, Marahta, crossed the Ganges from
the Duab and plundered this town. From that time the grandeur of the
place and the respectability of its residents commenced to decline, and
continued declining so much that at present it does not exhibit any trace
of its former eminence. In the reign of Aurangzeb a battle took place
between the Hindus and Muhammadans on the day of the Ashra festival,
which cost the life of Shekh Abul Alam, a gentleman of this town, and
seven of his companions. In the reign of Muhammad Ali Shah, King of
Lucknow, there was a fight between the royal troops stationed in the fort
here and the residents of the town, anent a mosque.

According to the census of February 1869, the population of this town
amounts to 5,654, of whom there are 910 Sunni Musalmans and four Shias.
Of the 4,940 Hindus, there are 727 Brahmans, 174 Kayaths, 105 Bhats,
and 70 Banians, who mostly belong either to Shaivi or Shdkti sects ;
very few of them are Vaishnavis. The remaining 3,664 are of the lower
castes, who cannot be properly classified according to sects.

There are 245 brick-built, and 411 mud-built houses.

In addition to the above-mentioned mosques of the Muhammadans,
there is one temple in honour of Banwari Debi, and this is also a very old
one.

There is a sarae with a mosque erected by Hajji Zahid in 1006 Hijri.

There is a Government Anglo-vernacular school here, in which
altogether thirty pupils are educated. A post office and police-station
are also in this town. This was the seat of the tahsil, but in 1864 it was
transferred to Lalganj.

There are three markets, one, Charai Mandi alias Purana Bazar, built
in the time of the kings of the east ; the other, Tikaitganj, by
Maharaja Tikait Rae in 1203 Hijri; and the third, Glynnganj, Wilt
by Mr. W. Glynn, the Deputy Commissioner, in 1862. Though
some shop-keepers live permanently in the Purana Bazar and Tikaitganj,
the regular market days for the former are Sunday and Thursday, and for
the latter Saturday and Wednesday. The market at Glynnganj is held on
Monday and Friday. A fair is held on the last Monday in Baisakh (April
May) near the tomb of Makhdiim Badr-ud-dln Badr Alam. Muhamma-
dans of this town offer oblations and prayers, and display banners in honour
of Sayyad Salar Masaiid ; only a few hundreds assemble. The largest fair
here is that on the day of Kdrtiki Puranmashi (on the last day of the
month of Kartik (November and December) ; then the gathering amounts
to fifty or sixty thousand, and merchandise, consisting of English cloth,
and so on, is brought from Lucknow by the Bareli road, and from Cawn-
pore and Fatehpur by the road from Fatehpur to Dalmau.

358 DAL

DALMAU Pargana—Tahsil LA-LG&.m— District Rae Bareli.— This large
pargana extends along the bank of the Ganges from Salon on the east to
parganas Khiron and Sareni on the west ; on the north lies pargana Bareli,
and on the south the river Ganges separates it from district Fatehpur. It
is about 24 miles in length and about 12 in breadth ; it contains 292 villages
consolidated out of the 351 townships recorded at the summary settlement.
The area is 253 square miles. The population is 145,088, of whom 19,614
are Brahmans, 11,609 Chhattris, 22,926 Ahirs, 16,443 Chamars. These
figures are not significant except that the proportion of Brahmans is
remarkably high.

The landed tenures are —

Taluqdari ... ... 213

Grants ... ... 32

Zamindari ... ... 33

Pattidari ... ... 14

292

The Government revenue is Rs. 4,11,143, being at the rate of Rs. 2-8-8
per acre, which is very high. The pargana is fertile and well cultivated in
some places towards the Ganges. Water is near the surface ; there are a
number of depressions and elevations which give variety to the landscape ;
the soil is a fertile loam ; irrigation is carried on chiefly from wells. There
are ten bazars, viz., Lalganj, Kakoran in Sudamanpur, Narpatganj, Far-
hatganj, Dalmau Khas, Gaura, Hardo Raghunathganj in KJaajurgaon,
Jagatpur Baisura, Sarae Ishri Bakhsh, Jagatpur Tanghan. Lalganj is
the most important ; the main imports are rice and sugar from Fyzabad,
and cotton from Fatehpur. There is a considerable trade in cattle. There
are two fairs in the pargana, one in September at Dalmau, and the other
at Sudamanpur, in honour of a local god, Kakoran Deota ; at each of these
about 50,000 people assemble. Kakoran, too, is a great cattle fair ; 2,500
head are generally brought up for sale. During the Nawabi, salt was
manufactured in 22 villages ; the annual out-turn was about 17,000 maunds,
and the value Rs. 18,000 Saltpetre was made in no less than 44 villages.
A little saltpetre is still made, but only in two villages.

The botany of the pargana is not remarkable ; an oil expressed from the
seeds of mahua is largely used for burning. A tree called R^m-Riikh in
village Deogion in this pargana is said to be peculiar to it. There are only
two specimens. On stripping the fbark off any place, the words " Ram
Ram" will be found legibly written as in red ink. The untutored Indian
has therefore authority for seeing his god in the trees at least.

A dispensary has been built by Raja Dakhinaranjan Mukarji on the
road from Dalmau to Salon. The history of the pargana need not be
given here, it is simply that of the gradual spread of the Bais, varied by
the quarrels between the Bhars and the Musalmans of Jaunpur. Ibrahim
Sharqi of Jaunpur conquered the Bhars, and divided the territory now
forming this pargana into six districts — JaMlpur, Birkha, Bhai, Satawan,
Haweli, i. e., Dalmau Khas, and Pandaria ; collectors, called tappadars,
were appointed to each. When Dalmau was made a pargana by Akbar ■
it was placed in Sarkar Manikpur and Subah Allahabad, and so it remained.
Meanwhile, under Newal Rae, the great prime minister of Nawab Safdar

DAL— DAR 359

Jang, the country was divided into zilas, and Dalmau was made a chakla
in Nizdmat Baiswara.

The Bais were almost the sole proprietors, till the forfeiture of the great
estate of Rana Beni Madho resulted in the distribution of the property
among gentlemen of various nationalities, — Sikhs, Englishmen and Bengalis.

The history of the Bais belongs more properly to the account of Baiswara :
it is given under Rae Bareli ; it may, however, here be mentioned that,
according to local tradition, when the invasion of Abhar Ghand took
place, he was accompanied by the following Chhattris, — Gaur, Bachgoti,
Bandhalgoti (Amethia), all from Kalinjar in Bundelkhand. The Kachhwa-
has from Jaipur, the Dikhit, Bisen, Kanhpuria, Sombansi, Janwar, Raik-
war, from the Duab, also accompanied the Bais chief It is rather strange
that these ten tribes with the Bais are so numerous and powerful in Oudh
that they hold about half the landed property.

It appears almost as if the great Chhattri immigration was headed by
Abhai Chand. The Bais are said to have settled in the pargana in 1088
Hijri ; they came in from Daundia Khera. They have peculiar customs : the
elder of two sons gets IJ shares, the younger, one share of the inheritance.

The principal estate is that of Khajlirgaon, belonging to a younger
branch of the Tilok Chandi Bais, which broke off from the main stem of
Murarmau.

DARYABAD Town— Pargana Daryabad — Tahsil R/m Sanehi Ghat—
District Bara Bajjki. — This town was founded some 450 years ago by
Darya Khan, a subahdar of Muhammad Ibrahim Sharqi. It lies on the
old high road from Lucknow to Fyzabad, about 24 miles east of the sadr.
There are one or two fine houses, notably that of Rde Abhiram Bali,
Kayath, qantingo and taluqdar of Rampur, who is the principal resident
and an honorary magistrate.

There are two bazars, — one to the west, built about 80 years ago by Roshan
Lai, Diwan of Almas Ali Khan ; the other to the east, founded by Stiraj
Bali, ancestor of the present taluqdar.

The Government school here is very flourishing, and Rae Abhiram Bali
sets a good example by sending his own family there to learn English.

When the autumn crops are ripe, fever and ague are very prevalent,
owing to the low swampy ground round the town. Indeed, after a heavy
fall of rain, the country round is a sheet of water, so that the name Darya-
bad is not inappropriate, what the natives term " Ism-i-ba-musamma."

After the rebellion this was the head-quarters of the district, but, owing
to the unhealthiness of the place, it was soon transferred to Nawabganj,
and is stUl there. The town has declined with the removal of the sadr and
the change in the high road to Fyzabad, which now runs about six miles
to the south instead of through it as formerly. The muhallas axe " Katra-
i-Darbdri Lai," "Muhalla Muharriran" (writers' quarters), "Muhalla
Makhdtim-zadan" (quarters of descendants of holy men), " Muhalla Chau-
dharian," "Muhalla Dikhit," " Muhalla MughMn/' &c.

360 DAR

Population— Hindus 2,890, Moslems 2,509,— total 5,399. Latitude
26° 53' north, longitude 81° 36' east.

DARYABAD Pargana — Tahsil Ram Sanehi Ghat — District Baea
Banki. — This large pargana lies between Basorhi on the south and Bado
Sarai on the north ; it extends to the Gogra on the east, and is gradually
being enlarged owing to the recession of the river towards the east. The
present course of the river is about eight miles east of the ancient bank,
and the intervening ground is comparatively low. The area is 214 square
mUes, of which 137 are cultivated. There are 241 villages, of which 110
belong to taluqdars and 131 to zamindars. The population is 132,746,
being at the rate of 620 to the square mile ; 14,288 are Musalmans.

The principal landowners are the Surajbans : Raja Narindr Bahadur
Singh of Haraha, who has an estate of 66 villages, paying a Government
revenue of Rs. 55,000, and covering an area of 29,360 acres. Rae
Abhiram Bali Kayath, has an estate of 33 villages, covering an area of
13,570 acres. The estate of Qiampur, belonging to a Surajbans Chhattri
of the Haraha family, is also in this pargana.

An incident in its history is thus told by Sleeman : —

" As we went on, I asked the Amil what had become of Ahburun Sing
of Kyampore, the landholder who murdered his father to get possession
of his estate, as mentioned in the early part of this Diary. ' Ahburun
Sing, sir, is still in possession of his estate of Kyampore, and
manages it exceedingly well.' ' I thought he had taken to the jungles
with his gang, like the rest of his class, after such a crime, in order to
reduce you to terms.' ' It was his father, sir, Aman Sing, that was doing
this. He was the terror of the country ; neither road nor village was safe
from him. He murdered many people, and plundered and burnt down
many villages ; and all my efforts to put him down were vain. At last I
came to an understanding with his eldest son, who remained at home in the
management of the estate, and was on bad terms with his father. He
had confidential persons always about his father for his own safety, and
when he was one night off his guard, he went at the head of a small band
of resolute men and seized him. He kept him in prison for six months,
and told me that while so much plunder was going on around, he did not
feel secure of keeping his father a single night ; that many of his old
followers wanted him back as their leader, and would certainly rescue him
if he was not disposed of; that he could not put him to death, lest he
should be detested by his clan as a parricide ; but if I would make a-
feigned attack on the fort, he would kill him, and make it appear that he
had lost his life in the defence of it. I moved with all the force I had
against the fort, discharged many guns against the walls, made a feigned
attempt at escalade ; and in the midst of the confusion Aman Sing was
hilled. As soon as this was done, I returned with my force • the son
remained in possession of the estate, and all the surrounding country was
delighted to hear that so atrocious a character had been got rid of.' "

Rae Abhiram Bali belongs to a family which yielded loyal service to the
Oudh Government for several generations. Sobha Rae and Sltalparsha^
are both great names in the history of Oudh administration.

DAR 361

They no doubt acquired estates by more or less of oppression, but they
seem to have been singularly moderate in this respect. The annals of the
family are related as follows by their descendant : —

" Hundreds of years ago his ancestors came to Oudh, where they held
the posts of sighadar and taluqdar, and rendered good services, for which
they always enjoyed honour and esteem under the late Government.

" In the eighth or ninth generation, Rde Sobha Rae was chakladar of
Ramnagar. At that time some zamindars had ceased to pay Government
revenue, and therefore Rae Sobha Rae was ordered to furnish and realize
the outstanding revenue from those zamindars, which he did, and by which
he gained honour. He was succeeded by Rae Updhot Singh, who, after
extirpating dacoits and insurgents, used to collect Government revenue.
He was killed in an engagement with the people of mauza Naugaon, for
which his successors obtained three villages in jagir and got a royal sanad.
Rae Sitalparshad was wounded near Sanehi by the recusant zamindars, but
he gained a victory over them ; in consideration of this, as well as other
loyal services, the village Shahpur, which was held in zamindari for a long
time, was conferred on him rent-free."

The present incumbent is an Honorary Assistant Commissioner.

A rea of crops.

Acres.

Ju& ^ 1,097

Juar and bajra ... ... ... ... ... ... 500

Rice ... 26,023

Wheat .. ... ... ... ... ~. ... 23,801

Sugarcane ... ... ... ... ... — . 2,063

Barley ... - 5,479

Gram ... ... ... 5,000

Poppy... 802

Vegetables ... ... ... ... ... ... 215

Oil-seeds ... ... ... ... ... ... 400

Miscellaneous ... ... ... ... ... ... 18,434

As the Sattndmi sect originated in a village of this pargana, an account
of it is given below ; it is as related by themselves : — ■

Baba Jagjiwan Das, the founder of this creed, was a Thakur by caste,
and an inhabitant and zamindar of Kotwa, in pargana Ramnagar Dhameri,
district Bara Banki.

The present successor to his gaddi is Baba Jaskaran Das, a descendant
of his in the twelfth generation. His disciples are both lay and clerical.
Marriage is not prohibited, but a person who succeeds to the gaddi has
to renounce all worldly relations and concerns. There are two orders of the
clergy, — the superior and the inferior. The superior is called mahant.
The gaddis of both orders still exist in mauza Kotwa. This family is
large, and a number of its members hold estates, and are allied to many
great taluqdars' families by marriage. They profess the unity of the
Deity, have great faith in Hanoman (the monkey-god), and observe great

362 DAR

solemnities in his honour ; flesh is forbidden. Raja Debi Bakhsh, late
taluqdar of Gonda, married in this family, and on the occasion . of his
marriage he was entertained as a guest together with his whole suite.
But he declined their hospitality unless served with flesh. The Sattnamis
at last prepared a curry of baingan, pronounced a prayer upon it, and
when served out it was found to be flesh ; from thenceforth the Sattnamis
renounced the eating of baingan as a thing convertible into meat.
The bible of this sect is a book called " Agh Binas," composed by
Jagjiwan Das. It is in verse and believed to be inspired ; it, however, con-
tains stories from the Purans, as also lessons on morals ; it prescribes cer-
tain rules of piety, and contains lessons on ethics and divinity, being all
extracts from Sanskrit works on the Hindu religion. This work is in Hindi.

In Ambala, in the Panjab, there is a Sattnami gaddi founded by Gambhir
Das, a disciple of B aba Jagjiwan Das, and at Amritsar there is another
founded by Shiva Das. Among the disciples of Baba Jagiiwan Das there
was one of the low caste of Kori, who converted Chamars and other low
caste Hindus to the faith. Hence almost all classes of the Hindus follow
this faith, and there is hardly a town in India without Sattnamis. The
Sattnamis profess to adore the true name alone, the one God, the cause
and creator of all things, the Nirgtin, or void of sensible qualities, without
beginning or end.

They borrow, however, their notions of creation from the Vedanta philo-
sophy, or rather from the modified forms in which it is adapted to vulgar
apprehension. Worldly existence is illusion, or the work of Maya, the pri-
mitive character of Bhaw^ni, the wife of Shiva. They recognize accord-
ingly the whole Hindu Pantheon ; and although they profess to worship
but one God, pay reverence to what they consider manifestations of his
nature visible in the Avatars, particularly Rama and Krishna.

TJnlike the Sadhus, they use distinctive marks, and wear a double thread
of silk round the right wrist. Tikas are not universally employed, but
some mark a perpendicular streak on the forehead with ashes of a burnt
offering made to Hanoman.

Their moral code is much the same as that of all Hindu ascetics, and
enjoins indifference to the world, its pleasures or its pains ; devotion to the
spiritual guide ; clemency and gentleness ; rigid adherence to truth ; the dis-
charge of all ordinary social or religious obligations ; and the hope of final
absorption into the one spirit with all things.

There is thus little or no difference in essentials between the Sattnamis
and some of the Vaishnavi sectaries, but they regard themselves as a
separate body, and boast of their own founder, Jagjiwan Das.

He wrote several tracts, as the Inyan Prahds, Mahd Praldya, and
Pratham Grantha ; they are in Hindi couplets : the first is dated Sambat
1817, or A.D. 1761 ; the last is in the form of a dialogue between Shiva
and Parbati.

His father, Ganga Ram, was a Chandel proprietor of mauza Sardaha,
pargana Bado Sarai, whose guriib was Bisheshwar Puri Gosh^in, a resident
of Guseri, in the trans-Gogra estate of Guwarich,

DAR 363

Jagjiwan Das was bom at Sardaha on Mdgh Sudi 7tli, Sambat 1738,
(A.D. 1682). At six months old his father's gurw, Bisheshwar Puri,
threw his mantle over him, and instantly a saffron-colored tilalc appeared
on the babe's forehead.

At twenty years of age Jagjiwan Das left Sardaha for Kotwa in the neigh-
bouring pargana of Daryabad. He died on Baisakh Badi 7th, Sambat
1817 ( A.D. 1761 ). His four chief clielas or disciples were —

1. Goshain Das . . . An UpaddHa Brahman, who located himself at Kumdi,

pargana .Daryabad.

2. Debi Daa ... Chamar Gaur Thakur, Lachhmanpur, pargana Haidargarh.

3. Dulam Daa ... Sombansi ditto Dharmipur, pargana Salon.

4. Khem Das ... Tiwari Brahman, Nidhanpur, pargana Daryabad.

Besides these there were —

5. Sanwal Daa .. . Brahman, Omalipur, pargana Maholara.

6. Ude Ram ... TJrya Brahman, Harohandpur, pargana Maholara.

7. Shiva Daa ... Gaur Brahman, Panjab.

^- i Baddri Daa ."* ] ^"''™i^' ■^*"^^> pargana Nawabganj.

9. Mansa Dda ... Mochi, Guwarioh.

10. Bhawani Daa ... Bahrelia Thakur, Bahrelia, pargana Daryabad.

11. AhladDas ... Chandel, Sardaha, pargana Bado Sarai.

12. Sundar Daa ... Brahman, Hargtion, Tiloi estate.

13. Tunur Daa ... Sombansi, Nidhanpur.

14. Kara Daa ... Brahman.

A shrine was erected in honour of Jagjiwan Das in Kotwa by Rae Nihal
Chand, son of Eaja Kirmal Das, the brother of Maharaja Tikait Rae, in
the reign of Asif-ud-daula. Two large fairs are held at Kotwa on the last
days of Kartik and Baisakh, and a smaller one on the last day of every
month. Certain miraculous cures are recorded of Jagjiwan Das, and the
waters of the Abhirdifn Tdldb near his shrine are still believed to retain
miraculous healing powers.

The statements of the qantingo ( which, he says, he abstracted from the
Bhagat Binas, written by Bed Mai Kayath) are confirmed by local inqui-
ries. To feed the needy, to wound no one's feelings, to work with the
plough till mid-day (the rest of the time to be devoted to praying and
rest ), are part of the tenets of the Oudh Sattnamis, as is related of the
same sect in the Central Provinces Gazetteer ; but caste customs are not
interfered with ; the village priest regulates for the Sattndmi, as for others
of his caste, the propitious hours for marriage, &c. Strictly speaking, the
Sattnami is not supposed to worship idols. A good deal of liberality is
shown towards local superstitions. Incense is weekly burnt to Hanoman
under the title of Mahdbir, whilst Ram Chandar seems to come in for a
share of adoration.

Meat, masur, and intoxicating liquors are prohibited, as also is the
havngan, at least locally. Smoking, on the contrary, seems to be allowed.
Casta distinctions are not lost on a profession of Sattnami-ism. On the
contrary, its professors seem careful not to interfere with caste prejudices
and family customs. Fasts are kept, at least to a partial extent, on Tues-
day, the day of Hanoman, and on Sunday, the day of the sun. The water
in which the Gurlis' feet have been washed is drunk only when the Gurti
is of equal or higher caste than the chela. That everything, as part of God

364 DAE^DAU

should be at least internally called sdhib seems admitted ; as also that
God is the motive of evil as well as of good. Sattnamis seem steadily to
observe teohdrs ( festivals ) of their Hindu brethren. Their special ones
at Kotwa have been attended to. The usual ceremonies as to Prasdd, &c.,
are gone through. Family customs are strictly kept up, i. e., correspond
to the caste to which the Sattnami belongs. The kanthi (necklace) is
the mark of the Chamdr Bhagat. It has nothing whatever to do with the
Sattnami. The distinctive mark of the latter is the dndu, or black or
white twisted thread, generally of silk, worn on the right wrist. The full-
blown Mahant wears an andu on each wrist and each ancle. Mahants of
lower degree wear the ^ndu on each wrist, but not on the ancles.

A regular Mahant can only be appointed by the full bench of Mahants
(at present said to consist of the fourteen above recorded, exclusive of the
Kalu Mahant at Kotwa).

The tilak, as noted above, is one black perpendicular streak. Marriage
customs are those of the family to which the Sattnami may belong. There
is no pardah for the Gurii ; he is professedly looked on as a father. In
death family customs are observed. The ascetism of the true Sattnami is
only partially imitated by his followers. It is curious that the preceptor
of Jagjiwan Das was a Goshdin worshipper of Shiva, whilst the Sattnami
doctrines are essentially those of the sect of Vaishnavi. The one traces
back to the old aboriginal worship, the other to that of the intellectual,
self-contemplating Aryans.

DA'UDPUR — Pargana Patti — Tahsil Patti — DistricfPARTABGARH. — Daud
Khan, the Governor of Allahabad, founded this town on the road from Patti
to Surhera. The river Sai flows four miles to the west ; it is sixteen miles
from Bela. This afterwards was the fort of Pirthipal Singh, taluqdar ; he
killed the qanungo. Daiid Khan was a Bhar, who, when his clan was per-
secuted by AUa-ud-dln Ghori, became a Musalman and got twelve villages.
The Basraha, a sub-clan of the Bachgotis, then seized the place. In 1186 F.,
Amir Singh the ancestor of the Patti taluqdars, acquired possession.
The population is 354.

DAUNDIA KHERA Pargana — Tahsil Purwa — District Unao. — In con-
nection with the history of this pargana, it is necessary to give an account
of the Bais clan of Chhattris, for they subdued the old reigning tribe of
Rajbhars and brought the whole country into their possession.

The Bais are descended from Raja Salbahan, who, it is said, issued from
the womb of an unmarried daughter of a Banian by a miracle of Sheshji.
This r^ja was so fortunate that he overcame the mighty Raja Bikrama-
jit of Ujjain, and fixed his own era called Saka, which is still reckoned
in the calendars. This year is 1793 of Salbahan's Sdka. His descendants,
having traced their origin to the Banian's daughter, are thence termed Bais!

In 1191 Sambat of Bikramajit, two brothers. Raja Abhai Chand and
Pirthi Chand, twelfth in descent from Silbahan, came on a bathing ceremony
to the Ganges at the Shiurajpur Ghat, to which place also came the wife of
the Raja of Argal, accompanied by a few attendants and a small number of
soldiers. The governor of the place, wishing for an immoral purpose to

DAU 365

seize her, attacked the cavalcade, and her soldiers, not being able to face or
oppose the enemy, yielded and gave themselves up. The queen solicited
assistance from these two brothers, which they granted, and thus saved her
from the grasp of her powerful enemy, though it cost them the life of one
brother, Pirthi Chand. On hearing this, the Eaja of Argal received the
surviving brother, Abhai Chand, with much cordiality, gave him his daughter
in marriage, with the proprietorship of five villages as her .dowry. Eaja
Abhai Chand then began to extend his dominion, and first of all founded a
village called Abhaipur after his name, on the other bank of the river
Ganges opposite the village Daundia Khera. The village still stands in
the district of Fatehpur, North- Western Provinces. He then crossed the
Ganges, and on this side drove out the Bha?s of the Daundia Khera
estates after fighting a fierce battle there. He gave the name of
Sangrampur to the place where he fought the battle. The word "Sangram"
in Sanskrit means battle and bloodshed. His descendants increased their
dominions rapidly : Raja Sedhli Eae founded Sedhtipur, Ghatamdeo, Gh£t-
ampur, Ranblr Singh, Eanbirpur alias Purwa now in Unao ; Raja Salhu,
eighth in descent from Abhai Chand, extended his dominion from Salon to
Lucknow, built himself a masonry fort in Kakori, and probably intended to
attack Lucknow, but was ultimately murdered in the same fort. His son,
Eaja Tilok Chand, was a very fortunate and prosperous man; his descend-
ants are generally called Tilok Chandi Bais ; and some other clans, as
Mahror and Bhale Sultan, also claim their descent from this great man. A
curious story is narrated of him, that one day while hunting game he was
very thirsty, and having no attendant with him, he asked a Lodha, who
was present there, to fetch him some water, which he brought in his own
lota or drinking vessel. The raja, after drinking the draught of water and
discovering that this man was a low caste Lodha, asked him to call himself
thenceforth a Brahman, under the title of a Pathak of Amtara, as he was
watching the 'am' or mango trees. This title still remains with his de-
scendants, who are acknowledged as Brahmans. Eaja Tilok Chand had two
sons, Pirthi Chand and Harhardeo ; from the former have descended Eaja
Shiupal of Murarmau and Babu Eam Bakhsh of Daundia Khera, who was
hanged on the charge of having been concerned in the murder of British
subjects. The descendants of the latter are some of the taluqdars of Eae
Bareli and of Haidargarh. The whole of this estate is called Baiswara,
from the Bais being its exclusive proprietors. The Bais principally date
their origin and greatness from this pargana Daundia Khera.*

In the pargana arrangement of Akbar Shah the estate now known as
the pargana of Daundia Khera was divided into three muh^ls (divisions),
■ — ^pargana Sedhfipur, pargana Unchgdon, pargana T^rgaon ; but this was
modified by Eao Mardan Singh, the ancestor of Babu E^m Bakhsh, a
century ago ; he had been a nazim of that place, and he joined all these in
one pargana, calling it Daundia Khera, and that arrangement is still
unaltered. The pargana comprises 101 villages; in shape it is triangular,
eleven miles in length from east to west and eight in breadth from north to
south ; it is 64 square miles in area, and is bounded on the east by pargana
Sareni, on the west by pargana Ghatampur, on the south by the river
Ganges, and on the north by parganas Bhagwantnagar and Ghatampur.

* For furtlier details concerning the Bais, see article Eae Bareli.

366 DAU

The proprietary system is as follows : —

Taluqdari ... ... ... ... ... 26

Zamindari ... ... ... ... ... 34

Pattidari ... ... ... ... ... 44

101 villages

The total area is 40,821 acres ; the revenue paid to Government is
Rs. 1,02,104, and the rate per acre on an average is Rs. 2-8.

The population consists chiefly of Bais and Brahman castes. The
number of Musalmans is very small ; the total population amounts to
29,869.

The river Ganges flows past the southern boundary, and the river
Gurdhoi, passing through the villages of Ghatampur and Bhagwantnagar,
falls into the Ganges in this pargana. These rivers, however, do no good
to the country, but a great deal of damage when they overflow their banks
and sweep away aU the crops then growing.

The soil is chiefly loam ; there is little sand and less clay. The princi-
pal autumn crops are cotton, rice, millet, urd, miing, vetches, and some
other small grains ; the spring crops are wheat, barley, gram, birra (barley
and gram), arhar a kind of pulse, oil-seeds and sugarcane.

The yield of the autumn crops depends on the amount of rainfall in the
rainy season. If heavy, it sweeps away everything already grown upon
the soil, while, on the other hand, deficiency makes the crops poor and
scanty, — ^the young plants die away at once for want of their watery nourish-
ment, and then the cultivators are sadly at a loss. The spring crops
depend, on the other hand, on the skill and labour of man ; the more they
are irrigated, the heavier they are. The irrigation in this pargana is
carried on by wells, the water being found at an average depth of 52 feet.
The climate is on the whole good. The months of Bhadon (September-
October) and Kuar (October-November), as results of the change of season,
bring with them at times a sort of fever and ague, but this is also not
usual.

There are six markets in this pargana, — Daundia Khera, Sh^gor, Alipur
Hisampur, Baksar, Dhaurwara. The first is held on Sundays and
Wednesdays ;the second, fourth, and sixth on Saturdays and Tuesdays ; the
third on Mondays and Thursdays, and the fifth on Saturdays and Wednes-
days. Of all these none need particular mention : ordinary sales in com
and vegetables, &c., are carried on the prescribed days, and nothing of
peculiar importance is sold. Corn, if needed on an occasion of dearth is
brought from Lucknow or the adjacent districts of Cawnpore and Fatehpur
by boat vid the Ganges. There is no market here for the sale of cattle •
the common kinds are generally kept by the residents for the purpose of
ploughmg, but if needed for carriage, are brought from Agra, Farukhabad
Nanpara, Fatehpur, or Makanpur fair. Thousands of wild cattle roam at
will in the " kachhar " or low land lying on the banks of the Ganges • they
are a source of great damage to the crops ; day and night they are being
driven off by the watchmen, and the fields are guarded from them on all
sides by deep ditches that these animals cannot cross. In the days of the

DAU— DEB 367

kings, saltpetre was manufactured in thirteen villages of the pargana to the
amount of 21,239 maunds and the value of Es. 42,478, but the British
excise law has put a stop to this.

There is a town in this pargana named Baksar on the hank of the Ganges,
six miles east of the vUlage Daundia Khera. The name of the village was
" Bakasram," a Sanskrit word denoting the residence of Bakas. Bakas was
a Rdkshas or demon, who founded this town and dwelt here, and had a
temple built in honour of Nageshwar Nath Mahadeo. This demon is said
to have been killed by Raja Shrikrishn Chand more than 5,000 years ago,
during the third age. There is also a masonry temple in this town in honour
of Sri Chandrika Debi, erected on the bank of the Ganges.

The ashtmi or eighth day of Kuar (October-November) and Chait
(March- April) are the days on which the fairs are held near both temples.

Fairs are also held on the day of Shiuratri, in Phagun (February-March),
lasting only one day each. There is a fourth fair larger than the others,
it takes place on the day of a bathing ceremony in the Ganges on the Pur-
anmashi, or last day of Kartik (November-December). This fair is frequented
by the shop-keepers of the neighbourhood, though not by those from
distant places. The annual sales of articles in this fair amount to
Es. 2,000.

DEBIGANJ — Pargana Bihar — Tahsil Bihar — District Partabgarh. —
The road from Bihar to Manikpur passes four miles north of this village,
which is on the bank of the Ganges, 39 miles from Bela, and 34 from Alla-
habad. There is said to have been a Musalman college here : certainly
many fine buildings formerly existed.

The population amounts to 1,311, — Hindus 1023, and Musalmans 288.
There are seventy masonry houses, and 292 with mud walls. There is one
Government school, and a bazar. This is a very picturesque old place.

DEBI Pjf^TAN* — Pargana Tulsipur — Tahsil Uteaula — District Gonda.
— Situated in the centre of the long strip, peopled by aboriginal races, which
runs under the hills from Eohilkhand eastwards, Debi Patau is probably
one of the oldest seats of the Shaivic cultus in northern India. The earliest
legend connects it with Eaja Kama, the hero of the golden earrings and
impenetrable cuirass, son of Kunti, the mother of the three elder Pandava,
by the Sun God, who, abandoned in his cradle on the Ganges, was adopted
by Adiratha, the childless king of Anga. Brought up at the court of Has-
tinapur, he was refused by Drona the arms of Brahma, which he eventually
obtained from Parasurama by faithful service at his retreat on the Mahen-
dra mountain. In after life he attended Duryodhana to the Swayamvara,
and having taken a prominent part in the great war, was finally granted
the city of Malini by Jarasindhu, the great king of Magadha, and reigned
as a tributary to Duryodhana. Other spots besides Debi Patau in the
Tulsipur pargana are connected by tradition with this king ; and a raised
mound just beyond the Hattia Kund, in the Bahraich district, is pointed
out as the remains of one of his principal cities. Just to the north of this,
on the borders of the forest, a Kashmiri Faqir, led, he says, by a dream,

* By Mr. W. C. Benett, c. s., Assistant Commissioner.

368 DEB

has detected the remains of an old temple. The excavations are not as yet
sufficiently advanced to allow of any kind of identification, and nothing
but one or two rough Lingams, a Ganesh, and a female figure, probably
Lakshmi, have been recovered.

On these legends it may be remarked that the scene of Kama's history*
is laid in central northern Hindustan. Malini has been identified with
Champanagara, a town on the Ganges to the east of Monghyr ; but if
Kama remained a tributary to the king of Hastinapur, it is more reason-
able to look for his'kingdom to the west of Magadha, between Delhi and
Behar. In the light of the local legend I am inclined to believe that in
the original epic the Malini referred to was the small affluent of the Gogra
which joins the main stream about 50 miles above Ajodhya.

Further, as the son of the Sun God, the wearer of the golden earrings, and
the favourite of the great Shaivic here Jardsindhu, Kama himself seems to
have been connected with the earliest forms of Shaivic worship, and the
name, Chandrashekara (he who wears the moon on his head), by which the
god is still known at Patan, is certainly derived from times when he was
yet worshipped as the beneficent lord of production.

.It is not, therefore, impossible that the old legend, which ascribes the
ancient ruins of a fort on which the present temple is built and its adjoining
tank to Kaja Kama, may have some kind of historical basis, though it is
far more probable that the actual existing remains belong to the period of
Vikramaditya of Sravasti.

We have no further light on the history of Debi Patan till, in the middle
of the second century after Christ, the great Vikramaditya, king of Sra-
vasti, or Sahet-Mahet, raised a new fane on the legendary spot, now over-
grown with jungle. It is quite certain that tradition refers to this king,
the conqueror of Kashmir, and the hot enemy of Buddhism, who restored
the old sacred places at Ajodhya, and not to the more celebrated founder
of the Ujjaini era.

It is to this time that we may ascribe the Purdnic legend of Debi's dis-
honour at the hand of Eaja Dakhsha of the Panjab. Her husband, Shiva,
arrived to find her dead, and taking the self-immolated corpse on his shoul-
der carried it eastwards. The dead and live bodies were not to be separated
till Vishnu cut the former into fifty pieces with his chakra, and flinging
them in as many directions created new places of pilgrimage. Her right
arm fell at Patan and sank through the earth into the lower world.

The story is quite modern, and the god bearing the inseparable corpse
of his consort from the Panjab may refer to the spread of the worship of
the Androgynous Shiva, whose figure is found on the coins of the Indo-
Scythic princes who reigned in north-western India soon after the com-
mencement of the Christian era.

Again the story breaks ofi', and we have no more information till a third
temple was erected by the great Eatan Nath, the third in spiritual descent
from Gorakh Nath, the deified saint whose worship is spread all over the
Naipal valley, as well as in many other parts of India.

* See article " Kama." Garrett's Classical Dictionary, p. 321. Wheeler's History of India
vol. I., p. 323.

DEB 369

There are strong grounds for believing that Gorakh Nath lived in the
middle or towards the end of the fourteenth century A.D. And if the
lists of reigning Mahants are correct, which there is no reason to doubt, they
confirm this view. From Ratan Nath to the present day twenty Mahants
have filled the Patau throne, and two steps S back carry us to Gorakh
Nath. Assuming that Gorakh Nath died 480 years ago, this would give
something under 22 years for each reign, which is a most reasonable aver-
age, as age is by no means a requisite qualification for election, the present
occupant, for instance, being quite a young man. Gorakh Nd,th was the
prophet of Joginism, or the complete suspension of life ; and many of his
successors at Patau have been celebrated for their feats in this difficult art.
Like all his disciples, the present priests especially worship Bhairava, the
incarnation of the highest world life, " the flame in the fire ;" draw a hori-
zontal line of ashes on their foreheads, and wear great earrings, round like
the sun, from which they get their distinctive name of Kanphata Jogis,
the earsplit devotees. They are not very strict in their asceticism, eating
even buffaloes, fowls and swine, and drinking spirits, and their profitable
reputation for sanctity is perhaps not dearly purchased by total abstinence
from beef and matrimony.

That the red sandstone temple, whose fragments are built into the
modem edifice, dates from the period of Gorakh Nath is proved by the
occurrence of the name of Gorakh Nath in a Nagri inscription on the door-
way, and by the numerous fragments of statues of Bhairava which are
found all over the place. As far as can be judged from the remains, this
temple must have been of considerable importance, adorned by profuse
sculpture, and full of stone images of various forms of Shiva and Debi.

For some centuries it flourished as a resort of great numbers of pilgrims,
chiefly from Gorakhpur and Naipal, and its importance was sufficient to
attract the attention of the great iconoclast. An officer of Aurangzeb slew
its priests, broke the images, and defiled its holy places.

Two Chhattris, Sumer Dhar and Mdlchand, avenged the desecration by
m.urdering the Muhammadan in his tent by night, and in the scuffle which
ensued, fell martyrs to their cause. Their victim is said to be buried
under the mound known as the Surbir, and numerous pigs are sacrificed
there in derision of his memory ; but it is probable that the name Surbir
refers to Shiva, and the connection with suar, a pig, is nothing more than
a happy pun.

It was not long before the temple rose a fourth time from its ruins,
under the protection of the neighbouring rajas of Tulsipur, and it was
not probably till after Aurangzeb's time that the place acquired any com-
mercial importance. All traditions agree in saying that till quite lately
the whole pargana was a vast forest ; the very name Tulsipur is not more
than 200 years old, and the old name D£man-i-koh is a mere Persian
representation of Tarai. Trade could not have commenced till the forest
had been cleared, and this is ascribed to the rajas of Tulsipur, themselves
a mountain race, who were not above 100 years settled in the plains. It
will be seen that the tradition has four distinctly marked periods. The
first, that of Raja Kama, the inveterate enemy of Krishna and the P^ndavas,

AA

370 DEB— DEW

dating perhaps fifteen centuries B. C. The second, that of Raja Vikram-
dditya of Sahet Mahet, the great enemy of Buddhism in the second century
A.D. The third, that of Gorakh Nath ; and the fourth of Aurangzeb.

There are at present a great heap of bricks, on which the new temple has
been built, and a large tank and well, which may possibly be the remains
of the second period. Above these great quantities of broken images and
sculpture are the relics of Gorakh Nath's temple, and the shrines of Debi,
Kali, and Bhairava; the houses of the devotees and the two walled gardens
have been erected by modern worshippers.

The fair this year (1871) lasted from March 21st to March 31st. In all
about 100,000 men attended it ; but as few stayed more than one day, the
average daily attendance was not much over 10,000. Four hundred and fifty-
seven hill ponies were brought, of which 371 were sold for Rs. 24,241. The
principal articles sold by the mountaineers were dhup wood, tow, mats, ghl,
iron, lahi seed, bankas grass and cinnamon, none in very great quantities.

They bought 2,781 pieces of cloth, at a value of Rs. 3,142, and Rs. 40
worth of needles. The limits of the fair were marked by yellow flags at
a mile from each side of the temple, and a temporary bazar was erected.
The stalls were arranged along two cross alleys 30 feet wide, and boards
denoted where each kind of merchandize might be sold.

Some twenty buffaloes, 250 goats, and 250 pigs were sacrificed daily at the
temple. Under the altar a large hole was dug and filled with sand, which
was changed twice a day and the old sand buried ; all the blood was thus
absorbed. At a small distance were four pits denoted by red flags, in which
sweepers, specially appointed for the purpose, buried all refuse. There was
no filth lying about, and no stench.

For each animal sacrificed the ofiiciating priest ordinarily received a
fee of 2 or 2 J annas, and their total receipts during the fair amounted to
about Rs. 1,500.

The Maharaja of Balrampur levies an old cess of one anna from the
purchaser, and Re. 1 from the seller of each pony. From this fund the
expenses of sanitation are met. This year the Maharaja contributed
Rs. 825,

DEORA KOT — Pargana Mangalsi— Ta^sii Fyzabad — District Ftza-
BAD. — This town lies on the metalled road, sixteen miles from Fyzabad.
The railway also passes through it. The population consists of 2,271
Hindus, and 191 Musalmans, There is one masonry temple to Mahadeo.

DEWA Pargana* — Tahsil 'NAWABGAm-^ District Baea Banki.— The par-
gana of Dewa at present belongs to the Nawabganj tahsil of district Bara
Banki, but previous to its transfer from I^ucknow, in 1869, it formed one of
the parganas of tahsil Kursi. Its chief town is Dewa, which lies in latitude
27° 5' and long 81° 21'. It is bounded on the west chiefly by pargana
Kursi, and on the north-east and south-east by parganas of the Bara Banki
district.

* By Mr. H. H. Butts, Assiatant Coromissioner,

DEW 371

In shape it is triangular, with its apex extending in an easterly direction
into Bara Banki, and its base lying on the Kursi pargana.

The town of Dewa is situated towards the north-east of the triangle, and
is connected by good unmetalled roads with Kursi lying west, Mahmudabad
on the north, Bara Banki on the south-east, and Lucknow on the south-west.
The road to the latter joins the Fyzabad and Lucknow imperial road at
Chiohat, about seven miles distant from Lucknow.

Its greatest length from north to south is twenty miles, and its breadth
from east to west, through Dewa from the apex of the triangle to its base, is
eleven miles. Its area is one hundred and forty square miles, and the number
of villages one hundred and sixty-three, with an average area of five hundred
and fifty acres to a village.

The rivers in the pargana are inconsiderable. The Kalydni follows its
northern boundary for a short distance, and in the centre it is crossed by the
Reth, a small stream that originates in jhils to the north of pargana
Mahona. Its bed lies low, and the land on either side is almost barren ; it
is tiot much used for irrigation. The pargana is, on the whole, dry ; forty-
three per cent, only of irrigated land is under cultivation, and more than
three-fourths of this is due to jhils. The jhils lie principally to the north of
Dewa, and near Dewa itself is a fine piece of water known as the Barela
jhil, of some four or five square miles in extent. To the south of the par-
gana also, near Basti, are some useful pieces of water for irrigation. But
this source of irrigation is always precarious, and through the centre of this
pargana, up in a north-westerly direction towards Dinpanah in Kursi, rains
have often been known to fail when they have fallen plentifully round
Lucknow. Perhaps the rain-fall is influenced by the course of the rivers,
and from this tract up to the Gogra, some twenty miles east, there are none.
To the north-east of Dewa, towards Nar4in-bhdri, the pargana is particu-
larly dry ; wells are dug with great difficulty, the sides will not stand, and
often the spring level is not reached at all.

The pargana is not, on the whole, well wooded ; groves round the villages
are not so abundant and fine as in the other parganas of the district ; wide
tracts of dhdlc jungle cross the centre of the pargana, but this tree never
attains to any height, and is cut down every third year for firewood.

The barren land amounts to 13'74 per cent, of the whole.
,, culturable „ „ 27'34 „ ,,

,, cultivated ,, ,, 58'94 „ „

The barren plains chiefly follow the course of the Reth,, and the cultur-
able lies on the jungle land already mentioned.

The percentage of cultivated laud is higher than in any other pargana
of the district, and to the south of Dewa the soil is very fertile and highly
cultivated. A great many of the cultivators there are of the industrious,
class of Ahirs, and they pay high rents to the Musalman proprietors.

The revenue assessed at summary settlement was ... Es. 1,05,955
The revised demand is ... ... ... „ 1,52,030

The rate falls at Es. 2-13-0 on cultivated.

„ „ „ 1-15-0 on cultivated and culturable

„ „ „ 1-10-0 throughout.

AA2.

372 DEW

The population of the pargana is 58,834. It fells at the rate of " 494 per
square mile of total area, and 709 per square mile of cultivated area.
It is thus distributed between the different creeds and classes : —

Musalmans are „, ... ... 13'5 of the wtole.

Hindus ... ... ... ... 86-5 „

Agriculturists ... ... ... ... 60"4 » „

!Non-agriculturists ... ... ... 39'6 „

In point of agriculturists it stands far higher than any other pargana in
the district.

The largest town is Dewa, with 3,605 inhabitants. Next to it is Gadia,
to the south of the pargana, with 2,542; and the only remaining towns with
a population of more than 1,000, but less than 2,000, are Babrigaon Basti,
Pind and Kheoli.

Dewa was an old Hindu head-quarters town, and is probably very ancient;
but no reliable story of its foundation can be given. The most probable
account is that which ascribes it to a Dewal Rikh. At the time of the
first Muhammadan invasion under Sayyad Masaiid, in A.D. 1030, it seems
to have belonged to the Janwars, who ruled the country from Saindur in
Kursi. This tribe of Rajputs has been noticed in the account given of
that pargana. The town was then attacked from Satrikh, the Musalmau
head-quarters, and taken.

The Musalmans, however, also talk of the Bhars, whom they drove out
from Bhitauli, which lies two miles to the west of Dewa.

The present Shekh residents of Dewa assert that they are descended
from Shah Wesh, the first Musalman conqueror of the village and lieute-
nant of Sayyad Masaud. But for a long time it formed only their entrenched
camp ; they did not acquire any proprietary rights in the pargana till
about the commencement of the sixteenth century. A little previous
to this time the Shekhs were rising into power in Lucknow, and Maulana
Zia-ud-din, father of the celebrated Shekh Makhdum Bandagi, whose tomb
is still shown in Lucknow, was granted Atiamau, a village of this pargana,
in jagir by a king of the Jaunpur dynasty. A grandson of Makhdum
Bandagi was Molvi MuhibbuUa, who married a daughter of Qazi Mahmlid,
of Dewa, and it was their son, Maulana Abd-us-SaMm, who first acquired
a Mr of Dewa by an aimma grant, and other villages of the pargana in j agir.
This was the commencement of the Shekhs' possessions in the pargana.

Another Musalman settlement was that of the Sayyads of Kheoli to the
west of Dewa, who colonized a tract of thirty-two villages, which was long
known as the tappa of Kheoli. They may have come about the commence-
ment of the thirteenth century. They have tombs of their Shahids or
martyrs round their villages, and state that they fought against the Bhars,
who held a fort in Mitauli close by.

A third colony to the south was that of the Shekhs of Qidwara, who
colonized a tract of fifty-two villages from Juggaur in Lucknow. They
probably came early in the thirteenth century. The taluqdar, Zain-ul-
abidin of Gadia, :s a member of this family. Other smaller Musalman
communities have spread over the pargana.

DEW 373

^ It -w-as at about this time, too, that different families of the Bais came
mto the pargana. They attacked a powerful family of Kurmis, who had a
large fort near Basti, the centre of twelve villages as they say, in the
south of the pargana, and drove them out. Others went north, and gradu-
ally ousting the Janwars, founded the large taluqas of Qdsimganj and
Behta, which they lost only during the last days of the Nawabi. These
Bais were m some way allied to the Janwdrs, into whose family they mar-
ried. They claim the zamindari of the town of Dewa itself The clan
became most formidable in the last days of the Nawabi, and, under Suphal
Smgh and Ganga Bakhsh,* seized almost the whole of the north of the
pargana, harrying, burning, and seizing the villages of their less powerful
neighbours. And they had but little fear of the native government, only
paying their revenue under pressure of guns and special troops sent to
collect. The Bais of this pargana were certainly men of great energy and
force of character. Their history will be further noticed. On their dis-
persion, most of their villages were conferred on the Musalman Shekhs of
Dewa. But there are still Bais of the same family left, who hold some of
the finest villages in the pargana.

Out of the one hundred and sixty-three villages of the pargana, only
some fifty-seven are held by Hindus ; the rest belong to Musalmans, and
half of these are held by taluqdars, the rest by zamindars.

The taluqdars are Shekh Zain-ul-dbidin of Gadia, A'bid Ali of Saidahar,
Naslr-ud-din of Tera Kalan, Bd Ali of Shekhapur, and Shams-un-nisa of
Jasmauria-Malukpur, the greater part of whose estate, however, lies in
other parganas Rajas Farzand Ali and Amir Hasan Khan also hold large
estates in this pargana, but they belong to Jahangirabad and Mahmudabad
of other parganas.

The pargana is mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari, and Dewa is said to have
a brick fort. In the Nawabi it belonged to what was known as the Dewa
Kursi chakla.

Shekh Zain-ul-abdin, taluqdar of Gadia, of the family of the Qidwai
Shekhs of Juggaur, holds an estate lying on the south-
wa.^'^IXqaTf Gadia*' east of the Dewa pargana. This taluqdar belongs
to one of the oldest and best Musalman families in
the district He professes to be descended from Mirak Shah, King of
Bum. Mirak Shah left two sons, Qidwat-ud-din and Nusrat ud-dm. The
latter, though the younger, inherited the kingdom, and the former was
made the qazi or chief judge. It is said that on one occasion the king's
son had th« misfortune to be guilty of homicide, and that the qazi found
him guilty in his court ; but the king, wishing to save the life of his son,
which had become forfeited to the laws, removed the qSzi before he had

* This is the Ganga Bakhsh Rawat mentioned in Sleeman's Tour, vol. II., page
232. He was then supposed to be a Pasi. The editor made personal inquiries as to the truth
of the assertion, and convinced himself that the clan is recognized as Chhattri, and that
there is nothing in the religion, customs, or appearance of the present members to indicate
an aboriginal connection; or any alliance with Pasia.

&

374 DEW

pronounced his sentence, and forced him to fly the kingdom. Another
account says that the king would not conform to the Musalman
laws and precepts as he was bound to by the constitution, and that the
qazi threw up his office. Some difference or other of this kind forced him
to leave his native land, and following the stream of adventurers that was
then pouring into Hindustan, he arrived at Delhi, where he was favourably
received by Sultan Shahab-ud-din. After marrying his son Aiz-ud-din to
the daughter of Fakhr-ul-^am, the Qazi of Dehli, he was sent to Oudh,
which, his descendants say, was assigned to him in jagir by different royal
farmans. But his descendant, Qazi Kamal, in the seventh generation had
to remit revenue to Delhi. It is said that Qazi Qidw^i found Juggaur in
the possession of the Bhar Raja Gans, whom he dispossessed, and colonized
a tract of fifty-two villages. He died in Ajodhya, where he was buried,
and his tomb lies near the mosque of A'lamglr.

Qazi Mdrtif, son of Qazi Kamdl, gave up the governorship of the pro-
vince, and contented himself with the fifty-two villages his ancestors had
originally conquered. Several members of this family have been distin-
guished for their learning, and have held responsible posts under the Delhi
emperors. Qazi Shawwal was famous for his knowledge of the law, and
was made qazi at Delhi, and wrote a book called Mir'at-ul-Islam. Qazi
Abd-ul Malik was a mansabdar ; Qazi Muhammad Hamid was also a
mansabdar, and received Keshnur in jagir for his troops. Muhammad
Qasim commanded a regiment in the Dakhan in the time of Aurangzeb ;
Shekh Fakhrulla was paymaster to the troops in Bengal.

Later members of this family took service with the Oudh kings, and
Munshi Muhammad Husen, a powerful noble, was at annexation naib of
the Minister Ali Naqi Khan. As with many others, his great quest was
zamindari, or landed property, and he took advantage of his position to
exact hard terms from different small zamindars. During the outbreak
he was killed by some one whom he had injured. The taluqdar of Gadia
holds other villages in the district of Bara Banki. In Lucknow his estate
is assessed at Es. 14,100. He is twentieth in descent from Mirak Shah.

Abid Ali, taluqdar of Saidahar, is one of the Dewa Shekhs, and pro-
Abid Ali, Taluqdar fesses to be descended from Amir Hisam Hajjdji,
of Saidahar. Shekh of Arabia.

His descendants live in what is known as the Hajjdji Muhalla of the
town of Dewa. Dewa was one of the first towns that fell into the hands
of the Musalmans, and seems to have been taken by Shah Wesh, one of
Sayyad Masatid's followers, who attacked it from Satrikh. The town was
never recovered by the infidels. Amir Hisam seems to have been a qazi
who accompanied some expedition which entered this country shortly
afterwards, perhaps in the time of Shahab-ud-din. He had an only son,
whom he married to the daughter of Shah Wesh, and he returned to his
native country. For a long time the family had no proprietary rights in
the pargana. Qazi Allahdad perhaps held Kundri and Karaunda, but it
is uncertain. The family, however, became well known, and at different
times got villages in jagir. Qazi Mahmud amongst them was most
celebrated. It was in his time that the family separated. Q^zi Mahmdd

DEW 375

had a daughter, who married Muhibbulla, descended from Makhdfim
Bandagi, of Lucknow, whose descendants are known as the Usmanji Shekhs,
and inhabit their muhalla in Dewa. From Qdzi Abd-ush-Shukur, his son,
is descended the taluqdar Abid AH and others, who Uve in the Hajjdji
quarter of the town. Abid Ali, however, did not acquire the bulk of his
taluqa till the last years of the Nawabi rule. Baqar Ali, his brother, had
been killed by the Bais of Qasimganj, and A'bid Ali, holding a post under
the Government, was enabled to get his case laid before the king. The
Bais were expelled, and a great many of the villages fell to Abid Ali.
His estate now consists of the following villages : —

Sarayyan, Karaunda, Shahpur, Inayatpur, Muizzabad, Bahraula, Tera
Khurd, Qasimganj, Gur-Sadiqpur, and is assessed at Rs. 5,201.

His pedigree is —

Amu- Hisam.

Qazi Zia-ud-diu married to a daughter of Shah Weah.

Qazi Allahdad.

Qazi MahmM.

Qazi Abd-ush-Shukur.

Qazi Ndthi.

Mir Muhammad.

Muhammad Fasi'h .

I

Abd-ul Ghani. Abd-ua Nabi,

I I

Abd-ul Ahad. Abu.

Muhammad Said. Shams-ud-din.

I

Baqar Ali. Abid Ali, Wahid Ali.

Ali Ahmad.

The history of Naslr-ud-din, taluqdar of Tera Kalan, is partly contained
Nas£r-ud-din of Tera in that of Shekh Abid Ali, which has just been
Kalan. ffiven.

He too traces his descent from Shah Wesh, and pretends that his taluqa
status dates from that time. The family, however, did not acquire any
zamindari at all in the pargana till the sixteenth century, and, as in the
case of Shekh Abid Ali, he owes the formation of his estate, and the
very name by which it is known, to the disposal of the Bais property by
the native government on their fall. A descendant in the fifth or sixth
genera-tion from Shah Wesh was Qazi Mahmlid, whose daughter married
Molvi Muhibbulla, descended from Makhdiim Bandagi Azim S^ni, the
Lucknow saint. He himself was celebrated for his learning and piety, and
was appointed a m/wfti, and to the post of tutor to the Emperor Shah Jahan.
He was the first of the family that acquired any proprietary rights in the
pargana of Dewa. Subsequently, he or his descendants got possession of

376 DEW

Salimabad, SaKmpur, Ghachenda, RasMdpur, Baqiabad, and Mindaura, and
for a long time this was all that the family possessed, and the members of
it held the estate in common. In 1257 Fasli (A. D. 1850) happened the
dispersion of the Bais Rajputs of Rajauli and Huraura. Abd-ul Hadi, the
father of the present taluqdar, then got the two villages of Tera Kalan and
Mirzanagar Behtai ; these, with his share in the old estate, compose his
present taluqa.

It is assessed at Rs. 1,306.

Shekh Bli All's history is the same as that of Naslr-ud-din ; he belongs
Eiasat Ali, hear of Bu ^ *^6 Same family of Dewa Shekhs. Through Molvi
Ali, Taluqdar of Shekha- MuMbbulla, their ancestor on the female side, they
P""^- are descended from the Padshah of Kirman. Their

muhaUa in Dewa is known as the Shekh Usmani MuhaUa. The two
branches of the famUy meet in Abd-ul Hafiz. On the expulsion of the
Bais, Bli Ali got Bichlanga, Taspur and Atwatmau, and these he holds
with his share of the old family estate. His estate takes its name from
Shekh^pur, a ' har' of Dewa, and is assessed at Rs. 1,738.

The pedigree from Abd-ul Hafiz is —

Abd-ul Tii&z.

I
Molvi Mnhammad Khan.

Shekh Fath Ali, w/Basti Mian.

Akbar Ali.

BilAli.

Eiasat AK.

These three taluqdars all reside in Dewa; their tombs and dargdhs crown-
ing small eminences round the place, and the brick-houses adorning the
town, built by different Muhammadan gentlemen, members of the family,
render it an interesting place to visit.

This taluqdar is of modem origin ; his rise dates from the time wheu
Kunwar Bhagwant ^^ took service under the Oudh Government in 1243
Singh, Kayath, Taluq- Fasli (1836 A. D.), during the reign of Amiad Ali
dar of Asni ttokalpur. gj^ah. He was known as the collector, that is to say
he had the command of the troops who were usually told off to help in
the collection of the revenue.

By standing security for defaulters, and buying up villages from dis-
tressed proprietors, he amassed an estate of twelve villages, which are now
assessed at Rs. 10,064 ; and possessing the requisite standing on the rent-
roll, he was recognised as a taluqdar by the British Government, and
received a deed of grant for his estates.

Kheoli, about two miles to the west of Dewa on the road to Kursi, wag
The Sayyads of Kheo- the head-quarters of a tappa of that name, which was

^; . colonized by Sayyads at an early period. It came in

time to consist of thirty-two villages.

DEW 377

The Sayyads, by their own account, led by their ancestor, Am^natuUa,
a native of Ispahan, who had under him a force of 5,000 horsemen, came
into the pargana in the time of Alla-ud-din Ghori. The only circumstance
of the expedition they remember is that they halted one day at Kursi.
The Bhars then owned the land, and held a strong fort at Bhitauli, lying
to the east of their present village. The Sayyads can still point out the
old Bhar dih. But their settlement at so early a date seems doubtful ;
they can only number eleven generations for a period stretching back for
more than seven centuries, and the more credible account of the Musalman
colonies in these parts is that which refers them to Satrikh, the first
Musalman stronghold which was taken and occupied by Sayyad MasaMGhazi
in 1030 A.D. Moreover, the traditions of Shah Wesh, one of his captains,
the conqueror of Dewa, as may be seen in the accounts of the Musalman
families of that town, are strong. He also fought with and drove out the
Bhars, and it is hardly likely that he would have remained content with
the capture of Dewa, leaving a strong Bhar fort at Bhitauli within a mile
of the place. This family, amongst others, suffered from the raids of the
Bais bandits of Behtai and Qasimganj, and they now only hold eleven vil-
lages, but still live in Kheoli, the village they first occupied. In the town
are the remains of some fine old houses, which indicate a time of far greater
prosperity and comfort than the residents now enjoy. It contains at the
present time a population of 1,623 inhabitants. The place is picturesquely
situated, surrounded by fine tamarind trees and thick groves. In one of
them is the dargah of Shah Niamatulla Shahid, reverently walled in, at
which a yearly urs is held. He was killed by the Bhars, falling a martyr
to his religion or thirst for conquest. The tomb is almost enclosed by an
immense pakaria tree which has embraced it with its roots.

These Bais belong to the past ; but connected as they are with the history
The Baig of Behtai and of the pargana, with a branch of the family still

Qasimganj. holding estates on its western border, a short account

of them will not be misplaced.

They can assign no date to their invasion, but state that they left their
native home of Bithar, in pargana Harha of Dnao, under Khema Rae,
some fourteen generations ago. Their Chhattri origin has been disputed,
and a place amongst the low-bom Pasi tribes* assigned to them ; but, apart
from any stain of blood which may be meant, there exists no knowledge
of the time and manner of their admission to a place amongst the Rajput
tribes, and it is altogether at variance with the popular belief ; it seems to
have been, in fact, an unwarranted aspersion on their lineage cast by the
Musalmans of Dewa, who were prompted thereto by self-interest and
revenge. Their title seems to have been Rawat, which has been alleged as
one proof of their low extraction, whereas it is in truth due to their
position as cadet members of the Rfio family of Baiswara to which they
belonged, and of whose possessions their village of Bithar formed a part.
Rawat is a title unknown to Basis or any other low caste, though Ahirs
may sometimes address each other in language of compliment as such, at
a marriage or any other occasion of mutual felicitation.

* Mr. P. Carnegy's Kaces and Tribes of Oudh, p. 21.

378 DEW

When Khema Eae came into the pargana it was still largely inhabited
by Bhars, but he took up his quarters in Kokampur, which he seems to
have inherited from some Janwars of the Atil Gotr tribe, into whose family
he had married. These Janwars have been mentioned in the account of
the pargana previously given. Not very much is knoAvn of the way in
which the Bais extended their possessions, or of the progress they made
in the conquest of the pargana, yet something may be gathered from the
position their descendants hold.

Khema Rae had four sons —

(1). Bhop&l Singh, whose descendants still hold some sfr in Dewa, a
remnant of the old Bais proprietorship of the whole township.

(2). Harbans, whose descendants hold Salarpur and Sarayyan.

(3). Bhagirath, from whom the zamindars of Ukhri and other villages
in the west of the pargana, a large and prosperous family, are sprung.

(4). Lakhmi Chand, whose descendant, nine generations later, was
Kanhai Singh, father of Bakkha and Bisram, founders of the two taluqas of
Eajauli and Haraura. The one was held by Suphal and the other by Ganga
Bakhsh, and each had strongly entrenched forts, the Garhis of Behtai and
Qasimganj, in the centres of their estates. Perhaps the names Behtai on
the one hand, and Haraura on the other, were given them in memory of
their Bais home of Bithar in pargana Harha.

These two taluqdars got on well enough for themselves, though to the
injury of all the other zamindars of the neighbourhood, till the time of
their fall came, in 1257 FasH (1850 A.D.), by which time the Rajauli
estate had come to consist of forty-two villages, and that of Haraura of
twenty-two, assessed altogether at Rs. 29,300. In this year Ganga Bakhsh
had a quarrel, land as usual being the cause of war, with Baqar Ali, brother
of Abid Ali, the present taluqdar, then a tumandar (gunner) in the
service of the king. Abid Ali on this made complaint to his sovereign,
and had influence enough to induce the Resident, Colonel Sleeman, to take
the matter up. A force commanded by a British officer in the king's
service was sent against Qdsimganj, and preparation made to attack it ; but
Ganga Bakhsh decamped at night and made for his kinsman Suphal's foi-t
of Behtai ; thither the King's troops pursued him, and the place was
invested. After a hard fight the fort was taken, but the British officer was
killed in leading an attack against the gate. Ganga Bakhsh and his son
Mahipat were captured and beheaded in Lucknow at the Akbari Darwaza
(gate). Suphal Singh escaped, but fell in another attack made on him
shortly after.

The estates of both were confiscated, and for the next two years were held
by Abid Ah and Bu Ali, and after that partitioned out amongst them and
their relations, being other Shekhs of Dewa. Some few villages were made
over to their original owners, who had been dispossessed by the plundering
Bais. The Shekhs claimed to be the zamindars of all they got ; but they
had never previously any proprietary right in the north of the pargana

DEW 379

and tlie very name of one of the taluqaa, Tera KaMn, comes from a village,
part of which has been decreed in sub-settlement to one of its old Janwar
proprietors, who had never, even in the days of the Bais, lost possession.
Kirat, son of Suphal, came in for a few villages at annexation, but he fell
away after that to the rebels, and lost those few by the operation of the
subsequent settlement. The present representatives are fifteen removes
from the first ancestor, Khema Rde.

These Bais had been the terror of the whole neighbourhood, and not a
zamindar but can tell some story of their violence ; the Nawabi Govern-
ment had up to that time proved quite powerless against them. Their two
forts of Behtai and Qdsimganj were situated in the midst of dense jungle,
protected by high mud walls and deep moats. Here they lived and hence
they issued out to plunder ; and they attended the chakladars' courts to
take their engagements and pay in their revenue pretty much as they
pleased.

These two taluqdars hold considerable estates in Dewa, but their
TheRajaaFarzandAli histories belong to other parganas of Bara Banki
and Amir Hasan Khan, and to Sitapur, in which the bulk of their taluqas
is situated.

DEWA* — Pargana Dewa — Tahsil Nawabganj — District Baea Banki. —
Qasba Dewa, of pargana Dewa, is a Muhammadan town of very old
standing, and famous as the residence of two well-known families of Shekhs.
It is about eight miles from Bara Banki, and situated on roads running from
the Sitapur and Lucknow imperial road, through Mahona and Kursi, to
Bara Banki, and from Fatehpur to Lucknow. The latter road joins the
Fyzabad road at Chinhat.

The original colonists are not known. It is said to have belonged to a
tribe of Janwar Rajputs, who certainly had large possessions on the north of
the pargana ; but probably they succeeded to the Bhars. Its foundation
is variously ascribed to Dewal Rikh, Rani Deoli, the mother of Alha and
Udal, who were sent here by the Raja of Kanauj to suppress the Bhars,
and Sah Deo, brother of Raja Judhishthir, the celebrated king of Ajodhya.
Probably the first tradition is the true one. It early came into the pos-
session of the Muhammadans, being attacked from Satrikh by the lieute-
nants of Sayyad Masaud Ghazi and his father, Sahti Salar. But they
seem to have been defeated, and the tombs of Sayyads Jamal and Kamal
are still pointed out on the top of an elevated site in the village, which
must have then, as in later 'times, formed the fort.

After the death of Sdhti Salar and slaughter of Masalid Ghazi at Bahraich,
Hazrat Shah Wesh was left to contend against the infidels, and, aided by
one Amir Hazrat Husen from Baghdad, he attacked the Bhars and drove
them out of Bhitauli to the west of Dewa, where he entrenched a camp :
all opposition seems then to have ceased. Hazrat married his son Ylisuf
Zid-ud-din to the daughter of Shah Wesh, and returned to his native

* By Mr. H. H. Butts, Assistant Commissioner.

380 DEW— DHA

country. Some say he was a qazi in Masalid Ghazi's army. His descend-
ants were known as the qazis. Some three or four generations later came
Qazi Mahmiid, one of the most famous of the family, and it was at this
time that Molvi Zia-ud-din, descended from Shah Shuja Kirmani, an
Usmani Shekh, came into the country.

Lucknow was then ruled from Jaunpur, and the Sharqi king gave the
new comer the village of Atiamau and other villages in Kursi to hold in
rent-free tenure. His son was Makhdiim Bandagi Azim Sani, the celebrated
saint whose tomb is still shown in Lucknow. He had two sons, Ahmad
Faiyaz and Muhammad Faiyaz; the son of Ahmad Faiyaz, Molvi Muhibbulla,
married the daughter of Qazi Mahmud of Dewa ; Molvi Muhibbulla had a
son, Maulana Abd-us-Salam, who was mufti in the reign of Shah jahan, and
his son was Qazi-ul-Quzzat at Delhi, and he it was that seems first to have
acquired the proprietary right in Dewa and a few other villages.

The two principal muhallas are the Shekh and Hajjaji muhallas already
mentioned ; and there are other muhallas dedicated to the different Hindu
workmen and castes. In the centre is a high mound, on which the Govern-
ment fort was built, and where the tahsildar and other Government ofiicials
lived. On the west was a handsome sarde of red brick, built by a former
chakladar, Afzal Ehan, but now not used. Not much trade was ever
carried on owing to the propinquity of the great Bais plunderers and taluq-
dars of Behtai and Qasimganj, who came to an unhappy end in 1257 F.,
when the resident, Colonel Sleeman, moved the king to have them
punished.

But there is here a flourishing tribe of Kachheras, or workers in glass,
who drive a good trade in manufactures of glass bracelets and dishes. The
population is 3,600. The number of houses is 521. A Government school
is established here, attended by some 50 to 60 pupils. The bazar sales
amount to Es. 4,892-4-9 ; coarse crockery, like white delf, is also made.

DHARAMPUR* — Pargana Katiaei — Tahsil Bilgeam — District Haedoi.
— Dharampur (870 inhabitants,) a little village of 133 mud houses, on the right
bank of the Ramganga in the Katiari pargana, Hardoi, eleven miles east from
Fatehgarh and fourteen west from Sandi. It is the first encamping ground
on the routes from Fatehgarh to Lucknow and Hardoi. It is noticeable as
being the residence of the loyal Raja Sir Hardeo Bakhsh, K.c.s.i., of
Katiari, and the place where, in 1857, he sheltered Messrs. Edwards and
Probyn and other fugitives from Fatehgarh, in the fort built by his grand-
father, Thakur Eanjit Singh, in 1792 A.D.

DHARMA'NPUR Parganaf — Tahsil l!i Any ara— District Baheaich.—
Dharmanpur pargana lies at the extreme north-west comer of the Bahraich
district. It has a length of 36 miles and an average breadth of about nine
miles, being bounded on the north by Naipal, on the east by Naip£l and
the Ndnpara pargana, on the south by the Nanpara pargana, and on the
west by the Kauridla river, which, from a point about five miles north of
Bhartapur to Thutua, the southern extremity of the pargana, forms here

* By Mr. A. H. Harington, c.s,. Assistant Commiseiouer.
t By Mr. H. S. Boys, c.s.. Assistant Commissioner.

DHA

38J

the limit of the district also. It has a total area of 304 square miles, of
which 172 are taken up by the Oudh reserved forest. The remainder, 132
square miles, is comprised in 64 villages ; 47 square miles, or 35 per cent.,
beiag under cultivation.

The physical features of the country are well marked, and are all to be
referred to the action of the hiU rivers, the Kauriala and the Girwa (which
see). The portion of the duab formed by the separation and re-junction
of these two streams which lies within this pargana is covered with forest
of shisham and khair trees. Crossing the Girwa, this same belt of forest
trends southward, and covers from north to south the eastern portion of the
pargana running parallel with the course of the Kauriala. It lies uniformly
on the high ground, and the general aspect of the country leaves no doubt
that in ages past the river flowed immediately under this " Dumar."
Between the forest and the river Kauriala lies a tract of varying levels, and
channelled in all directions with the old beds of the receding stream. The
soil of this part consists of alluvial deposits of different dates. The stratum
of sand which underlies the crust of soil crops up in many places so near to
the surface, that filtration quickly drains the super-soil of its moisture ; but
•in general the water lies so close to the surface that irrigation is not
required. Lying along the banks of the river as it runs now are some large
tracts of jhau jungle and grass land, which are often overflowed in the rains,
the retiring flood leaving in many places a fertilising deposit. Game of all
sorts, especially gond (swamp-deer), parha (hog-deer), nil-gae, and pig
abound here.

The revenue demand, which, on account of the vast area of culturable
waste available in this pargana, has been fixed at a rate progressively
increasing every ten years, has been distributed as follows : —

"3
d

ID

1

-<1

Eevenue demand.

Incidence of final jama.

Tenure.

1871.

1881.

1891.

On culti-
vation.

On total

assessable

area.

On total
area.

Taluqdari

Independent villages
Government villages

24
12
26

61
31

48

Ks.
13,040

9,310

10,680

Rs.
16,695

11,610

13,470

Es.
20,350

13,910

16,260

Es. A. P.
12 8

1 1 3

0 15 7

Es. A. P.
0 6 5

0 8 3

0 6 8

ES.A.P.
0 5 4

0 7 5

0 5 7

Total

64

140

33,030

41,775

50,520

1 1 2

0 6 H

0 5 10

382

DHA

The population is as follows :-

Hindus.

Agriculturists
Non-agriculturists . . .

Total
Agriculturists
Non-agriculturists .. .

Total
Agriculturists
Non-agriculturists . . .

Males ...
Females...

16,662
7,065

a

L

li'

H a

Brahman

Bajput

Ahir

Banjdra

Pdsl

ThSru

Cham^r

Kurmi

Kahir

Gararia

Lodh

Murio

Others

PathSns
Ghosi
Others
Miscellaneous

745

360

6,021

1,660

736

647

1,236

1,4.54

1,640

637

887

959

6,765

I'd .

22,627

653

1,U1

1,704

1

16,115
8,206

320
465
403
616

"fi

13,552
10,769

24,321

S L

Total population

■•

24,321

Number

of souls per square mile

SO

Graziers from all parts of the north of trans-Gogra Oudh come to the
forests of this pargana with their herds, — a fact which accounts for the large
number of Ahirs. The Banjaras are here steady, settled cultivators. The
pargana is very badly off for roads, there being none but the ordinary sart-
tracks, and those of a very inferior character ; the only bazar is at Jhala.
The grain is mostly conveyed by the Baip^ris to the bazars further south in
the Nanpdra pargana.

The history of this pargana, which is a creation of the English Govern-
ment and was formerly included in Dhaurahra, will be found under that
heading in the Kheri district.

DHAEUPUR — Pargana Ramptje — Tahsil Kunda — District Partab-
GABH. — This place was founded by Dharu Sah, the ancestor of Raja Hanwant
Singh : his fort and residence are still there. It is twenty-four miles from
Bela and sixteen from Manikpur.

Formerly when the Bundelas took possession of Riwa, Sangram Singh,
ancestor of the Dharupur taluqdar, with 500 sawars, being a follower of
Muhammad Khan Bangash, fought Raja Jai Singh of Partabgarh and the
Bundela raja.

The fort was taken by Mansur Ali Khan.

The total population amounts to 1,603 ; Hindus being 1,287, and Musal-
mans 316.

There are three temples to Mahddeo, and one Government school. The
bazar Jagirganj, adjoining the fort, has a considerable trade ; the annual
sales amount to Rs. 1,00,000. The British refugees from Salon were hos-
pitably received here in 1857.

DHAURAHRA — Pargana Dhatjeahra — Tahsil Nighasan — District
Kheei. — This town from which a pargana derives its name, is situated at a

DHA 383

distance of three miles west of the Chauka, having groves to the north and
west, and a mosque to the east. It is 80 miles north from Lucknow and
73 miles east from Shahjahdnpur ; latitude 28° north, longitude 81° 9' east.
There are three temples and one mosque.

During the mutiny of 1857, the fugitives from Shdhjahanpur and
Muhamdi, escaping towards Lucknow, sought the protection of the Dhaurahra
raja, but he, being pressed by the Lucknow darMr, gave them up to their
enemies. For this disloyalty to British rule, the raja was tried and hanged ;
his estates were confiscated, and a' portion of them, comprising seventeen
villages containing 43 square miles, was made over as part of a grant to
Captain John Hearsay, of the old Oudh Contingent, for good service
rendered to the British Government. This estate has been sold by Captain
Hearsay to Colonel Boileau, late of the Bengal Cavalry, who has again sold
it to the Raja of Kaptirthala. There are eighteen brick wells, but all the
houses, 845, are of mud. The place is of some interest in local annals.
Rdja Jodha Singh was killed here in a great fight by Raja Sitalparsh^d.
See the account of pargana Dhaurahra. The place was originally the capi-
tal of a Pasi monarchy.

Population ... ... ... 4,256

Hindus l^*'^^ - ^'^^^l 2 722

ilmdua -I Female ... 1,266 { ■• ^''^^

Muhaimnadans j^;^«^l^ ;" ^76 j ^^^^

DHAURAHRA Pargana — Tahsil NighaSAN — District Kheei.— Dhaurahra
lies between the Chauka on the south and the Kauridla on the north. Its
eastern boundary is the Dahawar, almost to the source of that river,
in a deep lake near Kafara. The western boundary is an artificial one,
separating it from pargana Nighasan. It is 25 miles long, 13 miles broad,
containing 261 square miles, of which 145 are cultivated and 72 capable
of cultivation, divided into 117 villages. The pargana, like Firozabad,
consists of alluvial deposits from the Kauriala and Chauka rivers. The
■ southern parts of the pargana, and all along the bank of the Chauka, are
annually swept by the latter river, which has here a very great fall ; from
Pachperighat to Mallapur, in a direct line not more than 40 miles,
the level of the stream lowers from 451 feet above the sea to 376 feet, a.
faU of 76 feet ; the Kauriala only falls 45 feet in the same distance. Along
with Firozabad, then, this pargana forms an isosceles triangle, the rivers
abovenamed joining at a very acute angle from two sides, and pargana
Nighasan the base line to the north-west. Dhaurahra itself is a quidrila-
teral cut off the north of this area, extending from river to river. The
southern, the Chauka, both cuts more land away and benefits the cultiva-
tion to a greater extent. Its current is often four miles per hour, and the
heavy deposit which is brought down is spread over the whole country for
many miles, to a depth varying from three inches to three feet each year,
and rivalling the Nile mud in fertility.

The banks of the river on the north of the pargana have already been
raised by this deposit, and the entire level of the country is rapidly rising.
A village called Unchgaon was, a few years ago, as its name denotes,
raised high above the surrounding level, and its ancient site, covered with

384 DHA

red bricks, was a conspicuous object. It is now almost submerged in the
new soil, above which it only rises a few feet.

Formerly the Chauka and Kauriala joined at a spot two miles north of
Fyzabad. See Erskine's Memoirs of Babar. Then the Chauka sought a
nearer path of junction, and the waters met at Bahramghat, but these
channels have now in a great measure disappeared. The Kauriala formerly
flowed under Unchgaon, but other details will be found in the account of
that river. There is no forest in the pargana : dense grass and jhau cover
the waste lands. The inhabitants suffer much from fever, and specially
from goitre, particularly ia the southern portions ; occasionally half the
males in a village are laboring under this plague. Cultivation is very-
backward in the southern half of the pargana ; no sugarcane is sown owing
to a tradition that a faqir cursed whoever would plant it. There are great
water advantages here : the Chauka borders the pargana for 45 miles, the
Kauriala for 19, the Dahawar for about 30. All these rivers, especially
the last, could be used for irrigation.

In 1865 the Chauka abandoned its old course, precipitated its waters
into the Dahawar, and the great mass of its current, therefore, along with
the latter stream, joins the Kauriala, at Mallapur. The pargana has a very
considerable slope from north-west to south-east. The drainage is fair ;
there are no lakes, except a few old river channels, in the bends of which,
where the greatest scour took place, water lodged and has remained ever
since. South of Ramia Bihar there is a very large and picturesque sheet of
water of this description.

The soil is principally loam and clay, rather sandy towards the Chauka.
The slopes are varied and rather picturesque ; but as the sub-soil is nearly
everywhere sandy, large trees, except in favoured spots, will not grow.
Whole groves die off in a single year, because the roots have penetrated
to the sand. Formerly there were a great number of nil-gae, gond, and
hog-deer in the grass wastes south of the town of Dhaurahra along the
banks of the Chauka.

The population is principally Hindu ; there are only 3,087 Musalmans,
and 67,708 Hindus— in all 70,795. Of the above, 58,882 are agricultur-
ists, or 70 per cent., and 21,913 are non-agriculturists. ■ Of the Hindus,
Ahirs are the most numerous caste, being 8,260, or 11-6 per cent, of the
entire population. The other castes appear in the following order : —

Chamilrs ... ... ... ... ... ... 7,392 or 94 per cent.

Kurmis ... ... ... ... .. ... 6,287 „ 84

Mur^oB ... ... ... ... ... .. 4,456 „ 6

Brahmans ... ... .. ... ... ... 4,674 „ 64

Pa«is ... ... ... ... ... ... 3,547 ;, 44

Koris ... ... ... ... ... ... 2,952 „ 4

Itahara ... ... ... ... ... ... 2,778 „ 4

Gararias ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,933 „ 3

Lonias ,.. ... ... ... ... ,., 1,869 „ 3

Chhattris 1,405 „ 2

It appears, then, that the good cultivators are in unusually large proportions.
The P£sis claim descent from the Rdjpdsi kings of Dhaurahra. The Kur-
mis are generally called Khair^tis, and were settled largely by Shujd-ud-
daula ; but tiiey are alleged to be the original zamind^s of the pargana

DHA 885

Garh Qila Nawa, which has been included in Dhaurahra. They have
obtained the rank of zamindars at Tambaur in the Sitapur district, for-
merly a part of Garh Qila Nawa. The hereditary manager of nearly
every village is a Kurmi.

The Chhattris are principally military retainers of the old Edja of Dhau-
rahra. There are hardly any zamindars in the pargana. The estates
number seventeen in all, of which seven, including 85 villages and form-
ing three-quarters of the pargana, are in the hands of men to whom they
were granted as the reward of loyal services. Not one of these gentlemen
resides on his estate.

The name of Dhaurahra is derived, either from Deohra, near the town
where a "matasthan" still exists, or because the par-
^ °^' gana was composed of portions taken out of three par-

ganas, Garh Qila Nawa, Firozabad, and Kheri, at their boundaries or 'dhura.'
It was in early times, prior to the conquest of Kanauj, the freehold property
of Alha and Udal, the famous generals of Mahoba. It then formed a part of
Garh Qila Nawa, which was settled and visited by Firoz Shah Khilji, who
founded Firozabad. At this time it was probably owned by Pasis, whose
r£ja lived at Dhaurahra ; no remains of any consequence attest his great-
ness. There is a little fort in Goduria, which evidently was a mere pro-
tection against wild beasts, raised by a small community in the midst of
' swamps. The Bisens held this pargana during the decline of the Mughal
power; but the extent of their dominion is wholly lost in obscurity, nor is
it possible to find out when they were first displaced by the Chauhan
Jangres.

When the pargana was first organized in 11-51 Fasli, by Nawab Safdar
Jang, 216 villages were taken from Garh Qila Nawa, 238 from Kheri,- and
171 from Firozabad. The Jangres say that' Chaturbhuj, who lived nine
generations ago, came from Jalaun in Alamgir's time, and captured K^mp
Dhaurahra, establishing his head-quarters in Dhaurahra. This will be
treated more fully in the history of K£mp Dhaurahra and of Barw£r ; so
far as local investigation can be trusted, the tradition seems false. No one
in Dhaurahra has any definite knowledge of any Jdngre r^ja living there
prior to Raja Jodh Singh, who, in the seventh generation from Chaturbhuj,
held the entire country now occupied by the parganas of Dhaurahra, Nighd.-
san, Bhlir, and half of Firozabad, an area of 800 square miles, for which
he paid a revenue of Rs. 2,45,000. Jodh Singh himself had to contend
with the Bisens in more than one battle. One was fought in 1188 Fasli at
Naripur, near Dhaurahra, against Rdja Qalandar Singh Bisen; the
latter was killed. The Bisens again made an attempt under Raghundth.
Singh, the son of Qalandar Singh, but its failure caused their entire
abandonment of Dhaurahra. They lingered on in Srinagar up to 122&
Fasli. Rdja Jodh Singh was a Sombansi of Munda in Firozabad,
adopted by Zdlim Singh, the Jangre rdja, who, as the best traditions record,
lived in Bhfir, not in Dhaurahra. His adventurous history will be found
in the account of K£mp Dhaurahra. He was killed in Dhaurahra by a
Sayyad follower of Rdja SitalparshSd, Ndzim of Khairabad, in single com-
bat, whict he had challenged, and with his expiring energies he wounded
the Sayyad so severely that he also died the next day. Their tombs lie
within a stone's throw. He left no- children. The estate was taken from
' BB

386 DHA

his family; but his widow, although she did not engage, managed to main-
tain a power and position in the pargana almost equal to her husband's.

In 1149 F., when the Bisens invaded her old dominion, she collected the
retainers of the family, bravely led them to the 'field, and routed the Bisens
at Nawapur. . She recovered a large portion of the estate, and had niore
than eighty villages at her death in 1240 F.

She adopted during her life Raja Achal Singh, a second cousin, as the
head of the Jangres; but in 1223, Mr. Carbery, visiting the Tieighbourhood
to purchase timber from the extensive sdl forest, was invited to, visit the
, -raja and treacherously speared to death on the road. The Raja fled, but
was apprehended, and died in Lucknow after 22 years' imprisonment.
The English troops twice besieged Dhaurahra on this occasion.

In 1255 the Ndzim Bande Ali Beg handed over the whole pargana to
Aijud Singh, grandnephew of Achal Singh. His son, Indra Bikrama Singh,
engaged for the entire pargana at annexation ; but during the mutiny he
not only refused to aid, but plundered Mr. Gonne, the Deputy Commissioner
of Mallapur. His estate was forfeited, and he died in the Andaman Islands.

A younger scion of the family, Chain Singh, who in 1199 had only .two
small freeholds, managed to enlarge his estate year by year. He was more
fortunate in the mutiny, and his grandson has now an estate called Isanagar, '
containing 70 villages and paying above Rs. 60,000 revenue to Government.
There are only two other members of this family, Srikrishan Singh and
Sukhmangal Singh, who reside in the pargana, for these rajas . never had
any clansmen or followers of their blood ; and the only great man who ever
distinguished himself as the head of the house was Jodh Singh, who was
not of their lineage. In fact, the whole Jangre family, whose heads still
hold 660 square miles, and till recently held 950 square miles, number
fourteen individuals of pure blood and a few sons of concubines. The
Chauhan of Jalaun, from the effects of three centuries spent in the marshes
of Kdmp Dhaurahra, has changed into a sluggard!

Roads: communications. — There are no metalled roads ; there is not a
bridge throughout the pargana ; there are only bridle-paths crossing the
rivers by ferries, which are often most dangerous on the smaller streams.
On the other hand, the Kauriiila, Chauka, and Dahawar are all navigable.
No place in the pargana is more than eight miles from water carriage. In
the height of the rains boats cannot face the current, but during ten months
of the year a great trade in grain is carried on, principally in rice, oil-seeds
and millet. Salt was formerly manufactured in large, quantity at Dhau-
rahra, and saltpetre is stiU made there by a Lucknow firm.

There are no other manufactures. There are 25,420 adult male resi- •
dents, of whom more" than 21,000 are engaged in agriculture.

The principal villages are^-

Population,
Dhaurahra ... ... ... . ... 4,399

Kafara .. ... ... ... ... 2,872

Ramia Bihar ... ... ... ... 1,982

These are separately noticed.

DHA— DHI

387

There are three or four temples to Mahddeo, and three th$kurdw&as.
There are no antiquities worthy of the name, although a very unanimous
tradition declares that the pargana was the rent-free estate of A'lha, the
great Chandel general of Kanauj at the Musalman invasion.

In fact, in 911 Hijri, the whole pargana almost seems to have heen devas-
tated by the Gpgfa. This river formerly ran south of Unchgd,on, but in that
year ate away the whole of the country, and for many years fldwed north
of that village before it finally retired again to -its present position.

I append a statement showing the property held by each landowner.

Detailed Statement of area in Mgkas and square miles of the different

properties.

Name of taluqa.

Number of
villages.

Area of cul-
tivation.

Arable area.

Bemarks.

Bighaa.

Sq. M.

Mra. Eose

24

16,099

22,376

21;

Indra Bikrama Sah.

20

51,202

64,501

63

Mahewa

3

2,128

2,92tf

2

Fateh Cliand and Dhanpat Rae.

17

12,684

18,780

18

Taanagar

7

23,413

43,182

424

Tazalflasul

6

3,908

5,744

5J

Eaja of Kapurthala

20

30,862

50,040

49

Jwala Singh

8

4,145

8,511

8i

Debi Singh's widow

1

1,307

1,665

H

Easapt Singh.

