YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Bought with the income of the WILLIAM C. EGLESTON FUND GAZETTEER or THE PROVINCE OF OUDH. vol. iii.-nsr. to z. $uMisSf)eB in Wutyotitn: ALLAHABAD: BOJIBWISTHll PB0V1NCES AND OBDH GOTEBNMENT PHESS. 1878. SI 7 v.3 A GAZETTEER OF THE PROVINCE OF OUDH. N. TO Z. NABINAGAR*— Pargana LjlHArpur— Tahsil Sitapue — District Sita- pub, — Nabinagar was founded about two centuries ago by Nabi Khan, son to Nawab Sanjar Khan of Malihabad. Some fifty or sixty years after wards the Gaur Chhattris took it, and ever since it has been held by them, and is the headquarters of the taluqdar of Katesar. It is 20 miles from Sitapur to the north-east, and 3 miles north-west from Laharpur, on the cross-country road which joins that town to Hargam. It has no other communications, but one mile to the west is the river Kewani which is navigable during the greater part of the year. It is a poor place, with only one masonry house in it, the taluqdar's residence ; the mud houses being 323, and the population 2,649. The only public building is the school. And the only sacred place in it is a tank, on the brink of which stands a mean Hindu temple. There are no shopkeepers in the town with the exception of the Banian who supplies the taluqdar's establishment. The inhabitants get their necessaries from Kesriganj, which was founded by Kesri Singh, grandfather to the present taluqdar, and which lies between this town and Laharpur. The annual value of the yearly sales being close upon Rs. 1,00,000. NAGRXM — Pargana Mohanlalganj — Tahsil Mohanlalganj — District LtTCKNOW. — Situated at the extreme eastern boundary of the pargana, about midway between the two roads from Lucknow to Sultanpur and Rae Bareli. The date of its foundation is unknown, but it is said to have been called. after Raja Nal, a Bhar chieftain, who had a large fort here; the site of which, a high mound in the centre of the village, still exists. For some considerable time the village appeared in the Government records as Nalgram, so the tradition assigning the foundation to Raja Nal is a well .attested historical fact. It seems to have fallen in the track of Sayyad Salar's , invasion ; for on the mound of the fort are the graves of Mwnawwar and Anwar Shahids, and outside is the tomb of Piran Haji Burd,.and a " Ganj Shahidan," or " martyr gathering." There is no proof that Sayyad Salar's conquest was in any way permanent. The place seems to have been left to the Bhars, and was subsequently occupied by • By Mr. M. L, Ferrar, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. 1 If*'" NAN The eastern portion lies high, and forms a part of that table-land which acts as the watershed of the two river systems of the Rapti and the Gogra. The western half of the pargana is a portion of the basin of the latter river and its affluent the Sarju, which joins the main river just below Khairighat, and has been channelled in all directions by these streams in their wanderings over the country. This section is peculiarly fertile, having a rich yet light alluvial soil which requires no irrigation, and but little labour to induce it to yield very fine crops. The pargana is not so well wooded as its neighbours to the south ; only 1*71 per cent, being grove land. The proximity of the jungle tracts, however, in some degree com pensates it for this drawback. There is an immense area of culturable waste land, there being 213 square miles of it to 257 square miles of culti vation out of a total area of 523 square miles. Irrigation there is none, except in the higher lying villages to the east. Here, as in the Bahraich pargana, there is every facility for irrigation, the water being near the surface. The following shows the areas of land under the main staples of the pargana : — Acres. Acres. Wheat ... ... ... 2,706 Indian-corn #.t ... 10,408 Barley ... ... ... 19,044 Kice ... ... ... 18,777 Wheat and barley mixed ... 5,751 Bape seed ... ... 5,970 Sugarcane ... - ... 63 Other grains ... ... 79,464 Arhar and lahra ... mm 2,444 The revenue demand is distributed as follows : — m V60a '> o .0 E s a ao uCS we0/ u < Govornmont demand. Incidence of Government demand per acre. Class of village. a © 1 EOCO 03?a rt CS QJ , J- ¦3 =a a "» O CD MISoa o / Perpetual settle- Taluqdari m"™ mt% V 10 years ditto, 8 290 8 10 439 27 lis. a. p. 2,280 0 0 1,90,920 0 0 3,970 0 0 Ks. a. p. 0 8 8 1 4 1 0 11 5 Rs. a. p. 0 6 3 0 11 11 0 6 5 Rs. a. p. 0 5 6 0 10 11 0 3 10 Total 306 476 1,97,170 0 0 1 3 5 0 11 7 0 10 4 Independent villages ... Kevenue-f ree for lifetime only, 3* ** 3 1 1,569 2 B 1 6 1 0 14 5 0 13 3 Grand Total 311 48D 1,98,739 2 5 1 3 6 0 11 7 0 10 5 NAN The following statement gives the population : — 4 ( Agricultural ... 77,547 f •( Brahmans ... 5,615 -« J Chhattris ... 2,871 ¦ . --H 1 Non-agiioultural ... 46,553 3 » < 1§ j Vaiehya ... Kayath 4,231 1,406 «8 «s c a g 1.2.1 |l| -fl <5 « eg e8 o ¦S I ( * Total 1,24,100 3 l ^ r Ahir Bhunjwa 12,560 2,930 oaaa: t-s W'J2 i ( Agricultural ... 12,709 *4 R S " * £ e . 1 PSsi 4,514 | ^ u\ Non-agricultural ., Total 11,763 3s TeliCbamarRnrmi ... KaharKalwar 2,650 10,69316,897 6,3532,754 1 1 24,472 3 w ^ ^ ^ ^ jj •Eft * oj ¦* e

enr& ... ... ... ... .. Itaha ... ... ... ... „ Sbiupur ... ... ,.. ... .., Bampur ... ... ... ... ,. Gaeghat ... ... ... ... .. Gopia ... ... ... ... „ Mithgaon ... Sohbatia ... ... ... ... ,. 30 boys 34 ii 64 J! 43 II 29 II 46 II 30 II 27 Total 303 6 NAN There are district post-offices at Motfpur and Shiupur bazar! Besides the thana at Nanpara, there is also a police station at Motipur. Situated on the skirt of that belt of Tarai which lies immediately under the Naipal hills, the pargana has been the scene of continual con tests for the debateable land between the lieges of the Delhi Sovereign and the tribes of the north. As early as the reign of Bahlol Lodi — viz., 891 Hijri (A.D. 1474) — one Raja Sangram Sah, a hill chieftain, is found paying nominally a revenue of Rs. 54,921 for pargana Rajhat, which lies between Nanpara and the hills, but it may safely be assumed that the entry of this payment was a mere boast, and that Sangram Sah was independent, for Todar Mai is more honest and admits that his imperial master only held sway over 4,064 bighas of cultivated land in Rajhat. There is a tradition that shortly before Akbar's reign — viz., in 1500 A.Di — the whole of this part of the country had the misfortune to be cursed by a saintly mendicant by name Shah Sujan, who had his dwelling at Dugaon, a town on the banks of the Sarju. The ban was effectual, the city was deserted by its inhabitants in one day, and the country side was overrun by the Banjaras. It is certain, however, that this did not happen until after the time of Akbar ; for in Abul Fazl's record the town is spoken of as being a flourishing place, the centre of a considerable trade with the hill tribes ; and in the Araish-i-mahfil, under the name of Deokhan or Deokan, it is described in similar terms, mention being made also of a mint of pic.e which was established here. The town was evidently one of some importance, the ruins of the houses which still exist proving the very substantial character of the buildings. The Banjaras in the reign of Shah Jahan became so troublesome that Salona Begam, the wife of Prince Dara, was unable to obtain possession of a jagir of 148 villages, which, under the name of Salonabad pargana, had been granted to her by her husband's imperial father. It was then, in 1632 A.D., that one Rasul Khan, Afgh&n, Togh, received a commission from the emperor to coerce the Banjaras, obtaining a grant of five villages and one-tenth of the rental of the whole of this disturbed tract of country. This risaldar is the ancestor (seventh in ascent) of the present Raja of Nanpara, whose family gradually secured a firm hold of the large estate now owned by him. In 1662 A.D., the Raja of Saliana, a fort situated within the hills, held the pargana of Rajhat, and also a portion of pargana Sujauli on the west, but he was apparently unable to penetrate further south, though he was supported by other hill chieftains on the east of Salonabad. In 1784 A.D., the condition of this part of the country is illustrated by a clearing lease that was given to Bhayya Himmat Singh, of Piagpur, by Asif-ud-daula, from which it appears that out of 1,734 villages in the north of Bahraich 1,486 were completely deserted, while the Nanpara estate only comprised 59 villages. ¦ Subse quently the Nanpara raja pushed further northwards, and occupied 105 villages of pargana Rajhat ; the Raja Kansur Sah of Saliana being driven back until his Tarai territory was limited to 173 villages. This remaining tract of country was, after the successes achieved by General Ochterlony, annexed by the British, and made over to the Oudh Govern ment in 1816 A.D. ; Kansur Sah being killed in 1822 A.D. by the Chau- han Raja of Tulsipur, to whom this portion of the conquered territory was NAN 7 assigned. The next thirty years seem to have been a period of progress. The jungles gradually disappeared, and the taluqdars being men of a " strong hand were able to hold their own against the avaricious chakla- dars (native collectors). For the 16 years, however, prior to annexation, the internecine quarrels of the two ranis, widows of Munawwar Ali Khan, inflicted injuries on the estate from which it is but just recovering. The wide expanse of waste, however, is now gradually coming under the plough, and the pargana is entering on a period of prosperity which it will be difficult even for the present bad management entirely to avert. The estates of the Tulsipur Taluqdar were confiscated for rebellion, and conferred on the Maharaja of Balrampur, but the Government subsequently made over all the villages of what was formerly pargana Rajhat, except a few held by the raja of Nanpara, to the Naipal sovereign, from whom they , had been wrested in 1816 A.D., and the Balrampur Maharaja received i the Charda and Kakardari estates in lieu of his first assignment. NXNPXRA — Pargana* NaNPA'ra — Tahsil NXnpaea — District Bahraich (Latitude 27°51'20" north, longitude 81°32'23" east)— Lies 22 miles to the north of Bahraich on the road to Naipalganj, the well known iron mart of Naipal. It is about 520 feet above the sea level, and is situated about one mile from the edge of the high ground which forms the watershed of the Sarju and the Rapti. It is the headquarters of a tahsil and the Raja of Nanpara, who owns the larger portion of the pargana of the same name ; has his residence here. Tradition says that the town was founded by an oil-man named Nidhai, whence the name Nidhaipurwa, corrupted into Nadpara, and latterly to Nanpara. In 1047 Hijri (A.D. 1630), one Rasul Khan, the ancestor of the present raja, obtained it and four other villages in service grant. Ahirs are said to have been the prevailing caste of this part in old times ; the Musalmans, however, have lately increased in numbers. The population numbers 6,818, of whom 3,808 are Musalmans. There are 1,267 houses, of which 12 are of brick. Five Hindu temples, four mosques and idgahs, a school house, a tahsil and police station, a sarae, and the raja's houses, are the only buildings which call for notice. The vernacular town school is maintained by Government. The police force stationed here consists of one chief constable, three head constables, one mounted constable, and 18 constables. The through trade with Naipal along the Naipalganj road is as follows : — Imports. Exports. Rs. Salt 14,006 Sugar and gur ... 7,894 Metals, manufactured utensils 11,970 Cloth and piece-goods ... 1,66,765 Miscellaneous .„ 3,436 Es. Cereals ... ... Ml 78,566 Oil seeds... ... • •1 33,978 Iron ... ... • •• 10,954 Spices ... ... 63,945 Hides ... ... • •¦ 2,200 Timber ... ... • ¦• 7,528 Ghi ... »•• 30,369 Miscellaneous ... Es. : 1,000 2,28,540 Rs. ... 1,99,061 A municipality has lately been established in the town, and the value of goods subject to octroi brought to market for local consumption (exclu- * By Mr, H. S. Boys, G.S., Assistant Commissiqner. 8 NAS— NAW sive of piece-goods, brass vessels, &c.) is Rs. 1,01,450: grain is sent out by way of Khairighat on the Sarju, and timber and firewood find their way to the same place. A fair increasing .yearly in importance is held during the. Dasahra festival at Jangli Nath on the old bank of the river, 8 miles to the south, and another in November at Takiaghat, 5 miles, to the, north-- west;,. main roads go from Nanpara to Bahraich and Naipalganj, and there, are second-class district lines to Motipur (vid Saraghat) 16 miles, to Kataighat on the Kauriala vid Shiupur, Baruhi, and Khairighat, and to Bhinga vid Bhangha, 30 miles, NASIRABAD — Pargana Rokha Jais— Tahsil Salon— District Rak Baeeli.— This town lies in latitude 26°15' north, longitude 81 °34' east, and is situated forty miles west of Sultanpur, four miles south-east of Jais, and fourteen miles north-east of Salon. This town is partly built on a rising ground which covers the ruins of an ancient fort. The water of the wells is sweet. No forests are near the place. There is a Government school here in which Urdu and Hindi are taught. There is. neither sarae nor bazar here. It has only a few shops from which articles of daily con sumption are supplied. The annual sales amount to Rs. 20,787. The population amounts to 3,420. And the number of houses is 875, of which as many as 162 are brick-built. Sayyad Dildar Ali, the Mujtahid (high priest) of the Shia Musalmans, was a native of this town. He settled at Lucknow, and was appointed mujtahid in the reign of Saadat Ali Khan. Sayyad Muhammad, the mujtahid, who died in 1868 was his son. Maulvi Khwaja Ahmad of this town, belonging to the Sunni sect, has a good: many desciples. Raja Har Parshad, Kayath, a native of this town, was the Nazim or' Commissioner of Khairabad Division during the reign of the. ex-king. He joined the mutineers and went up to Naipal where he is said to have died. In 1867 A.D., during the Muharram, a fight took place between the. Sunnis and Shias, but no lives were lost. The town is said to have been named after Nasfr-ud-din HumayiVn, of Delhi, who founded it on the site. of four villages. He also built a masonry fort here. But there are two more stories relating to the origin of the name; the one ascribes it. to Ibrahim Sharqi, who is alleged to have built the fort in the name of his son, Nasir-ud-dfn, and the other to Sayyad Zikria, who transmigrated from Jais to this place, and is said to have founded the town in the name of his grandfather, Nasir-ud-din. The descendants of Zikria are still in posses sion of the place, and thus give some clue to the latter story. The Musal mans reached this place not before they occupied Jais. The Hindus, how ever, seem to have come to this place at a time anterior to theirs, though the exact dates are unknown. The Kayaths of Nasirabad. are descendants. of Rae Hira Mai, who, on the overthrow of the Ujjain raj, came to Mungi Patan, and thence accompanied the Bais chief, Rae Ahban, who invaded Oudh along with the forces of Ala-ud-din Ghori. Rae Bhikham Rae, son of Sanbhar Mai, came here as paymaster-general. NAWABGANJ Pargana — Tahsil Nawabganj— Disirwtf Baba Banki. — This pargana is bounded on the north by Ramnagar and Fatehpur, on the east by Daryabad, on the west by Dewa, and on the south by Partabganj. NAW 9 Its area is seventy-nine square miles, or 50,479 acres, of which 32,266 acres are cultivated, 11,276 culturable, and 5,592 barren. The irrigated area amounts to 9,691 acres, and the uniriigated to 22,575. The river Kalyani skirts the pargana on the north, and flows for about eight miles within its limits. There are about twelve villages on its banks. Water is met wiih at from six to twelve feet. The principal manufactures are sugar ana cotton cloth. Nawabganj town has a considerable market. The metalled road from Lucknow to Fyzabad passes through this pargana: also a road leading to Bahramghat, the great timber market. The railway traverses it, and it also contains tbe village of Bara Banki, in which is the civil station. The district post and registry offices, the head dispensary, the police stations, and the Government high school, are all at Nawabganj. There are two other village schools. The Government revenue amounts to Rs. 87,441 ; and the seventy- seven villages of this pargana are held as follows : — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... ... 44 Mufrad ... ... ... ... ... 33 The population is returned as 62,832, being at the rate of 795 per square mile. The only villages having a populations of over 2,000 are Nawabganj and Masoli. The pargana has been known as such since the Nawabi. Out of the forty-four taluqdari villages twenty-five are held by Raja Farzand Ali Khan, of Jahangirabad, the rest are divided between several neighbouring landowners. NAWABGANJ — Pargana Nawa'bganj — Tahsil Nawaboanj — District BAEA Banki. — Nawabganj, the headquarters of the tahsil and par gana of the same name, lies in latitude 26° 55' north, longitude 81° 15' east, at a distance of seventeen miles veast of Lucknow, 61 west of Fyzabad, and 22 south of Bahramghat. The civil station is situated at Bara Banki, a mile west of the town on some high ground sloping down to the Jamuriha — a small stream flowing between the two. The ground in its immediate neighbourhood is very barren, and cut up by a net work of ravines. The Deputy Commissioner's kachahri, the offices of the assist ant engineer, and the assistant opium officer, the jail, police lines, and a few bungalows constitute the station. The imperial road to Fyzabad after crossing the Jamuriha passes close by the town. The main street is broad and the houses on either side well built. A country house was built here by Nawab Shuja-ud-daula some 100 years ago on the land taken from two villages, Rasulpur and Faiz-ulla-ganj. The land was made nazul and the town founded by Xsif-ud-daula, but it was never of importance until Bara Banki became the headquarters of the district. The well-to-do Hindus are chiefly Banians and Sarawaks (if the latter can be called Hindus), who carry on a large trade in sugar and cotton. The public buildings are the thana, Government school, three saraes, and a very commodious dispensary. The drainage is good, water plentiful, and climate remarkably healthy. The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway passes about half a mile to the north of the town, and the railway station, at which there is a junction, .with the branch line to Bahramghat, is about a mile to the west of it, 2 10 NAW There is a temple to Debi, and a shiwala of Nageshwar Nath Mahadeo. The people attend on Mondays and Fridays at these temples, and the fairs of Chait and Phagun, in honour of both respectively are attended by a great assemblage. The total population is 10,606, of which Hindus are 7,411, and Muhammadans 3,195. The battle of Nawabganj, in 1857, may be related from Ballis' History of the Mutiny. " At length it was considered proper to put an end to operations that produced so much needless anxiety ; and at midnight, on the 12th of June, Sir Hope Grant, with a column of all arms, amounting to 5,000 men, marched for Chinhut on his way to beat up the quarters of a divi sion of the enemy, reported to be commanded by the Maulvi. " The night was dark, but the guides were skilful, and the force, without accident, reached Jaadrigunge, near Nawabgunge, where it was to cross the Beti Nuddee. Here the advance guard was challenged by a picket of the enemy, and the column halted. At daylight it again moved for ward, and crossed the bridge under a fire of musketry and guns, so placed in adjacent topes as to sweep the line of advance. The enemy's fire was well directed, but fortunately the river bank was sufficiently elevated to cover the bridge and the approach to it, and as soon as the artillery had got up and opened fire, the rebels began to retire to their main body (about 16,000 strong), a short distance in the rear of a tope and ravine. " The troops followed, and in a short time found themselves surrounded — a heavy ill-directed fire opening upon them from the brushwood in their front, their rear, and both flanks. Encouraged by the success of the manoeuvre by which the European troops had been as it were drawn into a trap, the rebels ventured to emerge from the wood, and bringing their guns into the plain commenced an assault ; but Grant's artillery, only 200 yards distant, opened upon them with such a destructive shower of grape as inflicted a fearful slaughter in their ranks, and deterred them from any further effort to attack. " While yet hesitating, two squadrons of cavalry and one of Hodson's horse charged, with the infantry, and cut down about 500 of them, and the remainder of the insurgent force, finding themselves beaten on all points, retired precipitately on Nawabgunge, where they remained till the follow ing day, when they were driven out with considerable loss by the English troops, leaving also a great portion of their baggage behind them. At noon on the 14th, Sir H. Grant occupied Nawabgunge, which he at once proceeded to fortify. The rebels, who had retired to Bittowlee, at the conflu ence of the rivers Ghagra and Chauka, lost no time in throwing up strong earthworks for their protection at that place. The loss sustained by them in the action of the 13th amounted in killed and wounded to 1,000 men, with nine guns and two standards ; that on the British side amounted to thirty-six killed and sixty-£W0 wounded." NAWABGANJ Parganat_Tahsil Begamganj— District Gonb-A.— This pargana is bounded on the north by parganas Mahadewa and Manikapur, on the south by theriver Gogra and some villages of the Fyzabad district, NAW 11 on the west by parganas Digsar and Mahadewa, and on the east by the district of Basti. The former area was 90,040 acres ; but since settlement the pargana has received an addition, raising its present area to 91,080 acres or 143 square miles, divided into 128 demarcated mauzas or town ships. The area of the pargana is divided as follows : — iFuculturablc waste ... ... 19,979 acres or 21'8 percent. Culturable ditto ... ... 28,484 „ „ 31-2 „ „ Cultivated ... ... 41,274 „ „ 46-3 „ „ Groves ... ... ... 1,343 „ „ 14 „ „ 9 i,080 6,039 acres are irrigated from wells, 4,469 acres from tanks, and 30,766 acres are left to natural irrigation. In other words, 28 per cent, of the actual cultivation is irrigated, and 72 per cent, is left unirrigated. The Gogra borders the pargana on the south. The smaller streams are the Tirhi, the Jamni, and the Sujoi. These rivers are of no use for irriga tion purposes, and occasionally do mischief by overflowing their banks during the rains. There are about 12 villages of this pargana which border the Gogra, and about 15 which lie near the Tirhi. The Jamni skirts 12 villages, and the Sujoi 2. All these are liable to injury from floods. Water is met with at from 14 to 21 feet below the surface. There is no disease peculiar to the pargana. The villages near the jungle suffer much from fever during the cold weather. The revenue demand amounts to Rs. 68,307-5-0, land revenue Rs, 66,530, and cesses Rs. 1,777-5-0. The varieties of tenure are : — Taluqdarl ... 116 Zamindari ... 76 * Demarcated mauzas .. 128 Fattidari ... 80 Copercenary muhals .. 144 Total 272* Total The tribal distribution of property is as follows : Brahman ChhattriMusalman Kay at b. Bair&giEuropeans Nanak shihi Others 27a no 82 2726 7 2 1 Total 272 _,,,,,..„ ... ,, , -"ande Krish'an Datt Ram, of The taluqdari villages are mostly held frwa taluqdars. Singha Chanda, and the Basantpur ai£ ... ',-?,.„„ „ * ' , ., . ^en m the census at 57,439. These The population of the pargana^ are m!*S0Iiry. The numb f j reside in 10,345 houses, of tgk: prevailing castes is as fojl^ mj _ I007g Brahman •• ... ... ... 9,oil Ahir ^ ¦•• ... ... ... 4,478 Kahjp>-' ••• ... ... ... 4,193 i>™n ••• '•• ... ... 2,079 -^"ao „, „, ,rt (m J)90, 12 NAW Chamar KurmiTeli • •• • 1 • •I [• 1,587 1,282 1.254 Gararia ,,„ 1,194 Chai 1.. ,, • •• •• , 1,106 Fasi ... II »*¦ n 1,073 Kayath • •• • « 1,044 Nao (Hindu) ¦ •• ft ••* •¦ 1,019 53 pupils. 48 ii 32 n 67 ii 20 » 20 >i 20 ii 110 u 25 » The traffic is carried on vid the metalled road from Gonda to Fyzabad which crosses the Gogra at Miran Ghat just above Fyzabad city. A bridge of boats is kept during a great part of the year, but is removed during the rains, and communication is kept up by ferries. It is but seldom, and *that only during the rainy season, that boats are seen in the Tirhi. The town of Nawabganj has a considerable grain mart ; in it are the post and registry offices ; schools have been established at the following places :— Tulsipur with ... Anbhola „ ... ... Bisnoharpur „ Kalyanpur „ Female school at Kalyanpur ,, •Another female school „ ... Hargobindpur female school „ ... ... Town school, Nawabganj „ ... ... Ramanpur „ ,,, ... History. — This pargana was formerly known as Raj Ramgarh Gauri, and was in the possession of a chief of the Sarawak or Jain religion. These sectaries worshipped the sun, and also a god named Sobh Nath. Their dominions extended to the hills on the north, to the south the Gogra was the boundary, and on the east were the mountains of Butwal. When 'Suhel Deo came to the throne, Sayyad Masatid led his crescen- tade to Oudh, and having fought with him was killed at Bahraich. Raja Suhel Deo met his destruction by his fort having been turned topsy-turvy, and the whole of his family crushed to death. His kingdom remained' for some time without a lord, till in 1 141 AD. the Muhammadans con quered India, and the Emperor of Delhi bestowed this raj upon Ugarsen "-^m as jagir. He built several forts in these parts, and fixed his abode D^ fjprakhpur on the bank of the Rapti. That place is still called , ° n(foh. In 1376 A.D., the Dom Raja became very powerful, he /111 di^tricVi^11^ °^ a Brahman girl of mauza Karghand, pargana Amo- to their house *'\ anc^ on n*s request being refused confined the family went to Rae Jagat Su™1 £fn on the pretence of a pilgrimage to Ajodhya, aid The subahdar, on tiPy»th> subahdar of Sultanpur, and implored his Gogra, readied the place wlY.tlie marriage was to take place, crossed the family and retainers. The PandeJarge force, and cut down all the rajas and in gratitude for his having savOer of the girl, then came out rejoicing, his sacred cord, and threw it on the k§ Brahman religion, he took off descendants are all invested with the sacflf the valiant subahdar. His are known by the surname of Pande. These^ld, and, though Kayaths, alcoholic drinks. "ths abstain from all The subahdar after this adventure reported the mattei bar, and in consequence was granted the rnj of Amodha, aWDelhi Dar- * all this NAW 13 part of the country. Rae Jagat Singh then parcelled out the country, and gave portions of it in reward to his followers. There was one Newal Sah, a Bandhalgoti Chhattri, who held the office of risaldar in the Rae's force, and had shown his bravery in subduing the fort of Ramanpur, in the possession of Rama Bhar, a lieutenant of the Dom Raja. This officer was a naiive of Amethi, in the district of Sultanpur ; he received the part of country which is now known by the name of the Nawabganj pargana as his share of the booty. Pargana families. — Maharani Subhao Kunwar. — This taluqdar is the widow of Maharaja Sir Man Singh, K.C.S.I., and "Qaim Jang," of Shah- ganj. Raja Krishan Datt Ram, Pande, of Singha Chanda. — Hannun Ram Pande was the progenitor of the line. He was a native of mauza Durjanpur in pargana Digsar, and by profession a banker. Mardan Ram, a son of his, rose to be nazim. Ram Datt Ram was another able man in the family, who was murdered by Nazim Muhammad Hasan. Raja Krishun Datt Ram is the present owner. The number of villages in his possession is 308, and the Government revenue of his estate amounts to 2,07,357-15-2. (For further account of the family, see Gonda pargana and district article, " historical part.") Mahant Harcharan Das, of Basantpur. — The present owner is suc cessor to Mahant Gurnarain Das, a Nanakshahi faqir of Lucknow. He was much respected by the Kayath Ahlkars and other Hindu gentleman, and he obtained vast estates in Oudh by receiving rent-free grants, and purchasing to a large extent. His estates lie in seven districts of Oudh. His total land revenue paid to Government amounts to Rs. 81,096-13-8. i Antiquities. — Of the antiquities there is only the Bagh-i-Harharpur, built by Nawab Shuja-ud-daula in 1184 AD. There are 30 religious places of both creeds, as follows : — Hindu places of worship ... ... ... 26 Muhammadan mosques, &c. ... ... 4 The only religious fair is held on the day of Ramnaumi in Chait (March), on the opposite bank of the river, where the fair of Ajodhya assem bles. The gathering amounts to more than 50,000. Common articles of daily use are sold. People who come to this fair are those who dont wish to go across the Gogra to Ajodhya. The gathering disperses as soon as the bathing ceremonies are over. NAWABGANJ* — Pargana Nawabganj — Tahsil Begamganj — Dis trict Gonda. — Latitude 26°52' north, longitude 82°11' east. A century ago the present teeming parganas of Nawabganj and Mahadewa were but thinly populated, and Nawab Shuja-ud-daula, in his frequent hunting expeditions from Fyzabad to Wazirganj, found it necessary to establish a bazar on the north of the Gogra for the supply of his troops and attend ants. A site was selected about two miles from the river, just far enough i . : . . * By Mr. W. C. Benett, C. S., Assistant Commissioner. 1* NAW to be tolerably safe from the rain floods, on the boundary of the villages of Agampur and Tathia ; and, from the small beginning thus made, has grown the largest grain market in the district, and perhaps in the whole of Oudh. During the interval of English rule (1802-1816 A.D. ), two new quarters were added to the infant bazar, but up to annexation it was never of sufficient importance to be the seat of a government official, and it is since the mutiny that the ten new quarters of Golaganj, Pakka Darwaza, Chai Tola, Lonia Tola, Teliani Tola, Pura Ram Sahae, Pura Koriana, Julaha Tola, Thatherai Tola, and Bazzaz Tola, have sprung up round the old muhals of Nawabganj, Motiganj, and Sanichari bazar. The present town con tains 6,131 inhabitants and 1,273 mud-built houses. The religion of the people is reflected in the distribution of their places of worship, of which 22 are dedicated to Mahadeo, while three are mosques. .It contains one small and very dirty sarae for the accommodation of travellers ; and a school, attended by 106 boys, contends without any striking success against the indifference of the local traders to any learning beyond the art of writing their unintelligible business characters. In plan 'it is a long street, with shops and dwelling-houses on each side, in front of which are piled heaps of grain to attract the attention of dealers. To the north the street broadens on to a good-sized plain, which is bordered here and there by substantial sheds for the storage of merchandize, and serves as a stand ing place for the innumerable carts, which bring down the produce of the Tarai. The principal export is the rice of Tulsipur, Utraula, and the north west portions of the Basti district, and during the end of the cold weather the infamous road from Utraula, which forms the only channel for this trade, is blocked by strings of carts, often numbering over a hundred in a single line. Besides rice the Tarai contributes large quantities of oil seeds, and the more southern parts of the district their wheat, Indian-corn, and autumn rice. A considerable export business is done in hides, but there is no other article of merchandize of any importance, and the imports are quite insig nificant, being confined entirely to salt, and a few thousand rupees worth of English cloth, and pots and pans from Mirzapur or Bhagwantnagar. The trade on leaving Nawabganj takes two main directions — one by the Gogra to Dinapore, Patna, and Lower Bengal, the other through Fyzabad to Cawnpore, and the cotton country. The main export by the latter is rice, while Bengal absorbs the greatest part of the oil seeds, Indian-corn, and hides. Of such part of the trade which passes through other districts before leaving the province, there are absolutely no means of making at all an accurate estimate : nor do I attach any great value to the returns of the registration office for the merchandize which leaves the province at once. It is obviously for the interest of the natives stationed there to leave as many carts out of their tables as possible, and pocket the fees themselves, and effective supervision is impossible. Anyhow the returns, if absolutely accurate, could only give an inadequate idea of the trade actually carried on, as there is nothing to confine carts to this one halting place, and num bers of them dispose of their merchandize at small bazars, a few miles to the east — in Shahganj, Ismailpur, and other stations — along the river, where they are free from Government toll, Government police protec- NAW 15 tion, and Government regulation cleanliness. An abstract of the returns is given for what it is worth. As far as I can tell their audacious mendacity puts them beyond the pale of criticism. For instance, that only 360 hides left the market for Lower Bengal in 1871-72 is wholly incredible, as it is hardly possible to visit the place for a single day without seeing a far larger nujaber collected there. The fact that these returns only cover the direct trade with Lower Bengal is here of no consequence, as that province takes all the hides exported from Gonda. Till two years ago octroi was levied on every article sold in the bazar, and a light ad valorem duty provided from the traders' pockets, the cost of repairing roads, which is now paid in addition to his land revenue by the proprietor of the soil. When this was abolished a small fixed toll on each cart and beast of burden was substituted ; and the register shows that in 1870-71 A.D., the market was visited by 36,500 carts and 9,100 beasts of burden, while the numbers in 1871-72 were 42,344 and 26,680 respectively. Assuming, as will be near the truth, that a fourth of the carts were drawn by four bullocks, and allowing twenty maunds for a four-bullock, ten for a two-bullock cart, and four maunds to each beast of burden, we get the following results. Total exports in 1870-71, 4,81,400 maunds, total in 1871-72, 6,50,160 maunds. The mart is connected by a good metalled road with Gonda (24 miles), a good grass road runs through Paraspur to Colonelganj (35 miles), while Utraula is divided from it by an almost impassable embanked way, which in a length of thirty-six miles opposes at least as many formidable obstacles in the shape of broken bridge arches, or severed banks, to the toiling cart bullocks. Export returns via the Gogra from Nawabganj bazar. 1867-68,1863-69, 11869-70,1870-71,1871-72, Wheat. 163,173 105,241 3,902 46,813 19,618 Value. 2,45,077 2,64,348 9,498 46,400 27,474 Bice. Value. 69,eil 1,105 690639 1,490 Oil- 290,604793,567 432,300 92,63966,287 Value. 4,61,967 18.94,17111,93,162 1,99,8181,47,748 Other edible. 25499S 610,561 71,746 16,186 23,693 Value. 2,03,998 1,186,852 1,19,535 17,079 28,213 Hidea. 14,32010,610 38,330 Value. 7,159 5,890 34,338 "'600 Total exports. 750,908 1,625,372 516,866 155,963 101,123 Value, 8,04,68* 34,71,354 13,60,669 1,63,834 2,05,525 NAWABGANJ — Pargana Jhalotar Ajgain — Tahsil Mohan — District UNAO. — Lies 12 miles north-east of the sadr on the metalled road to Luck now, from which place it is 25 miles distant. A thana, a tahsil, and school were all established at this place, but all have been removed. There is a large fair in the end of Chait every year in honour of the Durga and Kusahri Debis. The temple of the former goddess lies in Nawabganj, and that of the latter in village Kusumbhi, where there is also a pick-up sta tion of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway, Cawnpore Branch. This fair attracts a very large gathering from Lucknow and Cawnpore, besides the people of the neighbourhood. This ganj was built by Amin-ud-daula, the prime minister of Oudh in 1249 fasli (1842 A.D.), with a sarae and mosque. There is also a tank built !6 NEO— NEW by Naubat Rae, treasurer. Though the removal of the tahsil from it, and the introduction of the railway to Cawnpore, caused material damage to the local trade, as it was a dak station, and most traffic since then passes by railway, the annual sales still amount to Rs. 18,000 ; a great part of course being made up by the bargains made in the fair. The population is 3,128, of which 547 are Musalman. NEOTINI— Pargana Mohan Aura's— Tahsil Mohan— District Unao.— Neotini is a Muhammadan town, situated south-west of Mohan about two miles off on the right bank of the river Sai. It is the seat of the only Muhammadan colony that seems to have come into the pargana. But the arrival of the Musalmans was early, and they took possession of nine villages, which they hold to the present day. The town is said to have been founded by a Dikhit, Raja Ram, a descendant of Raja Balbhadr of Jhalotar, who on a hunting expedition saw the spot, and attracted by its beauty cut away some of the thin grass that grew there, and founded a town which he called Neotini. There is an old dih in the place still as signed as the site of his fort. It remained with the Dikhits till the time of Raja Apre, who having, it is said, ill-treated and plundered a great mer chant, whose complaints reached the ears of Mahmud of Ghazni, was driven out by an invasion headed by Miran Muhammad and Zahir-ud-din " Aftab." They and their descendants have occupied the place ever since. They said it was Khuda Ddd which gives the date 614 A. H. (1197A.D.), so it must have been occupied in the reign of Shams-ud-dfn. The place bears an air of prosperity. There are several old mosques and shrines and some good houses belonging to members of the family, who hold appoint ments under the British Government, and are pleaders in the courts. The land round the town is extraordinarily rich and well cultivated ; the crops being poppy, vegetables, spices, and medical herbs. The pan gardens are very numerous ; the families of tamolis number no less than 37. The whole population is 3,809, and the number of houses 718. There is a Government school in this place. There is only a small bazar. NEWALGANJ-cttm-MAHRXJGANJ— Pargana Mohan Avn.is— Tah sil Mohan — District Unao. — (Latitude 26°48' north, longitude 80" 43' east.) This is a junction of two market towns situated on the road to Mohan from Lucknow, about 13 miles from the city. It is two miles east of the tahsil station Mohan, and 26 south-east of the sadr (Unao.) The former was built by Maharaja Newal Rae, the I*Jaib of Nawab Safdarjang, and the same who built the bridge over the Sai at Mohan ; the latter is a continuation of it built by Maharaja Balkrishn, the late finance minister of the ex-king. It is approached by a long and handsome bridge which terminates in an archway, the entrance into the bazar. The ganj is about one-fourth of a mile long, and ends in another archway, passing under which, a sharp turn to the right brings the traveller opposite a third arch, which is the entrance into Newalganj. The bi-weekly bazar is held in Mahrajganj, and is one of the largest in the neighbourhood. The total annual sales amount to Rs. 25,000, and consist of all the usual conntry. produce of grain, tobaccp, spices, and vegetables, with country cloth and European piece-goods. There is also a separate trade in brass vessels,. NIG 17 which are made in large quantities in Newalganj, where, a large colony of Thatheras (braziers) has established itself. The climate of the place is healthy, water good, and scenery tolerable. The remains of an enclosure built of solid masonry round the town and its gateway are historical features. The Machberia gate contains the Government school. There is also an old sarae ; it boasts of three temples to Mahadeo and eight mosques. A fair is annually held on the day of Dasahra, the 10th of the lunar half of Jeth (May-June), having an attendance of not more than 500 people. At the west end of Newalganj is the police station where a force of 12 policemen is kept up, who have the whole of the pargana to look after. The station is not very centrically placed. The total number of inhabi tants is 3,728, and the houses 725, but none are of masonry. The inhabi tants are chiefly Hindus, and largely made up of braziers, Banians, and Brahmans. There are of these classes 77,129, and 91 families respec tively. The rest consist of food and vegetable-dealers, Bhurjis (grain- parchers), Halwais (confectioners), Ahirs, (herdsmen), Telis (oil-men), and Chamars (tanners). The population amounts to 4,028 ; Hindus being 3,618, and Musalmans 310. The place is a thriving centre of trade. NIGHASAN Pargana* — Tahsil Nighasan — District Kheri. — Pargana Nighasan has been quite recently constituted. It consists of the Trans- Chauka portion of the old pargana of Bhiir ; like'that pargana it somewhat resembles a wedge in shape, lying from west to east, with the narrow end at the west, and the broad end at the east. On the north lies pargana Khairigarh, which is separated from Nighasan by the river Suheli or Sarju, which flows from west to east with a very winding course of about 45 miles from Dudhua Ghat, where it enters the pargana to Shitabi Ghat, where it flows into the river Kauriala. The length of Nighasan, however, is only on the northern side 35 miles from east to west. On the south lies pargana Bhur, which is separated from Nighasan by the river Chauka, which has a tolerably straight course of about 30 miles. The length of Nighasan on the southern side from east to west is 26 miles. On the west side Nighasan touches Palia, which till recently belonged to the district of Shahjahanpur in the North- West Provinces. A straight line eight miles in length going due north and south from the Sarju to the Chauka, and marked by masonry pillars, denotes the boundary between the two parganas, which was also for about 53 years the boundary between British India and the kingdom of Ouclh. On the east Nighasan marches with pargana Dhaurahra, and is 14 miles in breadth from the Chauka at Pachperi Ghat to the Sarju; at Shitabi Ghat there is no natural boun dary, and the line of demarcation is irregular, and about 18 miles in length. This pargana forms a part of the low plains lying between the great rivers and the mountains which are called the Ganjar. It nearly all lies in the tarai of the rivers Chauka and Sarju ; there is some high land * By Mr. J. C. Williams, U.S. 3 18 NIG between them ; the pargana possesses certain geographical features which may be now described. The Sarju is a narrow stream of an average width of 50 yards ; the depth of water at the fords is only a few feet, and the fords are numerous ; the current is slower than that of the Chauka ; the banks are generally about 20 feet high, both on the north and south side, or even higher ; sometimes they follow close along the edge of the river, and sometimes reach to a distance of a mile or two miles from it, leaving a low tarai along the river side. Innumerable small tributary streams flow down into the Sarju from the higher land to the south, but many of these are backwaters through which the autumnal floods often escape out of the Sarju and inundate the tarai ; occasionally but seldom rising to the level of the higher lands. This tarai is generally covered with a jungle of khair, shisham, and gular trees, and is subject to inundation during the autumnal rains. After the reconquest of Oudh a large portion of this jungle was appropriated by Government, and was afterwards made over to the Forest Department ; for the first 28 miles of the river's course, after entering the pargana at Dudhua Ghat, the jungles along its banks belong to the Forest Depart ment ; for the next 17 miles they belong to revenue-paying villages. The course of the Sarju is so winding that its distance from the Chauka and consequently the width of the pargana varies from 4 to 14 miles. Between the two rivers there exists a long high ridge of land, with a good loamy soil, forming a central plain varying in width from one to nine miles, the greatest width being at the east. This plain can only be called high by comparison with the lower lands along the rivers to the north and south. There is probably no part of it where water is not found 14 feet below the surface ; and the soil is so moist that except vegetables, poppy, and tobacco no crops need irrigation. It is intersected by " sotas" or backwaters of the Sarju and Chauka, which frequently communicate^ with each other ; and it is covered with jhils of the curious formation called " bhagghar," which have been already described under the head of pargana Bhur. One of these sotas is called the Bahatia ; it has a wide bed, and in the autumn carries a large volume of water ; it crosses the pargana in the centre, flowing at right angles to the Sarju and Chauka from north to south, or from south to north, according as the floods from the Sarju or that from the Chauka be the stronger. The bhagghars assume the most fantastic shapes, but always retain the one characteristic attribute — a very high bank on one side and a low marsh on the other. In addition to the bhagghars and sotas, large shallow jhils are scatter ed over the whole surface of the central plain, while dry water-courses and ravines intersect it in every direction, running into the jhils, sotas, and bhagghars at every imaginable angle. In the higher parts of the central plain the soil consists of a very thin loam, mixed with much' gritty earth and very small stones, This soil NIG 19 shines like sand, and generally has a substratum of pure sand at a distance of from a few inches to a few feet below the surface. It is poor and unproductive, and known by the local name of tdpa. In my report of pargana Bhur, I said that I believed the whole country between jhe high bank in that pargana and the corresponding high banks in Khaingarh formed once a large inland lake.* The general appearance of the country, its interminable network of lakes and streams, dry water courses, and gritty high land, and specially the alternate ridges and depressions of soil by which the high land gradu ally slopes down into the river tarais— all seem so many evidences of a time when the whole country was part of a great inland lake. The absence of sdkhu trees, which only grow in soils beyond the influence of fluvial action, may be mentioned as another argument ; they grow in abun dance to the south of the high bank in Bhur, or north of the high bank in Khairigarh, but hardly anywhere between the two rivers. Though the period when the country was a lake has long ago passed from the memories and traditions of the people, the fact that the river Chauka or Sarda and the river Sarju were once the same stream is still fresh in their minds. These rivers are known to have been once connect ed quite recently by a water-course now almost dry which passes near Newalkhar, and when they were thus connected, the waters passing down the stream flowing under Khairigarh, now called the Sarju, were called the Chauka-, and far exceeded in volume those contained in the most southern channel of the Chauka. Now the case is exactly the reverse, and the name Chauka is restricted to the southern stream. I have men- .tioned that the two rivers are even now connected by the Baita river which flows across this pargana. An argument that the rivers were once the same may be derived from the etymology of the words. Sarju is of course a mere euphonious con traction of Sarda koju ; the river of Sarda, and as ju is Persian, the name must have been given first in Muhammadan times. This reduces the three names to two. Now Sarda is the title of a goddess, and is assumed both by Saraswati, wife of Barmha, and by Durga, wife of Shiva. The mytho logy of the Brahmans, which assigns divine protectors to mountains, rivers, and all great natural features, necessarily provided a goddess for a stream mightier even than the Ganges ; probably the goddess was originally Saraswati, but she receives now but scanty honour. The Chauka is now looked on by the residents on its banks as under the peculiar protection of Durga. It is frequently called Maharani or Chauka Maharani ; some times Sarda, or Sarda Maharani. These two names therefore are evidently the names of one river and of its tutelary goddess. The word Chauka * An argument in support of this conclusion may be drawn from the etymology of the word tdpa. For it is evidently the same as tdpu, which in Hindi means au island, and I think the conclusion is possible that the patches of high land which have the soil now called tapa were orginally islands in the middle of the large lake or inland sea which once stretched from the Sarju to the Chauka ; being the highest land, they are of course the parts of the plain which would first be left dry by the receding waters. 20 NIG is I understand derived from a Sanskrit word meaning cleanliness, purity. The Hindus even now believe that its waters possess peculiar efficacy both for ordinary cleansing purposes and for ceremonial ablutions. Some go so far as to maintain that its waters yield not even to those of mother Ganga : Chauka therefore means the pure river, Maharani Chauka, the Queen of purity. On the south of the central plateau is a low plain forming the tarai of the river Chauka, and generally resembling the low plain already described in pargana Bhur. It is completely inundated for several months of every year. The floods reach it by simply overflowing the river bank, and not as in Bhur and Srinagar by first flowing up backwaters communicating wi th the stream, and generally j oining it at almost a right angle. In Nigha san the bank of the Chauka is seldom more than 5 feet in height, but the northern bank of the river Ghaghi, which is now to be described, is on an average quite 20 feet in height during the eastern part of its course. There are hardly any backwaters or sotas running out of the Chauka. Their place is taken by a branch of the Chauka called the Ghaghi. The Ghaghi leaves the Chauka between the Ghats of Marauncha and Patw&ra in pargana Palia, and flows in a direction nearly parallel to that of the Chauka to a spot some three miles north of Pachperi Ghat only 22 miles to the south-east. The Ghaghi draws the high country in the centre of the pargana, and a great number of jhils and streams run into it. The course of the river has so many windings that it is some 32 miles in length. Its average distance from the Chauka is from one to four miles, and it may be considered as the boundary between the central plain and, the Chauka tarai. The Ghaghi joins the Chauka at Chhedoipatia for about a quarter of a mile and then again leaves it. From this spot it has increased in volume of water greatly within the last few years, and it now flows with a deep and rapid current between high and steep banks, but in a very narrow bed, about 15 yards in width. Year by year the volume of its waters is increasing, and there appears a probability that the Chauka may soon altogether leave its present bed and pass off into that of the Ghaghi. This will be a mere repetition of the process that we have seen has been at work in pargana Bhur for many ages, where apparently every change of the river's course brought it further to the north. If this happens, as the present bed of the Ghaghi will be far too small to contain the whole stream of the Chauka, the waters will sweep over the country bordering on the Ghaghi, and spread ruin far and wide over some of the finest villages in this pargana. The change of the Chauka's course opposite Bhurguda has been men tioned in my Bhur report. Abandoning its old bed it has cut through Maurias Loki and Munria Mahadeo, leaving Dhundhila and the jungle grant No. 12 on its south ; and joining the Ghaghi it re-enters its old bed three miles above Pachperi ghat in company with that stream From the spot where the Ghaghi rejoins the Chauka, the latter has a hi°b bank NIG 21 on its northern side, somewhat similar to the high ridge which meets the river on its southern side just above Bhurguda, about two miles west of junction of the two rivers. At annexation several villages of this pargana were found to be deserted, some lay on the Palia frontier, forming a con siderable tract of country, to a great extent overgrown with jungles, several (jjhers lay along the banks of the Chauka, these villages had all formed part of the great Bhur taluqa, and appear to have fallen out of cultivation, and become abandoned by their inhabitants in the time of Raja Ganga Singh, or at any rate within 30 years of annexation. At the reconquest of Oudh these villages were appropriated by Govern ment, and were soon repeopled by immigrants from Khairigarh, Dhaurah- ra, Bahraich, and Shahjahanpur. After being held for sometime on lease by the taluqdar of Patihan, they have lately been decreed to Government, the north-west corner of the pargana,— in fact the whole of the forest Chak is still very scantily inhabited. The forests along the Sarju river swarm with wild animals, and herds of wild pigs, deer, blue bulls, and antelopes wander about undisturb ed, and find abundant pasture and water ; they do great injury to the crops in the villages alongside the forest ; and great labour and trouble have to be devoted to the necessary task of watching the fields by night. Tigers are occasionally but seldom found to the south of the Sarju ; panther and leopards are more frequently met with. The inhabitants of the villages in the forest chak suffer terribly from goitre, which occasionally reaches the stage where it becomes cretinism, and from jungle fevers, generated by the decaying vegetation in the malarious swamps within the forest. These villages are mostly small and thinly peopled, but they all have very large areas of fallow, waste, and forest land within their boundaries. Tilokpur and Majaon are the only considerable villages in this portion of the pargana. The former gives its name to the taluqa held for some years by Sarabjit Sah, Taluqdar of Patihan, and now decreed to Govern ment. On the south also, in the Ganjar chak, there are no large villages except one Munra Munri which has the remains of an old fort. Here every village has a number of small hamlets scattered over its lands, and situated on rising ground just out of re&ch of the floods ; generally this part of the pargana is exactly like the Ganjar plain of pargana Bhur. There are some large, fine, and populous villages in the central chak, of these Lodbauri was formerly one of the headquarters of the Bhur taluqa ; Nighasan has a police station, a tahsil station, and a large bazar, and gives its name to the pargana. Rakheti and Parua have some fine masonry mosques and temples, and are surrounded with magnificent mango groves. There is a road running through the pargana from Palia on the west to Shitabi Ghat on the east frontier, being a part of the high road from Bahraich to Shajahanpur ; and at Bahrampur, near the centre of the par- 22 NIG gana, it is crossed at right angles by a road from Sirsi Ghat, on the south to Khairigarh on the north. There are no other roads. The ghats or ferries on the Chauka are at Margha, Sirsi, or Lalhojbu and Pachperi, a hamlet in Munra, and have been mentioned in the Bhur report. On the Sarju there are fords at Dudhua, Khairigarh, Dukherwa, and Shitabi, where the Sarju and Kauriala meet. The area and popula tion of the whole pargana is here given — Number of villages Cultivated area without fallow ... Culturable area including fallow... Barren and revenue-free ... Population Population per square mile Total 73 66,12464,8,91 16,045 1,47,160 54,683 239 The one grant which has now been partly cultivated, and is held by Rao Tula Ram, lies on the river Chauka. It has an area of 3,252 acres, and a population of 159 persons. This grant belonged at first to a Eura sian, Mr. Taylor, but was sold in execution of a decree of the civil court, and purchased by its present owner. The seven tracts of forest along the river Sarju have an area of 15,971 acres. In these forests there are a few huts here and there inhabited by herdsmen tending cattle, and boatmen taking logs of timber down the Sarju river, but the population is fleeting and inconsiderable, has never been enumerated, and is not known. For the whole pargana then the figures are as follows : — Total area. Population. Population per square mile. The 73 villages „ 1 grant „ forest 146,160 3,252 15,971 54,683 159 Not known. 239 33 Not known. 165,383 54,842 212 But as the forest will never be brought under cultivation, the forest area is to the settlement officer the same as barren land, and is excluded from all calculations about the relation of population to the cultivated and cul turable areas. For purposes of assessment, the population per square mile is not 212 but 239. There are no data for giving exact details of the number of the various castes, as the pargana has been newly constituted since the census tables were compiled. Approximately I estimate them as follows : — Muhammadans , Brahmans Chhattris 2,8003,800 1.400 NIG Vaishyas ... ... ... Allies ... — ... Banjaras ... ... Pasis ... ... Chi mars ... ... ... Kurmis ... ... Urarias ... ... ... Lodhs ... ... ... Eonias ... ... ... Muraos ... ... ... Naos All other castes having less than 1,000 each Total 54,842 There has been a considerable immigration of Muraos and Lodhs since the reconquest of Oudh. There is only one proprietary caste throughout the whole pargana, the Chauhan Rajput family of the Bhur taluqa. The old pargana of Bhur was conterminous with the boundaries of the Bhur taluqa. Proprietary rights in the pargana are thus distributed : — Name of taluqdar. Joint estate of the Rani of Raj Ganga Singh, Raj Gubardhan Singh, Raj Guman Singh, and Raj Dalipat Singh... Raj Guman Singh ... Raj Lalta Singh, a relative of the family ... ... Raj Milap Singh, ditto Raj Dalipat Singh ... ditto Rani Raj Ganga Sinah ditto Maihura Das Uoshaiu - Government ditto ditto ditto Total Remarks. Kent- free for life. Rent-free for ever. The eleven villages which do not now belong to this family did so once, the Goshain's village was given to him by a former taluqdar, and the ten villages now belonging to Government were appropriated at annexation as waste land: because they had become deserted by their inhabitants, and entirely fallen out of cultivation; they are called the Tilokpur taluqa from the name of the principal village. In a description of this pargana, the Muraos from their number and prosperity claim special notice. Like almost all of the agricultural and artizan castes, the Muraos claim to have seven subdivisions, and these subdivisions are bound down by very strict rules regulating what they may and what they may rot cultivate. The name of the subdivision that ranks first is, as in the case of many other castes, Knaujia. The other six tribes are Thakuria, Kachhwaha, Haridw£ra, Manwa, Jaiswar, and Kori. 24 NIG Muraos are enterprising and bold men, and are always ready to emi grate from their homes arid settle in new lands, specially, if they are offered easy tenures, and find soil suitable to their pecular crop, " Ubi bene est, patria est," should be the Muraos motto. Muraos cultivate all the common cereals that are grown by other castes, and a Murao's field may generally be known by the closeness of the furrows to each other, and the smallness of the clods into which the plough has broken up the soil. Of crops almost exclusively grown by this caste turmeric is the principal. This crop is grown only by the Thakurias and Haridwaras, and since annexation there has been a considerable immigration of these men into the northern villages of Bhur, who are bringing large areas of lands under turmeric cultivation. The Kanaujias are the sub-caste that abound all over pargana Nighasan, and they have been up to the present time increasing in number by immigration every year. They are not allowed by the rules of their caste to grow turmeric ; their peculiar crops are vegetables and poppy and tobacco ; they also grow onions and garlic, in great quantities, and here all castes eat garlic, and all except Brahmans eat onions. Recently the district authorities have been directed to aid the Opium Department in stimulating the cultivation of the poppy, and within the last year the plant has spread very greatly all over this pargana. Besides turmeric, onions, garlic, tobacco, and poppy, the following articles are occasionally grown by the Muraos of this pargana : — Coriander (dhania). Pepper (mircli). Purslain (luniya). Femgreek (methi). Aniseed (ajvpain). MarshmaUows (khatmij. Ginger (sonth). Endive (kasni). Anise (saunf/ The fear of destruction by wild animals prevents Muraos from growing these plants in the hdr, and they are all grown quite close to the village; whereas in England a farmer never will sow his most valuable crops, such as turnips and carrots, anywhere except at some distance from a village ' or town from fear of being robbed by them at night. It speaks well for the morality of the peasantry that the market gardener ; can rear his valuable produce unprotected by wall or fence, and, surrounded by the dwellings of a dense population, without the slightest fear or risk of being robbed. In the settlement report of the Bhur pargana I have described Ganjar scenery, but when closing my description of pargana Nighasan, I cannot refrain from making a few remarks on the description of the people of Ganjar country recently written by the Extra Assistant Commissioner, Kali Sahae. He states that the customs and manners, the dress, the food, and the language of the Ganjar people are all totally different from those of the people in the upper country, — in fact, he seems almost to consider the inha bitants of the Ganjar as a separate nation. These statements are, I think, somewhat exaggerated and likely to mis lead. There are some differences, but they seem to me to be only such as NIG 25 are naturally attributable to the backwardness and remoteness of the country. There is no great highway of commerce through it or near it, and large forests and enormous rivers are formidable barriers to the pro gress of civilization. The usual characteristics of a rustic population are found in an exaggerated form. This is the principal point of difference between ihe Ganjar and the upper country. The simplicity and ignorance of the people is certainly greater than in any other part of Oudh. I have been in villages where a European had never before been seen/where on several occasions the thekadars came for ward to offer me their nazars (presents) of three or four rupees, and showed great surprise when they were refused. In fact, once a lengthy explanation and apology on my part became necessary to remove from an old gentleman's mind the impression, that the refusal of the nazar was a direct insult, or at least a signal mark of the Hakim's displeasure. There is no difference in the language, but the pronunciation is pecu liar ; the vowels are broadened and softened, and some of the inflections in the conjugation of the verb are different from anything I have heard before. These differences are sufficient to cause some difficulty in under standing the people. But there is great, ignorance of the most ordinary Urdu or Persian words, which sometimes lead to puzzling and amusing errors. I recollect two villages, Girda Kalan and Girda Khurd. None of the inhabitants know the meaning of the distinguishing epithets. They had always called their villages Bara Girda and Chhota Girda, and now consi dered that two new names — Kaldn, and Khurd — had been bestowed on them by the Government^ They were loth to give up the old names, yet hesi tated to disobey a supposed order, so they had compromised the matter by naming their villages Bard Girda Kaldn and Chhota Girda Khurd. An old instance of a new application of a familiar term, and also of the rapidity with which historical facts are forgotten, is the name given to pargana Palia by the inhabitants of the Oudh pargana bordering it. It is always known as the Angrezi Maurusi, the hereditary dominion of the English. In dress I have found no difference except in the case of one caste, the Banjaras, whose women wear petticoats and jackets made of different coloured patches of cloth, and having no sleeves for the arms, which are bare of clothes, but generally almost covered with silver ornaments. But Banjara women dress thus wherever they may be settled. Customs and manners differ only so far as they are agricultural, and are modified by the peculiar circumstances under which husbandry is in this country carried on. In the matter of food there is some difference, — for instance rice, jundhri, and barley are almost the only grains eaten by the people, specially the first of the three ; wheaten bread is an unheard of luxury, only the cheaper kinds of rice are eaten, and the better kinds are exported. The differences in social customs, if they exist, are certainly not appa rent to a European. But the remoteness and backwardness of the country is a constant theme of merriment to native visitors from the upper country and the contempt with which an inhabitant of Kheri pargana, or of any place south of the Ul, regards the people of the Ganjar, and their country 26 NIG is most amusing to a European ; the southerner looks on the people of, the Ganjar as rustic boors, and on their country as an outlandish jungle,,. and parties and witnesses in court constantly apologize for their inability to speak intelligibly, or their ignorance of the simplest rule of procedure, by begging the presiding officer to remember that they are simple people, living in the Ganjar. The aversion with which the low river plains are regarded is most advantageous to the inhabitants, though they do not know it. But it keeps out population, and therefore keeps down competition for land. Immi grants from the upper country have to be tempted to settle by the most liberal offers. The nakshi tenure is probably more favourable to the cultivator than any other in India. Consequently the people as yet- are very well off, and it is gratifying to see their prosperity, and the independence that must accompany it, shared by low castes as well as by high. The evidences of it stare one in the face. Little children, with golden ear-rings and bracelets, meet me in every village, and the wives of even Chamars and Pasis load themselves with silver ornaments. The same is the case in Khairigarh. The independence and prosperity of the lower castes tends to weaken the feelings by which caste distinctions are supported. Brahmans, Chhat- tris, and Goshains are not ashamed here to plough with their hands; whereas in Baiswara the high caste man is degraded by the touch of the plough. In the densely inhabited villages of Baiswara, and districts in the south of Oudh, the females of the lowest castes are not allowed to wear any jewellery whatever, and generally would be too poor to possess any. The low castes keep great herds of swine, and pigs attain a size and-- fatness that would win them honourable mention even in Baker street. Dogs abound in Ganjar villages, testifying by their independent bearing and loud and bold barkings that they too share in the general prosperity^ Banjaras specially have a fine large breed of dogs which they use for the chase of wild animals, principally boars, of the flesh of which this caste is immoderately fond. Garerias also keep dogs in great numbers for watching their flocks of sheep and goats. Table s hoioing the populat £ow o/ f/ie pargana. s S 6 1 CD ft .a HINDUS. MU SALMAN. Total. SCD A Agriculture. NON-i-GRlCUL- TURB. AGRICULTURE. NON-AQKI0UL- TURE. j aCObo OS M Male. Female. Male. Female. Male, Female. Male. Female, ¥ a c3 d +3 a oi H oS P c3 bo rt rt 3S % P 2 q I ro q 9 1 to 3 3 3 aft S3 i « ai 'A o w < xio 'a< e e ¦d < .4 •a a o 4 t3 < Muhammadans ... ... 360 Male ... ... 1,387' I Male ... ... 182 Female .. ... 1,256 I Female ... ... 1J8 PACHHIMRATH Pargana*— Tahsil BlKAVVR— District Fyzabad.— It is said that an influential Bhar chief, of the name of Rathor, founded the village of Rath, now known as R:'ihet, to which he gave his own name. Here he had his residence, and made his revenue collections. He is also traditionally believed to have founded another village to the eastward in the direction of Chiran Chupra, to which he gave the same name and used in the same way. From that day the one village was known as Pachhim (the western) Rath, the other Ptirab (the eastern) Rath, This is the qanungo's account. The more likely tradition as to the name is that men tioned in the account of pargana Haweli Oudh, and which I obtained from Maharaja Man Singh — viz., that at a former period the territory between the rivers Gogra and Gumti was known as Pachhimrath and Purabrath. From the village of Pachhimrath or Rahet the pargana takes its name. More than 200 years ago one Bhngan Rae, Bais, whose family history will be detailed further on, came from Baiswara, and founded the bazar still known as Rampur Bhagan. A Government fort was also there built, and the Government revenue was thereafter collected there. This tahsil contained the four zila subdivisions of Kul Saraon, Achhora, Asthana, and Bhadaula. There was also formerly the usual tappa distribution, and the names of these subdivisions; are marginally indicated, but they have long been set aside. The pargana during native rule con sisted of 856 townships, of which 50 were offshoots (ddhhilis). Under the opera tions of the demarcation department these villages were reduced to 467 in number. Of these 104 villages have since been transferred to parganas Am- sai and Mangalsi, to give convenient jurisdictions, while 52 other villages have, for the same reason, been added from the jurisdictions marginal ly noted, so that pargana Pachhim- Kuoudh. SuftaniTr: rath, as now constituted, contains 415 Majhaura. townships. No. of No. Name. town- Bhips. • 1 Raheb 84 2 Buru ... ... 72 3 Mehdona ... 56 4 Malnhtu 70 6 Ankari ... 62 f> Mawai ... ... 64 7 Kut saraon 100 8 Bhadauli ... 74 9 Paiswi ... 92 10 Pendai ... ... 90 11 Ahran ... ... Total 82 856 *By Mr. P. Carnegy, Commissioner, PAC 35 This pargana is bounded on the east by Majhaura, on the west by Rudaul' of Bara Banki, on the north by Haweli Oudh, and on the south by Sultanpur Baraunsa, of the Sultanpur district. The pargana is intersected by two unnavigable rivulets, the Madha and the Bisoi. The former stream takes its rise in the village of Basorhi in the Bara Banki district. The latter has its source in the Anjar jhil in pargana Sultanpur of the district of that name. After passing through Pachhimrath these streams unite in the neighbourhood of the town of Majhaura, and from that point the river is known as the Tons, on which stands the station of Azamgarh ; the stream is rendered memorable by traditionary associations with Ram Chandra. There are remains of the former Bhar population in about 32 villages of this jurisdiction, the chief of these being those Intgaon. which are marginally mentioned. Mehdona. Khiaran. The following details embrace such meagre par- Sardfand Gandor ticulars as have been ascertained regarding the for mer landed proprietors of the jurisdiction — Chauhans of Ahran. — The family traditions set forth that one Rae Bhan Rae of this clan, the ancestor of Tahdil Singh and Amar Singh, the present representatives of the family, came with his followers from Main- puri to bathe at Ajodhya, some 400 years ago, and ended in replacing the Bhars and assuming possession of 565 villages, of which however 125 only were of this pargana, the rest being of Isauli, Sultanpur, and Khan- dansa. R£e Bhan Rae was succeeded by his two sons, Jale Rae and Dunia Rae, who divided the property equally between them. The. estate of the former of these brothers was swallowed up by the Bhale Sultan tribe, a century and a half ago. The portion of the estate ( 62 king's mauzas) which pertains to this pargana, and which belonged to the other brother, remained in the proprietary possession of his descendants till annexation ; they have since lost the Intgaon estate under settlement decree. The offspring ,of Rae Bhan Rae are still found inhabiting 16 villages, and the revenue they pay under the revised assessment amounts to Rs. 19,721. The Bais of Malahtu. — The family traditions have it that some 200 years ago, one Jamuni Bhan Singh, of this clan, the ancestor of Kunjal and Bhabut, the present representatives of the family, came from Mungi Patan, in the province of Malwa (the locality whence the Bais of Baiswara also trace their advent), and overthrew and dispossessed the Bhars, and increased his estate till it contained 84 villages, including the Kurawan and Para Malahtu properties of 42 villages in this pargana, and the Joha- r.jmpur property of 42 villages in pargana Sultanpur. The 42 Pachhim rath villages are now included in 10 demarcated villages, and to these the descendants of Jamuni Bhan have subproprietary claims; they are residents of five of them. The Bais of Sohwal and Buru. — Jagat Rae, of this clan, the ancestor of Subhan Singh, Autar Singh, and others, now living, came from Baiswara some 400 years ago, and aided in the suppression of the Bhars. He had 36 PAC two sons, Rudr Sah and Mehndi Sah. The former established the Burli estate of 27 villages, the latter the Mehdona estate of a similar number of villages. These properties are now included in the estate of Maharaja Sir Man Singh, and in six of these villages only have the Bais anything resembling a subproprietary position, in some of the others they still cultivate the soil. The Bais of Uchhapali. — About 300 or 400 years ago, Newad Sah, of this tribe, the ancestor of Isri Singh and others, still living, came from Baiswara, and succeeded the Bhars in the management of this estate, which he then increased to 20 mauzas ('villages). Newad Sah in his lifetime made over eight of these villages to his priest, a Tiwari Brahman. The offspring of Newad Sah are still in subordinate possession of the remaining 12 villages. The Bais of Rampur, Bhagan— Tikri, &c, Moti Rae, and Chhote Rae, two brothers of this tribe, the ancestors of Jaskaran Singh, Binda Singh, Saroman Singh, &c, who are still living, came from Baiswara with a far- man for 104 villages, and the office of chaudhri, from Jahangfr Shah, and fought the Bhars, replacing them in the possession of mauza Nitwari, Chhatarpur, and 51 other villages of tappa Parsumi, and 52 villages of tappa Pindii, including Rampur Bhagan. The office of Chaudhri of tappa Rahet was also held by the family in the person of the direct ancestor of Jaskaran Singh, but this office they had lost long before annexation. This family still holds most of the ancestral property in direct engage ment with the State, and it is now represented by 41£ demarcated vil lages. Five other villages had, however, passed into taluqas before annex ation. The Bais of Gandor. — One Chhatai Singh, of this tribe, the ancestor of Dunia Singh and Daljit Singh, now living, came irom Baiswara 300 years ago, and took service with some Bhar chief. Having afterwards invited his master to partake of his hospitality, he put him to death, and took possession of his estate. Chhatai Singh had three sons, Chandi Kfc who succeeded to Gandor, and whose descendants in the present gene ration still hold the parent village in their proprietary possession. They have been named above. Kalian Rae, who founded Kalian Bahadarsa, pargana Haweli Oudh, and Barsingh Rae, who founded mauza Barsingh in the came pargana. From the above details it will be seen that there are no less than five families of Bais alleging a separate and distinct advent and origin in this pargana. There are four similar families in the neighbouring pargana of Mangalsi, and one in Haweli Oudh. I request attention to my note on the Bais of Mangalsi, for the observations there recorded apply equally here. All these Bais are looked down upon and disowned by the Tilok- chandi Bais, and I have no doubt that their ancestors were persons of low origin, who have been admitted within the last few centuries only to a place amongst the Rajput tribes. Two taluqas have their centres in this pargana, Khajurahat and Meh dona. Of these I now proceed to give some details. PAC 37 The Bachgotis of Khajurahat. — Babu Abhai Datt Singh, the present owner of this taluqa, is the younger brother of Babu Jai Datt Singh of Bhiti ; both being offshoots of the Kurwar raj. An account of the elder of these brothers is given in the Majhaura history, but some further parti culars of the family have since been obtained, and these may as well be given heft. After the overthrow of Shuja-ud-daula at the battle of Buxar, more than 80 years ago, he is known for a time to have abandoned the neighbour hood of Fyzabad, and to have spent some months in the direction of Rohilkhand. Advantage was taken of his absence by, amongst others, Duniapat, the then taluqdar of Kurwar, to increase his possessions by annexing thereto Khajurahat and numerous other estates of parganas Pachhimrath and Haweli Oudh, but, on the return of the Nawab, the Babu was again deprived of all these new acquisitions. After the death of Shuja-ud-daula, and in the days when his widow, the Bahti Begam, held this part of the country as jagir, Babu Bariar Singh, a younger brother of Duniapat, again succeeded in acquiring a property in these parganas, which paid an annual demand of Rs. 80,000 to the State, and of this estate he retained possession till 1232 fasli. In the following year, owing to the Babu's default, the then Nazim Valayat Ali deprived him of his entire property. In 1234 fasli, the nazim returned to the Babu the Khaju rahat portion of the property, consisting of 26 villages, held on an annual rent of Rs. 6,000, but of which sum Rs. 4,700 was remitted on account of the taluqdar's nankiir. The rest of the estate was settled village by village with the zamindars, with whom the nazim entered into direct engagement. This state of things ran on till 1243 fasli, when the then Nazim, Mirza Abdulla Beg, made the Bhiti and Khajurahat properties, consisting of the entire estate that Babu Bariar Singh and his predecessor had accumulated, over to the chief of the rival clan of the neighbourhood, Babu Harpal Singh Garagbansi, the ancestor of the taluqdar of Khapra- dih. Babu Bariar Singh then fled to the British territories where he soon afterwards died. In 1245 fasli, Raja Darshan Singh became nazim, and during his rule the sons of Bariar Singh, Babus Jai Datt Singh and Abhai Datt Singh, were restored to the Bhiti and Khajurahat estates, which moreover were con siderably added to. The two brothers divided the family property in 1259 fasli, the elder receiving the Bhiti estate, estimated at one and a half share, and the younger Khajurahat, of one share. The former of these now consists of 81 villages paying Rs. 37,850-10-0 per annum to the State, the latter of 54| villages paying Rs. 21,472. These brothers are highly respected, and I look upon them as amongst the best of our smaller taluqdars. The Sangaldipi Brahmans of Mehdona. — According to the family records, Sadasukh Pathak was a Sangaldipi Brahman of note in Bhoj- pur, who held the office of chaudhri. In the general confusion that followed the overthrow of Shuja-ud-daula by the English in that quarter, Gopalram, the son of Sadasukh Pathak, left his home, and finally settled in the village of Nandnagar Chori, pargana Amorha, zillah Basti, about the 38 PAC end of the last century. Purandar Ram Pathak, son of Gopalram, subse quently crossed the river, and married into the «h1ud^Sh.gh- family of Sadhai Ram, Misr, zamindar of Palia, Inebha Singh. in the Fyzabad district, which latter village he narshan Smgh. thenceforth made his home. Purandar Ram had Debi Parshad Singh. fiye gong> whoge names are marginally detailed. . The eldest of these commenced life as a trooper in the old Bengal Regular Cavalry. Whilst Bakhtawar Singh was serving in this capacity at Luck now, his fine figure and manly bearing attracted the notice of Nawab Saadat ' Ali Khan, who having obtained his discharge, appointed him a jamadar of cavalry, and shortly afterwards made him a risaldar. After the death of Saidat Ali, Bakhtawar Singh secured the favour of Ghazi-ud-din Haidar, the first king of Oudh, which led to his further advancement, and to the acquisition of the life-title of raja. This title was subseqently granted in perpetuity by Muhammad Ali 'Shah, when he also turned the Mehdona property into a raj, under the following farman,, under date the 13th Rabi-us-sani, 1253 Hijri. ''Whereas the services, intelligence, and devotion of Raja Bakhtawar Singh are well known to and appreciated by me, I therefore confer upon him the proprietary title of the Mehdona estate, to be known hereafter as a raj, of which I constitute and appoint him the raja in perpetuity. All rights and interests pertaining thereto — such as sir, sayar jagir, nankar, abkari, transit dues, &c, as well as a revenue assignment of 42 mauzas, and some smaller holdings, are also gifted to him for ever. He is, more over, considered the premier raja of Oudh, and all the other rajas are to recognize him as such. All Government dues and revenue from the villages alluded to are released for ever, and no other is to consider him self entitled to share these bounties with the raja. " The detail of the grant is as follows : — " 1. Cash nankar, Rs. 74,616-8-9. . ,:• " 2. Mum and jagir lands, 41 villages, and some smaller holdings; " 3. Sir, 10 per cent. (? of the estate) to be revenue-free. "4. Sayar, including the bazar dues of Shahganj, Darshaunagar, and Raeganj, and all transit duties on the estate. " 5. Abwab faujdari, including all fines levied. "6. Abwab diwani, including periodical tribute, occasional offerings, and fees on marriages and births. " Bakhtawar Singh then summoned his younger brother Darshan Singh to Court, and the latter soon received the command of a regiment. This was followed in 1822-23 by the appointment of Darshan Singh to the chakla of Salon and Baiswara, and in 1827 to the nizamat of Sultanpur, including Fyzabad, &c Shortly after this Darshan Singh obtained the title of Raja Bahadur for his services to the State, in apprehending and sending in to Lucknow Shuidin Singh, Bahrela, Taluqdar of Siirajpur, dis trict Bara Banki, a notorious disturber of the public peace and revenue defaulter of those days. In 1.842 A.D., Raja Darshan Singh obtained the nizamat of Gonda Bahraich, which he had previously held for a short time in 1836, and he then seriously embroiled himself with the NaipM PAC! 39 authorities in the following year, by pursuing the present Maharaja of Balrampur, Sir Digbijai Singh, whom he accused of being a revenue defaulter into that territory. The circumstances connected with this aggression of territory are fully d'etailed by Sleeman at page 59, Vol. I, of his Journal. The pressure at that time put upon the king of Oudh by Lord Elleatoorough, led to the dismissal from office and imprisonment of Raja Darshan Singh, and to the resumption in direct management of the Mehdona estate, which the brothers had already created. But all these punishments were merely nominal, for in a very few months Raja Darshan Singh was released from confinement, retiring for a time to the British terri tories, while the elder brother, Raj a Bakhtawar Singh, was allowed to resume the management of the Mehdona estate; and this was almost immediately followed by Raja Darshan Singh being again summoned to court, when without having performed any new service to the State, he had the further title of Saltanat-Bahadur conferred upon him. But the rtija did not long t.-- t>- -ji- 0- ,_ survive to enjoy these new honours, for within a Ba]a Ramadhin Singh, „ • 1 i j -,i -n j* i ¦ -, Raja Kaghubardayai Singh, iew weeks he was seized with an illness from which md Mahaaja Man Singh, he never recovered, and it was with difficulty that ^na^Sin'^ )"amed H^Q°" he was conveyed t0 tlle enchanted precincts .of holy ''' ai l' s Ajodhya where he speedily breathed his last, leaving three sons whose names are marginally indicated. " In 1845 A.D., Man Singh, the youngest of these sons, was appointed nazim of Daryabad-Rudauli, at the early age of 24, and to this charge the Sultanpur nizamat was also afterwards added. Man Singh soon gained his spurs by an expedition against the then owner of the Surajpur estate (for overthrowing whose predecessor, Shiudin Singh, his father, had also obtained honours, in October, 1830), in the course of which that taluqdar's fort was surrounded and assaulted, and its owner, Singhji Singh, captured and sent to Lucknow (see Sleeman's Journal, page 256, Vol II;. For this service Man Sing obtained the title of Raja-Bahadur. In 1847 A. D„ Man Singh was ordered to proceed against the stronghold of the Gargbansi chief, Harpal Singh. The details of that affair are also to be found in Sleeman's Journal, Vol. I, page 144. There are two sides to the story. The one is that Harpal finding his fort surrounded, and resistance hopeless, surrendered at discretion and unwittingly lost his life. The other is that he was betrayed under promises of safety into a conference, and ;was beheaded in cold blood. One thing is certain, that the transaction was looked on in different lights at Fyzabad and at Lucknow. The local tradition of what occurred is not favourable to the chief actor in the tragedy, while the service he had performed was thought so important at the capital, that Qaemjang (stedfast in fight) was added ,to the existing distinctions of the young raja. As an impartial historian, T am bound to add that I have yet to learn that any fight at all took place, when Harpal Singh, who was at the time in wretched health, met his Jdeath. In 1855, Raja Man Singh obtained the further honourary titles of 'Saltanat-Bahadur for apprehending and sending to Lucknow, where he fvas at once put to death, the notorious pioclaimed offender Jagannath maprasi, whose proceedings occupy no inconsiderable space in Sleeman's Journal. 40 PAC " Almost simultaneously with the last recorded event, Raja Bakhtawar Singh died at Lucknow. He left a widowed daughter but no son, and on the evidence , of Sleeman, who had good opportunities of knowing (and who wrote in Februa.ry, 1850, while Bakhtawar Singh still lived), he had previously nominated as his sole heir Raja Man Singh, the youngest of the three sons of Darshan Singh. The following is a free translation of Raja Bakhtawar Singh's last Will and Testament, now in the possession of the family of the Maharaja : — ' It is known to one and all that by my own unaided exertions I obtained the favour of my sovereign who conferred on me the title of raja, the proprietary functions of which rank I have to this time exercised in the Mehdona estate, which was also created by the royal order into a raj ; and moreover other properties were also purchased or acquired by mortgage by me, which are held in the name and under the management of my brothers, Raja Darshan Singh, Inchha Singh, and Debi- parshad ; and also in the names of my nephews. It had recently hap pened that in my old age I had been imprisoned for arrears of revenue, and although my brother Inchha Singh and others of my family still lived, it fell to the lot of Man Singh alone to assist me as a son, and by the payment of lacs of rupees to release me from my difficulties. Whereas the recollection of a man is only kept alive by the presence of offspring, and whereas I have not been blessed with a son, therefore be it known • that while still in the full exercise of my senses, I have voluntarily adopted Raja Man Singh as my own son and representative, and have made over to him, with the sanction of the Government, my entire property howsoever acquired and wheresoever situated, and whether till lately held in my own name and management or in the name and management of other mem bers of the family. All my possessions have now been transferred by me to Raja Man Singh, and his name has been substituted for my own in the Government records. No brother or nephew has any right or claim against. the said Raja Man Singh, who will be my sole representative in perpetui ty. But whereas it is a duty incumbent on me and on Raja Man Singh>: to make provision for the other members of the family, both now and hereafter, therefore the following details are to be followed, so that they may never suffer from want. At the same time it is incumbent on the said relatives to treat Man Singh as their own son, taking care that they never fail to conform to his wishes in all things. Should they fail in doing so, he has full- power to resume their allowances. " In view to these wishes being carried out this deed of gift (Hibanama) has been penned : — Detail. 1. To my widow ... ... .. Rs. 201 per mensem in cash. 2. ,, Ramadliin Singh ... ... „ 600 „ „ ., 3. „ Kaghubar Singh and his sons 100 „ „ ,, 4. Inchha Singh and his sons, Bo. 500 per mensem : thus, Rs 800 to Inchha Singh and 200 to his sons. 6. To Hardatt Singh and his brothers and his so is Rs. 300 per mensem in cash. 6. „ Harnarain Singh ... ... (> mo () n „ 7. „ Darshan Singh's temple ... ... „ 300 „ „ „ The Sargaddwar Thakurdwara ... ... SO „ „ n TheRajghat ... ... 20 , TheSurajkund ^ 10 » » M 8. Certain lands were also assigned lo different persons and objects which need not be detailed.' " PAC 41 . , When Oudh was annexed Raja Man Singh was found in possession of Mehdona, the family property, with a then paying jama, after deduction of Rs. 66,053 nankar, of Rs. 1,91,174. He was at that time returned as a defaulter to the extent of Rs. 50,000 Of revenue due to the ex-king. In consequence he was deprived at the first summary settlement of his entire estate, and sought refuge for a time in Calcutta. This did not, however, prevent his offering protection and convoy to such of the Fyzabad officials as chose to accept it, when they had to flee from Fyzabad, nor did it prevent him from procuring boats for them> and starting them safely on their voyage down the river. The mutiny found the raja a prisoner in our hands, and he was released in order that he might protect our women and children. Of these proceedings the Deputy Commissioner, Captain Reid, at the time thus wrote : — " Without Raja Man Singh's assistance it would have been quite im possible to get away this large number, and for his good services he well deserves our gratitude. I was always opposed to the plan of imprisoning him. He was the only man who could have saved Fyzabad aided by our treasury, and I believe he would have done it." At a subsequent period the raja was instrumental in saving Mrs. Mill and other Europeans, who Certified to his uniform kindness and considera tion. On these services Sir John Lawrence made the following remarks on the Occasion of his great Lucknow Darbar : — " You have in my estimation a special claim to honour and gratitude, inasmuch at the commencement of the mutiny in 1857, you gave refuge to more than fifty English people in your fort at Fyzabad, most of whom were helpless women and children, and thus, by God's mercy, were instru mental in saving all their lives." In the earlier days of the mutiny, Maharaja Man Singh remained in constant communication with Mr. Gubbihs, the former Financial Commis sioner, and Sir Charles Wingfield; who was then at Gorakhpur, and he was an earnest advocate for an advance against Lucknow by the Gogra and Fyzabad route. So long as there was a chance of such a movement being carried out, he never wavered in his allegiance to the British Government^ but having previously made it distinctly known that such would of neces sity be the result if no such movement was speedily carried out, no sooner did he hear that the scheme of an advance by the Gogra route had been abandoned, than he proceeded to join the rebel cause at Lucknow. During the siege of the Residency, although the Maharaja had com mand of an important rebel post, he was in frequent communication with the garrison, and there is little question that had his heart been in the rebel cause, he could have made our position even more disagreeable than it was, and colour is given to this belief from the fact, that when Lucknow fell, Man Singh returned to his fort of Shahganj, where he in turn was 42 PAG besieged by the rebels, and had actually to be -relieved by a force under Sir H. Grant. On the return of peace, the title of Maharaja was conferred on Man Singh. The estate he possessed at annexation was restored to him, and the confiscated property of the Raja of Gonda was made over to him in proprie tary title for his services. In the great Oudh controversies that have for several years engaged so -large a share of the public attention, Maharaja Man Singh was the mouth piece, as he undoubtedly also represented the intellect of the taluqdars; and it was for the assistance rendered in bringing these controversies to a satisfactory close, that he had so recently been decorated by commaad of Her Majesty with the Star of India. The words of the Viceroy on pre senting this decoration were these : — " Maharaja Man Singh, Her Majesty the Queen of England and India, having heard of your good services in various important matters connected with the administration of the pro vince of Oudh, has thought fit to appoint you a Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India." It will thus be seen that the Shahganj family is but of yesterday. It was created by a daring soldier of fortune, and it was ennobled by another, who to courage of an admittedly high order, added an intellect than "which there were few more able or more subtle. Since this biography was sketched, the subject of it has been gathered] to his fathers. He died in his 50th year after a protracted illness of 'eighteen months, contracted in the over-zealous performance of onerous duties connected with the final settlement and consolidation of the taluq- -dari system of Oudh, It is a remarkable circumstance that the year 1870 has proved fatal to all the three sons of Raja Darshan Singh. Raja Raghubardayal, the second son, died on the second May, 1870 ; Maharaja Sir Man Singh, K.C.S.I, the youngest, on the 11th October, 1870, and Raja Rs'vmadhin, the eldest, on the 13th November, 1870. Of these the first mentioned will ever be remembered with a shudder by the readers of Sleeman's Journal, as the cruel official devastator of the Trans-Gogra districts. The latter long devoted himself with credit to the management of the family property, but in con sequence of a petty zanana dispute he relinquished the charge and betook hiself for several years to a life of devotion at Benares. He, however, returned to Oudh shortly before the province was annexed, and since then the brothers have made Shahganj a fortified town, founded by the uncle! and father, and which is situated 14 miles south of Fyzabad, their general residence. Maharaja Man Singh has left a daughter who has a son, Kunwar Paruib Narain Singh, to whom it was bis intention that his fine estate, which at present yields a revenue of Rs. 4,32,128 per annum to Government (not including the Gonda property) should eventually descend, but the will leaves the property to the widow who is not the lad's grandmother, and to her is assigned the duty of finally naming the heir, PAC 43 The will is in the following terms : — Jo " Whereas my intentions as to the nomimation of any of the youths (of the family) as my representative have not as yet been finally matured, it is necessary in the meantime to appoint the Maharani as representative and proprietrlS, that slies until such time as she may appoint a representative, may remain as my representative and proprietrix, but without the powejs. of transfer. No co-sharer has any concern whatever with my property, real or personal. I have therefore written and filed this will and testa ment, that at the proper time it may take effect. Dated 22nd April/ 1862." ' The other brothers, who were men, of an altogether inferior stamp,. have each left several sons, who are supported, by the estate. It is popularly averred, with what truth it is hard to say, that on one, occasion Raja Bakhtawar Singh intimated his intention of leaving his estates to Rimadhm, his riches to Rughubardayal, and his army to his favourite, Man Singh. He was asked how the army was to be supported without property or wealth, and. he is said to have replied naively, — " I am no judge of men, if he who gets the army does not very, soon, possess himself of the estates and the treasure as well." Be the truth of this story, what it may, the-Maharaja rested his right and title to the estates on Raja Bakhtawar Singh's last will and testament, a free translation of which has already been given.. The following letters referred1 to the Mah&rdja's services during the mutiny :— " The undersigned being about to leave the escort of Raja Man Singh, desire to place on record, the high sense they entertain of the services he has rendered them. " When the danger of tile mutiny of the troops at Fyzabad became im minent, he came forward of his own accord and offered an asylum to all the ladies and children- at his fort of Shahganj, and his offer was gladly accepted, and eight women and fourteen children of this party (besides three others) were sent there. "^ Shortly after the emeute took place they were joined by their husbands, and Raja Man Singh made arrangements to forward the whole by water to Dinapore. "Though the party lost their money and valuables en route (this was owing to an untoward accident which the raja could not possibly have foreseen), the voyage on the whole has been as satisfactory as could be expected, and free from the extreme misery and discomfort which other refugees have experienced. " Without the personal aid of the raja, it would have been quite impracti cable to get off such a large number of persons (29). There can be no 44 PAC doubt that under Providence we are indebted to him, for our safe passage to this place. (Sd). J. Reid, Capt. „ A. P, Orr, Capt. „ F. A. V. Thukburn, Capt. GopAlptjr, "» „ John Dawson, Capt. *.} The 24th June, 1857.. j „ E. O. Bradford, Ex. Asst.Commr.% ". This is to certify that by the kind assistance of Raja Man Singh, I and my three children, and also three sergeants' wives, with their families,. have been protected, and our lives, indeed, saved. "When the disturbance took place at Fyzabad my husband, Major Mill, Artillery, had made, as he imagined, every careful arrangement for the safety of myself and our children, but by some mismanagement and unto-. ward circumstances, of which I know not the cause, it appears he was obliged to fly without me, though he gave orders for me to, be sent for. As I and the children were hidden andplaced under (on the night of the 7th June) the care of a person who had promised to do everything that was needed but who proved false to his trust, I did not get a boat till Wednesday, the 9th, and that was through other people's influence. I proceeded scarcely above a mile from Guptar Ghat when my boat was stopped by order of the sepoys of the 6th Regiment Oudh Irregular Infantry, and several came on board and threatened to kill me and my children unless I immediately left the boat, which I therefore was obliged to do. I was told that we should be killed if we remained in the station, and the same fate would also await me if I took another boat; however I determined to try if safety could be obtained by water, and engaged a small boat, for which I had to pay 8ft rupees. I was taken over to the opposite side, and there again threatened with death from every one I. met, as the Delhi Badshah had given orders to that effect. We were then put on shore, hurriedly left there, and all my property left behind, I wandered from village to village with my children for about a fortnight, existing on the charity of the villagers, when Raja Man Singh discovered the fact, and most generously took us under. his care, and has been exceedingly kind and attentive, providing us with all we needed, food and clothing ; and he is now about to send me on towards Gorakhpur, to the charge of Mr. Osborne, by the request of Mr. Paterson. I most sincerely hope and trust Government will amply reward the Raja for his uniform kindness to all Europeans ; had Raja Man Singh not pro* tected us we must all have perished, and we are deeply indebted t^o hira, for his great assistance. <'Oudh, ^ „(gD) Maria Mill, " Wife of Major John Mill, A Population. — The distribution of races, ,} " The 7th July, 1857. j " Wife °f MaJor J°hv> Mill, Arty!1 Brians '" Z U*" \T' in *his P"*"* is *» P^ ^rgin. ^ Koris, Kurmis, and Ahirs 16 „ residents are mostly agricultural, one-hal{ 5?"8a.lc?*_.s.. **" o! " 0^ which are well-to-do, the other half being poor. Sixty per cent, of the houses are tiled. Other castes ... 24 Name. Souls. 1. Rampur Bhagan ... 550 2. Agh&gafij ... ... 225 3. Shahganj ... 725 4. Darabganj, ... Dhanffipur ... ... 415 B. ... 250 6. Jinan ... ... 350 PAC 45 Trade. — The principal bazars are marginally indicated, and trade is in the hands of petty dealers who appear to have few, if any, transactions beyond the limits of the pargana. Fairs and shrines. — There are three paltry annual fairs in this pargana. (1). Astilc. — In mauza Purai Birbal a fair is held for two or three days in the month of Sawan, in connexion with the feast of snakes (Nag Panchmi), which is attended by some hundreds of people of the neigh bourhood who go to make offerings at this shrine. (2). SUdkund. — In mauza Taron Darabganj a fair is held in Kartik and Chait, where those of the neighbours assemble who oannot join in the larger half-yearly gatherings at Ajodhya for the purpose of commemorating important events in the life of Ram Chandar. The tradition is that Sita offered sacrifice at this place on her way back from the wilds, and dug the tank in which the pilgrims bathe to commemorate the event. (3.) Surajkund. — In mauza Rampur Bhagan 1,000 or 1,200 people assemble here the first Sunday after the 6th day of Bhadon to com memorate the birth of the sun. During the day salt in every shape is eschewed, and a strict fast, extending even to abstaining from drinking water, is maintained from sunset till sun rise the next morning. PACHHOHA Pargana — Tahsil Shaharad — District Hardoi. — Thispar- gana is bounded on the north by the Shahjahanpur district of the North- Western Provinces, on the east by pargana Shahabad, on the south by Pali pargana, and on the west by the districts of Farukhabad and Shah jahanpur. The area is 56,280 acres or about 88 square miles, divided as follows : — Cultivated ... ... ... 42,901 acres. Irrigated ... ... ... 13,802 „ TJnirrigated ... ... ... 28,559 ,, Culturable ... ... ... 10,275 „ rjnculturable ... ... ... 3,644 „ Total ... 56.280 The soil is chiefly bhur (sandy). There are two rivers — the Garra and the Sunsaha Chanab. There is only one road from Thatheora to Farukhabad. The Government revenue demand amounts to Rs. 44,284-2-6. There are 17 schools and two post-offices. The population is 30,420 ; the number of houses 4,980. Pachhoha pargana was in the Nawabi, included in Pali. In 1834 the pargana was named " Pachhoha Dehat," and a tahsildar was appointed owing to the defalcation of the Pachhoha zamindars. This tahsildar resided at Bilsar. Pachhoha was formed into a separate pargana after annexation. The village of Pachhoha lies west of the fort of Pali, and hen.ce the name. The zamindars are mostly Panwars. 46 PAH PAHXRAPTJR Pargana-^-Tahsil Gonda— District Gonda.— This pargana. is bounded on the north by pargana Gonda, on the south by Guwarich, on the west by Hisampur of the Bahraich district, and on the east by some villages of pargana Gonda. Formerly it contained only 63,193 acres,, divided into 114 villages, but since the recent survey in 1876, 14 more villages, with an area of 10,098 acres, have been transferred to this pargana from Hisampur. Now therefore the pargana contains 128 villages, with an area of 73,391 acres, or 115 square miles. The surface is. level; un- colturable land amounts to. 7,346 acres, barren land to 15,026 acres, and; groves cover 3,880 acres. The irrigated land is 8,095 acres, or 19 per cent., and unirrigated 39,044 acres or 81 per cent. There are no forests. within the limits of the pargana. There are no large rivers. The Tirhi, which traverses the pargana from west to east, is neither used for naviga tion nor irrigation. It does mischief during the rains by inundating the> villages which border it. The only crop peculiar to this pargana is dunsi dhsin, which is sown in Baisakh (April) and cut in Sawan (July): It is never in danger of being submerged by the flood, as it continues to grow as the water rises, so that its top is never covered. Water is met with at 6 to 9 feet from the sur face. There, is no disease peculiar to the pargana. During October and, November fever is somewhat prevalent. The revenue of the pargana amounts to Rs. 93,618-2-0, Rs.. 91,328, being land revenue and Rs. 2,290-2-0 cesses. The pargana is held chiefly by the rajas of Kapurthala and. Singha. Chanda. The Bishambharpur estate belongs to the heirs of Mah raja Man Singh. The villages arc thus held : — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... Si Zamindari ... ... ... ... 55 Pattidari ... ... ... ... 21 Bhayyachara ... ... ... 5 Total ... 166 Including coparcenary tnulials. — — The tribal distribution of property is as follows : — Brahman ••• ... ... ... 83 Bais Chhattri ... ... ... 12 Kalhans Chhattri ... ... ... 9 Musalmau ... ... ... ... 9 Nanakshahi faqir ... ... ... 8 Chauhan Chhattri ... ... ... 2 Gosbain ... ... ... ... 2 Janwar Chhattri ... ... ... 1 Bairagi Caqir ... ... ... 1 Kurmi ... ... ... ... 1 Total ... 128 villages. The total population amounts to 46,990. The numbers of the prevailing castes are as under :— Brazilians ... ... ... ... 7.352 Ahir ... ... ... ... 2i566 Kahar ... ... ... ... a^ag Murao ... .., ... ... 1957- PAH 47 Lodh 1,665 Klirnii ••• ... ... ... l',l«6 Goshain ... ... ... . j 433 Chbatlri ... ... ... ... 1395 Pathan ... ... ... [" ^35! Dliunia ... ... ... ... ,285 Gararia ... ... ... ... ] y^? Bl:urji ... ... ... ... ^'057 Banian ... ... ... ... 973 Kayath ... ... ,„ ... 962 These live in 11,587 houses, all of which are mud built. The only masonry buildings are four thakurdwaras. As has been before said, there is no other river in this pargana than the Tirhi which runs only during the rains. Then communication is made by ferries at the following places: — Chhoti Ghat. I Pura Hori. Kakarha. 'Balpur Ghat. Shah Jot. I f Hiwanpur Ghat. There is hardly any traffic. There is a bazar called Katra in this pargana, which is a cattle market of some note. Village schools have been established at the following places : — Muhamm.idpur, with ... 60 pupils Katra bazar „ ... ... 71 „ Bramvan i» ... - ... 48 „ Parsa » ... ... 40 „ Dab n agar ., ... *•• 47 }> Bartpnr ,, ... ... 33 „ Paharapur „ ... ... 40 „ There is a registry office at Katra bazar. History. — It is said that formerly the headquarters of the district were in village Lauda, which still exists three miles west of Paharapur. The country was then in the possession of Nule Sah, a Tharu chief. This was at the time when Judhishtir, the hero of the Mahabharath, reigned atHas- tinapur. Some time after the Tharu line became extinct, and Raja Pithora of Delhi annexed this country to his kingdom. On the fall of the Hin dus at Delhi, and the ascendency of the Muhammadans, Chhitan, a Brah man, became lord of it. Nothing further is known till the end of the 17th century when (1692) Raja Datt Singh, of Gonda, annexed this country to his dominions, and gave it the name of Paharapur. Since this time it has remained in the uninterrupted possession of the Gonda rajas. The only famous battle is that fought between Alawal Khan Nazim and Raja Datt Singh of Gonda, It occurred at Balpur Ghat, cost the life of the Nazim himself and thousands of his followers. *This is crossed by the road that leads from Gonda to Bahramghat. fThiB is crossed by the road from Colonelganj to Balrampur. A wooden bridge is only kept up iu the dry weather. 4S PAH— PAI There is ho religious building in this pargana which particularly requires notice. The only fair is that held in Phagun on Shiurattri in honbuf of Barkhandi Nath Mahadeo. Katra bazar is the only place in the pargana which has a population of Over 2,000 PAILA Pargana — Tahsil Lakh^mpur — District Kheri. — Pargana Paila includes the old pargana of Karanpur which has lately been joined to it. It now contains 119 villages covering an area of 105 square miles. The general features and history of the two portions of the pargana — viz., par gana Paila proper and the old pargana Of Karanpur> which were sepa rately assessed, are as follows : — Pargana Paila proper is bounded on the north by the old pargana of Karanpur, on the east by pargana Kheri, on the south by pargana Basara, and on the west by parganas Kasta and Sikandarabad. It contains 59 regularly demarcated villages, comprising a total area of 32,910 acres or 51 42 square miles, with a population of 345 to the square mile. The cultivated area is 17,649 and the culturable and fallow 11,091 acres more, or a total assessed area of 28,740 acres, out Of 4,170 acres. Of the unassessable area thefe are 910 acres under groves, and 32 acres still released as rent-free grants, which latter have now been separately assessed at Rs. 74. There are 4,243 cultivators and 3,419 ploughs^ being 124 men and 5*16 acres of cultivation to each plough. Again, the percentage of the irrigated land is 32 from wells and tanks chiefly. The pargana is almost entirely free of jungle ; it has much good average loam and clay soilsj and in certain localities a good deal of wet land producing two Crops a year. : Owing to some feuds between Raja Lone Singh and Raja Anrudh Singh ti( Oel, several of the villages, Atwa, Shankarpur, &c, to the north of thd f pargana were destroyed and thrown out of cultivation since 1248-49 fasli; when Raja Lone Singh got these villages in his lease under the Huzfir Tahsil. Many of these villages were in possession of the Raja of Oel at the time. According to Colonel Sleeman's account "Raja Lone Singh got the lease in March, 1840, and commenced his attack in May." The result , was, a great fight occurred between him and the Oel raja on the Paila plairij and Lone Singh is represented to have been beaten back and lost some of his guns. The Raja of Oel eventually left the villages he held. These vilj lages are now held by several of the grantees, arid are now only beginning- to revive. In Atwa and Shankarpur and some others large areas are still waste'j but rapidly are being brought uflder the plough. The soil in these vil lages is everywhere good. The largest jhil is at the village of Kutwa ; it is a long narrow deep jhil, with high and sandy banks on both sides, which prevent the lands being irrigated: from it. After the rains another jhil is formed in the hollow of some low land' lying between the villages ef Rasulpur and Kishanpur on one side, and Partabpur and Sajwan on the other side. ,At certain seasons much- of the! waste is available for irrigation, and the flooding from the jhil adds1 much to the fertility of the adjoining lands. There are two streams/ PAI 49 which partly form the boundary of the pargana, the Jamwari on the north east and Sarayan in the south-west, but at present very little use is made of the water of these rivers. Nature of tenures and number of villages. — The following are the varieties of the tenures in the 59 villages of this pargana : — Taluqdari ... 33 Decreed to Government 6 Pattidari 2 Zamindari ... 18 59 These are all khalsa villages ; of these 48 villages were formerly given over to grantees. Subsequently Gaya Parshad, grantee, was allowed to exchange four villages he held in this pargana for other villages in the Unao district ; so these and two others have been decreed to Government, the remaining nine villages are still held by the former proprietors. Paila was formerly a part of Nimkliar pargana. That portion of the Paila pargana which was formerly the Karanpur par gana is separated from Haidarabad on the west by a curious range of low sand hills, with sal jungle along both bases and a sucession of jhils ; these at Kaimahra become a river which flows west and joins the Kathna ; for merly probably a branch of the Chauka passed down here. After leaving these hills the pargana presents the appearance of a flat plain well water ed with numerous jhils and large wells. Water is more abundant than in Haidarabad, but so is visar. After passing the river Jamwari the soil is. lighter, but water is everywhere plentiful from rivers, jhils, or wells, which unlike those of Haidarabad are often stable enough for using leather buckets. Towards the north the boundary is the Ul for 14 miles, but this is hardly available for irrigation on account of the height of the banks. The Karanpur pargana was likewise formerly a part of the Bhiirwara, and one of the earliest seats of the Ahbans. The present village (Bhiir wara) lies a mile south of the Ul, and the whole way along the banks of this river to Rampur Gokul ; remains of old buildings are numerous opposite Fatehpur Karra ; near the latter place there are numerous mounds, and wherever the earth has been turned up large blocks of carved stone, capi tals of pitters, friezes, and architraves have been discovered. Silver and gold coins of the Kanauj series have been found in considerable numbers. The original zamindars are Ahbans. The Bhurwara estate was divided among the ^five sons of Muhammad Husen Khan mentioned in " Slee man's Tour." Siathii, with Kupia Murtehar ; belongs to a family headed by Imam Ali Khan. The Janwars represented by the Raja of Oel and Thakur of Mahewa seized a number of villages between 1840 and 1850. Simrai, an old village on the bank of the largest jhQ in the district, and several villages round it, then passed into the hands of the Thakur of Mahewa, who had held the village of Karanpur before. The Karanpur pargana contained 60 villages covering an area of 54 square miles, principally owned by the Janwars of Kheri, the lords of Mahewa and Oel ; their occupation is a recent one. 50 PAI— PAL PAILA— Pargana Paila— Tahsil LAKHtMPUR— District Kheri.— The town of Paila is built on some high land, looks very dilapidated now, and is nothing beyond an ordinary-sized village ; the residents being chiefly Brahmans, Kurmis, Pasis, and Chamars. The returns showing a popula tion of 1,613 in 317 houses. No trade seems to be carried on in the town. PAINTEPUR* — Pargana Mahmtjdabad— Tahsil Bari— District Sita- " pur. — This town lies in about 3 miles west of the high road from Bahram ghat to Sitapur, which latter place is 42 miles south-east; latitude 27°14' north, and longitude 81°13' east. The town is said to have been founded 300 years ago by one Paint Pal, an Ahban Raja of Maholi, and to have been named after him. It is now the , residence of Kazim Husen Khan, who owns estates in the neighbourhood,! and who is cousin of the Taluqdar of Mahmudabad, four miles off. Tfofi population is 5,127, there being about seven Hindus to every Musalman. The only Government building in the town is the school at which the average daily attendance is 70. Paintepur contains 1,189 mud-built and but two masonry houses, one of which latter is the taluqdar's residence — a substantial edifice. The local bazar is held on Sundays and Tuesdays ; and in the month of December there is a fair at which all the commodities in ordinary demand are to be purchased. The annual value of all sales is estimated at Rs. 1,31,060. There is a large community of bankers settled here, in addition to whom, the Banian element is strong in the town, which on the whole is flourishing and of considerable local importance. PALI Parganaf — Tahsil Shahabad — District Hardoi. — A light sandy tract in the south-eastern corner of the Shahabad tahsil, between the Garra and Sendha rivers. On the east the Garra separates it from par ganas Shahabad and Saromannagar, and on the west and south-west the Sendha from parganas Allahganj (Farukabad) and Katiari. Barwan adjoins it on the south and Pachhoha on the north. In an area of 73 square miles, of which 46 are cultivated, it contains 92 villages. In shape it is irregularly square, with a maximum length and breadth of nearly 12- and 11 miles respectively. Its general aspect is thus described in Captain Gordon Young's assessment note book : — " The whole, as a rule, is bhur, not necessarily of one standard, but generally light and sandy. There are, however, strips of tarai or low-lying moist lands all along the Garra, and by the sides of the long jhils whkh intersect the pargana from north to south. Between these jhils are long high tracts of bhur, and along the sidesof the jhils andbetweentheseridges are strips of tarai. From Pali to Sahj anpur all is bhur of the very sandiest; , with numerous shifting sand-hills brought into position by any stump or scrub which arrests the eddy and thus forms the nucleus of a sandhill If vegetation gets a hold on the hillock it is probably stationary for ever, otherwise the first high wind carries it away to another spot. " * By Mr. Feirar, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. t By Mr. A H. Harington, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. PAL 51 The villages skirting the Garra though light of soil are the best in the pargana. In some of them the lands by percolation from the river remain moist till March or April, so that irrigation is scarcely required. In others, where the river runs between higher banks and with a narrower flood-basin, fine crops of opium, tobacco, and vegetables are raised along the rivej bank, owing to the ease with which a never-failing supply of water is drawn from it by lever {dhenkli) wells. To the west of these villages, with- an average breadth of about three miles, runs parallel with the Garra a belt of high, dry, uneven, unproductive bhur. All the villages in this tract have been rated in the third or fourth class. Here rents are low and wells are few. In some of the villages there is no irrigation at all. To the west of this tract, and up to the boundary stream, the Sendha, breadths of dhak jungle copiously intersected by narrow marshy jhils, along whose edges cultivation is gradually extend ing, alternate with treeless ridges of thinly cropped bhur. Many of the jungle villages are fairly productive with average soil and good water- supply, but in some the soil is cold, stiff, and unproductive, and in almost all cultivators are still scarce, rents low, and mischief done by forest ani mals considerable. In the extreme west of the pargana, as in the east along the Garra, a narrow strip of moderately good villages fringes the Sendha. There is not a mile of road in the whole pargana. Cart- tracks wind deviously from village to village. Along these, except in the rainy season, a Ught bullock cart (Shikram) can be driven without much difficulty. The staple products are bajra and barley, which, in the year of survey, occupied three-fifths of the crop area. Wheat, arhar, rice, and gram made up the greater part of the remainder. Tobacco, opium, and kitchen vege tables are raised principally in Pali, Nizampur, Amtara, Barwara, Lak- naur, and Bharkani. The nodular limestone (kankar) is found at Morair and Behti. Rent-rates vary from Rs. 10-8 and more per settlement bigha (fths of an acre) on market gardeners' lands in Pali to nine annas on the dry uneven bhur. Cash rents prevail ; but here and there payments are still made in kind. Sombansi Rajputs hold more than half the pargana; Brahmans nearly a fifth ; Muhammadans a tenth. Three villages have been decreed to Govern ment. The tenure is zamindari in 56 and imperfect pattidari in 17 villages ; 19 be long to the Sewaichpur taluqa. Sombansis ... 50i Misr Brahmans ... 1 Pande ... 16 Tirbedi ... 5J Shekhs ... 5 Sayyads ... 3i Pathans .., 1 Kayatlis (Sribastab) ... 5J Goshains ... 1 Government ... ... 3 Excluding cesses, the Government demand is Rs. 37,041, a rise of 47 per cent. on the summary assessment. It falls at 92 only Re. 1-4-1 per cultivated acre ; Re. — 0-12-8 per acre of total area; Rs. 10-8-5 per plough ; Re. 1-13-2 per head of the agricultural, and Re. 1-5-1 per head of the total population. 52 PAL The number of inhabitants is 28,087, or 385 to the square mile. Hin dus to Muhammadans are 25,578 to 2,509, males to females 15,243 to 12,841, and agriculturists to non-agriculturists 20,298 to 7,789. _ More than a fourth of the Hindus are Brahmans ; Chamars and Chhattris each constitute a ninth ; Muraos a twelfth ; Kahars, Ahirs, and Kisans predo* minate in the remainder. There are no important fairs. Village schools have been established at the following places — Pali, Sahjanpur, Babarpur, Madnapur, Sarae, and Lakmapur. The only market is at Pali on Sundays and Thursdays. For some account of the past history of the pargana see Pali town, The qamingos say that Pali has been a pargana for seven hundred years— i.e., since Shahab-ud-din's conquest. It is probable that if not so ancient as this, its formation into a revenue subdivision dates at least from the reign of Humayun. In the A'in-i-Akbari it is mentioned as containing 56,156 bighas, and as paying 12,061,230 dams of revenue, and 36,488 dams are set down as jagir. No fort is mentioned, but there was a garrison of 30 troopers, 1,000 foot-soldiers. Ananas (?) are entered as the zamindars. Pali originally contained the whole of what are now parganas Shahabad and Pachhoha, and a part of parganas Saroman- nagar and Katiari. PALI* — Pargana Pali — Tahsil Shahabad — District Hardoi. — (Popula tion 5,122.) The chief town of pargana Pali lies in latitude 27°30' north, longitude 79° 44' east, and is pleasantly situated on the right bank of the river Garra on the old route from Fatehgarh to Sitapur, nine miles south west from Shahabad, 18 miles north from Sdndi, 20 north-west from Har doi, 19 north-east from Farukhabad, 64 west from Sitapur and 90 north west from Lucknow. Its general appearance was thus described by Gene ral Sleeman twenty-three years ago :— " The road for the last half way of this morning's stage (along the Sandi road) passes over a good doomuteea soil. The whole country is well cultivated and well studded with fine trees, and the approach to Pale.e at this season (January) is very picturesque. The groves of mango and other fine trees, amidst which the town stands on the right bank of the Gurra river, appear very beautiful as one approaches, particularly now that the surrounding country is covered by so fine a carpet of rich spring crops. The sun's rays falling upon such rich masses of foliage produce an infinite variety of form, colour, and tint, on which the eye delights to repose." — Sleeman's Tour, Vol. II, page 40. The Garra here is fordable at Rajghat for about five months of the year. A ferry is kept up at other times. The river has shifted a good deal northwards away from the town within the last forty years. Local tradition describes the circumstances of its foundation, but does not furnish any clue to the derivation of the name. The tract of coun- By Mr. A. II. Harington, C.S., Assistant Commissioner . PAL 53 try of which Pali is the centre was conquered from the Thatheras by the Sombansis under Raja Satan before the Muhammadan conquest. The name may, not improbably, be connected with the Pal dynasty of Kanauj, from which place Pali is distant only 34 miles. The founding of Pali is placed by local tradition at the close of the twelfth century, shortly after the great compaign of Shahab-ud-din Ghori, and the downfall of the Rathor dynasty of Kanauj. In those days the country round Pali was ruled from Satannagar (Sandi) by the Sombansi Raja Harhar, surnamed Shiusal Deo, son of Raja Satan. The office of mace-bearer at Raja Harhar's court 'belonged hereditarily to a powerful family called variously Gabrs (fire-worshippers) and Kisans. They lived a little to the west of the present town of Pali on the new ruined site called Sandi Khera, and enjoyed the revenues of a considera ble tract lying round it, known then as Sandi Pali, These Gabrs (or Kisans) seized the opportunity of the Ghorian invasion to revolt from their prince, and possess themselves of his dominion. Harhar strove in vain to recover it. In his strait he despatched Giam Pande, his family priest, to his brother, a risaldar in the Musalman garrison of Kanauj. At his request troops were sent from thence under the command of Shekh Moin-ud-din Usmani, son of Haji Salar. The upstart Gabrs were crushed ; Raja Harhar was restored. Shekh Moin-ud-din, Giam Pande, and his brother, the risaldar, were each rewarded with a rent-free grant of five hundred bighas. Settling down on their grants they gradually cleared away the forest along the river bank, and founded the present town of Pali. The Brahmans established themselves to the north -and the Shekhs to the south of the site. The former became the chau- dhris and the Shekhs the qazis of the tract. At this day Shekh Moin-ud-din is represented in Pali by his descendants Shekhs Nazir Ahmad, Tajammul Husen, and Qazi Niwazish Ali ; Giam Pande by Chaudhri Hanwant Singh, and the risaldar by Chaudhris Rae Singh, Dariae Singh, and Buddhi Singh. Mr. Carnegy (I do not know upon what authority) assigns a much later date to the founding of the Shekh colony at Pali under Shekh Moin-ud-din : — " There, about " 1350, really began the Muhammadan immigration. Shekh Moin-ud- " din, grandson of a lieutenant of Ala-ud-din Khilji, Governor of Oudh, " stationed at Kanauj, crossed over to Pali and established a colony which " was afterwards increased by the assimilation of numerous adventurers." (Notes on Tribes, page 66.) In the Nawabi, from 1839 to 1854, the naib or deputy chakladar of the Sandi Pali chakla, or revenue circle, was stationed at Pali. There are five muhallas or wards — (1) the Shekhs quarter, (2) Qazi Sarae, (3) the Malik and Pathans quarters, (4) the Maghrabi or western quarter, inhabited ' exclusively by Pathans, and (5) the Hindu town, in which Pande and other Brahmans preponderate. The Hindu town looks well to do, but the Muhammadan muhallas have, for the most part, a decayed and impoverished appearance. The resumption of rent-free grants, and the loss of Government service, have been felt here as elsewhere. Out of 1 055 houses only 32 are of brick. There are two .mosques and a 54 PAL thakurdwara. One of the mosques is a very showy florid structure, built recently by Risaldar Imtiaz Ali, the principal Muhammadan resident. A brick school-house was built in 1865. The school is a village one, with an average attendanee of 60 pupils. There is a small mud-built Sarae, which is repaired annually from local funds. At the market on Sundays and Thursdays grain, salt, vegetables, tobacco, and cloth are bought and sold. The only shops are those of two grain- sellers, two confec tioners and one seller of pan-leaf. A little coarse country cloth is manufactured. PALIA Pargana — Tahsil Nighasan — District Kheri. — This pargana lies between the Sarda on the south and the Suheli — an old, channel of the Chauka — on the north ; it is bounded by Nighasan pargana on the west, by the Shahjahanpur district and a portion of Naipal on the east. It is 23 miles long and 11 miles broad ; its area is 139 square miles, divided into 50 townships. Of cultivated land there are 37 square miles. Much of the arable land recorded as barren being included in the Government forest, there is really hardly any barren land in the pargana. The level lies gene rally very high, quite ahove the reach of inundation, still it is not so ele vated as that beyond the Suheli northwards, and the forest generally con sists therefore not of sal but of dhak, khair, and shisham. Up till 50 years ago the Sarda ran in the channel now indifferently called the Suheli or Sarju. Into this fell two streams called the Buri and the Newri, with its affluent the Nagraur. When the Sarda changed its course more to the south past Marauncha Ghat, the rivulets above mentioned continued to supply % scanty stream, which now does not cover a tenth of the channel formerly belonging to the Sarda. The Suheli is a picturesque little stream running under high banks, and generally fringed with extensive shisham forest; its breadth opposite Khairigarh is not above twenty yards. In some places, where the ancient river scoured deeply, its waters are deep, dark, and slug gish, but it is generally easily fordable, the depth not exceeding three feet. It is much used for rafting timber from the Government forests to Bahramghat on the Kauriala. *£>' The eastern portion of the pargana from Tikaulia lies very high and quite beyond the reach of floods, but much of it has been cut away recently by the Chauka. Westward, however, from Tikaulia and Patihan the whole of the land almost is the alluvial deposit left by the Sarda in its various wanderings. There are innumerable channels, some dry and silted up, others containing stagnant water and treacherous quicksands, others in which tiny streams still flowoverdarkquakingmud — all are generally covered with magnificent crops of the narkul, a gigantic reed, whose waving plumes of pure white flossy filaments cover acres of ground surrounded by the dark green grasses and conferva?. Crossing one of these streams at Tikaulia we enter a large tract running up to the north-west, which formerly belonged to Khairigarh, where the river Sarda ran in the channel above pointed out. Recently it has been demarcated with Palia without much reason, as the entire tract belongs to the Raja of Khairigarh. It is an extensive prairie, edged near the rivers with fine shisham woods for many miles. The traveller on an elephant even will seldom be able to see more than a few PAL 35 yards on each side, the grass is so dense and lofty that numerous herds of nil-gae, spotted deer, and black buck — when the grass is shorter — range over this primeval waste. A few villages, with narrow belt of cultivation, can be discovered by means of a guide; for such is the density of the vegetation. that the low lands of the peasantry are quite buried in the prairie grass, and the traveller may be within a few yards of a large village without being aware of it. The pargana is not a healthy one. Even villages, which are well situated on dry and elevated spots far from marshes, seem to be affected by malaria, as well as those of the low-lying tracts. But, indeed, only about one-fourth of the pargana, the south-eastern portion, a belt about three miles broad skirting the Chauka from Marauncha Ghat, really can boast of such con ditions of soil, elevation, and climate as conduce to health. To the west fever and cattle-murrain are frightfully prevalent, the people seem weak and emaciated, the cultivation is of a slovenly type, rice is the main crop, and turmeric the only staple to which any labour or pains are devoted. The population is 20,370, of whom only 1,794 are Musalmans, and only 8,877 are females. The singular disproportion exists in all the Tarai par ganas, and is quite unaccountable. It is the most thinly populated of all the parganas in the district except Khairigarh, falling at the rate of only 146 to the square mile. History. — The proprietors were originally Katehria Chhattris, and a number of the villages are still in their possession, but all are deeply em barrassed. A number of Pahari Chhattris, relatives of the Raja of Khairi garh, were originally lessees under the Raja of Khotar, the head of the Katehria clan. At the first settlement for thirty years (in 1839,) these and others, who have occupied a similar position, were declared to be proprietors by the British Government. Not however on any title, real or pretended, of their own, but simply because the pargana was a waste wilderness ; over it the Raja, of Khotar had exercised titular authority for some years. These lessees had exerted themselves, and spent money in cutting down the forest and inducing cultivators to settle in regions which were then unhealthy, and still more terrible to the people's minds as the haunts of numerous tigers and wild elephants. The Suheli river, with the swamps on each side, and the numerous ancient river channels above described, are still the haunts of numerous tigers. And we can judge how destruc tive they must have been in former times by the pertinacity with which they cling to old haunts, now the resort of a numerous population. Near Newalkhar the forest department has its timber depots and saw-mills ; some famed tiger swamps are in the vicinity; notwithstanding the pre sence of armed men, the bullocks employed in carting the timber are con stantly killed ; numerous bands of sportsmen annually move against the tigers, and in 1870 several were shot by the Duke of Edinburgh. The following extracts bearing on the condition of the people are taken from the assessment report : — " The circumstances of this pargana are very peculiar as appears from the history already given. 56 PAL " The tenure of land is zamindari ; there are no taluqas except fifteen villages, which were formerly in Khairigarh. " The other landowners are relatives of the Katehria Raja of Khotar, or the descendants of the men who took farming leases from the Government in 1838, and who now have tecome proprietors. The land was nearly all waste at that time, and these men were engaged with as the representatives of the cultivating community ; the terms of their engagement seem very favourable, and they naturally gave similarly good terms to the tenants whom they represented. The system of naqshi payment was introduced — namely, that the tenant paid for each harvest, and if the crop was spoiled by flood, or destroyed by the forest denizens, the tenant paid nothing. " The average rate paid by the asami is four annas per bigha rising to six in a few villages — that is, from eight annas to twelve for the year ; this becomes Re. 1-6 to Rs. 2-7 for the jaribi bigha in dufasli land, and twelve annas to Re. 1-3-6 for ekfasli. The local bigha varies in size ; it is in some places 2\ to the jaribi bigha, but the average is 3 \ among Ion caste asamis. These rents, considering the quality of the soil, situation of the pargana between two navigable rivers, and density of the population, are absurdly low, and are due to the nature of the relation between the landlord and tenant, which really more resembled those between state lessee and share holders. " I have repeatedly met asamis in the fields who admitted reaping a harvest of 8-7, and never less than 5 maunds rice per bigha, and who were paying four annas rent ; now taking the average of above 6 \ kachcha maunds of 18 sers, the whole value of the crop at 39 sers would be Rs. 3, the lambardar's share at f-ths would be Re. 1-1-3, and the Government. share eight annas. I do not say that all land yields an average of 6| maunds; all I say is that land which admittedly does so, and which should pay rent of more than one rupee, pays only four annas, there being very little dufasli. In other villages the asamis assured me that whenever the crop in unmanured land becomes less than five maunds of rice, they abandoned that land and dug up new. " It is also clear that the rents are low, because the wealth of the pargana. lies with the asamis ; their cattle, carts, jewellery, clothes, are infinitely superior to those in the old Oudh parganas. The lambardars, on the other hand, are very poor and embarrassed ; they receive a very small margin, indeed, upon the Government jama: many of them have been sold out. It is abundantly evident that these rents are wholly abnormal, and cannot be used as a base for the rent rates of a thirty years' settlement, during which for the first time the lambardars, who were formerly only lessees, and fettered by Act X., will be able to treat their tenants as they ¦ please : because they themselves are at last formally recognized as proprie tors, and the cultivators are now formally declared by the Oudh Rent Act to be tenants-at-will. Indeed, the lambardars have already commenced to exercise their new powers — not by raising the old rents upon the old staples, but by imposing disproportionably high rates upon new staples. PAL— PAN 57 " Turmeric, for instance, has either been introduced, or its cultivation largely extended since annexation ; in most villages it grows everywhere and will on poor sandy soil. It pays one rupee to twenty annas per kachcha bigha ; the asami grumbles ; he says that only exceptional prices make it pay ; but he holds on, making up such losses by his gain on cereals. Now there is absolutely no reason for this turmeric rate, five hundred per cent, above the grain rate. " Turmeric has only one advantage, that is, that wild animals do not eat it, but really the danger from this to any crop is a mere trifle — nothing to what occurs in Kukra, Mailani, Aurangabad, Srinagar, and other parganas. During three weeks' residence I only saw five nil-gae in the pargana. In Srinagar I have killed seven in a morning. Turmeric is a most difficult product to prepare, the expense of boiling down the roots is great, the value of the produce after deducting cost of preparation is by no means more than that of fair crops of rice, and I have no doubt that this now exceptional rate is really very little above what will prevail over the whole area, when the relation between the landlord and tenant have settled down. Precautions have been taken to protect any men who had acquired a right to hereditary tenancies before the inclusion of the pargana in Oudh, but hardly any have claimed. When I asked the land lords why rent was so low, I received complaints of asamis, of cattle disease, and of unheal thiness; but in all these matters the pargana is far better than Khairigarh, where the tenants pay much higher rents, eight and ten annas the kachcha bigha." PALIA — Pargana Palia — Tahsil Nighasan — District Kheri. — A town from which a pargana derives its name in the district of Kheri, is situated two miles north of the Chauka river, and 112 miles north-west from Luck now. Latitude 28°26/ longitude 80°37'. There are two Hindu temples in Palia. It has a market twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Articles of country consumption are sold. There is only one masonry well, and no masonry house ; the place is very liable to fever, partly from the bad water ; it belongs to a Kateria Chhattri. The place is of modern foundation. Population, 4,204 — *-{ft°l ::: ::: ::: hZ i Females Adult ... ... ... 1,268 Minors ... ... ... 626 PANDRI K ALAN —Pargana Harha — Tahsil Unao— District Unao.— It is 10 miles south-east of the sadr station. Two miles south of it there is an unmetalled road between Unao and Rae Bareli districts through tahsil Purwa. It is related regarding its foundation that two brothers, Borhii Pande and Hari Pande, Brahmans by caste, were in the service of Raja Jai Chand, of Kanauj, and each of them laid the foundation of a village, naming it after himself by the permission of the raja. It is so called because it was founded by the elder brother. The soil is clay and sand and surface level ; neighbouring country delightful. There is no jungle, but mango trees in 8 58 .PAN abundance. The climate good, water sweet, but some wells are brackish. There is one temple of Sagreshwar Mahadeo here. There is now a school here numbering 75 pupils, of whom 71 are Hindus and four Muhammadans. There are two markets weekly, but no fair. Total population, 3,852. Hindus 3,792, composed as follows : — Brahmans ChhattrisKayaihs...Pasi Ahirs ... Other castes 1,975Ai7. 71 120 265 1,361 Muhammadans 60; temples 7, Shiwalas 4; platforms dedicated to Mahadeo 3. The annual sale of goods in the bazar amounts to Rs. 9,060: — Houses ... ... ... ... ... 753 Mud-built ... ... ... ... ... 749 Masonry ... ... ... ... ... 4 PANHAN Pargana* — Tahsil Purwa— District Unao. — Pargana Pan- ban, in tahsil Purwa, district Unao, is bounded on the west and north by pargana Purwa, on the east by pargana Maur^nwan and the district of Rae Bareli, and on the south by the river Lon. Its greatest width is three miles and greatest length four miles, and the total area is 12,168 acres; and population, according to census of 1869 A.D., 7,997 souls. Hindus ... ... ... ... 7,769 Muhammadans ... ... ... ... 228 The cultivated area bears but a small proportion to the total area, being only 5,281 acres ; but is well irrigated ; the irrigated area being 4,227 acres and the unirrigated area 1,054 acres. The land devoted to cultivation of rabi crops is about double of that devoted to kharif. The pargana com prises 23 mauzas (townships), of which 9 are taluqdari and 14 mufrad. Of the taluqdari mauzas (villages) none are held by under-proprietors. The nikasi kham (gross rental) is at present Rs. 27,629, and of this Government' takes Rs. 16,809. The surface of the pargana presents no striking features, and is a level plain except at the extreme south, where there is a slight inclination to the bed of the river Lon. There are no jungles, and but few groves through out the pargana, but babul trees grow plentifully along the line of village?'; near the Lon on a tract of land where formerly salt was extensively^ manufactured. This trade has, however, disappeared as a private enterprise- under British rule. The Lon indicates by its name that the land through which it passes is highly impregnated with salt. It flows from west to east passing the villages of Kakori, Baijuamau, Mirwan, Parsanda, Dainta, Bhagwantpur, and Biyaspur. The stream scarcely deserves the name of river. The flow of water is but scant when greatest, and the bed of the stream is completely dry in many places in the hot weather. On the Rae " By Mr. W. Hocy, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. PAN -PAR 59 Bareli side of the pargana and lying between the villages on the east of this pargana, and the nearest villages of Rae Bareli, is a very large jhil, named the Sudna Talab. The shape of this sheet of water is a horse-shoe, the convex side being towards Panhan. This tank is one of the largest in this and the adjoining pargana on the Rae Bareli side. It is well stocked with saw, parhan, sahri, and other fish. The history of this pargana is meagre. The earliest known occupants were the Bhars, one of whose rajas is said to have borne the name of Pann, and to have ouilt the town of Panhan, giving it his name. The remains of an old fort are discernible in the vicinity of the village of Panhan, and are said to be the remains of the ancient Bhar stronghold. About 1,600 years ago Salivahan came with his army to Shiurajpur in the modern district of Fatehpur, and halted there to bathe in the Ganges. Abhai Chand Bais and his brother, Pirthi Chand, were with Salivahan. The former advanced and crossed the Ganges, attacked the Bhars, and defeated them at Panhan. Abhai Chand added other dominions to his conquest, and Panhan formed part of the large domain known as Baiswara. PANHAN Village — Pargana Panhan — Tahsil Purwa — District Unao. — Panhan lies 24 miles south of Unao on the country road form Unao to Rae Bareli. The river Lon runs two miles to the north. The town was founded 2,200 years ago by the Raja Pann, chief of the Bhars, from whom it derived its name. It is well situated among groves, good water, and fertile soil. A celebrated faqir named Muhammad Shah resided here. There is a vernacular school attended by about 50 boys. Fairs are held in January and March in honour of Muhammad Shah, each attended by about 4,000 people. Sweetmeats made at this place are remarkable. Population is 2,773, of whom 800 are Brahmans and 130 Musalmans. There are two temples to Mahadeo and one to Debi. The sales at the fairs amount to Rs. 24,000 annually. Latitude ... ... ... 26°25' north. Longitude ... ... ... 80°54' east. PARASPUR K.TA* — Pargana Guwarich — Tahsil Begamganj— District ¦ Gonda. — A very large straggling village in the Guwarich pargana on the country road between Nawabganj and Colonelganj, 26 miles from the former, and 10 from the latter market, and 15 miles south-west of Gonda. Adjoining,- and in fact making one village with it is Ata. and the joint population is returned at 7,107. It is almost entirely Hindu, and contains no remarkable castes or religions ; on the boundary of the two villages is a flourishing school where rather over a hundred boys imbibe instruction iii Hindi, Urdu, arithmetic, and the elements of algebra and euclid. The houses are almost without exception of mud, and in Paraspur itself is a small bazar, open twice a week for the wants of the neighbouring rus tics, and acting as a depdt for as much of the export produce of the sur rounding villages as does not find its way to one of the larger bazars. The town was founded nearly 400 years ago by Raja Paras Ram Kalhans, the only ;surviving son of the ill-starred chieftain whose destruction by the * By Mr. W, C. Benett, CS., Assistant Commissioner. 60 PAR Gogra wave has been recounted in the district article. His descendant, the present Raja of Paraspur, and chief of the Kalhans of Guwarich, still resides in a large mud-house to the east of the village. The Babu of Ata, representative of a younger branch, and with a separate estate, lives in Ata, a name accounted for by the following curious legend. Babu Lai Sah, the first of his branch of the family was out hunting near Paraspur, he met a faqir eating what appeared to be carrion. The holy man pressed him to join, and his repugnance yielded to hunger and a dread of the curse which was promised to his refusal. To his surprise it turned out to be excellent wheat flour (Ata), and at the faqir's bidding a pot full of the deceptive flesh was buried under the doorway of the fort which Lai Sah was building. PARASRA'MPUR.— Pargana Patti— TWisiZ Bath— District Partab- garh. This place was founded by Parasram, a Goshain. The road from Bela to Badshahpur passes a mile from this village. It is six miles from Bela and close to the river Sai. There is alleged to have been a fort here belonging to Madan Singh B«is, a subject of the great Gahilwar Raja Manik Chand ; he revolted. Alha and TJdal were sent against him ; the Raja seized and imprisoned them ; but their wives Sona and Blola raised a force, conquered the Raja, and released them. There is a temple of Chauharja Debi here, at which cocks and pigs are sacrificed. There is a fair in honour of Chauharja Debi at which about 6,000 people assemble. Population 329. PARIAR Pargana. — Tahsil Unao — District Unao. — Thispargana is bounded on the north by Safipur, on the east by pargana Unao, on the south by Sikandarpur, and on the west by the Ganges, which separates it from the Cawnpore district of the North-Western Provinces. The pargana is nine miles long by five broad, and its area is 36 square miles or 23,040 acres, divided into 42 mauzas or townships. The soil is chiefly loam and clay, and the pargana produces wheat and barley of the first quality. The prin cipal stream is the Kalyani, which falls into the Ganges. Water is found 32 feet from the surface. There are many acres of groves, chiefly of manna and mango. There are three bazars. Salt earth is to be found in small quantities. There are two lakes in the pargana, viz., Mahna, beside the village of Pariar, which is about two miles long and half a mile broad, and Bbedeona, in the village of the same name, about a mile square. The principal village is Pariar on the Ganges, which is held sacred by the Hindus, and is separately noticed. The land revenue amounts to Rs. 29,403, which gives an assessment of Re. 1-4-6 per acre. The tenure is as follows : — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... 1,529 acres. Zamindari ... ... ... ... 13,576 Pattidari ... .. ... ... 7,759 t> The population is 15,717. of whom 8,173 are males. The people are poor, and, as a rule, involved in debt. The principal fair is that held on the Kartiki Puranmashi at which 100,000 people assemble. PAR 01 Tradition relates that there was foirr.erly a jurgle here. In the Trela Yog, or second age of the world, Lachhman, by order of his brother Raja fi am • Chandar, of Ajodhya, turned out Rani Sita on this land ; hence the name of the pargana from the Sanskrit word " Parhar," to turn out, or let go — i.e., divorce — afterwards corrupted into Pariar. In 595 A.H. (1187 A.D.), HewanShal Singh, a Dikhit Thakur, came here with an army from the north, conquered the Lonias, then zamindars of the pargana, and founded the village of Pariar. In 1785 A.D., 28 villages were taken from Sikandar- pur and Safipur and formed as pargana Pariar. PARIAR — Pargana Pariar — Tahsil Unao — District Unao. — LiesinLati- titude 26°44' north, longtitude 80°22' east to the north-west of Unao, at the distance of 14 miles. An unmetalled road connects it with Rasiilabad. The river Ganges runs past the village towards the south. There is a lake by name Mahna near this village. The origin of the name is given in the pargana article. Rup Singh, Bachhil, was a man of note here in the time of Mian Almas Ali Khan. He built a fort and a ganj or walled bazar at this place. A tahsildar resided here during the Nawabi. There is one general market, and a cloth market twice a week in Daulatganj. There is now no sarae, thana, or tahsil. There is no jungle near. The climate is good. The population amounts to 2,593, of whom Brahmans are as many as 638, and Musalmans only 117. There is a great bathing fair on the Kartiki Piiran- mashi, attended by 100,000 souls. The market and fair realize about 1,522 rupees only. There are 589 mud-built houses and two masonry. There are six Hindu temples. Tradition relates, when Raja Ram Chandar was performing the sacrifice called Ashwamed Jagg, he loosed the horse Shyambaran, and announced that whoever caught it would thereby signify a wish to make war with him. Kus and Lav, the sons of the raja himself, seized the horse in the jungle of Pariar, and thereupon a great fight ensued. In a temple at Pariar there are to be seen up till the present time a number of arrow heads said to have been used by the contending parties, and they are also some times picked up in the bed of the river. There is a temple in honour of Sri Balkaneswar Nath Mahadeo on the Ganges built by Lav and Kus, and one to Jankiji or Rani Sita. PARSANDAN — Pargana Gorinda Parsandan — Tahsil Mohan — District Unao. — Parsandan is 12 miles south of Jhalotar Ajgain and 14 north-east ' of Unao. In the king's time it was headquarters of the pargana of the same name, but since the establishment of British rule Parsandan has been joined to pargana Gorinda, and made a part of tahsil Mohan. A metalled road from Lucknow to Cawnpore passes through this part of the country. There is nothing certain known about the date and circum stances connected with its foundation. It is said that in early days there was a dense jungle in the vicinity, and the heroic Paras Ram, the sixth incarnation of the deity, performed his penances here; date unknown. There were some traces of his place of worship left which induced Raja Ugrasen to come from the other side of the Jumna, and he cleared the jungle, and founded the present town. It is supposed to have taken its 02 PAR name from having been the'residence of Paras Ram. The soil is principally clay. There is a pleasing variety of hill and hollow round this town. There is no jungle. Climate healthy and water good. Some 500 years ago there was a great contest between Himmat Singh, ancestor of the present possessors, and the Subahdar of the king of Delhi. There are still ruins of an old fort built by Himmat Singh. The population is divided as follows : — Hindus. Musalmans. Total. Brahman 1 None. 1,048 Chhattris 64 Koris ... 102 Ahirs ... 178 Others ... 703 Total ... 1,048 There ar 191 mud-built houses. Latitude ... ... ... 26o42' north. Longitude ... ... ... 80<>46' east. PARSHXDEPUR Pargana— Tahsil Salon— District Rae Bareli.— This pargana formerly in the Partabgarb district lies north of the Sai; its area is fifty-four square miles or 34,691 acres. The population is 33,037 or 612 to the square mile, almost entirely Hindu — 3,722 are Brahmans, 2,811 are Chhattris, 5,576 are Ahirs. Chhattris hold forty-two out of the sixty villages. The Kanhpurias are only fifty-two, showing that they have recently spread into this pargana ; the Gautams are 2,350. There are sixty villages now in Parshadepur held as under : — Gautams ... Kanhpurias ... Muhammadans Brahmans Others ... Jungle grant villages 1428 6 3 60 villages. This pargana had no existence as such till about 1190 fasli (A. D. 1783) ; it was part of the Nasirabad pargana given in Jagir to the Bahu Begam. In her tenure Parshadepur and Ateha were constituted as parganas. Another account gives Sikandarpur as the old name of this pargana, and Pars, a Bhar chief, is said to have called it Parshadepur. The Bhars were driven from here as from other places by Muhammadans, whose traces are found in the names of villages as Rashidpur, Mohi-ud- dinpur, and Dilawarpur, &c. The Pathanswere ejected through the instru mentality of a Kurmi, named Dasi, who it is said became a Moslem, and gaining influence at the court of Delhi, acquired a grant of the pargana. Dasi was himself killed and succeeded by some Gautam Rajputs, who are still in the pargana represented by Rae Mahipal Singh, Taluqdar of Bara, and other owners of six independent villages. PAR 63 The place, Parshadepur, is really the mingled village sites of some four villages— viz., Rampur, Ahora, Launsari, Songna, and Shahabpur. There is no village called Parshadepur. A force used to be quartered there under the native government of Oudh. When the country was annexed Salon was the name given to a district, and the headquarters were placed at Kashmapur in this pargana on the bank of the river Sai. Upon the mutiny breaking out the civil officers went to Raja Hanwant Singh's fort of Kalakankar, and thence to Allahabad. The N&"in taluqdars, true to their character of pestilent marauders, signalised themselves by seizing the earliest opportunity in the mutiny to plunder right and left. PARSHADEPUR — Pargana Parshadepur — Tahsil Salon — District Rae Bareli. — This place was founded by a Bhar chief, Raja Pars, on the road to Salon. The river Sai flows a mile to the south ; it is twenty miles from Rae Bareli. It is alleged that the name of this place was Sikandar- pur in ancient days. The population is 4,319, of whom the Hindus are 2,645 and Musalmans 1,674. There are 48 masonry houses, five temples to Mahadeo, six mosques, three imambaras, and one vernacular school. There is a bazar called Khudaganj ; the annual sales amount to Rs. 5,000. PARTABGANJ Pargana — Tahsil Nawabganj — District Bara Banki. — This pargana is bounded on the north by villages of the Fatehpur tahsil, on the east by villages of the Ram Sanehi Ghat tahsil, on the south by pargana Satrikh, and on the west by pargana Nawabganj. Its area is fifty-six square miles or 35,751 acres. The cultivated soil amounts to 24,288 acres, the culturable to 3,776 acres, and the barren to 6,339 acres. The irrigated area amounts to 10,212 acres and the unirrigated to 15,296. The Kalyani skirts the pargana on the north and east. Its length within the limits of the pargana is about six miles. This stream does neither good nor harm. Water is met with at from six to twelve feet. The metalled road to Fyzabad passes through this pargana. There are no manufactures of any note. The land revenue amounts to Rs. 64,293-1-6, falling at the rate of Rs. 2-5-1 per arable acre. The fifty-four villages of this pargana are held under the following tenures : — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... ... 26 Zamindari ,., ... ... (>. ... 15 Pattidari ... ,., ,., ... ... 13 Total ... 54 The pargana is held by Rajas Sarabjit Singh and Farzand Ali Khan, Chaudhrain Sahib-un-nisa, Hakim Karam Ali, Wajid Husen, Ghulam Abbas, Naipal Singh, and Amjad Husen. The population amounts to 38,556, the high castes number as many as"6,000; other castes number as follows : — Ahirs 3,139, Kahars, 2,304, Naos 889. Schools have been estab lished at Partabganj, Safdarganj, Rasauli, Udhauli, and Malpur. There is a post-office' at Safdarganj. Police posts are at Jalalpur and Maktaura. There is no registry office. A fair held at the end of Asadh, in honour of Nag Deota, at mauza Machhad, is attended by about 11,000 persons ; milk and rice are offered. The pargana takes its name from the principal 64 PAR town. In the village of Pindra a battle was fought between the king's men and the Mahmudabad taluqdar. PARTABGANJ— Pargana Partabganj— Tahsil Nawabganj— District Bara Banki. — This market town lies in latitude 26°55' north, longitude 81°20' east, at a distance of five miles east of Nawabganj on the Fyzabad road. It was founded on the land of Rasauli village by Rae Partab Singh, a royal official, about 150 years ago. The market days are Mondays and Fridays. This ganj was very prosperous during the Nawabi, but now it presents the aspect of decay. There are two large jhils close to the village which in the season are covered with ducks, &c. Dhan Singh, a banker, built a masonry tank and wells here during the Nawabi. Since then Matadin, Halwai, has constructed a masonry tank on the road side at a cost of Rs. 10,000. There is a branch school at this place. PAR 65 PARTABGARH DISTRICT ARTICLE. ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS. I. — Physical features. II. — Agriculture and Commerce. III.— The people. IV. — Administrative features. V. — History. CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL FEATURES. Position — Boundaries — Area and population — General aspect— Soil— Fertility— Water — Climate — Rainfall — Natural drainage — Prevalent diseases — Vegetation — Uivers — Watershed — Lakes — Animals. Position.— The Partabgarh district lies between 81° 24' and 82° 29' of east longitude, and 25° 33' and 26° 10' parallels of north latitude, having an extreme length of 70 miles, and an extreme breadth of 41 miles. The area is 1,444 square miles, the population 7,82,681 souls. It is at an average altitude of 300 feet above the sea. There are no moun tains. Boundaries. — It is bounded on the north by the conterminous district of Sultanpur, of which the adjoining parganas running from west to east are Amethi, Tappa Asl, and Chanda, on the west by the parganas of Salon and Parshadepur of Rae Bareli. The Ganges running south-east and dividing Oudh from the Allahabad district of the North-Western Provinces, is the boundary of the district as far as the village of Jahanabad. This adjoins the village of Kadwa in the Allahabad district. Here the bound ary line takes a north-east direction, and runs up very irregularly to the Gumti river, conterminously with the Allahabad and the Jaunpur districts of the North-Western Provinces. The Gumti, across which lies the Alde- mau pargana of Sultanpur, forms the boundary for four miles only. Thus the district adjoins the districts of Sultanpur and Rae Bareli in Oudh, Fatehpur, Allahabad, and Jaunpur in the North-Western Provinces; its area, internal divisions, and population are shown in the accompanying table. : — Parganas. €0 §.§• of o 685 Area rw British square MILES. Population. o . s! TO £ O E-. > . ¦3" o 192 3a 3 sa d> to a &H Eh & | Partabgarh 355 198,902 20,875 112,454 107,323 279,777 619 3 Atelia Total 68 re 41 42,228 2,415 22,197 22,446 44,643 565 703 434 233 241,130 23,290 134,651 129,769 264,420 609 66 PAR Parganas. o S3= | . c AKEP In Beitish SQUAKE MILES. POPULATIOV. si So -3 ca C3 E-i o •go 02 a a asd eg .a -a o s S3 a 1 «. 1 ® 6l *3 s £3.0 if Patti ... ... "j Dalippur ... j Bihar ... MSnikpur Dhingwaa .Rampur ... Total District Total PrisonersEuropeans Eurasians ... .„ 816 468 217 206,633 16,540 115,940 107,233 223,173 177 i{ 237 120 148191 228 3699 179 10S 164479 107,595 45,15245,04273,777 11,874 5,688 1,946 3,795 59,913 26,46623,510 38,931 59,55625,383 23,478 38,641 119,469 50,819 46,98877,572 524 1,412 475 433 696 542 247 697 271,566 23,303 147,820 147,058 294.87C 543 2,215 1,444 719,329 63,133 398,411 384,060 782,471 542 ::: , ... ."1" :." 137 13 15 32 5 8 169 18 23 ... 1 Grand Totai 2,215 1,444 697 719,329 63,133 398,576 384,105 782,681 542 This statement is taken from the census report, and does not quite agree with later calculations, the details of which are not procurable. The present district of Partabgarh then contains three tahsils and seven parganas. Up to 1869 the district contained nine parganas — namely, Salon and Parshadepur — in addition to those in the foregoing table. The area in acres was 11,09,072. Correction in area. — This total of acres gives a superficial area of 17328, or in round numbers 1733 square miles, showing an increase of nine square miles over the area given by the settlement survey. The error in that calculation being the result of the omission of the areas of the jungle grant estates which were surveyed by the revenue surveyor, but were not mapped by the field survey establishment. The jungle grants, as they are styled m the records, lie in parganas Partabgarh and Salon only. They constitute twenty-eight mauzas, of which twenty-three belong to the latter pargana and five to the former. All these small estates were formed almost entirely out of waste lands appertaining to certain villages confiscated in 1859. The cultivated areas having been conferred in reward on various loyal subjects, the uncultivated portion was stripped from the villages, and reserved for the purpose of waste land grants. Under the recent territorial re-distribution of the fiscal divisions of Oudh, the Partabgarh district has been deprived of one of its four tahsils, the two parganas of Salon and Parshadepur having been transferred to the adjoining district of Rae Bareli, and the Ateha pargana (which with the other two made up the Salon tahsil) having been added on to the Kunda tahsil. By the loss of these two parganas the area of the district is diminished by 280 square miles and 347 mauzas ; the former population was 936,053. ^ ^ Present jurisdiction of the Deputy Commissioner of Partabqarh— The present jurisdiction, therefore, of the Deputy Commissioner of Partabgarh PAR 67 extends over an area of 1,444 square miles, embracing 2,214 mauzas, with a population of 782,681 souls. In point of magnitude the Partabgarh district now stands eleventh of the twelve. General aspect. — The general aspect of the Partabgarh district is that of a richly wooded and fertile champaign country. The ordinary dead level is here aftd there relieved by gentle undulations, and in the vicinity of the rivers and rain streams by ravines and broken ground. The southern por tion of the district in the more immediate neighbourhood of the Ganges is perhaps more densely wooded than other parts. In places may be seen unculturable usar and reh impregnated plains. These, however, do not extend over any considerable area. For the most part rich and varied cultivation, with magnificent groves of mango, mahua, and other trees com bine to form a pleasing landscape, into which the neatly built villages and hamlets of the population enter with no small effect. Soil. — The soil of the district is light, but at the same time very fertile. The prevailing soil is known by the name of " dumat" — -i.e., two earths. It may be said to be argil and silica in thorough combination. Dumat degenerates into the poor sterile stuff known as " bhur," where the sand too largely preponderates over the mould. Such localities are the uplands near the Ganges, Sai, and Gumti. The stiff and rich loamy soil, styled " matiar," is in this district to be found, chiefly in the vicinity of large swamps or jhils. In such places, where there is a sufficiently rapid evaporation of the rain water, magnificent crops of wheat and sugarcane may frequently be seen; but, unlike the ordinary soil of the district, considerable labour and strong cattle are required to prepare the land for the seed. Fertility. — The soil, though fertile, bears evidence of exhaustion through want of manure and fallow seasons. The latter condition has, I fear, ceased to be regarded as an essential to successful farming by the agricul turist of this district. The root of the existing complaint, that the present yield is not equal to that of former times, lies in the fact that, under the native rule, a field was seldom tilled for more than two or three years in succession. In the third or fourth year, a plot of waste was broken up (on which a nominal rent only was assessed), while the old land was allowed to lie fallow. A succession of rich harvests was the consequence. Now, however, owing to the greatly increased number of the cultivators, and the proportionately enhanced demand for land, caused by the closing to the country of the outlets of military service, feudal retainership, and the many other occupations incidental to the native dynasty, competition steps in and prevents the resting of a single acre. With respect to manure, I think a growing appreciation of its value is discernible ; at the same time it is far more difficult to procure than formerly. Water. — The water obtained from the wells is for the most part sweet and good. In several villages, however, it is found to be brackish and strongly impregnated with the saline properties of the circumjacent sali- ferous lands. It is in these villages that the finest and most luxuriant tobacco is grown, generally on old village sites. It is asserted, and I believe not without truth, that in certain wells in which the water is ordin- 68 PAR arily sweet, a change is sometimes perceptible, the water for a season becoming brackish, but subsequently resuming its normal condition. This may possibly be attributable to subsoil percolation, after the absorption of large quantities of surface moisture ; but the solution of the problem, if problem there be, is worthy the attention of the analyst. Water supply. — Abundance of water, both for irrigation and domestic purposes, exists as a rule throughout the district. The exceptions are ordinarily in localities bordering on the banks of rivers and nalas, where, owing to the sandy nature of the subsoil, mud wells are found to be im practicable, and the building of masonry wells is attended with consider ably greater expense than elsewhere. There are no less than 9,947 masonry wells in working order at the present time, of which 3,146 have been con structed since the annexation of the province. This represents an aver age of between three and four wells to each village in the district. Mud wells are innumerable, and are sunk annually as required, the cost being trifling. The average depth at which water trickles is 25 feet. The range of distance varies from 11 to 80 feet. Climate, temperature. — The climate of the Partabgarh district is com paratively temperate, and is decidedly salubrious. The maximum heat in the hottest months is less, I believe, than that experienced in the adjacent district of Allahabad to the south of the Ganges ; while the climate of the cold season, which ordinarily extends from the 15th October to the 15th March, can hardly be said to be surpassed by any climate in Europe. The readings of the thermometer in 1869 shows a mean range of29'7 degrees, and for the following year, 1870, a mean range of 30-l degrees. Taking both years together, the maximum range was 43 degrees in April, 1870, and the minimum range 17 degrees in August, 1870, the same year exhibiting both extremes. Rainfall. — The average for 1864-1868 inclusive was 36 inches ; the average of the twelve years ending with October 1st, 1875, has been 373 inches ; three years have shown drought, 1864, 1868, and 1873 ; three have shown excessive rainfall ; only two have had the moderate rainfall, 35 to 46 inches, which when properly distributed generally results in a bumper crop. Average fall of rain in Partabgarh district. Years. Inches. 1864 ... ••• 26 0* 1865 ,t ... ... 300 1866 .. <•• 35-0 1867 ,, • >• 52 1 1868 ,, ... 26 0 1869 ., • •• 441 1870 ,. ... 66'8 1871 ••< 590 1872 ,, ... 29" 1 1873 ., 26 0 1874 1875 ¦• ... HI 33 2 36 0 -, — Aver age for 12 years ... 37 3 * Circa. PAR 69 The accompanying table exhibits the rainfall for the last two years of drought, 1868 and 1873. It will be noted that the entire rainfall was not scanty ; the distribution was capricious and unusual, and there was no rain during the individual months, in which it is much needed for agricultu ral purposes. There are four rainfalls, each of which must be propitious to secur^a good harvest. First, the June rains, the former rains as they may be called. In 1873, there was under a quarter of an inch, not enough 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 beginning of October. This was sufficient in both years, but the fall in September, 1873, was only 6'6 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 ploughings ; these were wholly deficient in both years. Fourthly, the January-February rains, which were wholly wanting in 1869, and in 1874 were under half an inch. Speaking broadly, then the rains commenced well in 1868, badly in 1873. They ended with a good 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. In February, there was no rain in 1869, and not quite half an inch in 1874 : — 1868; 1873. Rainfall from .Tune 1st to October 1st 29-4 28-7 „ from October 1st to December 31st 0 0 OO „ in June ... 3-2 02 „ in September ... ... ••• 9-7 66 „ in October O'O 0-0 Date of lain commencing ... ... ... June I5th. June 21st. ,. of rain ending September 23rd Sept. 13 th Rain in January-February of ensuing year 00 04 Natural drainage. — The large admixture of sand in the soil of this district favours a rapid absorption of moisture. At the same time, a large share of the superabundant water is carried off by rain-streams, some of which, when swollen, assume formidable dimensions, and acquire a very considerable velocity. Thus the district may be said to possess an excellent natural drainage, which no doubt exerts a highly favourable influence on its general salubrity. Prevalent diseases. — Of purely endemic diseases, intermittent fever, skin diseases, and ophthalmia are perhaps the most common. In the cold season of 1868-1869, the district suffered from an epidemic of small-pox, which was immediately followed by a severe and general outbreak of cholera. These epidemics, if they did not originate in, were doubtless rendered more virulent by, the death and distress, which resulted from the total failure of the autumn harvest of 1868, and the partial failure of the spring crops of 1869. The intermittent fever above alluded to is most prevalent at the close of the rainy season, and generally disappears with the thoroughly cool weather and westerly winds of November. While attributable to malaria, the disease is doubtless kept alive by debi- 70 PAR litating influences, such as a trying exposure to alternate cold, damp and hot sun ; the constitutions of the poorer classes being at that season un aided by sufficiently stimulating nourishment. Vegetation. — There is no lack of vegetation in this part of the country. Trees, both large and small, low brushwood and grasses abound. The fine umbrageous groves of the mango and mahua in this and the adjoin ing districts, often the growth of centuries, cannot fail to impress the traveller with admiration. It was at one time apprehended that these old trees were in many places falling under the axe, without at the same time any attempt being made to replace them by fresh plantations. This led to the subject being taken up by district and settlement officers. The result of my enquiries in this district, extending over nearly three years, is highly re-assuring. The wooded area, so far from being dimin ished, is gradually extending. The mango (Magnifera Indica). — Of cultivated trees the mango largely preponderates. In the Kunda tahsil and the Ateha pargana mahua groves are numerous ; but in the remainder of the district it is the exception to meet with a grove of any other tree but the mango. It is largely planted by all, and has hitherto been most religiously preserved by the Hindus. It is one of the five trees, which they are taught to regard as sacred. They are brought up to consider as a meritorious act the planting of a mango, but the cutting down or destruction of it as a species of sacrilege. This feelingns, however, losing force amongst them ; several instances having recently come under my notice of high caste Hindus felling their mango trees, and selling the timber. The sale of mango groves also is far more common than it was a short time ago. Nevertheless, the propagation con tinues to outstrip the destructive agency ; and as the operation of the latter is very gradual, no very appreciable difference as regards the removal of the older trees will be apparent. The wood of the mango is of a light colour and soft. It is largely used for building and for fuel. It is also employed for a variety of common purposes. In building, the wood of the mahua is, however, greatly preferred by those who can afford it, being more lasting both in respect to the ravages of insects and the action of wet. The fruit of the mango ripens in May, and is in season until September. It is extensively consumed by all classes, and is so abundant as to be within the reach of the poorest. As a further instance of the gradual change of ideas in the Hindus of the present day, I may mention that the fruit of the mango, the sale of which was formerly almost unknown, has now become a regular market commodity. Zamindars and taluqdars alike, many of them no longer entertain the slightest repugnance to turn their orchard produce into money. The mahua (Bassia latifolia). — As previously stated, the mahua is principally found in the western half of the district. The flower withers in March and April and drops from the tree during the night. It is then collected and carried away in baskets. Of this tree Mr. King writes :—" There are found to be in the four tahsils the large number of 434,570 mahua trees. These represent a valuable pro- PAR 71 perty, and as, save in very exceptional instances, I have not assumed them as an asset of revenue, I look on them as a considerable resource in bad years and other times, upon which the malguzar can fall back. . If we assume every tree to produce twenty ' sers' of dried flower, this, at the price at which mahua has sold for the last four years — viz., 1| mayjads per rupee — would represent a sum of Rs. 1,44,856. It is largely used for the distillation of spirit, and, when plentiful, is given to cattle. As a rule, the mahua crop is not good save once in three years. The seed of the mahua (which succeeds the flower from which the spirit is made), is extensively used for the manufacture of oil for burning ; and the failure of the mahua crop is usually followed by a high price of oil throughout the year in which the failure occurs." The tamarind (Tamarindus Indica) and other trees. — That most graceful and beautiful tree, the tamarind, is everywhere common, toge ther with the shisham (Dalbergia sissoo), the tun (Cedrela toona), siras {Acacia speciosa), jhmun ^(Eugenia jambolana), gular (Ficus racemosa), and nim (Azadirachta Indica). It is dotted about throughout the groves of the district. The wood of the tamarind is used for fuel only. The jamun and giilar come in most usefully in the construction of the " niwar" or wooden supports of masonry wells. The wood of the shisham and tun are expensive, and are only accessible to the wealthy few. The latter is highly esteemed for furniture, and the former in the manufacture of bullock carriages, or " bahals" as they are called. The nim is prized for its medicinal properties. Its seeds yield an oil which is used chiefly as a therapeutic, although the poorer clas-ses burn it in their houses. The disagreeable odour it emits is its principal drawback. The wood of the nim is somewhat soft, but enters largely into the manufacture of small articles of domestic use. Who has not heard of the " nim-ka-miswak"* or famous native tooth-brush, which is said to exert so beneficial an effect on the enamel of the Indian ivory ? From the older trees there exudes at times large quantities of sap of exceedingly bitter taste. This is care fully collected by the people, and is used as a tonic in cases of boils and other skin eruptions. The kathal or jack fruit tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) and other fruit trees. — The kathal or jack fruit tree occupies a high rank in the estima tion of the people. The fruit is much sought after, and in the season the price varies, according to the size, from two pice to one rupee each. Other fruit-bearing trees — such as the barhal (Artocarpus lakoochay), shahtut or mulberry (Morus Indica), bel (JEgle marmelos), karaunda (Clarissa caran- das), and amla, or as it is commonly pronounced aonla j (Phyllanthus emblica) — are all more or less common; while the orange, lemon, guava, pomegranate, and other finer fruits, find a place only in the gardens of the wealthier zamindars and residents in large towns. * Mr. Elliott, in his chronicles of Oonao, mentions a curious circumstance in connection with this subject— viz., that the Raikwar is alone of all Rajput clans forbidden the use of the nim tooth-brush. t Also called Puillanthus einbliea. of the natural order Euphorbiaceas, 72 PAR Trees of ivild and indigenous growth. — Of purely indigenous trees, the pipal* (Ficus religiosa), bargad (Ficus Indica), pakar (Ficus vinosa),&mil- tas (Cassiafisttda), chilbil (Ulmus integrifolia), kachnar (Bauhinia), bakain (Melia azedarach), sahijna or horse-radish tree (Moringa pterygo- sperma), sihor, of stunted growth (Trophis aspera), are perhaps the most conspicuous. The wood of the pipal is chiefly used as fuel in brick kilns. The resin or gum, which exudes from the bark, is collected and manufactured into the "churis" or bracelets wcrn by native women. Elephants, camels, and other animals browse on the leaves of the pipal and bargad. The glutinous substance found inside the seed-pod of the amiltas is a very old and much valued medicine in the hakim's pharma- copcea. The chilbil yields a white pretty looking wood, which is some times used for making plough bullock-yokes ; but it is fragile, and in consequence but little esteemed. The kachnar, when in full blossom, affords a beautiful spectacle, while the flowers emit a fragrance which is almost overpowering. The natives pluck the buds just before they burst into flower, and eat them either raw or prepared as a condiment. The bakain and sahijna call for no particular remark beyond that they are exceedingly ornamental trees. The leaves of the sihor are consumed by the cattle, who regularly strip off the smaller branches., and thus no doubt cause the tree to bear that close-cropped stunted appearance which it does. Dhak (Butea frondosa) and rus (Adhatoda vasica) brushwood. — The small patches of jungle which are now left in this district are princi pally composed of dhak and rus brushwood, interspersed with the thorny makoe (Solanum nigrum), dehra, wild karaunda, and sihor. Around most of the old forts of the taluqdars, these thorn bushes were grown so thickly as often to form a dense and impenetrable thicket for several hundreds of yards. The dhak sometimes shoots up into a large tree. I recently came across one which was not less than 40 feet high. The root of the dhak, or " chheol" as it is also called, furnishes a coarse fibre, wherewith ropes are manufactured. Buffaloes are fed on the leaves. The rus is extensively employedin the cons truction of the fascine-like supports of mud wells. The smaller branches are exceedingly pliant, and are worked round and round in a sort of neat triple plait. The leaf is held to possess high qualities as a manure, and is scat tered over the fields just before the rainy season commences. It is then worked into the soil with the plough, and left to decay with the moisture, and form mould. As fuel it is almost exclusively used in the process of boiling down the cane juice, and is collected into large heaps some days prior to the cutting down of the sugarcane. The bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea). — The bamboo, though to be met with in abundance in this district, can hardly I think be said to he * In his chronicles of Oonao, Mr C. A. Elliott, C.S., writes:—" There are five sacred trees among the Hindus— the 'pipal,' the 'giilar,' 'barsad,' ' pakar,' aud mango. Of these the 'pipal' is far the most reverenced. A good Hin lu, who on a journey sees a 'pipal' tree on his road, will take off his shoos and walk round it from right to left (pardachna), and repeat this verse — " Mule Bramha, tuche Bishan, Sakha Rudr Maheshuran, sir madhe basat Ganga, patre. patre Dewanam, Brichh Raj namastute. "The roots are Bramhn, the bark Vishun, the branches are the Mahadeos " In the bark lives the Ganges, the leaves are the minor deities " liail to Lhee, king of trees ! " PAR 73 indigenous to it. In the northern parts of the province it forms, I believe, extensive jungles. It is one of the most ornamental, as it is one of the most highly prized natural products of the country. To attempt to detail its various uses would be tedious. For thatching purposes, for banghy poles, in the manufacture of umbrellas and baskets, and for many other jjpmmon purposes, it possesses a special value. The wild aloe (Aloe spicata) (Agave, vivipara). — The khetki or " hathi chingar," one of the aloe tribe, is now chiefly grown as hedges to keep out cattle. It yields a strong fibre, which was formerly much used in the manufacture of rope and coarse matting. Where hemp (san) is procurable, however, the aloe is at a discount, as the process of making rope and matting from the former is far easier than from the latter. In the district jail many of the prisoners are employed in turning the aloe to account in the manner abovementioned, as tolerably hard labour is demanded to beat out a certain amount of fibre in an allotted time. The senhur (Epicarpus orientales) and other plants. — The senhur, a plant of the euphorbia tribe, also forms excellent hedges for the preven tion of cattle trespass and for the protection of young trees. It is every where common. The madar (Calatropis Hamiltoni) is generally regarded as an ill-favoured weed ; but it has its uses notwithstanding, for valuable medicinal properties akin to those of the ipecacuanha plant are ascribed to it. That queen of poisonous plants, the dhatiira (Dhatura alba),* with its lovely bell-shaped flower, is but too common in the district. . Although it possesses so evil a reputation, it is permitted to flourish unmolested up to the very doors of the houses. The flower of the " har- singhar" (Nyctanthes arbor tristis) is carefully collected and dried in the sun, after which it is steeped in water and simmered over a slow fire, when it produces a brilliant yellow dye.- This dye is not so much esteemed, however, as that yielded by the cultivated " kusam" or safflower. The palm. — There are but few palm trees left in this part of the coun try. They have gradually died off, or been cut down, and have not been replaced. Some fine trees are still to be seen in the neighourhood of Manikpur. The Khajur or date palm (Phoenix sylvestris) and the tar (Borassus flabelliformis) are the only two varieties known to this district. Grasses. — Of grasses and ridges there are several varieties. Those most esteemed are the dub.-f- (the sweetest and best of all, and which, when carefully tended, is equal to English lawn grass), the janewar, the motha,+ the senwei, the danura, and the makraili, of prostrate grasses. The senwei and danura come up and are reaped with the rice crop. Of standing grasses, the sarpat, the sentha, the gandar, or tin, the kasa, and the kus are the best known and most useful. * The " kala dhatura" (Datura fastuosa) is also to be met with, but is not so common. It is the more powerful poison of the two. t Scientific name Agrastio linearis. j Scienti6c name Cyperus rotundus. 10 74 PAR The sarpat (Saccharum moonja).— The " sarpat" grass is chiefly found along the banks of the Ganges, and to some extent by the sides of the Sai and other streams. It delights in a light sandy soil, and attains to a considerable height in the cold weather. When in full flower, in the month of November, it is highly ornamental. The uses to which this grass is put are numerous, and it forms, where grown to any extent, a really valuable property. Each plant possesses three separate parts, each part being known by a distinctive name, and applied to a different use. The leaf or blade is called sarpat, and is used for thatching. The upper and tapering portion of the stem, for about three feet or so, is incased within three wrappers or sheaths. This goes by the name of sirki, and comes into use in the manufacture. of winnowing fans, sieves, &c, and for the coverings of carts in the rainy season. The wrappers or sheaths are called " munj,"* and of these when thorougbly dried and beaten out, twine and matting are extensively prepared. Lastly, the flower even comes into play, being tied into bunches and figuring as the domestic broom. The gdndar or tin grass (Andropagan muricatum)f and the "Kdsa" (Andispoya muricatum). — From the root of the gandar or tin grass is obtained the scented fibre called " khas," of which the cooling apparatus known by the name of tatties are made. The upper joint of the culm of this grass is styled " sink," and from it are manufactured numerous small articles of domestic use, such as fans, grain basketjs, &c. The tin or leaf is called the sarpat, also used for thatching purposes ; but is greatly preferred to the latter being thicker and more impervious to wet. The kasa is a less esteemed grass. It is, however, made into coarse string occasionally. The kus grass. — The kus possesses no practical utility that I am aware of. A blade of kus grass is made the accompaniment by Hindus of any gift offered to a Brahman. In the month of October (Kuar), when the Hindu head of the family makes his yearly oblation of water to his ancestors, he always makes a point of wearing on the third finger of each hand a ring made out of kus grass ; and it is this kus grass which has given the name to the tenure known as "kushast shankalp," the literal meaning of kushast being through the medium ofkus.% Rivers. — The rivers of the district are the Sai, the Ganges, and the Gumti. The principal river is the Sai, which traverses four-fifths of the length of the district. This river, which is never perfectly dry, rises in the Hardoi district in Oudh, and running through that and the adjoining district of Rae Bareli, enters Partabgarh between the Partabgarh and Kunda tahsils, and, with innumerable sinuosities, maintains a south-easterly course through the Partabgarh into the Patti pargana, where it leaves the district and enters Jaunpur. It is finally united to the Gumti some * The munj of the " khajhwa," a species of " sarpat" peculiar to the banks of the Ganges, is of no use whatever. f Pallaria ziraina nf Lin 7iaus.— Vide Drury's plints of India, p. 38. % Km grass, hast, the hand, the grass passes from one hand to another, as does the tenure, hence the uatne. PAR 75 twenty miles south-east of the town of Jaunpur. The Sai runs chiefly between high banks at a considerable depth below the level of the adjoining country. It seems probable that this depth was greater for merly, as the quantity of soil carried into the river is very great, and must be gradually raising the bed to a level with the surrounding coun try. Trie regular working of the annual rains in the alluvial lands of the Gangetic valley, to bring the surface irregularities of the soil to an uniform level, must have struck every one who has been for any length of time conversant with that part of the country. This river is navi gable in the rains, as is also the Gumti all the year round. The Gumti forms the boundary of the Patti pargana for a distance of about five miles only, quite in the north-east corner of the district, where it abuts on the borders of the adjacent district of Sultanpur. To the south-west again, in an entirely opposite direction, flows the Ganges, separating the lands of parganas Manikpur and Bihar from the neighbouring North-Western Provinces territory, for a distance of some forty-four Fmiles. It leaves the district at a village named Jahanabad, in the Bihar pargana, about eighteen miles above Allahabad. The two rivulets — called the Chop and the Duar — empty their contents into the Ganges. Watershed. — Regarding the watershed of the district, Mr. King writes: — " Nearly the whole of the watershed of the district lies towards the river Sai, which is thus in the rains a considerable stream. It receives the waters of several tributary rivulets, among which the Gogra, Lon, Sakarni, Baklahi from the south, and the Udepur and Mangapur nalas, the Chamrowa and Puraiya, the nalas at Diwanganj and Parhat, and the Pili nadi from the north, are the most considerable. The district is, in fact, the basin of the Sai river. It is not till the immediate neigh bourhood of the Ganges is reached that the watershed lies towards the south." Lakes. — There are many natural lakes, mostly small and more usually known as jhils or tanks ; but some are of considerable area, and in the height of the rains measure some miles in circumference, and cover large areas with .shallow water. The lakes of Behti, Nanera, and Rohenia are the most considerable of these. The surface accumulations of water are prettj* evenly distributed over the district, but are seldom found near the banks of the Ganges or the Sai. The drainage afforded by these rivers naturally causes a scouring of the top soil, and this, carried on. through cen turies, has now removed much of the loamy deposit which formerly covered with a uniform coat the surface of the Gangetic valley. The sand, which underlies the loam at no great depth, is unable to retain the water which is carried off through the soil into nalas and ravines whence it finds its way into the stream. Where the clay or loam exists, the water is retained, and, as said above, this is pretty fairly distributed over the dis trict in wide and shallow lakes. To attempt to deepen these considerably would be to defeat the purpose they now. serve, for if the excavation were continued to the sand that lies below, the whole of the water would pass 76 PAR away into the earth and be lost ; they average about three feet deep, but are practically of no use for navigation or transport. Wild animals. — It is hardly to be expected that there should be many wild animals in a district so highly cultivated ; nevertheless wolves still exist in the ravines and grass nalas, and frequently commit depreda tions on the flocks of the shepherds. Their numbers are yearly diminishing, and, with the continuance of the imperial grant for their destruction, will soon become a thing of the past. During the last ten years 256 wolves have been destroyed, while the total sum paid in rewards has amounted to Rs. 740. For a full-grown animal from Rs. 3 to 6 are allowed, and for a cub Re. 1 only. Of enemies to cultivation may be mentioned the nil-gae, wild cattle, pig, and monkeys. These last are to be seen in most large groves, and owing to the prejudice against killing them entertained by the Hindus, their numbers remain constant. They are exceedingly mis chievous, and their devastations extend from the time the seed is put into the ground until it is ripe for the sickle. Nil-gae, wild cattle, and pig are almost entirely confined to the grass or kachhar lands on the borders of the Ganges. They occasion very considerable damage in those villages which are within a distance of 5 or 6 miles from the river, and travelling as they do in large herds, a night's work is often attended with serious loss to the cultivator. Snakes are not numerous. From January, 1865, to the end of 1869, only 255 appear to have been killed for the Government rewards, which amounted to Rs. 56-13-0. Game. — There is a fair sprinkling of small game in the Partabgarh dis trict, consisting principally of the hare, pea-fowl (Pavo cristatus), grey partridge (Ortigornis pontixviana), common snipe (Gallinago gallinula), large grey or European quail (Coturnix coromandelica), the bush quail (Perdicula combryensis), together with several varieties of geese and ducks. The black partridge (Francolinas vulgaris) is a comparatively rare bird, and is to be found chiefly in the sarpat and kasa grass along the banks of the Ganges. PAR CHAPTER II.* 77 AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE. Vegetable products— Cultivation and produce, fibres, indigo and cotton, pan gardens — Tal atj^ jhil produce-- Harvest -Rotation of crops — Agricultural impleme'its — Enemies of produce Agricultural operations — Irrigation — Manure — Cattle, sheep, and g.iats -Rents— Distribution of land — Agricultural labour — Village establishment — Statement of prices — Fish — Bazars and marts — Fairs, bathing places, and shrines— Manu factures — Trade and traffic Ferries, roads, and bridges. Vegetable products. — Under this head will be noticed more or less briefly the ordinary cereals, millets, pulses, and oil-seeds. The only dyes which are cultivated, with the exception of the Harsinghar referred to in the last chapter, are the kusam (Garthamus tinctorius), which is sown with the spring crops ; haldi or turmeric (Curcuma longa), chiefly grown by Muraos amongst other garden stuffs ; and indigo (Indigofera tinctoria), sugarcane, poppy, tobacco, cotton, and the fibres; sanai (Crotalaria jun- cia) and patwa (Hibiscus cannabinus) complete the list of the crops ordinarily cultivated in this district. Wheat. — The white and the red wheat are both grown in these parts. There are two species of the former — the spike-eared and the awnless. These both go by the name of " daudi,"-f- while the red wheat is called " lalae." If there be any actual difference between these species in this country, it appears to be but little appreciated by the native husbandman, the selling price being uniform for all three. I have always regarded the white wheat as finer and heavier grain than the red. Cultivation and produce. — Wheat requires ample irrigation, and in this district the fields are flooded at least three times during the cold season. In good goind lands, or lands within a certain distance of the village site, luxuriant crops of wheat may generally be seen ; thus showing that it thrives best in a well manured and rich soil. The seed is almost invariably sown in drills. In the subjoined table the irrigated lands are shown under two heads — viz., manured and unmanured ; while the unirrigated lands refer chiefly to those low and moist khadir lands on the borders of rivers and rain-streams, where, from the constant supply of latent moisture, the soil never stands in need of irrigation : — Irrigated land Manured. Unmanured. Average produce per acre of wheat M. 8 u. 17 2 0 M. s. c. 12 10 0 Unirrigated land. M. s. c. 13 34 0 * This chapter is taken with a few alterations and additions from the Partabgarh settlement report. t Probably after the g&l-e-daudi, the cuinmon camomile flower. 78 PAR These figures, calculating the maund at 82-241bs., represent — For manured land ... ... ... ... 33-37 bushels. ,, unmanund ditto ... ... ... 1 6*79 „ „ unirrigated 'khadir' ditto ... ... 1898 „ The average on the three kinds of land being thus 1971 bushels, and this is believed to be a very fair average for the district. Reference to English standard. — In his Farmer's Encyclopaedia, Johnson has the following regarding the produce of wheat : — " The fair produce of wheat varies so much upon different kinds of land, and is so much governed by climate and mode of cultivation, that it is diffi cult to form any acreable estimate of the amount on soils of average quality in ordinary seasons, and under the common course of management : it may, however, be fairly calculated at three quarters or perhaps twenty- eight bushels per imperial acre. To produce the latter quantity, circum stances must however be favourable, and anything beyond that may be considered large, though on some land four to five quarters are not unusual. The weight may average 601bs. per bushel. The straw is gene rally reckoned to be about double the weight of the grain ; an acre produc- . ing three quarters of wheat of the ordinary quality may therefore be pre sumed to yield about twenty-six cwt." Making due allowance therefore for the two important conditions, " climate and mode of cultivation," an outturn of 1971 bushels per acre, over an extensive wheat growing district, is not at all a bad one. Barley. — Barley is of all grains the most extensively cultivated in this district. The soil is eminently adapted to -it, and so would appear to be the climate also ; for regarding this cereal the same writer, whom I have above quoted, records that " barley is a tender plant, and easily hurt in any stage of its growth. It is more hazardous than wheat, and is gene rally speaking raised at a greater expense, so that its cultivation should not be attempted, except where the soil and climate are favourable for its growth." Again, in another place the writer goes on to say. "The land that produces the best barley is generally of a silicious, light, dry nature. Cold wet soils, which are peculiarly retentive of water, are ill adapted to the growth of this grain, both in reference to its weight and its malting qualities. The whole matter of barley and its straw contains more sili cious particles than that of any other grain cultivated by the British farmer ; and hence one reason why a sandy soil is most congenial to the growth of this plant." Certainly in this part of India barley does not appear to be a tender plant ; nor does it require greater expense in its cultivation than wheat. For while the latter demands a rich soil, con stant moisture, and in the up lands and other dry localities at least two waterings, barley thrives best on land but slightly manured, and will suffer but little, if it does not get more than one watering. Produce of barley.— The, average yield per acre of barley may be safely set down at sixteen maunds per acre, which, assuming the bushel of barley PAR 79 to weigh 50 lbs., and the maund as before to be 82-24 lbs., represents 1315"84 lbs. or 2631 bushels. The usual crop in England, it is said, is from twenty-eight to thirty-six or thirty-eight bushels. Au average of 2631 bushels does not therefore, in my opinion, belie the alleged fertility of the soil of this district. flice.— There are four sorts of rice ordinarily grown — viz., those distin guished by the names of "kuari dhan," "jethi dhan," ".sathi dhan," and " jarhan." The principal rice localities are the low-lying lands of the Patti tahsil, and the neighbourhood of the large jhils and swampsSn the tahsil of Kunda. But little rice is to be seen in Partabgarh. These last three divisions of the district may be said to depend mainly on the spring or rabi harvest ; while a failure of the kharif or autumn crops causes most distress in Patti. Yield, rate, &c. — -The yield of the different sorts of rice above enume rated varies a good deal. The outturn per acre of kuari dhan is on an average from twelve to thirteen maunds, and the selling price at harvest time is ordinarily one maund for the rupee. Kuari dhan is sown with the first fall of rain, and is cut in Kuar (September-October), hence the name. Jethi dhan is sown in April in places where water is still lying, and it is cut at the beginning of June. This kind of rice prevails chiefly in the Kundatahsil. The average yield per acre is from eighteen to twenty maunds. This rice (which appears to be precisely similar to the kuari rice) entails far more labour in its cultivation than any of the other kinds. During the great period of its growth the fields are flooded. But the ' water is not allowed to lie incessantly. It is generally allowed to lie for twelve hours, and is then drained off for twelve hours. This latter period is during the night. Sathi rice — so called because it is said to ripen sixty days after sowing — is the least esteemed of the different sorts of this grain. Sathi dhan-is very little grown, and is seldom cultivated in places where there is the least hope of a better crop. The average produce per acre may be set down at nine or ten maunds. Jarhan is the best rice grown, both as regards quality and quantity ; the average yield per acre is fifteen maunds, and the selling price fifty sers for the rupee when cut : — - Kuari dhan ordinarily sells 40 sers for the rupee. Jethi dhan ,, „ 30 ii !! >> Sattii dhan >» >» 42 n >l » These three kinds of rice are preferred by the poorer classes to jarhan, because they swell to a much larger bulk in process of cooking, and conse quently less is required for a meal. Jarhan is thickly sown in small plots and is transplanted, when rather more than a foot high, in bunches of four or five plants, into fields which have been previously carefully prepared. Gram, peas, and other food grains. — Of other grains, gram, peas, arhar, juar, and bajra are perhaps alone worth special notice. Gram, peas, and arhar cover an extensive area, and are -reckoned valuable crops. They belong to the spring or rabi harvest. Gram is a crop to which water is not indispensable, and it is often grown on poor light soil where mud wells are impracticable, Peas and arhar are also hardy crops ; but the former, 80 PAR to repay the cultivator, requires at least one watering. Arhar again is never irrigated, and may be seen anywhere and everywhere ; besides being an important item of food, the stalks are extensively used in the construction of the frame-work supports of the village thatch roofs, specially where the bamboo is not, or is with difficulty procurable. Juar and bajra aie kharff millets. The former is sown at the commencement of the rains ; the latter about two months later. Both, however, ripen at the same time, and are reaped early in November. The stalks of the juar or jundhri constitute valuable fodder for cattle. It is chopped up into small lengths, and about seven sers go to a feed. Sugarcane. — The cultivation of sugarcane is rapidly extending, and has probably increased during the last ten years, not less than twenty-five per cent. Three kinds of cane are cultivated — viz., saroti, ktiswar, and katara, — all varieties of the Saccharum ojficinarum. The last named is used for eating only ; four or five stalks, according to the size, being procurable for a pice. Gur is made from the juice of the other two kinds, and is of the best quality in pargana Patti. One bigha of good cane should, as a rule, produce fifteen maunds of gur, the average value of which is from thirteen to fourteen sers for the rupee. This represents a total value of Bs 72 for the produce of an acre. Deducting the expenses according to the following scale: — Re. a. p. Rent of one acre ... SeedHerding sheep and manuring Sowing and ploughing Seven waterings „ dressings Total the cultivator may reckon on a clear profit of Rs. 16, which is a higher return than can be looked for from an acre of wheat, barley, or other ordi nary crop. It is not therefore to be wondered at that the cultivation of sugarcane should prove somewhat attractive, and long may it continue so ; for the higher the standard of cultivation the better the prospect of a speedy improvement in the circumstances and condition of the agricultu ral classes, whether owners of the soil or mere tenants-at-will. Regarding sugarcane Mr. King has left the following remarks on record : — " Sugarcane has been almost confined hitherto to the Patti tahsil, which is credited with 6,930 bighas of the crop out of 9,933 bighas in the whole district. Since the assessment, however, a great impetus has been given to this branch of agriculture, and in the Partabgarh tahsil a considerable quantity is now grown. In Bihar* the white-ants are said to prevent the grain being grown, and this appears to be true ; for it is not unusual to see in a village several fine stone sugarcane mills, although cane has not been grown within the memory of man. Judging from the number of these deserted evidences of a former cultivation, I should say that in Bihar there had been, some seventy or eighty years • Now the Kunda tahsil. • >• 12 12 9 4 0 0 ... 5 8 3 ... 4 12 9 22 6 6 ... 8 12 9 ... 66 0 0 PAR 81 ago, a far greater growth of sugarcane than is now to be seen in any part of the district. " Poppy. — The cultivation of the poppy (Papaver somniferum) being under the close superintendence of the opium department, the extent to which i* has increased, and the rate at which it is increasing can be accurately ascertained. The following figures furnished by the opium officer of this circle exhibit the area under poppy in 1860-61, as compared with the present year. The ratio of increase is no less than 606'6 per cent. Acres. Sown with poppy in 1860-61 ... ... ... 181 Ditto ditto 1870-71 ... ... ... 1,289 Notwithstanding the past increase exhibited by these figures, I am by no means prepared to say that the cultivation of poppy is particularly popu lar. The last year's export of opium from the Partabgarh district has been returned at 900 maunds, representing at four rupees a ser, the price paid to the cultivator, the sum of Rs. 1,44,000. The extraction of the drug is a troublesome and dirty process. When the flower falls off, and the capsules attain a sufficient size, the opium is extracted. This is done by means of longitudinal incisions and inspissation. Tobacco. — Tobacco is a very fine crop in this district. It is grown wherever the locality and water are favourable. It flourishes on high lands, and more specially on old ruined sites, and it requires abundant well water, which should possess saline properties. Sweet water, or water from tanks and ponds, is held to be injurious to the growth of good tobacco. From a return which was prepared in the settlement department last April, I find that there are about 1,177 bighas, or 736 acres, grown with tobacco. The average outturrr per standard bigha is five maunds four-, teen sers, or eight maunds twenty- two sers per acre ; and the average rent for tobacco land is Rs. 10-13-6 per acre. At the ordinary selling price of seven sers for the rupee, the gross value of the produce of an acre may be set down at Rs. 48-14-4. Deducting expenses as below : — Rent of one acre, ... Ploughing, Manuring, ... ... ... ... Eight waterings, Weeding and loosening the earth about the roots ... Total. Rs. Rs. a. ... 10 13 l 9 1 3 ... 12 12 1 9 P- 6 6 3 9 6 ... 28 O 6 the average clear profit on the acre amounts to Rs. 20-13-10, and this figure is, I believe, very moderate. I trust that the recent experiment of introducing the American tobacco-seed may prove successful ; for I can not but think that, with moderate care, the yield will be a safe and highly profitable source of income. 11 82 PAR Fibres, indigo, and cotton.— Regarding the cultivated fibres, sanai and patwa, indigo and cotton, Mr. King writes as follows :— " Hemp, sanai, a tall plant, with a light yellow flower. The fibre is used for well ropes and is called san. "Patwa is grown in juar fields. It has a bell-shaped light yellow flower, and the fibre, which is called san, is used for common pur poses. The above are cultivated fibres. " Dyes —Indigo is grown a little, and is made up in the native method. There are indigo planters' lands to the extent of some 3,000 or 4,000 bighas in the district. The produce is sent to Calcutta. " Cotton is not much grown. A return made in 1866-67 showed an estimated area of 2,693 acres, and an outturn of 2,430 maunds of cleaned cotton, which shows that the crop is not a heavy one in this country."* Uncultivated fibres.— Of uncultivated fibres may be here mentioned the silmil, one of the Leguminosce, a tall, thin looking plant, which is found here and there in the " kachhar" lands bordering the Ganges. It seeds in the cold season, the seeds being contained in very long narrow pods. Mr. G. P. Gartlan, Manager of the Palmerland Estate, _ showed me some of the fibre. It was very clean, and apparently of considerable strength ; but it would, he informed me, scarcely repay cultivation, the yield of fibre being too small. The fibre comes from the corticate casing of the stem, after a certain period of immersion. It has been already mentioned that the " dhak" tree furnishes a coarse fibre. There remains the sarpat grass, producing, as Mr. King writes, " a fine fibre, which is made up and called badh, used for stringing the common native charpoy or bed, and for making up the bamboo frame-work of roofs." P same time as the monsoon. June- July (Asdrh). — Ploughing in preparation both for rabi and kharif harvests, sowing kuari dhan, makra, maize, sanwan, kakun, urd, juar ramdana, patwa, sanai, kodo, jarhan rice, mting, til, cotton (manwa and radhia), arhar, lobia, and bhatoi ; driving the hinga to break up the clods and cover in the seed ; herding sheep and cattle in the fields for the pur pose of manuring and enriching the soil. July-August (Sdwan). — Weeding and earthing up kuari dhan, makra, maize, sanwan, kakun, juar, and kodo. Ploughing for the rabi. At the end of the month transplanting jarhan rice after fresh ploughing and level ing with the hinga. Herding sheep and cattle as above. August-September (Bhddon). — Ploughing for the rabi. A second weed ing of the crops mentioned under the last month. Reaping and carrying the bhadain or bhadon harvest. Herding sheep and cattle as above. Transplanting jarhan, sowing urd, mothi, bajra, and arhar. September-October (Kudr).