1

643

848

OJ

Shiu Bakhah Singh

1

651

1,137

1

MadhoEdm

1

460

641

04

Hiraman

2

■ 667

723

Oi

Bakht Singh

1

1,570

2,368

2

ShiuSahae

1

292

617

04

RaoEamdfn

1

340

1,251

li

EajaofOel

1

320

430

Oi

Government

2

659

1,304

H

Total

117

151,350

227,044

221

DHAURAHRA — Pargana Mangalsi— Ta/i-sii Fyzabati— District Fyza-
BAD.^For the history of this town see pargana Mangalsi. It lies four miles
from the Gogra and twenty miles from Fyzabad, oh the road to Lucknow.
The population consists of 3,197 Hindus and 82 Musalmans. There is one
mosque ; no school or temple. There are 765 Chhattris in the village. It
was founded by an ancient Chhattri named N£gmal. v

DHINGWAS Pargana— Tahsil Kvt!(da.— District Paetabgarh.— This
pargana lies between Rampur on the north a,nd Bihar on the south, and
in the centre of the Bisen government. It is a fertile and well watered
tract abounding in jhils. Its area is 99 square miles, or ,63,396 acres, of
which only 28,449 are cultivated, and 23,121 are barren. The Government
demand is Rs, 63,090, or Re, 1-9-11 per arable acre. The population is 457

bb2

Taluqdaii.

Mufrad.

Total.

135

0

135

0

10

10

0

3

3

388 DHI— DIG

to the square mile. The history of the Bisens is given under pargana
Rampur.

Pargana Dhingwas contains 148 villages, which are thus held : —

Eisen .<•

Brahman

Shekb

Total ... 135 13 148

The Bisen is as usual the largest landed proprietor. The 135 villages
belonging to this clan compose the two estates of Puw^nsi and Dhan-
garh.

The large village of Raegarh, six or seven miles north of Bihar, is in the
Lai Mahical Singh i^'^l^ of Puwansi. In an unwise moment the zamin-
of Fuwansi. dars took on themselves to mortgage it to the Bhadri

taluqdar without the consent of the lord paramount,
Lai Mahipal Singh, taluqdar of Puwansi. Indignant at such freedom, he
called out his vassals and sum'moned his men. Rae Amarn^th Singh of
Bhadri did likewise, and appeared with 1,200 fighting men. A pitched
battle ensued in Jagapur. Mahipal Singh was beaten and lost two guns :
a hundred men were killed on both sides, and the village appeared lost.
What he could. not do by force he effected by treaty. The chiefs of the
clan assembled, Mahipal Singh paid the mortgage-money to the taluqdar
of Bhadri, who resigned the village. His assertion of his dignity and
the rights of a taluqdar is said to have cost Mahipal Singh Rs. 80,000
or Rs. 90,000 in one way and another. It is significant, as showing the
popular idea of the position of a taluqdar and that of a zamindar, that the
brotherhood deemed it improper for the latter to mortgage his rights to
the chief of another estate.

This estate has never been held "kham" since 1215 Fasli, when the'
The Puwansi estate, ^^^im, finding the taluqdar a minor, made his arrange-
ments for the payment of revenue with the villagers
for six months, and then made over the estate to the owner.!

This estate was never in opposition. The grandfather of the present
The Dhangarh estate taluqdar was killed by the father of Raja Hanwant
Singh of Rampur in 1215 Fasli, 1808 A.D., and that
is all that is worth relating of the family.

DIDDAJTR—PargaTia BA-RELi—Tahsil Rae Baeeli— District Rae Bareli.
— This town is situated on the banks of the Sai, two miles from the road
from Bareli to Bihar. The surface of the ground is undulating, and the soil
sandy,' but there are numerous groves. The town is flourishing, the
population is 2,123, of whom 838 are Chhattris, an unusual proportion. J
There are only four Musalmans. ' -

DIGSAR PHrgana* — Tahsil Begamganj — District Gonda. — ^A pargana
on the southern boundary of Gonda, lying between Gonda and Mahadewa 1

* By Mr. W. C. Benett, o. s., Assistant Commissioner. 1

DIG:

389

parganas to the north, Nawabganj to the east, Guwarich to the west, and
the Gogra to the south. It covers an area of 157^ square miles, with
a greatest length of 16 and a greatest breadth of 15 miles. It is a well-
wooded plain, rather higher to the north than to the south, and almost
'throughout covered with the most careful cultivation. All the northern,
and the greater part of the western frontier, is washed by the Tirhi, an
insignificant stream in the hot months, but in the rains the recipient of
the whole drainage of the southern portion of the table-land which forms
the centre of the district. Its neighbourhood is marked by narrow tracts
of pure sand washed into barren hillocks, and verging here and there into a
light soil of indifferent productive powers. The centre is finer soil, and
supports a thicker populsition than either the northern or southern
marches. It is drained by a number of small channels, with a general
direction from north-west to south-east, which, after the rains, dry up
along their shallower portions, leaving in their places of greatest depres-
sion long narrow strips of lake. ' The Gogra border is again generally
marked by a light soil, and the cultivated spots are interspersed with,
large barren plains covered with grass or a scrubby growth of jhau and
dhak trees. The river, which runs between low sandy banks, is constantly
cutting into this frontier, and the adjoining villages suffer every year
severe losses from diluvion. The whole pargana lies low, and is subject,
on the occasion of heavy rains, to most destructive floods.

Water is everywhere within a few feet of the surface, but the extreme
moisture of the soil prevents its use in irrigation except for poppy, garden
crops, and sugar-cane. Even the latter is not unfrequently left without
water, and a poor kind exists on wholly dry cultivation. The February-
rains supply aU that is wanted, and earlier irrigation is more likely to de-
stroy than to save. A fresh element of uncertainty is added to that of the
floods, for a failure of the later winter showers can neither be foreseen nor
remedied, and does nearly as much damage to the spring, as excessive rain
does to the autumn crops. Of the total area of 100,696 acres (which varies
from year to year in consequence of alluvion or diluvion), 67,880 acres were
under cultivation during the year of the revenue survey, and of this, very
nearly half, or 33,185 acres, bore two crops. In fact, the soil is exhausted
in the most ruthless manner ; and by sowing several grains arriving at
maturity in consecutive seasons, the same field is made to bear continuously
nearly the whole year round. Thus, Indian-corn, urd, and arhar will be
harvested in succession from one plot of land. Autumn and spring crops,
cover about the same area, and in the year of survey the former is entered
for 49,335, the latter for 51,725 acres. The relative proportion depends
much on the seasons, and in the year in question the spring had been
exceptionally favourable. The principal crops, with their respective areas
in acres, are shown in the annexed table; —

Bice.

14,773

ladiau-com.

19,690

Wheat.

11,945

Gram,

8,665

Arhar.

9,075

Barley,

7,060

390 . DIG

From this it will be seen that the two crops of rice and Indiain-com con-
stitute almost the only staples of the autumn harvest, while the spring
crops are much more varied. Among the more important miscellaneous
productions are sweet potatoes and melons ; the former coming to perfection
shortly after Christmas, and yielding an immense weight to the acre, tfie
latter being planted in the sandy soil along the Gogra, and ripening in the
hot weather. A considerable area is under poppy cultivation, but the
■ average yield is exceedingly poor. The managem:ent of this department
for Digsar is with the Bahraich, not the Gonda assistant sub-deputy
opium agent.

I have not been able to ascertain the Government revenue realized on
this pargana earlier than 1832 A.D., when it amounted altogether to
E.S. 74,665. From that time till annexation it oscillated according to the ■
seasons between Rs. 46,648 and Rs. 79,297, the lowest and highest, limits
attained, except when that celebrated rent-compeUer'R^ja Darshan Singh
Bahadur left his mark in 1837 and 1842 A.D. in the extortionate demands
of Rs. 1,16,869 and Rs. 1,08,831. There can be no doubt that the greater
part of these monstrous impositions were realized ; and did any wretched
zamindari body fail in paying the last penny, one or more of its leading
members were caught and compelled to liquidate the balance by selling
to the nazim the whole of their proprietary rights. It is hardly likely
that the village landowners apprehended at the time any serious conse-
quences from their act. They had seen many high officials like Darshan
Singh rise to great power and then pass away, but none whose influence
had endured for two or three generations ; and they probably thought that
a fictitious deed of sale was a fair means for discharging a fictitious debt. .
At any rate, for the remainder of the native rule these deeds of sale never
had any effect, except perhaps when Darshan Singh or one of his family
held the office of nazim on the north of the Gogra, in which years they
used them as an excuse in some cases for refusing the engagement to the
vUlage proprietors ; and their consequences were only felt at the second
settlement after the mutiny, when Maharaja Man Singh disinterred them
and applied for the settlement of almost all the finest villages in the
Nawabganj and Digsar parganas. A letter from the deputy commissioner,
protesting against the injustice, was stolen from the mail runner between
Gonda and Fyzabad; no further enquiries were made, and in the hurry of
that difficult time, the engagement for the whole estate claimed was taken
from the maharaja. This was shortly after confirmed by the sanad which
conveyed to the taluqdar the indefeasible proprietary right in every viUag^
for which he engaged, and the local zamindars discovered that the deeds
extorted from them twenty years before had an effect which they never
contemplated.

The revenue at annexation was fixed at Rs. 80,273, including all cesses,
This was raised at the regular settlement in 1870 A.D. to Rs. 1,27,277, —
a sum which might make old Darshan Singh restless in his grave with
envy.

There are altogether 110 demarcated villages, but the number of real
villages is very much larger, as two or more small villages were frequently
joined into one big one by the arbitrary caprice of the demarcation''

DIG 891

department. The settlement returns give 1,064 hamlets, and the census
710 hamlets, and 369 detached houses. The population is returned at
90,582, giving an average of 577 to the square mile, and 88 to each hamlet.
There are no towns ; and if the returns show what seem to be populous
villages, it is only where a number of petty hamlets have been included'
within one boundary, and denoted by a common but generally inappropriate
name. Only 1,456 Muhammadans, or less than two per cent, of the whole
population, are found, to 87,694 Hindus. Females are found in the fair
proportion of 956 to the hundred of male Hindus, and 1017 of Muham-
madans. The whole populatioii is purely agricultural, and the average
farm is five acres; the average area to a plough four acres. The census gives
21,647 inhabited houses, the settlement returns only 18,026, exhibiting
averages of 4'1 or five inhabitants to each house. Of these, the settlement
return assigns 4,237 houses to Brahmans, who therefore, by the settlement
average of five persons to a Ihouse, must number 21,185. Thakurs, on the
same calculation, number 8,100, Koris 9,905, Ahirs 8,990, and Kahdrs
6,610. There are no other very' numerous castes. It will be observed
that a third of the whole population consists of the two higher castes. Of
these, the majority are the old village proprietors, who are far more numer-
ous here than in any other part of the district, except perhaps the Maha-
dewa pargana. None of these will touch a plough, and they subsist
miserably on the rents they can screw out of the industrious classes, or
the produce of slave labour in the fields they call their own. With few
exceptions, the 10,000 Koris are all bondsmen in the Sawak form, -which
is described in the district article, and receive the minimum of clothes
and food which will enable them to work an overtasked soil for the support
of their numerous and idle masters. Eighty-six of the 110 villages are held
by taluqdars, the largest proprietors being, of course, Rdja KrishanDattRd,m
and the late Maharaja Man Singh. There are absolutely no manufactures,
and the cotton and salt must be provided by the exportation of rice and
Indian-corn. The pargana has no history. Its name is said to be derived
from the Digsaria Ghhattri who founded the village of Digsar, but it is
obvious that the village named him. The real etymology is probably
Dirgeshwara, or lord of the world, and it is not unlikely that the term was
drawn from some now forgotten shrine of Mahddeo. The earhest traditions
are connected with the Dom rdj of Gorakhpur, and^ many of its villages
are said to have been founded by grants of Raja Ugrasen, the last and
most famous of the low-caste chiefs. On the destruction of that State in
the commencement of the fourteenth century, it became a part of the
great Kalhans raj of Khurdsa, and when the last of the Kalhanses perished
in the great flood of two centuries later, the petty zamindars of Digsar
acknowledged the sway of the Bisens of Gonda.

Till annexation, the Gonda raja was the admitted lord paramount of the
pargana, and took zamindari dues throughout ; but he only kept two or
three villages in his private management, not caring to interfere with the
numerous coparcenary communities under him.

There is a small fair at Kamipur in Aghan to commemorate the marriage
of Ram Chandar with Sita, but no other religious meetings of any
importance.

892 DIH— FAK

J)tH.—Pargana EaeshaDEPUR— jPafei? Saloj!!— District Rae Baeeli, —
This town borders on the river Sai ; it is three miles from the road between
Bela and Salon, and twelve miles from Bareli.

It was the property of the Bhale Sultdn. The Kanhpuria taluqdars
attacked it several times, and were bravely resisted and beaten back.

Population — 2,766 Hindus.

171 Musalmans.

There is a good bazar.

DULHI — Pargana Dhaueahra — Tahsil NighaSAN — District KheEi. — A
village in pargana Dhaurahra, is situated at a distance of about two miles to
the north-east of the Ohauka, having groves to the east and two tombs to
the south. Dulhi belongs to Raja Indra Bikram, taluqdar of Khairigarh.
It has two masonry wells, but all the houses are of mud. It was formerly
the residence of a large landowner, who was transported for his conduct
in the mutiny.

Population 2,605.

Hindus 1^*^^^ ^•^'^^\ 2 400

Hindus ... |j,emales 1,127 j "''*""

MuhammadanB... j^^^l^ ^83 j 205

F.

FAKHRPTJR* — Pargoma Fakhepur — Tahdl TLvRiBk-R—District, Bah-
EAiCH. — Fakhrpur, a town in district Bahraich (latitude 27° 25' 55" north,
longitude 81° 31' 41" east), lies on the high road from Bahramghat to Bah-
raich, ten and a half miles from Bahraich and seven from Kur&ar. Sur-
rounded with groves of very fine mango trees, its outskirts present a park-like
appearance, and offer several tempting camping grounds. The place, how-
ever, is not healthy, the water being bad, and goitre, perhaps a consequence
of the water, being very prevalent. In former times the place is said to have
been held by Ahirs, and in the time of Akbar was called Pakrpur from a
large Pakaria tree which still flourishes at the side of the road into Bah-
raich. In 965 Hijri, however, Akbar made it the head-quarters of a pargana,
tinder the name that it now bears ; established a tahsil, and built a fort.
Up to 1226 Fasli the tahsildar had his fort and treasury here ; but the
chakladar in 1226 Fasli incorporated the larger portion of the pargana in
the Baundi ilaqa, from which time the fort ceased to be used. The village
has been held now for many years by the qSntingos of the pargana. The
population comprises 2,14*0 souls, of whom 904 are Muhammadans. There
are 409 mud-houses, two brick-built shiwalas, a thdkurdwara, a school,
and a mud sarae. The Government village school has 46 boys. No
markets are held, and there are no manufactures. Saltpetre is prepared,
but not to any great extent.

• By Mr. H. S. Boys, c. s., Assistant Commiasiouer.

FAK

393

FAKHRPUR Pargana*—Tahsil KuraSaE — District BahraiCH.— Fakhr-
pur pargana, one of the western parganas of the Bahraich district, lies
along the Gogra bank, having Hisampur on its south and east, and the

■ Nanpara and Bahraich parganas on its north-east border. It has suffered
many transformations; the pargana, as it is now defined, comprising a large
slica of what was formerly Firozabad, while, on the other hand, a number
of its villages have been now included in Hisampur. It comprises 288
villages, with an area of 383 square miles, an extreme length of thirty miles,
and an extreme breadth of 18 miles. Like its neighbour Hisdmpur, it has
beeii subject to fluvial action in ages gone by ; several well-defined ledges
parallel to the present bed of the river Gogra showing where once the
stream flowed, while indentations and undulations noticeable here and
there point to the same state of thing. No rivers flow through the pargana
now save a sluggish stream, the Bhakosa, in one of the old beds above
noticed, and the Sarju. The grove land measures four per cent, of the area,
and some of the mango groves are very fine and of large extent. There
are no less than 114 square miles of cuiturable waste, or 30 per cent, of
the total area, a tract which mil very soon be brought under the plough,
the soil being an alluvial dumat. The present cultivation measures 217

■ square miles, or 57 per cent, of total area, of which only two square miles are
at present under irrigation. Water is met with so near the surface that
irrigation is scarcely required.

The Government demand for the whole pargana is distributed a^
below : —

'o

a
1

i

1

Govemmsnt
demand.

Incidence of Govjernment
demand per acre,

Class ofviUags.-

1

>■

1
a
o

^1
O

i

5

r Perpetual settlement

Talttctdari ] , ,.,^

(.30 years' ditto ...

161i
66i

253
78

Es. A. P.
40,607 0 0

38,456 0 6

Es. A.P.

0 7 2

1 5 10

Rs. A.P.
0 4 8

0 13 7

Ea. A.P,
0 4 0

0 12 4

Total

2271

331

79,063 0 0

0 10 7

0 6 10

0 6 0

Independent villages ...
Eevenue-free for life-time only ...

27i
33

21
. 31

13,422 14 0

1 10 8

12 6

•••

1 0 4

Grand Total

288

383

92,485 14 0

0 11 7

0 7 7

0 6 7

* By Mr. H. S. Boys c.s., Assistant Commissioner.

39-1

FAK

The principal landlord is the Eaja of Kapfirthala, on whom the estate
of the rebel Raja of Baundi has been conferred at a quit-rent for ever.
The Sardars Fateh Singh and Jugjot Singh, reputed grandsons of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh of Lahore, a,re grantees of the Chahlari raja's property.
The Raja of Rahwa's estates also lie almost entirely in this pargana. The
population appears in the following table :—

( Agriculturists ...

90,114

(Brahman

19,262

Hindus ... <

Hindu high- ) Chhattris '

4,416

( Non-agrioulturista

35,785

castes. ] Vaishya

2,024

( Kayath

1,727

Total _.

125,899

(Ahfr

17,812

Bhujwa

2.258

Pasi

3,675

{ Agriculturists ...

9,621

Teli

2,244

Muhammadans •

Chamir

15,S16

Non-agriculturists

4,579

Hindu low-

P9 Q't'.Oa

Kurmi
Kahar

7,079
5,883

UniS bCi3(

Kori

2,079

Total ...

14,200

Gararia

4,954

Lodh .
Lonia

11,543
.3,701

'Agriculturists ...

99,735

Murao

3,462

I, Others

18,266

Non-agriculturists

40,364

Total Popula-

^Shekh

1,264

tion.

Pathdn ..:

2,320

Males

74,045

Muhammadan

Julaha

2,172

and others.

Kunjra

1,602

(^Females

66,054

Others -, ...
^Miscellaneous ...

2,662
4,180

Total ...

140,099

i

Total

1 40 OQq

Number of souls per square mile ...

366

l,^\Jm\JVtf

Of the Brahmans —
67 per cent, are Kanaujia'.
17 ,, ,, Sangaldipi.
16 ,, ,, Sarwaria.

Of the Rajputs — ■
34 per cent, are Raikwars.
22 ,, ,, Chauhans.
22 „ „ Bais.
22 ,, ,, Chandrabansi.

The Raikwars are nearly all members of the great family whose annals
are epitomised below. The other clans give no account of themselves
worth noticing.

The main road from Bahraich to Bahramghat runs through the pargana
for thirteen miles, passing through Fakhrpur itself. A district road runs
from Bahraich to Chahlari Ghdt the ferry for Sitapur, and another connects
the same ghat with the Shiupur and Khairi bazars in the north. The
main bazars are at Sisia the ghat for Sitapur, Mahdrajganj on the road to
Chahlari, Baundi Khas, and Jait^pur. The last mentioned is a large,
well-frequented bazar. There are smaller markets at Golaganj to the
west of Baundi, Mirawwa in the ChahMri estate, Khaira in Rahwa, and
Pachdeori in Baundi.

' FAK 395

There are Government village schools at the following places, viz. : —

Boys.
Fakhrpur „. ... ... ... ... 46

Jaitapur Bazar ... ^. ... ... 53

Rampurwa ... ... ... ... ... 32

Mahai ... ... ... ... ... 40

Raepur Thaila ... ... ... ... 30

Marwa Mansari ... ... ... ... 28

25
32
21

307

Sikandarpur ..
KahVa Mansur

and an English town school, with' three masters and seventy boys, is
maintained at Baundi by the Maharaja of Kapurthala and Govern-
ment.

The police station is at Sisia, where there is a force of one chief constable,
two head constables, one mounted constable, and twelve constables. •

At Sisia and Baundi there are district post offices.

There are no traditions relating to this pargana which reach further back
than 1400 A.D. About that time the Bhp,r chief Dipchand is said to have
held sway ; but during the early part of his reign, some Slirajbansi Rajputs,
under two brothers, named Partab Sah and Dunde Sah, had arrived from
Eaika in Kashmir at Ramnagar, on the west bank of the river, an estate
which was held by Dipchand's brother. The Raikwars of Shahdinpur
Gauria, in pai-gana Bangarmau, Unao, are connected with this family.
Partab had two sons, Saldeo and Baldeo, who became naibs of the Ram-
nagar raja ; and Dipchand of Bamhnauti, while on a visit to his brother, was
so struck with Saldeo's capacity for business, that he brought him back
with him to this side of the river. The two Bhars had reason to repent
their confidence, for Baldeo in Ramnagar and Saldeo in Bamhnauti each
slew his master and usurped his rights. Saldeo was summoned to Delhi
to account for his conduct, but at the intercession of one of Dipchand's
wives was pardoned, on condition that the lady should be allowed to per-
form certain customary offices for his children. It is still a custom in this
Raikwar family that an Ahir woman should do these rites. The Raikwars
were now established, and for four generations held the pargana under
their chief Harhardeo, the fourth in descent from Saldeo, is said, about
1590 A.D., to have been called to Delhi, where his services were enlisted
by Akbar in the suppression of revolt in Kashmfr, and he came
back to Bamhnauti loaded with honours and armed with a farm^n
entitling him to a percentage on the revenue of nine parganas, viz.,
Fakhrpur, Hisampur, half Firozabad, Rajpur (Chahlari), Bansura (in
Sitapur), Seota (in Sitapur), Sailuk (Bhitauli), Garh (west of MalMpur),
and Bamhnauti.

On his return, however, he found his son had been seated on his gaddi,

and he therefore took possession of tappa Baunraha, fifty-two villages,

' killing the rdja and marrying his daughter. These fifty-two villages are

still known as the Harharpur complex Raikwar muhSls in pargana

Hisampur,

396 FAK— FAT

A few years' more saw the estate split into two; Gajpat Singh, the younger
brother of Eaja Parasram Singh, taking two-fifths, which forms now the
Eahwa estate. This is said to have been about the year 1600 A.D. Two
generations after this a similar separation of the ChahMri estate under
a younger brother took place, and at the same time the revenue percentage
in five out of the nine parganas, viz., Fakhrpur, Hisampur, half Firozabad,
Bansura, and Seota, was resumed. This was probably in the time of Shah
Jahin. About the same time as the separation of the Chahlari estate,
one of the members of the Rahwa family went to Delhi and turned
Musalman, returned and set up for himself with twenty villages, but these
were subsequently re-absorbed into the present estate.

The pargana has been continuously held -by the -three branches of this
Raikwar family, and it does not appear whence the author of the Ain-i-
Akbari got his authority for recording that the pargana was then owned
by Janwars.

In the time of Akbar the cultivation of the pargana measured 101,700
bighas, and its revenue was Rs. 75,366 ; in other words, the assessment fell
with an incidence of about 12 annas per bigha of cultiva,tion. In the time
of Shah Jahan the revenue had risen to Rs. 1,56,448 on 545 villages. In
1797 A.D. half the pargana of Firozabad was included in Fakhrpur, and
the revenue in 1800 A.D. was on 447 villages Rs. 1,31,537. This was
exclusive of the khalsa villages. In 1818 A.D. the khdlsa villages of the
pargana were included in the Baundi estate, and the revenue in that year
was Rs. 2,36,928 on 601 villages. The present pargana includes the
greater part of the original parganas Fakhrpur, half Firozabad, and half
Rajpur,' which is identical with the Chahlari estate, and was at one time
on the west bank of the river.

FATEHPUR Pargana — Tahsil Safipur— Dis^TOci. Unao. — This ancient
pargana lies along the Ganges, south of Bangarmiau and north of Safipur ;
it is one of varied scenery, covered with picturesque groves and intersected
with channels leading down to the Ganges. The inhabitants relate their
early history in the following archaic style : —

" A lon^ time ago, in days gone by, this spot was a jungle, in which
roamed robbers whose sole means of livelihood was plunder and dacoity.
Several years later there came to this place Sayyads, who drove out and
destroyed these marauders, and took the lands and built thereon, and
ended by taking to the same means of livelihood, until mention of their
doings reached the ears of the King of Delhi, and he sent one Raja
Karandeo Jan war of Ambepur, a subordinate of the Jaipur raja, with
forces to put doAvn these Sayyads. ' Having effected this purpose, and
having cut down the jungle and made habitations on the waste lands, he
called it by the name of Fatehpur, signifying that the land had been
gained by conquest. Raja Karandeo received a jdgir for Rs. 84,000, and
this is why this spot received the name of Fatehpur Chaurdsi."

The descendants of Raja Karandeo have always inhabited this pargana.
The lands belonging to the Chandel Thakurs were formerly on the other
side of the Ganges ; but from the river having changed its course they have
become included in this pargana.

FAT 397

In Fatehpur itself ig a temple to Mahar^j Hazari Ji, a faqir.

The soil is chiefly clay, some of it sand, and here and there a little loam.

Indian-corn of the hest quality is grown in this pargana, and the harley
crops are fair. The pargana is sixteen miles long by eight hroad, and
comprises ninety-one villages. Water is to be found from seven to forty
feet from the surface.

The area of the pargana in acres is 57,525, and is divided as follows : —

Taluqdari ... ... ... ... Acres 25,966

Pattidari (imperfect) ... ... ... ,, 5,442'

Zamindari ... ... ... ... ,, 25,806

Government ... ... ... ... „ 308

The land revenue is Es. 62,583, and the assessment falls at Ee. 1-1-6
per acre ; 1,237 acres are under groves. The census report shows the popu-
lation of this pargana 41,711. There are four b&zars, and two or three
small bathing fairs held annually at the ghats on the banks of the Ganges.
In September of every year a fair is held in Fatehpur itself at the Eam-
lila. The cultivators of this pargana are fairly well-to-do.

The following account of the Janwars, the lords of this pargana, is given
by Mr. EUiott (Chronicles of Unao, page 32) : —

" After the taking of Canouj and the expulsion of the Eahtores, the
earliest colonists were the Junwars, who settled in the pergunnah of Banger-
mow. The Junwars came from Bullubgurh, near Delhi, and colonized
twenty-four villages, which lie partly in the north-western corner of
pergunnah Bangermow and partly in the Hurdui district. Sooruj and Dasoo
were their leaders ; but Sooruj would not stop here, and went on to the
country beyond the Gogra, were he founded the Ekona Eaj, of which the
Maharaja of Bulrampore, through rebellion and extinction of the elder
branch, is now the head.

Dasoo, the younger brother, received the title of Eawut, and when his
descendants divided their twenty-four villages into four portions (or turufs),
the eldest and principal branch was called the Eotana Tu'ruf or the Eawut
branch. They received six villages, and an equal share to each of the
three younger branches, who are named after Lai, Bhan, and Seethoo, their
respective heads. These four branches have this peculiarity, that the
estate has always descended entire to the eldest son, and the cadets are
provided for by receiving a few fields for cultivation at low rent rates.*
One village has been given to the Chundeles as the marriage portion of a
Junwar bride, and one or two have been alienated through debts and
mortgages ; but each of the four branches of the family still retain the
majority of their original villages, and the eldest son holds the whole of
the lands belonging to his branch.

" Whether it was this uncommon law of primogeniture that drove out the
cadets, or whether a younger son entered the Delhi service and received the
tract as a jagheer, is doubtful ; but nine generations, or about 250 years ago,
a large branch of these Junwars settled in the pergunnah of Futtehpore
Chowrasee, taking the land from the aboriginal ' Thutheras' (or braziers)

" *ThiB IB the only instance I know of the ' guddee' or entail principle existing in a small
zemindaree estate."

398 FAT

and Lodhs. They divided into three branches, two of which take their
names from places Thuktaya and Serai, and the third, strangely enough,
either from its original head, or, as the common story goes, from the murder
by two of its chiefs of the eldest son of the eldest or Serai branch. It is
called ' Murkaha' or ' Murderous House.' But the elder branch kept up
its superiority, and completely subjugated the other two divisions of the
family in the end.

" Within the present century, Sawul Singh, the chief of the Serai Turuf,
was high in favor with the Lucknow Court, and received the office of
chukladar; on which he made the whole pergunnah of Futtehpore his own
estate. At his death, Saadut Ali gave the pergunnah to Jussa Singh, his
son, who for a long time was one of the most notorious men in the
country. His known daring and his large following induced all, the
Government officials to treat him with great respect; and though he
behaved most independently, and frequently sheltered outlaws or defaulters
of whom the Government was in search, he was never a-ttacked by the
king's forces, and never quarrelled with the local officials. His end was an
evil one. He seized the English fugitives who were escaping from Futteh-
gurh by boat in the rebellion of 1857, and gave them up to the tender
' mercies of the Nana, who massacred them all on the Cawnpore parade.
At length, in an attack on Oonao, he was wounded in the hand by a shot
from the garrison ; the wound mortified, and on the fourth day he died.
One of his sons was hanged, and the other is still in hiding ; and his cousin
and partner, Bhopal Singh, died in March 1861 of cholera, after having
lost his wife, his mother, and his child, within one month, by the same
terrible disease. Their own personal estates were confiscated and given to
strangers, but those which Sawul had annexed from the other branches of.
the family were restored to the owners."

FATEHPUR CB-ATmASI—PargoMa FATEnrvR—Tahsil Safipur— Dis-
trict Unao. — This town lies six miles west of Safipur and twenty-five
miles north-west of Unao, one mile south of the road from Unao to Ban-
garmau and north of the river Kalyani. ,

It is alleged to have been founded by Raja Karandeo of the Janw^r
tribe, who came from Abhaipur Patan near Jaipur. The- Thatheras are
said to have held the place originally, then a Sayyad colony, then the Jan-
wars, each transfer being caused by a great battle.

The head of the Janwar clan resided here up till the inutiny. See
account of the pargana. There are bazars on Tuesdays and Fridays, and
a fair on the Dasahra, attended by about a thousand people.

The population is 2,803, of whom 273 are Musalmans, 132 are Chhattris,
564 are Brahmans. There are no masonry houses, but five temples, — three
to Mahadeo.

FATEHPUR Pargana— Tahsil Fxtespttr— District Baea Banki.— The
pargana lies north of De-w^a, and south of Mahmudabad ; the latter in the
Sitapur district. Its area is 154 square miles : 65,358 acres are cultivated,
13,186 are culturable waste, and 18,695 are barren. The land revenue is
Rs. 1,32,192, being at the rate of Rs. 2-0-4 per acre of cultivation, and
Re. 1-10-11 per culturable acre Tha T^nnnlation is 93.793. being 609

FAT— FIR 399

souls per square mile. Musalmans number 11,511 against Hindus 82,282 ;
the proportion of the former being 14 per cent.

Here in Sihali is the original seat of the Khanzadas, to which family
belong the great taluqdars of Mahmudabad, Bhatwamau, and Bilahra, and
the Shekhzadas of FatehpUr are connections of the family of the same
name once so powerful in Lucknow.

The pargana is picturesquely situated on the high lands above the Gogra.

The soil is light ; irrigation is mainly from small wells, in which earthen
pots are used.

The principal towns are Fatehpur, Bilahra, and Sihali.

FATEHPUR— Pargfawa Fatehpttr — Taksil Fatehpue — District Baea
Banki. — Fifteen miles north-north-east of the sadr, was founded about
1321 A.D. by Fateh Muhammad Khan, one of the Delhi princes. There
is a thana, a tahsil, and an Anglo-vernacular grant-in-aid school, which is
well attended.

The most imposing structure is an imambara called the Molvi S^hib'sv
Who the molvi was is not known ; but he is said to have been one Molvi
Earimat Ali, an ofiSicer of high rank at the court of Nasir-ud-din Haidar. .
The building is only used during the muharram. There are many temples ;
one, a rather fine- one, built by Bakhshi Harparshad. There is an old masjid
supposed to have been built in the time of Akbar, called satburji, but it is
only interesting from its antiquity. The present owner of the ground
attached to the masjid holds a sanad purporting to have been granted by
Akbar himself There. are masonry houses in abundance, and many others
in riiins. The town beArs the usual aspect of decay common to most Mu-
salman settlements since the fall of their dynasty. Shekh Husen Ali,
formerly naib of Raja Nawab Ali Khan, built a mosque and a small house
and laid out a fine garden, but the present proprietor, Ali Husen, is too
• poor to keep it up, and the garden is fast becoming a jungle.

Special markets are held on Mondays and Thursdays, but there is a
daily market, also well attended. A good deal of grain is brought from
the trans-Gogra district, and there is a good sale of English cloth. There
are many weavers.

The roads from Daryabad, Ramnagar, Bara Banki, and Sitapur meet

here.

The total population amounts to ... ... 7,194

Of whom Hindus are ... ... ■- 3,267

And Musalmans ... ... ... 3,927

All the mosques and the vast majority of the Muhammadans belong to

the Sunni sect.

Latitude 27° 10' north, longitude 81° 15' east.

FIROZABAD Pargana^— Tahsil Nighasan— Disirici Kheei.— Firozabad
lies between the Chauka and the Kauridla, running
General description. ^^^.^1^ ^f i]^q Chauka ; the river Dahdwar is the bound-
Natural features. ^^^^ ^j^g ^gg^^ separating -it from Dhaurahra, and

400 FIE

flowing directly south ; to the north--west the boundary is artificiarl for a few
miles. Firozabad lies then between three rivers, and is further intersected
by a deep channel of the Dahawar, and by a lateral channel of the Kauriala
called the Sont, which breaks off near Ramlok at the northern extremity of
the pargana, and after a course of sixteen miles rejoins the Kauriala at
Balakipurwa. In addition to these rivers, which give a water frontage of
some 200 miles, with deep, and indeed navigable currents, there are many
jhils of small size ; the whole surface of the pargana could easily be irrigated
from the Dahawar and the Sont, while water carriage is everywhere within
three or four miles. It is hard to say whether Firozabad is entirely of
recent alluvial formation or not.

There is a well-grounded tradition that the town itself was founded by
Firoz Shah Khilji in 1330. This is not mere rumour ; it is proved by the
names still surviving of the ancient tolas into which the city was divided ;
further, ruins of great age still exist.

It appears to me that Firozabad was then an island in the middle of a,
waste swampy thicket celebrated for game, skirted by the Kauriala and
Chauka. It was a part of the district of Garh Qila Nawa, extending on
both sides of the Kauriala. I am of impression that the Kauriala and the
Chauka were both formerly divided into numerous branches of varying
currents and channels. Only in this way can the present features of the
country and the many contradictory traditions be reconciled. A river will,
of course,' in time wear for itself a main channel and stick to it, unless
tidal action or earth upheaval alter the conditions. Apparently for the
larger portion of modern geological time Firozabad is simply the
deposit of the rivers Chauka and Kauriala. There is little to say, then, of its
natural features. The Chauka falls more rapidly than the Kauriala,
namely, 50 feet during the twenty miles ; it skirts, then, two parganas,
therefore its current is more rapid ;,it carries with it heavier particles, and its
deposit after the rains consists of more valuable soil than the Kauriala,
which only falls 20 feet in the same distance. The soil towards the Chauka
is more fertile. It is generally light and sandy towards the Kauriala,
Water is close to the surface, — so close that there is little irrigation,
required, and none is applied except for garden grounds. The kharif
was the principal crop, but the rabi is coming forward rapidly.

Firozabad contains ninety-one villages, covering an area of 162 square
Area • population. miles, of Which 104 were cultivated at time of survey.

The pargana is twenty-two miles long and ten miles
broad. Its popuktion is 57,507, or 355 to the square mile, of whom
Brahmans form 10 per cent., Ahirs 11 per cent., Chhattris 2J per cent,
Gararias 6 per cent., Muraos 5 per cent., and Lodhs 16 per cent.; the
last are the caste feature of the pargana. These ninety-one mauzas are
owned entirely by the Eaikwdr taluqdar of MalMpur, and the Jangres
Chauhan taluqdar of Isdnagar ; they hold the pargana in about equal pro-
portions. The old zamindars have very largely disappeared. There are
no towns of any size. Isanagar si only a large village. Firozabad is
separately described.

The level has been gradually raised, as in Dhaurahra, and very little of
the pargana is now exposed .to the flood. The soil is principally loam j

FIR— FYZ

401

towards the centre a good deal of clay : the proportion of sandy soil varies ;
in the flooded part sand is sometimes deposited, but generally loam. The
percentage of the former is at any rate under five per cent. ;" that entered
in the assessed area is under one per cent.

The history of the pargana is given under pargana Dhaurahra. A few
particulars may be added here. Prior to the formation of Dhaurahra into a,
pargana in 1151 F., Firozabad in great measure belonged to the Bisens..
They were expelled, after repeated conflicts, by the Jangres of Bhur ; they in
turn were brought low in 1184 F., when Raja Jodh Singh was killed, and
from this time dat^ the beginnings of the two taluqas, which now embrace
the entire pargana, the ancient shooting grounds of Firoz Shah. One
Chain Singh, a relative of the deceased Jodh Singh, was allowed, in or
about 1200 F., a few patches of land rent-free for his maintenance ; these
were situated north of Dhaurahra, He gradually increased his possession,
and in 1240 F. he acquired the muhal of Isanagar, which embraced the
northern portion of the pargana ; this he has retained undiminished
through all three settlements. On the south, on the other hand, we find
across the Dahawar, in the adjoining district of Sitapur, a Raikwar Ghhattri
chief, whose ancestor had separated from the main branch, that of Baundi
in Bahraich. He had received five villages as his portion. His descendants
first acquired Mallapur with a few adjoining villages in the Sitapur dis-
trict, and then advancing across the Dahawar, they managed to bring under
their control the whole of the southern part of the pargana. Who were the
ancient possessors is far from clear ; the only documentary evidence on the
subject is to be found in some papers filed by a Brahman who had the
village of Gopalpur. In one of these, Tikait R^e, the ndib of Asif-ud-daula,
makes a grant to this Brahman's ancestor, but little light is shed on the
matter. No claims have been lodged to old zamindaris ; the Bisens have
utterly disappeared ; the Kayaths and Kurmis, who did acquire a zamindari
right in the adjoining pargana, Dhaurahra, were not so fortunate in thia
one. In fact, utter darkness has settled upon the history of Firozabad. '

FYZABAD Division — Fyzabad, a division of British territory in Oudh,
comprises three districts, whose names, areas, and population are given
in the accompanying table : —

Area and Population.

Diotriot.

1

■s

o

Area In
statute Bri-
tish square

miles.

'4

t

1

•

1

1

DQ

1

•3

a

1

.2

a

i

I

1

1

6

•5

Fyzabad

2,568

1,668

949

922,360

100,410

1,407

41

626,295

699,423

1,026,718

61$

^

Bahraich

1,965

3,710

1,268

676,313

98,124

S4

6

406,926

367,715

774,640

585

Qonda
Total

2,886

r,«9

2,629

6,998

■

1,207
3,410

1,060,433

117,388

32

7

604,624
1,537,844

363,838
1,430,875

1,168,462

441

2,6.49,106

815,917

l',473

54

2,969,826

447^

cc

402 FYZ

PYZABAD DISTRICT ARTICLE.

ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS.

I. — Natural features. II.^ — Agriculture : crops : rents : food :

FAMINES : PRICES : TRADE : TOWNS. III. — LAND TENURES AND
DIVISION OF PROPERTY. IV. — ADMINISTRATION.

V. — Religion: History..

CHAPTER I.

NATUEAL FEATURES.

Situation, boundaries, area — The old diatrict, ateii, population — The change — Tabular state-
ment— Appearance of the country— Communications by river, railway, road — Rivers,
lakes — R^nfall — Fauna — Flora.

The district o£ Fyzabad, whiclt takes its name from that of its chief
Situation town, situated in the north-western corner of the col-

lectorate, is the most easterly of the twelve deputy
commissionerships into which the province is divided.

With an average elevation of 350 feet above the level of the sea, and in
Boundaries shape an irregular parallelogram, it runs from west to

east, with a slight tendency southwards, for a length
of eighty-five miles along the right bank of the- Gogra, until it is met by
the frontier of the Azamgarh district, in the North- Western Provinces, on
the east. On the south it is bounded throughout by the Oudh district of
Sultanpur, its frontier line here being sixty-four miles in length ; and on
the west it marches with zila Bara Banki. It lies between 26° 11' and
26° 49' north latitude, and between 81° 44' and 83° 9' east longitude.

Its average width is from twenty to twenty-five miles, and its area 1,686
^j.g^ square miles, of which -947 are cultivated and 285 are

culturable. The population is 1,025,038. ,

But these figures are for the district as it is now constituted, and do

These figures apply not apply to the older arrangement which existed

to the new district. down to seven years ago. And as many important'

and interesting reports regarding the original district have been published,

and are being constantly referred to, it seems advisable here to note briefly

FYZ 403

what changes have been made, as well in the outer boundary line as also
in the internal sub-divisional arrangements :—

According to the latest return the cultivation of the

ThrcXlit\"*^'^°'^'^*^*° ??t'i?«---

^^'^- - ::: :;: ::: lllfi :;

Taking up the older district first, we find that it was made up of
The old district. thirteen parganas, as follows : —

Akbarpur, -j

Tanda, L Tahsil Akbarpur

Birhar, J

Majhaura, \

Aldemau, I Tahsil Dostpur

Surharpur J •

Haweli Oudh, -\

Mangalsi, ( m , •, t^ , ,

Amsin, > Tahsil Fyzabad

Pachhimrath, J

Sultanpur-Baraunsa, "^

Isauli, y Tahsil Bhartipur

Jagdispur-Khandansa, J

giving an aggregate area of 2,332 square miles, or 646 square miles more
Ita area. ^^^^ *^® present district, and containing 3,601 demar-

cated mauzas, some of which for settlement purposes
had been divided into their component villages; the whole number thus
amounting to 3,690.

The population is given in the census report for 1869 as amounting to so
Its population. ^^^J ^^ 1,440,957, resulting in the large average of
616 souls to the square mile.

The boundaries of the district were on the west and north identical

with those of the new district. On the east, in addi-

oun anea. ^^^^ ^^ Azamgarh, the Jaunpur collectorate formed the

boundary. On the south the entire frontier of some seventy-five miles

was washed by the river Gumti, and in some parts the district was so

wide as forty-four miles.

A glance at the map will show how inconvenient this arrangement was.

Inconvenience of the With the county town and all the courts and public
former arrangement. offices in the extreme north of the country, the inha-
bitants of the Bhartipur and Dostpur tahsils (vide above ) in the south-
east were obliged to undertake long and laborious journeys in all seasons
of the year when they had any business of importance to conduct, or when
they were summoned on public duty by the authorities ; and that, too,
although they were living in large numbers actually within sight of the
county town of another district (Sultanpur).

CO 2

40* ¥YZ

All this south-eastern country, aggregating, as stated above, some
The change made square miles in area, was accordingly taken from the
jurisdiction of the Fyzabad courts and added to the
Sultanpur district ; and the parganas of the new coUectorate were re-dis-
tributed as follows : —

^Z: ^ }TalsnAkb»p„r. ■

Surharpur \

Birhar >Tahsil Tanda.

Tanda j

Haweli Oudh "|

Mangalsi j-Tahsil Fyzabad.

Amsin )

Pachhimrdth ) rr i, -i Tjn

T J' ^r^. 2i f lahsil Bikapur.

Jagdispur-Khandansa ■ J ^

Thus three parganas disappeared, namely, Isauli, Sultanpur-Baraunsa, and

' Aldemau, and four new tahsils were constituted. The

pa^tnM^^^™^''* °^ remaining ten parganas also were re-arranged, so

that their present do not correspond with their

former areas.

This will be more clearly seen from the annexed tabular statement, show-
ing at one view the area, population, and number of villages for the old and
the new parganas. Suffice it to state here that the alterations were all of
them made with a view to rendering the parganas more compact, and that
no doubt this end has been attained.

This table does not show the numbers of the agricultural and non-agri-
cultural classes ; they are as follows: —

Agricultural. Non-agricultural,

■ Hindus ... ... 665,740 286,620

Musalmans... ... 37,912 62,498

703,652 349,118

The agricultural population is therefore 67 per cent., but this does not
include the large class of day-labourers,.wh.ose almost entire dependence is
on the soil.

FYZ

405

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406 FYZ

We may dismiss this comparative note on the relative sizes of the formqr
and the present district of Fyzabad by giving the parallels of latitude
and longitude between which they respectively lie: —

T?^™». ^;»tv5„+ f 26° 49' and 25° 58' Morth latitude,

Former district ... ^ gr 42' and 83° 9' East longitude,

■p.o=»„t .!;<.+„•„<■ \ 26° 49' and 26° 11' North latitude,
Present district ... | g^o ^^, ^^^ ggo g, jj^gt longitude;

from which we see that only one parallel, namely, the more southern of
the two jiorth latitudes, has been changed.

Appearance of the country. — To return to the subject of our sketch,
we find the Fyzabad country to consist of a densely populated, well-
cultivated plain of great fertility, well wooded, well watered, and with
good communications both by road, rail, and water. The drainage is
towards the south-east.

Communications. — Along the whole northern frontier of ninety-five
miles there is the "silent highway" of the great river
By river. Gogra, connecting Fyzabad throughout the year with

By railway, Bengal and the Gangetic valley. For seventy miles

the railway from/ Aza,nlgarh and Benares traverses the
district from south to north at • Ajodhya and Fyzabad, and thence west-
wards to Lucknow and Bombay. A metalled high-
By road. ^^^ ^^ Sultanpur, Partabgarh, and Allahabad on the

south, and another to Daryabad, Nawabganj, and Lucknow on the west,
are open for trafiic throughout the year, and good unmetalled roads cross
the country in every direction. The metalled roads are sixty miles in
length, unmetalled 428, the railroad 66. There are numerous ferries on
the Gogra, and at Fyzabad itself the river is bridged during the diy season
of the year, the station of Gonda being thus brought within a four hours'
drive on a metalled road from Fyzabad. The principal roads radiate from
Fyzabad west and south. That to Lucknow is raised a,nd m.etalled through-
out. The road to Sultanpur is of the same description. On the road to
Eae Bareli, twenty miles in this district, and Azamgarh vid Tanda, fifty
miles, some bridges remain to be constructed.

The following extract from the route-book gives details: —
The principal unmetalled roads are —

1st. — ^That which connects Fyzabad with Azamgarh in the North-West-
ern Provinces. This passes for fifty miles throughout this district, and
the stages are-^

Jalaluddinnagar, ten miles from Fyzabad; Begamganjl ten miles further;
Iltifatganj, eleven miles; Tdnda, nine miles; and Baskhari, ten miles.
There are no rivers, but ten ravines.

2nd. — That which connects Fyzabadwith Jaunpur in the North- Western
Provinces vid Tanda. This passes for sixty miles throughout this district,
and the stages are—

Jalaluddinnagar, ten miles from Fyzabad; then Begamganj, ten miles
further; Iltifatganj, 11 miles; Tanda, nine miles; Samanpur, ten miles; and
lastly, Surharpur, ten miles. The Tharwa and the Tons are rivers near

PYZ

407<-

the last stage. The first is bridged, but the second ■ has only a ferry.
There are ten ndlas.

3rd. — ^That which connects Fyzabad with Rae Bareli in Oudh. This
passes only for thirty-one miles throughout this district. . The stages are
Deoria (camping ground known as Baron) ten miles from Fyzabad, Milki-
pur ten miles further, and Huliapur eleien miles. There are no rivers,
but two nalas.

The traffic on the Fyzabad branch of the line has not been largely
. developed yet; the line was opened from. Nawabganj

Kaiiway. ^^ Fyzabad on 25th November 1872. In the first half-

year the number of arrivals at and departures from Fyzabad came to
73,200. The railway was further opened to Akbarpur, and now communi-
cation between Benares, Fyzabad and Lucknow is complete. The
river takes up the goods traffic, and in consequence it is not what might
be expected from Fyzabad, being only 6,846 tons in the half-year. This
traffic consists generally of wheat and rice for the Lucknow aiid Cawnpore
markets. Neither passenger nor goods traffic has yet been developed -at
the stations in the district.

The other rivers are the Tons,. which is formed by the confluence of the
Bisoi and the Madha, and the Majhoi, which forms the
Rivers and lakes. boundary between this district and Sultanpur. The
Tons is navigable in the rains up to Akbarpur by boats carrying five tons.
Its banks are steep, and in many places covered with lisar, in others fringed
with jungle. The banks of the Gogra are about 25 feet above the low-
water level. They are never flooded, but there is a breadth of low land
lying along the river which is submerged every rains. In the rains of
1872 the river Tons presented a vast volume of water 672 feet broad, 30'3
feet deep, rushing along with a velocity of 3 '94 miles per hour, and with
a discharge of 55,181 cubic feet per second. In ordinary monsoons the
highest discharge is about a quarter less than this.

There are no large jhils or lakes. There are no fishing toWns; the
fisheries are so unimportant that their produce has not been valued by the
settlement . officer.

Wild rice is grown in the marshes, but the singhara, or water-nut, which
is so common in western Oudh, is unknown here, except in the imme-
diate vicinity of Fyzabad. "S^thi" rice, so called because it can be cut
sixty days after it is sown, is also grown near the rivers Gogra and Tons.,

The river is crossed by the railway with a girder bridge with twelve
openings, e'ach of 60 feet. The flood discharges of the other rivers of the
, district are as follows: —

Eiyer.

Waterway,
linear feet.

Height..

Usaii velocity. ,

Flood disoharge per
second, cubic feet. ,

Majhoi

Neoli

300
120

26'3
147

4-74
570

31,860
4,106

*os

FYZ

The rainfall of Fyzabad, whicli is doubtless more regular than that in

the western districts, averaged 42 inches in the last nine

^"^*" years, 1865 — 1875, according to the revenue report. In

only two years was the rainfall under 30 inches, but 1864 and 1861 were

^Iso years of drought.

Average faM of rain in the Fyzahad district.

Tears.

1862
1863,
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
2869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875.

Inches.

Average fpr fourteen years

37-5
41 0
26-6
33 •»
40-0
50-2
231
45-6
54-8
70-5
34-3
27 -Q
48-3
33-8

43-2

Fyzabad is worse stocked with game than any other district in Oudh.

Fauna Wild pigs are tolerably numerous in the khadir of the

Gogra ; black buck are met with very sparsely in the

west of the district. Even ducks and geese are comparatively scarce;

bears and spotted deer are also unknown. In other respects the. fauna does

not differ from that described under Kheri and Sitapur.

The physical features of the country are very similar to those of the

Physical features adjacent districts of Oudh, and thus call for but brief

notice here. Without hills or valleys, devoid of forests

and lakes properly so called, the district presents the appearance of a vast

plain, — a boundless contiguity of well-cultivated fields, interspersed with

numerous mango groves and scattered trees,, the greatest and most notable

Thepipal among which is the sacred pipal {Ficus reUgiom),

spreading wide its immemorial arms, — dear to Vishnu,

and dear to the feathered tribes, to whom, in the very hottest season of the

year, when all other trees are scorched and dry and dusty," it affords an

umbrageous shelter of fresh green leaves.

It and the tall semal (Bomhax hepta^hylla), or cotton tree, with its great
The seioal buttressed trunk, and in the season its bright robe of

scarlet flowers, form the most striking olgiccts in the
Fyzabad landscape.

The bamboos, too, round every village and'hamltit, waving their feathery

Bamboo foliage like huge ferns, add to the general beauty of

the scene, and in every ■n^ay the country presents a

FYZ 409

pleasing aspect to the officer who, during the entire hot and rainy seasons,
has been confined to a badly-ventilated and badly-smelling cutcherry.

Fyzabad is amply supplied with the means of irrigation. It has many
Irrigation abundant. *^ *^® features of a Tarai country, — as, for instance,
the great number of bamboos grown in it testifies that
the water lies everywhere close to the surface ; artificially constructed tanks
and natural water-holes and swamps are innumerable, and many small
streams flow through the district. Indeed, in some years the rainfall is
excessive, and, on the whole, the country is very far indeed from requiring
a canal to assist its irrigation.

410 FYZ

CHAPTER 11.

AGRICULTURE, PRICES, FAMINES, CROPS, AKD TRADE.

The subject of agriculture may be first taken up as being of all-import-
ance to the people and to the Government. In connection with it ■wiU be
treated food, famines, rent, prices, wages, condition of the people, crops.
The first point will be the soils, then the irrigation. On the former
subject the settlement officer writes as follows : —

Natural Soils.

Natural soils are of three classes : —

" 1st class. — In this we have included " duras" and " kupsa-duras."

In Unao and Rae Bareli this " duras" is known as " dumat." It is of ■
the first quality. The former name prevails in the bordering districts,
Azamgarh and Jaunpur, and is used for soil of the second quality in
Gorakhpur^ In the western portion of the latter zila, which is separated
from us by the river Gogra, this soil, as here, is called. " duras," but in
eastern Gorakhpur it is called " bdngar." Sir Henry Elliot considered
" duras" and " dumat" as probably the same.

" Kupsa-duras" is "' duras" with a greater amount of sticky clay in it,
and giving less produca

These soils take much manure, irrigation, and labour, but produce two
crops, and of every variety. They are of a light-brown colour, and soon
pulverise, and consequently do not long retain moisture. We have villages
of which the entire land is of these sorts, and others where all the differ-
ent soils prevail. -

2nd class. — In this class we have included "matiar" and "kupsa-
matiar," which latter is locally sub-divided into " kupsa-uparwar" and
" kupsa-khalar." It also includes " kurail" and " bijar."

Sleeman gays that " matiar" embraces all good argillaceous earth, from
the brown to the black humic or ulmic deposit found in the beds of tanks,
and mentions that the Oudh people called the black soil of Bundelkhand
by this name. " Matiar" is of a darker colour than " duras" and more
capable of absorbing and retaining moisture, forming readily into clods
which assist this. It is very hard when dry, and slippery when wet. It
is seldom manured. It is the finest natural soil, and its yield is equal to
the average of " duras" and " kupsa-duras" together.

" Matiar kurail " is similar to " matiar," but being usually found in
the beds of tanks and jhils, is darker in colour, and when dry is full of
cracks and fissures, the result of being generally submerged. The word
" kurail" means black.

" Matiar-khalar-kupsa" gives an indifferent yield, and, is somewhat
similar to the last, but it is spotted throughout with orange specks.

FYZ 411

These are said to be vegetable roots and remains, which, by reason qf the
clay surrounding them, do not readily decay and , amalgamate, unless
manure is addedj when they are absorbed and disappear. This spotted
soil is also called " kabis" and "-senduria," the latter, from its colour
approximating that of red-lead (" sendur").

" Matiar-uparwar-kupsa" is the same as the last, but. lying at a higher
level and yielding less. These two last natural soils are sometimes found
amongst the conventional " majhar," but more generally in the " fardah,"
never amongst the " goind," because manuring, as above explained,
changes their nature.

■^a^

" Bijar" is much like " usar," but with this distinction, that the latter
produces reh or sajji in the dry season, and the former does not. It is as
hard as "matiar" and intermixed with very fine gravel. It is only
cultivated when it contains an unusual admixture of " matidr," and its
crops, which are confined to the different kinds of rice, suffer from the least
drought.

The name " matiar" seems common to most of the districts of Oudh,
and to bur bordering districts of Azamgarh and Jaunpur. The same name
prevails in the west portion of Gorakhpur ; to the eastward it is called
" bh£nt." So well does it retain moisture, that indigo sowings go on in
March and April, when the hot winds are blowing. It is a common practice
to roll the seed in with a roller to keep in the moisture. " Matidr," when
irrigated, is held to be the most productive of all soils ; when unirrigated,
perhaps the worst.

The low moisture-retaining lands are here called " khalar" (as already
stated) ; the uplands, " uparwar ;" sloping lands, " tekar ;" and rugged,
uneven lands, " bihar.'' Salt and saltpetre are made from poor " usar"
soils, and from the most barren in Oudh carbonates of soda are taken,
which are used in making soda and glass. I am told that in the Ghazipur
district lands that can be set aside for this purpose yield as much profit as
the culturable soils.

Srd class. — In this class, as its name indicates (" balwa" or " bhur"),
are included the different degrees of arenaceous soils. In the neighbour-
ing Ai;amgarh district these soils have the same name as here (" bhfir"),
but in the other bordering district of Jaunpur they are called "balsiindar."

Gohventional Soils.

Conventional soils (that is, estimatiag the lands according to their
distance from the homestead). — These lands are of three denominations :
1st, jamai or goind ; 27id, kauli or majhar; and 3rd, fardah or pdlo. The
words " jamdi," " kauli," and " fardah" are those that were found in com-
mon use amongst the people, and have Arabic derivations, the first signify-
ing yielding a good money rent ; the second, commanding a money rent
according to " kaul" or agreement ; in the third the rent is sometimes paid
in kind, at others by a low money rate, and a single crop is the result.
The jamai and kauli lands here are commonly spoken of by the peeple as
the " per" or trunk of the tree, the fardah lands being mentioned' as the

412 FYZ

pdlo or palai, outlying branches. I presume the hamlet is the foot.
The word " goind," which is also in common use, means a suburb, or the
fields near and round the village.

Next to the jamai comes the second circle, known as majh^r or middle
fields, sometimes also called midna ; and lastly, the palo or outlying fields.
The "goind" lands are considered self-manuring, i. e., they are provided
for by the well-known habits of the inhabitants. The majhar lands require
manure to be conveyed to them, or flocks of sheep are folded on them, for
which the shepherds are paid in grain, so many sers a night, according to
the number of sheep. The palo lands usually go without manure. In
Unao and Rae Bareli there are, I believe, only two conventional sub-divi-
sions, viz., goind and har. In Jaunpur and Azamgarh the names are the
same as here, while in Gorakhpur majhar is called miana." {Fyzahad
Settletnent Report, pages 1-3.)

The irrigation is mainly from jhils. Of 458,000 acres, 260,154 are
watered from jhils and tanks, 11,172 from rivers, 187,000 from wells ;
352,000 are not irrigated. But this refers to the old district; no trust-
worthy returns are available for the new. The proportions above repre-
sented will, however, be fairly preserved in it also. The last annual return
contains the information that 35 1,41 5' acres of the new district are irrigated,
and 2-5.5,451 unirrigated. Table No. IV. of 1872 quotes these areas as
307,581 and 315,470 acres, respectively.

Irrigation in Fyzabad presents some featjires differing from those de-
. . scribed in the adjoining districts of Bahraich and

Irrigation. ^^^^ Banki. In Fyzabad the system of utilising

masonry wells for this object has been carried further than in any other
part of Qudh. In Sitapur and Kheri, for instance, as the settlement
officers report, not one masonry well in a hundred which actually exist is
used for irrigation ; in Fyzabad it happens that ten out of a dozen masonry
wells in a village will be applied to this purpose.

Water is met with at very different depths, as is related in the accounts
of the different parganas in the Tarai districts. In Mangalsi, along the
banks of the Gogra, a good supply can be obtained at a depth of 12 feet or
8 haths, while beyond the ridge which marks the ancient bank of the
river the peasant has to dig 25 baths, or 37 feet. The subsoil is very
friable, and it is doubtless difficult to keep the saij^dy sides of the well
from falling in, but the same amount of effort is not made in this direction
as in other villages, to line the shaft with jhau or other brushwood. Pro-
bably the tenantry have discovered that a masonry lining is cheaper in
the long run.

A masonry well so broad that two pulleys can be employed at once,
each with its pair of earthen pots, can be made where the water is at 25
feet from the surface for about Rs. 250, and if no mortar is employed, for
about Es. 175 ; but this latter wiU not last more than thirty years, while
the former, if moderately used, may be worked for eighty.

In such a weU, with water at that distance, four men will work the two
puUeys in alternate gangs of two ; a water-clock at the well-head deter-
mines, when the hour expires, and the fiaui men, with one in the field to

FYZ 413

manage the flow of water, will effect the irrigation of one local bigha
(about 1,150 square yards) in a day. If their wages are, as is the case
near Fyzabad, 2 annas a day, or its equivalent in grain, one watering will
cost Rs. 2-8-0 per acre; if l| annas. Re. 1-14-0 per acre. Wheat, which
requires three irrigations, will then cost Rs. 5-10-0 to Rs. 7-8-0 per acre.
Opium, which is watered seven times, will cost Rs. 13-2-0 to Rs. 17-8-0 per
acre. In many cases, however, the water is brought from these masonry
■wells up an incline by means of a series of lifts, which add greatly to the
expense.

When the water is at 12 feet, as in the Tarai, three men with one pair
of earthen pots on the pulley will water one local blgha in a day ; this will
cost about Re. 1-9-0, or with the lower hire Re. 1-3-0 per acre for one water-
ing; not more than two waterings are necessary in this damp ground,
so wheat, except near the. larger towns, where the price of labour is high,
will not cost more than Rs. 2-6-0 for irrigation per acre.

In the latter case also the well will not cost more than one rupee, being
unlined ; but in the former, the interest of the cost of the well at 15 per
cent, must be added to the cost of irrigation ; this will be Rs. 37 per
annum for a well costing Rs. 250. Now, not more than 12 acres can be
irrigated in six weeks from such a well, and as the wheat crop must be
irrigated once every six weeks, such a well will only supply 12 acres with
water; therefore Rs. 3 per acre must be added to the Rs. 7 which wheat
costs. It will at once appear that the crop cannot bear the outlay ; in
fact, the well water is used for pther purposes, — for cattle and drinking.
Wells costing so much are not expected to pay as irrigation works.

The tenants make masonry wells to supply themselves with water for
drinking, or sometimes for religious purposes ; when that object has been
fully attained in any village, they will cease to make wells solely for irri-
gation, and unless they can use unlined wells or tank water, the greater
part of their crops will not be irrigated at all. Taking the distance of
water from the surface at an average of 20 feet in Fyzabad, the cost of
making the well, the interest of the money, and the labour of raising the
water, will, it is apparent, through the greater part of the district, deter
from the use of masonry wells merely for irrigation.

As about 140,000 acres are irrigated from wells, and 260,000 are not
irrigated at. all, and cannot be irrigated except by making new wells, it is
important to determine how. far masonry wells are successful as an irriga-
tion speculation. The cheapest form of masonry well — that without mor-
tar—costs about Rs. 6 per cubit if the shaft is made so broad as to admit
the use of two earthen buckets. For instance, in Birhar such wells are
now made at a cost of Rs. 100 with shafts sunk 20 cubits. But a large
proportion of these falls in whenever a very heavy rainfall occurs, and it
will be safer and cheaper as a rule to use mortar,— a practice generally
followed by the people themselves. Such is the case throughout the
northern part of the district within eight miles of the Gogra ; farther
south, slighter linings are found sufficient, as the soil has more cohesion.
In ikaweli and Pachhimr^th parganas, for instance, a well whose shaft is
25 feet long, the water-level lying at 15 feet, can be mad^ for Rs. 40 for
one pulley, or Es. 65 for two pulleys; this is a little less than Rs. 4 per

414

FYZ

cutit. From this latter well one local bigha can be watered in a day, or
about 10 acres in six weeks, and a fresh irrigation is required at the end
of every six weeks ; therefore such a well will water only ten acres, and the
interest on its cost, Es. 65, at 15 per cent., will be almost Rs. 10 per annum,
or Re. 1 per acre. One rule, therefore, may be laid down, that from Re. 1
to Rs. 2-8-0 per acre must be added to the cost of irrigation for the interest
upon- the cost of construction, allowing interest at 15 per cent., and calcu- .
lating the cost of wells to vary from Rs. 100 to 250, as the depth of the
water-level beneath the surface varies from 10 to 25 feet, and the length
of the shaft from 15 to 40 feet.

, As a rule, in this district, opium is watered seven times ; tobacco, seven;
wbeat, three ; barley, peas, masiir, once ; sugarcane, ten times. Wheat will
require a double well for every 12 acres; ppium, tobacco, for every five;
peas, mastir, for every fifteen.

The first cost of the well, it will be remembered, depends on the length
of the shaft, whicb must be sunk 5 or 10 feet below the water-level in
order to get a copious supply ; the current cost of the labour will depend
upon the distance of the water-level from the surface, because the farther
it is off the less ground will be watered in a day. The following table
gives an approximate estimate of the cost of irrigating an acre once : —

Distance of water from surface

10 feet.

15 feet.

20 feet,

Es. As.

Es. As.

Es. As.

Interest on first cost of well
Price of labour inraising tlie water

■•••••

1 3

1 0
1 8

1 6

1 12,

Rents are, as might be expected, high. The following are detailed in
Eents. the annual report, 1872-73 : —

Land suited for —

Opium. ...
Tobacco ...
Sugarcane
Wheat ...
Eice
Oil-seeds
Maize, &c.

A more correct statement would be as follows : —

Manured crops near the village
Irrigated loam land...
TJnirrigated loam land
Sandy unirrigated loam land ...

The best kind of land is that which lies near the village, and is called
goind. Near Fyzabad city such land rents at Rs. 20 per bigha or Rs. 32
per acre ; it has been raised to that rate recently by the municipality, but
it is doubfltful whether the tenants can continue to pay, it. Ordinary rates

Per acre.

Es

.A. P.

9

4

0

9

4

0

8

12

0

6

12

0

5

1

0

4

4

0

3

12

0

Ea

.A. P.

12

8

0

8

0

0

6

0

0

3

8

0

FYZ 415

are Rs. 2-8 per local bigha for garden cultivation,— this will be Rs. 12-8
per acre as stated above; and Re. 1-8 per local bigha for good ordinary-
land, i. e., Rs. 7-8 per acre.

Rents will be further considered under " Condition of the people."

The staple crops are wheat and rice. The area under cultivation is
606,080, including dufasli lands; the area of crops
'^''^^' _ _ is about 750,000 acres, of whiph the following are

the details, approximately : — -

Wheat ... ... ... 200,000

Rice ... ... ... 160,000

Juar ... ... ... 50,000

TJrd .. „. .. 50,000

Gram ... ... ... 50,000

Peaa ... ... ... 50,000

Barley ... ... ... 50,000

Arhar ... ... ... 50,000

Sugarcane ... ... ... 40,000

Miscellaneous ... ... 80,000

No detail is necessary concerning the crops. The cultivation of sugar-
cane .is increasing; there is a very large area now under opium;
bajra and kodo, common crops in western Oudh, are almost ' unknown
here.

Wages are as already described in Sitapur and Bara Banki, except that
near Fyzabad the rate is raised by the proximity of
Wages. European troops and Government works of all kinds.

Near Fyzabad the rate of pay at the wells is now five local sers of grain .
per day ; the grain is urd or judr, selling at the rate of 40 local sers per
rupee. If the labourer is paid in kodo, or unhusked rice, he will get 7^
local sers. When prices fall, he will get 7^ sers of maize ; his emoluments
seem determined by a rough approximation to the grain equivalent of two
annas. But 1^ annas is a common day's wage throughout the district at
any distance from the capital. In Fyzabad masons get four annas. Wages
on the whole are higher in Fyzabad than in the western districts. This is
probably due to there being a great number of Brahmans and Chhattris,
who will not drive ploughs, and are generally lazy : this causes a demand
for day labourers and raises the pay.

The ten years' grain rates return prepared for the Secretary of State is
appended. This return is, however, defective in
Prices. ' three points : it does not exhibit the cheapest grains

used by the people; the rates given are in some cases not reliable ; lastly,
the average of the year, is often a mean of very great extremes, which are
not expressed in the average. I have dwelt on the progressive rise in the
price of grain elsewhere. I will only here refer to the points which
are not apparent, or are incorrectly expressed in the grain returns.
The food- vear here may conveniently commence with the cutting of the
first kharif harvest. This is bari juar or Indian-corn. It is ready about
the 6th of September, and forms the principal food' of the people along
with rice and urd for about seven months till 1st April.

416 FYZ

Average prices during the season.

Juar ... ... ... ... 28 sers per rupee.

New rice ... ... ... ... 16 „

TJrd ... ... ... ... J9 „

Arhar ... ... ... ... 20 „

They commence at harvest at about 50 per cent, above these rates, and
end in March at about 30 per cent. less. During this period, viz., from
September to March, wheat continues to be' sold to the better classes ; but
the other rabi grains, such as barley, mastir, peas, gram, are hardly to be
found in the village markets, and are not articles of ordinary consumption.
Their entry in the grain rates is, tljerefore, to a certain extent deceptive. •

In November chhoti juar comes into the market. In a year .when the
harvest has been inferior, or there has been large exportation, these crops,
with urd, kodo and kakun, will be exhausted in five or six months, by the
end of January or February, and there may then be considerable scarcity
before the next harvest comes into the market. The first staple of the
spring crop ready is ker^o, or peas, about th6 1st March ; wheat and barley
commence to come in about the 8th ; peas at once assume the principal
place in the poor man's diet ; maize, juar and urd, if still in the market, are
so dear that they can only be bought for seed. For three months at a time
I see no record of their sale in the books of the large grain-dealers which
I copied out, consequently their entry in grain rates is again delusive.
Rice holds its place, it and wheat being in fact the only staples which are
steadily consumed all through the year. Barley, peas, arhar, masur,
and gram are now the ordinary articles of consumption. Prices of the
first two used to be. the same, also of the* last two, — about 27 sers for the
former, and 25 for the latter.

Of late years the cultivation of wheat for export, in order to pay the
Government revenue, has been prevailing, tc the exclusion of the cheaper
grains detailed above. The supply of the latter is not equal to the demand,
and there is nearly always a scarcity of indigenous grain about the close
of the second food season, which lasts from March "to 5th September.
This, however, will be dwelt upon in another place; This is, of course,
more marked ia times of scarcity. For instance, in 1866, a year of inferior
harvest and good exportation, barley on 5th May was 22 sers fof the rupee;
in two months it had come (by 5th July) to 15 sers ; wheat during the
same time had only risen from 15 sers to 13, but peas from 21 J to 15|.
I am not here referring to the stiU greater difference between hg,rvest and
seed-time prices.

Famines in the Fyzabad division. — The following is an abstract of
information on the subject of 'famines, derived from official records for the
division of Fyzabad. The deputy commissioners of Fyzabad, Gonda, and
Bahraich state that the famine of 1769-70 did not extend to Oudh.

The tahsildar of Utraula, zila Gonda, alone reports to the contrary. He
states that from enquiries made from some of the oldest inhabitants in his
tahsil he finds that the Bengal famine of 1769-70 did extend to these parts
exactly at the time it was felt in Bengal. On the other hand, the Raja of
Manikapur, who owns a large estate in that tahsil, never heard of the
famine. Colonel Steel writes from Bahraich that, although the famine of

FY2 417

1769-70 did not extend to Oudh, food reached double its ordinary price,
owing to the large exportation of grain. A hundred years ago, exporters
of grain by land carriage must have encountered very many risks, but the
Gogra, a very broad river, must have afforded, as it does at the present day,
considerable facilities for exportation.

Second. — The scarcity of 1784-85 rose to a famine in the eastern parts
of the division. The Fyzabad district and the Utraula pargana of the
Gonda district suffered very severely. In Fyzaba,d the autumn rice and
the cold-weather juar crops were lost from the lateness of the autumn
rainfall. The spring crops sown in October 1785 were irrigated from wells
with great difficulty. There is a great deal of jhil irrigation in the district, !
and the jhils were, of course, dried up ; while in January and February
1786 the spring crops were ruined by excessive rain. The result was a terri-
ble famine, the consequences of which must have been felt in succeeding years,
as no grain was available for seed. The people subsisted on grass, or rather
on the seed of jungle grass and the bark of trees, while many small estates
were deserted. In the Utraula pargana of zila Gonda the famine was
very grievous ; the mortality from want of food was very great ; children
were sold, and large numbers left their homes ; the people lived on jungle
berries and the seed of jungle grass. Gram sold at 8 sers for the rupee at
Fyzabad. Further west there was no famine. The rabi harvest was good.
In Gonda the price of grain rose to 15 sers per rupee, but the tahsildar of
Tarabganj* reports that the scarcity did not extend to 'that part of the
country as far as he has been able to discover. In Bahraich, which lies
north-west of Fyzabad and west of Gonda, wheat rose in price to 12 sers,
and in Hisampur, in the same district, to 15 sers per rupee, the prices in-
ordinary years ranging from 1 to 1^ maunds per rupee.

Third. — In Fyzabad in 1837 there was no famine, though food reached
two or three times its ordinary price, the result of large exportations of
grain. It is a curious fact that a large quantity of grain was carried back
to Oudh by traders who imported grain from that province, after the
famine-stricken districts of the North- Western Provinces had been supplied
from the more eastern districts and Bengal. The famine in the ISforth-
Westem Provinces did not extend, I believe, east of Allahabad, or even of
Fatehpur. In the Gonda district there was a scarcity of grain for three or
four months in 1837, owing apparently to a partial failure in the rains.
No scarcity was felt in 1860-61. In Bahraich the spring crop of 1837
failed, and there was some distress till the kharif harvest, which was
abxmdant. Wheat sold at 12 sers for the rupee, maize and barley at 13.
There was a large immigration into Oudh from the North- Western Pro-
vinces. The deputy commissioner does not refer to the state of things in
1860-61. I believe the harvests were good, but, owing to exportation,
wheat, sold at 10 sers for the rupee. Fleets of boats might be seen daily
•for a certain portion of the year conveying grain down the Gogra to the
eastward. In 1866 wheat rose to 10 sers the rupee in Bahraich, and
remained at that rate for some months- There was large exportation to
Bengal. In January 1874 wheat rose to 13 sers for the rupee, maize to
16, gram to 15, kodo to 20, rice to 12, in Bahraich. In Gonda prices were

* liTpw Begamganj.

418

FYZ

the same, but there was no kodo ; maize at 16 sers was the cheapest grain,
and relief works were opened in all three districts.

Deficient rainfall cause of famine. — The accompanying table exhibits
the rainfalls for the last two years of drought, 1868 and 1873, each of
which was followed, in 1869 and 1874, respectively, by considerable scarcity.
It will be noted that the entire rainfall was not scanty ; the distribution
was capricious and unusual, and there was no rain during individual months
in which it is much needed for agricultural purposes.

There are four rainfalls, each of which must be propitious to secure a
good harvest. First, the June rains, — the former rains as they may be called.
In 1873 they were only one inch, quite insnfScient to moisten the earth for
the plough and to water the early rice. Second, the main monsoon, which
commences in July and ends at the commencement of October ; this was
sufficient in both years, but the fall in September 1873 was only 7-3 inches,
and it ceased too soon, viz., on September 15th. Thirdly, the latter or
October rains, which are required to water the late rice and moisten the
land for the winter ploughing, were wholly deficient in both years. Fourth,
the January-February rains, which were wholly wanting in 1869, and in
1874 were less than an inch.

Speaking broadly, then, the rains commenced well in 1868, badly in
1873 : they ended with a heavy fall in 1868, but too soon ; in 1873 they were
scanty for the last month and ended still earlier, in September ; so far 1873
was much worse than 1868 : then there was absolutely no rain in either
year from October till January, but in February there was no rain in 1869,
, and almost an inch in 1874.

186a

18,73.

Eainfall from July lat to October 1st ...

27

30-9

Ditto from October 1st to December 31st

0 0

01

Ditto in June

6-1

10

Ditto in September

135

3-7

Ditto in October

0 0

0 0

Date of rain commencing

June 15tli

June 13th.

,, of rain ending

September 24th

September ISth.

Eain in January-February of ensuing year

00

p-9

^ The general features of Oudh famines need not be dwelt upon here ; they

are referred to in the Bahraich and Kheri articles.

Two kmds of famine, rpj^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^f famine, one of food, another of

the means to purchase food : the latter is often termed a labour famine ;
but the more general term is more applicable, as will appear further on.
Both result from a scanty supply of indigenous food-grains, aggravated by
exportation, and by hoarding in some cases.

The first apparent symptom is scarcity of labour, that is, the smaU farmers
who employ labourers, paying them with grain, — two

ad^t ^^''°'''"' *''™'^ sers and a chhatak in Fyzabad, or one anna and half a
local ser, or giving them a share in the crop, as in the

case of the sawaks in Gonda and Bahraich — turn them off to shift for

FYZ 419

themselves. In Gonda and Bahraich the s^waks are the bought serfs of
the farmer : if he discharges them he loses in many cases the money paid
for their maintenance, i. e., from Rs. 40 to Rs. 100. He continues to feed
these, his life-servants, whose connection with him is binding, even when
his little store has sunk alarmingly. At a similar crisis the Fyzabad farmer
will have turned off all his day-labourers, just as the governor of a besieged
city sends out all the non-combatants. The result is, that the labourers
emigrate from Fyzabad as scarcity approaches long before there is absolute
famine, the demand for food is diminished, and the crisis perhaps tided over
till next harvest. In Gonda and Bahraich the farmer and sdwaks together
consume what is left ; and when that is exhausted, starve together or are
relieved by Government.

Another cause which mitigates the effects of a bad crop in Fyzabad is the
Variety of crops in greater variety of the staples sown. It is difficult to
Fyzabad averts or say which is the main food staple in this district ;
mitigates famine. ^jgg^ jtiar, barley, gram, urd, peas, all contribute in

fair proportion. On the other hand, in Gonda and Bahraich, at least in
the Tarai parganas, the people eat hardly anything but rice from October
to March, and depend on the rice stores to eke out the barley during the
remainder of the year. If the rice fails, as it did throughout a belt in the
extreme north of Oudh averaging about twenty miles in breadth in 1873,
there is nothing to fall back upon. In Fyzabad no day in the year is two
months distant from the immediately preceding harvest, except during the
months from June to September.

Kakun, sdthi dhan, and makhai or Indian-corn come in about the 1st
September; they are called bhadoi crops. About 28th
vest ^^'1^*''°^ ° ^^' September the kuari crops, aghani dhan, kodo, til, are
ready for the sickle ; by the 10th November the
aghani crops, bajra, juar, urd, jarhan rice, lobia, are ripening. In the low-
lying lands they are reaped up to 15th December.* Then the sugar-
cane crop is ripe. This harvest commences from the sugar festival of
ekddashi dithauni, four days before the end of Kdrtik (October); but the
greater part of the crop is cut from 15th December to loth January. There
is then for six weeks no crop to be cut, and if the people are hard pressed
they eat the unripe peas as they did in 1874. With the 1st of March
peas come in ; by the 10th, the wheat and barley are ripe in forward fields ;
by the 20th, gram and maslir ; arhar is cut about the 1st of April, and
backward crops are unreaped often by the loth April. Then commences
a period of brief abundance. The harvest is divided between the cultivator,
the landlord, and the grain-dealer. It depends, upon the indebtedness of
the peasant whether he stores up grain in his big earthen jars, or whether
his share goes to the landlord to pay past balances, or to the grain-dealer.
The peasantry are generally indebted. They will keep little grain ; if the
revenue demand is high the grain goes out of the province to seek money.
This may be called the tributary or compulsory export ; if prices are high at
the great trade centres of Bengal or north India, it is taken there by the
natural course of trade. Thus the export, even after bad harvests in May
and June, is always great. About July grain is less abundant: if the rains

* Vide Prinsep's Useful Tables, page 150.

DD 2

420 FYZ

are late the holders keep back their stocks^ There is little labour required
for the kharif harvest, and July and August have been, for five out of the
last six years, months of scarcity either of food or of labour, or of both.

Famines are therefore caused by secondary causes, such as the indebted-
ness of the peasantry or of the landlords in previous
Causes of famme. jeaxs, high prices in other provinces, but mainly by

bad crops. These are the causes. The first result is that there is little or no
labour for the farm servants, who form probably a sixth of the population ;
and there is no sale for the weaver's cloth, for the shoeniaker's or pipe-
maker's wares. These men temporarily emigrate, or live on loans from
the banians or from the better class of cultivators, or are hired at the public
works. So far it is only scarcity. This gradually merges into famine :
there is no broad line ; perhaps panic is the only feature of famine which is
wholly absent from scarcity.

As famine is aggravated, a larger and larger class of cultivators is left
without grain, dependent upon the landlords and the grain-dealers. These
nearly always have enough to last till the next harvest with more or less
pinching. They calculate how much the daily food oif their constituents
must be reduced in order that the stock in hand may last tiU next harvest,
and they weigh out the rations accordingly. The prices rise no doubt, but
not to anything like the extent they would do in Europe under similar
circumstances. The banian's profit depends on his keeping most of his
constituents alive. If any die of starvation the debt is wiped out ; if most
live, the grain he advanced at famine rates is repaid him at harvest prices
with a percentage.

At present, March 1st, 1874, in this division there is plenty of grain at 16
sers the rupee, but there is no labour, nor money for the wages fund, so
there is scarcity, which would be downright famine if it were not for the
benevolence of Government. This, then, is really famine in backward dis-
tricts, where there are hardly any local grain-dealers; but it is purely local,
caused by the destruction of the one staple crop and the absence of previous
accumulations in the hands of the grain-dealers.

In January and February, Government in Utraula and the north of Gonda
was spending nearly Rs. 500 per day, employing about

Government action in 6,000 persons at the wage of One anna per day for
adult excavators, its ordinary wages being two annas.

This is still scarcity only because supplies of grain are freely forwarded
by the dealers : if the latter began to look forward with apprehension to
the future, it would be famine ; and this, I think, is the main distinction
between the two. If they became hopeless of their stock lasting till the next
harvest, they would close accounts with those who owed them least, and
reserve all their stock for the support of those whose survival would benefit
them the most. If to bad crops in the previous harvest and scarcity of
grain at the time there is added dread for the future, then, not only all the
labourers, but a large portion of the indebted cultivators, probably a third
of the population, find the grain-dealer's door suddenly shut in their faces,
and famine leaps up at once in all its appalling proportions. But there can
hardly be panic, no matter what may be the scarcity, except during the
" Khffi fasl," i. e., from June to September, Government, except during

FYZ

421

Prices

famine.

tkese last months, will never in this part of Oudh be called upon to pro-
vide anything but occasional relief works. It was very different in former
years, when cultivation was backward and there was no variety of staples, —
when the main crop was rice, one peculiarly liable to vicissitudes of seasons.

I am disposed to believe, after long study, that prices in a district like
Fyzabad, if taken for particular staples and parti-
indicating cular seasons, will shed light upon the pathology and
therapeutics of the food supplies and scarcities. Those
staples must be the grains ordinarily consumed by the masses, and the
seasons must be those in which the marked prices are determined, not
by the purchases of the grain-dealers from the small farmers, but by the
purchases of the great mass of consumers from the dealers for daily food.

For instance, to illustrate the first point, wheat and gram are not ordin-
ary articles of consumption in most years by the people, — nay, during
nearly one half the year, as already pointed out, even maize and urd are not
articles of ordinary consumption by the masses, and during another half
barley and peas are not in common use.

Each staple is consumed in its season of abundance ; out of that season
it is sold for seed, or to those who, for special pur-
poses or fancies, are willing to pay a high price.
Horses, for instance, in India are generally fed on juar
or maize in the summer months, on gram in the
months from March till October. European gentlemen insist on having
gram all the year, and, except where their long-continued demand and
capital hav^ produced a supply, they pay a fancy price. For instance,
during the five months, October to February 1869, gram was at 10 to 11
sers per rupee in Fyzabad, and was at 9 to 10 sers in Kheri. I was then
under the impression that famine was imminent. But during those months,
junri or small juar varied in price from 22 to 28 sers for the rupee.

I am here quoting, not the official grain rates, which always are liable to
more or less suspicion, bui the records of actual purchases made at the time
by respectable grain-dealers, and transcribed from their books by myself for
a number of years.

The following are tables representing the prices which ruled during the
last scarcities, i. e,, of 1866 and of 1869 :—

PRICES FOR 1866.
Quantity per Rupee.

The rate at vbjch the
coarse grains are sold
each in its season.

September

Oetober

November

Articles.

July 7.

15.

15.

124

16.

15.

Wheat

124

11

m

14

Gram

Juar

Arhar ... „.

Urd

131

12

134

28

134
20

154
21

Hi

1.34

m

14

15

m

12

134

134

15i

Rice

94

9

lU

134

144

iMasur ...

S'

12
13

13

15i

13i
15

14i
20

parley ...

15|

13

16i
154

16

20i
17

Kodo

...

24

28

Mendwa

"

21

422

FYZ

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FYZ

It will appear that the prices in 1866 as in 1869 were never high for the
seasonable food grains except in July and August of both years. In
January-February the grains out of season, such as wheat, gram and
barley were at high prices, but juar was at 26 sers, and kerao 21 sers. I
put the food-grains in juxtaposition for the three years for January and
February, in sers per rupee : —

22-28

16-17

19

16^

164

16

154

13

14-16

lS-i6

12-13

14

1 wheat.

and, I

1866. 1870. 1871.

J^iar ... ... - 22-244

Mung ... -. - -

Mothi ... ... ." 18

Bnce ... ■■•

TJrd ... .« •■• 154

Wheat ... ... -.. 10-11

It will appear from the above that although wheat, and, I may add,
gram, have been considerably cheaper in 1874 than in the winter scarci-
ties of the preceding years, the food of the people, junri and rice, has been
very much (20 to ^0 per cent) dearer.

The question remains, are prices of rice and maize in January and

. February an indication of approaching famine in July

and irXrry ""^'^ and September? Market rates certainly are not

a trustworthy barometer at any other time, because

they are drawn from sales which are partly forced, — forced upon the tenant

who has to pay rent, upon the landlord who has to pay revenue.

I believe that in Jaimaiy and February the market rates of these staples,
or rather the market rate of whatever grain is cheapest, are an indication
of the stocks in the country being large or small ; and that if the rabi or
spring crop can be even approximately calculated, we can foretell the
coming and the degree of the famine.

This year it would appear probable that the prices of the foocj-grains for
July and August — barley, peas, gram — will be higher than they have been
since annexation, for the food-grain harvest, except wheat, has been poor.
There will be a large export, of wheat, the tenants will live upon imported
rice and pulses, and the farm labourers will again come upon the relief
works. Any reduction of the land revenue will of course relieve the
distress considerably by lessening the tributary export of grain.

If the prices of food-grains in July and August 1874 will bear the same
proportion to those of July and August 1869 as the grain prices of January
and February 1874 bear to those of corresponding months in 1864, then
there is reason to fear famine or great scarcity ;, but many other things enter
into the calculation. The broad conclusions are that the poor man depends
upon the kharif harvest for three-fifths of his food ; that the kharif is very
rarely altogether bad, although weather and exportation together may
leave the stocks very small. This year the recorded exports have been
from September to March about 2,000,000 of maunds of kharif grains from
the provinces. Both the price recorded in January and February, and what
facts are known of the crops, lead to the same conclusion, that whatever
was the scarcity in 1866 or in 1869, it will be greater in 1874. "Fortunaitely
there is a railway to aid in alleviating distress.