- — Reaping, carrying, and threshing the kuari harvest. Ploughing and leveling with hinga lands for rabi. Rotting the sanai stalks by immersion in water to obtain the fibre. Sowing the follow ing rabi seeds — viz., gram, peas, barre, or kusam, linseed, and sehuan. Herding sheep and cattle as before ; gathering cotton (kapas). October-November (Kdrtik). — Manuring for the better rabi crops, sewing peas, gram, wheat, barley, masur, barre, linseed, sarson, mustard, sehuan, poppy, and tobacco, and then leveling and covering in with hinga. Mak ing irrigation beds or squares with pharwa. November-December (Aghan). — Reaping, carrying, and threshing the agahni harvest. Chopping up the cane, and carrying it to the mill. First watering of the rabi crops ; weeding and loosening soil around the poppy. December-January (Pus). — Manufacture of gur. Second watering of rabi crops. Weeding and loosening soil round the poppy. Pruning the tobacco plants in order to cause them to throw out leaves from the base of the main stem. January-February (Mdgh).— Manufacture of gur. Third watering of the rabi. Flooding and preparing land for reception of cane. Early sowing of the latter and irrigating about a week afterwards. Herding sheep and cattle as in Asarh, Sawan, &c. Flooding and preparing fields for PAR 87 sanwan. Sowing sanwan and covering in with hinga. Should rain fall in this month, the bijar or kuari dhan fields are ploughed. Early peas cut and carried. At the end of this month, incisions are made in the poppy heads with the pachhni towards evening, and the opium, which exudes, is collected with the kachhni early the next morning. m February-March (Phdgun). — Fourth irrigation of rabi, which water ing however is confined to wheat, sugarcane, tobacco, and poppy. Conti nuation of sugarcane planting and of sdnwan sowing. Putting sickle to the barley, peas, and here and there early sown wheat. Gathering sarson. Manufacture of gur. Extracting opium as described in Magh. Chait. — Harvesting wheat, barley, peas, gram, linseed, sehuan, mus tard, barre, and arhar ; cutting down poppy and tobacco ; irrigation of cotton; continuation of sugarcane sowing, and watering of that previously sown in Magh and Phagun ; flooding and preparing fields for the jethi dhan, which is sown in this month of and irrigated constantly up to the time that it is cut in this and following months. Threshing out and winnowing of grain in the khaliap or threshing floors. Baisdkh. — Irrigation of sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, and sanwan, gather ing the kapas or ordinarj' cotton. Storing bhusa brought from the thresh ing floors. Jeth. — Manuring the kharif fields. Irrigating the sugarcane and san wan second cutting down of tobacco plants. In this month, the cultiva tors re-thatch their huts in anticipation of the coming rains, and store fodder, wood, and cow-dung fuel. Irrigation. — -Under district Rae Bareli is given an elaborate account of irrigation from masonry wells in the high land which skirts the Ganges, the same holds true for this district. Throughout this tract, whose breadth is from three to seven miles, water is met with at from 50 to 60 feet from the surface, but the digging is generally continued about fifteen feet further till good springs are reached. The entire depth then will be 75 feet or fifty cubits, the cost of digging is estimated at one rupee a cubit, but such a well will last many years, and two large leather buckets can be used in it. From such a well two superior bullocks, whose labour is worth four annas per day, will draw up in an entire day of nine hours enough water for five biswas ; three men will attend them and the distribution of the water. They will water a bigha in four days at a cost of one rupee for cattle, and one rupee eight annas for human labour. This will amount to four rupees per acre for one watering. The consequence of this costliness is that the cereals, wheat, &c, which require three waterings, hardly ever get more then two, and generally only one. In Patti Tahsil water is much nearer the surface averaging about 20 feet ; there irrigation is cheaper. It is of the same nature as that described in south Lucknow, which also lies mainly between the Sai and 88 PAR the Gumti. The cost of well-irrigation may be. set down in Partabgarh, north of the Sai, as varying between Rs. 2-4-0 per acre and Rs. 4-0-0. Irrigation is extensively carried on from wells both bricked and unbrick- ed, or as they are styled " kachcha," as well as from jhils, ponds, and exca vated tanks. Some of the rivulets or rain streams are also utilized by damming the current. Streams. — Where the banks of the stream are sufficiently low, the water is baled out with the " dogla" or bamboo basket, swung on double ropes, and worked by a couple of men. Four men are told off to each dogla, and each couple works for about half an hour, and is then relieved. A day's work continues for fourteen or fifteen hours out of the twenty-four, and thus each man has more than seven hours pf it. Where the banks of the stream are too high for the dogla a convenient spot is selected, and the well apparatus of the moth (leathern bucket; and pulley is brought into play. Jhils, ponds, and tanks. — Irrigation from jhils, ponds, and tanks is car ried on by means of the " dogla" or the " dauri." The latter is a smaller and lighter basket than the dogla, and is preferred to the latter where the water is deep, and consequently the labour of lifting thereby enhanced. Where the water is some little distance from the cultivation, and the dif ference of level considerable, a succession of two and three doglas or dauris may be seen working simultaneously at successive points. These points are called "riks," and the water is collected in more or less deep pools at each of them. This system of irrigation is frequently carried on by a co-operative or mutual aid society, the members whereof combine to work together by gangs, until the lands of the whole have been watered. This is in practice found to be more economical than the independent hiring of labourers. In the latter case the daily wage consists generally of three sers of some one of the inferior food grains. Wells. — The water is lifted out of wells by means of the " moth" or "pur,"* a flexible leathern bucket, containing from two and a half to twelve and a half gallons, which is attached by a strong rope to a pulley. In masonry wells the number of " laos" or runs, which can be worked at one and the same time, varies from four to twenty. The aver age number may be set down at eight. As regards unbricked wells, I have seldom seen more than two laos worked. These laos are worked in this district by men or women, bullocks, and buffaloes. The latter are, however, comparatively rare. Bullocks are of course preferred, and may be said to be the rule. Where men and women are employed, six per sons are told off to one lao, twelve to two laos, and so on. These are exclusive of two persons, one of whom directs the course of the water in the field, and the other receives and empties the bucket on its arrival at the mouth of the well. A third man is necessary, where bullocks are used, to drive them. Human labour irrigates more quickly than bullocks, but is obviously more expensive, and is only had recourse to when the cultivator The " pur" is larger than the " moth," and is peculiar to certain parts of the district. PAR 89 has no cattle, or wishes to work more laos than he has cattle for. The rate of remuneration in such cases is a daily dole of a kachcha panseri (equivalent to one ser fourteen chhataks) of some coarse grain such as barley, juar, or bajra. During the irrigating season, the same set of men or women will work from early morning before sunrise to nightfall for this pittance^ The wage of a worker at the dogla or dauri is higher, and is generally one kachcha panseri and a half (two sers eight chhataks), as the labour is far more severe. Capabilities of irrigation frompondsandwells. — The area of land, which on an average may be irrigated in one day by either of the methods above described, varies inversely according to the distance from the water supply. It may be generally assumed, that about two standard bighas can be irri gated in one day by one relief of two men working one dogla or dauri. More than one relief to the dogla is the exception in this district. Where two reliefs are available, and the distance from the water moderate, from two and a half to two and three-fourths bighas can be supplied in a day. These results are of course affected in a diminishing ratio by the number of riks. One lao of a masonry well, when worked by human labour, irri gates on an average six biswas standard measure. When bullocks are attached, the average is about three and a half biswas. In the case of kachcha wells these results may be slightly modified. There is, however, very little actual difference. The quality of the soil affects the irrigated area in proportion to its absorbent properties. A larger surface of clay can be irrigated in a day than of loam, and similarly a larger amount of loam than of sand. Cost of wells. — The average cost of constructing a masonry well is Rs. 250. The cost, of course^ varies in proportion to the depth of water. The depth in the wells in the Partabgarh district ranges from eleven to eighty feet. Water is nearer the surface in the Patti pargana; less so in parganas Bihar and Rampur ; and is, as a rule, deepest in Partabgarh. Kachcha and agdri wells. — Kachcha wells are impracticable in locali ties where there is a substratum of white sand, which causes the sides to fall in. These spots are, however, exceptional, and, as a rule, the land in the vicinity is veiy sandy and sterile. The kachcha well can be sunk at a cost of from 4 to 15 rupees according to circumstances ; this latter amount is exceptional. Should the well be required for drinking purposes only, the cost is much less, and may be put down at about one-half. The irri gation well has to be dug much deeper, and in many places the sides must be protected by rus fascines, or as they are termed by the natives, " bin " or "rangarh." There is a well also, which is supported by large wooden segments, or circular bricks, and which is called " agari." The conversion of a kachcha well into an agari entails an additional cost on the former of from Rs. 5 to Rs. 10. "Agari" wells are not, however, very common, except where, owing to the sandy nature of the soil, they are more the rule than the exception. Extended well-irrigation since annexation and since revised assessment. — I have before recorded that 3,146 masonry wells have been constructed 12 90 PAR in this district since annexation. Of this number 2,256 have been built since the revised assessments were declared in 1863 to 1866. Very few masonry wells are built by persons possessed of any right or title in the soil. With the exception of about 1,106, all the wells in this district have been constructed by persons who have no proprietary or under -proprietary rights in the'land. It will be observed that more skilled and industrious cultivators — such as Muraos, Kurmis, and Ahirs — have been the most enterprising in this respect. Next come Brahmans, after these, longo sed intervallo, Mahajans (bankers) and Banians. It is at first difficult to perceive the motives, which induce the sinking of so much capital on little or no security, and where there is an impossibility, it appears to me, of ever obtaining such returns in the way of interest as would justify the outlay in the light of a moderately profitable speculation. Desire for dis tinction and for the grateful recollection of posterity, coupled with the feeling that the act is in accordance with the teachings of the religious codes of both persuasions, appear to be the principal incentives. Manure. — Animal and vegetable manures are made use of wherever procurable. Ashes of burnt cow-dung (kanda), and less often of wood, are also sprinkled over the fields. During the rainy season the leaves of the dhak and dhera trees are strewed over fields, which are to be sown with wheat, barley, poppy, and tobacco, and which are ordinarily called " chaumas" lands. Cultivators stack their manure in convenient places near the village ; if possible, on a piece of waste, otherwise in a grove. These manure heaps are a constant and fertile source of dispute, and it is a great object to carefully record in the "wajib-ul-arz," or administration paper, such rights in them as are clearly ascertainable. There is at present no traffic in manure except within the limits of municipalities. If a landlord has not enough for his own use, he has no scruple in relieving such of his tenants as are well off in this respect of their surplus stock, and the latter seldom demur to the demand, as it is generally regarded as a mano rial right. Cattle, draught, and milch. — For agricultural purposes bullocks are chiefly used. These are as a rule a small breed of cattle, but are capable of undergoing pretty hard work. If there were but a sufficiency of good pasture, I believe they would not be by any means the inferior animals they are generally considered. Buffaloes are used only by those of the more impoverished cultivators, who are unable to afford to buy bullocks, and who are not prevented by local caste prejudices from making use of them. The market price of bullocks varies according to size and age from Rs. 12 to Rs. 40 per pair ; whereas a pair of he-buffaloes may be purchased for Rs. 10 ; more than Rs. 12 is very seldom given or demanded. There is apparently no effort or desire to improve the present breed, and the services of the Government stud bulls are but seldom called into requisi tion. Nevertheless at several of the local bazars a brisk trade in draught and milch cattle and in buffaloes is carried on. Of milch cattle the buffalo is the most esteemed, and yields the finest ghi. As much as Rs. 20 is frequently paid for a really good animal of this sort. The country cow gives but little milk, and that little of very poor quality. PAR 91 Sheep and goats. — There is a fine breed of sheep in the Kunda tahsil. They may be seen in considerable flocks, and are bred by the shepherds who sell but few, as they prefer to keep them for their wool) out of which they manufacture blankets at a larger profit than they could otherwise obtain. There is little to be said regarding the breed of goats in this district. Attempts to improve the breed by the introduction of the larger Trans- Jumna goat have hitherto resulted in failure. The absence of proper pasturage will probably account for this. Goat's flesh as well as goat's milk is a universal item of food amongst all classes. Shepherds, who keep large flocks of sheep and goats, manufacture and sell ghf made from the mixed milk of both animals ; it is much sought after, and is mainly consumed by the poor. Prevalent diseases amongst stock. — Since the fatal outbreak of rinder pest in England, attention has been more closely directed to the diseases of cattle in this country, and there can be no doubt but that the cattle of India are liable to many of the diseases, which have been hitherto sup posed to be more or less peculiar to a European climate. The complaint known as the foot and mouth disease broke out in this district a short time since, but not of a fatal type. While a few weeks previously there had been great mortality in several places amongst sheep and goats by the ravages of a disease somewhat resembling rot. It was highly infec tious, but in many instances yielded to segregation, with complete change of air and water, when all other means tried had failed. Distribution of land. — The land is well distributed, the averages taken on the cultivated area falling as follows : — Acres. Per agricultural male adult ... ••• 3'1 Per cultivator's house ... ... ... 4-9 Per plough ... ... ... ^. 6"I3 With reference to the extent to which the land is distributed, and the consequent smallness of the average holding, this district stands next to Fyzabad. Cultivators may be broadly classified into resident and non resident. The resident cultivator, or " chhapparband," is so called because he tills land situated within the limits of the village in which he resides. The non-resident, or " pahikasht," cultivates land in one village while residing in another. Of course there are a considerable class, who from motives of self-interest, expediency, or other cause cultivate land in two or more villages, and who may be said to come under both categories; that is to say, they not only till land in their own village, but are also tenants in a neighbouring village. In point of fact, however, they are reducible to one or other class, according as reference be made to either one or other of the villages in which they cultivate. Thus A. cultivates land in Rampur and Hisampur ; but his house is situated in the latter village. He is a pahikasht with respect to Rampur, but a chhapparband with res pect to Hisampur. Increase to cultivated and wooded areas. — Since the declaration of the revised assessment, very extensive clearances of jungle and waste land have been and are still being made. By an approximate calculation, 92 PAR prepared as carefully as circumstances have permitted, I estimate the increase to the cultivated area at 17,900 acres or 335 per cent. Much of the land, which the wily zamindars, with rueful countenances, earnestly assured the assessing officers was sterile and fit for nothing, has since been worked up and cleaned, and is now in many places bearing luxuriant crops. By the time the period of the present settlement expires, there will be ample margin whence to correspondingly increase the imperial demand. In cases of large tracts of jungle or waste, the taluqdar or zamin- dar often sells the land in patches to the highest bidder. The purchaser is generally a banker or other small capitalist, who at once sets to work and rapidly clears the land. Where the plots of waste are small and sparse, the landlord usually lets it out on clearing leases, charged with a nominal rent for at least three years. These leases are almost always taken by the more skilled cnltivators. The average cost of clearing brushwood or thorn jungle may be set down at from Rs. 6 to Rs. 10 per acre; while that of grass jungle seldom exceeds from Rs. 2 to Rs. 5 the acre. When the khasra survey was completed there were 76,008 acres under wood. This area has since been extended to about 85,499 acres, or 12*48 per cent., a result we may likewise hail with satisfaction. Rents. — Rents have steadily risen in this district since the introduction of British rule, and still have a tendency to rise. It has been asserted that, if the extraneous items, such as " batta," " bhent," and other such nawabi imposts, be taken into calculation, we shall find that as a matter of fact, rents have not risen. Now this question has been carefully gone into by the settlement officer, and the deliberate conclusion to which he arrived, taking each and every such regularly realized exaction into con sideration into account, is that rents under our rules have risen and are rising. This was attributable, in his opinion, to the enhanced value of land, and to competition. He took the papers of 100 villages, which were prepared before annexation, and carefully abstracted their contents. Comparing these contents with jamabandis drawn out since the district came under survey, he found that against a former average rent-rate of Re. 1-10-1 per bigha, taken on the whole 100 villages, we have now (i.e., in 1868), an average rent-rate of Rs. 3-1-1 per bigha. But, it may be urged, these results hardly admit of fair comparison, the bigha in the latter case beiug the standard bigha of fths of an acre, and in the former case, the variable village bigha. This difficulty may, I think, be got over by bear ing in mind the following facts, viz. : — Of the villages selected, twenty-five pertain to each tahsil in the district. It has been found, by actual experiment, that in three out of the four tahsils,' the village bigha is actually larger than the standard bigha. In the case of seventy-five villages, therefore, the nawabi rent-rate falls on a larger bigha than the present standard bigha, while in twenty-five villages only does it fall on a smaller one, the difference, in either case,not exceeding four biswas. It follows then, that unquestionably rents are higher than formerly, and that land has acquired a higher market value. In the old district. PAR 93 At the same time he found, from the same set of papers, that under the Government of the king of Oudh the total number of cultivators in these one hundred villages was 3,653, and that the average holding of each amounted to six bighas, thirteen biswas, thirteen biswansis, while under British rule the number of cultivators has increased to 8,536, and the averagejiolding of each has diminished to four bighas, nineteen biswas, and ten biswansis. These results, combined with the fact of the almost entire commutation of produce rates into cash payments, point to com petition. Rents in kind versus cash payment. — Rents in kind largely prevailed prior to annexation, and were chiefly, if not entirely, levied on poor and unirrigated lands, where the produce was more or less precarious, in the proportion of one-half. Now, however, they have been almost every where commuted into money rents ; another result of increased numbers and competition. Competition. — Custom has not restricted the landlord's right in this matter, nor as regards the enhancement of rent generally. Custom, coupled with the fear of incurring universal odium, operated formerly in preventing a landlord from raising the rents paid by Brahmans. Now, however, such is no longer the case, and it is by no means unusual to find cultivators of this class paying at even double the rates they used to pay in days gone by, their threats of " dharna" and self-mutilation or destruc tion notwithstanding. Itisonly to be expected that in a densely populated district like this competition should prevail. While custom regulated the transactions between landlord and tenant, prior to the summary settlement of 1858, since that date competition has been gradually displacing, and has now, in most parts of the district, superseded custom ; the result, alike of a radical change of government, of greater security to life and property, and of the altered state of the fiscal relation between the landowner and the State. This sounds very much like heresy in the face of Mr. J. S. Mill's emphatically expressed doctrine, that " competition as a regulator of rent has no existence." At the same time he says in another place : — " The relations, more specially between the landowner and the cultivator, and the payment made by the latter to the former, are, in all states of society, but the most modern" (the italics are mine), " determined by the usage of the country. Never until late times have the conditions of the occupancy of land been (as a general rule) an affair of competition." Mr. Mill then goes on to cite India as an example in favour of his previous argument, but the analogy, so far as Oudh is concerned, is not established ; the system described, although in vogue in other parts of the country, being inapplicable to the now unquestioned tenant status of this province. It has been noticed that the reluctance, which has hitherto been manifested by tenants, to leave their native village with even the certain prospect of bettering themselves elsewhere, is beginning to give way in some places ; a fact which is a further indication of the presence of competition, but which is at the same time a healthy sign. Agricultural labour. — In the present day, when this country is being rapidly opened up to civilization, and its alleged hidden wealth is daily 94 PAR undergoing 'development, the progress and effects of agricultural labour, which in the territorial division of labour has peculiar reference to this province, must be watched with the closest interest. In this district labour is abundant, and at the same time cheap ; too cheap in fact, having due regard to the enhanced price of all the necessaries of life, to maintain a just equilibrium between the values exchanged. Skilled labour has doubtless profited by the vicinity of the railroad ; and many of the clever est artizans of the district have long since become almost permanent employees under the East Indian Railway Company, where they obtain far higher wages than local employers could or would allow them. On the other hand, the condition of the unskilled labourers who form the masses has not been ameliorated. Numbers were employed some time back on the railroad, and many still, who live in the more immediate neighbour hood, earn their livelihood by the same means. These, however, compose' but a small proportion of the whole and it is proposed to notice the more important and common subdivisions of labour, with the present rates of remuneration accorded to each by the zamindar ; to compare these rates with those which prevailed in the nawabi, shortly before annexation, and lastly, to note, as far as possible, the difference between the present and the former prices of the cheaper and lighter food grains, which form the principal subsistence of the poorer classes : — Men. Women. Children. Description. ^ Nawabi. Present time Nawabi. Present time. Nawabi. Present time. Grain. Grain. Grain. Grain. Grain. Grain. Ploughman 14 Ser. lj Ser. Sower 1 1 1? t> n „ If' Ser. If Ser. If Ser. If Ser. Manuring ii ., H „ Ii „ Ii „ n » U » Irrigation labour at Sr. Chks. Sr. Chks. Sr. Chks. Sr. Chks Sr. Chks Sr. Chks. the well I 14 1 14 1 14 1 14 At the " dogla" 2 8 2 8 2 8 2 8 \m Weiding labour I 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 I 0 1 0 Reaper' 3 8 3 8 3 8 3 8 Thresher I 8 1 8 1 8 1 8 1 8 1 8 Well-sinker •¦• SJ Annas. 2) Annas !•• Mud-wall builder ... 2 „ 24 ,, • ¦• ... Mud carrier 1 „ ii » I Anna. 1 J Anna. 2 & 3 pice. 1 Anna, Tile and brick manu 1 J to 2 „ 24to3„ facturer. Mason or " raj" ... 24 „ 3&t„ Carpi-nter ... li „ 3 », ... Blacksmith 1 „ 3 „ ..: ... ... less. This is the average of the " lehna" or reader's right. It may be more and it may be PAR 95 Maize 32 Makra 40 Bajra j» » 30 Juar jj 60 Kuilri dhan 40 M otbi 40 Peaa 40 Arhar 50 Now as to the cheaper grains : — Barley sold in the Nawabi at 50 sers, now sells at 32 sers. ., 26 „ 28 „ 25 ,. 35 „ 30 „ 20 „ 28 „ SO „ Thus it will be seen that in some instances the rates of remuneration have only slightly increased since the introduction of British rule. The price of the coarser grains has, however, risen very considerably, and to an extent which is not quite compensated by the amount of enhanced wage. A slight advance on the latter is therefore necessary in order to place these, who are chiefly artizans, on the same footing as they were in the nawabi ; while it is evident that the circumstances of the farm labourers are certainly not more straitened than before annexation as regards actual wage. Relative quantities of seed to the acre. — The amount of seed, of course, varies very much with the nature of the crop to be sown. The follow ing table represents the average requirements per acre for the principal crops : — Per acre. Broadcast. Drill. Wheat If to 2 maunds. Barley ... 14 to If maund. 1-1 to 2 „ Peas ... ... ... 32 " sers" to 1 »> If Gram ... ... ... H ii 1 2 Kuari dr an 1 to li »> Jethi , ... ... 1 to 1J »> Sathi 1 to ii » Jarhan ... ... ... 1 to l| » Maize ... ... 2J sirs >i Bajra ... ... 2| to 3* sers Juar ... ... 2% to 3^ i» Urd ... ... ... 4 to 6 » Mothi ... ... ... 6 to 7 »> Makra ... ... 4 to 5 >» Kakun ... ... 2 >» Sarson ... ... i >» i ser Sanwan ... ... i i> Sanai ... ... 1 to Hi maund. Patwa .... ... ... 4 sers Cotton, Rapas... ... ... 3J to 4 sers )> Kadhia 3| to 4 >i >) Manwa n it It is curious to observe here, with reference to barley, peas, and gram, which are sown both broadcast and in drills, that an excess of seed is required for the latter method. In English farming it is just the reverse, broadcast invariably^ requiring more seed than drill. Wheat is never sown broadcast in this district. It is always sown in drills. A compari son of the quantities of seed required for an acre of wheat and barley in these parts and in England is appended : — 96 PAR Partabgarh. England. Broadcast. Drill. Broadcast. Drill. WheatBarley Bushels. 2'46 to 2-87 Bushels. 2* to 2-74 2-87 to 328 Bushels. 2 5 to 3-5 3 to4 Bushels. 2 to 3 2-6 to 3-5 The bushel of wheat is calculated as sixty pounds and the bushel of barley as fifty pounds. There is not much difference, it will be observed, between the two rates. Village establishment. — The village officials and the village servants, ordinarily styled the " parja," will now be noticed. The patwdri. — The patwari, or village accountant, is an important func tionary, whether viewed in his relations to the landed proprietor, his mas ter, or to Government, who demands from him the periodical submission of the accounts of his charge. These men are entirely Kayaths or Kayath converts to Muhammadanism. In other than taluqdari estates they bold office during the joint pleasure of the landowner and the district officer; that is to say, neither has the power to remove a patwari independently of the other. Nevertheless his wages are paid by the former alone, and are usually proportioned to the extent of land under his charge.* A pat- wari's charge varies from a portion of a village to a large circle of seve ral villages. In the latter case, he employs members of his own family or others as assistants, he himself being responsible for their work. The ordinary rate of remuneration is six per cent, on the imperial revenue, and is either paid in cash, or by an allowance of land, which again is either rent-free or charged with a low rent according to circumstances. The patwaris of this district are, as a rule, an intelligent body of men ; but, as might be expected, often dishonest, untruthful, and rapacious. The cultivators live in dread of them, and are ever ready to propitiate them with offerings of grain, &c. Indeed, it is generally noticed that the pat wari is a sleek, well conditioned man, who lives in one of the best, if not the best house in the village, and wears clothes of a better material than his neighbours. All this could hardly be compassed with his often slender wage, and must be set down to the thriving trade he drives with the igno rant tillers of the soil, in his capacity of village accountant and referee ; and, in fact, he does possess a considerable power for good or evil over these unfortunates, who both in court and out of it are so often at his mercy. The chaukidar. — Next to the patwari, and but little his inferior in im portance in the eyes of the people, is the chaukidar or village watchman. The principal duty of the chaukidar is, of course, the detection and prompt report of crime ; but, from the circumstance that though morally * In taluqdari estates the taluqdar has the power to appoint and remove a patwari, PAR 97 bound to the Government in this capacity, he is, in reality; the paid ser vant of the landlord, only so far as the latter is alive to a sense of his public responsibilities as a landholder, will the chaukidar prove an effici ent servant of the State. The gorait. — The gorait has always differed from the chaukidar in as much as he is entirely a private servant as it were of the zamindar. The Government makes no demand on his services. The gorait may be des cribed as a kind of universal errand boy, and, when appointed by the zamindar, is expected to make himself generally useful in the village. In consideration of the modest fee of a ser's weight of grain at harvest time, he undertakes to keep an eye on the cultivators' crops at night. His remuneration from the landlord is usually from one to two bighas of land, rent-free. Both chaukidars and goraits are chiefly of the Pasi class, although a not inconsiderable number of Muhammadans and Chamars may also be found among them. The parja. — The following are the village servants which are included in the comprehensive term " parja" : — Lohar ... Blacksmith. Barhai ... Carpenter. Kumhar ... Potter. Kahar .,. Water-carrier and palanquin-bearer. Dhobi ... Washerman. Darzi ... Tailor. Hajjam or Nao ... Barber. Bari ... Torch-bearer. Chamar ... Occasional labourer. The wife is the village accoucheuse. Mehtar ... Sweeper. Manihar ... Lac bangle-maker. Mali ... Gardener. Provides flowers for necklaces, and offer ings at marriages and fairs. Tamboli ,„ Pan-grower and seller. Remuneration. — The first three generally receive from the zamindar small grants of land, varying from ten biswas to three bighas, as well as thirteen sers of grain at each harvest. This latter due is styled " lehna." From the cultivators they are entitled to thirteen and a half sers of grain per plough during the year. This is called " kharihaq." The Kahdr receives from the zamindar from five biswas to two bighas of land, and this is all. He gets no grain allowance, either from the land lord or the tenant. The Dhobi has a jagir from the zamindar of about the same extent as the Kahdr ; but he receives in addition a grain allowance of seven sers from each cultivator who employs him. The Darzi enjoys a small jagir like the two preceding ; but has no fixed allowance from the tenants on the estate. The Hajjdm or Ndo is allowed a small plot, not exceeding one bigha, by the landlord ; and for each beard (i.e., man) he is entitled to seven sers of grain annually. 13 98 PAR The Bdrhai is uncommon except in taluqdari villages, and his remunera tion is on no fixed scale. The Cham&r holds up to one bigha of land from the zamindar, while for each occasion of child birth, at which his wife attends, he receives either one or two annas. The Mehtar, unfortunately for sanitation, is far too rarely met with amongst the existing roll of village servants. Where kept, he is favoured with a pittance of from two to eight annas a month. The Manihdr manufactures lac bangles, and his wife generally sells and fastens them on to the wrists of the purchasers. For the performance of this ceremony at the house of the zamindar she receives her food for the day. The Mali obtains cash presents from the zamindar on each festive occa sion. These gifts seldom, if ever, exceed three rupees at one time. The Tamboli exists entirely by his trade and receives no perquisites. All village servants comprised in the category of parja, in addition to the jagirs, presents, and allowances recapitulated above, receive on the occasion of each marriage one suit of female apparel. The custom of the country is that when a daughter is married, the bridegroom's family supplies the dress to the parja of both villages, since it rarely if ever happens that the bride and bridegroom reside in the same village. Not included in the parja, but nevertheless formerly a regular part of the vil lage establishment was the Baya or weigher. The office is now, however, very nearly obsolete. Statement showing the details of produce and prices. Average. Description of produce. a » BI -— C4 w -* \n <£> o OS CO <£> e© CO to *o CD t- i 22 20J 18 135 qi 16 174 lit IS 18* Masflr (Ervum lens) 24 16* 24$ 29i 20$ 16 19 19$ 13 164 20 Ahsa or matra (Pisom sativum) ... ... ... lm . Ghuiyan (Arumcolocasia) 30 40 40 50 38 40 40 21 21 21 86 tV Sarson, Sinapis Dichotoma (Roxb) 22 23 21 24 20 2n 22 18 14 18 20J IJihi (Ahra Sinapis nigra) " ... 4 4 4 4 4 34 4 4 4 4 •»i« Raw sugar ... ,., 4 4 H 1 4 4 4 4 4 4 \ PAR 99 Fish. — The rivers and reservoirs, both natural and artificial, abound with fish. In the former are principally caught the " rohu" the " anwari" (Indian mullet), the " chhalhwa," the " sahri," the " saur," the " hunga," the " tengra," the " singhi," the " belgagra," the " manguri," the " darhi," the " bam," and the " parhni." The fresh water prawn called " jhingua" is also very plentiful. With the exception of the " anwari," all the above- mentioned fish may be seen in the " jhils" and tanks of the district. In these the fishing season commences with the irrigation in November, and continues till May and June. In the rivers the season is much the same, with this difference, that during the continuance of the first fall of the rains, or in other words, when the river is in flood for the first time in the year, larger quantities of fish are often caught in one week than have been taken during the course of several weeks previously. Kahars are the principal fishermen, and engage in the pursuit as a trade ; although at the same time other castes at times adopt the calling.. Nets of various shapes and sizes of mesh are used in the different locali ties ; while spearing with the " pachki" or tri-furcated spear is also largely resorted to, wherever the water is sufficiently shallow and clear to admit of it. The statistics concerning fish, which are given in Dr. Day's report, as derived from the Partabgarh authorities, are as follows : — The fish-eating population amounts to 97"78 per cent, of the whole (Bihar). About 40,000 maunds of fish are caught annually (Patti). The net meshes are so small that a grain of barley cannot pass through, the fry is therefore destroyed in large quantities. The markets are not fully supplied ; prices of large fish reach two annas per ser, but small fish are sold at one anna per ser ; mutton being two annas. The fish are caught in the fields when the water retires from the inundation in September, and in April when the ponds dry up. " The Collector of Partabgarh reports that breeding fish and very young ones ate destroyed indiscriminately and to a very great extent from April to the end of June and from September to October, wherever they can be captured, in rivers, jhils, tanks, and nalas, by means of nets, traps, or by hand. The minimum size of the mesh of nets will admit of a corn of barley passing through it, and nothing larger. There is no difficulty in regulating the size of the mesh of nets except the unwillingness of the people to let even the smallest fish escape them, and he proposes at first, as an experiment, to double the size now in use. There can be no objection to prohibiting the sale of the fry of fish in the bazars, or any other reasonable measures being adopted to arrest the senseless destruction of breeding fish and of the very young ones now going on. Some restriction also should be put on the capturing of fish in the breeding season." — Para 287, " Francis Day's Freshwater Fish and Fisheries of India and Burma." The Tahsildar of Partabgarh observes that fishermen are generally Kahars, but some are Lonias. The markets are not fully supplied with fish, the price of larger sorts is seven pie, smaller sorts four pie, and mutton two annas a ser. About half the population are stated to eat fish. The 100 PAR supply in the waters this year has increased. Very small ones are taken by means of nets. " Fish are shot with guns, and caught by means of tap, tengali, and pahra, and by hand when the water dries up in the month of Jeth." — Para. 309, "Francis Day's Freshwater Fish and Fisheries of India and Burma." " The Tahsildar of Bihar observes, Kahars and others follow the occupa tion of fishing in addition to their regular work; besides these, there are Kewats, Kanjars, and Pasis. The bazars are not sufficiently supplied with fish ; the largest sort fetch one anna, the smaller three quarters of an anna a ser; whilst the first sort of mutton realises two annas, and the second one anna and a half a ser. Upwards of 97 per cent. (97'78) of the popu lation, it is asserted, are consumers of fish, the supply of which has increased this year. Very small ones are taken in large quantities by means of nets with very minute meshes, the size of which is equal to a grain of barley. Fish are not trapped during the rains in the inundated fields. The following are the nets used — patli, pahrah, packkhi, tilheri jai. " In the Patti Tahsil it is observed fishing is not confined to one class, but Kahars, Lonias, Kewats, Pasis, Kurmis, and Koris, all follow it as well as other occupations. The markets are not fully supplied with-fish, the larger sorts obtain two annas, the smaller one anna and a half a ser, and mutton two annas ; about half the population are stated to be fish-eaters. The amount in the waters is said to have increased this year. About 40,000 maunds of very small fish are annually netted, the mesh of some of the nets being ' so small that a grain of mathi cannot pass through it.1 Boys generally trap fish in fields during the rains. Fish are destroyed by akhsah ; the names of nets and traps are jai, kuryar, halka, chahtur, khore, chaundhi, pahrah, tap, harya, punchkhi, pailni bissarigunj, tameri, kantiya." — Para. 308, " Frances Day's Freshwater Fish and Fisheries of India and Burma." Bazars and marts. — The following are the principal bazars of the dis trict, recorded in the order of their importance, chiefly with reference to the aggregate value of the sales. Lalganj. — Four miles to the south of Bihar on the road to Allahabad. Total value of sales, Rs. 3,00,000. This is a bi-weekly mart, and is numerously attended. Cattle, English stuffs of better qualities, country fabrics, raw cotton and sugar are amongst the more important sales. The sale dues are shared by the taluqdar of Bhadri and zamindars of Nimdura, within the limits of which village the ganj is situated. Derwa bazar, in the village of Sabalgarh, is at the nearest point about three miles distant from the road between Partabgarh and Bihar, and is some twelve miles from the latter place. Here again, as in fact is the case with regard to all the larger marts, a bazar is held twice in the week. The total value of the sales is about Rs. 1,50,000. This is principally a grain mart, although other commodities find a readysale. The bazar dues belong exclusively to the Bhadri estate. PAR 101 Jalesarganj, included in the village of Dhariipur on the road, which connects the latter place with Lalganj (in pargana Rampur), and which was constructed by Raja Hanwant Singh. English and country fabrics, sweet meats, grain, matting, and string figure most prominently at this mart. A very good quality of English cloth is frequently to be met with here, the saltfbeing much encouraged by the abovementioned taluqdar, who, as lord of the manor, is sole recipient of all dues. The value of the sales may be placed at about a lakh of rupees. MacAndrewganj, the sadr station bazar, is a thriving and rapidly increasing mart. Five years ago the sales were only valued at Rs. 15,000. They have now reached the respectable figure of Rs. 60,000. Grain and English and country cloth are the principal articles traded in. The chungi or bazar tax is paid into the municipal funds. Kdldkdnkar, the residence of Raja Hanwant Singh, on the left bank of the Ganges, is about two miles distant from the Bihar and Rae Bareli road. A brisk trade is carried on in raw cotton, ghi, and salt. The sales exceed in value half a lakh of rupees. Gadwdra, a village about six miles north of the sadr station, and not far off the road to Amethi (branching off from the imperial road near Nawabganj). Large quantities of grain are brought here for sale, and a not inconsiderable trade is carried on in coarse matting and fibres. The bazar dues are paid to the Taluqdar of Dandikachh ; while the value of the sales may be set down at about Rs. 50,000. Pirthiganj, within the limits of the village of Ramaepur, in the Raepur Bichar estate, is close to the road between Bela and the town of Baclshah- pur in the adjoining district of Jaunpur. Here grain, sugar, cotton, and English stuffs constitute the principal sales, the value of which does not fall short of half a lakh. Nawabganj Bdwan Burji, situated in the village of Murassapur, on the Bihar and Rae Bareli road, is an important thriving mart, and is noted for its stamped cloths and chintzes. I have been unable to ascertain correctly the total value of the sales. I believe, however, that in reality it does not fall far short of a lakh of rupees. There are several other less important markets, in which local produce is chiefly represented, which it would serve no useful purpose to detail iu this report. Fairs. — There are several local fairs held during the year at different places in the district. Few of these are worthy of separate mention. The two fairs held at Manikpur in April and July in honour of Jwala Mukhi* attract considerable numbers, many of whom come from a distance. The gathering on each occasion lasts for two days, during which the presiding deity is worshipped and propitiated with offerings, &c. Both at these fairs, and during the bathing assemblies described in the next para graph, English cloths and articles of foreign manufacture are exposed for sale. At Katra Mednisigh, a place about a mile from Partabgarh, and at Nawabganj Bawan Burji, which has been already mentioned, fairs take place during the Dasahra festival, which are attended by between 40,000 and 50,000 people, but no trade is carried on. * Meaning flame-emitting mouths : one of the impersonations of the goddess Bhav\aui. 102 PAR Bathing places and shrines.— The only bathing places of any note are the masonry ghats of Manikpur and Shahab-ud-dinabad, The two towns being contiguous form in reality but one rendezvous. Twice in the year there is a large concourse of people at this spot for the purpose of bathing in the Ganges. In July is the first occasion, when the four months' fasts for the deities Jwala Mukhi and Sitla* are brought to a termination with bathing ceremonies and great rejoicings. The second occasion occurs early in November, or at the end of October, when the multitudes meet to do honour to the goddess Ganga herself. This is the larger gathering of the two. Manufactures. — With the exception of the manufacture of crystalized sugar at Partabgarh, and of glass at Sawansa, and one or two other places in°the pargana of Patti, there are no local manufactures worthy of the name. The sugar manufactured at Partabgarh is of excellent quality, and is not to be found anywhere else. The process is a peculiar though by no means a difficult one. When completed, the sugar is turned out into thin flat circular shapes of about 15 inches in diameter. It finds a ready sale amongst the taluqdars and wealthier classes. The glass foundry at Sawansa is on a comparatively large scale, and supplies most of the neighbouring fairs and markets with beads, bracelets, and other female ornaments, to say nothing of Ganges water phials and cheap articles of ordinary requirements. Trade and traffic. — From the most recent trade returns it would appear that the total value of the exports nearly quadruples that of the imports, but I have reason to doubt the accuracy of the valuation of some of the items of the former, and consequently prefer to regard the propor tion as in all probability nearer three to one. Partabgarh is an extensive grain exporting district, and may be said to be, to a great extent, the granary of the adjacent districts of the North-Western Provinces. Of wheat and barley alone upwards of 200,000 maunds are stated to have left the district during the last year ; while of the less valuable food grains also a very considerable exportation has taken place. This should repre sent large money returns to zamindars and small farmers ; but I have reason to believe that it is almost entirely the banian and village banker who fatten on this trade. The former classes are, as a rule, too deep in the books of the latter to reap any direct advantage. Nevertheless, we have the fact of an influx of money and a consequent increase of pri vate capital, which, in whomsoever's hands, subserves no doubt the pros perity of the district, and tends to the ultimate benefit of the population. The exports of edible grains in 1872 are reported at 349,000 maunds, value Rs. 7,90,000 ; the other exports, such as oil-seeds, sugar, tobacco, and country cloth, make up the total value of exports to Rs. 9,77,000, the imports were valued at Rs. 4,08,000, of which cotton and salt are the principal items ; but in these returns English piece-goods imported are valued at Rs. 2,670 ; it should probably be Rs. 2,67,000. * Also an incarnation of Bhawaui and tutelary deity of small-pox. PAR 103 Exports and imports. — Besides grain, opium, tobacco, sugar, and molasses, oil, and ghi, cattle, sheep, and timber are by no means unimportant staples of export trade. On the other hand, the imports consist mainly of salt, cotton, metals, and hardware, country cloth, and dyes. English stuffs aud piece-goods are also becoming more and more common in the local bazars.* All the above almost entirely find their way into the district from the opposite side of the Ganges. The traffic by way of the adjoin ing districts of Jaunpur on the east, and of Sultanpur and Rae Bareli on the north and west respectively is, comparatively speaking, inconsiderable. In connection with this subject, Mr. King writes as follows : — ¦ " It may not be out of place here to suggest what new roads should be made, and to show the direction which traffic takes in this district. Oudh exports grain, oil-seed, sugar, and tobacco, some timber and little beside. These mainly go in a south-east direction towards Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, and Mirzapur. Lines drawn from the north-west to the south-east of Oudh will mainly represent the direction in which produce moves. Of course, I am speaking in general terms. Roads will often be diverted owing to the presence or absence of a ferry or other cause. Imports into Oudh are chiefly salt, cotton, English cloth, and other miscellaneous matters. Salt and cotton come in by western and south-western routes from Cawnpore, Banda, &c. " In the Partabgarh district, the main Ganges ferries, where this traffic passes, are BaJshahpur, Kharoli,"* Kalakankar, Gutni, and Jahanabad ; and at all of these traffic- registrars are placed. The traffic from this quarter finds a sufficiency of routes to the interior of Oudh by tolerable roads, but the out traffic wants a channel towards Jaunpur, and a new road should be opened out from Patti to the border of the district some where about Raja-ka-bazar in the Parhat estate of Raja Mahesh Narain, and, in communication with the Jaunpur authorities, be carried on so as to reach Jaunpur." Mineral products. — This branch may be said to comprise salt, saltpetre, and kankar. There is a considerable area of saliferous land in the Par tabgarh district. Salt. — The manufacture of salt in Oudh is punishable under the excise laws. The following salt statistics furnished by Mr. King are interesting. After remarking that as an article of food it was formerly " extensively manufactured in this district, and that the annual value of the manufacture to the native government, or farmer, was Rs. 72,000," my predecessor writes : — " Mr. Braddon, Superintendent of Excise and Stamps, in a pamphlet on Oudh salt, gives the area of salt-producing lands in Partabgarh, thus : — Bighas. " Highly saliferous ... ... ... ... 3,287 "Moderately ... ... ... ... 1,121 Total ... 4,408 * This is close to the Kandrawan or Naubasta ferry and is of far less importance than the latter. 104 PAR "He gives the revenue derived from salt in 1856 as Rs. 61,496. In 1859 the revenue from salt was, as reported by the Chief Commissioner to the Government of India, Rs. 68,022 for Partabgarh. I fancy that in neither year was the revenue what it should have been, and there can be no doubt that, as experience was gained, the salt department would have been enabled to collect a considerably higher figure than Rs. 72,000, which, under the native government, were paid by the landowners on account of salt lands. I will not digress into the question of salt manufacture, whether it should or should not be allowed in Oudh, nor, indeed, say more than that I have from the first held the belief, that it is on the whole impoli tic to stop the trade." Saltpetre. — The manufacture of this substance was carried on in this district until about a year and a half ago. The manufacture was put a stop to, because it was discovered that it afforded too many facilities for engaging in the illicit preparation of edible salt. Usar. — This earth is to be found principally in the Rampur pargana of the Kunda tahsil. It has been generally regarded as unproductive, but in later times it has in some places been made to yield a crop of rice by filtration of the top soil. This is effected by confining the water in the rainy season in low-lying localities by means of an embankment. After two or three years of this process, the earth becomes freed from the presence of its deleterious components, and rice can be sown in it. Such lands may be- then regarded as permanently reclaimed, and in a very few years come up to the standard of average rice lands. The analysis of the different usar soils, which are met with in Oudh, will be found at length in Mr. Maconochie's report on the settlement of the Unao district. Reh. — Regarding reh, I cannot do better than transcribe Mr. King's remarks : — " In many places that efflorescence of the earth known as reh is to be found. I give the results of a chemical analysis of it, which appeared in the Times of India in 1864 : — " Soda ... ... ... ... ... 23 parts_ " Sulphuric acid ... ... ... ... 17 parts. " Potass, lime, magnesia, carbonic acid, and silica form the rest of the mass. It is used by dhobis in washing, and by makers of cheap lac bangles." Kankar. — The conglomerate known as " kankar," and which is com posed principally of carbonate of lime, with a variable proportion of silica, is common enough in this part of the country. It is mainly used for metalling roads, and for this purpose it is extensively quarried in this district. I have been informed by Dr. Whishaw, Officiating Sanitary Commissioner of Oudh, that the presence of reh efflorescence on the surface of the ground is a sure indication of the existence of kankar formation below. Animal products (wool). — The animal products of the district may be said to consist entirely of wool, hides, horns, and ghi. There is an excellent breed of sheep in the Kunda Tahsil, which furnishes the best wool PAR 105 The sheep are shorn three times in the course of the year — viz., in the months of Asarh (June- July), K&rtik (October-November), and Phagun (February-March). The heaviest fleece falls to the Kartik shearing, and the lightest in Phagun. The annual weight of wool yielded by a single sheep varies from one and a half to two and a half pounds. About two pounds* represents a fair average, and this quantity is consumed in the manufacture of the small blanket "kamli" of such universal use. The average price of these small blankets is now twelve annas. That of the larger ones "kammal" Re. 1-10-0. Of the former, about ten years ago, two could be purchased for the rupee; while a good heavy blanket of the larger description could be had for the same sum. In this district the shepherds themselves manufacture the wool into blankets. It is on this account that wool is not much exported as a staple. The " baiparis" or itinerant traders drive a brisk trade with the shepherds of Bihar. About the month of June the shepherds receive advances of money from the baiparis, and by the end of October or beginning of November the blankets are ready, when the purchasers come and carry them off. These traders chiefly come from Jaunpur, Azamgarh, and Gorakhpur. Hides and horns. — Hides and horns are principally exported from the Salon tahsil* This is probably attributable to the fact of there being a larger Muhamadan population here than in other parts of the district, and in consequence a greater consumption of animal food. This trade goes entirely across the Ganges. In return prepared skins are imported from Cawnpore and Allahabad which are manufactured into the "moths" or leathern buckets used for wells, and also into the coarser kinds of native shoes. Ghi. — Ghi is extensively prepared and consumed in the district of Par tabgarh, and forms by no means an unimportant item of trade. The export of this article largely exceeds the import ; at the same time that the quality of the latter is very much inferior to that of the former. Detail of Exports and Imports for 1873. Exports. Imports. Article. Quantity, Value. Article. Qnautity Value. Mds. Rs Mds. its. Sugar ... 2,353 23,722 Cotton cleaned 4,275 89,057 Gur ... 7,953 23,308 Do. uncleaned .. 864 14,688 Spices 543 6.722 Sugar 1,135 8,670 Wheat 84,237 2,19,837 Spices 841 10,895 Edible grains 3,05,67 1 6,55,175 Edible grains 2,599 5,331 Lac 330 9,019 Salt 22.070 1,19,263 Opium 1,720 11,200 Metals and hard ... 69,375 Salt 1,122 5,748 • ware. Oilseeds 9,886 33,895 English piece-goods, ... 8,289 Horned cattle 1,700 10,942 European miscella ... 68,731 Firewood ... 8,050 neous goods. Country cloth and ... 13,940 materials. Ghi ... 12,390 OH I 6,475 Tolafc Total 1 055,620 4,05,691 Now included in the Rae Bareli district. 14 106 PAR Ferries. — For about eight months of the year the Sai is in most places easily fordable. During the rainy season, when the stream rises, the zamindars along the banks make their own arrangements, by which boats are available for the crossing of foot-passengers at no less than thirty points. The only available crossing for animals and wheeled traffic during the rains is over the recently built masonry bridge_at Bela. Two ferries under the administration of the Deputy Commissioner of Partabgarh ply on that portion of the Gumti which forms the boundary of the district, and are farmed at an annual income of Rs. 325. Each is distant from the other about one mile only. That known as the Birahimpur ferry is a landing and lading station for traffic carried along the Patti road, which meets the imperial road between Fyzabad and Allahabad at a village called Nawabganj, two and a half miles from the sadr bazar, also for .traffic tra versing the Jaunpur and Sultanpur. road, which intersects the former road at the village of Sonpura, about two miles from the ferry. The other ferry within the limits, on this side of the village Mahraura, has been for some time past used only as a passenger ferry, and the tf affic registrar has been lately removed from the spot. Ganges ferries. — There are several ferries on the Ganges within the limits of this district. I shall mention the principal ones only. The highest is the KaMkankar ferry, which is a considerable grain lading sta tion. Below this again, some four miles or'so, is the Manikpur ferry, which is kept for passenger traffic principally. Proceeding almost due south for another five miles we -come to Gutni, another passenger ferry. Lastly, at a distance of some ten miles further on is the Jahanabad ferry, which is likewise kept more for the convenience of foot passengers than for goods traffic. All these ferries are under the administration of the North- Western Provinces authorities.* : Roads, bridges, and traffic. — The district is now well opened up by roads. Exclusive of twenty-two and a half miles of the imperial road, which con nects the military stations of Fyzabad and Allahabad, and which passes through the headquarters, there are 342 miles of good second class roads. These have been entirely bridged, save at four points only, where the Sai, Sakrui, Pareya, and Baklahi respectively require large and solid masonry bridges to withstand the opposing force of the current in the rains, each of which will necessitate some amount of delay, to say nothing of money. My predecessor's remarks on the roads and traffic of the district here find a suitable place. " General roads.— There is but one first-class road in this district, vie., that one which runs from Fyzabad to Allahabad. This was begun soon after the re-conquest of the province, and is a military road joining the two cantonments named above, which are ninety-six miles apart. There are only twenty-two and a half miles of this road in the Partabgarh district, which it traverses in its breadth, entering it at the village, of Dharodi, and leaving it at the village of Dehliipur. There are two road bungalows, one at Bela, and one at Biknapur, some eleven miles vi^tlloS cen ^0^ pr0p°rtiOn °f 6° PM °ent- t0 the North-WoBtera Fro- PAR 107 apart. The road is metalled throughout from the Ganges bank to Fyza bad, saving the river Sai at Bela." * " District roads. — There is a very good network of country roads in the district, and the principal are the following : — " (1^ From Rae Bareli to the headquarters station at Bela. Forty- four miles of it lie in this district, and it passes through the tahsil of Salon, the bazar of Lalganj, and the town of Partabgarh. This road is bridged save over the two streams of the Lonr|" and Sakarni, the former ten and a quarter and the latter five and a quarter miles from Bela. " (2.) From Bela to Gutni Ghat on the Ganges,rthirty-nine miles. This passes through Partabgarh, three miles from Bela, and through the tahsil of Bihar, twenty-nine and a half miles from Bela, and through the bazar of Kunda, six miles from Bihar. " (3.) From Bela to Patti, fifteen and a half miles, crossing the Sai by the Fyzabad and Allahabad road, which it leaves about a mile north of the river at the Nawabganj bazar for Patti, thirteen miles distant. This road continues through Saifabad, eight miles from Patti on the north, to the town of Chanda (in the Sultanpur district), which is twelve miles from Patti. " (4.) Bela to Badsh&hpur in the Jaunpur district, twenty-one miles, some twenty miles being in this district. The road passes by the Ramganj thana in the village of Pachhrao. " (5.) A road from Rae Bareli passing through Jagatpur Tanghan enters the Salon tahsil, and passing through Mustafabad, Nawabganj, Bawan- Burji, Manikpur, and Kundaleavesthe district at Lalganj in the Bihar tahsil." Allahabad. — This is the most direct road from Lucknow to Allahabad. There are other minor roads, which do not call for particular descrip tion e. g., — 6. Salon to Ateha, 12 miles. 7. Salon to Dalmau Ghat in Rae Bareli district, 24 miles. 8. Salon to Naubasta Ghat on the Ganges, 16 miles. 9. Salon to Manikpur, 18 miles. 10. Salon to Lalganj on the Allahabad border, vid Bihar, 28 miles. 11. Salon to Lalganj (in pargana Rampur) to Ateha, 12 miles. 12. Bela to Amethi vid Nawabganj, 24 miles. 13. Bela to Katra, 3 miles. 14. Patti tahsil to Ramganj thana, 14 miles. • In August, 1868, a large and handsome masonry bridge of nine arches and forty- five feet span was opened for traffic over the Sai at Bela Ghat. It was built under the immediate superintendence of the late Mr. D. Turner, Civil Engineer. f Since Mr. King wrote the above, a fine masonry bridge has been completed over the Loni of five archCB, with a span of twtnty-five feet. 108 PAR The imperial road from Fyzabad to Allahabad passes through this district and through the chief town of Bela. It passes for 22£ miles throughout this district and the stages are — Chera 9£ miles from Bela on Sultanpur side, then Bela itself, and Karani, 12 miles from the latter place. There is only one mile more to the boundary at Delupur. The principal district roads are — 1. From Bela to Rae Bareli. This passes for 27^ miles. The stages are Bela, Selapur 11£ miles from the latter place, and then Lalganj 8| miles. There are 29 nalas. 2. From Manikpur to Gopalganj. This is 14 miles long. Manikpur, Kunda, and Gopalganj are the stages. Kunda 6 miles from the first place, and Gopalganj is 8 miles from Kunda, There are 9 nalas. 3. From Lalganj to Manikpur. This is 21^ miles long. The stages are Rampur 6 miles from Lalganj, Sangrampur 7 miles further, and then Manikpur 8^. There are 9 nalas. 4. Road from Gutni Ghat to Salon in Rae Bareli. This passes for 14 miles throughout this district. The stages are Gutni Ghat, first then Manikpur 5 miles from the latter place, and lastly Sawana Bhawaniganj 8 miles from Manikpur. There are 8 nalas. 5. From Manikpur to Rae Bareli. This passes only for 5 miles within this district, and the only stage within this district is that of Manikpur itself, others lie in the Rae Bareli district. Number of nalas is 4. 6. From Lalganj to Jalesarganj. This is only 6 miles long. The stages are only two — Lalganj and Jale sarganj. Number of nalas is 4. 7. From Jethwara to Sangrampur. This road is 16 miles long. The stages are Jalesarganj 8 miles from Jethwara, and Sangrampur 8 miles from the former. Number of nalas 7. 8. From Bela to Gutni Ghat. This road is 39 miles long. The stages are Pamsanisi 2 miles from Bela, Jethwara 7 miles further, Bih&r 14 miles, Kunda 8 miles, and Gutni Ghat 8. Nalas 31. 9. From Gopalganj to Salon in Rae Bareli. This road is 22 miles long, an opalganj, Bhawaniganj Opadia 8 m There are no rivers, but 19 nalas. This road is 22 miles long, and the stages are Bihar 5 miles from Gopalganj, Bhawaniganj Opadia 8 miles further, and Urrun 9 miles. PAR 109 10. From Lalganj to Ateha. The length of this road is 13 miles, and the only stage between these two places is that of Sangipur 8 miles distant from Lalganj and 5 miles from Ateha. There is only one river but 7 nalas. 11. JTrom Amethi to Salon. This is only 8 miles long. No intermediate stage. Number of nalas 5. 12. Partabgarh to Badshahpur. This road is 22 miles long. The stages are Raniganj 11 miles from Partabgarh, and then Rausara 11 miles further. There are only 25 nalas. 13. From Patti to Raniganj. This road is 14 miles in length, and the stage lying between these two is that of Jamtala, 8 miles distant from Patti and 6 from Raniganj. There is one river and 14 nalas. 14. Road from Patti to Chanda in Sultanpur. This is only 10 miles long within this district. The only stage within this district is that of Saifabad. There are no rivers but 7 nalas. 15. From Patti to Sonpura. This is 12 miles long. Sonpura itself is 12 miles distant, and the next stage to Patti. There are 6 nalas. 16. From Nawabganj to Patti. The one place is distant 12| miles from the other. There being no intermediate stage. Number of nalas 17. 17. Road from Nawabganj to Amethi in Sultanpur district. This runs for 13^ miles throughout this district, the only stage within this district is that of Sahjipur. Number of nalas is 13. 18. From Kunda to Sangramgarh. This road is 9 miles long. No intermediate stage between the above two places. Number of nalas 3. 19. From Patti to Janvipur. This road runs for 10 miles within the boundaries of this district. The only stage is that of Bazar Raja 10 miles from Patti. Number of nalas 3. This is a village road. 20. From Patti to Dasrathpur. The former place is distant only H miles from the latter. There are no nalas. 21. From Dasrathpur to Bibipur. The one place being \\ miles distant from the other, there are appa rently no stages between them, nor are there any nalas. 22. From Patti to Pirthiganj. This is only 6 miles long. No intermediate stage, Nala only 1, 110 PAR 23. From Jethwara to Mandhata. This is also 1\ miles long. No intermediate stations. Nalas 3. 24. From Katra Medni Singh to Katra Gulab Singh. This is \2\ miles long. The stages are Mandh&ta 7 miles from Katra Medni Singh and Katra Gulab Singh 5 J miles from the former. There are 3 nalas. 25. From Bihar to Derwa Bazar. This is 12 miles long. No stage intermediate. Number of nalas 5. 26. From Raniganj to Mirzapur. This is 2\ miles long. No intermediate stage. There is no nala. 27. From Gopalganj to Jahanabad GMt. This is 4 miles long, and there is no intermediate stage. Number of nalas 2. Carriage. — Wheeled carriage is scarce and difficult to procure. A few country carts are detainable in and near the sadr station, also in places in the Kunda tahsil. Great reluctance is everywhere manifested by the owners to hiring out their carriage, and when it is known that troops are on the move, and that carriage will be impressed, the carts are frequently taken to pieces, and the latter concealed in different houses, the bullocks at the same time being sent to a neighbouring village. Bullocks, buffaloes, and ponies afford the ordinary means of transport. The bullock is capable of carrying a load of from three to three and a half maunds ; a buffalo about five maunds ; while the usual load of the country pony or tattu seldom exceeds one and a half maunds. PAR 111 CHAPTER III. THE PEOPLE. Population — Muhammadan settlements, Sunnis, Shias— Hindu population, Brahmans, Chhattris, landed proprietors, Vaishyas, Kayaths— Aboriginal tribes — Houses— Food- Dress and ornaments— Tenures — Rural Customs— Proprietary Eights— List of Taluq dars. » Population. — A census of the population of the province was taken on .the 1st February, 1869, and the results have been tabulated and reported on by Mr. J. C. Williams, Assistant Commissioner. From the appendices to his report it will be seen, that the entire popula tion of this district on the night of the census amounted to 936,268 souls, which gives a proportion of 540 to the square mile. The most densely populated parts were parganas Partabgarh, Manikpur,and Parshfidepur; and the population was thinnest in pargana Rampur, where it was only 433 to the square mile. Since the census, however, there has been a redistribution of territory and Partabgarh has lost two of its parganas. The present population will be found in the following tables : — Hae Bareli. j ~ 1 Division. 1 Partabgarh. » | District. Number of ma 2,215 « uzas or townships. 1,444 *¦ Total. Area in square British sta tute miles q/"640 acres each. 697 | w | Cultivated. 134,449 o Adults. s CD* 8 s0d CO 86,073 | -a Children. 135,615 00 Adults. CDBS.cd 70,711 a>03&» a do HBMao H K w § I— 1 6,527 trt Children. o55 9,737 5s Adults. «3CDBST 5,396 1 = Children. 9,593 00 Adults. 5sPS*S . R-J a 6,561 CO Children. 10,890 to o Adults. lP 5,728 2 Children. 492,202 toto Adults. £40,365 CO Adults male. 251,837 ¦ Adults female. 290,481 K> Children. S 158,213 | Boys. 132,268 to Girls. 398,678 1 ¦ Males. 384,108 Females. 782,681 OS O Total, 542 03 Number of persons to each square British statute mile of 640 acres each. HVd 211 Rae Bareli, ST •- I Division. Partabgarh 782,681 398,578 384,103 w District. Total. Males. a Females. hd 719,338 367,029 352,309 426,848 220,522 200,126 292,490 146,507 145,983 Total. Males. o° Females. Total. S Males. S Females. Z Total. [ £ | Males. Females. E5 -i u 63,133 en Total. 31,382 Cfc Males, 31,751 1 ^ 1 Femaies. 30,361 5 j Total. hw va -* i" ?"* 15,228 CO Males. 15,133 o Females. 32,772 | 2 Total. Non-agricul tural. 16,154 | » Males. 16,618 Id Females. g ax> 96*3 95-9 g Total population. g J Total Hindus. 93-5 I g Agricultural. 99-6 ^ Non-agricultural. 1011 S Total Muhammadans. 993 J§ Agricultural. 102-1 Non-agricultural. &3 "5 e •a r 5.3° 3 S a. ? na ma H >a SIX UYd 114 PAR o o Pn oCOH 02«i o © 55 175 1,934 13,141 663 1 OSOS 1 «* 1 N cncooita eo toocooco o eoioi 0ONN C tO «H © ij. « uj CO CO flCQ H CO O^ rf Tp 1 o — « «0 1 Oi q3 COC« O (4-4 O CDs S3 O C Op ggjc5?5 CD S - ::::::::::: 5 J : S— S a, ^-M- .3 J3 o< a 2 O^M0D< «J< OS W -^ — <£>WiOCTeO— « CO 00 (M — iqCJCO CO ** <—^ CN 00 OX'O'MOSt-CliO^COi— « CN — P5 1 W CO Cl CS — ^- OJ ^ — CN a5V «H OOa £5 =8 ^ t- n No. — icccocmcd^cj^. — .cn'c».#eNcao??ak£? .r— Mit}^t.NiDO>OCO ^c?l 00^.* q dat o O o « » *"!> -®" w " C ¦^ CO CN OS f-« U3 ^i 2) 1 -^ cm io o oo co £ * - CT — O IN - I CO CD o fh JS 1 of rTce 2 1 m Name ofcaste. : | -^ ::::::: v, :::::: m a -5 a -S S 3 CO ^ V g. 3 6 $3 OS — MOON OiC^eOWatOr^OJCOeicJSlOTHt^OICiOOSQO « » H C> « IN tJIM OW^X CM C4 (O CO CS OS OS i— i CD COCSyo CDa ^ MOW 'c c3 = ja^d 0 OJ » r Lucknow ... 417 to 1 Bara Banki . ,.. 5'87 to 1 Unao ... 13- to 1 Kae Bareli ... 22-21 to 1 Partabgarh ... 11 27 to 1 Sul'anpur ... 915 to 1 Fyzabad ... 963 to I Gonda ... 8 9 to i Baliraich ... 6-9 to 1 Sitapur ... 69 to 1 Hardoi ... 98 to t Kheri ... 9 02 to 1 PAR 115 Proportion of Hindus to Muhammadans. — The district may be said to be peopled by Hindus ; the proportion of the latter to Muhammadans, and others not Hindus (the number of the latter is insignificant) being 11 "27 to 1. This large preponderance of Hindus appears to be common to the greater portion of the province of Oudh, the exceptions being the centr^ districts of Lucknow, Bara Banki, and Sitapur. I have shown in the margin the varying ratios for each district of the province. It is a curious fact, that the districts of Rae Bareli and Lucknow, which are contiguous, should respectively exhibit the high est and lowest proportion. Looking at the map, it would seem, that the larger preponderance is in the border districts, that is, in those adjoining the older provinces of the north-west,* while of these again the preponderance is highest in the four districts which are bounded by the Ganges. The remaining four districts-f- form the heart of Oudh, and are enclosed on the north by the Naipal range : no doubt it was this portion of the country on which the Muhammadan conquerors established a stronger and more lasting hold, as is evident by there being more of their large towns, "qasbas," and religious endowments than elsewhere. Muhammadan settlements. — The Muhammadan conquerors established seats of government at Lucknow and Fyzabad ; near the latter place, which for many years was the capital of Oudh, is the famous shrine of Ajodhya, and it is no doubt to be inferred that many of the vast numbers of Hindus annually attracted thither in course of time settled in the adjacent country ; and while thus largely increasing the population of the pargana of Haweli Oudh! and of the district of Fyzabad§ generally, counteracted the numerical influence of the rising Muhammadan settlement. After a time, too, the capital was transferred from Fyzabad to Lucknow. Thus the seat of government at Lucknow came to be, in a sense, the sole centre, around and within a certain radius of which others and more or less power ful Muhammadan settlements sprung up. These served to keep in check the surrounding Hindu communities, little disposed though the latter seem to have been to offer serious molestation to the invader. As time wore on, it would appear that those settlements and families which were furthest removed from the influence of the reigning head, and the benefits of court alliances, gradually decayed, were supplanted, or removed elsewhere. Mr. J. C. Williams, OS., in para. 125 of his census report, lays it down "as a general rule, that Muhammadan influence is strono-, their lands extensive, and their numbers, among the population great, in exactly inverse proportion to the influence, numbers and territorial possessions of the great Rajput clans," and to this, in a general sense, I subscribe. * i e , Kheri, Hardoi, Unao, Rae Bareli, Partabgarh, Sultanpur, Fyzabad, and Gonda. f i.e', Lucknow, Bara Banki, Sitapur, and Bahraich. X 1,042 to the square mile. § 6 1 6 to the square mile. 116 PAR Distribution of Muhammadans.— The followers of the Prophet are, in this district most numerous in the parganas of Manikpur, Partabgarh, and Bihar; and least so in parganas Dhingwas and Rampur. They are nearly evenly divided between agricultural and non-agricultural; the former slightly preponderating. The higher castes are almost entirely confined to Shekhs and Pathans. The Muhammadan converts from higher castes of Hindus number only 534. Of the lower castes who for the most part pursue some distinctive trade, the " julaha " or weaver, the " dhuma or cotton corder, the " darzi" or tailor and tent maker, the "manihar or lac-bangle maker (who also colours but does not manufacture glass-ban gles), and the kunjra or fruiterer, predominate. Sunnis and Shias.—'No distinct enumeration was made at the last census of the respective professors of the Sunni and Shia faiths. The latter, however, is principally confined to families of pure descent ; while the followers of Sunni persuasion are undoubtedly far the most numerous over the whole Muhammadan population. The Shia faith came no doubt from Persia, and I cannot but believe that its importation dates from the written promise of Humayiin in the famous interview with the Qazi of Shah Tuhmasp. "Though the Shias and Sunnis," says Elphmstone, " differ less than Catholics and Protestants, their mutual animosity is much more bitter." Hindu population. — Of the Hindu population, about 70 per cent, are tillers of the soil, and this proportion is pretty evenly maintained in each pargana. Brahmans, Chhattris, Vaishyas, and Kayaths almost exclusively compose the higher castes. Of the lower castes Ahirs, Kurmis, Charnars, and Pasis predominate ; at the same time there is a good sprinkling of Muraos. Kurmis and Muraos, who may be styled cultivators of the first class, are almost to a man agriculturists in this district ; and in regard to the number of the former, the Partabgarh district ranks second in the province. The majority of the Ahirs, Chamars* Pasis, and Garerias, who are all second-rate cultivators, are also wedded to the soil. There are moreLohfe and Lonias in this district than in any other in Oudh ; but very few of the former, comparatively speaking, are engaged in agricultural pur suits. The latter have, as it were, embraced a new profession, and are almost exclusively cultivators, now that their normal occupation has gone. As agriculturists they rank high, and are much sought after. Brahmans. — The Brahmans are chiefly composed of the subdivision known as Sarwaria. , There are a few Kanaujias proper, Gaur Brahmans, and Sanadhs here and there. Unfortunately the census papers do not give numerical details of these subdivisions. The Kanaujia is less of a stickler for his dignity than the Sarwaria ; for the former may frequently be seen driving and carrying his own plough, while the latter invariably employs a ploughman. It may therefore be reasonably inferred that the Kanaujia is better off, in a worldly point of view, than his prouder arid greater ease-loving brother. The Sarwaria nevertheless looks well after •Tn this district a large proportion of Chamars carry palanquins, and seem to have usurped the hereditary trade of the Kahar, PAR 117 his interests, and is in general a good cultivator and solvent tenant. While however the latter will never drive or carry the plough, he may be fre quently seen mounted on and driving the " hinga " or harrow, and using other agricultural implements. Gradual change in their mode of life. — The shastars forbid all active employment and labour of every description. The Brahman is expected to pass his life in contemplation, and to support himself by the gleanings of the field and grain market, and by alms-begging. In the second period of his existence, as Elphinstone writes, " when the regular sources fail, a Brah man may, for a mere subsistence, glean or beg, or cultivate, or even (in case of extreme necessity) he may trade." Cases of " extreme necessity" must, however, have become very frequent of late, judging from the number of Brahman money-lenders and traders one meets with. A highly respect able and intelligent pandit recently informed me, that since 1857 far more laxity in the observance of tenets has prevailed amongst Brahmans than formerly ; and he dared not say how it would end. In Oudh, he observed, prior to British rule the Brahman youth of the country devoted them selves to the reading and study of the sacred writings, and nearly every qualified student might reasonably look forward to a post of greater or less honour and emolument, as spiritual adviser, or private chaplain, in a taluqdar's or other wealthy family. Latterly, however, the demand for the article having declined, the supply has almost stopped, and it is now the exception (my informant told me) to find any respectable young Brahman conversant with the Vedas.* It must have become palpable to all but the most careless observer, how great has been the progress of late in the quiet and gradual though sure undermining of the vast edifice of caste prejudice and superstition owing to the nearer advance of civi lizing influences and extended education. Spurious Brahmans. — In the Manikpur and Bihar parganas there are a great many families of the spurious Brahmans, whose ancestors belonged to the lower castes of Hindus, and who were to the extent of 125,000, it is said, invested with the sacred thread by order of Raja Manik Chand, of Manikpur celebrity. 28,370 acres of the soil of this district are in the proprietorship of Brahmans, for which they pay a yearly revenue of Rs. 30,631 to the State. There is no Brahman Taluqdar in the Partab garh district, but this class hold fifty-one villages and hamlets in sub- settlement. Chhattris. — The number of Chhattris in the district, according to the last census, is almost exactly half that of the Brahmans. The four princi pal classes of landed proprietors are Bachgotis, Sombansis, Bisens, and Kanhpurias, and the possessions of these are very approximately co extensive with the boundaries of the four tahsil subdivisions. It is much to be regretted, with reference to the Chhattri population also, that so large a proportion as 307 per cent, of the whole should have been returned in the census papers without a detail of the clans they * Mr. F. Carnegy, in his admirable " Notes on the Races, Tribes, and Castes of Oudh," records that on questioning one of the Gaur Brahmans in charge of the Jain temples at Ajodbya about his lax religious views, the latter told him he would not take charge of. a church even if he were paid for it, 118 PAR belonged to. Of the detailed percentage, it appears that the Sombansi is the most numerous ; then the Bachgoti, the Bais, the Kanhpuria, and the Bisen ; but the absence of detail in the whole, of course, renders any calculation based on the above fractional data very liable to considerable error. The Bais of this district are not the Tilokchandi Bais of Baiswara, but come of an inferior stock, and go by the name of Kath bais. They are of course not recognized by the former. At the same time I entirely concur in Mr. Carnegy's argument, that the Bais have but little to boast of in comparison with other Rajput tribes, as regards either antiquity or purity of religion and descent. There is another Bais family in Itaura in the Salon pargana who call themselves Bais chaudhris.* Chhattri landed proprietors. — I append a statement showing the distri bution of zamindari rights in mauzas and hamlets, f as vested at present in the different Rajput clans of the district : — Clan. Taluqdari Til Zamindari vil Villages held in lages. lages. sub-settlement. Bachgoti ... 683 35 14 Sombansi ... ... 360 154 85 Bisen ... 532 20 54 Kanhpuria 120 128 41 Dirgbansi ... 15 Bilkharia ... 4 21 5 Gautam ... b 7 9 Bais (Kath Bais) .. ... 4 47 Bais (Chaudhri) ... ... 3 2 Raikwar ... ... 2 ... Chandel ... ... 9 ... Bach ... 1 ... Kajkumar ... 2 ... Amethia ... ... 1 ... Gharwar ... ... 1 Kbagal * Kosik ... ... 1 Parihar ... ... 1 Mfingarha ... ... 1 Total 1,722 387 262 The most extensive proprietors are the Bachgotis, next come the Bisens, then the Sombansis, and lastly the Kanhpurias. After these, the holdings of the remaining Rajput tribes are comparatively insignificant, and call for no special remarks. Vaishyas.—The Vaishyas represent the Banian or chief trading class of the district. . The Agarwala is rarely met with ; the Baranwala more frequently. Another subdivision, the Sardwak, also professing Jain religion (but not alluded to by Mr. Williams in his the census report), exists in small numbers. The most common sects are perhaps the Agrahri and Ajodhya-bashi in tahsils Partabgarh and * I have, I am sorry to say, been unable to discover the origin and history of these two families of the Bais. f In the old district, PAR 119 Bihar, and Omar in tahsil Patti. These sects are entirely distinct, and neither eat and drink together, nor intermarry. I have heard it alleged (and the story is current, I believe, in parts of the Punjab), that once upon a time a certain raja had two daughters,' named Chamu and Bamu. These married, and each gave birth to a son, who in^time grew up to be pahlwans or prodigies of strength. An elephant happened to die on the raja's premises, and being unwilling that the carcass should be cut up and disposed of piece-meal within the precincts of his abode, he sought for a man of sufficient strength to carry it forth whole and bury it. Chamu's son undertook and successfully per formed this marvellous feat. The son of Bamu, stirred no doubt by jea lousy, professed to regard this act with righteous horror, (personal contact with a corpse or dead animal amounting to defilement), and he thereupon broke off all relations with his cousin, and pronounced him an outcast. Chamars are asserted to be descendants of the latter, and Banias of the former, and hence the former in some parts, though admitting their moral degradation, have been known to assert that they are in reality possessed of a higher rank in the social scale than the latter. Kdyaths. — The Kayaths are chiefly of the Sribastab and Saksena branches, a few of the Mathur and Amisht being interspersed among them. All the qaniingos in the district are Sribastab. There are no Kayath taluqdars, but the large muhals of Chachamau and Salempur Bhairon belong to this class, who own altogether sixty-five villages and hamlets. The greater portion of the Kayath population are in service as patwaris, agents, writers, &c, at the same time, a not inconsiderable proportion are addict ed to agricultural pursuits. In his census report Mr. J. C Williams, C.S., remarks that the Saksenas have two sub-castes called Khare and Dusre. This favours the supposition that the Saksenas alone of the twelve sects possess these two subdivisions, whereas the Khare and Dusre sub-sects are common to all. The origin of these sub-sects is thus traced by the Kayaths of this district. The twelve brothers, the founders of the twelve branches of Kayath families, married each the daughter of a deity (deota). Hearing this, the demons (Rachchhas) determined not to be outdone, and persuaded each of the brothers to take to wife a Rachchhas daughter also. The descendants of the deity came to be known as Dusre and those of the demon as Khare (Sanskrit alias for Rachchhas). Proportion of females to mules. — The percentage of females on males as taken on the entire population is 96'9. In Rae Bareli. this respect the district of Partabgarh stands A°ricuUuralS "" 'ov? tflird in the Province : tne otner two districts of Non-agricultural ... 106-9 *ne division, viz., Rae Bareli and Sultanpur, being Sui/tanpub. respectively first and second. The same order is Total Hindus ' ... 98-8 maintained on taking the percentage on the Hin- Agricultural ... 95-5 du population only, and a further analysis of the Non-agricultural ... los-a agricultura] and non-agricultural statistics of the T t j^f****0**8, . Hindu community, as exhibited in Table I. of the Agricultural '.'.'. 93-7 Oudh Census Report, affords details of adults and Non-agricultural ... ioo-4 children. The proportion is almost invariably lowest among the agricultural classes ; but as this seems to be in the main the case also with regard to the Muhammadan 120 PAR population of the province any argument based hereon, in favour of the prevalence of infanticide amongst the Hindu agricultural classes, at once loses force. In fact the census figures are opposed to the idea of the existence of the crime, in the light of even a partially prevailing custom ; and from my own enquiries in this, and the adjoining district of Sultanpur, I incline to the belief that the practice has become all but obsolete. Of the Rajput clans of this district, who were the principal offenders in this respect, the Bachgoti and Sombansi may be prominently mentioned. Unlike his more aristocratic congener of Baiswara, the lower Bais or Kath Bais, of the Bihar and Salon tahsils, has never, I believe, been addicted to the habit. The Bisen and Kanhpuria likewise deny all former participation in infanticide, but with what truth I have been unable to ascertain with any degree of certainty. Houses. — The ordinary habitation of the peasantry consists of four rooms built in this wise : — Four outer clay walls are run up in the shape of a parallelogram, the longest sides running north and south, according to the teaching of the Shastras. Within these walls and parallel to them, at a distance of from seven to ten feet, four more walls are built up to the same height. The two sets of walls are then covered over with common thatch (khas posh), and thus they form, with the aid of divisions, either four or eight rooms (kothrisj, with an inner enclosure or courtyard called "angan" or " angnai." Aground plan will perhaps convey the best idea of the houses most commonly seen : — W. 6 N. i i r : . . 6 1 1 a • • "A'ngan" or "Angnai'.' E. a Entrance S. PAR 121 The spaces between the lines a a and b b represent an outlet for drain age purposes, which is made either on the eastern or northern face. The main entrance at c is always constructed on the southern half of the face E, so as to afford a screen to the inner doorway, which is in the centre of the line e. The other principal doorways are built in the centre of the walls, »orth, west, south. The doorways are merely vacant spaces which, when required, are closed with a rough brushwood or grass screen called a "tatti." In the Patti and Partabgarh tahsils one sees more thatch-pent roofs than any other; but in the Bihar tahsil the flat mud roof is principally adopted. The walls are covered with a rough frame-work of leaves and rus brushwood, and clay is then plastered over it for a thick ness of about two feet. These roofs, used also as dormitories in the hot weather, are preferred to the pent roof, as they do not leak and last for many years ; whereas the latter require renewal every year or two, accord ing to the extent of the ravages made by the white-ants. Sometimes one sees a habitation combining both styles of roof. Then again, there is the single slope thatch roof, constructed by building up the inner wall to a considerable height above the outer one, and then applying the hypothe- nuse in the shape of a cumbrous thatch frame- work. Those who can afford the luxury use tiles. This is of course exceptional, and the fashion dates from annexation only. Within the space shown in the above figure, the cultivator manages to house his family, to shelter his bullock (and, if a Chamar or Pasi, to keep his pigs like the Irishman in his cabin),* to store his grain, and in fact to keep all his worldly possessions. The zamindars and more opulent classes enclose their dwellings again by another outer wall, within which cattle sheds are erected and fuel and grain stored with out encroaching on the inner space reserved for the privacy of the family, Receptacles for storing grain. — Of grain storing receptacles the fol lowing deserve mention : — The "garh" or " khaun," a deep circular hole generally constructed within the angan, capable of holding from 100 to 300 standard maunds of grain. . The mouth of the hole is narrow, seldom exceeding two feet in diameter, and retains this width until it reaches some three feet below the surface of the ground when it rapidly widens into the required dimensions. In this the different grains to be stored are deposited in layers, with a stratum of chopped straw between each sort. The mouth is then closed up in the following manner:— At the bottom of the shaft or entrance hole sticks are secured cross-wise, and over these straw is placed, mud is then applied, and lastly dry earth is filled in up to the level of the ground. This style of storehouse is more common to the premises of the zamindar and village banker than to the dwelling of the ordinary cultivator. When closed up in Jeth (May and June) the garh is not opened until the season arrives for making advances and for sowing. The koth is the common granary of the cultivator, and is a curi ous contrivance. It consists of a solid mass of clay mixed with chopped straw,, of circular shape, about three feet in diameter, and from about • Chamars and Basis are, as a rule, only allowed to keep pigs within their dwelling-, when their houses are situated on the outskirts of the villago, as indeed is generally the case. 16 122 PAR twelve to sixteen inches in thickness. This is deposited in one of the kothris or chambers of the habitation, and upon it are piled up some five or six more circles of the same dimensions, but hollowed out in the centre so as to leave a lateral thickness of about four inches. The interstices are then carefully plastered over, and when the whole is quite dry, the grain is poured in at the top and a cover applied. Lastly, a hole is made below on a level with the upper surface of the first or solid circle, whence the grain is taken out as required. A wisp of straw or a wooden bung serves as a stopper. A koth is capable of containing up to thirty- five maunds. More than one sort of grain is not ¦ kept in the koth at the same time. Rice is frequently stored in a primitive fashion called " bakhar." A clear space outside the dwelling is selected, so situated as to be within sight of the inmates by day, one of the male members of the family sleeping close to the spot at night. The rice is then col lected here and covered completely with straw, over which mud is plas tered to a thickness of some four or five inches. When the value of rice has risen, the bakhar is opened and the grain sold to the highest bidder. There is lastly the interior bakhar for the rabi grains. This is merely a cross- wall run up at one end of a kothri or chamber to a height of about five feet, in the space enclosed by which the different grains are kept, separated by layers of bhusa or chopped straw. The arrangement is made with due regard to the immediate and ulterior requirements of the family. Access to this store room is by means of a short ladder. In all receptacles of grain dried mahua leaves are placed, in order to keep off the white^ant. Furniture. — Of other common articles of house furniture may be men tioned the " chond" or cylindrical earthen vessel for holding flour, salt, &c, and with a varying capacity of from two to five maunds ; the " chirwi" or earthen cooking pot with a wide mouth, of which there are at least three or four in every house ; the " galwa," a large coarsely made circular basket in which the bullocks receive their feed of chopped straw or stalks ; the " jhawwa," a similar basket but-smaller, in which is carried to the field the seed for sowing ; the " tokri" or " palri" and the " sikhaula," still smaller baskets, with very little apparent difference between them, which are used as refuse baskets and for a variety of common purposes, which it is hardly necessary to detail; the "dauri," a bamboo-made basket for holding flour in, and which is also used as a grain measure ; the *' mauni," a small hand basket made of " kasa" grass, bound with " munj" (sheath of the " sarpat" grass ), and used in sowing. The " mauni" is filled from the " jhawwa" and is held in one hand, while the seed is taken out and scat tered with the other ; the " sup " or winnowing fan, made of " sirki ;" the " chalni," " bikna," and "akha," different kinds of grain and flour sieves; the " miisal," a wooden instrument, with a iron ring at one end, used for threshing purposes ; the " pirha" and " bilna," board and rolling pin for kneading, (the pfrha is sometimes also a flat stone) ; the " sil" and " lorha," a flat stone and round stone used for pounding spices and con diments, in fact a rude pestle and mortar. The " charkha," or cotton spinning-wheel, used by women only ; the " charpai" or common bedstead, and the " machia," a low four-cornered stool, complete the list of articles PAR 123 of primitive furniture to be commonly seen in the interior of a Partabgarh peasant's hut. As a rule the owner is careful in observing the old maxim — a place for everything and everything in its place ; for one seldom sees confusion and untidiness in his internal arrangements. Filth and rubbish may reign rampant outside and around the dwelling, but, generally speaking, the inside will be found to be neat and clean. Food. — As might be expected from the foregoing details, the food of the masses is exceedingly simple, and varies with each harvest. After the rabi harvest cakes made of wheaten flour, ground barley, peas, grain, &c, are chiefly eaten. Rice and other kharif grains succeed to these in their season, and are varied with lentils (dal). As a savoury adjunct ghi is mixed with their food by those who can afford it. " Gur" (molasses) is also a luxury which but few comparatively can afford daily. It is chiefly eaten with the noon-tide " chabena" or parched grain. Vegetables and fruit are, in their seasons, largely consumed. The first meal is gene rally taken between 9 A.M. and noon, and the second after sunset. Sel dom is food taken before 9 o'clock in the morning. For those engaged in agricultural pursuits, the women of the house always cook and prepare their food. In fact, the hard work and general drudgery of the household here, as elsewhere in India, falls to the lot of the weaker vessel. Dress and ornaments. — Excluding the wealthier classes, who can afford fine muslins, silks, &c, the mass of the population may be separated into two divisions with regard to the nature of the material with which they usually clothe themselves. The least poor of these two divisions wear, as a rule, the English fabrics here known as " markin" and " nainsukh," while the dress of the poorest class is almost entirely composed of the coarse country materials called " garha," " dhotar," and " gazi." The ordinary dress of the Hindu is the " mirzai," or short jacket with sleeves, below which is worn the " dhoti." Round the head is twisted the " dupatta,' which is a long narrow strip of any common material. The Muhammadan usually wears tight " paejamas," fastened round the waist and reaching about six inches below the knee, over which he throws €Ee " kurta," or long loose garment with sleeves, which falls down as far as the knees. The mirzai of the Hindu is fastened in front on the right, while the similar fastening of the Muhammadan garment is on the left. The Hindu female peasant attire is ordinarily the dhoti and the "lahnga pharia." The former is, as a rule, the dress of the older women, and the latter that of the younger. The dhoti is simply a large sheet, two-thirds of which are rolled round the body, and the remainder thrown over the head and shoulders. The "lahnga pharia," consists of two garments ; — viz., the lahnga, a kind of petticoat, commonly made of some stripped or coloured material, fastened at the waist, and the pharia, a simple piece of some coarse mate rial like garha, &c, and not unlike the dhoti. It is thrown over the head and upper portion of the body, and the ends in front are tucked in beneath the lahnga. A " kurti" or short jacket, without sleeves, or with very small sleeves, is often worn with either style of dress. The dress of the Muhammadan women does not much differ from the above, except that the Qureshi women often wear loose paejamas and a sheet (or as it is in 124 PAR this instance called dupatta) thrown over the head and shoulders, thence falling down to about the knees; under this again the kurti above described is usually worn. Mode of collection and of payment of the Government demand, &c. — The mode of collecting rents and of meeting the Government demand differs according to the tenure of the village. In the case of zamindari and imperfect pattidari villages, the whole proprietary body are respon sible for the failure of one sharer ; in pattidari estates again where the partition is perfect and complete, and extends to the waste and uncultu- rable lands, the defaulting pattidar is alone liable for his sins of omission. The arrangements for the cultivation are, as a rule, made by the lambar- dar or lambardars, or by these in conjunction with the other shareholders. Succession and transfer. — With regard to succession to landed pro perty amongst the Hindus, on the death of a sharer, without male issue, his widow is allowed to succeed. She cannot, however, alienate the pro perty without the consent of the community. In the case of inability to meet the Government demand, arising from bad seasons or other causes over which she has had, and could have had no control, mortgage or sale is permissible. -On her death, the property goes to the nearest of kin in the male line according to the Shastras. Amongst the Muhammadans, on the death of a proprietor, the widow succeeds as in the above case. If there be more than one wife, each shares equally, and under the same restriction with regard to transfer as among the Hindus. Landed property is usually distributed among Hindus according to the principle of Jethdnsi, which secures to the eldest son or heir a larger share than goes to the others. The measure of the Jethdnsi varies very much accord ing to the locality. For instance, in the taluqas of Patti Saifabad and Raepur Bichhaur, in the Patti tahsil, the share of the eldest son is ll-20th and that of the younger 9-20th, the calculation being based on the bigha which consists of 20 biswas. Again, in taluqa Dariapur in the same tahsil, the share of the eldest is twice that of each of the younger sons. In taluqa Dhangarh, in tahsil Bihar, the shares are 9-16th and 7-16th, based on the rupee. In smaller estates the division on these principles is very tedious. Groves: Custom as regards owners of estates. — I propose first to notice the custom prevailing in this district with regard to the planting of groves, and to the liability of the owner or occupier to the payment of rent in the event of the trees being felled and the land cleared. The first class consists of those who have a full proprietary or under-proprietary right in the lands of the entire estate, and whose responsibilities have been once for all fixed in a lump sum, either with reference to the imperial demand, or to the due of the superior holder in the case of sub-settlements. The superior holder is bound by the tentative rules in force, which, with the object of encouraging the growth of plantations, exempt from assess ment a wooded area not exceeding 10 per cent, of the whole. Failing in this object, grove lands, if found to be wantonly cleared of trees will be liable to future assessment. Similarly, and by implication, is the discre- PAR 125 tion of the uhder-proprietor in sub-settled estates restricted by the same rules. Custom as regards ex-proprietors and tenants with a right of occu pancy. — The next class is composed of those persons who are ex-proprietors, but who are possessed of an under-proprietary right in their sir and sayar lands ;*fthe latter including grove lands) ; of tenants with a right of occu pancy, and those who have purchased or have otherwise acquired proprie tary or under-proprietary rights in any portion of the village lands. These persons pay the rent which has been assessed upon their holdings through the superior holder or malguzar. Now, it is obvious that they can plant to any extent they please, so long as they continue to discharge their liabilities. But what is the effect of cutting down their groves, and so increasing the cultivated area of their holdings ? The custom, as ascer tained in this district, authorizes the superior holder in such cases to demand rent so soon as the land thus cleared is brought under the plough, no matter whether, as grove land, it had been held rent-free for genera tions. Occasionally, in the case of an ex-proprietor, the taluqdar will refrain from exercising this power ; but, as a rule, it is freely exercised, and in the case of purchasers and other outsiders without mercy or com punction. It is a custom which, supplementing as it does the local rules regarding the larger wooded areas, has a direct tendency to preserve intact the smaller plantations. Custom as regards tenants-at-will. — The third and last class consists of tenants-at-will, and as the groves occupied by these form a very con siderable proportion of the entire timber lands of the district, it is of the utmost importance to carefully record in the " Wajib-ul-arz" (administration paper) the customs and usages which prevail with regard to their tenure of such lands, as well as the relations which in this respect, subsist between them and thelandlord. First of all, it by no means follows that because a cultivator has been forced through enhancement of rent, or by other circumstances, to relinquish his holding, he is therefore obliged to abandon his grove also. My experience in this and the adjoining district of Sultanpur, has con vinced me that so long as the cultivator remains in the village, he retains a lien on his grove, even though dispossessed of his cultivated holding. There is one general exception to this rule, however, and this I can better describe with the aid of an illustration than in abstract terms. For in stance A, a cultivator, has a holding of 10 bighas for which he pays a rent of Rs. 40. He asks B, his landlord, for two bighas more, for the pur pose of planting a grove. B, consents and gives A. two bighas of waste or cultivated land for the purpose required. No rent is charged for this two bighas, but the -rent on the holding is raised from Rs. 40 to 50. A. sets to work and plants the two bighas with trees. In the event of ouster, A. -loses trees and all. If, on the other hand, A, content with his original 10 bighas, plants a grove in one bigha, and continues to pay Rs. 40 rent for the remaining 9 bighas, he still retains possession of his trees if ousted from his cultivated holding. Usufruct and timber. — As regards the usufruct, with the exception of the mahua tree, the right of the planter of the grove is complete. I shall 126 PAR refer separately to mahua plantations. The custom as regards the felling of the trees permits the cultivator to sell, or otherwise dispose of the timber without reference to the landlord, it being however at the same time generally understood that no fresh trees can take the place of those cut down without the sanction of the latter. Here again the mahua tree is an exception. No such tree on which is levied a " kut"* or " peri"f tax can be felled without the consent of the lord of the manor. In the case of an under-proprietor who pays in a lump sum, including the peri, he can of course fell his mahua trees, provided he continues to pay the entire rent assessed upon his holding ; but if he pays a cash rent for the land, and a ktit or fruit tax on his mahua trees, he cannot do so; the latter being in a manner hypothecated for the tax assessed upon them. Untaxed mahua is quite the exception. The kut or share of the fruit preponderates over the peri or money value. The proportion given to the over-proprietor in the former case varies from one-half share to three- fourths of the produce : as a rule, the latter is the prevailing rate as regards tenants-at-will. Mahua groves. — Mr. C. W. McMinn, OS., who was formerly Assistant Settlement Officer of this district, has left on record some very valuable remarks regarding the mahua of these parts. His enquiries extended over some weeks, and were chiefly conducted among the extensive mahua groves of the Kunda tahsil. Mr. McMinn writes:— "The " broadest distinction is generally found between mahua groves and all others ; mahua, as a rule, seems just as much a village asset for revenue purposes as wheat, and to have been so regarded in the Nawabi. Whether zamindar, or Brahman, or asami planted mahua, whenever the tree ceased to be a ' pora/ viz., in from ten to twenty years, accord ing to soil, the right to its produce accrued to the malguzar. There are of course innumerable exceptions among the lacs of mahua trees in this district, but I have made hundreds of enquiries beneath the trees while the fruit was dropping and gatherers collecting, and I am pretty certain that this was not only the general practice, but that it had quite reached the dimensions of an unquestioned right. For one man who disputes it in our courts twenty have quietly acquiesced. Either the malguzar took peri, or he included the rent of the trees in the jaraaf land,J or he took kut. This last was as follows : — Three-fourths of the estimated produce to the malguzar, one-fourth to the grove owner, who* had also to defray the expenses of gathering the mahua (one-twelfth of the gross produce), storing and drying. The above being the case, the question arises, — have either old proprietors or others any valuable interest to claim in mahua groves ? Undoubtedly they have. This fourth, which is occasionally raised to a third, and even a half, is valued and fought for, while the peri is generally very moderate, and the jamai system facilitates embezzlement. " I do not believe there is a single village in which the taluqdar did not generally or at times, under a well recognized custom, take the * " Kiit" is a tax paid in kind, being a certain fixed share of the fruit. t " Peri" is a cash payment, and varies from 2 to 12 annas per tree. % Cash rent paying land.— W. E. F. PAR 127 mass of the mahua produce, leaving one-fourth to the collector as pay ment for his labo*ur. Many things complicated this enquiry, and made the clearing up of the parties' rights difficult. Unlike cereals mahua is an irregular crop ; every fourth year there is none, or so little that the taluqdar will not take the trouble of asserting his rights. For all those $»ears the zamindar can truly say that he held his trees free. Again, by acknowledged custom, whoever plants a grove holds it free, keeping all the produce as long as it is a pora. I have been unable to determine even approximately the recognized age when a tree ceases to be a pora ; at first I used to hear that it was about twelve years, but the moment the zamindars found that the point might become of use to an officer who was seeking out facts, then the limit of the age of a pora rose to 20, 30, 40 years ; nor were the taluqdar's witnesses a whit behind. Still every zamindar can point to real pora trees, or to those which he has as yet managed to keep out of the paying register, and say with truth ' look at my mu&fi trees !' " I have no doubt that the zamindars had many trees muafi, (rent free); many more included in their jamai land, according to the peculiar custom of the taluqas, but the rest are the right of the taluqdar, and his rights are too large to be lost through any ignorance of the pargana custom, or ill-grounded trust in oral evidence, without doing him serious damage, and leading to a general distrust of our courts. " Mahua in Patti. — In the Patti pargana the, mahua tree is untaxed. In one village only, viz., mauza Pipri, in the Adharganj estate, in which there are about 50 trees, is peri paid by a family of Brahman ex-proprie tors at the extraordinarily high rate of Rs. 2 per large tree, and Re. 1 for the smaller ones, not poras. In all other parts of the pargana, the planter of the grove enjoys the entire produce without let or hindrance; and yet Patti is composed almost exclusively of taluqdari estates. Cultivator's right over his grove. — Whilst in some portions of the dis trict the cultivator or tenant-at-will possesses an absolute power over the trees of his grove, so that he can mortgage and even sell without the pre viously obtained sanction of the landlord, there are many places where his rights are so restricted that he can only enjoy the usufruct, but cannot pick up the smallest twig in the shape of dried or fallen wood, much less fell, mortgage, or otherwise alienate the trees. Beruni and Idwdrsi trees. — It is usual in some estates to set apart one or two mango groves in a village, according to its size, for the sole benefit of the cultivators on the rent-roll. " Beruni" or " lawarsi" trees (that is, trees which have sprung up of themselves, or the former owners of which have died without heirs, or have left the village) belong exclu sively to the lord of the manor. He either consumes or sells the produce himself, or else he adds a patch of land, on which are growing some of these trees, to a tenant's holding, and turns the deed to account by raising the rent on the latter. This is what is sometimes called jamai holding, but the term in this sense is restricted. Rights of irrigation. — Rights of irrigation may be broadly classified as natural and artificial. Under the former come rights of irrigation from 128 PAR rivers, nalas, jhils, and swamps ; while under the latter are comprised all rights in wells, excavated tanks and ponds, and embankments. With reference to irrigation from natural sources, the custom is that should the landholder require water he is first to be served, then the cultivators, according to priority of sowing, on the principle that the earliest sown crop soonest requires water. The second class ordinarily gives rise to disputes and litigation, but in this district irrigation suits have been remarkably few. Artificial reservoirs. — Rights in wells are clear, and are seldom, if ever, called in question. With regard to artificial reservoirs two classes may be said to exist, viz., (1) those in the case of which the excavator or his heir is living and in possession, and (2) those in which all rights have lapsed. In the former case, after taking as much water as his purpose requires, the owner usually allows the privilege of irrigation to such cultiva tors of the village or neighbouring village as he pleases. In the latter case, howeyer, it is usual for the lord of the manor to first irrigate his sir lands ; afterwards those cultivators, whose lands are situated within reach of the water, appoint a committee to estimate the contents of the reser voir and the amount of land which it is proposed to irrigate. The amount of water to which each man is entitled is then apportioned in dauris. The dauri contains about five gallons, and the dogla rather more than twice as much. This distribution of water by the " bachh" system exten sively prevails in this district, and, being regulated by a sort of standing panchayat (court of arbitration), tends to reconcile mal-contents who would. otherwise come into court. The patwari is ordinarily ex-officio member of the "panchayat," the remaining three or four members being either landholders, muqaddams, or other respectable residents. It has come to my knowledge that a practice has begun to prevail in some parts of levying irrigation dues, or in other words of selling water.. Pahikasht cultivators requiring the commodity are made to pay 8 annas per diem for each " rik " or raising station which they work. This is another innovation which characterises the age we live in, in connection with the gradual decay of caste prejudice. Grazing rights. — The subject of grazing rights may be dismissed in a few words. Unfortunately for the cultivator and his live stock, the graz ing area is yearly becoming more restricted. The uncultivated land of a village is, as a rule, free for grazing purposes, not only to its own cattle, but to the cattle of the neighbourhood. In other words, clusters of vil lages possess pasture lands common to all. This simple arrangement, based on ancient custom, does away with all ground of contention. Dis putes when they do arise are nearly always connected with the trespass of cattle in the cultivation, and the consequent damage to the crops. They are not occasioned by any abstract ideas of right in this or that patch of waste. _ Grazing dues are at present unknown amongst the agricultural population, but how long they will remain so it would be hazardous to conjecture. A system of irrigation dues may be soon followed up by the levy of a tax on grazing. Manure stacks. — Manure heaps are in some districts frequent cause of contention. In this district however disputes have been rare. Since the PAR 129 issue of the prohibition against stacking manure within the inhabited in cisures, it is usual to collect it in a grove, or other convenient waste spot. Not unfrequently cultivators dig a large hole in a corner of a field, and throw into it all the manure and refuse matter they can get hold of. There are no common manure heaps. Each zamindar and each cultiva tor possesses his own, quite apart from the others. Shankalp. — The religious tenure known as " shankalp " largely pre vails in this district. Grants of shankalp vary in extent from one or two bighas to entire estates of several villages, and are confined to Brah mans. As a rule some consideration was always given. The grantee either gave a large entertainment, or an elephant, camel, horse, or other valuable article such as a shawl ; less frequently a present of money or jewels. In very rare instances was the value given a purely nominal one. Birt, which is a tenure in some respects analogous to shankalp, finds no existence in this district. Not a single suit founded on a birt holding has come before the courts. Ddr. — There is however a tenure in Patti, and strictly confined to that pargana which goes by the name of " dar." It is similar to the kind of birt known as " bai birt," or purchased birt; dar, as existing in this district, represents a purchased interest in a patch of land or chak, and is obtain able by all classes. It is never found to extend to entire villages. The real and primary meaning of the word dar is obscure. It is said to be a corruption of zamindari. There are 403 acres at present held under this tenure. The following table of the tenures in the Partabgarh district is roughly correct, assuming that column 15 does not include the owners of sir : — 17 cr™ 3 S. Name of tahsil. g. p. g* g- g: 5 p •< ca if a Entire mauzas. Dakhli villages and fractional parts. S caOr o to * » O *• cn — co cn co to Oi CO CO . Villages not sub-settled. o10 *»- ^ eo to os * oo m cn«i o to i- 00 OS Total. Zamindari. Pattidari. Bhyyachara. Total. H- — HM tO C3 OD as to «D 4- CO i0 — ' 00 © — 00 -J **¦ « Grand Total. ~J W • - » » MG0 C» CO Number of taluqdars. 0>o -J a. 3,050 2,189 232 78 105 472 CO Number of proprietors eno to i-> to cn » — o» o co — — : o to © cn- !*¦ Number of lambardars. | rf^ co — Co Cn ro -» tO tn C- CO CO OO •4t7i tO Cn oo cn CO Number of sub-proprietors. CO 4- G - vN ^ CO tO -j co 4* oo •— to to rf». co to W CO tO h-» * J. cn h1* rfl «iA Resident cultivator. Non-resident cultivator. ¦s aHa W g >aK o ¦a co -* ifk. i-s to Proprietor. CO CO a. to CO co cn ^ cp co co cn co Sub-proprietor or under— proprietor. O 13 as > GO •-3> i-3O i-3d fcd a Eemarks. HVJ OSl PAR List of proprietors paying more than Rs. 5,000. 131 Name of owner. Rampiil Singh and E6ja Hanwant Singh Rae Jagat Bahadur Singh Diwan Ran Bijai Baha dur Singh. A jit Kunwar Raja Bijai Bahadur Singh. Thakurain Janki Kunwar Rae Madho Parshad Singh. Thakurain Baijnath Kunwar, Chhatarpal Singh, Sfiraj Pal Singh. Chandarpal Singh. Raja Surpal Singh LSI Bahadur Singh, Nagashar Bakhsh, Ha- nomin Singh, Chau harja Singh, Saltanat Singh, Sitla Bakhsh Singh. Raja Ajit Singh Thakurain Sultan Kun war, Rae Bisheshwar Bakhsh Singh. Babu Dan Bahadur Pal Singh. Babu Hanomtin Bakhsh Singh. Diwan Harmangal Singh Mahesh Bakhsh Singh. Lai Sitla Bakhsh and Lai Shankar Singh. Babu Bajrang Bahadur Singh. Babu Balbhaddar Singh, Babu Hardatt Singh ... Saganath Kunwar and Khttrag Kunwar. Lai Mahesh Bakhsh Singh. Lai Sarabjit Singh Lai Shiuamhar Singh ... Babu Mahipal Singh ... Raja Ghitpfil Singh ... Raja Mahesh Naraiu Singh. Rae Bhagwant Singh, Jagmohan Singh, Arat Singh, Bisheshwar Bakhsh Singh. Name of estate. Dharupur Ka- la Kankar, BhadriPatti Saifa- bad, 1 1th share. Do. 9th do., Bahlolpur ... Puwansi ... Adharganj ... Kundrajit, Mustafabad, Madhopur ... Tarwal R&epur chhaur. Bi- Dandi Kachh, Domipur ... TJrayya Dih Jam tali. Kaithaula ... Dhangarh ... BaispurSujakhar ... Pirthiganj ... Dasrathpur,Ouhiawan ... She k h p u r Chauras. Rajapur UmrSrChitpalgarh, Parhat ... Dariapur ,., O m H » oj bo a c3 as 196 98 170 116 60 68 Area. Acres. 101,264 68,611 61.563 47,310 *27,000 43,495 42,575 43,038 22,646 28,326 19,277 47,240 18,06316,835 15,497 13,998 13,829 11,655 13,630 10,570 7,636 6,356 4,647 4,8655,003 4,57 5 4,729 13,985 Government jama. Rs. a. 86,088 8 76,406 69,352 51,768 5 29,245 12 43,498 44,765 14,849 17,313 16,535 16,099 15,549 14,915 14,465 12,660 8,285 7,845 5,754 6,199 6,065 5,980 5,800 43,574 0 0 25,597 15 26,204 0 67,235 11 39,164 6 12,935 0 0 Remarks. Bisen. Do. Bachgoti. Do. Sombansi, Dp. Bachgoti.Bisen. Kanhpuria.Bachgoti. Sombansi.Bachgoti. Haitians. Sombansi. Bachgoti. Kanhpuria. Bisen. Sombansi. Do.Do. Bachgoti. Bisen. Do. Kanhpuria. Do. Sombansi. Drigbansi.Bachgoti. "Cannot be correctly given as he has sold some villages. 132 PAE CHAPTER IV. ADMINISTRATIVE FEATURES. Administration— Police — Crimes — Accidental deaths — Population of thanas— Revenue and Expenditure — Education — Postal statistics. Administration. — The administration is carried on by a deputy commissioner with five or six assistants and extra assistants, European and native, and four tahsildars. All these courts haye civil, criminal, and revenue powers ; in addition Partabgarh is fortunate enough to possess seven Honorary Magistrates, several of whom are exceptionally able and energetic men. All of these have civil and criminal powers, and six have revenue, one Raja R&mpal Singh, has for years devoted himself laboriously to regular court work. The courts are numerous therefore compared with the population of the district, which is however dense and litigious. The police is shown in the following table ; another shows the crime and its great increase dur ing the last five years ; a third the accidental deaths and suicides. Police Statistics in 1873. - OO ou a cSeS « £-a PcS1= as, oo6 & 3 3 d o&a, ¦a § tog 1 to5o m oCO >=3 125 67 6 73 CD oood 1 caSh o .g boOco += CD -t-= c360CO %4to CJ3 cS tHc3 •—cac© 1 o f-1 cdPc4 uoa CDO o po '-3 o fto CSa caCOs ¦4-1 o6 *3 a> u s DO "So CO •1 "ft Io o 6 1'5b c« g o 4^ O oo a* n CO cs CDOT rt o et-t O 1 ¦a cad +3 .Q Ocn | 1 u CM o i 1I 6 8 a Ecgular police ... Village watch .., Municipal polico, Rs. 66,862 66,350 4,272 1,27,484 309 2,664 39 ... 1 to 5*60 1 to 3,033 1,715 5,543 2,413 1,921 492 Total 3,002 3,078 ... ... ... 1,715 5,643 2,413 1,921 492 PAR 133 Crime Statistics. i Cases reported. Cases convicted. «^ co Oi © . CN t-l CO as d . CO r~ fr r*. CO CO co CO CO ee CO CO CO CO CO 00 Murders and attempts ... 6 13 8 5 7 5 3 6 3 4 2 3 Culpable homicide G t 6 >•• 5 1 4 5 2 5 .-[. , Dacoity „, 2 ... 1 1 1 ... 1 1 ... 1 i Robbery ... 3 14 8 19 24 11 2 8 1 9 11 5 Rioting and unlawful assem 7 7 18 15 11 5 5 7 12 10 8 4 bly. Theft by house-breaking or 1829 2072 2435 2242 2423 3326 105 173 235 170 141 271 house-trespass. Theft simple 587 703 981 1153 1374 1645 J2 147 261 214 191 388 Theft of cattle 283 191 176 138 240 271 19 44 67 47 46 78 Offences against coin and ... 3 2 4 1 2 ... ... 1 2 1 2 stamps. Comparative Memorandum of accidental deaths. Suicides. By drown ing. By snake bite. By wild quadru peds. 1 By fall of. By other buildings, causes. Total. CO CO o £ a — C3a £ ca a 3 CO S Q a eg a £ a a ... IOC 120 20 ph 32 d Pq S 17 a p* S Ph 1867 ... 5 2 14 50 20 189 188 1868 ••• ... 93 122 31 34 3 .«¦ 3 4 58 23 188 183 1869 ... ... ••« ... 107 122 14 14 ... *•• 6 1 96 27 236 174 1870 6 ao 104 133 15 35 2 ... 8 6 72 15 207 209 1871 7 29 96 114 37 52 4 »•• 43 34 69 26 256 265 1872 6 20 136 147 40 40 ... 2 7 2 65 16 250 200 The following statement shows the population of thanks : — Name of thana. Population. Patti ••• ••¦ ••• 107,131 Raniganj ... ¦•• ••• ••• 92,251 MacAndrewganj ... ... «• 135,463 Sangipur ... ••• ••• 106,074 Jethwara ... •¦• ••• ••• 107,505 Sangramgarh ... «• ••• 106,519 Kunda ... 129,215 1 "otal it ... 784,156 These figures are from later calculations and do not quite agree with the census report. The revenue and expenditure of the district from imperial funds are shown in the following tables. The land revenue forms almost 90 per cent, of 134 PAR the taxation, and of the income tax again, in 1873, landed proprietors con tributed Rs. 7,307 out of Rs. 8,554 or 87 per cent. The other details of the income tax possess no interest, only 151 persons were assessed in 1872, of whom 69 were owners of the soil. The tax is now no longer imposed. Receipts, 1871-72. 1 Recent settlement revenue collections 2 Rents of Government villages and lands 3 Income tax ... ... 4 Tax on spirits and drugs 6 Stamp duty ... ... 6 Law and justice ... Total Expenditure, 1871-72. Eevenue refunds and drawbacks Miscellaneous refunds ... Land revenue, Deputy Commissioner and establishment ... Settlement ... Excise or Abkari ... Assessed taxes ... ... Stamps „„a ,-„„4.-.,„ f Service of process and justice, ( Criminal C0Purts Law Ecclesiastical Medical Total Rs. 8,62,610 »t 13,78229,055 56,046 5,563 » 9,67,046 Rs, 1,200 1,365 it » 42,910 14,494 2,839 425 »T 876 >* 1} 3,314 29,893 >> 4,200 ») 1,01,516 The following tables contain the various items of receipts and disburse ments in the local fund department : — Receipts, 1871-72. One per cent., road cess ,, „ school One-fourth „ Three „ Education fund Dispensary . Pound Nazul district dak local and margin Total Provincial allotment Grand total Expenditure, 1871-72, Education ... Hospitals and dispensaries District dak ... Pound „. Nazul ... Public works — Communications ... Civil Buildings, &e. ... Establishment, &c. ... Total ... Rs. 10,174 ... „ 10,174 ... „ 2,544 ... „ 27,721 ... ,, 1,575 ... „ 2,074 ... ,, 2,561 ... „ ... ,, 882 57,705 ... ,, ••• u 86,392 1,44,097 n-72. Rs. 18,872 )i 7,540 » 3,290 >» 1,218 » 267 . Rs. 82,441 >l 21.270 • »> 8,495 1,12,206 • Rs. 1,43,393 PAR 135 * Schools. — In addition to the high school at the sadr station, there are the following schools in the interior of the district : — Two vernacular town schools at Patti and Bihar. One grant-in-aid school at Nawabganj (Parifiwan). Fifty village schools. One girls' school at Nawabganj near Bela. This gives us exactly one school for every forty-one villages, which, con sidering the average small size of the latter, is an excellent distribution. The High School. — In the high school only is English taught. The high school, in addition to preparing pupils for the Canning College at Lucknow, and for the University classes, " must also," it has been distinctly laid down, " play the part of an ordinary village school," and again, that the elemen tary education of the agricultural masses, is " one of the special though incidental duties of the high school." The average attendance during the year 1869-70 was 129, which was 78 per cent, of the number registered. Two of the taluqdars of the district, Raja Chitpal Singh of Nurpurf and Babu Mahesh Bakhsh of Dahiawan, have been educated at this school, which they attended for some seven years. The senior inspector has reported that " both have received a very fair education, and take much interest in the village schools on their estates, as well as in the school where they were educated." They are still anxious to improve themselves, and devote much of their leisure time to reading English standard works. They are good landlords, and have the respect of their tenantry. Vernacular town schools. — With regard to the vernacular town schools, Mr. Harington has recorded that they " are of peculiar interest and deserve special encouragement. Their high aim is ultimately to convey in Eastern tongues to Eastern minds the advance which has been made in Western civilization and thought." The Patti school registers 90 students, of which number 80, or 88'8 per cent., constitute the average attendance ; while 52 is the number borne on the rolls of the Bihar school, of which the average attendance is 45, or 86'5 per cent. Urdu, Nagri, and Persian are the languages in which instruction is conveyed. Of the total number of students 116 are Hindus, principally Chhattris, Brahmans, and Kayaths, and 26 are Muhammadans. There are five teachers on monthly salaries of from Rs, 30 to Rs. 7. Grant-in-aid school. — The grant-in-aid school at Nawabganj on the estate of Shekh Dost Muhammad, Taluqdar of Pariawan, is supported by subscriptions and by the Government grant-in-aid. It is attended by 54 pupils, of whom 20 are Muhammadans and the remainder Hindus. Two teachers are employed — one on Rs. 20 per mensem and the other on Rs 6. The course is much the same as in the vernacular town school. Shekh Dost Muhammad takes a deep interest in the welfare of this school, and though far from well off, has contributed handsomely towards the neat and substantial building, which is now the alma mater of Nawabganj. * These remarks on schools, which are taken from the Partabgarh settlement report were written some years ago. There are at present in Partabgarh 90 schools of all classes' and the number of scholars on the rolls, on the 31st March, 1875, was 3,194. t The head and representative of the old family of Partabgarh. 136 PAR Village schools. — With regard to village schools the district may be said to be studded with them : — In Tahsil Patti are 17 schools „ „ Partabgarh 19 „ „ ., Kunda 14 „ The attendance has been falling off of late, owing chiefly to high prices and to the impoverished circumstances of the agricultural classes, which furnish the largest proportion of pupils. The pressure has the effect of causing the parents to -withdraw their sons from the school, and transfer them to the field, where their labours prove more directly remunerative. A succession of good harvests will, I have no doubt, by and bye, put money in the pockets of the husbandman, and restore a good attendance in the schools. The curriculum is reading and writing, elementary arithmetic, dicta tion, grammar, and composition, geography, the history of India, mensura tion of surfaces and land surveying. There are 66 boys in this district, who, as members of the senior class, are learning these latter subjects. Of the sons of zamindars, actual proprietors or under-proprietors in the soil, 316 are students in the village schools, while of others the numbers are : — Sons of patwaris and qanungos ... ... ... 162 „ cultivators ... ... ... ... 495 „ artizans ... ... ... ... ... 129 „ traders and bankers ... ... ... ... 75 „ professional men such as pandits, hakims, &c. ... 92 ,, Government servants ... ... ... ... 32 „ private servants ... ... ... ... 45 Total ... 1,030 Of Hindus, the Chhattri caste as usual preponderates, next comes the Brahman, then the Kayath, the remainder being contributed by the Sudra classes. The proportion of Muhammadan to Hindu students is 36'9 per cent., which, having regard to the relative numbers of the whole population, would seem to indicate a greater desire to avail themselves of the educational opportunities offered them, on the part of the former than of the latter. Sixty-three teachers find employment in the village schools of this district, and are in receipt of salaries ranging from Rs. 10 to 5. The majority receive Rs. 6 to 7. It will be a good thing for the department when circumstances will admit of the salaries of teachers being raised. The qualifications of several entitle them to higher emolu ments. Girls' school. — Female education maybe said to have made a beginning, though a modest one in this district. A girls' school has been opened at Nawabganj under the superintendence of the active and intelligent deputy inspector, Munshi Muhammad Husen. The pupils at present only number thirteen, but small beginning in a work of such vital importance, viewed in reference to the enlightenment of the masses, are not to be despised. District postal arrangement. — The dais: cess in this district amounts to Rs. 2,981 and the Government grant-in-aid to Rs. 576, making a grand PAR 137 total of Rs. 3,557. This sum provides for thirteen postmasters, thirty- one runners, and twenty-six delivery peons, leaving a small margin for contingencies. The following tables are from the Chief Inspector's office : — Stajjpment showing the worhmg of the district ddk during 1876-77, No. of miles of dak line ... ... ... 73 No. of runners ... ... ... ... 31* Cost for the year ... ... ... Rs. 2,565-9-10 No of covers delivered ... ... 30,087 No. of covers returned undelivered ... 2.521 Total No. of letters sent to district post-office 32,608 * Ten runners have worked for a part of the year. 18 138 PAR CHAPTER V. HISTORY. History — Antiquities. History. — It has not been thought necessary to give any account of Partabgarh in the past under the district heading. There are three great clans in the district — the Sombansi of pargana Partabgarh, the Bachgoti of Patti Dalippur, and the Bisen of Bihar, Manikpur. The annals of each clan are identical with those of its own peculiar parganas ; they did not interfere with each other ; their interests did not clash, nor did they conquer or expel each other. The history of each can be given consecu tively without diverging into the annals of others, and without digressions which weaken the narrative and weary the reader ; it has not been thought desirable therefore to mix them up in a forced and unnatural connexion, and to give a retrospective unity to the district of Partabgarh, which in fact did not exist till after the reconquest of Oudh in 1858. The history of the people of Partabgarh will be found under the par gana headings Patti, Partabgarh, and Manikpur. The more remarkable ancient sites and forts will be also there mentioned. As to antiquities there are none which can properly lay claim to the title " Kukar Deora." Here and there in the Kunda tahsil are to be seeu strange looking brick- built erections called Kukar Deora, resembling cupolas and pyramids. The former are nine feet in diameter at the base, and the latter seven and a half and eight feet ; while the average height of both descriptions is about twelve feet. These curious buildings are by some ascribed to the Bhars, by others to the aboriginal Banjaras, others again affirm that they were built by bankers of old as treasure vaults. As a fact it is well known that from some of these treasure has been abstracted both before and since the rebellion. Whatever be their origin, their antiquity is undoubted. They go by the name of " Kukar Deora," which means in Hindi " dog's dwelling." This has reference to a curious superstition in connection with these buildings to the effect that a walk seven times round any one of them, and a peep in at the door, is a certain cure for the bite of a mad dog. I have been unable, in any tangible way to connect these quaint relics of the past with the Bhars. They are all situated at some distance from the existing and known sites of old Bhar towns and villages. Near Bilkhar there is a mound which is believed to be an ancient Buddhist tope. PARTABGARH Pargana— Tahsil Partabgarh — District Partabgarh. — This large pargana lies to the south-east of the district, extending for many miles on both sides of the river Sai. Its area is 355 square miles, of which 192 are cultivated. The population is 219,777 or 619 to the square mile: of this number 31,230 are Brahmans, 20,595 are Chhattris, 32,787, are Kurmis, 20,875 are Musalmans. Of the Chhattris above mentioned 13,000 are Sombansis, and the pargana presents an instance of a large area of country being owned by a numerous and powerful clan with its various chiefs, rajas, babus, and thakurs. PAR 139 The following history of the Sombansis is taken from the Partabgarh settlement report : — As in the case of Patti Dalippi ar, the pargana of Parta co-extensive with the tahsil. It contains 634 villages, which are follo-nss : — Taluqdari. Mufrad. Total Sombansi .. >*• ... 3u0 148 508 Bilkharia 4 13 17 Brahman ¦ •• ... *10 37 47 Bais *•< ... *11 0 11 Kayath ... •*• ... *2 12 14 Khattris ... ... *1 0 1 Bhat • •• 0 3 3 Raikwar ... • •• ... *2 0 2 Raghubansi ... ... *l 0 1 Chandwaria ... *1 0 1 Shekh ... ... 0 12 12 Path an ... • •• *9 2 11 Faqir (Musalman) 0 1 1 Christians ... 0 5 5 Total ... 401 233 634 The taluqas comprised und< 3r the 360 Sombansi villages are : — Bahlolpur. Sujakhar. Tirwal. Paispur, Dandikachh. Pirthiganj. Domipur Niirpur. IS while the four Bilkharia villages constitute the miniature taluqa of Antti, paying a revenue of Rs. 3,546-8. The Sombansis. — Partabgarh is the Sombansis' country. Beyond its limits they are rarely met with. Of course I except the other colony in the Hardoi district. Mr. Carnegy states that "the Sombans of these days give their daughters to the Gautam, Baghel, Gharwar, and Mainpuri Chauhtm clans, and this indicates a higher status than is enjoyed by the local Bais, Bisen, and Rajkumar tribes." Mr. W. C. Benett, C.S., in his report on the chief clans of the Rae Bareli district, has some interesting remarks about the Sombansi clans, more especially in connection with the Tiloi raj of Surat Singh (between 1670 and 1680 A.D.), and as they may serve to render more complete the history of the pargana as given by Mr. King, I shall offer no apology for transcribing them in this place. Mr. W. C. Benett' s account of the Sombansis of Partabgarh. — ¦" This tribe are found at the beginning of connected history at the fort of Jhiisi, near Allahabad. They have no further traces of an immigration, and their tradition connects them for an indefinite period with their present dominions. The family worship is paid to five saints — four of them princes of the Sombansi blood, and the fifth a Gharwar Raja of Benares, who * These are all loyal grantees, having been rewarded out of the portion of the Sujakhar estate, which was confiscated by the British Government owing to the discovery of a concealed gun in 1859. These grantees are entered in the lists appended to Act I, of 1869 and are therefore sty lad taluqdari in contradistinction to mufrad, 140 PAR successfully abstracted themselves into nonentity during the Dwdparyug. The principal of these, Ala Rikh, gave his name to the town and pargana Alarikhpur, contracted into Aror and since named Partabgarh, and is per haps identical with the Alap Rikh of Dalmau tradition, who resided in the Ganges forests, and whose teaching enabled Dal and Bal to attain their wide dominion. Two remarks may be made here, — first, that the worship of the Manes of their ancestors is common to the Sombansis and several low castes in their neighbourhood. Bare Purukh is one of the favourite local penates, and shares with Sid4, the jackal, and Kdre Deo, the snake, the chief offerings of home devotion. Another is that the most ancient tradition discovers the Sombansis on the northern, and the dawn of history on the southern banks of the Ganges. An intermediate tradition, attested by the numerous remains of their peculiar forts, points to the existence of a Bhar raj in the territory occupied before and after by the Chhattris. The com mencement of the pedigree is, as usual, marked by some historical con vulsion. Sakrama Singh had three sons, — one of whom went to Naipal the second to Hardoi, while the third remained at Jhiisi. The son of the' latter was cursed by a Musalman faqir, Shekh Taqi, and lost his kingdom. The usual posthumous son was born in exile, and, with the name of Lakhan Sen, founded the kingdom of Aror. One of his sons was a con vert to Islam, and in the eighth generation some subordinate centres of power began to branch off from the main raj. No prince of this race attained any extraordinary distinction before Partab Singh, who, in the last quarter of the seventeenth century, consolidated the power of his clan, built a huge new fort at Aror, which has since been known by his name, and assumed all the characteristics of independent sovereignty between the territories of the Bachgotis, the rajas of Manikpur and the Kanhpurias. He maintained an organized army composed chiefly of the militia levies of his clan, and furnished with a corps of sappers and miners enrolled from the Lunias of his pargana, and he provided for the population and tillage of his dominions by liberal grants of waste land to Brahmans and others." " Conflict between the Sombansis and Kanhpurias. — A prince of Surat Singh's energy was not likely to remain long at peace with his neigh bours, and a friendly interview afforded him the desired pretext for invading the * contiguous domains of the Sombansis. Partab Singh was lame, and on asking after Siirat Singh's health received the ordinary polite reply, ' ap ke qadam dekhne se,' to which he angrily retorted with reference to Surat Singh's blindness, < I too am well', ' ap ke chashm dekhne se. lhe personal insult was eagerly welcomed, and Surat Singh marched at the head of his clansmen against Partabgarh. He was met at Hindaur, and an obstinate battle resulted in the defeat of the Kanh- punas. As their chieftain was being carried from the field, he felt the estatVs^K that tribe hid attained the dignity of indenenaent «„«££ * S'?gh> the leaders of present property was under the mle of the Musalmans o^m^:6^ lar§e Part of their principal houses we find Rampur ranged with the K^ZlrL i^' and o£ lheir three with tfombansi. It is probabhfthat they respectfveW owned X Deh.ra,ttnd Dhi"g™ the chieftain in whose army they fought." 7 e 00mlnal supremacy of PAR 141 wind strike on his sightless eyes, and asked from which quarter it came, and the answer, from the west, conveyed the first information of his defeat. His retreating forces were covered by a zamindar of Nam, who commanded the then unusual arm of a hundred matchlock men, and who for this received the grant of thirteen villages in the Salon pargana, which«formed the root of the present large Nain taluqas." We may now pass on to the more detailed history of the pargana as given by Mr. King," — In this pargana the Bhars are said to have been the first inhabitants of whom there is no knowledge. The Raikwar Rajputs are said to have effected a footing in about one-third of the pargana as early as 554 fasli (A.D. 1147), and they were thus prior to the Sombansis, who hold now undisputed sway in the pargana. These are a very high caste of Chhattris, and give the following account of themselves. It may be known to the curious in such matters that Chhattris are said to have two primary classes, Bansik and Jaggik. The latter are those whose original stock can be traced to the creative power of some saint, as in the case of the Bachgotis of Patti. The Bansiks are those, whose origin defies research. They are in fact a kind of Melchisidees, without father without mother, &c, &c. To this highly ancient race the Sombansi clan belongs. In the eighth generation from Brahma was the Raja Jujat who had one son called Pur and one called Jad, by different wives. Pur is the ancestor of the Sombansis and Jad of the Jadubansis. Ninety generations from Pur came Ramdeo, father of Bai Sen, and here we come to what may be history. Bai Sen had his castle at Jhiisi * near Allahabad on the north bank of the Ganges. • This castle can be still pointed out I am told. "Birth place of Lakhan Sen. — To relapse into fable, Raja Bai Sen one day was visited by a Musalman saint, Shekh Naqi, who very unreasonably requested him to clear out of the castle and leave it to the saint. The raja naturally refused, and was not prevailed on by the entreaties of his rani, who took part with the Shekh. The saint of course killed the raja, and consoled the rani (who was pregnant), with the assurance that she should have a son of great renown. She went off north-ward as directed by the saint, and arriving at the ancient shrine ' Panchosiddh' near the town of Partabgarh, gave birth to a son, Lakhan Sen. "The pargana of Aror. — The pargana now called Partabgarh was then known as Aror, and was held by Bhars and Raikwar Chhattris. Lakhan Sen, grown up, got from the king the raj of the Aror pargana in lieu of Jhiisi, and subdued or expelled the proprietors. This was about 666 fasli (1258 A.D.). The village of Hindaur, some twelve miles from Bela, and lying on the main road to Rae Bareli, was the residence of Lakhan Sen. A high commanding mound is now clearly visible from a great distance, and is pointed out as the site of his castle. " MaUk Singh. — He had three sons, Gohanwar Deo, Maliik Singh, and Jait Singh. Gohanwar begot Udhran Deo, and wished to transfer his * For an account of Jhiisi and the Kaja Harbong who dwelt there, see Elliott's Glos sary under " Harbong-ka-raj." 142 PAR power to him while he himself yet lived. Malfik Singh objected, and went to Delhi to get help, which he purchased by becoming a Musalman. He was appointed Subahdar of Allahabad, and married a princess of the imperial family. Thence he invaded his brother's dominions, and expel ling the chief, desired to convert the whole clan of Sombansis to the Muhammadan faith. This was too much for the mild Hindu, and Maluk was proscribed. Gohanwar Deo agreed with his brother, Jait Singh, that the title and estates should be the prize of him who should kill the apos tate invader. Hereon Jait Singh affected to desert to Maliik's side, and being taken into his confidence, assassinated him and his wife at a place called Phulwari near Partabgarh. Their tomb is now to be seen in the village called Teonga at a place called Phulwari. Thus the younger brother became raja, and the elder took the title of ba"bu, and an estate of twenty-four villages. His son, Udhran Deo, is the ancestor of the now existing families of Sujakhar, Chilbila, Gauradand, Chhatarpur, and Gonda. " Rdm Singh. — Jait Singh Deo left a son, Kanh Deo, who had four sons — Ram Singh, K»nh Singh, Gyan Singh, and Pirthmi Singh. Bam Singh had five sons, whose descendants hold the estates Baniamau, Chatmau, (lately decreed to one Rae Nand Kumar, an ex-chakladar, and who seems likely to have but a bad bargain in his estate), Mahri Sipah, and Barista. Ram Singh's four sons are now represented by the owners of Kamaipur, Achalpur, Sahodrpur, Karanpur, and Ajgara. " Rdja Pirthmi Singh. — Gyan Singh's progeny are in Ankodhia and Lakhapur. The youngest son, Pirthmi, succeeded to the raj. His grand son, Saltan Sah, led a force in aid of the Dehli emperor, then warring in the south of India. His exertions were crowned with success, and in return he acquired from the emperor a grant of the parganas Soraon, Sikandra, Nahwai, and Kiwai in the Allahabad district. His paternal estate of Aror was made over to him in jagir tenure, and the title of Rahbardar Khan conferred on him. A service was at the same time imposed on him which explains the title. He was required to escort the annual tribute of Bengal to Delhi. " Rdja Ghdtam Deo. — His youngest son succeeded him, and was the last younger son who did so. In the next generation Ghatam Deo, the eldest of six sons, became raja. A younger brother, Morai Singh, is noteworthy as having been the husband of five wives and father of fifteen sons — all of whom are still traceable in various villages. " Rdja Sangr&m Sdh and Rdm Chand. — " Sangram Sah, the next raja, is noticeable for transferring the family residence from Hindaur to Awar in the Pirthiganj ilaqa. Raja Ram Chand succeeded his father Sangram Sah, and was succeeded by Lachhmi Narain, who was followed by Tej Singh, noticeable for a second transfer of his residence to Tejgarh, now in the Dandikachh Ilaqa. "Rdja Partab Singh (change of name from Aror to Partabgath). — He had one son, Partab Singh, who fixing his residence at a place till then known as Ramapur, built a great fort, and giving it his own name changed the PAR 143 name of the pargana from Aror to that of Partabgarh ; he was murdered by the subahdar of Allahabad. " Rdja Jai Singh. — Jai Singh succeeded Partab Singh his father. He had a ' chela,' Bakht Bali Singh, who was deputed to represent him at the court of Delhi. There he was fortunate enough to defeat and capture a Buncrela rebel, Chatur Sal, and the emperor conferred on his master the privilege of wearing a ' topi' in darbar (in lieu of the usual ' pagri'), which brought the title of ' Kulahnares'* to the Partabgarh raja, A more substantial reward was the grant of the parganas Mungra and Gar- wara-f in Jaunpur. He proceeded to Benares to confer the title of raja on the Gautam lord of that city. " Rdja Chhatardhdri Singh. — Jai Singh reigned for seventy-five years and added much to the fort of Partabgarh. His son, Chhatardhari, suc ceeded him, and his sons may be traced in various villages. One, Medni Singh, is identified with the large bazar of Katra Medni Singh close by Partabgarh. In Chhatardhari's time, the parganas which, it would ap pear, had been immediately under the Allahabad authorities, were trans ferred to the Oudh Government, and the new ruler wrested from him the parganas of Nahwai, Kiwai, Mungra, and Garwara, leaving Partabgarh, Soraon, and Sikandra. " Rdja Pirthipat. — Pirthipat, second son of Chhatardhari, was the next raja. He cruelly murdered the son of a Manikpur banker, who refused (pro bably with good reason) to send him money. The banker had influence enough with the Delhi Court to get an order issued to Mansur Ali Khan, Subahdar of Oudh (otherwise known as Safdar Janj and successor of Saadat Khan, Burhan-ul-Mulk, the founder of the Oudh dynasty), to punish the murderer. This was accomplished by treachery near Gutni on the Ganges in this district, the raja being assassinated in darbar. The vast estates were then confiscated, and revenue engagements were made with the villagers. Duniapat, son of Pirthipat, recovered the Partabgarh pargana, but Soraon and Sikandra have never since been in the hands of this family. He proved intractable, and two Government officials, Ismail Beg Khan and Taqi Beg Khan, were deputed to chastise him. They drove him from his estate, and pursuing him hotly killed him at Badwal in the Sikandra pargana. This was the end of the Partabgarh raj as co-extensive with the pargana; and the history which has hitherto been confined to the fortunes of one leading family will, if pursued, be found to embrace those of several families who are now the taluqdars of the pargana. * " From ' kulah ' cap (in Persian) and ' nares ' a king (in Sanskrit). A similar distinction, but of a far inferior degree in consequence of the rank of the donor, was con ferred by the king of Oudh on the raja of Amethi. The raja of Partabgarh is still known in the pargana as the Kulaira Raja, and it is said that the indentical cap (kulah) is or was in the possession of Raja Chhatarpal Singh, of Nfirpur, who is the true descendant of the old Partabgarh stuck." f " The story is told that the Raja of Garwara opposing the transfer of his property to a stranger fought the Partabgarh Raja and was beaten. To express contempt for his foe the victor got a jackal, named it Shiudas, and put it on the gaddi, and kept the unfor tunate animal there for twelve years, when I suppose the beast died." 144 PAR " The Estate of Bahlolpur. — Duniapat left no issue, but he had two ille gitimate brothers, Bahadur Singh and Mohkam Singh. His widow, Kusal Kunwar, survived him. Bahadur Singh ingratiated himself with the aazim and got something allowed for his mamtenance. In 1205 fasli, he got the village of Bahlolpur, and, having a nucleus, he aggregated other vil lages. He had no issue, and covenanted with Kusal Kunwar that she should adopt some suitable person. Shiuratan Singh of Karoin and Tarwal was selected, and Bahadur Singh wrote a deed of agreement to bequeath the estate to Shiuratan. Shortly after Bahadur Singh fell ill, and while he was in a state of collapse, his wife, Sagund Kunwar, adopted her sister's son, Shamsher Bahadur Singh, of the Sarae Anadeo family, descended from Morai Singh ; Bahadur Singh disap proved of his wife's act. Kusal Kunwar adopted Shiuratan in all due form and got him acknowledged a raja, and a cash allowance sanctioned for his maintenance ; nevertheless Shamsher Bahadur succeeded to Baha dur Singh's estate. Dhir Singh, son of Shiuratan Singh, got the cash allowance of his father converted into a grant of twenty villages, now known as the Nfirpur ilaqa. These are settled with his grandson, Chit- pal Singh, in whom the British Government has admitted the right to assume the hereditary title of raja. " The Sawdansa estate. — To complete the annals of the Partabgarh, or rather of the Bahlolpur family, as it had now become, it may be as well to relate that Pirthipat had a younger brother, Hindfipat, who after Dunia* pat's death became a convert to Muhammadanism, and took the name of Sarfaraz Ali Khan. Before this he had begotten an illegitimate son, Udit Singh, who was father of Bhairon Bakhsh and Sital, and they are still to be found in the Sawansa estate, in the Patti tahsil. This estate, which had been acquired by the Partabgarh family from the Dalippur family by marriage, was conferred by the authorities on Hindfipat as the reward of his apostacy from the Hindu faith. " Revenue of pargana Partabgarh. — In 1262 fasli, or just before annexation, the pargana of Partabgarh included 983f villages, eight chaks, and two ' mazras ' (hamlets), and 1,263 bighas, which were not included in any village on the rent-roll. I have not been able to find out the revenue demand of this pargana in the day of Todar Mai, but report fixes the amount at one lac of rupees. It was formerly included in the Allahabad Subah, but when that province passed into British hands in 1800, Partab garh became a part of Oudh as chakla Partabgarh, and was subsequently included in the nizamat of Sultanpur. It was heavily assessed in the following years : — Rs. a. p. 1210 fasli 1793 A.D. 2,66,436 0 0 12261228 12401252 1255 1818 „ 2,77,000 0 0 1820 „ 3,16,426 0 0 1832 „ 2,77,085 0 0 1844 „ 3,05,772 0 0 1847 „ 2,11,956 0 0 It is now assessed at 2,64,457 6 0 At annexation it was assessed at 1,72,944 6 0 PAR 145 " There used to be a revenue of nearly Rs. 40,000 realised from salt works. " Other landed castes. — There are very few Musalman landowners ; some of these are circumcised Kayaths, who in the days of Alamgir em- braced^he Moslem faith. They are now known as Shekhs. There are a few Pathan families, as in Bahlolpur and Purai Mustafa Kha,n. They acquired their properties in service either of the Sombansis or the Govern ment. The Brahman zamindars owe their land to grants from the Chhat tris. The Bilkharia Chhattris beaten out of Patti are still to be found in Partabgarh. Ten villages paying a revenue of Rs. 6,970 form the two estates of the Raja of Umri and the Babu of Antu. " Chaklaclar's Camp. — The Chakladar's camp used to be pitched at Hindaur and Nawabganj on the north of the Sai (on the Allahabad and Fyzabad road), at Sandwa Chandika, and a kind of standing camp was at Partabgarh, in (the fort of which place 1,000 men, two guns, and some cavalry were the usual garrison." Places of note. — Of places of antiquarian interest in this pargana I pro ceed to notice Partabgarh, Hindaur, and the old shrine of " Panchosiddh," which is situated within the limits of mauza Banbirkachhi. Partabgarh — To begin with the town of Partabgarh. It is said that in or about the year 1617 A.D., Raja Partab Singh, when at the zenith of his power, founded the town and gave it his own name. During the rule of his son, Raja Jai Singh (A.D. 1682 to 1718), and after the establishment of a permanent fort, the Governor Piru, of the Allahabad Subah, arrived in the neighbourhood, and encamping on the land of mauza Mahkini, laid siege to the fort. Though details are wanting in this respect, there can be little doubt but that this was one of those frequent raids made by Gov ernment officials against the taluqdars of Oudh, which were prompted by the growing wealth, power, and independence of the latter. Contumeli ous behaviour in not paying up the Government revenue demand was the ordinary and plausible pretext for these not unfrequently wanton attacks on the part of the local Government. To return to our tale, the siege is asserted to have dragged on its weary length for no less a period than twelve years, and still the raja and his gallant band held out. Hia patience becoming exhausted, the Governor commenced to run an underground gallery from his camp to the fort- as a means of effecting his object. These operations were discovered by the besieged, and no time was lost in countermining. A shaft was sunk on the north side of the besiegers' gallery, and in it were deposited several cases of gunpowder. Just as the attacking force arrived at this spot the match was applied. The results may be imagined. Disappointed in this his last hope, the governor raised the siege and removed his camp to the neighbouring village of Teonga. Here the raja flushed' with his late success determined to give the enemy battle, and fortune still befriending him in the engagement which ensued, his opponent was killed and his forces dispersed. Vestiges of the gallery above alluded to are still to be seen, 19 146 PAR Decay of the town. — From the time of the defeat and death of Raja Duniapat described above, the town of Partabgarh lost its former prestige and gradually became less populous : and soon afterwards Nawab Mansur Ali Khan alias Safdar Jang commanded an "Ahalkaf" to take possession of the fort in his name. Two years afterwards, Sikandar Sah, brother of Raja Pirthipat, came down with a considerable force and wrested the fort from the Nawab's troops. He only occupied it however for six months, as in a second engagement he was defeated and driven out of the pargana. After the lapse of another five years, Raja Balbhaddar Singh, son of Raja Pirthipat, who had taken up his residence in Rewah, came down and recovered the fort after a severe contest. Subsequently he took part with Lai Balwant Singh, Taluqdar of Rampur, in a dispute between the latter and the nazim, at which the nazim was so incensed that he marched against Partabgarh and overthrewthe raja in battle. The fort fell into the nazim's hands, and from that time up to 1263 fasli (1856 A.D.) it remained in possession of the Government officials. Chakladars were per mitted to reside in it. Hindaur. — Hindaur is fifteen miles from the civil station on the Rae Bareli road. The name of this place is popularly ascribed to a "Rachchhas" or demon named Handavi, who is believed to have founded the old qasba in the pre-historic period. The legend, as currently believed and narrat ed, is that Bhim Sen, one of the sons of the marvellous Raja Pandu* once came to Hindaur and fought with Handavi. The latter was defeated, and thereupon bestowed his daughter in marriage on the conqueror. The issue of this union is asserted to be that section of the Sombansi clan known as " Chawana," a remnant of which tribe is still to be seen in mauza'Kusphara, a "mufrad" village some fourteen or fifteen miles to the east of Hindaur. They are mere cultivators, however, without any rights in the soil. Hindaur is remarkable as having been the battle-field of the Kanhpurias under Surat Singh, and the Sombansis under Partab Singh, when the former were defeated; and as the alleged residence of Lakhan Sen, the conqueror of the Bhars and Raikwars (AD. 1258). Hindaur was a large and populous place until about a century ago when it began to fall into decay. The main cause of its decline appears to have been the removal of its trade to Phiilpur in the Allahabad district, occasioned by the excessive exactions in the way of imposts levied under the later rulers * From the "Khulas-tut-tawarikh," a Persian translation of the "Mahabhtirat," I find the following account of Kaja Pandu. There was once upon a timeacertain Raja Mahip of Has- tanapur (one of the lunar race of Pandu). He had two sons — Bidor, who was blind and the offspring of a slave girl, and Pandu. The latter succeeded his father as ruler. One day be went out shooting and saw a buck and doe antelope together. He put an arrow to hia bop and shot the buck, which on closer examination was found to be net a deer hut a faq'f I The Utter in dying cursed the raja, and warned him that he would meet with a violent death, if _ found under similar circumstances. Alarmed beyond measure, the raja left hiB dominions and fled with his four wives to the hills, and there took up hia residenc* Remembering the faqft's curse he lived to old age without children, He then directed W ¦wives to go forth and raise up seed to him, as otherwise he would die without issue, and tb«i perish everlastingly. They refused to do as he wished, so he then shut each up separately in a certain chamber or "kothri," and prayed heaven to assist him. The first wife who went in, named Kunti, came out pregnant, and bore three sous, named Bhim, Arjun, and Judbiatif. A second named, Maddri, was likewise favoured and bore two sons, named Sah DeoandNakul. JudhiBUr married Duropadi, daughter of Raja Rfijsii, of Hindu celebrity, and Bhim defeated the Rachchhas Handavi, and married his daughtei as described above. PAR 147 of the Partabgarh raj. It is now but a village with an average popula tion • nevertheless the remains still extant sufficiently attest its former o-reatness. The ruins of the old fort (said to have been built by the Rachchhas Handavi) are still traceable. Hindaur was one of the regular encamping grounds of the n&zims. Pdnchosiddh. — This shrine is situated at the junction of the waters of the Sakarni and Sai about a mile and a half from the town of Partabgarh. It has attained its celebrity from the following fabulous narrative. Many years ago five Sombansis, of different villages, used to meet and perform their devotions at this spot. One day they agreed to cut of their heads (how the last man managed to decapitate himself and arrange all the heads is not stated, and perhaps it would not be wise to enquire), and piling them together to offer them to Durga Debi. No sooner said than done. The heads in course of time turned to stone, and these stones were to be seen until four years ago when they suddenly disappeared The place was named " Panchosiddh" or the " vow of the five fulfilled." Every Tuesday .the shrine is visited by a few persons from the neighbourhood ; a goat is usually sacrificed, and offerings made of cakes, grain, pice, &c. There is also a celebrated shrine in the village of Sandwa Chandika, known as Chandika Debi. Detailed account of the death of Rdja Pirthipat. — I cannot pass on without noting an error (though a popular one), by which Mr. King has been misled, in connection with the death of Raja Pirthipat of Partabgarh. According to the " Tawarikh Zahfir Qutubi," Vol. II., the following is, I believe, the correct and historical account of the occur rence. It appears that in A.D. 1750-51, during the Rohilla invasion, Ahmad Khan, Bangash* of Farukhabad, in revenge for the seizure of his brother's property by Nawab Safdar Jang, the Wazir, directed Kale Khan, whom he hadnominated as Naib Subahdar of Allahabad, to proceed at once with an army and attack Muhammad Quli Khan, the Wazir's nephew, who was in charge of the fort at Allahabad. Accordingly Kale Khan, and Usman Khan, his nephew, proceeded to invest the fort of Alla habad. Raja Pirthipat, whose disposition towards Safdar Jang was any thing but friendly, went and allied his forces to those of the Nawab of Farukhabad. Kale Khan succeeded in securing a footing in the city, but failed to obtain possession of the fort. Meanwhile the forces of the Wazir and of Ahmad Khan Bangash had come into collision at Farukhabad, on which occasion the latter had sustained a signal defeat. Hearing this Raja Pirthipat withdrew with his men from Allahabad and returned to Partabgarh. Nawab Safdar Jang, greatly enraged at the overt act of hostility on the part of his subject, resolved to be revenged. Accordingly when encamped at Gutni on the banks of the Ganges, he sent word to Raja Pirthipat to come and visit him. Suspecting the Nawab's designs, Pirthipat refused to .obey. Thereupon Safdar Jang wrote and declared on oath, that he inten ded the raja no evil, and at the same time promised, in the event of compliance, to give him the Faujdarship of Manikpur, a post which * The Bangash are an Afghan tribe. 148 PAR had been long coveted by Pirthipat. Deluded with these specious promises, and by the more substantial bait held out to him, Raja Pir thipat, accompanied by 1,000 sabres, started for Gutni. Nawab Safdar Jang received him with every appearance of cordiality, presented him with a sanad for the coveted post, and, directing a "khilat" to be given him, requested him to go into an adjoining tent and robe himself. At the same time he secretly directed Ali Beg Khan, Char- chin, to follow and assassinate him. Accordingly Ali Beg Khan followed the raja into the tent, and on pretence of congratulating him on his good fortune, sprang upon him and endeavoured to throw him down. Pirthipat was the more powerful man of the two, and in the struggle which ensued fell uppermost, whereupon Ali Beg Khan, quick as thought, snatched a dagger from the raja's girdle and stabbed him with it mortally. The Raja, after inflicting a severe wound in his adversary's face with his teeth, fell back a corpse. The annals of the clan are remarkable and instructive. They have always disregarded two maxims supposed to be of primary force, purity of blood and indivisibility of estate. It is mentioned in the family annals as an exceptional incident that the line of Mallapur is of pure descent ; its scions being all the sons of wives. It does not appear, however, that any division took place in the way of partition of the inheritance. The younger brothers were provided with a village or two, which small patri monies they proceeded to enlarge by every means in their power, and specially by picking up stray villages after their raja was murdered. Thus the Sujakhar lord commencing with 24 villages in 1778, added twelve more, and from 1828 to 1855 forty more, finally acquiring an estate of 110 villages, and losing half of it for concealing cannon in 1859. The Sombansi have 360 taluqdari, 154 zamindari, and 85 sub-tenures. No other clan can boast such a fair distribution of property, and such a good basis for future prosperity. Most of its chiefs are kind and liberal men. PARTABGARH — Pargana Partabgarh — Tahsil Partabgarh — District Partabgarh. — Partabgarh lies in latitude ; 25°53' north, and longitude 81°59' east. It was founded in 1618 A.D. by Raja Partab Singh; it is on the metalled road to Allahabad, 36 miles distant, 56 from Rae Bareli, and 24 from Sultanpur. The general history of the town is given under that of the pargana. There is a fine old fort here built by the raja, but seized 90 years ago by the Government. The British Government has now sold it to Raja Ajit Singh, a relative of the ancient owner. It was of consi derable size, but its outer wall and flanking works were knocked down after the mutiny ; an inner keep and little walled garden still remain. It is a favourable specimen of Hindu architecture. The population is 3,743. There are six mosques, and four temples to Mahadeo, which in addition to the. fort are the only masonry buildings. The annual sales in the bazar are about Rs. 5,000; very good sugar is made here. This place gives its name to the district, tahsil, and pargana, and is four miles from Bela, the civil station. There is a Government high school, the registry, and other usual district offices. PAS— PAT 149 PASGAWAN Pargana *— Tahsil Muhamdi — District Kheri.— The modern pargana Pasgawan was formed in 1869 A.D. by the amalgamation of the two older parganas, Pasgawan and Barwar. It is bounded on the north by the Muhamdi pargana, on the east by the river Gumti, on the south by the Hardoi district., and is separated from the Shahjahanpur districfcon the west by the Sukheta nadi. Besides the last mentioned channel and the Gumti river, which is here a well conducted stream, with an undulating sandy margin, Pasgawan is drained by two high banked water courses, each of which bears the name of Chiiha, and by a string of jhils, whose waste waters, commingled during the rains, flow from the north west corner through the pargana into the Hardoi district. The soil is generally of the better kind ; yet much uncleared jungle remains, specially in the south-west ; and of a total area of 118 square miles, only 35,479 acres were found cultivated at survey (1866 A.D). The population is 40,741, a rate of 336 to the square mile. Chamars, Pasis, Ahirs, and Brahmans, whose occupation is chiefly agricultural or pastoral, contributed the largest numbers to the census. There are no large towns or important bazars. The 'local trade is on a petty scale, yet the military road affords facilities for such traffic as there is with Sitapur and Shahjahanpur. After the dissolution of the great Barwar estate, settlement was made with independent zamindari bodies, who escaping the fate of the small proprietors of the neighbouring pargana, Atwa Piparia, have for the most part retained their villages. Thus the number of demarcated mauzas being 163, the small proprietors hold 142, while 21 are taluqdari. The present revenue demand is Rs. 60,523. PASGAWAN — Pargana Pasgawan— 2WmZ Muhamdi — District Kheri. — This village is situated on alevel plain of fine soil, having its sides studded with groves, tanks, and Hindu temples. It lies in latitude 27°50' north, longitude 80°13' east. There are four temples, one mosque, one mud-built fort, and a sarae. The fort and sarae were built by Hakim Mehndi Ali during his chakladarship of Muhamdi (1799 — 1820). They are now in ruins. It has a sugar manufactory and a market (on Wednesdays and Saturdays). The average annual sales amount to Rs. 1,625. Population, 1,125,— Hindu ••• 946 Muhammadans ... 179 Males «.* 621 Males ... 104 Females ••• 425 Females ... 75 PATAN Pargana — Tahsil Purwa — District Unao. — This pargana is bounded on the north by Magrayar, Purwa, and Panhan, on the east by Panhan and Bihar, on the west by Magrayar, and on the south by Bhagwantnagar. Its area is 11 square miles or 6,910 acres divided into 15 mauzas (villages). In shape it is a parallelogram, 4 miles in breadth from east to west, and 3 in length from north to south. The soil is principally loam. The river Gurdhoi, a tributary of the Ganges, passing through * By Mr. T. R. Redfern, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. 150 PAT villages Birha, Satanpur, and Ralipur, and other villages of this pargana, of Bhagwantnagar and Daundia Khera, falls into the river Ganges at a spot in village Duroli Khera in pargana Daundia Khera. The irrigation is, as a rule, effected from wells ; the water is found at an average depth of 50 feet. The climate of the pargana is salubrious and suited to the constitutions of the residents who are generally healthy.- In the village of Patan a market is held on Saturdays and Wednesdays. An unmetalled road from Bihar to Cawnpore passes through this pargana and through that of Magrayar. The Government revenue is Rs. 16,252; the rate per acre being Rs. 2-5-8. The tenure is as follows : — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... 12 villages. Zamindari ... ... ... ... 3 „ 15 „ The population consists of almost all castes, but Brahmans and Bais of the higher, and Kurmis of the lower caste, are the chief proprietary body, and form the most numerous class. Of Muhammadans there are very few. The total population is 5,842, comprising 5,671 Hindus and 171 Musal mans, composed as follows : — Brahmans ... Chhattris Kayaths Banians Ahirs Other castes ... ... < Musalmans Two fairs are held annually ; one is held in the month of Pus (Decem ber-January) and the other in Jeth (May-June) on the first Thursday of the month in honour of and near the tomb of Muhabbat Shah. This darvesh lived in the time of Shuja-ud-daula, and died in that of A'sif-ud- daula. He is said to have come to this place on pilgrimage. It is related that Muhabbat Shah had a disciple or " Murid" known as Niamat Shah, whom he was very partial to. Niamat Shah died and was buried in this " takia"* (grave-yard), and therefore, in commemoration of his name, Muhabbat ordered a fair to be held over his tomb, which is still kept up. The majority of the people, whether Hindus or Muhammadans, have faith in him ; and the cause of Niamat's death is related by the neighbours as follows :— One day a Kurmi on his way home from the fields fell accident ally into a dry well, called out Muhabbat's name for help to take him out of the well, as he had faith in him and considered him present everywhere, but without any result ; he then called Niamat, who instantly appeared, took him by the hand, and drew him out of the well. The next day the * The fair is well known in the vicinity, and is generally called " Takia-ka-mela." ... ... 2,004 383 ... 164 ... 39 ... 244 ... ... 2,837 Total ... 5,671 ... 171 ¦¦ ¦ i — Grand Total ... 5,R42 PAT 151 same Kurmi attended the darvesh's lodging, but saluted Niamat Shah only, and on being asked why, he related the matter in full ; then Muhabbat getting enraged with his disciple, Niamat, ordered him to die which command he directly fulfilled. The^econd fair or mela in (May-June) was established by Muhabbat's disciple, Shafqat Shah, in honour of his religious master. This pargana was, prior to its being held by the Bais Chhattris, in the possession of Bhars, though it was considered as forming part of the Kanauj kingdom. In the Nawabi the site of the tahsil was on the western, side of this town, where a tahsildar resided, who had also the charge of the thana or police station. It was formed into a pargana by Akbar Shah, deriving its name from the town Patan. PA" TAN — Pargana Patan — Tahsil Purwa — District Unao. — The principal village of pargana Patan, district Unao. The river Lon flows past the little town which has a population of 2,373, a temple dedicated to Ma hadeo, and a school attended by forty-two pupils. The tomb of a faqir, Muhabbat Shah, whose spirit is supposed to exercise those into whom satan has entered, attracts two annual fairs. One a little one in March, at which about 3,000 people congregate, the other is held io. September, and sometimes 70,000 persons assemble including many taluqdars. The insane are tied in hundreds to trees opposite the tomb, left all night, and it is said benefit thereby. PATTI — Pargana Patti — Tahsil Patti — District Partabgarh. — This vil lage, which is also the seat of a tahsil, is on the road from Bela to Chanda, in the district of Sultanpur. The place is called so from the division which took place between the Baehgotis. It is thirteen miles from Par tabgarh and thirty-six from Allahabad. The population amounts to 1,584. There are two mosques and one school. There are a thana and tahsil. PATTI DALIPPUR Pargana, — Tahsil Patti — District Partabgarh. — This large pargana at the south-eastern extremity of Oudh, bordering on the Jaunpur district, is conterminous with the tahsil of the same name; it was originally called Jalalpur Bilkhar. It covers 468 square miles, of which 217 are cultivated ; its population is 223,173 or 477 to the square mile ; of these 36,517 are Brahmans, 16,237 are Chhattris, 29,222 are Ahirs, 26,390 are Chamars, 25,380 are Kurmis. Of these Chhattris 6,605 are Bachgotis, but, a very large number of them are alleged to be of impure blood, and have no share on the property of the clan. There are ten Bachgoti taluqdars ha,ving among them 683 villages, and a numerous body of shareholders, with thirty-five villages and only 14 copyholds among them. - There are 9Q0 BUkharias, but all the eight villages belong to one'man. There are 406 Dirgbansis, but the fourteen Dirgbansi villages belong to ' one small taluqdar ; the rest of the Chhattris have no proprietary rights. 152 PAT The following extracts are taken from the settlement report : — Mangil Chhattris are the original zamindars of Patti Dalippur, a family still exists in Adharganj. Landed castes.— Pargana Patti Dalippur, as it now exists, includes 816 villages. I give the detail of ownership according to castes :— Taluqdar. Mufrad. Total. Bachgoti ... ... ••• 688 Cirgbansi ... ... ••¦ '" Sombansi ... ••• " Brahman ... ••• ° Kayath ... ... ... 0 Goshain ... ... ... ° Raikwar ... ... ... ° Rajkumar ... •¦• ° Bach ... ... •>• ° Bhat ... ... ... 0 Bilkharia ... ... »• ° Shekh ... ... - 0 Pathan ... ... .« 0 Total ... 698 Government village ... Grand Total ... 0 0 816 The 683 Bachgoti taluqdari villages constitute the following estates :— • 36 718 0 16 6 6 64 64 4 4 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 I 8 8 1 1 2 2 — — 17 815 1 Patti Saifabad share U 20 Patti Saifabad share J? 20 Adharganj. Raepur Bichbaur. Madhopur. Urayyadih. Dariapur. Dasrathpur. Ishanpnr. Atgawan. The remaining fifteen taluqdari villages compose the Dirgbansi estate of Parhat on the Jaunpur border. There are less Muhammadans in this tahsil than in any one of the other three tahsils of the district. The BUkharias. — At the time of the Rajput colonization, after the fall of Kanauj, and the dispersion of the Dikhit colony of Samoni, Ghaibar Sah,* fourth son of Jaswant, and great grandson of Balbhaddar Dikhit, migrated into Oudh, took possession of the fort known as "Kot Bilkhar" in mauza Bilkhar (now included within the limits of mauza Ayyapur on the left bank of the Sai), and settled there. His descendants came to be known as BUkharias. Whether this name was assumed from the place itself or from a famous Mahadeo (still to be seen at the spot), called " Bilkharnath," which was enshrined therein, must for ever remain doubt ful. At this point I shall allow Mr. King to take up the history of the pargana. " The Bachgotis. — Imperial hostility, which caused the destruction of the Bhars, indirectly led to the next scene of the drama. Ala-ud-din * Mr. C. A. Elliott, in his chronicles of Oonao, gives the name as Khyrdj, but this I believe to be incorrect. PAT 153 Khilji's wrath was kindled against the Chauhan Chhattris of Mainpuri, and he vowed their destruction. These Chauhans were formerly known as ' Batsgotis,' a name derived from a saint named ' Bats,' the founder of their race. To this old name the devoted clan recurred to conceal their prescribed name of Chauhan; and hence came a clan of Chhattris now known as ' Bachgotis.' Two members of this clan migrated east ward ; and native history records that in the month of Sawan 1252 Sambat (about 1200 A.D.) Bariar Singh, Bachgoti, came with his brother Kanh Singh from Delhi, two adventurers apparently, in search of service or of plunder. Kanh Singh proceeded to Bengal, and I am not aware whether his fortunes can be traced ; but Bariar Singh entered the service of Raja Ramdeo, the Bilkharia lord of not only Patti but much other land in the neighbourhood. Bariar Singh rose to be the chief military officer under his master ; and his ambition was encouraged by his marriage to Raja Ramdeo's daughter. It is said that the raja, on the approach of death, advised his son, Dalpat Sah, to rid himself of so formidable a subject; but the letter containing this advice fell into Bariar Singh's hand, and he anticipated the treacherous counsel by put ting Dalpat Sah to death, and seizing the estate for himself. Another account is that he was peaceably married to Ramdeo's daughter and heiress, and thus succeeded his father-in-law. This story sounds tame in comparison with the other, which should in the interests of history be preferred. " Baridr Singh and his descendants. — Bariar Singh being thus master of the vast estates of the Bilkharia, becomes the starting point in our history, which will be occupied in following the fortunes of one part of his descendants. Before however doing this, I will give a brief account of his immediate issue with their present positions. Bariar Singh had four sons " First. — Asal Singh, from whom is named a pargana in Sultanpur. " Second. — Gajraj, or Gfinge, whose descendants are called Rajwars, and live in the Chanda pargana of Sultanpur, in taluqas Rampur and Gara- pur, &c. " Third. — Ghatam Rae, whose few descendants can now only be found in the Kamipur, Sikri, and Barha villages of Dalippur, and Mahrupur of pargana Patti. " Fourth. — Raj Singh, who inherited such portions of the estate as were not disposed of among the above. Though the youngest, he succeeded to the title. " Rdj Singh and his descendants. — The descendants of Raj Singh deserve a passing notice, as they are now to be identified as the taluq dars of some important estates. " First. — Chakrpati, the youngest, succeeded his father in Patti, &c. " Second. — Rup Singh, whose descendants are now taluqdars of Hasan- pur in Sultanpur, and having become Musalmans are known as Khan- 20 154 PAT zadas. * The story of their conversion to Moslem faith is variously told, and I will not trespass on a domain of fable which strictly belongs to my contemporary, the Settlement Officer of Sultanpur. " Third. — Asneh Singh, whose descendants, under the name of Raj- kumar, are in the estates of Dera and Meopur in Fyzabad. The younger son having succeeded to his father's estate becomes a fresh starting point. Chakrpati had two sons ; Bahubar, whose descendants are to be found in the Ateksan ilaqa of twelve villages, which however has not maintained its independence, part having been absorbed into an estate in the Sultanpur district, and part having been re-united to the Patti Saifabad estates by mortgage some sixty years ago. " Goshdin Singh. — Chakrpati Singh's second son was Goshain Singh, who had four sons. "First. — Harbans Rae, the youngest, succeeded to the title and estates. " Second. — Hamir Deo or Haram Deo Singh, whose descendants are in an independent village called Sirsi, and in Sarae Jamwari in the ilaqa of Madhopur. " Third. — Karan Pal Singh, whose descendants are in Ujla and Mahdi of pargana Dalippur. " Fourth. -r-Lakhan Sen Rae, whose posterity are in Sheosat and Phen- han; the former an independent village, and the latter in the Adharganj estate. Harbans Rae, the younger son, had two sons, Dingur Singh and Nahar Singh. Up to this time the estate had gone by the name of Jalal- pur Bilkhar; but on the death of their father the brothers divided the estate, and it is observable that if the chronicles are true, which say that up to this time the youngest son had been the usual successor of his father, they may be credited here in the reverse, and henceforth we shall find that the course of nature was followed, and the elder son succeeded to his father's estate and title. Dingur, elder son of Harbans, got ll-20ths in the division of the paternal estate, and Nahar Singh got 9-20ths. The former estate was called Dalippur, the latter Patti, and from the division the two parganas so named begin a separate existence. " Chilbila.— Dalippur has been lessened by the transfer of an estate called Chilbila to the estates and pargana of the Sombansi Chhattris- in Partabgarh." " Sonpura (Bais).—Ba,tt\ was increased by the annexation of thirty- six villages known as Muhal Sonpura on the extreme east of the district. This was effected by Diwan Sumer Singh in 1222- fasli; about fifteen other villages of Baijalpur were acquired by him from Bais Chhat tris, and the estates of Saifabad, fifty-two villages, were wrested from the Maliks (a Muhammadan family) by the same taluqdar. Both Patti and * The Raj* of Kunjfcv is the present Hindu representative of Rup Singh, PAT 155 Dalippur have been divided into several estates now held by their several owners. " A few details will be given of the eldest branch of the family, which demands the first notice. "Pargana Dalippur. — Fifth in descent from Dingur Rae, taluqdar of the pargana of Dalippur, was Sujan Rae, who was succeeded by his son Gaj Singh. This taluqdar had two sons who survived him, Rae Buddh Singh and Baz Bahadur. The latter procured a division of the paternal estate, and was the founder of the Dariapur ilaqa, the second in importance in this pargana. " History of the Adhdrganj family. — The history of the Dalippur (or as it is now called the Adharganj) family presents a succession of violent deaths. " Sujan Rae and his son, Gaj Singh, were killed by a Shekh family of the Machlishahr pargana in Jaunpur, which borders on the Dalippur pargana. Rae Buddh Singh (the chief of this house, who received the title of Rde from the Hasanpur Raja of Sultanpur) joined Nawab Shuja- ud-daula in his war with the British, which ended with his defeat at Buxar in 1764 A.D. Adhering to the fortunes of the Nawab, he is said to have been killed at the subsequent battle of Mahoka. " Rde Meherbdn Svngh. — He was succeeded by Rae Bhawani Singh, who was followed by his son, Rae Meherbdn Singh, who was the last of the family who held the pargana of Dalippur by a single revenue engagement. About 1780 A.D., this taluqdar fell into arrears, and adopting the usual policy fled beyond the Oudh border to Bindhachal, south of the Ganges, in the Mirzapur district. He died very shortly after this, leaving three sons. 1. Rae Bindcshuri Bakhsh. 2. ,, Chauharja Bakhsh. 3. „ Sitla Bakbsh. " The three sons of Meherbdn Singh. — True to their instinct, these brothers kept up such a reign of terror and disturbance, by plundering and murdering those who submitted to the officers of Government and made terms for the payment of the revenue, that they were soon permit ted to return to their homes, and by degrees to acquire some considerable portions of their ancestral estate. Rae Bindeshuri Bakhsh acquired the following sections of the estate: — Adharganj. containing 36 villages. Haweli, ditto 12 do. Kharbar, ditto 22 do. Wari, ditto 21 do. 91 " He died about 1824 A.D., being killed by the Taluqdar of Patti Sai fabad of 9-20ths; and, being childless, was succeeded by. his brother Chauharja Bakhsh, who recovered sixteen villages of the pargana, which 156 PAT had been since Rae Meherban Singh's flight settled with the villagers. He died in 1844 and left no issue, save an illegitimate son and daughter by two women. The son, Bisheshwar, is provided for in the village of Mehdeori. The younger son of Rae Meherbdn then succeeded to the estate and died in 1852, but not before he had added four more villages to the estate by revenue engagement for them. He also got the village of Phenhan by fighting the Madhopur taluqdar for it. He was succeeded by his son, Kalka, who died, as some say, by an accidental discharge of a pistol, but, as others say, by his own hand, in consequence of discovering his mother in an intrigue with a servant. He was followed in 1858 by his brother, the present taluqdar, Rae Madho Parshad. The residence of the taluqdar is in the village of Dalippur, some six miles from the head quarters station, in a south-east direction." " The Bachgoti clans. — It will not be necessary here to recount the family annals of each of the houses of the Bachgoti clan. They would be found more fitly in a history of the landed families of the district. My object in the above sketch has been to give a clue connecting the chief house of the clan with the days of old, and to show how the other families have sprung from the parent stock. " Kishna Pande. — I will devote a short space to the history of the Patti families in matters which, being of comparatively recent occurrence, may be of value to those whose duties require a knowledge of such annals. Sumer Singh, eighth in descent from Nahar Singh (whence Patti as a separate property dates) was a minor when his father, Dhir Singh, died. His factotum was one Kishna Pande, whose family fortress is still to be found in Pfirai Shiu Parsh&d, in the village of Kohraon in the Dasrathpur estate. He proved faithless. Instead of paying the revenue he embez zled it, and then got the engagement in his own hand, and ejected the hereditary master, who fled to Rewah. For twelve years Kishna reigned ; but Sumer Singh, grown up, allied himself with the powerful Raja of Partabgarh, and overthrew and slew the treacherous Brahman, whose pos terity have acquired an under-proprietary title in Pfirai Shiu Parshad from our settlement courts. " The Dirgbansi. — The pargana of Patti, as constituted till its recent consolidation with Dalippur, was a most remarkable instance of the con- terminousness of the property of a clan with the limits of a pargana. There was not a single village in Patti which did not belong to a Bach goti ilaqa till recent arrangements included the Parhat estate of Raja Mahesh Narain Dirgbansi* (fifteen villages) in the pargana. Neither was there one independent village. In Dalippur there are zamindars not Bachgotis, nor even Rajputs. " The old Bilkharia clan has a few specimens still in Patti, chiefly in the northern portion in and about the now extinct Aurangabad taluqa, where they hold eight villages. The only two Bilkharia taluqas, those of the Raja of Umri and the Babu of Antfi, are and have been for many years included in the Partabgarh pargana, of which we shall speak presently. • " The Dirgbansi is said to be really an offshoot of the Bilkharia clan, descended from Durgadas, second son of Raja R&mdeo, abovementioned." PAT 157 " Brahman zamindars, Gurus of Bachgotis. — There are some Brahman zamindars in fifty-four villages, who, however, owe their lands to grants from the Bachgotis. They are Sarwaria Brahmans. The Pande family is the hereditary Gurfi family of the Bachgotis. The Patti family Gurus will be found in Asogpur. Those of Dalippur are in Padiapur, now part of the villag«K)f Ratanmai. " Three villages belong to Musalmans, who acquired them by service rendered to the Dalippur family." " Position of Patti Dalippur under native rule. — The tahsil of Patti was subordinate to the Nazim of Sultanpur. A chakladar used to be posted to the three parganas of Patti Dalippur and Partabgarh. His head quarters were at Partabgarh, and his usual camping grounds on his tours were in Bibipur close to Patti, Tarda, Sarabjitpur, Wari, and Jogipur. It is not worth while to give details of each nazim ; I will notice only those whose administration or mal-administration produced results which are worth knowing. "Battle of Jatsingarh.—B&jn HuLis Rae (from 1201 to 1203 fasli) endeavoured to arrest Diwan Zabar Singh of Patti taluqa in 1203 fasli, and an encounter took place in Jaisingarh, where the chieftain's fort was. Zabar Singh fled, and a Pande Brahman, named Deoman of Xsapur, engaged for the payment of the revenue of the whole pargana for 1204-5 fasli. In 1206, Zabar Singh recovered his position. Raja Bhawani Parshad, who was nazim for one year (1204 fasli), proceeded to coerce the Bais villages of Sonpura, and seized Ishri Bakhsh and Pargash Singh (both now alive) as a material guarantee. The Bais rose as one man, and attacking the nazim, effected the release of their leaders before they were taken far. They then withdrew across the border into the Jaunpur district, but the removal of the nazim from office enabled them to return to their homes very shortly. "Battle of DdMpur.— Mir Ghulam Husen (nazim from 1226 to 1230 fasli), to punish Rae Pirthipal Singh, Taluqdar of Raepur Bichhaur * for the murder of one Bahadur Lai, a qanungo (father of* present qanungo Sital Parshad), invested the fort of Dafidpur, and for nineteen days the battle raged. On the 20th, Pirthipal Singh fled, and for three years the estate was held ' kham.' Then the taluqdar's elder son, Jagmohan Singh, took the engagement for the estate for two years. In 1232 fasli, Pirthipal Singh recovered it. Jagmohan is still alive; but from that time he has been an imbecile. "Battle ofLohdr Tdra. — In Taj-ud-din Husen Khan's (nazim from 1231 to 1234 fasli) term of office, a notable fight took place between Rae Bin- deshuri Bakhsh of Dalippur and Diwan Pirthipal Singh of Urayy&clih and Jamtali, for the possession of some border land in Lohdr Tara. The Dalip pur taluqdar was killed, and his tomb is to be seen in Lohar Tara. Hence there is ' har' (grudge or feud) betwixt the present Dalippur taluqdar, Rae Madho Parshad, nephew of Bindeshuri, and some of the Patti families, • Died in 1866. 158 PAT who are closely connected with the Urayyadih taluqdar, and they neither eat nor drink, nor halt in each other's villages. " Darshan Singh {nazim). — In. 1235 fasli, Raja Darshan Singh (a Sangaldipi Brahman of no high caste), invested the fort of Chauharja Bakhsh, taluqdar of Dalippur (successor to the slain Bindeshuri). The taluqdar as usual escaped, and shortly afterwards reinstated himself in offi cial favour. Darshan Singh was twice nazim — once from 1235 to 1241, and again in 1245-46 fasli. " Mdn Singh (ndzim). — This man, who has achieved notoriety since, was nazim from 1252 to 1254 fasli. His term of office was not remark able. In 1255 fasli, Wajid Ali Khan, for some private grudge (people say concerning an elephant, which Rae Pirthipal Singh of Dafidpur had refused to give him), allied himself with that taluqdar's two sons, Digbijai Singh and Randhir Singh (the latter had by adoption acquired an inde pendent estate now known as the hissa half or 9-20ths of Patti Saifabad), and invested the fort of Dafidpur. After eighteen days fighting, the taluqdar was obliged to evacuate the place, and escape into British terri tory. The son, Digbijai Singh, obtained the estate, but matters were accommodated in two months, and the father returned to power. " The zamindars of Phenhdn and TIorU\ ur. — As an instance of taluq dars tenure and method, it may be worth while to recount how the zamin dar of Phenhan and Horilpur, which villages are and were in the Dalippur estate, took on himself to mortgage his lands to Debi Singh of Madhopur. Sitla Bakhsh of Dalippur at once resented the liberty, and the bands were mustered on each side. They met in Phenhi'm. The fight was determin ed by the capture of a Madhopur cannon by Sitla Bakhsh's men, and the villages remained as they were. Another illustration of taluqdari manners is the story of Randhir Singh (late husband of Thakurain Ajit Kunwar of 9-20th Patti taluqa, and son as aforesaid of R;ie Pirthipal of Raepur) and Mangal Parshad. The former, bearing ancient hostility to the latter, seized him one day in Kishunganj in the Sultanpur district when off his guard, ard tortured him to extort money. After a month of this work he let him go. Mangal Parshad applied to the nazim, Agha Ali Khan, for redress, which Randhir Singh did not wait to see administered ; but fled the country and remained under the guise of a merchant for many months travelling from place to place. At last spies tracked him to Kaso-ta in Allahabad, where the magistrate of the district arrested him. He was made over to the nazim who went to Allahabad to take him. He was very pro perly kept in painful confinement at Lucknow, and was released only when the British Government was established in Oudh." Places of note. — I now propose to record a few notes in connection with the old fort of Bilkhar, the temple of Chauharja at Parasrampur, the vil lages of Dafidpur, Patti, and Dalippur, which, are the only places of any archaeological interest in pargana Patti Dalippur. " Kot Bilkhar. — With regard to the old fort of Bilkhar, the qanungo gives the following account, which is currently believed in these parts. Many hundreds of years ago Ghaibar Sah, ancestor of Raja Ramdeo Bil- PAT 153 kharia, came from headquarters with A'sajit, ancestor of the Patti qAnungos, armed with instructions to exterminate the Bhars, and provided with a' title deed bestowing On him the zamindari of the entire pargana. Having successfully performed the former part of his mission, Ghaibar Sah took possession of the broad lands of the pargana, and, establishing himself in mauza»Bilkhar, built therein the famous fort known as ' Kot Bilkhar,' the ruins of which remain to this day. This fort may be said to have been the historical rallying point of the Bilkharias. A Mahadeo or representation of the deity, which is still to be seen within the ruins, is, and has been from time immemorial, known as Bilkharndth. A fair is annually held here on this account, which takes place on the 13th of the month of Pha gun (February-March), and attracts about 2,500people from the more imme diate neighbourhood. If procurable, Ganges water is poured on the idol, otherwise Avater from the Sai ; while offerings of flowers, fruit, and pice complete the ceremony. The fort of Bilkhar was successively occupied by the descendants of Ghaibar Sah down to Raja Ramdeo Singh, with whose rule the supremacy of the Bilkharias terminated. It is further asserted that some 600 years or, more ago, Bariar Singh, ancestor of the Bachgotis, slew Raja R;'imdeo, and took possession of the fort, and his des cendants to the time of Harbans Rne occupied it. When the paternal acres were divided between Dingur and Nahar Singh, the two sons of Harbans Rae, ' Kot Bilkhar' fell to the lot of the former, who is ancestor in a direct line of the present Taluqdar of Dalippur, Rae Madho Parshad Singh. Dingur Singh and his heirs continued to occupy the fort down to the year 1180 fasli (A. D., 1773), when the last owner, Rae Meherbrin Singh, came into collision with the nazim, who razed the fort and left it in ruins.' The spot is on the left bank of the Sai, some seven miles from the headquar ters of the district. The ruins of the old fort may be seen on an elevated plateau surrounded on three sides by ravines and broken ground covered with scrub jungle, and on the fourth side by the river. The fosse is clearly distinguishable all round." The temple of Chauhdrja.— Concerning the temple of Chauharja my predecessor has placed the following on record : ¦ ' " In the village of Parasrampur, in the Dariapur ilaqa, is situated a noted fane of the goddess Debi, who is worshipped under the name of Chauharja. It is said to be of superlative antiquity, and, in proof of it the priests assert that the hero Alha, whose praises and deeds form the subject of minstrels' songs to this day, and whose tomb is shown at Chunar, wor shipped Debi here, and made a well at this place, which is still visible Indeed, Alha is said to have continued his visits to the shrine long after he disappeared from mortal life ; and stories of his apparitions are told but I need not relate them." ' Two fairs take place here annually : one on the 8th Kuar (September- October), and the other on the 9th Chait (March-April). On each occa sion some 6,000 people, within a radius of about 20 miles or so, collect at the spot. In addition to the observances recorded above with reference to Bilkharnath extensive sacrificial offerings of goats and sucking men are made at this shrine of Chauharja. 160 PIH Ddudpur. — Dafidpur — in the Raepur Bichhaur taluqa, hissa9-20th — was formerly a place of some note. It is traditionally asserted that the founder of the town and fort, Dafid Khan, was in the first instance a Bhar, but that alarmed for his safety at the Muhammadan invasion, he embraced the faith of Islam, and returned as an adherent with the conquering Ala-ud- din Khilji to the Sultan's court. He was then rewarded with a grant" of twelve villages in this part of the country and dubbed a Kumedan within the Subah of Allahabad. His two brothers, Ibrahim Khan aud Saif Khan, founded about the same time the two adjacent villages of Ibrahfm- pur and Sarae Saif. After a lapse of some time, the property of Daiid Khan and his posterity passed into the hands of a family of Bisraha Chhat tris* (an offshoot of the Bachgoti clan), and was by them held until 1182 fasli (AD. 1795), when it became incorporated in the taluqa of Patti Saif abad. On partition of the latter estate in 1217 fasli (A.D. 1809), Dafid pur went into the taluqa of Raipur Bichhaur. The two sieges, which have rendered the fort of Dafidpur famous, have already been narrated in Mr. King's account of the pargana. It was only levelled in A.D. 1858, when orders were issued to destroy all native standing forts. Dafidpur itself has now dwindled down into a small and insignificant village. The Bachgoti clan deserves a more general notice ; it numbers, including the Rajkumars, above 40,000 in Oudh besides many in Jaunpur ; it extends over three districts — Partabgarh, Sultanpur, and Fyzabad — having started originally from Tappa Asl in Sultanpur, to which one of its early scions gave its name. It was exceptionally fortunate during the mutinies ; none of its chiefs lost even a portion of their estates through persistence in rebel lion, or concealment of cannon ; none of their estates are of unwieldy size, the largest, that generally known as Nissa-igara, covering only 60,000 acres. Several of its leading men are of considerable intelligence and education. The clan originally possessed a very perfect feudal organization; its raja of Hisampur turned Musalman, and since then its titular terminology has become confused. It has several rajas, several diwans, several babus, and several raos. For a further history of the Rajkumar branch, see pargana Aldemau. It only remains to be added that the pargana is a fertile and well watered one. There are numerous jhils, and water is found at about 24 feet from the surface. PIH^NIf— Pargana Piha'ni Pindarwa— Talisil Shahabad— District Hardoi.— (Latitude 27°38' north, longitude 8014' east.) A town of 7,582 inhabitants on the unmetalled road between Sitapur and Shahja hanpur ; 3,088 of the residents are Muhammadans, and 4,494 are Hindus, They are lodged in 327 brick and 1,493 mud houses. Its public build ings are a police station and a Government school. Its chief interest lies in its association with Akbar's celebrated chancellor, Sadr Jahan. • H-* Thes2, Bisr»ha3 were a degraded offshoot of the Bachgotis, owing, it is said, to a misalhance. The term is derived from " Bisiir," a Sanskrit work, signifying seed which has been borrowed in advance from a Mahajan in contradiction to saved seed, and is used to denote impurity, or rather what is improper. t By Mr. A. H. Harington, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. PIH 161 Two accounts are given of the founding of Pihani. The Hindus trace it to a settlement of Dube" Brahmans invited from Kanauj by Raja Lakhan Sen, the Gaur conqueror of the Thathera fort at Simaurgarh. The Muhammadan history, as collected by Mr. McMinn, is this : — " A| the date of the battle of Bilgram (A.D. 1540), Abdul Ghafur, Sayyad, was qazi of Kanauj. He had a younger brother, Abdul Muqtadi. After Humayfin was expelled by Sher Shah, and took refuge with Shah Tuhmasp of Persia, it is alleged that the latter called on Sher Shdh to state why he usurped the throne which belonged properly to the Mughal. Sher Shah in return collected various statements from nobles of India, proving that Humayfin was not a true believer. Abdul Ghaffir was required to send a similar statement. He refused to do so, and to escape Sher Shah's vengeance, he left Kanauj, and concealed himself in the jungle on the opposite side of the Ganges where Pihani now stands. " In 1555 Humayfin returned, and Abdul Ghaffir from his hiding place sent a letter of congratulation. Humayfin gave him five villages rent- free in parganas Pasgawan and Pindarwa; also five thousand bighas of the jungle in which he had found shelter. This spot was therefore called Pihani ; Pinhani meaning concealment, and a town founded in the forest- clearing. " Ghafur Alam was the son of Abdul Muqtadi. He was sent to the Qazi-ul-Quzzat at Delhi as a pupil. He made great progress, and was brought before the Emperor Akbar, who made him tutor to Jahangir ; and was so pleased with the latter's success in his studies, that he entitled his preceptor Nawab Sadr Jahan, and made him sadr or chief mufti of the empire. It is possible, however, that this promotion was due to Sadr Jahan's conversion to the new religion of which Akbar was the high priest, and into which Sadr Jahan led his two sons. The sadr was the fourth officer in the empire. He was the highest law officer. He was administrator general and inquisitor into religious opinion. Sadr Jahan continued to serve under Jahangir — a proof, if any was needed, that the latter emperor shared the free-thinking views of his father, or he would never have allowed the official guardianship of the purity of the faith to be held by a pervert Sadr Jahan's tomb is at Pihani. It was completed in 1068 Hijri (A.D. 1657). His descendants held high office under the Mughal emperors. Like his masters, Akbar and Jahangir, he had married Hindu wives, by one of whom, a Brahmani, Parbati, he had Murtaza Khan and Irtiza Khan. Murtaza Khan was Faujdar of Gopamau, and Irtiza Khan held the more important charge of the Ran- tambhaur fort. Badr Jahan, another son, held both Barwar and Kheri in rent-free tenure." Mr. Blochmann gives some further particulars about Sadr Jahan and his descendants : — " Miran Sadr Jahan was born at Pihani, a village near Kanauj. Through the influence of Sheikh Abd-un-nabi he was made mufti. When Abdul lah Khan Uzbak, King of Turan, wrote to Akbar regarding his apostacy 21 162 PIH from Islam, Miran Sadr and Hakim Humaun were selected as ambassadors. The answer which they took to Abdullah contained a few Arabic verses which Abdullah could construe into a denial of the alleged apostacy — ' Of God, people have said that he had a son ; of the prophet, some have said that he was a sorcerer. Neither God nor the prophet has escaped the slander of men. Then how should I V ' Miran returned in the 34th year and was made Sadr. Up to the 40th year he had risen to the diginity of a commander of 700 ; but later he was made an amil, and got a mansab of 2,000. During the reign of Jahangir, who was very fond of him, he was promoted to a command of 4,000, and received Kanauj as tuydl. As Sadr under Jahangir he is said to have given away more lands in five years than under Akbar in fifty. He died in 1020 at the age, it is believed, of 120 years. His faculties remained unimpaired to the last. There is no doubt that he temporized, and few people got more for it than he. He also composed poems, though in the end of his life, like Budaoni, he repented and gave up poetry, as against the spirit of the Muhammadan law. He had two sons : — " (1.) Mir Badr-i-Alam. He lived a retired life. (2.) Sayyid Nizam Murtaza Khan. His mother was a Brahman woman, of whom his father had been so enamoured that he married her; hence Nizam was his favourite son. He was early introduced at court, and at the death of his father was made a commander of 2,500, 2,000 horse. In the first year of Shah Jahan's reign he was promoted to a command of 3,000, and received on the death of Murtaza Khan Suja the title of Murtaza Khan. He served a long time in the Dakhin. His tuydl was the par gana of Dalmau, where he on several occasions successfully quelled disturbances. He was also Faujdar of Lucknow. In the 24th year of Shah Jahan's reign he was pensioned off, and received twenty lacs of dams per annum out of the revenue of Pihani, which was one kror. He enjoyed his pension for a long time. His sons died before him. On his death his grandsons, Abdul Muqtadi and Abdullah, were' appointed to mansabs, and received as tuydl the remaining portion of the revenue of Pihani. Abdul Muqtadi rose to a command of 1,000, 600 horse, and was Faujdar of Khairabad." (Translation of Xin-i-Akbari, Vol. I., Farci V., p. 468.) In the Kheri history will be found a detailed account (by Mr. McMinn) of the steps by which, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Sombansi pervert raja, Ibadulla Khan, possessed himself of the jagir of these Pihani Sayyad s. The decay of Pihani is attributed to Ibadulla Khan's encroachment, to the resumption of the jagir by Saadat Ali Khan, and the loss of service since annexation. The oldest portion of the town is called Bari Pihani ; dirt and decay abound in it. Its chief ward or muhalla is Mir-ki-Sarae. The oldest building in it is the tomb of Abdul Ghafur. The date stone has been removed from it. It stands close to the Khera or deserted site, which marks the residence of the early founders of chak Pihani, the Dubes from Kanauj, and the first Sayyad settlement during the reign of Akbar. The PIH 163 Sayyad seem to have obliterated all traces of the earlier occupants. No ruined shrine is to be seen, only the remains of a huge masonry well. Bari Pihani was deserted when Nizam Murtaza Khan founded the nearer adjacent town of Nizam pur, or Chhoti Pihani. Chhoti Pihani presents an agreeable contrast to the older town. It is altogether clearer, brisker, mortf* populous ; viewed from the outside it seems to be buried in trees. The soil is good ; the water near the surface. The western gateway, with its huge, shafts of red sandstone, the bastions of the high enclosing wall, brick -faced, with blocks of kankar. The remains of Murtaza Khan's fort show many a scene of picturesque ruin. But the gem of the whole place is the grand old mosque and tomb of Sadr Jahan and Badr Jahan in Bari Pihani. It is a building of much beauty. A double dome, poised on red sand stone pillars, rises from a pavement of brick, cased with carved slab of stone, and shaded by tamarinds of enormous girth. Lightness, symmetry, and grace, delicate colour, and rich but not florid ornamentation, are its characteristics. In the nawabi, Pihani was the Damascus of Oudh, noted for the temper of its sword blades. But these and its woven turbans (dastar) are things of the past. PIHA'NI PINDARWA Pargana — Tahsil Shahabad — District Hardoi. — This pargana is bounded on the north by the district of Kheri, on the east by Kheri and Sitapur, on the west by pargana Alamnagar and Mansur- nagar, and on the south by Gopamau and Mansurnagar. Its area is 45,544 acres, or 71 square miles, divided as follows : — Cultivated Irrigated Unirrigated Culturable .. Unculturable ... 27,399 9,333 18,066 ... 12,741 ... 5,404 Total ... 45,544 The soil is loam; the river Gumti passes through the pargana. There are four roads, viz. : — From Pihani to Shahabad, from Pihani to Kulhabar Ghat, from Pihani to Hardoi, and from Pihani to Aurangabad. Pihani and Pindarwa are the principal villages. The Government revenue is Rs. 40,861. The population amounts to 36,979, and the number of houses is 6,607. There are 12 schools within the pargana ; the town of Pihani has post and registry offices, and a police station. Formerly Pihani was not a pargana, but was merely known by the name of " Jagir of Sadat." Since the Sayyads of Pihani lost their jiigirs, the land revenue of Pihani itself was collected along with that of pargana Pindarwa. In the time of Hakim Mehndi, Chakladar of Muhamdi (1819-1820), some of the villages of Pindarwa pargana were amalgamated 164 PIR with Pihani ; since then Pihani was selected as the headquarters of the ziladar, and consequently Pihani was converted into a pargana. Some 100 years ago a combat took place at village Zamfir between the Sayyads of Pihani and the Gaurs. The zamindars of Pihani are of various castes — Rajputs, Brahmans, Kayaths, and Muhammadans. PfRNAGAR Pargana* — Tahsil Sitapur — District Sitapur.