FYZ 425

It may be remarked also, that a great deal of distress may exist in July
and August, and remain comparatively obscure; in January and February all
the officers are in camp among the people, and no indication of want is left
unnoticed. But one thing is certain, that the averages of the whole years are
most deceptive as to the abundance or scarcity of food ; the average prices of
each grain in its proper season of abundance should alone be regarded. There
has been a condition of things in which coarse grains like barley and
peas sold for 15 sers for the rupee during the months from June to
August, and only scarcity existed. In what number of cases that scarcity
resulted in death from inanition or famine diseases we cannot tell. That
without Government aid scarcity is likely to become famine, through the
mere agency of panic, is more to be dreaded in that particular season
which the natives have picturesquely named the " khali fasl," — when the
earth is bare of all that is green and promising, when the parched soil
cannot be broken up by the plough, and labour for daily wages is with
difiBculty obtained. Government will never require to take action in the
shape of storing grain except after a bad kharif, succeeded by a poor rabi,
and attended by exportation. Any one bad season may render it advisa-
able to open public works. It must always be borne in mind that there is
no such distinction between scarcity and famine as that in one men are
badly fed, in the other they die of starvation. The difference lies simply
in the proportion of the population which must be relieved by State aid
or must die. It is too true that persons die of starvation in every scarcity,
and particularly during the rains, when the rising of a river may stop access
to means of relief; or the attenuated traveller may die of exhaustion and
exposure to the flood. Fyzabad has a railway running through its entire
length, and a great river which borders it for sixty miles. The same
means of communication by which it is drained of its stores in good years
should be able to bring it relief in bad years.

Eents are rising rapidly in some places, and are now higher than in
J, , Gonda, but probably hardly so high as in Bara Banki.

There are in Fyzabad very numerous artificial advan-
tages in the shape of irrigation wells and tanks ; for these the tenants
should fairly pay. The law courts in Fyzabad have decreed very numerous
tenures to Brahmans and Chhattris who were old proprietors, and who
are to pay two annas in the rupee less than the tenants whose lands
adjoin theirs. In very many, perhaps the majority of cases, those
tenants are Kachhis or Chamars, many of them paying very high rents,
,such as high-caste men cannot afford to pay, and the result is that these
decree-holders are found coming forward and praying for leave to give
up these lands with the accompanying privileges. In the neighbourhood
of Fyza;bad I found land in which the Kachhi occupants had to dig their
own wells every year, and one or two always fell in with the first effort
to draw water, yet their rent had been raised from Rs. 3 to Rs. 6-8-0
per local bigha, or Rs. 32 per acre. Further south, rents had been raised
from Re. 1-8-0 to Rs. 2 per loca;l bigha.

The cause was declared to be the rise in Government land revenue, but
this cannot have been generally the case. I found very high rents paid both
by zamindars and tenants near D^r&ganj, which is a perpetual rent-free

426 FYZ

grant. There for garden lands Rs. 3 per local bigha, or Rs. 15 per acre, la
the present rate, although Rs. 2 is the highest rate in the villages around,
where the Government revenue has been greatly augmented. For other
instances of this, see Bahraich and Kheri articles. The zamindars have
previously paid Rs. 660 for their sir lands, and are now paying Rs. 2,200 on
1,345 local bighas, or Re. 1-9-0 per local bigha. Everywhere I heard similar
complaints, more or less wellfounded. The authorities are doing what they
can to remedy this admitted evil. High rents are noxious because they reduce
the standard of comfort and leave the tenant no store of grain wherewith
to meet famine ; but rising or changeable rates are still worse, because the
tenant then has no motive to dig wells, to manure properly, or to make
a good house or stable.

This year, 1874, it is admitted on all sides that the tenant and small

„,...",,, 1 zamindar classes have broken down. This is due to

Condition of the people. . „ . „ . , ,

a succession of mierior seasons and poor harvests,

whose ill effects have been aggravated to a certain extent by a revenue
demand which has been raised 33 per cent, under the recent arrangements.
Mortgages and sales of property are universal ; groves, iields, cattle, have
been disposed of. The complaint, too, is heard that they have had to sell
their daughters, but this only means that they had to adopt a cheap, hasty,
and secret form of marriage without the regular ceremonial, and this to
their minds is undoubtedly degrading. The amount of mortgages and
sales of immoveable property registered in 1872 was Rs. 7,95,838 in 2,076
transactions, sufficient evidence of the straits to which they are reduced.
Groves of trees to which they are much attached have been sold at the
rate of four annas per tree.

Under tenures is described the vast mass of complicated petty rights
and interests which have overspread the land. It has been very costly and
tedious to map out all these, and record the minute shares and shades of
interest possessed by each owner or quasi-owner. There have been in
Fyzabad the following claims to landed interests lodged up to September
1872:—

Proprietary rigtt

Share in proprietary right ...

Under-proprietary right in entire village

TJnder-proprietary right in sir, &g.

Miscellaneous.,.

5,284
12,294

7.032
1.3,092
25,653

Total ... 63,355*

Many, perhaps the majority of these, have been fought out in the law
courts with pertinacity in successive appeals ; in a certain proportion of
others, the decrees which were given have turned out worthless to those
who won them. I speak from personal knowledge, having met with such
cases in many villages I entered ; and this is one of the recognised evils
to combat which special arrangements have now been made. In fine, the
people are doubly depressed : they are exhausted with the struggle, and
the victors have found too late that the fruits of victory are often penury
and eviction. An additional staff has been entertained by Government in
order to investigate and amend these matters.

* Settlement form No, IV. ; Revenue Eeport, 1872-73.

FYZ 427

It is difficult to say what are the profits of cultivation; the figures
Profits of cultivation, gi^^n in the settlement report are themselves
improhable, and their error has been demonstrated by
later statistics. The settlement officer reports that the gross, produce for
each member of the agricultural community will average Rs. 20, of which
the landlord will take two-fifths or Es. 8, and Government one-fifth or
Rs. 4. At this time the regular census had not been taken ; a rough settle-
ment census had been made. According to it the population was 412 to the
square mile ; the actual Government demand was Rs. 3-8-0 per head of the
agricultural population then counted ; and it was supposed to be proved
that the revenue was a fair and moderate one. But in point of fact the
after-census proved that the population of tahsil Dostpur, for instance, was
649 to the square mile; and it becomes evident either that the Government
revenue is a very light one, or that each head of the agricultural commu-
nity does not produce Rs. 20, or if he does, that he cannot spare one-fifth
of it for Government. This last proposition is undoubtedly true. The land-
lord does get two-fifths of the produce of light unmanured lands in the
shape of rent, but not of any others. We may infer that this produce of
the soil is worth a good deal more than Rs. 14 per acre, as stated by the
settlement officer ; his second calculation, Rs. 20, is probably about correct ;
the Government revenue is only Rs. 2-0-6 per acre.

The difficulties of the cultivating class are not due to the Government
Causes of tlie diffi- revenue being too heavy, but owing to the pressure put
culties of tlie caltiva- upon them by a very large number of small proprietors
tors. and middlemen, who have now no service, and have to

raise the rents in order live according to their old standard of comfort.
These small zamindars will do hardly any labour for themselves :
ploughing they declare is contrary to their customs ; reaping and watering
are not, still they abstain just as religiously. The trade of lonidri, or
reaping for a share of the produce, receiving one-thirtieth of the sheaves,
or one-sixteenth of the threshed and winnowed grain, is followed by a large
class of professionals, while the owner or cultivator stands idle.

The tenant's profits in this district are probably just what they are in
other parts of Oudh,— just enough to pay for his labour and for the keeping
up of his stock. Of recent years, owing to the rise of rent, the bad seasons,
and cattle murrain, they have not reached this standard.

The evidences of poverty everywhere apparent are ruined wells, which
the people have not means to repair, far less to build new ones ; the absence
of gold and silver rings from the ears and wrists of the peasants' children.
Further, the children are not sent to school. In several schools examined,
the children of the tenant-farmers did not form five per cent, of those on
the rolls ; those present were the offspring of banians, braziers, holders of
birts and shankalps, which are sub-proprietary tenures, and not mere farms
or leaseholds.

But an undoubted result of English order and civilization has been to
give able men opportunities of rising above the masses, whatever the
condition of the latter may be.

428 FYZ

The great feature of Fyzabad as compared with western Oudh is the
vast number of artificial tanks and masonry wells

tiva"Su ofTte Tes*" '"'^" "^^^°^ ^^"^^ ^^^^ constructed. The area under water
in the old district, which includes the new one and
a part now in Sultanpur, is recorded at 9 per cent, of the whole ; this,
however, includes the Fyzabad half of the rivers Gograand Gumti. There
are no large swamps or lakes such as occur in Partabgarh and Hardoi, nor
any of the ancient and now deserted river channels filled with water from
the rains which are common in Kheri and Bahraich. This is probably due
to the artificial tanks which have been constructed upon the lines of
(drainage to intercept superfluous water. They are now generally in a sad
state of disrepair ; many of them have either silted up or the level of the
country has changed, so that they are not so much tanks dug beneath the
surface as simply square embankments raised upon the surface. The total
absence of excavation in some would lead to the belief that they are
mounds intended to protect habitations from floods. These mounds them-
selves, however, are in perfect order generally, except that small gaps are
left through which the water escapes ; and, as before stated, the level inside
is little below that of the surrounding country. A very little labour, and
that too applied at a time when there is leisure from all other agricultural
operations, would restore hundreds of these tanks to their former useful-
ness. It is not impossible that wells pay best as far as concerns the mere
storage of water, but where a tank also perforins the part of a drainage
basin it would appear the most profitable. A well has one great advantage,
— it can be used to water the sugarcane in March, April, and May, when
•tanks are sure to be dry.

The rivers have very gentle slopes, and during the dry weather they are
almost dry, except the Gogra. Its channel is 308 feet above the sea when
it enters the district, and 240 when it leaves it, after a course of above 100
miles ; this represents a fall of about 9 inches per mile. The level of the
country, similarly, at the north-west comer is 340 feet above the sea, and at
the south-east it sinks to 270. The rivers all flow south-east ; they are
now useless for irrigation, but they might easily be embanked or dammed,
as their slopes are moderate and their banks compact. Their names are
the Madha and the Bisoi, which, when united, form the Tons, and the
Majhoi, which forms the present boundary between Fyzabad and Sultan-
pur, afterwards joining the Tons.

I found one or two tanks being made, but the motive was religious, and
the maker in no case an agriculturist. The cost of excavation was curi-
ously calculated. One biswa'square, Government measure, was taken, and
-a contract was taken for excavating this to the depth of 10 mutthis or
ha,nds' breadth. This measure turned out to be 30 iijiches, and to be the
ordinary ilahi gaz of Akbar of 40* fingers. The contract was that each
lower excavation should be paid for at a rate of one-quarter above the
upper one. The first layer of 30 inches would be removed and heaped up
round the edge at Es. 5, the second at Rs. 6-4, the third at Rs. 7-13, the
fourth at Rs. 9-12, the fifth, which was to complete the work, at Rs. 11-11.
Each biswa then would cost Rs. 40-8, and the tank, which was about 15
biswas square and 30 feet deep, would cost Rs. 706, and would water not
more than 2.3 acres at the most, while it would be useless in May.

* Prinsep's Useful Tables, page 124.

FYZ

429

Houses, occupations,
emigration.

Only Rs. 5,275 were borrowed from Government by the landholders in
order to make improvements in 1872-73.

There are in the district 18,869 mud-walled houses, and 4,788 of masonry.
The large majority of the former are tiled, even where
thatch, which is the cheaper and cooler roof, is plen-
tiful. The reason of this probably is that the king's
troops, many of whom were generally stationed here, used to take off
thatched roofs wherewith to make themselves a shelter during the rains.
The proportion of masonry houses is unusually large.

It is stated that 673,652 of the population, or 67 per cent., are agricul-
turists, and this is probably correct, but the agricultural labourers are not
included in the above.

Emigration did not attain any dimensions till 1873, when those registered
numbered 1,286 ; Murich (Mauritius) and Rawun (Rangoon) are well known
to the people now as distant lands in which they may attain prosperity.

The principal towns are —

Towns.

Name. Population.

Pyzabad ... .., ... ... ... 37,804

Ajodhya ... .. ... 9,949

Tanda ... 13,543

Jalalpur ... ... ... ... ... 6,275

Sinjhauli ... ... ... ... ... 5,614

The first three have municipalities. None of these towns can be called
fishing-towns ; fish is rarely seen in the local bazars, except during the
rainy season. Fyzabad is now becoming a place of considerable trade ;
Ajodhya owes its importance to its sanctity, Tanda to its weaving.

The trade of Fyzabad proper cannot be stated with any approach to

accuracy, but its general features are well known.

Trade and manutac- j^ exports largely wheat, rice, and maize from the

great mart Mianganj. The accompanying table gives

the export of one month only, increased no doubt by the scarcity in Bengal.

The grain comes from Gonda, Sultanpur, Fyzabad, and eastern Bahraich.

The scarcity of good roads in the rural districts causes all the grain to
converge on this mart instead of being carried direct to the Gogra at
minor ghats.

tares.

Imports

-I

Exports

Molasses
Eastern salt .,

f Birra

Kerao (peas) ..

Wheat

Eice

Paddy
I Barley
I Judr «

i Lahra (maize)
. \ Mash

Kodo

Gram

Miing

Saltpetre

Counti-y wood
iSil

Total

Maunds.
12
CO

66

168

75

807

16,222

212

111,654

26,548

5,514

4,586

375

162

300

160,781
392
382

430 FYZ

The following were the principal imports and exports in 1872, 18 iS,
1874 :—

Exports —

"Wheat, edible grains, hides, timber, opium, country cloth.

m t t I 1 J 1 J » t, f Es- 3,333,363 in 1873

The total Tame was declared to be ... ... ... j 3 063 251 in 1873

„, . , . ^ , ^ . C „ 1,593,504 in 1872

Ihe imports are stated to be ... ... ... j ' 1582 721 in 1873

the principal items being sugar, tobacco, .spices, salt, cattle, English piece-
goods.

The details are given in the following table, but a few remarks must be
added. In the first place, these returns do not show the actual exports
and imports of the district at all ; they indicate the course of river trade
at marts within the district bovmdary. The internal trade by road 'or river
with other parts of Oudh is not given. For instance, Fyzabad exports a
vast quantity of opium, but this goes by rail to Lucknow ; its amount is
300,000 sers, its value to Government above Es. 40,00,000. A large portion
of this is produced in Fyzabad itself, but none of it is credited in the
trade returns, nor is the railway traffic which really belongs to Fyzabad
shown in their returns. These again exhibit Fyzabad as a large importer
of sugar ; it really produces more than is required for its own consumption.
The fact is, that the sugar of Bas,ti and Azamgarh passes through Fyzabad
westwards to Lucknow, whence it is distributed to Cawnpore and Bareli.
Country cloth is largely exported from Tanda ; timber is exported really
from Kheri and Bahraich, but is credited to Fyzabad, as the logs are floated
down the river Gogra and counted within the Fyzabad territories. The
grain exported is mostly rice, maize, and wheat, but much of it comes
from Sultanpur to the south, much from Gonda to the north; it is
embarked in Fyzabad, which acts as an emporium for eastern Oudh. The
actual exports of the district cannot be determined ; its large population
probably consumes most of its produce. In the last official return the
produce is estimated at 2,782,092 maunds, of which the consumption is
only 1,729,980, but this represents a produce of only 3| maunds per acre,
and a consumption of 1 J maunds, or 120ft>s. per head per annum ; both
are impossible figures. An average crop in Fyzabad will be at least seven
maunds per acre, and average consumption per head of entire population
240ft)s. per annum. I notice the matter here because the statement that
Fyzabad, or indeed any ordinary district in Oudh, exports, or can export
38 per cent, of its produce, seems a misapprehension, which might some
time lead to erroneous confidence, and in times of scarcity to inac-
tion.

FYZ 431

Detail of Articles of Export and Import for the years 1872 and 1873.

1S72.

1873.

Export.

Import.

Export.

Import.

Quantity,

Talue.

Quantity.

Value.

Quantity.

Talne.

Quantity.

Talne.

Mds.

Ss.

Mds.

Eb.

Mds.

Bs.

Mds.

Es.

Cotton, clean-

ed

5,831

3, 33,484

• ••

11,910

2,02,676

f'ugar

678

2,056

20,044

1,78,380

512

3,208

13,035

1,46,303

Griir

4,930

13,226

19,3994

48,7 U

7,701

23,295

19,619

50,775

Shira
Tobacco pre-

...

4,373

6,534

6,808

10,726

pared
Tobacco in

50

495

1,2324

10,648

25

257

1,422

14,305

leaf

21

111

109

C88

50

392

496

3,205

Spices

1,204

7,388

4,643

44,119

1,621

6 963

6,811

64,581

"Wheat

67,993

1,31,170

28,858

70,161

16,192

42,953

17,447

51,928

Edible grains,

303,603

4,62,099

203,548

4,27,752

Salt

19,246 1,09,193

18,566

1,02,580

15,507

84,300

22,228

1,15,367

Kliari

21 49

1,236

2,4«5

4

8

2,258

4,676

Oil-seeds

463,909

15,19,976

2,126

760

426,025

13,15,182

6,856

26,647

Timber

89,149

204

...

1,01,782

• ••

66

Country cloth

and materials

for cloth ...

...

5,26,849

...

1,87,999

...

5,26,830

2,31,785

Hides

2,84,464

...

951

...

2,00,380

t*.

4,295

English piece-

goods

...

63,756

...

3,44,102

...

43,333

...

3,18>172

In 1873 the traffic at the various stations on the railway within the
boundaries of the Fyzabad district was as follows : —

Outward.

Inward.

stations.

Passen-
gers.

Total
amount.

Merchan-
dise.

Total
amount.

Faesen-
gera.

Total
amount.

Merchan-
dise.

Amount.

Ho.

£

Tons.

£

No.

£

Tons.

£

Akbarpur ...

13,046

557

408

328

12,268

501

240

152

Ooshainganj,

3,258

70

22

8

2,469

49

133

17a

Kara

1,499

23

...

• •«

1,079

18

...

...

Ajodhya ...

7,869

277

68

9

10,273

361

56

14

Fyzabad ...

69,158

5,921

6,318

3,332

70,362

16,031

5,382

3,472

Sohwal ...

8,689

343

286

90

8,158

300

441

216

432

FYZ

The following account of the fisheries is drawn from Dr. Day's report of
1872 :—

" The tehsildar of Fyzabad reports through the commissioner that there
are about 100 fishermen, 42 of whom only have no other
Fialieries. occupation, whilst 1;600 are given at Bahraich, and 2,830
at Gonda, all of whom follow other occupations; in the last locality the boat-
men and palkee-bearers are included, which augments the total. In the
periodical fishings of village tanks many persons not included as fishermen
join in. The names of the fishermen castes are given as follows: Gooriyas,
MaUahs, Chakees, Khawicks, Kahars, Coniyas, Gharooks, Jhabjhaliyas.
Fish are said to be only sold in the large bazars; some of the Fyzabad mar-
kets are fully supplied, others are not, as in Bahraich, where the supply is
not equal to the demand, whilst in Gonda contradictory accounts are given.
The relative prices of fish and mutton are as follows : —

Fish, large, per ser

,, small, ,,
Mutton, 1st class
2nd ,,

Fyzabad.

Rs. A. P.
0 10
0 0 9
0 2 0
0 19

Baliraicli.

Rs. A. P.
0 1 3
0 0 9
0 1 6
0 16

Gonda.

Es. A. P.
0 1 3
0 0 9
0 2 0
0 1 9

" Fyzabad. — The price of fish is not regulated by the price of mutton,
which is mostly consumed by Europeans; some kinds of the former are said
to obtain considerably higher prices than the above. Generally about
two-thirds of the population are fish-eaters, but occasionally the proportion
is lower.

" As regards the increase or decrease in the numbers of fish, reports
differ materially.

" In Fyzabad, slight increase is given as compared with the preceding
year. In Bahraich and Gonda generally they are said to have doubled.
In some places the increase is reported to be confined to the smaU fish, the
number of large fish remaining stationary. In one tehsil in Bahraich a
decrease is reported, in another an increase, both said to be due to heavy
rains. One tehsildar in Gonda gives an increase owing to floods during
the rains, whilst two tehsildars report that from the same cause many
fishes have been carried off to the larger rivers." — Para. 288, Francis
Day's Fresh-water Fish and Fisheries of India and Burmah.

Little need be said on this topic in additioji to what is stated under
_ , . , , Sitapur and Kheri. Rice and peas form the principal

o o e peop e. g^^j^^g^gg ^f consumption, with barley and arhar. The
mass of the people eat twice a day, at noon and evening. If food is scarce,
they do without the latter meal, and endeavour to escape hunger by falling
asleep. Peas are made into bread : an ordinary working man will consume
one ser of dried peas in the day, but about thirteen chhataks of rice will
sufi&ce him; but this by no means expresses the relative nutritive values.

FYZ 433

The measures of length are the same as those described in the Bahraich
Weights and mea- article. The local bigha is a kachcha or small one; it
sures. generally averages between two and a half and three to

the Government bigha; it is supposed to be a square of twenty kasis, each
kasi of three cubits; this would give a square of 300 yards, or 900 square
yards less than a fifth of the acre, 4,840 square yards ; but it must be
remembered the cubit was often* more than eighteen inches. So there
was some excuse for the popular fiction that the Government bigha of 3,025
yards was equal to 2J local bighas. The'subject is dwelt on at length in
the Kheri article. In Akbarpur the local bigha is a pakka or large one,
bearing a proportion of 10 to 11 to the Government bigha; this latter is,
however, pretty generally adopted, or at least applied as a check by the
more intelligent tenant. The weight in common use is a local panseri or
five kachcha sers; this should equal two sers and one chhatdk. It is sup-
posed to be a panseri of 28 gandas, each of four pais weight. See article
on Bahraich, Kheri. For measures of length, see article on Kheri.

* See Prinsep'a Useful Tables, page 127.

EE

434 FYZ

CHAPTER III.

TENURES.

The owners and tenures of the soil — The tribal distribution — Uneven distribution — Incidence of
land revenue on the different classes of holdings — Extracts from settlement report on
amount and value of sub-tenures — Prosperity of holders — Table showing area and revenue
of taluqas— Table showing area of sir lands— Table showing property owned by each caste
and tribe —Transfers of property — Sub-proprietary title, its nature and origin — Pukhta-
dari — Didari — Barbasti — Sir — Nankar — Shankalp — Birt — Groves — ^Biswi.

The lands of Fyzabad are divided among a few large and an immense
number of small proprietors. The number of the
tenures ofThrsoil""^ ^^t*®^ i^ ^^°"* 17,000, but is not known with correct-
ness, because the settlement registers have not been
completed. The tables given further on exhibit the estates and revenues of
the feudal barons ; also the distribution among the different castes.

The Rajkumar Chhattris have more villages than any other clan or caste :
The tribal diatribu- they are new-comers. For the history of their rise,
tion. see pargana Aldemau. Of the estates, the three

largest — ^Mehdona, Pirpur, Dera — belong to recent immigrants. It appears
that 28 taluqdars have among them 998,000 acres, or an average of 55
square miles each ; it appears also, from the settlement report afterwards
quoted, that many thousands of yeoman proprietors belonging to the same
castes and families as the taluqdars have an annual income of forty-four
shillings.

Property apparently is in a state of unstable equilibrium; but still more
remarkable is the fact that some of the most numerous clans in the dis-
trict, the Ahirs, the Chamdrs, the Kurmis, numbering respectively 1 66,000,
184,000, and 82,000, have not a single village. The Kurmis had at any
rate one large estate, that of Raja Darshan Singh ; this, however, was for-
feited for bad conduct during the mutiny. Even among the Chhattris, the
most numerous clans, the Bais, Chauhans, and Bisens, numbering nearly
half of the whole, have very few villages.

Uneven distribution of property is apparent then, not only between the
different castes, but also between the different indivi-
tion of property." "' ^^^^^ composing each caste. It must be remembered,
however, that the possession of wealth does not con-
stitute such a barrier between different classes in Oudh as in England.
The feudal lord lives upon the rent which he exacts from his poorer
brethren ; again, he supplies them with food and seed corn when they are
in diflBculties, — at least this is the view generally taken. It will be
observed that 703 villages, covering a quarter ' of a million of acres, have
been given in sub-tenure. These form a little above one-fourth of the
lands in the taluqdars' possession. They are held as copyholds at a high
but fixed rent, averaging Re. 1-12 per acre.

FYZ 435

The land revenue falls in the former district of Fyzabad at the rate of
J f i ^ ^®' ■'-■^ P®^ arable acre ; on the 28 large taluqas, aver-

revenue. ^'gi'ig 35,000 acres each, its incidence is Re. 1-2-6 per.

acre of entire area ; on the 17,000 small properties,
averaging nearly 29 acres each, the incidence is Re. 1-7 per acre; while the
22,846 under-proprietors of various kinds, who hold sub-tenures, sirs and
birts, hold on the average 14 acres each, and pay Re. 1-9-3* per acre. This
last statistic is, however, open to question.

To complete the view of the landholders and occupiers, we may add
that there are 183,447 cultivating tenants ; this would not allow more than
3^ acres to each tenant. There are said to be 2,288, or nearly 2| per cent.,
of the tenants who possess rights of occupancy at variable rates.

" The sub-settlement cases were finished six months ago, and the return
Extract from Settle- of sub-settlement is complete. Of the 2,383, villages
ment Report. settled with taluqdars in this district (two-thirds of

the whole area), 791 have been decreed in sub-settlement, and 69 in here-
ditary farm at very favourable rates ; i. e., more than a third of the taluqa
lands is still in the proprietary management of the original owners.

" The gross rental of these villages has been estimated at Rs. 7,12,068,
of which, after payment of the Government demand, the taluqdars get
Rs. 1,37,561, and the under-proprietors Rs. 2,10,618; the taluqdars getting
19'3 of the gross rental, the under-propriptors 29'5.

" The profits of the sub-settled villages are divided among 9,466 recorded
shareholders, so that the average annual value of an under-proprietor's-
profit in a sub-settled village is a little more than twenty-two rupees and
a quarter.

" Of the 1,523 taluqa villages remaining (two-thirds of the whole num-
ber), there are 695 in which decrees of sir or right of occupancy have
already been given. The land so awarded is in area 47,088 bighas, and is
estimated to be of the yearly value of Rs. 1,24,702, a sixth of the gross
rental of the villages in which the sir is situated. About a fifth of the sir
is held rent-free. On the remainder a rent is paid varying in lightness
in different estates, but on an average nearly 7 annas in the rupee below
the fuU rent. The amount of remission decreed to ex-proprietors up to
this date is Rs. 23,365 in rent-free sir, and Rs. 44,398 on rented sir. Of
the rent-free sir there are details ready of holdings valued at Rs. 20,765.
These are held by 386 sharers, so that each has a holding of the annual
value of nearly fifty-four rupees. Of the rented sir there are details of
shares in Rs. 44,306 of the estimated profits; These are divided among
1,677 sharers, and the share of each is therefore nearly twenty-six rupees,
and a half. The rent-free sir lies mostly in the eastern taluqas, and the-
rented sir is so largely in excess of that held rent-free, that the average of
the latter affords the" more approximate estimate for the entire district
of the pecuniary privileges of the old proprietors who have lost the
management of their villages. The averages given last year were based on

* Annual Returns, 1872-73.

EE 2

436 FYZ

a compafatively small number of cases ; but there are only 1,059 cases now
remaining for decision, and it is gratifying to find that the average value of
the interest secured to the old proprietors is considerably larger than was
at first anticipated. The average yearly profit on sir is Ks. 31-8-0 per man.

" The result of the judicial action of the settlement courts in this dis-
trict, with respect to the claims of the original owners of the soil, is there-
fore nearly this : Two-thirds of the area are in taluqas. Of this, upwards
of one- third has been decreed' in sub-settlement, on terms which secure
each member of the former proprietary bodies a privilege of the yearly
value of at least twenty-two rupees and a quarter. In one-third the
ex-proprietors have been already decreed sir lands, which yield each an
average yearly rental of thirty-one rupees and a half The remaining
third is to a considerable extent land which is the hereditary and peculiar
property of the taluqdars themselves. The gross rental of the taluqa
villages has been estimated at Rs. 22,37,582. Of this the Government
takes Rs. 11,41,726, the ex-proprietors have been decreed Rs. 2,78,381, and
Rs. 8,17,475 remain to the taluqdars, from which have to be met the
claims of shankalpdars and other sub-proprietary tenants."

There is, however, too much reason to fear that the condition of these
sub-tenures is by no means so prosperous as has been
h^S!"*^ ^^°^® related. A sub-tenure is, it must be remem-

bered, a copyhold included in the taluqdar's fief The
sub-proprietor pays a percentage upon the Government revenues of from
10 to 50 per cent. Many of these sub-tenures were determined by the
courts after long litigation, others were agreed upon by the parties ; but
the agreement entered into or the decree was not a definite one determin-
ing the exact payments. The proportion or percentage upon the Govern-
ment revenue, then an unknown quantity, was alone determined. The
amount of the payment to the taluqdar depended upon the amount of the
land revenue payable by him ; in its fixation the sub-proprietors, the ,
persons most concerned, had no voice. The taluqdar, whose interest it
was in this case that the revenue should be a high one, treated with the
settlement officer, who will generally assess too high unless he is con-
fronted by an intelligent and interested opponent. The consequence is
that the revenues before these copyholds were generally. fixed very high,
and the rents payable by the owners, of course, mounted still higher:
special arrangements have been made by Government to amend this.

FYZ.

437

List of Proprietors paying more than Rs. 6,000 Qovemment revenue
in the district of Fyzahad.

1

2

8

i

6

6

7

Number

■a

No.

Name of proprietor.

Name of estate.

of
villages.

Area.

Government
jama.

a

Tahsil Bikapur.

Rs. A. P.

1

Babu Hardatt Singh ...

Simrathpur ...

12i

10,809

11,98710 6

2-

Thakuraiu Raghunfith
Kunwar.

Sehipur

96J

36,040

43,711 710

3

Eaja Madho Partab

Singb.
Babu Abhai Datt Singh

Kurwar

40i

14,694

23,875 2 0

4

Khajurahat ...

56i

16,103

22,564 7 6

5

Babu Ramsardp Singh...

Khapradih ...

72

20,227

32,068 1 6

6

Lai Tirlokinatb Singh ...

Mehdona

405

184,619

2,48,867 13 10

7

Babu Azam Ali Khan ...
TaJisil Tdnda.

Deogaon

10

6,930

6,912 5 0

1

Sukhraj Singh, &c.

Khaspur

19

6,984

7,24314 0

2

Babu Pirthipal Singh ...

Tigra

181

7,162

8,348 7 0

3

Gayadin Singh

Mudera

174

7,609

7,653 8 0

4

Babu Hardatt Singh ...

Birhar,

1104

39,580

41,949 7 0

5

Kisban Parshad Singh...

Ditto

109i

39,070

41,156 4 0

6

Shiu Pargas Singh

Ditto

1024

36,069

37,41413 0

7

Hardatt Narain Singh ...

Ditto

~>

f

7,556 1 0

8

Babu Dip Narain Singh

Ditto

6,175 6 3

9

10

Babu Bindeshuri Bakhsh

Singh.
Babu Jit Bahadur Singh

Ditto
Ditto

■ ...

32,740 ^

6,94210 0
6,54810 6

11

Babu Mahip Narain Singh
Tahsil Akharpur.

Ditto

7,20711 3

1

Mir Ghazanfar Husen ...

Pirpur

1904

90,891

93,003 0 7

2

Malik Hidayat Huseu ...

Samanpur

1814

82,336

90,686 0 7

3

Babu TJdresh Singh „.

Meopur Dharwa

86

30,132

32,568 6 1

4

Babu Jai Datt Singh ...

Bhiti

824

31,109

36,670 14 10

5

Raja Shankar Bakhah

Ramnagar Dera

3684

36,165

25,556 1 3

6

Singh.
Babu Sitla Bakhsh Singh,

Nanemau

m

8,463

7,65411 0

7

Babu Umresh Singh ...
Tahsil Fyzahad.

Meopur Bara-
gaon.

474

22,257

24,,44811 5

1

Nageshwar Parshad ...

Mirpur Kanta

2,305

5,21114 0

2

Raja Kashi Nath

Bikhapur ...

"s

6,382

7,255 1 0

3

Raja Shankar Bakhsh

Mau-Judubans-

31

18,162

19,175 2 4

4

Singh.
Rimdhan

pur.
Sarangapur ...

4f

5,283

6,474 3 3

29

Total

...

2,094

792,121

9,16,887 IS 8

438

FYZ

Statemmt showing the area of sir lands in taluqas, and their rental,

in district Fyzabad.

1

2

3

4

5

No.

Karnes of taluqdars.

Area of elr land in acres.

Kent payable

Bomarlcs.

Paying rent.

Eent-free.

to
talnqdar.

Bs.

1

Lai Tirlokmath Singli

11,642

366

33,682

2

Mir Bac[ar Husen

Mir G-hazanfar Husen

1 133

239

412

3

Babu Pirthipal Singh

...

20

...

4

Baja Shankar Bakhsh

1,515

271

4,542

5

Xhakurain Brij Eauwar

65

4

146

6

Babu tTdresh Singh

Babu Chandresh Singh

] 620

294

1,512

7

Babu tTmresh Singh

316

155

303

8

Malik Hidayat Husen

878

282

1,457

9

Thakurain Baghunath Kunwar

2,873

112

5,528

10

Babu Eamsarup Singh

177

156

656

H

Babu Ishwarj Singh

563

120

444

12

BIbu Lallu S£h

37

51

125

13

Jointly owned

393

126

614

14

Babu Sitla Bakhsh Singh

90

110

237

15

Babu Jai Datt Singh

301

830

173

16

Baja Madho Partab Singh

30

75

35

17

Babu Anandatt Singh

615

166

1,463

18

Kaja Muhammad Ali Khan

3

87

16

19

Mir Earamat Husen

6

• ••

19

20

Babu Akbar Ali Khan

100

35

150

21

Babu Hardatt Singh

670

193

2,243

22

Babu Jahangir Bakhsh

11

"'

23

Babu Azam Ali Khan

25

5

87

24

Mahbub-ur-Rahman ...

55

288

25

Babu Hardatt Singh

62

112

188

26

Babu Kishan Parshad Singh

44

105

116

27

Babu Mahipat Narain Singh

14

55

19

28

Babu Shiu Pargas Singh

6

56

20

Total ...

21,232

4,036

54,489

FYZ

439

The instability of property is strikingly shown by the transfers in the

rn I . __, accompanying table. During two years, 3,603 pro-
Transfera of property. „ i- -/i °i j i °,i t f. o ■ ^ t

-^ ^ •' perties, either land or houses, the latter lormmg only

about one-tenth, were transferred or mortgaged; 1,056 were sold out-
right : at this rate all the small properties in the district would probably
change hands in the course of 30 years.

Statement showing the aggregate value of property transferred hy
documents registered in 1873 and 1874.

Ko. of deeds.

Amount.^

•a

Description of deeds.

1S73.

1874.

Total.

1873.

1874.

Total

Es.

Es.

Es.

Deeds of sale, Es. 100 and

upwards

323-

208

530

1,82,831

1,40,141

3,22,972

Deeds of sale, less than

Ks. 100

302

224

526

13,269

10,216

23,485

Deeds of mortgage, Es. 100

and upwards

1,170

634

1,804

2,57,127

7,44,828

10,01,955

Deeds of mortgage, less

than Rs. 100

721

721

31,600

31,600

Deeds of gift

io

12

22

51,625

5,000

56,625

Total

1,804

1,799

3,603

5,04,852

9,31,785

14,36,637

The following interesting account of the various tenures in Fyzabad is
drawn from the settlement report : —

Sub-proprietary title, its nature and origin.

It is now proposed to give some details of the nine descriptions of sub-
tenures mentioned above.

1. " Pukhtadari," or sub-settlement, may be based (1) on former pro-

prietorship with fairly continuous possession up to
Pukhtadan. annexation, when the village was incorporated with-

out a valid transfer of rights ; (2) on purchase of a sub-tenure, as " birts,"
" shankalp," &c., no mutation in the names of proprietors having taken
place, and the sub-proprietor having retained entire control of the village ;
and (3) on the failure of the proprietor to redeem old mortgages, the power
to do so having now expired under local rules. In the king's time, the
holder of any intermediate tenure between the superior and the culti-
vator, when that tenure was based on former proprietorship, was said to
hold pakka ; and since our rule the name that has firmly attached itself
to this description of tenure is pukhtadari, — a name that was unknown in
the king's time.

2. " Didari." When property was transferred voluntarily or involun-
tarily, it was by no means uncommon, though not an invariable practice,

for the purchaser to assign a portion of the property

^''^*"- in perpetuity to the seller, for his subsistence, under

the above designation. This might be done (1) by assigning a share

440 FYZ

equal to J, J,- -f,^ or -jL of the property transferred, and land to that 'extent
was then made over, which might be one or more entire mauzas, or a
smaller quantity of land ; or (2) hy giving a certain amount of land at
pleasure, without any reference to specific share. These didari tenures
were generally conferred under writing, seldom verbally. When a whole
village is held under this tenure, the sub-proprietor invariably also enjoys
all village privileges and dues, and with these the proprietor has no
concern whatever. The same is also the case where the sub-proprietor holds
an entire and separate fractional portion of a village included in a single
estate ; but where there are two fractional portions of any village included
in an estate, one of which is held as didari, and the other is not, it will gene-
rally be found that in that case the sub-tenure carries with it no village
privileges or dues whatever. In the course of the judicial proceedings, where
this tenure was found to extend to the entire village or entire fractional
portion, the sub-settlement was, of course, decreed; where smaller holdings
were being contested, the decree has been based on extracts of the field
registers filed with the proceedings. It may be mentioned that, at the
outset, diddri grants were always rent-free, and the majority of these are
still so. In some cases, however, a low quit-rent was subsequently assessed,
, J.. known by the name of " barbasti. " This item is

always found to be still considerably below the Gov-
ernment demand. In this class of sub-tenures, which were given in lieu
of other superior rights, long since absorbed, whether they be held rent-free
or at low rates, the superior holder has of course to make good the Gov-
ernment demand from his other property. Where the rent-free tenure
extends to certain fields only, the other village lands can be held respon-
sible for the revenue that should properly fall on the rent-free portion,
whether the muhal in which the mauza is situated be at some future period
broken up or not. But where the rent-free tenure extends to a whole vil-
lage, or fractional portion of a village> this will not be the case ; and it was
therefore ruled by the Financial Commissioner, under date 2.5th April 1865,
No. 89.5, on special reference from this office, that a condition should be
entered in the administration paper, that if the " sadr mSlguzar " should
hereafter fail in his revenue engagements, these must be accepted on the
usual terms by a didari holder, and this principle is now being carried out.

8. "Sir" (sub-proprietary) is of two different kinds : First, when old
proprietors parted with their estates without a reser-
'"■ vation as to land being assigned for their support, it

was not unusual for the new proprietor to leave them in possession of the
land tilled with their own ploughs ; for a time they might escape rent, but
subsequently a low rate was put upon their lands, and these may still be
recognised by the two facts (1) that possession of the particular fields has
seldom, if ever, changed, or if there has been such change, that the origi-
nal area is maintained ; and (2) by the rates being still below the rents of
other persons of the same class. When the lands have been changed, either
as to locality or area, and when there is no special favour in the rates of
rent as compared with others of the same caste, the sub-proprietary status
has merged into that of cultivator. Second, it was common to assign to
the junior branches of a family certain lands for their support, instead of
giving them the ancestral shares to which they were entitled. Such
appanages were also known by the name of ' sir."

FTZ 441

4. " Nankar. " The only difference between this and " diddri, " which
g , , has been akeady described above, is, that in the case

of the latter, land was assigned after one of two
methods. In the cas^ of the former, a portion of the rental, in money, was
assigned according to either of the same two methods. When a fractional
share of the rental was assigned as " ndnkdr, " it was usually assumed on
the rental of that time, and remained a fixed item without being subject
to future enhancement or curtailment. In very rare instances, however, it
did happen that the "nankar" allowance was subject to annual adjust-
ment, according to the results of the year's crop, the original extent of
share assigned above remaining fixed. The money is either paid over by
the proprietor to the sub-proprietor, or the latter is allowed a remission,
equal to the amount, in the rents of any lands he may hold as a cultivator.
Referring to paragraph 3 of the Settlement Commissioner's Circular No. 34,
dated 22nd June 1864, which laid down that "nankar" allowances should
be deducted from the rent payable for " sir " land, when both are given
together, it may be observed that no instance has come before the settle-
ment courts in which the under-proprietor was in the enjoyment of both a
money allowance and of " sir " land.

5; " Shankalp. " In practice, the procedure of the native rule was
Shankalp different when a whole village on the one hand, and

certain lands on the other, were held under this tenure.
In the former case a sum was paid down under mutual arrangement, and
a deed was prepared, making over the village as a sub-tenure, at favoured
rates. In the latter case the poorer outlying or uncultivated lands were
generally made ove* for a money consideration if a fixed proportion of the
soil was to be cultivated, subject to the payment of rent, and the rest was
left rent-free on account of village site, groves, &c. In rare instances a
few arable bighas were also specially allowed to be retained rent-free. In
these cases the principle of the tenure, as mutually agreed upon, was that
the cultivated portion only of the grant was to be subjected to the gradu-
ated enhancement of rent, till a fixed maximum amount was reached in a
given number of years. Further details of the tenure are given in the
report of 9th June 1865.

6. " Birt. " It has already been pointed out in the report just quoted

that the distinction between purchased " birts " and
purchased " shankalps " appears infinitesimal, and
nothing has since occurred to modify that conclusion. Neither tenure is
confined exclusively to Brahmans, although undoubtedly fewer of the
inferior castes have been found holding purchased " shankalps " than hold-
ing purchased "birts."

7. " Baikitat. " A good many instances could be given in which fields

have been sold by the proprietor in subordinate
BaiHtat. tenure under specific agreement for agricultural

purposes. The status of the sub-proprietor in these cases has been
secured, and does not differ much from the "birt" or ."shankalp" pur-
chaser. ' No distinctive local name has been found for this, class of sub-
tenures.

442 FYZ

Groves. 8. "Baghat." Groves have been found to be of

four classes : —

1st — Belonging to the existing proprietor.

27id — Belonging to the former proprietor.

2rd — Belonging to " shankalpdars " and " birtdars."

4ith — Belonging to ryots.

The first of these are, of course, part and parcel of the owner's property;
the second and third classes pertain to subordinate tenures. In all three
classes the existing right, superior or subordinate, as the case may be,
extends to both the lands and the trees.

The fourth class of groves has its origin in verbal arrangements entered
into by the proprietor or sub-proprietor and his cultivators. The rights of the
latter in such groves extend to eating the fruits, gathering wood, and cut-
ting down trees for home use, — in roofing a house, making farm implements,
and the like. The tenure ends on the cultivator leaving the village. He
could not replace the trees without special permission to that effect. The
landlord takes no rent for grove lands ; but he can claim fruit on festive
occasions, and he might fell a tree if he required it.

9. "Biswi" — (a.) When a whole village, or entire fractional holding, was
mortgaged under the native rule, it was usual for the mortgagee to obtain
both possession of the land and engagement with Government. Occasion-
ally, however, the mortgagee obtained possession . only, without direct
engagement ; and, in such cases, after deducting his interest from the
assumed rental, he paid the estimated difference in the shape of a quit-rent
to the mortgagor, under the name of "purmsana." During revision of
settlement, in cases where redemption could no longer be allowed under
the local limitation rules, the mortgagee has invariably been declared to be
the proprietor.

(b.) In the case of lands less in extent than a fractional portion of a
village, such holdings under the native government always remained
attached to the parent village. The gross rental of such lands was assumed
at the time of the transaction ; the interest of the loan was than deducted
from the item so assumed, and the difference, called purmsana, was the
quit-rent to be paid by the mortgagee to the mortgagor. The instances
in which no such quit-rent was fixed were rare. In either case the mort-
gagor paid the Government demand. The former universal custom and con-
dition as to re-entry was that repayment of the loan might always be
made at the end of the season, when the crop was off the ground ; but the
ruling of settlement circular No. 4-5 of 1864 is, that in such cases the
twelve-year rule is to be applied, counting from the time that either party
set the conditions of original agreement aside. Our procedure is now in
accordance with this ruling ; and, where redemption cannot follow, the
mortgagee is decreed an intermediate title, subject to the pajrment of the
Government demand, plus 5 per, cent.

FYZ 448

CHAPTEE IV.

ADMINISTRATIVE FEATURES.

Eevenue and expenditure— Local funds— Administrative body— Police divisiona- Criminal
classes — Education — Post office— Medical aspects.

Eevenue and ex- '^^^ revenue for 1872-73 was as follows : —

penditure.

Es. Es. Bs.

Land revenue collections ... 10,10,428 balances 1,75,203— total, 11,85,631.

Stamps ... ... ... 87,997

Opium and spirit excise ... , ... 79,180

Law receipts ... ... ... 9,000

Es. ... 11,86,605

When the land balances are paid up, the revenue will be Rs. 13,61,805,
The expenditure was Rs. 2,26,101, or about 16 per cent, of the income ; but
this includes the pay of the temporaiy settlement staff, the divisional central
staff, as well as of the district ofificers, and does not include the pay of the
troops. There is no advantage in comparing present revenue with past, as
the area of the district was largely reduced in 1869.

The land revenue* prior to 1864 was Rs. 8,.36;902; since then it was raised
year by year. The increment up to 1872 was Rs. 8,48,729, or 41 per cent..;
it now falls at the rate of Re. 1-15-2 per acre on cultivation according to
the field survey ; the revenue survey, however, makes the cultivation much
less, and the barren land much greater, than that which has been adopted
as the basis of assessment. If the revenue survey is correct^ the land
revenue is much heavier per acre than is recorded above.

In 1874, establishment was sanctioned for the purpose of revising and
reducing the land revenue.

Ea.
The balances of Jand revenue were iu 1872 99,904

1873 1,75,203

These sums amounted, respectively, to 8 and 14 per cent, of the total
demand. Of this latter sum, Rs. 1,61,590 were due by sixteen taluqdars,
and only Rs. 13,618, or less than 8 per cent., by the large body of zamindars,
which pay nearly 30 per cent, of the revenue. It would not, however, be
fair to argue from this that the larger landowners pay their revenue less
punctually. The balances accumulated from 1867 to 1871 amounted to
Rs. 26,000.

The following tables are from the Accountant-General's office, and apply
to the financial year ending 81st March 1872 and the provincial financial
year ending 80th September. It will appear that the imperial and local
expenditure amounted, respectively, to Rs. 2,14,192 and Rs. 1,54,058,— total,

• Eevenue Form No. 45, 1872-73.

444

FYZ

Es. 3,68,250. To this must be added the cost of police, an imperial charge
not shown above ; this amounted to Es. 84,633, — ^total, Es. 4,52,783, or
about Ee. 0-7-0 per head of population. The taxation does not show
opium, salt, or customs duties, which more than defray the cost of the
imperial army and administration. Eoughly speaking, then, Government
takes £140,000, and spends £45,000.

Imperial Sevenue, 1872.

1. Recent settlement revenue collections

2. Rents of Government villages and lands ...

3. Income tax ...

4. Tax on spirits and drugs

5. Stamp duty

6. Law and justice

Total

Rs.
11,24,460

19,999

1,17,082

94,890

9,630

13,66,061

Imperial ^Expenditwre,. 1871-1872.

Revenue, refunds and drawbacks ...

Miscellaneoua refunds ...

Land revenue, deputy commissioners, and establishment

Settlement ... ' ...

Excise or abk£ri

Assessed taxes

Stamps '

Law and justice

Ecclesiastical..:
Medical

C Service of process
\ Criminal courts

Total

Charges —

Local Funds.

Education

Hospitals and dispensaries

District dak ...

Pound

Nazul

Public Works —
Communications
Civil buQdings, &c.
EstabUshmeut, &c.

61,421
5,724
10,493

Total

Receipts—

One per cent, road cess ...

„ school

\ „ district dak

.3 „ local and margin

Education fund
Dispensary „ „.

Pound „

Nazul „

Provincial allotment

Gkakd Total

6,977

8,937

55,110

69,907

2,773

476

2,769

4,013

48,685

9,745

4,800

2,14,192

Es.

47,379
6,039
2,993
1,164

.18,845

77,63?

Es.

15,864

15,421

3,842
41,508

4,399
909

3,816
32,504
37,005

1,64,768

FYZ 445

As this is the wealthiest district in Oudh, except Lucknow, Ml details

are supplied in tabular form concerning the income

ncome ax. ^^^ j^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^ question, the lowest class, or

class I., were men rated between Es. 1,000 and Rs. 2,000 per annum.
The limit of the income of the other three classes were, respectively, over
Es. 10,000, Es. 1,00,000, and above. The total number of payers was
198 in the previous year. When the minimum was Es. 750, the number
was nearly double.

446

FYZ

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FYZ

447

The judicial staff in Fyzabad consists of the commissioner or sessions
Administration. judge, a deputy commissioner, two European assist-

ants and three native extra assistants, a cantonment
magistrate, and four tahsildars. Besides this staff, there is a hody of
settlement officials, — a settlement officer, his assistant, two extra assist-
ants ; but this department may be excluded from consideration, as it
is only temporary. There are eleven magistrates, all of whom have civil
and revenue powers, besides three honorary magistrates. This staff
is much larger than usual in Oudh ; but in population the district ranks
fourth, and in density second. The total cost of officials and police of all
kinds was Es. 2,26,106* in 1872. The police numbered 766, of whom
401 were on regular police duty ; the rest performed g'uasi-military
functions. There are four sub-divisions or tahsils, — T^nda, Akbarpur,
Eikapur, Fyzabad. Their ai-eas are given in the general table of the
district.

Statement showing the population of the thdnas in the district of Fyzabad.

Name of Thina.

Popnlation,

Fyzabad

Bonahi

Bikapur

Milkipur

Akbarpur

Tan da

Jalalpur

Ramtiagar

Mava Maharajganj

Total

139,695
111,979
130,429
117,207
116,228
119,406
104,444
85,875
97,507

1,022,770

There is nothing worthy of note ' in the crime. It is the heaviest
criminal district in Oudh, particularly in cattle

Crime and criminal stealing and poisoning. This is ascribed to the
''^^^^^- poverty of the people, the prevalence of cattle

diseases and the proximity of the North-West Provinces border ; — police
inquiries are always more or less obstructed by a change of jurisdiction.
Nineteen persons were convicted of cattle poisoning in 1872 ; the offenders
-were all Chamars ; the motive was simply to obtain the hides ; arsenic,
made into a ball with glir, was the drug employed. Pargana Birhar is
famous for cattle-lifting. Crime reaches the maximum m July, when
grain is scarcest.

A table is annexed exhibiting the amount and nature of crime.

Eeyeiiue Eeport.

448

FYZ

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1— t

rH

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rH

fH

^"

rH*

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00

rH

CO
00

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en

j-1

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r-T

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03

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'^

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es

bo

•

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t

1

.5

■

1

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S

f^

'3
o

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FYZ 449

Statistics of the Police of the district of Fyzabad vn 1873.

Eegiilar Police ...
TiUage Watch ...
Municipal Police ^

Total

Ra,
80,687
63,472
15,244

a d

87

487

2,143 .

174'.

1,49,303 3 169 2,804 ... 2,976

■e^.

ID 0}

la

15

1 to
2,135

15

8,492

■S -S

II

3 O

,050 13,239

; 2,401 8,492 4,050 3,239 810

810

Accidental Deaths. — The deaths from snake-bite during the six years 1867-
1872 amounted to males 316, females 604. Suicide during the last three
years were, males 29, females 135 ; deaths by drowning were, 762 males to
1,177 females. Either the police returns are incorrect, or they shed a lurid
light upon the homes of the district. This extra mortality among the females
can only be the result either of great misery leading to suicide, or else of

crime.

Education. — Considering the wealth of the district, the juvenile popula-
tion attending school is small, only one in 213 of the people. The figures
appear in the following table. The educational system is the same as that
prevalent throughout the province : — i

Statement showing the number of Schools and Scholars.

1872-73.

,1873-74.

Description of sotools.

Number of
schools.

Number of
pupils.

Number of
schools.

Number of
pupils.

Indigenous ...

60

503

60

448

Village

86

2,904

89

3,012

Primary town

8

• 476

9

498

Middle

3

355

3

377

Higher

1

248

1

266

Female

4

177

5

200

Total

162

4,663

167

4,801

FF

450

FYZ

Post Office Statistics for 1873-74

Letters.

Papers.

, Packets.

Parcels.

Number

given out for

delivery.

Number

returned

undelivered.

Number

given out for

delivery.

Number

returned

imdelivered.

Number

given out for

delivery. .

Number

returned

undelivered.

Number

given out for

delivery.

Number

returned

undelivered

309,348

18,980

30,238

884

6,136

52

1,560

26

Medical aspects. — ^The Civil Surgeon has not furnished any memoran-
dum : the statistics are very incorrect. The deaths in 1874 were recorded
at 10,778, being at th6 rate of lO'o per mille, a wholly impossible rate.
Of these, 5,097, almost one-balf, are due to fever, and 4,400, or 4'29 per
miUe, to small-pox ; only ninety persons died of cholera, none of old age.
Nine-tenths of all the mortality was due to fever and small-pox. There
is no object to be gained by dwelling on such figures. The great
Ramnaumi fair is attended sometimes by 500,000 people ; it is held at
Ajodhya ; it lasts about nine days, and is the greatest gathering in Oudh.
Cholera has on one oQca,sion, a,t lea^t, appeared there.

FYZ 451

CHAPTER V.

RELIGION : HISTORY.

Eeligious sects— Castes— History— Early Hindu history— Buddhist period— Description by Hwen
Thsang — Identity of Ayuto and Ajodhya— The Moslem invasion— Ajodhya under the Delhi
Emperors — Fyzabad under the Wazirs — Modern history of clans — Table showing the
Chhattri tribes — Table showing the ancient and present parganas. — The proprietary tribes —
The Mehdona estate — The Palwars — The Eajkumdrs-^The Moslem Rajkumars of Hasanpur
— The Maniarpur estate and the Gargbansi clan— The rank of the Bachgotis — The annals of
Dera and Meopur — The battle of Masora — The Cera widow, Dariao Kuuwar — The Meopur
family — The Musalmans — The court of Oudh in Fyzabad — The Fyzabad mutiny.

Religious sects of Fyzabad. — Religion in this district is of more than
ordinary interest. Ajodhya, as is related in the account of that town, is
the great centre of the hero worship which has selected the ancient king
Ram Chandar as the object of its adoration. At the Rdmnaumi festival
500,000 people assemble in honour of that potent monarch, and innumera-
ble shrines have been erected to R£m Chandar, his brother Bharat, his
wife Sita, and his ally in the great .Dekkan war, Hanoman the monkey.
This saint worship at the same time does not seem to interfere with the
more spiritual theology which concerns itself with the wholly unearthly
beings, — Vishnu, Mahadeo, and Bhawdni or Debi.

According to theory, of course. Ram Chandar was only an avatar or
incarnation of Vishnu ; it would be supposed, therefore, that the local
fame of Ram Chandar would have turned the devotions of the people to the
Vishnuite faith. But this is not the case ; if the accompanying tables are
correct, they show that this sect is less popular than the Shakti or Shaivi
faith. This only shows that the people have never accepted the sacerdotal
theory of Vishnu's incarnation : it may be true or not ; but they regard
Ram Chandar solely on his own merits as their hero-king. None of his
miracles reflect any credit upon Vishnu : the latter is regarded with cold
and distant esteem, while Ram Chandar still awakens in the bosoms of
the Hindus something resembling that zeal which, with men of other
creeds, gave rise to crusade and crescentade. Yet it would be a bold thing
to say that even, a half of those "who are recorded in these tables really
attend to the cults which are placed to their credit, or to any other.

In the Rae Bareli district the local chronicler, after relating to what sects
the Chhattris, Brahmans, and Kayaths of each town belong, always ends
with the recital that as for the other castes, men of such low birth cannot
be said to possess any religion at all. If this is the case, the tables here
given, which divide the whole population of each town among the specified
• sects, must be to a certain extent fanciful. There is apparently no inclina-
tion of particular castes to any particular sect.

In each small town the worshippers of each divinity will be found indis-
criminately among all castes. It • would indeed be a mistake to regard
these divisions as indicating each a distinct or separate worship. A
Vaishnavi would probably say, if asked, that he regarded Vishnu, Shiva,
and Bhawini with equal reverence ;' that in the course of events his here-
ditary devotional feeling, or some incident, — the cure of some relation at a,
•^ FF 2

452 FYZ

particular shrine, the preaching of some anchorite or devotee — ^had led him
to give so far a pre-eminence to Vishnu that his more formal daily devo-
tions were directed specially to him, while he was still eager to pay all
reverence to and take as many holidays as possible in honour of any other
saint or god in Moslem, Christian or Hindu calendars. A glance at the
article Ajodhya will show that the last occasion, and almost the only one
in modem times, when the Hindus ventured to shed the blood of their
Moslem masters in a religious war, was in defence of their long-tailed
divinity, the monkey Hanom^n.

The religion of Fyzabad is fully dwelt on in the article Ajodhya.

It may, however, be remarked here that the Hindd revival at Ajodhya
is one of the most remarkable things in modem times. In Buddhist times
the place had no peculiar sanctity, although there were doubtless temples
and shrines. Long afterwards, during many centuries, Gya, Benares, Puri,
and Muttra kept their reputation, while Ajodhya became a wilderness and
famous hunting-ground. About a hundred and fifty years ago there was
a revival : whether a national feeling was aroused by the tyranny of Aurang-
zeb, or by the success of the Marahtas, or by the translation into popular
language of the Ramayana, somehow or other Ajodhya became again
esteemed as a holy place ; it grew in favour each year, and now in all India,
perhaps, except the Jaggannath festival and that at Hardwar, there is none
to equal the Ramnaumi celebrations at Ajodhya.

Be it remembered, though, it is not religion ; it is a mixture of hagiology
and hero-worship. Its roots lie in the newly-aroused national feeling. Earn
Chandar draws because he was a Hindu prince, and because he conquered
the Indian foreigners. It is because he is supposed to have done for
North India what Wallace did for Scotland and Tell for Switzerland that
his hold upon the Hindu affections is strengthening year by year. It is
not for Englishmen, who have been ruled by their own kin for four hundred
years, to estimate aright the utter abandon and delight with which Hindus
again raise a throne, even if it be a plantom one. Religion, national pride,
ancestral pride, love of spectacle, all combine to make these festivals in
honour of Ram Chandar the most, exciting and popular of modem
Hinduism.

Concerning the Musalman sects there is little to observe. Except in
Fyzabad, long the residence of a Shia court, that sect numbers very few
disciples. It is obvious that among the masses of the faithful it is a mat-
ter of precedent and fashion whether each man is a Sunni or a Shia. If
there was any enquiry after truth, or any willingness to receive it, the
sects would be more intermingled, for men's studies would lead to diverse
convictions about the twelve Imams, independent of the enquirer's sur-
roundings.

Castes. — The castes of Fyzabad are the same as those which are found
in the rest of Oudh. The Brahmans are the most numerous, numbering
about 15 per cent, of the population. Chamars, the lowest in rank, are
the next in number, about 12 per cent. ; then Ahlrs, and then Chhattris,
who hold two-thirds of the soil, but are only seven per cent, of the people.
Kurmis are six per cent., Koris, Kahars, Vaishyas, MalMhs or boatmen, and

FYZ

453

Muraos or gardeners, are each about three per cent. Of these, the Koris, the
Chamars, and the Bhars are aboriginal. The last are said to number
20,382, principally in Akbarpur and Surharpur, but this is probably a
mistake. In all there are 110 castes entered in the census papers, of
whom 21 are sub-divisions of the Moslems.

MUHAMMADANB.

HlHDua.

XT.C , . Of^lfll.

Suunia.

Walia-
bis.

Shaivi.

SMkti.

Vaislinavi.

Nanak
SliShis.

sects,

Dhaurahra

82

991

1,840

326

Deorakot

191

...

•*•

776

898

597

>••

Konahi

1,229

300

S50

2,135

260

369

Easulpur

1,457

9

582-

527

1,001

>>

Surgdnwan

76

787

1,039

509

...

Shahzadpur

1,721

"ii

1,104

891

788

181

...

Kurha Keshupur

180

178

770

714

888

...

...

Khandansa Khurd

177

645

1,231

402

•••

...

Majigsioii

38

...

923

730

396

...

M uhammadpur

108

.«. '

1,585

95

577

249

Mustafabad

806

298

931

502

148

■•«

...

Muqimpur ~.

554

113

••-

1,170

855

1,052

Malahtu Buzurg^

60

.•■

580

898

272

Tanda and Sakrawal ...

7,390

223

213

4,439

1,454

585

124

Maya

139

41

641

702

137

<■•

...

Maholi

161

740

863

208

— .

...

Miranpur

767

"46

256

308

319

3

Mlrpur

42

• •.

821

1,301

307

...

Nakpur

1,569

487

447

484

Hijipur

89

598

1,477

1,008

...

Fyzabad

4,752

9,868

7,000

7,620

3,655

3,655

Ashraf pur Kacliliauclilia

1,318

342

510

280

Oudh or Ajodhya

889

1,630

975

1,100

2,222

ido

602

Ahankaripur

1,187

.«>

564

961

227

27

...

Baretha

20

30

410

540

1,526

30

...

Baskh^ri

263

349

457

713

611

115

...

Bhadarsa

1,455

302

744

1,368

522

30

...

Bilkhawan

194

...

580

1,219

198

...

Jauan

156

605

774

158

...

...

Jalaluddmnagar

115

115

610

892

124

46

...

Jalalpur Nahvi
Janaura

4,014

>•■

383

665

522

23

111

168

610

747

495

History. The early history of the. kingdom of Ajodhya is contained in

the great epic of the Rdmayana. Ram Chandar, his brother Lachhman,
and the rest of the family of king Dasrath, are believed to have flourished
probably about 1200 B. G. Their history belongs more properly to India
than to any district, nor is it necessary here even to abstract the tale of
Rdm Chandar and his exile, of his beautiful wife Sita, of her being carried
off to Ceylon, and of the war which ensued.

The R^mnaumi festival is still kept up with great, indeed increasing,
enthusiasm at Ajodhya. In each place in the neighbourhood is localised
some incident of the story, and there is no room for doubt that a considerable
substratum of truth exists in this epic; also that Ajodhya was the real capital
of this dynasty. Here is alleged to be the birth-place of the Surajbans
race Its direct representatives are said to have migrated with Kanaksen

454 FYZ

in A. D. 144 to Gujarat, where they founded the Balabhi djrnasty, and
afterwards, as Gahlots, Sisodias, maintained the glory of their race in
Chittaur and Udaipur.

This exile was probably due to the siege of the city by Menander, the '
Bactrian, A.D. 140 ( Journal, Bengal Asiatic Society, No. 280, page 45).
Ajodhya then became a wilderness, but it was restored apparently by
Vikramaditya .of Ujjain.

It does not appear when the Buddhist doctrines first prevailed in Ajo-
dhya, and it is evident they hardly ever had exclusive sway there.

Asoka, doubtless, erected stupas there B.C. 311, but the two religions
seem to have flourished in that harmony and mutual respect which then
distinguished their bearings towards each other. Brahmanism adopted the
sacred tree, the Banian or Ficus Indica; Buddhism in return venerated
Vishnu and Mahadeo. The Brahman approved the abstinence from animal
life, and adopted the monastic system open to all castes ; the Buddhist in
return paid the most ceremonious respect to the Brahmanical caste.*

Buddhist period. — In BL-fedhist times the kingdom and capital of Ajo-
dhya were visited by Fahian and Hwen Thsang, the Chinese pilgrims,, in
the fifth and seventh centuries. Fabian's visit was AD. 400-410, Hwen
Thsang's A.D. 692. Ajodhya was then one of the four or five kingdoms
into which the soil of Oudh was divided. It does not appear what the
boundaries were, nor is it very clear how this kingdom was 1,100 miles in
circumference, or nearly so extensive. If Ayamukha was only sixty miles
off, and Sahet Mahet or Sravasti, the capital of another kingdom, about
1,100 miles in circumference, was only fifty-five miles from Ajodhya, there
is no room for such an area. These Oudh kingdoms were Kanauj ; Ajo-
dhya ; Kusapur, probably Sultanpur, not improbably Bari, near the Gumti
in Sitapur ; Visakha, which may be Satrikh ; Sravasti or Sahet Mahet
near Ikauna on the Rapti in Gonda, — five in all. But it is really
impossible to identify either Visakha or Kusapur, becailse (there are so
many ancient places at about the distances and in the directions indicated
from Ajodhya. Prag or Allahabad, Ajodhya, and Kosambi or Kusam,
these can be certainly recognised and be used as landmarks of the ancient
geography.

Hwen Thsang is very particular in his distances ; he notes that Visakha
is 170 or 180 ^i north of Kusapur; this would be twenty-five to thirty
miles. He gives the following account of Ayuto or Ajodhya : —

Description of Hwen Thsang, A.D. 692. — "This kingdom is fivethou-
sandf li. in circumference, and that of its capital is twenty li ( about four
miles ); the climate is good, the inhabitants virtuous and learned. There
are one hundred monasteries attended by three . thousand monks. There
are ten temples to idols, and the heretics of different sects are but few in
number. There is in the city a very ancient convent. Here, during twelve
years, Vasa Bundhu Bodhi Satwa was occupied in composing religious

* Vide list of inscriptions. Vol. XIX. Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, pages 173 to
209, for many instances of the fraternity above referred to.
t N«arly 1,100 miles. ,

FYZ 455

treatises ; here are the foundations of the hall in which he explained the
law to the kings of many realms, to the Sramans and the Brahmans, the
holy men of the two religions. About half a mile to the north on the
bank of the Ganges there is a great convent, in the middle of which is a
pagoda ( stupa), two hundred feet high, built by Asoka. In this place
the Sathaguta explained, for three months, the best ordinances for the
benefit of the ' Devas. '

"Near is another stupa, and the places where the four previous Buddhas
used to sit and walk for exercise ; west of the old convent is a pagoda which
contains the hair and nails of Buddha, and a little north of it the place
where the master of the Shastras, Srilabdha, of the school called Santran-
trikas, composed Vibacha Shastra.

"About five or six ii south- West of the toWn, in the middle of a great
grove of mangoes, there is an ancient convent. There Asanga Bodhi Satwa
studied and directed the men of the age. About one hundred paces north-
west of the forest there is a pagoda containing more hair and nails of
Buddha. Beside it appear the ancient foundations of the building where
Vasu Bandhu Bodhi Satwa, descending from the heaVens of Sonchitas,
had an interview with Asanga Bodhi Satwa of Gandhara.

^ " This latter was a Hindu doctor of the school of Mahi Sasakas ; he
became a convert ; his pupil was Vasu Bandhu of the school of Sarvasti
Vadas. Another pupil was Budha Sinha. These three agreed that
whichever of them died first, if the future turned out according to his hopes,
he should come back to earth and inform the others. Budha Sinha died first,
and three years passed away without his fulfilling the promise ; then Vasu
Bandhu died, and for six months afterwards Asanga waited in vain, and
was laughed at. At last one night, when he was 'teaching his pupils, the
heavens lightened, and a holy Eishi descended from above, entered the
porch and saluted Asanga, and they conversed together.

"Eight miles northjwest, in an ancient convent, which to the north
borders the Ganges, is a stupa ; here Vasu Bandhu was converted to the
true faith, and wished to cut off the tongue which had uttered so much
false doctrine. Then the sage Asanga appeared and forbad him, saying,
rather use your tongue in future in spreading the knowledge of the truth."

In leaving this country the travellet goes sixty miles to the east, passing
the Ganges" and arrives at Ayamukha. Hwen Thsang's itinerary is as
follows : —

Kanauj to Navadeva Kula to the south-east, 100 li, twenty-two miles
(this will probably be Bangarmau, an old city so situated); then 600
li or 130 miles to Ayuto to the south-east (Ajodhya is 125 miles to
the south-east ); then 300 li or 65 miles to the east is Ayamukha; then
700 li or 150 miles to the south-east is Prdg— Allahabad (this should be
probably corrected to south-west) ; 500 li or 108 miles to the south-west
is Kosambi or Kusam, thirty miles south-east on the Jumna. He then went
north-east about 150 miles, 700 li, to Kusapur, which may be Kakori, Bari,
or Misrikh, or, says General Cunningham, Sultanpur. Then 108 or 70
li viz., about 40 miles north to Visakha, which might be Hargam

456 FYZ

Sitapur, or Satrikh in Bara Banki; then 500 li or 108 miles to the
north-east to Sahet Mahet.

Identity of Ayuto and Ajodhya. — Messrs. Julien and St. Martia sup-
pose that Hwen Thsang, passing by or near Bangarmau, crossed Oudh to
Ajodhya, just as Fahian did before him ; that he went on to Ayamukha
down the Gogra, then went across to Allahabad, then east again to Kosam-
bi, they think, on the Ganges, but, as General Cunningham clearly proves,
on the Jumna; the matter is of no consequence as bearing on the general
direction of the journey. The pilgrims then went north to Kusapur,
which they place in the map. In the map accompanying the volume,
not far from where Satrikh now stands in Bara Banki, they place Visakha
near Kurasar in Bahraich in that district. It is impossible to give the
details here, and to reconcile this chart with the actual distances of- those
places from each other.

There is evidence of validity for the conclusion that Ayuto is Ajodhya*
General Cunningham differs from Messrs. Julien and St. Martin, and places
Aynto near Cawnpore at Kukupur, Ayamukha at Daundia Khera; his
arguments are not convincing.

Hwen Thsang relates that he went 700 li or 140 miles from Kanauj to
Ayuto, stopping by the way at Navadeva Kula, twenty li south-east of
Kanauj. Now this would exactly agree with the road from Kanauj vid
Bangarmau to Ajodhya, and this is admittedly the road which Fahiaa
followed: why should the latter pilgrim not have taken the same ? General
Cunningham first creates a difficulty, that Ajodhya is not south-east of
Kanauj, but east. Kanauj is 27° 8' north latitude, and Ajodhya is 26°47',
so Hwen Thsang is quite right. The Bangarmau ruins are well known.
General Cunningham supposes that 600 li is a mistake for sixty, and that
Daundia Khera is an old city; whereas the traditions of its foundation about
the 12th century, five centuries after the date of Hwen Thsang, are very
clear. Similarly, he urges incorrectly that Manikpur is an old city. His
object is to prove that Visdkha, not AyutOj is AjodRya.

Now, in the first place, there is no river mentioned as near Visakha, nor
as crossed by the traveller coming to or leaving it, and the presence of rivers
is always carefully recorded. Secondly, the account of the AjnatO rivers
and sacred buildings corresponds very fairly with those now at Ajodhya.

Without going into minute detail, I may note the correspondence. The
ancient and holy place inside the city wiU answer to the E^mkot. The
buUdings half a mile to the north on the river will answer to the Swargad-
dwari. The ancient convent where was Asanga's school, sis li south-west,
will answer to the Maniparbat ; and the sacred buildings, 40 li or eight
miles to the north-west on the river, will correspond to the Guptar Bagh
temples, exactly in that direction.

It may be noted that according to the itinerary there were pagodas
where Buddha's hair and nails were preserved, and where the four Buddhas
sat and promenaded both in Ayuto and Visdkha.. Further, it may be men-
tioned that the pilgrim mentions Ayuto as a school of the Hindu rehgioa,
which Ajodhya certainly was : he does not say the same about Vis^kha^

FYZ 457

On the whole, there seem good local reasons for believing with the French
antiquarians that Ayuto was the present Ajodhya.

General Cunningham thinks that the pilgrim came down by BSngarmau
along the Ganges instead of across Oudh ; that he came first to Ayuto or
Kukupur, one mile north of Shiurdjpur and twenty miles north-west of
Cawnpore ; then to Ayamukha, which he places near Daundia Khera in
Rae Bareli ; then, still down the Ganges, to Prag ; then to Kosiimbi; then
north to Kusapur, which be finds near Sultanpur; then north to Ajodhya;
thence to Sahet Mahet or Sravasti.

Undoubtedly the latter part of his itinerary does not require so many
alterations of the text, and assume so many errors, as that of the French
savants. But the former part requires very violent treatment of the text.

The subject is treated in pages 279, 335, vol. I, Archaeological Survey,
and pages 243 — 308, Julien : Contr^es Occidentales, vol. I.

The story of the kingdom of Ajodhya would indeed be an absolute
blank during the first seventeen centuries of our era if it were not for
the dim and feeble light shed over some small fractions of this long period
of darkness by the two Buddhist pilgrims.

There is no doubt that great convulsions attended the fall of Buddhism

and the conquest of Oudh by the Musalmans ; but these belong more to

the history of Oudh than to the district of Fyzabad. We do not even

know how the country was peopled: we know that the

taS^TOL 1 pagJ'w*"" Sakar or Sakti were massacred in thousands on the

' . ' ' borders of Gonda ; that at Srdvasti lived the barbarians

who wore head-dresses of human fingers, and one of whom was converted

by Buddha when killing his mother in order to complete the fashionable

number. It is only too probable that after the fall of

Contrees *^° 294°" Buddhism the people relapsed into those barbarous

a es, vo . , p g . practices from which this humane faith had restrained

them.

We may date the fall of Buddhism, or rather its gradual contamination

with, and yielding to, Brahmanical ideas, about the eighth century.

The Musalman invasion. — In 1030 A.D., Sayyad Salar Musalid passed
through Fyzabad. It is not certain whether any great battle was fought
here ; but in the account of Mangalsi are related, with minuteness, the
still vivid traditions and superstitions of the people. They still point out
a portion of the Queen's highway along which the country people will not
pass after dark. They say that at night the " road is thronged with troops
of headless horsemen,— the dead of the army of Prince Sayyad S£Mr. The
vast array moves on with a noiseless tread. The ghostly horses make no
sound, and no words of command are shouted to the headless host."

In 1080 Ajodhya was attacked by Sultan Ibt^him. After Sayyad Sdlar
was killed, the leaders of the great popular rising which defeated him turned
against each other.

Mr. Oarnegy says that Sohildeo, a Sdrajbans and a Buddhist, the ruler of
Sravasti, fought Chandar Deo, the Rathor king of

Oudh Castes, page 25. ganauj, for the possession of Ajodhya. The battle was

458, FYZ

*

fought in Satrikh, and the Rathors won. It is, of course, possible that
Sravasti, which was a ruin in the time of Hwen Thsang, 629 A.D., may-
have been restored in the eleventh century. It is just as possible that the
Stirajbans king reigned at Hathili or Asogpur, 15 miles north of Ajodhya,
in Gonda, which was the capital of Sohildeo, the conqueror of Sayyad
Salar.*

It has not been generally supposed that Buddhism was a militant
faith, and powerful in the eleventh century in Oudh ; and it is improb-
able that this was a Buddhist kingdom, because all the Hindu
coins found on its site are of the Boar dynasty, bearing an image
of the Boar incarnation of Vishnu, the " Varaha." It is quite probable,
however, that there was a contest for the possession of Ajodhya and
its holy places ; there would certainly, indeed, have been one, for in the
seventh century, we learn from Hwen Thsang, Ajodhya was still indepen-
dent, although the sovereign of Kanauj was rapidly extending his empire.
The history of Ajodhya, however, as of nearly all Hindu kingdoms between
the seventh and eleventh centuries, is a mystery. Buddhist civilization
had waned entirely, or was fading away; Chinese travellers, with their
minute itineraries, no longer traversed the province. Some great wave of
conquest from Central Asia, whose movements are now for ever hidden,
had convulsed Indian society. Tanwar Chhattris ruled at Kanauj. The
Bais had ruled in Baiswara for many centuries; the Guptas, a Brahmanical
dynasty, had governed Magadha; the Sakai, a Buddhist clan, governed
Kapila in Gonda; there seems to have been an internecine war between
these rac§.s.-f Into the various conjectures which have been hazarded as
to the changes which ensued it is not desirable to enter. *

The result was, apparently, that all ultimately yielded to the growing
power of Kanauj, which apparently had entered into alliance with the
' Ghiznivide Moslem invaders. It is not clear, however, that Ajodhya ever
came under the power of the Tunwar kings of Kanauj. They also reigned
at Bari, near the Gumti, in Sitapur, to which place this dynasty retreated
when pressed by the Musalmans.^ As was only natural after the war with
Sayyad Salar, Oudh seems to have been broken up into a number of petty
fiefs. Still it may with confidence be stated that Ajodhya came under the
dominion of the E-athor princes of Kanauj before the twelfth century. In
1187 Jai Chand granted the village of Komali to Alenga of the Bharad-
dwaj line.§ The gods mentioned in the copper-plate grant recording this
donation are Vishnu and Lachhmi.

* The antiquity of this place, and of its ancient temple to Asoguath Mahadeo, is proved by
an incident -which occurred iu 1862. A wild fig-tree, or pipal,

Su'^^eT'TOl'TpaEe'Sf ^^^ S™™ °^'''' *^^ -^'™?' ^^^ emblem of the god'; it was cut

urvey, . ,pg • do-ffn, and its ftoncentfed rings proved that its age was 849 years;

in other -words, that it was planted iu 1023, twenty years before the first invasion by the

Musalmans, one of whom, Hatila, a young chief, was killed in an attack on this very temple.

t Calcutta Review, vol. LV. pages 266, 271, 273, 274.
+ Calcutta Re-view, vol. LVI. page 43.

Journal, Asiatic Society, vol. IV. 1865, page 206.
§ Journal, Bengal Asiatic Society, vol. XIX. page 206.

FYZ 459

Then came the destruction of Kanauj; and in 1194, after a battle, the
Ajodbya under the body of Jai Chand was found so disfigured with blood
Delhi Emperors. and wounds that he was only recognised by his false teeth
and their gold settings.

After his conquest of Kanauj, Shahab-ud-din Ghori, or his lieutenant,
overran Oudh in 1194. In Ajodhya, Makhdum Shah Jah^n Ghori was
killed and buried. Muhammad Bakhtiar Khilji was the first to organise
the administration and establish in Oudh a base for fresh military opera-
tions. In these he was so successful, even to the banks of the Brahmapu-
tra, that on the death of Quttib-ud-dia of Delhi he refused to pay
allegiance to a mere slave like Altamsh; his son Ghayas-ud-din partly
succeeded in this attempt, anti a hereditary governorship of Bengal was
established ; but Ajodhya was wrested from the Bengal dynasty and kept
as a province of Delhi lying between Bahraich and Manikpur. A great
Hindu rebellion then ensued. Details are not given; it seems to have
been a Sicilian Vespers, for 120,000 Musalmans, many of them probably
converts, are said to have been killed. It now became the custom to send
the heir-apparent to Oudh or Budaun. Prince Naslr-ud-din was de-
spatched to crush this outbreak.

Nasir-ud-dln Tabashi and Qamr-ud-dln Kairdn successively are recorded
as viceroys at Ajodhya in 1236 and 1242. In 1255, the emperor's mother,
having married one Katlagh Khan and quarrelled with her son, was sent
with him in honourable banishment to Ajodhya, which now was honoured
with the presence of Malika-i-Jahan. Katlagh Khan rebelled and was
expelled by his step-son's wazir, Balban ; ArsUn Khan Sanjar followed him,
and in 1259 he also rebelled and was expelled. Amir Khan or Alaptagln
was the next; he was ordered, after he had been in Oudh for twenty years,
to attack the rebel Toghral. He was defeated, and Balban ordered his
head to be struck off and placed over the gate of Ajwihya. Toghral was
afterwards killed by a small party, which burst into his camp and struck
off his head, inside his tent and in the middle of his army. Shortly after-
wards Farhat Khan, another governor of A.jodhya, when intoxicated, killed
a person of low birth. The widow complained to Balban. The emperor, once
himself a slave, sympathising with her, the governor received a public
whipping of five hundred lashes, and his mangled body was then made
over as a slave to the widow his victim. The romantic meeting of the
youthful emperor Kaiqubad with his father Baghra Khan took place in
Fyzabad, the two armies having encamped on the opposite banks of the
Gogra. Kh£n-i-Jahan then became governor of Oudh, and in his time the
court of Ajodhya was adorned for two years by the presence of the poet
Amir Khusro. AUa-ud-dm Khilji, nephew of the founder of the Khilji
dynasty, then held Oudh; but it does not appear that he visited Ajodhya. It
was at Manikpur that he stabbed his uncle in the back, and the old man's
headless corpse lay uncared for on the sands of the Ganges. It was during ■
the Tughlaq (the succeeding) dynasty that Ajodhya was specially favoured.
Firoz Tughlaq made repeated* visits to Ajodhya. Malik Sigin and Malik

* In 1324 and in 1348 A. D. Dow, I. 305.

460 - FYZ

Ain-ul-Mulk were governors, and the latter especially for inany years ruled
the province in a wise and beneficial manner.

In the Akbarpur pargana there still exists an inscription of this reign,
on a tablet, among costly buildings, tanks, and gardens. The inscription
proves that settled order had been established, and that civilization and
peace were bringing with them permanent land rights and religious endow-
ments. Shortly afterwards Ajodhya fell into the hands of the Jaunpur
sovereign, and its history possesses less individuality.* Babar visited the
place, and with these scanty notices may be concluded all that is related
concerning the district by the Musalman historians. The local history
consists of traditions preserved by the heads of the clans, by their profes-
sional bards, and the qaniingos or hereditary record-keepers of the parganas.

There is unfortunately no continuity between the clans of ancient times
and those now there. The Stirajbans Chhattris (see account of pargana
Haweli Oudh), although belonging to the old Ajodhya stock, came but
recently from Kumaun ; the Gargbansis and Eaghubansis are both of them
offshoots from the same stock, yet they only claim descent of twenty-five
to thirty-four generations."]" It is true the Raghubansi race now in Alde-
rtiau claim to have come thirty-four generations back from Ajodhya, and
they may be a remnant of the old stock ; but the Chauhan, the Pal war,
the Rajkumar, the Bisen, all claim only an antiquity of from three to six
hundred years. What this really means is probably that new clans were
constantly being formed, the principles of the caste system being formulated,
low castes being continually elevated into gentility ; and it thus happens
that all the old clans which did exist before the thirteenth century have
died out, or become so obscure that all memory of their annals has been
Iost.|

The wazir of the empire, Saadat Khan, became subahdar of the province
of Oudh about 1731, but he seldom appeared at Fyz-

waSr^*^ "^"^^"^ ^^^ ^^^*^' '^^^^^ ^^^' lio'wever, his nominal capital, nor
did his son-in-law and successor, Safdar Jang ; but
in 1756 Shuja-ud-daula succeeded, and became a permanent resident at
Fyzabad. Defeated at Buxar by the English in 1764, he fled to Fyzabad,
and then constructed the lofty entrenchment whose massive ramparts of
rammed clay still frown over the Gogra. Peace was made with the
British ; alliance against the Marahta and Rohilla followed. Rohilkhand
was added to the provinces of Allahabad and Oudh which the , Nawab
already possessed. Fyzabad was the capital of a kingdom whose revenues
were about £3,000,000 and whose splendour excited the admiration of tra-
vellers. At his death in 1776, one of his widows, the famous Bahu Begam,
who had been guaranteed by the British Government the possession of her
enormous jointure, remained here; and his successor, Asif-ud-daula, who

* Much of the above information is detailed at greater length in an interesting article.
Benondah, page 43-58.

Calcutta Review, vol. LVI.

+ See Pargana Aldemau.

t There is one reason why a line is always liable to be lost in India. In the English
Eoyal Family, for instance, the continuity has been preservnd several timea through the
female line : this cannot happen when a daughter, once married, is lost to her father's house ;
and even to speak of the connection is considered impolite.

FYZ

461

was on bad terms witli iher, and aimed at appropriating her property,
removed to Lucknow.

The pivot upon which all the modern local history of a district like
Fyzabad turns is the possession of the land. Immutable custom sways
nearly everything else. There have been, except very lately, no religious
disturbances even, much less wars ; no extensive proselytism ; there has
been no foreign invasion ; there has been no change of sovereignty, no
great inventions such as printing press, steam engine, railway, electric
telegraph, power loom ; the tribal or caste system, the law of inheritance,
the dress, the ornaments, the food, the language, the very boats and carts
and ploughs, — all are the same as 1,500 years ago. The tribal tenure of
land, on the contrary, has fluctuated extremely, and as its distribution
sheds much light on the internal condition of the district, details may be
given. The following are the principal tribes of Chhattris in the old district
of Fyzabad, with the numbers of villages held by them in proprietary pos-
session. The principal change effected by the alteration of boundaries is
the exclusion of the Rajkumars, who own the greater part of the parganas
now transferred to Sultanpur.

Name of tribe.

Approximate
numbers.

Number of
villages held.

Described under what
pargana.

Bais ...

21,000

64

Birhar, Mangalsi, Pachhimrath,

Ilisen...

12,000

64

Mangalsi.

Palwar

72,000

493

Birhar, Surharpur.

Bhale-Sultan

3,300

25

Aldemau.

Bhadwaria

3,300

299

Pacbhimrath, Majhaura.

Bachgoti

4,900

12

Amsin.

Barwar

4,000

139

Mangalsi, Paobhimrath.

ChauMn

11,000

7

Surbarpur.

Chandel

4,000

231

HaweK Oudb.

Gargbansi

8,900

...

Surbarpur.

Kaohwaha

2,400

...

Isauli.

Panwar

1,800

38

Aldemau.

Eaghubansi ... —

5,600

2

Amsiu.

Eaikwar

2,200

766

Aldemau.

Biiikuinar

3,800

14

Haweli Oudh, Amsin.

Siiraibaii

4,500

99,900

MiBcellaneouB caates

8,124

Total

108,024

462

FYZ

The following are the parganas.of Fyzabad mentioned in the A'in-i-
Akbari, and those now existing : —

Old name.

Haveli Avadh. ...

Mangalsi
PacKhimrath

Naipura

Balari

Kharasa

Isoli

Chandipur'Bii-liar

Tanda Khaspur ..

Sajhauli Akbarpui-

Manjhaura

Surliarpur

Aldemau

Present name.

Haweli Oudh. ...

Mangalsi

PachMmratli ...

Amsin

Naipura or Ilti-

atganj.
Baraunsa
Khandansa
Isauli

Chandipur Birliar
Tanda Khaspur

Akbarpur

Majhaura

Surharpur

Aldemau

Proprietors in
sixteenth
century.

Brahmans, Kur-
mis.

Sombansi ...

Bdohhil, GeUot,

Bachgoti

Mixed tribes ...

Baehgoti
Biseu
Bachgoti
Brahmans ...
KSiyaths

Bajputs, Sayyads,
Brahmans.

Brahmans, Bach-
goti.

Bachgoti

Bachgoti

Proprietors in

eiffhteenth

century.

Kurmis, Garg-
banrjs, Bashisht
Brahmans.

Bais, Chauh^ns . . .

Ditto
Barwar, Eaikw&
Sayyad, Kayath,

Chauhan

Pathans

Maliks, Shekhs,
Kayaths,

Khanzadas, Say-
yads.

Brahmans ...

Punwar, Chandel,
Kaohhwaha.

Surhwar, Raghu-
bansi.

Present
proprietors.

Stirajbana, Brah-
■ mans of Meh-

doua.
Brahmans of Meh-

dona, Bais.
Brahmans of Meh-

dona, Bachgoti.
Brahmans of Meh-

dona.
Sayyad, Bachgoti,

Barwar.

Pal war.
Shekhs.

Sayyads, Shekhs.

Bachgoti, Raotars,

Shekhs.
Palwars, Eajku-

mars. .

It ' is absolutely impossible here to give any clear and detailed account
of the various tribal movements and vicissitudes of property indicated in
the above tables.