— Pargana Pirnagar is bounded on the north and north-east by pargana Biswan, on the north-west by pargana Khairabad, on the west by pargana' Machh- rehta, on the east by pargana Bari, and on the south by pargana Gund- lamau. It is separated from Machhrehta and Gundlamau by the river Sarayan and from Khairabad by the Gon, which flows into the Sarayan at the town of Pirnagar, the Sarayan flowing into the Gumti at Hindaura Ghat. The Sarayan is a very winding river, and the lands on either side of it are high and barren and cut up by ravines. The jungle here is consider able; there is a deal of usar land; water is found, where found at all, at a great depth, 49 feet from the surface ; wells cannot be dug at all in the neighbourhood of the ravines. But in the centre of the district the character of the soil is quite different; there wells are dug with ease. The productive powers of the soil are good ; the land is level. There are. no hills or forests. The pargana is a small one being only 44 square miles in extent, of which 28 are cultivated. The detail is as follows : — Acres 17,770 cultivated. „ 4,224 culturable. „ 21,994 assessed. „ 15 reut-free. „ 5,947 barren. 5,962 Total „ 2 7,956 The population numbers 15,295, and is distributed thus : — Hindus agricultural ... 8.841 Musalmans agricultural ... 370 „ non-agricultural ... 5,379 „ non-agricultural ... 705 14,220 1,075 These live in 2,935 houses, each of which thus is occupied by 5*2 indivi duals. The Musalmans are 7 per cent, of the whole population ; and to each head of the entire agricultural population there are 1'9 acres of cul tivated land, and 2-4 of malguzari. This proportion agrees with what obtains in parganas Khairabad and Sitapur. The incidence of the revised jama is as follows : — On cultivated area ... 1 3 8 per acre. On malguzari ... o 15 4 „ „ On total area ... o 12 1 „ „ * By Mr. M. L. Ferrar, B.A., C.S., Assistant Commissioner. PIR 165 The principal castes of the Hindus are — Brahmans 2,374, Rajputs 1,139, Ahirs 1,422, Pasis 2,034, Chamars 2,394. The pargana contains 54 demarcated villages, which are thus distribut ed, — 15 taluqdari, 39 zemindari, Bais Chhattris own 48, Brahmans 3, Kayatljs, own 2, Musalmans own 1 ; these Musalmans being descendants of a converted Rajput, a Purana or ancient Bais, to distinguish the caste from the modern Tilokchandi Bais, who now possess the greater part of the pargana. These villages are all small, none of them having a population exceed ing 1,000. Pirnagar itself boasts of but 790. There is not a single masonry house in the pargana, the people having a superstition against using burnt bricks or tiles for their residences. This superstition is not peculiar to Pirnagar, but exists in many other parts of the district (vide Towns Seota and Tambaur). The fairs are six in number as follows : — Name of fair. Village. Date. Average attendance. Bansibat ... Hatila Pir ka Mahothe Kani ... Husenia Dih ... Katki Dhanuk Jagg JairampurBhanpur Mahothepur near Saida- pur Muhammadpur alias Mahothepur. Phulpur ... Bhitauli ... Aghan ... Jeth Chait ... Jeth Kartik Aghan 12,000 600 3,000 6,000 1,000 3,000 and at these a good trade is carried on by the dealers in the ordinary necessaries of life. The Jairampur fair was founded by Bansibat, a follower of the great Ram Chandar, in honour of whose espousals with Sita the mela is held. The fair called Hatila Pir-ka-mela is a Musalman festival, and comme morates the death of Hatfla Pir, a martyr to Islam, who fell fighting for his faith, in the ranks of his maternal uncle, Masafid of Ghazni, the Sayyad Salar, who invaded Oudh, and whose tomb is at Bahraich. The Mahothepur fair is a local Bais festival, held in honour of Queen Mahothe, an ancient princess of that clan, whose life was pure and noble, and who on her consort's death became a sati. The Bhitauli feast is to commemorate the breaking of the bow (dhanuk) by Rama before his marriage with Sita. Husenia Dih is an unimportant local gathering requiring no particular notice. Besides the metalled road between Lucknow and Sitapur which divides the pargana, there are no other roads in it, and the only water communi- 166 PIR cation is afforded by the Sarayan, which bears country boats down to the Gumti at Hindaura Ghat, and thence to Lucknow. The only sarae in the whole pargana is at Kamalpur. There are five shiwalas or Hindu temples, the most famous being that in, honour of Dudh Ndth in Pirnagar. This town also possesses a mosque built by a Hindu, Rae Gansfir Das ; masonry tanks are unknown throughout the pargana, and the masonry wells, which are only 15 in number, are not used for irrigation, but for domestic purposes: The absence of all which things is to be accounted for by the impecuniosity of the zamindars. The only public (Government) structures in the pargana are the metal led road and caravan-serai already mentioned, a masonry bridge at Pirnagar over the Sarayan, and an Engineers bungalow on the high road at Daud- pur, close to Pirnagar. The pargana is not at all historically famous; no great heroes lived here; no great battles were fought ; no Hindu hero or Delhi Badshah or Luck now Nawab ever tarried in it for the pleasures of the chase, or in exile, as has happened in some of the other parganas. In fact, its history may be given in a few words, and runs thus : — In the beginning, the country, now known as the pargana, was held by Bais Chhattris, not by Tilokchandi Bais, whose origin dates from only 400 years back, but by ancient Bais, and was part of their dominions, which went under the name of Chapangarh. They gradually became extinct, and were succeeded by Kacheras and Gujars, and Jdts also, according to the qanfingos, who held sway under king Akbar 's time, or 300 years ago, when Bhikhamdeo, a Tilokchandi Bais, and Than Singh, were granted the lands by that monarch, as a reward for having saved the life of the Rani of Baundi (in Bahraich), who on her way to bathe in the sacred water of Prag (the modern Allahabad) had been seized by certain Moslem ravishers. So Tilok Chand Bais got the lands, which had just then been formed into a pargana by Todar Mai, and their descendants hold the greater part or nine-tenths of it to the present day ; one village only out of the 54 is held by a descendant of the ancient Bais, and he is a Musal- man, as already mentioned. The pargana was known at first as Bahrimau, which name it retained until Jahangir's reign, when it was changed to Pfrnagar, from the name of the town. The founder of this latter was Rae Gansfir Das, the Diwan of Pir Muhammad, then Subahdar of Oudh, and he named it after his master, and built the mosque abovementioned to calm the indignation which the subahdar felt on being informed that in the town founded in his honour a Hindu temple had been erected. The place is not mentioned in any of the older epics or histories of India, and the only remains of antiquity to be met with are 9 of those. nameless barrows, called by the country folk dihs. These are mounds of' earth varying in area from 20 to 50 acres, and raised from the surface of the ground by from 20 to 100 feet. They are covered with the remains PIT— PUR 167 of broken tiles and bricks, and are apparently the sites 'fold towns or strongholds, built before the memory of man. The villages can tell nothing of their origin. At Unasia (see pargana Khairabad), at Manwan vide town history), at Ramkot, at Hargam, &c, the dih is connected with the name of some mythical or historical character. They are met with all ovgr the province of Oudh, and they bear evidence that the people who erected them had advanced to a higher degree of civilization than the present inhabitants of the country. It is strange that up to the present time nothing in the way of inscriptions has been discovered in any of these dihs. They were probably, as stated above, strongholds ; they were certainly not tombs, so that perhaps they should not have been called above nameless barrows. PITXRI — Pargana Sikandarpur — Tahsil Unao — District Unao. — A village about lour miles north-west of the sadr station. No river flows near it, or road passes through it. It is an old village dating from the time of Raja Unwant Singh, the reputed founder of Unao. Kunwar Singh, the grandfather of Gajraj Singh, the present lambardar, was a man of local celebrity. The people are mostly Hindus. The average annual sales at bazar amount to Rs. 3,000. The population is 3,589, as follows : — Brahmans ... ... ... Chhattri ... Musalmans ... ... ... Pfisi ... Ahir ... ... ... ... Others Total ... 3,589 PUKHRA — Pargana Haidargarh — Tahsil Haidargarh — District Bara Banki. — This village is situated on the Rae Bareli and Haidargarh road, five miles east of the Gumti. The country around is fairly wooded and fertile. The population is 3,383, of whom 1,005 are Brahmans. There is a very fine temple in honour of Mahadeo, and a tank, with masonry bathing ghats, erected by Beni Dube, late Suba in a native state, at a cost of Rs. 89,000. This temple is much larger than the ordinary ones. There is also a Thakurdwara, but nothing else of note in the town. This place is the headquarters of the estate of Pukhra Ansari of the chief Amethia Chhattris, one of which clan Raja Sahajram Bakhsh was a notorious insurgent in the nawabi. PURWA Pargana — Tahsil Purwa — District Unao. — This pargana is bounded on the north by Gorinda Parsandan, on the east by Mauranwan, on the south by Panhan, Patan, and Magrayar, and on the west by Harha. Its area is 111 square miles or 71,032 acres, comprising 123 villages. It is twelve miles long by ten broad. The soil is chiefly loam and clay, and the principal crops are wheat, bajra, and sugarcane. The Lon river winds its way through a portion of the lands of this pargana during the rainy and cold seasons, but dries up in the hot weather. Water is found at from 52 in the south to 15 feet in the east. There are six bazars. 168 PUR The Government revenue is Rs. 84,367, and the assessment falls at Re. 1-3-0 per acre. The tenure is as follows : — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... ... 16,980 acres Zamindari ... ... ... ... ... 39,640 „ Pattidari ... ... ... ... ... 15,411 „ The population amounts to 64,758. There is an old temple in Purwa to Billeswar Mahadeo. The pargana was formed in Akbar's time ; for a history of the name see town article. This was the most westerly portion of the Bais dominions. It was ruled by Achal Singh, thus referred to by Elliot : — " There is nothing to notice in the history of the family till we come to Oogursen. His younger son, Dhara, was in the service of Raja Achul Singh of Poorwah, and was the chief of his armed retainers. His valour is conspicuously mentioned in the ballad which details the fight between Achul andDewanbux, whoheaded the houses of the combined families of Symbussie and Nyhesta. In that fight a pair of kettle-drums were taken from Dewanbux and were kept by the head of Achul's family at Doonea Khera. The disgrace was keenly felt by the other party, and quite lately Rana Rughonath Singh sent to Rao Rambux to offer terms on which he might get the drums back, a message to which the Rae politely answered that he would be most happy if Rughonath could recover them in the same way in which Achul Singh had taken them. Oogursen stood security for a friend who defaulted, and he was unable to pay up the default. Achul Singh, unmindful of the services of his son, seized and bound him, and had one of his sons, named Dheer Singh, murdered before his eyes. Next morning Oogursen was found dead at the bottom of a well, and it was darkly whispered that it was not grief or despair which brought him to that end. Dhara at once threw up the raja's service, and took to plunder ing his estates, and lived the life of an outlaw. In order to keep him in check, the tahsil and fort were removed from Asoha to Kantha, and the forces allotted to the pargana were stationed in that town. In 1184 fesli Achul Singh was succeeded in the Nizaraut by Bhowani Singh, and soon after took poison and died, on which Dhara Singh came back to his home, and became a peaceable subject again." (pp. 48-49, " Elliot's Chronicles of Oonao.") PURWA— Pargana Purwa— Talisil Purwa— District Unao.— The town of Purwa lies in latitude 26°32' north, longitude 80°52' east, and is situated twenty miles south-east of Unao. There is a lake called Basha close to this town on the north. Four unmetalled roads lead to it— one from Unao to Rae Bareli, another from Purwa to Cawnpore, a third from Purwa to Lucknow, and a fourth from Purwa to Bihar, Baksar, and Rae Bareli. The town is locally noted for good shoe-makers. Two bazars are held weekly, attended by about 1,000 visitors. There are three large fairs here during the year. Two are held in honour of Sri Billeswar Mahadeo, about one mile east of the town, one on the day of Shiurattri, and the other on the 1st and 2nd days of Aghan, about November ; each of these fairs is PUR— QUT 169 attended by about seven or eight thousand people. The annual amount of sales at these fairs and the bazars is about Rs. 31,000. The population amounts to 10,880, the Hindus number 8,355, and Moslems 2,525, of the Hindus, Brahmans (2,267), Banians (2,000), and Kayaths (1,000) predomin ate. There is a tahsil, a thana, and a school where more than a hundred boys are taught. Purwa was formerly the headquarters of the chakladar of the Harha Purwa, chakla or collectorate of the nawabi. At annexation also the headquarters of the district were at Purwa. A tahsildar only resides there now. The town is said to have been founded about 500 years ago. Primarily one Raja Newan, a Raghubansi resident of Ajodhya, came and settled at a place four miles west of this town, which is now known as Newayan. After some time the river Lon washed that village away. Raja Ranbir Singh, a descendant of the abovenamed raja, who ruled Newayan at that time laid the foundation of this town, which stands on the land of the villages Bhawanipur, Sokipur, and Kalianpur. It was then called Ranbir- pur. Now the word " Ranjit" is put (erroneously) instead of Ranbir, and the town is called " Ranjitpurwa" or " Purwa." Raja Achal Singh Bais, a resident and taluqdar of Daundia Khera, was chakladar, as also the liege lord of the town of Purwa, and had taken up his residence at this place from 1123 fasli (A.D. 1716) to 1183 fasli (A.D. 1776 ). The other Thakurs of Baiswara and of the Bais tribe, who had a great dislike to the rule of the chakladar, waged war against Achal Singh, in which they were totally defeated. Raja Achal Singh then had a garden laid out on the very plain where the battle was fought which is still there. Raja Achal Singh, Raja Sital Parshad, Tirbedi, N azim, and Fateh Ali, a favourite slave of Almas Ali, Khwaja Sara, have been remarkable persons in the history of this town. Raja Achal Singh is said to have been the founder of Achalganj in the pargana Harha, district Unao, Achal Khera, &c, in pargana and tahsil Purwa, as also of the following villages in this district, — Purwa, Unchgaon, Naigaon, Banthar, Jhalotor. Raja Sital Parshad founded Sitalganj in this place, embellishing it with a temple and a tank. Another place of this name was founded by the same nazim in Rasfilabad. Fateh Ali was the founder of Fatehganj which lies near Purwa, and he planted the road from Purwa to Basha, and from Jalalabad to the entrance gate of the city of Lucknow, with trees forthe convenience and com fort of travellers. He also had laid out and planted a garden, with a masonry tank, in the city of Lucknow. Buildings of former times now remaining are the temple of Billeswar Mahadeo and the tomb of one Mina Sahib — both regarded as sacred by Hindus and Muhammadans respectively; a shrine of Niamat Shah, and a burial-place of one Hira Shah, both famous hermits, are also worthy of note here. QUTUBNAGAR*— Pargana Misrikh— Tahsil Misrikh— District Sita pur. — Is 18 miles west from Sitapur on the high road to Hardoi. By Mr. M. L. Ferrar, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. 22 170 QUTv-RAE Three miles to the south-west runs the Gumti, which is navigable at all^times of the year, and within two miles to the north-west runs a small stream called the Kathna which is not navigable. The population numbers 2,256 of all castes ; at the school attend 70 boys ; the bazar is held on Tuesdays and Fridays ; but the sales are incon siderable, not exceeding Rs. 5,000 in the year. The climate is good. The only masonry house in the place is the residence of the taluqdar, and is built on some rising ground, the site of an old dih called " Kunj Bihari- pur," which had been owned by a community of faqirs. Within the enclosure is an ancient Hindu well called "Biswa Mitra," and the remains of what once is said to have been a masonry tank called " Jambfi Dip." There are 421 mud-built houses. Hard by in Deogaon is a mud tank, which is visited in phagun by the Nimkhar pilgrims when going on their " paikarma." The taluqdar of Qutubnagar belongs to the same family as the taluqdar of Aurangabad, both being descended from that Bahadur Beg who 200 years ago, in the reign of Alamgir, got a jagir of this part of the country. Another account has it that it was in Shah Jahan's reign the present taluqdar's ancestor, Mirza Muhammad Ata, acquired the property. There are no manufactures of any sort in Qutubnagar, and the place is altogether devoid of any interest, historical or otherwise. RAE BARELI DIVISION.— Rae Bareli is a division of British territory in Oudh comprising three districts, whose names, areas, and population are given in the accompanying table : — Area and population. ¦8 ew •0 °> 6 .515 s feO a ^ v, CO District ,3 O -d a # O 6c CD a "5 > 3 3 a 'cS t3 o. acS 'at to CO 60 u 5 53 H O tn s 3 a 47 3 35 s fa o >< _ r Rae Bareli... 1,768 1,747 667 909,930 68,706 493,320 495,688 089,008 i48 1 1 ca i °5 1 Sultanpur .. 2,526 1,706 890 911,441 84,495 43 40 505,644 490,932 996,576 584 I Partabgarh 2,200 1,445 696 719,329 63,133 18 23 393,576 384,105 782,681 M Total .. 6,494 4,898 \ 2,443 2,540,700 216,334 108 98 1,397,540 1,370,725 3,768,265 < • The areas in the above statement are obtained from settlement returns. The popula tion from the census report. RAE 171 RAE BARELI DISTRICT ARTICLE. ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS I. — Physical features. II. — Agriculture and commerce. III. — The people. IV. — Administration. V. — History. CHAPTER I. NATURAL FEATURES. General description — Change of territory — Superficial configuration— General aspect— Rivers— Natural products — Wild cattle— Fauna — Rainfall— Medical aspects— Fairs. General description. — The district of Rae Bareli has undergone many alterations of boundaries and extent. At present it lies between 25 "49 and 26°35' north latitude, and 80°45' and 81°40' east longitude. Its area is 1,739* square miles, and its population 989,008.-)- It now consists of four tahsils — Rae Bareli, Digbijaiganj, Lalganj, and Salon. These are subdivided into the following parganas : — Rae Bareli. Dalmau. Sareni.Khiron. Salon. Parshadepur. Hokha Jais. Inhauna. Simrauta. Mohanganj. Kumhrawan. Bachhrawan. Hardoi. Boundaries. — The present district has no natural boundaries except the Ganges to the south-west and south ; on the east it is bounded by tah sil Bihar (Kunda) of Partabgarh, on the north-east by Bara Banki, on the north-west by Lucknow district, and on the west by Unao. The general shape of the country is a rough truncated ovoid, with its base to the south-west on the Ganges, and itsextremityreaching to within seven miles of the Gumti. This segment of the Gangetic plain is divided into two nearly equal por tions by the river Sai. It is flat, with no mountains; its elevation varies from about 395 feet above the sea on the north-west to 285 the level of the Ganges when it leaves the district The slope is good therefore ; it is from north-west to south-east ; and all the rivers take that course. Particular points are recorded in the revenue survey map as attaining a higher elevation, but these are on artificial elevations selected or erected by the surveyors themselves. Such are the present territorial limits of the Rae Bareli district. ' By Settlement Returns, 1,747 square miles. t This is the total of the pargana population as given in the census report, and it differs somewhat from later calculations which make the population of the district 988,719. 172 RAE Change of territory. — But the administrative arrangement has only been arrived at after several steps. There were at first four tahsils — Bihar, Dal mau, Bareli, and Haidargarh. These were reduced to three — Bihar, Bareli, and Haidargarh. Then the Bihar tahsil containing seven parganas — Daun dia Khera, Ghatampur, Bhagwantnagar, Bihar, Panhan, Patan, and Magra yar — was transferred to the Unao district; Haidargarh at the extreme north was placed in Bara Banki; while Simrauta, Mohanganj, Inhauna, Rokha Jais have been transferred to Rae Bareli from Sultanpur ; Salon and Par shadepur from Partabgarh. The area, population, and administrative divisions of the district are given in Chapter III. Those of the old district were as follows : — Area 1,350 square miles, number of villages 1,482, population 782,874. Rae Bareli has been more changed by the re-distribution of 1869 thaa any other district. In fact, it received so to speak a fresh tahsil to the south east : its parganas were transferred to Unao and Bara Banki ; and it was compensated by additions from Partabgarh and Sultanpur to the east. Still the map of the old district remains incorporated, and forms the chief portion of the new. The former is thus described by the settlement officer. It must be remembered that the north-east extremity towards the Gumti, the shank of the shoulder of mutton afterwards mentioned, has been cut off and transferred to Bara Banki. Superficial configuration. — The district of Rae Bareli may be said to resemble in shape a shoulder of mutton, with the shank broken and bent backwards. The shank forms the tahsil of Haidargarh; the remainder forms the three tahsils, which last year from motives of economy were doubled up into two. The river Ganges forms the south-west boundary of the district. On the north-east, at the extremity of the Haidargarh tahsil, the Gumti is the boundary. Between them the Sai runs through the very centre of the district, and between the Sai and the Ganges, the Loni nala coming out of the Unao district, and running generally parallel to the course of the rivers, falls into the Ganges near Dalmau. About midway between the rivers is a kind of elevated hollow in which there is a string of jhils which on the map follow the course of the rivers, and are a striking feature of the country. From these jhils lateral nalas lead into the rivers, and carry off the superfluous water. This conformation is to be found between the Gumti and the Sai, the Sai and the Loni, and the Sai and the Ganges, after the confluence of the Loni with the Ganges, while it also is to be found in a limited degree between the Loni and the Ganges. But the high bank of the Ganges and the Loni approach so near to each other at the western extremity of the district, that the space left for the jhils is very small, and they become almost nothing. The effect of this is to make the country topographically lie in belts or zones. Beginning with the Ganges, we have the villages on the high bank of the river much broken and sandy, with the water a good distance from the surface. These villages are generally among the poorest in the RAE 173 district. Within this belt lies a strip of villages, which, taken all in all, are perhaps the finest in the district, as they are wholly cultivated, and are irrigated nearly altogether from wells, though they get assistance from small ponds. Within these again come the villages among the large jhils, showing many of them the finest land of all, but intermixed with large waste tracts, of which it is some times very hard to say whether they are barren or culturable. These villages are irrigated mainly from the jhils, whence the water is thrown up upon the fields by manual labour. Pro ceeding still in a north-easterly direction, we come again to the belt of five villages irrigated from wells, and further on to the sandy, poorer, and broken villages on the banks of the Sai, where irrigation is less resorted to. The like description will suffice for the surface of the country, still pursuing a north-east line, up to the Gumti. General aspect. — The general aspect of the district is undulating in a slight degree, which, as the country is beautifully wooded, chiefly with mango and mahua groves, gives it a . variety which is not often to be observed in the valley of the Ganges. The fertility of the soil is remark able, and the cultivation being of a high class, the beauty of the country is not to be surpassed by any part of the real plain of Hindustan. Scattered here and there, all over the district and more specially towards the Ganges, are noble trees, generally bargad or pipal. Trees are not how ever grown for timber. The babfil is not plentiful, and the bamboo is very scarce, while ttie shisham and the tfin, both of which thrive well, and would be a certain revenue from the lands which are too broken for culti vation, are not to be found in the district, save where planted as orna mental trees since our occupation of the country. The general appearance of the Rae Bareli district conveys the impression of its being a highly favoured and richly productive tract of country, and as a rule the crops, where there has been careful cultivation, are heavy and probably up to the average of production in the province, but the absence in any quantity of the heavy black, loamy, bog-like soil, found in large quantities in the south-eastern portion of Oudh, is a remarkable feature of this district. Not that this want affects the general fertility of the country, and the reason is obvious, the agricultural implements in local use are few in number, light, quickly worn out, and easily broken, the lighter therefore the mate rial to be worked upon, the less is the expenditure ; nor are the returns less in light than on heavy soils, the successful cultivation of which requires the possession of capital. The chief growth on the heavy clay soils of the south-eastern part of Oudh is of rice which is first sown thickly in small beds, and after it has attained a height of about a foot, the tops of the plants are cut off, and they are planted out in fields which are sur rounded by mud walls to retain the water, with which they are flooded soon after the rains commence till long after they have ceased, but efforts are seldom made to cultivate these lands for the spring crops ; because the clay on them, after a short exposure to even a November sun, becomes as hard as a rock and as dry as a bone, and it is only when thoroughly saturated with water, as during the rainy season, that they 174 RAE can be even roughly worked. The chief advantages of clays over light soils are that they require but little manure, as they contain large quan tities of the substances required by plants, and that they retain these substances which in lighter soils would be washed down by heavy rain into the substratum; and the disadvantages of light soils are that water washes out the valuable portions of manures before the roots of plants have had time to take them up, and that consequently they have to be frequently manured. In a country blessed, as this portion of British India is for the greater part of the year, with the nearly vertical rays of an almost tropical sun, and still raised sufficiently above the water level to escape remaining a perpetual swamp, the advantages above described as appertaining to clay soils are nullified, whilst their disadvantages are intensified. No amount of clay in a soil will do away with the necessity for irrigation, except during the rainy season, when the more valuable kinds of crops cannot be grown, and when the lightest description of soil becomes fertile, owing to the water level over the whole country remaining for some months high ; on the other hand, light soils are adapted to the means at the disposal of and the mode of agriculture familiar to the people. The rivers.— The principal rivers are the Ganges and the Sai. The Ganges skirts the district for 54 miles separating it from Fatehpurjthe Sai runs through it for 55 miles. The former is everywhere navigable- for boats of 1,200 maunds or 40 tons ; the latter is navigated during the rains only ; it is about two feet deep in the dry weather, and might be used by barges. The banks of both are high and generally precipitous, and the level of the water is seventy or eighty feet below the surface of the country. They are not therefore of much value for irrigation except for the alluvial bottoms in the immediate neighbourhood. The bottoms are sandy. There are no large towns on their banks, and no centres of trade or com merce. Very little fishing is carried on except in the jhils. These rivers both flow from the north-west to south-east as do the smaller streams afterwards mentioned. The Sai is spanned by a fine bridge at Rae Bareli, erected since annexation in 1864 by the taluqdar ; the ferries are so numerous and so changeable that it is not worth while to detail them here. The extreme flood discharge of the Sai is about 6,000 cubic feet per second ; the average discharge during the five rainy months is about 1,000 cubic feet per second ; the minimum discharge in the dry wea ther is about 25 feet. per second. The Loni stream issues from a marsh known as the Moti jhil in the Unao district entering this district at a village named Utwal, pargana Magrayar, and leaving it at village Khajur- gaon, pargana Dalmau, where it falls into the Ganges. It runs a course of about thirty miles in this district, and dries up in the hot weather. The Gurdhoi. — The Gurdhoi is a water-course dry in the hot weather, and fed from the Ganges during the rains. The Basha. — The Basha is also a water-course dry during the hot wea ther, but a rather formidable stream during heavy rains. It enters this RAE 175 district from Unao and after traversing the KhiroD, and a portion of the Bareli parganas, it falls into the Sai river, a few miles west of Rae Bareli. It is apparently to the discharge of water from this stream that the heavy floods in the river Sai about and below Bareli are attributable, Mti/ng Tdl, — Is a shallow lake occupying the greater portion of a village in pargana Simrauta about 1,500 acres in extent, to which it gives its name. Its margin only is- usually cultivated, but when its contents are not exhausted by irrigation (for which purpose it is extensively used by the villages in its proximity), it bears a crop of summer rice. The piscary is valuable. It is famous also for its wild fowl; and this was the consi deration, perhaps, which induced Nasir-ud-din Haidar to build a house upon its banks, but scandal, with its busy tongue, asserts that some fair Rosamond was the game of which he came in quest. The village long since ceased to be a royal residence, and nothing but the ruins of Nasir- ud-din's house now exist to show that it formerly enjoyed that honour. The Naiya. — The Naiya is also a water-course dry during the hot wea ther. It enters this from the Lucknow district, and flows in three channels during the rains ; two streams running into the Sultanpur district, and one finding its way into the river Sai near village Undobar. The Sur. — A water-course dry during the hot weather, named the Sur, brings the surplus waters of a tank in the Unao district into the river Sai at a village named Bardar during the rains. Drainage and irrigation. — Besides the above there are a great number of marshes and water-courses, which are all dry during the hot weather, and which all contribute towards causing floods during heavy rainy seasons. It is more than probable that by utilizing the natural advantages pre sented by these escapes and reservoirs, agreeably to some sensible and com prehensive system of drainage, heavy floods might be avoided throughout the district at a small expense, and that in deficient rainy seasons the water now wasted might be economically stored. As it is, the people never have one-tenth of the water they could utilize in the dry weather, and in occasional rainy seasons like the one just past (1871 A.D.) they are homeless and houseless wanderers owing to heavy floods. Here and there occasion ally a dam is to be seen across some very small stream, ^nd once or twice since annexation a dam has been made across the river Sai by private enterprise, but any combined or general efforts in this direction cannot be expected from the people. The following notes on the natural products of the district are taken from Major Ouseley's settlement report : — Indigenous products of the district. — Tun(Cedrela toona),* a magnificent tree, with beautiful foliage, and a rather fine-grained wood, which takes a very good polish. The furniture made of it is much esteemed. The flowers are used for dyeing a yellow colour which the natives say is fast. * The botanical names have been taken from Shakespear's Hindustani dictionary. 176 RAE Shisham (Dalbergia sissoo), a magnificent tree, with beautiful foliage, and a very fine-grained wood, which takes a very good dark polish. It is rather heavy for furniture, but is used extensively in gun and other carriage manufacture. Dhdk (Butea frondosa), a tree much used for firewood, and with the roots the natives make rope. Babul (Acacia arabica), a tree of fast growth, with graceful foliage, and a very hard wood, universally used in the manufacture of country carts, agricultural implements, tent pegs, and mallets. Grazing grasses. — The most esteemed species being "dub" (Agiostis linearis). It does not burn up so fast as other kinds in the hot weather. Tin (Andropogon muricatum), a grass in universal use for thatching purposes, the reeds being made into brooms. The roots of it supply the ' khas,' with which our hot weather tatties are made. It grows on the banks of rivers and marshes, and is generally strictly preserved, as it takes time to spread. Proprietors are averse to its being dug up for the khas. Patdwar or sarpat. — (Saccharum munja, saccharum procerum, saccha- rum sara.) With the upper part of the stem are made " sirki," a kind of mat which keeps off rain. The upper leaves are used for thatching. With the coarser leaves below these a string called "munj" is made, and the natives use the stalks or strong reeds which they call "sentha" for the groundwork of their thatches. Kdsa (Saccharum spontaneuin) is used for thatching and making a kind of string called " ban." Kus. — A kind of grass used for thatching, and of which blacksmiths make charcoal for their forges. Pasdhi. — A kind of rice which grows in many tanks and marshes. Lakh. — The product* of an insect " coccus lacca," which is found on the branches of different trees. From it is produced, after it has been steeped in water to carry off the colouring matter, the " chapra," or shell lac of com merce, the manufacture of which is carried on at Cawnpore, where the colouring matter is made into cakes of a deep red colour. The raw produce is sold to Pasis, Khatiks, and other low caste tribes, who break off the twigs on. which it is deposited in the months of May and June. In this state it is known as~ " stick lac." After separating the deposit from the twigs, when it is known as seed lac, they sell it to Manihars, who make it into " chfiris" or bangles. Silkworm. — Kuswari. The cocoon of a silkworm, "Phalcena paphia," which spins on the beri, a kind of yellow plum tree. The thread is like • Dairy's Useful Plants of India, Page 5. RAE 177 very fine tasar silk. The cocoon when cut spirally into a thin long strip was used during the native rule by matchlock-men to fasten the barrel to the stock of their matchlocks, and was esteemed by them better for that purpose than iron. The thread is used sometimes now for the end of the line employed in fishing. Whether certain trees are indigenous or not. — Exception may perhaps be taken to the tun tree being enumerated as among the indigenous products of the district. It is very seldom seen, and is never cultivated as the mango, the mahua, and other trees are, so it is but natural to suppose that those which exist were self-sown. It never attains in this district the same size or height which it reaches in the forests of Oudh, and the same may be said of the shisham tree ; but for this there are probably very good reasons independent of the prevalent idea that forest trees will not grow outside certain tracts of country. It will be generally admitted that these trees are essentially forest trees, and it would be well worth the while of Government to have plantations of them made on true forest principles, to see whether, when grown close together and subse quently thinned, they would not attain the same height and growth as their fellows of the forest. No tree will attain the same height when grown far from other trees that it will when closely surrounded, and it is natural to suppose that, owing to the clearance consequent on increasing population, the shisham and tun trees in this district grew gradually smaller till the species has deteriorated to the size of the specimens now extant, and probably in a few years if left to themselves they will become extinct. The same reasoning applies most probably to most so called forest trees, but there was a special reason for the extinction of the sal, " Shorea robusta," which is called by the natives the " sakhu" tree. Sal trees are to be found to the south of the Dudhi, pargana Singrauli, south Mirzapusr, probably not more than one hundred miles from Benares, but though covering vast tracts of waste land, it is seldom that a full-grown tree can be found, because the saplings are tapped by the lessees or con tractors before they are eight years old for a juice which is then called " dhfip," and for which they get a ready sale in the bazars. The process kills the saplings in a month or two when the villagers cut down, stack, and just before the rains, set fire to them windward of a patch of ground which they want to break up ; the people declaring all the time that although the seed of the sal tree germinates the tree cannot attain to any age or size in those parts. No clearer proof could be produced that it is the increase of population that destroys the indigenous pro ducts of districts, and that it is not the climate, nor the soil, but the destructive element in man that disagrees with these giants of the forest. The seed of the sdl tree germinates in this district. — Babu Ajit Singh, a taluqdar in the Partabgarh district, and other Europeans and natives, have made efforts to raise the sal tree by seed in that and other districts, but till this year hitherto without any recorded success ; up to the time of Nasir-ud-din Haidar there were sal trees near Char Bagh in 23 178 RAE Lucknow, and some ground near goes by the name of Sakhu-ka-Bagh to this day. There are now in this station over one hundred young plants raised from sal seed sown last June. Many of which will doubtless attain to maturity if not forcibly uprooted or villainously tapped, or subjected to some other destructive treatment. A small plantation of tun and shisham trees was made at Government expense in this district in the rainy season of 1868, and several of the trees had attained to a height of over twenty feet within three years, and the general result has made it evident that it rests with us to show why the next generation should not have better timber growing at their doors than we get now from the forest. Wild cattle. — Herds of wild cattle are to be found in the pargana of Daundia Khera* near the river Ganges, also in Salon near the Sai. They are generally very poor small animals, but occasionally a fine bull is to be seen among them. The natives catch the male calves, and they grow into tolerable bullocks. There is no difficulty in domesticating the cattle if caught young, but the females give little, almost no milk beyond what is necessary for rearing their offspring. The herds devastate the crops by night, and think nothing of clearing the low walls and small ditches by which the cultivators endeavour to check their depredations. The fauna. — The Feroe natures are the same in Rae Bareli as in other parts of Oudh, but black buck are not found, except a very few near Bachh- rawan ; they are entirely absent from the southern portions of the district, although they have ifccently become numerous in Fatehpur across the river Ganges. Nil-gae are common near the Ganges ; wolves are occasionally met with in the jungles. There are no tigers, leopards, spotted deer, gond (swamp deer), but with the exception of the above, which are confined to the Himalayan Tarai in Oudh, the fauna is the same as that described undei Kheri. Climate and rainfall. — These are treated under their medical aspects a little further on. In this general sketch it may be remarked that the' rainfall has averaged 37 inches during the last eleven years. There is a considerable difference in the returns of the tahsils. The following are the returns for 1874 : — Rae Bareli ... ... ••• ... „. 37-7 Salon ... ... ... ... ,„ 47'S Digbijaiganj ... ... ... ... ... 27'3 Lalganj ... ... ... ... ... 27'7 The two former tahsils both adjoin the river Sai, the other two lie north and south of them. Whatever the reason, the central tahsils have steadily exhibited a fair rainfall, and the other two a scanty one. Any rainfall less than 35 inches as a rule results in very inferior crops. • jNow in the Unao district, RAE 179 Average fall of rain in Rae Bareli district : — Years. Inches. 1865 27-0 1866* ... ... 260 1867 ... ... 603 1868 ... 194 . 1869 385 1870 ... ... 49 4 1871 ... 49-5 1872 ... ... 34-5 1873 ... 41 0 1874 360 1875 ... ... ... Average for eleven years >•• 330 87-7 The rainfall is however very capricious, and caprice is the ruin of agriculture. A table is subjoined showing the rainfalls of that portion of agricultural years, viz., from June to February (during which alone rain falls) for the last two droughts, those of 1868 and 1873. These years, although differing much in the amount of rainfall, agree in that the rain was deficient in the critical month when the kharif is sown, viz., June ;• and stopped almost entirely during the five months, October, November, December, January, February, when the cold- weather crops are springing up and ripening. During this latter period in 1868 not a tenth of an inch fell, and in 1873 only one-third of an inch. But in 1873, there was a further misfortune, the rains did not commence till July 6th, consequently the ploughs, which cannot be worked till the ground is moistened, were idle, the ground was not broken up, and much of the land was left uncul tivated owing to the pressure and hurry at last. If favourable, the rains commence about June 5th ; the fall in that month is about five inches ; about nine inches fall in each of the next three months; there are four inches in October, ending about October 16th, and two inches in January or February; such a combination has not occurred since annexation. Rae Bareli. 1868. 1873. Total rainfall-. Rainfall from June 1st to October 1st 26-65 42-2 From October 1st to December 31st, 0-0 00 In June ... ... 3-4 0 0 In September ... ... ... 1P1 13-2 In October ... ... ... 00 00 Date of rain commencing ... ... June 16th, July 6th. Of rain ending ... ... ... September 21st, September 15th. Rain in January-February of ensuing 00 03 year. 180 RAE The following memorandum has been furnished by the civil surgeon : — Medical Aspects. 'Statistics of births were only taken in 1868 and 1869, and yielded insuffi cient averages. The birth-rate per thousand of population for the former period was only 28 01, and for the latter period 2920. Statistics of deaths have been obtained through the agency of village chaukidars since 1868. The mortality of the last six years is exhibited in the following table : — Year. Population. Mortality from all causes. Rate per thousand of population. 1868 7,83,246 12,346 15-77 1869 7,82,874 27,914 35-65 1870 7,82,874 22,862 29-20 1871 9,89,008 22,263 22-51 1872 9,89,008 18,406 18 61 1873 9,69,008 17,815 1801 Endemic diseases. — The endemic diseases of the district are cholera, small-pox, and malarial fevers. Cholera. — The following table gives the annual mortality from cholera of the last six years : — Year. Number of deaths from cholera. Rate per thousand of population. 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 163 4,779 619 2,575 2,583 1,927 '21 610 0-79 2-60 261 1-94 * Cholera in sporadic or epidemic form has only been absent from parts of the Rae Bareli district for short periods since 1868. Seasons of sum mer heat have been marked by increased prevalence of the disease. Every quarter of the district has within the last three years been visited by the malady in epidemic form. After commencing and remaining (from two to five weeks) in one or two villages, the disease has usually spread by RAE 181 successive implication of other localities in their immediate or more remote neighbourhood. The cause of cholera has not been determined. Endeavours to connect outbreaks in particular places, with concurrent and exceptional insanitary influences in the surroundings and mode of life of affected communities, have resulted in failure. I am impressed with the beliefirthat cases of the disease were greatly multiplied by the close asso ciation of the healthy with the sick in ill-ventilated and overcrowded dwell ings. Small-pox. — The deaths from small-pox of the last six years are given in the following table : — Year. Number of deaths from small-pox. Rate per thousand of population. 1868 659 •84 1869 3,026 3-86 1870 2,473 3-15 1871 697 0-70 1872 211 0-21 1873 703 0-71 Except when epidemic in 1869 and 1870 this disease has not been extra ordinarily destructive. Vaccination is being gradually extended outwards from the sadr station, and a notable decrease in the prevalence of small pox within protected areas must ensue. This result will bring conviction of the efficacy of vaccination to the minds of the people, and the number who annually consent to the operation may increase in consequence. Fevers. — The deaths reported in the last six years as due to fevers are included in the following table : — Year. Number of reported deaths from fevers. Rate per thousand of population. 1368 6,637 847 1869 10,820 13-82 1870 14,330 18-30 1871 16,654 16-83 1872 14,970 1513 1873 14,716 14'87 As it is a well known fact that natives of this country ascribe all deaths from primary ailments of special organs to fever (vernacular " bukhra"), 182 RAE the malarious character of the country, included in the Rae Bareli district, is not established by the large figures of mortality exhibited under this heading. The nature of the soil of the district (which is sand and alluvium on kankar beds) does not favour the production of malaria by retention of moisture, and there exist only small and isolated patches of jungle lands which have not yet been cleared and brought under cultivation. The elevation of the district above the sea is about 430 feet, and surface drainage is effected by channels leading to the river Ganges and to the Sai, Naiya, and Loni rivers. Water-bearing strata are reached at an average depth of about 30 feet below the ground level in hot and dry seasons, and at about 12 or 14 feet after wet seasons. Temporary and abundant sources of malaria are in existence annually while rice swamps in the district are drying after the rains, when periodic fevers prevail very generally for two or three months, and prove speedily fatal when of remittent type. During other periods of the year the suffering from such ailments is comparatively inconsiderable. Organic and constitutional derangements, resulting from recurring attacks of fever, come frequently under observation at the dispensary, and often prove intractable. Cattle epidemics. — I learn from the people that extraordinary mortality from disease has now and then within some years back occurred amongst herds of cattle in particular parganas of the Rae Bareli district. Agricul turists are familiar with the symptoms of foot and mouth disease which they designate " khanj," " khurha," and " ghurkha." They also speak of another and more formidable contagious ailment of very fatal character to which cattle have at times been subject. This latter disease is known by the names "hulka," " dhumsa," " hijab," " bura-azar," and is most probably identical in nature with rinderpest. Jt does not appear that cattle in the district have yet suffered from the extension of cultivation at the expense of the pasture lands. Fairs and religious gatherings. — Bathing fairs at Dalmau and Gokuna, both places with ghats on the banks of the Ganges, are held at every full moon. Usually three or four thousand people collect together on such occasions, but in November when the "Kartik ka nahan mela" is celebrated, about one hundred and fifty thousand people assemble at each of the two ghats. No commercial object is fulfilled by these gatherings. The stream of the Ganges is held sacred, and bathing therein with religious ceremonials the only object of the multitudes. No connection has yet been traced between these assemblages and epidemic attacks in the district. Native system of medical treatment. — The physicians of the country are ignorant of surgery. Their practice is founded on obsolete humoral doctrines of pathology. In the treatment of disease they employ remedies which produce effects that are opposite in nature to the symptoms, RAE 183 CHAPTER II. AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE. Agriculture — Rents — Agricultural statistics from the settlement report — Irrigation— Ad vances and land improvements — prices and famines — Food of the people — Fish— Manu factures and trades — Means of communication — Extracts from the route book — Weights and measures. Agriculture. — The principal occupation of the people is agriculture. It is not necessary here to detail the different processes and crops which are much the same as in the adjoining district of Partabgarh and are there described. The rotation of crops, the crops sown, the implements, the out turn, are much the same. Irrigation depends not so much upon the agri culturist's habits, which are monotonous and uniform as upon natural fea tures which differ in each district. The following remarks are from the settlement report, and other sources severally indicated. It may be pre mised that speaking generally the agricultural features of Rae Bareli are — a great deal of rice, wheat, arhar, gram, opium, and comparatively little maize, sugarcane, and tobacco. The accompanying table shows the opium area and outturn ; it will appear that the produce is much greater than that of the two adjoining districts, Sultanpur and Partabgarh taken, together : — Area. OtJTTTTBN. Districts. 1872-73. 1873-74. 1872-73. 1873-74. Average of both years. Rae Bareli ... Sultanpur Partabgarh ... Areas. 7,622 4,1(3 1,638 Areas. 7,816 3,8422,079 Maunds 1,178 470367 Sers 848 20 603 Maunds. 1,768 759574 Sers 3425 2 13,363 13.737 2,015 3,102 21 9 02 Average produce per acre, ... ... ... ... 7-52 Rents. — Rents in Rae Bareli are much above the average of the pro vince. This is owing to the density of the population, and to the irriga tion facilities afforded by numerous masonry wells. The following are those prevalent according to the most recent official returns. per acre. Sent of land suitable for Rs. a. P- Rice ... ... 4 4 0 Wheat ... 8 8 0 Inferior grain ... 4 4 0 Opium ... ... 9 9 0 Oil seeds ... 4 8 0 Sugar ... 9 6 0 Tobacco ... ... 11 4 0 Cotton ,,, ... 9 9 0 184 RAE The highest rents are for opium lands in the vicinity of the towns, such pay up to Rs. 13 the bfgha, or Rs. 20-12-0 per acre. Ordinary wheat lands, irrigated by the tenants' own wells, let up to Rs. 7 the bigha, or Rs. 11-3-0 per acre, and unirrigated lands, in which nothing can be grown but gram, barley, and arhar, let at Rs. 5 the bfgha, or Rs. 8 the acre, if the soil is not very sandy. When the land is very sandy, and very remote from the. village site, so that it is impossible to manure it except at a prohibitive cost, rents fall as low as one rupee an acre. The above figures are not meant to embrace the cases of tenures granted on favourable terms to tenants of high caste or recently settled. The rents have been much raised of late years. The following is from the settlement report : — " Outturn. — The following are approximate statistics. One man with one pair of bullocks can cultivate fairly about four acres per annum, from which he may calculate on an average annual yield of twelve maunds of grain per acre, or forty-eight maunds of grain per annum. The present average value of this, together with the straw, is about ninety-six rupees, and taking the landlord's share at one-third, the rental of the holding should be about Rs. 32, or Rs. 8 per acre. "Seed per acre. — The amount of seeds for a crop of wheat averages about a maund and a half per acre. " Hired labour. — Labourers are paid chiefly in grain, and so are village servants. " Village servants. — Under this denomination come— Watchers.Astrologers. Blacksmiths,Carpenters.Priests,Ploughmen. Herdsmen. Barbers.Washermen.Kahars (palki-bearers). Potters. " Some of these get sometimes grants of lands. The Kahars are employed to draw water and for other purposes. Besides the above many Brahmans and mendicants are entitled to what is called "anjuri," or both hands filled with grain before its removal from the threshing floor. " Agricultural seasons. — The agricultural operations are conducted according to certain astronomical divisions of time into which the rainy season is divided. 20th „ 4th July. 18th „ 1st August. 15th ,, 29th „ 12th September. 25th „ 9th October. " Thus in 1871— Mirgisra c immeni Ardra ditto Punarbas ditto Pukkh ditto Ashlclcba ditto Magha ditto l'urba ditto TJttra ditto Uast ditto Chittra ditto RAE 185 " The dates on which these divisions commence are ascertained from pandits, and the different kinds of seeds are sown accordingly. For instance, early sowings of rice commence in Ardra, and the latest can be made in Pukkh; juar, makai, (Indian corn), arhar can be sown at the same time; mfing, moth, urd are sown later till Magha. Reaping of the rain cr«ps commences from Uttra, or about the middle of September, and continues for two months or more. " Festivals and superstitions. — On the occasion of the Guria festival, which takes place on 5th Sawan Sudi, 23rd July, 1871, no one ploughs or weeds. On 6th Bhadon Badi, 6th August, 1871, occurs " Harchhath, a fast day in this district for women, on which no ploughing or weeding is done here. On the last day of Ashlekha and the 1st Magha it is in some places considered unlucky to plough or weed. " Lessened fertility of the land. — People say that the land is not as fertile as it used to be twenty years ago. Doubtless since annexation it has had less rest than it used to have during the native rule. " Local methods of irrigation from wells. — Everybody is familiar with the sight of the long rope passed over a pulley, to the former of which are attached a leathern bag at one end and a pair of bullocks at the other. The bags used in this district are small because the bullocks are small ; they contain about twelve gallons of water, and if worked well are capable of bringing between 600 and 700 gallons to the surface per hour. Some of this falls back into the well in the effort to hand the bag, and much of it is lost by soakage and evaporation before it reaches the crop. Hence it often takes as many as eight days to irrigate an acre in this way. " Cost of irrigation from wells. — A man and a pair of bullocks can be hired in the station of Rae Bareli for five annas per diem, which makes the cost of irrigating one acre once Rs. 2-8-0, or from Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 per season ; but this is hired labour, and the cost to cultivators, who have their own bullocks, cannot be calculated at this rate. "From marshes and ponds. — The ' beri' or ' dugla' is a basket with strings fastened to each end ; it is worked by two men standing on either side of a narrow cut open towards the water supply and dammed at the other end. By a succession of easy and graceful movements one side of the basket is swept-just below the surface of the water in the cut ; it is lifted brimful over the level of the dam, there upset by a dexterous action of the wrist, and returned to its original position in very much less time than it takes to describe the process. Two baskets are frequently worked at one cut, the men being relieved regularly at intervals of from ten to twenty • minutes. The labour is really hard, and generally persevered in from early dawn to sunset, with the intermission of about one hour at noon. The water has often to be taken far and lifted high. In November, 1868, fifty-one men were employed irrigating some fields near Katghar in the Dalmau pargana in the above manner ; supposing that there were with reliefs eight men at each lift, and giving a raise of three feet and a half for each, the water must have been raised about twenty feet. 24 186 RAE " Cost of irrigation from ponds and marshes. — This gang managed to irrigate 2^ acres per diem, and calculating their wages at one anna and a half per man per diem, the cost of irrigation was about Rs. 2-0-0 per acre. About seven gallons of water are raised about three feet and a half at each delivery of a common sized basket, and the process can be repeated by men working easily at least six hundred times, which gives over four thousand gallons in the hour. " Artificial reservoirs. — Rights in wells are clear, and are seldom, if ever, called in question. With regard to artificial reservoirs, two classes may be said to exist — (1) those in the case of which the excavator or his heir is living and in possession, and (2) those in which all rights have lapsed. In the former case, after taking as much water as his purpose requires, the owner usually allows the privilege of irrigation to such cultivators of the village or neighbouring villages as he pleases. In the latter case, however, it is usual for the lord of the manor to first irrigate his sir lands, afterwards those cultivators, whose lands are situated within reach of the water, appoint a committee to estimate the contents of the reservoir, and the amount of land which it is proposed to irrigate. The amount of water to which each man is entitled is then apportioned in ' dauris. ' The dauri contains about five gallons, and the ' dugla ' rather more than twice as much. " Depth of water. — The maximum depth of water in this district is 78 feet, and to be found in village Bigahpur Kalan, pargana Magrayar, the minimum is eight feet in village Para Khurd, pargana Hardoi. During the heavy rains of 1868, the river Sai rose to within twelve feet of the general ground level of the station, whilst the water in wells not far from the banks, remained at their normal level of about twenty feet from the surface. On the 21st September, 1871, the river rose to within twelve feet of the ground level of a compound three hundred yards distant, in which is a well, the water in which on the same date was twenty-five feet below the same level. " Pakka wells. — The assessment returns show 11,560 kachcha to 10,501 pakka wells ; pakka wells are properly those of which the chambers are made of kiln-burnt bricks and mortar ; but wells of which the chambers are made of kiln-burnt bricks, joined with clay, are also so called. The cost of construction of pakka wells varies from Rs. 50 to Rs. 200. " Kachcha wells. — Kachcha wells are properly those which have no interior supporting walls or chambers below the water level, but wells are also called kachcha in which there are such chambers made of potters bricks, wood, or twig fascines. The cost of making a kachcha well varies from two or three to thirty rupees and over. Potter's bricks differ from common bricks, only in being of such a shape that a certain number put together will form a circle ; some are made in wooden frames, but the larger ones are made by drawing concentric circles on prepared earth when it becomes consistent, and then cutting the bricks of an uniform size and burning them in a kiln. It is said that these bricks are generally made by ' kumhdrs' or potters, hence their name. RAE 187 " Distribution of water by the ' bachh* system extensively prevails in this district, and, being regulated by a sort of standing panchayat, tends to reconcile malcontents who would otherwise come into court. The pat wari is ordinarily ex-officio member of the panchayat, the remaining three or four members being either zamindars, muqaddams, or other respectable residents. It has come to my knowledge that a practice has begun to prevail in some parts of levying irrigation dues, or in other words of selling water. Pahikast (non-resident) cultivators requiring the commodity are made to pay 8 annas per diem for each ' rik,' or raising station, which they work. " Wells lately made in this district. — One hundred and four pakka wells, at a total cost of Rs. 19,760, were constructed in this district during the year ending 30th September, 1870. The details are as follows : — By Chhattris „ Brahmans ... ... „ Bliats ,, Musalmans ... ... „ Kurmis „ baqqal „ Lodhs ... ... „ Kayaths ... ... „ Ahirs „ Pasis „ Muraos ... ... „ Barhis „ Telis „ European (Captain Bunbury) Total ... ... 104 i 9,760 This return has been obtained from the district records which do not show how many of these men are proprietors." The following memorandum on irrigation in Rae Bareli has been con tributed by Mr. P. Gartlan, a resident of the district : — " As regards wells in my part of Oudh, that is, in the tahsil of Salon in the Rae Bareli district, circumstances change from village to village. In some places water is met at 40 feet, at others at 24 and 30 feet, and at others at 12 and 15 feet below the surface. The spring is found now at 65 or 70 feet, now at 45 feet, and now at 30 feet below the surface. Wells are often sunk below 65 feet from surface, without a spring being met with. I have myself constructed wells under the foregoing circumstances, and have seen many such constructed by neighbouring zamindars (few) and asamis. Success in sinking a well does not depend so much on the depth to which the wooden foundation has to be sunk as on the quality of soil through which it has to go. Where pure sand is met above the water level it is walled up from the firm clay, and the actual well is sunk inside of this circular wall ; but where the sand is met below the water level, it is next to impossible to succeed in constructing a well fit for irri gation, except by improved scientific means which do not always succeed, and which owing to expense are beyond the reach of zamindars or asamis. I have tried Bull's patent dredger with sand, through which I managed to Wells. Cost. 27 5,805 21 4,400 2 300 10 2,140 3 575 3 960 3 300 4 1,000 19 2,980 2 250 6 950 1 !0O 1 150 1 250 188 RAE sink a pakka chuna cylinder about 16 feet below water level, without reaching clay, and owing to the sand bursting through the sides of the cylinder, I failed in procuring a successful sinking. The asami with his limited means is helpless where sand is to be found under water level. " I cannot say how long pakka wells will last, but I would say, that if pro perly built, and of good bricks, no well should give way before 60 or 70 years. In speaking of pakka wells, I mean wells built of pakka (burnt) bricks with mud mortar, not lime; for wells built with lime mortar are too expen sive for the cultivator. Wells built with small bricks are stronger, and last better than wells built with block bricks or with phaura-shaped bricks. " Block bricks are not now used, but the phaura-shaped bricks are gene ral ; a well can be constructed . much cheaper with the latter than with small brick. Rs. 300 would on an average be a fair price for a well, of ordinary size on which eight purs could be worked ; but such wells, under ordinary circumstances, can be built by asamis for sums varying from Rs. 80 to Rs. 150 each according to depth of well and quality of soil. Zamin dars and asamis for their brick-kiln get their timber free, their manure free, their kanda free; for the well itself, the bamboos are seldom paid for, the necessary timber is free, no new purs or well ropes are made for the sinking operations, and the labourers are paid cheaply and have much work got out of them. Where land is of first quality, a well, such as des cribed by Mr. Chapman for irrigating 30 bighas, would enable the landlord to enhance the rent by one rupee per bigha without oppressing the tenant, and, where the land was formerly not irrigated, should enable him to put on a greater enhancement, especially where brackish water is obtainable, when the rent can be doubled and trebled. " Wells do very often give way after a few years, but it is generally owing to faulty construction, such as insufficient filling in behind the wall, or leaving the wooden foundation on unsafe clay, or digging a kachcha well inside, which after a time falls in, and brings the pakka superstructure down with it. Trees such as fig, gfilar, pakar, bargad, or pipal growing in the interstices of the bricks do much damage to pakka wells. No repairs ought to be necessary to a well within ten years of its construction, and if an unfailing spring has been reached, there will be no necessity of even clearing out the well. A well on which the full complement of purs is worked is less liable to deteriorate than a well which is seldom used. Generally speaking the natives execute no repairs to their pakka wells, but allow them to crumble to ruins when a slight expenditure on repairs would save them. " Except in known localities there is no certainty of reaching an unfail ing spring, and of late years, owing to excessive rains, the water level has risen, and the filtration of the subsoil has become so abundant, that it has been very difficult to sink the cylinder far enough to reach the genuine spring. The ordinary filtration of the subsoil would not suffice to irrigate 30 bighas of spring crops, though it may suffice to keep a couple of purs at work all day. The fact of the water getting low in a well could not put a stop to irrigation, so long as there is sufficient water in the well for the pur to sink in. Many wells, pakka and kachcha, are exhausted before noon RAE 189 with only one pur working. No asamis would rely on such a well for irri gation though he might reserve alongside such a well a biswa or two for carrots and perhaps ten biswas or so for wheat, barley, or peas. The con ditions of soil are seldom so favourable as to allow kachcha wells being dug with any certainty of permanence, but where practicable they are dug and sometimes last for many years; generally speaking only one pur is worked on a kachcha well owing to its limited diameter. The fact of a kachcha well being in a given locality not feasible is no reason why the con struction of a pakka well in the same locality should be expensive. " Under no circumstances could one pair of bullocks or six men work ing a pur irrigate a pakka bigha per day. Under favourable circumstances, with water at 12 to 15 feet below the surface, and land not sandy, three to four purs would water a bigha in a day ; where water is far from the surface, and land sandy, six to eight purs would water a bigha per day ; a second watering can be done in less time. " With a dhenkli or a ghara a pakka bigha can be watered in from six to nine days. In this part of the country bullock labour only is used to work purs for irrigation. The cost of irrigation from wells, including labourers, bullocks and gear, varies from Re. 1 to Rs. 2-4-0 per bigha. The ordinary cultivator having gear, &c, at his disposal merely pays in grain his hired labourers. " Generally several asamis work their purs in common, each man's holding being watered by turn, thus effecting a saving ; the pur, not the land irri gated, forms the basis of their calculations. " Wages. — Wages are not paid in cash but in grain, which varies in quantity according to kind of grain ; dhan, barley, peas, chana, or mindwa; the latter would not be accepted alone ; the quantity also varies according to the work to be executed. The weeder and ploughman generally get from If to 2 sers, while the labourer at the lift in jhil irrigation gets as much as 3 sers per day, if at work before dawn. When cash wages are given, I believe four pice and five pice per day are given for ordinary work. For other than ordinary work slightly higher wages are given. Men digging inside a well sometimes get two annas per day. I pay women and boys as weeders, earth carriers, irrigation coolies, or threshing-floor coolies at the rate of one anna per day ; able-bodied coolies from one anna eight pies to two annas each per day. At these rates labourers are procurable in any numbers all the year round. Carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, &c, get from three to four annas each per day. " With reference to the interest which capital expended on wells will pay, I refrain from giving any opinion, for the land under my charge is peculiarly unfavourable for experiments in this line. Our land is either the uneven nalas bordering the Ganges and the Sai, or usar lands in which dhan is sown, with but patches here and there of good soil fit for winter crops. However, the many wells which we have constructed have not only enabled us to keep up the rents of lands once rich but now exhaust ed, but have also allowed our enhancing the former rent where the land was of first quality. There is an indirect as well as direct profit from con- 190 RAE struction of wells ; in a village with wells watering say one-third of the cultivated area, you are always able to let out the other two-thirds at fair rents to the cultivators of the former. " My part of the district is, as you are probably aware, densely populated, and there is a steady competition for land in most villages. A pakka well, in which the water supply is insufficient to keep at work the full complement of purs, would scarcely pay any interest on the capital expended. In speaking of pakka wells, I consider an ordinary well ought to be about 1\ or 8 feet in diameter, and on such a well eight purs could be worked. In 1869 I built a pakka well 13£ feet in diameter, and on this well, in the November of same year, I worked 18 purs daily for three days consecutively without being able to exhaust the water supply, the depth of water each evening varying from 9 to 10 feet. This well is sixty-six feet deep, the water levels being 36 feet from surface. Except on speci fied cases, it would be difficult to give you any precise details about wells, for circumstances so change the aspects of the subject, that what is com mon in one locality is impossible in another. Again, the water found in some wells possesses peculiar properties. Brackish water, suitable for tobacco, poppy, sanwan, &c, is invaluable, and enables the cultivator to pay excessively high rents for the land irrigated therewith." Additional note by Mr. Gartlan. — " As I mentioned in my former letter on the subject, purs are not worked in my neighbourhood with coolies at the pull, when water is drawn for irrigation purposes. Men are only used to work the pur or baskets when a well cylinder is being sunk. The pakka bigha to which I refer equals 3,025 square yards, and the purs worked in my part of the country contain from 10 to 12 gallons of water. The pur which I use, and which is extensively used, contains when new about 3,400 cubic inches of water. " I think, however, that a pur worked by men will water one and a half times as much land as a pur worked by bullocks will do in the same time. You calculate that a pur worked by six men will cost nine annas, your calculation strikes me as moderate. The cost per pur worked by bullocks is something varying from five to six annas per day. As an asami has not to pay ready cash in his irrigation operations, he does not realize to himself what the irrigation per bigha has cost him. " Were canal water to have no evil effects on the soil, we should cer tainly be glad to get the water as often as required during the season at the small cost of Rs. 2 per acre per annum. A permanent water rate would be disliked, the cultivator preferring of course to pay only for the water he might take ; for in many seasons one watering is all that the crop requires. " In my former letter, when I stated that irrigation cost from Re. 1 to Rs. 2-4-0 per bigha, I meant that each irrigation cost about those amounts, and that consequently three irrigations for wheat would cost Rs. 3 per bfgha at the least. I consider this latter estimate moderate. At the present day, one well rope and one pur cost Rs. 3, and they only last one year ; no other cash expenditure is incurred in well irrigation by the asami who employs no hired labour, and has not to dig his own well, Irrigation RAE 191 from jhils costs about the same thing as well irrigation ; here again, the quality of soil, the number of lifts, and the distance of the fields cause the cost per bigha to vary. Crops watered with well water thrive better than crops watered with jhil water." The following note describes the cost of irrigation in northern Rae Barelr*as the preceding account is of the southern part of the district : — " Near Rae Bareli itself water is 21 feet from the surface when nearest and 27 feet in some places, but the springs are met with at 45 to 60 feet. A well for three or four purs cost 400 if of a strong and permanent cha racter. Here a system of half reliefs is adopted for the bullocks, two pairs are employed, and a third pair as a relief every second hour, each pair thus works six hours, and two pairs are constantly at work during a nine-hour day. The three pairs water ten biswas a day if the field is at an average distance, but more if it is close at hand. The leather bags are of different sizes — from seven to twelve spans round the mouth is the popular mode of estimation. " The diameter of the water skin ranges from 5 \ to 7J balisht. The village people reckon one balisht as equal to a ghara of water of the ordinary size, and the ghara they consider capable of holding six sers of water. A skin of the average size (6| balishts) will be found to hold about 40 sers or a maund of water."* In the portion of Rae Bareli which lies between the Sai and the Gumti the facilities and modes of irrigation resemble those already described under Lucknow, except that the features of irrigation common to eastern Oudh, show themselves markedly, viz., masonry wells are very numerous, and the labour is generally that of cattle. Through the centre of the tract water is near the surface, being met with sometimes at 15 feet ; the spring, however, is not reached till a depth of 30 feet has been attained. A cylinder of bricks without mor tar for such a depth will cost Rs. 60 if broad enough for only one bucket, if for two Rs. 90 ; the addition of mortar will make the cost about Rs. 90 and Rs. 130 respectively. From these wells the crops will be irrigated at the rate of ten biswas a day with the aid of two pairs of bullocks, changed at noon, and three men who work all day — one driving the cattle, one empty ing the bucket, one distributing the water in the field. Allowing one anna for each bullock, and two annas for each man, the cost will be ten annas per day, Re. 1-4-0 for a bfgha, and Rs. 2 for an acre, for one watering. Interest on Rs. 60, the cost of a single bucket well, at Re. 1-8-0 per cent, per month, the ordinary rate will be Rs. 10 per annum. The area which such a well will supply with water during the year is 10 acres, the cost then of irrigating an acre twice will be Rs. 4 for labour and Re. 1 for interest. But this must be taken as below the average cost of well irrigation ; water is more often about nineteen feet distant, and the quantity of land irrigated in a day is only seven biswas. Then the cost will be Rs. 2-13-0 for one watering, Rs. 5-11-0 for two, besides Re. 1 per acre for interest. These figures certainly are • Kinlock's Statistics of Fatehpur, page 18. 192 RAE rather striking at first sight ; not only does the cost of irrigation appear extravagant, double and treble what canal water costs, but it seems impos sible that it would pay to irrigate wheat or barley three times as is com monly the case in this district. It is impossible to value either the human or cattle labour at a lower rate than is here estimated. Mr. -Halsey, of Cawnpore, values bullock labour in a similar calculation at three annas a head, and one anna per day is rather less than the sum which will feed a bullock, pay the interest on its value, and the required quota to a sinking fund to replace it when dead or decrepid. Two annas is the rate actually paid to men who work at the wells all day; those who only labour half the day get 1£. The labour rates then seem unimpeachable ; it seems impossible that it can pay to give three waterings. Wheat watered once will give 900 lbs to the acre, watered three times it will not exceed 1,250 lbs. — a difference of 350 lbs., worth on the average Rs. 8 for an increased expenditure of Rs. 6-11-0. This would pay, but in many fields the crop is never more than l,0001bs., even after three waterings ; its value then will be about Rs. 25 for grain and Rs. 5 for straw. Rent will be Rs. 8, ploughing Rs. 8, seed Rs. 2, weeding Rs. 2, manure Rs. 3, reaping and thrashing Rs. 2 — in all Rs. 25. It is apparent then that watering even twice will not pay. The people of Rae Bareli are industrious, and apparently would rather work in their own fields even when they might obtain more by hiring themselves out. Further, when as is generally the case the cattle are their own, it is -better to employ them even if the result will only pay half their keep than that they should be idle. The people, however, quite understand that watering is very expensive, and they abstain in this tract from the cultivation of sugarcane, tobacco, and other crops requiring much water. If canal water were introduced, the cattle thus partially deprived of employ would be profitably used in pressing sugarcane, carting fuel and manure, ploughing more land. At present hardly any sugarcane and little tobacco are grown in the district, the main reason being appa rently the scarcity of water. No permanent embankments of the rivers have been made, and the tanks made by the Bhars are not so numerous as in Partabgarh. The estates of the different land owners are a good deal intermixed, and the more intelligent of them give this as a reason for their inactivity. The Sai and Naiya rivers have high steep banks, and in many places might be embanked with great advantage to the surrounding crops. The Oudh Government in 1858 issued a circular containing advice and instructions on the subject. Some very interesting statistics on the subject of wells are given by Major Orr of Rae Bareli. Since annexation he had constructed 20 wells for irrigation purposes up till September, 1873 ; their average width was 8| feet, the average depth to which they were sunk 44 feet, of which 19 J feet were filled with water; the average cost was Rs. 277, and six leather buckets could be used at once from each well. Of these wells seven were not sunk to the spring, and would not probably irrigate more than six acres of ground each, the other 13 would irrigate 15 acres each — in all 237 acres, or say 200 acres The rent RAE 193 of this land might in the course of some years be raised from Rs. 5 to Rs. 8 per acre in consideration of the supply of water, the receipts then would be Rs. 600 per annum or 11 per cent. ; but making allowance for the proportion of failures of wells which fell in, and for the accumula tion of interest before the rents are raised, the landlord would consider himself fortunate if he got 7 per cent. These wells are made without mortar, and at least 2 per cent, would have to be deducted from this sum for repairs and replacing fallen wells by new ones. On the other hand, this deduction should be more than counterbalanced by. the increased security from bad debts which the landlord attains. A masonry well saves the crop from drought, and the rents are paid up even in dry seasons. On the whole, a prudent and careful investor in irrigation wells should expect 7 per cent, for his money, and as he can get 10 or 15 per cent, by loans to agriculturists, we need not wonder at mere capitalists not being tempted into this speculation. Other points of interest may be noted. In no less than six of these wells water was reached at an average depth of 14 feet. The greatest depth at which water was met was 42 feet, the greatest depth to which the well was sunk before reaching the spring was 67 feet. The average cost of a six pur well would appear to be Rs. 9 per cubit of masonry, being cheaper than in Lucknow. Construction of masonry wells. — " A site having been chosen, a circular excavation or ' dahal' is commenced of a diameter considerably larger (for convenience of working) than that of the intended well. This excavation is carried on until the moist nature of the earth reached, shows signs of water being near. The ' niwar or circular rim of wood of the proper size is then lowered down and placed on the ground, and on this as a foundation is commenced the brick-work or ' girgaz' of the well which in the first instance is only raised to'a certain height, so as to weight the niwar and cause it to descend as afterwards explained. The excavation is then proceeded with, but now within the cylinder or girgaz just constructed, and the niwar, with the brickwork resting on it having no longer a support, sinks to the extent of the depth excavated; at the same time the water, which generally at this stage of the work oozes out plentifully, has to be constantly .drawn away. The excavation continues and again the niwar sinks, and thus the operation is repeated until at last the spring or mfisla is reached, when it only remains to complete the brickwork resting on the niwar, raising it to the level of the upper soil. " From the above description, it will, I hope, be easily seen how much the cost of construction of wells depends on the nature of the soil to be traversed before reaching the spring. We will suppose that two wells of equal dimensions have been built, either in the same village or in different localities. We will also suppose that the spring in each was found at an equal depth, and that the bricks employed in the construction of these two wells were of the same dimensions and cemented with mud. Still under conditions so similar the cost of construction may widely differ. In the one instance the soil excavated may have been of clay nearly throughout, and the brick cylinder may have been made to sink without any difficulty ; in the other instance, the soil may have been excavated under very great difficulties for sand, or sand partaking more or less of the nature of quick- 25 194 RAE Leveb qfSoiL sand may have been encountered, thus rendering the sinking of the brick work a difficult and, in many cases, a dangerous operation, necessitating great precautions and of course additional expense. In one of my villages, ' Jahowa Sherki,' in a well under construction, the girgaz had been lowered to a considerable depth, when suddenly it sank into quicksand, and was thrown so much out of the perpendicular that it was damaged beyond remedy, and the work could not be continued. Again, in another village, ' Umri,' a large well was being constructed, the girgaz had nearly reached the spring when its further progress was arrested by the niwar resting on one side on a projection of kankar rock. Fortunately in this case the brick cylinder remained in a vertical position, but it was with the utmost difficulty that this obstacle was removed, and the work brought to a successful termination, but of course under great additional cost. " In some cases it happens when sand prevails to a great extent, that before the spring is reached, and consequently before the brick cylinder has been completed to the surface of the upper soil, that the earth above the cylinder shows large cracks, indicating a tendency to fall inwards; to avert this danger, all attempts to sink the girgaz down to the spring are abandoned, and the brick work to the upper level of the ground is completed with all despatch. This done, a second 'niwar' is laid down, smaller of course than the one first em ployed, and on it another girgaz is erected and sunk, as before explained, to the spring ; such a well is styled a ' do-band' or double-walled one. Here the cost is nearly double to what it would have been had there been only a single cylinder, whilst at the same time the capacity of the well for yielding water in a given time is lessened from the fact of its diameter being decreased through a great por tion of its depth, for of course fewer purs can be employed. " Besides the above there are other though minor circumstances which affect the cost of wells. For instance, the mud suitable for making bricks may be at a greater or less distance from the site of the well, necessitating a greater or less amount of cost in the transit of the bricks; the same may be said of the wood for feeding the brick-kiln ; it may be obtainable at a Spring RAE 195 distance from the latter or in its immediate vicinity. Finally the costs will differ according to the bricks employed ; cceteris paribus, a well con structed with the common thin brick, will cost more than one built with the thick or ' furohi ' brick. One point, it seems to me, it is most import ant to consider in the valuation of wells, and that is whether they have been stjnk down to the spring or ' mfisla ' or not. For it is evident, that whatever may have been the respective costs of (say) two wells of equal dimensions, the one fed by a spring will be more valuable than the other, which only holds water by filtration; for the latter will be quickly exhausted when worked for purposes of irrigation, so that the actual cost of con struction of a well does not always represent its real agricultural value." Taqdvi advances and land improvements. — Taqavi advances are made by Government at a low rate of interest, 6 per cent., to defray the cost of agricultural improvements. During the seven years (1868-74,) 127 wells and 16 embankments were constructed at a cost of Rs. 29,250, an average expenditure of Rs. 4,170 per annum, and an increase to the irrigating facilities of the district of 18 wells. In addition to these, however, 65 wells at a cost of Rs. 11,825 were made during the years 1873-74 at the private expense of the owners. We may say, then, that 50 wells per annum are made, watering perhaps 600 acres, and at a cost of Rs. 10,000. The rent-roll of the district amounts to about Rs. 27,00,000 ; it does not seem sufficient that the people only invest tjJjj- of the incomes drawn from the land upon its permanent improvement. Prices and famine prices. — The general subject of prices need hardly be touched upon. They have risen, but there are no exact statistics exhibi ting to what extent. The return of prices called for by the Secretary of State from 1861 to 1870 is subjoined. It is however very incorrect. Paddy is entered at 31| sers in Sultanpur for the ten years, it cannot therefore have averaged 21^ sers per rupee in Rae Bareli, the adjoin ing district. Wheat is entered at 17-j- sers per rupee, and in Sultanpur at 21-rV; the latter seems correct. On further testing the return by individual years, there seems still more reason to doubt its accuracy. In 1869, the year of scarcity, the average price of wheat is entered at 10J sers per rupee; but on taking the monthly returns from the official Gazette, the average from July to November, the season of highest prices, comes to 11£ sers per rupee, and the year's average would be nearly 13 sers. Another and more trustworthy table prepared for the settlement department gives the price of wheat for the seven years (1856-1862) as averaging 26 sers per rupee, gram 29|, rice 23J. According to this return arhar, peas, and barley — being 25, 26, and 22 sers per rupee respectively — are the cheapest grains ; the maizes are not as abundant or so cheap as in northern Oudh. Annual averages are however very deceptive. In 1873 for instance, the average price of arhar was 20£ sers for the rupee, but during the last four months of the year it was about 15 sers, and there was considerable scarcity. This return does not include the cheapest grains — kodo, mindwa, and sanwan, — the latter of which at any rate is very extensively grown in the district. The earliest fields of sanwan ripen about the 5th April, and from 196 RAE that date the price unhusked averages about 43 sers. Kodo and mindwa average similar prices, and the poorer classes can generally get them from the middle of October to the middle of January ; after that date they are not to be had in quantity, and the official quotations are merely nominal. There is in fact a succession of harvests during the greater part of the year, and during the two months after being reaped each staple in its turn is very cheap — kodo and mindwa are reaped about Octoberlst, Indian com from September 15th to October 15th, the deorha rice about October 1st, bajra about November 1st, jarhan rice, and atthe same time juar, about November 10th ; these are cheap till the end of the year. In January and February' there is no new grain in the market, and supplies are not eked out as in other districts by large crops of sugarcane which is then being cut. Peas come in by the 25th February being much earlier than in northern Oudh, barley by the 10th March, wheat by the 15th, arhar by the 25th, sanwPn about the 5th April to 1st May. Prices are thus kept low till July, and it is only in July, August, and September, that there is any considerable pressure upon the people. Statement showing the details of produce and prices in Rae Bareli district for the following years. Description of produce. bo ¦-D U <° 51 cD t- CO t. CO t. t* t- f-t GO 03 00

co cj 00 o 30 4> oo — > — > — > ** l» — < > « > — > —• > — t> >¦ — a (3 CS 03 a 4 26J 234 23| 15 114 in "J 10} 13} 17} Barley 24} 30 311 22 204 204 234 14 14 18 21g Bajra 2'i 234 24* 17 17 214 154 13} 15 19| 18f Juar 23f 28jj- 294 19 56} 19f 2?4 21} 134 -20 214 Gram 2I± 26f 285 20f 144 13J 23} 14 12 154 18f Arhar, Cylisus cajan 21f 334 32} 27| 26} 214 244 22 19 23 25TV Urd or mash, Phase 20^ 20§ 194 12} 11} Hi 17 11} Ilf l*i 15A - olus max. Mot hi, I'haseolus aco- 204 24| 234 18 16 17 22 18 15* 16| IH nitifolius. Mung, Phaseolus 16} 20 13 J 10J 15 20 124 91 94 24 15=V mungo. Mapfir, Ervum lens, 16 J 20J 14 '44 111 »i 20} 144 121 14} 15 Ahsa or Matra, Pi- 25} 284 294 254 264 274 27 22j| 20| 24 25^ sum sativum. Ghuijan, Arum colo- 40 39 38 1 46 414 404 39 414 41 424 40^ casia. Sarson, Sinapis di- 19 174 20 174 16} 15| 18 14 11 81 ISA chotoma roxbl. Ldhi, sinapis nigra, 25 20} 234 233 22 224 22 19 16 US 21^ taw sugar 34 34 34 3j 34 34 34 34 34 31 81 RAE 197 Famines.- — This subject is treated at length under other district head ings, particularly that of Kheri, Bahraich, Lucknow. There is nothing noteworthy about Rae Bareli in this respect. Its communications are not so good as those of some other districts, having no railway and only 56 miles of water communication along its outer border. On the other hand, its masonry wells afford it a greater insurance against famine, its drainage is superior to that of other districts, it suffers comparatively less from floods, and its area of artificial irrigation being it is alleged so much as three- fourths of the whole, absolute famine ought to be almost unknown. Great scarcity from a deficiency of rainfall in October for the rice, and in January for the spring crops, is common enough. On the average in five years out of ten the rains in October and January are so scanty as to be of no practical value. The average rainfall is as we have seen 38 inches, about the same as Lucknow; therains were specially deficient in 1864, 1868, and 1873. In these years the rainfall was respectively 22, 19, and 41 inches, but the distribution was bad, the September October rains were deficient, and the consequence was that in 1865, 1869, and 1874 there was very con siderable scarcity, approaching to famine, in 1-869. No special measures were called for, and the people were employed on the district roads. A brief abstract of the Rae Bareli famine and scarcities viewed historically is given compiled from official records : — All agree that there was a very severe drought and famine in 1784-85 A.D. In Partabgarh coarse grain sold at seven sers for the rupee ; it lasted for nine months. Dr. Young says that this famine is often alluded to as the "akal chalfsa" in allusion to its recurring every forty years. None of the reports show that any scarcity occurred in 1824, and so it can only be considered an odd coincidence that the saying is countenanced by the scar city of 1864-65, when wheat flour sold in Partabgarh for eight, seven, and six sers for the rupee. There seem to have been seasons of scarcity in other years, as for instance in 1770 A.D. and in 1810 A.D., but no actual famine occurred comparable with that of 1784. In 1797 and 1816 frost greatly injured the crops. The rains were average in 1837, when famine attacked the North-Western Provinces. The Rae Bareli report states that there was a severe drought and famine in 1769-1770. The Sultanpur authorities mentioned the following prices as ruling in 1784, differing from those quoted above in Partabgarh. Sers. Wheat Gram Bice 1310 13 The following have been the prices current in sers for rupee : Year. 1856. 1857. 18 = 8. 1859. 1860. 1861. 1862. Average. Wheat ... Gram Bice 28 3626 243022 26 21 22} 2530423 28 301 26 261 3024 26 29 21 26 291 23T 198 RAE It appears from the above that the famine of 1861 did not affect Rae Bareli. Food. — The food of the people is the same as that consumed throughout the rest of Oudh. Moth, or peas pottage, and barley bread, or cakes made of barley and gram mixed, form the ordinary bill of fare. There are gene rally two meals in the day, at noon and at sunset ; but if the people are very poor, they content themselves with one meal at sunset and a little of what is left served up cold the next morning and called basi. Sanwan and kodo are largely consumed in the rainy season. Rice and the maizes are less used than in northern and western Oudh. Three quarters of a ser is reckoned a meagre allowance, and arhai pao or ten chhataks a famine allowance of the grains above alluded to. This subject is dwelt upon at length in the Sitapur and Kheri articles. The following are the average prices of food grains in Fatehpur, the adjoining district from 1830 to 1 850, a period of 21 years : — Wheat ... ... ... 23 sers per rupee. Gram ... ... ... 32 „ „ Barley - ... ••• ». 30 „ „ Peas ... ... ... 33 ,, „ In 1837, the year of famine, the average price of barley was 24 sers.* Fisheries. — " The Collector of Rae Bareli considers the destruction of all sorts of fish as considerable, the principal seasons for fishing being in the hot weather and during the rains. In the former the big fish are mostly trapped ; during the latter the smaller fish are more extensively caught than at other seasons of the year. The smallest size of the mesh of nets employed is from a quarter to one-third of an inch. The difficulties in regulating the size of the mesh of nets consists in the natural dislike and prejudice of the rustic population against any innovation whatever in the implements for carrying on their craft, so he deprecates such and gives no opinion as to what size he considers advisable. The fry of fishy he observes, are not sold separately from the fish in this district, and therefore the prohibition of the sale of the fry would be superfluous. Large fish are sold at from three-fourths to one anna, small ones at one quarter to half an anna per ser." — Para. 285, Francis Day's Fresh Water Fish and Fisheries of India and Burma. The following is from the settlement report : — " Manufacture. — Some years ago the idea that salt manufacture in Oudh could compete with the imported article prevailed sufficiently to induce the Imperial Government to sanction the experiment of opening legalized local works. The following statistics show how erroneous was the idea, how complete has been the failure. The manufacture of salt was commenced in this district in pargana Panhanf in March, 1870, and * " Kinock's Statistics of District Fatehpur." t Now in Unao. RAE 199 continued to the end of the rainy season. The total quantity manufac tured was maunds 24,983, of which were sold 23,666, destroyed by inunda tion 1,317. The sale of this salt took no less than sixteen months i.e., from April, 1870, to July, 1871, and it sold for very much less than its cost, — in fact, a large quantity could only be cleared by letting it go on payment of the Government dues only, which here are Rs. 3-2-0 per maund, viz. : — Duty ... ... ... ... Rs. Cesses for cost of estate ... ... ,, Landlord's royalty ... ... ... „ 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 2 0 3 2 0 Total Government dues per maund " Its cost. — Salt cannot be manufactured in this district at less than 12 annas per maund. In some part of the Delhi division superior salt can be produced for from two to three annas per maund ; the cost of carriage and other incidental charges to Cawnpore being nine annas per maund. In the Rae Bareli bazars the following are at present the prevailing retail prices of salt per maund ; — Rs. a. p. Kla (black) ... ... ... ... 13 5 4 Sambhar ... ... ... ... 8 14 3 Lahauri — ... ... ... ... 8 0 0 Eatila ... ... ... ... ... 6 2 6 Nuh (salambha) ... ... ... ... 5 0 0 Guniri from 5 to ... ... ... ... 5 11 5 "The fact that the local product did not fetch on the spot what its manufacture cost, over and above Rs. 3-2-0, and in some cases only Rs. 3-2-0 per maund, with such prices for the imported article prevail ing in the bazars, shows how mistaken was the idea that occasioned this profitless endeavour ; but it is to be hoped that this failure will put an end to lamentations about the destruction of a flourishing manufacture and the serious loss entailed thereby on landed proprietors. " Trade. — Of trade there is not much, of manufactures there are none, with the exception of the making of brass and copper utensils at Bhag wan tnagar.* Weaving for local consumption is also carried on. A statement is given of the amount of the sales at the different bazars and fairs in the district and further on a return of the amounts of salt and saltpetre said to have been manufactured during the native rule. Both these returns however, must be received with caution, as they have been compiled from the statements of chaudhris andpatwaris, and not from any systematically prepared returns." ' Coarse globular glass bottles used for holdir>g Ganges water are made near Dalmau. 200 RAE Statement showing the number and quantity of articles sold in the Rae Bareli district for one year. Daily Bazar. f») Bi-weekly Bazars. (82) PAIRS. (17) Total. Articles. t4 £ g © GJ u a 3 o- fc Sareni ... 169 114 61 64,021 1,208 32,027 33,202 65,229 572 *1J Khiron Total Rae Bareli 123 684363 102 "469 371 56 238 201 56,366 1,918 29,091 29,193 58,284 571 259,144199,564 9,457 133,253 135,848 268,601 572 «"1 * IS n ! 12,969 106,117 106,416 212,633 574 s 1 P3 J Total Inhauna ... 363 77 371 100 201 44 ' 199,564 12,969 106,117 106,416 212,533 TJ9 •» r K 1 48,841 8,678 28,282 29,237 67,519 575 "! ' Bachhrawan ... 58 94 49 48,090 2,777 25,507 25,360 50,867 541 9 ' < > 5 > Kumhrawan 58 70 32 38,474 859 19,993 19,340 39,333 562 Hardoi 23 24 11 14,968 743 7,808 7,898 16,706 654 <5 I Simrauta 73 97 44 56,841 1,930 29,511 29,260 68,771 606 Mohanganj ... Total 7b 364 80 465 39 219 42,950 4,331 23,475 23,806 47,281 591 250,159 19,318 134,576 134,901 269,477 579 RAE 205 Area and Population (concluded). Pargana. O 8 N a . d cn a.s- =H g °l . O Z. 287 60 110457 1768 ••• Area in square British statute miles. Population, 3 oj ¦a o 0> £53 £ 3 "coA a H .—4 O H 226 64 154 434 1739 i "is > s 0> O no 2871 209 867 *M • •• t a a • 00 II la DO ¦BCDa O H 00 03 ( Salon ... Parshadepur ... Rokha J&is Total Grand Total ... Europeans Eurasians Prisoners and employees in jail 109,630 30,851 70,582 10,915 2,186 13,861 26,962 60 220 16,625 42,239 60,325 16,412 42,204 ~Ti 8,941 120,546 33,037 84,443 533 612 548 211,063 119,084 238,025 548 919,930 68,706 493,030 495,606 988,636 548 taa 2420 246 23 1644 47 35 290 ... ... 493,320 495,688 989,008 Note. — This is taken from the census report and differs but slightly from later calcu lations which make the total population 988,719, and the total area 1,747 square miles. The Hindu religion has no special developments in Rae Bareli. The prinicipal shrines of the old district were in the Bihar tahsil transferred to Unao, at Baksar, Patan, Bihar. A table is given showing the principal festivals and fairs — all of which "have a religious origin. The number attending them are very much understated, as far more than ten per cent, of the population appear at these festivals which occur somewhere within a day's journey of every one sometime during the year. Detail of Fairs. Number of I Name of place. persons by whom at tended. Amount sold. Name of month in which held. Remarks. Sudamanpur (Kakoran) 40,000 7,117 0 0 July 7 Bareli (Muharram) 10,000 550 O 0 Muharram ... 6 Ditto (Dasahra) 10,000 240 0 O October ... 4 Dalmau (Darg&h Makhdiim) 300 36 4 0 May 3 Ditto (Dasahra Jeth) 5,000 240 0 0 Ditto 4 Ditto (Ditto Kuar) 5,000 .80 0 0 October ... 6 Ditto (Muharram) ... 6,000 226 0 0 Muharram ... 6 Ditto (Kartki) 5,000 8,296 10 0 November ... S Thulendi (Suhbat Sayad Salar) 3,000 285 0 0 May l night. Bhitargaon (AnandiDebi) ... 5,000 20 0 O Ditto 3 hours. Hardfispur Samadh Chhedi 2,000 10 0 0 March ... s „ Lai). 12 fairs, Total 91,300 23,725 2 0 206 RAE The only interesting one is that of Kakori or Kakoran at Sudam'an- pur in the Dalmau* pargana. Kakor was it is alleged the brother of Dal, the Bhar king of Dalmau, who incurred the wrath of the Sharqi sovereign of Jaunpur by demanding the daughter of a Musalman in marriage. It is worthy of inquiry whether this festival is a mere instance of hero worship, or whether Kakor represents some aboriginal divinity. According to the table this Bhar prince is the only eponymous personage whose celebration attract any crowds. A clan called Bharotia, said to be a sept of the Ahir, continues to pour oblations of milk on the tombs of the Bhar chiefs, Bai and Dal, at Bareli and Dalmau, and the women of the clan in mourning for these ancient chiefs still refuse to wear the common lac bracelets which are the usual ornaments of the sex. Urban population. — The Urban population is very small; there are only four towns, with a population of above 5,000. Rae Bareli Ikhtiyarpur s'ooa i botl1 adi°inmS each other, 12,094, Dalmau 5,654 Salon 5,190 Jais 11,689 34,627 A town called Kunsa entered in the census tables as having a population of 5,864 is merely a collection of separate villages thrown together in the Government revenue records. The urban population is therefore 3-5 per cent. Besides the above there are 58 large villages, with a population of from 2,000 to 5,000. The following is from the settlement report: — Condition of the people. — The low caste cultivators are very poorly off. They live almost entirely on the inferior grains of the kharif crop, the more valuable rabi going to pay the mahajan, for nearly the whole of this class come under advances to the village mahajan both for their food and their seed, and make over the crop to him. They enjoy only a bare subsistence, for the usual rate of interest demanded is 50 per cent, at the harvest. Last year, 1870, grain being exceptionally high at the time of rabi sowing as the year before had been one of short crop, the mahajans refused to advance seed on the usual terms, and they were arranged on the basis that the cultivator was to pay back at the harvest one and a half times as much grain as the then market price of the seed furnished would buy when the harvest was reaped. With all this these people are as improvident as their betters, and when a plentiful harvest puts something in their pockets, they spend it at once in a marriage or something of the kind. Since 1871 in the spring of which year the hail caused so much damage, the seasons have been most indifferent for the small cultivator ,who is now more or less reduced to poverty. This year's spring crops, however, have somewhat strengthened his position, and owing to the good prices realized at the harvest time have improved his condition. To the above cause must also be added a fair mahua crop and an abundant mango crop. * See article Dalnia.u RAE 207 Besides bad seasons the cultivator has for the past five years suffered much from cattle disease, which annually visits some part or other of the district. Cattle disease is just now raging in the villages on the Sai. No precautions are taken against the disease ; about a third of the cattle attacked escaped. In 1874, land which had been fallow for two or three years ha^ been again brought under cultivation. Sugarcane and garden crops are on the increase, but wheat does not seem to be ousting barley or peas ; jarhan dhan is more extensively grown of late years. Poppy and jethwa sawan are much more extensively cultivated, and the custom is spreading of transplanting the makra or mindwa crop instead of sowing it. This custom ensures a more plentiful and a much earlier crop, but it is dependent on well irrigation till the rains commence. The rate of interest in the district is nominally 24 per cent, per annum, but the poorer cultivators pay considerably more. Mortgages of groves, sir lands, and of shares in pattidari villages are very common, but sales are not so. Interest I think had a tendency to fall some years ago, but the hard times have caused it to rise again. I regret to be obliged to state that nearly every asami, who within the last six years has constructed a pakka well in my neighbourhood, has been ruined or next to ruined. "With reference to weaving, I am informed that the weaving of finer cloths, which were formerly in great demand, has almost entirely stopped, but the coarser cloths are still manufactured as generally as formerly, not only for the local markets but also for exports. This industry, however, is I think, doomed, especially now that English cloths are becoming so common and so cheap, and are being so generally used at the dye factories. Within the last four or five years the price of plough-bullocks has risen about 75 per cent., there is however no scarcity of bullocks, for the cattle bazars continue well supplied, but owing to the high prices, the mahajans ruinous interest, and the frequent recurrence of the cattle disease, cultiva tors possess very inferior draught animals, which, with hard work and insufficient fodder, are not likely to improve in their hands. Tenures. — It is impossible to do more than to indicate the features of property in this district, for the settlement and census report, which are the main sources of information, concerned themselves solely with the old district which differs entirely from the new one. Of the 1,350 square miles in the old district 422 have been taken away, and 711 square miles of new territory have been added. Still the main features of the tenures have not been much altered, the district remains taluqdari, although the Kanhpuria clan owns a much larger portion of the new than of the old territory. There are altogether about 1,198 villages covering 1,279 square miles, the property of 100 large owners, and 537 villages covering 460 square miles, the property of about 11,000 small proprietors, mostly Bais and Kanhpurias. The proprietary rights in the district of Rae Bareli are very interesting from a historical as well as economical point of view. Out of 1,735 208 RAE villages in the present district, no less than 1,719 are owned by Tilokchandi Bais, viz., those of the Bais clan who are descended from the great chief Tilok Chand, who died shortly "before B£bar ascended the throne of Delhi. As an historical and social fact it is strange to a degree. The immobility and stability of the Hindu system is remarkably proved by the fact that for hundreds of years this Bais and other Chhattri clans who number 75,000 in Rae Bareli, men of the sword, too, have contentedly submitted to be ruled by about forty chiefs whose position was in itself a usurpation upon the throne, and against whom at any time the masses would have been aided to rebel by royal officers. The position of these chiefs was so assured that they have throughout treated their brethren with contumely, refusing to eat with them : because they could not boast of an ancestor who had once exercised regal or semi-regal authority. The great proprietary clans now are the Bais in the west holding par ganas Dalmau, Rae Bareli, Sareni, Khiron, Hardoi and others, and the Kanhpuria to the east who hold Salon, Rokha Jais, Parshadepur, Mohan ganj, Simrauta. Further, the proprietors are mostly taluqdars; 1,198 villages belong to taluqdars and 537 to smaller proprietors. Among the latter there is an extreme subdivision ; great numbers of them, even two-thirds of the entire number possess on the average only ten acres of land each. On the other hand, eleven men have among them 350,000 acres, and 816,000 acres, or two-thirds-of the district, are held in 62 great estates owned by 100 chiefs. A list of the great estates is given. The circumstances which have led to this absorption of land by one class, and to its distribution in minute portions among others, have been detailed elsewhere. List of Taluqdars in district Rae Bareli paying more than Rs. 5,000 revenue. CO a. s COCD s a03 t*at 49 Remarks. Name of Taluqdar. Name of estate. O ft. 0 a V a9 ou < a 0)>¦o CD A. Rs. Raja Shiupal Singh Murarmau 104 40,873 44,354 Baja Surpiil Singh ... Tiloi 72 65,086 65,207 Ran a Shankar Bakhsh ... Tholri 129 92,260 1,18,426 Raja Bishnath Singh Kathgar 11 6,042 7,156 Raja Jagmohan Singh ... Baisinghpur ... 23 17,638 19,269 Raja Bampal Singh Kori Sidhauli... 22 27,703 28,154 Raja Jagmohan Singh, Kanh Chandapur 29 31,789 33,. 58 puria. Thakurain Shiupal Euuwar Simri 24 18,202 23,619 widow of Jagan Nath Bakhsh. Thakurain Dariao Kunwar ... Samarpha 44 28,787 87,962 Chandarp&l Singh Kurhar Sata- wan 31 24,195 28,412 RAE List of Taluqdars (concluded). 209 Name of Taluqdar. Thakurain Achal Kunwar ,. Shankar Bakhsh Bishnath Bakhsh Babu Sarabjit Singh Bishn&th Singh, and Ajudhia Bakhsh. Sardar Singh Bhagwan Bakhsh Balbhaddar Singh Jagmohan Singh Anand Kunwar, widow of Sam bhar Singh. Sukh Mangal Singh ,. Shiuratan Singh ,„ Thakurain Qadam Kunwar .. Mahipal Singh Rudr Partab Singh Mir Fakhr-ul-Hasan Zulfiqar Khan and Karam Ali Khan Mahabat Khan and Asad AH. Abdul Hakim Khan and Mu hammad Zaman Khan, Fateh Bahadur Khan ... Subhfin Ahmad Raja Dakhina Niranjan Mu karji. Ummaid Rae, son of Gauri Shankar. Prince Shaideo Singh Captain Gulab Singh, Sardar Autar Singh, Sardar Narain Singh. Major A. P. Orr ... Name of caste. Gaura Kasthi Pahu Hasnan , BatkariNarin d rpur Charhar. Hamirpur Kola Udrehra BharauliKiratpur Char har alias Deo- UeahShah in au Pinhauna Nuruddinpur Bara Siwan Binhaura Bahrimau Amawan Bahwa Azizabad Shankarpur Hardaspur Badri Ganesh- pur. Bela Bhela Ledhwari 23 II cn CD fan S3 V q^ ti u fl J3 "— a cts- 3 t-t £ < A. 49 30,168 8 8,064 U3 !0,4I6 31 18,779 36 17,387 34 16,833 13 8,386 22 12,521 12 4,837 6 5,000 28 27,795 7 7,921 21 10,618 3,848 15,961 5,269 9,385 12,894 8,9186,149 5,310 6,742 15 32 12 17 8,448 24,651 17,102 Rs, 31,383 10,166 8,044 20,659 18,830 21,416 9,959 17,017 6,531 6,439 26,800 4,460 4,707 15,117 5,499 7,271 13,768 8,3367,010 7,522 9,372 9.226 28,474 20,163 Remarks. Owing to his death the title has been transferred to his widow Tide Nath. She having died, the proprietorship has been transferred to Beni Madho Baksh. This taluqdar pays less than Rs, 5,000, but as he holds a sanad his name has been recorded. This taluqdar having died, the proprietary title has been trans ferred to his widow Jograj Kunwar. 210 RAE Statement showing the number of mauzas held by different castes with the area and Government demand. Caste. No. of mauzas Area in acres. Government jama. Chhattri 194 116,356 1,41,491 Musalman ..,, ... ... 147 87,212 99,855 Brahman ... ... .,, 65 34,590 38,764 Kayath ... ... ,„ 88 31,273 35,527 Bhat 2 645 791 Sikh 4 1,447 1,847 Dhiisar 2 2,314 2,678 Kurmi ... ... ... 11 11,780 15,106 Murao ... ... ... 1 1,606 2,224 Kalwar ... ... 3 3,179 3,376 Kahar ... ,., ... ... 881 308 Ahfr 1 600 812 Pasi 1 225 290 Hindu Faqirs ... ... 9 2,312 3,144 Government ... ... 9 4,643 4,182 Total ... 537 298,565 3,50,401 This does not include the taluqdari villages. The ensuing remarks and tables are borrowed from the settlement report of the old district, and are not correct to the letter if applied to the present district, for which it has not been possible to prepare returns. Numbe* of proprietors in the district. — A consideration of the statis tics given below, shows that in eight parganas of this district there are 1,152* proprietors of 5,281 acres of land, of which 3,270 only are cultivated, and 2,646 are irrigated. They pay as revenue on this land Rs. 8,289 which gives per acre, — Total area CultivatedIrrigated Rs. a. p. 1 9 2 2 8 7 3 2 2 The statistics of the seven parganas made over to Unao could not be compiled in time for this report, but it is believed that in them the num ber of proprietors of very small estates is very large indeed. The above number of 1,152 are men who hold engagements direct from the State, and it does not include under-proprietorsf of any shade or denomination. On the other hand, sixteen persons own between them 311,000 acres, one owns over 40,000 and another is proprietor of over 92,000 acres. In the * These have shareholders also. fOf whom there are 3,823- RAE 211 latter estate nearly 47,000 acres are cultivated and 33,000 irrigated whilst the Government demand is Rs. 1,18,727, giving per acre — On total area „ cultivation ,, irrigated area Rs. a. p. 1 4 7 2 8 6 3 9 8 Statement showing the number of proprietors and the area of their estates in the parganas Bareli, Dalmau, Khiron, Sareni, Haidargarh, Kumhrdwdn, Bachhrdwdn, and Hardoi. Proprietors of less than Acres. 10 20304050 60 70 80 90 100 200300400 500600 700 800 900 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,0005,0006,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,000 20,00030,000 40,000 50,000 60,00070,000 80,000 90,000 1,00,000 Total Number of pro prietors, 1,152 464 ' 257 152 101 103 5355 29 39 166 6228 18 11 9 13 7 4 21 84 2 4 3 3 1 10 6 2,787 Area. 5,281 6,8596,441 5,275 4,554 5,6943,4474,1402,4423,697 22,55914,945 9,597 8,156 6,2535,788 9,781 6,0263,912 27,90820,813 13,236 8,985 21,348 19j222 ¦24',898 9,385 154,402 156,432 40,457 92,260 724,192 Revenue. Rs. 8,289 10,250 8,7477,351 6,167 7,669 4,641 5,6823,037 4,626 27,623 18,87412,038 9,429 8,212 6,895 12,906 8,7965,310 33,939 26,383 13,829 13,13129,835 26,434 a. p. 4 2 1215 11 6 1211 5 1 30,382 12 6,150 0 I,99,2p0 0 1,93,456 0 9 0 9 0 8 0 G 0 8 0 12 0 52,025 0 0 1,18,726 14 0 9,19,944 14 0 Rate per acre on total area. Rs. a. p. 1 9 2 1 7 11 5 9 6 5 5 55 1 3 10 1 4 O 1 3 1 4 4 3 53 575349 p 7 5 1 6 4 16 0 1 3 6 0 10 6 1 4 8 1 3 9 1 4 7 1 4 7 1 4 4 Remaiks , 212 RAE The- following is a statement of proprietors showing their possession* according to castes : — '> «H Caste of proprietors. Q CO It Area. Revenue. Remarks. Rs. a. p. Bais, Tilokchandi 779J 4,48,938 5,71,148 1 0 - Amethia 118 78,594 1,09,018 0 0 Kanhpuria ... 11 7,230 9,586 9 0 Brahman ... 109 68,163 36,380 4 0 Musalman 152 79,482 92,841 0 0 Bengali ... 16 5.310 8,211 0 0 Kayath ... 69 28,955 36,029 4 0 Janwar „ 37 24,616 32,418 7 0 Khattri ... 32J 24,347 31,544 0 0 Sikh 48i 33,294 39,380 12 0 European ... 30 25,681 34,264 0 0 Government property... 6 8,427 2,602 0 0 Panwar ... 3 2,200 2,904 0 0 Baqqal and Dhusar ... 2 2,314 2,678 0 0 AgarwSla 2 599 725 0 0 Kath Bais 1 260 455 0 0 Chauhan ... 2 1,043 1,801 0 0 Kachhwaha ... 4 1,377 1,848 0 0 Kurmi „. 19 14,960 20,870 0 0 Kalwar 3 3,179 3,376 0 0 Teli 3 1,072 1,321 11 0 Pasi 1 225 290 0 0 Bisen ... 10 6,091 7.529 0 0 Ahir 5 1,638 2,042 0 0 Goshain ... 3 1,001 1,390 0 0 Xodh 1 686 834 0 0 Sombansi ... 5 6,817 7,262 0 0 Faqir N&nak Shahi 1 156 283 0 0 Raghubansi ... ... 77 170 0 0 Bhat 1 248 360 0 0 Murao ... 71J 6,319 5,994 0 0 Total 1,482 8,64,389 10,95,606 0 0 " Proportion of entire district held by taluqdars. — Out of the total num ber of villages of this district amounting to 1,482, there belong to taluqdars 1,029. " Of these latter there have been decreed in sub-settlement — Entire villages ... ... ... ... ... ... 66) Portions of villages ... ... ... ... ... 8 " And there have been given on a farming tenure 12, viz. : — 3 at a ten per cent, and less share of the gross assets. 6 at fourteen to tweni v per cent, and less Bhare of the gross assets. 1 at oyer twenty per cent, and less share of the gross assets. RAE 213 " The gross assets of the estates of taluqdars have been estimated at Rs. 15,71,191, and of the portion decreed away from them as above Rs. 1,09,417. Of which sum Government takes ... ... ... ... 55,393 The taluqdars take ... ... ..< ... ... 26,477 £he old proprietors take ... ... ... ... ... 27,547 Total ... 109,417 " Eleven hundred and fortyrfour persons are recorded as holding shares in these assets, which gives an average of Rs. 24 per annum for each recorded shareholder. In other words, the share of the assumed profits of their own villages absorbed by the old proprietors holding on a sub- settlement tenure and on farming leases is 50'41 per cent, to a share of 49-59 per cent, awarded to taluqdars. " Altogether 10,623 claims to subordinate rights, excluding sub-settle ment of all kinds in taluqas, have been preferred in this district, of which 4,673 related to sir and nankar. 331 „ to shankalp. 5,619 „ to all other claims. " Of these three hundred and thirty-one claims to shankalp, 161 were decreed. "Shankalp kushast is a pure muafi tenure given by taluqdars, and therefore liable to resumption by them at regular settlement. Grants by shankalp were probably in existence long before the word taluqdar was invented. " Original shankalp. — They were originally grants of land, money or property of any kind, made to Brahmans of esteemed holiness by pious or superstitious persons. A ceremony has to be gone through which is called kushast, from the fact of grass being placed on the grantee's hand during it, and a formula was repeated from which the grant took its name of shankalp. " Enormity of resuming a shankalp. — To resume a grant of shankalp is by the Hindu religion, the deadliest of sins ; and is visited by trans formation in a future state into a worm in the nethermost Hindu hell, the nearest approach to which state of existence is in this world, the life of a maggot in an unclean place whatever that may be like. The natives have a story of a rdja who in knocking down some mud buildings, to clear a site on which to build a place, was on the point of destroying the nest of a bird, which was endeavouring to rear some young ones, and who in the agony of her despair, threatened to drop one grain from out of some grant of shankalp made by the raja into his food, to the end, that by eating it he might commit the unpardonable sin. It is to be hoped that the raja spared the nest, and escaped the punishment. " Of the 5,619 other claims, which include claims to groves, grazing lands, jungles, waste, wells, village sites and proprietary dues, 3,466 were admitted and 2,153 were dismissed or withdrawn," 214 RAE CHAPTER IV. ADMINISTRATION. Administration— Thanas— Police— Crimes— Accidental death/3— Revenue and expenditure- education — Post-offices. Administration.— The administration is in the hands of a deputy commissioner, aided by one or more assistant commissioners, three or four Native or European extra assistant commissioners, four tahsildars, and seven honorary magistrates. The arrangements of the police stations, the strength and cost of the police are given in the following tables, — another exhibits the increase of crime and of their duties during the last five years, and a third shows the accidental deaths and suicides. The number of both these in 1871 is unusually large, the season was one of heavy rain and consequent floods, many people were drowned, others crushed by falling walls. Statement showing the population of thdnas. Name of thana. Population. Rae Bareli ... ... ... ... ... Bachhrawan ... ... ... ... Mohanganj ... ... ... ... ... Digbijaiganj ... ... „. Gurbakhshganj ... ,., ... ... ... Lalganj ... ... ... ... ,u Mau ... ... ... ... ... Jagatpur ... ... ... ... Salon ... ... ... ... 107,178 94,226 110,674123,382 86,043 160,051 89,19397,518 120,371 i Total 988,636 Statistics of the Police for 1873. Regular police ... Village watch ... Municipal police, Total ... 71,798 85,557 3,636 1,60,991 OS O cci 79 ay +3 JO V c3 u to P O -2 s o * J4 bo a &Z 60 -3 » < * 380 ... 3,247 ... 31 84 3,658 3,746 o » §1 '£ CD Ph 1 to 6'58 "ft O. ° o a a, .Sjh B-i 1 to •3,168 g 1,004 Jg'Sb' 9,071 I CD * 9 i O.. 03 1,611 1,004 9,071. 1,611 J.236 374 ¦0*1 I'3 1,236 374 RAE Crime Statistics. 215 Cades reported. Cases convicted. t~ 00 Cl o CN 00 Ci «S" 1—* e» to ® CO to *¦» OS 6 00 5 00 15 6 7 00 6 CO 4 CO 3 00 7 00 00 s CO Murders and attempts 4 Culpable homicide ... 6 7 6 8 7 8 4 4 1 2 3 5 Dacoity ... ... ... 1 1 2 2 ... ... 1 ,.. 2 1 ••• • •¦ Robbery ... ... S 10 14 25 21 21 2 4 5 9 2 2 Rioting and unlawful assembly, 31 17 25 44 35 10 25 13 17 38 24 9 Theft by house-breaking or house-trespass. 2672 3414 4383 5055 5185 7064 61 118 225 147 141 220 Theft simple 828 1175 1696 1328 1530 2219 148 181 273 225 245 822 Theft of cattle 34 53 97 102 186 243 6 17 34 18 £3 47 Offences against coin and stamps. 4 11 6 10 11 4 ... 5 2 2 4 4 Memo, of accidental deaths. By By snake : By wild By fall of By other Total. drowning. bite. quadrupeds. buildings. causes. .8 03 .03 si 03

Settlement t ... ... ... ... 44,235 Excise or Abkari ... ... ... 4,195 Assessed taxes ... ... ... ... 249 Stamps ... ... ... ... 1,036 _ . . ,. ( Service of process ... 2,897 Law and justice ( Criminal courts ... 36,606 Ecclesiastical ... ... ... ... 253 Medical ... ... ... ... 9,000 1871. 1872. Rs. Rs. 12,22,622 12,24,112 ... 6,940 18,733 49,797 41,279 5,912 6,6)4 74,714 63,386 ... 7,282 Total ... ... 1,61,038 The following tables give receipts and charges of the local funds Receipts. One per cent, road cess „ „ School cess ... ... £ „ District Dak ... ... 3 „ Local and margin ... Education fund ... ... Dispensary fund ... ... Found fund ... ... ... Nazul fund ... ... ... Total ... ... 74,264 Provincial allotment ... 50,451 Grand total ... ... 1,24,715 Charges. Education ... ... ••• Hospitals and Dispensaries ... ... District Dak ... ... Pound ... ... ... Nazul ... ... ••• Public Works ... Communications ... ... Civil Buildings, &c. ... — Establishment, &c. ... 28,627 ... 4,692 3,321 ... 620 ... 6,726 ... ... 38,591 ... 32,754 ... 9,608 80,053 Total ... ... 1,24,939 RAE 217 Education. — The progress of education in this district is a question of Buch vital interest to the people generally, and to the Government in par ticular, that the statistics given on the following page will not be out of place. The average of pupils to population could not well be lower than it is at present in this district.* Return showing number of boys learning English, Hindi, Persian, and Urdu languages. ' .„. a •a Number r 1 60 a 03 of Gov o O 4J 033 60 n 60 60 60 ernment school- o J3 'a a S houses ° a m ?. -g Pargana. CO a u C- 03 ft •a tS fl "H.-S O 03 03 03 03 <-> S o ft fc. u 03 . t. 03 . >, u M (- 03 Li " at M n ¦8 ¦o a 2 a -2 « a.s 8 "3 aa •2 a a ° •2 B a ° a 3 a — ^ C3 co a 03 B-° "¦a "a S2S 'A S5 'A as E-i a oo 25 •z, PS Angi o-vernaculdr Schools Rae Bareli high school ... 1 103 36 85 103 103 i Fort branch No. 1 1 26 48 48 48 1 Bazar branch No. 2 ... 1 ... 30 7 64 54 \ Raepur branch No. 3 ... 1 ... 26 16 50 50 ... ... 1 ... Total 4 128 134 108 255 255 i ... 3 ... Village Scho lis. Daundia Khera ... 2 31 48 79 2 * Ghatampur 1 ... 20 ... 34 54 1 ... Bhagwantnagar ... 1 >>¦ 14 ... 26 40 1 ... Bihar .. , ... Patan ] S3 ., 27 50 ... Panhan .. ,., 1 .. 17 23 40 1 ... Magrayar 2 ... 98 ... 37 135 9 ... ... Khiron ... 5 -.. 55 ... 154 209 3 2 Sareni 5 .. 180 174 304 4 Bareli 12 111 346 457 )1 Dalmau ... 12 ... 257 283 540 9 1 Haidargarh 13 4fi 195 ... 283 526 i 2 Kumhrawan ... 1 3 23 26 Bachhrawan ... 6 .. 141 89 230 2 2 1 19 19 Hardoi ... ,„ 1 63 67 48 25 ... 6 31 ... 35 35 8 11 Total 1,120 1,553 2,721 i 2 Grand Total 176 002 1,254 108 1,808 2,927 Percentage on grand total 016 0-0 1 0-28 0-33 of souls. Percentage on grand total of boys. ... 0-11 081 007 117 1-93 Grand total of souls ... 7 1 32,874 1 53,541 >a 1 1 Total of boys ... l s per statem ent of 869. * Settlement Report. This table and the paragraph refer to the old district 28 218 RAE The returns for 1874 show 97 schools attended by 3,837 boys. The population of the now enlarged district is 989,008; the percentage of child ren attending school is still 0'38, there has been no progress in education. In western Oudh the percentage of. children reaches almost 0:7 or nearly double the percentage in Rae Bareli, whose backward education apparently resembles what is found in all the neighbouring districts of eastern Oudh. Post-office. — The, district is well supplied, there are sixteen offices besides the central one at Rae Bareli, the system works very well. The following tables show the working of the district dak for the year 1876-77 :— Statement showing the number of articles received for delivery and those returned undelivered during 1876-77. Letters. Papers. Packets. Parcels. Given out for delivery ... Returned undelivered ... 31,276 2,922 444 20 • 76 1 1,446 53 Statement showing the working of the district d( Number of miles of dak line ... ... „ of runners ... ... ... Cost for the year ... ... „. Number of covers delivered ... ... „ „ returned undelivered ... Total number. of letters sent to district post office xk during 1876-77. 99* 28 Rs. 3,031-9-2 30,246 2,996 33242 * Seven runners have worked for a part of the year. RAE 219 CHAPTER V.* HISTORY. History.— Fights during the mutiny— Antiquities. The earliest glimpse of authentic history in this district is afforded by Major*Orr's discovery in the neighbouring district of Sultanpur of an earthen pot containing several hundred coins of the Indo-Scythic dynasty, which reigned in Kabul before and contemporaneously with the commence ment of our era. The fact that all the coins belong to the same series makes it nearly certain that the date of their consignment to the receptacle from which they have just been delivered was between 17 and 18 centuries ago. The names Kadphises and Kanerki, the title Rao Nana Rao, and the Mithraic words "Okro" and "Athro" are distinctly legible; there are other inscriptions which might be explained by an experienced numisma- tologist. Mr. Capper discovered some very fine gold coins of the Skanda Gupta series at Baksar; and besides these the irregularly shaped bits of silver with devices stamped one over the other, and apparently at different times, which were the coin of an unknown period of antiquity, are not un common. From this it may be inferred that some kind of civilization existed in this district from very early times down to at least the end of the third century A.D., and it is no wild conjecture that the desolation which we discover when its modern history commences was due to the exterminating wars which marked the revival of Brahmanism. The first piece of local history is connected with Dalmau which appears to have been a flourishing town from early times. On a hill to the north west of the fort is still shown the tomb of a Muhammadan martyr Badr- ud-din, whose traditional date is 646 H., (1248 A.D.) From an old Hindi story-book which professes to have been copied in 1043 H, from an original composed in 779 H. (1587 A.D.), we learn that Jauna Shah,f the lieute nant of the Emperor Firoz, had stopped at Dalmau on his way to what was to become Jaunpur, and had beautified the city. It is further stated that Malik Mubarak was the Governor, and that there was a considerable colony of Musalmans, besides a settlement of Chauhans and Sunars. Malik Mubarak's name is still held in great reverence at Dalmau, and his tomb is shown in the fort. The kings of Oudh used to allow a small monthly stipend for the purpose of keeping a light burning on it, and the govern ment officials when they arrived at the town were expected to pay it a visit before they proceeded to their work. From this it may be inferred that he was the founder of the Musalman settlement, and that before the time of Jauna Shah the town had been entirely Hindu. Towards the end of the fourteenth century the town was in danger from the neighbouring Bhars, who, under the rule of four brothers, had * The greater part of the historical portion of this chapter is from Mr. Benett's " Clans of Rae Bareli." f Jauna Shah preceded Firoz on the throne of Delhi. 220 RAE established something like an organized government over the Bareli and Dalmau parganas. Dal and Bai had forts at Dalmau and Rae Bareli, while two less famous brothers, Kapur and Bhawan, were settled at Sudamanpur. It is said that Dal offered violence to the daughter of a Dalmau Sayyad, and the com plaints of the insulted father brought Ibrahim Sharqi from Jaunpur to avenge the indignity. It is at any rate certain that this king fought a great battle with the Bhars at Sudamanpur, and drove them before him into the Dalmau fort, where after a stubborn defence their whole army was destroyed. The tomb of the Bhar chieftains is still shown at Pakrauli, rather more than a mile from Dalmau, and is celebrated by a fair in the autumn, at which great numbers of Ahirs collect, ^.nd offer milk to the souls of the departed heroes. The women of the Bharotia Gotr of Ahirs do not wear anklets, saying that they are still mourning for their kings. This success at Dalmau was only part of a regular Musalman conquest of the whole district. In 796 H. (1394 A.D.), Khwaja Jahan, the Subah dar of Kanauj, Oudh, Karra and Jaunpur had asserted his independence, and his successor on the throne of Jaunpur, Shams-ud-din Ibr&him Shah Sharqi, applied himself to consolidate his power over the subject provinces. Already he had established his rule at Salon, Parshadepur, Jais, Manikpur, and other places, building, says tradition, 52 forts in one day. Salon is said to derive its name from Sal Bahan, who relieved the country from the presence of a demon called Sahasr Bahan, and founded the town. Parshadepur is said to be called after Paras Ram, the Oudh incar nation of Vishnu, but etymologically it is much more likely that Raja Parshad Singh, the great Kanhpuria, who subdued this neighbourhood in Tilok Chand's time, gave his name to an older town. Near it is the village ofRanki,the traditional seat of the Government of * Rdja Bhartari, elder brother of Bikramaj it. 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 retired to the distant solitudes of Oudh where he founded the city of Ranki. The present inhabitants say that Ranki is the Bhar name for a wine- seller, and that they have occasionally found in their village gold coins, chains, and articles of domestic use, which have been exposed by the rainy season ; they were, however, unable or unwilling to show me any of these relics. The ruins themselves are sufficiently remarkable. A sea of bricks represents what must have once been a large town, in the midst of which high grass-grown mounds preserve the sites of lofty mansions. To the south-west of the town there is a large oblong fortress measuring about 250 yards in one direction, by 150 in the other, and surrounded by a moat some 30 yards wide. The old name of Jais was TJjaliknagar, and it was the seat of a Bhar kingdom. The irregular appearance of the town is attributed to the caprice , of its Bhar monarch, who in constantly recurring fits of drunkenness had a * This raja is also connected with the Bhitari Lit on the Gumti, and the tradition in the text is peculiarly valuable. RAE . 221 methodical madness for raising fortifications. Manikpur was named after Manik Chand * the great Gahrwar raja, who reigned from that town. It is said that he fell at the hands of Shahab-ud-din Gardezi,f the lieutenant of Ibrahim Sharqi. A part of the remnants of his family fled to Salon, of which town their descendants are at present part proprietors. After his success at Dalmau the Shah marched on Rae Bareli, which like the towns just mentioned was at that time a Bhar village clustered round a large fort. The traditions of the Tar Bir demon, and the mons trous well whose overflowing threatened to swamp the town have already been told. It is singular that traces of buffalo sacrifice, which must have descended from the Bhar times existed in connection with this fort up to annexation. When a Muhammadan nazim came he sacrificed the buffalo ; a Hindu contented himself with slitting its ear. The next enemy met by the Muhammadans was the Bais colony in the south-west of the district, and it is necessary that I should stop to give an account of that remarkable family. Their early history is involved in much obscurity, and for the sake of clearness I will here leave all other families than the Tilokchandi Bais out of consideration. The story of the birth and life of Sal Bahan, the son of the world serpent, and their first ancestor, has all the appearance of being a genuine tradition, in spite of the monstrous and indecent Brahmanical traditions with which it has been overlaid ; and it agrees well with pro bable historical conjecture that this prince was one of the Takshak or Scythian dynasty, who were known as nagas or snakes by their Arian subjects — a conjecture which is further confirmed by the fact that the serpent is the tribe deity of his descendants at the present day. The original tradition, as far as I have been able to extract it from the various accounts which I have heard, is as follows : — A son of the great world serpent was brought up under the roof of a potter of Mtingi Patan on the Nerbudda, and early showed by his wit and strength that he was destined to be a king. As a judge among his youthful companions, by what would now be considered a simple process of cross examination, he excited the wonder of a people unaccustomed to law courts ; and deserved and received the same kind of honour as was accorded to Daniel by the Jews of the captivity after his successful investigation of the case of Su sanna and the elders. His amusement was to make clay figures of elephants, horses, and men at arms, and before he had well reached man hood he led his fictile army to do battle with the great king Bikramajit. When the hosts met, the clay of the young hero became living brass, and the weapons of his enemies fell harmless on the hard material. * Manik Chand as well as Dal and Bai, the Bhar chieftains, nre constantly appearing at any time within the years 1000 and 1400 A.D., and have successfully eluded all my efforts to saddle them with a date. I think it probable that Manik Chand and possi ble that Dal aud Bai lived near the beginning of the thirteenth century. t In Shekh Ahmad's history of the Sayyads of India, it is stated that Shahfib- ud-din Qardezi settled at Manikpur in the reign of Qutb-ud-din-bin-Altamsh. At Manikpur they suppose two Shahab-ud-dins, one of the 13th century, and another, father of Sharf-ud-dfn, Qazi-ul-QuzzSt in Ibrahim Sultan's time. Like all the Muhammadan families of Rae Bareli and Partabgarh, they have no trustworthy pedigree. 222 RAE Bikramajit fled, and took refuge in a large shiwala whither he was pursued by Sal Bahan. At the mere sound of the boy's voice the ponderous gates of the temple rolled back, and Bikramajit acknowledged his conqueror with appropriate homage. A reasonable arrangement was made on the spot for the partition of the royal power, and on the elder king's death, Sal Bahan became undisputed Raja of India. Later in life he conquered the Punjab, and died and was buried at Sialkot. Of the history of his descendants till the time of the invasion of Oudh by Abhai Chand nothing is positively known. The Raj Tarangini relates that a Bais general usurped the throne of Delhi at the beginning of the seventh century, A.D. Two different pedigrees connect Tilok Chand with Sal Bahan, — one giving 42 generations with Abhai Chand at the fourteenth, the other 31, with Abhai Chand at the twenty-second. Twenty names are common to both lists which are sufficiently unlike to prove separate sources, and sufficiently like to show a common historical ground-work. Both where they corrobo rate and where they contradict one another they are equally interesting and unintelligible. The supporters of the longer list state that in Bhagwant Rae's time the kingdom was divided between his three sons, one of whom got Oudh. I may hazard a conjecture that this is a historical tradition on the follow ing grounds : — The first name common to the two lists is Ghuk Kumar, who in the longer list is represented as the father of the above named Bhagwant Rde, and below him the number of generations and the names, though in a different order, are almost identical in both lists. This is sufficient to make it very probable that Ghuk Kumar's reign was an epoch in Bais history, and the division of the kingdom in his son's reign affords an excellent explanation. It is likely that the story refers to a forced change of abode before a victorious enemy, or a ver sacrum,hj which an overcrowded home was relieved of some of the younger and more vigorous offshoots. The coincidence of the pedigrees makes it reasonable to suppose that this took place thirty generations before the time of Tilok Chand, in the eighth century, A.D. Between Abhai Chand and Tilok Chand the shorter list is undoubtedly in the main correct; and the extraordinary divergences' between the two are amply accounted for by the violent vicissitudes of fortune which marked Bais history in the reigns of Rae Tas and his two successors. Twelve centuries after the death of Sal Bahan two gallant youths who boasted that they were of his race found themselves and their followers at a bathing place on the Ganges when an affray arose between some soldiers of the Gautam raja of Argal and the forces of the Subahdar. The Hindus were defending the honour of their queen and her daughter from the lust of the Musalmans, and no Rajput could turn a deaf ear to the agonized appeals for help that issued from the lady's bullock cart. So the Bais joined the losing side of their countrymen, rallied the fugitives, and beat off the Muhammadans, but left one of their princes dead on the RAE 223 field. The survivor, Abhai Chand, escorted the rescued queen back to Argal. It was only natural that the young princess should fall in love with the soldier who had been wounded in her defence, and the king of Argal was himself in a position which made him very glad to secure the services of such a son-in-law. In the eastern part of his dominions was a large»tract of country over which he exercised only a nominal authority, and which was thinly populated by a fierce intractable people called the Bhars, who paid him neither tribute nor respect. So he gave his daughter to Abhai Chand, and with her the vice-royalty of this unprofit able province.* Whatever may be the value of this story, there can be no doubt that at about this time there was a very general advance of Hindus into this dis trict. The Kanhpurias-f at the eastern, and the Bais at the south-western corner, as well as several old zamindari families, such as the Pandes of Shiunam, are proved by the coincidence of their pedigrees to have settled nearly contemporaneously in the seats where they are now found; and it is clear that they were portions of one wave of Hindu emigration. The greater part of this district was then covered with extensive forest, and in the clear spaces the few brick huts and scattered hamlets of the Bhars were the only evidences of human life. The nationality and reli gion of this people is a favourite topic for disquisition, and my truncated investigations have just so far enlightened me as to make me refrain from forming any opinion as to who or whence they were. A bad time was beginning for them now. Abhai Chand lost no time in proceeding to his newly gained dominions, and crossing the Ganges built a fort at Baksar as a basis of operations. His enemy was, however, too powerful for him, and he had to give up his position and retire to Abhaipur, the village he had founded in the Antarbed, where he died. His successor, Karan Rae, prosecuted his enterprise and again occupied Bak sar, but the first real success was obtained by his grandson Siddhii Rae, who utterly routed the Bhars in a great battle, the memory of which is preserved in the name of the village Sangrampur, which he founded on the scene of his victory. Pushing on through the wooded ravines, and driv ing his enemy before him, he took possession of Murarmau and Daundia Khera, since famous as the seats of the two greatest of the Bais families, and was the first to establish his clan in the new country. His descend ants continued to extend their dominion, and when in the fifth generation from him, and at the time of the Jaunpur invasion, Rae Tas succeeded to the chieftainship, he was the acknowledged ruler of the seven and a half small parganas which form the kernel of Baiswara.J Whether this chieftain resisted and was defeated, or yielded without striking a blow to the vastly superior forces of the Muhammadans, I have been unable to discover ; but we find him with his family and retainers • At the present day a Bais considers a marriage with a Gautam peculiarly lucky. t If i itideed, the^Kanhpurias immigrated at all. % These were TJnchgaon, Siddhupur, now Daundia Khera. Bara, Kambhi, half Bhagwantnagar, now Bhagwantnagar. Ghilampur, Magayar, Panhan. 224 RAE shortly afterwards at the Court of the Chauhan Raja of Mainpuri. Many stories are connected with their exile, of which perhaps the most striking is that which accounts for the assumption of the title of raja by Rae Tas. It is said that Sumer Sah,* the Chauhan, ridiculed the lately established family of the Bais, and refused their chief the honours paid to an equal. On this Rae Tas challenged him to a pitched battle. On the morning of the fight allthe Bais youths less than 20 years old, to the number of about 500, were directed to return to their home, and in the event of the defeat of their elders preserve their family from extinction. With a modified obedience, and a happy compromise between prudence and valour, they with drew to an eminence at such a distance from the engagement that they would be able to participate in the success or get a good start in case of the defeat of their relations. They watched an indecisive conflict from morning till evening, and then, taking advantage of the fatigue of both parties, swooped down on the Chauhans and secured the victory. In consequence of this Sumer Sail formally invested Rae Tas with the raja's tilak, and gave him his daughter in marriage. The Bais is said to have entered the army of the Delhi emperor, and to have served with distinction, and most accounts represent that he died fighting under his standard against some rebellious chieftain. His son, Raja Satna, successfully invaded the territories of the Sharqi Sultan. Having re-occupied his ancestral dominions, and acquired the new territory of Khiron from the Bhars, he pushed his conquests to the north, and taking advantage of the unsettled state of the Jaunpur empire, occu pied the strong fort of Kakori after a severe contest with the Musalman colonists. His success was the signal for a general rising against the hated conquerors. From Safipur and Kakori to Salon and Manikpur, the Azan and the slaughter of kine were proscribed, and in most of the larger towns the new Muhammadan judges and tax collectors were murdered or driven away. At Salon, Sayyad Maud, the ancestor of the present qazis of that town, was cut down at his prayers by the neighbouring raja, who was most pro bably an ancestor of the Kanhpurias. His younger son was taken alive and kept in captivity by the Bhars. After a few years' imprisonment he made his escape to the court of the Jaunpur emperor. Even at Manikpur, Aziz-ud-din and Sharf-ud-din Gardezi,-f- who had been left in charge of the town, were obliged to fly to the opposite stronghold of Karra. Husen Shah on his accession to the throne immediately sent a force from Karra to retrieve these losses. He had no difficulty in restoring the qazis to the principal towns from which they had been ejected, but met with a stout resistance from Raja Satna before the fortress at Kakori. It was taken at length by force or by fraud, and the raja was killed. Some accounts say that he was bricked up in the wall alive, and others that he was decapita ted, and his head buried where the Shekhan Darwaza now stands at Luck now. The brave Rana Beni Madho Bakhsh, whose estate was confiscated for mutiny, swore to recover the head of his ancestor, but his oath was unfulfilled. * It is not however probable that Sumer SSh was then the reigning rija. t The sons of Shahab-ud-din, the founder of the family. RAE 225 The rani escaped, and on her flight to the Ganges was delivered of a son at the small village of Kotbhar on the confines of the Rae Bareli and Unao districts. This posthumous son was afterwards famous as Tilok Chand, the eponymous hero of the greatest of the Bais clans, the father or the founder of many castes of Rajputs, and to the present day no Bais passes the plflpce of his birth without showing his respect by dismounting from his horse and going by barefooted. His mother arrived safely at Mainpuri, and the young chieftain passed the first twenty years of his life at the refuge which had sheltered his father and grandfather. In 1478 A.D., the opportunity arrived which was to enable him to humble his ancestral enemies and to put him in possession of far more than his ancestral property. Bahlol Lodi had sent an expedition against Husen Shah of Jaunpur, which resulted in the defeat of the latter, and his exile to the Court of Ala- ud-din of Bengal, and Tilok Chand took this opportunity to lead a large force of Rajputs from Mainpuri into Oudh* Following the steps of his father, he crossed the Ganges near Baksar, and marching northwards defeated the Musalmans who garrisoned Kakori. His further advance in that direction was checked by the Pathans of Malihabad, and he had to be contented with Kakori as the northern limit of his raj. As his rule is the commencement of a new chapter in the history of the district, its consideration must be postponed for a short sketch of what had occurred in the northern and north-western parganas. As has been already mentioned, several families of Hindu zamindars settled in these parts when Abhai Chand made his first attempt at occupa tion in the south. Of these by far the most important were the Pandes of Shiunam, the founder of whose family, Baram Datt Pande, like Abhai Chand, fought under the auspices of Gautam government, and like him, too, lived 24 generations ago. The next settlers, the Muhammadans of Bhilwal and Amawan, were brought in by the invasions of Ibrahim Sharqi and his grandson Husen Shah, and are the ancestors of the present Chaudhri of Bhilwal, and the taluqdars of Pahremau and Amawan. The Amethias, afterwards destined to be the most important family in the neighbourhood, were already hovering on the confines of Haidargarh. I will now briefly review the general aspect of the country before its con quest by Tilok Chand. The element of a regular Government had been established by Ibrahim Sultan of Jaunpur whose lieutenant ruled from Dal mau, and is still remembered by his tomb composed of vast bricks and slabs of kankar in a fine grove on the banks of the Ganges. The principal Bhar forts were rebuilt and garrisoned and the surrounding country divided into tappas for the administration of justice and the collection of a preca rious revenue. Makhdum Bakhsh and his two sons, Jahangir and Rukn- ud-din, were left as qazis at Rae Bareli, and the most important of the present Musalmans of Dalmau and Salon, Parshadepur and Manikpur, are descended from judges appointed under the same rule and reinstated at the second conquest by Husen Shah. * He gave help to Bahlol Lodi by storing food.— See Ferishta, 29 226 RAE The whole country was still mainly occupied by the Bhars, but in the south the Shekh zamindars of Jalalpur, Dehi and Bhal, had been set tled for two generations, the Kanhpurias were present at the north-east, in the north were the colonies of the six or seven tribes of Hindus and the Pathans of Amawan, while on the borders of the Rae Bareli and Luck now districts, the Amethias and the Shekhs of Bhilwal were face to face, and had already laid the foundations of a family feud. The Bais parga nas of the south-west were empty of their legitimate owners and pro bably abandoned to the Bhars. In a few years a complete change was to be effected, and the commencement of the sixteenth century may be regarded as the beginning of our modern history. The reign of Tilok Chand is probably the most interesting and impor tant epoch in the history of Oudh, and it is here that I particularly deplore the scantiness of my information. The traditions connected with it are at once extravagant and meagre, but through the mists of time we can still discern the figure of a conqueror and a statesman. Of the details of his conquests little is known, and it is probable that as he led a considerable force into a country which had been distracted for two hun dred years by the constant wars of the Hindus, the Muhammadans, and the old inhabitants, in the course of which struggle every party had been weakened ; and succeeded to the comparatively strong government of Jaun pur, which must have greatly reduced the chances of a successful opposi tion, he found little difficulty in asserting his supremacy over the whole of eastern Oudh from the Gogra to the Ganges, and from the gates of Lucknow to Partabgarh, of the Sombansis. The only defeat which is recorded of him is when his pretensions were successfully resisted by the Pathans of Malihabad; and, indeed, his conciliatory policy was not likely to provoke opposition except in the case of a proud and powerful Musalman family who could not endure even the nominal superiority of a Hindu chieftain. The Brahmans of Sultanpur relate that in his old age, like another king of distinguished wisdom, he supported the prodigious responsibility of an establishment of three hundred wives, and by them became the father of a family countless as the sands of the sea * The princesses of Rewa and Mainpuri to whom he had originally been married, disgusted by an associ ation in which the dignity of castes had not been respected, fled from his castle and gave rise to a distinction between the Bais from within (Bhitaria) and the Bais from without (Baharia), those from without being the offspring of the genuine Rajput blood, while those from within were of contaminated lineage, and occupied a doubtful position in the class system. The Kayaths of Rae Bareli are never weary of repeating and embellishing the tale of their adoption, and the faGt, that to the present day their leading families receive the title of Thakur, shows that it is not a pure invention. A probable tradition connects the final establishment of the Kanhpurias in Tiloi and Simrauta with this chief's reign, and the story of his creation of new castes is too well attested and too much opposed to the spirit of Hindu invention to admit of doubt. More than * The same story is told of Sal Bahan, but the application to Tilok Chand is valuable. RAE 227 one caste of Brahmans are grateful to him for their cord and their privi leges, while it is indisputable that he largely increased the number of Chhattri clans. The Ahir Bhale Sultans, the Kahar Mahrors, and the Pargahis directly ascribe their elevation to him ; and numerous castes in the Fyzabad and Gonda districts, such as the Gandharias, the Naipurias, the Bfft-wars, and the Chahus claim to have been originally Bais, while the equal length of their pedigrees shows that they were established in those districts at about the commencement of the sixteenth century. There are besides numerous families of small zamindars in the east of this district who call themselves Bharadhi Bais, and whose want of any tradition of immigration and peculiar religion distinguish them from the pure Bais of the west. Two traditions connected with the Bais colonies on the Gogra deserve to be recorded. One is that as Achal Singh was going to bathe at Fyza bad, a Bais zamindar offered him tribute, and the raja gratefully ordered him to assume the new name of Naipuria. Naipuria is not a more honour able name than Bais, and the literal tradition is obviously improbable, but the times to which the story refers make it significant. Achal Singh was the last of eight Kalhans rajas, and was succeeded in Gonda by fifteen Bisen rajas, the last of which was the celebrated Debi Bakhsh Singh who lost his estates in the mutiny. The numbers of the generations show that Achal Singh was contemporaneous with Tilok Chand, and the creation of the Naipurias is also referred to that raja's reign. A second tradition tells how Rae Amba, the son of Tilok Chand, and his younger brother, Rae Mardan, were sent with 5,000 cavalry to Janak- pur Tirhoot in the Naipal tarai. On their way back a Sangaldipi Brah man living on the banks of the Gumti complained to him that the Bhar King of Hastinaghat had made an offer of marriage to his daughter. The rae represented that he could not take a fort with his cavalry, and advised the Brahman to pretend to submit to the desires of the Bhar. He consequently went to Hastinaghat, professed himself delighted at the prospect of so illustrious an alliance, and invited the raja to come at an early date and bear away his bride. The unsuspecting monarch imme diately set forth with his servants and people in holiday costume, and on retiring to their encampment after a day spent in revelry, fell an easy and perhaps inglorious prey to the arms of the Chhattri chieftain. This service was rewarded by the grant of the zamindari of the Bhar kingdom. Rae Amba had a son called Rae Bidad, who lived at Gajanpur> and was succeeded by his son Rae Dudhich who turned Muhammadan, and was the ancestor of all the present Musalman Bhale Sultans, a name derived from the bhala or light javelin with which this cavalry was armed. Tilok Chand established a series of forts at Khiron (Sathanpur), Sang rampur, and Rae Bareli, the latter of which he entrusted to his favourite Diwanand half Rajput Lai Nabh Rae. The whole of the traditions connected with this remarkable man lead us to suppose that he embraced the project 228 RAE of erecting a kingdom on the union of the hitherto discordant elements which he found in Oudh. With a singular absence of superstition he selected the class system as an admirable instrument for this end, and enrolled the principal families of his own army and of the conquered country in his own clan, fully comprehending that unity of name is almost as powerful as unity of interest.* • The boundaries of his rule do not now admit of being defined with absolute certainty, but it is possible that he was undisputed king in the twenty-two Bais parganas, while his influence must have extended far beyond those limits. On his death the whole structure fell to pieces. Pirthi Chand, one of his sons, took the western provincef with the ancestral castle of Sangrampur, the other, Harhardeo, ruled over the east from Sathanpur, which his grandfather had built when he conquered the Bhars of the Khiron pargana. The Kayaths of Rae Bareli may or may not have acquired a limited dominion in the neighbourhood of that town. The Kanhpurias on the death of Parshad Singh fell into three branches, Janga Singh taking Tiloi, Madan Singh Simrauta, and Man Singh Ateha. Even the small clan of the Amethias in Haidargarh divided their posses sions, Dingur taking Kumhrawan, Ram Singh Ansari, and Lohang Rae Akhaipur, with the pretentious titles of raja, rao, and rana. Nothing further of importance is recorded till we come to the reign of Humayfin, which was marked by a general conversion to the imperial religion without parallel in the annals of the district. The Bhale Sultans, the Bisens of Usmanpur, and the zamindari families of Bais of Gareu and of Sehen, the Chauhans of Ashanjagatpur and the Raghubansis of Hardoi, each contributed a convert. The Shekhs of Bhilwal made use of the opportunity presented by the improved condition of their co-religionists to recover their villages from the Amethias. The defeated Hindus submitted gracefully, and one of their number, Jai Singh, received the then fashion able distinguishing mark of Islam. In the general confusion the Bhars left in that neighbourhood rose against the Hindus of Rae Bareli, and suc ceeded in killing Bhagwati Das, the representative of the Nabh Rae, who had been adopted and established there by Tilok Chand. His five sons fled to Allahabad, whence they procured assistance, and their hearty vengeance closes the last appearance of the Bhars in this history. * It should be remembered that what I have written of the Tilokchandi Bais does not necessarily apply to the innumerable clans of Bais scattered over eastern Oudh from Sing- ramau in Jaunpur to the heart of the Bara Banki district, and from the Gogra to the Ganges. These, instead of the very highest, occupy nearly the lowest position among Oudh Chhattris. They differ from each other and from the real Bais in their family traditions; and while some can boast pedigrees of 25 generations, connecting them with the 13th cen tury and Abhai Chand's invasion, lists of from 14 to 17 generations refer the great majo rity to the epoch of Tilok Chand. It seems most probable that about 400 years ago numbers of the agricultural and military aristocracy of all castes assumed the title of Bais, in much the same way as the leading families oi Orissa and parts of Central India are now claiming to be Chhattris. t Worth 14 lakhs. RAE 229 The complete extinction of this people has occasioned much surprise, but it is not difficult to understand. , Both the Musalmans and the Hindus were conquering nations, and the hand of each was turned against the old inhabitants whom they wished to dispossess. Against one enemy the Bhars might have stood and retained, even when defeated, a portion of their farmer rights, but in the wars between the invaders, each victory, to whichever side it inclined, was to them a new defeat, and entailed another onslaught on their possessions. As the balance swayed from side to side in the long and doubtful strugglebetween the Rajputs and the eastern empire, they suffered with every change of fortune, and were conquered not once but many times. It was not one war of extermination, but the harassing attacks of two centuries, often repeated, each time with new vigour, before which they fell. Their customs, their position, and we may conjecture their language and nationality prevented anything like a perfect union with either of their enemies. And yet there can be no doubt that while many were slain, and many fled to the north and to the east, many still survive in their old territory under modern names. The statesmanship of Tilok Chand elevated not a few of their principal families to the rank of Chhattris, and the Tirgunait Brahmans, the Kharibind Kurmis, the Bha- rotia and Bhattia Ahirs, and many families of the Gfijars, are connected with their race by hardly doubtful tradition. A careful enquiry into the private worship and peculiar customs of the present castes of the district would probably still further disprove the tale of their utter extinction, but it can hardly be a matter for surprise that the more obvious evidences of their kingdom have been swept away. Hitherto I have followed Mr. Benett, but must now adventure indepen dently in order to make clearer the succession and distribution of property among the sons of Tilok Chand. The first remarkable thing is that nei ther of the legitimate sons assumed the title of raja, which therefore it is not likely that Tilok Chand himself had claimed. Pirthi Chand, the eldest, took the southern province, ruling from Daundia Khera or Sangrampur ; his heritage was worth 14 lakhs ; he was called rao ; the second, Harhardeo without any title ; his- grandson afterwards became rana, took the northern Khiron and Pd,tan, ruling from Sathanpur ; his estate was worth seven lakhs, and the illegitimate son, the Rawat of Harha, got one of five lakhs in that pargana. Now what were the dominions of which this division was made ? The following list is given by Mr. Elliot. I have corrected it freely : District Rae Bareli,.." Daundia Khera. ljnchgaon. Kumhi. " Harha. Bachhrawan. Purwa. Kahanjar. Mauranwan Ghatampur. Unao ... ... • Sarwan. Saieni. Asoha. Magrayar. Gorinda. Dalmau. L Parsandan. Bareli. Bihar. District Lucknow ... Bijnaur, Patan. Panhan. Sathanpur. 230 RAE Why the owner of extensive property like this should not have taken the title of raja is not quite clear. But then it is not in the least certain that all these parganas ever did belong to Tilok Chand. Rae Bareli, for instance, is mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari as the property of the Kanh purias, Dalmau of Musalmans ; if further, the southern parganas belonged to the Sangrampur or Murarmau houses — how did Harhardeo's son come down from Sathanpur in Khiron and take possession of an estate at Khajfirgaon in Daundia Khera ?. It is also alleged (see Rae Bareli article) that the Bais did not obtain possession of that pargana till about the reign of Jahangir. It is not impossible that Tilok Chand, who joined the army of Bahlol Lodi in its last invasion of the Jaunpur kingdom* and rendered material services, may have been appointed Governor under the new dynasty of all the parganas which are recited as his property. His connexion with the Delhi monarch would account for his eldest son and probably himself only boasting the title of rao, the supreme monarch would not have allowed him to use the prouder title, the symbol of an equal sovereignty. Mr. Elliot's account of the successors of Tilok Chand is as follows :— " Pirthie Chund's son was Deorai, in whose time, according to the Bais tradition, the worst disgrace which they had yet known befel the Rajpoots of Oudh. The head of the Buchgotie tribe, who till Tilok Chund's time had been premier Raja in Oudh, and in whom had been vested the right of confirming the title of each new raja affixing the Tilok to his brow, left the faith of his ancestors and became a Mahomedan. Deorai swore that on no descendant of his should the Tilok be placed by the tainted hands of the pervert, and, with the consent of the brotherhood, his second son assumed the title of Raja, that he might in future place the Tilok on the head of his elder brother's family. From the eldest son, Bhyrudas, descend the Raos of Doondeea Khera ; from the second son, the Rajas of Morar Mow ; and the descendants of the third, Kulian Mul, are known as chhotbhyas or cadets. " Hurhiurdeo, the brother of Pirthie Chund, in the meanwhile went to Behar, and his two sons settled in the villages of Symbussie and Nyhesta in that pargana. "These two inconsiderable villages gave their names to the branches of the house which sprang from these two brothers, and hence it is popularly said that the Tilokchundi Bais is divided into four branches, Rao, Raja, Symbussi, Nyhesta; the two former being from Tilok Chund's eldest, the two latter from his younger son." Now then we have a distinct and remarkable contradiction between the Unao and the Rae Bareli traditions. The Unao tale contains internal evidence of its truth ; it admits that after Tilok Chand's death none of the heads of the family assumed the title of raja. It admits that the family * Ferishta. RAE 231 was still in the position of feoffer to the Diwan of Hasanpur. And here again we come upon a puzzling feudal custom of eastern Oudh. A very clear and widespread tradition represents all rajas in those early days as taking investiture from the Raja of Hasanpur also called diwan. It is my own impression that he was the Hindu diwan or ndib of the Jaunpur kingdom, and that this investiture by him was just the act of homage to the delegate of the Jaunpur suzerain. At any rate, after the Jaunpur kingdom passed away, this exclusive right or rather hegemony passed away also from Hasanpur; the Bais had a raja of their own, so also had the Kanhpurias and the Sombansis, and the latter chiefln. the 18th century was called to Benares to place the sacred oil or rather clay"uj7oii-4hejore- head of the great Bhuinhar* raja. The difference between the two tradlT'" tions is not serious. The Rae Bareli bards declare that the eldest son of Tilok Chand's grandson became Raja of Murarmau, the Cawnpore bards relate that he was a younger son; that the Daundia Khera raos, who after wards divided their property into the Purwa and Daundia Khera estates, were the elder as they were the more powerful branch. The following is the Rae Bareli tale as related by Mr. Benett. For some time nothing of note occurred except a division in the Bais raja's house. Either Deo Rae 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 subsequently 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 described. The end of Akbar's reign was a season of great vitality among the Raj put families, which showed itself after the usual fashion by the prosecution 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 ruins became relaxed, the whole district was thrown into confusion. In Bais wara itself the most remarkable event was the spread of the Simbasi family. Shakt Singh, the fourth in descent from Harhardeo, invaded the Dalmau pargana, which, though nominally in Baiswara, contained too many power ful Muhammadan families to yield a ready obedience to Bais rule. The expedition was successful, and his sons, Domandeo and Rudr Sah, succeeded him in the government. Of these the first was celebrated for the large ness of his family, the second for the number of his conquests. Domandeo, in his fort at Chiloli, added eight sons to the strength of his race, and Rudr Sah founded Sahpur and dispossessed his first cousins, the sons of the brothers of Shakt Singh, of the villages which had been assigned for their support. It appears that the achievements of the two brothers were regarded as equally brilliant, and they divided the estate they had * Oldham's Ghazipur. 232 RAE acquired in equal shares, giving rise to the title Adhian, which, whilst it has been discarded by the proud house of Khajurgaon, is retained with complacency by the less fortunate Thakurs of Samarpha, the descendants of Rudr Sah. Of Domandeo's eight sons, three deserve especial notice. The eldest, Ajit Singh, succeeded to the Khajurgaon chieftainship, and his brothers, Pahar Singh and Mitarjit, attended the brilliant court of Shah Jahan, where their yeoman manners seem to have excited some amusement. The sarcasms of the courtiers were repelled by retorts which are fondly preserved by the family, but whose effect must have depended rather on their rudeness than on their wit. They accompanied Prince Aurangzeb on his ill-starred expe dition to Candahar, and in the retreat in 1647 A.D., were overwhelmed by an avalanche.* Their present representatives are the Taluqdars of Pahu and Kurihir Satawan. Shortly after the time of Shakt Singh's invasion of Dalmau, his first cousins, Har Singh Rae and Bir Singh Rae, founded the present house of Naistha by establishing themselves in the Bihar pargana. The Raja of Murarmau appears to have regarded their emigration as an invasion of his own dominions, and Bir Singh Rae was killed by his hand or his forces. The Rao of Daundia Khera took the part of the Naihestas against the head of his family, and their combined efforts resulted in the death of Bhupat Singh, and the flight of his widow and son to Rudr Sah, the warlike chief of the Simbasis. He readily embraced the opportunity, and succeeded at least in re-establishing the youthful Chhatarpat Singh in Murarmau, though it does not appear that the rajas ever regained their old position. The Naisthas at any rate retained their new conquests. Bir Singh's sons remained in Patan Bihar, while Ram Singh, the son of Harsingh Rae, removed into the Bachhrawan pargana, and founded the house of Kurihar Sidhauli. It must be remembered, therefore, that there was first the elder branch with its Rdja of Murarmau, its Rao or Babu of Daundia Khera, and its Raja of Purwa; this by the way was a man of personal distinction, for Raja Achal Singh's descendants were simple babus. Then there was the younger branch divided into Simbasi with its two Ranas of Khajurgaon and Shan karpur and' the Naistha, with numerous small taluqdars. This rapid summary brings our history down to the end of the reign of Shah Jahan. The first years of his successor saw the continued depres sion of the house of Murarmau. Amar Singh was engaged in an incessant petty warfare with Rao Purandar Singh of Daundia Khera, in which he was invariably the loser, and his death was followed by the ruin of his family. The infant, Raja Debi Singh, was left in the charge of his uncle, Gopal Singh, who betrayed his trust, and assuming in his own name the property of his orphan nephew and ward gave rise to the Rajkumari branch • Their date is further proved by a tradition whieh describes a duel between Mitarjit and the famous Rustam Khan. RAE 233 which retained almost all the raja's villages till it was reduced by Raja Digbijai Singh in the present century. Debi Singh, when he came of age, sought and obtained the sympathy of the Delhi emperor, but the farmans by which Muhammad Shah reinstated him in his ancestral dignity were mere waste paper to the practically independent chieftains of Baiswdra. In the^two long reigns of Purandar Singh and Mardan Singh, the babus reached the zenith of their fortunes, and acquired the supremacy of the whole of Baiswara, with the exception of the territories of the powerful Simbasis of Dalmau and the Naisthas of Sidhauli. The reaction against the encroachments of the rdos in Bihar was headed by the young Chet Rae, an illegitimate son of Ban Singh of Sidhauli. He collected the forces of his house and effectually deterred the aggressor from making any attempt in that direction. His services do not appear to have commanded the gratitude of the reigning chief, who was only compelled by force to recognize his independent position in the pargana of Mau- ranwan. Alone among the Bais he ventured to offer any serious opposition to Nawab Saadat Khan. The story of his siege in his fort at Pachhimgaon is mentioned further on, but some doubt is thrown on the accounts which represent it as merely a sham fight, by the fact that he remained for some time an exile at the court of Panna, and did not return till after the death of the great Nawab. The Simbasis in the meanwhile continued to increase and spread in peace, only perhaps occasionally interrupted by boundary disputes with their Kanhpuria neighbours. Rana Ajit Mai's younger son, Gulab Sah, separated, and was the founder of the Gaura house, second in importance to that of Khajurgaon. Rana Kharag Singh, who succeeded Ajit Mai, had two sons, the younger of which built a fort at Shankarpur, since famous as the home of Shiu Parshad Singh and his still greater son, Rana Beni Madho Bakhsh. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Chhabile Rdm, an official in the Allahabad district, was one of the numerous leaders, who, throwing off the semblance of subordination, endeavoured to erect an independent kingdom on the ruins of the Mughal empire. Having occupied the fort at Allahabad, and collected for his own use the revenues of the surro unding country, he crossed the Ganges at Dalmau, and was met by the Simbasi clans under the chieftains of Gaura and Khajurgaon. After an obstinate resistance the Rajputs were defeated ; Chhabile Ram possessed himself of the western parganas of the district. On the accession of Muhammad Shah, he was recalled to Allahabad, and after successfully repulsing two imperial armies, was converted, not conquered, by being re cognized as Subahdar of Allahabad. Amar Singh never recovered his ppsition, and it was not till some twenty years later that his grandson, Pahar Sah, was admitted to engage for the four villages of Khajurgaon, Sareli, Bajpaipur, and Hajipur, and resumed the lead of his clan levies. It is possible that if their rana had been present, Saadat Khan's assessment of the Dalmau parganas would not have been without its romance. 30 234 RAE Pahar Singh, the rana, emerged from the cloud which had concealed his family since the defeat of his grandfather by Chhabile Rdm at about the same time as Chet Rde returned from his exile at Panna. With the exception of the name, Mr. Elliot has given a correct account of his disputes with the Raos of Daundia Khera. After his defeat there he was besieged in his fort at Khajurgaon by Chet Rde, who drove him out, and symbol ized the destruction of the place by throwing five of its bricks into the Ganges. His descendants were generally in arms either against Govern ment or their own relations, and their old prestige rendered the acquisition of a taluqa in their case exceptionally rapid. Rana Raghundth Singh was engaged in continual wars with his cousin, Beni Mddho Bakhsh, whose genius threatened to eclipse the leading house and transfer the. title of Rana to Shankarpur. A ten years' war was ended by the usual compro mise by which both competitors were awarded the title. In 1843 A.D., Haidar Hearsey on his way to Partabgarh had left a small detachment at Bhitargaon. The rana considered this an unwarrantable interference and burnt the station down. Haidar Hearsey was furiously angry at hearing of this act of impertinence, and was not appeased by the ill-success of the artillery he sent to chastise the aggressor. He soon arrived in person, and defeating the rana before his new fort at Hajipur, drove him into the old stronghold of Khajurgaon. Here the besiegers were worthily resisted, and their commander himself pointed the gun which he had slung in the branch of a tree overlooking the fortress. Eventually Raghundth Singh escaped to the dense jungles of Nain, and returned to the enjoyment of his estates when the danger had passed. He lived to engage under the English for the largest estates in Baiswara, and was succeeded by his grandson, Rana Shankar Bakhsh. Gaura presents the same picture of continual opposition to the Lucknow Government, of which some details will be given further on. Din Sah, on one of the rare occasions when he condescended to appear in the Dal mau kachahri, drew his sword on the tahsildar and was himself promptly cut down. On the death of his brother, Lai Sah possessed himself of his villages and rapidly acquired an estate. His usurpation of course led to a continual dispute between his descendants and those of his brother, and in 1830 A.D., Inchha Singh, the nazim, divided the estate.giving three-fifths to Lai Sah's representative, and the remainder to Bajrangbali with the name of Narindpur Charhar. From this division it is possible that Lai Sdh was really the elder brother, but Din Sah was up to the time of his death cer tainly the most prominent of the two. Bikramajit, a younger son of Ldl Sah, got the small estate of Kbajuri. The character of his clan is illustrated by a story told of him in which he rivals Mucius Scaevola. Being informed by the nazim in kachahri that his assessment was to be raised, he replied by holding up his thumb — a coarse gesture with the same meaning as is expressed in English by extending the fingers from the nose. The incensed official directed that the thumb should be cut off, on which Bikramajit turned to his servant, and taking his betel scissors himself cut off the last joint, threw it in the nazim's face, and walked out of the tent, RATs 235 Another story is told of a Bais zamindar who, when he was brought from prison to kachahri, made a dart at the sword which was lying before the ndzim's masnad and struck at his tyrant's head. The discomposed official rolled backward off his pile of cushions, the sword passed through his clothes, and the Bais immediately plunged it into his own body and fell down dead. We may perhaps congratulate ourselves that such scenes do not occur in our own kachahris. The taluqa of Girdhapur was got together by mortgage by a younger branch of the rana's house, who were originally zamindars of Kiratpur Charhdr. Of Kurihar Satdwan little remains to be said. When Gur Bakhsh Singh died childless, Rdna Raghunath Singh managed to get his ilaqa, and kept it till 1832 A.D. Fateh Bahadur, the adopted son, recovered. it in the succeeding year with the help of Rana Beni Mddho, who stood his security, and in his turn possessed himself of the estate. General Sleeman interfered, and Fateh Bahadur recovered it on the payment of Rs. 40,000 arrears. His son, Chandrapal Singh, him, succeeded and died immediately on emerging from the tutelage of the Court of Wards. Of Domandeo's descendants, Pilkha and Pahu remain. The original village of the first family was Jagatpur Kota, and their attempts to form a taluqa were not successful. Two small collections of villages were made, but both were almost immediately absorbed by the ranas, and they now possess little more than their zamindari inheritance. The latter house does not fall within this district, and when I was transferred to another, I had as yet made no enquiries into their history. Of Rudr Sdh's descendants, Daulat Singh of Samarpha engaged for only one village. His son, Lalji, began the foundation of a taluqa, and maintained it in two fights with the Nazims, Jai Ram Pd,nde in 1820, and Qutb-ud-din Hasan Khan in 1827 A.D. His wealth is proved by the fact that he built the great bazar of Lalganj, the central mart of Baiswara. The widow of his son adopted Basant Singh who himself died childless during the mutiny, and was succeeded by his widow Darido Kunwar. Almost the same story might be told with altered names for Chandania. Dalpat Singh, the ally of Din Sdh of Gaura, was temporarily driven out, and separate engagements taken for all the neighbouring villages. On the return of Lai Sah, he too returned, and he and his son put together the estate now held by Sardar Singh. At the time of Saadat Khan's invasion, Sadak Singh, the half brother of Chet Rae, held the gaddi of Kurihar Sidhauli. His importance may be conjectured from his marriage with a sister of the celebrated rebel Bhag want Rde Khichar, and both he and his father ruled an extensive tract stretching from Bachhrawan into the heart of the Lucknow district, - embracing, at any rate nominally, nine parganas. The direct line became extinct on the death of the brothers Bikramajit and Sikandar Singh, and a cousin who had been converted to Muham- 236 RAE madanism was adopted as successor. His son found no difficulty in return ing to the religion of his forefathers, but the family still fasten their clothes in the Muhammadan fashion. A son of Rahmat Ali Singh acquired the small estate of Udhrera, a great portion of which was almost immediately lost to the Banians of Mauranwdn. The raja's house remained in the obscurity into which it had fallen on the death of Amar Singh. Digbijai Singh was, like Tilok Chand, brought up in his mother's house at Patti Saifabad, and on reaching manhood suc ceeded in regaining some of the villages which had been usurped by his cousins of the Rdjkumdri branch. Up till annexation he never engaged for more than Rs. 5,000 or 6,000, and the present estates of his son, Raja Shiupal Singh, were mostly confiscated from Babu Ram Bakhsh and Rana Beni Madho, and granted to the raja in reward for his saving European lives during the mutiny. A careful look at the genealogical tree of the Bais will show, more clearly than any description could, the ramification of their different fami lies. Of these only three besides the Rao of Daundia Khera possess estates in the Unao district. They are the Simbasi family of Pahu, the Naihesta house of Pachhimgaon, and the Chhotbhaiya of Sandana. Of two of these very little mention need be made. The Sandana family are much im poverished, and now possess only two villages where they once had sixty. The Pdhu taluqa is also much fallen away from what it was when Mitarjit first founded it, but Bhfip Singh has still some 20 villages in his estate. Mitarjit is a favourite hero with the bards, who tell many stories of his prowess and of the amusement which his rustic plainness occasioned at the Delhi court. When he first went to Delhi he attended the darbar, but stood outside the entrance, expecting some one to invite him in. He waited till it was all over, and when the Rajas of Jaipur and Marwar were passing out they noticed his country manner, and thinking to make fun of him asked who he was ? They were told " a Raja of Baiswara." One asked " what he wore two swords for 1" " To fight any two men who dare to meet me" said. he. The other asked " why did he not enter the darbdr, but stood without at the door ?." He replied " that in his conntry it was customary to invite the stranger, not to leave him to push his way in unin vited, but that as they had given their daughters and sisters to the king, of course they could not be looked on as strangers ; so they were quite right to go in." Incensed at this insult, they challenged him to single combat. Mitarjit came to the field mounted on a mare, who on the first onset became uncontrollable and ran away with him ; with great trouble he stopped her and dismounted, pronouncing a curse on any member of his race who should ever cross a mare's back ; and to this day no Bais of the house of Pahu can be induced to mount a mare. Mitarjit returned to the field on foot, and wounded both his antagonists. A more corrected account may now be given of the rdo, or Daundia Khera branch of the family, which up till the end of the eighteenth century RAE 237 was much the most powerful. These scattered sketches of the scions of this great family will, it is hoped, afford an idea of the utter historical con fusion and actual anarchy which the rule of a Hindu clan exemplifies. Although so nearly connected, the rdo and raja were soon at deadly feud with one another. Rao Kanak Singh killed the raja of the time being, who had previously killed his brother Barsinghdeo. The blood feud was never stanched, and the raja was the chief sufferer, for though the rao in later days was highly unpopular, and the sympathies of every Bais except his own branch of the family were against him, he kept up a constant pres sure on the raja, till he reduced him almost to a nonentity, his estate having fallen away to Rs. 6,000 in 1856. In the ninth generation from Tilok Chand, about 1,700 A.D., Rdo Mar- dan Singh was beginning to be famous. Hitherto the rdos had been content with the seven and a half parganas which form the Daundia Khera estate, but Mardan Singh recovered the seven parganas in the Unao district, which had been lost to Baiswdra since Tilok Chand's time, and he also took from the Simbasis by force of arms, the greater part of Patan and Bihar. About the same time, Chaitraj, an illegitimate son of Sidhauli, separated from his father's house, and built a fort at Pachhimgaon (pargana Mauranwdn), where he acquired a considerable estate. He was a skilful and daring warrior, and though none of them would have admitted him to sit or eat on equal terms with them, the whole Naihesta branch recognised his superiority in warlike matters ; so that he was looked on as the military leader of that portion of the Bais. Many ballads are extant extolling his gallant deeds, and one of them narrates the following story, which is interesting, not only as an example of Rajput pride, but as illustrating the nature of a revenue settlement in those days. When Saddat Khan was appointed Governor of Oudh, he found that the revenue system of the province had fallen into great dis order under his predecessor, Rdja Girdhar Bahddur, and he resolved to repair this by a personal progress through the country and examination into the state of things. When he reached Mauranwdn he summoned all the qdmingos of Baiswdra, and called on them to produce the " daul" or rent-roll of their respective parganas. They said what daul will you have, and bn being asked the meaning of their answer, they explained that there were two dauls which a qanungo could give in — the " coward's daul " and the " man's daul." In the " coward's daul " against every land owners name Was written only the same sum which had been fixed on him at the last assessment, but in the " man's daul" every one's rent was raised in proportion to the improvement that had taken place in his land, Saadat Khan called for the " man's daul," and the assessment of Baiswara was doubled. Then having summoned the agents of all the rajas and landowners in full darbdr, he placed before him on one side a heap of pan leaves, on the other a heap of bullets, and bade the agents, if their masters accepted the terms offered them, to take up the pd,n, if not, the bullets. One after another they came forward and every one took up a pdn leaf. Saddat Khan turned round to one of his courtiers, and said in a sneering aside — " I had heard 238 EAE great things of the fighting men of Baiswdra, but they seem readier to pay than to fight." By this time the pdn had been accepted by every one except the agent of Chet Rde, who as being illegitimate held the lowest rank, and therefore came last in order. He stepped forward and said— " Nawab, my master was ready to accept your terms, but if you wish to see how a Bais can fight, he will not refuse to gratify you. Give him but a day to prepare himself, and then lead your forces against his fort." Next day Saddat Khan attacked Pachhimgdon, and the battle raged all that day with no success to the besiegers. In the evening the Nawab admir ing the gallant bearing of the man, sent to say he was quite satisfied with that specimen of the bravery of Baiswdra, and if Chet Rae would come in now, he should be assessed at only half the sum that had been fixed on his estate. Chet Rae accepted the terms and was received by the Government with great distinction. From Baiswdra Saddat went on, past Tiloi and Amethi (in both of which places the rajas resisted him and were defeated) to Fatehpur where, after a sanguinary battle, he defeated and killed Bhagwant Singh Khichar, who had rebelled against the Delhi Government, and had already defeated the wazir's forces in a pitched battle. Returning thence to Delhi, the king asked him if he had found the people in those parts as turbulent as he had expected. " No " he said. " No one gave me any serious trouble except the half sword of Chet Rde, and the whole sword of Bhagwant Khfchar." Saddat Khan's assessment was very heavy ( he is said to have raised the revenue of Oudh from seventy lakhs to two crores), and when (in 1740) Mansiir Ali Khan succeeded his uncle, and began a similar progress through the country, a panic seized all Baiswara lest he should demand a similar increase on the former taxation, which was more than the land could afford to pay. Many of the land owners fled across the Ganges in anticipation of his arrival, and there was a general uneasiness. Rao Mardan Singh was now grown old, and desired to end his days in quiet and to divide his estates among his sons ; so he called them to him, and asked their advice in the present emergency. The eldest, Raghundth Singh, advised instant flight to Daundia Khera, from whence if necessary they could cross the Ganges in a moment. The second, Udat Singh, could not see the use of flying ;" the Nawab had not come yet ; perhaps he would not come at all ; perhaps he would not im pose hard terms ; and if he did, they had the fort there in which to fight him ; and if they found themselves getting the worst of it, then as a last resource they could fly." The third son, Achal Singh, said " the Nawab has not yet crossed the Sai. Let me go to him at once, and he will be pleased at our coming in so early to proffer allegiance, and we shall secure good terms." Rdo Mardan then told them that he had spoken to try them, and that he should divide his estate among them according to their answers. To Raghundth Singh he gave Daundia Khera with its seven and a half par ganas, saying that he would now be as far off as possible from the seat of Government, and could always gratify his propensity for running away. To Udat Singh he gave the recently annexed parganas of Patan Bihar, saying that he was brave and daring, and would have plenty to do to maintain himself there against his antagonists. To Achal he gave the RAE 239 six parganas attached to Purwa (i.e., all the Baiswara parganas in Unao except Maurdnwfin), as he would then be nearest the seat of Government, and be best able to keep on good terms with the Governor. Achal Singh was received into high favour by Mansdr Ali Khan, who entrustid to him the collection of revenue throughout all Baiswdra. Udat Singh was less fortunate. The Simbasi and Naihesta branches combined to recover their former possessions in Patan Bihar. Amar Singh (Simbasi), ancestor of the present Rdna Raghundth, and Chet Rae of Pachhimgaon, were their leaders, and defeated the force of Udat and Achal Singh in a battle in which Udat lost his life. Achal Singh retired to his fort at Purwa greatly dispirited, and when his enemies determined to attack him there, it was with great difficulty that he was persuaded to try the chance of a second battle. But in the meantime something had re-opened the old quarrel between the Simbassis and Naihesta, and Chet Rae withdrew his forces in the middle of the fight. Amar Singh in consequence was totally defeated, and lost even those attend ants of victory in which a Rajput's pride is so much wrapped up, his nagaras or kettle-drums. Achal Singh sent them to Daundia Khera to be carefully kept by the head of the house, and they were there till the rebellion broke out, and probably were destroyed when the fort of Daundia Khera was taken by Sir H. Grant in April, 1858. Not long before the annexation Rana Raghundth Singh sent to Rao Ram Bakhsh Singh to negotiate about their restoration, to which the Rdo replied that the only way in which they could be recovered was the same as the way in which they had been lost. . This challenge the rana did not care to take up. In 1655, when Shujd-ud-daula had been defeated by the Company's troops at Buxar, he fled along the banks of the Ganges to Farukhabad. As he passed Daundia Khera, Rao Raghundth Singh shut his gates on him, and refused not only to admit him, but also to assist him with pro visions and men. He then pursued his way till he reached Harha where Achal Singh was at the time, and was received by him with every mark of sympathy and respect. Achal gave him both supplies and men, and as he was travelling too lightly to carry a large treasury with him, sent a quarter's revenue, which was due- from Baiswdra, to him at Farukhabad. The province was so much disturbed that he had to conceal the money in fagots of wood, which he put on men's heads, who thus passed through the country unmolested. When peace was restored, Shujd-ud-daula marked his grati tude by showing him the highest favour and remitting three lakhs from the revenue assessment of Baiswara, and also by conferring the title of raja — an honour which strange to say has been acknowledged and confirmed by the people. This is perhaps the only case in which a title conferred by Government on a Rajput Taluqdar has met with the sanction of the brotherhood, and has taken root in popular parlance, 240 RAE While Shuja-ud-daula lived Achal Singh prospered, but the favourite of the father could hardly be popular with the son, and on Xsif-ud-daula's accession in 1776 A.D., his accounts were examined, he was declared a defaulter, and deposed from his position. A Sarwaria Brahman, Raja Bhawdni Singh, was made nazim in his place. Achal Singh deeply resented this. One day when he was attending the nazim's darbar, he received some slight insult, on which he instantly took poison and died on the spot. The pacific character of Achal Singh descended to his progeny, but did not serve them as well, for the family have been getting poorer in every generation. They had no party in the country to support them ; for, as before remarked, the Bais has not colonised at all in these parga nas, and Rao Mardan conquered them merely by force of arms. Achal's descendants threw away the sword with which the estate had been won, and remained dependent on the complaisance of the nazim, who, if their friend, would sometimes make over to them a large estate, or sometimes refuse them a single village. Thus the present repre sentative of the family, Babu Debi Bakhsh, has had at one time an estate worth Rs. 50,000 given him, but in most years his possessions have been only one or two small rent-free villages. But for the accidental finding of a large treasure in the fort of Purwa, the family could not have kept up their dignity and position so long, and when Debi Bakhsh forfeited everything by his obstinate persistence in passive rebellion, the glory of the house departed. There are many most interesting points connected with the Tilok chandi Bais, if space would permit of dealing with them. The direct des cendants of Tilok Chand in the legitimate line have sixteen taluqas and 779 villages, paying a revenue of Rs. 5,71,143 in the Rae Bareli district alone. Tho extraordinary thing is that, notwithstanding the vicissitudes of families, notwithstanding the internal wars and external pressure of an almost always hostile Government, this family has kept firm hold of such vast property. While the much more numerous Kath Bais, who allege an equally lofty royal lineage, have only as yet been able to acquire one village, the Tilpk- phandi Bais kept 900. Wars and intestine quarrels have weakened the Tilokchandis, around them the other clans have always been hovering, watching for an unguarded moment to break within their fence and appropriate some of the rich lands which are always the first aspiration of a Hindu. Apparently landed property then distributed among a few must have been in a state of unstable equilibrium, yet till the mutiny of 1857 tempted the*lords of Daundia Khera and Shankarpur to measure swords with the British, the power of the Tilokchandi seems to have been almost unbroken. This partly seems due to the liberal way in which the younger branches of the family were always provided for. The eldest son seems generally to have got only a larger portion than the others, innumera ble divisions of the property took place, the head of the family only had property worth six thousand rupees out of the six hundred thousand owned by the clan. The very same thing is to be noted with the Kanhpnrias and Som bansis ; the most powerful and prosperous Hindu clans were those who RAE 241 neglected in practice the principle of primogeniture, and regarded their raja not as the lord of the clan's property but as the ceremonial chief, the social leader, and nothing more ; who were prepared to follow the military guidance of any able scion of the family in despite of, or even in opposi tion to the nominal head to whom their allegiance was due. At the same time tjjere is no doubt that the name of Tilok Chand and the credit of a lofty lineage have had a wonderfully conservative effect upon the minds of the Hindus, constraining naturally dissonent elements into harmony. Tdjeir estates are occupied by more than half a million of inhabitants, whom their internal wars have made miserable for three hundred years, yet, as Mr. Benett points out, not so miserable as they would have been without them. There is no longer now a necessity for them, and there is little doubt that if the fostering hand of Government were withdrawn, the whole Tilokchandi clan in the space of a hundred years would give place to men more in accord with the spirit of the time. That their sub jects are beginning to question that divinity whose potency was rudely assailed in 1857 is evident from the following anecdote related by Colonel Macandrew. : — " These call themselves Tilokchandi Bais to distinguish them from the Kath Bais, who are supposed to be the offspring of the real Bais by women of inferior caste. The Tilokchandi Bais will neither eat nor intermarry with them. An instance of this was exemplified the other day when the proposal was made that the Bais should erect a bridge over the Sai at Rae Bareli. The Tilokchandis proposed that the Kath Bais should sub scribe. The latter at once professed their willingness to do so provided the Tilokchandis would acknowledge them to be Bais by eating with them. Nothing more was heard of the proposal that they should sub scribe. The Kath Bais are scattered over the district, generally in consider able communities, holding their villages both from Government and from the taluqdars ; there are no Kath Bais taluqdars." As a general rule family trees are not given in this work, but an excep tion must be made in honour of this heroic clan, nearly every name in whose roll has a place in the annals of Oudh chivalry. 31 242 RAE BAIS PEDIGREES UP TO TILOK CHAND. Sal Bahan. I Sundar Kirt. I Baddri Kirt. Surat Bhan. I Karan Bhan. I Udai Bhan. I Jagjai Bhan. I Raj Deo. I Shankar Deo. I Asni Kumar. I Ghuk Kumir. I Bhagwant Rae. I Rudra Sah. I Ratan Sah. I Kirpal Sah. I Bikrama]it. I . Santokh Rae. Chhatarpati Rae. I Kans Rae. Bbabhu Chand. Karan Rae, I Jagat Rae. I Siddhu Rae. I GhStam I I | I I ( Deo. | Five others. | Abhai Chand. Jajan Deo. I Gumal Chand. I Ratoli Chand. Tiparara Sah. I Parkhotam Sah. 1 Jagat Singh. Pramal Deo, Mai Deo. Hural Deo. I Jai Sukh Rae. Hindupat Rae. Partap Sah. I Tilok Chand. Bir Bai. Rae Tas. I Raja Satna, I Sal Bahan. I Vajra Kumar. I , Ghuk Kumar. Puran Mai. Jagan Mai. Pramal Deo. Manik Chand. I Bai Deo. I Jasdhar, I Hural Deo. I Kirpal Sah. I Ratan Sah. I Hindupat. I Raj Sah, I Partap Sah. I Rudra Sah. I Bikramajit. I Santokh Rae. I Chhatarpati. I Jagat Rae. I Abhai Chand. Karan Rae. Siddhu Rae. RAJA AND BABU'S HOUSE OF BAIS. I Tilok Chand. I Pibth* Chand. Ajai Chand. I Bhikham Deo. Bhoj Raj. Narsingh Deo. Bhiipat Sah. Chhatar pati, I Deo Rae. I Bhairon Das. Tara Chand. Sangram Singh, I Kanak Singh. Pirthi Singl}. I Purandar. Mardan Singh. I I Raghunath Udat Singh. Singh. Bhopal j I Sah. Bairi Sal. Hindu i | Singh. | Hari Singb. | Chandar- Basant man. Singh. Achal Singb. Ajit Singh. I Amar Singh. Puran Rae. I Ghatam Deo. | Amar Singh. Jajan Deo. [ | Debi Singh Ranbir ( Deo. Ranjit | Singh. Rae Tas. | Harhar Singh. Raja Satna. | IRashan Singh. Tilok Chand. | Zalim Singb. Ram Debi Bakhsh. Bakhsh. I I Daundia Purwa Gopal Singh Khera. Ranbir- | P«r. Ram Singh. Aulad Singh. Khushal Singh. Kalian Singh. 1 Ban Singh. Sobha Singh. Digbijai Singh. Indarjit Singh. | The Rajkumari Shiupal Singh. Branch. Rajas of Murarmau. RAE 243 PEDIGREE OF R^NAS AND OTHER SIMBASI BAIS HOUSES. Tilok Chand. I Raja Pirthi Chand. I Rana Harhardeo. I Ram Chandar. I Khem Karan. I Shakt Singh. I Karan Rae. I Naihestha. Rana Domandeo. i I Ajit Mai. I I Pahar Singh. Mitar Jit Singh. Kharag Singh. I Gulal Chunni Singh. I Hindupat. Kalian Sah. I Rudra Sah. I Makund Rae. I Kuber Singh. I Sah AmarSingh. Sangram Singh. I Pher Pah. Narind Sah. Dula Rae, Nihal Sah. j Pal Singh Bhupat I Singh. Audhut Singh. Chain Singh. I Buddh Singh, I I Amin Singh. Beni Madho. Shankar n Durga Bakhsh. I Shiu Parshad Singh. Raghunath Singh. pur. Jadunath Singh. I Shankar Bakhsh. Ranas of Kha jurgaon Pirthi Singh. Barjor Singh. Indar Jit. Pirthi Raj. Hindupat. I l Maha Achal i Singh. Singh. Jai Singh. ] | I Shiu Singh. Mohan Mardan | Singh. Singh. Daulac Singh. i I I Dalpat Hindupat Lai Ji. Singh. Singh. I | , Fateh Bahadur. Mihrban Achal I Singh. Singh. Basant Singh. I I I Bhup Singh. Widow Fateh Bahadur. | Dariao Kunwar. | Bishnath Samarpha Chandarpal Singh. , Singh. | I Kurihar Sat&- Shankar Ahlad wan. Bakhsh. Singh. Pahu Khas. Risal Singh. Udat Singh. Fateh Singh. I Panwar Singh. I Kirat Singh. I Ban Singh, I Chhatardhari. Duniapat. I Gur Bakhsh. Sardar Singh. Chan- dania. Niwal Singh. I I , * s Mardan Singh. I I I Din Sah. Lai Sah. Jang Bahadur. I I I Sher Bahadur. Ram Bakhsh. Jagmohan Singh | l Girdhapur. Bajrang Bali. Indarjit. I I Ajudhia Bakhsh. Bhopal Singh. Nariudpur Charh- | war. Widow Achal Kunwar, Gaura Kasehti, PEDIGREE OF THE BAIS NAIHESTHA HOUSES. Tiloe Chand. I Haehakdeo. 1 RiM Chandar. Kaban Rae, I Harsingh Rae. I Ram Singh, Sangram Sab. Abhai Raj. Sukh S3,h. Bin Singh. I Sadak Singh Ajab Singh. I I I I I Rahmat Ali. | | InayatAli. | Sikandar Singh. Bikramajit. | Raghunath Singh. I I I I Jawahir Singh. Drigpal Singh. Dalthamman Singh. Bindpal Singh. £algobind Bakhsh. Kurihar Satawan. Succeeded by his widow, Guldb Kun war, who left the es tate by will to her Agent and distant cousin Bhagwan Bakhsb, the present Taluqdar. Udhrera. Rustam Ali. I Fateh Singh. I Raipal Singh. Tej Singh. 