At present the broad features of landed property in the district may be
described as follows. In the centre an immense estate,
The Mehdona estate. ^-^^^ ^f Mehdona, has been formed during the forty
years preceding annexation, by purchases from revenue defaulters, by for-
feitures of delinquents' property, and by the other means so freely used
during the Nawabi. It was formally constituted a raj and the title
granted in perpetuity in 1253 F., nineteen years ,'before annexation in
1855. The personal history of this family of Sangaldipi or Ceylon Brah-
mans is given in all detail under pargana Pachhimrath. Bakhtawar
Singh, the uncle of Eaja Man Singh, was a cavalry trooper in the British
service. His regiment was stationed at Lucknow. His fine personal
appearance attracted the attention of Saadat Ali Khan, Nawab of Oudh,

1798 1814 ; his discharge was procured ; he became a jamadar, then a

risaldar in the Oudh service, and lastly a raja. His brother, Darshan
Singh, was then invited to court. He and his sons, Eaghubardayal and
Man Singh, were military chiefs of repute. They reduced the old nobility
of Gonda, Bahraich, Sultanpur, Daryabad, and Fyzabad ; the Maharaja of
Balrampur, two Surajbans taluqdars, Jagannath chhapr&i, a famous
dacoit, Harpal Singh of Khapradih, all at dififerent times were expelled

FYZ 463

from Oudh, captured, or put to death by the prowess of this family. The
estate now comprises 430 villages, with am area of 209,368 acres, and a
rental of Es. 5,39,936. Raja Man Sing joined in the siege of the Eesidency
at Lucknow, but when it was relieved he gave up the rebel cause. After
peace was restored he was created a maharaja, a K.C.S.I., and granted the
large forfeited estate of the Rdja of Gonda in that district ; it contains
201,734 acres, and its rental is about Rs. 4,90,000.

The above details are related at great length in the chronicles composed
by the settlement ofiScer; but it does not appear that much is known about
the old families who formerly owned the three hundred and three square
miles over which this adventurer acquired power. The Bais, Bisen,
Barwdr, and Chauhan are, we gather from some scattered prints, the
clans whose estates have been swallowed up. A great Chauhan clan
occupied the western part of Pachhimr^th, one hundred and twenty-five
villages, besides a large part of the neighbouring parganas, Sixltanpur,
Khandansa, and Isauli, now in the Sultanpur district. Their entire pro-
perty in this district included formerly 565 villages. Ahranand Satgaon
are their principal seats, the latter of which has been included in the
Mehdona estate by a decree of the law court so late as 1868. These
Chauhans were numerous and powerful. They are not allied to the
Chauh^ns of Mangalsi at the north-west corner of the district ; but with
them they claim to have immigrated from Mainpuri, the great seat in
north-west India of this high bom clan.

In pargana Mangalsi this estate of Mehdona absorbed 68 villages about
1829, when Raja Darshan Singh was chakladar or revenue ofEcer. The
old proprietors who still reside on the estate belong partly to the Bais clan,
the most numerous in the district ; their two estates of Banbirpur and
Sino'hpur were completely appropriated. The, estate of Raja Madho Singh
Bisen was united to Mehdona in 1842. These Bisens were a very martial
clan ; they distinguished themselves in the English service, and Hindu
Singh was a man well known for conduct and prowess in the reign of A'sif-
ud-daula. The Mehdona estate does not extend into pargana Majhaura
to the west ; there probably the Bachgotis and Shekhs were too powerful.
But in pargana Amsin, also to the east, the entire possessions of the
Barw^r (a sub-family of the Bais) clan have been absorbed. They held
formerly one hundred and fiifty-nine villages, all of which have been
divided between Mehdona and the Bachgoti or Rdjkumar taluqas ; seventy-
nine villages were the share of Mehdona. In Sultanpur Baraunsa the
property of the Bisens has been seized. It thus appears that this estate
has been composed entirely almost of villages belonging to Chhattri clans,
the most warlike and powerful in the province. The great mass of the
estate lies in a ring fence, with Shahganj about the centre. For many
miles on each side the lands of this great lordship stretch continuously ; no
other properties intervene : all were annexed nominally tmder deeds of
sale or mortgage, but considering the attachment of these Chhattris to
their property, it is clear that pressure must have been largely used to
compel the abandonment of their property_ by some thousands of owners,
all within one generation, within one neighbourhood, and without one
exception.

464 FYZ

Another great feature of modern Fyzabad history has been the rise of

the Palwars, a Sombansi clan. They are said to have

The Palwars. ^^^^ ^^^ p^^j- • ^^ jjardoi, and they extend into the

Azamgarh and Gorakhpur districts ; they now own nearly all Chandipur
Birhar, besides part of Surharpur. In the former pargana they seized the
property, first of the Sayyads of Raslilpur, leaving them only three
villages ; second, seven out of the nine villages belonging to the Sayyads
of Nasfrabad ; third, one hundred and four villages belonging to the
Pathans of Chahora — converted Chauhdns ; fourth, twenty-nine villages
belonging to the Pathans of Bargaon ; fifth, thirty-nine villages of the
Maliks of Sarohi ; sixth, fourteen villages from the Shekhs of Jahangirganj ;
seventh, twenty-seven villages belonging to the Shekhs of Neori ; eighth,
twenty-four villages from the Shekhs of Bamjani ; ninth, fifty-two villages
from the Rohillas of Norehni ; tenth, sixty-one villages from the Bais of
Kalydnpur. In all about three hundred and forty villages were acquired
by this clan within the last one hundred and fifty years. Doubtless they
were aided in these aggressions by the power of their brethren across the
border. They speak of " unchas-kos-kl-bhat/' which means that 0*1 great
festivals, when one of the clan is married or an heir is born, the proprietors
of land within a circle of forty-nine kos, about eighty miles, assemble and
eat at one board.

In former times the Birhar and Surharpur Palwars used to ally them-
selves with the Rajkumars of Dera, with the Musalman taluqdar of Pirpur
Samanpur, and with their united gathering, from a region also forty-nine
kos in circumference, used to contend with the aggressive E.djkumd.rs of
Meopur. This matter will be referred to further on.

The Palwars were a brave and. turbulent race. They repeatedly divided
the family property ; they had no raja, but united in pursuit of common
purposes. They were constantly carrying on internecine wars both in
Oudh and Azamgarh. One hundred and fifty years ago one of them,
named Horal Singh, a leader in the clan, died; of fifty-nine male descen-
dants from him twelve died violent deaths, twenty-seven died natural
deaths, and twenty are now alive. The Palwars were of course not very
friendly to British rule ; they had not only held their own in the Nawabi,
but enlarged their possessions. From their forts at Narani and Chahora
overlooking the Gogra, they levied black mail.

They knew that such things must cease, and they contended vainly
against the Naipalese and British troops when they advanced to restore
order. In 1857-58 they plundered Manori, attacked and penetrated Azam-
garh, but were defeated in a street fight by the townsnien, and driven from
the district. From July 1857 till about November 1858 the Birhar taluq-
dars were foremost in the fray, plundering and fighting in Azamgarh,
Fyzabad, and Gorakhpur. The four legitimate heads of the clan have
376 villages in Birhar, and the two illegitimate branches have 35 more,
— 411 in all; the other members of the clan, numbering above 7,000, have
eighty-two villages. The Palwars alleged that now twenty-eight genera^
tions have elapsed since their common ancestor came from Pali.

Mr. Camegy writes as follows concerning the Palwars : —

ryz 465

^ " The Palwiirs are a very numerous and powerful clan in tjie Faizab^d,
A'zimgarh, and Gorakhpur distdcts, whose detailed history is given in the
Reports of parganahs Surhurpiir and Birhar, and who have already been
alluded to in this paper. They affirm descent from the Sombans of Sdndi
Pali, but the connection is denied by the chief of that clan, the E^ja of
Sewaijpur, Hurdui. Popular tradition asserts that Pithiraj Deo Sombans
settled in this district six hundred and fifteen years ago, assuming the
patronymic of Palwar, and taking to himself four wives (a latitude, I
believe, only formerly allowed to Brahmans), viz., a Rajputin, an Ahirm,
a Bharin, and a Dain (demon or fairy), the three latter being avowedly of
the lower orders. From the first of them are descended the four Palwar
chiefs of Birhar, who represent the legitimate line. From the last are
descended the Bantarria Palwar chiefs of Tigra and Morera. From the
other two are descended Rdjput colonies which are to be found in A'zim-
garh and Gorakhpur.

"Matrimonial alliances have been formed by such great houses as the
Rdjkom/ir of Dera, with the impure Tigrii branch of the Palw^,rs, as well
as with the pure Birhar branch ; and the strange thing is that, though the
Raja of Dera has communion of food with both branches, the pure branch
will not eat with the impure branch ! So it would seem that things that are
equal to the same thing are not, in this instance at any rate, equal to each
other !" — Carnegy's Castes and Tribes of Oudh, page 51.

To the south of the district the main disturbing influence was that of

, the Rajkumars and Bachgotis ; this, next to the Bais,

e aj umars. is the most powerful clan in Oudh. A lengthy account

of it is given in article Partabgarh. The common ancestor was a Chauhan,

Bariar Sah, who came from Mainpuri, it is alleged, in A.D. 1248.

His descendants have now multiplied, and, it is said, number some 70,000
Bachgotis, Rajkumars, Rajwars, and Khanzadas in the districts of Jaunpur,
Azamgarh, Partabgarh, SuJtanpur, and Fyzabad ; in this district alone
th£y number 4,900 Bachgoti and 3,900 Rajkumar. They have between
them 1,0G5 villages, — about a third of the old district ; they had, indeed,
as appears from the Ain-i-Akbari, quite as much power then as they have
now. They have always been a chivalrous race, tenacious of pergonal
honour, and prodigal of their lives. One shot himself because he was not
allowed to storm a fort before the arrangements were complete ; another in
Dalippur, of Partabgarh, shot hiniself because he suspected a female rela-
tive of dishonourable conduct.

Their internal divisions are rather complicated. The fourth son of
Bariar Sah was Raj S^h. He had three sons : (1) Raja Bhtip Singh Bach-
goti ; from him descend the Bachgotis of Fyzabad, of Kurwiir, Bhiti, and
Khajrahat, also the Khanzadas of Sultaupur through one of the family,
Tilok Chand, who was converted to the Musalman faith. (2) Djwan Jai-
kishan Rae, the second, who settled in Patti Dalippur in Partabgarh. (3)
The youngest and untitled spi?., Isri Singh ; his descendanfs settled in Sul-
tanpur, and at length the cadet branches, finding themselves cro>vded
south of the Gumti, crossed into Alcjemau, called themselves Rdjkumars,
and founded the great houses of Dera Meopur and Ndnemau. The history
of the Rajkumars now belongs ij^ore properly to the Sultanpur district, to

GG

466 FYZ

which all their forts and most of their demesnes have been transferred.
The romantic annals of the clan are given under Aldemau, Sultanpur, and
Partabgarh.

The head of the family was considered to be the Raja of Kurwdr. But
The Moslem Rajku- the Raja of Hasanpur filled the post of diw£n under
mars of Hasanpur. the Jaunpur kings. No assumption of a taluqa in

eastern Oudh was complete without investiture by and homage to him.
Tilok Chand was the common ancestor of both Kurw^r and Hasanpur.
He was made a Moslem by Babar ; his grandson was Hasan Khan. Several
stories are told of his rise to greatness, besides the tradition that his ances-
tor was diwdn of the Jaunpur dynasty. Under pargana Sultartpur is related
the tradition most popular with the family. It is said that Sher Shah
took up his residence with the raja ; it is added that Sher Shah married a
daughter of the raja's ; that he allowed the latter to sit on the throne beside
him, and endowed him with the privilege of givingthe tilak or royal unction
to all rajas. This was a lucrative post, as the Hasanpur chief, when confer-
ring the sign of Uka, used to stand on a silver heap of Rs. 1,25,000, which
was his fee. There is also a tale of the Hasanpur r£ja having quarrelled
with the Baghel of Riwa for precedence. The former collected an army
from his old Chhattri brethren, and from his new co-religionists, and pro-
ceeded to the appointed battle-ground, but the Baghel avoided the combat.
Another tale is that related by Mr. Carnegy : —

" The story, again, of the origin of the great Hasanptir family, whose
head is not only the chief Khanzada, but tbe premier Mahomedan noble
of Avadh, is this : —

" Tilok Chand Bachgoti, a man of property in the days of Humayfin,
had a very lovely wife. The fame of her beauty reached the ears of the
king, and he had her carried off while she was at the Bithur fair. No
sooner had she arrived, however, than his conscience smote him, and he
sent for her husband. Tilok Chand had despaired ; in sudden gratitude
he and his wife embraced the faith which taught such generous purity.

" As Salar Khan he begat sons, who became the chiefs of Hasanptir and
Manyarpur ; but as Tilok Chand he had already children, of whom came
the Raja of Korwar."*

At any rate, it would appear that the rise of the family has something to
do with matrimonial alliance between either Humdyun or Sher Shah and
one of its daughters. This would account for the proud privilege they
enjoyed, — a privilege whose existence is, however, denied by the Tilok
Chandi Bais and other high-born clans.

The history of the Khanzadas need not be detailed here. From Tilok
Chand are descended the two great families of Hasanpur and Maniarpur,
— the younger branch. In the time of Zabardast Khan, the head of the
family, there was a feud between the two; he killed his cousin of Maniarpur,
and drove his children into exile. One dark night three sons of the dead
man got ingress into the Hasanpur fort, determined to revenge their

* Castes of Oudh, page 72.

FYZ 467

father's death. Success was within their grasp ; they were hanging over
the unguarded chief asleep and unarmed, when a fit of repentance seized
them : they agreed not to kill a helpless foe ; but as a sign that his life
had been in their hands, they carried of his arms, leaving their own in
their place. In the morning Zabardast Khan recognised the arms ; he
understood what had happened, sought a reconciliation with his cousins,
and, a thing which very rarely happens in Oudh, appeased the blood-feud.
The estate of Maniarpur prospered, and its rent-roll was at one time
Rs. 3,50,000. "We have no particulars concerning the geographical extent
of the Hasanpur raj.

The following, extract from Sleeman exhibits the struggles of the rival
parties in southern Fyzabad, and introduces to the
Tour in Oudh, vol. I., reader the powerful but turbulent and uncourtly
^^^^ ' Gargbansis : —

" The history, for the last few years, of the estate of Muneearpoor
involves that of the estate of Kupragow and Seheepoor, held by the family
of the late Hurpaul Sing, and may be interesting as illustrative of the state
of society in Oudh. Hurpaul Sing's family is shown in the accompanying
note.*

" In the year A.D. 1821, after the death of Purotee Sing, his second son,
Nihal Sing, held one-half of the estate, and resided in Seheepoor ; and the
family of his eldest son, Gunga Persaud, held the other half and resided in
Kupragow. The whole paid a revenue to Government of between six and
seven hundred rupees a year, and yielded a rent-roll of something more
than double that sum. The neighbouring estate of Muneearpoor, yielding
a rent-roll of about three hundred and fifty thousand rupees a year, was
held by Roshan Zuman Khan, in whose family it has been for many gene-
rations. He had an only brother, Busawan IQian, who died, leaving a
widow Bussoo, and a daughter, the beebee or lady Sogura. Roshan Zuman
Khan also died, leaving a widow, Rahamanee, who succeeded to the estate,
but soon died and left it to the lady Sogura and her mother. They made
Nihal Sing Gurgbunsee, of Seheepoor, manager of their affairs. From the
time that he entered upon the management, Nihal Sing began to increase
the number of his followers from his own clan, the Gurgbunsees ; and hav-
ing now become powerful enough, he turned out his mistress and took
possession of her estate in collusion with the local authorities.

'' Rajah Dursan Sing, who then, 1836, held the contract for the district,
wished to take advantage of the occasion to seize vipon the estate for him-
self, and a quarrel in consequence took place between him and Nihal Sing.
Unable, as a public servant of the State, to lead his own troops against
him, Dursan Sing instigated Baboo Bureear Sing of Bhetee, a powerful
tallookdar, to attack Nihal Sing at night with all the armed followers,

* Purotee Sing tad two sons, Gunga Persaud and Nihal Sing. Gunga Persaud, had one
son, Seosewak, who had three sons, Seoumber Sing, Hobdar Sing, and Hurpaul Sing.
Seoumber Sing had one son, Ram Saroop Sing, the present head of the family, who holds
the fort and estate of Kupradehee. Hobdar Sing had one son, who died young. Harpaul
Sing died young. Nihal Sing had no son, but left a widow, who holds a share of one-
half of the estate and resides at Seheepoor.

GG2

468 FYZ

he could Inuster, and in the fight Nihal Sing was killed. Hurpaul
Sing, his nephew, applied for aid to the Durbar, and Seodeen Sing was
sent with a considerable force to aid him against Bureear Sing. When
they were ready for the attack, Dursan Sing sent a reinforcement of troops
secretly to Bureear Sing, which so frightened Seodeen Sing that he retired
from the conflict.

" The Gurgbunsee family had, however, by this time added a great part
of the Muneearpoor estate to their own, and many other estates belonging
to their weaker neighbours ; and, by the plunder of villages and robbeiy on
the highways, become very powerful. Dursan Sing was superseded iu
the contract in 1837 by the widow of Hadee Allee Khan; and Hurpaul
recovered possession of the Muneearpur estate, which he still held in the
name of the lady Sogura. In 1843 she managed to get the estate trans-
ferred from the jurisdiction of the contractor for Sultanpoor to that of the
Hazoor tehseel, and held it till 1845, when Maun Sing, who had succeeded
to the contract for the district on the death of his father, Dursan Sing, in
1844, managed, through his uncle, Bukhtawar Sing, to get the estate re-
stored to his jurisdiction. Knowing that his object was to absorb her estate,
as he and his father had done so naany others, she went off to Lucknow to
seek protection ; but Maun Sing seized upon all her nankar and seer lands,
and put the estate under the management of his own officers. The lady
Sogura, unable to get any one to plead her cause at court in opposition to
the powerful influence of Bukhtawar Sing, returned to Muneearpoor.
Maun Sing, after he had collected the greater part of the revenue for 1846,
made over the estate to Hurpaul and Seoumber Sing, who put the lady
into confinement, and plundered her of all she had left.

" Feeling now secure in the possession of the Muneearpoor estate, Hurpaul
Sing and Seoumber Sing left a small guard to secure the lady, and went
off with the rest of their forces to seize upon the estate of Birsingpoor, in
the pargana of Dehra, belonging to the widow of Mahdoo Sing the
tallookdar. She summoned to her aid Roo.stam Sa and other Rajkoomar
landholders, friends of her late husband. A fight ensued, in which Seo-
umber Sing and his brother Hobdar Sing were killed. Hurpaul Sino- fled
and returned to his fort of Kupragow. The lady Sogura escaped and
presented herself again to the court of Lucknow under better auspices, and
orders were sent to Maun Sing and all the military authorities to restore
her to the possession of her estate, and seize and destroy Hurpaul Sing.
In alarm, Hurpaul Sing then released the mother of the lady Sogura, and
prepared to fly.

" Maun Sing sent confidential persons to him to say that he had been
ordered by the court of Lucknow to confer upon him a dress of honour or
condolence ou the death of his two lamented brothers, and should do so in
person the next day. Hurpaul Sing was considered one of the bravest men
in Oudh, but he was then sick on his bed and unable to move. He
received the message without suspicion, being anxious for some small inter-
val of repose, and willing to believe that common interests and presents
had united him and Maun Sing in something like bonds of friendship.

FYZ 469

" Maun Siug caime in the afternoon and rested under a banyan tree, which
stood opposite the gateway of the fort. He apologised for not entering
the fort on the ground that it might lead to some collision between their
followers, or that his friend might not wish any of the king's seiwants who
attended with the dress of honour to enter his fortress, Hurpaul Sing left
all his followers inside the gate and was brought out to Maun Sipg in a
litter, unable to sit up without support. The two friends embraced and
conversed together with seeming cordiality till long after sunset, when
Maun Sing, after investing his friend with the dress of honour, took leave
and mounted his horse. This was the concerted signal for his followers
to dispatch his sick friend Hurpaul. As he cantered off, at the sound of
his kettle-drum and the other instruments of music used by the nazims
of districts, his armed followers, who had by degrees gathered round the
tree without awakening any suspicion, seized the sick man, dragged him
on the ground a distance of about thirty paces, and then put him to death.
He was first shot through the chest and then stabbed with spears, cut to
pieces with swords, and left on the ground. They were fired upon from
the fort while engaged in this foul murder, but all escaped unhurt. Maun
Sino- had sworn by the. holy Ganges, and still more holy head of Mah^deo,
that his friend should suffer no personal hurt in this interview; and the
credulous and no less cruel and rapacious Gurgbunsees were lulled into
security. The three persons who murdered Hurpaul Sing were Nujeeb
Khan, who has left Maun Sing's service, Beni Sing, who still serves him,
and Jeskurun Sing, who has since died. Sadik Hoseyn and many others
aided them in dragging their victim to the place where he was murdered,
but the wounds which killed him were, inflicted by the above-named
persons.

" The family fled, the fort was seized and plundered of all that could be
fotmd, and the estate seized and put under the management of Government
officers. Maun Sing had collected half the revenues of 1847, v/hen he
was superseded in the contract by Wajid Allee Khan, who re-established
the lady Sogura in the possession of all that remained of her estate. He,
at the same time, re-instated the family of Hurpaul Singin the possession
of their now large estate, — that is, the widow of Nihal Sing to Seheepoor,
comprising one half, and Eamsaroop, the son of Seoumber Sing, to
Kupragow, comprising the other half. The rent-roll of the whole is now
estimated at Rs. 1,29,000 a year, and the nankar, or recognised allowance
for the holders, is Rs. 13,000, leaving the Government demand at Rs. 56,000,
of which they hardly ever pay one half or one quarter, being inveterate
robbers- and rebels. Wajid Allee Khan had been commissioned by the
Durbar to restore the lady Sogura to her patrimonial estate, and he
brought her with him from Lucknow for the purpose; but he soon after
made over a part of the estate to his friend, Bakir Allee of Esoulee, and
another part to Eamsaroop, the son of Seoumber Sing, for a suitable
consideration, and left only one half to the lady Sogura. This she at
first refused to take, but he promised to restore the whole the next year,
when he saw she was resolved to return again to her friends at Lucknow;
and she consented to take the offered half on condition of a large remission
of the Government demand upon it. When the season of collections came,
however, he would make no remission for the half he had permitted her

470 FYZ

to retain, or give her any sliare in the perquisites of the half he had made
over to others ; nor would he give her credit for any portion of the collec-
tions which had been anticipated by Maun Sing. He made her pledge the
whole rents of her estate to Hoseyn Allee Khan, the commandant of a
squadron of cavalry on detached duty under him. Unable to conduct the
management under all these outrages and exactions, she begged to have
the estate put under Government officers. Her friends at court got an
order issued for her being restored to the possession of the whole estate,
' having credit for the whole amount collected by Maun Sing, and a remis-
sion in the revenue equal to all that Government allowed to the proprietors
of such estates.

" "Wajid Allee Khan disregarded the order, and made over or sold
Naraenpoor and other villages belonging to the estate to Rughbur Sing,
the atrocious brother of Maun Sing, who sent his myrmidons to take pos-
session. They killed the lady Sogura's two agents in the management,
plundered her of all she had of property, and all the rents which she had
up to that time collected for payment to Government, and took possession
of Naraenpoor and the other villages sold to their master by Wajid Allee.
"Wajid Allee soon after came with a large force, seized the lady and carried
her off to his camp, put all her officers and attendants into confinement,
and refused all access to her. When she became ill and appeared likely
to sink under the treatment she received, he made her enter into written
engagements to pay to the troops, in liquidation of their arrears qf pay,
all that he pretended that she owed to the State. He prevailed upon
Ghuffoor Beg, who commanded the artillery, to take these her pledges and
give him, Wajid Allee, corresponding receipts for the amount for trans-
mission to the treasury, and then made her over a prisoner to him.
Ghuffoor Beg took possession of the lady and the estate, kept her in close
confinement, and employed his artillerymen in making the collections in
their own way, by appropriating all the harvests to themselves.

" Wajid Allee was superseded in October 1849 by Aga Allee, who, on
entering on his charge, directed that martial law should cease in Muneear-
poor; but Ghuffoor Beg andhis artillerymen were too strong for the governor,
and refused to give up the possession of so nice an estate. When I
approached the estate in my tour, Ghuffoor Beg took the lady off to
Chundoly, where she was treated with all manner of indignity and cruelty
by the artillery. The estate was going to utter ruin under their ignorant
and reckless management, and the JSTazim Aga Allee prayed me to
interpose and save it and protect the poor lady Sogura. I represented
the hardship of the case to the Durbar, but with little hope of any
success under the present Government, who say that, if the troops
are not allowed to pay themselves in this way, they shall have to pay
them all the arrears for which the estate is pledged, not one rupee of
which is reduced by the collections they make. If they were to hold
the estates for twenty years, they would not allow it to appear that any
portions of the arrears had been paid off. The estate is a noble one, and,
in spite of all the usurpations and disorders from which it has lately
suffered, was capable last year of yielding to Government a revenue of fifty
thousand rupees, after providing liberally for all the requirements of the

PY^ 471

poor lady Sogura and her' family, or a rent-roll of one hundred thousand
rupees a year."

The struggle here lay between several parties. The Musalman convert
Rdjkumars, represented by the lady Sogura, were the aristocratic element;
she was supported by the Lucknow of3ficials ; her right Was that of a mere
farmer of some standing, but her family, that of the Rajkuraars of
Hasanpur and Maniarpur, was of undoubted ancient standing. The
district official class was striving to acquire estates which might remain
in their hands, when annexation, already looming in the horizon, had
put an end to their court and service ; it was represented by Man Singh,
who had tried to get Dera, and was now trying to get Maniarpur. Against
all were struggling the ancient zamindars, the Gargbansis, who had
lived on, and owned the land for many generations before the Rajkumars
crossed the Gumti, and who had now found two brave and skilful leaders.

The Bachgoti or Rajkumar does not rank so high among the Hindus as
his lineage would lead one to expect. A Chauhan
Bachgotis'^*" ° ^ of Mainpuri is considered the noblest of upper
India, but the Bachgoti ranks under the Tilok Chandi
Bais,— under the Bisen of Partabgarh, to whom they give their daughters
in marriage. Considering the vast number and wide diffusion of this clan,it
is probable that the fathers of the commonwealth, in early times, contracted
very promiscuous matrimonial alliances through which the pure blood of
the Agnikula has been contaminated.

On this point Mr. Carnegy writes as follows t — ■

"It is foreign to the purpose of this paper to go into the historical
details of these families ; it is sufficient for the present to recall attention
to what is elsewhere stated, that the ancient and respected Korwar family
(Bachgoti) is connected by marriage with such indigenous Rajpiits as the
Kanpuria, the Bandelgoti, the Bhale Sultan, and the Rotar, while the
no less respected Dera family (Rajkomdr) is connected with another indi-
genous Rajput tribe, the Bantarri£ Palwars of Slirhurpur. It also, on a
recent occasion, paid very heavily for a matrimonial alliance with the
avowedly indigenous and priest-begotten Bisens of Majhauli. The Rajwdr
portion of these tribes have but one of the above aggregate of chiefs, the
Thakorain of Ganapur, a petty taluk^ in Sultanpiir." *

One chivalrous action on the part of the Moslem Rajkumars has already
Annals of Dera and been given. Other dramatic incidents, from the
Meopur. annals of the Hindu branch, may be related.

The Rajkumars, having established themselves with their backs to the
Gumti, and being able to draw upon their brethern to the south, rapidly
enlarged their estates in the parganas of Aldemau, Sultanpur-Baraunsa,
and Surharpur, and would have conquered the whole of southern Fyzabad
if they had not quarrelled among themselves ; and this quarrel, artfully
fomented apparently by the rival robbers, the Palwars, rendered them so
weak that their career of conquest was checked.

* Oarnegy's " Tribes and Castes of Oudh, " page 49.

472 FYZ

At the close of the last century there were two great leaders of the Raj-
kumars in Fyzabad, — Zalim Singh of Meopur and Madho Singh of Der^.
One great battle had been fought in 1798 between these two rival houses,
aided by 6thers. InthatBeniBakhsh.ayouth of nineteen, the chief of Deip.,
assisted by his two brothers, still younger, fought and defeated Z^lim Sin^
at the village of Stirampurj for which they were quarrelling. Balkarap,
One of these younger brothers, shot himself because he was detained from
attacking the village before everything was ready ; the third, Madho, a.
tnere boy, distinguished himself greatly. Beni Bakhsh died of small-
pox, and Madho Singh took possession of the estate, which then contained
only 100 villages ; that of Meopur wais still smaller, only sixty-five villages.
iDera now Contains 198, and the various divisions of Meopur 270.

Both families were rapidly aggrandising themselves by the usual means.
But a calamity occurred in 1809. There was a

The battle of Masora. ^Y^^g^ belonging to an impoverished branch of the
Palwars called Masora in Surharpur, near the Tons. This branch was also
sub-divided ; six families claimed right and divided land, four transferred
their shares to the Rajkumiir house of Dera. It was apparent that the
entire village would soon be lost to the Palwars ; with Machiavelian policy
they transferred the fifth share to the Meopur house of the Rajkumars.

Now, according to the unwritten law and general custom of the province,
the owner of a share in a joint estate has a right of pre-emption derived
from the share already in his possession ; and when the Meopur house
went to take possession of its purchase, the Dera clan, headed by Madho
Singh and aided by the Palwars, who thus wished to balance the rivals, met
them at the village. The battle was fierce ; Zalim Singh of Meopur, an
aged and renowned warrior, fell on the field with three of his sons, and the
fourth, Zorawar Singh, was carried off with seventeen wounds.

Both parties were materially weakened. Seven months afterwards another
battle was fought, in which young Sarabd^n Singh of Meopur led the forces;
of his house. He revenged the death of his grandfather and uncles by killing
many of the Dera leaders, and he won the day ; but from this time the
encroachments of the Rajkumars upon the Palwars received a check.

Madho Singh of Dera died in 1823. He was succeeded by his widow.
She at Dera, and Sarabdan Singh at Meopur, gradually enlarged their
possessions.

This estate consisted of 101 villages in 1801.
of 18,3 in 1808.

of 337 in 1847.

The entire property of the Sakarwar Chhattris, an ancient and powerful
clan. 111 out of 117 villages, were acquired by the Rajkumdrs. Similarly,
the Raghubansis were reduced from sixty-nine to eighteen. The Kurmis
and Musalmans similarly yielded to the Rdjkumfc The Kachhwdhas of
Surharpur lost all of their seventy-seven villages.

This was not, however, a conquest by the sword, neither was it an obli-
teration of ancient rights. The three successive chiefs of Dera were good
managers and good courtiers ; they saved their money and they attended
darb^rs ; they thus acquired influence. The revenue was punctually paid.

FYZ 473

A proprietor of a single or of several villages found it better to enter into
feudal relations with the chief of Dera, — to hold from hito, instead of direct
from the chakladar or revenue officer ; these proprietors thus become und'er-
proprietors. They retained the same steady authority and continuous
control over their properties ; the taluqdar only received a percentage, often
merely nominal.

At annexation, as there was no longer a motive for the interference of the
taluqdar between the Government and the proprietor, this system ceased
in many villages. We have seen that very many villages, which had been
included in the estate between 1828 and 1847, were restored to their pro-
prietors ; but it is not fair to say that in this matter the taluqdar " suffered
severely under the revenue policy of that day, " and " lost most of his
villages."*

The taluqdar was deprived of villages over which his control was that of
a mere suzerain, which his family had acquired within the memory of
thousands living, and to which he could no longer afford the services and
benefits for whose sake the proprietors had acquiesced in his suzerainty.
The villages were restored to a powerful and warlike class, whom it would
have been dangerous to treat with injustice. After annexation sub-settle-
ments were made in 84 out of the 198 villages in this estate ; in other words,
the taluqdar receives merely a fixed rent charge in the portion of his
property.

The prosperity of the Dera family during this time was not wholly
unchequered. The Dera widow, Dariao Kunwar,

The Dera wiclow, the widow of Madho Singh, managed the estate for
Danao Kunwar. many years. Her husband's nephew twice removed

was the next heir ; but it was supposed that she wished to supersede him and
adopt another successor. He tried to storm the fort, but was defeated and
his father killed in the attempt. He set spies upon the thakurain, who
watched all her movements.

She was an extraordinary woman. She was regular in her payments of
revenue, regular in paying her Servants, in giving them their rations, and
in paying her devotions at the different shrines in the vicinity.

Her movements were all watched, and regularly reported to Eustam
■Sah. Mr. Camegy writes as follows : —

" The thaturain determined to pay one of her secret unattended visits to
the Ajodhyafair for the purpose of bathing. She was followed by the spies,
who immediately communicated with their master. She was soon traced by
the babu to the Surajkund tank, when he suddenly rode up to her litter,
and found her attended by the five men who carried her, and by a confiden-
tial retainer or two. She at once asked who the horseman was, and was
answered—' I am he whom you are searching for, and who has long been
looking for you ' She invited . him to dismount, which he did, and sat
beside her Utter. She then addressed him, begging him to remember that
no disgrace had ever befallen the house of Dera ; none had ever been lepers,
one-eyed, or otherwise contemptible, and to look to it that he maintained

* See Aldemau,

474 FYZ

tlie credit of the family. Having thus said, she laid her head at the babu'a
feet, and added, 'Now I am in your power, and I am ready to die.'
Here a companion of the babu's, who was in his confidence, rode up and
suggested that the hour had come ; but Eustam Sdh replied that no one
that placed their life in his hands should be hurt, so he desired his own
men to convey her over the Gogra, where they had connections, and he
set off for Dera. She was duly carried across the river, and it is related, as
an instance of her indomitable pluck, that during the nine days she was
kept there, she never drank water. She was compelled to write a deed
in favour of Eustam Sah, which I have seen, and she was then released ;
but so great was the shock that her proud nature had sustained, that in a
few months she pined and died."*

Eustam Sah then took possession of the estate, and spent Es. 35,000
in reconciling the clansmen to his accession. But he had another enemy.
Eaja Man Singh had formed designs upon the estate similar to those which
he had planned for Maniarpur. He accompanied Eustam Sah to the fort
of Dera, and then the two, in apparent amity, moved together to Kadipur ;
there, to his astonishment, Eustam Sah heard people referring to Mdngarh.
It turned out that, not only had the faithless raja determined to take
possession himself of this Eajkumar estate, belonging to his old ally and
faithful servant, but had actually changed the name to Mdingarh, calling
it after himself. Eustam Sah at once answered — " Its name is Dipnagar ;
you may call it Mangarh or Be-imangarh," the house of treachery. That
night he left the camp and fled across the border, having been assured by
a pandit that the moment was not propitious for open hostilities. At last,
by paying Eaja Man Singh a douceur of Es. 95,000, he got possession of
the estate. He was loyal during the mutiny, and after it was over received
the estate of the rebel Karnai raja of Mau Jadbanspur.

While the house of Dera was thus steadily flourishing, the fortunes of the
Meopur branch were "more chequered. We have

The Meopur family, already seen that old Zalim Singh and three of his
sons perished in the field of Masora, 1809. Zorawar Singh, the wounded
survivor, left no children, although he survived many jrears ; his brothers,
though, had many. When Zorawar Singh died, all quarrelled about the
division of his share. He had generally lived with the children of one of his
brothers. Those claimed the whole of his inheritance ; all the others
objected, and demanded an equal division. Sarabd^n, who had led them all
to battle when he revenged Zalim's death, and his nephew, were invited to an
arbitration by his first cousins, who claimed the whole of the share in
dispute, Shiuraj, Fateh Bahadur, and Eaghubar Dayal. The appointed
place was in British territory. The former came unsuspectingly, and as they
sat down to rest on a charpoy, they were murdered in cold blood. All three
were outlawed. Shiuraj resisted apprehension by English officers. He was
at the time in the camp of Eaja Man Singh, who seems to have been always
in alliance with the daring youths of this clan. Hfe escaped, but was met
by a larger body of his pursuers, and his head was cut off. This dispute
about a share caused the death of the four foremost men of the day on the
Fyzabad border, and the outlawry of the fifth, while the share remained in

*Pargaiia Aldemau, page 13.

FYZ 475

the possession of the family which had gained it by such foul means. The
guilty were punished, hut their children kept the spoils. Further details
about the Bachgotis and Eajkumars will be found in the pargana histories.
No less than 22 of their number are taluqdars of Oudh.

The vicissitudes of each family and clan in this district are not to be
further detailed. In time it is to be hoped that materials will be available
from which some account of the Bais, Bisen, Chauhdn and Raghubansi
can be prepared. Their importance is not to be estimated by their num-
bers in this district ; they are powerful across the border, in Jaunpur and
Azamgarh. In the latter district the Bais, for instance, number 31,000,*
in the former 24,000 ; in Basti 7,000, in Fyzabad 21,000, while in the
adjoining Baiswara they are still more numerous. It can be well under-
stood, then, how great would be the resistance and how strong the ill-
feeling if any portion of this wide-spread clan conceived itself maltreated.
Similarly, the Raghubansi clan is very numerous in the districts bordering
on Oudh. To conclude, we may remark that the disturbing causes which
have operated upon the distribution of property, and so placed the balance
of power in unstable equilibrium, so to speak, are the progress of the
Palwars and Rajkumdrs, and the growth of the great Mehdona estate.
The court influence and of&cial power which fostered the latter have now
been lost ; the old proprietors who yielded to them still survive in
thousands ; and State influence, exercised through a vigilant magistracy,
will for many years be required to keep them in check.

At the end of May 1857, the troops in cantonments at Fyzabad consisted
of the 22nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, under

The mutiny in the command of Colonel Lennox ; the 6th Regiment Ir-
Fyzabad. regular Oudh Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant-Colo-

nel O'Brien ; a troop of Irregular Cavalry, and a company of the 7th
Battery of Bengal Artillerj', with one horse battery of light field guns,
under the command of Major Mill, of the Honourable Company's Artillery.
This force was, as usual, stationed in cantonments a short distance from the
town ; and, until the latter part of May, nothing had occurred to excite
suspicion of any ill-feeling toward the Europeans, either on the part of
the troops or the inhabitants. The Raja, Man Singh, was upon amicable
terms with the officers and their families, and mutual confidence appeared
to exist.

At length indications of a perturbed spirit among the troops, who had
been visited by emissaries from some of the regiments in revolt, became
manifest. The confidence between the European officers and their men
was shaken. This unpleasant state of affairs commenced several days
before any decisive step was taken; but it became daily more and more
apparent that an outbreak would be inevitable. Anticipating the crisis,
an officer holding civil charge of the Fyzabad district made arrangements
with the Rdja, Man Singh, for the protection of the women and children of
the station : the charge was readily undertaken.

The temper of the troops had become excessively embarrassing to their
European officers, who were without any force upon which they could rely

~ * N. W. P. Census Report, vol. III., pages 636 to 640, 436 to 439, 458 to 462.

476 FYZ

for support in an endeavour to re-establish the discipline of the two regi-
ments ; and, in the midst of the difficulty by which they were surrounded,
an order arrived from Lucknow, directing the immediate arrest of their
influential friend, Man Singh. This ill-timed step was carried out by
Colonel Goldney, the superintendent and commissioner of Fyzabad, in
opposition to the earnest remonstrances and written protest of the assistant
commissionei", who, after the indignity had been perpetrated, obtained per-
mission to release the prisoner, just in time to ensure the safety of the
ladies and children, by sending them, under his protection, to a fortified
residence belonging to him at Shahganj. Three ladies — Mrs. Colonel
Lennox, her daughter (Mrs. Morgan, wife of Captain Morgan, 22nd Regi-
ment), and Mrs. Major Mill — alone remained with their husbands at
Fyzabad.

On the 3rd of June it was reported to the civil authorities that the
mutineers of the l7th Regiment from Azamgarh were approaching Fyza-
bad, and a council was at once held M'ith the officers in command of the
troops, that measures might be adopted to meet the emergency. Colonel
Lennox, as senior officer in charge of the station, immediately summoned
the officers commanding, with their respective staffs, and the senior native
officers, to a conference, when the latter declared themselves true and
loyal, and ready to act in resisting the advance of the mutineers. Such
precautions as could now be taken were adopted for the defence of the
lines from outward attack.

At length, on the 7th of June, as the mutineers had not yet arrived,
and the troops in cantonments expressed great impatience, it was proposed
by Colonel Lennox that they should march out to a village called Stiraj-
kund, about five miles from the cantonments, and give battle to the rebels.
To this, however, the native officers objected, alleging that they had their
families and property in the lines, and they intended to protect both by
remaining in the cantonments. At the close of this consultation, the
native officers shook hands with Colonel Lennox and his officers with
apparent cordiality, and left, saying " We are all of one heart." Thus
ended the military council of the 7th June.

Towards evening of Monday, June 8th, a messenger arrived at the
cantonment with intelligence that the mutineers of the 17th Regiment
would march into Fyzabad early on the following morning, and active
preparations were immediately made for their reception.

Colonel Lennox, in command of the station, writes as follows : —

" At 10 P. M. an alarm was sounded in the lines of the 6th Irregular
Oudh Infantry, and taken up by the 22nd regiment of Native Infantry.
The battery prepared for action, loaded, and fusees lighted; when the two
companies in support of the guns immediately closed in and crossed bay-
onets over the vents, preventing the officer of the artillery from approach-
ing the battery. This was reported to me by Major Mill, commanding the
artillery. I then went to the guns, and explained to my men that the
bugle sound was a false alarm, and ordered them to return to their respec-
tive posts, and leave only one sentry over each gun. I then returned to
the lines of the 22nd, with a view to dismissing that regiment, I found

FYZ 477

the light cavalry had surrounded the regimental magazine, in oider, as
they said, to protect it. It appears this was a preconcerted scheme ; for the
5th troop of the loth Irregular Cavalry sallied out, and instantly planted
patrols all round the lines. I again visited the guns, but was refused
admittance ; the suhahdar (the prime leader of the mutiny), Dalip Sing,
telling me it was necessary to guard the guns, and he would take care of
them ; requesting me to go to the quarter-guard and take my rest, and that
nothing should happen to myself and officers so long as we remained with
the regiment. A guard with fixed bayonets surrounded me, and escorted
me to my charpoy. The officers of the regiment also were not allowed to
move twelve paces without a guard following them.

" Two officers trying to escape were fired at by the cavalry patrols, and
brought back into the lines. About sunrise on the 9th, the officers were
allowed to take to the boats, myself and family alone remaining in canton-
ment. At 10 A. M. Subahdar Dalip Sing visited me, having previously
placed sentries all round my bungalow. He stated he was sorry for what
had occurred, but such was our fate, and he could not prevent it ; that the
ressaldar of the oth troop of loth Irregular Cavalry was the leader, but
that not a hair of our heads should be touched ; and that he (the subahdar)
had come to order us a boat and get it prepared for us ; and he hoped we
should pass down the river in safety, for he could not be answerable for us
when the 17th Native Infantry arrived at Fyzabad. We remained in
cantonments till 2 P. M., and during the course of the day the maulvi who
had created a disturbance in the city of Fyzabad, and was confined in our
quarter-guard until released by the mutineers, sent requesting my full-
dress regimentals, which were delivered up to him. He sent the sub-
assistant surgeon of the dispensary to assure me how grieved he was that
I should be obliged to flee, as through my kindness he had been taken
much care of whilst confined three months in the quarter-guard of the
regiment, and had been allowed by me his hookah ; at the same time
requesting me to remain, and he would take care of me and my family.
The sub-assistant surgeon begged me to pardon him for obeying the orders
of those whom he now served ; that times were altered, and he must obey
those who fed and clothed him.

" The mutiny of the troops had now become an established fact : the jail-
guard had left their post, and the mutineers had undisputed possession of
the city and cantonments ; but, unhke their comrades in disaffection in
many other places, the men of the. two infantry regiments abstained from
offering violence or insult to their European officers. Not so, however,
with the troopers of the loth Irregular Cavalry, who held a council, and
proposed to murder every officer, but were restrained by their more
moderate fellows, who, on the other hand, informed their officers that
they were free to leave, and might take with them their private arms and
property, but no public property, as that all belonged to the King of Oudh.
They then placed guards round the bungalows of the officers, to ensure
their safety until they could leave, and stationed sentri«s over the maga-
zines and public buildings ; they also sent out pickets from each regiment,
to prevent the townspeople and badindshes from plundering. The officers
made a last attempt to recall them to their duty, by appealing -to their

478 FYZ

loyalty, and the distinctions won by both regiments in well-fought battles
by the side of their European comrades. But it was of no avail : the
men heard them respectfully ; but when the officers"had finished addressing
them, they stated that they were now under the orders of their native
officers ; that the subahdar-major of the 22ndRegiment had been appointed
to the command of the station ; and that each corps had appointed one
of its own officers to be chief, from whom only they could now receive
orders.

" At about half-past 10 at night we passed the camp of the 17th regi-
ment ; but in rounding a sandbank came upon a picket of the mutineers,
and were advised by our sepoys and boatmen to leave the boat and creep
along the side of the sandbank, and that the boat should be brought
round to meet us. We accordingly did so, and crossed the sandbank,
being out nearly two hours. When the boat came round at midnight, we
crossed over the river to the Gorakhpur district.

" We began our flight towards Gorakhpur on foot, with only the clothes we
had on. Our ayah (woman-servant) and khitmatgdr (table attendant)
accompanied us. We stopped often under trees and at wells, and had proceed-
ed about six miles (it being now 10 o'clock), when we halted at a village,
and, having got a draught of milk, prepared to rest during the heat of the
day. We were, however, soon disturbed, for a horseman advanced over
the country, armed to the teeth, having a huge horse-pistol in his hand,
which he cocked, and levelling it at my head desired me to follow him
to the camp of the I7th Native Infantry, and make no delay, for he was
to get a reward of Rs. 500 for each of our heads. We had not retraced our
steps for more than a mile when a lad joined us who was known to the
horseman, which determined the latter to make us quicken our pace.
The lad, however, persuaded him to let us drink water and rest near a
village ; and while so doing, he sent a boy to bring men to our rescue. It
appears that a nd,zim (Mir Mahomed Husen Khan) had a small fort close
by, about three-quarters of a mile off. The nazim immediately sent out
ten or twelve footmen armed, who, on coming up, directed us to follow
them, and also led the horseman by the bridle, having disarmed him. One
of the men sent out for our rescue greatly abused me, and, looking at his
pistol and priming, swore he would shoot those Englishmen who had
come to take away their castes and make them Christians. About mid-
day we reached the fortified dwelling of the nazim, and were ushered into
the place where he was holding a council. He bade us rest and take
some sharbat, assuring us that no harm should happen to us ; and he
rebuked his insolent retainer for hinting that a stable close by would do
for us to dwell in, as we should not require it long, he being prepared to
kiU the dogs. The nazim again rebuked him and told us not to fear, for
he would not suffer us to quit till the road was open and we could reach
Gorahkpur in safety. On the second day the nazim, fearing that the scouts
of the 17th would give intelligence that Europeans were hid in his fort,
made us assume native dresses ; the zanana clothed my wife and daughter,
and the nazim clothed me. He then dressed up a party in our English
clothing and sent them out with an escort about nine at night to deceive
his outposts and also the villagers. They returned about midnight in their

' FYZ 479

proper dresses, and it was supposed by all, except the confidential persons
of the nazim's household, that he had sent us away. "We remained in
captivity in rear of his zanana in a reed hut nine days, treated kindly,
having plenty of food, and a daily visit from our keeper."

Another officer gives additional details : —

"The troops mutinied on the night of the 8th, but did not come down
to the city till the morning of the 9th of June. Orr and Thurburn slept
at my gateway. Bradford, being obstinate, slept at the Dilkusha. We
had about a hundred armed invalids. We tried to raise levies, and with
Man Sing's co-operation might have succeeded. As it was we failed. We
collected 400 or 500, but the greater portion were rather a source of appre-
hension, and I was obliged to get rid of them.

" During the night of the 8th, the jail-guard (6th Oudh Irregulars) and
others left their posts, and the mutineers stationed themselves so as to
prevent all communications through the city. I was unable to warn
Bradford. They came down upon us in three divisions, with two guns
attached to each ; and having no means of resistance we bolted from my
gateway towards the Akbarpur road. We at first intended to go to Shdh-
ganj ; but fearing the sowars, who were most bloodthirsty, I turned off
as soon as we .got out of sight, and made for Rampur, but finally went
to Gaura". I knew the zamindars well in these parts. We changed quarters
in the evening to a pandit's at no great distance, and thence went to
Shahganj. We had at that time the Azamgarh mutineers coming on the
Tanda road, and those from Benares on the Dostpur and Akbarpur lines.
Bradford managed to get away on foot. I had lent him my Arab for the
flight, but he could not find it. We were afterwards told that these brutes
of sowars followed us as far as Bhadarsa, but we saw nothing of them.

" The day after we reached Shahganj, Man Singh sent to say that the
troops would not harm the .ladies and children, but insisted upon our
being given up, and were coming to search the fort ; that he would get
boats, and that we must be off at once. We were all night going across
country to the ghat at Jalaluddinnagar, during which time we were
robbed by Man Singh's men of almost all the few things we had managed
to take with us. The ladies took some of their valuables to Shahganj. Of
course we had only the clothes on our backs ; however, we got off first in
two boats, but afterwards in one, — eight women, fourteen children, and
seven men. We suffered great misery and discomfort. The heat, too,
was terrific. We were plundered by Udit Narain, one of the Birhar men ;
and when they took Orr and me into one of the forts I fully expected to
be polished off; and all the ladies got ready to throw their children into
the river and jump after them. However, God willed it otherwise, and
Madhoparshad, the Birhar babu, came to the rescue, entertained us hos-
pitably for five or six days, and then forwarded us to Gopdlpur, where we
were comparatively safe.

" In this way we dropped down the river on the 9th, a little before sun-
rise. While dropping down, a sepoy of the 22nd (Tegh Ali Khan), who
had not joined the mutineers, was observed following in a canoe. He

480 FYZ

hailed and requested to be taken with the party. He was accordingly
taken into No. 1 boat. An hour or so after he was taken up, he made
himself useful in procuring boatmen for Nos. 1 and 2 boats near a village.
After a little delay, which occurred in procuring boatmen, we again pro-
ceeded, and in a short time boats Nos. 1 and 2 passed the town of Ajodhya.
This was between 8 and 9 A. M. ; boat No. 3 was observed to put in at
Ajodhya, and No. 4 was lost sight of, having dropped far astern. Nos. 1
and 2 proceeded on, and after leaving Ajodhya about three miles in the
rear, put to, to await the arrival of Nos. 3 and 4. After waiting two hours
and seeing no signs of the boats coming, we again proceeded on for about
nine Jcos (or eighteen, miles) down stream, when we observed what appeared ,
to be scouts running along the right bank of the river, and giving notice of
our approach. We then suspected all was not right ; that we had been
diiped and purposely led into danger. On proceeding a little further we
distinctly observed a regiment of mounted cavalry and another of infantry
in a body at the narrowest part of the stream awaiting our approach. We
had no alternative but to proceed on. When Nos. 1 and 2 boats arrived
opposite to them, they opened a brisk fire on us. Sergeant Mathews, who
was one of the rowers, was the first who fell, a ball having struck him at
the back of the head. Another ball struck my hat and knocked it into
the stream, sustaining no injury myself. Those in No. 1 boat, about a
hundred yards behind, seeing our hazardous situation, put their boat to at
a sandbank, entirely surrounded by water. We in No. 1 then put to also
and went ashore, when Colonel Goldney requested us to lay down our arms
and wait to see if we could come to terms with the mutineers, they direct-
ing their fire on us (Nos. 1 and 2) the whole time. Some boats with
mutineers pushed off from the opposite shore and came towards us. When
about the centre of the stream they opened fire on us. Colonel Goldney
observing this, directed that those who could run should, without any fur-
ther loss of time, endeavour to escape, remarking that there was not even
the shadow of a chance of our meeting with mercy at their hands, and at
the same time added that he was too old himself to run. We, now seven
in number, including Tegh Ali Khan, took Colonel Goldney's advice, and
hastened off, taking a direction across the country. I may here mention
that from this period we remained in ignorance of the fate of Colonel
Goldney and those of No. 2.

" We now started and continued running, but did not do so long before
meeting with an obstacle which precluded our further advance in the
direction we marked out ; and this was the junction of two streams of con-
siderable width. While at a stand-still, and deliberating as to pur future
course, we saw a number of men coming towards us, whom we took for
sepoys. All but Tegh Ali Khan and Sergeant Edwards jumped into the
stream, and thought to escape by swimming to the opposite bank. After
swimming a short distance, Tegh Ali Khan called us and told us to return,
as they were only villagers. I, Lieutenant Ritchie, and Lieutenant Caut-
ley returned ; but Lieutenant Currie and Lieutenant Parsons got too far
into the stream, and in endeavouring to return were both drowned. I
myself narrowly escaped, having twice gone down, but through the timely
aid of one of the villagers was safely got out.

FYZ 481

*' Wp had no sooner got out of the water than we were again alarmed
at seeing a boat full of people rounding a point, and thought they, too,
were sepoys. We now ran, and continued our course along the bank, not
missing sight of the stream, until we were fairly exhausted. We then
entered a patch of high grass growing at the river side, or at a short dis-
tance from it, and rested ourselves. We missed Tegh Ali Khan at this
time. While in our place of concealment, a boy herding cattle caught
sight of us and ran towards the river, and with his herd crossed over, him-
self holding on by a buffalo's tail. On crossing over, it appears, he
informed the jemadar of his village of our situation ; for shortly after the
jemadar came down and called out to us, and told us not to be alarmed,
and that he would bring a boat for us. This he did, and on reaching his
side of the river, he informed us that Tegh Ali Khan Jiad reported all the
particulars to him, and requested that a party be sent in search of us, and
that the boy who had been herding cattle brought him information of
where we were. This jemadar very kindly took us to his hut, and enter-
tained us as hospitably as he could, supplying us with provisions and cots
to lie on. We remained under his protection till twelve o'clock, and
as we had the light of the moon, we recommenced our journey, and took
the road for Amora, the jemadar himself accompanying us to the next
village ; a little before entering which, we were surrounded by a
party of freebooters, who demanded money. We told them we had
none ; but this did not serve them, and they satisfied themselves by
searching our persons. When convinced we possessed nothing, they
offered no molestation, but allowed us to prosecute our journey. On
entering the village,, the jemadar who accompanied us made us over to a
chowkidar, and directed him to take us on to the next village and leave
us with the chowkidar of it ; and thus we proceeded on from village
to village till we arrived at Amora. Here we were rejoiced to meet the
party who belonged to No. i boat, who told us that as they could not get
their boat along they deserted her and proceeded across country. We
were glad to find that these gentlemen had arms, for we who had joined
them had not even a stick. I must not forget to mention that Tegh Ali
Khan again formed one of our party, for we lost sight of him crossing the
river, where we experienced the kind treatment at the village jemadar's
hands. We did not remain more than a few minutes at Amora, as we
were anxious to renew our journey. The tahsildars who at this place gave
us protection, further aided us by giving each a couple of rupees, and one
pony to Lieutenant Ritchie and another to Lieutenant Cautley for the
journey. We again started (now at 7 A. M. of the 10th), taking the road
to Captaingunj, under the guidance of a couple of thana barkandazes.

" We reached Captaingunj safely, and enquired of the tahsildars if there
were any European residents at Basti, a place of some note, and were
informed by the jemadar that there were not ; but were told that he had
received information that a party of the 17th Native Infantry, with
treasure, had marched from Gorakhpur, and were en route to Fyzabad,
having halted at Basti; and advised us not to take the road to Basti, but to
go to G6,e Ghat, where he said we should meet with protection and get
boats to Dinapur. The jemadar furnished us with five ponies and fifty
rupees, and put us under the protection of three barkandazes, giving them

HH

482 FYZ

directions to proceed directly to Gae Ghdtr We accordingly started, and
after making about eight miles sighted a village (Mohadabbah), which one
of the barkandazes invited us to go to, telling us that we could there rest
ourselves for a short time, and that he would refresh us with sharbat. We
agreed, and the barkandaz who gave the invitation started off ahead, with
the pretence of getting ready a place of accommodation and the sharbat.
Nothing doubting that all was right, we proceeded on, as we thought, in
perfect safety. On nearing the village this barkandaz again joined us, and
had some conversation apart with the two other men. On our reaching
it, we observed to our horror that the whole village was armed. However,
we made no remark, but passed through it under the guidance of the three
barkandazes. On getting to the end we had to cross a nallah, or small
stream, waist-deep in water. While crossing, the villagers rushed on us,
sword and matchlock in hand. Seeing that they were bent on our destruc-
tion, we pushed through the water as quickly as possible, not, however,
without leaving one of our number behind, who, unfortunately, was Lieuten-
ant Lindsay ; and him they cut to pieces. On reaching the opposite bank the
villagers made a furious attack on us, literally butchering five of our party.

" I and Lieutenant Cautley then ran, and most of the mob in full chase
after us ; Lieutenant Cautley, after running about 300 yards, declared he
could run no longer, and stopped. On the mob reaching him he was cut
to pieces. After despatching poor Lieutenant Cautley, they continued the
chase after me ; they ran but a short distance, when finding that I was a
long way off, they desisted. I was now the only one left, not having even
Tegh Ali Khan with me. I proceeded on, and in a short time came to a -
village, and the first person I met was a Brahman, of whom I begged a
drink of water, telling him I was much exhausted. He asked me where
I came from and what had happened to me. I told my tale as quickly as
I could, and he appeared to compassionate my case. He assured me that
no harm would come to me in his village, and that as the villagers were all
Brahmans, others would not dare to enter it to do me any harm. He then
directed me to be seated under a shady tree in the village, and left me.
After a short absence he returned, bringing with him a large bowl of sharbat.
This I drank greedily, and was hardly done when he started up and bade
me run for life, as Babu Bali Singh was approaching the village. I got up
and attempted to run, but found I could not, and tried to get to some
hiding place. In going through a lane I met an old woman, and she
pointed out an empty hut and bade me run into it. I did so, and finding
in it a quantity of straw I lay down, and thought to conceal myself in it.
I was not long there when some of Bali Singh's men entered and com-
menced a search, and used their lances and talwfos in probing into the
straw. Of course it was not long before I was discovered. I was dragged
out by the hair of the head, and exhibited to the view of the natives who
had congregated round him, when all kinds of abusive epithets were
applied to me. He then commenced a march, leading me from village to
village, exhibiting me, and the rabble at my heels hooting at and abusing
me.

" After passing through, his men used to stop and tell me to kneel, and
then to ask Bali Singh if they were to decapitate me. His usual reply was,

FYZ 483

' Not yet ; take him on to the next village.' In this manner I passed
through three villages, and was then taken to his own house. I was led
into the court-yard and put into the stocks ; this was about nightfall.
During the night I heard angry words pass between Bali Singh and his
brother. I could not exactly make out the particulars; but I remember his
brother telling him to beware of what he was doing, and that his acts of
this day would perhaps recoil on himself However, the result of the quarrel
proved in every waj' beneficial to me ; for about three in the morning Bali
Singh came to me himself, directed my release from the stocks, asked me
if I should not like to have something to eat and drink, and his bearing
towards me was entirely changed, and different from what it had been.

" The following morning a party made their appearance, headed by a
villain named Jafar Ali, whom I recognised as the person who shot poor
Lieutenant Ritchie the previous day, and also fired at me. Of this he
made a boast to Bali Singh when he saw me, and asked Bali Singh to
make me over to him and he would burn me alive. He was told in reply
that I should not be delivered over to any person, and to quit the place.
This rascal said my hismat (fate) was very good. I remained at Bali
Singh's ten days, during which time I had no reason to complain of the
treatment received ; but this I mainly attributed to the interference of his
brother on my behalf.

" On the tenth day a Mr. Peppe sent a darogah with an elephant and an
escort to take me to him. I was glad of the opportunity, and willingly
accompanied the party; but it was not without some trouble and a good
deal of persuasion that the darogah induced Bali Singh to let me go.
Previously to this a Mr. Cook, indigo planter, and Mr. Patterson, collector
of Gorakhpur, made several attempts to get me away from Bali Singh, but
to no purpose. I here oifer my best and most grateful acknowledgments to
all these gentlemen for their kind consideration and endeavours on my
behalf On joining Mr. Peppe I proceeded with him to Captainganj, and
there to my joy I met Colonel Lennox and his family."

On the 17th of June the following officers of theFyzabad station arrived
at Dinapur by boat, and reported themselves to Major-General Lloyd,
commanding the division, viz., Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Charles O'Brien,
Commandant, 6th Oudh Irregular Infantry ; Lieutenant W. R. Gordon,
second in command; Ensign J. W. Anderson, 22nd Native Infantry;
Lieutenant Percival, of the Artillery ; and Assistant Surgeon J. B. Col-
lison. These gentlemen occupied the boat No. 3 on Sergeant Busher's list,
and are mentioned by him as lost sight of at Ajodhya.

FYZABAD Gity — Pargana Haweli Oudh — Tahsil FrzABAB—District
FtzabAD.— Fyzabad, a town in the district of the same name (pargana
Haweli Oudh), is situated in 26° 47' north latitude, and 82° 11' east longi-
tude It is on the left bank of the Gogra, seventy-eight miles east of
Lucknow and nearly seventy miles south of the nearest point of the Hima-
layas which are often clearly visible, especially about the end of the rains.
It is the frontier station for European troops as regards Naipdl. It lies
west of and adjoins the modem town of Ajodhya, which is now within the
same municipal limits, both towns being on the site of the ancient city of

HH 2

4S4!

FYZ

Ajodhya. Fyzabad proper lies to the east. Up to the reign of NaWab
Manstir Ali Khan, which commenced in 1732, the land on which this town
stands was a jungle of keora, a sweet-scented plant.

In this jungle, on the high bank of the Sarju, the nawab built himself a
shooting-box, which is still standing among the out-buildings of the opium
agency. Mansur Ali Khan spent a portion of his time here ; but Shuja-
ud-daula fixed the capital permanently at Fyzabad, giving the place that
name on account of his conquest of the Antarbed. He abandoned Luck-
now about 1760 ; but under Asif-ud-daula, about the year 1780, the seat
of government was finally removed to Lucknow.

The city has fallen into decay since the death, in 1816, of the celebrated
Bahu Begam, who had held it rent-free since 1798. It contains forty-nine
mahallas, and is founded on the lands of nine villages ; but the " safil,"
more correctly "fasil" or fortification, thrown up by Shuj a-ud-daula after
his defeat at Buxar, while under the dread of an attack by the British,
embraces nineteen villages.

The population of Fyzabad is 36,550, of whom 21,930 are Hindus, and
14,620 Muhammadans. Of the Hindus, 3,655 follow the cult of Vishnu,
14,620 that of Shiva, and 3,655 are Nanak Shihi. Of the Muhammadans,
9,868 are Shias, and 4,752 are Sunnis, but some of the above figures, although
authoritative, are apparently estimates based on ratios, not on actual enu-
meration.

No less than 1,776 of the 8,077 buildings are masonry. There are 36
Hindu temples, of which 25 are in honour of Shiva and 10 of Vishnu, the
other being a Nanak Shahi sangat. There are 114 Muhammadan mosques,

and one
schools.

imambara. There is one English school, and four vernacular

The bazars are numerous ; trade is very active ; the Nagpanchmi fair is
attended by about 4,000 people, and the great Ramnaumi fair, held every
year, attracts as many as 300,000, the Dasahra about 30,000, and the
Chharian, in May, about 10,000 people. The annual sales within the
municipal limits amount to Rs. 14,87,803. There are three native establish-
ments for the manufacture of paper.

The following statement of the sales annually effected gives a good idea
of the trade of an Indian town : —

Statement of market sales in Fyzabad.

No-

Articles.

Wheat ...

Kiee

Food-graiuB

OU

Ghi

6 Coarse sugar

Value.

Rs. A. P.

2,14,343 1

3,62,167 2

3,68,546 13

26,672 3

68,708 14

1,11,947 1

FYZ

485

Statement of market sales in Fyzabad.— (continued.)

No.

Art

7

Fine sugar

8

Molasses

9

Betel

10

PAn

11

Bran

12

Oxen, buffaloes, and kine

13

Goats, and sheep

14

Birds, fowls, and eggs ...

15

Fuel and coal

16

Indigo

17

Wax candles

18

Country soap

19

Sal timber

20

Bamboos and saplings . . .

21

Bricks ...

22

Building stones

23

Lime ...

24

Khar, or grass straw

25

Atar, and other perfumes

26

Spices

27

Dmgs

28

Dyes

29

Foreign fruits _.

30

Tobacco

31

Gond or Alsi

32

Country tea

Total

Value.

Es. A.

P.

60,011 4

0

69,560 0

0

5,442 9

0

1,816 4

0

20,526 14

0

16,825 10

0

14,529 2

0

1,861 0

0

45,971 15

0

1,179 0

0

426 8

0

268 8

0

258 8

0

12,438 0

0

3,762 0

0

2,134 8

0

731 0

0

13,895 0

0

133 1

0

39,923 0

0

8,504 6

0

1,167 6

0

4,831 12

0

8,448 4

0

483 2

0

300 0

0

14,87,803 11

0

Fyzabad is a municipality with an income of Es. 81,160, as follows : —

Es.

42,000 Octroi.
21,600 Sewage sold.

The expenditure is as follows : —

Es.
6,680 Octroi.
10,780 Police.
11,600 Conservancy.

Es.

14,770 Ajodhya fair.
2,790 Wheel tax.

Es.
32,000 Public works.
1,200 Public gardens.

The town is reckoned a healthy place : it is connected with Lucknow by
a railway, opened in November 1872, and with Sultanpur and Allahabad
by a metalled road.

The following list of old Muhammadan buildings in Fyzabad is taken
from the settlement report : —

old.

The tomb of 8hah J&ran Ghori. — Nearly seven hundred years

(2.) The shrine of Norehni Khurd-MakJca. — One of the earliest
Muhammadan immigrants, a renowned saint, who is said to.have come from

486 FYZ

Norehni — hence his designation — some six or seven hundred years ago,
and to have been buried in Muhalla Khurd-Makka, Ajodhya. His tomb
is still much revered, and visited, it is said with effect, by the afflicted ;
but thoiigh there are alleged descendants still alive, the traditions of the
saint are very vague. His real name is said to have been Mir Ahmad.

(3.) The mosque of the Emperor Bdbar. — Age 350 years.

(4.) The shrine of Khwdja Hdthi. — Situated on the Kabir-tila. This
man was a follower of Babar and a renowned saint, whose enshrined tomb
on one of the chief bastions of Ramkot is still revered.

(5.) The shrines of Noah, Seth, and Job. — Mentioned in Muhammadan
histories 300 years ago.

(6.) The mosque of Mamgir. — At Swargaddwar and at Treta-ke-Tha-
kur, over 200 years old, now in ruins.

(7.) The shrine of Makhdihn 8heJch Bhilca. — A western devotee of
renown, 200 years ago, some of whose descendants are still extant. This
shrine is east of Ajodhya, and there is another to the same saint at Bilohar:
both are still revered.

(8.) The shrine of Shah Saman Faridd-ras and the tomh of Shah
Chup. — Are rehcs of Muhammedan antiquity in Ajodhya, of which the
traditions even are lost.

(9.) The shrine of Bari-Bua. — A sainted lady of renown of the days
of Rafi-ud-darjat Shams-ud-din (A.D. 1719), situated east of Fyzabad.

(10.) The Samanburj. — Near the opium godown. This bastion was
built by Shuja-ud-daula near his palace, from which, at a considerable
distance, the river then flowed. Tradition says that, by offering up 125,000
cows, and milk in proportion, the nawab induced the river to change its
course, and to flow under his castle. The bastion has now disappeared,
and the river has again receded to a distance.

(11.) Guldbbdri. — These buildings, including courts, gateways, &c.,
were prepared by Nawab Shuja-ud-daula, during his life-time, as th« final
resting place of his remains, and here he was in due course buried, being
the first of his dynasty whose body was not carried away to Delhi for
interment.

(12.) The mosque of Mans-dr Ali Khan's Begam. — This building was
long used as a jail by the Oudh and British Governments. It has latterly
been made over to Hakim Shafa-ud-daula, on condition that it is kept in
good repair as a place of public worship.

(13.) Ldl-bdgh. — ^A famous garden, constructed by Shuj^-ud-daula,
which was formerly enclosed by a high wall, and contained many fine
buildings, but of which there is nothing now left except the old mango
trees. There were also in those days three other famous gardens, of which
visible signs still remained at annexation, viz., the Aish, or Asif-bagh,
Baland-bagh, and the bagh of Raja Jhao L^l. On- the site of these the
civil station has since been built.

FYZ 487

(14.) The Anguri-bdgh. — This was one of the Bahl Begam's favourite
gardens, and was given by her as a residence to her son-in-law, Muhammad
Taqi, on his marriage with her daughter. It is situated near the chauk, and
is in the possession of Agha Haidar, the son of Muhammad Taqi.

(15.) The Moth Mahal and Khurd Mahal. — Are old royal palaces
situated near the Dilkusha, and are occupied for life only by female members
of Shuja-ud-daula's family. These buildings, under existing orders, will
eventually revert to the naztil department.

(16.) The mosque of Gurji Beg. — Near the Hasnii Katra police station.
This was built by the man whose name it bears, a cavalry officer of Shuja-
ud-daula's army.

(17.) The Tripolia, or tbree-arched gateway, in the chauk, is one of
the buildings for which the town is indebted to Shuja-Ud-daula,

(18.) Calcutta Khurd. — This is the name of the fort near Miran Ghat,
now occupied as a commissariat godown. It was built by Shuja-ud-daula
along with the city fortifications after his defeat by the British at Buxar.

(19.) Sdldr Jang's Palace. — (Near the old Mint.) This gentleman
was the father-in-law of Shuja-ud-daula, and the buildings are still in the
possession of the family, in the person of Jafar Ali Khan.

(20.) Moti-bdgh. — South of the chauk, one of the famous royal gardens
assigned in perpetuity by the ex-king to his favourite physician, the popu-
lar hakim, Shafa-ud-daula.

(21.) The TKiosque and sarde of Hasan Raza Khan. — Adjoining the
chauk. The Shias of the city have their Friday prayers here. The upper
part of the building, which adjoins the single-arch gateway to the chauk,
has been made over to the chief priest (pesh-namaz) of the city. The
shops below belong to the naztil department, as does the sarae, which is
the chief resting-place of the town.

(22.) Sarde Yunas. — Mian Yunas was a eunuch and pupil of the well-
known Almds Ali Khan of A'sif-ud-daula's time. This sarae has now been
demolished to make way for that now under construction by the Maharaja
of Balrampur in Uikabganj. Mian Yunas has left a grander monument to
his memory in the far-famed tamarind avenue.

(23.) The mansions and buildings of Ddrdb Ali Khan.—D&nih Ali
Khan was a Hindu by birth, who was born to all intents a eunuch. He
embraced the Muhammadan faith, and rose to be the Bahu Begam's con-
fidential adviser and servant. His mansion is the large hotise near the
Guptar Park, now occupied by the commissariat officer, which has been
rendered historical in connection with the trial of Warren Hastings. His
other buildings are also naz.ul, and were occupied by the tahsil, octroi
godown, &c.

(24.) The Jawdhir-bdgh. — This was one of the famous old royal gardens,
and in it was built the Bahti Begam's grand tomb.

(25.) The Dilkusha Palace. — This was the royal residence and court of
the Bahii Begam. It is now the opium godown. Some idea may be

488 FYZ— GAN

formed of its former extent from the fact that a part of it was known as
" the residence with the thousand doors."

(26.) The Haydt Bakhsh and Farhat Balchsh. — Gardens in Ajodhya ;
were formerly fine royal gardens. The former is assigned for life to the
distinguished Pandit Umadatt, the latter is held in part by the R£ja of
Dumraon (who has made it into a fine garden), and in part by the abbots
of the Digambari Akhara, to whom it was made over in part compensation
for the Guptar Park.

(27.) The Bahti, BegarrCs mosque. — Situated on the side of the Dilkusha
road.

(28,) The tomb of Banni KhAnam. — ^This lady was the wife of Anjum-
ud-daula, brother of the Bahti Begam, and the tomb was built by Almas
Ali Khan. It is now in the occupation of the Church Mission.

(29.) The buildings of Muhammad Taqi and Mirza Haidar. —
Relatives of the Bahu Begam, whose heirs are still pensioners on her fund.
These buildings are east of the chauk : they are let out to Government
ofiicials, but are now rapidly going to decay.

(30.) The mosque and imdmbdra of Jawdkir Ali Khcm. — The Id
prayers of the Shias are offered in this mosque, and in the imambara tdzias
are annually set up ; but, strange to say, they are in the hands of a Hindu,
Babu Bachhu Singh, the grand-nephew of Darab Ali Khan, mentioned
above under No. 23. The babu is a well-to-do citizen of Fyzabad.

(31). The Tnosque and the tomb of Tdq-Ab Ali Khan — in Muhalla Atal
Khan. These buildings were constructed in accordance with the will of
Yaqub Ali, a eunuch of Shuja-ud-daula's harem, by his brother Yusuf Ali.
They contain a fine specimen of stone fretwork. They are stiU in the
possession of a member of the family, Muhammad Nasim Khan.

G.

GANGES. — As this river only borders the province, the briefest account may
here be given. It is smaller than either the Sarda or Kauriala, its cold-
weather discharge being only 3,500 cubic feet at the Cawnpore bridge. It
forms the boundary between Oudh and the North-Western^ Provinces for
about 195 miles. Its level is about 392 feet above the sea when it first
touches on the former province ; it is 270 feet when it leaves ; it falls there-
fore 122 feet, or about two-thirds of a foot per mile.

It is bridged at Cawnpore by the railway bridge opened in 1875. The
water-spans of this latter erection are twenty-five in number ; they are
2,750 feet in length ; the height from low-water level to the bottom of the
girders is 32 feet ; the piers are sunk to a level of 65 feet below low-water
level ; the cost was Rs. 19,40,000. The north-east or Oudh bank of the
river is distant from two to four miles from the dry-weather channel, the
intervening land being flooded every rains. The lowest level of the river
at Cawnpore is 360 feet above the sea, that of highest flood is 376 feet.

GAN— GHA

489

The bank is from 25 to 45 feet above the former level, and the watershed
between the Ganges and the Gumti averages 75 feet above the same.
The affluents in Oudh are the Ramganga, the Garra, the Kalyani in Unao,
and the Lon in Rae Bareli ; the two latter are mere rivulets.

CAWNPORE GANGES BRIDGE WORKS.
Water-level taken every day at 7 A.M., for the month of September 1874.

Date.

Water Level
G. T. S.

Date.

Water Level
G. T. S.

1874.

1874.

September 1 ...

369-90

September 16 ...

372-92

2 ...

369-60

17 ...

372-88

3 ...

369 40

18 ...

372-92

4 ...

369-90

19 ...

37200

5 ...

37010

20 ..

371-35

6...

370-40

21 ...

370-00

7 ...

370-45

22 ...

369-35

S...

370-70

23 ...

369-00

" 9-

371-00

24 ...

368-65

10...

371-00

25 ...

368-20

11 ...

371-35

26 ...

368-20

12...

372-10

27 ...

368-20

13...

372-20

28 ...

367-70

14 ...

372-45

29 ...

367-50

15 ..

372-92

30 ...

367-30

GAUE.A JiOIUN Pargana — Tahsil Mxjsafirkhana— Disfrici Sultan-
PUE. — ^A pargana in tahsil Musafirkhana, district Sultanpur; its area is
93 square miles, of which 49 are cultivated. There are 91 villages, with a
population of 50,016, being at the rate of 538 to the square mile.

GATJRAYYA KALAN — Pargana Bangarmau — Tahsil Safipur — District
Unao. — Is a village in pargana Bangarmau, tahsil Safipur, at about 10
miles north of the tahsil, and 27 north-west of the sadr station ; the exact
date of its foundation is not known. About 250 years since one Gauri
Singh, a Raikw^r ThSkur, cleared all the jungle away, and founded
the town, calling it after his own name. The soil is principally loam and
clay. The site is tolerably level, and no jungle round. Climate agreeable
and water good. There is no market here, but there are three fairs during
the year, each lasting one day, for the sale of sweetmeats, toys, &c., — one
in March, one in August, and the other later. About 400 people assemble
on each occasion. No manufactures of any note. There are 416 mud
houses. Population 1,983, as under—

177 Musalmans „. ... 68

Brahmans
Chhattris
Pasis and others

437
1,301

1,915

GHATAMPXJR Pargana — Tahsil Ptjrwa — District Unao. — One Gh^tam-
deo Bais, some six centuries ago, by leave of Akbar, built Ghatampur on

490 GHA— GOG

a ghat on the Ganges. At that time the river skirted the village, but has
since then receded, and so changed its course that now it runs four miles
to the south. The descendants of Ghatamdeo are still to be found here.
The pargana is chiefly colonised by the Bais. A fair is held in November
at village Tehra, where some 4,000 people congregate. The soil is chiefly
loam, but towards the river is sandy. This pargana is eight miles long
from north to south, and seven broad from east to west; it contains twenty-
nine villages, 16,937 acres, and a population of 16,180. Water is to be
found sixty feet from the surface, except near the river, where it is found
about fifteen feet from the surface.

The distribution of property is as follows: —

.A. el's s

Taluqdari 267

Zamindari ... ... ... ... ... ... „. ... 15,056

Pattidari 1,414

The land revenue is Es. 22,748, or Re. 1-5-7 per acre, and 2,387 acres
are under grove.

The history of the Bais is given under article Rae Bareli.

GHA'TAMPUR KALKN— Pargana Gu/iTAwevR—Tahdl F-uew a— District
Unao. — This town is situated twelve miles south of its tahsil, and eighteen
miles south-east of the sadr station Unao. There is no river near this
village, nor any road. About 1,700 years ago Ghatamdeo, Tiwari Brahman,
peopled this town. At that time the Ganges flowed past here, and the
town was named after its founder, whose heirs are still in possession. The
land is bare, soil sandy, climate healthy, and water fresh. There is one
school where Urdu and Nagri are taught; it is attended by thirty boys, all
Hindus. No bazar or fair here. Goldsmiths and carpenters work here
very well.

The population is divided as follows: —

Hindus. Mixsalmans. Total.

Brahmans 977

Other caatea 773

1,750 59 1,809

There are 372 mud-built and three masonry houses and four temples
(one Shiwala and three to Debi) —

Latitude 26° 22' N.

Longitude 80° 46' E.

GOGRA. — The Gogra (Ghogra in Thornton) is the great river of Oudh,
flowing south-east. It is properly the main trunk of the river system of
which the Chauka, Ul, Dahawar, Suheli, Kauriala in Kheri, the Girwa,
Sarju in Bahraich, are the branches, spreading out like a fan, north, east,
and west. It is the name applied to this trunk after the Sarda, Chauka
and the Kauriala have united at Bahramghat.

It is probable that there was originally a river Gogra in Kheri, one of
the series whose existing or abandoned channels seam the country from the
Ul to the Mohan; there is now a small affluent of the Ul bearing this name.

GOG 491

Otherwise it is hard to see why the names of the component streams,
Kauriala and Sarda, are abandoned, and a third name adopted at this con-
fluence. Some indeed suppose that it was always another name of the
Sarda; if tliis were so, the joint streams would have borne the name of
Gogra from Shitabi Ghat, at which place up to about 1812 the Sarda's
waters flowed in; up to 1860 they joined the Kauriala at Bahramghat,
much lower down. Now, when the Sarda's waters have altered their
course and taken the middle channel of the Dahawar, about half-way
between its earlier and later points of junction, it is hard to say where
the name Kauriala ceases to apply and the Gogra commences. In the
seventh century the name Sarju was applied to this stream at Fyzabad,
as also in the Ramayana;* indeed the Sarju proper is said to have joined
the Gogra a few miles east of Ajodhya.

It is a great river, whose minimum discharge in the cold weather is
18,000 feet per second at Bahramghat, and whose maximum discharge is
little under half a million; 25,000 feet is elsewhere giv-en as the discharge
at Bahramghat. Its main affluent is the Kauriala. On the 28th January
1857, its period of lowest flood was 850 feet broad, maximum depth
12 J feet, surface velocity 3'67 feet per second, and discharge 13,082 cubic
feet per second.i" The Sarda a ad the Girwa are also first-class rivers ; the
Chauka, Sarju, Dahawar, Ul, &c., are minor streams. ^

They are all described severally at length, and there is little to say of
the Gogra, except touching the changes of its course. Its waters have
shown the same inclination towards abandoning lateral channels and
selecting one central one as those of the Sarda. On both banks of the
river, throughout Sitapur and Bara Banki on the west side, and Bahraich
and Gonda on the east, are seen ancient channels of the river, and high
banks beneath which it once flowed. A great inroad of the Gogra took
place about 1600 A.D., which swept away the town of Khurasa in Gonda,
and overwhelmed the raja with his family. |

There were formerly three channels probably, whose volumes varied each
year as accidental circumstances diverted the greater part of the water
into one or other. For one hundred years there has been little change in
the present channel, which is the central one, the eastern and the western
having silted up.

It has frequently happened, even recently, that a village or fort has been
swept away in a night during the rains ; it was of course much more com-
mon when there were several channels, and almost the entire volume of
one might be added to that of another, both swollen by the monsoon.

Formerly, too, for purposes of protection from enemies, or to command
the river, forts were built among swamps close to the water's edge ; they
were constantly surrounded by the water in the_ rains. This itself would
do no harm, but it would conceal any change in the deep channel ; the
river itself, its course thus concealed by the floods, might at night sap and

* Cunningliam's Archaeological Survey, vol. I, page 320.

t Sarda Canal Keport, page 20. Saunders' Kepor* on Oudh, page 7.

t See Gonda district article.

492 GOG

sweep away extensive buildings, which would come down before the inmates
had any intimation of their danger.

These stories, therefore, are not improbable. Amargarh, which is &n
ancient fort in Dhaurahra, Chahldri in Kundri pargana, and Mallapur in
the same, have all recently been wholly or partially destroyed. A temple
near Amargarh was swept away, great fragments of wall tumbling into the
rushing water. The people allege that in 1871 they were watching the
destruction of the shrine ; as one great mass of masonry was rent away, a
large iron-bound chest appeared in a recess laid bare in the wall beneath
the floor of the sanctuary, which was now jutting out into the flood.
Rumour had previously announced that the Raja of Dhaurahra had buried
his treasure in the neighbourhood, but before ropes could be procured, the
whole of the remainder of the edifice toppled into the torrent, and its ruins
are now buried in the sand.

Although such encroachments have been frequent, there has been no
great change in the Gogra's course, at any rate for one hundred years. In
1765 Tieffenthaler followed it for many miles ; he described it with the
towns on its banks in an itinerary, and drew a chart* besides : it flowed
then as now. He gives curious particulars about the change of name.

The Kauriala was then named the Kinar; it joined the Sarda, now
Vol. III. page 378. Called the Suheli, and both united streams flowing
south-east, even then called the Sarda ; then the
Dahawar joined it in the channel which now carries the water of the Sarda,
and the joint stream was called the Gandak ; then the Chauka joined at
Bahramghat, and the joint river was henceforth called the Gogra. The
names of Kinar and Gandak have now disappeared; the only question
is, when the name Kauriala ceases to apply and Gogra replaces it. Pro-
bably the junction of the Dahawar at Mallapur is the proper place. Using
the name in this extension, we may say that the Gogra commences to be
so called 600 miles from the source of its remotest tributary.

The Kauriala at Ramnagar, when it enters Oudh just below the rapids,
is 449 feet above the sea. At Mallapur the surface of the water is
375 feet above the sea ; it sinks to 302 at Ajodhya, and 235 when it
leaves Oudh. The breadth varies from 850 feet at the narrowest part
in the dry weather to two miles in the rains, when the discharge is
supposed to be about a million cubic feet. It skirts the Sitapur district
for 78 miles, Bahraich for 114, Bara Banki for 84, Gonda for 55, Fyzabad
for 44.

The depth of mid-channel is nowhere now less than six feet ; but boats
drawing more than four feet are not desirable, because they may be carried
by the current on to shallows. The boats are clinker-built generally ; the
largest do not carry more than 1,200 maunds, or about forty-five tons; they
have generally no decks, and the cargo is protected by mat awnings ; the
cost of carriage is very small. From Bahramghat the freight for grain

* Vol. III. page 278, Berlin edition.

GOG 498

to Simaria Ghat near Chupra is generally about Rs. 5 per 100 local
maimds, but Rs. 10 were charged in 1874 during the scarcity; 100 local
maunds equal 45 British. The railway fare from Bahramghat would
be to Arrah, 302 miles, at J pie per pakka maund per mile, for 45
pakka maunds, Rs. 17-11. In famine times the railway rates are lowered
to ^th of a pie per maund ; the charge then would be Rs. 9, just about
the same to which the boatmen raise theirs in such an emergency. But it
is apparent that in ordinary times carriage by rail will cost three times as
much as by river, even from the immediate neighbourhood of a railway
station. From ChahMri Ghat the rate is to Chupra or Arrah 5 to 6 rupees,
from Shitabi Ghat in Khairigarh, the farthest ascent made by large boats,
the rate is about Rs. 7 per 100 local maunds. The jouraey lasts about
fifteen days, the distance is about 350 miles. In the rains, if the wind is !
fair, as it generally is, a boat can make twenty or even forty miles per
day against the stream. The waters of the Gogra are at a considerable depth
below the surface of the country on each side.

Four miles from the bank the latter is thirty feet above the water.
Paharapur, which is about eight miles from the bank, is 453 feet above the
sea ; the Gogra at Mallapur, just opposite, is 375 ; the river therefore does
little harm in the way of flooding, and its water can only be applied for
irrigation to a very limited degree. There are no towns of any size on the
banks, except Fyzabad.

For a more general account of this river system, see the article S&da,
which contains also a detailed account of the Chauka, with which stream
its name seems indissolubly commingled, just as are its waters.

The broad features of the river system are as follows. Two great rivers
burst through the hills, each rising in the upper ranges of the Himalayas :
they are the Sarda and the Kauriala ; those are their names in the upper
country. They have at different times united at different places, — up to 1810
at Shitabi Ghdt, in pargana Khairigarh ; then, up to 1860, at Bahramghat;
now, since that date, at Malldpur. These changes, of course, have left
channels bearing various names, — the Suheli, the Chauka, the Dahawar ;
by the last -the two now unite ; in the two former, shrunken waters still
flow.

The delta of alluvial land through which they pass may be indicated
loosely as stretching from Lakhimpur to Bahraich, a breadth of about 56
miles. This is throughout a region of low land, flooded in heavy rains,
seamed with the ramifying channels of many rivers ; in some places forest
glades, in others deep lagunes. It is green and picturesque, but
unhealthy.

The Gogra is only bridged at Bahramghat and Fyzabad. An account of
the different ferries is subjoined. The river flows for 203 miles in Gudh,
or on its borders.

494

GOG

Statement showing the names of ferries on the river Kauridla or Gogra,
with the intermediate distances and names of districts bordering on it.

Name of gKdt,

3 Pus

S 3
S o

Districts Boukding.

East.

West.

Bemabks.

Gola GMt

DIUGMt

RAmnagar

BharthSpur

Shitibi'Gliit ..

Matehha GMt .

ZAlimnagar

Suyin GhiSt Thuthua

Gaiiapur

Bela GMt near Khairi bazar

Kathii Ghat

ChahlarlGMt ..

Kinora Ghat Rampur

Kandarkhi Ghat

Pharwa

Pharhl
Bahramghat

Bargadia Ghdt, district

Gonda

GhakuyAn Ghdt

Ijorhemaa „

Kamiar „

Dhobi „

Ganoli „

Kaithi „

Sihor „

Saiidw^n ,,

Dhanwazi „

Tulsipur „
Mlran Ghdt, district Fyza-

bad

Lachlunan Ghdt

Rdm Ghdt
BelwaGhSt

Piira Mundna GhAt

Dalpatpur ,,

Dilasiganj „

ITniSr „

Sirwan „

Salona ,.

Mahripur „

Tdnda

Mubarakpur

Phlilpur

Meudi

Naurahni

Chhaur

Miles.

15

19i

26i

80

3?i

4S

65J

6S

69

76

81

88J

96
100}
105

111
117

133

127}

132

136

141

146

149}

154

157

161}

164}

167}

173}

'76}

184

190

193

194^

197}

203

203

211

214

215}

220

223

228

NaipiCl

Ditto

Bahraich

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto
Ditto

North.

Gonda

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto

Naipdl.
Ditto.
Kheri.
Ditto,
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Sitapur.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.

Bhitanli, zila
Bara Banki.
Ditto.
Bara Banki

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto.

Ditto

Ditto.

Ditto

Ditto.

Ditto

Ditto.

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Basti*

Ditto

South.

Bara Banki.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto,

Ditto.

Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto,
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto.

It is via this gh^t that
travellers from Luck-
now, Bara Banki, Sita-
pur and Cawnpore
cross the river for Gon-
da and Bahraich dis-
tricts.

Just after the close of
the rainy season, two
bridges are construct-
ed at this place, — one
over the Chiiuka, 800
feet in length, and the
other over the Gogra,
1,200 feet in length.
The length is,however,
subject to variation.

A bridge is at this place
constructed after the
close of the rainy sea-
son.

The sacred town of Ajo-
dhya lies at this place,
and a great fair is held
here in the month of
(<hait (March-April).

Ditto.

* This is a district of
the North-Western
Provinces.

GOG

495

Statement showing the amount of annual Receipts and Expenditiire of the
Bahramghat Bridge on the Gografrom 1858 to 1874.

Amount of

Amount of ex-

Year.

receipts.

penditure.

Ra.

Es.

From 5tli December

1858 to Marola 1859 ...

5,085

11,720

From April 1S59 to March 1860 ...

7,967

6,163

„ ,. I860 „

^,

1861...

10,780

5,646

„ „ 1S61 „

),

1862

13,134

4,849

„ 1862 „

,,

1863

9,706

3,893

„ „ 1«63 „

J,

1864

10,276

3,139

., lS6i „

,,

1865

8,733

3,238

,. 1865 „

,,

1866 ..

7,267

6,053

,. 1866 „

1867 ...

12,103

4,103

" „ 1867,,

,,

1868 ...

19,428

5,208

., 18G8 „

1869...

24,582

8,560

» 1869 „

J,

1870 ...

21,333

6,832

„ 1870 „

1871

14,791

4,744

, „ 1871 „

„

1872

11,557

10,808

IS"'?,,

187.S

12,981

7,272

TOO

„ » 18/3,,

»

1874

Total

12,044

10,553

2,01,767

1,02,781

The following are the names of places from whence exports are made to
the trans-Gogra districts of Gouda and Bahraich, either by river traffic or
by the roads crossing it : — ■

I. Baba Banki Nawabganj

II. LtrcKWOw

III. Cawnpobb

IV. BHATtTPTJE
V. SiTAPUK

VI. Chandausi

VII. Jalattn and Kalpi.,

VIII. Oabijl
IX. Pakjab Amkitsab .

Urd is brought from Daryabad Bahrelia ; brass
vessels from Tikaitnagar ; cloth from Nawab-
gaiij and Saadatganj ; kaukar and lime from
Tilokpur; carpets from Fatehpur.

Salt, cotton, cloth, leather manufactures, wines ;
vessels cross over the Gogra and pass to Gonda,
Bahraich and Naipalganj.

. Salt, cotton, grocery, cloth, and cutlery are ex-
ported to these districts in greater quantity
than from Luckuow,

.. Salt is the only export.

,. The mart of Kesriganj supplies urd in a limited
quantity.

.. Cotton is only imported from this mart in very
limited quantity to those of ^ahraich and
Naipalganj. The traders from the latter marts
sell their grocery in the former mart, and bring
cotton.

Cloths dyed green are brought from these marts
for the use of the Thdrus of the Tarai ; and
al (madder) is imported to Katra in the Gouda
district.

Dried fruits, pomegranates, almonds, pistachio nuts,
&o., are imports from this place.

... Shawls and woollen goods.

496 GOL

GOLA — Pargana Haidaeabad — Tahsil NighaSAN — District Kheri. — A
large village in pargana Haidarabad, is situated en the road from Lakhim-
pur to ShahjaLanpur.

There are four Hindu temples and four mosques. It has 10 sugar manu-
factories and a daily market ; also a special one on Tuesdays and Thurs-
days, in which articles of country consumption are sold. The average sale
of European and native cotton fabrics and of salt is estimated at Rs. 200
and Rs. 300, respectively. There was a tahsil .station here formerly ; there
is an Anglo-vernacular school and a charitable dispensary.

Gola is very picturesquely situated at the base of a semicircle of small
hills, mostly covered with sdl forests. The Goshdin monastic body which is
stationed here has built very numerous tombs in honour of its principal
men. A new temple and masonry tombs have been built by subscription
since annexation. A lake to the south adds to the prospect. Numerous
ruined tombs crown the surrounding heights, and few more beautiful scenes
can be witnessed in the Indian plain than the Gola Gokarannath fair on a
summer evening. Mahadeo is the main object of worship.

There are seventeen brick wells and thirty-five tanks. Gola is remark-
able for an important Hindu fair in honour of Gokarannath Mahadeo.
It is celebrated twice every year. It is held in the month of Phagun as a
fair, and lasts for fifteen days. On this occasion about 75,000 persons
assemble. In the month of Chait it is also celebrated for a Chatur-dashi
fair, which also lasts for 15 days. About 100,000 persons assemble. On
both occasions traders come from long distances, and so do pilgrims. The
average price of articles sold at these fairs is estimated at Rs. 1,00,000.

Population

Males AM^^^ - - M07

Minors ... ... 407

f Adults ... ... 712

358

Total ... 2,584

Females,..^—-
For an account of the worship at Gola, see article Kheri.

GON

497

GONDA DISTRICT ARTICLE.

ABSTRACT OF CHAPTEES.

L— General features. II.— The people. III.— Agriculture.
IV. — Administrative aspects. V.— History.

CHAPTER I.
GENERAL FEATURES.

The (xonda district— Its description— Rivera— Present appearance of the district— District
amply supplied with lakes— A favourable haunt for sportsmen— Government forests
sjid valuable trees— Fauna— Endurance of Rampur ponies, and breeding of cattle-
Great mortality among the herds of cattle— Rainfall for last five years ; for nine years ;
for famine years— Average temperature— Statistics of temperature— Statistics of births,'
deaths, &o. — Disease and its causes — Means of communication.

The crest of the lower range of the hills divides Gonda on the north

The Gonda district, froni Naipal. It is bounded on the west by Bahraich,

Its description. °^ ^^^ east by Basti, and its southern boundary is the

Gogra. The district included within these limits has

an area of 2,718 square miles, inclusive of Government forest, and is in

shape a rough oblong, slightly pinched in the middle, with an extreme

length of 68, and a breadth of 66 miles.

Latitude, 26° 48' to 27° 55' north ; longitude, 81° 34' to 82° 49' east.

Its elevation above the sea varies from 2,750 feet, the height of the ridge
above mentioned, to 303 feet on the bank of the Gogra. Its population
is 1,166,515, being at the rate of 425 per square mile.

Area and Populatio

n.

Pargana.

as
MS

Area in
square

British
miles.

Population.

|1

S o

1

3

o

•6
1

a
1

.2

05

■s

1

1

i

13

Gonda

Pahirapur

Total

Nawabganj

Digpar

Mahadewa

Guw^rich

Total

Utraula

Sadullahnagar

BtirhapSra

Babhnipfir

Manikapur

Balrdmpur

Tulsipur

Total

Gkand Total

662
128

617
115

319
73

247,107
6^226

23,970
6,913

139,322
37,917

131,755
36,222

271,077
74,139

524
645

O (

780

633

392

316,338

29,883

177,239

167,977

345,216

646

12«
110
104
219

142

167

9.1

268

64

96

63

166

58,264
87,694
46,718
144,395

3,153

2,888

2,072

10,360

32, SI")
46,306
26,388
89,820

28,893
44,276
23,332
74,926

61,417
90,682
48,820
154,745

432
677
536
677

Si

661

266
112
128
141
196
311
339

1,493

668

368

336,101

18,463

184,033

171,631

366,564

640

r

(3

199

103
78
67

127

432

449*

120
68
38
39
64
307
283

62,387
28,221
16,640
29,786
39,609
140,641
90,680

20,077
6,931
4,797
1,244
2,249
19,696
13,774

37,708
18,636
]0,H04
16,256
21,819
82,434
63,932

34,766
16,616
9,737
14,774
20,0:fe
77,803
60,622

72,464
36,152
20,541
3,102
41,858
160,237
104,464

361
341
263
463
329
371
232

.

1,455

899

396,963

68,665

241,688

224,147

465,735

320

2,834

2,746

l,fl69

1,049,397

117,118

602,860

663,666

1,166,616

426

* 650 square miles in original census report.

II

498 GON

It has not been geologically explored ; but the surface throughout is a
rich alluvial deposit, which is divided naturally into three great belts,
known as the tarai, the uparhar, and the tarhar, — the swamp, the- highland,
and the wet lowlands. The first of these extends from the forest at the
north, and its southern boundary is a line about two miles to the south of
the Kapti, running through the towns of Balr^impur and Utraula. Its soil
is generally a heavy clay, except in places where the rain-swollen moun-
tain torrents which flow into the Rapti and Burhi RApti have flooded their
neighbouring fields with a sandy deposit of debris from the hills. Water
is near the surface ; but wells, except for drinking, are rare, the rains
supplying all the irrigation that is required.

The staple crops are, — -October and December rice, and oil seeds, of which
lahi is the commonest. A second crop of wheat or arhar is frequently
raised in the fields which have just been cleared of their autumn produce,
and yields an excellent result to the minimum of labour and expense.

The uparhar, which begins where the tarai ends, and extends south to
a rough line drawn east and west about two miles below Gonda, is a slightly
raised table-land, with water at a distance of between 15 and 25 feet from
the surface. Irrigation is common, and the soil gives unusual facilities for
the construction of cheap kachcha wells. The soil is generally a good dumat,
with occasional patches of clay ; and the main crops, October rice, Indian-
corn, arhar, gram, wheat and barley. Opium is grown with fair success.
The tarhar extends upwards from the Gogra to the southern boundary of
the uparhar. It lies very low, with water within a few feet from the surface,
and irrigation, except for poppy, is generally considered as rather injurious
than profitable. Where they are wanted, kachcha wells are dug at an
expense of 12 annas or a rupee, and last on an average for two years. Both
kinds of rice, Indian-corn, peas, arhar, wheat, poppy, and sugarcane, are
generally cultivated. The soil is a light dumat, with an occasional excess
of sand. All three belts are marvellously fertile, and though, perhaps out
of respect for the conventional classification, about one per cent, is entered as
unculturable, there is hardly an acre in the district which would not even-
tually reward patient labour. The vast tracts of barren saline efilorescence
which are so common in the south of Oudh are quite unknown here.

The chief rivers, beginning at the north, are the Bflrhi R^pti, the Rapti,
Eivera. *^® Suwawan, the Kuwana, the Bislihi, the Chamnai,

the Manwar, the Tirhi, the Sarju, and the Gogra. All
these flow from north-west to south-east, and the Gogra and the Rapti are
alone of any commercial importance, the first being navigable beyond the
western frontier of the district throughout the year, the latter during the
rains. Those in the centre of the district are shallow streams in the hot
months, and are fringed in most places with a jungle of young sdl trees,
mixed with mahua, and ending at the water's edge with a canebrake or
line of jamun trees. Dangerous quicksands, covered with a green blanket
of short grass, are exceedingly common along the edge of the water. The
peculiarities of each stream will be treated of in greater detail in the
appropriate articles.

In appearance the district is a vast plain with very slight undulations.

GON 49d

studded with groves of mango trees ; in parts the mahtia trees left stand-
ing on green pasture-grounds, where the remaining
of thrdistriot^^'^''^'^''^ J^^gle has been cut down, give the scenery the look
of an English park. At the conclusion of the rains
the Himalayan range, with the towering peak of Dhawalgiri in the middle,
forms a glorious frame-work to the northern view. The villages, except in
the north, are very small, being generally divided into a number of minute
hamlets, of which over thirty will sometimes be included in a single village
boundary. This may be attributed partly to a comparative freedom from
the disastrous clan wars which in other parts of Oudh drove the villagers
to congregate for the sake of security, and parth"^ to the fact that a large
part of the district has only lately been reclaimed from jungle, and the
convenience of the clearers led them to squat apart in the middle of the
plot whose reclamation they had undertaken. The general effect on the
cultivation is good, as each labourer is close to his fields, and a larger area
of land is manured than in the case of large aggregated villages.

The whole district is studded with small shallow lakes, which, when
irrigation is wanted, are largely used for that purpose.

Itedtvut lakra ^ ^'^^" ^^®y ^^® '^^^^ stocked with fish, the rohu, the bhakar
p le wi a es. (large Indian carps), and the parhin (a kind of pike),

beino- the principal varieties. At the end of the rains a wild rice (tinni)
grows all round the edges in the shallow water, and furnishes an import-
ant article of food to the lower classes. The sports-
A favourable haunt j^^i^ recognises in the short reeds a favourite haunt
or sportsmen. ^^ snipe, and the rushes are largely used for the

manufacture of coarse mats. In the cold weather the surface of the water
is often covered with floating beds of water-nut (singhara) sown by the
Kahars, while the seeds of water-lily and the roots of the water-weed are
also used as food-
All along the hills runs the long strip of Government forest, with regard
to which I have not been able to get any exact informa-
Government forests ^^^^ from the department. The most valuable trees
and valuable trees. are the sal (S/iored rofcwsia) and dham (Conocarpiis

latifolia)- ebonj (Dyospyriis melanoxylum) is very common, but rarely
attains any "reat size, and the Acacia catechu yields an important article
of commerce. Gums, honey, and the long tough grass known as bankas,
and used for making ropes, are gathered m considerable quantities, while
the broad leaves of the agai (Holopetata integrifoha) supply plates and
dishes to the neighbouring villages. The scenery, especially to the west
of' the tract is often extremely beautiful ; the deep gorges of the mountain
streams, luxuriant undergrowth pierced by lofty trees, and the back-ground
of hills forming almost a perfect landscape.

Tieers leopards, bears, and wolves ; spotted deer, hog-deer, nil-g^e and
' sambar ; wild swine and porcupines, with many smaller

Fauna. animals', all occur, but none in very great numbers.

It is said that the forest near the Hattia Kund contains a peculiarly
savage breed of wild dog, but I have never met them. All along the
wpstlm end the wide grass plains are covered with herds of black antelope,
which are occasionally to be found deeper in the forest.

XI M

500 GON

The scarceness of birds is very striking, and intensifies the solitude ; but
here and there a flock of jungle fowl may be seen scurry-
ing through the thickets, and certain localities contain
peacock in great numbers. Every now and then is found an open dell
crowded with innumerable bulbuls (Indian nightingale), who fill the air
with lively song. Bustards, quail, and partridges, and three kinds of horn-
bill, with many varieties of owl, are found, but are not frequent. Large
flocks of the small hill pigeon come down from the hills in the cold weather,
when ortolan also are very common in the plains at the edge of the jungle.
With the exception of the larger beasts of prey, the same kinds of animals
are more or less common all over the district, while many of the streams,
and especially the Rapti, are full of both varieties of alligator and shoals of
porpoises.

Members of the well-to-do classes are usually provided with the sturdy
hill ponies which are sold at the Debi Patan fair, and an exceedingly small
breed is raised in the district itself.

Eampur on the Tirhi, the residence of Raja Krishan Datt Ram, is famous
Endurance of E£m- for the vice, the Ugliness, and the great powers of
pur ponies, and breed endurance of the animals it turns out. Horses and
ing of cattle. ponies, buffaloes and oxen, are largely used as beasts

of burden to transport the overflowing grain across the difierent roads to
the markets of the south. The average weights are about as follows : —

Mds. Mds.

A pony ... ... 3 I An ox .... ... 3i or 4

A buffalo ... ... 6 I A four-bullock cart ... 20

The severity of the burden is somewhat mitigated by the tardy rate of
progression, but is nevertheless hardly consistent with humanity.

There is a small breed of cattle of no great excellence. The chief breed-
ing grounds are in the north under the forest, where they are kept in
large herds, which, by the exercise of old grazing rights up to the very
foot of the hills, did great damage to the young saplings and other forest
produce. These rights have now been bought up by the abandonment on
the part of Government of all rights in a large tract of outlying scrub, to
which the depredations of the herds will for the future be confined. The
foot and mouth disease rages with terrible virulence after a heavy rainy
season ; and though no statistics are procurable on the subject, some idea

Great mortality is conveyed of the extent of its ravages by the number
among the herds of of carcases which rot on the fields, and the stench
'^'^^^^^- which pollutes the air of almost every village in the

north during the months of November and December.

The best cattle are imported from Nanpara, in the Bahraich district,
and the principal emporium is at Katra Bazar. The price of a pair yoke
of plough oxen is Rs. 30 ; for carts a rather better quality is required, and
the outside price is about Rs. 100 per pair. For travelling on metalled roads
cattle are usually shod. In whatever work they are engaged, they are
almost invariably castrated, and the increase of the flock is frequently
provided for by the bulls which are let loose on great occasions by pious
and wealthy Hindus. Almost all the jungles are infested with wild cattle,
probably the remains of former cultivation. They are in much better

GON 501

case than their domesticated relations ; and if to shoot them is butchery, it
is butchery of very excellent beef.

Sheep and fowls may be procured in almost any numbers, and at a low
price, in the north. Both are of very small breeds, but good for the table.

The average recorded rainfall in the last five years, i. e., from June 1866
to June 1871, has been 41-68 inches ; the heaviest in

EainfaU for last five any one year, 59-5 inches, the lightest, 23 inches. The
^**'^^" returns from Begamganj tahsil are so much lower than

those from other parts of the district, that I doubt their accuracy, and am
inclined to think that the real average cannot be less than 45 inches.
The heavy rains commence early in June, and continue with slight inter-
ruptions to the end of September or middle of October. Showers fall in
every month of the year, and particularly in February and March. Owing
to the proximity of the hills, the rains are more assured and less subject ta
violent variations than in more southerly districts.

Some further facts about the rainfall may be given. The average for
the nine years, 1865 to 1873, is also 41 inches ; that for 1874 is not given,
because the returns are obviously incorrect. The native registrars are apt
to record tenths of inches as inches, and to note carelessly, or not at all, in
heavy weather.

The rainfall in its effects upon famines may also be noted. The last two
scarcities were 1869 and 1874 ; they were preceded by the droughts of
1868 and 1873, as indeed that of 1865 was by the deficient rainfall of
1864. It will be observed that the rainfall of 1868 was not very deficient
in quantity, but it was badly distributed This has been treated at length
in the Bahraich and Fyzabad articles. In 1868-69 there was no rain at all
from September 21st, 1868, till March 1869, and then only showers ; the
rain in September also was not sufficient, the kharif crop and the rabi
were both therefore scanty.

The features of 1873 need not be dwelt upon, as they are sufficiently
apparent from the table. The high prices which resulted from these
scarcities will appear under the heading Agriculture, Chapter III.

Average fall of rain in Gonda district.

Years. Inohef,

1865 _

430

1866

390

1867

38 9

1868

25-5

1869

420

1870

59-7

1871

68-7

1872

31-1

1873

22-0

1874

610

1875

31-2

Average for eleven

years

VZM

Note.— The above rainfall is (or the years commenoing with July 1st.

502

GON

Observations taken daily at the Gonda jail give the average heat^ for
Average tempera- ^^S^^ "?<^ ^^^ ^°^ ^^^^ month in the last three years

ture.

as 77-5°

Table of Temperature.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Mazimam.

^inimrnn.

69

48

83

53

^

60

105

62

106

76

102

75

103

80

95

73

95

78

88

64

83

57

72

50

Average-.

62
64
75
82
91
87
87
86
81
80
70
64

The thermometer has never registered more than 106° or less than 48°;
the tabular abstract shows the relative heat of each ntonth. The prevailing
"wrad is from the east, and it is probably exceptionally cool owing to the
south-easterly sweep of the Himalayan range, and the nearness of the
water to the surface of the ground. Sand-storms, are less frequent and
less violent than in the plains proper.

The mortuary returns are abstracted in the accompanying table. It is to

Deaths. be regretted that their results are not more probable.

The proportion of births to deaths is given as about 3 to 2, and marriages

Births and marri- about 3 to I'l; the bad harvest of 1868 reduced the
ages. naarriages by 20 per cent, and the cholera in April

and May 1870 raised the number of deaths by 33 per cent, on that of the
preceding years. The marriages for 1870 are only to the end of May.

Statistics.

Statistics of births, deaths, and marriages. — Popu-
lation 1,200,000.

Tear.

Birtlts.

Averag^e
per mille.

Deaths.

Per mille.

Marriages.

Per mille.

1868

1869

1870

1871

1872

28,995
26,580

24'16
22-15

18,846
18,288
25,211
14,275
21,668

157

15-24

21-0

11-89

18-05

8,503
6,563
8,701

7-5
5-2
7-5

Disease and its Fever is very prevalent in the Tarai pargana

causes. of Tulsipur during the drying up of the rains, and

GON ms

is no doubt common all over tlie district; but it is possible that a large
proportion of deaths for which the returns make it responsible may be
ascribed to scurvy, a disease which is produced by the absence of green
food, and the unvaried grain diet of the lower orders which make the vast
majority of the population.

In the same way cholera is made to account for a large number of deaths
really attributable to diarrhoea. When it does appear, it has generally been
engendered by the filthy orgies of the Debi Patau fair. The blood of
countless victims is allowed to putrify in the open air, and their flesh, cut
in strips, hangs froin the trees till it acquires the flavour dear to a hillman's
palate. Great multitudes are crowded together, and the majority are far
less clean in their habits than the people of the plains. Hac fonte derivata
elades. The admirable arrangements made at the last fair secured the
cleanliness of its frequenters and the health of the district. Goitre is
common, and is not confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the hills.
Last year three thousand cases were treated at the Gonda dispensary,
chiefly from the central table-land.

North of the Eapti there are no means of communication but the rough
village cart-tracks, which, bad enough anywhere, are
Means of communi- j-gj^Jej-ed nearly impassable at short intervals by the
beds of mountain torrents. To the south of that river
the system of connections hardly admits of improvement, though the
connections themselves do. One metalled road runs from Fyzabad to
Gonda, and is kept in admirable order. All the other chief towns, Gonda
and Utraula, Gonda and Balrampur, XJtraula and Balrampur, Utraula and
Nawabganj.Nawabganj and Colonelganj, Colonelganj and Gonda, Colonel-
ganj and Balrdmpur, Gonda and Bahraich, are joined by common country
roads of every degree of efiiciency. Few can be traversed with ease; but
none, except perhaps the most important one which goes between Utraula
and ISTawabganj, are absolutely impassable. A large sum of money has
been appropriated to its repair, and it is to be hoped that by next year the
rice carts will be able to reach their markets with moderate efforts and in
a reasonable time.

Further details may be given from official sources. The first road is
that connecting Fyzabad with Gonda; this is a metalled
Koads. Qjjg^ g^j^(j j[g twenty-eight miles in length. The stages

are — Nawabganj bazar, four miles from Fyzabad; Wazirganj, eight miles
further; Darzi-ka-Klian, eight miles; and then Gonda, eight miles. The
rivers are the Sarju and Tirhi; the former crossed just near Fyzabad, and
the latter near Nawabganj. The road tha.t branches off from this imperial
road is from the 23rd milestone to Bahramghat on the Gogra. (2). —
From Nawabganj to XJtraula, north-west. This is thirty-six miles long; and
the stages are— Bhitaura, eleven miles from Nawabganj ; Rahra, thirteen
miles further ; Pihar, six miles ; and Utraula, six. The rivers are the
Chamnai, the Manwar, and the Bisuhi, all of which are crossed by wooden
bridges. (3.) — ^From Nawabganj to Colonelganj. This road is thirty-five
miles long, and the stages are— D^rjanpur, six miles from Nawabganj ; Beh-
sand, eleven milesfurther ; Paraspur, nine miles; and Colonelganj, nine miles..
The Tirhi near Dilrjanpur is crossed by a wooden bridge.

504 GON

The following roads are the medium of communication with the head-
quarters town of the district : — (a.) — From Gonda to Begamganj, the
tahsil station. (6.) — From Gonda to Bahraich, the head-quarters town of
the district of that name ; this runs for 16 miles within this district, (c.)
From Gonda to Utraula. (d.) — Gonda to Colonelganj. (fe.) — Gonda to
Bahrampur.

The details are as follow : —

From Gonda to Begamganj, district Gonda. This is 16 miles long, and
the stages are — Dirsllja, 8 miles from Gonda; and then Begamganj, 8 miles
from Dirslija. This road crosses the Tirhi river by a wooden bridge.

From Gonda to Colonelganj, district Gonda, and Bahramghat, district
Bara Banki. This is 29 miles long, and the stages are — Butpur, 7 miles
from Gonda; Colonelganj, 8 miles further; Katra, 7 miles; and Bahrampur, 7
miles. This road crosses the Sarju and Tirhi rivers.

From Gonda to Bahraich, in the district of Bahraich. This road passes
for 16 miles throughout this district ; the only stage is Chitauni, 11 miles
from Gonda.

From Gonda to Bahrampur, district Bahraich. This road passes for 28
miles throughout this district; the stages are — Gilauli, 8 miles from Gonda ;
Maharajganj, 9 miles further. The river is the Bisuhi.

From Gonda to Utraula. The stages are — Sundarsa, Srinagar, and
Chamrupur. This road crosses the Bisuhi and Kuwana streams, both of
which are bridged.

The other district roads connecting one place with another are —

(1.) Colonelganj to Maharajganj. This is 11 miles long ; the stages are
— Katra, 8 miles from Colonelganj ; Kusar Bhawan Bazar, 9 miles further ;
and Mahdrajganj, 11 miles. The only river it crosses is the Tirhi.

(2.) Colonelganj to Bahraich. This passes for only 8 miles throughout
this district, and the only stage is Kumrallahpur Bazar.

(3.) Utraula to Tulsipur, both in district Gonda. This is only 16 miles
long. The stages are — Bhosailwa, 8 miles from Utraula ; and Tulsipur, 8
miles from the former. It crosses the Rapti and Burhi Rapti rivers.

(4.) Khargupur to Chaudhri Dfh, in the Gonda district. This is 31 miles
in length, and the stages are — Katra, 9 miles from Khargupur; Karmaite,
10 mUes further ; and Chaudhri Dih, 8 miles. This crosses the Kuwana
and Rapti rivers.

(5.) Balrampur to Ikauna. This road is 14 miles in length, and the
stages are — Gugurpur, 9 miles from Balrampur; and Ikauna, 7 miles
further. This road crosses no river.

GON 505

CHAPTER 11.
THE PEOPLE.

Population— Brahmana, Chhattris, AWrs, Kahars, Pasis, Chai and Kewats— The Blianda^
Aboriginal tribes— The Barw&s, their origin, religion, thieving customs— Trades and
manufactures— Eight of inheritance — Rights of residents in a village— Principal
landed proprietors, and how assessed— Division of property among the castes and
tribes — Construction of dwelling-houses — Clothing — Diet — Freedom from poverty-
Language — Literature — Religion, deities and superstitions — Places of pilgrimage —
Various castes and their customs — Local measures, weights, trade.

The total population of 1,167,816 is distributed over 2,818 demarcated
. towns and villages, and 8,628 hamlets or detached

gpu a ion. homesteads. The average per cultivated acre over

the whole district is l'o7, and varies from 2'12 in Nawabganj to eight in
Tulsipur. Population gradually decreases in density from the extremely
high average of 730 to the square mile in the south-western pargana of
Guwarich, to 161 in Tulsipur; the average over the whole district being
444'5. Three souls occupy a single house, and 4'6 eat from one hearth.

To a hundred males the agricultural Hindus have 929 females, while
among the agricultural Muhammadans the proportion is 95 o. In the
towns the percentage of Hindu females is slightly higher, and of the
Muhammadan rather less. As is the case almost e%'erywhere, the differ-
ence is confined to the children ; the adult females being a little in excess
of the adult males. There are only 88 Hindu girls to 100 boys, while
there are 319 women for 318 men. There are good grounds for thinking
that female infanticide, if not unknown, is comparatively rare. The Raj-
puts of the district are few in number, and not of
TheBrahmans. ruinously higli families. Brahmans are by far the

most numerous caste, heading the list with 203,149. They are almost all
of the Sarwaria (Sarjuparia, citra Gogra) division, with a slight sprinkling
of Gaurs, Kanaujias, and Sangaldipis. Though not quite so high in general
estimation as the Kanaujias, they excel them in strictness of life, and
entirely reject the use of the huqqa or tobacco. Their gotras have the
same names as those of other divisions of the caste — Pandes, Tiwdri,
TJpaddhia, Chaube, Dube, Ojha, and the rest. A few of the curious gotra
of Tirghnaits which I had thotight peculiar to Partabgarh formed part of
the army of colonists which Ali Khan brought into Utraula. The Brah-
mans of Gonda have long been famous for their turbulence and
military efEciency, and they were not the least important element in the
forces of the great Bisen rajas. Their inbred love of fighting still shows
itself in the constant riots which are the despair of our district officers.
"With the exception of the Pathans of Utraula, the
The Chhattris, ruling classes are everywhere Chhattris, of which the

principal families are the Kalhans of Chhedwara and Babhnip^ir, the
Bisens of Gonda and Manikapur, the Bandhalgotis of Manikapur and
Nawabganj, the Janwars of Balrampur, and Goraha Bisens of Mahadewa.
With the exception of the latter, none of these families have very numer-
ous representatives, and the great majority of the 49,313 Rajputs of the

506 GON

district claim a common Bais origin, and are known by various local desig-
nations.

After the Brahmans the most numerous class are the Ahlrs, with a total
of 122,106. They almost all belong to the Gwdlbans
"^^' division, and make excellent cultivators.

Next come the Koris with 110,916, and after them the Kurmis with
92,391, of which those to the north of the district
oris. urnua. 'beiong to the Gujarati sub-division, while those in the
south are called Khurasia after the great Kalhans raj.

There are 44,978 Kahars, and of these theGharuks of GondaandMahadewa
are most numerous, and supply a large number of our
Kaiiars. bearers. Even before annexation they used to wan-

der all over northern India, from Calcutta to Bombay and Peshawar, in
search of service in English families, and they are distinguished by their
general honesty and intelligence. The Kahfc around Colonelganj are
Bots, and also supply a large number of servants. Those in the north,
Gurias, are generally employed either in agriculture or ferrying and fishing
the numerous streams.

Basis, though occasionally found in that position, do not enjoy the same
monopoly of the village chaukis as their brethren in
western Oudh. Araks very frequently hold the
post, but the Khatiks supply the majority both of watchmen and of
thieves.

Along many of the rivers and lakes are found members of the Chai and

Kewat castes. They gain a precarious life by fishing

Chai and Ke-wats. ^^^ conveying travellers in their boats, and remember

with some pride their extraction from the terrible Nishadas of early Hindu

legend.

The Bhands, who along the Ganges are notorious as professional pimps,

occur here as good cultivators and even village lessees,

™ ■ with a leisure devotion to Bacchus and Terpsichore.

Two very singular tribes, the Tharus and the thieving Barwfc, in this

district are almost peculiar to Tulsipur and Gonda, and are described under

those parganas.

The remnants of the aboriginal tribes, though not strong in point of
numbers, are various in kind. Scattered over the
Aboriginal tribes. district we find Tharus, Bhars, Doms, Basis, A'raks,

Khatiks and Nats. Of these, the first three are the pioneers of cultivation.
Squatting at the edge of the jungle, they clear the trees and prepare the
land for tillage, only to leave it, when the task is accomplished, to the
steadier industry of the Kurmi or the Ahlr. They retreat further and
further north with the retreating forest, and will perhaps eventually dis-
appear altogether. The Bhars are known as keen sportsmen and good shots
with their exceeding rough matchlocks.

Among the castes of Gonda special mention must be made of the

, Barwars, a predatory tribe, which presents a curious

e arwars. instance of the tendency to subdivision so common in

GON 507

earlier times. They are, as the following extracts from a police report
testify, a tribe of Kurmis which, from a love of theft, separated from the
main stock some four hundred years ago. They now inhabit forty-eight vil-
lages in Gonda, and number 1,000 heads of families. They annually scatter
over the country in gangs of forty or fifty; they rob temples, but they will
not steal cattle. They divide the spoil in fixed proportions, having first
assigned exact percentages to their peculiar deities. They pretend to be
Brahmans, hoping to cover their crime with the cloak of sanctity. Their
women enter into the closets of devout females, perform their orisons with
veiled faces, and rob their congregation of earrings and nose-rings while
they pretend absorption in the deity. Others, again, when respectable
women are bathing, approach them in couples, wait till the women have
laid their valuables on the ground, then one performs an ofiice of nature,
and when the women modestly avert their faces, the other runs away with
the property. Their principal resorts are the banks of the Ganges at the -
great fairs of Bithur, Prag, and Benares ; they also attend those of Debi Pa-
tan, Ajodhya and Bahraich. The clothes of the worshippers left on the sands
while the owners are bathing are the principal spoil; one man stands in front
of the garments and spreads out his own shawl under the pretence of folding
it ; behind the curtain so formed an accomplice disappears with the plunder.
Another, when a man goes into the river, leaving his bundle of clothes on
the bank, leaves another made up of rags beside it, and follows the stranger
into the water ; he takes care to come out first and get away with the wrong
bundle, leaving his own in its place. The Barwars travel by train; and when
not watched, manage to take up valuables belonging to other passengers
and throw them out of the train ; confederates follow along the line and
pick up what is lying beside the rails. The Barwars, when dividing their
spoil, first make a deduction of 3f per cent., or Rs. 3-12 in the 100, for
their gods.

This they divide as follows : — Mahabir Re. 1-4, Bdlapir Re. 1-4. and Debi
Re. 1-4. Withal, they have no objection to robbing in the temple of Debi,
or even despoiling the shrine itself The only sacred places which they
must not plunder are the temple of Jaganndth at Pooree in Orissa, and the
tomb of the Moslem martyr Sayyad Salar at Bahraich.

Their origin is given as follows in the police report : —

" It has been ascertained, after a careful enquiry, that Kurmis originally
inhabited the tracts including Batya, Patna and Azimabad, and were known
by the appellation of Patrya. More than four centuries ago one of the tribe
was ploughing a field close to a river. A woman who belonged to the family
of a rich banker came to the river bank to bathe, and having taken off her
necklace of pearls of great value, put it on the ground and went into the
water A kite or crow took the pearl necklace in its elaws or beak and Qew
away.' This jewel fell into the field which the Kurmi was ploughing. He
took it up, was pleased with the prize, and went home and gave it to his
wife. He' then thought to himself that when a bird could take away such
a valuable article, why should not he, who was a human being, betake to
freebooting.

"After considering this matter deeply he started on a journey, and in a
short time obtained so great wealth that all his forefathers could not

508 GON

have earned by means of ploughing. Flushed with this success, he spent
the whole of the remainder of his life in predatory occupations, and laid the
foundation of the Barwar clan. He proselytised one hundred men of his
class, who after his death made further improvements in their art of free-
booting. But the rest of the clan who still adhered to their peaceful occu-
pation of agriculture, excommunicated, and even turned them out of their
villages. The party was then small in number, and began to live a
nomadic life in the groves of Patna, and subsisted on no other occupation
than freebooting."

They are next compared with the Sunorias, another predatory tribe as
follows : —

" In the month of November or December of every year, the Barw^rs,
having consulted the astrologers as to some propitious time about the day
of the Dasahra festival, and Sunorias, after the Dewali, go out of their
village and hold a meeting, and their females serve them with their meals
,on the occasion. Thenceforth they proceed on their thieving expeditions
to distant countries. These ceremonies are identical among both tribes ;
but the modes of their thieving are different.

" The arts of thieving of one tribe do not agree with those of the other,
though the movement of fingers and sitting on knees of a Barwar resemble
those of a Sunoria. The Barw4rs of Gonda are more expert in their pro-
fession than the Sunorias. Among the latter, if any one renounces the
profession of thieving, he is debarred from marrying among his brethren ;
but a Barwar by doing so is only excluded from a share in the booty, pro-
vided he is found capable physically of carrying on thieving. The Sunorias
hire children of any class, and join even Cham^rs to assist them in thieving;
but the Barwars exclude children and people of other classes from their
profession with jealousy.

" Both tribes are very dexterous in committing robberies in a railway
train. Each gang of the Sunoria tribe does not amount to less than forty
or fifty men, while those of the Barwars vary from twenty to fifty men per
body. As the Sunorias sell their stolen articles at half-price to the mah^-
jans, so do the Barwars dispose of their booty to their leaders at a similar
price. When they are in a foreign country the people of both tribes
change their proper names. If a Sunoria boy happen to miss the sleight
of hand which he was taught to practise, he is punished ; but the Barwdrs
do not teach their children the art, and leave them to their own discretion.
The Sunorias have an umpire among them called ' Nuhri,' who collects
the dues and settles their disputes ; but the Barwars never had any.

" Some disguise themselves as mendicants, soldiers, tradesmen, shop-
keepers, &c. In short, they assume such different forms and appearances
as none but those acquainted with them could recognise them to be thieves.
They paint their foreheads, wear Brahmanical threads, dhotis, &c., like
learned Brahmans ; keep a bag of beads on their shoulders, shave their
beards and mustachios, and apparently go about and behave decently.

GON 509

" They generally keep a brass vessel with a string tied to it, and a stone
pot tied in a cloth. They generally go about with naked backs, and carry
some grain or dry meal tied in a bag, and a stick in their hand. Thus
they stroll about in a most simple, dejected, and solemn manner, exciting
commiseration ; but they really look about for their prey, and are most skilful
and vigilant in the art of thieving. On being aslied who they are, they
generally call themselves Brahmans or Chhattris, and on being appre-
hended they call themselves Kurmis, Koris, Tamolis, &c., and say that they
were bound on a pilgrimage to a certain sacred place. They never divulge
their real names. They often go thousands of miles, and though flogged
and imprisoned they seldom or never return withoxit booty."

Their religious ceremonies are described also : —

" They know no other art or profession than that of thieving. They pass
their days in utter barbarism, and are quite foreign to the duties of a human
being towards God and man. Their art of thieving is their only god of
worship. Although they profess the Hindu religion, and their ceremonies
and manners resemble those of the different low-caste Hindus, such as
Ahirs, Kurmis, Kachhis, &c., yet they have their own tutelary god, called
Panch Puria, who is not recognised by any other class of the Hindus.
Each Barwar family keeps a small altar in honour of this tutelary god in
his house, in the shape of a tomb, at which, in the month of Bhadon
(August) of every year, on the third or fifth day of the first half month,
he sacrifices a domestic fowl and bakes thin loaves of bread called ' lugra/
and then gives both the bread and meat of the sacrificed fowl, together
with cooked dal of gram, to a Musalman beggar, who goes about from
house to house beating on a kettle-drum.

" Their other god of worship is Balapir, or Sayyad SaMr Masaud Ghazi,
whose tomb lies at Bahraich in Oudh. The tomb is enclosed with a
masonry wall all round. The man was a bigoted Muhammadanof Ghazni,
and had made an invasion on India, raised a crescentade, and was killed at
Bahraich in an engagement with Raja Sohel Deo of Bahraich. Like the
low-caste Muhammadans, such as Kunjras (vegetable-dealers), cotton-
dressers, weavers, glass bangle-makers, cooks, bhatiaras, pedlars, &c., the
Barwars also make every year a pilgrimage to the tomb to offer a banner,
and do not commit theft within the enclosure of the tomb, nor at the fair
held on the occasion. Their third deity is Debi Bhaw^ni, but they do not
place much faith in her. Besides these gods and goddesses, the Barwars
worship every other god of the Hindus, but, with the exception of Bahraich
and Pooree Jagannath, the Barwars spare no temple or holy place from
their depredations."

In this purely agricultural district there are no manufactures, except those
Trades and manu- of coarse cotton cloth and brass pots for local use, and
factures. no important trades. Professional carriers are little

known, and the cultivators usually bring their grain to market in their
own carts. The census return, with two towns of between ten thousand
and fifteen thousand inhabitants, three between five and ten, three between
four and five, seven of three thousand and odd, and twenty-three above
two thousand, is likely to create a false impression. The five that head the

510 GO]^

list are certainly towns in the ordinary sense of the word; but of the rest,
the majority are merely arbitrary collections of small hamlets, many of
them owing their existence to the caprice of the demarcation department.
Tulsipur, for instance, in Nawabganj, with a returned population of 4,215,
Ratna Garah with 3,402, Ujjaini with 2,812, are large tracts covering
several square miles, and including a number of diminutive settlements, of
which probably no single one has more than 500 inhabitants. Except as
enormous land properties, they are of no further importance to any one
than the little villages in their neighbourhood, and not nearly as important
as numbers of towns with a population of less than 750 ; such, for instance,
as Bank, the centre of an old revenue division, with its market and sugar
manufactory.

At the head of the society of the district stood the ruling Chhattri or
Muhammadan families. Of these, the Goraha Bisens of
Eight of inheritance, jjahadewa alone exemplified the pure democratic form,
each member of the family being equal in position and receiving an equal
portion in the inheritance of the clan. All the other great clans adhered
to the monarchical constitution, the representative of the eldest branch
retaining supreme political authority over the whole of the ancestral
domain, while the younger branches were provided for, sometimes by an
arbitrary assignment for their support. In either case, on the failure of
heirs in the direct line, the portion of a younger branch reverted to the
raja, and not, as with the democratic society, to the nearest of kin.

The raja's pi'incipal attributes were the collection of the Government
share of the produce, wherever it had not been alienated in favour of a cadet
of the family ; absolute authority in matters of foreign policy ; the right to
levy rates for such purposes as the repair of the central fort or arming the
clan forces ; and powers of justice and registration or confirmation in cases
of important disputes or alienations of property among his subjects.

The exercise of the first of these rights was always interfered with, and
sometimes actually restrained by the nfizim, and it depended entirely on the
physical resources of the raja whether the sum exacted at Lucknow left a
considerable balance out of the pargana collections for his use, or nothing
at all. Of his remaining rights, he retained full possession down to annexa-
tion. His position then bore a very close resemblance to what that of his
trans-Gogra peers had been seventy years earlier.

After the raja, with his bhaiband of powerful chieftains, came the village
proprietors. These differed from the village zamindars of southern Oudh
in having owed their status in almost every case to birt from the raja or a
member of the chieftain's family. The rights conveyed by these birts as
against the raja varied infinitely both in degree and kind, and the varia-
tions, being local, will both be more appropriately treated of under the
pargana headings. In every case they conveyed the whole management of
the village, the superintendence of the grain division, and the preservation
of internal security, together with a certain proportion of the Government
share of the produce, and the small village dues, such as the blankets
from the shepherd^ and two or three days' gratuitous labour in the year
from low-caste cultivators. The position .of the remaining village servaiits

GON 611

— the carpenter, the blacksmith, the cowherd, the washerman, and the
barber — need not be described here. The patwari and chaukidar, who
used to be remunerated partly by small assignments of land and partly by
trifling dues, have now acquired something of the character of Government
servants, and receive a fixed salary.

The ordinary cultivators had no special rights in any particular plot of
land ; but if they were resident in the village, they were
in f ^ili^ "^ residents entitled to hold a definite area, commonly calculated
" ^^'^' on the number of ploughs in their possession, at the

customary rates. If the whole village was thus occupied, outsiders would
not be permitted to make a settlement. And in any case pahikasht culti-
vators do not appear to have been invested with any right beyond the receipt
of the customary share of the produce of the land cultivated by them
during the current year. It may be doubted whether the most oppressive
landlord ever in any case even attempted to collect more than this custom-
ary share, and a stipulation securing the proper division of the grain was
not an infrequent feature in leases granted to the village heads by the
Government official or local chieftai^i.

Our administration has endeavoured, as far as possible, to maintain this
state of things. The great chieftains are now in the position of malguzars
for their respective parganas, or sh-ares of parganas, and the moderation of
the assessments is some compensation for the inevitable loss of political
status consequent on the introduction of a powerful central Government.
The village heads have generally been assured by decree of a certain pro-
portion of the rents of the village, and it perhaps is too early to form
an opinion of the effect of the Rent Act on the position of ordinary
cultivators.

This is pre-eminently the district of large landed properties, and twenty-
Principal landed OH© taluqdars hold estates covering 1,341,448 acres, and
proprietors, and how including 1,993 whole villages and 199 shares ; 875
assessed. viUages or shares are held on the ordinary tenure by

small proprietors. The principal estates are those of the Maharaja of
Balrampur with 568,188_ acres. Raja Krishan Datt Ram Pande with
226,871 acres, and Maharaja Man Singh with 201,734 acres, or 888, 354,
and 304 square miles, respectively. The taluqas are assessed at Rs. 12,77,262,
which falls at the rate of 15 annas per acre on entire area, while the
mufrad or small proprietors are assessed at Rs. 4,22,121 on a total area of
408,030 acres, giving a revenue rate of Re. 1-0-6 per acre. The apparent
advantage on the side of the taluqdars is due to the fact that the Maharaja
of Balrampur holds the whole of the immense thinly-populated and poorly-
cultivated plains of Tulsipur, and has, besides, one-tenth of the revenue of
Balrampur proper, an area of nearly 400 square miles, remitted as reward
for loyal services. As a rule, consideration has been had for large copar-
cenary bodies of village proprietors, and they have been assessed lower in
proportion to the area of cultivated land in their possession than the more
considerable landowners. Th« settlement returns in this district _ have
only been partially compiled, and the decision of claims to proprietary
rights is far from completed, so that it is impossible to give any idea of the
extent and value of sub-proprietary tenures, and it is not certain that the

512

GON

figures given above are absolutely correct ; but the error, if there is one, is
so slight as to be practically unimportant. The figures of the final assess-
ment have been given.

The following table exhibits the transfers of landed property and houses
almost entirely the former. The proportion of transfers to the entire property
of this district is much smaller than in others ; but then the settlement
department was at work recently, and it deters owners from transfers.

Statement showing the aggregate value of property transferred hy
documents registered in 1873-74.

No, of dee

ds.

Amount.

Description.

1873.

1874.

Total.

1873.

1874.

Total.

Kemarks.

Deeds of sale o£

Es.

Es.

Es.

Es. 100 and upwards.

150

152

302

79,968

1,05,294

1,85,262

Deeds of sale, less

than Es. 100

101

97

198

.'),138

4,282

9,420

Deeds of mortgage.

Es. 100 and upwards.

562

315

877

1.77,625

1,53,945

3,31,570

Deeds of mortgage,

^

less than Es. 100 ...

222

222

13,179

13,179

Deeds of gift

4

4

8

305

...

305

Total

817

790

1,607

2,63,036

2,76,700

6,39,736

Statement showing the names of taluqdars paying above Rs. 5,000 in
the district of Gonda.

Names of taluqdars.

Names of taluqas.

H

p >

Area in acres.

Govemtnent
jama.

Es. A. P.

"

Sir Dighijai Singh Bahadur ...

Balrampur, Tulsipur

658

.582,181

4,20,445 0 0

Maharaai Subhao Kunwar ...

Bishambharpur ...

276

202,736

2,43,143 1 3

Raja Krisihan Datt Eam

SJngha Chanda

441

238,884

2,66,704 12 2

Maharaja Kharak Singh of

Parsoli

3

631

291 0 0

Kapurthala.

Eaja Eandhir Singh

Paraspur

49

27,717

34,413 9 9

Eaja Sitla Bakhsh Singh of

Jairamjot

3

932

1,575 0 0

'rangwal.

Eaja Sher Bahadur

Kamiar

46

23,212

21,818 3 4

Eani Saltanat Kunwar

Manikapur

177

53,124

41,900 2 8

Eaja Mumtaz All Khan

Utraula

46

18,534

17,695 0 0

Eani Sarafraz Kunwar

Babhnipair

105

30,6:i0

34.506 0 0

Thakurain Birjraj Kunwar ...

Birwa

88

34,942

42,185 0 0

Thakur Eaghbir Singh

Dhandwan

48

17,148

25,549 8 5

Thakurain Sukhraj Kunwar...

Deotaha

35

31,443

24,330 0 0

Mahaut Harcharan Das

Basantpur

32

12,342

19,798 0 0

Thakur Mirtunjai Bakhsh ...

Shiihpur

44

16,187

21,924 4 2

Thakur Nipal Singh

Paska

34

43,294

2,3,028 0 0

Babu Sukhraj Singh

Ata

17

11,298

14,355 0 0

Pande Harnarain

Nerora

24

6,369

10,728 0 0

Eande Sital Parshad

Binduli

17

6,642

11,296 0 0

Bhayya Harrattan Singh ..

Anmorahdeha

42

15,8.52

7,596 1 10

Mehndi Ali Khan and Khuda-

Ahlra

39

18,884

16,915 0 0

yar Khan.

Mussammat Eaj Bibi

Brail

30

11,396

11,050 0 0

Kirpa Shankar and Newal Kae

Bishambharpur ...
Total ...

16

8,117

7,945 0 0
13,19,188 11 7

2,270

1,412,485

GON

513

Statement exhibiting distnbution of landed property aoaording to caste of

proprietors.

Villages.

Total area in
acres.

Caste.

Hadbast
mauzas.

DAkhili
mauzas.

~i35
47

"3

15

"28

7
1

Total.

Chliattri Bxseu
Do, Kalhans
Do. Bhadwarla
Do, Janwar
Do. Sombansi
Do. Baia
Do. Chauhan
Do, Bandhalgoti
Do. Barnar
Do. Kataha

57

29

1

3

1

r

1

12

10

3

372

300

1

662

6

10

1

20

11

4

507

347

1

665

21

10

1

48

18

5

166,161

183,342,

161

575,101

2,114

5,394

337

8,509

3,791

1,691

Total Chhattris ...

124

1,387

236

1,623

946,601

Brahman Sarwaria
Do. Kanaujia
Do. of other tribes ...

395
12

22

609
9

277

&95

211
5

45

820

14

322

336,820

5,135

212,506

Total Brahmans ...

429

261

1,156

554,461

Mahant Goahaiu

Bairagi

Faqir JS"anak Shahi

40
14

1

68
2
3

21

20
2

89

22

5

36,697
3,660
S,11S

Total Faqi'rs ...

55

73
121

1

2
o

2
1
1
2
1
1

43

UG 43,472

Kayath

74

33

154 1 44,370

Khattri
Kurmi
Kalar

Dhusar Banian
Jat _
Baqqal
Bhat

Panjabi '
Kandu

1
3
1
1
1
1
6
1
1

1
'"5

1
3
2
2

139

597
570
869
177
600
729
714
1,741

6,136

Total Khattris, Bani-
ans, Panjdbis &o.

16

13

6

19

Musalman Sayyad
Mirza
;; Shekh
,, Pathan
,, Faqir
,, Mughal

Bhand
„ Tawayaf

43
4
53
62
2
2
1
3

47

6

55

201

'"4
1
1

13

3
16
24

2

"1

2

60
9

71
225
2
4
2
3

14,447

2,666

20,009

84,650

28

982

41

384

Total Musalmana ...

170

315

61

376

123,267

Europeans (grantees)
Government properly

6
1

8
22

"4

8
26

19,669
19,092

Total Europeans and
Government ...

7
875

30

4

34

38,761

a Khalaa... 2,803

Gband Totai, ...

a 2,834

644 ' 3,478

1,757,068

Grants... 31
Total ... 2,834

KK

514 GON

Houses are built with mud and thatched, though the effect of the dimi-
nution of waste land may in places be seen in the
dw^miTouses. °^ "se of tiles for the roof. It is customary for the
zamindar to supply material — wood, bamboos, and
thatching grass — gratis, and the labour of the settler, assisted by his family
and friends, soon runs up the mud walls. If a man leaves the village, his
connection with the house ceases, and the zamindar resumes possession.
A small fee, amounting in ordinary cases to a rupee, is commonly paid for
the use of the ground when a new house is built, but no further rent is
charged. The houses of the poorer classes consist of a small courtyard
with oblong huts built against two or three of the walls. Inside the huts
hollow pillars of mud and wattle preserve the store of grain, and give
additional stability to the thatch. Grain receptacles of the same construc-
tion, known as dahris, are often built outside the house. The homes of the
zamindars and richer inhabitants of the village generally consist of two
or three courtyards with a broad verandah running along the inside of
the wall, in which the principal door is made. In this verandah carts are
kept, cattle stalled, and sojourning friends or faqirs entertained. Brick
houses are rare in large towns, and practically imknown elsewhere.

The clothing of the higher class of cultivators
'"^' for one year consists of the following articles, at the

subjoined prices : —

Es. A. P.
A pair of dhotis or waiat-clotlis ... ... ... 2 0 0

An angauohha or long-cloth, whicli serves as pocket hand-
kerchief, head covering, or purse ... ... 0 6 0

Two pair of leather shoes ... ... ... 0 12 0

Two mirzais or jackets .. . ... ... ... 1 8 0

A turban ... ... ... ... ... 10 0

Two sheets ... ... ... ... ... 2 0 0

Two small skull caps ... ... ... ... 0 3 0

A tobacco-pouch ... ... ... ... 0 10

7 14 0

All these are usually made of white cotton stuff, and serve for the
summer wardrobe. For the winter there are required besides —

Es. A. P.
A coarse woollen blanket ,., ... ... 0 14 0

A quilted jacket ... ... ... ... 14 0

A double sheet or galef ... ... ... ... 2 8 0

A doga or large quilt ... ... ... ... 3 0 0

7 10 0

All these will with ordinary care last for two years. They are_^ of various
tints of yellow, brown or dull red.

A woman in the same rank requires for her summer wear —

Two lahngas (petticoats)

Three dupattas ... ...

Four kurtas (jackets) ...

A dhoti for making bread ... ..,

7 12 0

Rs.

A. P.

2

8 0

3

0 0

1

4 0

1

0 0

tls. A.

P.

0 14

0

2 8

0

0 12

0

OON 515

And for wmter —

A blanket ... ...

A doga

A quUted kurta

4 2 0

In her case, too, the winter clothes should last two years. On this scale>
taking half the cost of the winter garments, the expenses of a married
couple in the year would amount to Rs. 12-8. It need hardly be said that
only wealthy cultivators or small zamindars can afford clothing of this
amount and quality. It is very hard to say what the cost of clothes amounts
to in the case of the very poor. They, in many instances, take raw cotton
in part payment of wages, and their wives work it up into a coarse fabric
at their homes.

The inhabitants of Gonda eat about the same quantity of food as those of
other parts of upper India, — one ser or two pounds
weight per diem being a fair average for a healthy man.

Those who can afford it, live chiefly on wheat, which they vary with
rice and pulses, and savour with a little ghi and salt. The staple diet of
the multitude is Indian-corn, barley, and the coarser and cheaper grains.
Wheat they can rarely get, and pulses never. Even salt, that prime neces-
sary, is for them a luxury, to be sparingly enjoyed every third or fourth
day. In this particular they are worse off than the people of southern
Oixdh, vnth their saliferous plains, and opportunities for illicit manufac-
ture. It is not till he has gone into these subjects in detail that a man
can fully appreciate how terribly thin the line is which divides large masses
of the peo23le from absolute nakedness and starvation. However, there can
be no doubt that the thinness of the population, the extent of fertile
waste, and the extreme lightness of the summary settlement, have com-
bined to^ give this district an almost complete freedom from the worst
forms of poverty. Beggars are rare in the south, and
^^Freedom from po- u^jj^q^q j^ the north. The cultivators are well-to-
do and independent ; the village mahajan is far from
being the important personage which he is in the North-West Provinces,
and lessees or village zamindars are, at least in Tulsipur and parts of
Balrampur, compelled to leave a perpetual loan of about Rs. 10, free of
interest, in the hands of their principal tenants. A comparison of the
village customary rates of payment in Tulsipur and in Guwarich brings out

Slave plouThmeu ™*'^* clearly the relation of population to wages. All
° ' the wealthier cultivators own slave ploughmen, who
are known as sawaks, or rather sawaki harwahas. The word s^wak, which
is almost certainly derived from the Sanskrit shravaka, a bearer or pupil,
and is therefore identical with Sarawak, the modern name of the Jainis,
and which is also used in some Hindi dialects to denote an infant, is here
applied rather to the lien by which the servile status is created than to the
slave himself Men who are overwhelmed with debt, or whose family
affairs imperiously demand money, execute a deed by which, in considera-
tion of value received, they bind themselves and their posterity for ever to
do service to the lender. The consideration money varies with the neces-
sities of the borrower, but rarely exceeds two or is less than one hundred

KK 2 •

S16 GON

rupees. It is, in fact, little more than the price of a good pony. A man in
this position receives the fixed customary ploughman's share in the produce,
and, as this is not sufificient to maintain the life of himself and his family,
it is supplemented by contributions from his master, the value of which is
calculated at the market rate for the time being, and added to the principal
due on the bond servitude. It is, of course, quite obvious that the slave has
no means of destroying this lien, which constantly increases in weight; and
once a slave, he can never hope for freedom. His position is, however, much
alleviated by the high value of labour, and if, as is not often the case, his
master's rule becomes really opJ)ressive he finds no difficulty in re-selling
himself to a second purchaser, and, with the money thus acquired, buys
his freedom from his original owner. The system is not perhaps open to
great objections in the present state of things, but is sure to make a prob-
lem of some difEculty when the rapidly-increasing population reduces com-
petition of the labour-employers.

A modified and far less objectionable form of slavery is when a man
hires himself out for the year. His employer pays him a small sum, gene-
rally ranging from five to ten rupees, and he accepts for a whole year the
liabilities and the customary dues of an ordinary slave ploughman. At
the expiration of the term of his contract he is at liberty either to renew
it on the same conditions for another year, or to seek other employment.
In the latter case, an account is made of the amount he has received as
" ser" ( the one-ser-in-the-maund gratuity which every slave ploughman
receives in addition to his main due of one-fifth or one-seventh of the crop),
and this be is expected to refund. The tendency of this is naturally to
renew the engagement, and make the lien practically permanent.

The language of the district is a very pure Hindi, varying slightly in
Language. different parganas, but with a very rare use of Urdu

words, except in the Musalman raj of Utraula. It
differs from the dialects of southern Oudh in the more constant employ-
ment of the future terminations in "bo" and "be," while the auxiliary
"bate" is never used. A number of pure Sanskrit words, which I do not
remember having heard in any other district, give a poetical character to
the common speech, which is probably more like the itamdyaina of Tulshi
Das than that of any other .district in India,

Poetry is the only form of literature which yet maintains a vigorous
Literature. existence. It deals generally with the praises of the

rdja, or of a deity, the never-exhausted topic of the
changing seasons of the year, and, chief of all, the great battles of local
heroes. Of the latter, the most popular are the " Kharkhas " or sword songs
of Rdja Datt Singh of Gonda, which commemorate his victory over Aldwal,
Khan of Bahraich, and of Karimdad Khan, which describes the defeat of the
invading Gargbansis of Fyzabad by that chieftain. These poems are written
in the ordinary spoken dialect, and, though conventional expressions and
mnemonic repetitions of fixed phrases are of rather over-frequent occurrence,
they abound in passages of great vigour, and are heard with enthusiasm by
a village audience. The poets are always Bhats by caste, and the gift is
maintained in certain families, the principal of which is that of Sang^m
Sarfip of Guwarich, whose descendant, Shri Dhar, is now popular as an
improvisatore, These men wander from one chieftain's house to another, ^

GON 517

and the glorification, of their host is recompensed by presents of money,
horses, and elephants, or by a grant of land. A peculiar caste, called
Khmgaria, preserves and recites the classical legends.

The Mahardja ofBalrdmpur patronizes a number of men learned in
Sanskrit and Persian, and local pride points to his capital as a Chhoti
Kashi, a demidiata Benares. The original compositions of his munshis
a,nd pandits have more art and less spirit than the village songs, but his
lithographic press, by the occasional publication of really valuable works,
is of service to the literature of the district.

The Muhammadans form one-tenth of the whole population, and rather
Eeli "on d if d ™°^® ^^^"^ ^^^^ °f them are returned as agricultural,
superstitwns^^ ^^^' ^"^ They are most influential and most numerous in pro-
portion to the Hindus in the old Muhammad an raj
of IJtraula, where they form the majority of village proprietors. As
common cultivators they are very thick all over the north of the district.
Their religion is strongly tainted with Hinduism, and the services of the
Brahman astrologer are held in high estimation by high and low.

The most interesting local worships are generally those connected with
the tutelary deities of the village and the clan. Every village worships
its special diohar, the protector of the dih, or village site. Of those, the
most frequent is Kali, the dread wife of Shiva, whose mound is generally
just outside the village under the shade of a grove. After her comes
Hardewal or Hardeo, of whom I am not able to say whether he represents
the deity Hari or a deified mortal. Ratan Pande is responsible for the
welfare of many villages scattered all over the district, and takes rank as a
minor divinity. Another Pande named Manik, of whose history I have
been able to ascertain nothing, is occasionally burdened with the same trust.
By the border of tbe jungles, and generally under a sihora tree, may be
found the altar of Mari Bhawani, the goddess of death. A divinity or
devil of the Nat caste, named Nakt Bir, is here and there honoured with
offerings of ganja. Milk and rice are presented to the Agya Baital,also known
as Dano or Dan Sahib, whose asthan may be found in places along the crest
of the lower hills. This terrible demon feeds on dung beetles, and, sally-
ing forth at dusk, with a fire between his lips, tempts unwary wayfarers
from their path and destroys their reason. Travellers through the forest
cast a reverent stick on the heap sacred to Banspati Mai, the goddess of
the place. Raja Kidar ( Khwaja Khizr ) has been borrowed from the
Muhammadan legends about Alexander, and protects the boats of those
that call upon him from shipwreck on the rivers. The Kahars and Mallahs-
pay especial veneration to the memory of Nathu Kahar, who is said to have
been buried alive under the foundations of the fort at Akbarpur m Fyza-
bad, where a fair is held to his honour. Another popular object of worship
or fear is the goddess Samay, whose most famous haunts are at Hathni m
the Manikapur, and BheUa in the Sadullahnagar pargana. Her worship
is more general in the less thickly inhabited tracts, and m villages on the
border of a jungle.

"When a village is founded, the "dih" or site is marked off by cross stakes
of wood driven into the ground, which are solemnly worshipped on the day

518 GON

of the completion of tte settlement, and then relapse into neglect. Theses
crosses, which are known by the name " daharchandi," are especially frequent
and well-marked in Th^ru villages, where they may be found in groups of
ten or more at the edge of the cultivated lands-
More especially in the northern parganas are Jak and Jakin revered.
These are male and female, and usually protect separate, but contiguous
villages. Jak is supposed, from motives of gallantry, to carry off the pro-
duce of the village in which he resides and present it to the lady, whose
village is in consequence the more fertile of the two.

No one will plant a grove or dig a tank to the south of his house. The
knowledge of this custom may be found of importance for the settlement
of disputed village boundaries.

When cholera has settled in a village, the inhabitants, at the coimmand
of Bhawani, which she signifies through the divine possession of one of the
people, leave their houses and encajnp in a grove. After having spent a
few days in prayer, and offered sacrifices of grain, pigs, and goats according
to their means, they select a goat and tie on its back, in the manner in
which pack buUocks are loaded, a cloth steeped in turmeric, and full on
one side of rice, and on the other of barley. They then drive the animal
beyond the village boundary, beseeching the goddess to accept this as a
substitute for themselves. The goat henceforth belongs to her, and any
one who takes it will surely die. The divine inspiration is recognised by
gesture, for which the local name is " abhnand,." The victim lets his hair
loose and waves his head frantically from side to side, uttering incoherent
ejaculations. If he stands it is Kali, if he sits it is Bhawani, who has
visited him. The phenomenon occurs with people of all castes.

Good omens at the commencement of a journey are drawn from a jackal's
howl on the right hand, a loaded jackass, and a dog in the act of sacrificing
to Cloacina ; bad, from the sound of a potter's wheel, a goat's sneeze, a fox
crossing the path, and, worst of all, from meeting an oilman just outside
the village. A sneeze to the front or right hand is good, to the left bad.
A full pitcher or a snake swimming propitious ; £ pitcher empty, or snake
on the grormd unpropitious. Few things strike more coldly on an enter-
prise than a one-eyed man, who is upheld in proverbs as a monster of
villany and omen of every misfortune.

Bloody sacrifices, except at the Dasahra festival and the Debi Patau
fair, or the occasional immolation of pigs for cholera and small-pox, and as
a bait to catch bhuts and other village demons, are unknown. The usual
offerings are flowers, milk, and grain. Bhairon is conciliated by feeding
a black dog to surfeit, and the Bhtimia Rani, by spreading flat cakes and
sweetmeats on the ground, which, having been exposed for some time to
the sun, are eventually consumed by the worshipper and his family.

Image worship is but little known. In thakurdwaras are dolls represent-
ing the favourite incarnations of Vishnu, but they are even less the objects
of idolatry than the images of saints are to lower classes of Catholics. The
Saligram, or penates of each family or individual, is a small smooth pebble,
which the more devout will sometimes carry about with them wherever
they go, washing it periodically, and decorating it with flowers ; but in

GON 51&

purpose it seems, like the lingam of Shiva, to be merely symbolical. The
only figure I have seen worshipped is the mutilated statue of a warrior,
disinterred at Paras, which is revered, under the name Parasa Deo, as the
tutelary demon of the village.

The principal places of pilgrimage are the temple of Pateshwari Debi
r -1 • ^* Debi Pdtan, the thSkurdwara of the new Vaishnavi

Places of pilgnmaga. gect of Chhipia, and the temples of Baleshwarnath
MahMeo in Mahadewa, Karhnanath Mah^deo at Machhligaon, Bijleshwari
Debi at Balrampur, and Pacharandth and Prithwinath at Khargfipur.
Detailed accounts of each of these places will be found in other articles,
but this is the place to remark on the curious connexion which exists
between this district and Gujarat. The principal peculiar Hindu sects
here are the followers of the great Shankaracharya, whose system took its
rise in Gujardt, and the Gorakhnathi jogis, whose strange cultus is pecu-
liarly at home in that province. The connexion has been renewed in the
last century by the Chhipia sect, whose monastery here is governed by an
abbot at Jiiragkrh. Besides this, the principal Chhattri clans of the
district, the Kalhanses and the Janwfc, place their original home in the
neighbouring Baguldra, a tract between Gujarat and the sources of the
Godaveri, whence the family bards still come on their annual or biennial
visits.

A notice of the religion of the district would be incomplete without a
short description of the Goshains, or followers of

yanous castes and gijan]ja,r4charya, who are found here in considerable
numbers, and very frequently in the influential posi-
tion of large village proprietors and farmers.

The generic term is Gosh^in or Sanniasi, and they are divided into ten
padmis or classes, named after as many natural features, and in the fol-
lowing order of social estimation: 1, Gir; 2, Puri; 3, Bharthi; 4, Ban; 5, Aran ;
6, Saraswati ; 7, Tirth ; 8, A'sran ; 9, Sagar ; 10, Parbat,— i. e., the hill,
the town, the sacred land of Bharath, the wood, the forest,, the holy river,
the pUgrimage, the hermitage, the sea, and the mountain.

The first four classes are most frequent here. They are again divided
into those who have adopted a worldly life, and marry and give in marriage-
as other folk ; and those who observe the vows of their order. _ The latter
live in small maths or monasteries, and are strict celibates ; in fact, so
jealous are they on this point that they always travel in pairs, whom even
the most trivial occasions may not divide for a moment, lest temptations
fatal to the chastity of either should arise. They are held in good
estimation by other Hindus, and the highest castes will drink water from
their vessels. Their ranks are recruited by adoption from all castes, except
the very lowest, and when they die they are buried in a sitting posture,
and covered in first with salt, and then with earth. The Gorakhnath jogis
stand to these in something like the position of poor relations ; the con-
nection is acknowledged, but without pride. These are divided into four

classes ^the Kanphatas, the Janganis, the iSewaras, and the Alakhias.

The first is described in the articles on Debi Patau, where they are at
home. The three remaining classes are not very remarkable in a religious

520 GON

sense, being dirty impostors, with a pretence to low magic, who wander
about from fair to fair with a five legged cow, or some other natural or
artificial monstrosity, which they exhibit for alms, attracting spectators
by jingling a staff covered with cowries and ringing a bell. They are not
particular in the matter of food, but prefer taking charity, if possible, from
the true Goshains, and wiU use their maths as halting stages when on their
peregrinations.

Of the higher classes, the Chhattris are generally worshippers of some
efiigy of Shiva; the Brahmans, of some incarnation of Vishnu. The lower
are not much troubled with dogmatic theology, and when they have failed
with one deity will address their prayers to another, frequently turning as
a pis aller to some Muhammadan saint. Many a tazia is presented to
Imam Husen, many an offering made on the tomb of Ghazi Sayyad Saldr
at Bahraich, by devout Hindus, whose sickness they have cured or debts
alleviated. There is generally a very strong current of monotheism under-
lying their bizarre creeds, which is aptly expressed in the ^following
proverb: —

" Ma ma sab kihu kahe, bab^ tabe na koi ;
Mai ke darbar men jo bdba kabe so howe,"

- — i. e., every one calls on mother (Bhaw^ni), no one calls on father (the
Supreme Deity), yet what the father bids in the court of the mother shall
come to pass.

The local measures of length are based on the length of the fore-
Local measures of ^™^ ^^^ *^® stride of an ordinary man, and are as
length. follows: —

14 batb = l qadam,
2 qadams^l kasi,
20 kasis=l badh,
100 badbs = l kos.

A kachoha bigha is a square badh. Though these measures have no
unvarying standard, and are subject to considerable fluctuations, it will be
found, as a rule, that the- kasi is about five and the bMh about one hundred
feet. Thus, taking the kos, one hundred badhs of one hundred feet each
give ten thousand feet or 1899 of a mile, i. e., little short of two miles,
which comes very near what our experience teaches us a kos in these
parts to be. The traveller to the forests of Tulsipur will be astonished
to find that at every succeeding stage, the villager will put his destination
further and further off, Let him restrain his anger, for in the north the
kos is subject to sudden diminution, and decreases rapidly from nearly
two to little over half a mile.

The bigha of a square badh gives in the same way ten thousand square
feet, or one thousand one hundred and one square yards. The standard
bigha of settlement is three thousand and twenty-five square yards, or
2'72 kachcha bighas, which again is very near the mark. There are few
measurements that vary so much as the local bigha, and farmers wiU some-
times aim at a cheap reputation for liberality by ostentatiously reducing
their tenants' rate of rent, and at the same time diminishing the size of
the bigha. The desire to exaggerate the area of small plots of land has,

GON 521

in some parts of the district, reduced the bigha to less than one-third of
the settlement standard.

The standard weight for grain throughout the whole district is the
„ ^ ^ . Farukhabadi rupee of 1233 F., the san 33

Standard weights. ^^^^^ ^^ -^ -^ ^^^^j^^ rpj^j^ Contains one hundred and

seventy-two grains, and is reckoned in gandas of six. The ser is unknown,
and the panseri the universal unit of measurement. This almost all over
the district contains twenty-five of the above gandas of six Farukhabadi
rupees, and therefore equals in weight one ser, twelve chhat^ks, 4'1 tolas,
or nearly twenty-nine chhataks of Government standard, each ganda being
equal to 1146 standard chhatak. This measure, though by far the com-
monest, is not universal. In the great Nawabganj bazar the panseri
contains twenty-six, and at Colonelganj is sometimes reckoned at twenty-
eight gandas. In the Bhambhar division to the east of Tulsipur, the panseri
contains one hundred and fifty-two or three Farukhabadi rupees, i. e.,
25J or 25^ gandas. On the Ikauna boundary it is still larger, reaching
as much as twenty-eight gandas.

For silver the standard of weight is a Lucknow rupee of one hundred
and sixty-eight grains. The tola for weighing gold is ten rattis heavier
than the English rupee, or 198-755 grains.

The Thatheras used to weigh their vessels by a ser which was about equal
to lyth of the standard weight. The local ser has, however, in this trade
been almost completely superseded by the Government weight.

Grain is measured for division between the zamindar and the cultivator
in large baskets, called pathis. They have no standard of capacity, and
vary with every threshing-floor; as a rule they contain as much as two men
can lift comfortably, or from sixty to ninety English pounds.

In silver the native coinage has been entirely driven out of the market
by the standard rupee, and is only used for the manufacture of ornaments.
Native copper coins still keep their ground. Those in common use are the
small Gorakhpuri paisas. Their value is entirely dependent on the price
of grain, and varies from sixteen and a half gandas of four in a year of
scarcity to the present rate of twenty gandas to the rupee. As this copper
coinao'e is purely a subject of speculation to the money-changers and
bankers, it is curious that those of other mints than the Gorakhpuri, such
as the Maddu Sahi of Baiswara and the Lucknow paisas, are completely
kept out of the circulation.

The paisa is conventionally divided into twenty-five dams, and the con-
stituents of the dam are cowries, the lowest medium of exchange, the value
of these oscillating from the same causes, but more violently than that of
copper coins. At the highest they go eight gandas of four to the dam, at
the lowest sixteen gandas.

The direct foreign trade in this district takes three distinct directions —

to Naipdl, to Basti, and by the river route to lower

Foreign trade-its Bengal. The frontier of the Naip^l trade is the 36

irec loa. miles of the lower hills, divided from the inhabited

plains by a broad belt of forest, and twenty-two miles of eastern frontier

522 GON

to where the Ara nala joins the Burhi Rapti. About half this last distance
is occupied by forest, the other half by rich rice villages of the Bhambhar
division of Tulsipur.

Trade finds its way through the hill frontier by nine difficult passes, of
which only two are practicable to hill ponies. Their names are, 1, Jarwah ;
2, Bhusahar ; 3, Barahwa ; 4, Khangra ; 5, Nand Mahra ; 6, Baisimatha ; 7,
Kamri ; 8, Bhaishi ; 9, Bhach Kahwa. The principal Naipalese bazar
along their line is that of Deokhar. Through these pass thin streams of
small parties of hill-men, bearing deep baskets on their backs, who
exchange the products of Naipal for those of the plains.

The Ara nala is crossed about half-way between the forests and the,
Biirhi Rapti at the Parasrampur ferry, and there is a second ferry at Batahi
where the two streams meet, and a Basti road facilitates trade. Consider-
able quantities of merchandise pass by these routes between the Captain-
ganj and Taulihwa bazars and Gonda. A third medium of communication
is the great religious fair held at Debi Patan at the end of March, when
a large number of hill ponies are imported.

The principal ordinary imports from Naipal are spices, iron — rough and
manufactured into knives — felt, ghi, grass, mats, honey,
Imports from Naipdl, ^^^ charas ; the chief exports, country and English
made cloth and dried fish.

Exportation of rice There are no statistics to show whether rice

whS^^^'^rnd^'fenlrai ^^aves this district here, but the main exportation of
trade.' this grain is undoubtedly to Fyzabad and the west.

The second great division of our foreign trade is that with Basti and the
North-West Provinces. Our frontier for this consists of about 12 miles
east and west along the Burhi R^pti. Then 7 miles north and south of
undefended boundary abutting on the thin wedge of Balrampur which runs
in between Tulsipur and Utraula. Then 12 miles north-west and south-
east along the Rapti to the junction of that river with the Suwawan, fol-
lowed by 5 miles east and west along the Suwawan. Then 4 miles unpro-
tected and 17 miles along the Kuwana north-west to south-east, and finally
some 35 miles of undefended frontier from the Kuwana to the Gogra.

North of the Rapti the chief trade passes over the Tiknia or Parsanna
Ghat on the Burhi Rapti. The exports and imports, according to the
returns for this station last year, nearly balanced themselves at a value of
about Rs. 45,000, and the principal constituents in both were rice and
country cloth. There can be no doubt that this return does not cover the
whole trade, as a considerable amount must pass by other ghdts on the
Btirhi Rapti, and by the village tracks in the country between the rivers.

The second branch of this trade is with the great bazars of Biskohar
and Behtaria, and extends from the Rdpti and north frontiers of the Utraula
pargana to the commencement of the unprotected frontier of Babhnipair.
The main roads along which it passes are, first, rimning from Balrampur
through Utraula, leaving the district at the Materia Ghdt over the Ripti
and'; secondly, a kachcha cart-track running through the centre of the
district, and leaving it at the Chandiadip Ghat on the Kuwana in pargana

GON 523

SaduUalmagar. The imports by these two roads were last year rather over
Rs. 3,00,000 in value, and consisted almost entirely of rice, which, as this
is a great rice-exporting district, must eventually have passed through to
Nawabganj, to be sent from there to the west.

The exports were in value Pts. 2,50,000, and the main staples country
cloth, hides, and cotton. This includes the Rapti river traffic which is
registered at Materia.

Between the point where the Thiana leaves the district and the Gogra
lies, as has been stated, a space of between 35 and 40 miles of unprotected
frontier. In the Basti district, in this direction, are the bazars of Belna
and Sarnamganj. All the Babhnipair produce which is exported escapes
registration. Of this a part goes through a village called Dumaipur into a
Basti road leading to Sarn'amganj ; part cuts across the corner of Amorha
pargana between the parganas of Nawabganj and Babhnipair, and finds
its way to the considerable bazar of Shahganj in this district. From Shah-
ganj goods are exported partly to the Belna bazar in Basti, with which it is
connected by a good road, and partly by the Gogra to Bengal.

This summary covers all the trade lines between this district and other
provinces, with the exception of the great river route to lower Bengal.
The main depot for this is undoubtedly Nawabganj, from which goods are
shipped at any one of four ferries, the Raj Naia, Lachhman, and Mohna
Ghats, which the existing course of the river makes most convenient.

A registration office is kept up at Mohna Ghat for the six months of the
year during which the Miran Ghat bridge is down. In the other months
the barrier registration is considered sufficient. The returns of the Mohna
Ghat registration last year (1869-70) showed exports to the value of
Rs. 13,60,969, chiefly Indian-corn, peas, oil-seeds, and hides, and imports
to the value of Rs. 37,553, of which nearly Rs. 30,000 were for salt.

Besides the exports from Nawabganj there can be no doubt that con-
siderable quantities are shipped at ghdts further up the river, such as those
near Colonelganj, and timber and hides are exported still higher up. Again,
some exportation goes on lower down at the Lakarmandi Ghat from the
Shahganj bazar. The chief trade of the district is probably with Cawn-
pore, and beyond that the cotton country of Berar or the North- West Pro-
vinces. As it passes through other parts of Oudh before leaving the pro-
vince, there is no registration and no means of gauging its extent. Its two
principal lines are from the western and Bahraich Tarai through Bahraich
or Balrampur to Colonelganj, and from the eastern and Basti Tarais through
Utraula to Nawabganj. By these routes immense quantities: of the fine rice .
of the Sub-Himalayan low lands are poured out of the district. Most of it
is sold to grain factors at the principal bazars ; but the farmer will often
drive his cart as far as Cawnpore and bring back a load of cheap cotton
stuffs, and combine in his own person the merchant and the husbandman.
The principal ferries across the Gogra by which this trade leaves the
district have already been enumerated. It is probable that the railway to
Fyzabad will tend to concentrate it at the opposite bazar of Nawabganj.

524 GON

CHAPTER III.

AGRICULTURE.

Agriculture — Harvests— General agricultural features — Irrigation — Ploughing and Husbandry —
Prices — Fanaine prices — Former prices.

In other district accounts a special chapter has been given to agriculture:

this is hardly necessary here, as the subject has been

Agriculture. treated under the account of the adjoining and similar

district of Bahraich. The principal crops are given in the following table.

It appears that there are 993,858 acres under cultivation, in which, by a

system of double-cropping, 1,311,469 acres of crops are sown each year : —

The principal crop areas are 408,171 rice.

190,468 wheat.
108,200 barley.

95,035 juar.

85,519 arhar.

59,844 kodo.

52,910 alsi.

1,000,147

Seven crops, then, cover a million of acres, or three-fourths of the whole,
and the food-supplies can be estimated by calculating the out-turn of each
of the above. The kharif crop, that which is cut in October and December,
amounts to 619,292 acres; the spring, or rabi harvest, to 692,177 acres.

The out-turns are the same as in Bahraich, varying from about 1,900 lbs.
Out-turn. P®^ ^°^® *^f t^® b®^t ^i°6' to -500 fts. per acre of barley

or kodo. Sugarcane yields about 1,400 lbs. per acre
of yellow gur or raw sugar.

GON 525

Statement showing the area of crops in the disti'ict of Gonda.

N. B.

-Irrigated
Unirrigated

Acres.
245,000

811,000

Names of crops.

Total area.

Total area ob-
tained by deduct-
ing the double-
cropped area.

a,
1-

Paddy

Juar •••

Indigo

Oil-seed (Til)

Urd ...

Moth...

Mung...

Bdjra...

San ...

Sanwan ... ... ... „.

Kakun
Mendwa
Kodo ..
Patwa
Bhatwans
Cotton-seed
^Lobia...

408,171

95,035

342

3,476

36,719

4,181

114

896

272

4,986

175

2,201

59,844

9

62

3,818

1

-

Total Kharif crops

619,292

...

1.

Garden crops
Pan ...

Tobacco

SafHower (Kusam
Poppy
Sugarcane
Wheat

Gujai (mixture of gram and barley) ...
Gram
Lahi ...

Kerao (species of peas)
Peas ...
Khali...
Alsi (Linseed)
Barley
Ahsa ...
Arhar
Masur
Sarson
Rai ...
Birra,..
L Musk melon

4,215

157

397

154

12,411

10,891

173,068

54,814

120,466

28,836

26,482

17,764

1,174

52,910

73,848

163

85,619

25,245

1,089

85

2,484

15

4,162

157

383

144

11,115

10,810

131,485

41,564

43,351

23,042

8,311

5,561

6,046

24,391

42,218

50

13,161

11,860

678

80

1,402

7

Total rabi crops

692,177

374,566

Grand Total

1,311,469

993,868

Dufasli area
• Kemainder of area
Add new fallow ..,

317,611

99.3,858

62,620

Total cultivated area

1,056,378

..

526 GON

There are three harvests — the kharif, the henwat, and the rati — of which
H ests *^® relative importance varies in diiferent parts of the

district. In the centre table-land the rabi, and in the
north the henwat,. are most depended upon. In the south thejkharif,
when the rains are moderate, yields a magnificent out-turn of Indian-corn;
and excessive rains, while they are fatal to that particular crop, leave a fair
crop of rice, and secure an abundant wheat harvest in the rabi.

Ploughing for the kharif begins at the end of May, and continues
throughout June ; in the beginning of July the seed is sown, and cutting
commences with September — in the case of rice even earlier. By the
middle of October all the autumn crops are off the ground. Land for the
henwat or Christmas crop, is ploughed at the commencement of the rains
and the sowing continues during the growth of the kharif. If it is jarhan
( transplanted rice ), the planting out is done at the beginning of August,
and the cutting continues throughout November. In the middle of De-
cember the cutting of the oil-seeds commences, and it is all over by the
end of the first week of January. Preparations for the spring crop com-
mence before the rains set in, and in the case of wheat, the careful culti-
vator will give his field a ploughing in June, At the end of August
the field is again ploughed two or three times over, and the final
ploughing takes place in September. In October and November the land
is sown, and after the Holi, in the beginning of March, the fields are cut.
April is occupied in threshing and winnowing, and ' during the first half of
May the labourer gets his only holiday. At the end of May he manures
his fields against the coming rains. If there are exceptionally late rains,
the plough will be often run lightly over fallow and land just cleared from
the kharif, and wheat and barley sown broadcast. This method of sowino-
is known as chhitti bona, in contradistinction to kunr bona, or sowing in
the furrow. Even with this slight preparation a moderate return is often
secured.

It is difficult to give any precise limit, but an ordinary two-bullock
plough will suffice for the cultivation of about thirty kachcha bighas, or
between five and six acres. The area denoted conventionally as a plough of
land is about 50 kachcha bighas, but there can be no doubt that the calcu-
lation has been based on ploughs of exceptional capabilities. About a
maund of seed is required for wheat, and from 25 to 30 sers for gram and
ordinary rice.

The average return is somewhat difficult to get vdth any accuracy, but
on old cultivated land the farmer is not disappointed, with ten maunds of
wheat, and eight maunds of gram or rice to the bigha. In the case of
transplanted rice twelve to fifteen sers of seed are sown, and the out-turn
is both heavier and more valuable in proportion to its weight than the
common kind. The labour is of course much greater, and the land so used
available for only one crop in the year. Five to eight sers will sow a
bigha of lahi, and five or six maunds is not above an average crop. This,
too, is a highly-priced grain, and its cultivation is very remunerative ; but
it occupies the field for the whole year, excluding a second crop. Urd also
IS very remunerative, and five sers of seed will yield a harvest of as many
maunds. "^ '

GON 527

The main feature of the Gonda cultivation is the immense area under
General features. ^^^^ '' ™ore than half of this is the winter, or trans-
planted rice, which is not reaped till December.

The fine cultivation consists of —

Acres.
Garden crops ... ... ... ... ... ... 4,215

Pan

Tobacco ...
Safflower ..
Poppy
Sugarcane...

157

397

154

12,411

10,891

^28,225

The above is 2 f- per cent, of the total acreage under cultivation. This
is a higher average than that of Bahraich, but lower than the provincial,
which is 5'2 per cent.

Apparently this is the great opium-producing district of Oudh.

Irrigation '^^® information upon this point is contradictory

and distracting. Judging from the crop return, about

245,000 acres are irrigated, and 845,000 acres unirrigated, but this refers

to the area actually watered in the one year. Another return* gives

the area generally irrigated at 429,280 acres as follows : —

By tanks.. ... ... ... ... ... ...137,369

Fiom rivers ... ... ... ... .. ... 147,852

From wells ... ... ... ... 144,059

It is possible that the return may be fairly accurate. At any rate the
district is well watered compared with others along the Ganges, where
water is met with at 60 feet from the surface.

There is nothing special worthy of notice under these heads ; the cattle
Ploughing and hus- are superior to those of Bahraich ; a pair of bullocks
bandry fit for ploughing will cost from Rs. 20 to Rs. 30 accord-

ing to season, the price varying 60 per cent, according as the ploughing
time is coming or has passed. A plough costs about Re. 1-4 ; a harrow 8
annas ; a cart for four bullocks, Rs. 50.

* Appendix J. Sarda Canal Report.