'Ihakur Bakhsb. I Bish nath Bakhsh, Hasnapur. Bai Singh. Domandeo. I Debi Singh. Bhikam Singh. I Duniapat. I Ramdin. I Bhagwan Bakhsh, I Jagann&th Bakhsh. Simri. Succeeded prema turely by his widow, Shiupal Kunwar. Bar Singh Rae. Bbairon Das. I Chhatar Pati. I Hindu Singh. I Partab Sah. I id Bakhtawar Singh, I Takht Singh. I Khushal Singh. I Mahesh Bakhsh. Arjun Singh. I Shamsher Singh. I Zalim Singh. I Durga Singh. Jagmohan Singh. I Pirthipal Singh. In this pedigree Bir Singh Rae was cotempo- rary with Jahangir, and Hindu Singh with. Saadat Khan. So the two intermediate generations cover nearly a century. Patan Bihar. RAE 245 Mr. Benett's account of the district generally may now be reverted to. The qantingos and qazis of Rae Bareli were naturally anxious to take a place in the taluqdari system, but their attempts were always foiled by their too powerful neighbours, and they were only able to acquire the small estate^ of Hardaspur and Binohra. •> Each family of Musalmans was vexed by its special enemy among the Hindus. Those of Bareli by the Kayaths, of Bhilwal by the Amethias, and of Pahremau by the Kanhpurias; Up to annexation the first two were tolerably evenly matched, but the Pathans of Pahremau had long been overpowered. Subdued by Mohan Singh of Tiloi, they afterwards enjoyed a brief respite during the vigourous period of Mughal ascendancy, and were again utterly ruined by Tiloi and Simrauta on the revival of Hindu power. For thirty years they supplicated the courts for their ancestral villages, and were reinstated at the fortunate moment when the wicked ceased to have the power of troubling. During the mutiny they were again burnt out, and that they now hold a small estate is to be ascribed only to the restoration of English Government. The Chaudhris of Khiron were more successful, and Raghunath Singh, the descendant of a Janwar soldier, who had settled there in Aurangzeb's reign, supplied by his money his want, of family interest. He held his villages however on a very precarious tenure, and was constantly being ousted by one or another of the Bais competitors, nor is it likely that his possession would have been long maintained if annexation had not frozen the waves. Though not falling directly within the scope of this report, it may not be out of place to mention that the once illustrious rajas never succeeded in acquiring any large estates. In about 1750 A.D., a Mahratta force under a leader known on the spot as Bargi Rao occupied Manikpur, and found ten months amply long enough to ruin the local chieftains, and impress a lasting memory of their sojourn. "A Muhammadan family is not supported by that living organization which preserves the Hindu clan and its raja, and when it falls it rarely recovers itself. Thus the Gardezis retained little but their title and the ruins of their palaces, and when the game of taluqa-making commenced were unable to take a hand. The Bisens and the Kanhpurias filled the void they had left, and absorbed into their estates the villages of their old parganas. The three prominent cha racters just before annexation were Babu Ram Bakhsh, Rana Raghunath Singh, and Rana Beni Madho Bakhsh, the two former supported by great wealth and the prestige of an illustrious pedigree ; the latter celebrated for his undaunted bravery and extraordinary bodily vigour. Hitherto it has been my endeavour to state clearly the bare facts through which the present social order has been developed, but my report would be incomplete, if not unintelligible, without a short commentary describing the stages and manner of the development. This divides itself naturally into three periods, the first extending from the invasion of Shahab-ud-din Ghori to the downfall of Jaunpur, the second beginning with the kingdom 246 RAE of Tilok Chand and ending with the reconquest by Saadat Khan, and the last reaching down to annexation, during which the whole social fabric was changed by the Lucknow Government. Throughout, the main fact has been the living growth of Hinduism, beside which the Muhammadan empires, with their elaborate revenue systems and network of officials, have been merely secondary causes, like artificial dams, temporarily impeding and distorting the course of a strong river. Of the first period little remains to be said. The Hindu clans were slowly and painfully acquiring their hold on the soil which was never to be permanently loosened. Their opponents were the Muhammadans, who like them were invaders, and a Government already established in the country. There are good grounds for believing that they found congenial elements on the spot in the remains of older Hindu clans, who were living in a state of subjection to the Bhars, but this subject is enveloped in much obscurity, and I have not the information which would enable me to speak with clearness and certainty. All account of Ala-ud-din's connection with Oudh has been omitted. There can be no doubt that he sent frequent expeditions into the country, and his name is still dimly remembered ; but the fact that Chhattri pedi grees are silent on the point, proves that at that time the great clans of the present day were not in the position of rulers; and the not unfrequent dis covery of old Muhammadan coins in Bhar remains countenances the con jecture that the kingdom of that people was still flourishing. He yet lives vividly in Manikpur tradition, which represents that Jalal-ud-din's head was cut off as he was crossing the river from Karra, and carried by the waves of the Ganges to the opposite shore, confusing with the more famous story some circumstances of a Jaunpur sedition more than a hundred and fifty years later. A bluff promontory overlooking Karra may have been the site of the fatal pavilion, and three small tombs are pointed out as covering the bodies of the old emperor and two of his relations. Amidst a tangled underwood of briers, the remains of an ancient mosque and a small stone slab before which villagers worship the impress of the feet of Buddha, under the name of the Bhumia Rani (earth queen) carry the imagination past a series of fallen empires. Everything leads me to believe that up to the end of the first chapter the invading Hindus had acquired no prominent position. Their most powerful clan do not pretend to have spread beyond the very limited tract now known as the seven and a half parganas, and the names Siddhiipur and Ghatampur, with their separate families of Siddhiipuri and Ghfttampuri Bais, probably mark the encroachments of successive rajas. After having been driven back by the Jaunpur empire the returning wave found no thing to oppose it, and spread far and wide over the whole of the country. The kingdom of Tilok Chand probably resembled in every way that of the great Hindu rajas of the west, and it is not likely that he was more than nominally dependent on the distant and distracted empire of Delhi. It has been seen the kingdom broke up immediately on the death of its founder ; but it was unquestionably at this time that the country was first. .IV RAE 247 roughly distributed among the clans according to their position on the map of the present day. The accounts of the half century which elapsed between the death of Tilokchand and the accession of Akbar are very meagre, but no important new houses were thrown off, and it may be surmised that the Raja of Murarmau, and the Rana of Khiron, and the Kanhpuria, chieftains of Tiloi, Ateha and Simrauta, each exercised on a smaller scale the sovereign powers of the first great raja. Some light is thrown on the influence of Tilok Chand by the thorough insignificance of the older Kaithola raja, when compared with the descendants of Parshad Singh, a cadet of the same house, whose greatness dates from this period. Under the vigourous administration of Akbar and his successors, the Hindu clans were naturally much depressed, and driven, so to speak, nearer to the soil, Their connection with the villages in their domain became much closer, new villages were founded, and the increasing numbers of each family led to the establishment of the non-cultivating village proprie tors who are now known in our courts as old zamindars. The intervention of a foreign rule, and the diminished danger of invasion from without, deprived the rajas of half their attributes; the principle of unity was lost sight of, and each member of a leading house was able when he separated to assume in his new home almost all the privileges retained by the head of his family. The ties of kinsmanship were however still vividly recog nized, and at the end of this period instead of a few unconnected rajas, we find hierarchies of powerful zamindars, each immediate proprietor and landlord of a few villages from which he drew his subsistence, and acknow ledged head of a larger circle from which he collected the militia levies of his clansmen and their dependents for the prosecution of his private disputes, or at the summons of the chieftain of his tribe. When the Mahratta wars distracted the forces of the empire, and the province of Oudh was no longer regarded at the Mughal court, the clan system at once reassumed its old form as far as it was compatible with the modifications which had been introduced during the preceding cen tury. The flames of war broke out over the whole district, and the sub ordinate centres of power united themselves for conquest or defence under the banners of a leading raja, who again exercised the royal authority which had fallen into abeyance. In his mud fort surrounded by the mud hovels of his servants and the few handi craftsmen needful for the ordinary wants of himself and his household, he received in council the heads of the infeudated families, or held a court of justice to dispose of the prin cipal disputes of his subjects ; and when he went to war he was followed by an enthusiastic army attached to himself and to each other by the closest ties of common origin and common interests. Within his raj he exercised every degree of authority from the absolute pro prietorship of his private villages to the receipt of a feudal allegiance from the great zamindars; and isolated in the midst stood the large Muhammadan towns where the qazi still dispensed the Koran, and the kotwal preserved order and collected a few unimportant transit dues. Two direct acts of ownership were exercised by the raja over the soil. The first was the appropriation of villages for the support of the younger 248 RAE branches of his family and his principal retainers. When the head fort became over-crowded, one or more communities of cultivators were assigned to each of the offshoots which could not be accommodated at home, the assignees went to reside in the villages granted to them, and instead of being an inconvenience and possible source of danger, contributed to the power of their chieftain. These idle and warlike bodies of zamindars were found so useful in times of disturbance that their number was con tinually being increased by Rajputs from the Duab, who came to reside at the direct invitation of the lord paramount, or by members of wedding processions who were induced to make their visit permanent. The second direct proprietary act was the allotment of small patches of uncultivated land chiefly to Brahmans. Such grants were sanctioned by all the solemnity of religious formalities, and the grantor had the satisfaction of knowing that he secured the peace of his soul in the next world, while the presentation of a handsome tribute or the remission of a troublesome debt facilitated the conduct of the wars of this, and relieved him of the necessity, always so hateful to a Chhattri, of making a regular sale of his land. Similar grants were often made from purely supersti tious motives, to reward a successful astrologer, pension the family priest, or secure the services of a celebrated pandit. Generally it may be said that while the right to pay, as well as exemption from, the revenue was conferred by the Delhi government, the proprietary right in the soil was derived from the Hindu raja. Imperial grants though occasionally fre quent in the neighbourhood of Muhammadan colonies, bear a very small proportion, indeed, to the mass of proprietary rights derived from the latter source. Two other rights may be enumerated as invariable attributes of Hindu chieftainship. The first was the calling out of the clan levies. The prin cipal subordinates held their lands on the condition of military service ; and the regular enforcement of this condition by the raja against the larger zamindars, and by them over the villages within the circle of their influence, is one of the most striking points of resemblance between the social system of India, and the feudalism of Europe. The exercise of this right was strongly approved of by public opinion, and the man who refused to attend when the "gohar" was sent round, was sure at least of having his house burnt about his head. The second was the receipt of tribute which his subjects never withheld even in the worst days of his struggle with the central authority, and sent to him with almost equal regularity when he was ruling with despotic power from his fort, and when he was a proscribed rebel hiding for his life in the jungles. Twice at least in every year — at the Holi in spring, and at the festival which commemorates Ram's victory over Rawan in the autumn, the villagers flocked to offer their tribute to their hereditary ruler ; and it is probably from this source that his never overfull treasury received its principal supplies. In this way the Kanhpuria had carried his conquests from Rae Bareli and Manikpur far into the Fyzabad and Bara Banki districts ; the Sombansi RAE 249 was the head of another considerable principality containing the present seat of his clan, and stretching across the Ganges to the east of Allahabad; the rana led a number of almost equal chieftains in Rae Bareli, Dalmau, Khiron, and Sareni. The Rio of Daundia Khera ruled from Bihar to the centre of Unao; and the Naihesta at Sidhauli held Bachhrawan and several parganas in the present district of Lucknow. No very clear record is preserved of the relations which existed between the Hindu and Mughal governments ; generally the chiefs seem to have held aloof, and looked on at a system of officials they were not strong- enough to interfere with. Occasionally they contributed a quota of men to the imperial forces, and every now and then a troublesome chief was conciliated by jagir of territories already practically his own. The grants of mansabs became especially common in the period of weakness which succeeded the outbreak of the Mahratta wars, when the emperors were glad to attach to themselves powerful elements which they could not sub due. But we never find any great house taking a place in the regular ranks of local officials, and the fact that the office of chaudhri was never held by one of the leading clans of the district, throws some light on their position. The nature of this office is accurately described by Mr. Elliot in his chronicles of Oonao. It was generally held by respectable but thoroughly second rate families, such as the Janwars of Khiron, Kath Bais of Jagdispur, the Shekhs of Bhilwal, and the Kayaths of Rae Bareli. The Bais, the Kanhpurias, Sombansis, and even the Amethias never contributed a single member to this order. The Bisens of Rampur might be quoted as an exception, but the universal tradition of the neighbourhood asserts that they rose on the ruins of the raje family of Manikpur after its destruc tion by the Mahratta ; and its truth is, in my opinion, strongly confirmed by the fact that they and not the rajes were the pargana chaudhris. Saadat Khan's invasion of this district was particularly well timed, Mardan Singh was past the prime of life, and the expiring embers of the opposition to the aggressive policy of Daundia Khera had been resuscitated by Chet Rae : where one chieftain might have been successful two were certain to fail. The Ranas of Khajurgaon had shortly before been hum bled by Chhabile Ram of Allahabad; and the Rnja of Tiloi, after having reduced all other elements of resistance, was too old and feeble to assert his independence, as he certainly would have ten years earlier. The first problem which presented itself to the conqueror was the union of the elements he found existing in Oudh, under his own central authority; and a promising solution was arrived at when he acknowledged the chiefs in their respective parganas, and entrusted to them the collection of the Government revenue. The arrangement was in every way a good one, as the pargana boundaries very generally corresponded with the limits of the 'chieftain's authority and the distribution of his clan, and each was already' furnished with a body of hereditary revenue officials. The chieftain was allowed to retain rent-free the villages which he had previously kept for his own maintenance, and as neither he nor Delhi had probably drawn much revenue for many years from the remainder, it was not to be anticipated that he would feel much repugnance to the collection 32 250 RAE of an impost which did not affect himself. His old tribute was sanctioned and defined by the permission to levy for his own use two rupees per annum from each village in his pargana, and he could hardly have incurred much danger by exceeding this moderate limit. In one case I noticed a curious order providing for the senior but less important Kumhrawan house by the grant of one anna on the cultivated bigha throughout the four par ganas which had been assigned in the usual form to the Pukhra Ansari Amethia. The power of disposing of the waste lands was never interfered with, and in many cases* the deed of the local chieftain was sanctioned by a sanad from Lucknow. He was not however permitted to assign whole villages as before, and his position is forcibly illustrated by the permission occasionally given him to purchase the right of engaging for the Govern ment demand as proprietor in particular villages in which he already col lected the revenue as head of the pargana. In these pargana grants he is usually described as the zamindar, but I have seen the word taluqdar applied as early as 1760 A.D. to Diwan Bakhsh, who collected the revenue of the Mauranwan pargana, holding three villages as his private property, and receiving one rupee at each harvest from each of the rest. This compromise seems to have been very usual, and except in the case of an obstinate rebel like Balbhaddar Singh, to have been attended by toler able success down to near the end of the eighteenth century. At that time the heavy demands of the English and the extravagance of the Nawabs had brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy, and every nerve was stretched to realize as much revenue as could possibly be extorted from the people. The pargana tenure was found clumsy and un profitable, and separate engagements were taken from the village pro prietors. This proceeding, which reduced the chieftain to the level of one of his own subordinate zamindars, met with the most strenuous opposition, and it was found impossible to continue governing on this principle. Sometimes by favour, but more often by force, the chieftains' repossessed themselves of single villages, and adding one or two each year to their engagements, for the first time began to hold small estates exactly corres ponding to the taluqas of to-day. A report from the tahsildar of Dalmau, dated 1809 A.D., gives a lively picture of the difficulties under which the revenue was collected. Din Sah, the zamindar of Gaura, had covered fifteen acres with a fort which he defended with two guns and a hundred matchlockmen. At his call Shiu Parshad Singh brought three hundred stout villagers from Shankar pur. Dalpat Sah of Chandania, and Fateh SiDgh of Samarpha, could between them raise a thousand men, and at the prospect of a fight the Kanhpuria zamindars trooped in from the Nain jungles ; so that a levy ol two thousand men could be raised at a moment's notice. By royal command the fort at Gaura was burnt, but the army had hardly turned ts back when another rose from the smoking ruins, and the baffled official represents that the diabolical ingenuity of a wandering Englishman sug- haTe sun nstances in Golds where the Lucknow sanad has been confirmed in royal style by the Bisen raj. RAE 251 gested the plan of the new gateway. Not only did this chief generally refuse to pay any revenue himself, but he rendered it impossible to collect in the neighbouring villages, by destroying the crops of zamindars who were more inclined to acquiesce. At one time he was caught and shut up in the Dalmau fort in consequence of a quarrel with the merchant who stood^ecurity for his villages, but he soon made his escape to the jungles, and it was found that he was a more intolerable nuisance as a proclaimed outlaw than he ever had been before, and he was brought back by the bribe of a village rent-free. To this he soon added eleven more, and after he had been cut down in the Dalmau kachahri in 1795 A.D., his brother, Lai Sah, and nephew, Ram Bakhsh, continued the same policy, and in 1810 A.D. engaged for 29 villages, 21 of which belonged to other zamindars, " who," writes the tahsildar, " still attend my kachahri in person, though I am obliged to let their villages remain in the Gaura engagement." This report gives a tolerably faithful picture of the state of affairs throughout the district, officials attempting to collect direct, and resisted by chieftains who would not tolerate interference in their neighbourhood, and acquired by force an estate reckoned by single villages instead of their old general superintendence of a pargana, as their still older and still more vague supremacy within the limits of their raj. The last twenty years of the eighteenth century saw the taluqa proper in its infancy ; and it is not probable that it would ever have attained its pre sent enormous development, but for the introduction of the contract sys tem. The immediate effects of this both in enlarging the taluqas held by the ancient local chieftains, and in introducing strangers who were attract ed by the position of landed proprietor, have already been described minutely and clearly in the chronicles of Oonao, and I need not go over the same ground again. It is easier to discern the various revolutions which have taken place in their internal polity than to ascribe a beginning to the village communi ties. They seem to have originally consisted of a society of labourers, each in the possession of the lands in his immediate cultivation, and pre sided over by a leading member who collected and apportioned the inci dence of the Government revenue. For these services he was remunerated by a light assessment on his peculiar holding, and the right to a due known in royal farmans as muqaddami, which has perhaps survived in a number of forms to the present day. Within the reach of history there was probably no village in which more land had not accumulated in the hands of two or three influential families than they could till themselves without the help of tenants or hired labourers, still I am induced to believe that for some time after Akbar, villages in the exclusive proprietary pos session of one non-cultivating family were the exception and not the rule. Where villages were assigned to Chhattri zamindars, all the rights of the former cultivating proprietors rapidly disappeared. Even in villages not thus appropriated, the common and unrestrained right of sale favoured accumulation of property, and, on the principle that wealth gathers wealth, we often find that one rich family had become the sole proprietors, and, in imitation of their Rajput neighbours in the same position, assumed the title 252 RAE of zamindar. A third case was when the village was included in the taluqa before its acquisition of a zamindari body, and these are the villages in which we are told that the taluqdar is the sole zamindar. For the first class of villages I take an instance from the Haidargarh pargana. About two hundred years ago the cadets of the Kumhra- wan raj had to be provided for, and Man Singh was assigned the village of Bhawanigarh. He found it occupied by a mixed community of Kurmis and Brahmans, whose rights he speedily extinguished, and his descendant, Qalandar Singh, is now in full proprietary possession of the village. The descendants of the heads of old society still retain the name of muqaddam, though it has ceased to have much meaning. A fair example of the second class is Katra Bahadurganj near Salon, a village famous under the king's rule for its panchayats. The litigants were summoned before a board and stated their case ; if it was not perfectly clear witnesses were dispensed with, and the parties separately consigned to solitary confinement and a meagre diet. It was seldom that many months elapsed before a deed of compromise released the prisoners, and rewarded the patience of the judges by a satisfactory settlement of the dispute. This village was sold in numerous small parcels by people of every caste, on deeds extending over fifty years, to the Sayyads of Salon. In the third case the muqaddams retained their title and collected the rents for their landlord instead of the Government. The retention of their rights depended chiefly on the proximity of the landlord, and in ordinary zamindari villages they had long altogether disappeared. Generally the muqaddam had yielded ~to the zamindar, and again in most instances the zamindar to the taluqdar, but the village remained an integral unit in society, and the old rights left their traces on the most recent constitution. The following is from the sepoy war touching the fights during the mutiny, 1857-58: — " On the morning of the 12th May I went to Nagar, and hearing that the enemy had taken up a position in force at Sirnri, five miles in an easterly direction, I started for that place the same afternoon. The weather was becoming fearfully hot ; and to add to our discomfort, a duststorm was raging, accompanied by a hot wind. Never theless we came up to the position at 5 o'clock p. M., and found a strong force of the enemy, estimated at 1,500 infantry and 1,600 cavalry, with' two guns posted along a nullah, with broken ground around, and a large jungle in their rear. " Their cavalry was on our right flank, ready to pounce down on our baggage; but my mind was easy on this point, as I had left it some distance behind in a secure position, protected by 200 infantry, two guns, and a squadron of cavalry. The ball opened on our part with a shower of shot and shell. The Rifles and Sikhs were extended in skirmishing order, with the 38th and 9th in reserve, and covering the heavy guns. We soon cleared the nullah of the rebels, killing Amrathan Singh, a wealthy and influential taluqdar or landholder, and his brother, and taking two guns. The enemy werew in full retreat, and as it was becoming dark, I threw out my pickets, and ordered the troops to bivouac. RAE 253 "In the middle of the night we were suddenly awakened by a scream, followed by the thud of the hoofs of horses galloping about. We all supposed that the enemy's cavalry had broken in upon us favoured by the darkness, and a general commotion took place. A bullock-diiver was killed, and Captain Gibbon* of the artillery was twice knocked down, finallyjj pounding himself accidentally with his revolver. The Rifles also set to work in grim earnest, every one fighting against his neighbour, and breaking each others heads with the butt-ends of their rifles. Fortunately at the time none happened to be loaded, or the loss would have been serious. As it turned out, ten or twelve men were sent to hospital. The alarm had been caused by a snake creeping over the face of a Madras sepoy, who terror-stricken started up with a scream. The confusion was then increased by several of our horses breaking loose and galloping about. " The discomfort of having entire horses on a campaign is not to be told ; and yet the Government of India have never had strength of mind to alter the system, though it has been denounced over and over again by every one competent to judge." — Pages 273-275, " The Sepoy War." Antiquities — This district, as will be gathered from the historical sketch, presents many objects of interest to the antiquarian. The principal are found in the towns of Rae Bareli, Dalmau, and Jais. The forts of Rae Bareli and Dalmau are supposed to have belonged to the ancient Bhar chiefs, Dal and Bai, after whom they are named. The former is a vast quadrangular structure consisting of a high earthen mound which has been faced with brick. The gate is composed of huge bricks eighteen inches long by twelve thick ; in one corner is a hdoli, a vast well about 35 feet in diameter, the sides have fallen in, but a good portion is still perfect, and it still contains water. In the interior are various buildings of no interest. The only local superstition appears to be the adoration of the manes of a poor Teli and his wife, who it is alleged were bricked up in the wall by the cruel barbarian Bhar chief who found his foundation giving way, and was told that they would not stand firm till a couple of Hindus were sacrificed. The legend is interesting as evidencing the popular belief that the Bhars were not of Arian descent. There are no distinct traces of Buddhist origin about the fort except the bricks which probably belonged to some local shrine. Unlike the Dalmau fort, there is no elevated plateau inside. There is a ditch outside, and the original design of the work is obviously for military purposes, of course it is possible that some prior structure may have been embraced in the circumvallation. Jais is separately described. The fort at Dalmau is an object of much more interest from several points of view. It is an irregular quadrangle with its base on the river forming one of the long sides ; it might be more correctly described perhaps as shaped like a javelin head, with its point to the south-east, one • Now Colonel Gibbon, C.B. 254 RAE edge along the river, another to the east facing the ruins of the old town, and two short sides forming an advancing angle at the back. The two north-eastern sides are respectively 163 and 315 yards long, the other two are of nearly equal dimensions, and the entire circumference may be esti mated at 900 yards or above half -a mile. The corners however are advanced considerably, and the space is therefore circumscribed within by the retreating ramparts. The land sides particularly are almost cresent shaped, and good flanking fire could be kept up from the advancing angles on every part of the rampart. The defences consist of vast earthen mounds from 40 to 60 feet high acd some hundreds of feet thick, for in point of fact, except at one break in the middle where a deep hollow extends right through from the river face, the fort consists of one immense artificial mound covering about eight acres, which was originally crowned with a wall, and appears to have been partially fenced with masonry all round. At the south-east corner of the river face the masonry is still standing, the earth is cased with brickwork about fcur feet thick, and sloping at an angle of about 30 degrees to the ground; from this at a perpendicular height of about 40 feet the battlements rise wall within wall, each outer one acting as a buttress for that on the inside — and the whole is crowned by a bdrahdari, or the place of twelve doors — an open pavilion about one hundred feet above the river, to which at this point the descent is a sheer perpendicular. The entire river face is scarped either by nature or the action of the water, to the land sides the slopes are more gradual, but still would be very difficult to escalade. It does not appear as if this work was originally designed for military purposes ; there is no ditch on the land side and never has been; it further appears on examination that the steep scarp in many places was replaced originally by terraced steps, some of which with their brick casings are still to be seen. The remains of wells, too, are found outside the defences, only one small and modern well is within the enclosure ; the mass of earthwork also is quite beyond what would be required even to resist modern artillery, and for defence against the engines of mediaeval India exhibits an unac countable prodigality of labour. It is apparent on inspection that the work is one of different ages ; in several places the torrents of rain from the high plateau within have forced their way out, forming yawning rifts or ravines, on entering which it appears that considerably within the present outer line of circumvallation, there exists a brick wall of excellent material and fine work laid without lime resembling in all respects the early Buddhist work to be seen at Sarnath. This wall appears to have been formerly all round the place; in some places it has been removed, on others the upper wall, which was formerly much higher than it appears at present, has tumbled down in vast masses forming a glacis of mixed materials and concealing the ancient wall; the wall in fact has doubled over, and the inner casing of earth alone is visible. The interior is studded here and there with houses, mosques, and tombs of RAE 255 masonry of very inferior workmanship ; a fine gateway to the east is also of modern date, and largely composed of carved slabs square and column shaped, which formed a portion of some more ancient building. The carvings are partly buried in the brickwork, and architraves have been worked in upside down. It ^ould appear that this fort consists really of two of those great Buddhist vihdrs on mounds which are still found at Sanchi, Amritapur, and on the Hazara frontier. These mounds were generally circular, and had a perpendicular casing of masonry which rose in terraces, while the top was shaped into a solid dome. ' They were accessible by stairs, sup plied with balustrades, and used for the open, air ceremonies of the Bud dhist faith. Apparently two of these adjoined as was often the case ; the original height was probably not less than 150 feet, a very mediocre elevation for these edifices. After the peaceful Buddhist period witnessed by Hwen Thsang expired, some military leader, Raja Dal or his ancestor, seeing the advantage of the position connected the two mounds, probably lowering their height and forming the whole into a vast plateau with a hollow in the centre, which was not filled up to the original level. This of course is mere conjecture; what seems certain is that the entire structure is an artificial one ; the floods have laid low the very foundation, and at a depth of 60 feet from the surface, bricks and pottery pared away by the river, attest that the entire mass has been placed there by the hand of man. If so, this huge mound would have served no known purpose but that for which the Buddhist raised his tope, while the terraces, the brick plinth, and wall, the ancient carving, and numerous stone pillars, lintels, and balustrades, of types well known in Buddhist architecture, attest the same fact. This mound, with its tottering pavilions and crumbling battlements, is perhaps the most picturesque object on the banks of the Ganges in Oudh. Nor is it without interest from a military point of view. The deep stream of the Ganges, the only navigable branch, flows under the overhanging battlement from which yearly it cuts a portion away. In the face of the cliff so formed are seen walls, floors, arches, and vaults, strangely carved blocks of stone protrude themselves, here and there appear large earthen jars, the latter probably used for some funeral purpose — all seem thrown together in one chaotic compost. These fragments of the ancient buildings seen in vertical section are embedded in the clay, and present a strange medley of relics of the past ; each year some structure probably 2,000 years old is unearthed by the river, is seen for a few months by the boatmen whose vessels pass underneath, and with the floods of the next moonsoon is again swept away or tumbles into the torrent. RAE BARELI Pargana— Tahsil Rae Bareli — District Rae Bareli. — This large pargana lies on both sides of the river Sai ; it is bounded on the south by Dalmau, on the east by Salon and Rokha Jais. It is twenty- five miles from north to south, and twenty-one from east to west. Its area 256 RAE is 371 square miles, divided into 363 villages, of which 283 are taluq dari, 60 are zamindari, and 20 pattidari. The Government revenue is Rs. 5,34,925, which falls at the rate of Rs. 2-4-0 per acre. The pargana is said to have been called after Rae Bai, a Bhar chieftain, brother of Dal, who founded Dalmau ; others state that it was named so because it was the capital of the Bhars. The headquarters of the pargana is Rahi, a place about three miles north of Rae Bareli, which was originally called Bharauli or Barauli. The great Bais Raja, Tilok Chand, having no children of his own adopted his diwan's son, Nabh Rae, a Kayath ; he had some time afterwards several natural children ; he then provided for Nabh Rae by giving him 178 villages-rent free. This happened in 1350 Sambat (A.D., 1293). Nabh Rae founded the village Harchandpur calling it after his son, and fixed his residence there. His descendants divided into twenty-eight branches who live in as many separate villages ; these are therefore called the " Atthaisa" Kayaths. The Bhars are said to have risen again to power after the death of Tilok Chand, and the Bais and Kayaths united several times contended with them in battle. The Bhars were finally overthrown by Ibrahim Sharqi of Jaunpur. Such is the tradition given in this pargana, which differs how ever from those current elsewhere. The Jaunpur sovereign divided the present pargana into four muhals or tappas — Rahi, Bhawan, Bachewan, Anguri. Akbai constituted the par gana of Rae Bareli in Sarkar Manikpur, and Saadat Ali Khan made the chakla of Bareli in the nizamat of Baiswara. The Kayath family already mentioned served the Bais chiefs for six generations as diwans, from the time of Abhai Chand to that of Tilok Chand. Akbar made them chaudhris and qaniingos of the pargana. Tha kur Bijai Singh, Aurangzeb's diwan, belonged to this family, and got the title of khwaja from his master. These Kayaths are still called Thakurs, because they are descended from Raja Tilok Chand's adopted son, an instructive fact ; they style the Bais gentlemen of the pargana in familiar correspondence " Bhayya Sahib," and are styled by them " Thakur Sahib." The present representatives of the family are the Qanungo, Majlis Rae, of Bareli, and Thakurdin Jograj Kunwar, Taluqdar of Har- daspur. The entire population is 212,533, of whom 12,969 or six per cent, are Muhammadans. The Sai passes through the pargana, but is useless for irrigation as its channel is very deep. The river Naiya also passes through it to Jais. The Isoi, the Bas-ha, the Kharhi, the Baita, are all rivulets of this pargana and affluents of the Sai. The Baita rises in a lake near the village Thulendi. The land towards the east lies low, that to north-west and south is high; to the south the soil is sandy, elsewhere it is a good loam ; towards the south irrigation is effected from tanks, the wells are not lasting ; the climate is tolerably good. RAE 257 Markets are held every day in the principal town — Bareli, Capperganj, Jahanabad, Darwaza Qila alias Purina bazar. The names and days on which the other bazars are held are tabulated thus : — Names of markets. Days on which held. Sahdeoganj ... ... ... „, „, Sunday and Wednesday. Sarayyan in village Sarae Dfimu Ditto Sbamsherganj in village Khatwara Ditto. • Bishnathganj in village Rahwa Gauriganj in Hardaspur ... ... ... Sunday and Thursdiy Saturday and Tuesday. Gurbakhshganj in Ulush ... ,., ... ... Ditto. Aseha ... ... ... ... ... Ditto. Rahi Ditto. Bela Janki Monday and Friday. Husengarj in Kasur ... ... ... ,,. Sunday and Wednesday. Hanom&nganj in Bela Bhela ... ... Ditto. Ramganj in Indohar ... ... ... ... Ditto. Ropfimau ... ... ... ... ... ... Tuesday and Friday. Bela Khar ... ... ... ... ... ... Saturday and Wednesday. Ganeshganj in Biharpur ... ... ... Tuesday and Friday. Mnnshiganj in Garhi Mitauli ... ... ... ... Sunday and Thursday. Of all these markets that of Capperganj and of Munshiganj only need mention. Capperganj was built by Mr. W. C. Capper, C.S., while he was the Deputy Commissioner of this place. The market is four-sided and stands on the roadside, and contains about a hundred masonry built shops. Almost every kind of commodity is bought there ; English articles are for the most part imported from Cawnpore and Fatehpur vid the Ganges near the Dalmau Ghat. Metal plates, goblets, and drinking cups are brought in from Hasanpur Bandhua, a place famous for them in district Sultan pur, country cloth from Jais, vegetables and fruit from Lucknow. The second Munshiganj, or more properly Diwanganj, was built by Diwan Chandi Sahae, brother to Munshi Gur Sahae, Kayath, noblemen of Lucknow. These two brothers were the assistants to the prime minister, Nawab Ali Naqi Khan of Oudh. The ganj stands on the metalled road from Bareli to Dalmau about two miles south of the former. Hanomanganj and Husenganj are the principal cattle markets ; at the latter fifty or sixty head are sold generally every market day ; the price of a good pair is Rs. 100. The cattle merchants give long credit ; if the purchaser does not meet his engagement at the appointed date, the seller and all his brother dealers assemble and demand to be fed by the defaulter till he makes good the price. There are two fairs held in the town of Bareli, each attended by ten or twelve thousand people. One termed the R&mlila about the middle of October, the other in the Muharram. A fair is held on the Queen's birth day at the village Chaulamau near the tank of Diwan Rewti Ram. Saltpetre and salt were formerly manufactured in above 50 villages, and the annual outturn was 6,000 maunds of salt and 1,300 saltpetre ; this has been stopped since annexation. The principal landholders of this district 33 258 RAE are Bais Chhattris, but the principal of them, Rana Beni Madhd, lost all his estates in the mutiny. The Bais are not however very ancient land holders ; they came to this pargana about 1090 A. H., just at the close of Alamgir's reign. Rae Bareli is mentioned in the Xin-i-Akbari as belonging to the Kanh puria who spread hither from the adjoining pargans of Jais and Salon. The original habitat of the Bais was Daundia Kheri now in Unao. RAE BARELI — Pargana Rae Bareli — Tahsil Rae Bareli — District RAE Rarell— This town lies in latitude 26°14' north, longitude 81°17' east, forty-eight miles south-east of Lucknow, thirty miles north of Fateh pur, North-Western Provinces, 52 miles north-west of Partabgarh, and 56 miles due west of Sultanpur. It was founded by Bhars, and after them called Bharauli, altered afterwards to Bareli. Some say that it is called Rae Bareli from Rahi, a town three miles from Bareli, the original head quarters of the pargana. A third account attributes the name to its having long been in possession of Kayaths generally called rae.* Husen Shah, the king of Jaunpur, changed the name to Husenabad, but the novelty was not lasting. It is the headquarters of the pargana, tahsil, district, and division, bearing the same name. It is pleasantly situated on the river Sai, here spanned by a fine bridge ; the picturesque temples and minarets of the old town are now rather in decay,- but the huge crenelated battlements and gateways still rise grandly above the rich crops. The town was handed over to Shekhs and Sayyads in 820 Hijri by Sultan Ibr&him Sharqi after he had killed Bai, the Bhar chief, said to be the eponymous hero of the place. In 1040 Hijri, during the reign of Shfih Jahan, Subahdar Nawab Jahan Khan, Pathan, founded Jahanabad in the village of Ikhtiyarpur; this has always been considered a muhalla or ward of Bareli. The town flourished, as it was always reckoned the healthiest spot in the district or the neighbourhood. Different muhallas or wards were founded at different times, and the descendants of the founders still are proprietors. Muhallas Qasbana, Neza Andaz, Sayyad Rajan, Bans Tola, Pirai Hamid, were founded by Musalmans; Jaunpuri, Khali Sahat, Surjipur by Brahmans; Khatrauni Khurd and Kalan by Khattri treasurers of the Jaunpur kings; Shah Tola by the king's purveyor. The sovereign erected in 820 Hijri (A.D. 1403), a very spacious and strong fort ; this was probably made with bricks belonging to still more ancient buildings ; they are two feet long, one foot thick, one and a half wide. An ancient baoli yawns in the centre ; this is a huge circular tank or well dug down to the springs and then lined with brick walls, supporting balconies and containing chambers on a level with the water. This one is 108 yards in circumference, and when in good repair must have been a pleasant retirement in the hot weather. * Page 69, " Elliott's Chronicles of Oonao." RAE 259 Tradition relates that when the fort was building, whatever was erected during the day fell down in the ensuing night. After some days of such futile labour, the king called for the holy saint Makhdiim Sayyad Jafri from Jaunpur ; his holy footsteps trod the precincts, and no more interrup tion was given to the work. The saint's tomb is beside the gate of the fort. * The magnificent tomb and palace, Rang Mahal of Nawab Jahan Khan, adorn the suburb of Jahanabad. During the reign of Shuja-ud-daula, when the Mahrattas were hovering round trying to invade Oudh, a number of the degenerate nobles were so terrified that they took up their residence inside the fort, and built themselves houses in which descendants still reside. Since annexation a fine masonry bridge of five arches, twenty-eight feet broad, has been constructed over the Sai; the work was inaugurated by Mr. W. Glynn, the late Deputy Commissioner ; the expense (Rs. 36,000) was defrayed by a subscription of the taluqdars. A fine idgah or assembly room for the Id festival was built by Shekh Najaf Ali Khan, the money being subscribed by the Musalmans of the neighbourhood. Several tanks also have been made since annexation ; so although the residents may not be so wealthy as they were in former times, they put their means to better use. The population is 11,544, of whom Bareli proper contains 6,542 and Jahanabad 5,002. The Muhammadan population consists of 2,446 Sunnis, and 40 Shias. Notwithstanding, an order had to be passed forbidding the latter to bring their tazias in procession past the houses of the much more numerous Sunnis. Most of the Hindus are low castes, there being only 372 Brahmans. Sahdeo Singh and Gulab Singh, Sikhs, have a number of followers who reside in the town. The former is the grandson of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the Punjab ; the latter was one of his generals ; they are in honourable banishment and have got estates here. There are four fine mosques, besides others of less note, and 337 masonry houses. The Jama Masjid was built by Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi of Jaun pur] and repaired in 1089 A.H. by the emperor Alamgir. The second great mosque was built in 1040 A.H. by Nawab Jahan Khan. The third by Shah Xlam-ulla ; it has no domes, but three spacious halls, and is a copy of the Kaba at Mecca. The fourth mosque is in the suburb Daira, and was built by a son of Shah Alam-ulla. Two Hindu temples, one to Mahadeo and one to Mahabir, suffice for the less fervent devotions of the Hindus. There are two schools, one with 150 pupils, the other a Christian Mission school with 70. A dispensary and a caravan-serai, built since annexation by Raja Digbijai Singh, are also features of the place ; the former stands on the site of another mosque built by Ibrahim Shah at the gate of the fort ; thus the ancient king intimated that he trusted for the defence of his realm to the God without whom his walls were vain. This evidence of his devotion has now given place to drugs. 260 RAE There are three market places— one built by Ibrahim Sharqi known as " Qile-ki-bazar," one Jahanabad, and the third Capperganj, erected by Mr. W. C. Capper, C.S., the late Deputy Commissioner. The market in the latter is a daily one. There are two fairs — one the Dasahra of the Hindus, the other, the Muharram for the Musalmans; each is attended by about twelve thousand people. It will be observed from the following table that the sales in the daily and weekly markets reach the amount of Rs. 1,181 daily. This will be above Rs. 4,00,000 annually. English cloth commands, it appears, a larger sale than native : — Name of articles. Quantity. Value. Town daily Markets. 1 . Corn of every kind ... 2. Vegetables 3. Groceries 4. Sweetmeats of every kind 5. Salt ... ... ... .. ... ... 6. Utensils of brass and other metals , 7. Ghi ... ... ... ... ... .„ 8. Oil 9. Articles sold by pedlars 10. Cotton ., ... 11. Country cloth , 12. English cloth „ Mds. sr. ch. 164 15 O 6 15 O 1 15 O 8 10 0 5 16 0 0 22 0 2 15 0 1 20 0 21 "36 0 22 tbans or pieces 27 >, ,, Rs. a. p. 410 15 0 10 12 0 22 0 0 25 3 0 27 0 0 33 0 0 47 8 0 16 0 0 38 11 0 350 6 0 44 0 0 162 0 0 Total ... 1,181 7 0 Muharram Fair. 1. Groceries ... ,. ... 2. Sweetmeats ... 3. Oil 4. Articles sold by pedlars io 6 o 25 0 0 10 0 0 160 0 0 260 0 0 100 0 0 40 0 0 Total ••• 550 0 0 Dasahra and R^mlila Pairs. 1. Sweetmeats ... 2. Oil ... ... ,„ ,„ ... „, 3. Vegetables t. Articles sold by pedlars ... „. ... 15 0 0 3 0 0 160 0 0 30 0 0 20 0 0 40 0 0 Total ... 240 0 0 Grand Total .«• 1,971 7 0 RAE— RAM 261 RXEGARH.— Pargana Dhingwas — Tahsil Kunda — District Partab^- garh. — This village is two miles off the road from Partabgarh to Bihar, and six miles from the latter place. There was a great fight here between the taluqdars of Dhingwas and Bhadri ; 100 men were killed. The popu lation consists of 4,008 Hindus and 315 Musalmans. There is one mosque and tb#ee temples to Mahadeo, and a small bazar. RAHIMNAGAR PANDlXWA'N— Pargana Bijnaur— Tahsil Lucknow — District Lucknow. — Rahimnagar Pandiawan is the chief of a group of 12 villages belonging to Pande Brahmans, situated on the right bank of the Sai on the southern boundary of the Bijnaur pargana. The village is purely agricultural and chiefly inhabited by Hindus. But as its name imports, has some pretensions to be called a Muhammadan settlement. There is a family of Pathans living in a hamlet of the village called Bal- lochgarhi, who assert their original right to the soil, which had been con ferred on them in jagir by the emperors of Delhi, but which when the right was confiscated by Saadat Ali Khan, 7th Nawab of Oudh, was con ferred on the Brahmans. Brahmans are known to have colonized parts of this pargana, and it is more likely that kept under for a time, they were at length able success fully to assert their right. The population is 2,500, and there are 407 houses, all of which are mud-built. A small Government school has been established here, but is not at present much appreciated by the people. The cultivation in this and the neighbouring villages is very fine. RAMI A' BIHAR — Pargana Dhaurahra — Tahsil Nigha'sAn — District Kheri. — This village is beautifully situated on the north side of an ancient channel of the Kauriala (this is now closed up and forms a lake). There are splendid groves to the east and west. Ramia Bihar has a market in which articles of country consumption are sold. The average annual sale of cotton fabrics is estimated at Rs. 200. It belongs to Raja Indra Bikram Sah, Taluqdar of Khairigarh. Population ... ... Hindus ... ... Muhammadan ... ... RA'MKOT Pargana* — Tahsil Sitapur — District Sitapur.— Ramkot is a very small pargana, lying close to Sitapur on the south-west ; on the south it is bounded by pargana Machhrehta, in the west by Misrikh, and on the east by Khairabad, from which it is separated by the Sarayan stream. Its area is 20 square miles, of which 11 only are cultivated. The average is as follows : — ... 1,486 Males. Females. 741 611= 1,862 Males. Females. 76 68= 134 7,336 cultivated ... > Assegsed 3,500 culturable ... j 66 rent-free 1,631 barren "' J UnassCssed. •By Mr. M. L. Ferrar, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. 262 RAM The population of 8,791 is thus distributed : — Hindus, agricultural ... ... ... ... 5,068 „ non-agricultural ... ... ... ... 3,532 8,601 Musalmans, agricultural ... ... ... ... 38 „ non-agricultural ... ... ... ... 153 191 against 1-4 of an acre of cultivated land per head of agricultural population there are 2'1 acres of culturable land. The pargana is, indeed, in a very backward condition; its present pro prietors, Janwar Rajputs, having done nothing for it since annexation, and in this they contrast very unfavourably with their predecessor Hardeo Bakhsh (see town Ramkot), who did so much for the property. The pre sent proprietors are his two sons, Kalka Bakhsh and Ganga Bakhsh, and they own the entire pargana (Rdmkot), which consists of 12 demarcated villages. With the exception of the very fine tanks in Ramkot itself, there is no structure in the whole pargana deserving of notice. The Hindus are distributed thus : Brahmans 1,367, Rajputs 361, Banians 337, Ahirs 899, Pasis 665, Chamars 1,157, and the whole population lives in 1,343 houses, each of which thus contains on average o\ individuals. There are 439 to the square mile. The Musalmans are only 2-2 per cent. of the entire population, and are all of a humble rank in life, Julahas principally. The incidence of the revised reveuue falls as follows : — Rs. a. p. On uncultivated area ... ... ... ... 1 10 9 On assessed area ... ... ... ... 1 2 0 On total ... ... ... ... ... 0 15 7 The history as given by the oldest inhabitants is as follows : — When Ram Chandar was on his pilgrimage, he sojourned on the spot where now stands Ramkot. Here he founded a fort, the remains of which are extant in the form of a dih (mound) to the present day. But Ram went on in his pilgrimage, and the place decayed. Subsequently a tribe of Kachheras acquired the district, and held it down to 1707 A.D., when they were dispossessed by the ancestor of the present taluqdars, and his descendants have held it ever since. The history of the pargana is the history of the town, to which the reader is referred. Hardeo Bakhsh abovementioned did a good deal for the pargana. He made roads, planted avenues, dug wells, and caused the increase of culti vation. On his death in 1842 A.D. his widow succeeded him, and she managed the estate for her two infant sons, Kalka Bakhsh and Gaaga Bakhsh, with prudence and success down to her death in 1853. After that RAM 263 the chakladar oppressed her sons, and for the three years preceding- annexation they were quite unable to do anything for the property, which accordingly was found in a very poor condition in 1856. The taluqdars behaved loyally in the mutiny, for which good conduct they received a reward. The*physical features of the pargana resemble those of its neighbour Sitapur. A dead level, well wooded and producing good crops. There are no mines, quarries, or manufactures beyond the ordinary coarse country cloth, . which is made in every chief town of a pargana. Tho only mela celebrated is that described in town Ramkot. The rents are entirely paid in kind, the exceptions being the rent of the lands which produce tobacco, sugar, &c. Water is found at a maximum depth of 26 feet from the surface of the earth. RA'MKOT* — Pargana Ra'mkot — Tahsil Sitapur — District Sitapur. — Ramkot is seven miles south-west of Sitapur, the highroad from which place to Hardoi passes through it. It is said to have been founded by the great Ram Chandar during his pilgrimage, and to have derived its name, " The castle of Ram," from him. The present town is a poor place, consisting entirely of mud-built houses. The census of 1869 puts the number of inhabitants down at 1,977. Its present owners are Chhattris of the clan Janwar, whose ancestors acquired it vi et armis in the civil wars of 1707 A.D., the former proprietors, who were Kachheras, having been expelled by them. The town as it at present exists, though entirely mud-built, is erected on an ancient dih (mound), the remains of a former town in which the houses were mostly of burnt bricks. The only notable structure in the place is a very handsome masonry tank with a Shiwala, &c, built 70 years ago by Hardeo Bakhsh, father of the present taluqdar, which is not only deemed holy by the Hindus of the locality, but is also a place of favourite resort of the Europeans of Sitapur. The only public building in the town is the school attended by 55 scholars. There is a bazar held twice a week, and at the Diwali festival a mela or fair, of no great magnitude, takes place at the tanks abovementioned. Besides the road to Sitapur, Ramkot is connected by good unmetalled roads with Hardoi through Qutubnagar, and with Misrikh and Nimkhar. The annual value of the bazar sales is Rs. 14,400.. There are no manufactures of any kind. The camping ground is good; and in the neigh bourhood of the place are several avenues of trees planted by the same Hardeo Bakhsh who built the tank and temple above described. RAMNAGAR Pargana — Tahsil Fatehpur — District Bara Banki. — This pargana is bounded on the north by the Chauka, on the east by pargana Bado Sarai, on the south by the Kalyani, and on the west by Fatehpur. Its area is 112 square miles or 71,716 acres, of which 50,732 are cultivated. The irrigated land amounts to 11,080 acres, and the unirrigated to 39,652. • By Mr. M. L. Ferrar, C. S., Assistant Commissioner. 264 RAM The Chauka flows on the north, and the Kalyani on the south ; the latter has a course of 9, and the former of 8 miles within this pargana. The metalled road to Bahramghat and that from Fyzabad to Sitapur and Kheri pass through it. Bahramghat is a great timber market. Schools have been established at Ramnagar, Mahadewa, Ganeshpur, Tilokpur, Suratganj, and Amoti Kalan. The post-offices are at Ganeshpur and Ramnagar. There is also a police station and a registry office at Ramnagar. Two considerable fairs are held at Lodhaura in Aghan and Phagun in honour of Sri Lodheswar Mahadeo. The land revenue amounts to Rs. 68,505-12-8, falling at the rate of Re. 1-10-8 per arable acre ; the number of villages in this pargana is 168. They are held under the following tenures : — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... ... 138 villages. Zamindari ... ... ... ... ... 2 „ Pattidari ... ... ... ... ... 28 „ 168 The population amounts to 80,686, of which higher castes number 25,000. Some of the lower castes— e.g., Ahirs (6,726), Lodhs (3,729)— are very numerous. The pargana was in the Nawabi called Sailuk. The town of Ramnagar was founded on the land of Keshwamau by Ram Singh, ancestor of Raja Sarabjit Singh, the present taluqdar. For the history of Ramnagar Dhameri, which is the same as that of the pargana, see article Bhitauli pargana. The principal landlord is Raja Sarabjit Singh of Ramnagar Dhameri. RAMNAGAR — Pargana Ramnagar — Tahsil Fatehpur — District Bara Banki. — This town is situated about 19 miles from Nawabganj and four from Bahramghat on the Gogra, and is the seat of a thana and branch dispensary. There was a tahsil, but it has lately been removed to Fateh pur ; the surrounding country is rich and well wooded, and forms part of the Ramnagar Dhameri taluqa. The present proprietor is Raja Sarabjit Singh, a Raikwar Chhattri. His father, R-ija Gur Bakhsh Singh, is still alive and dwells at Ramnagar. In the Nawabi Gur Bakhsh was a man of some importance, and lived in a chronic state of war with the Government. He had a strong fort at Bhitauli at the apex of the Duab of the Gogra and Chauka rivers to which he retired when pressed for Government revenue. Sleeman says that he used to pay Rs. 2,00,000 a year for his estate. See article Bhitauli. The total population amounts to 5,717, of which the Musalmans are 909 and the Hindus 4,808, higher castes 1,469, houses 1,308. Latitude 27°5' north, longitude 81°28' east. RAMPUR Pargana — Tahsil Kunda — District Partabgarh. — This large pargana extends from the river Sai on the north almost to the Ganges on the south ; its area is 179 square miles, of which 79 are cultivated ; the population is 77,572, which is 433 to the square mile, Of this population 4,223 are Chattris, of which body two individuals, the Rajas of Rampur, Bisen, and Kaithaula, Kanhpuria, hold the entire pargana besides many RAM 2G5 villages in others. Brahmans who number 12,597 are the most numerous and intelligent. The account of the Bisens told by themselves may be given. It is evident, however, that it contains only the element of truth. Unlike the Dikhits, the Sombansi of Partabgarh, and the Bais, the Bisens, at least as a ruling family, are of very modem origin ; as a clan they were powerful. The qamingo's relation is that they were merely chaudhris, Government officers drawing fees from -this jurisdiction till the general break up of the Musalman empire after the death of Aurangzeb, then they gave up office and acquired an estate. But it is quite evident that, whatever may have been the case with the present great family, the Bisen clan held this pargana and others, for they are mentioned as the owners in the Ain-i-Akbari. The fact that they had no raja, till 20 years ago, and that a younger scion of the family, that of Badri, was made a rao about 1800 A.D., is a proof that the feudal lordship claimed by the Rampur family never existed save in the fertile imagination of the bards.' It is alleged that the head of the family was called rae till Khushal Singh, grandfather of the present incumbent, got the title of rae from Raja Bahadur Singh of Partabgarh, a sufficient proof of the subordinate posi tion of the family. But the title of lal is much lower than that of rae, so the Rampur chief can never have exchanged the latter for the former. In point of fact lal was the first title, possibly, as the qanungos say, the head of the family was formerly called chaudhri. The present head of the family is one of the most chivalrous and liberal- minded gentlemen in Oudh; he has been generally in opposition to the Government of the day, and has only found peace since annexation. He built his great fort of Kalakankar in 1246 fasli (A.D. 1839) thirty-four years ago. He surrounded it with a canal from the Ganges, that the waters of the sacred stream might be round about him by day and by night. In 1247 he defended his fort at Dharupur for nine days against the great Nazim Darshan Singh. In 1256, during a short glimpse of court sunshine, the title of raja was conferred upon him by Wajid Ali Shah. In 1260 he again fought the Nazim; was beseiged in Kalakankar for 57 days ; meanwhile he escaped from the fort, and, disguised it is said as a female of rank, he fled to Lucknow to get help from the resident ; finding no resource there, he abandoned the fort and fled to the Sujakhar jungles in Partabgarh north of the Sai. The family history is thus given in settlement report : — 34 266 RAM " The present taluqdari families of the Bisen clan all trace their origin to Hum, whose posterity are shown in the subjoined table : — RAE HUM. Pcrandr RXe. Rae Gopal. • I Rae Ragho. (Purb&ra village ) (Gopalpura.) (Raghopur and Raepur ) Khem Karan, Babu Rsie, (Derwa.) (Kindhauli.) I I . Rae Askaran, Kashi, (Rampur) ilaqa. (Dhingwas.) The tenth in descent from Askaran is Rdja Hanwant Singh who holds the estate of Lal Sah. Kalian Sah. RSmpur. 9th generation from whom Villages Rs. is the present taluqdar of 209 ... 98,021. Bhadri Villages Rs. 93 ... 73,267. In the 6th generation was Chain Singh. Jughar Rae, Rae Ranjit, Purmai. I AusSn. I Debi. Raghunath. I Jagann&th- 7th in descent from , whom is the taluq dar of Kundrajit. Risal. Villages Rs. | 69 43,577. Jlian. | Villages Rs. I ! Darshan Sah, 6th in descent from whom is the taluqdar of Shekhpur ChaurSs. Villages Rs. 14 ... 6,280 Himmat Sah, 5th in descent from whom 10 7,845. I is the taluqdar of Dahiawan. I Mihr- Mahipal, b&n. whose widow, KablSs Kunwar, holds the estate of Paw an si. Villages Rs. 94 .„ 43,498. Bhawfini. Ram. Ill] Pirthi- Shiu- Shan- Sitla, pal. pal. kar. Who share the estate of Dhan- garh Villages Rs. 45 ... 16,549. " Bisen exploit. — There is not much noteable history to relate of these Bisens. I may narrate however their uprising against Jiu Ram Nagar, a nazim of the Banian caste, whose headquarters were at Manikpur. This official attempted to introduce a settlement of the land revenue with villagers (as did our Government in 1856), but this so incensed the Bisens that they rose as one man, attacked the nazim at Manikpur and killed him. This was 1155 fasli or 1748 A.D., in the time of Safdar Jang. A trophy of the fight is still preserved in the Kundrajit family in the shape of a pair of drums which belonged to the nazim, and which are now called ' Ranjit' or ' won in battle.'* " The Rdmpur estate. — The Rampur family assert that their ancestor, Bhao Singh, held the parganas of Salon, Manikpur, Dhera-cum-Dhingwas, * This is the story currently reported ; but there is no historical foundation for it, and moreover in the year 1748 A.D., the Sarkfir of Manikpur was not included in Oudh, and certainly was under no Hindu Governor until after A.D. 1762. RAM 267 and the Kaithaula estate. In the time of Manslir Ali Khan (Safdar Jang) they lost this after a siege of their fort of Rampur. There is an old feud between them and the Kaithaula estate, which lies in the Rani- pur pargana, and has been at various times the object of their cupidity. Several fights occurred, and the Kanhpurias of Kaithaula have had hard workjo maintain themselves in the vicinity of their powerful and not over-scrupulous neighbours. " Rdja Hanwant Singh. — The present Raja Hanwant Singh has fought both with and against the nazims at various times. His estate was held ' kham' in 1242, 1243-4, and again in 1248 fasli, owing to his unruly opposition to the authorities. In 1260 fasli, the Nazim, Khan Ali Khan, beat him out of his two forts of Kalakankar and Dhariipur, and his estate was not only 'kham' but laid waste. From his fort of Kalakankar, which is on the banks of the Ganges, a British steamer proceeding to Cawnpore during the mutiny was fired on. His son, Partab Singh, took an active part in opposing the re-occupation of Oudh, and was killed at Chanda in Sultanpur in an action with Colonel Wroughton's force. An account of this taluqdar and his tactics may be found in the book called ' Dacoitee in Excelsis,' pages 124-5-6. He is a very good specimen of the Nawabi taluqdar, and perhaps too good a one to be taken as an average, or as a representative of his order, being a most courteous and kind hearted man, intelligent, frank, and honest. The old Adam of the taluqdar pur et simple is however distinguishable in the manner in which he likes to have his own way in his estate and resents opposition. We cannot expect it to be otherwise, and may be well content if we get many taluqdars like him. He has had the chronicles of his family done into Urdu verse by a domestic poet, Muhammad Asghar, familiarly known as ' Ustadji.' This work called ' Bisen Sabha,' or the ' Court of the Bisens,' has been printed, and a copy may be got by the curious in such matters." Further account of the Bisens. — In his chronicles of Unao, Mr. C. A. Elliott mentions the Bisen as having, with the Gahrwar and Bhandel, settled in that district in the pre-historic period. In another place he records that " the Bisens came from Salempur Majhauli in the Gorakhpur district, and pushed westward to Manikpur, and that the Unao branch is an offshoot from Manikpur." Mr. P. Carnegy places this clan amongst those of the Rajputs, "who are avowedly descended from deified Brahmans, who are styled Rikhs, and their offspring as Rikhbans, literally the children of the saint." Mr. Carnegy's further remarks regarding this Bisen clan may with advantage be here introduced.* " These people have already been mentioned as descended from a devotee Mewar Bhat. What their claim may be to being placed under the Sombans line is not quite clear. Their avowed chief is the Raja of Majhauli in Gorakhpur. In Oudh we have no less than thirteen chiefs of this clan, and their colonies are principally to be found in the Partabgarh district, but also in Bahraich, Gonda, Dariabad, and Sultanpur. The local heads of the family are Raja Hanwant Singh of Kalakankar, as fine a * Notes on the Races, Tribes, and Castes of Oudh, by Mr. P. Carnegy, page 49. 268 RAM specimen of the oriental yeoman as is to be found anywhere, and one who will ever be respected by our countrymen for the asylum he offered to the officers of his district in the rebellion ; and also the Rajas of Manika- pur and Bhinga. Sir Henry Elliot affirms that the present Raja of Majhauli is in the hundred and fifteenth generation from Mewar Bh£t, the devotee. The Oudh branch state that they broke off from the parent stem in the person of Rae Hum, and settled in the province under the wing of Manik Chand, the then powerful Gahrwar Raja of Manikpur ; he who so happily picked up the foundling mother of all the Kanhpuria clan. Within the last three years the present Raja of Majhauli took to himself a wife from the Raj kumar house of Dera, a sure indication that the Bisens (indigenous devotee Chhattris of Gorakhpur though they be) are higher in the social scale than the Rajkumar offshoot of the Mainpuri ex-convert Chauhans." Earliest Bisens settlement in the Partabgarh district. — The Bisens first settled in this district in the time of Manik Chand, some few years prior to 590 Hijri (A.D. 1193). Their earliest settlement was Badgawan in pargana Dhingwas. For three generations they do not seem to have made much way, or to have much enlarged their possessions. In the fourth generation from Rae Hum, their pioneer settler, Rae Ragho, appears to have made friends with the Gardezis of Mdnikpur, and from them to have obtained twelve villages, with headquarters at Derwa. The place was selected on a jungle site, as being on the borders of the Sombansi terri tory, and a convenient and suitable spot for repelling those raids to which the Sombansis were formerly so much addicted, and which were so frequently the cause of embroiling them with the Government officials. These , twelve villages were the nucleus of the subsequent extended possessions of the Bisen clan. The Rampur family has always heen the most powerful of the Bisen taluqdars, amongst whom may be prominently mentioned DMru Sah, Rde Shiam Singh, Rde Sangram Singh, Rae Bhao Singh, Rae Khushal Singh, Rde Balwant Singh, Lal Bairisal Singh, and Lal Hanwant Singh (now known as Rdja Hanwant Singh). The Bisen clan in the district of Partabgarh numbers three thousand (vide census); but of these only a portion belong to the blood of Rae Nam; the larger number belong to another line ; they claim to be descended from a brother of RaeNdm's; the taluqdar's line declares that they are bastards; there is no commensality or friendship even between the two, and the inferior order has been rather severely treated in the matter of its landed tenures. Of the pure Bisen nine men hold between them six taluqas embracing 532 villages ; 20 zamindari villages and 54 sub-settlements are divided among the rest of the brotherhood, at least among its heads. The Bisen clan is a very weak one compared to the Sombansi, the Kanhpuria, or the Bachgoti ; the connexion of Rdrnpur with Kaithaula, and the ancient position of the Bisen clan towards the Manikpur lords, are points for inquiry in future. RAM 269 The following extract from Sleeman* refers more properly to Bihar, but is given here as shedding light upon the position of the Bisen : — " Tne Bhuderee family give their daughters in marriage to the Bugheela Rajas of Rewa and the Powar Rajas of Ocheyra, who are considered to be a shade higher in caste than they are among the Rajpoots. Not long ago they guve one hundred thousand rupees, with one daughter, to the only son of the Rewa Raja, as the only condition on which he would take her. Golab Sing, the brother of Seoruttun Sing, of Pertabghur, by caste a Sombunsee, is said to have given lately fifty thousand rupees, with another daughter, to the same person ; Raja Hunmunt Sing, of Dharoopoor, who is by caste a Beseyn Rajpoot, the year before last went to Rewa accom panied by some fifty Brahmins, to propose an union between his daughter and the same son of the Rewa Raja. A large sum was demanded, but he pleaded poverty, and at last got the Raja to consent to take fifty thousand rupees down, and seventy-five thousand at the last ceremony of the barat or fetching home of the bride. When all had been prepared for this last ceremony, the Raja of Rewa pleaded the heat of the weather, and his son would not come to complete it, and take away his bride. Hunmunt Sing collected one hundred resolute Brahmins, and proceeded with them to Rewa, where they sat dhurna at the raja's door, without tasting food, and declared that they would all die there unless the marriage was completed. " The Raja did all he could, or could make his people do, to get rid of them ; but at last, afraid that some of the Brahmins would really die, he consented that his son should go and fetch his bride if Hunmunt Sing would pay down twenty-five thousand rupees more, to defray the cost of the procession, in addition to the seventy-five thousand. He did so, and ¦his daughter was taken off in due form. He has another daughter to dispose of in the same way. The Rewa Raja has thus taken five or six wives for his son from families a shade lower in caste ; but the whole that he has got with them will not be enough to pay one of the Rajpoot families, a shade higher in caste than he is in Rajpootana, to take one daughter from him. It costs him ten or twelve lacs of rupees to induce the Raja of Oudeepoor, Joudhpoor, or Jypoor, to take away as his bride a daughter of Rewa. All is a matter of bargain and sale. Those who have money must pay, in proportion to their means, to marry their daughters into families a shade higher in caste or dignity, or to get daughters from them when such families are reduced to the necessity of selling their daughters to families of a lower grade." RAMPUR MATHURAf— Pargana Kundri (South)— Tahsil Ba'ri— District Sitapur. — Rampur Mathura is 44 miles across country from Sita pur to the south-east, and is but one mile to the east of the river Chauka, and three miles west of theGogra, both of which livers are navigablethrough- out the year, and afford good water communication to the inhabitants of the surrounding district. There is no high road near the place. Rampur Mathura contains a population of 2,217 souls living in 425 mud-built houses. The only public building is the school. There is the usual bi-weekly bazar, at which commodities to the value of Rs. 13,000 are sold * Tour in Oudh, Vol. I., page 237. f By Mr. M. L. Perrar, B.A., C.S., Assistant Commissioner. 270 RAN every year. The place is not remarkable in any way, and is only locally notable as being the residence of the Raikwar taluqdar, Thakur Guman Singh. RANJITPUR— Pargana Partabgarh — Tahsil Partabgarh — District Partabgarh. — This village was originally called Halila, and the name was altered because one Ranjit Singh re-settled the village. It is on the road from Allahabad to Fyzabad, and an unmetalled road leads to Amethi. It is two miles from Partabgarh and thirty-eight from Allahabad. There have been many boundary disputes in this village. Nawab Shuja-ud-daula founded a bazar in this village in 1175 fasli (A.D. 1768). The population consists of 1,993 Hindus. 139 Musalmans. 2,132 There are two mosques. The bazar sales come to about Rs. 6,000 per annum. There is a religious fair here annually in Aghan ; about 1,500 people assemble. RXPTI — District Bahraich. — The R&pti, whose valley lies on the northern side of the plateau (described in district Bahraich), 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 Gedrahiyau 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 its banks 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 dry weather discharge of this river is 900 feet* per second. The following very correct extract from Thornton is given here for con venience of reference : — " Rapti, called also Airawati, after the white elephant of the god Indra, a considerable river rising in Naipal. It does not issue from the main range of the Himalaya covered with perpetual snow, but takes its rise in the Sub-Himalaya in latitude 29°10," longitude 82°45," whence, flowing first in a southerly direction for 40 miles, and then north-westerly for 55 miles, it enters the plains of Oudh in latitude 28°3," longitude 81°55," which it traverses in a south-easterly direction for 90 miles, and in latitude 27°17," longitude 82°32," forms for about 20 miles the western boundary of the British district of Gorakhpur, which it then enters, and, continuing a south-easterly and tortuous course for 70 miles, it receives on the left side the Dhumela or Burha Rapti, draining an extensive tract extending south wards from the Sub-Himalaya. Below this junction, the Rapti turns southward for the distance of 30 miles, communicating in this part of its course with the Moti Jhil, called also the Lake of Bakhira, and thence * Forbes' Report on the Sarda Canal. RAS 271 turns westward for 10 miles to the town of Gorakhpur. From this place it continues its course in a circuitous but generally south-easterly direction for 85 miles to its junction with the Ghoghra, on the left side of the latter in latitude 26° 13," longitude 83°46;" its total length of course being from its remotest source 400 miles, for 85 of which, downward from the town of Gorakhpur, it is navigable for large boats, and for those of smaller size a considerable distance higher." RASAULI — Pargana Partabganj — Tahsil Nawabganj — District Bara Banki — Four miles east of the civil station on the Fyzabad road, and is a Musalman village of some antiquity. The proprietors are Qidwdi Shekhs. There is an imambara of some pretensions built by Ghulam Masaud. The population amounts to 3,431; Hindus being 1,704 and Musalmans 1,727. RASULABAD — Pargana AsfWAN — Tahsil Moh^n — District Unao — Is 12 miles south-west of the tahsil, and 14 miles north of the civil station of Unao. The town (Asiwan ) lies 6 miles north-west of this place. Three unmetalled roads pass through the town, — one from Unao, another from Lucknow to Pariar Ghat on the Ganges, and the third from Rasulabad to Safipur. Muhammad Ali Khan and Muzaffar Khan, risaldars of the Delhi force, had the jungle cut, and founded this town on the lands of village Bharipur, and called it Rasulabad in honour of their prophet fRasul or Muhammad). The soil is loam. The surface is uneven. There is a little jungle about a mile from it in a south-westerly direction. The appearance of the village is pleasing ; climate healthy ; vater fresh and good. Chaudhri Musaheb Ali, a descendant of Muhammad Khan, was a noted man here ; he held the office of chakladar, &c, from the Government of Oudh. This town was the seat of a tahsildar and a chakladar. There are still the remains of an old fort and a mosque here. There are two small markets weekly for grain and coarse cloth principally. The usual village products may be obtained here as also good pen-cases. Goldsmiths work well, and some lapidaries also reside here. There are 776 mud-built houses, four mosques, fiVe temples; two of the temples are dedicated to Mahadeo and three to Debiji. Annual amount of sales at bazar about Rs. 3,500. The population is divided as follows: — Hindus. Muhammadans. Total Brahman's 505 7o9 3,443 Chhattris 22 K&yaths 150 Pasis 96 Ahirs 182 Banians ... 160 Other tribes Total, 1,625 2,740 Latitude ••• «•• 26°60' north. Longitude ... 80°30' east. 272 RAS— RAU RASULPUR — Pargana Birhak — Tahsil TAnda — District Fyzabad. — Rasulpur, a small town, borders on Ashrafpur Kachhauchha where the maniacs, iair is held. The tomb of the great seer Makhdum Ashraf is in Rasulpur. As might be expected this is a noted place of Moslem worship. There are four masonry mosques and one temple in honour of Vishnu. The population is 3,691, of whom 1,457 are Sunnis, 9 are Shias, and 2,225 are Hindus of various castes and sects. RASULPUR OR MUB^RAKPUR— Pargana Tanda— Tahsil Ta'NDA — District Fyzabad. — This town was founded by Mubarak Khan, the Khanzada Taluqdar of Hasanpur. It is on the bank of the great river Gogra ; its history is given in that of Tdnda. The population is 3,691, of whom 1,457 are Musalman Sunnis, 9 are Shias, 2,225 are Hindus. There are eight places of Moslem worship; there are three Hindu tem ples — two to Bhawani and one Thakurdwara. It is four miles from Tdnda. RAU KARNA* — Pargana Unao — Tahsil Unao — District Unao. — Rau Kama, a village in the pargana and tahsil of Unao, lies about seven miles from the civil station, on the road running north to Safipur. The road is unmetalled, with the exception of a few spots, where the extreme softness of the soil and the natural drainage have rendered culverts and metalling necessary. The Tinai, a tiny stream which dries up in the hot weather, runs near the village on the east. Rawan Singh, son of Unwant Singh, a Bisen Thakur, agent of the Kanauj rajas, settled in this place about 775 years ago, cut down the jungle, and founded the village which bears his name to this day in the modified form Rau. Bhawal Sdh and Narbir Sah, two brothers, ancestors of Jawahir Singh and Newal Singh, the zamindars of Rau Kama, Bisen Thakurs, and lineal descendants of Unwant Singh, were Salars in the army of Alamgir. The present population of this village are chiefly Hindus, and among them Pasis predominate, constituting one-fourth of the entire population. There are only 78 Muhammadans. The total population is 2,273. The village and the mounds in its immediate neighbourhood mark the site of the fort originally built by Rawan Singh, and near the border of the village on the north side is a large bargad tree under which is a Mahadeo of great antiquity. The land around the village is level, and the soil is chiefly a productive loam. There is no jungle near. There are some mahua and mango groves which yield abundantly. There are two market days in each week, but the bazar is not a place of much resort. There is no school in the village, but the children attend the village school at Thana, which is not quite two miles off. * By Mr. Hoey, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. RAW— RUD 273 RXWATPUR— Pargana Daundia Khera — Tahsil Purwa— District Unao. — Lies 16 miles south of the tahsil, and 28 miles south-east from the civil station of Unao. It was founded by Rdwat Singh, Bais, about 400 years ago. This Rdwat Singh was a distinct individual from the ancestor of Babu Rdm Bakhsh. It takes its name from its founder. The soil is loam and clay. It pre sents a pleasing prospect. The water is fresh. Site on level ground. Climate healthy. No jungle. Groves here and there, but rather more scanty than usual. Goldsmiths, carpenters, and potters work in the village. The population is composed of 1,352 Hindus and only of 17 Moslems. Total 1,369. There ar&352 mud-built houses and two temples, both dedicated to Debi. The amount of, sales at the bazar annually is about Rs. 2,000. ROKHA JAlS.— See Jais Rokha. RONAHI — Pargana Mangalsi— Tahsil Fyzabad— District Fyzabad. — This place was founded by the Bhars close to the bank of the river Gogra, here a broad and deep river. The road and railway from Fyzabad, which is ten miles distant, pass through it. Rae Gobardhan Das, Kdyath, received it from the Bhars on service tenure. The Bais and Bisen after wards acquired it. An ancient government fort is still here. It was a station for troops under the former government. The population amounts to 5,193 — Hindus being 3,664 and Musalmans 1,529. There are five temples, of which three are Thakurdwaras, eleven mosques, and three Jain temples. There is a masonry sarde and a Gov ernment school. RUDAULI Pargana — Tahsil Ram Sanehi Ghat — District Bara Banki. — This pargana is bounded on the north by the Gogra, on the east by the Mangalsi pargana, of the Fyzabad district, on the west by Basorhi and Daryabad, and on the south by Mawai Maholara. It is 17 miles from east to west, and 16 from north to south. Its area is 173 square miles or 111,102 acres, divided into 196 villages. The cultivated land amounts to 73,316 and the uncultivated to 32,786 acres. The irrigated area is 21,252 acres. The soil is for the most part loam. The river Sarju or Gogra flows along the north, separating Gonda from Bara Banki; it takes an easterly course skirting only three villages which are often damaged by its floods and are left uninhabited. In the interior of the pargana there is a river ( the Janori) which contains much water during the rains, but. is in other seasons almost empty. There are six villages on the border of this river ; it is neither useful nor injurious. The average rainfall for the last three years 1281-1283 fasli (A.D. 1874-76) — amounted to 40 inches. Wells are generally 10 feet deep. Sihor Ghat in Fyzabad is 14 miles from Rudauli, and Kaithi Ghat on the Gogra is 8 miles ; by these routes grain is exported to the Gonda district or Simaria in times of scarcity. The bazars are at Shujaganj, Lokipur, Chara, Barind- pur, Aliabad Barai, Jakhauli (Sultanganj and Akbarganj in the town of Rudauli). The population of the pargana is 134,050 ; the houses number 35 274 RUD 27,670. Rudauli Bhilsar, Kaithi, Kheta Sarae are villages possessing more than 2,000 inhabitants. Schools have been established at nine places. The post and registry offices are at Rudauli. The police station is at Bhilsar, and there are police posts at Shah Lal and Bhalsanda. ThefairatRahimganj, which is held on the 27th Safar (February), and lasts for three days, is held in honour of one Molvi Amir Ali of Amethi, who led a crescentade against Ajodhya in 1856. He started from Amethi and passed through Daryabad, where the chakladar endeavoured to persuade him to stop. Finding his efforts of no avail, he despatched Captain Boileau of the king's army in pursuit, who overtook him at Rahlmganj. Raja Sher Bahadur Singh was at the same time advancing from Kamyar to arrest the progress of the Molvi, who was caught between the two forces, defeated, and killed. His head was sent to Lucknow by Captain Boileau. His body was interred here, and since annexation the fair has been held, but it is now declining in popularity. The Zohra fair is held in honour of Zohra Bibi, the daughter of Sayyad Rdni of Rudauli, on the 1st Sunday in Jeth. Zohra is said to have been cured of blindness by Sayyad 8alar, of Bahraich, whom she afterwards married. She was buried at Bahraich, but a brick of her tomb was brought by her votaries, and a tomb erected to her at Rudauli where this fair is held. The head sweeper presents a bed as his offerings to the shrine, and the lower classes go through an imitation of the marriage ceremonies. Other fairs held in the pargana are those at Kaithi held on Puranmashi of Pus for bathing Sangam, at Kalwa or Surajkund held on Kartiki Puranmashi in honour of the sun, and at Rudauli Khas on 13th, 15th Jamddi-us-sani in honour of Abdul Haq or Shah Ahmad, a local saint. The Government revenue amounts to Rs. 1,47,908; the villages are held under the following tenures : — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... ... ... 86 Zan.indari Bhayyachara ... ... ... ... "0 Pattidari ... " ... ... ... ... ... 4n The pargana was formed in Akbar 's time, and it takes its name from the chief town, whose foundation is ascribed to Rudr Mai Bhar. There was a fort and a tahsildari at Rudauli during the Nawabi. The only event of note was the fight which occurred in 845 A. H. between Muham mad Sdleh, the ancestor of the present taluqdars, and Hasan Raza, &c, of the Salar Muhalla of Rudauli; the governor of the place at that time was Tatar Khan, who lived at Sarkatia near Rudauli. He was a desciple of Muhammad Saleh, took part with him, and the:r combined forces gained the victory. The tombs of those who fell still exist in the Salar Muhalla. The chief landholders are Chaudhris Ihsan Rasiil of Amirpur, Raza Husen of Narauli, Say$-ad Husen of Purai, heirs of Mah raja Man Singh of Abhar, Chaudhri Mahbub-ur-Rahnian, &c. RUDAULI— Pargana Rudauli — Tahsil Ram Sanehi Ghat — Distiict Bara Banki. — This is alarge Musalman town about 37 miles east south-east SAA— SAD 275 of the civil station lying in latitude 26°45' north, longitude 81°46'20" east. The principal market places are Akbarganj and Sultanganj. The latter was established in the time of Nasir-ud-din Haidar by Sarfardz Ahmad, an ancestor of Ghulam Farid, the present taluqdar, and the former by Akbar Ali Khan, the son of Haidar Beg Khan, a Nawab of Lucknow. Daily markets are held and a brisk trade carried on in grain, vegetables, cotton, and clotnT There is a Shrine of Shah Ahmad alias Shekh Abdul Haq, who is alleged to have remained entombed for six months, and a tomb of Zohra Bibi. Fairs are annually held at both these places. (See pargana article-) Population, — Hindus 4,847, Musalmans 6,770, — total 11,617. SAADATGANJ — Pargana Ramnagar — Tahsil Fatehpur— District Bara Banki alias Padshahganj, 14 miles north-east from the civil station, was founded by Raja Surat Singh, ancestor of Rdja Sarabjit Singh of Ramnagar, and called after Saadat Ali Khan in whose reign it was built. The town is clean and nicely built. Grain is brought here in large quantities from Purana Ghat on the Gogra. Population 2,789. Hindus ... ... ... ... ... 1,630 Musalman ... ... ... ... ... 1,159 Males ... ... ... ... ... 1,500 Females ... ... ... ... ... 1,289 SABALGARH — Pargana Bihar— Tahsil Kunda — DistrictBAKiABGAUB. — Sabal Sen, the ancestor of the Bisen clan, is said to have founded this town five hundred years ago ; it is two miles from the Bih&r road, one mile from the Loni river, and sixteen miles from Partabgarh. Population consists o{ ... ... 840 Bindus. 641 Musalmans. Total ... ... 1,481 There is one bazar at which the annualsa les amount to Rs. 1,50,000 ; it is called the Derwa bazar. SADRPUR Pargana* — Tahsil Bari — District Sitapur.— Pargana Sadrpur, so called from the town of the same name; is bounded on the north by tahsil Biswan, on the east by pargana Kundri south, on the south by district Bara Banki, and on the west by pargana Mahmudabad, -and covers 108 square miles. The acreage is thus given : — Cultivated land ... ... ... ... 60,268 acres. Culturable „ ... ••• ... ... 9,743 „ Rent-free „ ... ... ... ... 133 „ Barren „ ... ... ... ... 8,943 „ Total ... ... • ... 69,087 acres. i The incidence of the revised assessment is as follows : — Rs. a. p. On cultivation ... ... ... ... 14 7 On assessed land ... ... ... ... 10 7 On total area ... ... ... ... 0 14 5 which is considerably lighter than in any of the three parganas of the Bdri tahsil. * By Mr. M. Ferrar, CS. 276 SAD The population numbers 54,477, and is thus distributed :— Hindus, agricultural ... ... ... ... 30,375 „ non-agricultural ... „. ... ... 16,720 47,095 Musalmans, agricultural ... ... ... ... 3,061 „ non-agricultural ... ... ... 4,3217,382 which shows that the Musalmans are 13 per cent, of the entire population. There are 504 souls to the square mile, and 51 to each house. And each head of the agricultural population has on an average 1*5 acres of culti vated against T8 acres of assessed land. Well irrigation is badly wanting, because the tenantry cannot afford to build masonry wells, and the mud ones are comparatively expensive and easily fall in. But the country is cut up by numerous small streams, and if these were utilized as much as they might be, irrigation would be largely increased, On the east is the navigable river Chauka which flows into the Gogra at Bahramghat, some twenty miles from the southern extremity of the pargana ; on the west, and separating it from Mahmudabad, flows the Sowbe, unnavigable ; in the centre are the Kewani and Chauriari streams. The old bed of the Chauka described in the notice of pargana Mahmudabad is also one of the eastern boundaries. The pargana is a poor one. There are only two towns in it with a popu lation exceeding 2,000, namely, Sadrpur and Bansura. There are no roads — no mines nor quarries. No crops nor manufactures peculiar to the place; no melas or fairs, no remains of antiquity, no great bazars. The name is derived from that of the chief town Sadrpur, for the derivation and origin of which name the reader is referred to the town article, and the history (if the traditions of the people deserve such a title) is as follows : — In the beginning the tribe of Bhars possessed the land; Kayaths drove them out and held the country for 150 years, when certain Sourikya (Solankhi) Chhattris overran and occupied it for half a century. But the Kayaths at the end of that time rose against the descendants of the invaders and overcame them, and recovered their ancient dominions in 979 fasli (A.D. 1572). This was 305 years ago : and the Kdyaths dwelt in the land unmolested for 100 years, when again they were attacked. This time the invaders were of many castes. In 1058 Muhammad Qazi got five villages, and Shekh Ahmad Allami 22. In 1065 certain Janwar Chhattris from Biswan possessed themselves of 108 villages, and a clan of Bisens got ten. The Kdyaths succeeded in keeping only 29. The pargana was formed by Todar Mai, and consisted of 212 villages. At Survey 52 were put into the neighbouring parganas, and out of the 160 which remained, 114 demarcated villages were constituted. These are held as follows : — Taluqdari 81, zamindari 33. SAD 277 Fifty-six of the former are held by the Mahmudabad taluqdar, and 11 by Thakur Guman Singh of the neighbouring Kundri pargana. The pro prietary title to the 160 villages is distributed , thus — 119^ Musalmans ; 11 Raikwars ; 5 Seths ; 4 Janwar Chhattris ; 4 Panwars, 4 Kashmiri Brah mans. The remainder are held by Kayaths, bankers, and a Goshdin. The account which makes the Kayaths once powerful over the whole pargfha is no doubt incorrect, and no one but the qdnungos believe it, if even they do. But it has been recorded here as being the only history of the place which I have been able to procure. In the Xin-i-Akbari the pargana of Sadrpur is included in Sarkar Khairabad. SADRPUR* — Pargana Sadrpur — Tahsil Bari — District Sitapur. — Sadr pur is 30 miles south-east from Sitapur, the route from which place to it is the high road to Biswan, 21 miles, whence the traveller must go across coun try still in the same direction, 9 miles ; neither high road, river, canal, nor rail road connect it with any place. The town was founded in the year 974 fasli (1567 A.D.) by one Sadr Jahdnwho gave his name to the place; subsequently a Kdyath family acquired it. It is an insignificant place, with a population of only 2,109, which includes 982 of Kherwal, both towns having been demarcated as one. The mud- built houses are 280 in number, and there are some masonry buildings. At the school the average daily attendance is 57. At the usual bi-weekly bazar the ordinary necessaries of life are sold, the value of the sales for last year being Rs. 4,200. The situation of the town is good; the climate favourable ; Mahmudabad is 10 miles to the south across country ; and the chauka, a navigable river, is four miles to the north-west. No fair is held here. SADULLAHNAGAR Pargana^ — Tahsil Utraula — District Gonda. — This pargana is bounded on the north by the Utraula pargana, from which it is divided by the Kuwana, on the west by Gonda, on the east by Burha- para, and on the south the Bisiihi, running along its whole frontier, sepa rates it from Manikapur. Its total area is 103 square miles, and the greatest length in a straight line from east to west 13; its greatest breadth, which is at its eastern boundary nine miles. Both of the bounding rivers are fordable after the rains by men and cattle at short intervals of one or two miles, and the more important tracks are furnished with faggot bridges for the easier transit of carts. The Utraula and Nawabganj road cuts through its western corner, passing under the police station at Rahra, and taking off the greater part of the local grain traffic. Rough cart tracks, crossing the Bisiihi at the Maddo and Singhar ghdts, converge on the same bazar, and tap the eastern half of the pargana. To the north and the south along the banks of both streams is a fringe of forest vary ing in depth from three miles to a few hundred yards, but containing little good timber. The sdl trees, stunted by excessive crowding, never attain sufficient size to make them of any great value, and except the Jamun which is plentiful, and attains a fair growth at the very brink of the water * By Mr. M. Ferrar, CS. ¦f By Mr. W. C. Benett, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. 278 SAD and is of use both for building and burning, the only tree of any conse quence is the mahua, whose flowers and fruit are leased out at consider able sums for the manufacture of spirits and oil, and whose wood is largely employed in roofing the mud huts of the neighbouring villages. Game is not particularly plentiful, though spotted deer and nil-gae, andeven an occa sional panther, may be found in the remoter thickets, and the jungle clear ings swarm in places with hares and grey partridge. The centre of the parganais a flat ugly plain, underwooded and covered with fair cultivation alternating with tracts of the long khar grass, the home here and there of an unfrequent black buck. The soil is of a light dry loam, and, as the whole is included in the central table-land of the district, the constant moisture of the southern tarhar and the stiff clay of the Sub-Himalayan tarai are equally unknown. Water may be struck almost anywhere at a depth of from fifteen to twenty feet from the surface, and irrigation is very common both from wells and from the small tanks which stud the whole pargana, and form natural storage reservoirs for the rain water. Brick wells cemented with mud are most usual ; but in the jungle clearing they are often square holes walled with planks of sal wood dovetailed at the corners. There are practically only two crops, the winter harvest being as elsewhere on the uparhdr hardly known. The cultivated area is 37,406 acres, or rather more than 56 per cent, of the whole. In this 12,025 acres are under both crops, and 22,040 under kharif, and 24,675 under rabi ; the small balance having been fallow at the time of survey. The only impor tant autumn products are rice and kodo, covering respectively 15,545 and 1,890 acres. In the spring wheat takes the lead with 8,060, and is closely followed by gram which grows most luxuriantly on the land lately reclaimed from jungle with 6,670 acres. The remaining crops of any consequence are arhar, peas, and linseed. Cultivation is nowhere, except in a very few villages in the centre of the pargana, of a high class, and the settlement returns give an average area of nine cultivated acres to each plough. After the mutiny the larger tracts of jungle were declared Government property, and sold in six separate parcels aggregating an area of 8,489 acres. The remaining 57,387 acres have been demarcated in 106 villages, and there are 401 hamlets and outlying houses. Floods being unknown, there is no necessity for selecting high spots, and habitations are scattered closely all over the cultivated area. The only bazars are at Rahra and Sadullahnagar, and they are merely small collections of mud huts, where it is often difficult to get even grain for a moderately sized encampment. Owing to the extent of jungle the population is for Oudh thin, being only 35,152 or 341 to the square mile ; of these 6,931 are Muhammadans, and the high proportion of nearly a fifth of the inhabitants is due to the religion of the ruling Musalman house of Utraula. Many are Pathdns, but the majority are either low-caste weavers, or new converts to the creed of the prophet from among the agricultural Hindus. Kurmis and Muraos are the most numerous castes of Hindus with a total of 5,146, and next to them come the Koris with 3,349 and Ahirs with 3,442 souls ; Brahmans number 2,219, and there are 1,048 Chhattris, mostly Bisens and Bandhal- gotis, of the large coparcenary communities of Itua and Khera Dih. The most active classes in subduing to the plough the fever-stricken jungles SAD 279 are Bhars and Lunias, who occur in small colonies at the extreme verge of the cultivation. U"ntil quite lately the greater part of the pargana was under a dense jungle, the home of predatory bands of Siydr Khawwas (jackal eaters), Qalandars, and Banjaras, and others of the singular nomadic tribes, whose ethnological position it is so difficult to determine, and most of the present tilth commenced with the puichase of parcels of land in birt from the later Rdjas of Utraula. Some idea of the scantiness of the agricultural population at the commencement of the present century, when the practice of selling birt rights became for the first time common, may be gathered from the fact that in 1815 A.D., the government revenue was only Rs. 6,925. From that time the advance becomes rapid and steady. In 1819 the demand had risen to Rs. 13,312, and ten years later it reached Rs. 24,067. With a few trifling variations, it remained at this amount till Raja Darshan Singh in 1838 raised it to Rs. 35,107, a figure which was never again attained under the native government. Shortly before annexation it had fallen to little over Rs. 20,000, and when we took over the district, Sadullahnagar was assessed on the principle of half profits at Rs. 24,048. The progress of population and agriculture since that period has been incredibly rapid, and in 1872 A.D., at revised assessment, the govern ment land revenue was raised to Rs. 56,075, with Rs. 1,522 on account of cesses. In consideration of the largeness of the enhancement, and in view of the fact that much of the recently broken land was held on long leases at progressive rents, the rise has been distributed over a period of ten years, and it is not proposed to take the full demand till 1883 A.D. Anything worth noting in the history of the pargana and its agricultural customs will be found under the article on Utraula, of which it was till annexation a tappa, or revenue subdivision, under the same Pathan raja. For more than a century the local chiefs have had but little power, and though they sold almost all the villages to birtias, they were hardly ever allowed by the Lucknow government to engage for the revenue, and had lost all direct proprietary rights except the precarious collection of a few unimportant transit dues, and the receipt of nazarana, or the feudal tribute of two or three rupees in each year from each of the village heads. In 1849 and 1850, the great revenue speculator Pdnde Ram Datt Rdm held the pargana in security for money advanced by him to the nazim, and succeeded in purchasing a number of the hitherto independent villages, which after the mutiny were included in the sanad granted to his brother Rdja Krishn Datt Ram. But for this circumstance only three villages, the property of the Raja of Utraula, would have been held in taluqdari tenure. As it is, the proportion of zamindari holdings is larger than it is in most parts of the district, and 62 villages, with a revenue of Rs. 28,356, have been settled with independent proprietors, while the taluqdars have 50 villages with a revenue of Rs. 29,241. Beyond the mahua and timber of the fast disappearing forests, and an occasional quarry of kankar, there are no natural products of value, and no manufactures except the universal one of coarse cotton cloth for the apparel of the lower classes. 280 SAD-SAF SADULLAHNAGAR— Pargana Sadullahnagar— Tahsil Utraula— District Gonda.— This village of 706 inhabitants is 28 miles north-east of Gonda, 64 from Bahramghat, and 40 from the hills. The climate is damp, but there is no malady peculiar to the place. Water is sweet, and is met with at 18 feet from the surface. It was founded in 1193 fasli (A.D. 1786) by Raja Sadullah Khan of the Utraula family. It gives its name to the pargana. SAFDARGANJ — Pargana Partabganj — Tahsil Nawabganj — District Bara Banki. — Ten miles east of the civil station has a thana, a barrack, and a masonry bridge over the Kalydni, built by Shujd-ud-daula. At this place there is a railway station. SAFIPUR Pargana — Tahsil Safipur - District Unao — This pargana is bounded on the north by the river Sai, which separates it from the pargana (Sandila) of the Hardoi district, on the east by Asiwan Rasulabad, on the south by Pariar, and on the west by Fatehpur of the Unao district. It is l6 miles long and 16 broad. Its area is 132 square miles or 84,530 acres, divided into 137 townships. The soil is chiefly loam and clay. The staple crop is barley. The pargana is well wooded ; some 4,408 acres being under groves. Black buck and nil-gae are occasionally met with. Saline earth is to be found in considerable quantity throughout the pargana. Water is found at 30 feet. There are six bazars, and four fairs held during the year; the largest being held at Patti Amaurain September where some 15,000 persons congregate ; the fair lasts three days. The other fairs are two at Safipur and one at Siah (in honour of Sayyad Sdlar). The Government revenue amounts to Rs. 1,08,368, and falls at Re. 1-4-5 per acre. The tenure is as follows : — Taluqdari ... ... 4,249 acres Pukhtadari ... ... 240 „ Pattidari ... ... 37,168 „ Zamindari ... ... 36,181 acres Bhayyachara ... ... 5,531 „ Government villages ... 