628

GON

Prices are shown in the following table for the ten years 1861 — 1870: —

Statement showing details of Produce and Prices in Gonda district for
the ten following years 1861 to 1870, inclusive.

1861.

1862.

1863.

1864.

J865.

1866.

1867.

1863.

1869.

1870.

It

Description of produce.

Aver-

Aver-

Aver-

Aver-

Aver-

Aver-

Aver-

Aver-

Aver-

Aver-

fs

age.

age.

age.

age.

age.

age.

age,

age.

age.

age.

I-

Paddy

S3i

42

57

45f

44

22J

314

44

264

324

39tV

Common rice (husk-

ed)

27

31

25i

204

20i

15i

24

181

IS

l7i

21*

Best rice (husted)

164

16i

16i

12f

lOi

9i

13f

15J

94

114

13

Wheat

344

88i

37

294

25J

]5i

32|

28

14

194

27

Barley

58i

61

59

48

29i

21i

45|

514

19

24i

41tV

B^jra

29i

29

264

254

24i

18i

31i

414

27

244

27A

Juar

59

59i

68

32

24|

18i

404

43

274

28i

40xV

Gram

45i

51

43i

Sli

20i

16i

34i

39

194

264

32A

Arhar (Cajanus In-

dicns)

47

49i

384

29i

20

20i

371

41i

214

204

324

Urd or Maah (Pha-

seolus Max)

30i

32

27J

22i

20

14i

251

31i

12

134

22t'o

Mothi (Phaseolus

Aconitifolius) ...

3S4

374

32i

29

234

15

32

354

m

16

33i

Mung (Phaseolus

Munffo)

394

22

204

in

15i

12

in

184

19i

15

IVo

Masur (Ervum lens)
Ahsa or Matra

48i

524

52|

43

29i

m

28i

434

14i

244

3^V

(Pistwt Sativum)

68i

75

66i

46

45

43

60

41

194

324

49tV

Ghuiyan (Arum Co-

57|

locasia)

64

634

60

62

60

58

52

56?

50

50

Sareon ( Sinapis

18

Qlauca)

20f

20

194

174

16i

18

18i

19i

14i

144

Lahi {Sinapis nigra)

16J

17}

18

164

16

17i

I7i

174

13J

134

16f

Kaw sugar

4i

4i

44

5

5i

44

4i

44

44

4^

4*

In Gonda the food-grains do not quite reach the average price of the

province, but they are higher than might be expected

i'rioes. from the population ; this is due to the great facilities

for export presented by the Gogra river. Famine prices are dwelt upon for

this district also in the Bahraich article.

Another table is appended giving the rate in 1869. It is to be feared
they are not quite correct. The following were the prices on 15th Febru-
ary 1874, in sers per rupee, at Balrampur and Utraula : —

Wheat...

Gram ...

Eice

Kodo (grain) ...

There was famine, and large relief works were opened. In Gonda itseK
maize was 16 sers ; the other grain rates resembled those given above.
Prices double in a few months even in ordinary years. In 1870, judr, the
cheapest grain, is at 50 sers for the rupee in January ; it was 33
sers in January 1875, and 15| sers in January 1874. These fluctuations

14-5

Juar

... 15-7

14-7

Maize

... 15'7

12-2

Kodo (husked)

... 14-0

22-7

GON

529

indicate violent oscillations in the comfort of the people, and materially
affect the Government revenue.

Statement of Prices.

Retail sale — quantity per rupee.

Articles.

1869.

1870.

July.

August.

September

October.

November

Jannaiy,

February,

M. S. C.

M. S. C.

M. S. C.

M. S. C.

M. S. CM. S. C.

M. S. C.

Wheat, 1st quality ...

0 14 9

0 14 0

0 14 0

0 12 8

•■■

0 13 0

2nd

0 15 0

. 0 14,8

0 14 8

0 13 0

■•■

0 14 0

Gram, 2nd „

0 16 8

0 14 8

0 15 8

0 12 0

...

0 12 0

Bajra

...

0 18 0

0 16 0

Juar

0 17 0

0 24 0

0 31 0

0 28 8

0 30 0

Arhar

0 20 0

0 17 8

0 12 0

0 15 0

TJrd

0 li 12

0 13 8

0 12 0

0 11 0

0 13 0

Masur

0 19 8

0 17 8

0 15 0

0 11 0

••.

0 30 0

Mung

0 11 12

0 10 8

0 9 0

0 12 0

...

0 14 0

Eice, 2nd quality-

0 11 12

0 11 8

0 12 0

0 10 8

0 15 0

The following table exhibits the price of food-grains in Colonelganj
bazar in certain years from 1206 F. (1797 A D ) to

Former prices. 1244 F. (1828 A.D.) The weights given are local

maunds of nearly 18 sers standard weight. It would appear that kodo,
the cheapest grain, was 11 local maunds, or 4 maunds 38 sers of modem
standard per rupee in 1222 F. (1813 A.D.), and 9 local maunds, or 4 maunds
2 sers, in the succeeding year. Wheat during the ten years of which record
remains was 7 local maunds per rupee, or 3 maunds 6 sers modern
measurement. During the ten years it averaged 59 sers modern measure-
ment per rupee. The average of the ten years 1861 — 1870, was 27 sers.

LL

530

GON

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GON

531

CHAPTER IV.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASPECTS.

Administration — Officials — Police divisions — Taxation — Revenue — Expenditure — Local Funds -
Income Tax — Crime— Criminal classes — Infanticide — Opium cultivation — Distilleries-
Drugs — Monopoly o£ salt — Education,

The administration and
officials of district.

The district is managed by a deputy commissioner, under the superin-
tendence of the commissioner of the Fyzabad division,
and with the help of generally two assistants, and
one or more extra assistants. There are no sub-divi-
sional stations ; and, except in the case of officers on tour and tahsildars,
all business is concentrated at the sadr station. Four hundred and eighty
policemen, imder the charge of a European superintendent, preserve order
and secure the punishment of offenders. This force is distributed among
the following thanas : —

1. Gonda ...

2. Aya

3. Oolonelganj

4. Begamganj

5. Wazlrgaiij

6. Rahra ...

7. Utraula ...

8. Baliampur

9. Tulsipur . . .

Population.

172,681

88,086

168,991

12i,459

142,521

132,702

95,186

151,597

90,372

1,166,515

Statistics of the Police of the district of Gonda in 1873.

.1°
■0.2

3g,

6

S

t¥

.§

gS

<D

"a

, fto

a

a

SN

■p

s

o

s
s

1

a

o

Cm

°S

p c3

OC4.,
0

i

t.

£ 0

g

S

'0
0

'3

.fc

o
o -

hi

Cm
0

6

6 -a

m

=3

0

iri

^

^

^

£

£

»

i2i

Iz;

!25

tq

Rs.

Regular police

66,558

1

85

398

1 to 8-40

1 to 33-52

1,404

9,709

2,530

1,842

688

Tillage watch

1,18,898

3,271

...

Municipal po-

lice

7,833

1

9
94

137

■ ■■

Total ...

1,93,793

3,806

1,404

9,709 2,530

1

1,842 688

LL 2

532 GON

The civil divisions are talisils and parganas, as by the following list : —

Parganas.

SGonda.
Paharapur.

[ Mahadewa.
) Nawabganj.
Tahsil Begamganj ... ... ... ••• S Digsar.

( Guwarich.

f Manikapuf .
Babhnipair.
I Burhapara.
Tahsil Utraula ... ... ... .•■ -j SaduUalinagar.

I Utraula.
I Balrampur.
LTalsipnr.

The total taxation of all kinds for the year 1872-7.5
Taxation. amounted toRs. 17,26,270-5-6, and was drawn from

the following sources : —

f Land Revenue ... ... ... 14,42,676 1 4

Stamps ... ... ... ... 68,896 0 0

I Abkari ... ... ... ... 53,932 0 0

Imperial • • • ^ i^eome-tax ... ... ... 13,379 0 0

I Forests ... ... ... ... 11,563 0 0

LDrugs and Opium ... ... ... 2,323 6 0

Local ... Local funds ... ... ... 1,53,500 14 2

Total ... 17,26,270 5 6

As yet the revised demand on the four parganas of Manikapur, Sadullah-
nagar, Burhapara, and Babhnipair has not come into force. Its. introduc-
tion next year will entail a rise in the land revenue of Rs. 77,308-6.

Revenue. '^^® following tables are derived from the Account-

ant General's office and that of the Oudh Revenue
Department.

It will appear from them that the actual taxation of the district
amounted to Rs. 13,87,955 in 1871-72.

Es.

The imperial expenditure- ... .„ ... 3,21,01S

The local ditto ,.. ... ... ... 1,75,857

Total ... ... 4,96, 87."^

Of the above sums, hovfever, Rs. 1,53,857 were expended on a department —
that of settlement — which has siace concluded its labours and ceased to
exist. The local expenditure, which is controlled by a committee of native
gentlemen and district officers, is provided for by taxation upon the land,
levied upon the proprietors rateably. The Government revenue, which is
supposed to be 50 per cent, of the actual rack rentals, is taken as the
basis ; 1 per cent, of that sum is further levied for roads, 1 per cent, for
education, 3 per cent, for general purposes (principally public works,
dispensaries, schools and gardens), and J per cent, for the district post offices.

GON

Imperial Revenue.

533

1871.

1872.

1. Eeoent settlement revenue collections

2. Rents o£ Government villages and lands

3. Income tax

4. Tax on spirits

5. Tax on opium and drugs

6. Stamp ivLty

7. Lav and justice

Es.

9,66,952

71,532

3,347

68,903

Es.

12,22,342
13,578
17,827
54,027
2,323
68,018
9,840

Total

13,87,955

Imperial Expenditure, 1871-72.

Revenue refunds and drawbacks

Miscellaneous refunds

Land revenue ... ,.,

Deputy commissioners and establislimeut

iSettlement

Excise or ^bkari

Assessed taxes

Stamps

Law and justice

Ecclesiastical

Medical

Police

Service of process
Criminal courts

Total

Es.
3,62S
4,173

42,291

1,53,857

3,02S

425

997

3,206

31,644

157

4,200

73,415

3,21, oia

Expenditure from Local Funds.

Es.

Education

...

23,425

Hospitals and dispensaries ...

11,21 9t

District dak ...

...

4,179

Pound

-.

952

Nazul ...

...

...

T

Public Works-

Es.

Communications

...

77,414

CivU buildings, &o.

...

42,966

Establishment, &o.

...

15,695

1,36,075

Total ...

»•■

1,75,857

534

GON

This has now ceased. In 1872-73, 228 persons paid Rs. 13,127. Of these,
80 were landed proprietors, who paid Rs. 10,500, or

Income tax. three-quarters of the entire collections ; and two indivi-

duals paid Rs. 6,860, or more than half of the whole. Ten more paid
Rs. 2,120 ; or twelve men, out of a population of 1,167,000, paid three-fifths
of the income tax. They were all landowners, and the income tax prac-
tically was an additional land cess. Seventy-one bankers paid only Rs.1,211,
although there are many of great wealth.

The crimes of Gonda are shown in the accompanying table. It will appear
Crime and criminal that the thefts reported have increased from 4,363
classes. in 1867 to 9,231 in 1872. This arises in great measure

from the increased readiness of the people to complain. There is, however,
no doubt that our courts and laws cannot put down the system of petty
theft of grain and household utensils by which a large portion of the people
eke out a subsistence. It is a rough substitute for a poor law : it was
repressed formerly by rough-and-ready justice, and mere suspicion was often
proof sufficient. This is not the case now, and the humble forms of larceny
thrive accordingly.

Crime Statistics for Gonda district.

Cases reported.

Cases convicte(

1867.

1868.

1869.

1870.

1871.

1872.

1867.

868.

1869.

1870.

1871.

1872.

Murders and attempts ...

7

7

8

7

8

9

7

5

9

1

6

3

Galpable homicide ,

3

2

7

6

5

2

1

2

7

1

4

3

Pacoity

a

3

1

2

1

2

3

1

Eobbery

6

6

10

n

9

w

3

4

11

3j

2

6

Eioting and unlawfnl
assembly

19

31

66

34

60

63

20

29

S&

31

45

34)

Theft by house-t^reaking or
honse-trespass

3,304

3,732

4,407

3,362

4,159

5,643

226

222

233

163

176

240

Theft, simple

884

1,408

3,028

2,653 1 1,853

3,139

194

186

264

212

188

413

Theft of cattle

J75

J 92

173

180

339

459

23

37

36

60

65

108

Offences against coin and
stamps

6

6

2

4

i

3

4

4

'

...

2

Notices of the origin and history of the Barwars, the thieving tribe of
Predatory tribes. Gonda, have been given in the second chapter.

Judging from the general census, Aya and Colonelganj thanas are the
Infanticide. chief seats of infanticide. During the last four years,

1869 — 1872, an annual census of the Chhattri popula-
tion has been taken in 79 villages, reduced to 52 in 1874. The children
under four years old are counted separately for each year ; the elder persons
are classed merely as males and females. The following table shows the
results of the census. It will appear that in 1872 the proportion of
females to males, after twelve years' efforts to check this crime, is still only
77'9 per cent, ; in 1873 it had become 69'4 per cent. ; in 1874, 72 per cent.

GON

535

la 1874 the girls under four were 39 per cent, of the children under that
age in 62 selected villages.

Children.

Adults.

Total.

Adults.

Children.

Peroentago

Tears.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

of females
to males .

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1869

609

439

2,742

3,843

3,351

2,282

4,585

1,048

68-0

1870

560

451

2,594

1,946

[3,164

2,397

4,540

1,011

75'9

1871

561

521-

3,089

2,204

3,650

2,725

5,293

1,082

74-6

1872

511

464

3,825

:2,917

4,336

3,381

6,742

975

77-9

1873

320

242

2,184

1,498

2,504

1,740

3,682

562

69-4

1874

314

204

2,148

1,579

2,462

1,783

3,727

518

72-0

Miscellaneous
jnatters.

police

It may be mentioned here that the deaths by snake-bite, which are
reported through the police, averaged 196 during
the last six years, 1867-72 ; also that deaths from
this cause, from drowning and from suicide, do not
present the same disproportion as in other districts. On the average the
casualties reported are in equal number for males and females. They do
not probably, therefore, embrace many cases of murder.

An assistant sub-deputy opium agent has his head-quarters at Gonda,
and the poppy cultivation is superintended at the
Opium cultivation. ^^^^^ annual cost of little more than Rs. 8,000. The
opium is of a good quality, but about 7 per cent, under the standard of
consistency fixed by Government. The total area under cultivation in
Gonda has risen within the last five years from bighas 17,905 to 254,833,
while the average return per bigha has fallen from 4 sers 11 J chhataks to
3 sers 4-| chhataks, the total produce of last year having been 2,209
maunds 2 J chhataks. The best return is obtained from Guwarich, Bal-
rampur, and Utraula, while the Gonda pargana is at the bottom of the
list, with an average production of 3 sers J chhatak per bigha. The cause
of the decline in the out-turn may be that the old cultivators are induced
to take up more land than they can properly attend to, while the new
cultivators want the experience which is required in order to extract the
greatest possible amount of the drag from the plants in their fields. There
does not seem any reason to suppose that the productive powers of the
soil are deteriorating.

Spirits are manufactured at Gonda and Utraula, where there are re-

.^ . spectively 30 and 33 stiUs. The cost of making last

enes. ^^^^ amounted to Rs. 1,704, leaving a clear profit of

Rs. 52,228. A discount of Rs. 575 has to be allowed against the total

receipts from the sale of stamps.

536 GON

The drug business ia carried on directly by Government, instead of being
P farmed out, and the results do not seem to be parti-

cularly happy.

To the local funds, ferries contribute Rs. 23,536-14-10, being about a
quarter of the receipts on that account for the whole
Jlocll f7n^r*"^"''°°' province. They are almost invariably let out to
private speculators. Seven are on the Rapti, — at Sisai,
Behta, Kondari, Materia, Mathura, Karmena, and Pipra ; twelve on the
Gogra, — ^at Kamyar, Sardaha, Koslawar, Samraha, Dhamora, Lodhemau,
Dhanoli, Simor, Ganoli, Sehar, Seria, and Mangalsi ; one, Balpur, on the
Tirhi ; and one, Katra, on the Sarju.

There are seven municipalities, one of which, Balrampur, contributes
Municipalities independently Rs. 4,500 per annum, and is managed

under the immediate supervision of the Maharlja.
The remainder— Gonda, Colonelganj, Nawabganj, Utraula, Katra, and
Khargupur — contribute altogether Bs. 23,754. The receipts from pounds
for stray cattle amount to Rs. 4,198 ; and almost all the rest of the local
expenditure is met from the cesses and local rates which are levied in
addition to the ordinary revenue from the land.

It is impossible to state with any accuracy the amount which the State
Monopoly of salt derives in this district from the monopoly of salt, but

it must be something very considerable; and the pro-
hibition to manufacture is felt much more severely here than in any other
part of Oudh with which I am acquainted.

In the same way the profits from opium can only be roughly conjectured;
Profits from opium ^^* ^^ ^^^J ^^^ drawn entirely from the Chinese, and
rather benefit than exhaust the cultivators, the sub-
ject is not one of the least local importance.

When we took over the administration of the district, we found very exten-
Manorial rights. ^^^® forests in which the neighbouring landowners

exercised only the vaguest indefinite manorial rigbts.
The title of Government to large tracts of waste land was asserted, and the
chief jungles, lying mostly on either bank of the Kuwana, the Bislihi, and
the Chamnai rivers, were divided into parcels of manageable size, and
distributed among various grantees. At first the principle adopted was to
take fees at the rate of Rs. 10 per hundred acres, and give a lease, remit-
ting land revenue for twenty years, and stipulating that a certain quantity
of land should be brought under cultivation by certain fixed periods, and
in every case a half was to be cleared before the twenty years of rent-free
tenure were concluded. - In case the grantee did not clear the stipulated
area, he was to receive the land he actually had brought under the plough,
together with an equal amount of waste, and the remainder was to be
confiscated. Subsequently it was thought that money might be more
rapidly and profitably realized by out-and-out sales of the fee simple; and
such plots as had not been dealt with under the old rules were put up
for auction, the land revenue being absolutely remitted in perpetuity, while
an indefeasible and unconditional proprietary title was conveyed to the
auction-purchaser. An area of 43,275 acres, broken up into thirty^one

GON 637

grants, was disposed of on the first principle, while 35,493 acres were sold
by auction in twenty-two parcels for Rs. 4,99,422, giving an average price
of Rs. 14-1-6 per acre.

Education is in its infancy owing to the late introduction of the revised

^, ^. , . land revenue, with its accompanying school cess.

^ Jducation and its re- rpj^-g -^^ ^o^ever, now paid nearly all over the district,

and village schools are springing up in every direction.
In many places the house is not yet built, and the master with his class is
to be found sitting in the open air under the shelter of a tree. The whole
number of pupils in the past year was 3,056, or barely a quarter per cent,
of the population ; 1,920 of these attended the fifty-four lately-established
village schools, while the remainder were distributed among the town
schools of Gonda, Utraula, Paraspur, Colonelganj, Nawabganj, and Balram-
pur, with their several branches. Urdu and Hindi, with the addition of
English in the town schools, and mathematics and geography, were the
principal subjects of education. Persian was very little taught, and unaided
private schools, kept up by the liberality of well-to-do natives, were the
sole sources of instruction in Arabic. They are thirty-two in number, and
are attended by 199 pupils. The master is paid a small monthly stipend
by his patron, who also provides him with a fixed allowance of food, or
allows him to join in the family meal; in addition to this, but very rarely,
his pupils may contribute a small fee.

Brahmans who have a knowledge of Sanskrit will communicate the
language gratuitously to small classes, rarely exceeding five or six boys, of
their own caste. Chhattris are occasionally admitted as learners, but Sudras
never. Small fees are sometimes paid where learning is attended by indi-
gence, but as a rule it is not thought creditable to require more than the
respectful services of a pupil.

538 GON

CHAPTER V-
HISTORY.

Origin of the name of the sadr town, and history — Tragic end of Rae Amar Singh — Murder of
Kam Datt Pande — Settlement of the land revenue by Colonel Boileau — Colonel Boileau
killed by Fazl Ali — Death of the murderer — The events of the mutiny — Raja Debi Bakhsh
and other chiefs of the district — The Gurkhas cross the eastern frontier from Basti — Prin-
ciple of assessment in the Nawabi — Total cultivated area of the district — Note to Gonda
district article.

The name of the sadr town, the pargana, and the district is accounted
Origin of the name fo^ ^J ^'^^ story that, when Raja Man Singh, Bisen,
of the sadr town, and made Gonda the head-quarters of his raj, he found ,
history. nothing there but a cattle-shed (gaunra) surrounded

by forest. General Cunningham claims for it a higher antiquity, identi-
fying it with the Gonda which formed the southern province of Lava's
kingdom of Uttara-Kosala, and the old pargana name Ramgarh Gaunra
for Balrampur. He further conjectures that the Gaur Brahmans and Gaur
Tagas must be derived from here.

I venture to go a step further, and say that it preserves the tradition of
the earliest inhabitants — ^the Gonds — whose descendants in the Central
Provinces still cherish a hope of recovering their long-lost northern homes.
That the family name of the Gaur Brahmaas and Rajputs is not derived
from Bengal is, I should say, absolutely certain. The name Gaunra was
not applied to that province till the beginning of the ninth century A.D.,
and the Brahmans who colonised it from Kanauj left relations of the same
denomiaation there at the end of the seventh century.

Lassen mentions this as a perplexing circumstance ; but if a consider-
able portion of northern Hindustan had at one time been peopled by
Gonds, it is extremely probable that the Hindus settled among them
should have adopted their name to distinguish themselves ; and it is not
unlikely that the powerful Brahmans had the name they brought with
them attached to the new capital. The occurrence of an Ajodhya, and
namesakes of other famous cities of Central Hindustan in Burma, affords a
complete analogy.

The history will be found in the articles on Sahet-Mahet, Debi P^tan,
and the more important parganas. Only the merest summary will be
attempted here. What is most striking in it is its wonderful complete-
ness : in one only of the great phases of Indian history, that reaching from
the foundation of the Vaishya empire of the Guptas, at the end of the
second century, to the extinction of Buddhism, and rise of the smaller
kingdoms of the modern Chhattris in the eighth, does this district find no
place. In the days of the Mah£bhdrath, we find a race of Tangana bring-
ing presents of gold and horses to the king of Hastinapur from these parts;
and when Ptolemy wrote his geography under the Antonines, the Tanganoi
were still the people who gave their name to the district. Who they were,
whence they came, and when they passed away, there is no record of any

GON 539

kind to show ; and the only trace of them left is the name Tangan for the
small pony of the lower hills, and perhaps the curious word Tangara —
wearing an axe — which is also found in some of the Gond dialects of Cen-
tral India. They were almost certainly aborigines, and they may have
been a tribe of the gTeat Gond nation to whom the district owes its present
name.

Legends of the heroes of the Mahabharath yet linger round Debi Patan
andGuwarich, but Sahet-Mahetis still famous as the centre of the kingdom
of Lava, son of Ram. After a period represented in the Vishnu Parana
by fifty generations of kings, who ruled either at Sravasti or the not distant
Kapilavastu (Gorakhpur), the historical age commences with Parasenajit,
the contemporary of Buddha, who ruled not the least important of the six
kingdoms of middle India.

For the next eight centuries the kingdom of Srdvasti assumes an almost
world-wide importance as a centre point of that wonderful religion, whose
peaceful missionaries sowed the seeds of a new culture from the Caspian
Sea to Mexico, and which, through its monasticism, has affected so vitally
our own ecclesiastical polity.

The culminating point of the power of Sravasti was reached in the days
of Vikramaditya, who, in the middle of the second century, was the most
powerful king in India. He was a bigoted adherent of the old religion,
and it was perhaps through civil wars arising from this cause that his
kingdom so quickly collapsed. Within certainly thirty years of his death
the sceptre had passed to the Gupta dynasty, and then, strange to say, the
thickly populated seat of one of the most ancient kingdoms in India rapidly
became a desert. The high-road between the two capitals — Sravasti and
Kapilavastu — ^was, in the time of the Chinese pilgrim, a dense forest
infested with wild elephants.

When it next emerges into history, the district was the seat of a Jain
kingdom, which in the hands of Sohildeo was powerful enough to exter-
minate the victorious forces of the nephew of the Sultan of Ghazni. It
was not long before this dynasty shared the fate of its predecessors, and
at the time of the second Muhammadan conquest, a Dom raja ruled Gonda
from Domangarh on the Rapti, in the present district of Gorakhpur. The
most famous ruler of this race was Raja TJgrasen, who had a fort at
Dumhriadih, in the Mahadewa pargana. The estabhshment of many vil-
lages in the south from Guwarich to Babhnip^ir is traced to grants of land,
generally in favour of Tharus, Doms, Bhars, and Basis, made by this r^ja.
As no similar tradition exists to the north of the Kuwana, it may be con-
jectured that that part of the district was then mainly covered with forest.
The name Dom is preserved in many village names, such as Dumhriadih,
Dumaipur and Dumoli.

This low-caste kingdom was subverted in the beginning of the fourteenth
century by the modern Chhattri clans, and from that time till_ annexation
the district has been apportioned into a number of small chieftainships,
•under the successive hegemonies of the Kalhanses, the Janwars, and the
Bisens.

540 GON

The first of these reigned without a rival from Hisampur in Bahraich
far into the Gorakhpur district. It is related of them that their leader,
Sahaj Singh, came at the head of a small force froi;i pargana Gohumisuj
in Bagalana, the western frontier of the Narbada valley, in the army of
one of the Tughlaq emperors, and was commissioned by him to bring
into obedience the countries between the Gogra and the hills. Their first
settlement was in the Koeli jungle, about two miles to the south-west
of Khurasa, the town which subsequently gave its name to the r4j. A
story common to the whole of Oudh accounts for their accession to power,
and the disappearance of the old ruling dynasty. Ugrasen, the Dom
raja, was struck by the beauty of one of the daughters of the Chhattri,
and demanded her in marriage. The Kalhans raja dissembled his rage
at the indignity offered him, and pretended to comply; but when the Dom
came with his followers to claim his bride, plied them with strong drink
till they were insensible, and then murdered them. Two pedigrees are
given of the rajas between Sahaj R^e and Achal Narain Singh, the last
of the dynasty ; that of the raja of Babhnipiir showing thirteen, while
the Kalhanses of Chhedwara, with greater probability, only give seven
names. In fact the whole of their history is enveloped in obscurity, — one
account making them originally Brahmans, who assumed the Chhattri
caste on attaining the dignity of raja, a tradition which is eminently
unlikely, but worth recording, as it shows that such a change of class,
supported as it is by not a few authentic instances, is anything but
unfamiliar to Hindu ideas. They are said to have distributed the thinly-
peopled country in jagirs of three and a half kos each among the leading
officers of their cavalry, and there is certainly no reason to doubt that the
principal zamindari families to the south of the Kuwana, — the Bisens of
Qila Rampur in pargana Digsar, who subsequently succeeded to the raj of
Gonda, the Goraha Bisens of Mahadewa, and the Bandhalgotis of Manika-
pur — owed their establishment to this era. The last of the race, R^ja
Achal Narain Singh, stands out clearly in tradition as an example of the
divine vengeance which overtakes lust and tyranny. His last act in a
career of unbridled oppression was to carry off to his fort at Lurhia Ghdt,
near Khurasa, the virgin daughter of a small Brahman zamindar in
the Burhapara pargana. The outraged father pleaded as vainly as the
father of Chryseis for reparation, and his vengeance was as dramatic and
more complete.

For twenty-one days he sat under a tamarind tree at the door of the
ravisher, refusing meat and drink, till death put an end to his sufferings.
His wife, who_ had followed him, died at the same time from grief.
Before his spirit fled, he pronounced a curse of utter extinction on the
family of his oppressor, modifying it only in favour of the offspring of
the younger rani, who alone had endeavoured to induce him to break his
fast, and to whom he promised that her descendants, the present r^jas of
Babhnipair, should succeed to a small raj ; but that as his eyes had fallen
in from hunger, so should they be always blind. His ghost went to the
river Sarju, and implored her assistance in avenging himself on the raja,
but she referred him to her elder sister the Ganges, who said she was too
distant to interfere effectually, and referred him back to the Sarju. At
last that stream, the faithful friend of Brahmans, consented to help him,

GON 541

on the condition that he -would get the rfja into his power by inducing
him to accept some present. He went to the raja's family priest, and
gave him a sacred cord, with the direction that he was to invest his enemy
with it. Achal Narain Singh put it on, and then asked where it had
come from. When told from the hands of Ratan Pande, his conscience
struck him, and he cast it away in terror. But it was too late, the present
had been accepted ; and a few days later, on the 13th of the light half of
Aghan, a lofty wave rushed up from the Sarju through the Mahadewa
pargana, and on its crest sat the angry wraith of Ratan Pande. When it
reached Liirhia Ghat it broke, and overthrew the raja's fortress, carrying
away everything in indiscriminate ruin, and leaving not a member of his
household alive. A deep lake is still shown, under which it is said that
in the hot weather the fisherman can strike with his punt-pole the ruined
towers of the old palace ; and all around the shore are large brick mounds,
the remains of ancient mansions, and the palm and date trees of former
gardens. Coins are occasionally disinterred by the rains, and I have myself,
found a copper piece there of a mint which I could not recognise myself or
identify in Prinsep. It would of course be a vain task to attempt to
disentangle the elements of fact from this singular tradition ; but the story
is told with a circumstantiality and vividness which render it hard to
imagine that it is purely an invention or even an ordinary myth.

The exact date is given, the descendants of the avenging Brahman are
stiU in existence, and the scene of the asserted disaster was certainly at
one time the site of a populous town. The Mahadewa pargana is seamed
all over with the channels of rivers which have dried up or changed their
course, and there is no difficulty in believing either that a Brahman did
starve himself to death at the raja's gateway, or that the palace was de-
stroyed by some extraordinary natural convulsion, possibly an earthquake,
which drove the waters of the Tirhi into a new channel.

Some time before this the north of the district had been occupied by
Janwars, whose forest kingdom comprised the whole of the sub-Himala-
yan tarai. It appears, though the vague traditions of this period make
certainty impossible, that they had more than once been brought into
hostile collision with their southern neighbours, and the Goraha Bisens
relate that the jagir of the Mahadewa pargana was conferred on their
ancestor in reward for his having made a raja of Ikauna prisoner, and
delivered him bound to the Kalhans raja. At any rate, up to this time
the Janwars and Kalhanses divided among them the chieftainship of the
whole of the district, the former holding the tar^i, the latter the uparhar
table-land in the centre, and the low lands known as the tarhar which
lie between the Tirhi and the Gogra. The fall of the Kalhans dynasty
was followed by an anarchy of several years, out of which the present
system of chieftainship was developed.

The posthumous son of Achal Narsiin Singh maintained himself in a
small principality, including Babhnipair and Blirhapara in this district
and Rastilpur Ghaus in Basti. The Bandhalgotis became independent
in Manikapur, and their chief eventually assumed the title of r£ja ; while
another family of Kalhanses, the present thakurs of Chhedwara, who
assert, though the claim is not universally allowed, that they are descended

542 GON

from a second son of Achal Narain Singh, vindicated to themselves the
zamindari of Guwarich not long after the Pathans under Ali Khan invaded
Utraula, and carved out for themselves their present rdj. But the rising
power was that of the Bisens of Digsar, who eventually made themselves
masters of a territory covering a thousand square miles, and including
the present parganas of Gonda, Paharapur, Digsar, Mahadewa, and
Nawabganj.

At the time of Akbar the final distribution of the district had not been
aiCcomplished, and the great chieftainships of Gonda and Balrampur were
not reflected in the pargana divisions. The former had not yet emerged
from the wide raj of Khurasa, and the latter was still a dependant of
Ikauna, and included in the immense pargana of Kamgarh, which contained
the whole of the district north of the Rapti not covered hy the daman-
i-koh or tarai, and a large part of the north-west of Bahraich. Giiwarich
and Babhnipair were already separate parganas, so the Kalhans dynasty
must have fallen, and the branches which survived established themselves
in their new and reduced dominions. The Manikapur raj was unknown,
and combined with Nawabganj and Mahadewa to make the one pargana
of Rehli. Utraula we know had just been erected into a separate domin-
ion by the Kokar Pathans, and appears as a separate pargana.

The immense size of the revenue divisions affords a fair argument of a
scanty population, and confirms the chronology which might be deduced
from a comparison of the several pedigrees. The calamity which over-
whelmed the last of the Kalhans must have occurred late in the fifteenth
century. The three untitled generations of Bisens ( vide pargana Gonda)
occupied the last few years of that and rather more than half the sixteenth
century, while the establishment of the separate raj of Balrampur was
rather later than that of Gonda. Early in the reign of Akbar, with the
exception of Ikauna and Utraula, there were no powerful chieftains. The
Kalhanses of Guwarich and Babhnipair were never of any considerable
importance, and the rest of the district was covered with small semi-inde-
pendent tribes of Bisens and Bandhalgotis, and guasi-proprietary com-
munities of Brahmans.

During the reigns of the great Timurides the whole of the centre of the
district, with half the Gogra frontier, consolidated into the leading Bisen
r^ of Gonda, the Janwars sent out an independent branch between the
Kuwana and the hills, Manikapur becanae a distinct chieftainship, and the
territorial distribution assumed, with a few trifling differences, its present
features. The steps by which the several boundaries were finally fixed will
be found detailed in the pargana articles.

For soine time before the acquisition of Oudh by Saadat Khan, the trans-
Gogra chiefs had enjoyed a virtual independence, waging wars among
themselves for the rectification of boundaries, or the hegemony of the whole
confederation, and exempt from any regular calls for the payment of tribute
or revenue. The new Muhammadan power was vigorously resisted by the
leading raja, Datt Singh of Gonda, who defeated and slew the first of the
new nazims, Alawal Khan of Bahraich. A second imperial force cooped him
up in his fort at Gonda, and reduced him to the last extremities; but the

GON 543

siege was raised by the advent of a timely reinforcement of Bisens, and the
nawab had to be satisfied with a partial submission, and the promise to
pay a fixed tribute. For the next seventy years a series of powerful Bisen
rajas retained a semi-independence, and engaged separately for the whole
of their five ancestral parganas. It was not till the murder of Raja Hindu-
pat Singh, when the Lucknow Government was able to get into its power
the boy successor, Gumiin Singh, that the Gonda principality was broken
up, and the nazim collected the revenue himself from village headmen. In
the meantime Guwarich and the northern parganas were included in the
Bahraich nizamat, while Manikapur and Babhnipair formed part of Gorakh-
pur, to which, when the Gonda raj was broken up, were added the present
parganas of Mahadewa and Nawabganj.

On the cession of Gorakhpur to the English, the Rehli pargana, as the
above tract was called, went with the remainder of that sarkar, and the
zamindars still show copies of judgment of the High Court of Benares,
delivered at the commencement of this century. After a few years of
British rule, Eehli was exchanged for pargana Handia in Jaunpur, very
much to the advantage of the nawab's government. In the north the
Lucknow officials had completely broken the power of the Utraula raja,
and collected the rent direct from every village in his pargana.

Balrampur and Tulsipur held out, and, though worsted in many fights,
managed to maintain their positions as chieftains, and were let off with a
lump assessment on their whole raj, which left them very considerable pro-
fits. The lords of Manikapur and Babhnipair in the same way were
allowed to collect the rents in their own villages, and pay the revenue in a
lump sum to the nazim. Up to the commencement of the century, there
was nothing in the whole district at all like the taluqas of the rest of Gudh.
The hereditary chieftains were each supreme within the territorial limits
of his raj ; and as long as they maintained that position, the g'uas'i-fortui-
tous agglomerations of villages, held on varying leases by men with every
variety and degree of right, were impossible. As soon as Gonda and
IJtraula were broken up, and held direct by the ofiicial collectors, taluqas
sprang into existence. The nazims found it convenient, and in some cases
necessary, to let large numbers of villages to wealthy individuals, and the
taluqdar pure, the mere farmer of Government revenue, without any recog-
nised right but what was conveyed by that position, became frequent. As
a rule they lasted a very short time, and their small collections of villages
fell into the net of the great Pandes, with whose power and wealth no one
in the district could compete. The dispossessed rajas of Utraula and
Gonda themselves, like their brethren elsewhere, attempted to acquire
taluqas and combine the character of revenue farmer with that of feudal
lord. The Pathan succeeded for a few years, but finally had to content
himself with the few villages assigned for his support. The Bisens put
togetherthe magnificent estate of Bishambharpur. The majority of the rajas
retained till annexation the position enjoyed by the chiefs of Baiswaraand
Partabgarh till the end of the eighteenth century, and the only true taluqas
were those of Singha Chanda and Akbarpur, held by the Pandes, and
Bishambharpur by the Gonda raja. During their several tenures of power
as nazims of Gonda and Bahraich, the family of Darshan Singh had

544 GON

compelled a large number of tlie smaller zamindars at the south of the
district to execute deeds of sale of their villages in liquidation of fictitious
arrears of revenue, but the transaction, distinctly forbidden in the royal
revenue code, was never recognised as valid by other nawabi officials, and
the nominal purchaser lost all connection with the villages so transferred
when he lost his nizamat.

It is unnecessary to give a list of the various officers who, since the
establishment of the Oudh kingdom, presided over the collections of the
district. They were changed as frequently as our deputy commissioners
are, and exercised as little influence over the future of the country in their
charge ; but there are one or two who deserve mention.

Especially execrated is the memory of Khwaja Afn-ud-din, who held the
post of nazim from 1784 to 1786 A.D., and aggravated by his exactions
and tyranny the terrible results of the great famine. Mercy and firmness
were required to repair the mischief of his misrule, and they were found in
the person of Nirmal Das, a near relative of Maharaja Tikait Rae, who was
nazim for three years till 1796 A.D. He showed himself a considerate
and wise landlord, letting land to any one who would cultivate it at almost
nominal rents, and within the period of his rule the revenue was more than
restored to its previous height.

Rae Amar Singh, a Kayath of Bahraich, managed the district with ability
Tragic end of Kae from 1812 to 1817, and is remembered for his tragic
Amar Singh. end. On an occasion when he visited Lucknow he had

high words with Mirza Hakim Mehndi, who, referring to his caste,' said that
he could make a hundred patw^ris as good as him. Rae Amar Singh,
with an allusion to the hakim's antecedents, retorted that he kept in his
service a hundred barbers as good as him. The offence was treasured up,
and the hakim sent two athletes to tear out the insolent tongue by the
roots. They got into his tent by night, and bound theJiazim to his bed by
cords; but while they were endeavouring to extract his tongue, he snapped
his jaws together with sufficient force to bite off one of their fingers. Even-
tually they strangled him ; but were unable to undo the set clench of his
teeth, and left the finger in his mouth, to testify against them when the
murder was enquired into.

The event is recorded in the following doggerel lines : —

" Rae Amar Singh tumhare amal bin Bala ka sun nagaria.
Chhati par baithe, ghegha dabae, munh men niksi anguria."

" Rae Amar Singh, without thy rule sad is the city of the saint (Bah-
raich).

" They sat on his chest and squeezed his throat ; the finger came off in
his mouth."

Nawab Saif-ud-daula held the office for twelve years, from 1820 to 1828
and from 1832 to 1836. He was first in charge of the separate muhdl of
Gonda, when it was withdrawn from the begam's jagir, and subsequently
nazim of the joint muhdl of Gonda-Bahraich, He also is remembered with
gratitude for his moderation and care for the welfare of his people. It is
said that he used to collect all his malguzars, inform them of the amount

GON 545

wliicli he was ordered to remit to Lucknow, and ask them to combine to
raise it among themselves, with a percentage to cover his risk and costs of
collection. Two years after his death the great Rdja Darshan Singh made
his first appearance on this side- of the Gogra, but he only held office for
one year, and was succeeded by the singular phenomenon of a lady com-
missioner. The widow of Nawab Saif-ud-daula undertook her husband's
charge ; but though she showed great energy, and led her troops in person
against the refractory lord of Bhinga, she found herself unequal to the task,
and at the end of the year resigned. In 1842-43 A.D. Rdja Darshan
Singh again farmed the revenue of the division, and raised it to a pitch
which it had never attained before. Utterly unmerciful and relentless
when brought into contact with the local chiefs or zamindars who would
intercept for their own use a portion of the rents, he was considerate and
not unkind to the cultivators, who probably found him quite as good a
landlord as those whom he had ousted. He made a five years' assessment,
and seems to have anticipated a prolonged tenure of power, but was recalled
in his second year, in consequence of the raid he made into the friendly
territory of Naipdl in pursuit of the raja of Balrampur. His brother, Incha
Ram, and sons, Man Singh and Raghubardayal, held the same position for
short periods between that and annexation ; and the latter is unfavourably
known by the intolerable cruelties and oppression which marked his brief
tenure of office.

Sleeman, in the account of his tour in Oudh, gives a graphic account of
the desolation which this monster left behind him. The nazim from
1849 to 1851 was Muhammad Hasan Khan, commonly known as the col-
lector sahib During the earlier part of his niz^mat he was on very
friendly terms with Ram Datt Rdm, then the head of the Pande family,
and it was through his wealth and influence that he contrived to realise
the revenue with punctuality. Eventually, however, he grew jealous, and
suspected his ally of intriguing in order to supplant him in office.

It was just before the autumn bathings, on the eleventh day of Kartik,
Murder of Earn that Ram Datt Ram went with his great friend Raja
Datt Ham. Digbijai Singh of Balrampur to take leave of the

nazim previous to his departure from Ajodhya. The common encampment
was in a large grove about a mile to the south of Gonda, and the two^
nobles went to pay the usual ceremonies to the Government official. As;
soon as they were seated in his tent, a letter from one of his most trusted
servants, Harparshad Khattri, was put into the Pande's hand, warning
him to be on his guard, as unusual excitement was seen among the ndzim's-
troops. He handed it to Muhammad Hasan, saying that he did not doubt
his honour, but that as the raja of Balrampur was suffering from a bad:
headache he might be allowed to retire to rest ; for himself he would remain-
a short time longer. As soon as he heard that the raja was safe in his
tent he rose to take leave; but as his only attendant, Mahablr, was putting
on his shoes outside the reception room, one of the nazim's soldiers who was
standing by fired a matchlock into his breast. He fled back into the dar-
bar tent and fell on the cushions which he had just left, where he was
nearly cut to pieces by the soldiers of his treacherous friend. A gun from
the nazim's forces was at the same time fired into his encamping-ground,,

MM.

546 eON

and his troops, of which upwards of a thousand were present, dispirited
at the loss of their leader, fled with the raja of Balrampur, and did not
rest tiU they had reached British territory. His younger brother, the
present rfija, Krishan Datt Ram, was at the time in his fort at Dhanepur,
where Muhammad Hasan made a vain attempt to surprise hira. He
followed him into the Burhapara pargana, and engaged him in a sanguin-
ary conflict at Nathpur on the English frontier, but failed to get him into
his power. Some British subjects were killed by stray shots, and a repre-
sentation was made through the Resident, General Sleeman, which ended
in the dismissal of Muhammad Hasan from the post which he had dis-
graced. The Oudh Government, to show their regret for what had hap-
pened, conferred the title of raja on the youthful Ganesh Datt Ram Pande,
the eldest son of the murdered man, — an honour which was subsequently
transferred to Krishan Datt Ram, his brother, who succeeded as head of
the family to the possession of the estates.

Annexation, as in the rest of Oudh, passed off quickly, and Colonel
Boileau, who had been appointed deputy commissioner.

Settlement of the proceeded on a tour to make a settlement of the land
Ld BoiTelT'' '^^ *^°^°' revenue. It soon became necessary to take steps
against one Fazl Ali, a notorious freebooter, who had
previously been the principal actor in some thrilling scenes at Lucknow
described by General Sleeman. He was then lurking in the jungles at
the north of this district, from which he would occasionally sally forth to
plunder and burn a village. Colonel Boileau and his assistant marched
against him at the head of a small body of volunteers, and found him in
a mud house at the edge of the jungle. The assistant had been sent round
by another route, but Colonel Boileau, who arrived at the spot at early
dawn, determined not to wait for him, but take immediate action. He
therefore rode forward in advance of his men and

Colonel Boileaxi Idl- summoned the bandit to surrender. The only answer
l^athofthrmur^erel was a ball, which hit him in the groin. His horse
turned and threw him in an arhar field, while his
attendants one and all took to flight. Fazl Ali issued from the hut, and
cutting the wounded man's head off, hung it up on a pipal tree, where it
was found by his party on their return. The murderer escaped at the time,
but was surprised and slain a few days after.

A successor had hardly been sent to the district when the mutiny broke

out. Raja Debi Bakhsh, who had been in Lucknow

mnti^y.^'' ^^ business, returned and honourably escorted the

Kaja Debi Bakhsh, Government treasure into Fyzabad. He then assumed
and other chiefs of the the leading part in the rebellion of the district, and

^^"'^*" his first care was to level to the ground all the forts

in the possession of the Pandes, the only family capable of offering him
any resistance. They were no longer led by the strong arm and head of
Ram Datt Ram, and Raja Krishan Datt fled to Lucknow, where he was
soon followed by the Gonda r^ja, who, with a thousand men, joined the
Begam's standard. Soon after his arrival he was reinforced by four hundred
Gordha Bisens under the several heads of the clan. In the meantime the
raja of Balrampur had received the English ofiicers, with Mr. Wingfield,

GON 547

the commissioner of Gonda and Bahraich, at Balr^mpur, and after keeping
themfor a short time in his strong fort of Pathoan Garh, between the two
Raptis, sent them, with a sufficient force for their protection, through the
north of the district into Gorakhpur. He steadily declined to recognise
the rebel government, and orders for the confiscation of his raj were issued,
which no one was found strong enough to carry out.

The remaining chiefs profited by anarchy to plunder all the well-to-do
people they could lay their hands on. Eaja Ridsat Ali Khan of Utraula
raised a small force and expended his energies in re-opening the old feuds
with his cousins, the descendants of Mubarak Khan. Ashraf Bakhsh Khan,
the chief of Burhapara, after having harried his own pargana, joined the
rebel nazim of Gorakhpur, and carried his depredations into that district.

The rdni of Tulsipur, whose husband was a prisoner in the hands of
the English at Lucknow, called' out her levies, and vindicated her position
as exponent of the traditional policy of her family, by murdering the chief
men among her subjects, including her husband's general, and the next
heir to the raj, whom she baked alive in a clay hut. Pirthipd,! Singh, the
thakur of Mahnon, and nearest in succession to the Gonda gaddi, had been
left in charge of the south of the district ; but the necessity of a strong
hand to represent the central government was felt, and the begam sent in
Raja Debi Bakhsh Singh from Lucknow, with plenary powers in the whole
country which had acknowledged the rule of his more powerful ancestors.^
He fixed his camp at Lampti, on the borders of Manikapur and Mahadewa,
where he was joined by levies amounting, it is said, to nearly twenty
thousand men, and watched the course of events.

The first British force which came into the district were the Gurkhasv

who crossed the eastern frontier from Basti. On the

Tlie Gurkias cross news of their approach the raja's forces dispersed,

from Basti™ *''°"*'*'' leaving him only about fifteen hundred men, with

whom he marched towards the north. A slight

skirmish at Machhligaon only served to hasten his movements ; and in the

meantime the main Oudh army had passed the Gogra, and commenced

the campaign which swept the broken remnants of the rebel forces across

the Edpti, and over the lower range of the Himalayas into Naipal.

The other taluqdars accepted the amnesty, but the rani of Tulsipur and
raja of Gonda could not be induced to come in, and their estates were
confiscated and conferred in reward for good services on Maharaja Sir
Digbijai Singh of Balrampur, and Maharaja Sir Man Singh. The estates.
of Ashraf Bakhsh Khan, whose outrage during the rebellion had put him
beyond the pale of forgiveness, were granted to Bhayya Harrattan Singh, a
GorEiha Bisen, who had commanded Sir C. Wingfield's escort. The historian
of the last fifteen years finds nothing to record but profound peace, and
an inconceivably rapid increase of population and extension of tillage.

The principle of assessment in the Nawabi, as may be seen in the case
of villages held in direct management by Government
Principle of assess- officials was that the Government took the whole of
meat in the Nawabi. ^^^ landlord's share of the produce, remitting a propor-
tion—never more than a quarter, and never less than a tenth— in favour of

MM 2

548 GON

the village head. The quarter was generally allowed if the recipient was
admittedly a zamindar, the tenth if he was only a low-caste muqaddam.

The Government, therefore, never in theory took less than one-quarter
of the gross produce, — ^the servants' share amounting to nearly one-third,
the cultivator's share to about the same, and the Government share to one-
third, minus either a quarter 'or a tenth of that third. In practice, Govern-
ment revenue was paid almost everywhere in money, and in that case the
qdnlingo used to send in an estimate of the gross value of the proprietor's
share of the produce. This was taken as the Government demand, and
a fixed sum, not varying with the demand, and known as dehi nankar,
was struck off from it as the zamindar's share. If the demand appeared
intolerably heavy, it was sometimes reduced at the instance of the zamin-
dar by addition to his nankar allowance.

It is very difficult to say what proportion the money revenue bore to the
gross produce ; but under a vigorous nSzim it could rarely have been less
than a fourth. The people were left the barest means of subsistence.

The actual demand between 1200 Fasli and annexation varied consider-
ably. The assessment was made by parganas, and I have only been able
to ascertain its amount over the whole district for 1839 A.D., when the
strong arm of Darshan Singh collected Rs. 13,43,043, or a rate of about
Rs. 494 per square mile. This was the highest figure ever attained ; and
four years later, in 1845, the revenue over the whole district was little
over eleven lacs, or Rs. 415 the square mile.

In many other years I have obtained the assessment for the majority of
the parganas, and have selected the following as conveying the best idea of
the actual rates levied : —

In 1808 A.D., the land tax over an area of 1,879 square miles was
at the rate of Rs. 302 the square mile.

In 1811 A.D., over an area of 2,026 square miles, the demand
was Rs. 326 to the square mile.

In 1816 A.D., the revenue from the whole district, excepting the
parganas Digsar, Pah^rapur, and Utraula, was at the rate of
only Rs. 265 per square mile ; this is the lightest demand since
1800 AD.

In 1837 A.D., the revenue over the whole district, excepting Gonda
and Pah^rapur, amounted to seven and a half lacs, or a rate of
about Rs. 355 the square mile.

The general result of my enquiries on this head is, that in the sixty
years which preceded annexation, the revenue gradually rose from Rs. 300
to about Rs. 425 per square mile, — a result due rather to extension of cul-
tivation, particularly in the north, than to any great change in the value
of money.

At annexation experienced native officials were sent to each pargana to
report, for every village separately, the area under cultivation, the nature of
the crops, the system of rent, and the number of ploughs, houses, and wells.

For 1281 P.

(1873-74

A. D.)

„ 1282 F.

...

„ 1283 F.

■ a.

„ 1284 F.

„ 1285 P.

...

„ 1286 F.

...

„ 1287 F.

...

„ 1288 F.

„ 1289 F.

...

„ 1290 F.

...

„ 1291 F.

f.i

GON S4&

From the data thus procured, a land revenue of Rs 9,66,983 was assessed
on the principle of taking half profits, and the same demand was imposed
at the re-occupation after the mutiny. On account of the backward state
of the district, the Chief Commissioner directed that the settlement should
be the last in the province to be revised ; and the immense rise which has
been made possible by the rapid extension of cultivation has fully justified
his order. In the lately broken-up tracts, full rents are not yet realised
by the landlords; and for this reason, and in some instances to enable the
revenue-payers to accommodate themselves to the new demand, the
enhancement will be taken gradually by steps spread over the next ten years.

The revenue proposed is as follows : — ■

Es. 15,86,581

„ 15,56,581

,) 15,.57,689

„ 15,93,934

„ 16,20,224

„ 16,50,584

„ 16,.52,791

„ 16,58,130

„ 16,62,030

„ 16,70,335

„ 17,01,958

Between forty and fifty thousand rupees have been assessed on the hold-
ings of old muafidars, who retain their exemption from revenue for their
own lives; and this sum, which has been included in the above figures, will
be levied from their heirs or successors.

It remains to be seen whether this almost unparalleled rise, which
amounts to an increase on the summary settlement of 60 per cent, in the
first, and 76 in the final year, can be realised without ruining the proprie-
tors of the land.

Its introduction is facilitated by the number of large taluqas which
absorb the great part of the district, and whose owners may find it possi-
ble to reduce their expenses considerably ; but its harshness will be most
severely felt by the numbers of birtias and sub-proprietors whose rents are
fixed at a certain proportion to the Government demand, amounting in
many large parganas to 90 per cent, of the settlement ofiicer's assumed
gross rentaL

The incidence on the total area is 15 annas and 8 pies per acre, or Us. 626
per square mile,— a rate exceeding by nearly 27 per cent, the highest
■ demand ever made by the most powerful and rapacious of native nazims,
when, in theory at least, not a half, but almost the whole of the rental was
exacted by Government, and large balances, which it was never attempted
to recover, invariably remained at the conclusion of each year, from a reve-
nue which was not fixed at an unvarying figure for thirty years, but
adapted itself to the variations of good and bad seasons.

Since writing the above, the settlement department has given me the
information that the total cultivated area of the dis-

Total cultivated ij-^d ig 1,056,455 acres ; so the incidence of the revised
area of the district. ^^^^^^ Hses from Re. 1-7-10 per acre in the first to
Re. 1-10-1 in the last year. And assuming the population roughly at

550 GON

1,200,000, from Re. 1-3-10 to Re. 1-6-8 per head of inhabitants. A refer-
ence to the different pargana articles will show that the rates vary enor-
mously in different parts of the district, and are in the south almost twice
as high as they are in the north.

J^ote. — Abirtpatr bearing the name of Raja Achal Narain Singh, which
Came into my hands fortuitously, and under circumstances which render it
impossible for me to doubt its being genuine, confirms the general accuracy
of the conjectural chronology of the district article.

It is dated 931 San, which must have been by the Hijri era, or 1524
A. D. The destruction of the Kalhans dynasty must therefore be moved
about a quarter of a century further on than the time at which I had con-
jectured that it occurred.

GONDA Pargana* — Taksil Gonda — District GondA. — Gonda, a large par--
gana, covering 509 square miles, is bounded on the north by the Kuwana,
river, which divides it from Balrampur and Utraula ; on the east by the
parganas of Sadxillahnagar and Manikapur ; on the south by Mahadewa,
Digsar, Guwarich, and Paharapur ; on the west by the Bahraich district.
Its greatest breadth is 37 miles. In appearance it is a large, feirly well-
wooded plain, with hardly perceptible undulations. The rain-water drains
off along the slight depressions into shallow channels, which combine with
the Bisuhi, the Manwar, the Chamnai, and the Tirhi, and carry off the
surplus moisture in a south-easterly direction. The extreme minuteness
of the deviations from the general level makes an unimpeded drainage of
the greatest importance. A bank a foot high across any main channel
will be sufficient to flood and destroy the rice crops of square miles, and
the roads laid out since annexation are much complained of. They are,
however, fortunately extremely simple in structure, and if culverts and
bridges are sadly wanted, they can be, and are, cut through by the villagers
whose fields they damage, and are repaired again without difficulty at the
end of the year. The only extensive tree jungles now left are to the north,
along the Kuwana. They contain a great deal of sfil, but little of
sufficient size to be of any considerable value. Large trees are occasionally
met with, and will fetch as high a price as fifty or sixty rupees each, so it is
a matter for wonder that such valuable timber is not more carefully looked
to by the jungle proprietors. The cane-thickets along the river are
haunted by a few panthers, and innumerable wild pig and monkeys, while
the open forest contains nil-gtie, and spotted and hog-deer. The jungle is
divided by belts of grass-plain, roved over by herds of black ante-
lope. From the beginning of the cultivated portion of the pargana all
over the north the population is comparatively scanty, and the rice and
wheat fields are interspersed with barren tracts, covered by groves of
mahua trees, which, where there is no very close competition for land, are
kept all over the district for their valuable flower and fruit, — ^the one yield-
ing an intoxicating spirit, the other oil. Across the centre of the pargana
runs a slight depression, which in the rainy season forms a series of large

* By Mr. W. C. Benett, c.s., Assistant Commissioner.

GON S51

jhlls, on the banks of which are grown the finest crops of rice and sugar.
Excepting the Kuwana jungles, the whole pargana is under high cultiva-
tion, and produces splendid crops of wheat, rice, sugar, and in the north
gram and arhar, in the south Indian-corn and barley. The soil is generally
a light and fertile loam; and pure clay and unmixed sand are equally rarely
met with. The whole lies within the slightly raised table-land known as
the uparhSr, but water, if not so near the surface as in the region
along the Gogra, can always be struck at a depth of from 15 to 20
feet. Irrigation is very common, and 38,957 acres are watered from 6,870
brick, and 2,623 mud wells, while 5,999 ponds and tanks fertilise another
30,235 acres. Of the whole area, 13,846 acres, or little more than half
per cent., are under groves, and 33,132 acres have been returned as uncul-
turable. The last figure includes village sites, roads and tanks ; and as a
matter of fact there is hardly an acre in the pargana unsulturable from
the fault of its soil. The cultivated area is 201,300 acres, or 62 per cent
of the whole. Of this, 130,450 acres are under spring, and 113,920 acres
under autumn crops, while 56,850 bear a double harvest. The area in
acres under each of the principal staples is as follows : —

Acres.
Eice ... ... ... 76,750 )

Kodo ... ... ... 17,500 > Autumn crops,

Indian-corn ... ... ... 10,600 )

Sugarcane ... ... ... 4,582

"Wheat ... ... ... 41,287 )

llCr ::: ::: ::: ll'Sl '^^"^^-^^

Barley ... ... ... 12,875 )

The total number of holdings is returned at 40,563, which gives an
average of almost exactly 4 acres to a farm ; but as many cultivators hold
land in two or three different villages, and are returned separately for their
tenure in each, it is likely that the actual average area in the possession of
each undivided family of cultivators is between 5 and 6 acres. The num-
ber of ploughs is perhaps under-stated at 31,870, which gives the high
average of 6 J acres to each plough.

This, however, may be considerably reduced when we remember that
large areas are under spade cultivation, a subject on which no returns are
available. The Government demand in 1808 A.D. stood at Rs. 3,21,296 ;
eight years later it had fallen to Rs. 2,85,243 ; and in 1822 it rose to
!Rs. 3,70,570, the largest sum collected before English rule except in the
year 1850, when Rs. 3,85,704 were assessed on a pargana. It is curious
that Raja Darshan Singh should have failed to raise the revenue here as
he did in every other place of which he was nazim; and in 1842 and 1843,
the two last years of his authority, he only realised Rs. 2,59,601 and
Rs. 2,59,702, or nearly a lac of rupees less than the ordinary collections.
As the revenue was collected direct from the several village proprietors or
taluqdars, and not levied in a lump sum from a raja, it must have borne
a much higher proportion to the gross rents than it did in the parganas of
BaMmpur and Tulsipur. At annexation a sumrnary investigation was made
into the gross assets, and on the principle of taking half as the Government
share, the land revenue is fixed at Rs. 2,55,001-15, or Re. 0-12 on the
total area. No returns exist to show the area then under cultivation, and
it is impossible to deduce the rate of incidence on the acre of tillage.

552 GON

A revised assessment was made in 1869 and 1870 A.D., and the Government
demand, with cesses, settled for thirty years at Rs. 4,24,045, an average of
Re. 1-5 per acre of total area, and Rs. 2-1-9 per cultivated acre. The
immense rise of Rs. 1,69,044, or more than 66 per cent., probably reflects,
with some approach to accuracy, the rapid extension of cultivation during
fifteen years of English peace. Four hundred and sixty-one villages, with a
revenue of Rs. 3,35,312, are held by taluqdars, of whom the principal are
Rdja Krishan Datt Ram, the widow of the late Mahfoaja Sir Man Singh,
and the thakurains of Birwa and Deotaha. Independent zamindars hold
182 villages, paying a revenue of Rs. 88,933.

The total population by the late census returns amounted to 272,378,
which gives an average of 536 to the square mile, and 1'35 souls to the
cultivated acre. They are distributed among 643 inhabited villages and
1,943 hamlets or isolated homesteads, and average 4'1 souls to each house.
Muhammadans number 24,235, or 9 per cent, of the whole population,
which is slightly below the average of the district. They have among them
no large landed proprietors ; and though there are a few village zamindars,
the great majority are either cultivators, or weavers, or servants in all capa-
cities, either of Government or wealthy Hindus. The proportion of females
to males among Musalmans is 95'9, and among Hindus 93'9 per cent. Of
the latter by far the most numerous caste are the Brahmans, who number
60,713, or between a quarter and a fifth of the whole population. They are
all, with the exception of a family here and there, which has immigrated
within historical times, of the great Sarwaria division, and retain no tradi-
tion whatever of their first settlement in the district, of which it is probable
that they are among the most ancient inhabitants, having survived the
vicissitudes of Buddhist, Jain, and Muhammadan conquests.

It is as unlawful to them to smoke tobacco, eat flesh, or drink spirits, as
it is to employ themselves in the more useful pursuit of driving the plough.
The strictness of their asceticism does not prevent them from being
among the most turbulent as well as the most dishonest classes in the pro-
vince; and they contribute out of proportion to their numbers to the rioters
and cattle-thieves of the district jail. Time was when their energies
found a more legitimate opening, and their fighting qualities, unrivalled
between the Gogra and the hills, raised their rajas to an undisputed pre-
eminence among the chiefs of Gonda and Bahraich. Later on they joined
the English standard in large numbers, and the Pande gave a generic
name to the whole native army. The mutiny, which they were among
the foremost to join, threw hundreds out of employment ; but they still
send over two thousand men to the defence of their country. There is
hardly a village in which they are not the leaders, either as old proprietary
communities recognised by the raja's birt, or as lessees, and they almost
monopolise the rural grain trade and money-lending business. Next in
number to them are the Koris, the opposite end of the social scale, with a
total of 28,458 souls. If in matters of religion they transgress on every
point where the Brahman is holy, and not only drink spirits when their
wretched poverty allows them the indulgence, but are found very constantly
at the plough-handle, there are some particulars in which they contrast
not unfavourably with their masters. A simple, oppressed race, they are

GON 653

generally truthful, and must always be hard-working. A large number of
them (there are no statistics, but I should say a considerable majority) are
bond slaves, and their labour supplies sustenance both to themselves and the
higher castes. Their women, and children too young for the plough, engage
themselves in the manufacture of coarse country cloth, an industry which
they share with the Musalman Juldhas, who number 3,805 souls. The
26,288 Kurmis furnish the best cultivators, and a few of the wealthiest village
lessees in the pargana. They are almost all of the Khurasia sub-division,
and take their name from the extinct raj of Khurasa. The only other
numerous caste are the Ahirs, with a total of 18,699. There are only
6,456 Ghhattris, the most numerous clan being the Bisens, who are scattered
all over the pargana, and all claim a connection with the Raja of Majholi in
Gorakhpur, though many communities of them are unable to trace their
descent to any common ancestor with the Gonda rajas.

The census report enumerates besides, Parihdr, Bais, Katharia, Hara
Bhale Sultan, and Panwar Thakurs ; but these, with the exception of Bais,
must all be very few in numbers and unimportant in position. Like the
Brahmans, no member of the fighting class will put his hand to the plough,
and they depend for their grain on slave labour. There are 2,143 members
of the semi-monastic order of Goshdins, some of whom, like the Bharthi
Mahant of Itara, and the Ban Mahant of Srinagar, are among the weal-
thiest and most important of the second rank of landed proprietors.
Their enforced celibacy admits of the accumulation of riches, and prevents
the dispersion of their possessions among numerous and indigent bodies of
co-proprietors. The most peculiar tribe in the pargana are the Barwdrs
of a Kurmi stock ; they are said to have migrated from Basti about two
hundred years ago. Their distinguishing profession is theft, which they
carry on with great success, though the rules of their religion sternly restrict
their operations to the period between sunrise and sunset. Any one steal-
ing by night is at once turned out of caste. Two or three start on a tour
together under a leader known as the Sahwa, and having satisfied their
appetite for plunder, return to their village, where the proceeds are divided
with strict justice among all the members of the thief's sub-division;
even the bhnd and the halt coming in for a share. Part is set aside to buy
goats and spirits, which are offered to Debi, and a fixed percentage is
taken by the zamindar of the village. To this last fact they owe it that
they have little to fear from the law. When one is called upon to give
security for good behaviour, a most respectable Brahman or Eajput will
always step forward and execute the required bond. As the thefts are
almost always committed at a distance (parties will .wander from Jagan-
nath to Bombay), there is but little chance that the bail will be forfeited.
Ghats are the favourite scene of their depredations, and they are wonderfully
quick at exchanging for the full bundle of a bather a perfectly worthless
collection of rags of their own. At crowded fairs a line of accomplices is
formed, and before the alarm can well be given, the stolen article has passed
through a dozen hands beyond the reach of recovery. They not unfrequently
adopt the disguise of a Brahman's thread and beads. Chaudhris preside
over small gangs and are generally in treaty with the police not to rob
within the home jurisdiction. Their pkindering expeditions are followed

654

GON

Namat.

Bundle

Terk4.

Ban.

Water

Lauu.

Chawa.

Spirits

Dotar, or Gintki.

CMi.

Lota

Bisenf.

Phouk.

Cart

KathiJn'.

Bhogliar.

Box

Bebhi.

Dasu.

Stop

Miir.

TMkar.

In prison

Chama.

Bakhll.

Hold your tongue...

Ckulki ua karo.

Ariyar.

Priest '•■

Aijapu.

Khal.

Sleep

Arsu.

Pdt kha

Kiot

Vamb.

Siikh.

Cokabitation

Vaim.

Chhikain.

Eye

Chandur.

Chiksa.

Old

Dhuokar.

Dekaun.

Flogging

Jkamni.

Garhni.

Fire

Kaili.

Nat.

Night

Kajri.

Lamblcha,

Goats and skeep ...

Memi.

Pkatkan.

Vegetables.

Pharoti.

Dona.

Salt

Basu.

Titoti.

Wild beast

Sfluki

Serki.

by days and nights of drunkenness, till the profits have been exhausted,
and they then relapse into excellent cultivators till such time as a new-
excursion shall have been decided upon. They have a peculiar vocabulary,
some of the words of which are as follows : —

Man

Woman

Boy

Girl

Large quadruped

Man on horseback ..

Policeman

Pretty

Ugly

Small child

Plunder

Plentiful plunder

Gold

Coined gold

SilTer

Coined silver

Bread

House

Tunic

Turban

Cap

Dhoti

Skeet

A census taken by the police fixes their present number at 2,449, of both
sexes and all ages. Of these, no less than 5-55 individuals, or more than half
of the grown men, have been convicted of theft. To their ordinary trade
they add the offence of kidnapping ; and when they return at the end of the
hot weather, each gang will bring with them one or more boys of from five
to ten years of age, whom they have picked up during their expedition.
Such men and their offspring form a separate class, known as ghulams ; and,
though they participate equally in the plunder of the gang to which they
belong, pure Barwars will neither eat with them nor give them their
daughters in marriage.

Their adventurous and ingenious occupation seems to exercise a fascina-
tion over them which nothing can conquer, and a few efforts to reclaim
younger thieves by kind treatment in domestic service have invariably
resulted in the disappearance of the servant with the most valuable part of
the property of his humane master. They have now been brought under
the operation of the Criminal Tribes' Act, and it remains to be seen whether
strict repression and a rigorous system of registration will succeed in
making them more useful members of society. Their reformation is
facilitated by the fact that they are all concentrated in a few villages on the
boundaries of the Gonda and Manikapur parganas, within the limits of a
single police station.

The principal places of pilgrimage are at Tirre Mannarama, Khargdpur,
and Balpur on the Tirhi. The first is a large brick tank built over the
sources of the Manwar stream, which issue through an opening in the
western wall, passing through a grove of mangoes and jack fruit trees,
to flood or fertilise the cultivated plain. It was here that the great Muni
Dalak, after austerities as remarkable for their rigour as for their

GON 555

prolongation over countless centuries in the lonely forest which then covered
the country, finally become one with the divinity, and sank in living death
beneath the earth. A pure spring gushed out from the sacred spot ; and on
the last day of the light half of every Kartik, some twenty thousand pilgrims
flock thither from every part of the district to wash away the taint of their
sins in water, which at any rate has the advantage of being constantly
changed, and is therefore not outrageously dirty.

The sanctity of Kharglipur is of modern date, and is due to the discovery
there, a few years before annexation, of a large Mahadeo with a hand-
somely carved argha, the rich remains of some civilisation whose memory
. and name no longer exist. From the commencement of the thirteenth
century till quite lately the tract in which this stone emblem was discovered
had certainly been an uninhabited jungle, and we must ascribe its original
erection to a period anterior to the Muhammadan conquest.

It is now the object of renewed veneration, and the centre, on the light
thirteenth in each month, of a crowd of pilgrims. The land on which it
stands forms part of the estate of the late Maharaja Sir Man Singh, and
the money offerings are set apart for the construction of a superb shiwala,
which is now progressing under the superintendence of the encumbered
estates agency. The grain which is presented at the shrine is taken by a
Goshain, who distributes what he does not require for his own sustenance
among the indigent of his brethren.

The third place of pilgrimage is about eight miles to the west of Gonda,
just beyond where the Tirhi is crossed by the Balpur ferry. It is dedicated
to Siddh Blr, but who this Siddh Bir was I have been unable to detect from
any of the" number of his votaries whom I have interrogated on the subject.
They are tolerably unanimous in admitting that he has no connection with
either Mahadeo or Bhawani ; and the majority of votes would make him a
Muhammadan saint, either a martyred officer of Sayyad Salar's army, like
him yet worshipped at Raza (pargana Mahadewa), or a holy faqlr who passed
from the world at this spot. The shrine is simply a mud platform under a
banian tree, which draws a gathering of six or seven thousand, chiefly
women, on the last day of Asarh.

The chief bazars are in Gonda itself, Jigna, Dhangpur, Dubha, R^jgarh
and Khargupur. Baldan Chaudhri, a rich Kurmi of Sombarsa, tried to
create one in his village, and erected the necessary buildings, but failed to
attract either sellers or purchasers, and the ruined shells of abortive shops
remain to witness to his want of success. Exactly the same result attended
a similar project of the late Sir Man Singh at Bilawan, half-way between
Jigna and Gonda, and the plain is still disfigured by a collection of dilapi-
dated brick walls. As in the rest of the district, the principal article of
commerce is grain, and considerable quantities of wheat and rice are exported
through Nawabganj or Colonelganj. The import trade is insignificant,
being confined to salt, brass vessels, and small quantities of English cotton
cloth.

One metalled road runs from Gonda to Fyzabad ; the remaining con-
nections are merely earth embankments, more or less passable according to
the violence of the preceding rains and the energy of the officer for the

666 GON

time in charge; and, radiating from the town of Gonda, the principal lines
of communication depart for Balrampur and TJtraula, and each are under
Government sxiperintendence. The less regarded track to Jigna and
Machhligaon must rely on its own fortunes, and cannot be regarded as a
successful means of transit. A rough road repaired from the local funds
joins Colonelganj with Balrampur, entering this pargana by the Birpur
Katra Bazar, and passing through its western half. A not unimportant,
but wholly untended, cart-track runs through the north of the pargana,
from Bahraich to the bazar of Bank in Utraula, and on into the Basti
district. North- Western Provinces.

Local tradition asserts that when Sohildeo was king of Sahet Mahet,
Kaja Sudama, whose name also occurs in the history of that ancient city '
{vide article Sahet Mahet), ruled the country south of the Kuwana, and
that it is to his time that the remains of old cities, such as are found at
Khargupur, Nulla, and Machhligaon, must be referred. But nothing like
authentic history exists previous to the foundation of the Kalhans dynasty
of Khurasa, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, whose obscure and
scanty annals have been given more appropriately in the district article.

On the death of Raja Achal Narain Singh, the whole of his raj fell into
a state of anarchy ; predatory bands roamed all over the district, rendering
cultivation impossible; and the Government revenue ceased to be paid. At
this juncture it is related that the subahdar of Oudh applied to Sarabjit
Singh, Bais, who had been chaudhri of the pargana of Khurasa under the
Kalhans chiefs, to recommend some one who could be made responsible for
peace and order. He sent in his sister's son, Partab Mai, Bisen, who was
approved of, and proceeded to make himself master of the country. All
over that portion of the Khurasa principality which was finally consolidated
into the Gonda raj, the most powerful Chhattri families belonged to the
same clan as himself, though at the present day their descendants are unable
to trace their origin to any common ancestor. Along the north, divided
into the great branches of Ramapur, Bechaipur, Bankata, and Khera Dih,
the large class of Bisens of Ramapur Birwa extended over a tract nearly
forty miles long, bounded on the north by the Kuwana, and on the south by
the western Tirhi, or the Bistihi; whUe further south the Gordha Bisens
covered what is now the Mahadewa pargana ; and several less important
families of the same stock were proprietors of single villages. Other j%ir-
dars of the Kalhans rule, such as the Bandhalgotis of Manikapur, broke off
into independent rajes, and it is to the feeling of common clanship that
we must ascribe the cohesion of the large tract of country which owned
the leadership of the rajas of Gonda. Partab Mai himself seems to have
been merely primus inter pares, and neither he nor his son and grandson,
Sah Mai and Khurram Mai, assumed the title of raja or left their ancestral
home at Gohdni in the present pargana of Digsar. Of Man Singh, the
next in the line, it is related that he was hunting near where Gonda now
is, and a hare turned round and put his hounds to flight. " If the air of
this place," he exclaimed," " will make hares braver than dogs, what will it
not do for men?" And he immediately left Gohani and laid the foundation
of a new capital, which he named Gonda, after a cow-shed which he found
there. A singular travesty of history accounts for his assumption of the

GON 557

title of raja. His family priest was one Dalla Pdnde, whose descend'aBts are
among the most turbulent of the small zamindars ofMahadewa. Of him it is
said that he had two syces, Sher and Salim, who went to Delhi, and by their
brave conduct in war rose to the command of the imperial forces, and found
themselves powerful enough to expelHumaydn and usurp the throne of India.
In their exalted position they did not forget their old master the Pande, and
sent him a farmdn appointing him raja of Gonda. As a Brahman, he felt an
aversion to rule, and passed the title on to Mdn Singh, in whose family
it thenceforth remained. If any value can be attached to this story, it
serves to corroborate the otherwise probable chronology which would make
the final establishment of the Gonda raj contemporaneous with the wars
in Oudh which marked the opening of Akbar's reign. Eaja Man Singh
left four sons, of which the eldest, Raja Lachhman Singh, succeeded to the
chieftainship, and the younger were provided for by a grant of, it is said,
six hundred and forty villages, stretching from Khargupur Chandpur to
Manikapur. Their representatives, the Thakurs of Bidhianagar, Kaimi,
and Garhi, now only hold a few villages in the western comer of Manikapur
and Chandipur in Mahadewa. Lachhman Singh was succeeded by his son
Nirbahan Singh, who, like his grandfather, had four sons, the eldest of
whom was Raja Durjan Singh, from whose younger brothers, B^n Singh
and Bir Sah, are descended the Thakurs of Birdiha, Hindunagar, and
Bishambharpur. Durjan Singh died childless, and was succeeded by his
remaining brother. Raja Amar Singh, in whose time the Janwars of Ikauna,
then at the zenith of their power, crossed the Kuwdna and possessed them-
selves of a large tract in the north of the Gonda raj, — an encroachment
which the Bisens were not strong enough to repel.

The most brilliant period in the annals of the dynasty commenced with
the accession of Raja Ram Singh at the beginning of the latter half of the
saventeenth century. His first act was to destroy the fort at Bhatpui on
the Bislihi, which Raja Mahd, Singh had erected during his occupation.
The feeble successors to the Janwar r^j were unable to offer him any serious
resistance, and he finally vindicated, the claims of his family to the whole
of the debated land between the Bisuhi and the Kuwana. Up to his time
the rule of the Raikwars had extended right up to the edge of the uparhar,
within a few miles of Gonda itself. The immediate propinquity of a pos-
sibly hostile neighbour exposed his capital to the risk of being plundered
and burnt at any time when his arms were employed at a distance, and
urgently demanded a rectification of frontiers. In a series of desultory
fights he managed to extend his encroachments over the greater part of
what is now the Paharapur pargana, and wrested seventy-four villages
from his rivals, including them permanently within the borders of his raj.
His old age was unblessed with offspring, and he had recourse to the
services of Ganga Gir Goshafn, the most noted of his time among the holy
men of Ajodhya. The saint had two favourite disciples, Datt and Bhawani,
and at the urgent entreaty of the raja he despatched them to Benares
with a direction that they were to insert their heads into a grating which
overlooked the Ganges, and as the guillotine-like door descended from above
to decapitate them, to pray to the river who received their lives that in
exchange for each a son might be given to the Gonda chieftain. The
sacrifice was efficacious, and two sons were born, who were named after the

558 GON

authors of their life, Datt and Bhaw^ni. At the same time the Goshain
gave the raja his tooth-pick, and directed him to plant it in Gonda, with
the prophecy that as long as it remained green, the family of the Bisens
should prosper. It grew into a chilbil bush, throwing out two main branches.
In the mutiny, when his rebellion cost Raja Debi Bakhsh Singh his
estates, the principal bough was broken off by a hurricane. The second yet
remains, and with it are bound up the fortunes of the descendants of Bha-
wani Singh. The heir of Bhinga, Raja Datt Singh, was quite a boy when,
within a few years of the beginning of the seventeenth century, the death
of his father put him at the head of his clan. The warlike instincts called
into action, and invigorated with the prestige of a first success by his prede-
cessor, found in him a worthy leader, and elevated him before the end of
his reign to the first position among the trans-Gogra lords. A story relates
that, while he was yet a child, a Brahman woman came to pray for redress
against the Pathans of Bahraich, who had cruelly mutilated her, cutting
off her left breast. His widowed mother tried in vain to keep him in
ignorance of the outrage, and putting himself at the head of his clan forces,
he retaliated by a raid on Bahraich, during which he cut off the breasts of
every Musalman woman who fell into his power. His next exploit was
towards the south, where the Tirhi had hitherto bounded his raj, and the
close neighbourhood of the Kalhans of Guwarich to Gonda rendered aa
extension of frontier in that direction as urgently necessary as it had been
to the west during his father's time. His standard was joined by the
Utraula Pathans, who remained, till annexation, the most faithful of the
allies of his house. Their combined forces gained an easy victory ; the
whole of the chieftainships of Paraspur and Ata were annexed to Gonda,
and the new boundary was marked by a pot of charcoal buried at Chunia
Dih, a village about two miles to the south of the town of Paraspur. The
most celebrated and critical of his wars was with Alawal Khan, the Bahraich
Pathan, who had been appointed by the new subahdai, Nawab Saadat
Khan, his lieutenant for the trans-Gogra provinces. His first visit to
Gonda was received with apparent cordiality, but only served, in fact, to
confirm the mutual hatred which already existed.

Datt Singh was of a mean stature, and when the gigantic Muhammadan
enfolded him in his embrace, he took advantage of the fact to lift him in
his arms, and smile over his shoulder at the assembled chiefs. He then
begged to be introduced to Bhawani Singh, but Datt Singh was not
anxious to expose his brother to a like indignity, and presented for him
Bhairon Rae, the tallest of the Gor^ha Bisens, who retaliated on the ndzim
by lifting him off his feet. Both parties for the time dissembled their rage ;
but, on the nazim's return to Fyzabad, the raja absolutely declined to pay
the Government revenue which was demanded of him. What followed is
preserved in a contemporary ballad of remarkable spirit, which is the
favourite piece in the repertoire of local minstrels. The nawab commis-
sioned Alawal Khan to reduce the refractory chieftain, and he left Fyzabad
with a considerable Muhanamadan force, and a vaunt that he would bring
Datt Singh to his master's feet, and make, his own encampment at Gonda.
The Gogra was crossed at Pa^ka in Guwdrich, and the Kalhans of that
pargana, smarting under their recent defeat and despoliation, flocked eagerly
to his standard. His enemy seems to have established an advanced post

GON 559

beyond the limits of his raj, on the very banks of the river, and the fort
of Paska was held in his favour by Bodh Tiwari, who was killed after a
stubborn resistance. The Path an was equally successful at Malona, where
he defeated the Brahmans under Narain Datt Pande. He then pitched
his camp on the Tirhi, to the west of Gonda, and occupied himself in plun-
dering and driving off the herds of the neighbourhood. This was at the
beginning of April, when the two great fairs at Debi Patau and Ajodhya had
drawn off' a number of Raja Datt Singh's best fighting men, so he replied
to the insolent challenge of his foe that he would be able to send in his
revenue after the conclusion of the Ramnaumi festival. The requisite time
was gained by negotiations, and finally Datt Singh marched forth from
Gonda at the head of the Brahmans of his raj, and the whole of the Goraha
Bisens of Mahadewa. The great family of Rdmapur Bisens, whose settle-
ments extended all over the north of the pargana, are not mentioned in
the ballad ; and as they were always somewhat jealous of the more fortu-
nate house of Gonda, it is probable that they held aloof The opposed
forces met at Sarbhangpur, about six miles to the west of Gonda ; but the
Muhammadans were dispirited by an iireparable accident which had
befallen them on the morning of the fight, — their leader, while mounting
a restive horse, was thrown, and broke his right arm. He made light of
it himself, and, binding it up in a sling, put himself at the head of his
troops. The battle, after a distant exchange of matchlock fires, resolved
itself into a series of single combats, in which the bard does full justice
to the bravery of Alawal Khan. For some time it seemed as if the Bisens
would be defeated, and Datt Singh prepared to leave the field. The
remonstrances of his brother restrained him, and a final effort was made
by the Gorahas. Bhairon Rae, the same as had figured in the first meeting
of the rivals, singled out Alawal Khan, and after a desperate fight clove
his head open. On the fall of their chief, the nawab's troops fled, and
Datt Singh was left master of the field.

His first act was to summon Bhairon Rae and ask him what favour he
would take as a reward for his bravery. He replied that he and his family
had always held the Mahadewa pargana in rent-free jaglr, and he now
begged that the raja would grant him the zamindari in it. His request
was granted, and from that time to this the Goraha Bisens have been in
full possession of all the zamindari rights in the pargana, such as ferry
fees, bazar dues, and natural products. I know no other instance which
illustrates so clearly the identity of meaning in zamindari and government.
Zamindari right in itself did not necessarily involve any proprietary right
in the soil, and, as in this case, the whole title to rents might be alienated
without making the. grantee in any sense of the word a zamindar. The
distinctive features of that status were the imposition of taxes, the decision
of disputes among the subjects, and the right to call out the clan forces
for war, — attributes, according to an English point of view, of government,
and not of a private proprietor.

The nawab did not accept as fina,l the defeat of his officer, and shortly
afterwards Gonda was besieged by an imperial force. The garrison was
reduced to the last straits, and Datt Singh prepared to sacrifice the women
of his family, and imitate the fearful example so often set by the Chhattris

560 GON

of Rdjjputana, by casting himself and his followers on the besieging forces
and perishing sword in hand. The act of devotion was rendered unneces-
sary by the timely arrival of Bir Bihangam Sah at the head of the whole
of the northern Bisens of Rdmapur. The siege was raised, and the raja
came to terms with the Oudh Government.

His territories were erected into a separate jurisdiction, independent of
the nazims of Bahraich and Gorakhpur, within which he exercised the full
powers of government, paying the tribute assessed on him direct into the
nawab's treasury.

Not content with having enlarged his own borders, his next care was
to provide for the cadets of his family. His younger brother, Bhawani
Singh, was sent to Bhinga, nominally in order to defend it from its foreign
enemies and put down the lawless bands of gipsies which have at different
times and places cost the northern parts of this district so much. His
strong hand soon restored order ; nor, when the service was done, did it
relax its hold on the pargana. The Janwar lord died without issue : the
claims of his kindred were disregarded, and Bhinga became henceforward
a Bisen dependency under the rule of Bhawani Singh and his descendants.
Not long after this a second son was born to Datt Singh, of whom it was
prophesied at his birth, that within six days he should become a raja.
His father, fearing for his own life and that of his eldest son, ordered the
child to be at once murdered ; but before the cruel command was carried
out, the rdja of Manikapur most providentially died ; his widow, a sister
of Datt Singh's rani, adopted her infant nephew, and another raj passed
into the hands of the Bisens. His last wars were with the raja of Bansi,
to whom he attempted to dictate in the matter of the succession to his
lordship.

It is said that the two great chieftains were in camp together at Debi
Patan during the spring festival in honour of the goddess. A favourite
bard of the Gonda raja walked into the Bansi raja's tent, and paid him his
salam with his left hand. When asked to explain this rudeness, he said
that he saluted Datt Singh with his right, and that no one else was
worthy of the honour, — an insolentspeech, which resulted in his ignomin-
ious expulsion from the tent. He went straight to his own master, and
threw a woman's bracelet on the ground before him, saying that when
his bard was treated with such scant honour, the master had better leave
off wearing a sword. A spark was sufficient to kindle the flame, and the.
probably pre-arranged dispute led to immediate war.

Twenty pitched battles on the boundary of Utraula and Tulsipur ended
in the final defeat of the B^nsi r4ja. His capital was sacked, himself killed,
and the doors of his fort still decorate the mansion of the last of the
, Gonda rdjas. Datt Singh now had no enemy left, and spent the few
remaining years of his life in peace at Gonda. If we pass over the vague
traditions of Khurasa, Datt Singh was unquestionably the most powerful
raja in the annals of this district. Twenty-two independent chieftains, — in
fact the whole of the rajas of Gonda and Bahraich, with the exception of
N^npara, — are said to have owned his feudal superiority, and brought their
forces into the field at his command ; while the ancient and noble lords of

GON 561

Utraula acted as his haraul, carrying the standard at the head of his
army, and receiving from him a fixed honorary stipend while within the
boundaries of his raj. The district under his immediate rule covered the
present parganas of Gonda, Mahadewa, Nawabganj, Digsar, Paharapur, and
half Guwarich, while a brother reigned in Bhinga, and a son in Manika-
pur. The Kanhpurias of Tiloi may have carried their arms over fourteen
parganas, but the whole country of which they claimed the zamindari was
broken up into a number of strong chieftainships, many of them nearly as
powerful separately as their nominal suzerain, and their precarious domina-
tion became quite extinct in the third generation. The Bisen of Gonda
had no rival, and was absolute master in the territory submitted to his
sway; nor was his power broken till the mutiny swept it away. The leading
men among his subjects were the Bhayyas, the younger branches of his own
family, and the heads of the other clans of Bisens settled in Gonda ; and
after them the principal Brahman houses, who still hold the villages which
were in their possession during his chieftainship. The sword song which
commemorates his victory over Alawal Khan records among the leaders of
his militia the Tiwaris of Aya, the Sukuls of Pharenda, the Pandes of
Bangain, and many others whose names are well-known to the settlement
officer. To the south, along the banks of the river, were settled a num-
ber of small clans of Chhattris, Sombansis, Kalhans, Bais, and Naipurias ;
but though, as subjects, they were strong enough to make most valuable
elements in his army, there was not a family from the Kuwana to the
Gogra which could by any possibility become dangerous as an enemy.

His son, Baja Udatt Singh, succeeded him, and like his father retained

the engagement of the whole of his raj as a separate revenue division

under the Lucknow Government. He was more given to religion than

war, and gave rise to the proverb, which is still repeated with a regretful

recollection of past glories : —

" Shil, aarohi, surowan gaye Datt ke satli —
Jtanjh, majira khanjhari rahe Bisen ke hath."

"With Datt went courage, the sword and the warrior —
To the Bisen were left the tinkling instruments of the fa<jir."

The devout raja made several expeditions to Muttra, and, in imitation of
a temple there, built the picturesque edifice in the artificial lake to the west
of Gonda. • His favourite saint was one Goshain Antipsinand, who dwelt on
the spot now occupied by the sarae ; but even his patience was exhausted
when he discovered that the holy man was in the habit of paying clandestine
visits to the rani's apartments; and, meeting him one day as he issued from
the house, he drew his sword upon him. The saint saved himself by a
convincing proof of his innocence, whose miraculous character will, however,
hardly make it fit for print. Indignant at the unworthy suspicions of the
raja, Antipanand gave utterance to the following enigmatical prophecy,
which of course came exactly true : —

" Je bhage te mare pahar,
Je baohe te Ghagrapar,
Hamen mitae te mit jae,
Bahut raj Badna par ae."

" He who flies shall die on the mountain.
He who escapes shall be beyond Gogra,
Who would destroy me, he shall be destroyed ;
A great rSj shall come upon Badna."

NN

562 GON

Badna was the wife of'Udatt Singh's second son, Pahlwan Singh, whose
grandson, Guman Singh, became raja, and the threats referred to the death
of Raja Jai Singh in Naipal, and the flight of Guman Singh to
Ajodhya.

On the marriage of his son, Mangal Singh, with a lady of the Kalhans
clan. Raja Udatt Singh restored to the Pardspur rdja as much of his estates
conquered by Datt Singh as his descendant at present holds. The reign
of Mangal Singh was very short. The Raja of Bansi had died, leaving
two sons by different ranis, — one of the Janwar family of Balrampur, the
other of the Surajbansis of Amorha. The succession was disputed, and
it seemed as if the rival clans would come to war. Mangal Singh, as the
most powerful prince in the neighbourhood, and well able to support his
decision in arms, was accepted as arbitrator, and marched into the Basti
district. He had not been there many days when he was foully assassin-
ated, while sleeping with a single attendant in his tent, by Zalim Singh,
the chief of the Surajbansis. His son, Shiu Parshad Singh, at once led
the Bisen forces into Amorha, and laid the whole pargana waste, killing
every Surajbansi that fell into his hands ; nor did he relax his hold on it
till it was transferred with the rest of Sarkdr Gorakhpur to the English
by the Nawab of Oudh. Shiu Parshad seems to have been a peaceful
and prudent prince, and retained till his death the rule, in subordination
to Lucknow, of the whole of the muhal cut out by his great ancestor. He
was succeeded by his son R^ja Jai Singh, who presumed on his power,
and declined to pay his tribute to the King of Oudh. An Englishman,
known to tradition as Major Hanak, had been sent with the nazim of
Bahraich to assist in the collection of the revenue, and attempted to establish
an indigo factory at Gohani. Jai Singh resented the intrusion into
the very village whence his family had their origin, and ill-treated the
major's labourers. This led to a short and decisive encounter on the banks
of the Tirhi, in which the raja's forces were completely routed, and his
ranis saved with difficulty by the Pandes who formed their body-guard.
Jai Singh fled to the hills, where he died, and his power was exercised for
a short time by his chief rdni, Phtjl Kunwar. The nearest relatives in the
male line now were the descendants of Pahlwan Singh, the younger brother
of the unfortunate Raja Mangal Singh, who, up to this time, had held
the appanage of Mahnon. Of his three sons, Duniapat, the eldest, had
died, leaving two sons, Guman Sing and Daljit Singh, — the eldest a child
of eight or ten years of age. Him Rani Phiil Kunwar adopted, and
endeavoured to seat in the raj ; but Pahlwan Singh's second son, Hindupat
Singh, objected to this arrangement, and advanced his mature age and
experience in arms as qualifications for the chieftainship. Rani Phul
Kunwar was aware of his intentions, and secluded herself in the fort of
the Bankata Bisens, but eventually allowed herself to be enticed out of
her refuge, and was murdered in her palankin, while crossing the Bis6hi,
by Hindupat Singh, who immediately marched on Bankata to possess
himself of the youthful Guman Singh ; but he had timely notice, and
contrived to escape to Ajodhya. After a time he has induced to return
to Gonda, where his life was preserved from the machinations of his uncle
by the indefatigable vigilance of the Pandes, Karia Ram, Bakhtawar Ram,
and Mardan Ram. These were the sons of Bhawan Datt - Pande, who.

GON 563

■with his brother, Ghuni Pande, had migi-ated to Gonda from Ikauna, and
■were the principal bankers and agents in his rdj of Shiu ParshAd Singh.
They had amassed considerable wealth, and could advance their raja sums
amounting to three lacs of rupees in a single loan for the liquidation of
his revenue. The sons were brave, powerful men, and, backed by their
father's wealth, held the first commands in the Gonda forces, and always
remained faithful to the true succession, detesting Hindupat Singh as
a usurper. At last, finding that a final decision was inevitable, and warned
by a narrow escape of Guman Singh from poison, they made up their
minds to rid him at any cost of his enemy, and two of the brothers went
sword in hand to Hindupat's house on the banks of the Siigar tank.
While they were forcing admission, Hindupat escaped by a window, and
concealed himself in the thick jungle which stretched over what is now
the civil station. The Pandes in vain endeavoured to discover their victim,
and he might have escaped altogether had not a Bahelia (fowler), his only
attendant, imprudently fired a matchlock at them as they were retiring.
This betrayed his lurking place, and he was at once cut down. It was
thought advisable to extirpate the family, so the ranis were decapitated,
and Hindupat's sons, infants in arms, had their brains dashed out on tho
ground. It is said that their spirits yet haunt the descendants of their
ruthless murderers, and every misfortune which happens to the family
is attributed to their unsleeping vengeance. This tissue of violence and
crime, and the youth of the new raja, Guman Singh, afforded the Oudh
Government a pretext for interference in the management of the raj,
and Nirmal Das, elder brother of Maharaja Tikait Rae, who was at the
time nazim of Bahraich, marched with the troops of his division tO/
Gonda.

The Pande brothers were arrested and sent to Lucknow, where they were-
at first sentenced to be blown away from guns ; but the usual influence was.
brought to bear, and they were instead ordered to leave for ever the teni-
tories of the nawab. A few years' service with the Nizam of Haidarabad
acquired for them both fame and riches, and when they returned to Gonda
their offence and its punishment were forgotten.

The raja received the instruments of his rise with every favour, and they
were invested with the engagement for villages yielding an annual revenue
of Rs. 10,000, which formed the nucleus of the present enormous estate of
Singha Chanda, the third among the taluqas of Oudh. The most power-
ful of the subjects in the lordship, they were followed by children and
grandchildren of marked courage and ability. Their profession was to
secure, by their own wealth, the Government revenue to the nazim, pro-
tecting the zamindars, whom misfortune or improvidence had driven into
arrears, from his vengeance. In return for their security they took mort-
gages of whole or parts of estates, and in this way small taluqas and single
villages; kept incessantly falling into their engagement. The original pro-
prietors were usually compensated by a liberal allotment of rent-free sir,
while the mortgagee,— and the mortgage generally ripened into an out-and-
out-salej — collected all the rents from the ordinary cultivators. Occasional
instances of great oppression occurred, but, as a rule, even the ex-proprie-
tors were treated with great leniency, their services being required in the

NN 2

564r GON

Pande's army ; while it was absolutely essential to tlie maintenance of the
taluqa to keep on good terms with the lower orders of tenants, and protect
them from oppression. If the sums paid appear small, it must be remem-
bered that the revenue, exacted from aU but exceptionally powerful r£jas,
amounted to little less than the gross rental, and the burden of defence
entailed by a capricious and ever-changing government, or titles frequently
contested and doubtful, made landed property of very little real value.
Men were often glad to exchange a nominal independence for a recognised
and defined status and the protection of a powerful master. At any rate,
there was nothing so infamous as the nominal sales, extorted in hquidation
of nominal arrears of a revenue which had been raised, by their own
authority, to a pitch beyond the possibility of payment, during the niza-
mats of Rdja Darshan Singh and his sons.

Guman Singh was at first kept under restraint by the nazim ; but a
marriage was finally arranged between him and the daughter of the great
Mahant Jagjiwan D^s of Kotwa, whose disciples, the Sattn^mis, are at
present the most numerous sectaries in the province, and who enrolled
among the number Tikait Eile, and his relation the nfcim of Bahraich.
When the raja went to fetch away his bride, nothing but vegetable food
was put before his train, and the unsatisfied Rajputs loudly demanded meat.
In vain the saint represented that it was to him a deadly sin even to look
on flesh, and he eventually yielded to their importunities.

By an exercise of miraculous power he converted some egg fruit into an
excellent goat curry, which left the guests at his wedding feast nothing to
complain of; but he relieved his grief by assuring his son-in-law that in
return for the sacrilege done in his house, the marriage should be unblessed
with children, and the raj become extinct in the second generation. The
bride Jived to see both prophecies fulfilled, and died a few years ago in
extreme old age. On his return to Gonda, the raja was allowed, for the
support of his dignity, the revenue of twenty-six villages, and an annual
cash allowance of Rs. 12,500. He very rapidly put together a taluqa, in
the usual fashion, out of the villages of his parganas, but never regained
the engagement for his whole raj, which, from 1799 to 1816 A.D., formed
a part of the appanage of the celebrated Bahti Begam, and on her death
was entrusted to Nawab Saif-ud-daula, who finally incorporated it in the
nizamat of Gonda-Bahraich. Guman Singh was a man of some capacity,
and surrounded himself with a splendour becoming his position as first of
the trans-Gogra lords, He retained the power of granting villages in birt,
and issued sanads remitting revenue, couched in the style used by the
Delhi emperors. His death in 1838 A.D., was followed by a short inter-
regnum, the Pandes favouring the claim of Bhayya Sanuman Singh of
Mahnon, a grandson of Pahlwan Singh, and first cousin of the deceased
rdja ; but eventually the support of the widow of Saif-ud-daula, who then
held the nizamat, placed Debi Bakhsh Singh, Guman Singh's nephew, on
the gaddi. Like his uncle, the new raja was a prudent and able man, but
with no passion for war ; and he employed himself in managing from his ~
fort at Jigna his magnificent estate of Bishambharpur. He allowed no
interference between himself and the cultivators of his land, and crushed

GON 565

the pretensions of the old zamindari communities of Bisens, confining them
rigorously to the lands in their own cultivating occupancy, which, however,
he allowed them to hold at very favourable rents.

By vigilant personal supervision, he managed to amass considerable
riches, and was probably among the wealthiest of the rdjas of Oudh.
When Eaja Darshan Singh got the nizdmat, R^ja Debi Bakhsh naturally
anticipated that he would do his best to extort a deed of sale for the valu-
able property, and avoided the danger by flight into British territory.
Annexation was extremely distasteful to him, and he was with difficulty
persuaded to leave his fort at Gonda and meet the Deputy Commissioner
sent to take charge of the district. If he expected to be treated like his
peers in the North-West Provinces, his apprehensions were unfounded. It
would have been difficult to find any one with a vestige of proprietary
title in the greater part of his estates, and he was allowed to engage for a
taluqa of Rs. 80,000. At the outbreak of the mutiny he most honourably
escorted all the Government treasure into Fyzabad, and then threw in his
lot unreservedly with that of the Begam of Oudh. His main camp was
at Lampti on the Chamnai, and there, after the relief of Lucknow, he was
in command of a force of nearly 20,000 men. His troops were dispirited
by the tremendous successes of the English in other parts of India, and
during the trans-Gogra campaign offered only the feeblest resistance.
Finally, he was driven up into Tulsipur, where he coalesced with the disor-
derly rabble which was all that was left of the armies of the begam, Bala
Rao Marahta, and Muhammad Hasan, the rebel nazim of Gorakhpur.
His conduct throughout the mutiny had been free from crime or dishonour,
and many attempts were made to induce him to leave his asylum in Naipal
and accept Lord Canning's free amnesty. But he said that, having
accepted the begam's service, he would, never acquiesce in the rule of her
enemies, and his estates were finally confiscated and awarded for good
service to Maharaja Man Singh. His cousin, Pirthip^l Singh of Mahnon,
died four years ago, leaving an only daughter, a girl of sixteen years of age,
who is now the sole surviving descendant of the mighty Raja Datt
Singh.

The only other important family in the pargana were the Pandes, who,
with XJmran Ram and Bahddur Ram, the sons, and Ram Datt Rdm, the
grandson, of the men who seated Raja Guman Singh on the gaddi, conti-
nued to prosper and extend their borders. The last was a remarkably
fine man, a good soldier, and generous, though a shrewd man of business,
and his power rivalled that of the nazim and the raja. It was in his time
that the best estates were added to his engagement ; but the final acces-
sion was secured, after his assassination, by his brother, the present taluq-
dar, Rdja Krishan Datt Ram, who took advantage of the opportune murder
of Gaya Parshad, qanfingo, to acquire the engagement of the whole of that
official's fine estate of Dulhapur Bankata. During the mutiny, Krishan
Datt Ram took refuge in Ajodhya, where he was caught by his old enemy,
Muhammad Hasan, nazim, and only allowed to escape after the payment
of a handsome ransom. He now holds one of the largest estates in the
province, paying an annual land revenue of two and a half lacs of rupees.

566 GON

GONDA Town* — Pargana Gonda — Taksil Gonda — District GoNDl. —
The town of Gonda is situated 28 miles north-north-west of Fyzabad and
is within 50 miles as the crow flies of the lower ranges of hills, which are
visible throughout the rains and in clear weather at other seasons of the
year. Owing to the proximity of the hills the climate is more moist and
the average temperature lower in Gonda than in stations south of the Gogra.
The public health is good. The population of the native town and civil
lines was estimated in the census of 1868 to be 13,722, being about 1-50
less than that of Balrampur. Gonda is not now celebrated for any manu-
factures ; though its shields were noted and in great request in the Nawabi
rule. It is not a commercial centre, nor is it of any importance as a place
held sacred by professors of either the Hindu or Muhammadan faith. At
one time there were large cantonments north-west of the native town and
the presence of British troops gave importance to the place, but the troops
were withdrawn in 1863, and Gonda is now known merely as the chief
town of a pargana of the same name and as the seat of Government for a
large district.

There are a few objects of interest within the native town. As you
enter from the Fyzabad side you have in the distance on your right two
large buildings facing each other, the thakurdwaras of Mihin Lai, Khattri,
and Bhagwan Gir, Faqir, between which there is always a sheet of water,
scant in the dry weather but a wide expanse in the rains. This spot is
one of the few ornaments about the east end of the qasba.

The thakurdwara of Bhagwan Gir is of recent construction, but beside
it is a chilbil tree with which is connected a curious tradition. The guru
of the faqir whose panth regards this thakurdwara as a homestead or seat
from which they have sprung, lived, some centuries ago, at this spot. One
day when he had cleaned his teeth with a twig of a chilbil tree, he stuck
it in the ground and prophecied that it would grow to be a great tree and
that the sun of the Gonda nijas would decline and ruin overtake the line
on the day that a monkey first appeared on the tree. The tooth-brush-
twig grew and the tree is standing. The portentous monkey is said to
have appeared on the tree on the day the mutiny began, and the prophecy
was fulfilled by the fate of Debi Bakhsh, the mutineer, who was the last of
the Gonda rajas. Pursuing your way to the chauk you see appearing here
and there between the houses on your right a long strip of filthy water,
one of the many sheets of the kind which offend the eye and nose in
various parts of the town. These are the remnants of the moat which
surrounded the old village and fort round which the modem town has
grown up. The moat became gradually widened by new comers taking
mud from its edge to build houses until at last the widened ditch has
grown into a series of ponds which are never completely filled with water
but which are at all times the receptacles of ordure and offal of all kinds,
and which exhale, especially at the, close of the rains, a fever-breeding
malaria. Standing in the chauk you see as you look round that there
are four roads meeting. You have left behind you that coming from
Fyzabad. That from the south-west comes in from the Begamganj tahsil
and passes within the limits of the town at a short distance of the sadr

* By W. Hoey, m.a., c.s., Assistant Commissiauer.

GON 567

distillery. That from the north-east comes from Utraula past the " Debi
Bakhsh-ka-makan" a building now falling into decay but which was for
some hundreds of years prior to the re-occupation of Oudh the palace of
the Gonda r^jas. / dvancing by the fourth road you proceed towards the
civil lines and old cantonments. On your left a few perches from the chauk
lies the sarae a spacious building, recently renewed, which stands on an
elevated ground and has a fine brick front with a large open space before
it. \yith these advantages of situation and construction it is not only a
superior rest-house for travellers but an ornament to the town. North-
west of the sarae and behind it lies the Radha Kund a very large masonry
tank with a masonry building at its edge. The qasba appears on only
two sides of the tank and the remaining sides look towards the open coun-
try and the ornamental grounds of the Sagar.

This tank was we shall presently see, the scene of a remarkable tragedy
in the later annals of the Gonda rajas.

As you leave the native town and enter the civil lines you pass on your
right the civil dispensary and zila school house, two handsome buildings,
the latter especially so, between which the Bahraich road branches off.
The dispensary was opened at the close of last year (1875) and the school-
house has been opened for some years. To the latter a boarding-house for
resident pupils has been added this year. It is situated on the opposite
side of the road and nearer the town. Free from contact with the town,
unconnected with other buildings, and possessing a fine frontage on the
roadside looking across to an ancient tamarind grove, beyond which is the
open country, this building should prove an extremely healthy lodging for
the pupils of the school. Further on, on the left of the main road is the
Sagar an artificial lake constructed by Raja Shiu Parshad. At the side
of the lake on a rising ground stands a building, inscribed " Davies' Man-
zil," at the suggestion of the Deputy Commissioner of the period in honour
of the present Lieutenant Governor of the Panjdb who was Chief Commis-
sioner of Oudh at the time this building was constructed, but the compli-
ment was too remote to catch the native mind and the building is known
as the " Anjuman-i-Rifah," after the society under whose auspices it was
built. This is a literary institution originated by native gentlemen and
supported by European and native subscribers. The building contains
an extensive library comprising works of fiction, history, science, oriental
research, oriental literature, and miscellaneous works. The chief English
and vernacular newspapers are taken in and circulated. The society is
extremely popular and has been the means of enlightening public opinion
and developing public spirit among its members and even beyond that
circle. In connection with this institution a lithographic press is main-
tained which has become self-supporting and amuseum is about to be added.

The building stands as has been said at the side of the Sagar. This
long sheet of water never completely dries up even in the hottest weather.
At pue end it is overshadowed by a large grove of tall mango trees and
at the opposite end there is an artificial bank to confine the water. The
town is seen in the distance at one side and at the other side stands the
Aniuma.n, below which is a walk extending the whole length of the lake,
winding in and out among tombs and fantastic piles of masonry represent-

S68 GOK

ing the sacred mountains visited in the course of his travels by Shia
Parshad, the raja of holy fame. In the middle of the lake is an island on
which stands a thflkurdwara, constructed by the raja already named.
Beside the thakurdw4ra there is a sacred well and the tombs of some
members of the raja's family. The island is covered with foliage between
the buildings. As you stand at the further end of the lake and look across
the water, taking in the distant town screened by trees on your right, the
winding path, the fantastic piles of bricks and plaster and the handsome
building of the Anjuman on your left, the small island with its sacred
buildings and fresh foliage before you rising out of the still water, and
beyond them the lofty mango trees in the distance, you have a refreshing
landscape in which art and nature combine to delight the eye wearied
with the dry monotomy and flatness of the plains.

The road past the Sagar leads on to the civil lines and what were for-
merly the cantonr&ents. The only traces of the military occupation of
this quarter now left are a few barracks which until last year were occupied
as cutcheries, a church which has been reduced in size to suit the require-
ments of a small outlying civil station, a burial ground, a racquet court,
and the Government garden. On what was the parade ground now stands
the new cutchery, a handsome brick building, with accommodation and
appointments perhaps th^ finest in any similar public building in Oudh.
South of the cutchery is the jail, a large building on the standard radiating
plan, which occupies an elevated site, is well drained and open to the
fresh air. Barring the confinement, it is a most desirable place of residence.

The old burying ground has been abandoned and a new one laid out
nearer the native town.

The racquet court is carefully repaired from year to year, and is one of
the best in the province. Beyond the racquet court on the north is the
Government garden. This was the piiblic rendezvous in the days of the
military occupation of Gonda, but was suffered to fall into great neglect
after the withdrawal of the troops. This neglect continued for some years ;
but the care and neatness with which the garden is now kept, as well as the
taste with which it is laid out, make it one of the prettiest gardens in Oudh.
The walks are laid out in curves and lead under the shade of tall trees
and evergreen lawns. No cart-wheel beds, the cherished, and almost inevi-
table devices of Indian malis, here intrude as a protest against English
gardening : but an arbour standing on the site' of the bandstand of former
days, covered with the brilliant Bougainvillia, and having before it a green
lawn where plays a cooling fountain, recalls the gardens of the west. Vine-
ries and fruit trees exclude the commonplace associations of the vegetable
garden from the pleasure seekers' gaze, and two most magnificent lines of
tall bamboo, the one on the south and the other on the west, shut out at
an early hour of evening the rays of the declining sun.

The site on which Gonda stands was originally a jungle in the estate

History. °^ *^® ra.jai.s of Khurasa, and the spot where the first

habitations which became the centre of the town in

after times were built was a fold in which Ahirs kept their cattle at night.

This fold was constructed with stakes driven into the ground and

GON 569

interwoven with twigs, and was used as a protection against the nocturnal
raids of wild animals. The name of this enclosure is Gontha or GotMn,
the place of cows, and from it the name of the town has been derived.
The tradition regarding the foundation of the town is as follows : —
Man Singh of Khurasa came to hunt in this jungle and encamped near
the Gontha because there was a well at hand. A fox came out of the
jungle, and Man Singh let a hunting dog loose upon him. The fox ran
into the Gontha and took up his position to fight the dog. The dog
would not face the fox. This annoyed the huntsman, who appealed to his
pandits and astrologers to explain this strange incident. These learned
impostors held a consultation and announced that this was a charmed
spot, that no enemy could overcome its tenant. Thereupon the raja deter-
mined to make this his dwelling-place, and performed the usual ceremonies
of new, marking the foundations of his intended house. The raja returned
to Khurasa that evening, and after his departure the Ahirs came to their
fold at sunset, and found the rice, turmeric and flowers lying about which
had been used in the ceremony by Man Singh. They were terrified lest
there had been a visit of some enemies in their absence, and they threw
the remains of the sacrificial preparations into the well close by. Next day
the hunter returned with masons, carpenters, and other workmen to set in
hand the building of his mansion, but found all traces of his foundation
gone. He was perplexed and asked an Ahir what had happened in his
absence. The Ahir told the story of his brothers and what they had done.
Thereupon struck in the pandits with ready adulation, " Wah ! behold
how deep the foundations have gone in one night, even into a well ! This
is well !" Man Singh accepted the omen, filled in the well and built one
wall of his palace across it. The traces of the well are still extant at the
base of one of the walls of the palace. From the time that this palace
was buUt the name Khurasa was dropped, and the pargana was styled the
Gonda pargana. Gonda became the permanent residence of Man Singh,
who was the first raja of Gonda. In the times of Man Singh it was neces-
sary to fortify the palace and the surroundingdwellings of the raja's retain-
ers. For this purpose a deep moat was dug round the qasba, and the earth
thrown up as a rampart. The traces of this are visible, as already
said, in the ponds now filled with filth appearing here and there in
-the modern town. The extent of the ancient qasba may still be marked
by four cardinal points — north, the Nagi garhi ; south, an old well lately
discovered in the chauk near Kaja Krishan Datt's houses ; east, the long pit
in the qdnungos' muhalla ; and west, the house of Sita Ram.

Tradition has preserved no memory of the events of Man Singh's life,
and nothing remarkable occurred to give notoriety to the reigns of aay of
his successors for four generations. It is sufficient to note the succession
by genealogical table up to the appearance of Datt Singh.

(1) Man Singh

(2) Lochan Singh

(3) Nirbahan Singh

(i) Durian (5) Ambar

^ ' ' (6) Earn Singh.

570 GON

Earn Singh had two sons, the elder Datt Singh, and the younger Bhayya
Bhawani Singh. Both -were renovmed warriors, and have left their marks
on the history of their age. The latter conquered the r^ja of Bhinga and
possessed himself of his kingdom.

Datt Singh succeeded his father in 1105 Fasli, and under hi^ rule began
the growth of Gonda town and of the fame of its chieftains. He was a
bold and enterprising commander, who collected round him a vast follow-
ing of Rajputs, and with their aid he carried his arms victoriously beyond
the limits of Oudh. He won no less than 22 pitched battles' against
other rajas. He conquered the raja of Bansi and sacked his palace, bear-
ing away the chaakhat of the main gate, which he afterwards erected at
the entrance of his own palace at Gonda, where it may still be seen. He
is the subject of most of the pawanras which are sung throughout the
district at village gatherings ; and the story of his victory over Alawal
Khan at Balpurghat is the theme of a song which will gather Thdkurs
together and rouse their hearts in these quiet days.

During the reign of Datt Singh many Rajputs of the Katharia, Som-
bansi and Bais clans settled at Gonda, and by them the Katharia and
Baistola muhallas were peopled. The latter muhalla is outside the ram-
parts which surrounded -the ancient qasba, and we may conclude that the
growth of Gonda outside the fortified limits began with the victories of
Datt Singh, and the absence of any extension of the moat to embrace the
new muhalla shows that Datt Singh's arms aifforded a safe protection
against the approach of marauders and the troops of hostile rajas. Datt
Singh had two sons, Udatt Singh and Azmat Singh. The latter was
adopted by the widow of the raja of Manikapur, she being the sister of
Datt Singh's wife. Udatt Singh succeeded his father, and his son Mangal
Singh succeeded him. When Mangal Singh had been six years on the
gaddi he was murdered by Zalim Singh, the raja of Amorha, in zila Basti.
Zalim Singh was a relation of the raja of Bansi, and he determined to
slay one of the Gonda r^jas by way of avenging the defeat of the Bansi
raja by Datt Singh. He therefore invited Mangal Singh to meet him at
the border of the Gonda and Basti zilas for a friendly interview, and
promised a spectacle. Both came to the rendezvous with their troops.
Zdlim Singh pitched a tent between the armies and called Mangal Singh
to a private conference. Mangal Singh went alone to the interview and
was murdered in the tent.' He was succeeded by his son Shiu Parshad,
who gave up the excitement of war and the chase, and devoted himself
to study and religion. He went on many pilgrimages to places held
sacred by the Hindus ; and bringing back with him a lively recollection of
the spots he visited, he built along the banks of the Sagar rude imitations
of those sacred places. He built the thakurdwdra in the island in the
lake, and he was there buried by the side of Datt Singh and Rani Dharm
Kunwar. Shiu Parshad was succeeded by Jai Singh, who married Phdl
Kunwar. A European officer was sent in his reign to survey the Gonda
pargana ; and although he came under the authority of the Lucknow
darbar, Jai Singh opposed him. The Lucknow Government sent troops to
punish the insubordination of Jai Singh. He fled. His estate was then
held kham, but was restored to the Rani Phlil Kunwar by the darbar.
The rani made Hindupat Singh her manager, and adopted Gumdn Singh,

GON 571

the son of Dunia Singh. Dunia Singh was elder brother of Hindupat
Singh, and they were sons of Pahlwan Singh, a younger son of Udatt Singh.
Hindupat was anxious to seize the estate by taking advantage of the
minority of Guman Singh. He therefore induced the rani, on pretence of
anxiety to provide for her greater comfort and security than was afforded
by Gonda in those turbulent days, to undertake a journey in a palki to
Bankata, an old family residence, with a view to her residing there.

The rani was attacked in her palki on the road and murdered. Then
Hindupat seized the estate. Guman Singh thought it wise to conceal
himself. He found friends in Karia Ram, Mardan Ram, and Umrao Ram,
Pandes, connected with his family as mahajans. Hindupat lived by the
Radhakund, and the Pandes not far off. The latter watched their oppor-
tunity, and one day Karia Ram and Mardan Ram, hearing that Hindupat
was lying ill at home, called on him. He was not aware that they were
leagued with Guman Singh, and admitted them. They found him alone
on his bed and sympathised with him in his sickness, but suddenly fell on
him and killed him. Zorawar Kunwar, finding her husband murdered,
rushed out with her infant son in her arms, but the murderers pursued
her, seized her child at the side of the R^dha Kund and killed him.
Guman Singh then ascended the gaddi. The widow, Zorawar Kunwar,
went to Lucknow to entreat the darbar to avenge her husband's murder.
She went daily with torches at noon to the entrance of the darbar, and
succeeded in attracting attention. When asked what she meant by this
strange conduct, she replied that all was now dark to her even by day and
she needed light. Then she told her story. ■

The darbar imprisoned her husband's murderers for life, and gave her
the ilaqa of Mahnon, which she passed to her husband's younger bro-
ther's nephew. This did not put an end to the Pandes. Raja Tikait Rae,
a Kayath, was diwan of Nawab A'sif-ud-daula, and had therefore much
influence in the Lucknow darbar. Jagjiwan Das, a faqir of Kotwa, in
Bara Banki zila, held the diwan under some obligation. He wished to
have Guman Singh marry his daughter. Tikait Rae proposed to Guman
Singh to procure the release of the Pandes if he married this young lady.
Guman Singh assented. The marriage took place. The darbar ordered
that the Pandes should be transported beyond the Ganges. They were
accordingly brought out from prison in Lucknow, publicly shaved, paraded
on donkeys through the streets of the city, and conveyed beyond the sacred
stream. They returned, however, to Gonda, and became the protdg^s in
turn of their prot^g.^. Raja Guman Singh lived much at Khargupur.
He was a debauchee, and his wife, who was of a faqir's stock, quarrelled
with him on this ground.

He had no issue, because, they say, his father-in-law- took offence at
some occurrence during the marriage ceremony of his daughter, and
breathed a curse on him. Guman Singh was succeeded by his nephew,
Debi Bakhsh, who was the last of the Gonda rfijas.

The ill-omened monkey appeared on the chilbil tree of Bhagwan Gir in

~his reign, and fate solved the prophecy of that seer on Debi Bakhsh. He

joined the rebels in the mutiny of 1857, and on the re-occupation he fled

from the British forces and disappeared. He has not been heard of since.

572 GON

and his estate was bestowed on Maharaja Man Singh, of Shahganj, for his
loyalty to the British crown.

GONDA Village — Pargana Partabgarh — Tahsil Paetabgarh — District
Paetabgarh. — This place was founded by a tribe called Gonds : it is
two miles from Bela, on the road from Allahabad to Fyzabad. The river
Sai is two miles south. Raja Pirthipat tried to get the village: he fought
the zamindars, and was beaten. There was a great fight in 1265 F. Babu
Sripat Singh, taluqdar of Dandi Kachh, tried to take it ; others, including the
taluqdars of Sujakhar, Bahlolpur, and Pirthlganj, came to aid the zamindar
of Gonda ; Sripat Singh was beaten.

Population 2,063

Hindus 1,540

Mu3alinans 523

There is a temple of Asht Bhuji Debi, and a Government school at
which there are 8 Hindu and 32 Musalman pupils. A large bazar is held
at which the annual sales amount to Rs. 15,000.

There is a fair in the light half of Kuar, and also of Chait, on the 8th
and 9th, in honour of Asht Bhuji Debi, attended by 2,500 people.

GOPAMAU Pargana* — Tahsil Hardoi — District Haedoi. — One of the
largest and most interesting parganas in Oudh, Gopamau covers 328 square
miles on the right bank of the Gumti. Along the whole of its eastern side
the Gumti separates it from parganas Chandra and Misrikh and Auranga-
bad in Sitapur. On the south it is bounded by parganas Sandila and
Balamau, on the west by parganas Bangar (the Sai being the boundary for a
considerable distance), Bawan, and Sara, and on the north by parganas
Mansurnagar and Pihani.

Thirty miles long and twenty broad, it has an area of 328 square miles,
of which 172 are cultivated. The percentages of cultivated, culturable,
and barren are 51-57, 2784, and 1915. A third of the soil (3374) is
classed as light and sandy (bhur) ; only a fourth (25'83) is irrigated,-from
2,347 ponds (775), and 4,716 wells (18-08). Only 1-44 per cent, is under
groves. The average area of cultivation to each plough is 7y acres.

The pargana is the watershed of the Gumti and Sai, here called for a
portion of its course the Bhainsta. Along the east of the pargana the
oscillations of the Gumti at some distant period before it settled down
into its present bed have caused the surface soil to be light and sandy.
Prominent traces of that remote time are still to be seen in the pictur-
esque clusters and ranges of shifting sand hills which here and there relieve
the monotony of the landscape at distances of from one to three -miles from
the river. Near Gopamau these hills of sand are specially picturesque.
Similar formations are found at Tandaur, Bazidnagar, Singhaura, and Beni
Kuian.

The lover of scenery finds a charm in their fantastic outlines, glistening
white and clear in the east as the morning sun mounts over them. To the

* By A. Harington, c.s., Assistant Commissioner.

GOP 573

sportsman they furnish the best of all possible ambush in which noiselessly
and unseen to stalk the wary buck. To the peasant their shifting
shapes, brought into position by any stump or scrub which arrests the
eddy, or scattered by the first high wind into ruinous simoom, are the
memorials of an ever present danger to his patient husbandry. For
the physical geographer nature has written in them some pages of
her mystic tale of the fashioning of the land by the might of her falling
rivers — the tale that here in India is told for us each year in every char and
island of the Ganges and Gogra.

In the course of ages the Gumti has worn for itself a deep and permanent
bed to which the drainage of the adjacent country finds its way through a
maze of ever-deepening ravines that eat each year further and further into
the heart of the country. Dr. Butter has well described the action of the
surface drainage seeking its way to a deep-lying river bed.

" When the first heavy fall of rain begins to abate, the flat country
appears dotted with pools of water and intersected with broad shallow
streams, which are soon united at the heads of the branching ravines, and
are by these channels conducted into the beds of the permanent nalas
and rivers. It is observed that the beds of these ravines branch out and
extend further and further into the level country every year, the princi-
pal undermining and abrasion of the soil taking place at the small cascade
formed by the water when quitting the plain for the channel of the ravine,
which may be from one to ten feet lower than the plain itself Much of
the soil which has been loosened during the preceding hot winds is thus
washed into the rivers, which are thus loaded with a greyish yellow mud.

" These nascent ravines, when formed in a hard kankar soil, present the
most beautiful and accurate miniature of an Alpine region, showing the
long central ridge with its lateral branches and sub-branches and their
corresponding plains, vales, valleys and ravines, all in due gradation and
relief" (Southern Oudh, p. 23.)

Six well-marked nalas fall into the Gumti at right angles to its course, —
at Akohra, Bajhera, Babuapur, Sarari, Upra, and Jamunidn, At the last of
these places the Garera slides lazily into the Gumti through some cherished
haimts of sport, precious nooks — " to dream of, not to tell." The bittern
booms from tall flags that clothe dark half-stagnant pools in this strange
lonely stream. At times pintail, widgeon, and mallard, blue teal, and all
the choicest of the duck tribe love its shadowy reaches more than the
-unsheltered breadths of the S^ndi lake. Shy sandgrouse flutter down to its
cool brink from the thirsty upland slopes under which it winds. Its
marshy banks teem with such bounty of snipe that only a lack of cart-
ridges prevents the fowler from securing a fabulous bag. Hare, quail, and
partridge lurk in the waving grass that divides the sandy slope from the
marshy river-bank, and as you look up now and then towards the downs
above, you spot, not a hundred yards away, some straying buck of the
antlered herds of Beniganj.

574 GOP

Striking inland from the Gumti a few miles take you up out of tlie
region of uneven sand, scanty irrigation, and rents in kind, into a central
plain of good soil, mostly dumat, studded with jhils and tanks, much
jungle, plenty of cheaply dug wells, and fair money rents. The
further you go from the Gumti the better is the land met with, till
in the west you again come on uneven sandy soil, and find yourself on
the edge of another river, the Sai. But the land (bhur) on this side is
much less sandy than on the Gumti ; the Sai flows so much nearer the level
of the surrounding country that much watering can be done from it, and
the scour of surface drainage is much less rapid and disastrous than on the
eastern side. Round Tandiaon in the heart of the pargana spreads
all that is left of the great Bangar jungle, the largest in Oudh at annexation
except the jungle of Gokarannath. It was then twelve miles long and
six broad. (Sleeman, II. para. 284.) Much of it has disappeared, but
much still remains and enables the traveller to call up some faint picture
of one side of the wild life of the Bangar five and twenty years ago. Let
me quote Dr. Butter as to the great value of these jungles for pasture
and in keeping the soil moist and the air cool. In 1838 he wrote almost
prophetically : —

" With the introduction, which cannot now be far distant, of a more
equitable but more strictly enforced revenue system, these remnants of
the sylvan vesture which adorned the country, which warded off by its
shade and immense transpiration the fierce rays of the sun, and which
thereby, as well as through the direct deposition of dew dropping from
its leaves, maintained an almost perpetual verdure on the . ground, and
gave origin to frequent springs of running water, may be expected gra-
dually to disappear, thus completing the slow but certain process by
which India, liKe all other semi-tropical countries (such as Central Spain
Southern Italy, and the western territory of the United States), has its
green plains, no longer capable of entangling and detaining water in the
meshes of an herbaceous covering, ploughed into barren ravines by its
sudden and violent though now short-lived rains, its mean temperature
augmented, its springs and perennial streamlets dried up, the distance
of water from the earth's surface increased, and its rainfall, and the
volume of its rivers diminished." ( Southern Oudh, p. 9.) " Within the
last fifty, and still more within the last twenty years, these jungles have
been greatly reduced by the demand for firewood, and the country generally
has been dried up ; from which causes the horned cattle, both oxen and
buffaloes, have greatly diminished in numbers. In the south-west dis-
tricts towards Manikpur, where the population has increased tenfold
within the last fifty years, people who would formerly have possessed
100 oxen and 50 buffaloes have now only four or five of both. Ghi, which
was formerly sold at 20 sers the rupee, is now sold at a ser and a half.'*
{Ibid, p. 64).

The pargana is not well opened out. The Oudh and Rohilkhand
Railway skirts itswestemborder for about twenty miles. The Gumti provides
water-way along the whole of the eastern side ; and along the south rims
the new road from Sitapur to the Ganges at Mehndi Gh^t vid Misri'kh,

GOP 575

Nimkhdr and Mnd'hoganj. But in the interior there are no roads except
that from Hardoi to Sitapur, which runs nearly due east and west through
the centre of the pargana, with a branch northward to Gopamau, Majhia,
and Pihani.

The staple products are barley, bajra, and wheat. At survey these
occupied three-fifths of the acreage. Another fifth was covered with Indian-
corn, gram, mash and moth ; arhar, sugarcane, cotton and rice make up
most of the remaining fifth. Only 92 acres are shown under tobacco and
116 under poppy in a total of 117,003 cultivated acres.

The climate is considered better on the east and west than to the north
and south.

Of the 240 villages, 145 are owned by Rajputs,
the Ahbans slightly predominating as shown margin-
ally.

Kayaths hold 36^, and Brahmans 2| villages.
Grantees own 10. Shekhs, Mughals, and Sayyads
hold 32, 12, and 2, respectively.

Only 28| of the 240 villages are taluqdari. 111 J
are zamindari, 95 imperfect pattidari, and 5 bhayya-
chara.

Ahbans

... 34

Chandels

,.. 294

Gaurs

,.. 28

Gaharwara

.. 23

Katiars

.. 14i

Chauhans

.. 11

Janwara

.. 4

Bhadwarias .

.. 1

Total ... 145

The Government demand excluding cesses is Rs. 1,75,445, a rise of 64
per cent, on the summary assessment. It falls at Re. 1-10-0 on the culti-
vated acre. Re. 0-13-4 per acre of total area, Rs. 11-2-10 per plough,
Rs. 2-3-8 per head of agricultural, and Re. 1-9-0 per head of total popula-
tion.

There are 341 souls to the square mile, and a total of 112,006. Hindus
to Muhammadans are 103,338 to 8,668 ; males to females 60,476 to 51,530,
and agriculturists to non-agriculturists 78,790 to 33,216.

Chamars and Pasis are a third of the whole. Brahmans rather more,
and Rajputs less than a tenth. Gararias and Ahirs make up another
tenth. Muraos and Vaishyas predominate among the remainder. Of the
Muhammadans, Ghosis are most numerous.

There is an aided vernacular town school at Gopamau (74) ; village
schools have been established at Majhia (64) and Ahrori (41). There are
girl schools at Majhia (22) and Bakariya (20). On the first Monday in
Jeth a two days fair is held at the Lai Pir's tomb at Gopamau. The
average concourse is estimated at from ten to twelve thousand. This mela
is said to have been instituted soon after the saint's martyrdom.
On the 6th of Kartik an old taiik at Debi draws to itself about two
thousand ; and twice a year, in Chait and Kuar, there is a gathering at
Bhat Deo's shrine at Bahar (of pargana Bangar).

The tract became a regular pargana under Humdydn in A.D. 1538.

576 GOP

Being a well-known place of great antiquity, it is probable that Slier
Shah, or'even Sikandar Lodi, may have selected it as a ' per-gaon' or parent-
village, suited to be a fiscal unit in the imperial revenue system. They
say that formerly it comprised seven hundred villages, and that the Chandra
and Maholi parganas of Sitapur were included in it. In the third book
of the Ain-i-Akbari, Todar Mai's assessment of 1586 A.D. is recorded, with
these statistics : —

Pargana Gopamau-Nimkhar, Sarkar Khairabad.

Cultivated area 107,308 blghas, 5 biswas.

Land revenue 5,620,468 dams.

Cesses 50,522 dams.

Zamindars, Rajput Bisens and Chawars (?)

A masonry fort ; 100 troopers and 3,500 foot soldiers.

Other editions show Bachhils for Bisens, and Chawar is considered by the
author of the Kheri article to mean Ahban. " It is apparent," says Mr.
McMinn, " that the Ahbans held at this time (1536 A.D.) various demesnes
scattered over the country in Gopamau and Bhurwara."

Here, as elsewhere in this most interesting district, the dawn of

traditional history shows the Buddhist Thatheras in

Historical events. possession. Their settlements in this pargana were at

Bhainsri, and Mawwa Sarae or Mawwa Chdchar. In

Mawwa Sarae there was even then a renowned emblemof Ma hadeo, known

as Gopi Nath. To this day it may be seen, — a " ling" of black stone and

two fraginents of sculptured bas-relief, on one of which you trace the

elephant head of Ganesh, placed on a water- worn block of kankar.

Gradually the fame of the Ndth obscured the name of the village, and
Gopi Mau or Gopa Mau became the name by which it was known. It
seems to have been still held by the Thatheras when in A.D. 1032 Sayyad
Salar MasaM fixed his head-quarters at Satrikh inBaraBanki,and "sent out
armies on every side to conquer the surrounding country. Salar Saif-ud-
din and Mian Rajjab he despatched against Bahraich. Amir Hasan,
Arab, against Mahona ; Mir Sayyad Aziz-ud-din, celebrated now as the Lai
Pir, against^Gopamau and its vicinity ; and Malik Fazl against Benares and
its neighbourhood" (Mira-at-i-Masaudi. Elliot's History of India, II.,p. 534)
A terrible battle is said to have been fought between the Lai Pir and
the Thaiheras. The battle-field is still pointed out, under the name of
Shahidganj, and the writer has been assured on the spot that as each sea-
son's rains scours the surface, bones of the slain there buried are laid bare.
The Chishti Shekhs of Gopamau had, but have lost, a memoir of the
Lai Pir and his campaign. They tell you that he fought with Ahbans,
not Thatheras. That at first he was victorious and encamped at Gopa-
mau for two years ; but that two years after the death of Sayyad SaMr at
Bahraich, he and his army were overpowered, and put to the sword.

GOP 577

In the Banjara-tola of Gopamau there are to this day six Muhammadan
Banjaras, two men of about forty and four boys who style themselves
Sayyad Sdlari Banjaras, and claim to be sprung from those of his camp
followers who survived the massacre.

The truth probably is that Lai Pir's campaign was against the Thathe-
ras, and that the Chishti Shekhs belong to a later settlement which arrived
after the Thatheras had been displaced by the Ahbans. A similar diffi-
cultyis mentioned at p. 144 of the Lucknow Settlement Report, pargana
Kursi. There the Janw^rs of Saindur seem not to have displaced the
Bhars, but yet " somehow to have helped in the resistance to Sayyad
Musadd's invasion. Yet the Musalmans say that they were opposed by
no one but the Bhars."

Besides the Sayyad Salari Banjaras, the descendants of two Pathans
NasratuUa Khan Ghazi and Jafar Khan, who accompanied Sayyad Salar
in his Oudh campaign are still living there. The author of notes on the
Tribes of Oudh says of this invasion and its traces (p. 64) : —

" The tomb of Sayyad Salar at Bahraich is adinittedly a cenotaph erect-
ed two hundred years after his death, but the groves which still exist at
the various points of his march are presumed to have been constructed
by his orders. The fact that so small an army marched successfully
through a considerable tract of country suggests that it met with less
opposition than Mahomedan traditions assert, and the construction of
permanent tombs for those who died seems to favour the supposition. I
am inclined to urge from the preservation of these tombs that the Ma-
homedans were not received with particular rancour and that the extir-
pation of the army after its defeat is doubtful. The occupation by the
Mahomedan force must have lasted nearly three years." At Nagrdm
and Amethi in pargana Mohanlalganj " muhallas are still existing, con-
taining it is said the descendants of Sayyad Salar 's old followers who
founded them." ( Lucknow Settlement Report).

A fuU account of the coming of the Ahbans claiming " a long descent in
Oudh such as noother clan can rival or approach," of their displacement
of the Thatheras, and foundation of the great Mitauli raj will be found
under the Kheri history. Here I will only give the tradition current
among the small Ahban settlement round Bhainsri, and supplemented by
the oldest Brahman the writer could find at Gopamau, the venerable
Sobha Acharaj, aged ninety.

Once on a time, say they, two brothers of our tribe, Gopi and Sopi,
started from our ancient home in the west at Anhalw&a Patau on a pil-
grimage to holy Gya. Their way lay through Kanauj, whose raja Jai
Chand besought their aid in subduing the turbulent rebels of the G^njar.
In those days the Thatheras held the land from the Ganges to Mitauli,
and southwards to the Loni Nadi. Now the rdja sought their aid in this
wise. Throwing a leaf of pan and betelnut (bira) on the ground he cried
".who is so bold as to undertake this enterprise." And Gopi and Sopi
stepped forth and took it up and each ate half.

O O

578 GOP

Then they summoned their clansmen and .crossed into Oudh, and first
took the fort of Buria and then Bhainsri a stronghold of the Thathefas.
Them they fell upon at the Diwala when overcome with wine, and put
them to the sword. And Sopi remained at Bhainsri and founded Bhainsri
of the Ahbans. But Gopi passed northwards a few miles, and founded
Gopamau.

Probably this inroad of the Ahbans was synchronous with the campaign
of Alha and Udal who, shortly before the fall of Kanauj, were sent by the
Kanauj monarch to subdue the Bhars. The Bhars occupy in other parts
of Oudh precisely the same place in history as that of the Thatheras in
Hardoi.

Mr. Butts gives the origin of the name Ganjar or Ganjaria. " JSha, and
Udal advanced to Sarsanwan near Amethi and afterwards to Dewa, but
seem to have got no further.

" Oudh must have been a hot place, for them. North from Bijnaur
through Sarsanwan lies the plain of Ganjaria which was then known as
the Loh Gdnjar plain, or ' plain of iron, ' so called from the warlike
demeanour of its natives, and it seems to have given the name of Gan-
jaria to the whole of Oudh." (Lucknow Report.)

The author of the Chronicles of Oonao (p. 24) speaks of the " Ganjar"
as strictly applicable only to the Khairabad Tardi, but extending to San-
dila and Bangarmau. The writer however has heard a Bais zamindar
speak of a strip of low land along the Gumti, east of Lucknow, as a part
of Ganjaria, and as the scene of a great battle of A'lha and Udal.

Gopi and Sopi are contractions for Gop41 Singh and Sarup Singh. It
seems not unlikely that the tradition which places a Thathera village of
Mawwa Sarae and a Nath named Gopi at Gopamau prior to the coming of
the Ahbaxis is true, and that Gopal the Ahban may have been attracted
by the name, so like his own, to leave his brother at Bhainsri and found a
settlement there. Thenceforth the name of Mawwa Sarae or Mawwa
Chachar would naturally give way to that of Gopamau.

At this period there seem to have been Ahir settlements in the forest
in Aheri and Ahrori, and tradition also places villages of Dhobis at Lodhi
and Gop&.

From Sayyad SaMr's invasion till the fall of Kanauj was a bad time for
these primitive tribes. Displaced from the west and north by the con-
quering hosts of the house of Ghori, Ahban, and Gaur and Chandel, Gahar-
war, Chauhan, and Janwar streamed over from Kanauj and sought to
regain on this side of the Ganges all that they were losing on that.

The traditions of the coming oftheGaurs will be found under the head-
ings Bangar and Mansurnagar and Bawan : of the Chandels (who displaced
the Ahirs at and round Ahrori) under Kachhandan ; of the Gaharwars
under Bangar; of the Katiars under Kati£ri. All belong to the early class
of Rajput colonists whose coming and its cause has been so eloquently
described in the brilliant " Chronicles of Oonao."

GOP 579

"In the year 1193, A.D., Shahab-ood-deen, conquered and slew the
Hero of the Eajpoot Chronicles, Raja Prithora of Delhi, and in the next
year he overthrew his great rival, Raja Jei Chund of Canouj. These im-
portant victories were followed up by vigorous attacks in every direction.
The sacred mount Abu, the impregnable Gwalior, the holy cities of
Banares, Gya and Ajmere and Anhulwara Patun, all the great centres
of Rajpoot power and Hindu devotion, were startled by the appearance
before their walls of "the uncouth barbarians;" all after a brave, but
vain resistance fell before his sword. The Brahmin folded his hands and
cursed the " Mulich," but not openly. The merchant sought to turn an
honest penny by him, and was oftener paid with iron than with gold.
The Shoodur served the strange highlanders much as he had before
obeyed his Aryan master. But to the Rajpoot this upsetting of all his
received ideas was intolerable. It was part of his religion that his race
should be lords of the land, and to see his raja bow before a barbarian
was desecration and impiety. By mutual jealousies, by incapacity for
combination, and by fatuous negligence the country had been taken from
him, and the lives of his two great rajas had been lost. Now at last,
thoroughly roused when it was too late, he felt that it was impossible
to remain quiet under defeat. If he could not fight, at least he could
fly ; some place, might be found where, though only for a little space, he
might be beyond the conquerors' reach. Southward then across the
Vindhya hills, northward to Kumaon and the Sub-Himalayan ranges,
eastward to Ajoodhia their old seat of empire whence the Bhurs had
driven them, spread the various colonies of Rajpoots. The Rahtore of Canouj
and the Tonwar of Delhi, migrated in a body and left not a man behind.
Others felt the disturbing influence in less degrees, but did history supply
the mater-ial, we should propably be able to trace a direct relation
between the amount of pressure exercised on each clan by the Muham-
madan conquerors, and the quantity of colonies it threw out. Thus the
Chouhan Raja Prithora's clan is scattered over a wide extent of country
and broken up into many small estates, while the powerful Gehlote of
Cheetore and Cuchwaha of Amber maintained their independence for
three centuries more, and sent out hardly any colonies." (Chronicles of
Oonao p. 28.)

The next historical event after the coming of the Chhattri clans is the
conversion of the Ahbans of the adjacent pargana of Bhurwara to IsMmism,
" Kala Pahar" nephew of Bahlol Lodi was the missionary of Islam to whose
persuasion Miil Sah succumbed in A.D., 1488, (see Kheri History.) An
account of the intercourse still kept up between the Hindu Ahbans and
their converted brethren will be found in General Sleeman's Tour II, p. 97.
The next event is the footing gained by the Shekhs when Humaytin
appointed Shekhs Mubarak and AbduUa qazis of Gopamau.

Apparently, says Mr. Camegy (Notes on Tribes p. 69) they were cadets
of the Amethi family of Shekh Sallm, who about 1550 A.D., had been
granted pargana Amethi in Lucknow on condition of driving out the still
troublesome Bhars. The Kasmandi taluqa is still held by their descendant
Murtaza Bakhsh.

The Kasmandi family account is that its most distinguished ancestor

0 0 2

580 GOP

Shekh RahimuUa came to India with Taimur and became Governor of
Kashmir and Lahore. His son and grandson, Shekhs QudratuUa and
Muhammad Amdnulla, also held office under the crown. The great grand-
son Shekh NiamatuUa, did good sei-vice to the State and in reward was
made by the Emperor Humdyun, chaudhri of the pajgana, with two rent-
free villages and a money nankar of Rs. 1,700. This was in 945 Hijri,
(1538 A.D). Murtaza Bakhsh is eighth in descent from Shekh Niamatmlla.
The family gained further favours and villages from Alamgir, and large
additions by purchase and mortgage were made by Muhammad J?azl, the
fourth from Shekh Niartiatulla.

From an account of Gopamau by Nawab Nasir-ul-Islam Khan, I learn
that this fortunate family monopolized the offices of chaudhri, qdzi and
molvi of the pargana. A sanad of Shah Jah^n of 1627 A.D., shown me by
Shekh Muhammad A'zam of Gfopanaau recites that the office of qazi of
pargana Gopamau in the Khairabad sarkar with two hundred and sixty-
one bighas and four biswas of land as madad-maash, or maintenance, had
been held by Qazi Abdul Halim, and that he having presented himself
at court and pleaded age and infirmity, the post had been conferred on
his son Qazi Abdul Ghafiir. He is to settle disputes, claims, and com-
plaints, to perform marriages, distribute the property of deceased persons,
adjust claims for plots of lands (chaks), and supervise weights and mea-
sures. All state officers, jagirdars and kroris are to uphold his authority.
The residents are to refer to him in all matters of religion and to regard
all title deeds and documents signed by him as valid. The overthrow of
the Ahban raj in Muhamdi in 1785, shook but did not displace the un-
perverted Hindu Ahbans of Bhainsri, Mr. McMinn traces this event to
the rise of the Gaurs. " It is probable," he writes, *' that the fall of the
Ahban raj was due to the rise of the Ga,urs. In 1768, the Gaurs of
" pargana Chandra, who nnder Chandra Sen had entered Oudh in 1707,,
attacked the Ahbans and drove them oxit from Maholi and Mitaiili." (see
Kheri History.)

At the cession in 1801, Saadat Ali Khan introduced his new revenue
system. The first Chakladar of the Bangar, was Raja Sital Parshad Tir-
bedi. He was posted at Tandiaon with guns and a military force and
threw up an earthwork there. Sital Parshad held the circle till, A.D.
1812 when his cruelty led to his arrest and removal to Lucknow. . Sobha
Acharaj, a young man of twenty, when this chakladar was appointed^
remembers him well. His chief exploits were the conquest of the Jangre
Chhattris at Dhaurahia under Chapi Singh, and the destruction of Narpat
Singh, and taking of Katesax the stronghold of the Gaurs. He ruled the
Bangar with a rod of iron. A delay in paying the revenue, however short,
cost the defaulter the loss of his hasnd, or horrible to relate, the mutilation
cf the nose or breasts of the defaulter's wife. His reign of terror lasted
eleven years. His successors were, Sobba says. Raja Bhawand Parshdd, ■
Kayath, who oppressed none ; Aza Khan, Mughal ; R^e Bakht Mai, Kash-
miri, who built a new fort at Tandiaon, amd deserted the old one ; Molvi
Farid-ud-din, one of the Shekhs of Gopamau ; Hasan Ali Khan of Mali-
Labad ; Rae Dilar^m, brother of Rae Bakht Mai, who built a shiwalai
with grove and well at Tandiaon ; then his son R^ja Shiu Nath Singh,

GOP 581

wto strengthened the fort, and held the chakk at annexation. His n^ib
was Pandit Kidar Nath, Kashmiri, who bridged the Bhamsta (Sai.)

It was the Molvi Earid-ud-dm above-mentioned who when the head of
the notorious rebel, murderer, and cattle-lifter Bhagwant Singh of Atwa
Piparia had been sent- him by Pancham Singh of Ahrori in June 1841,
sent it to Lucknow with a report that he had at the peril of his life and
after immenee toil hunted down and destroyed this formidable rebel. His
Majesty as a reward for his valuable services conferred upon Farid-ud-dm
a title and a first-rate dress of honour. (Sleeman's Tour IT. 18.)

Th« Nazrm seems sometimes to have made Taadiaon his head-quarters,
sometimes Khairabad. General Sleeman describes the increasing dis-
orders of this part of the district under tke contract (ij^ra) system. Jfrom
his camp at Tandiaon he wrote, 22nd January 1849. " Tundeeawun was
once a populous place but has been falling off for many years as the
■disorders in the district have increased. The Nazim resides here. The
last Nazim Hoseyn Allee, who was removed to Khairabad at the end of
last year,, is said to have given an increase of nankar to the refractory
lajidholders of this district during that year to the extent of forty thou-
sand rupees a year, to induce them to pay the Government demand and
desist from plunder. By this means he secured a good reputation at
court, and the charge of a m.ore profitable and less troublesome district,
and left the difiicult task of resuming this lavish increase of the nankar
to his successor Seo Nath, the son of DUla Ram who held the contract
of the district for some twenty years up to the time of his death which
took place last year.

" Seo ISTath is a highly respectable and nmiable man, but he is very
delicate in health and, in consequence, deficient in the vigour and energy
required to manage so turbulent a district. He has, however, a Deputy
in Kiddar Nath, a relative, who has all the ability, vigour and energy
required, if well supported and encouraged by the Oude Durbar. He was
Deputy under Dilla Earn for many years, and the same under Hoseyn AUee
last year. He is a man of great intelligence and experience, and on« of
the best officers of the Oude Government that I have yet seen." (Sleeman's
Tour II. 22.)

" The head-men of some villages along the road mentioned that the
fine state in when we saw them was owing to their being strong, and able
to resist the Government authorities which disposed, as they generally
were to oppress or rack-rent them; that the landholders owed their
strength to their union, for all were bound to turn out and afford aid to
their neighbour on hearing the concerted signal of distress; that this
league, offensive and defensive, extended all oyer the Bangur district,
into which we entered about midway between this and our last stage ;
and that we should see how much better it was peopled and cultivated in
eonsequence than the district Mahomdee to which we were going; that
the strong only could keep anything ^mder th« Oude Government ; and
as they could not be strong without union all landholders were solemnly
pkdaed to aid each other to the death, when oppressed or attacked by
the kcal officers." (Sleeman's Tour H. 11.)

582 GOP

" The Nazim of the Tundeeawun or Bangur district met on his border,
and told me, " that he was too weak to enforce the king's orders, or to
collect his revenues ; that he had with him one efficient company of Cap-
tain Bunbury's corps, with one gun in good repairs and provided with
draft-bullocks, in good condition ; and that this was the only force he
could rely upon ; while the landholders were strong and so leagued toge-
ther for mutual defence, that, at the sound of a matchlock, or any other
concerted signal, all the men of a dozen large villages would, in an hour,
concentrate upon and defeat the largest force the king's officers could
assemble ; that they did so almost every year, and often frequently within
the same year ; that he had nominally eight guns on duty with him, but
the carriage of one had already gone to pieces ; and those of the rest had
been so long without repair that they would go to pieces with very little
firing ; that the draft-bullocks had not had any grain for many years, and
were hardly able to walk ; and he was in consequence obliged to hire

plough-bullocks, to draw the gun required to salute the Resident "

"A large portion of the surface is covered with jungle, useful only to robbers
and refractory landholders who abound in the pargana of Bangur. In this
respect it is reported one of the worst districts in Oude. Within the last
few years the king's troops have been frequently beaten and driven out
with loss even when commanded by an European officer. The landholders
and armed peasantry of the different villages unite their quotas of auxi-
liaries, and concentrate upon them on a concerted signal, when they are
in pursuit of robbers and rebels. Almost every able-bodied man of every
village in Bangur is trained to the use of arms of one kind or another, and
none of the king's troops save those who are disciplined and commanded
by European officers, will venture to move against a landholder of this
district ; and when the local authorities cannot obtain the aid of such
troops, they are obliged to conciliate the most powerful and unscrupulous
by reductions in the assessment of the lands or additions to their ,
nankar."

" To illustrate the spirit and system of union among the chief landholders
of the Bangur district, I may here mention a few facts within my own
knowledge, and of recent date. Bhugwunt Sing, who held the estate of
Etwa Peepureea, had been for some time in rebellion against his sovereign;
and he had committed many murders and robberies, and lifted many herds
of cattle within our bordering district of Shahjehanpoor ; and he had givea
shelter, on his own estate, to a good many atrocious criminals, from that
and others of our bordering districts. He had, too, aided and screened
many gangs of budhuks or dacoits by hereditary profession. The Resi-
dent, Colonel Low, in 1841, directed every possible effort to be made
for the arrest of this formidable offender, and Captain HoUings, the second
in command of the second battalion of Oude Local Infantry, sent intelli-
gencers to trace him,

" They ascertained that he had, with a few followers, taken up a position
two hundred yards to the north of the village of Ahroree in a jungle of
palas trees and brushwood in the Bangur district, about twenty-eight miles
to the south-west of Seetapoor, where that battalion was cantoned, and

GOP 583

about fourteen miles west from Neemkar. Captain HoUings made his
arrangements to surprise this party ; and on the evening of the 3rd of July
1841, he marched from Neemkar at the head of three companies of that
battalion, and a little before midnight he came within three quarters of a
mile of the rebel's post. After halting his party for a short time to enable
the officers and sipahees to throw off all superfluous clothing and utensils,
Captain HoUings moved on to the attack. When the advanced guard reached
the outskirts of the robber's position about midnight, they were first chal-
lenged and then fired upon by the sentries. The subadar in command of this
advance guard fell dead, and a non-commissioned officer and a sipahee
were severely wounded.

" The whole party now fired in upon the gang and rushed on. One of
the robbers was shot, and the rest all escaped out on the opposite side of
the jungle. The sipahees believing, since the surprise had been complete,
that the robbers must have left all their wealth behind them, dispersed,
as soon as the firing ceased and the robbers disappeared, to get every man
as much as he could. While thus engaged they were surrounded by the
Gohar (or body auxiliaries which these landholders send to each other's aid
on the concerted signal) and fired in upon from the front, and both right
and left flanks. Taken by surprise, they collected together in disorder,
while the assailants from the front and sides continued to pour in their
fire upon them; and they were obliged to retire in haste and confusion,
closely followed by the auxiliaries, who gained confidence, and pressed
closer as their number increased by the quotas they received from the
villages the detachment had to pass in their retreat.

"All efforts on the part of Captain HoUings to preserve order in the
ranks were vain. His men returned the fire of their pursuers, but without
aim or effect. At the head of the auxiliaries were Punchum Sing of
Ahroree and Mirza Akbar Beg of Deureea; and they were fast closing in
upon the party, and might have destroyed it, when Girwur Sing tomandar,
came up with a detachment of the special police of the thuggee and
dacoity department. At this time the three companies were altogether
disorganized and disheartened, as the firing and pursuit had lasted from
midnight to daybreak; but on seeing the Special Police come up and join
with spirit in the defence, they rallied, and the assailants, thinking the
reinforcement more formidable thaa it really was, lost confidence and
held back. Captain HoUings mounted the fresh horse of the tomandar,
and led his detachment without further loss or molestation back to Neem-
kar. His loss had been one subadar, one havUdar, and three sipahees
kiUed; one subadar two havildars, one naik, and fourteen sipahees wounded
and missing. Captain HoUing's groom was shot dead, and one of his
palankeenbearers was wounded. His horse, palankeen, desk, clothes, and
all the superfluous clothing and utensUs, which the sipahees had thrown
off preparatory to the attack feU into the hands of the assailants. Attempts
were made to take up and carry off the kUled and wounded; but the
detachment was so sorely pressed that they were obliged to leave both on
the ground. The loss would have been much greater than it was but for
the darkness of the night, which prevented the assailants from taking
good aim; and the detachment would, in all probability, have been cut to
pieces, but for the timely arrival of the Special Police under Girwur Sing.,

584 GOF

" Such attacks are usually made upon robber bands abottt tbe first dawH
of the day; and this attack at midnight was a great error. Had they not
been assailed by the auxiliaries, they could not, in the darkness, have
secured one of the gang. It was known that at the first shot from either
the assailing or defending party in that district, all the villages around
concentrate their quotas upon the spot, to fight to the death against the
king's troops, whatever might be their object; and the detachment ought
to have been prepared for such concentration when the firing began and
returned as quickly as possible from the place when they saw that by
staying they could not succeed in the object." (Sleeman's Tour II. 15-18.)

GOPAMAU Town* — Pargana GovAMAV—Tahsil Haedoi — District Hae-
DOI. — An ancient town of 5,949 inhabitants which gives its name to the
large Gopamau pargana. It lies two miles west of the Gumti, fourteen
miles north-east from the sadr station of Hardoi, and twenty west from
Sitapur.

It contains 1,614 houses; 295 of brick, one of stone, 1,318 of mud. Of
the population 2,984 are Muhammadans and 2,965 Hindus.

As noted in the pargana article the town seems to have been founded
towards the end of the twelfth century by an Ahban conqueror on or near
the site of an old Thathera clearing in the forest known then as Mawwa
Sarae or Sarae Chachar. Among the scanty relics of that dim time
- " Kaurehru Deo" and " Badal Deo" are still venerated as having been the
gods of the departed Thatheras. Distinct traces exist of a Muhammadan
element in the population dating from Sayyad Salar's three years sojourn
in Oudh, thirty years before the Norman conquest of England. Local
tradition, gathered from the lips of a' 'Brahman, tells of a still more
ancient trace of Muhammadan influence in Gopamau.

Before the coming of Sayyad Salar, it says. Raja Gopi, the Ahban, had
driven out the Thatheras and stablished himself at Gopamau. To him
wandered a holy darwesh from Sakmina in Mecca, Azmat Shah by name.
And Rdja Gopi honoured him greatly and made him to live in his own
house.

Then when Sayyad Salar Ghazi conquered Kanauj, R^ja Pitham Kunwar,
the son of Raja Jai Chand, fled to Gopamau and sought aid of Rajas
Gopi and Sopi. And they said to him, are we not the servants of Jai
Chand thy father. Do thou remain here and rule this land with us.
None shall molest thee. And these three princes were ruling at Gopamau
and cherishing the holy man Azmat Shah, when Sayyad Salar's army
came to Gopamau and the contest began. Two and twenty battles were
fought, and in each victory was with the rajas of Gopamau. Then Sayyad
Salar disguised himself, and came to Azmat Shah by night and besought
his aid, and reminded him of their fellow faith. And Azmat Shah was
sore perplexed. If he should refuse to help he would be a traitor to his
faith. If he should consent, he would be a traitor to the kind princes
whose salt he had eaten.

By Mr. A. Harington, c. s., Aaaiutant Comiuisnioiier.

GOP 685

So after a pause lie bade Sayyad Salar to be of good ebeer for that in
tomorrow's onslauglit he would surely be the conqueror. Then he called
the rdjas and counselled them to fly by night with their wives and little
ones into the forest, for it had been revealed to him that in tomorrow's
combat victory would be with the invader, and they would all surely
perish. And on that same night they passed out into the forest. And in
the morning when Sayyad Salar advanced to the attack, behold, there were
none to oppose him. So he plundered the city, and cast down the sacred
temples, and brake in pieces the holy images, and slew those of the people
who had not passed away with the rajas. But when Sayyad Salar had
marched on to Bahraich, after a time more battles were fought at Gopamau.
And Lai Pir his religious preceptor, whom he had left to hold Gopamau was
slain and other great captains. And at the last, at Bahraich, Balar Suraj slew
Sayyad Salar himself And when Rajas Gopi and Sopi heard thathewasdead
they fasted one whole day and mourned that so great and renowned a noble
should have been slain and sorrowed that he had not been taken captive
alive. And Azmat Shah took poison and died and his tomb is in Azmat-
tola to this day. And some say that Gopi and Sopi fought and conquered
their way up to the mountains and ruled there, and their descendants are
there to this day and are called Gurkhas. The legend is of interest in
connection with the often noticed fact that in Oudh the bitterness between
Hindu and.Muhammadan is much fainter than elsewhere. The conflict
of tradition (see pargana Gopamau) as to whether the Lai Pir fought
Thatheras or Ahbans is perhaps to be accounted for by the supposition
that during the Muhammadan occupation of three years, he had to fight
both. The first displacement of Thatheras by Chhattris was still new and
fresh when Sayyad Salar reached Oudh, and both may have forgotten for
awhile their mutual struggle in the effort to repel the common foe. It would
be interestincr to know whether elsewhere the success of the Muhamma-
dan invader is attributed by tradition to similar treachery by a holy dar-
wesh to his unsuspecting Hindu protectors. If it is, the fact would prob-
ably point to an ancient, ingenious, and highly successful working of
secret service agency for the extension of the Muhammadan empire. The
comparative shortness of the interval between the holy man's arrival and
the invasion, seems to the writer to point in the direction of this hypo-
thesis.

The chief development of the town took place in the reign of Huma-
yun who seems first to have appointed a chaudhri and qazi for the par-
gana and to have stationed them here. Till 1801 when Sa^dat All
replaced the d,mil by a chakladar and made Tandiaon his head-quarter
instead of Gopamau, the place seems to have thriven well. Many of its
residents attained high posts under the empire and contributed to its
wealth and importance.

The history of the principal buildings and muhallas is in itself an epi-
tome of the gradual growth of Muhammadan influence in Gopamau. Thus
the Ldl Pir is said to have been buried by his army in the shrine, of Gopi
N£th a brick temple with three doors facing to the nortL In A. D. 1232,
Khwaia Taj-ud-din Husen, Chishti Shekh, was posted at Gopamau by
Sultan Altamsh, and threw up an earthwork and built an unemdosed

686 GOP

mosque, and a monastery - of two rooms. These buildings are in the
Chishtpfira on the east of the town. At the suggestion of his spiritual
preceptor Khwaja Qutb-ud-din, he built the Lai Fir's tomb in its present
form. In A. D. 1795 it was repaired by Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan
Wdla Jah, Subahdar of Arcot. There is no other building of the 13th
century in Gopamau except this tomb. A mosque, idg£h and well were
built in the reign of Akbar under the auspices of Khwaja HabibuUa.

The well contains the following inscription : —

" In the reign of the just monarch the sovereign who spreads peace
throughout the inhabited world Jalal-ud-din Ghazi Muhammad Akbar,
that just king who sits on the throne of success, the king of kings, the
pride of the religion of Muhammad, ordered a well to be built the like of
which should only be found in the tank ' Kausar, ' Khwaja HabibuUa
was the builder of it, that Khwaja who has no second in the world. I
asked of wisdom for the date and year of its building and was told by
her: —

This is the well of " zam zam. "

Full of the water of life " ( 979 H= A.D. 1571. )

The Subahdar of Arcot, already mentioned repaired this mosque and
idgah in 1795.

Sayyadptira is the quarter of the Sayyads who trace their settlement to
the arrival of Sayyad Muin-ud-din from Kanauj in 1208 A.D. in the
reign of Qutb-ud-din. His descendants Sayyad Abdul Qd,dir and Abdul
Jalal were appointed qanungos of the pargana by Humaytin. In this
muhalla there is an ancient mosque built by Sayyad Kamal with a well
attached to it, called Gondni-ka-Kuan. tip to a height of nearly seven
feet from the ground this mosque is built of large slabs of kankar. One
of these I found to measure 46 inches by 10, another 42 inches by 11. I
believe them to have been taken from the despoiled temple of Gopi N^th
or some other ancient Hindu fane. Similar blocks are to be seen in the
doorway and steps of the Lai Pir's mausoleum and in the baradari. Qaza-
raptira, the qazis' quarters, was founded during the reign of Humaydn. .
Shekhs Mubarak and AbduUa, nephews of Nizam-ud-din Bandagi Mian,
of Amethi in the Luckaow district, whither the family had migrated from
Agra, moved from Amethi to Gopamau, on being appointed qdzis of the
pargana. This family seems to have had much court interest for its three
branches acquired and held the three distinct posts of qazi, chaudhri, and
molvi of the pargana. The qazi-ship was retained by them up to annexa-
tion. In this branch the most distinguished persons have been qazi.
Muhammad Husen, in the time of Akbar and Q^zi Miihammad Mubarak
celebrated as the commentator on the Sharah-Salam or doctrine of proba-
bilities of Molvi Hamidulla of Sandila, in the reign of Muhammad Shah.
His fame as a scholar is said to have spread from India to Persia. The
registrarship is held by a member of the family. Among the chaudhris
Ibrar Khan and Israr Khan and Abbas Ali Khan were renowned for valour,
and obtained high posts in the Carnatic under the Subahdar of Arcot,
Wala Jah. Of the Molvi branch, the most distinguished scholars have

GO? 587

been^MolvisNizam-ud-din/Itmad-ud-dinand Mian Kalb ; Molvi Fand-
ud-din (see pargana Gopamau) was Chakladar of Muhamdi in 1825 and
1826 and chakladar of Bangar in 1841 and 1842 ; Molvi Dost Y£r Khan
rose to the rank of mansabdar. A double colonnade of red sandstone
pillars of Delhi stone mark a showy addition made by him to the family
mansion. Molvi Ghulam Rasul was appointed Q^zi of Trichinopoly on its
cession to the British in 1801. He and his son Muhammad Qakin built
a stone mansion (baradari), from which circumstance their descendants
acquired, the name of Biiradarias.

The muhalla of the Kanauji Shekhs was founded during the reign of
Akbar; of this stock Nawab Anwar-ud-din Khan, Sirij-ul-Umra, rose to be
Subahdar of Arcot, under the Nizam Azam Jah in 1745. Four years later
he fell in battle. The words " aftdb raft " ( the sun departed ) contain
the date of the death in battle of the Nizam's Wazir Nawab Nazir Jang
who marched to avenge his death and also fell. In his place was appointed
Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan. He so filled his high post of Subahdar of
Arcot that in 1760 Shah Alam bestowed on him the title of Wdla Jah and
in 1786, on his sending magnificent presents to Mecca and Medina, the
Sultan of Turkey conferred on him the distinguished appellation of Amir-
ul-Hind Khadim-ul-Harmain.

The eldest son of Nawab Anwar-ud-din Khan, Naw£b Badr-ul-Islam
Khan was appointed Subahdar of Katehar and Shekoabad by Muhammad
Shah, and his nephew Nawab Munir-ud-din Khan Bahadur rose to the
rank of Naib Subahdar in Bengal. The present Nawab Nasir-ul-IsMm
Khan to whose book I am indebted for this information is of this distin-
guished family.

To Nawab Anwar-ud-din Khan the town owes a curious square well
called " chaukantha" and a mosque. The Wala Jah repaired the Ldl Pir's
mausoleum, and rebuilt in 1786 the Jama Masjid of Akbar's time which
had been destroyed by an earthquake. The decoration is elaborate. The
building is about 62 by 26 feet. Its restoration would cost probably about
eight hundred rupees.-

Nawab Badr-ul-Islam Khan built a sarde in 1775, and settled Bhatiaras
in it, but being off the high road it did not thrive.

The settlement of the muftis in the muhalla of that name dates from
the arrival of Shekh Muhammad A'dam Saddiqi in 1543, during the reign
of Sher Shah. Muhammad Zaman of this house was appointed mufti, a
post retained in the family till annexation. By far the most distinguished
member of it was Wahaj-ud-din, styled Afzal-ul-Mal the tutor of Shah
Jah^n's unfortunate eldest son Prince Dara Shikoh. This great scholar
was the author of the celebrated Fatwa-e-Alamgiri.

The Zaidpuria muhalla was founded in 1562 when Shekh Qazi Bhiire
Farfiqi and Hazrat Bandagi Nizam-ud-din migrated hither from Zaidpur.
Ghulam Hasan Khan of this house was appointed Subahdar of Gujarat by
Azam Shah.

The khatibs or readers of the prayers for the king resided in muhalla
Khatiban, The post was hereditary and was held from the time of Akbar

588 GOP

to annexation by members of the family now living here. Muhammad
Ali Khan, Molvi Muhammad Waris and Munshi Abdul Ali were its most
distinguished members.

The mutawallis or custodians of the mosques who inhabit the quarter
of that name, claim to be descended from Shekh Ghitil, who settled at
Gopamau during the reign of Ala-ud-dm Ghori, Akbar conferred on Shekh
Karfm the post of custodian of the mosque built in his reign and it was
retained in the family till annexation. Shekh' Molvi Abdul Karim of this
stock was author of a work on jurisprudence called the Fatwa-e-Majm'a-ul-
Masael.

The muhalla of qanungos was founded in the reign of Hum^yfin who
appointed Shekh Jamali, qanungo of the pargana. The post was retained
till annexation in the family by which the taluqa of Kasmandi now held.
(I think that the nawab's history from which these facts are taken is in
error here, and that the post bestowed by Humayun on the ancestor of the
Kasmandi taluqdar was that of chaudhri not qantingo. This conjecture
is confirmed by the fact that in describing the muhalla of Kayaths the
nawab speaks of them as having got the qanungo-ship from Humdytin).

The Kayaths of the muhalla so called are divided into qanungos and
muharrirs. The first branch held the qanungo-ship from the time of
Hiimayun to that of Wajid Ali Shah. Rae Gajadhar of Majhian was the
founder of the branch. Of the muharrirs Lala Nauniddh Rae rose to dis-
tinction. The Hindus gratefully remember him as the builder of the
shrine of Gopi Nath. The tyranny of the Mughal Governor constantly
destroyed what Nauniddh Rae had built. At last he threw up the qdnungo-
ship and turned faqir. The revenue fell into arrears. The matter reached
the ears of the Emperor at Delhi. An order was passed that if any
Muhammadan interfered with Nauniddh Rae's building his hand and nose
would be cut off. Nauniddh Rae again took office. The revenue arrears
of the four Bangar muhals was collected by him iu twenty-four hou(rs. He
then built in peace the fine tank and the temple of Gopi Ndth. This was
in 1699 in the reign of Aurangzeb. In the time of Nawab Asif-ud-daula
thirty of the Nawab's elephants were picketed here for a year. They were
watered at the tank and destroyed the flight of steps.

Lnlas Raja Ram and Mohan Lai are the other notables in this branch,
Mohan Lai was employed by the Chakladar in Muhammad Ali Shah's
time as a ndib. He planted many groves and built a shiw^la and a very
fine tank. The muhalla of the Sayyad Sftlari Banjaras has been mentioned
in the pargana article. The names of the Banjaras who accompanied the
Lai Pir are said to have been Ddr Khan and Mamman Khan. Another
trace of Sayyad SAldr's occupation of Oudh is to be found in the muhalla,
of the Batwajrs or weighmen. These Pathans claim descent Jrom Nusrat-
ulla Khan Ghazi and Jafar Khan,, two brothers who accompanied the Lai
Pir's army. Nusratulla Khan was killed. Jafar Khan settled here. His
descendant was made batwar in the time of Ala^ud-dia, and his line
have continued to hold the post to this day.

A Government aided vernacular town school has been estayjshed in
the house of Molvi Tafazzul Husen in the Q^zis' muhaJila, Two markets

GOP-=-GOS 589

are -held, one at the Madda well (built by Madda Mi^n) in the Qazds'
quarter on Mondays a.nd Fridays, the other on the west of the fort
on Sundays and Thursdays. The only manufacture peculiar to the place
IS that of arsis or thumb mirrors of silver, an ornament said to be much
prized by our Aryan sisters, and one which if delicately fashioned in choice
gold might perhaps find favour in Paris or London boudoirs.

GOEINDA PARSANDAN Fargana^Taksil MouJii^-District Unao.-
Gorinda Khas is 18 mues north of TJuao. Formerly the whole of the
pargana was waste and jungle in which the Ahirs, to feed their flocks and
to house their cattle built here and there a "gonda." Some 500 years
ago, Gurbans Eae an Upaddhia Brahman, and one Gobind R£e Kdyath
after clearing the jungle made a settlement which went by the name of
Gond and was subsequently called "Gorinda," it was only at summary
settlement that Gorinda and Parsandan were amalgamated into one par-
gana. During Akbar's reign when the land was divided into parganas
these two were separate parganas.

The pargana is twelve miles long and ten miles broad. "Water is found
from 15 to 30 feet from the surface.' The area in acres is 28,053 0 10.

Taliiqdari ... 3^492 0 35

Pukhtadari 504 0 10

Zamindari „. 8,775 1 30

Pattidari imperfect 15,281 1 15

The land revenue is Rs. 35,416 or 1-1-2 per acre which, unless the
settlement is ridiculously light, speaks for the bad quality of the soil. There
are 842-3-0 acres under groves. The Census Report gives the population
at 21,768.

The river Sai runs through the northern part of the pargana from west
to east. The climate is healthy. The soil is below the average being
mostly sand. Beds of small kankar are to be found about this pargana.
The chief crops grown appear to be bajra and barley. The only fair of
any size is one held at Kutwa on the Sai in the month of March where
some 1,200 persons congregate. There are only two bazars in the par-
gana.

GGSHAINGANJ* — Tahsii Mohanlalganj — District Lucknow. — Is a
market town in the pargana of Mohanlalganj, situated on the Lucknow
and Sultanpur road at about the 14th milestone from Lucknow. The
road runs throiogh the principal street for nearly the length of the town
and in this weekly bazars are held. The town has always been well-known
as a flourishing market town and a brisk country trade is carried on. It
has the advantage of a direct communication with Lucknow and with
Cawnpore by a road that runs south through the pargana and joins the
Cawnpore imperial road at Bani bridge on the left bank of the river Sai.
This road is the great outlet for country produce and in turn conveys to
Goshainganj, European piece goods and manufactured articles. The total

* By Mr, H, H, Butts, Assistant Commisaiouer.

590. GOS

year's sales at Goshainganj itself are said to amount to Rs. 1,91,500. The
town is clean and well kept, its conservancy arrangements being under
the direct management of the deputy commissioner of the district and
the thanadar of the neighbouring police station. The cost of establish-
ment is met by a house tax which has been levied upon all but cultivators,
and amounts to Rs. 590. The population numbers to some 3,691 souls
by the census of January 1869, and is almost exclusively Hindu.

The agricultural element in this does not amount to one-sixth and the
shop-keeping class largely prevails. There are 856 houses all built of
mud but two. In the high street is situated the Government vernacular
school which is attended by some 90 to 100 pupils, and to this is affiliated
a branch school which bears twenty six pupils on its register. The school
master has also charge of the district post, and distributes from here the
letters for the greater part of the pargana by a staff of runners sufficient to
visit any part of it some three or four times a week. The only other
Government building is the police station which stands just outside the
town on the road to Sultanpur.

At this a police force of twelve constables, with a deputy inspector and
two other officers of inferior grade, is maintained to guard an area of some
100 square miles with a population of 568 to the square mile. Opposite
to the police station are the somewhat extensive remains of the old fort
of Raja Himmat Gir Goshain, who commanded a force of some 1,000
cavalry of the Rajput caste in the reign of Shuja-ud-daula. The small mud
walls of the fort are still standing surrounded by a deep moat, now almost
fallen in, and overgrown with grass and bushes. The fort was built
on the deserted village site, one of the old Bhar dihs of the country,
and is elevated enough to command an extended view of the country
lying round, which is fertile, highly cultivated, and studded with fine
mango groves.

Goshainganj was in the Nawabi the head-quarters of the pargana
known as Goshainganj, and was founded by the Raja Himmat Gir Goshain
in the reign of Sljuja-ud-daula in 1754 A.D. He was the owner of the
fort already mentioned, and while holding the whole pargana as j^gir for
the pay of the troops under his command, transferred the head-quarters of
the pargana from Amethi Dingur to the town he built and called after
himself, and with the transfer caused also a change in the name of the '
pargana which had previously been known as pargana Amethi. His
power must have been considerable, for as the Nawab Shuja-ud-daula
was flying to Pilibhit, the furthest corner of his dominions after the
battle of Buxar, he passed the rdja's fort and asked for admission but the
Goshain refused.

Soon after the restoration of peace and the Nawab's reconciliation with
the British Government, the Goshain found it expedient to leave the place,
and retire to his native village of Rasdhan near Hardwar, where he was
granted a small jagir by the English Government.

There are no native structures of any note in the place, except one or
two small mosques and a few small temples of Shiva and Debi,

GOS— GXJM 591,

To the honour of Debi Chaturbhuji a yearly festival is held in the month
of April (Chait badi ashtimi), and on the Dasahra festival in the month
of Kuar.^ Some five or six thousand people attend at both. There is one
Sangat in which a Nanak Shdhi faqir lives, and a local deity Eaja Bir,
probably some old aboriginal hero, is worshipped here. It stands in the
form of a heap of stones on the old Bhar dih. His worship is performed
on T\iesdays and Sundays by Hindu women, and a goat is sacrificed to
him on the occasion of any pressing domestic want.

GULARIHA Town — Pargana Matjranwan — Talisil Purwa — District
Unao. — This town lies about 16 miles from its tahsil, Purwa, and 36 miles
from the sadr of station TJnao, at the south-east corner. There is a tank
called Bhundi at the south-west corner about half a mile from the village.
There is one school, with 40 boys attending. No river or town near. There
is an unmetalled road from the tahsil to Rae Bareli, passing within the
boundary on the north of the village. About 600 years ago, one Gular
Singh Thakur cultivated and peopled this village.

Population.
Hindus .. ... ... ... 4,029) . ,,,

Musalmans 94 5 *'^''^

Latitude ... ... 26° 24' nortli.

Longitude ... ... 81° 1' east.

GUMTI. — A river rising in the district of Shahjahanpur in an alluvial,
tract between the rivers Deoha or Garra and Gogra according to the Sur-
veyor General's map.

The source of the Gumti river, is a small lake or morass called Faljar
Tal, in latitude 28° 35', longitude 80° 10', nineteen miles east of the
town of Pilibhit. The elevation of Pilibhit above the sea is estimated at
517 feet, but Mina Kot under which the Gumti river rises is 629 above the
sea, the source may then be regarded as about 605 feet. Thornton guesses
it from erroneous data at 520 feet. It takes a course sinuous but gene-
rally to the south-east for the distance of forty-two miles, when it enters
into the Kheri district in latitude 28° 11', longitude 80° 20', having the
village of Rampur of the Muhamdi pargana on its right side and the
village of Bela Pahara on its left. It continues to flow to the south-east,
dividing the parganas Muhamdi and Barwar on its right side from the
parganas Atwa Piparia, Magdapui and Aurangabad on its left side.
According to the Surveyor General's map about 94 miles from its
source in latitude 27° 28', longitude 80° 27', it receives theKathna. From
this confluence the Gumti continues its progress in its previous direction tor
about 80 miles to Lucknow, receiving during its course the bardyan in
latitude 27° 9', longitude 80° 55'. It is at that city navigable and crossed
bv five brido-es. Rennell describes it at that place as " a small river, and
Lumsden "a paltry and narrow stream". Below the bridge of masonry
there is an iron bridge of three arches which was sent out from England-
to traverse the river-calculated at a width of 200 paces. At the Eadway
bridee at Lucknow the river in the rams of 1872, was a flood 588 feet
broad 41 feet deep, with a velocity of 357 miles per hour, and an extreme
discharge of 34,369 cubic feet per second.

592' GUM

Thornton writes as follows : —

" The river certainly admits of navigation to an important extent. A
small steamer belonging to the king of Oudh tested its capability in
this respect". Tieffenthaler observes that the breadth of the river is more
remarkable than its depth. Though its value for the purpose of naviga-
tion and irrigation is great, the water according to Butter is often con-
taminated by gross impurities, andoccasionally becomes the sourceof disease.
During the rainy season the water of the Gumti is loaded with an im-
mense quantity of yellow clay, and becomes unfit for drinking, and when
any great mortality prevails along its banks, a putrid scum forms upon its
surface, occasioned by the number of dead bodies thrown into it.

It is greatly affected by the periodical rains, rising and falling annually
about 15 feet ; and according to tradition the variation formerly was much
greater. At all times it is excellently adapted for navigation, its waters
never dispersing themselves over a greater breadth than 140 yards, and
having generally a depth of four feet in the driest season ; while its exces-
sive windings which lengthen its course 75 per cent, answer the purpose
of canal locks in diminishing slope and rapidity. It is, however, intersect-
ed at every four or six miles by kankar ridges, of two' or three yards in
width, which in the dry season, sometimes diminish the depth to two feet.
These ridges can be removed at no great expense. At present the few
boats which convey supplies to Lucknow return empty. During the
rainy season boats of 1,000 to 1,200 maunds ( 40 tons ) are sometimes
seen proceeding to Lucknow. The river continues its course in a south-
easterly direction, from Lucknow, and about 70 miles below, it, accord-
~ ing to Surveyor General's map, receives on the left side in latitude 26°,
longitude 81° 40', the Kalyani, a stream flowing from the north-west and
having a course of about 80 miles. Below this confluence the river's right
bank is generally high and consists of solid kankar, the left low and
sandy.

" At Sultanpur about 170 miles south-east of Lucknow by the river's .
course, the stream is in the dry season 100 yards wide, " with a depth
of four feet, and a current of two miles an hour. About 52 miles
lower down, and in the same direction it passes over the Oudh frontier
into the district of Jaunpur, and flows through it for 30 miles, to the
town of the same name when its breadth is such as to require a bridge of
1-6 fine arches. About 18 miles below that town on the right side
it receives the river Sai, and in latitude 25° 29', longitude 83° 15'
it falls into the Ganges on the left side, after a course of 4f<2 miles. Close
above its mouth, it is crossed by means of a bridge of boats from the mid-
dle of October to the middle of June, and during the rains by ferry
The Gumti might be utilized for irrigation purposes, by building dams
across it, but this would be very expensive as the soil is so sandy that the
water would percolate through them unless constructed in a very solid
manner.

The cold weather discharge of the Gumti is only 500 feet per second at
Lucknow ; the banks are irregular and from 30 to 70 feet high. South of

GUM— GUN

S93

Lucknow the valley of the Gumti becomes very narrow and the scenery
is picturesque. The worst known shoals are in the Sult-anpur district.
Boats of 500 maunds burthen ascend the river as far as Dilawarpur
Ghat near Muhamdi. The Gumti rises 605 feet above the sea; at
Lucknow it is 343 feet ; at Sultanpur 255 and at Jaunpur 225 feet above
the sea. Its course is before its entrance into Oudh 42 miles in length,
from thence to Lucknow 145 miles*, thence to Sultanpur 170 miles, thence
to the border of the Jaunpur district 54 miles ; total in Oudh 369 miles.
When it enters Oudh the elevation is about 470 feet above the sea, it
, leaves it at 235 feet, the fall is therefore 235 feet, or about f of a foot
per mile. The following return of the Gumti down traffic at Sultanpur
is given for what it is worth : —

Return of Gumti Down Traffic.

No. of vessels laden with

Leather.

Total No. of

Month.

Grain No.

S^g-No- SSl

Miscellane-
ous.

vessels.

March 1873 ...
June ,, •>•
July „

3
6
2

17
...

1

Opium 5

1

NiL
1

21

11

4

- Total- ...

11

17

1

5

2

36

GUNDLAMAU Pargana — Tahsil 'MiSRms.— District Sitapue.— Pargana
Gundlamau is separated from Hardoi, on the west and south by the river
Gumti and from tahsil Bari by the Sarayan, both being navigable rivers,
and running together at Hindaura, the southern point of the pargana. On
the north it is bounded by parganas Machhrehta and Kurauna.

In area, it contains 65 square miles of which 46 are cultivated and the
detail of these is as follows : —

Cultivated ...
Culturable „.

Milguzari ...

Hnafi
Barren

Unassessed...

...

... 29,364
„. 6,380

...

ua

... 35,744

...

:::

48
... 5,148

■«•

...

... 5,196

Total

acres

... 40,940

* Wrongly entered at 80 milea in Thornton.

P P

mi GUN

The incidence of the revised assessment is as follows :—

On cultivated area ... ... i.. Es. 14 7

On mdlguzdri ... ... ... ... „ 10 4

On total ... ... ... ... „ 0 14 3

The population of 20,240 is thus distributed : —

Hindus agricultural ...
„ non-agricultural

Musalmau3 agricultural
,, non-agricultural

Total

Total

11,250
6,397

19,647

130

443

573

The Musalmans aTe thus only 2'8 per cent, of the entire population, an
exceedingly low percentage indeed, the provincial percentage being 10.

There are 5-5 individuals to each of the 3,638 mud-built houses in which
the population reside. And there are 316 souls to the square mile, which
IS very much lower than the district average of 417. Each head of the
agricultural population has on an average 2| acres of cultivation, and 3
acres of malguzari, both of which figures are much higher than those in
the parganas of tahsils Bari and Sitapur.

The rents are almost entirely paid in kind, those paid in cash amounting
to only -jL of the whole, and the principle in which the amount to be
received by the zamindar is fixed, is as follows : — The maund is first of all
divided into two portions of 20 sers each ; the zamindar then takes five sers
from the heap in the threshingfloor as haqq-i-zamindari, in other words -
out of every 45 sers the zamindar gets 25 against the ryot's 20. Then
each party gives 2| sers out of his share to the village servants, and the
final result is as follows, — -oxit of every 45 sers the zamindar gets 22|, the
ryot gets 17J, the patwari and others five. There is none of the kdr or
churwa which is known in other parts of the district.

The pargana on the whole is a poor one, the population is scanty, the
cultivated land not of the best. The villages to the east bordering on
the Sarayan are much cut up by ravines, and to the west are subject to a
deposit of sand blown from the Gumti in the hot season ; though some
few of them, those to the south especially, have a fertile tract of tarai land
fringing the river.

There are no made roads in the pargana, but both the Gumti and the
Sarayan afford good water communication. The Lucknow metalled road
passes within three miles of its eastern boundary. ,

The towns are all small, Gundlamau Khas itself having only 585 inhab-
itants. The bazars are three only, at Gundlamau, Saholi, and Alipur,
and at these nothing but the most ordinary articles of trade are sold.
There are no manufactures in the pargana, no mines, no quarries, no crop
of more than the average yield or quality. The appearance of the country
is a dead level, well-wooded, with no lakes, forests or mountains.

GUN S95

The history of the pafgana is very uninteresting and is to the effect
that the early inhabitants were Kachheras, and that they were driven out
by the three sons of a Bachhil Ghhattri styled Chhipi Khan, the Khan
being an honorary title bestowed on him by the king of Delhi for good
services in war. This hero had three sons, namely, Gonde Singh, who
founded, and gave his name to, Gundlamau ; Narhar Singh, who founded
Narharpur ; and Daulat Singh, who founded Daulatpur in pargana Machh-
rehta. The descendants of these Bachhils still own the greater part of the
pargana, having 53 out of the 67 villages into which it has been now
demarcated. In the north-east of the pargana is the Kuchldi estate
owned by a community of this tribe, and once known as pargana Kuchldi.

The 67 villages are held thus : —

Bachhils ... ... .„ ... 53

Pan war (»8(£e pargana Man wan) ... ..3

Bais {vide pargana Ban) ... ... ... 3

Sombansi (couault pargana Partabgarh) ... 1

Janwar ... ... ... ... 1

Kayath ... ... ... ... 2

Brahman ... ... ... ... 2

The remaining two are taluqdari, and belong to Ganga Bakhsh of Sa-
raura in pargana Manw^n.

The pargana is not remarkable for having produced any famous men, or
for having been the scene of any event of note in history. It has no
remains of antiquity, nor are any religious fairs held within] its boundaries.

GUNDWA Pargana* — Tahsil Sandila — District Hardoi.— A tract of 117
villages on the right bank of the Gumti, bounded on the north and east by
the Gumti, separating it from parganas Aurangabad, Gundlamau, and
Man wan in the Sitapur district; on the south by pargana Malihabad of
Lucknow ; on the west by parganas Sandila and Kalyanmal.

With an extreme length and breadth of fifteen miles, it covers an area
of 140 square miles, of which 88 or 62-06 per cent, are cultivated. The
culturable area is 2122 per cent, and the barren area 14-85 of the whole.

Eather more than a third ( 35-91 per cent.) of the soil is rated as of
the third class, that is light and sandy, (bhur). Not quite a fourth (23-46
per cent.) is watered.

The proportion irrigated from the 941 wells is very low, only 285 per
cent. 1,567 tanks water the remaining 20-61 percent. 1-87 per cent, is
under groves. The average area of cultivation to each plough is 7-75 acres.

There is little to notice in the natural features of the pargana. Branch-
ing ravines, occasional sand hills, and poor uneven stretches of bhur cha-
racterize that side which lies towards the Gumti. Towards the south-
east corner an old channel of the river seems to have silted up and become
converted into a network of jhils. Even when, away from the river, the
surface soil changes from bhtir to dumat, the sand still remains as a sub-
stratum making wells difficult and expensive. As in Gopamau, at intervals

* By Mr, A. Harington, c. s,, Aesistant Commissioner.

PP 2

596 GUK

of eveiy few miles tributary nalas drop into, the Gumti, and carry to
it the overflowings of the jhils of the interior. Cart-tracks link the main
villages together but there are no made roads except an unmetalled one
from Bhatpnrghat through Pipargaon to Malihabad. The nearest roads
are the Lucknow and Sitapur metalled road, passing within four miles of
the south-eastern corner of the tract, and the Oudh and Rohilkhand Rail-
way, and Lucknow and Sandlla unmetalled road, which run within six
miles of its south-western corner..

The staple products are barley and wheat, which at survey occupied
two-fifths of the cultivated area : mdsh, gram, bajra, arhar and moth
covered another two-fifths ; the remaining fifth was nJainly cropped with
juar, linseed, rice, kodo, and peas. The richer prodflcts are conspicuous by
their absence, the areas returned as under cotton, sugar, opium, tobacco,
and indigo being respectively only 353, 253, 83^ 56, and 6 acres. The
climate is considered good. Productiveness average. Kankar has not
been found, more probably, I shpuld think, from an absence of demand
for it than from its non-existence.

Of the 117 villages, 94* are owned by Chhattris as noted in the mar-
gin ; Brahmans hold seven, Muhammadans six,
Kdyatbs seven, and Kurmis three. The talu-
qa of Bharawan comprises 48 villages, 36; are
pattidari, 30 zamindari, and 3 bhayyachara.

The Government demand, excluding
cesses is Rs. 1,05,146 ; a rise of only nine per
cent, on the summary assessment. Its inci-
dence is Rs. 1-14-2 on the cultivated acre ;
Rs. 1-2-9 per acre of total area ; Rs. 13-5-6

Shekha Ik P^r plough ; Rs. 3-5-6 per head of agricultural,

and Rs. 1-13-7 per head of total population.

The pressure of population is at the rate of 406 to the square mile, and
I'Ol to the cultivated acre, giving a total of 66,871. Hindus to Muham-
madans are 53,643 to 3,228 ; males to females 29,989 to 26,882 ; and agri-
culturists to non-agrieulturists 31,463 to 25,408.

Chamars, Brahmans and Ahirs are rather more than two-fifths of the
whole ; A'rakhs, Chhattris and Muraos are nearly another fifth. Of the
rest Pasis and Juldhas are most numerous. The actual numbers of Brah-
mans and Chhattris are 8,037 and 3,523.

Village schools have been established at Atrauli (38 ), Gundwa (49),
and Bharawan (53).

On the 8th of Kuar and Chait, some five or six thousand people meet
at a shrine of Debi built forty years ago by Pandit Rudar Man.

I do not know when the tract was first marked off as a pargana ; but in
the Ain-i-Ahbari ( third book ), the following particulars are given for
Todar Mai's assessment of 1586 A,D.

Bais
Janwdrs
Hikumbhs ...
Sakarwar ...
ChauKans ...

... 81
... 2
... 1
... 8
... 2

94

Dubes

Saraswat ...
Pande ^

.... 5
... 1
... 1

GUN 597

Pargana Gundwa, Sarkdr Lucknow^—

Cultivated area H,8fl3 blghas

Land revenue 300,759 ddma

Zamindars, Brahmana, Foot soldiers ^. 100

No fort or cavalry force mentioned.

The materials at my disposal from which to outline the past history of
Historical events. *^^ pargana are somewhat meagre, more, I think,
from the impossibility of finding time to make a more
exhaustive search than from their non-existence. The legends, coins, in-
scriptions, sanads, and other materials collected during a single cold wea-
ther tour in a district of 2,292 square miles are so numerous as to convince
me that everywhere this most interesting part of Oudh teems with the
relics and traditions of a past of imniense antiquity — " Still the landmarks
of the ancient states linger on in local legend ; in the unwritten chroni-
cles of the past which are but slowly fading away from the national
memory. History has vanished from the land, but the names survive."
(Wheeler's India III., 26-5). Here as elsewhere the most vigorous life of
local legend clings round the deserted mounds that entomb the memorials
of a past civilization. Let me try to reproduce the tale of Bharaiya Khera
as noted for me by Majlis Rae, qanungo, and as partly learnt from the lips
of an Arakh chaukidar, and endeavour to supply from sources unknown
to them the links that seem to connect their folk lore with the authentic
History of ancient India.

More than a thousand years ago a tribe of Baurias called Khargis set-
tled at Bharaiya Kharauli ; and became the zamindars, as it were, of the
surrounding country. A hundred years or more later a band of Kurmis
from Fyzabad drove out the Baurias by degrees, founded the villages of
Bibi Khera and Bauria Khera, and threw up the strong earthwork which
you may see at Bharaiya between Gundwa and Atrauli and which we call
Bhankargarh. And while the Kurmis were still in the land a Banjara
arrived from the north with a rich load of merchandize. To escape pay-
ment of the heavy dues which the zamindars would charge, he said that
his load was only khari ( Glauber's salt), and God was wroth with him for
his lie. And when he came to unload his pack, behold it had turned to
khari, and he was a broken man.

In those days a Nag haunted the forest and the tank, and in his trou-
ble he went to the tank and prayed to the kindly Nag to help him in his
strait, and vowed a shrine in his honour if the Nag would aid him, and
the Nag listened to his prayer and the Banjara went on his way rejoic-
ing ; and sold his bales for twice their cost. And when he had now become
rich he remembered his vow, and returned, and built a stately shrine and
placed in it an image of the kindly Nag. And the ruins of that shrine
you may still see. And some say that the shrine \yas set up because
the Banjara worshipped snakes, and his servant had ignorantly killed the
Nag. But be this as it may, all Hindus still worship at the ruined
shrine and offer milk at it for the sacred Nag.

And when the Kurmis had held the land for a hundred and fifty or two

598 GUN

hundred years, then, more than seven hundred years ago, Raja Gauri
Shankar, Kashiwala ( of Benares ) a Brahman, conquered this part of the
country, and stormed the stronghold of the Kurmis at Bhankargarh and
slew them with a great slaughter so that not one remained. And to this
day in the dead of night the lonely watcher in the fields hears from the
deserted Khera the shouts of the conquering Brahmans and the shrieks
of the slaughtered garrison.

And one of the Kurmi women was away at her father's house waiting
for her little one to be bom. And she bore a son, and named him Gohna,
and when he had grown he took service with the Delhi king, and became
a great warrior, and brought an army, and slew the Ka&hi raja and routed
his troops, and got back the Kurmi domain. But Bhankargarh was
haunted by the ghosts of the dead, so Gohna chose another spot where
Raja Gauri Shankar had built a spacious enclosure ( Gonda) for his ele-
phants and horses and cattle. . And he named it by his own name Gohna
Gundwa or the enclosure of Gohna, and in time the writers changed it to
Goni Gonda Kharauli, and now it is called Goni Gonda, (pronounced
Goni Gonwa). About seventy years ago the nazim of Khairabad, Raja
SItal Parshad Tirbedi, built a masonry fort, and threw up an earthwork
in Goni Gonda, and posted his tahsildar there, — yonder where is now the
village school-house,

I know of only one hypothesis by which this tradition can be made to
yield a definite residuum of historic truth. From the travels of Hwen
Thsang we learn that in the early half of the seventh century A.D. the
great Magadha empire extended over the greater part of Hindustan.
" The reigning sovereign was named Siladitya (or Harsha Varddhana). He
had carried his victorious arms to the east and west. At least eighteen
feudatory princes paid him homage as their suzerain. He was a zealous
patron of Buddhism . His kingdom of Kanauj was wealthy and full of
merchandize". At Ajodhya at this time Buddhism 'appeared to be in
a struggling condition'. At Prayaga (Allahabad) 'Brahmanism was
decidedly flourishing. At Benares also it was in the ascendant'. (Wheel-
er's India, 111.265^268). "It is this Buddhist Emperor Harsha Var-
ddhana or Nahdi Bardh^na, who is accredited with the suppression of
Brahmanism at Ajodhya, and with the establishment of the non-caste
system adopted by society generally when the population at large were
denominated Bhars". (Historical sketch of Tahsil Fyzabadj p, 24).

I can only account for the migration of Kurmis from Fyzabad to Bharaiya
by supposing that they came hither on the wave of religious and political
conquest which rolled from Gya to Pataliputra (Patna), from Pataliputra to
Ajodhya, and from Ajodhya to Kanauj, Westwards the star of empire
took its way at the time when Buddhist supremacy was still mounting.
Westwards, from Ajodhya in the east, the Kurmis of our humble legend ,
followed in the wake of the Buddhist emperor, and obtained land and
protection in the neighbourhood of his great capital at Kanauj on condition
of their throwing up and garrisoning one of a chain of earthworks to link
Kanauj with the great fortress of Ajodhya.

GUN 599

The episode of the BanjSra and the Nag confirms this view. The Ndg
whom in the imagination of the ignorant Banjara lay- coiled at the bottom
of the tank, its presence only revealed by the broad leaves of the sacred
lotus, was but the the embodiment of the memories of the departed race
of Naga rajas, those "ruling powers who had cultivated the- arts of luxury
to an extraordinary degree, and yet succeeded in maintaining a protracted
struggle against the Aryan invaders." These Nagas or serpent, worship-
pers, who lived in crowded cities and were famous for their, beautiful
women, and exhaustless treasures were doubtless a civilized, people, living
under an organized Government. ****** It may be conjectured that
prior to the Aryan invasion the Naga rdjas exercised an imperial power
over the greater part of the Punjab and Hindustan.. The clearance of the
jungle at Indarprastha (Delhi) was effected by the expulsion of the Nagas.
One of the heroes of the Mahabharata had an amour with the daughter of
a Naga raja. The Aryan conquest of Prayaga (Allahabad) and other parts
in India are mythically described as a great sacrifice of serpents, *****
To this day traces of the Nagas are to be found in numerous sculptures of
the old serpent gods, and in the nomenclature of towns and villages. In
Bengal barren wives creep into the jungle to propitiate the serpent of a
tree -with an offering of milk, in the simple faith that by the favour of the
serpent deity they may become mothers. ***** There are strong
reasons to suspect that the worship of the snake, and the practice of snake
charming formed important elements in an old materialistic religion,
which may at one time have prevailed' amongst the Dravidian populations,
and of which the memory still lingers throughout the greater part of
India" (Wheeler's History of India III., 56.)

The Buddhist monarchs seem to have sought out and honoured with
special distinction the traces of the departed Nagas. For instance: —

"Hwen Thsang records that outside the town of Ahichhatra there was a
Wdg-brada or serpent tank near which Buddha had preached the law
for seven days in favour of the serpent king, and that the spot was
marked by a stupa of king Asoka."' "A similar story is told at Buddha
Gaya of the Naga king Muchahinda who with his expanded hood sheltered
Buddha from the shower of rain produced by the malignant demon Mara"
(Ancient Geography of India I, 360.)

"Asoka is celebrated in aU Buddhist countries especially for the con-
struction of very many stupas, or memorial towers of Gotama Buddha"
(Wheeler's History III. 238.) I hazard the conjecture that Asoka's stupas
mark the spots where Buddha was traditionally associated with the N%as,
and am inclined to believe that what the Banjara of my legend worshipped
was a fragment of Naga sculpture, found at or near an earth stupa of
Asoka's time, and that he enshrined the fragment in a brick temple- raised
on Asoka's mound. That is my reading of the legend and of the brick
debris on the lonely mound at which I heard it. At Aliabad in Bara Banki
in Chaudhri Ghulam- Farid's garden there is a curious mound or tila of
earth of, as far as I remember, about the same height. On the bank of the
adjacent Bhar tank serpent worship is carried on to this day. If elsewhere
are found curious high mounds with or without brick superstructures,

600 GUN

and Naga relics, traditions and worship grouped about them, this hasty
generalization would receive a broader basis than I can claim for it at
present.

The massacre of the Kurmis by the Benares Edja Gauri Shankar more
than seven hundred years ago, seems further to confirm my theory as to
the Buddhist character of the fortified settlement at Bhankargarh. If the
Nag mound was one of Asoka's stupas it must have been a seat of religious
worship and culture. Just as at Ahichhatra (loc. cit.) the stupa near the
serpent tank gathered round it, " twelve monasteries containing about a-
thousand monks," so, to compare great things with small, it is probable
that the stupa near Bhankargarh had its monastery and its monks, perhaps
its college or sangharama. The date assigned to the storming of Bhankar-
garh and the wholesale massacre of its Kurmi garrison by a Brahman
conqueror from Benares points conclusively to the destruction and expulsion
of the Buddhist monks which began with the sacking and burning of the
monasteries of Sarnath in the eleventh or twelfth century, and crushed
Buddhism in India for ever,, (see Sherring's Sacred City of the Hindus,
page 268, Cunningham's Bhilsa Topes, Chapter XII., Wheeler's History
III., 359.)

The recovery of Bhankargarh from the Brahmans, a generation later,
with the aid of a force from Delhi marks probably a successful incursion
of the Chauhan of Delhi into the realms of the Rathor of Kanauj, when
they were still at feud, " while the Musalmans were pouring through the
gates of India."

The only other tradition which I had time to note tells of the settlement
of Jagsara, the displacement of Gaurs by a branch of the Bais of Daundia
Khera, and the origin of the Bharawan taluqa. A thousand or twelve
hundred years ago, it runs, the greater part of the pargana was held by
Jhojhas. Then it came under the sway of a Kanauj rdja,^ Mandhata, who
settled at Jagsara and held a Jagg, or memorial celebration of the marriage
of Rama and Si ta. At Parsa, close by, was his kitchen (Parwas.) His domin-
ion lasted a long time. One day an astrologer foretold that he would be
struck by a thunder-bolt. And when the raja asked how he might escape
so terrible a doom, he was told to build a hundred and one wells and dig
a hundred and one tanks. And he followed this counsel, and in one of
the weUs he set up a golden image of himself. And some say the image
was made of wheaten flour (ata) and he and his pandit lived and prayed
in the well. And at last the bolt fell, and struck the image and hurled it
down to the nether hell (patal.) Then the raja made over his realm to
the Gaurs into whose clan he had married, and left Jagsara and settled him-
self at Manwan across the Gumti. And when he had died at Manw^n
the Gaurs succeeded to his domain. And while they held the land a Bais of
Daundia Khera, a descendant in the fifth generation of Raja Tilok Chand,
Ram Chandar by name, who had married into the family of the Gam-
Raja came and settled among them. So sturdy was he and astute that
he acquired great power and influence among them. And at the last he
rose to be the leader of their army, and seized their domain and lorded
oyer it himself.

GUN 601

And he slew the Gaur, JSj whose stronghold was at Aira K^kemau, and
who ruled the land around through the Bais, and stablished himself in
his stead. And R^m Chandar had three sons, Alsukh Rae, Lakm Eae
and Kans. And one of them took Bangalpur and was called Bangali,
from him is sprung Mja Randhir Singh of Bhardwan. And another took
Pipargaon, and was known as Piparha, from him are sprung Ldiq Singh
of Mandauli, and Sahib Singh and Raghbar Singh of Kakra. And the
third took Bhaira Majhgaon and was styled Bhairhia. From him are
descended the zamindars of Atrauli and Jagsara. Still may you see the
great bricks of the palace of the Raja of Jagsara. Of them are built the
houses of the zamindars. And ever and anon the ploughman's share
strikes -against one or other of the hundred and one wells. Was not one
brought to light last year?

Not very much is to be got out of this tradition. Of the Jhojhas very
little is known. The Census Report shows none of them in Oudh, but in
Bulandshahr and Anupshahr they are believed to be converted slaves of
Rathors, Chauhans, and Tunwars. They are excellent cultivators and the
country proverb is " employ a Jhojha as your ploughman and you may sit
at home and play backgammon," (Elliot's Glossary I., 138.)

As they are not allowed to intermarry with converted Rajputs, it seems
clear that they occupied the same place in local history as the Bhars,
Thatheras and Rajpasias. In the north-east corner of the adjacent par-
gana of Malihabad the country occupied by them was called Tappa Ratan,
where they had two large forts in Mai and Ant of which a huge well
and the foundations of one of the walls still remain (Lucknow Report,
pargana Malihabad). Mr. Butts thinks they are converted Bhars " who
with no leaders of their own after the invasion and defeat of their
Raja Kans of Kansmandi by Sayyad Salar, yielded to the threats of
the Musalmans and embraced their faith. This is the only way of account-
ing for them. They are the last people that remain in tradition, and no
other Musalman invasion taking the form of a crescentade is known."

To explain the Kanauj Raja Mandhdta who displaces the Jhojhas, rules
for a time at Jagsara, and then leaves his kingdom in charge of the Gaurs,
crosses the Gumti to Manwan in Sitapur where he dies, we have only to
remember that after the loss of Kanauj, Bari in Sitapur became the
Hindu capital. Bari is only four miles from the border of pargana Gund-
wa across the Gumti, and Manwan four miles south of Bari is still nearer.
From Jagsara to Manwan as the crow flies is not more than 13 miles.

In his account of Sultan Mahmud's Kanauj campaign of A.D. 1018
(409 H.) the twelfth Indian expedition, Nizam-ud-din Ahmad states that
the Governor of Kanauj, whose name was Kora, submitted to, him, sought
his protection, and brought him presents.

" Bird says he was called Kora from the appellation of his tribe ; but
there is no such tribe unless Gaur be meant, which would be spelt in
nearly a similar form." (Elliot's History of India II., 461.)

The main event of thij next campaign, the battle of the Eahib, seems

602 GUN

to have been fought on the banks of the Gumti in pargana Gundwa, pro-
bably at Bhatplira Ghat. The year assigned by Sir H. Elliot is 412' H.
A.D, 1021 " Utbi places the scene on the Rahib which we know from
Al Birtini to be on the other side of the Ganges, and is either the R^m-

ganga or the Sai, apparently the latter in the present instance ' TJtbi's

statement must be received as conclusive respecting a movement as far as
the Rahib." (Ibid, p. 463.)

" We also find Puru Jaipal holding dominions on the other side of the
Ganges during the (next) campaign on the Rahib. We may suppose there-
fore that, without being de facto ruler throughout these broad domains, he-
may have held a sort of suzerainty or paramount rule, and was then- in the
eastern portion of his dominions, engaged in settling the nuptials of his
son Bhlm Pal, or had altogether transferred his residence to these parts to
avoid the frequent incursions of his Muhammadan persecutors." (Ibid, p.
462.) Nizam-ud-dln's account of the battle is as follows : —

It must be borne in mind that the Jumna, of his account is the Rahib
of TJtbi's, and that Sir H. Elliot has decided the Rahib to be the Ramganga
or Sai.

" When he (Sultan Mahmlid) reached the banks of the Jumna, Pur Jai-
pal who had so often fled before his troops, and who had now come to assist
Nanda, encamped in face of the Sultan, but there was a deep river between
them and no one passed over without the Sultan's permission. But it so
happened that eight of the royal guards of Mahmud's army having crossed
the river together they threw the whole army of Pur Jaipal into confusion
and defeated it. Pur Jaipal with a few infidels escaped. The eight men
not returning to the Sultan, advanced against the city of Bari which lay in
the vicinity. Having found it defenceless they plundered it, and pulled
down the heathen temples."

" Nizam-ud-din", says Sir H. Elliot, " is the only author who states this.
His account is fully confirmed by the statement of Abu Rihan that Bari
became the Hindu capital after the loss of Kanauj. Firishta says that
these eight must, of course have been officers, each followed by his own
corps. He gives no name to the city which was plundered." (Ibid, p. 463.)
TJtbi's account of the battle, — a contribution to Oudh history, — may be
quoted in full.

" After the expedition against the Afghans, the Sultan turned again
towards Hind with his bold warriors whose greatest pleasure was to be in
the saddle, which they regarded as if it were a throne; and hot winds they
looked on as refreshing breezes, and the drinking of dirty water as so much,
pure wine, being prepared to undergo every kind of privation and annoy-
ance. When he arrived in that country, he granted quarter to all those
who submitted, but slew those who opposed him. He obtained a large,
amount of booty before he reached the river, known by the name of Rahib.
It was very deep and its bottom was muddy like tar used for anointing
scabby animals, and into it the feet of horses and camels sank deeply, so
the men took off their coats of mail ^n^d made themselves naked before
crossing it.

GUN 603

" Pur Jaip^l was encamped on the other side of the river, as a measure
of security, in consequence of this sudden attack, with his warriors dusky
as night, and his elephants all caparisoned. He showed a determination to
resist the passage of the Sultan, but at night he was making preparations
to escape down the river. "When the Sultan learnt this from which the
weakness of his enemy was apparent, he ordered inflated skins to be pre-
pared, and directed some of his men to swim over on them. Jaipal seeing
eight men swimming over to that distant bank, ordered a detachment of
his army, accompanied by five elephants to oppose their landing, but the
eight men plied their arrows so vigorously, that the detachment was not
able to effect that purpose. When the Sultan witnessed the full success
of these men, be ordered all his soldiers who could swim to pass over at
once, and promised them henceforward a life of repose after that day of
trouble. First his own personal guards crossed this difficult stream and
they were followed by the whole army. Some swam over on skins, some
were nearly drowned, but eventually all landed safely ; and praised be God !
not even a hair of their horses tails was hurt, nor was any of their property
injured."

" When they had all reached the opposite bank, the Sultan ordered his
men to mount their horses, and charge in such a manner as to put the
enemy to flight. Some of the infidels asked for mercy after being wounded,
some were taken prisoners, some were killed and the rest took to flight, and
two hundred and seventy gigantic elephants fell into the hands of the
Musalmans."

Can it be doubted that the river in whose vicinity was the city of Bari
was neither the Ramganga, which is out of the direct route from Kanauj,
nor the Sai which except in the rains is too narrow and shallow to present
any obstacle, but the Gumti.

In the mythical episode of the threatened thunder-bolt and the hundred
and one tanks and wells may be traced probably the astuteness of the
Brahman priest who saw that in the development of the agricultural
resources of the domain lay his own best chance of enrichment, that the
raja's enterprise would alone secure such development, and that the raja
was too slothful to stir in the matter till worked on through his fears.
The fall of the thunder-bolt may perhaps be the mythical equivalent of
a fresh shock from the Muhammadan invader, necessitating a further move
westwards. The Sitapur history should throw further light on Raja Man-
dhata's settlement at Manwan and the rise, decline, and fall of Bari.

The mention of Ram Chandar, Bais, of Daundia Khera as fifth in des-
cent from Tilok Chand enables us to fix the date of his displacement of
the Gaurs. Mr. Benett has shown in his brilliant monograph on the Rae
Bareli clans that the average length of a generation in the Bais families
was between twenty-two and twenty-four years. He has also fixed the
date of Tilok Chand as contemporaneous with the downfall of the Jaunpur
dynasty in 1476 A.D. or 1478. Ram Chandar then migrated from Daundia
Khera to Bhardwan between a hundred years and a hundred and twenty
years after this date or from 1586 to 1696, towards the end of the reign of

604 GUN— GUW

Akbar. The powerful house of the Raos of Baiswfe had been founded at
Daundia Khera shortly after the general conversion to Muhammadanism
during the preceding reign.

"Deo Eae" (grandson of Tilok Chand) or his son Bhairon Das
separated from the main stock, and receiving Daundia Khera and
four other villages as their share of the family property founded the subse-
quently powerful house of the babus or raos of Baiswara. It is probable
that their propinquity to the throne and the personal character of their
chiefs from the first gave them great influence, as we find them very shortly
afterwards contending on equal terms with the rajas of Murarmau. The
division probably took place shortly after the general conversion just de-
scribed. The end of Akbar's reign was a season of great vitality among the
Rajput families, which showed itself after the usual fashion by the prose-
cution of the old, and the successful establishment of new family feuds. It
is probable that the dearth of history during this reign may be ascribed to
the firm and enlightened rule of the great emperor. When the reins be-
came relaxed, the whole district was thrown into confusion." (The Eae
Bareli Clans p. 26).

Raja Jaj, Gaur, of the legend, is probably Raja Tez Singh, Bahman Gaur,
with whom according to the Malihabad account Ram Chandar took service.
The same source makes him marry into the family of the Panwars of
Itaunja (Lucknow Report, pargana Malihabad.)
GUSitWAN — Pargana Unao — Tahsil Unao — District Unao. — This village
lies about six miles south-west from the tahsil station. It is situated on a
level tract of land ; scenery beautiful ; climate good ; Water sweet ; soil, clay
and sand ; jungle none. Kanchan Singh, of the Janwar tribe, is sa,id to
have founded it in Akbar's time, but the exact date of the foundation is not*
known. There was a great battle fought here between one Karandin and
the Sayyads. A market is held here which is well attended.

Population.
Hindus ... 1463

Musalmans ... 16 J

The bazar sales amount to Rs. 10,000 annually.

GUWATIICH Pargana* — Tahsil Begamoanj — District GoNDA. — The par-
gana of Guwarich in the tahsil of Begamganj lies at the south-west corner
of the Gonda district. It is bounded on the north by the river Tirhi
and the pargana of Gonda ; on the east by the pargana of Digsar in the
same district, on the west by the tahsil of Kurasar in the Bahraich dis-
trict ; and on the south by the river Gogra. The greatest width of the
pargana is from east to west 24 miles, and the greatest length from' north
to south, 17 miles. Its general shape may be roughly described as an
irregular quadrilateral figure, of which the east side is much wider than
the west. The land slopes gradually from north-west to south-east, and
the quality improves with the decline. There is no jungle, throughout
the pargana, but there is a considerable tract of manjha along the banks
of the Gogra. Here the hunter may find antelope and boar, but not else-
where in the pargana. No want of water is experienced by cultivators.

By Mr. W. Hoey, M, A., c. s., Agsistaut Commissioner,

GUW 605

It may be found at an average depth of twelve feet belo-w the surface of
the earth and the Gogra, Tirhi, Sarju, and tributary n^las afford in many
parts a cheaper and more convenient means of irrigation.

The area of the pargana is 170,962 acres, distributed as follows : —

Cultivated land ... ... ... ... 99,142 acres.

( Jungle ... 35,843 )
Uncultivated ... < Groves ... 7,451 } ... 71,820

( ITsar ... 28,526 )

Total ... 1,70,962 „

The grains chiefly sown are Indian-corn, rice, wheat, barley and gram.
The area devoted to each crop last year, 1282 Fasli, affords a fair view* of
the cultivation of the land at the present time : —

Indian-corn

Rice

Barley ...

Wheat ...

Gram

Other produce

30,878 (acres.)
20,822 „

6,055 ,,
14,875 „.

3,380 ,,
23,132 „

There are no mines and no marketable wild products have been found
in the pargana. The only serviceable woods which can be had in any
quantity are tun and pipal and in the south near the Gogra babul and
shisham. The flowers of the tun are gathered for dyeing and lac is culti-
vated to a considerable extent on the pipal.

The government revenue demand on the entire pargana is Rs. 1,60,339
per annum, and the gross rental estimated at the settlement was about
twice the sum. There are in the pargana 219 had-basti mauzas, forming
13 taluqdari and 57 mufrad muhals: Among the latter there are no pure
bhayyachara villages, but 9 of the muhals are zamindari and the remaining
48 are pattidari. In the taluqdari muhfils there are 15 birts and eight
under-proprietary communities.

The total population is 155,327 souls, of whom only 12,4!l7,''are Musal-
mans, the rest are Hindus. The distribution of castes is as follows : —

Brahmans ... ... ... ■■- ■•• 32,893

CaJiattria ... ... ... "• ••■ 14,761

Ahi'rs ... ... ... ... .- 12,789

Basis ... .. -.. — •.• kq'?oo

Other castes ... ... ••• •" -•■ 79,133

142,910

At present there are no Buddhists or Jains among the population, and
no researches have yet been made to bring to light any traces which may
exist of their former prevalence or of ancient settlements which preceded
the immigration of the Brahmanical tribes from the north-west.

Rivers. (1). The Gogra. This river demands no notice here as it

merely forms the southern boundary of the pargana and has been fully
treated of elsewhere.

(2) The Sarjurises near N^npara in the Bahraich district, and after
a-souihward course, paat Bahraich it turns slightly to the east and pass-

606 GUW

ing south of Colonelganj in this pargana, joins the Gogra at Paska. Its
depth is not great at any place except near Sakatpur, about 12 miles from
the junction with the Gogra, but in the rains a considerable rise takes
,place without however shifting the river bed. The banks of the river are
free from miinjha and produce neither cane or narkul although both grow
along the banks of the Tirhi.

The chief ghats of the Sarju which lie within this pargana are Bardalia,
Bhawaniganj, Katra, Nawa Ghdt, Karhanapur, Eajghat, Bhauriganj and
Dewra Ghat. Of these the most important is that at Katra through which
there is extensive traffic. Katra town is itself noted for the skill of its
calico and cotton printers.

(3). The Tirhi rises at Chittaur Tal in the Bahraich district, passes
along the north-east of this pargana and falls into the Gogra at Nawa Ghfit
south of Nawahganj. The fords by which traffic passes into Guwdrich
and from it across this river, are Lachhmanpur, Bdchi Ghat (so called
because when Gonda was a military station the cantonment bntchers lived
here) Kataha Ghat, and Gondawa Ghat. This river becomes greatly
swollen in the rains and is apt to shift its course.

The only other streams deserving notice are (1) the Chandaha ndla, which
rises at the Khajhuha Tal near Katara Gharera and after a course of 30
miles joins the Tirhi at Nagdahi in pargana Digsar, and (2) the Karai
nadi, which separates from the Bhakma n^la near Jarwal in the Bahraich
district, flows through pargana Guwarich, and joins the Gogra at Atarsnia.

Both the Tirhi and Sarju abound in fish, especially rohu, parhin, rai,
kianchari, naini, bhakur, slir, kund^ri, tengan, moe, chilawa, jhingua,
and bamla. These are all edible, and the native population spear the
larger kinds, rohu, tengan and others, in the month of Kdrtik by moon-
light. This is an accomplishment in which they have much skill. The
practice is called dori and may be witnessed at Bhauriganj and Katara
Ghat.

Origin of name. — Tradition connects the origin of the name Guwdrich
with the Pandava princes. Yudhishthir is said to have staked his kingdom
on the throw of a die with Duryodhan and to have lost. The former
retired with his four brothers and the lady Draupadi to pass the time of their
retirement, a decade or dozen of years, as it is indifferently stated, in the
dominions of Kaja Bairat of Bhotawal, near the confines of Gorakhpur and
Naipdl. The sweets of sovereignty induced Duryodhan when the term
of his rule was about to expire, to send forth messengers to slay the five
brothers. For this end there was need of stratagem as the princes had
been bound by vow to remain incogniti until the expiration of their period
of exile. To compel them to disclose their character within the period
and thus break their vow would have effected Duryodhan's object as well
as their death, as it would have involved by the terms of their sacred com-
pact, the forfeiture of their kingdom for ever to Duryodhan.

Now, the prince Bhim was a lover of kine and, as a strict Hindu, bound
to protect such animals from molestation. So the wily Duryodhan sent

t3UW 607

forth a btod of men to seize cattle in all countries, knowing that Bhim
would declare himself on receiving the news of a raid on cattle no matter
in what direction he might be. On the last day of the term of exile these
marauders came to Baird,t's dominions and seized some cattle. BhIm
declared himself at the moment when the term of his exile had expired.
Was joined by his brothers, and drove the cattle off to the tract of land
which became in after days pargana Guwdrich, i. e., Gauraksha, or the
cows-preserved.

There is reason to doubt this derivation. In the first place had the
name been given to a spot to which cows were brought, surely some par-
ticular village, dih, or other place would bear this name. Yet no place
of this name exists. The name is solely the name of the pargana. In the
next place the name appears only, as far as is known, with the constitution
of this separate pargana, which took place long after the year 1000 A.D.
(vide infra). The original pargana was Ramgarh Gauriya, and on its being
broken up the name Guwarich in the form of a diminutive may have been
applied to this part of the original pargana, and have passed into the
form of Guwarich. The most probable derivation is, however, traceable in
the historical fact that the south of the pargana was throughout the resi-
dence of the agents of the Delhi Court at Fyzabad, the pasture land of the
large colony of those agents and their retainers, and it continued to be so
until the court of the Oudh sovereigns was transferred to Lucknow.

Ilistory. — In the time of Suhel Deo, Guwarich was included in the par-
gana of Ramgarh Gauriya in the kingdom of Gauda which comprised Basti,
Gorakhpur, and Gonda districts. Suhel Deo opposed Sayyad Salar and the
Muhammadan chief fell in battle with the Hindu raja. The family of
Suhel Deo is said to have been bound never to eat after sunset, and so one
evening when this monarch returned from the chase at a late hour fearing
the sun might set before his meal was prepared, he sent up his younger
brother's wife, who was extremely beautiful, to the roof of the palace to
detain the setting sun with the charm of her beauty. The sun tarried and
the monarch ate his supper, but his refection more than refreshed his
highness, and he went up to the house top to enjoy' the beauty but for
whose miraculous power he should have gone supperless to bed. The
princess was as chaste as fair and rejected the overtures of her naughty
relative. The king finding it vain to press his suit, determined to enforce
obedience to his wishes and placed the unwilling fair in a dungeon. Tid-
ings of the occurrence reached the princess' father, who came with a force
to Sahet Mahet and dug a mine by which he reached the dungeon, rescued
his daughter, and conveyed her home. The undermined palace is said to
have collapsed and Suhel Deo was overwhelmed in the ruins. He left no
successors. The word Sahet Mahet is said, bxit improperly so, to mean
' topsy turv/ and to have been given to the ruins on account of the fall
of the palace.

From this romantic tale so much truth may be gathered, that Suhel Dec's
ancestors had, at one time, professed the Jain faith, traces of which are
still found at Sahet Mahet : this is apparent, because it is a practice
with the pure Jains, not to light lamps after sunset, or at any time for

608 GUW

domestic usa What had been a religious restriction at one time became
afterwards a family custom, when the religious bearing was lost sight of.
Some traditions have it that Suhel Deo was himiself a Jain, but this is
doubtful.

The next broad fact in the history of the Guw^rich pargana, is that it
was given with the rest of Ramgarh Gauriya by Ala-ud-din Ghori to
Ugarsen, a Dom. This family was subverted like that of Suhel Deo by
ill-placed passion. He happened to hear of or see a Brahman maiden at
Karingahana and conceived a desire to make her his mistress. Her family
was strong, but unable to cope with the raja in whose dominions they
lived. They therefore went to Ajodhya and applied for aid to Rde Jagat
Singh, the Subahdar in Oudh of the Delhi Emperor. By his advice they
pretended to yield to the wishes of the Dom and fixed a day when he was
to come and bear off the lady whom he had honoured with his love. In
the meantime boats were collected on the Gogra, and Rae Jagat Singh
crossed with an armed force, marched to the aid of the Pandes, overwhelm-
ed the Dom and his followers, and slew them to a man. The Delhi sov-
ereign to mark his approval of Jagat Singh's chivalrous conduct conferred
on him the Dom's territory. The Subahdar, however, with the sanction of
the Delhi court, broke up Ramgarh Gauriya pargana, and distributed it
among the chiefs who had supported him in his attack on the Dom Do-
maria Dih which lies on the road from Gonda to Fyzabad was given to
Seh Raj Singh, and with it all the land now forming the Gonda district
except the Balrampur and Tulsipur parganas. The name Ramgarh Gauriya
was then dropped. Seh Raj Singh fixed his abode at Khurasa, and his
successors continued to reside there until the foundation of Gonda town
(see Article Gonda). Seven generations after Seh Raj Singh, came
Achal Singh. He was an extravagant man and fell into debt. He bor-
rowed money and gave Ratan Pande as surety for the loan. The Raja
was too deeply involved to extricate himself and Ratan Pande was obliged
to pay. Ratan Pande having applied in vain to Achal Singh for relief, and
receiving only abuse when he dunned him, sat dharna at the door of the
raja's palace. At the end of 21 days one of the Pandes' eyes is said to
have melted away. The rdni came out and implored him to leave, but he
said " I will die here. You had better fly and save your family from
extinction." The rani was then pregnant with her first child. She stole
away by night and reached her father's house, where she gave birth to a
son, Bhan Singh. The river rose, Khurasa sank, and Achal Singh perished '
in the flood. Over the site of the town now lie the waters of the Pathdri
talab in which may be seen the ruins of houses. Bhan Singh became the
ancestor of the rajas of Babhnipair. There are now' six taluqdars in
the Guwarich pargana, and they claim descent from Achal Singh through
their common ancestor Maharaj Singh. They say that Mahardj Singh
was a brother of Bh^n Singh to cover the defect in their descent from
Achal Singh, but the fact is that Maharaj Singh was a love-child of Achal
Singh by some woman not of his family.

_ On the death of Achal Singh the naib of the Khurasa r^ja brought his
sister's son, Partdib Mai Singhj, from Salempur Majhauli in the district of

GUW. 609

Gorakhpur, and established him in Khurasa. Mah^raj Singh settled in
Dehras, a deserted village in the middle of the grazing ground near the
Gogra and Partdb Mai Singh did not disturb his occupation. Here Mahd,-
raj Singh acquired land and became the possessor of several villages. His
grandson Than Singh left two sons Dtila Rae and Ram Singh. These divid-
ed the family property. Ddla Rae's son, Rde Jamni Bhan Singh, had
three sons, Rae Dan Singh, Prag Datt Singh, and Basant Singh. These
three parted the lands of their father between them, Basant Singh got
Kdnjemau and his descendants have fallen into obscurity. Prag Datt
Singh obtained Shahpur and Dhawanwan and his grandsons Aniip Singh
and Sakat Singh divided these estates. Anup Singh took Shd,hpur^and
became the ancestor of the present taluqdar, Thdkur Mirtun Jai Bakhsh ;
Sakat Singh took Dhawanwan, but having no sons, adopted Anup Singh's
second son. From him is descended the present taluqdar, ThAkur Raghubir
Singh. Rae Dan Singh, the other son of Rae Jamni Bhan Singh obtained
Paska and Kamiar. His great grandson, left two sons, Khayal Sah, and Bir
Sah. The former took the Kamiar iMqa, and from him the present taluqdar
Sher Bahadur Singh is descended. The latter took Paska, and the late
Thdkur Naipal Singh, whose widow Ikhlas Kunwar' is the present taluq-
dar, was his direct male descendant.

The successors of Ram Singh, brother of Dlila Rae, and son of Thdn
Singh did not divide the property- which they derived from him through
his partition of Thdn Singh's estate with Diila Rae, but held together
until the fourth generation after Th^n Singh's death. Then the three
■sons of Dal Singh, Kunj Singh, Lai Singh, and Ganga Rde Si^gh, made a
partition taking Paraspur, Ata, and Akohari respectively. The descendants
of the last have dwindled into insignificance. Ldl Singh held the title of
babu, which he has transmitted with the estate in the direct male line to
the present taluqdar Sukhraj Singh of Ata. Kunj Singh was the eldest
of the three brothers, and inherited the title of rdja, which had been con-
ferred on Ram Singh's son and successor, Newal Singh, on the occasion of
his visit to the Delhi court. The present rdjas of Paraspur are the direct
male descendants of Kunj Singh.

END OF VOLUME I.

PRINTED AT THE OUDH QOYEBNMENT PEESS, LUCKNOW.

QQ

INDEX.

A.

Abdul Wahid conquers Suhelpur, 255,

Abhai Cband, Eaja, enters Oudh, 364-3G5.

Abu Talib, founder of the Jarwal family,
115.

Accidental deaths of district Bahiaich, 173 ;
district Bara Banki, 250 ; district Fyzabad,
449 ; district Gonda, 635.

Achal Narain Singh, Raja, destruction of,
_ 88, 540-41, 668 ; history of, 256.

Adam QHzi, the progenitor of the Lucknow
Shekhs, 311.

Administration of Oudb, ix ; district Bahraicb,
171 ; district Bara Banki, 848 ; district Fy-
zabad, 447 ; district Gonda, 531.

Adrian Hope, Brigadier-General, killed at
Rnia, 288.

Agastya, burial place of, xxxi.

Agriculture, district Babraich, 144-150 ; dis-
trict Bara Banki, 233 ; district Fyzabad, 410;
district Gonda, 524,

Agriculturists, proportion of, Oudb, xvi,

Ahban Chhattris, 577,-580.

Ahbaran Singh of Qiampur, tale of, by Colo-
nel Sleeman, 360,

Ahirs, xxii.

Ahmad Nialtagin, inrasioa of Oudh by,

; 113.

Akbar, administrative system of, xi ; founds
Akbarpur in district Fyzabad, constructs
a bridge and fort there, 14, 15 ; pays a visit
to Bandagi Mian of Amcthi, 42 ; divisions
of Bahraicb under, 118-19; divisions of
Bara Banki under, 255 ; divisions of Fyzabad
under, 462.

Ala-ud-din Khilji made Governor of Oudh ;
kills his uncle, 459.

Alawal Khan commands free lances in Bah-
raicb, 128 ; annexes Babhnipair, 342; made
n^zim of Gonda-Bahraich, his fight with
Eaja Datt Singh, of Gonda, death 558, 569.

Alba and 'D'dal, in Amethi, 42.

Ali Khan establishes the Utrauia rSj, 342.

Amar Singh, Rae, nazim of Babraich, in
possession of jagirs, 129 ; death of, 131 ;
administers Gonda, 544.

Ambar Malik, tomb of, and curious tradition
concerning, at Bijnanr, 308.

Amir Ali, Molvi, of Amethi, attacks Ajodhya,
7 ; killed by Captain Boileau's troops at
Shujaganj, 43.

Amir Khan, orAlaptagin, governor of Ajo-
dhya, sent against Toghral, defeated by
him, executed by Balban, 459.

Amir Khiisfo, the poet, at Ajodhya, 459.

Animals (see fauna).

AnsSris, 114.

Anupanand, a saint, curses the Gonda house,-.
561.

Appearance of the country (see physical

aspects).
Area, Oudh ; district Bahraicb, 95 ; district

Bara Banki, 227-28 ; division Fyzabad, 401;

district Fyzabad, 402, 403, 405 ; district

Gonda, 497.
ArsalSn Khan,. Sanjar, governor of Oudh,

rebellion and expulsion of, 459.
Ashraf Bakhsh Khan, of Biirhapara, takes part

against the British, 342 ; his estate forfeited,

Asif-ud-daula, administration of Bahraicb

during his reign, 128-29,
Asoka, 3, 454.
Ayub, Paighambar, extraordinary tomb of, s^i

Ajodhya, 1 1 .
IJAziii-ud-din (see L&l Efr).

B.

Bachgoti Chhattris in Aldemau, 28-29 ; Amethi).

44-58 ; Fyzabad, 471.
Bachbil Chhattris of Atwa Piparia, 80 ; Gund-
lamau, 595.

Baghra Khan and his son Kaiqubad meet at
Fyzabad, 459.

Bahlol Lodi, 117.

Bahramghat, a timber market, 138.

Bahii Begam, date of her death, her mauso-
leum at Fyzabad, 12 ; her jagir, 1.S, 76, 128.

Bairat, Raja, residence of, at Balmiar Bar-
khSr, 210.

Bais Chhattris of Aldemau, 26 ; Baksar, 207 ;
Bari pedigree of, 266-67 ; Kalianpur, 326 :
Daundia Khera, xii. 364-65 ; Behtai and
Qasimganj, 377, 379.

Bakhsh Ali Khan, Dom, nazim of Rasulabad,
history of 72

Bakhtawar Singh, 93.

Bakhtiar Khilji makes grants to children of
Narpat Das, Raja, 67 ; administers Oudh,
469.

B41, Eaikwar, takes service with the Bhar
king of Eamnagar, usurps the sovereignty^
257,

Balban, his lieutenant in Ajodhya, 469.

Bandagi Mian, a faqir in Amethi, 42.

Bandhalgoti Chhattris, origin and history
of, 44, 69.

Banjaras in pargana Sujbauli, 126 ; suppres-
sion of, 126.

11

INDEX.

Bari&r Sah, Eiealdar of I'lroz Shah's army in,
Bahiaich, 116 ; establishes himself at Ikauua
117.
Bariar Singh enters Oudh, 28.
Barwar Chhattris, history of, 64, 66, 506, 609,

553, 554.
Bazars, xiv.xv.
Begam of Lucknow takes shelter with the

Baundi chief, 135.
Bhagwant Singh, Bachhil, of Atwa Pipariaj

Colonel Sleemau's account of his atrocities

and fight with king's troops, 80, 82.
Bhairon Rae kills Alawal Khan, nazim ;

granted the Mahadewa pargana in zamin-

dsri by Eaja Datt Singh, 559.
Eharsj xxxiv — xxxvi ; of Bahraich, origin of,

traces of in the existing population, IIO ;

period of their rule. 111; overthrown by

Nasir-ud-din, 113 ; of pargana Birhar,

321-22 ; exteimination of, in Dalmau ilag^a,

355.
Bhawani Singh, of Gonda, obtains Bhinga

from the Janwdrs, 560.
Bikramajit restores Ajodhya ; rules over it ;

outwitted by Samundrapal jogi, 3,
Birds, Oudh.iy ; district Gonda, 500.
Bisen Chhattris acquire Bhinga pargana, 127 ;

account of, by Mr. King, 304 ; of Gonda,

557, 56S.
Boileau, Colonel, made deputy commisBioner

of Gonda, his land settlement, killed by !Fazl

Ali, 546,
Boundaries of Oudh i ; district Bahraich, 94 ;

district Bara Banki, 226 ; district Pyzabad,

402 and 40d ; district Gonda, 497.
Brahmans of Oudh, xx, Xiv, xv ; of Bihar or

Kunda, 305 ; Gonda 505 ; Sarwaria of Gon-
da, 552.
British rule, its characteristics and tendencies,

ix, Ixvii.
Buddhist period, district Fyzahad, 459.
Buddhist remains in Bahraich, 109.
Buildings of Fyzabad city, 485, 488.
.Bunbury, Captain, becomes deputy commis-
sioner, Bahraich, 134 ; burns the village of

BarfTan, 272.
Byng, Major, sent by the Oudh Government

p,gainst the trans-Gogra chiefs, 352-63.

c.

Castes of Oudh, xviii, xxvi ; district Bahraich,
142 ; district Bara Banki, 247 ; district Fy-
zabad, 452; district Gonda, 619.

Cattle of Nanpara, 38 ; of Gonda, 500, 527.

Chakladars, li, liii.

Chamars, xxiii.

Character of the people, xxvii, xsx.

Charda, fortress city, lOtf.

Chaturmasha, retirement, custom peculiar to
Bali&mpur, 211.

Chaupal, xx.

Chhattris of Oudh, xxi, xxii ; of Gonda dis-
trict, 505 (see each clan).

Climate of Oudh, vii ; district Bahraich, 104 ;
district Bara Banki, 232.

Communications of Oudh, Ixii ; district Bah-
raich, 102, 103; district Bara Banki, 230-31;
district Fyzabad, 406 ; district Gonda,
60.t.

Condition of the cultivator of district Bah-
raich, 143 ; district Bara Banki, 239 ; dis-
trict Fyzabad, 426 ; district Gonda, 615.

Confiscated estates of district Bahraich, table
of, 195, 197.

Courts (see administration).

Crime statistics of district Bahraich, 174 ; dis-
trict Bara Banki, 249-50 ; district Fyza-
bad, 447-48 ; district Gonda, 634.

Crops, of Oudh, ix, xii ; district Bahraich, 153;
district Bara Banki, 234 ; district Fyzabad,
415 ; district Gonda, 498.

Crop area of district Bahraich, 152-5."); dis-
trict Bara Banki, 234 ; district Fyzabad,
415 ; district Gouda, 525.

Cunningham, General, account of Buddhism,
Fyzabad,, 457,458.

Customs, district Gonda, 519.

D.

Dalla Pande, story regarding, 657,

Dariao Kuowar Thakuraiu of Dera, history
of 31-32, 473-74.

Dariao Singh, Th&kur, good conduct of , during
the rebellion, 338.

Darshan Singh, Rija, his temple at Ajodhya,
12; pursues the Raja of Balrampur into
Naipal territory, death, 132; collects the
rents of Bhitauli, 286, 289 ; instigates
Bariar Singh to attack Hihal Singh, 467 ;
loses the contract of Sultanpur, 468 ;
nazim of Gonda, 545,

Datt Singh, Raja of Gonda, story of his birth,
victory over Alawal Khan, besieged, 558,
661 in Gonda; annexes Bhinga; defeats
Bans! raja.

Daya Shankar, Dlwan, his settlement of
Amethi under Saadat All Khan, 48.

Deaths of district Gonda, 502.

Debi Bakhsh, Raja of Gonda, escorts trea-
sure to Lucknow, joins Begam's standard,
defeated by Gurkhas, and refuses amnesty,
546-47, 564-65.

Dikhit Chhattris at Chamrauli, 344.

Diia Ham Kae, chakladar, 680.

Dip Chand, Bhar Raja of Bamhnauti, brings
Sal Deo Raikwar vpith him, 117 j in posses-
sion of pargana Fakhrpur, 395.

Dirgbijai Singh, Maharaja, Sir, B;.c.s.i.of
Balrampur, his war With Raja of Tulsipur,
attacked in Kaipal by nazim ; loyal beha-
viour during mutiny, 218-19 ; Ms escape

INDEX.

Ul

from assassination by the nazim, 545 ; pro-
tects English ofiBcots, 546-47.

Diseases of district Baliraich, 162 ; district
Bara Banki, 262 ; district Eyzabad, 450 ;
district Gonda, 502-503.

Dispensaries of Oudh, xii ; district Bahraich,
160-161. .

Distilleries of district Bahraich, 163 ; district
G.mda, 535.

Dugaon, an old city, 1 15.

E.

Education of Oudh, xi ; dislrict Bahraich,
139-40 ; district Bara Banki, 251 ; district
Fyzabad, 449 ; district Gonda, 537.

Emigration, district Fyzabad, 429.

Expenditure, tables of, district Bahraich, 171 ;
district Bara Banki, 248 ; district Fyzabad,
443 : district Gonda, 583 .,.,..

Exports, district Bahraich, 136 ; district
Fyzabad, 429, 431 ; district Gonda, 522.

F.

Fa Hian's account of Sravasti, 109 ; Ajodhya

454. _ ,-

Fahim bridges the Gumti at Jaunpur, 16.
Famines (see prices}. . „',„„„„

Faqir Muhammad Khan, nazim at Balamau,

209.
Farid-ud-din Eusen Khan, Molvi, ^azi^./e-
settles Sombansis in pargana Barwan, 272 ;
sends head o£ Bhagwant Singh to Lucknow,

Farms, size of, district Bahraich, 154 ; district

Bara Banki, 238 ; Fyza.bad, 4S5. ,

Faraand AU Khan, ES,ia of Jahangirabad,

account of, 259.
Fateh Bahadur of Meopur, 36, 36

Fauna of Oudh, iii-v ; district Bahra^h. 1 75
district Bara Banki, 232 ; district Fyzabad,
408 ; district Gonda, 49a, 500 _

Fazl Ali kills Colonel Eoileau, his own death,

Fe'r^fes, district Bahraich, 103 ; 3]^'"^* ^^^^^^
Banki, 229 ; district Fyzabad, 407, district

FiSLfTughla., visits A^^^^^^^^^^

Firoz Shah, visits S^y/^.^?'^' ' '?>"„i.i 244 -
Fish and flsheries of district Bara Banki, 244 ,

district Fyzabad, 432.

Floods, district Bara ^a^f '.• f-S^hraich ■ dis-

408 ; disttlct Gonda, 499.

Food of the people, district Fyzabad, 432 ;

district Gonda, 515.
Forests of district Bahraich, 99, 164 ; district

Gonda, 499 ; timber of, 138.
Forfeiture (see confiscated estates).
Frontier roads, 164.

(j.

Gamhelas of Asiwati Easulabad, 71.

Gandharp Ban, 108.

Ganga Bakhsh, Rawat of Eehlai Qasimgah],
turbulence and death of, 373.

Ganga Gir Goshaiu, story regarding, 567-58,

Gargbansi Chhattris, Sleeman's account of,
4B7, 470.

Gaur Chhattris of pargana Bangar, 221, 222;
expel Thatheras from Bawan, 275, 276 ; of
Chandra, 346.

Gauri Shankar, Raja, Kashiwala, conquers
Gundwa, killed, 598

General aspect (see physical features),

Girdhara Singh, Kaja, nazim, 93, 286, 289.

Gobardhan Lai, Raja, nSzim, S09, 286,

Gobinde Kayath, Chaudhri of Khairabad, 277.

Gonda Raj, story of, xlv, xWi.

Gopal Rao Pandit, Marahta, plunders Dalmau,
367.

Gopi, Ahban, founds Gopamau, and conquers
the Thatheras and Bhars, 577, 578.

Gorakhnath of Debi Patan.

GoshSins, xxir., 368, 369.

Gumao Singh, Eajaof Gonda, marries daugh-
ter of Jagjiwan Das, puts together large
il^qa, 664.

Gur Bakhsh Singh, Kaja of Eamnagar Dha-
meri, quarrels with his son, 286 ; Colonel
Sleeman's account of, 287.

Gurkhas pass through Gonda en route to Luck-
now, 547.

Gur Sahae, Diwan, 98.

H.

Hadi Ali Khan, nazim (see Mir Sfidi).

Hailstorms, notes on, 101.

Hakim Mehndi Ali Khan, NSzim of Bahraich.

131,
Hanwant Singh Lai, of Kalakankar, defeats

nazira Ihsau Husen, 305.
Harpal Singh of Khapragaon or Khapradih

plunders lady Sogtira, seizes Birsingpoor,.^

his murder by Man Sing, 468-69. A

Harvests of Oudh, ix ; district Fyzabad, 419

district Gonda, 626.
Hattia Harau, 39.
Bearsey, John, Captain, granted Dhaur^hra,

383. I

Hidfiyat Husen, Malik of Samanpur, genealogy

of, 17, 19.

IV

moEt;

Himmat Gir GoshSin, 41.

Himmat Singh of Piagpur clears Charda

jungle, 123-24 I30,36().
Hindu chiefs, their struggles against the

Musalmans, xi-xlii ; their position, xliv-xlvi.
History of district Bahraich, 107 , 135; district

Bara Banki, 254, 261 ; district Fyzabad,

453, 483 ; district Gonda, 538, 550.
Houses of Oudh, xr-xvi ; district Bara Banki,

256 ; district Fyzabad, 429 ; district Gonda,

614.
Humayiin, defeat of, at Bilgrim, 319.
Hwen Thsaog, description of Ajodhya by,

454, 456.

Ibrahim, Sayyad, attacks Ajodhya, 467.
IbrShlm Sharqi, Sultan, xxxix, builds forts

in Oudh, 356.
Ihsan Husen Khan, Karaboh, nazim, fights

with Lai Hanwant Singh of Kalakankar,

violates British teriitory, 305.
Imam Bakhsh of Ouseyree, mention of, hy

Sleeman, 273.
Imports, district Bahraich, 336; district

Fyzabad, 429 ; district Gonda, 522.
Income tax (see revenue).
Infanticide, district Gonda, 534.
Interest, rate of, district Bahraich, 143.
Irrigation of district Bahraich, 150 ; district

Bara Banki, 234; district Fyzabad, 409,

412,414; dist ict Gonda, 527.

J.

JagatKJshor, Chakladar,|besieges Bhadri, 304.
Jagjiwandis, Sahib, founder of Sattuami sect,

xxiv, xlv, 361, 363.
Jai Chand, Kaja of Kananj, in possession of

Ajodhya, 458.
Jains, their tenets, heirarchs, temples, images,

7,8,9.
Jai Singh, Eaja of Gonda, 562, 570.
Jamshed Beg, history of, 17, 18.
Jang Bahadar, MaharSja, Sir, G C.S.I.,

marches through Gorakhpur, 330.
Jangre Chhattris in Sujauli, 126 ; of Dhaurah-

ra, 386-86.
Janwars of Bahraich, 122 ; of Balrampur,

216, 219 ; of FatehpuT Chaurasi, 397-98 ;

of Gonda and Balrampur, 543,
Jasa Singh, Chaudhri, takes part against the

British, end of, 398.
Jiu Kam, H agar, killed hy the Bisens, 304.
Jodh Singh, Kaja of Charda, forfeiture of his
~ estate, 126-27.
Jodh Singh, Eaja ot Dhaurahra, fights with

the Bisens ; death of, 385.

K.

Katir Parbat, 11.
Eachhwaha Chhattris
Dagar, 22.

in pargana Alam-

Sahara of Gonda, BOH,

Kakor, a Bhar chief, 355.

Kalapahar rules in Bahraich, 1 17.

Kalhans Chhattris of Gonda, 541-42.

Kamal, Sayyad, 14.

Kanhpurias of Tiloi , xli.

Karam Khan,Baja of Nanpara. account of, 123,

Karan, Kaja, account of, 367-68,

KatiSr Chhattris, 69.

Katlagh Khan made governor of Oudh, 114 ;
his marriage with the queen-mother, ban-
ishment to Ajodhya, rebellion and expul-
sion, 469.

Kiyaths of Oudh, xxii ; landholders in par-
gana Aldemau, 27 ; in possession of Ateha,
77 ; landowners in pargana BihSir of
Partabgarb, 306.

Kbaki sect, 5.

Khalsa, meaning of, 131.

Khan Jahau, made governor of Ajodhya, 459.

Kings of Oudh (see rulers of Oudh).

Krishn Datt Earn, Pande, Kaja, escapes to
Naipal, succession of, to his brother's gaddi,
545-46 ; flses to Luclcnow, kills Gaya Par-
shSd qanungo, 565.

Kurmis of Oudh, xxii, Aldemau, 27.

Lakes of Ondh,ii, district Bahraich, 99 ; dis-
trict .Bara Banki, 231 ; district Fyzabad,
407 ; district Gonda, 499.

Lai Pir sent against Gopamau, 112 ; fight of,
with Thatheras, 576.

Landowners (see talaqdars lists of^.

Ditto settlement of, Iv-lix.

Land transfers (see sales and transfers oi
property).

Land, value of, district Bahraich, 169.

Language of district Gonda, 516.

Levels, ii, 1 08.

Literature of, district Gonda, 516.

M.

Maddr Bakgh of N£npara, succession and
death of, 124.

Madho Parshfid, Babu, of Birhar, 330.

Madho Singh, Babu of Dera, 30, 472.

Madho Singh, Janwar of Ikauna, founds the
Balrampur line, 122.

M4dho Singh Lai, of Amethi, succeeds to the
Ametbi estate ; hostilities with Mahar&ja
Man Singh, nazim ; engages for the whole
pargana, 48 ; his conductduring the.mutiny,
49 ; after events, 60, 53.

Madho Singh of Barwar, 272.

Maha Nirbani sect, 6,

Maha Singh of Ikauna obtains haq-i-cbaadhii,

122,

INDEX.

Mahipal Singh Lai, fight of, with Kae Am-
arnath of Bhadri, 388.

Mahror Chhattris, 71, 206.

Makhdum Ashraf, surnamed .Tahangir, ac-
count of, 823 ; founds Baskhari, 272.

Makhdum MSruf settles in Aldemau, 27 ; a
fair in honour of, 40.

Maliks of Korahi, 325.

Mansab Ali Chaudbri of Basulabad, 72.

Man Singh, Bisen, makes Gonda his head-
quarters, 538 ; founds Gonda, 556.

Man Singh, Maharaja, Sir, K.C.C> I., holds
Bado Sarai along with his chakla of Darya-
had, 93; estate of, how formed, 258 ; rise of
his family, 462; grant of honours by the
British, 463 ; takes the contract of Sultan-
pur, gives Maniarpur to Harpal Singh, trea-
cheronsly murders him, 668-69.

Mansur Ali Khan, Safdar Jang, attempts to
found a city at Papargbat, 34.

Manufactures of Oudb, xviii ; district Bahraich,
139 ; district Bara Banki, 246 ; district
Fyzabad, 429 ; district Gonda, 509.

Mardaa Singh Eao, of Uaundiakhera, nazim
of Baiswara, 279,

Markets of district Bahraich, 104, 106.

Masaud Sayyad (see Sayyad Salar).

Masora, battle of, 472.

Medical aspects of district Bahraich, 560,
162 ; district Bara Banki, 262-63 ; district
Fyzabad, 450 ; district Gonda, 502.

Wehndi Husen, nazim, 19.

Minerals, iii.

Ministers of Oudh, li,

Mir Hadi, nazim of Gonda-Bahraich, 132,
544.

Mirzai Sahib, 17-18.

Muhammad Ali Beg (see Mirzai Sahib).

Muhammad AlilShah, his reforms, Iii.

Muhammadans, ' xix-xx ; conquest of Oudh
by, xxxvi ; earliest settlement of in the
Unao district, 224 ; Bhatti, 255 ; attacks
Dewa, 372 ; Rajkumars of Hasanpur, 466.

Muhammad Husen Khan, the rebel nazim, 19 ;
kills ESui Datt, Earn Pande, and puts the
Balrampur raja to flight, 545.

Munawwar Ali Khan of Nanpara, misunder-
standing with the nazim ; marries the
daughter of Mehndiquli Khan ; death of,
disputes of his ranis, 124-25.

Municipalities of Oudh, Ixii, district Bahraich,
1 60 ; district Gonda, 536.

Munna Lai, nazim of Daryabad Kudauli, 93.

Muqaddara Aulia, wife of Nasir-ud-din Haidar,
history of, 73.

Muraos, zxii.

Musalmans (see Mnhammadans).

Mutiny, incidents during, murder of the
Fyzabad fugitives, 64 ; capture of Eam-
pur in Partabgarh, 78-79 ; escape of fugi-
tives from Baksar, 207 ; battle of Nawab-
ganj, 260-61 ; escape of officers from Sek-
rora, 353 ; in Fyzabad, 476, 483 ; in Gonda,

646 ; fight between Eaja Debi Bakhsh and
the Gurkhas, 547.

IN".

Nageshwar Nath, temple of, in Ajodhya, 3.

Maipal war, cession of the Tarai, 126; res-
toration of the Tarai parganas to, 127 ;
trade with, 137.

Narda Bardhana, Riija of Magadha, ruled at
Ajodhya, 10 ; coins of, II.

Narpat Das, Eaja, incarcerated by Bakhtiyar
Khilji, grants made to his children, 67.

Nasir-ud-din Malik overthrows the Bhars, 113.

Nasir-ud-din made governor ; ascends the
throne of Delhi, 114 ; sent to crush the out-
break at Ajodhya, 459.

Nawabganj, battle of, in 1857, 260-61.

Nazims, li, liii.

Newal Kae, Maharaja, Minister of Safdarganj,
jagir of, 128 ; killed at the Kali nadi, 257.

Newal Singh, Raja of Balrampur, fight of,
with the royal troops j assists a Chauhan
raja, 217-18.

Nihal Singh of Sehipur made manager of Ma-
niarpur, death of, 467-68.

Nikumbh Chhattris in Alamnagar pargana, 22.

Niralambhi sect, 6.

Nirbani sect, 6.

Nirmal Has, Maharaja, made n&zim, his
merciful rule, 644.

Nirmuhi sect, 5.

Nizam-ud-din, Ansari, of Herat, 255.

Noah, tomb of, at Ajodhya, 12.

0.

Occupancy rights, (see tenure).

Occupations of the people of Oudh, xviii ;
district Fyzabad, 429.

Opium of district Bahraich, 162 ; district Ba-
ra Banki, 234 ; district Fyzabad, 414-15 ;
district Gonda, 535-36.

Orr,|Captain, description of Bahraich after the
two years' administration of Kaghubarda-
yalby 133.

Outram, Sir James, 134.

Outturn of district Bahraich, 153 ; district
Gonda, 524.

Pahar Khan of Utraula, 217.

Palwar Chhattris of Birhar, 327-332 ; of dis-

trict Fyzabad generally, 464-65.
Pdndes of Aldemau, 26 ; of the Gonda house

xlv-xlvi, 545, 562, 663,564,565,571.
Pargana, lists of district Bahraich, 96 ; district

Bara Banki, 227 ; district Fyzabad, 404-405 ;

district Gonda, 497, 632.

VI

IKDEX.

Partab Mai, 556.

Pfisis, xxiii.

tathan chandhris of Chahora, 324.

Pathans of Baragaon, 325.

People, condition of ; effects of the British

rule upon, Ixii, Ixvii
Physical features of Oudh, ii, iil ; district

Bahraich, 96 ; district Bara Banki, 2-26 ;

district Fyzabad, 406 ; district Gonda, 4»8-

99.
Physique of the people, xxx.
Pilgrimage, places of, district Gonda, 519.
Police statistics of district Bahraich, 172 ;

district Bara Banki, 249, 251 ; district Fy-

zabad, 449 ; district Gonda, 531.
Population of Oudh, xiii ; district Bahraich,

95, 140, 141 ; district Bira Banki, 227 ;

division Fyzabad, 401 ; district Fyzabad,
' 403, 40.?) ; district Gonda 497, 503.
Post-offices of district Bahraich, 165 : district

Bara Banki, 251, 252 ; district Fyzabad, 450.
Prices and famines of district Bahraich, 155-

159 ; district Bara Banki, 242, 246; district

Fyzabad 415, 425 ; district Gonda, 528, 530,
Profits of cultivation, district Fyzabad, 427.
Ptolemy, description of Oudh by, xxxii.

Q.

Qntb-ud din Husen Khan, nazim, attacks the
fort of Barwan, displaces the Sombansis,
271.

Qutb-ud-din of Madina drives out the kirgs
of Manikpur and Kanauj, 255.

R.

Raghubanei Chhattris in Aldemau, 25.

Raghubar Dayal, nazim of Bahraich, 132 ;
his administration described by Captain
Orr, 133.

Eaikwir Chhattris of pargana Amain, 66-67 j
immigrate from Kashmir, establish them-
selves west of Bahraich, 117 ; account of,
with a pedigree. 120-21 ; of Eamnagar,
285, 288 ; of Bihar or Kunda, 305 ; history
of their rise in district Bara Banki, 2^7 ;
of Bhitauli pargana, 285 ; of Fakhrpur
pargana, 395.

Railways (see communications).

Rainfall of Oudh, vii-viii, district Bahraich,
100-101, 151-52 ; district Bara Banki, 232 ;
district Fyzabad, 408, district Gonda, 601.

Bajjab Mian sent to Bahraich, 112 ; hia tomb
at Bahraich, 204.

Eajkumar Chhattris of Aldemau, 29, 32 ; of
district Fyzabad, 463 ; Muaalmans of Ha-
sanpur, 466.

KSm Bakhsh, Babu, of Daundia Khera. hane,
ed, 365. ^

Earn Datt Ram Pande of Gonda, murder of.
545. '

Ram Ghulam Singh acquires Mustafabad,
joins the rebel Beni Mfidho, loses his
estate, 7T.
Ram Singh, Raja of Gonda, success of against

the Baikwars ; birth of his sons, 558-59.
Rasiil Khan Togh, appointed keeper of
the fort of Bahraich, founds the line of the
Nanpara taluqdars, 123.
Eatau Pande prophesies the fall of tlie

Khurasa raja ; his death, 88, 540-41, 608,
Ravenscroft, Mr., killed at Bhiaga, 284.
Rawat Chhattris, 339.
Kehli pargana exchanged by the English

for Handia, 5 4 P.
Religion, Oudh, xxv ; Bahraich, 141-42;
district Bara Banki, 247, 254; district Fyza-
bad, 451, 453 ; district Gonda, 517.
Rents of district Bahraich, 147,149 ; district
Bara Banki, 238; district Fyzabad, 414
426-26.
Revenue of Oudh, lix, lx;of district Bahraich,
17! ; district Bara Banki, 228, 248 ; district
Fyzabad, 443, 446 ; district Gonda, 5.S2-33.
Revenue statistics (see revenue).
Revenue survey tables of district Bahraich,

198
Revenue system, xlvi., lii., lix.. Ix.
Kiasat Ali Khan, Raja of Utraula, rebels S47,
Rice of district Bahraich, 154 ; exportation of

from Gonda, 522.
Rights of inheritance, district Gonda, 510.
Rights, manorial, district Gonda, 636.
Rights of residents in a village, district Gonda,

611.
Rivers and streams of Oudh, ii. ; district
Bahraich, 96, 98, district Bara Banki 229,
230 ; district Fyzabad, 407 ; district Gonda,
498.
Roads (see communications) .
Rulers of Oudh, Ii.

Rustam Sah, Babu, of Dera, seizes Dariao
Kunwar, becomes taluqdarof Dera, behaves
well during mutiny, 3i,-33, 473-474 ; assists
the widovif of Birsingpur, taluqdar, 468.

s.

Saadat Ali Khan, Nawab of Oudh, his revenue'
system, lii, 129.

Sadr Jahan. Nawab, ancestor of the FihSoi
Sayyads, 22.

Sahaj Singh of Khurasa, history of, 640.

Sahjanand, account of, 351.

Sahu Salar, subdues Raes of Karra and Manik-
pur, 112, 355.

Saif-ud-daula, Nawab (see Mir Hadi).

Sakarwar Chhattris, 25.

Salbahan, RSja, the progenitor of the Baf»
clan, 364.

INDEX.

vii

Sal Deo, Raikvifi-, account of, 117, 257.

Sales and transfers of property, of district

Bahraich, 159 ; district Bara Banki, 241-

42 ; diatrict Fyzabad, 439 j district Gonda,

612. '

Salim Shdh, reign of, .320,

Salona Begam obtains Nanpara ilaqa in

jagir, 123.
Santokhi sect, 6.

Sanwal Singh, of Fatehpnr Chaurasi, 398.
SarabdAn Singb of Meopur, 34.
Sarwaria Brahmans of Gonda, 552.
Sarwar, Malik, Khwaja, SuUau-ush-sharq, 356.
Sattnami sect, xxiv ; account of, 361, 364.
Sawak system, of district Bahraich, 145 ; dis-
trict Gonda, 515.
Sayyad, Salar, Masaud, birth and youth of ;
his invasion of Hindustan, iii ; reaches Sa-
trikh, reaches Bahraich, fight on the Kosala,
his final defeat, 112 ; Baihaqi's silence re-
garding, 113 ; bis tomb visited by Muham-
mad Tughlaq, 115; visited by Firoz Shah,
116; his army passes through pargana Ban-
gar, 821 ; his army at Bawan, 275 ; fights
■with Sohildeo near Biswan, sm.
Sayyuds of Rasulabad, 71 ; of Pihani Aurang-
abad, a seat of, 84 ; of Kheoli settlement of
372.
Schools, fsee education).
Scythians, xxxii-xxxiii.
Sengur Cbhattris in Asoha, 74-75.
Settlement in Oudh, Iv-lix ; Bahraich, 190,

194.
Shahab ud-din Ghori, overruns Oudh, 459.
Shankaracharya, xxiv.
Shekhs of Jahangirganj, Neori, Hanswari ;

325 ; Baniani, Jalalpur, 326.
Sher Khan or Sher Shah, reign of, defeats Hu-

mayun at Silgram, 319.
Shrines of, Ajodhya, 6, 13 ; Fyzabad city,

485, 488 ; district Gonda, 519.
Shuja-ud-daula, Nawab, of Oudh, takes his
abode at Fyzabad ; defeat of, at Buxar, 460.
Singhji of Siirajpur, turbulence of, 259.
Singi Bikh, 63.
Sis, Paighambar, extraordinary tomb of, at

Ajodhya, 1 1 .
Sital Facshad, Tirbedi, Baja ; nazim of Khai-
rabad, defeats Jodh Singh of Dhaurahra,
385 ; succeeds in Gopamau, takes Eatesar,
rules harshly, 680.
Sleeman's Tour in Oudh, quotations from, re-
garding the Kasiilabad chakla, 72; the Bdch-
hils of Atwa Fiparia, 80-81 ; the Basorhi
pargana, 273 ; Bamnagar Dhameri, 287 ;
pargana Daryabad, 360 ; southern Fyzabad,
467, 471 ; the Ahbanis of Gopamau pargana,
681, 684.
Sogura Bibi (see Sughra).
Sohil Deo, or Sohil Dal, Eaja, fights with
Sayyad Salar, 338 ; story regarding, xxxv,
607.
Soils of Oudh iii ; district Bahraich, 93-99 ;
district Fyzabad, 410-12; district Gonda,
«98.

Sombansi Chhattris of pargana Barwan,

270-71.
Sravasti, xxxi-xxxiv, a description of the

ruins of, 108 ; Fa Hian's account of ; de-
cline of, 109.
Sripat, Rina, founder of the Sakarwar colony

in Aldemau, 25.
Staples, of district Bahraich, 153; district

Fyzabad, 415 ; district Gonda, 498.
Suda Rae, Surajbansi, founds the house of

Amethi, 44.
Sudras, xxii.
Sughra Bibi expelled from estate by NihSl

Singh, confined and plundered, reinstated,

again, imprisoned, 467, 70.
Sughra, Muhammad, Sayyad, reduces Sri-

nagar or Bilgram, 3l9.j
Sukul Brahmans of Aldemau, 25
Suhil Deo or Dal (see Sohil Deo).
Sfirat Singh of Eamnagar, 286-87.

T.

Tahsils, lists of, district Bahraich, 95; district
Bara Banki, 227 ; district Fyzabad, 404 ;
district Gonda 497, 532.

Taluqas, their nature xlvi, histories of Pir-
pur, 17-18; Samanpur, 19; Dera, 30-33,
471-75, Meopur, 34,37,471-75; Amethi,
44, 51 ;"Ateha, 76 ; Atwa Piparia, 80-81 ;
Rahwa and Chahlari, ilaqas, Baundi raj,
121 ; Balrampur, 122, 216, 219 ; Giiji-
ganj, 122 ; Bhinga, 122, 127, 283; Charda,

122, 126, 350 ; Gangwal 122; Nanpara,

123, 125; Piagpur 130; Eamnagar Dhar
meri, 258, 285, 290 ; Haraha, 258 ; Siiraj-
pur, 259 ; Jahangirabad, 259,304 ; Kor&hi,
325 ; Birhar, 327, 832 ; 373-74, 376 ;
Behtai and Qasimganj, 377 ; Dhau-
rahra, 385-36; Mehdona, 462-63; Manira-
pur, 467, 470 ; Ehapragaon or Khapradih,
467, 470.

Taluqdars, list of, district Bahraich, 199 ;
district Bara Banki, 2S2-63 ; district
Gonda, 512.
Taxation (see revenue).
Temperature, of district Bahraich, 100 ;

district Gonda. 602.
Tenures of district Bahraich, 176, 195; dis-
trict Fyzabad 434, 442.
Tiwari Brahmans of Aldemau, 26.
Thanas, with their populations, of district
Bahraich, 172; district Bara Bankf, 248;
district Fyzabad, 447 ; district Gonda, 531.
Tharus first clear Oudh jungles, xxxiv. 111,

341-42.
Thatheras expelled from Bangar, 221 ; ex-
pelled from Bawan, 275-76. •
Tikait Rae Maharaja, finance'minister, his
relations with B&ja Gumaa Singh, of Gonda,
571.

VIU

INDEX.

Tilok Chand, Raja, xxxix.

Tilok Chand Bachgoti, ancestor of the Hasaa-

pur Khanzadas, 29.
Timtier trade, 138.

Todar Mai, Raja, forms pargana Bari, 266.
Towns, Oudh, xiii ; district Bahraich, 104 ;

district Bara Banki, 254 ; district Fyzabad,

429.
Trade 'ot Oudh, xvil ; district Bahraich, 136 ;

district Bara Banki, 245 ; district Fyzabad,

429 ; district Gonda, 09, 521, 523.
Traffic of district Bahraich, 98 ; district

Bara Banki, 245-46 ; district Fyzabad,

430-31 ; district Gonda, 622-23.
Tughlaq, Mahammad, visits Bahraich, 115
Tuleipur, Rani of, takes part against the

British, dues not accept the amnesty, 647.

u.

Udal (see Aiha).

Udit Narain, Babu of Birhar, takes part

against the British, sentence of, 329-30.
Ugaraen, Dom, Kaja, grants of, 391 ; his

oppressions, and tale of his death, 608.
TJjjaiuias of Aldemau, 25.
Umrao Singh, Sengur of Kantha, takes a

leading part in the rebellion, loses his

estate, 75.
Upaddhia Brahmans of Aldemau, 26.
Uttara Kosala, 108.

V.

Vaisyas, xxii.

Vegetable products of district Bara Banki,
232 : district Fyzabad, 408.

Villages, xiv.

W-

Wages, of district Bahraich, 145; district

Bara Banki, 237 ; district Fyzabad, 415 •

district Gonda, 515.
Wajid Ali Khan, Nazini of Sultanpar, his

treatment of the lady Sughra, 469-70.
Walters, Mrs., 72.

Water, distance of, from the surface, iii.
Weights and measures, of district Bahraich,

irs, 171 ; district Bara Banki, 246-47 ;

district Fyzabad, 433 ; district Gonda,

52U-21,
Wells, of district Bahraich ; district Bara

Banki, 231-36 ; district Fyzabad, 412-14.
Wild animals (see fauna).
Winds, of Oudh, viii ; district Bahraich, 100 ;

district Gonda, 6U2.
Wiugfleld, Mr., Commissioner of Gonda-Bah-

raich, 134; takes shelter with the Balram-

pur Raja, 547.

Ze

Zalim Singh, of Meopur, death of, at Masora,
34, 474.