1,158 „ The population amounts to 72,319. The cultivators of the soil are of all castes, and are said to be poor and involved in debt. The first mention of the pargana is made in the Ain-i-Akbari. Before the conquest of the country by the Moslems, the Bhars, Kayaths, Ahirs, Lodhs, and Lunias were the proprietors, but they gave way to the Chauhans of Mainpuri, the Gautams, the Raikwars, the Janwars, and the Muhammadans. For the origin of the name see Safipur town. Tradition connects this pargana with the events recorded in the Ramdyan, when it relates that the country now known as parganas Pariar, Harha, and Safipur was the scene of the battle of Raja Rdm Chandar with his sons Lava and Kus. The lake Mahna is shown as exhibiting proof in its still containing the stone arrows * that were used then by the contest ing parties. On the bank of this lake there is a temple in honour of Sri Someswar Mahadeo, built just after the event abovementioned. Of the Hindu places of antiquity two only need mention ; the temple of Ram Swami Mahddeo, in the village of Vakarma, and of Debi at Baliraj Atdha. For the Muhammadan tombs and shrines see Safipur town, where they are principally situated. * See Pariar. SAF— SAH 281 The pargana during the king's reign formed part of the Midnganj Safipur collectorate. SAFIPUR — Pargana Safipur — Tahsil Safipur — District Unao. — This town lies in latitude 26°50' north, longitude 80°24' east, and is situated 17 miles north-west of Unao on the country road leading from Unao to Hardoi. There^is a daily market in which articles to the value of Rs. 55,000 are sold annually. It is a flourishing well built town, containing 89 masonry houses, 14 mosques and 6 Hindu temples. The population amounts to 7,286, of whom 2,950 are Musalmans. There is a flourishing school here. The town is also the headquarters of the tahsildar of the Safipur tahsil and of an Inspector of Police. Diwan Ummaid Rde, Kayath, and Molvi Fazl Azim, who were in high position under the Oudh Government, were natives of this town ; the former built a bazar and caravan-sarae, the latter constructed many wells, mosques, and an imambara. The town is said to have been originally founded by one Sai Sukul, a Brahman, and is generally called after him " Saipur." A religious mendi cant named Safi afterwards came to this place, established himself there, and was buried, so in commemoration of his name the name was chang ed to Safipur, though in the district throughout the epithet of Saipur is still more common. The fate of Sai Sukul is thus related, that in 1389 A.D. Ibrahim of Jaunpur marched with a large army against him, and his master, Rdja Ugarsen of Ugu, fought and killed them, ruined the whole Hindu family, and put his lieutenants in possession of the town. These were Molvi Akram, the ancestor of the Darvesh Safi, Rao Mahesh Rao, paymaster to the force, the ancestor of Bihari Lal, Kayath, the present qdniingo, Sayyad Mir Risdldar, the ancestor of the present zamindars, Zain- ul-dbidin and others, and Sayyad Hasan Raza, from whom are descended the present taluqdars, Sarfaraz Haidar, Valayat Ahmad, and other zamindars. Of the remains of antiquity there are several tombs of noted darveshes, viz., Shahs Safi, Qudrat-ulla, Fami-ulla, Hafiz-ulla, Abdulla, to the former of which a king of Delhi is said to have paid a visit in 1534 A.D. SAHET MAHET* — or the ancient Sravasti— Pargana Balrampur Tahsil Utraula — District Gonda. — A vast collection of rains on the south bank of the Rapti, ten miles from Balrampur, and six from Ikauna Was identified a few years ago by General Cunningham as the remains of the ancient city Sravasti, whose site had already been conjecturally fixed by Lassen within a few miles of the place, but to the north of the river. The foundation of the city is attributed to Srdvasta, an old king of the Solar race, the ninth in descent from Manu, at a time beside which the most ancient myths are comparatively modern. From him was derived the name Srdvasti, which appears in the Prdkrit forms Sawattha, Sdwanta and Shravanta, and has since been corrupted into Sahet. Though the words do not at first look alike, it is probable that the names of the river and the town, Sahet Mahet and Rapti, were once the same, viz., Shardvati and derived from Savitri, the sun god; at the disputed era of theRamayana' Shravasti was the capital of Uttara Kusdla, the northern province of Rama's empire, which on the division of the kingdom at the death of that hero » By Mr. W. C. Benett, CS. Assistant Commissioner 36 282 SAH fell to the share of his son Lava. At the commencement of the historical age, in the sixth century before Christ, we find it still one of the six princi pal kingdoms of Madhyadesa or Central Hindustan. It was then bounded on the south by Saketa, or Ajodhya, and on the east by Vaishali, the modern Behdr and Benares; so it probably contained at least the present districts of Bahraich, Gonda, Basti, and Gorakhpur. The king Parasenajit, who is given in the Vishnu Purana as great grandson of Buddha, and who was very probably connected in race with the princely prophet was an early convert to the new faith, and invited its founder to the Kalandaka Vihara in the Venuvana at Sravasti. Here or in Ajodhya Buddha spent the greater number of the rainy seasons during which he used to rest from his missionary labours, nor did he finally leave the place till he started on that journey to Bengal which ended in his attainment of perfection. During his lifetime Sudatta, the prime minister, built the Jetavana, a mag nificent monastery whose ruins lie to the south-west of the capital. On the death of Parasenajit his son Virudhaka succeeded, and showed himself a bitter enemy to the faith ; he crowned many acts of oppression by including 500 Buddhist virgins in his harem. For this it was predicted that on the seventh day he should be consumed by fire. To falsify the prophecy, he and his court spent the day on boats on the pond to the south of the city, but the waters fled back, the earth yawned, and the guilty monarch disappeared in a supernatural flame. From this time Sravasti remained one of the principal seats of Buddhist learning, and twelve centuries afterwards the Chinese pilgrim collected with reverence the traditions of his faith which lingered round the sacred city. At the end of the second century, B.C., Rahulata, the sixteenth of the Buddhist patriarchs, died here after having imparted his secret lore to the king's son Sanghanandi, and at the fourth Buddhist Synod convened by the Scythian Emperor Kanishka, the Jetavana, furnished one of the three principal sects of Sthaviras or Buddhist doctors. The greatest political importance ever reached by this state was in the reign of Bikramajit, who, in the middle of the second century A.D., over threw the mightiest king in India, the Ghavdhana of Kashmir, and as ruler of a vast dominion stretching from Peshawar to Malva, and from Malva to Bengal, assumed with some show of right the title of emperor of Jambudirpa or the Indian continent. Contrary to the traditions of his capital, he was a bigoted adherent of the Brahmanical religion, and the legends connected with his rebuilding of the sacred places at Ajodhya and Debi Patan show how low the fortunes of that creed had fallen in these parts when he lent it his powerful support. Both were a complete jungle, and he restored the localities of the birth of Rama and of his passage to heaven by measure ments from the Rdmdyana. His identifications probably are the base of the topography of the present day, and it is to be hoped that they have not been a source of error to the pious pilgrim. The remains of this monarch's tank and temple still exist at Debi Patan. His death appears to have been followed by open disputes between the rival faiths, and the story that a distinguished Buddhist Vasubandhu worsted the Brahmans in argument may refer to a more material victory especially as we find that his still more distinguished predecessor Man or Nita had SAH 283 been worsted in argument by the Brahmans under the Brahman Bikramdjit. Here as elsewhere royal faiths seem to have been irrefutable. The Ajodhya tradition undoubtedly preserves the correct story of the fall of this dynasty. It relates that after a glorious reign of eighty years Bikramajit was visited by a Jogi Samudra Pal, who, after exhibiting seve ral rajnarkable miracles, induced the monarch to allow his spirit to be tem porarily transferred to a corpse. The royal body was no sooner vacant than Samudra Pdl projected his own spirit into it, and refused to evacuate. By this disreputable trick he obtained the throne of Ajodhya and Sravasti, which he and his descendants retained for seventeen generations. The fact contained, in this singular legend is that Samudra Gupta, who reigned f<% the first i >rty years of the third century A.D., overthrew the local dynasty and hiij self reigned in their stead. The period of eighty years, as the duration of the rule of Bikramdjit and his descendants, is exceedingly probable, and it is singular, though not much weight can be attached to the coincidence, that from Samudra Gupta to Gayaditya, the last of the Aditya Monarchs of Kanauj, there are exactly seventeen names of the great Vaishya emperors who governed northern India. The Chinese pilgrims did not, of course, omit to visit so sacred a city. Fahian in the commencement of the fifth century found it inhabited by 200 poor families, and the grand building in decay; and 150 years later, when Hwen Thsang arrived, the desolation was complete, and only a few monks haunted the ruins. It was destined, however, to recover for a while before it finally disap peared from history, and it is here that 1 must refer to its connection with the origin of a third religion, that of the Jains. The third of their Tirthankaras, Shambhu Ndth, was born at Sawatthi, both his immediate predecessors, and both successors were born at the neighbouring city of Ajodhya. There is still a small Jain temple dedicated by the accounts of the neighbouring villagers to Sobha Ndth. I have no doubt that Sobha, Nath and Shambhu Nath, Sawatthi and Sravasti, are the same, and that this was the birth place of the third Tirthankara. The eighth of these super natural beings was born at Chandripur, and this place is always identified in local tradition with Sahet Mahet, as I shall have occasion to remark when I come to the Mahdbharata legend. Since the best authorities differ about 1,500 years as to the probable date of these patriarchs, and their very existence is a fair subject for doubt, I shall not venture to conjecture on their connection with the rise of a strong Jain kingdom in the ninth and tenth centuries. Of this dynasty little more is known than of that of Bikramajit; one great victory throws them into the full light of history, and an interesting legend accounts for their downfall. Local tradi tion gives the following list of names: — Mayura dhwaja, Hansa dhwaja, Makara dhwaja, Sudhanya dhwaja, Suhiral or Suhel Deo or Dal. These are diversely reputed to have been either Tharus, or of some Rajput house. Considering the almost certain origin of the modern Rajputs, the two accounts may both be true ; but, as they were Jains, some confusion 284 SAH about their caste is easily intelligible. What is utterly baffling is that the second and fourth are the heroes of one of the episodes of the Drigvijaya section of the Mahabhdrata. The only one who is really historical is the last, whose capital was at Sravasti, and who had a fort at Asokpur or Hatila or Raza, about half way on the road between Gonda and Fyzabad. The tradition connecting him with Dumhria Dih is clearly transferred from the recollections of the subsequent Dom Raj. When Salar Masaud crossed the Gogra, he met Suhel Dal* at Hatila, and the Jains were apparently defeat ed though the place still is reverenced as the scene of the martyrdom of a distinguished Muhammadan officer. The invaders pushed to the north, and if tradition is to be believed, fought another great battle under the walls of Sahet Mahet, which contains the tomb of another martyr. Finally, after a long occupation of the country, the decisive battle was fought at Bahraich, where the Moslem were completely exterminated. In the undecisive conflicts, and prolonged encampment in a hostile country, in all in fact but its denouement, the story bears a strong resemblance to that of the Pathdn conquest of Utraula in the time of Sultan Sher Shah Sur. It is said that only about forty years after this victory the Jain house fell. The king,-f- whose name is not given, was passionately devoted to the chase, and returned one evening just as the sun was setting. It would have been a sin to eat after sunset, and the queen, in order to secure the royal supper, sent up to the roof the exceedingly beautiful wife of his younger brother. The experiment succeeded, and the sun stayed to enjoy the sight as long as she stood there. When the feast was over she descended ; the sun at once disappeared and the clocks struck nine. The astonished king enquired the cause, and was determined to see with his own eyes the wonder-working beauty. His incestuous passion was punished by the ruin of his state, and amidst a terrific storm the whole city was turned bottom upwards. The modern name Sahet Mahet, says the legend is descriptive of this inversion. This story is valuable as putting beyond, reasonable doubt the first religion to which these kings belonged, the inability to eat after sunset which is the point on which the whole turns being derived from the Jain reluctance to sacrifice insect life. The chronology is also not without its value, and I have no doubt points to the conquest of the country by the first of the great Rdthor kings, of Kanauj, Sri Chandradeva. In the last half of the eleventh century he made a pilgrimage to Ajodhya, and Kusala (i.e., Gonda) ; and with a Chhattri prince pilgrimage is often another word for military expedition — " na Chhattri ka bhagat na mtisai ka dhanuk ;" " you cannot make a saint of a Chhattri or a bow of a rice pestle;" an inscription of his descendant, the ill-starred Jai Chandra, has been found at Ajodhya. With the Ghori conquest of India the history of Sahet Mahet comes absolutely to an end, and it only remains for me to notice one more local legend. Everywhere in the neighbourhood it is told that the real name of the city before its bouleversement was Chandrikapuri or Chandripur, and that it was here that Hansa Dhwaja reigned, and Arjuna gained his very unheroic victory over the brave and beautiful Sudhania. It is added * In other places Suhel Deo, the murderer of Musatid. ¦f A similiar story is given of a prince in Guwarich pargana. SAH 285 that from here the demigod marched south to Manikpur on the Ganges, where he fought with his unknown son by the daughter of Chitrangada, Babruvdhana. The whole story completely baffles me, and I only remark that it has also been localized at Chhattisgarh (vide Central Provinces Gazetteer, page 159). Tb*re can be little doubt that this city was the Sribastam, which has given its name to the principal division of the Kayaths of upper India. All that now remains of this once famous city is the great fortress on the banks of the Rapti, with a smaller ruin to the south-west, a lofty mound due south on the Balrampur and Bahraich roads, and numerous small piles of bricks, probably the remains of ancient stupas scattered here and there within a distance of two miles of the main city. The fortress is in shape a semi-circular crescent with the concave side facing the river, and is completely surrounded by solid brick walls, the highest remains being to the west, where the ruins of the river bastion are still 50 feet in height. The ordinary walls vary from a greatest elevation of 40 feet on the western front to a lowest of 20 feet along the east and south-east. The interior is covered with a dense jungle.so thick in parts as hardly to admit of the pas sage of an elephant, which is broken into a wavy surface by the remains of temples and palaces underneath. All the principal buildings were in the western half, and it is there that the undergrowth is the thickest, only ceasing along two orthree broad streets which have been left bare, and indi cate the chief features of the old city. The main street runs right through the centre, and is built so as to command a view of the great mound Ora Jhar from one end to the other. To the south it debouches by one of the principal gateways, and at the north it ends in a small square, containing among other lofty remains the two principal mounds, which may be identi fied with the Sudattas house and the Angulimati a stupa mentioned by Hwen Thsang. The dense brushwood, and the possibility that the city which he saw may have been considerably altered by the later Jain dynasty, renders the application of that traveller's descriptions a difficult and hazardous task, but I am inclined to conjecture that his palace of Para senajit was situated among the mounds of the south-eastern corner where there is now the small Jain temple. The next principal building mentioned by him, both in his life and in the Siguki, is the hall of the law built by that monarch for Buddha, which would have been situated between the palace and the main street, while Prajapatis Vihara would have formed the whole or part of the long and even line of buildings which face the west of the street. The north-west corner of the ruin contains a large open space with a small pond in its centre, and a nearly straight road running from it to another southern gateway and converging with the main street on the Ord Jhar. The eastern half has no very important remains, though the surface is broken everywhere with the debris of houses, and it was here probably that the common people had their quarters. The walls are pierced with numerous gateways, the principal being at either end of the main street and the north eastern bastion, and in the middle and southern corner of the west wall. At a distance of half a mile from the south-west gate, and separated from the main town by swamps, which probably mark the course of the old moat, is another 286 SAH-SAL considerable ruin identified by Hwen Thsang with the old Jetavana, once one of the most famous monasteries in India. It is a singular fact that this feature is exactly reproduced in the remains of Rangi in the Rae Bareli district, where a similar oblong ruin lies at the same distance and direc tion from the main town. The remainder of the Chinese pilgrims mea surements seem to have been taken from this point ; but it is difficult to select among the numerous mounds the remains of the great Vihara and its rival the idol temple. Nearly a mile to the east of the Jetdvana is the high congeries of bricks known, as is the Mani Parbat at Ajodhya, by the name Ord Jhar or basket shakings, and supposed to be the place where Rama's labourers emptied out their baskets of earth. This is identified with some probability by General Cunningham as the Purvavarama built by the lady Vaisakha in honour of Buddha. The top is protected by the tombs of two Muhammadan saints, but General Cunningham cleared one of the sides, and found four pilasters of an exceedingly ancient style of architecture. From the fact that two of the chief thoroughfares of the city so converge as to command a view of this mound, I should conjecture that it was more ancient than the plan of the present remains, and consequently one of the oldest monuments left in the neigh bourhood. As yet very little is known of this very interesting ruin which must contain relics which would do much to elucidate some of the darkest and most interesting periods of Indian history. I was once able to spend a few days in excavations, and dug more than 20 feet deep into the crown of the Angulimatia stupa, but beyond disclosing a square building of 24 feet each way, with a partition wall down the centre, and a second wall running all round the building at a distance of four feet, I discovered nothing of interest. It is somewhat difficult to get labourers, as the neighbouring villagers have a superstitious dread of interfering with the old city, and will not even enter it after sunset. A storm of thunder and lightning, which came on when I encamped there on a second occasion, was interpreted as a manifest token of the demons' displeasure with the man who had violated their haunts. Note. — Since the above was written, the learned Suraj Naiain Acharya, of Lachhman- pur, in the district of Sultanpur, favoured me with the following information, the sources of which I was unable to ascertain : — After the time of Asoka (Siladitya of Kanauj), the Tharus descended from the hills and occupied Ajodhya. The dispossessed Buddhisis called in Raja Sri Chandra, of Srinagra, who drove back the Tharus, and marching north founded Chandravatipura, now known as Sahet Mahet. His grandson was the? celebrated Suhel Dal or Deo who defeated the Muhammadans. Shortly afterwards Chandradeva, Sombansi of Kanauj, took Sahet Mahet, and the Suraj Bansis of Suhel Dai's family fled to Simla, where their descendants are still in existence. I am inclined to consider this legend as unusually valuable, illustrating as it does the religious wars which ensued on the fall of the great Xditya dynasty of Kanauj, and con firming the account of the refounding of Sravasti after centuries of desolation by a powerful Jain monarch, and the destruction of the Jain kingdom by Chandradeva of Kanauj. SALIMPUR. — Pargana Mohanlalganj — Tahsil Mohanlalganj— Dis trict Lucknow. — This is a small town at the 20th milestone from Lucknow on the road to Sultanpur. It is itself of not much consequence, but as the residence of the Shekh Chaudhris of Salimpur, who at one time claimed the whole pargana by right of conquest, it has played a conspi cuous part in the history of the pargana, SAL 287 This town was founded by Shekh Salim, son of Shekh Abul Hasan Sunni, the descendant of Shekh Abul Hasan, Ansdri, who drove out the Amethia Rajputs from the old pargana town Amethi Dingur. It was founded probably in the time of Akbar, for the family is said to have held a farmdn appointing Shekh Salim the chaudhri of the pargana. The town is picturesquely situated in some broken and high ground overlook ing the Gumti river, and the approach to it lies over a ravine spanned by a long bridge built since the establishment of the present Government, two or three scattered mosques, and the taluqdar's house in the distance, built with some attempt at magnificence, add to the picturesqueness of the scene. But the country is otherwise wild looking and scantily wooded. The population is 2,365 and chiefly Hindu and agricultural and labour ing. Very little trade is carried on, and the annual sales in the bazars do not amount to more than Rs. 3,700. A small Government vernacular school is maintained at which some 30 pupils attend. The population gives a somewhat illusory idea of the size of the place, for it includes that of some hamlets that have been included within the village boundary. SALON Pargana — Tahsil Salon — District Rae Bareli. — This large pargana was formerly in the Partabgarh district, but is now in that of Rae Bareli ; it extends from the Ganges to the south, and is bounded on the north by Parshddepur. Its area is 226 square miles, of which 110 are cul tivated; its population is 120,545 or 533 to the square mile. Of these 12,252 are Brahmans, 6,137 are Chhattris, 15,940 are Ahirs, 9,554 Pasis, 12,150 Chamars, 12,118 Kurmis, 10,915 are Musalmans. Of the Chhattris, 4,099 are Kanhpurias, nearly all of whom eat together and form a powerful and valiant body. The following remarks are taken from the settlement report : — "In Salon there were 305 villages, of which 20 have been included in the pargana of Manikpur. These form the estates of Pariawan and Lowdna. Two villages were transferred from the Rampur pargana to Salon, so that the whole present number is 287. Of these 287 villages twenty -one are newly founded by a grantee under Lord Canning's rules. The grant was made just after themunity to Mr. Thomas Palmer of Cawn pore, and is now held by trustees for his wife and children. Deducting these villages 266 are left. They are held as follows : — Taluqdari. Mufrad. Kanhpuria ... ... ... 3J> 98 Bais Chaudhri ... Chandel ... „, Raikwar Bisen ... ... Brahman ... Kayath Kurmi ... Murao Shekh Sayyad Pathan (Qandhari Gharwar) Faqir Nanak Shahi, Government villages, 0 3 o 9 O I 2 0 O 1 O 18 O I O I 19 23 O 44 O 11 0 I 0 2 Total ,., ... S66 288 SAL There are three taluqas in this pargana, viz. : — 1. Ntiruddinpur ... ... ,.. ... Kanhpuria. 2. Azizabad ... ... ... ... Shekh. 3. Bhagipur Newada ... ... ... ... Kanhpuria. The Nuruddmpur estate comprises twenty-one villages, and the Bhagi pur Newada estate eleven only. The name of the former is the old name by which the estate was known by its former proprietors, the Pathans, who were conquered and driven out by the Kanhpurias. " The Bhars of Salon. — Here as elsewhere tradition goes back to the Bhars as the earliest occupants of the country. In Salon the traces of a masonry fort ascribed to them may be still found. The Bhars of Salon appear to have been no better than their brethren elsewhere : unjust, illiterate, and violent, they were a kind of Phillistines, whom the enlightened rulers at Delhi had to exterminate. Three Musalmans are said to have been commissioned to finish off the Bhars, and having done so they settled at Mustafabad on the banks of the Sai in pargana Ateha, where the remains of a large brick fort in fair preservation attest their residence. Many of the names of the villages are traced to them and their descendants. " The Kanhpurias. — These worthies trace their origin to the famous Rdja Manik Chand (Gharwar), who once on a time gave a daughter in ' shankalp ' to a Brahman who lived on the banks of the Sai. She bore a son named Kanh, who from infancy was marked for a wonderful destiny. His name is found in Kanhpur in the Nuruddinpur ilaqa. Grown up, he drove out the Pathans, and his four sons occupied their estates. These sons were Rahas, Sahas, Urdn, and Parsed. From Rahas the Kaithaula family and Rdja trace their descent, and the other sons have their descendants in various places. The Raja of Tiloi in Sultanpur, adjoining this district, finds his ancestor in Sahas, Kanh's second son. This family acquired great power, and their estates are said to have embraced fourteen parganas, including Salon. " The elder son, Rahas, is the ancestor of the Nain, families, and it is said that originally they had fifteen villages only, but they have been a pushing and aggressive family, and being not over scrupulous, they have gone on annexing till they have got fifty- two villages. They have of course separated from one another and hold distinct properties, but this is only as regards the acquired villages. The original fifteen villages are still com- mor property, and each branch has its share in the parent stock of the Pachmad estate. " From Mr. Carnegy's " Notes on the Races, Tribes, and Castes of Oudh," I extract the following regarding the Kanhpurias, which Mr. Carnegy records as " the officially accepted version of the history of the origin " of this clan : — " This clan is said to have sprung from one Chuehu Pande, a Brahman devotee of Bhdrat Dwdj in Allahabad. He is said to have been a man of great learning, and was held in high esteem by Hindu chieftains of every SAL 289 class. The great Gharwar Rdja, Manik Chand, whose descendants now possess the raj of* Kantit in Mirzapur, had no sons ; he had given the daughters of thousands of indigent Brahmans in marriage, hoping thereby to propitiate the gods and obtain male issue, but all bis lavish gifts proved useless. As a last resource he gave his adopted daughter (a girl whom his i£ni is said to have picked up at the Manikpur ghat on the Ganges, and for whom various offers of marriage by other Chhattri chiefs had been made) to the devotee, not in marriage, but as a living offering presented at his shrine. The pandit accepted his votive offering, and in due time, the damsel gave birth to a male child which the Pandit named Kdnh ;" and so on. " A very pretty piece of word-painting no doubt," remarks Mr. Carnegy, " and from this Kanh are said to descend the Kanhpuria clan, with its fifteen rdjas and chiefs. " From Mr. W. C. Benett's very able little work on the " Family History of the chief clans of the Rae Bareli district, " I extract the following regarding this clan : — " These trace their descent from the celebrated Rishi Bhdrat Dwaj and their blood is enriched by the piety of eighty-three generations of saints and anchorites. The birth of Kdnh, their first Chhattri ancestor, is involv ed in much obscurity. " The common tradition is shortly as follows : — Suchh, a saint of distinc tion, lived at Manikpur in the reign of the great Manik Chand. A fable of Brahmanical invention describes and accounts for his marriage with the daughter of the raja.* " From this marriage two sons were born, one of whom turned Brahman and the ether Chhattri. The Chhattri was Kdnh, the eponymous hero of his tribe, who married into a Bais family, abandoned Mdnikpur, where he had succeeded as his mother's heir to the throne of Manik Chand, to his wife's relations, and founded the village of Kanhpur on the road from Salon to Partabgarh. The present tribe deity of the Kanhpurias is the Mahesha Rakshasa (buffalo demon), to whom they offer one buffalo at every third Bijai Dasami, and another for every wedding or birth which has oc curred in their chief's family since the last sacrifice. I regard this tradition as extremely important. All the leading tribes, of whose immigration their can be no doubt, retain distinct legends of their former homes. Here it is admitted that the founder of the tribe in these parts was also the first of his people who was admitted into the Hindu caste system, as his father, the Rishi, and his ancestors, the eighty-three preceding anchorites, were of course of no caste at all. The connection with the Bais is more important than that with Manik Chand, as the latter is introduced into legends of every date from Mahmud Ghaznavi down to Husen Shah Sharqi. "Kanh's sons, Sdhas and Rahas, completed the conquest of the territory to the north-west of Kdnhpur by inflicting a decisive defeat on the Bhars, * " This princess, the only daughter of Manik Chand, seems to have contracted several alliances, and to have transmitted the raj and the Gharwar blood by each." 37 290 SAL whose kings the brothers, Tiloki and Biloki, were left dead on the battle field. Their names are preserved in the neighbouring villages of Tiloi and Biloi." The seniority of the Kaithaula family over that of Tiloi. — Rahas was the eldest son of Kanh, the assertions of the Tiloi family notwithstanding, and his immediate descendants find their representative in Raja Maheshwar Bakhsh, taluqdar of Kaithaula. The Raja, of Tiloi is descended from Sahas, the second son, whose posterity in the race for wealth and power very soon outstripped that of the eldest son, Rahas, and so came to be the dominant family. Whilst the head of the houses of Tiloi has always figured prominently in the history of these parts, the family of Kaithaula have remained in comparative obscurity. Muhammadan settlements. — The Shekh, Sayyad, and Pathan settle ments are all offshoots from Manikpur, established at various periods between A.D. 1030 and 1762. They present no particular features of interest apart from the history of the parent colony. Mr. King continues : — "Jdgir of Bahu Begam. — The Salon pargana was part of the vast estates held as 'jagir' by the Bahu Begam, wife of Shuja-ud-daula, and mother of Xsif-ud-daula. She died on the 23rd Muharram 1223 fasli, (1816 A.D.). Salon was conferred on the queen of the reigning sovereign, Ghdzi-ud-din Haidar. She was Padshah Begam, who, espousing the cause of her grandson, Munna Jdn, in his attempt to secure the succession to the throne, after Nasir-ud-dfn Haidar's death, was defeated by the firmness of the resident, Colonel Low, as is related in Sleeman's tour through Oudh, Vol. II., Chapter IV., and departed to the Fort of Chunar with Munnd Jan, where both were kept prisoners of State. The Begam and her grandson both died there. " Religious endowment at Salon. — There is a Muhammadan religious endowment at Salon which rose thus : — " Shah Pir Muhammad, inhabitant of muhalla Adhan, of the city of Jaunpur, went to study at the feet of the Manikpur saint, Pir Karim, who made him his chela; or spiritual son, and sent him to Salon to the dargah and tomb of the martyr (Shahid), Piran Paronta, a companion, it is said, of the renowned Sayyad Salar of Bahraich fame. At Salon the chaudhris allotted him a post under a red tamarind tree, and his name and fame spread. The Emperor Alamgir (Aurangzeb) gave him revenue-free lands, and the grants have been not only respected and confirmed by subsequent rulers (such as Saadat Khan, Asif-ud-daula, and the Padshah Begam) but increased. They are confirmed by the British Government and are repre sented by eleven villages and some chaks or hamlets, of which the annual value may be estimated at Rs. 16,000 at least. It is probably not less thanRs. 18,000. The grants extend into the Kunda Tahsil of the Partab garh district, where they consist of thirteen villages and hamlets, of which the annual revenue is about Rs. 7,000, so that this endowment is worth about Rs. 25,000 per annum. " Former official divisions. — Salon gave its name to a Chakla of which the extent varied at different times. Either the arrangements regarding SAL— SAN. 291 the mutual inter-dependence of the administrative powers were very unde fined, or the actual limits of jurisdictions were vague ; but it is most diffi cult to get any reliable information regarding the various executive officers and jurisdiction under the native government. Everybody in power seems to have been loosely called a nazim, and it is not uncommon for a qanungo evenfwho should know better, to speak of the same person as ndzim and chakladar in the same breath." Salon is a very picturesque and interesting pargana ; it lies rather low towards the bank of the Sai ; it is covered with the jungle in which the Ndin taluqdars and other free-booters built their forts. Wild cattle are still found here in large numbers; the banks of the river are bluff and covered with brushwood through which ravines and many bosky dells radiate far into the country. Water is near the surface but mud wells do not last. The Government revenue falls at the rate of Re. 1-10-10 on the arable area, and was raised 49 per cent, above the summary settlement. SALON — Pargana Salon — Tahsil Salon— District Rae Bareli. — Rdja Sahasra Bhar is said to have founded this village ; it is on the road from Partabgarh to Rae Bareli; it is three miles from the Sai, thirty-six from Partabgarh, and twenty from Bareli. The Bhars held this town originally; two Sayyads were killed here because they sounded the azan when saying their prayers, the consequence was the destruction of the Bhars. This town is much reduced now; seventy years ago it was a flourishing place ; the population is as follows : — 2,184 Hindus. 2,971 Musalmans. 5,155 There are 85 masonry houses and 1,025 with mud walls ; there is one temple to Mahadeo and ten mosques, with other religious buildings. There is a thana, a tahsil, and school. There is also a bazar whose annual sales amount to Rs 10,000. This town is pleasantly situated, with many groves and palm trees round it, also a large jhil. SAMARPHA — Pargana Dalmau — Tahsil Lalganj — District Rae Bareli. — This town is situated on the road from Lalganj in pargana Dalmau, and is the residence of a lady taluqdar Thakurain Darido Kunwar. It is pleasantly situated among numerous groves. The popula tion is 2,352, mostly Hindus. There is a vernacular school and a temple to Mahddeo. SANDANA — Pargana Jhalotar Ajgain — Tahsil Moha'n — District Unao. — Lies 7 miles south-west of Mohdn, and 14 miles north of Unao. It was peopled some 400 years ago by one Sadhan Singh Dikhit, son of Rde Rdm Singh, ancestor of the present holders. The soil is principally loam. It is on level ground; the site of the village is pleasing ; climate good and water fresh. About one mile to the north is a jungle of dhak wood. Nothing manufactured here, excepting earthenware for the use of the inhabitants. 292 SAN The population is divided as follows : — Hindus. Muhammadans. Total. Brahmans ... 125 Chhattris ... 191 Kayaths ... 26 Pasis ... 65 Ahirs ... 97 Others ... 42 1 925 196 1,121 There are 217 mud-built houses and three temples, two shiwalas, and one temple to Debi. SANDI Pargana* — Tahsil Bilgram — District Hardoi. — The chief sub division of tahsil Bilgram in the Hardoi district. It consists of 141 villages ; on the north and west it is bounded by parganas Bdwan, Barwan, and Katiari; on the south-west and south by the Ganges and by pargana Bilgram; on the east by pargana Bangar. The Garra flows right through it from north to south and the Ramganga flows irregularly along or near its western and south-western border. Its extreme length and breadth are 13J and 17J miles. Its area is 168 square miles, of which 107 or three- fifths (61'62 per cent.) are cultivated, a fifth (19'91per cent.) is culturable, and less than a fifth (17'52) barren. The proportion of the cultivated area returned as third class, that is, light and sandy is 15'65 per cent, only a sixth of it (16'37 per cent.) is irrigated, the area watered from tanks and ponds (11 '40 per cent.) being more than twice as large as that watered from wells (4-97 per cent.*. The number of wells and ponds are returned at 1757 and 1157 respectively. The percentage under groves is unusually low, only '95. The average area of cultivation per plough is 6TV acres. The pargana is divided into two distinct portions by the irregular sandy ridge, which running down through it from north to south imme diately to the east of Sandi marks the edge of an ancient channel of, as I believe, the Ganges, long since abandoned in its gradual westward recession. All the villages on and to the east of this ridge are poor, uneven, and sandy. Irrigation is scanty and difficult. In some villages wells cannot be made, at all, in others only the small pot and lever (dhenkli) wells can be made and these have constantly to be renewed. On the other hand, all of the country to the west of this ridge, that is to say, four-fifths or more of the pargana is a distinctly alluvial tract, levelled and enriched by the floods of three Himalayan rivers, the Garra, Ramganga, and Ganges, and by minor streams such as the Sendha. All this tract is tarai, that is to say, it has been scooped by fluvial action out of the adjacent bangar or original plateau, and in it the water level is always so near the surface that in the dry months percolation largely supplies the want of irrigation, while in the rainy season it is more or less completely flooded. It constitutes in fact the flood basin of the three rivers named above. In heavy floods such as those of 1871, a sea of waters spreads from Sandi, 20 miles west to Fatehgarh. The rivers bring down a rich alluvial deposit locally called seo, which greatly fertilizes the submerged fields and makes manure * By Mr. A. H Harington, C. S., Assistant Commissioner. SAN 293 unnecessary. The deposit brought down by the Ramganga is considered the richest. In heavy floods it is sometimes spread two feet thick over the fields. Besides its richness it has this further advantage, that its pre paration for seed involves only a quarter of the labour required for ordinary land. Trie autumn crops in this part of the district cannot be depended on, and if the floods are late in running off, the spring sowings suffer. Along the Garra, which flows between well defined banks of from fifteen to twenty feet high, irrigation is carried on by the pot and lever ( dhenkli) or by the lift (beri). Opposite Sandi I have seen five lifts at work to fetch the water up to the fields. Wheat and even opium are grown up to the very edge of the bank. Watering from the Sendha is very difficult and expensive owing to the depth of the stream below its banks. Much of the soil in this rivered tract is a hard stiff cold clay requiring large and powerful bullocks to force' the plough through it and heavy rains to soften it. A natural consequence of the moisture of the surface and slight need of artificial irrigation is that irrigated and unirrgated lands in many villages fetch much the same rent. Away from the Garra the country is poorly wooded. There is little jungle except a patch full of nil-gae at Jeori on the Sendha. In some vil lages, especially those along the Ramganga, a rank deep rooted grass called sarai is very baneful. Every flood brings down fresh seeds of it, and not improbably it will in time be as bad a pest as the "kans" of Bundelkand. In this low river swept tract the soil of the bangar has here and there withstood the fluvial action, and has left a high isolated bluff overlooking the surrounding champaign. The views from these " coigns of vantage" is very striking. Thus from Malanthu Khera the eye can range from the Christian spire of Fatehgarh Church, twelve miles away across the Ganges ; on the west, to the pagan pinnacle of Bawan Shiwala, fourteen miles to the east, or from SAndi fort on one hand to the groves of Siwaichpur on the other. Another grand view is to be had from Sdndi fort. The Sandi lake, called ' Ddhar,' has been formed, I suppose, by the silting up of the channel of the great river which must have flowed close up to the sandy ridge on the east of it, much in the same way as the snipe-famed Baghar Tal near Bahramghat has been formed by the silting of the Sarju. It is two miles long, with abreadth of from four to six furlongs, and abounds in fish and water-fowl. The beauty of the groves round Sandi attracted Sir W. Sleeman's atten tion. Writing in 1850, he says* : — "I observed very fine groves of mango trees close to Sandee planted by merchants and shopkeepers of the place. The oldest are still held by descendants of those by whom they were first planted more than a century ago ; and no tax whatever is imposed upon the trees of any kind, or upon the lands on which they stand. Many young groves are growing up around to replace the old ones as they decay ; and the greatest possible security is felt in the tenure by which they are held * Vol. II.,' pages 31-32, Tour through O dh, 294 SAN by the planter, or his descendants, though- they hold no written lease or deed of gift, and have neither law nor court of justice to secure it to them. Groves and solitary mango, semul, tamarind, mhowa, and other trees, ' whose leaves and branches are not required for the food of elephants and camels, are more secure in Oude than in our own territories ; and the country is, in consequence, much better provided with them. While they give beauty to the landscape they alleviate the effects of droughts to the poorer classes from the fruit they supply; and droughts are less frequently and less severely felt in a country so intersected by fine streams, flowing from the tarae forest or down from the perpetual snows of neighbour ing hills ; and keeping the water always near the surfaee, these trees tend also to render the air healthy by given out oxygen in large quantities during the day and absorbing carbonic acid gas." The taluqdari tenure obtains in 30£ villages, 61^ are zamindari, and 49 imperfect pattidari. The Government demand, excluding cesses is Rs. 1,27,218 — a rise of 23-13 per cent, over the summary assessment. It falls at Re. 1-14-7 on the cultivated acre ; 1-2-10 per acre of total area ; 11-10-7 per plough ; Rs. 2-9-4 per head of agricultural and 1-13-2 per head of total popu lation. The incidence of population is 415 to the square mile. The leading statistics are — Total 69,751; Hindus to Muhammadans 64,252 to 5,499; males to females 37,734 to 32,017, agriculturists to non-agriculturists 49,289 to 20,462. Brahmans (8,756) and Ahirs (8,240) head the list. Then come Kisans and Ohamdrs, Chhattris (5,984) and Murdos (4,853). There is an aided school at Sandi and village schools have been esta-. blished at Palia and Chamarsar. The opium department has a weighing, station at Sandi. The Aan-i-Akbari contains the following mention of the pargana : — Cultivated area, 2,11,814 bighas. Revenue, mal, 31,55,339 dams. Sayar ghal ... 1,95,108 „ Zamindars, Sombansi. Garrison, 20 sawfirs and 2,000 foot soldiers. The chief products are wheat, barley, bajra, gram, juara, arhar and paddy. At survey wheat covered a third of the cultivated area ; barley between a fifth and fourth ; bdjra and gram together a fourth. The areas under sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, indigo, and poppy were respectively only 353, 18,979, 50, and 1 acres. The climate of Sdndi itself is considered very good, but the wells are brackish. SAN 295 The 141 villages are held thus -. — Katiars ... ... ... 35 Sombansis- ... ... 16 Janwars ... ... 10 Banitilas ... ... ... H Nikumbhs ... ... 2 Chauhans ... ... 1 Gaurs ... ... 6J RaikwSrs ... ... 4 Bais ... 2 Rdthors ... *¦¦ 1 Gahalwars ... 1 Katerias ... ... ... 1 Bachhils ... .« 1 Total Chhattris ... 80J Sayyads ... •¦¦ ••• 18£ Pathans ¦•• •*• 6 Shekhs *¦* »•« 2 Muglials ... ... 4 Total Muhammadans ... 2fi Brahmans ... ... •111 Ahirs ... ... ... 1* Government ... ... ... 12 Kayaths ... ... ... ... ... 4 Lodhs ... ... ... 5J * Misrs, Dikhits, Aganhotris, Tiwaris, and Pafchaks, one each ; Dubes four, Pandes two ; Cliaubes a half. It is believed traditionally that Arakhs preceded Thatheras in holding the country round Sandi. The displacement of the Thatheras was effected by Sombansi Chhattris who had migrated from Jhiisi. At the time of the Muhammadan conquest the domains of the Sombansis are said to have extended over Sandi, Katiari Barwan, Saromannagar, Patti, Pachhoha, Shahabad, Bangar, and Bawan. The headquarters of the clan was at Santan Khera or Santannagar, a fort named after Raja Santan Singh, lying at a short distance to the north of the present town of Sandi to which it has given its name. The Sombansis were driven out at the Muhammadan invasion and retired to the Kumaun hills. This retreat, and their complete subjugation, did not take place till about 1398 A.D. Traditions still linger on the country side of the stubbornness of the defence of Santan Khera, the depth of the moat, the failure of the siege till a channel was cut from the moat to the Garra. The conquerors abandoned Santan Khera, and founded a new town about a mile and a half to the south-east, and named it Fatehpur Islamabad. But pestilence broke out twenty-two years later and caused the abandonment of the new town. The village of Chandiapur stands near the deserted site which is now known as Fatihan Khera. In compliance with the wishes of the inhabitants the old town was re-peopled, and the Muhammadans gave it the name of Ashrafabad. But the new title did not go down. Santan Dih or Sandi became its name. The proprietary connection of the Sayyads with the pargana began with Sayyad Husen Tirmuzi, who was a leading man in the conquering post, and was rewarded for his 296 SAN services with several villages in jtigir. In 1061 Hijri (1650 A.D.) his des cendant, Sayyad Sad-ulla, was killed in an affray with certain Sribds*ab Kayaths of the pargana, arising out of a dispute as to the ownership of the Manjhua. On the petition of the slain man's family Shah Jahan deputed Bahman Ydr Khan to chastise the Kayaths. The task was very thoroughly done, and none of this family of Kayaths are to be found in Sdndi. The same emperor bestowed the whole pargana, then consisting of 332 villages, on Khalil-ulla Khan injagir; but later on in 1093 Hijri (A.D. 1681), Aurangzeb conferred the proprietorship of the town and of forty villages which had belonged to the Kayaths on Sayyad Fateh Muhammad and Sayyad Mu hammad, the heirs of the slain Sayyad Sad-ulla. Sayyad Muhammad was the elder son and heads the bari taraf or senior line, while the junior or chhoti taraf (or saikai) traces its descent from Sayyad Fateh Muhammad. Since then the town, and the post of chaudhri and qanungo have been held by this family. I learn from the Bhamapur proprietary rights record that the whole of (pargana) Sandi was at one time held by the chaudhris on a pargana grant from the throne. This ceased in 1194 fasli (A.D. 1843) or thereabouts. Then every village fell into the direct tenures of the old inhabitants. The pargana had been held by the chaudhris for nearly 180 years. The Oudh treaty of 1772 was ratified at "Camp Saundee." Vide Aitchi- son's Treaties II., pp. 83-84. SXNDI* — Pargana. Sandi — Tahsil Bilgram — District Hardoi. — (Lati tude 27°17' north, longitude 80°0' east.) An interesting town of 11,123 inhabitants, on the left bank of the Garra on the old route from Shahjahdnpur vid Shahabad to Lucknow. For its history the pargana article may be referred to. Tennant, visiting it in 1799, complained of " the bleak, desolate, and dreary aspect of the country, where you are constantly sinking at every step in loose sand and blinded by showers of dust." Heber, in 1824, gives a more cheerful account, but under-rated the size of the place. " The country, " he writes, "through which we passed to-day was extremely pretty, undulating with scattered groves of tall trees and some extensive lakes which still (4th November) showed a good deal of water. The greater part of the space between the wood was in green wheat, but there were round the margin of the lakes some sm all tracts of brushwood, and beautiful silky jungle-grass, eight or ten feet high, with its long pendant beards glistening with hoar-frost — a sight enough in itself to act as a tonic to a convalescent European. Sandee is a poor little village shaded by some fine trees, with a large jheel in the neighbourhood swarming with water-fowl. It was described to me as a very dangerous place for travellers without my present advantages, and I was told that from thence to the company's frontier the country bore an extremely bad character, and several robberies and murders had taken place lately. The lake was half dry already, and would, they said, in three months time be quite so. As it recedes it leaves a fine bed of grass and aquatic plants on which a large herd of cattle was now eagerly grazing." • By Mr. A.H. Harington, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. SAN 297 Twenty-six years later Sir W. Sleeman noted his impressions of Sandi (Vol. II., p. 31, Sleeman's Tour in Oudh) :— " The river Garra flows under the town to the north. The place is said to be healthy, but could hardly be so were this lake to the west or east instead of to the south whence the wind seldom blows. This lake must give out more or less of malaria that would be taken over the village for the greater portion of the year by the prevailing easterly and westerly winds. I do not think the place so eligible for a cantonment as Tandee- awun in point either of salubrity, position, or soil. The lake on the south side abounds in fish, and is covered with wild fowl, but the fish we got from it was not good of its kind." The best market is that held on Sundays and Thursdays in muhalla Nawabganj, but smaller bazars are held on Tuesdays in muhalla Khalisa, on Mondays in muhalla Auladganj, on Fridays in muhalla Munshiganj, and on Wednesdays in Salamullaganj. The Sandi market has a local fame for its small cotton carpets or qalins. The principal wards or muhallas are called Sayyadwara, Salamullaganj, Munshiganj, Khalisa, Aulddganj, Nawabganj, and Unchatila. Unchatila has been built on one of those isolated bluffs where soil harder than usual has withstood the river-floods of ages, and has left a sort of natural for tress commanding the adjacent river basin. Here, layer upon layer, are piled the vestiges of the Xrakhs, Thatheras, Sombansis, and Sayyads of the past, crowned with the successive remains of an earthwork thrown up during the reign of Shuja-ud-daula, a factory built by European enter- prize at a rather later date, a chakladar's tahsil and fort, an English tahsil and police station established at annexation, and now a Govern ment opium godown or weighing house and office. A gloomy associa tion clings to this building, for it was here, in 1870, that the opium officer Mr. MacMullen was atrociously murdered by his bearer, who in revenge for a trifling punishment by the kindest and most indulgent of masters, blew out his brains as he lay asleep, and then gave out that his master had committed suicide. A moment's glance at the poor victim's body refuted the lie ; the murderer confessed his crime, and was hanged for it. In Sayyadwara the chief buildings are a mosque and mansion built by Sayyad Qutb-ud-din Husen Khan, chakladar at annexation of Bangarmau and S-indi. In this house is located the Government aided school, averaging 102 pupils. To the south of it is an imambara and mosque built in 1844. Two other mosques adorn the quarter raised by Munshi Mubarak Ali and Najabat Ali, reader of the khutba or prayer for the king. Salamullaganj, named after one of the Say) ad chaudhris of the pargana, boasts its rauza built in 1738 by Sayyad Muhammad Amjad, father of chaudhri Sal.im-ulla, and a mosque built by the same Sayyad three years later. To the east of the town are the dargdhs and graves of Shah Allah Bakhsh Darwesh, called also zinda Pir and of Mauldna Khalis, faqirs of great local renown, a,nd claimed by tradition as companions in arms of Sayyau S61ar Masaud, 38 298 SAN These tombs seem to have been constructed about the end of the four teenth century. One of them has evidently been chiefly built out of the ruins of a Hindu temple, being made almost entirely of large blocks of kankar of different sizes. At the edge and in front of the raised plat form are two large blocks, of which the upper surface has been hewn into the segment of a large circle. In their present position these stones are without use or meaning. They have apparently been originally a part of the doorway of a Hindu shrine. Other fragments of pillars and bas-reliefs, belonging probably to the same building, are collected at the shrines of the Mangla and Gobardhani Debis. In Munshiganj there is a masonry well of great age, said to be of a date prior to the Sombansis under Raja Santan, and called Mitha kudn or the well of sweet waters. It was repaired during the reign of Saddat Ali Khan by Muhammad Ali Naqi Khan, uncle of Sayyad Qutb-ud-din Husen Khan, The Khalisa and Aulddganj wards contain many good masonry houses built by wealthy Rdezada Kayaths such as the Ldlas Gopal Rde, Ganga Parshad, and Shadi Lal. Here, too, are two Thakurdwdras, erected in recent times by Beni Datt Misir and Chhote Lal Pande. To the east of Muratganj lies the sacred shrine of the Mangla Debi. Here, in addition to the usual fragments of stone bas-relief, are two small white marble images, of which the feet and hands have been broken off, a huge block of hewn kankar, and a fragment of a red sandstone capital. Close by is the Phul Mati dher, a bas-relief representing a pagoda-like structure, rising over a seated central figure with attendants, of apparently Buddhist type. In Nawabganj there is a fine sarae. This ganj was built by one Sabadh Gir Goshain, a military officer in the Nawabi. In this quarter used to be cantoned some of the ex-kings troops, with guns. The road to Bil gram and Hardoi passes through Nawabganj, which is by far the most thriving mart in Sdndi. A mile from the town in Admapur at the edge of the lake a little spring wells up and trickles into it. The spot is called " Brahmdvart," and is regarded with peculiar veneration by the Hindus of the neighbourhood. Here a grove has been planted, and in it over the sacred spring is a little shrine tended by a few priests. SANDILA Pargana* — Tahsil Sandiua — District Hardoi. — The princi pal subdivision of tahsil Sandila in the Hardoi district. It consists of 213 villages. On the north it is bounded by pargana Gopamau, on the west by parganas Bdlamau and Mallanwdn, on the south-west and south by parganans Bangarmau, Safipur, and Mohdn Auras of Lucknow, on the east by parganas Gundwa and Kalydn Mai, and across the Gumti by par gana Aurangabad of Sitapur. The Sai flows along the greater part of its south-western and southern border. • By Mr. A. H. Harington, CS. SAN 299 In shape it is an irregular rhombus, with an extreme length and breadth of 31 and 22 miles. Its area is 329 square miles, of which 170 or 51-14 per cent, are cultivated. Rather more than a fifth (22"56 per cent.) is culturable ; a fourth (247 per cent.) is returned as barren. More than a fourth (27"65 per cent.) is rated as third class, that is, sandy, light, and uneven. Rather less than a third (31-05 per cent.) of the cultivated area is irrigated in the proportion of about four parts from tanks and ponds to one from wells. The percentage under groves is only 1'6 ; 1\ acres is the average area of cultivation per plough. There is nothing very striking or interesting about its physical fea tures. The statistics already given show that it is poorly wooded, that the area of barren and sandy soil is very large, and that wells are scarce. This last circumstance is owing to the sandiness of the subsoil — a feature always met with in the vicinity of Indian rivers. The worst and sandiest ¦ tract is to the north near Beniganj and Manjhgdon. Here the neighbourhood of the Gumti, which forms the north-eastern border, is plainly visible for miles inland from it, in the great irregularity of the surface, scantiness of wells and jhils, and the lightness of the sandy undulating soil. This region abounds in extensive herds of deer, whose depredations add seriously to the cultivator's difficulties. Southwards, as the scene shifts towards the centre of the pargana, a more even surface and a firmer soil is reach ed, abounding in jhils of no great size, of which the largest is at Rai- son. It is notable for the number of grebe on it, and the advantages for duck shooting presented by the embankments across it. The Baita ndla rises among the jhils in the east centre of the pargana and drains its south-eastern side. Large traets of dhdk jungle and barren waste follow its course, and it is not much used for irrigation. Towards the Sai on the west the soil again deteriorates. It becomes sandy and unable to retain water. Jhils disappear. The urface becomes uneven. But the slope into the basin of the Sai is sneither steep nor deep, so that there is comparatively little of the scour which so disastrously affects the Gumti side of the district. For the same reason the land on this side is less sandy, that is, less denuded of its loamy particles. A few spotted deer (chital) still linger in the Utar Guian jungle near Kachhona. The main road is the unmetalled one from Lucknow to Shdhjahdnpur, passing through Sandila, from Malihabad, and Kachhona, on its way to Hardoi. Parallel to it now runs the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway with stations at Sandila and Kachhona. From Sandila other unmetalled dis trict roads branch off south-westward to Bangarmau, westward to Ghaus- ganj and Mallanwdn, and northward to Beniganj and Nimkhar. The chief products are barley, wheat, bdjra, gram, arhar, mdsh, paddy, and juar. Of these at survey barley covered a fourth of the cultivated area ; wheat a fifth ; bajra and gram together rather more than a fifth • rather more than another fifth was cropped with arhar, mdsh, paddy, and' juar. The areas returned as under cotton, cane, poppy, tabacco, and indigo were respectively 2,618, 1,789, 276, 267, and 9 acres. 300 SAN The climate is considered average, but damp makes it unhealthy at and near Sandila. The 213 villages are held thus : — Nikumbhs ... ... ... ... ... 50 Janwars .. ... ... ... ¦•• ... |3 Raikwars ... — ... ... ... 2 Bais ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 Ahbans ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 Kachhwahas ... ... ... ... ... 6 Sakarwars ... ... ... ... ... 2 Gharwars ... ... ... ,„ ... I Chauhans ,„ ... ... ... ... 6 Total Chhattris ... 82 Tiwari Brahmans .. ... ... ... ... 1 Dube „ ... ... ... ... ... 1 Sukul „ ... ... ... ... ... I Bilwar „ ... ... ... ... I Sarasswat „ ... ... ... ... •• 1 Total Brahmans ... 5 Shekhs ... ... ... ... ... ... 63 Sayyads ... ... ... ... ... ... 17 Pathans ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 Total Muhammadans ... 81 Kayaths ... ... ... ... ... ... 41 Kurmis ... ... ... ... ... 2 Kalwars ••• ... ... ... ... ¦¦¦ I Lodhs ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 Total Miscellaneous ... 45 The taluqdari tenure obtains in 114 of the villages ; 70 are zamindari; 26 imperfect pattidari ; 3 are bhayyachdra. The Government demand, excluding cesses, is Rs. 1,92,553, a rise of 42 percent, on the summary assessment. It falls at Re. 1-12-7 on the cul tivated acre, Re. 0-14-7 per acre of total area, Rs. 12-14-6 per plough, Rs. 2-11-1 per head of agricultural, and 1-6-5 per head of total popu lation. The incidence of population is 417 to the square mile. The leading statistics are : total 1,37,275 ; Hindus to Muhammadans 1,17,371 to 19,904 ; males to females 72,175 to 65,080 ; agriculturists to non-agriculturists 71,569 to 65,275. Among the Hindus Chamars, Pasis, Brahmans, and Muraos predominate. Chamars are more than a sixth of the entire popu lation ; Pasis are nearly a tenth. Brahmans rather less than an eleventh ; Muraos about a fifteenth. Among the rest Chhattris (7,054), Ahirs, Vaish- yas, and Xrakhs (4,215) (the earliest children of the soil according to tradition) are most numerous. Among the Muhammadans Shekhs are strongest (5,076), then Ghosis and Julahas ; Sayyads are only 1,610. There is an Anglo-vernacular tahsil school at Sandila, and there "are village schools at Beniganj, Assa, Ghausganj, Bainkdar, and Behsar. SAN m 301 The pargana is mentioned in the Xin-i-Akbari as having a cultivated- area of 3,93,700 bighas. Revenue, rual ... .» ••• ¦•¦ 26,25,398 dams. Sayarghal .. ... ••• ••• 1>567 „ Zamindars, Chandels. Garrison, 20 sawars and 1,000 foot soldiers. In the early history of this pargana Arakhs occupy the place which is filled elsewhere in the Hardoi district by Thatheras. Two brothers of the tribe, Salhia and Malhia, are said to have founded the one Salhia Purwa now Sandfla, the chief town of the pargana; the other Malihabad, in the adjacent pargana of that name in the Lucknow district. The Arakhs held the tract till towards the end of the 14th century, Sayyad Makhdiim Alaud-din, the fighting apostle of Nasir-ud-din, the " lamp of Delhi," under took to drive out the infidels, and to carry the faith and arms of Isldm a stage farther to the south. The promise of a royal revenue-free grant made the prospect of success as tempting to the soldier as was the expul sion of the infidel to the saint. How long or how fiercely the Arakhs resisted we know not. Only the issue of the contest has been remembered. To this day the Arakhs of Utraula, on the Rapti, 120 miles away to the east in Gonda, recall their lost domains in Sandila. A century and a half earlier in the reign of Shams-ud-din Altamsh, the Sayyad had driven out the Hindu lords of Bilgrdm and settled themselves there. Sandila was their next acquisition of importance in this part of the country. The process of consolidation is thus described in the Tarikh-i- Mubarak Shahi (Elliot's History IV., p. 13). " The frontiers of the empire were secured (1375 A.D.) by placing them under the charge' of great and trusty amirs. Thus on the side of Hindustan, on the Bengal frontier, the fief (ekta) of Karra and Mahoba, and the Shikk of Dalmau, were placed under the charge of Malikas Shark (prince of the east) Mardan Daulat, who received the title of Nasir-ul-Mulk. The fief of Oudh and Sandila and the Shikk of Kol were placed under Malik Hisam-ul-Mulk and Hisam -ud-din Nawa. The fief of Jaunpur and Zafarabad was given to Malik Bahroz Sultani. The fief of Bihar to Malik Bir Afghan. These nobles showed no laxity in putting down the plots of the infidels, and in making their territories secure" (1394 A. D.). " Through the turbulence of the base infidels the affairs of the fiefs of Hindustan had fallen into confusion, so Khwdja-i-Jahan received the title of Malika-ul-Shark (king of the east), and the administration of all Hindustan, from Kanauj to Bihar, was placed in his charge. In the month of Rajab, 796 Hijri t 1394 A.D.), he proceeded to Hindustan with twenty elephants; and after chastising the rebels of Etawah, Kol, Kahara-Kamil, and the environs of Kanauj, he went to Jaunpur. By degrees he got the fiefs of Kanauj, Karra, Oudh, Shadidah (Sandila), Dalmau, Bahraich, Bihar, and Tirhut into his own possession. He put down many of the infidels, and restored the forts which they had des troyed. God Almighty blessed the arms of Islam with power and victory. The Rai of Jajnagar and the king of Lakhnauti now began to send to Khwa- ja-i-Jahan the elephants which they used to send (as tribute) to Delhi." ******* (1399 A.D.) " The fiefs of Kanauj, Oudh, Karra, Dalmau, Sandila, Bahraich, Bihar, and Jaunpur were held by Khwaja-i- Jahan. In the same 302 m SAN year (1399) Khwaja-i-Jahdn died at Jaunpur, and his adopted son, Malik Mubdrak, became king in his stead, assuming the title of Mubarak Shah, and taking possession of all the fiefs." The inventive piety of the Muhammadans dispenses with the traditional clue to the derivation of the name, and asserts that it is traceable to an exclamation of Sayyad Makhdiim. Ala-ud-din who when on his way thither from Delhi cast into the Jumna the grant or charter received by him from his imperiarMnaster saying, Sanad Allah, God be my charter. Accordingly Iie^^amed his first conquest Sanad-illa or Sandila, though till then it had been known as Sital&jjjiigwa. Taking as his own share a rent-free grant of 360 bighas he buyTa^dsettiea ^jpofFK, *&f£f & is called to this day Makhdumpura in remembrance of him ; aid lusjhargi iSdn stands upon it. The tyranny and exactions of Muhammad Shah Txi '-ghlaq at Delhi are said to have contributed to the development of Sandila \ "vhithei fled many a refugee, chiefly of the Brahman and Chhattri castes. ln-A-the time.of Sher Shah the settlement had become so crowded that SayyaqH Husen founded a new town adjacent to it and styled it Ashraftola. Up^ to this time no Government officer had been posted at Sandila; so that, like the cave of Adullam, it was a convenient refuge for all who wished to keep out of the way of the imperial writs ; but about the time of Akbar the qazi was transferred hither from Mahona, and the other pargana officials came in time to be posted here. Firoz Shah twice visited Sandila in 754 Hijri (A.D. 1353) on his march to Lucknow, and in 776 Hijri (A.D. 1374) on the way to Bahraich. A mosque bearing the date 769 Hijri (A.D. 1367) was built by his order. The restoration of Humayiin brought trouble upon Sayyad Husen, who had been faithful to the fortunes of Sher Shah. The town was plundered by Humayiin's troops; Sayyad Husen was dispossessed of his grant, and a force was quartered here. The lands which for three centuries had been held by Sayyads were made over to Chandels. But the tenure of the Chandels did not last long. The Sayyads regained court favour and a portion of their lost possessions. Molvi Muhammad Moia ingratiated himself with Alamgir, who conferred upon him in jagir for military ser vice Ibrdhimpur, Tiloi, and ten other villages, and, when he died in Behdr, sent his corpse to Sandila to be buried with his forefathers. Most- of the Sayyad's grants were resumed and charged with revenue after Shujd-ud- daula's defeat at Buxar, and the remainder were resumed by Saadat Ali Khan. In our own time nineteen villages were conferred on Molvi Fazl Rasul of Jaldlpur of this family for distinguished services during the mutiny. Two severe actions were fought at Sandila on 6th and 7th October, 1858. SANDILA* — Pargana Sandila — Tahsil SANDfLA — District Hardoi.— (Latitude 27°4' north, longitude 80°34' east). Sandfla ranks sixth in * By Mr. A. H, Harington, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. SAN 303 population among the towns of Oudh, and second among those of the Hardoi district. It lies nearly midway between Lucknow and Hardoi, at a distance of 32 miles north-west from Lucknow and 34 miles south east from Hardoi. It is 31 miles east from Bilgrdm. There is a station of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway at it. Foa»an account of its foundation and political history the pargana arti cle should be referred to. Its four muhallas are named Ashraftola, Mahetwana, Mandai, and Malkdna. The population is 15,786, of whom 7,629 are Hindus and 8,157 are Muhammadans. They are lodged in 1,114 brick and 3,986 mud-built houses. Being the headquarters of a revenue subdivision, the town has the usual Government offices, tahsil, police station, dispensary, and Anglo- vernacular school. Markets are held on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Pan and ghi are sold for export in considerable quantities. There are no buildings of special interest or antiquity. The Bara Kambha, a hall of the twelve pillars, was built of stone a century and half ago by an ancestor of Farzand Ali and Musharraf Ali. Sir W. Sleeman's notes on the place are worth quoting, written as they were six years before annexation (Volume II., p. 2, Volume I., pp. 336-337) :— " Halted at Sundeela. To the north of the town there is a large uncul tivated plain of oosur lands that would answer for cantonments, but the water lies, for some time after rain, in many places. The drainage is defective, but might be made good towards a rivulet to the north and west. There is another open plain to the west of the town, between the suburbs and the small village of Ausoo Serae, where the trigonometrical survey has one of its towers. It is about a mile from east to west, and more from north to south, and well adapted for the location of troops and civil esta blishments. The climate is said to be very good. The town is large and still populous, but the best families seem to be going to decay or leaving the place. Many educated persons from Sundeela in our civil establishments used to leave their families here ; but life and property have become so very insecure that they now always take them with them to the districts in which they are employed, or send them to others. I observed many good houses of burnt brick and cement, but they are going fast to decay, and are all surrounded by numerous mud houses without coverings, or with coverings of the same material, which are hidden from view by low parapets. These houses have a wretched appearance. " Several of the villages of Sundeela are held by Syud zumeendars, who are peaceable and industrious subjects, and were generally better protected than others under the influence of Chowdhree Sheik Hushmut Allee, of Sundeela, an agricultural capitalist and landholder, whom no local authority could offend with impunity. His proper trade was to aid landholders of high and low degree, by becoming surety for their punctual payment of 304 SAN the Government demand, and advancing the instalments of that demand himself when they had not the means, and thereby saving them from the visits of the local authorities and their rapacious and disorderly troops : but in an evil hour he ventured to extend his protection a little further, and, to save them from the oppressions of an unscrupulous con tractor, he undertook to manage the district himself, and make good all the Government demand upon it. He was unable to pay all that he had bound himself to pay. His brother was first seized by the troops and taken to Lucknow. He languished under the discipline to which he was there subjected, and when on the point^of death from what his friends call a broken heart, and the Government authorities cholera morbus, he was released. He died immediately after his return home, and Hushmut Allee was then seized and taken to Lucknow, where he is now confined. "The people here lament his absence as a great misfortune to the district, as he was the only one among them who ever had authority and influence, united with a fellow-feeling for the people, and a disposition to promote their welfare and happiness." SANDWA CHANDIKA — Pargana Partabgarh — Tahsil Partabgarh — District Partabgarh. — This town was founded by the Bhars ; it gets its second name from the temple of Chandika; it is near the road from Partabgarh to Amethi, eleven miles from the former. The tradition is that Chandika Debi here killed certain Rakshases or demons. The population consists of 1,960 Hindus and 27 Musalmans. There is a tem ple of Debi, and great fairs are held in her honour — one in March, the other in October. Each Tuesday about 1,000 people assemble ; at the annual fairs about 5,000. SANGRXMGARH — Pargana Rampur — Tahsil Kunda — District Par tabgarh. — This village was founded by Sangram Singh, the ancestor of the taluqdar of Rampur, about 150 years ago. It is on the unmetalled road to Manikpur 30 miles from Partabgarh. Brahmans reside here who are great dealers in iron. Population, Hindu ... ... ... 2,096 „ Musalman ... ... ... 54 2,153 It possesses a temple to Mahadeo and one vernacular school with 30 pupils ; there is a bazar also at which the annual sales are Rs. 20,000. The Dasahra is celebrated here by a festive meeting at which 6,000 people assemble. SANGRAMPUR— Pargana Daundia Khera — Tahsil Purwa — Dis trict Unao. — This village was founded 1,900 years ago by Raja Abhai Chand Bais, who called it Sangrdmpur (city of the fight) : because he had to fight a fierce battle here on entering this country. The place is also called Daundia Khera, the original Bhar name. Babu Ram Bakhsh Singh, a descendant of Abhai Chand's, lived here, and was hanged after the mutiny for abetment of murder. There is a vernacular school attended by about 35 pupils, none of whom are Musalmans. Population is 1,190, of whom 106 SAR 305 are Musalmans. There is one mosque, four temples in honour of Debi, and one to Mahddeo. SARA Pargana* — Tahsil Hardoi — District Hardoi. — A subdivision of tahsil Hardoi consisting of 85 villages. Pargana Alamnagar bounds it on the north, pargana Shahabad on the west, parganas Bawan and Gopamau on th# south and south-east, pargana Mansurnagar on the east. The Sai, here called Bhainsta, flows along part of its eastern border. It is eleven and a half miles and thirteen miles in extreme length and breadth, and its area is 90Jsquare miles. Rather more than half (52-92 per cent.) is cultivated ; a third (34-09) is culturable. About an eighth (11-56) is returned as barren. Not quite a seventh (14-82 per cent.) is rated as third class, that is, sandy. Half of the cultivated area (4941) is watered from wells (3419) and tanks (15'22). The percentage under groves is 1-43. Seven acres is the average area of cultivation per plough. There is little to notice in its physical features except the excellence of the soil and the great quantites of jhils and marshes. Some of them are embanked, but the facilities offered for rice cultivation are not taken advantage of. "There are," notes Mr. McMinn, "thousands of bighas of splendid rice ground which lie utterly unproductive. I have no doubt the lambardars object, because the pasdhi (wild rice), which is their manorial right, and which grows spontaneously, would be superseded. They say they do not sow rice, but in some places Kachhis have raised very fine crops. The country is rather bare of groves. Single pipal and banyan and pakar trees are common, but no groves have been planted for years. All in existence are clearly old and mostly barren." The number of forest trees still standing in the fields is an indication that the pressure of population has not yet become overpowering. The banks of the Bhainsta near Hariaon, fringed with low jungles and shaded by stately beech-like "arjan" trees, presents a scene of quiet beauty. A fine prospect may be enjoyed from the ruined fort of Saadatnagar, on the top of Sohawan Khera. The closeness of the water to the surface — it has rarely to be dug for for more than fifteen feet — makes irrigation easy. The sub-soil is so firm that in most of the villages wells worked with the leathern bucket (pur) and oxen can be dug. They cost from two to four or five rupees, and last generally for four years, and some times up to 10 and 12 years. The pargana is pretty well off for roads. The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway runs through its western side, and one of the stations is at Chdndpur. The north is traversed by the unmetalled road from Pihdni to Shahabad ; the Hardoi and Shahabad road skirts the west, while the east side is crossed by the road from Hardoi to Pihdni. But cross-roads are wanted to connect the heart of the pargana with the Pihani and Shahabad road on the north. There are no markets of any importance. * By Mr. A. H. Harington, CS. 39 306 SAR The main products are wheat and barley which occupied at survey nearly half the cultivated area, more than a fifth was cropped with bajra and juar, the rest was chiefly covered with cotton, sugarcane, gram, arhar, paddy, mash, and moth. The areas returned as under cotton, cane, tobacco, poppy, and indigo were respectively 1,785, 1,586, 2,518, and 8 acres. The climate is not exceptionally bad, but with so many marshes the pargana cannot be salubrious. Kankar is found in Kursoli, Basoha, Bdri, and Kutla Sarde. The eighty-five villages are thus distributed : — Gaurs ... ... ... ... ... 59 Janwars „, ... ... ... ... 1 Sombansis ... ... ... ... ... 2 Rathors ... ... ... ... ... 1 Brahmans ... ... ... .. ... 8 Muhammadans ... ... ... ... 6 Kayaths ... ... ... ... ... 6 Ahirs ... ... ... ... ... 1 Government ... ... ... ... 1 85 Only one of these villages is taluqdari ; 40 are zamindari ; 43 imperfect pattidari ; one is bhayyachara. The Government demand excluding cesses is Rs. 60,132, a rise of 31-30 per cent, over the summary assessment. It falls at Re. 1-15-5 on the culti vated acre, Re. 1-0-8 per acre of total area, Rs. 14-1-2 per plough, Rs. 2-6-0 per head of agricultural*and Re. 1-11-6 per head of total population. Population is 389 to the square mile, or a total of 34,972 ; Hindus to Muhammadans are 33,375 to 1,597; males to females 19,052 to 15,920; agriculturists to non-agriculturists 25,069 to 9,903 ; Chamars are a sixth of the whole; Pasis a seventh; Brahmans an eighth; Chhattris only an eleventh; Ahirs, Vaishyas, and Garerias predominate among the remainder. There are village schools at Hariaon, Baholia, Ant, Amrauli, Dhanwar, Todarpur, and Sa&datnagar. There are no religious fairs ; the pargana is thus mentioned in the Afn-i- Akbari. Pargana Sara, Dastur Pali, Sarkar Khairabad ; zamindars Chauhans. Area ... ... 68,832 bighas. Garrison ... ... 600 Infantry ; 60 Sawars. Revenue, mal... ... 20,91,983 dams. Siwae ... ... 8,666 dams. I am indebted to Mr. McMinn for the following historical notes: — " The pargana was formerly occupied by Thatheras, who may or may not be identical with the Bhars of Sultanpur, who afterwards spread to the Chambal and the Ganges. Then Chamar Gaurs came in from about ten miles north of Bijnaur in Jai Chand's time. They came in under two chiefs, bringing with them Dichhit Brahmans, who up to date are their SAR 307 recognized priests. They first settled at Basowa in this pargana about six miles south-east of Pihdni, on the border of a large jhil. From thence they scattered to all quarters, colonizing and conquering. They establish ed, according to their own account, 370 villages in the parganas principally of Sara, Bawan, Bangar, and Gopamau. They differ entirely from the Chamar Gaurs who came from near Cawnpore, whose hereditary priests are Tiwari Brahmans. The Thakurs having established military stations rather than colonies, I do not think that they ever condescended to touch a plough. They have held their villages with a tight hand ever since. Up to the establishment of the Oudh Government they were de facto and dejure lords of the soil. They were subject to the Mitauli rdja, an Ahban Thakur, but he does not seem to have interfered with their possession. Shah Alam of Delhi granted a few villages rent-free to the Qazi of Bari, which were afterwards resumed by the Oudh Government, but with that exception I can find no traces of disturbance in the holding of the terri tory till the reign of Asif-ud-daula. In his reign, Saddat Khan, the ancestor of the Nawab Dost Ali Khan, being tahsildar of the pargana, and a man of great ability, managed through mortgages, purchases, and other well known means, to become master of about forty villages in the north and east of the pargana, and shortly afterwards Jagannath, a qanungo, violent and unscrupulous, mastered some more. The Thukurs took to the jungles, followed by their asdmis. The new Kayaths and Musalman proprietors found their conquest barren, and after having got sanads they gradually abandoned their gains. Saddat Ali Khan, with his well known exactitude, finding the revenue falling, farmed the four parganas to a family of Kashmiri Brahmans, who had entered India with Zaman Shan or rather Ahmad Shah Daurani, and entered the service of the king of Oudh. Their farm lasted with brief interruptions from 1210 fasli (A.D. 1803) up to 1264 fasli (A.D. 1857). The taluqdars were driven out, many villages were settled kham, or the collections made through resident Kachhis. The exactions grew heavier and heavier, and the Thakurs abandoned village after village. There was no room for village lambardars, and no margin of profit for taluqdars. The settlements were always largely in excess of those now holding. In every village there are desolate quar ters of bare rain- washed walls, which represent the old cots of the peasan try that fled from Kidarnath and his Kashmiri brethren. The Thakurs are, I should think, declining in numbers. They have very few children; many not married, and plead poverty. They were much oppressed in the times of Kidarnath, whom, however, they always mention with respect. His mode of adjusting balances was peculiar. Being a Brahman, though of low caste, and a smoker of the huqqa, he used to visit villages which had not paid up, and place himself at the lambardars door in dharna, vowing neither to eat nor drink till the rupees were forthcoming. The thakurs never ventured to be contumacious, and hurried their buffaloes to the nearest bazar. He sometimes devolved the execution of this religious terrorism upon Brahman chaprasis. He was a man of conscience, however, and refused bribes and presents." I have little to add to these interesting notes. The only derivation that the qanangos can offer for the name is, that of old the pargana was a 308 SAR wild bandit-haunted tract, and that when by degrees it was cleared and settled, it acquired the epithet of Sara (clear). The traditional account of the expulsion of the Thatheras from parganas Sara and Bawan by Kuber Sah, and of the origin of the Kana and Onai branches of the Cha- mar Gaurs will be found under heading Bawan (pargana). The Onai or Rae branch became the more powerful of the two and obtained the chaudhriship of the pargana. Their chief seats were at Todarpur and Sara. The leading men of this stock are Nay&z Singh of Pipri and Mohan Singh of Todarpur, while the head of the Kdna branch is Padam Singh of Simmaur and Chandeli. The Gaurs had things pretty much their own way till the reign of Saddat Ali Khan when the Nazim of Khairabad, Raja Sital Parshdd Tirbedi, of evil memory, was set over them. Among the cruelties practised by him was the hacking off of men's noses and women's breasts. The qanungo, Jagannath Parshad, assured me that he had seen one Manbhdwan Sombansi of Begdon, an aged man of ninety who died in 1867, whose nose had been cut off by Sital Parshad's orders. The pargana officials used to be thus posted : the qdzi at Bari, the qanungo at Umrauli, the tahsildar or amil at Saddatnagar, the chaudhri at Todarpur. The successive steps by which the taluqa of Mustafabad was broken up are thus described by Mr. Bradford in his Aiari judgment. "The mush room taluqa of Saddatnagar or Mustafabad rn 1235 fasli (A.D. 1828), after dwindling down from 39 to 23 villages, was suddenly and completely broken up. In 1163 fasli it had consisted of 34 villages ; in 1192 fasli of 37 ; from 1202 fasli to 1211 fasli of 39, and called the Mustafabad taluqa." • The antiquarian will not find much to interest him in this pargana. I give the names of the twelve villages which contain dihs or deserted sites of Thathera and more recent settlements. They are Ruhi, Haridon, Kurseli, Bijgdon, Uttar, Aiari, Bargaon, Todarpur, Dhanwdr, Rampur, Saddatnagar and Kamdlpur. SARXYAN River. — A small river which rises in the Kheri district, having its source in the village of Ahmadnagar, pargana Haidarabad, in latitude 27°46' north, longitude 80°32' east. In a south-easterly direction it flows through that district, and enters into Sitapur at about 49 miles from its source ; it receives on its left side the Jamwdri, in latitude 27°32' north, longitude 80°47' east. Thence it flows for about 3 miles in a north-westerly direction, and then resuming its previous north-easterly course it joins the Gumti in latitude 27°9' north, longitude 80°55' east. Its total length may be estimated at about 95 miles. It flows past Sitapur, Bari, Pirnagar, and other places. It causes extensive and destructive floods in some years, as it drains a very considerabie area of country with its numerous affluents. SXRDA River. — An account of the river from the point of its junction with the ancient channel of the Chauka comes more properly under the latter name. It is described in Thornton's Gazetteer under the incorrect name of Ghdgra or Gogra, which name properly belongs to the Kauriala after it has SAR 309 received the waters of the Sarda at Katai Ghdt. The course of the river, as described in that work, is that taken by it up to about 1010, but not since that date. The Sarda enters the plain at Barmdeo in latitude 29°6', longitude 8013', 148 miles from its source, which is 18,000 feet above the sea in the mountains which separate Kumaun from Thibet. Barmdeo is 847 feet above the sea, 798 according to Thornton. This river is there 450 feet broad, the minimum discharge is about 5,600 feet on an average of four years, but in the unusually dry season of 1869 it sank to 3,818 in February. Shortly after leaving Barmdeo it divides into several channels which reunite nine milesf urther down at Banbasa, but again separate, and finally join at Man dia Ghdt, thirteen miles further south, where the last rapids occur, and the bed ceases to be composed of large boulders and shingle. About half way between Banbasa and Mandia Ghdt at Nagla, on the most westerly branch of the river, it was proposed to erect the weir which was to divert the water into the Sarda canal. This scheme, for which the preliminary surveys were taken in 1859, and for which the complete plan and measurement were prepared in 1868-1872, was finally disallowed in the latter year. The Sarda after a course of 168 miles becomes at Mandia Ghat an ordi nary plain river ; eleven miles further down it touches the territory of Oudh in the pargana of Khairigarh, and 22 miles from Mandia Ghat or 190 from its source it joins the Chauka, near Mothia Ghdt. At Banbasa the river is 500 feet broad, with an average depth of nearly five feet; at Mothia Ghdt the breadth is about 700 feet, and the deepest channel about 10 feet, but the velocity is not above 2£ miles an hour. The following particulars of the discharge are taken from the Sarda Canal Report by Major Forbes: — • "From the 15th February to 6th March, 1869, when the river was extraordinarily low, and the levels of springs in the Bangar lands four to five feet lower than in ordinary seasons, the loss was 23'7 per cent, between Burm Deo and Bunbassa; the discharge at the former place being 4,747 cubic feet, and at the latter 3,619 cubic feet, or a loss of 1,128 cubic feet per second. "From the discharges taken this year, between Bunbassa and Chuknath- pore (20 miles below Delaha), it appears that the volume in the river steadily decreases until it arrives about 20 miles below where the shingly bed ceases and the sand commences. At this point there is a slight incre ment which goes on increasing for about 40 miles, when the discharge is again diminished. "For instance, when the discharge at Bunbassa was 6,022 cubic feet per second; at Moondeea Ghat, 13 miles lower down, where the shingly bed ceases, the discharge was 5,448 cubic feet; at Chunpoora Ghat, 9 miles lower, the supply was 5,162 cubic feet ; and again, 7 miles lower, at Bylah, it was 5,124 cubic feet, or practically the same. "Below this point, however, there was an increase ; for, at Mooteea Ghat, 6 miles below Bylah, the discharge was 5,502 cubic feet, of which only 40 310 SAR cubic feet were due to affluents. At Narowsa Ghat, 8 miles lower, the dis charge was 5,651 cubic feet ; at Marowcha Ghat, 10 miles below Narowsa, the supply was 6,220 cubic feet ; and at Bulwari Ghat, 5 miles below Marowcha, it had increased to 6,890 cubic feet ; at Sirsee Ghat, 14 miles lower, and close to Delaha, the amount in the river had decreased again to 6,718 cubic feet. Two other discharges were also measured, at 10 and 30 miles below the above ghat, viz., at Burragaon and Chuknathpore, giving amounts of 5,581 and 5,592 cubic feet per second respectively ; but when these were measured, the supply in the river at Bunbassa was 200 cubic feet per second less than when the above discharges were taken. " Deducting this quantity, there still remains a loss of 1,000 cubic feet per second to account for in the distance of 30 miles between Sirsee Ghat and Chuknathpore ; but looking at Map No. 3, it will be seen that below Sirsee Ghat the numerous nullahs on either side of the river drain away from it instead of emptying themselves into it, as they do above the ghat ; there are also many old and deserted beds of the river in close proximity to and below the level of the present stream, each of which, as well as the above nullahs, are undoubtedly fed by percolation from the river ; for although dry at their heads, they quickly become running channels, with a considerable amount of water passing down."* The Sdrda as already stated now enters the Chauka at Mothia Ghat, but formerly at some distance above that river it kept a separate course whose ancient channel is still apparent, and which is the boundary between pargana Khairigarh and Naipal; in this channel, after a few miles, percola tion supplies running water ; two more small streams flow in from the forest of Khairigarh, and under Newalkhar they become the river Suheli or Sarju. This is a placid stream, in many places very deep, but not more than two feet deep at the ford ; it runs under the fort of Newalkhar, and thence east into the Kauridla at Shitabi Ghat, keeping the whole time within the ancient broad channel of the Sarda, now covered with weeds, jhau jungle, or shisham trees. Through this bottom land, a most picturesque wilderness, the Suheli now winds a mere riband of water. The north bank rises, high and steep, crowned with sal trees, above the evergreen tops of the shisham trees which grow below, and beneath them again stagnate broad morasses, which the narkul covers with acres of feathery plumes. The whole of this ancient channel is the haunt of tigers. Considerable pains were taken to render the Suheli navigable, so that sdl wood might be floated down it to the depot at Bahramghat. The nomenclature of this river has been always uncertain. In the treaty with Naipal it is styled the Kdli-f- in March 1816 ; in May 1816, in the treaty with Oudh, it was called Gogra. J Both names were incorrect. Tiffenthaler, in 1767, found the Sarda "riviere qui n'est pas mediocre" joined the Kauridla at Shitdbi Ghat.§ The broad features of the changes which have occurred are clear enough ; there were formerly numerous * " Oudh Report on the Sarda Canal Project," pp. 14-15. t Aitchison's Treaties, Volume II., page 206. j Aitchison's Treaties, Volume II., page 164. § Volume I., page 286. Map. Volume III , page 278. SAR 311 confluents of the Kauridla on the west, the Suheli, the Sdrda, the Dah aura, the Chauka, the XJ1 ; they joined it at intervals from Shitdbi Ghdt down to Fyzabad. The tendency has been to select one main channel, and now the Sarda and the Chauka uniting into one pour nine-tenths of the drainage into the Kauridla at one central spot. The back water of the Chauka and the Ul still form a languid stream uniting at Bahramghat, but the ancient channeftf the Ul and Ghaghi which joined the Kauridla near Fyzabadfis quite dry. The same slow process has been at work in the Kauridla, the lateral streams have shrunk down to rivulets or have quite dried up, and the central channel has attracted the waters of all. As the name Sdrda is still sometimes applied to the Chauka, and as the waters are still undoubtedly those of the Siirda, although the bottom and banks may be those of the Chauka, I now proceed to give an account af the latter river. " River Chauka — A tributary of the great river Gogra, rises in the district of Bareilly, North-Western Provinces, about latitude 28°59,' longi tude 80°4.' It takes a south-easterly direction, and passing through the districts of Bareilly and Shahjahdnpur, enters into the Kheri district in latitude 28° 21/ longitude 80°31'. At the distance of forty miles from the source and in latitude 28°43/ longitude 89°15,' it, on the left side, is joined by an offset from the river Gogra (Sarda). It passes on in the same direction dividing the pargana of Palia from that of Bhur, and then continuing the Same course, and having traversed throughout the latter pargana forms the boundary of the parganas of Srinagar and Dhaurahra, having the for mer on its right and the latter on its left side. Lower down, in latitude 27°42,' longitude 81°13,' it receives on the right side the Ul, and continuing a south-easterly course for about forty miles further, falls into the Gogra on the right side, in latitude 27°9/ longitude 81°30'." The above extract from Thornton's Gazetteer accurately describes the Chauka river as it flowed forty years ago. It was then one of the four rivers which running tolerably parallel in a south-east direction drained Northern Oudh, commencing with the most southerly, their names were the Ul, the Chauka, the Sarda, the Suheli. Details of the various changes which they underwent come more fitly under the name Sdrda, that is, the proper name of the great river which bursting through the mountains at Barmdeo beyond the boundaries of Oudh occupied sometimes one, some times several at a time of these channels, all of which probably it scooped for itself in the deltaic soil, together they take the drainage east of the water shed which is marked by Mina Koth* The point where the river seems to have diverged into one or other is near the present Mothia Ghdt, twenty four miles north-west of Marauncha Ghat, a little north of this are two lateral channels ; one breaks off to the north and can be still traced, though silted up, as far as the Suheli in whose new course the Sdrda's waters flowed probably till 1810 ; to the south a channel now almost effaced leads south-east, and after a few miles drainage or percolation again creates a stream called the Ul. Midway between the two is the now Chauka or Sdrda. A comparison of the maps, even of such recent charts as that of the country bordering the grand trunk road published by the Surveyor * Sarda Canal Report, para, 3. 312 SAR General in 1857, and republished in 1862, will show how variable was the course of these rivers. It must be borne in mind that the Chauka was as is described by Thornton up to 1810, and that since it has been the most frequent channel of the waters of the Sdrda. The Chauka proper, indeed, is a mere plain stream ; its highest flood discharge is 1,161 feet, its lowest about 50, which now falls into what is called the Sdrda near Mothia Ghat near the north-western extremity of pargana Palia, and from that point the joint streams are called the Chauka. It would be more correct to say perhaps that the Sdrda falls into the Chauka, but it is usual to term the smaller stream the tributary, and the larger the main river. Nor will historical accuracy be wholly violated ; a river in ordinary parlance consists both of its waters and of the channel in which'they run ; the former remain the same even if they cut a new channel or resume that of some other stream. Here, therefore, may be indicated one cause of the double or treble nomenclature which renders the chartography of this river system ambiguous, and its historical aspects uncertain. When a great river has changed its course and entered another channel formerly known by a name of its own, the greater part of the world, notably the navigators on its waters, will continue to give the new channel the name of the river whose waters now fill it. On the other hand, the old residents in the neighbourhood of the new channel, who were familiar with the ancient land marks, see no reason to abandon the familiar name, the banks, the groves, the villages, which they recog nise are still there, and the mere increase in the volume of the water seems no sufficient reason for a new name. Thus the Sarda which flowed past Newalkhar and Khairigarh forced a new course south and joined the Chauka at Mothia Ghdt. The channel of the latter has been in the main the same from immemorial time; it was only amplified by an addition to its waters, yet in course of time it has become the Sarda, although the people of the adjoining parganas still call it the Chauka, and with greater unanimity as they live on the banks further down from the point of union. That the Chauka has not changed its course materially at any rate since 1767, is evident from the valuable itinerary of Tieffenthaler. That traveller in 1767 described a number of villages and towns as upon or near the banks of this river. Aliapur and Mahrdjnagar in Dhaurahra* Srinagar in the pargana of that name, Tambaur in Sitapur, Ratanpur near Bahramghat, Bhitauli at the confluence with the Kauridla, towns still existing are all described as situated at the same distance and direc tion from the river as they now are. Its channel then is unchanged, but its waters and its names have altered greatly. Briefly then the present Chauka on being joined by the Sarda, about fifty miles from its source, takes the name of that river with the majority of people. It flows on and eighty-five miles further on it bifurcates. The eastern channel, which retains the name of Chauka, was the only one till 1862 ; the western one called indiscriminately the Chauka and Sdrda, and carrying five-sixths of the waters, joins the Dah-aura, and occupying its channel after a course of * Tieffenthaler. Description de l'lndc, Volume I., pp. 285 -288. SAR 313 thirty miles, flows into the Kauridla at Malldpur near Katai Ghat. We may follow its further changes for moment — the joint stream becomes the Gogra a few miles beyond Bahramghat ; it then flows south-east dividing Bara Banki and Fyzabad on the west, from Gonda and Basti on the east; it is or was formerly called the Dewa and sometimes the Gandak;* indeed the changes are perplexing. The course then has generally been the same, but there have been several minor changes, or rather what is more likely there were at several places two or more channels, which sometimes together sometimes sepa rately conveyed the water, the river has now gradually settled down into one course, the three principal of these are mentioned in detail, as very important questions connected with property arise when the river alters its channel. The custom of the country is that the deepest point in the deepest channel shall be considered the demarcating line between the contiguous estates on either banks; sometimes for instance in Daryabad in the Haraha estate there are tracts of country covering ten or twenty square miles insulated between channels of the river ; sometimes the main body of water would take the eastern channel for ten years, then the island will belong to the western bank proprietor, and after ten years perhaps with a change of the current caused by a snag or sunken boat, the vast property wouldbe transferred to the proprietors on the western bank. Since annexation this custom has been invalidated, and masonry pillars which are sometimes buried in the water, sometimes high and dry, form a fixed boundary. The first change in the channel of the Chauka is described as follows in the settlement report, pargana Bhur: — " But there are many persons still living in the pargana who can remem ber the last great change. Up to about 35 years ago the river flowed under the high bank from the ruins of the old fort of Kdmp close to Ali- ganj down to the villages of Bhur, Burahia Khera, and Jagdispur, the headquarters of the great taluqa Bhur. The ruins of the fort of Jagdis pur, destroyed after the rebellion, are now five miles from the river, but the fort was built at a. time when it commanded the stream. At the last settlement of pargana Palia, 52 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. 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 bank of the river Sarju, in the same manner as the Bhur ridge is parallel to and at a short distance from the south bank of the river Chauka." The next change which took place was further down the course. The description given is as follows : — " In the report on pargana Bhur it has been mentioned, that at Buseha in Bhur, which lies to the north of the village of Srinagar in the pargana of that name, there occurred many years ago a great and important change in the river's course. This has now to be described. * H faut observer que dans ce canton le Ghagra s' appelle Gandak et qu' on donne Ischoka le nom de Ghagra : ce changement de nom pourroit induire en erieur. — Tieffen thaler I., p. 295. 40 314 SAR . " Up to about forty years ago the Chauka seems to have flowed from Buseha to Pachperi ; and so on in its present channel along the frontier of Srinagar and Dhaurahra. In those days a small back-water of the river left it at Buseha, and passed under Srinagar to the south, and after a winding course of about 12 miles, it was joined by the river Kundwa under the old village of Mahewa, the headquarters of the Mahewa taluqa. Those two villages were large, populous, and prosperous places, both had bazars and temples and mango groves ; the former had a large brick fort, built at a time when Srinagar gave its name to a taluqa of Muham madan Bisens of which it was the headquarters, about forty years ago an unusually heavy rainfall caused the Chauka to rise about Buseha beyond its banks. It swept over into the back-water communicating with the Kundwa, rushed up it, and covered the surrounding low country with deep floods over an extent of about 50 square miles. These floods caused wide spread ruin ; Mahewa and Srinagar and several intervening villages were completely destroyed, and a large tract of country was depopulated, and remained for many years a desolate waste. " After the autumn rains had ceased, the main body of water continued to flow down the bed of the back-water, partially deserting the old chan nel on the north. The Kundwa, which flowed into the back-water at Mahewa, had up to this time given its own name to the united streams from that point, and they had flowed on till they rejoined the Chauka at Rohria, 16 miles east of Mahewa. But from this time the little Kundwa lost its identity by its connexion with its big neighbour, and for the last 16 miles of its course, the united streams became known as the Chauka, and by way of distinction I will now call it the southern Chauka. It is generally called the Chauka in this pargana while the name Sarda is reserved for the more northerly stream. "After this for about thirty years the Chauka flowed in two large streams, its own channel to the north and that of the Kundwa or south Chauka to the south which channels now average about six miles apart. About ten years ago the fickle waters again completely returned into their old bed and left the back-water communicating with the Kundwa quite dry. The great change which occurred, when the waters of the Sarda-cum-Chauka abandoned their westerly channel and bursting into the Dah-aura with it joined the Kauridla at Malldpur, has already been referred to. This was in pargana Firozabad." The next change was in pargana Dhaurahra. At the south-west corner the river up to 1866 ran three miles south of village Aira past the temple of Marwa and the fort of Umarnagar, taking a very circuitous course; but about 1869 it abandoned that channel after having, it is said, cut away a part of the Marwa temple wall and been propitiated by the priests into. diverting its waters. It cut a more direct channel for itself about three miles to the north, sweeping away several villages ; the river is in fact slowly selecting for itself a permanent channel. The Chauka has a very considerable slope, and its current is consequently rapid. Rising near Mina Koth in Pilibhit, at an elevation of about 630 feet above the sea, at Mothia Ghdt, where the Sarda joins its channel and it enters Oudh, the water level is 540 feet above the sea ; from this point to Malldpur, a distance of about SAR. 315 110 miles, the level falls at 165 feet or exactly eighteen inches per mile ; the length in a straight line is 78 miles, so that the slope of the country is more than two feet per mile. The current averages about three miles per hour but there are places when during the rains it exceeds five. It is nowhere fordable after its junction with the Sdrda, before that it is a mere stream. The river channel is considerably beneath the watershed. The high lands of southern Kheri, for instance, run parallel to the river at a distance of about 15 miles. Maildni is 550 feet above the sea, the river at Srinagar Ghdt 500, Gola Gokarannath is 503 feet, the river at Delaha 467, Lakhimpur 484, the river at Chaknathpur 427, Laharpur 453, the river at Aira 398 ; it thus appears that the channel is from 36 to 55 feet beneath the level of the high lands. It is thus useless for irrigation, except through a high le"vel canal. The deltaic lands on its banks do not require irrigation except for certain crops. The quantity of water discharge varies with the season. It is at its lowest in March. The averages of 1866-67-68-70 were — January 6,300 cubic feet per second. February 6,471 „ March 6,068 „ April 6,673 ,. May 7,935 June 10,618 It may here be noted that the Ganges at Cawnpore only discharges 5,000 feet. In 1869 the river being low beyond all precedent, the discharge in Feb ruary was only 3,818. The river itself is not a picturesque one ; its banks are sandy, and the variations of its current are so uncertain and frequent that groves are not planted near it, or if they are, are generally soon carried off. At a distance from the channel, where the great river now sweeps along, there are many noble lagunes formed of old by its waters and now deserted ; these present grand sweeps of still- water, with high sloping banks, crowned by magnifi cent groves. The fish are the mahsir and the rohtt ; the latter everywhere, the former are met with as far as Pachperi Ghat. Large boats, capable of carrying 1,200 maunds, or 45 tons, ascend to Marauncha Ghat, and smaller of 500 maunds almost to Mandia Ghat. The unpublished maps prepared for the Sarda canal scheme exhibit the most recent changes of the river channel. That in Tieffenthaler, Vol. III., page 278, gives a fair chart of the river as it was about 1770 A.D. As to the previous aspect, in Akbar's time it did not join the Gogra till close to, about four miles above Fyzabad. There are no contemporary maps to my knowledge. SARENI Pargana — Tahsil Lalganj — District Rae Bareli. — This par gana takes its name from the chief town (Sareni), which was founded by Sdrang Sah of the Bais clan. It is asserted that all these parganas belonged to Bhars, but Abhai Chand of the Bais tribe drove them away, and acquired possession ; all these were under one chief, with Daundia Khera the capital. The disunion, however, among the sons of Pirthi Chand resulted in the separation of the estate, and then Daundia Khera remained 316 SAR in the possession of the descendants of Deo Rae, one of whom, Babu Rdm Bakhsh, was hanged for rebellion in 1858 ; the ilaqa Sareni fell into the hands of the next brother, Aji Chand, whose descendant, Shiupdl Singh of Murarmau, is the present chief. The pargana was formerly called Bhojpur, and under the arrangements of Akbar Shah was named Khanjar ; but Nawab Saadat Ali Khan called it Sareni, and fixed the tahsil and principal headquarters of the pargana in the village of the same name. The village Sareni is principally inhabi ted by qaniingos, and perhaps it was at their request that the seat of the tahsil was transferred from Khanjar to this village. The pargana com prises 169 villages ; it is 11 miles in length from east to west, and 9 miles in breadth from north -to south. It is bounded on the east by pargana Dalmau, on the west by pargana Daundia Khera, on the south by the Ganges, and on the north by pargana Khiron. The Bais are the chief proprietary body. Raja Shiupal Singh of Munrar- mau is the head taluqdars, and his taluqa is now much larger than in the kings, reign. It comprises his own hereditary one and those confiscated from the mutineers, Babu Rdm Bakhsh and Rdna Beni Mddho Bakhsh. Rdja Shiupal received these ilaqas as a reward from the British Govern ment for the good will shown and assistance rendered to the British soldiers and Major Thompson, who were found floating on the Ganges, and took refuge with the rdja of Murdrmau. The proprietary system runs thus : — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... 157 Grant in reward ... ... ... ... 10 Zamindari ... ... ... ... ' I Pattidari ... ... ,,. ... I 169 villages. The area is 72,976 acres. The revenue assessed is Rs. 1,91,003-0-10, and the rate per acre on an average Rs. 2-9-11. The population consists of all castes almost. But of the Hindu higher castes Brahmans and the Bais are numerous ; the creed of the Hindus is principally Shaivi, and the Muhammadans are solely of the Sunni sect. The whole population amounts to 60,825, of whom Hindus are 59,471 and Musalmans 1,354. There are two rivers in this pargana — one the river Ganges which passes through it to the eastern boundary of pargana Dalmau ; the other is the river Lon, which passes through the northern part of the pargana, and falls into the Ganges in pargana Dalmau. There is also a stream which commences from a tank in village Bhadia, pargana Bhagwantnagar, and passing through this pargana joins the river Lon. These, however, do not aid materially in the irrigation of the soil; The soil is of three kinds — loam, clay, and sand. Irrigation is chiefly carried on by wells. The products are — in kharif harvest — juar, mdsh, paddy, moth, kodo, makra, bajra, oil-seeds ; 'in rabi harvest — barley, gram, wheat, birra, sugarcane, peas, sarson, alsi, tobacco. There are four marts — SAR 317 Sareni held on Monday and Friday, Bhojpur and Chaula on Sunday and Thursday and Beni Mddhoganj on Saturday and Wednesday. There is no fair held in this pargana ; climate is on the whole salubrious. During the king's reign in 16 villages salt was manufactured to the extent of 97,884 maunds and the value of Rs. 77,457, but it has now been put a stop to.* Mango and mahua are the principal trees. No others need be mentioned. SAROM ANN AGAR Pargana* — Tahsil Shahabad — District Hardoi.— A level and well watered tract of forty-two villages' lying midway between Shahabad and Sandi along the south-eastern corner of the Shahabad tahsil, district Hardoi. The Garra flows along its western side separating it from pargana Pali; on the south and south-east the Sukheta divides it from Barwan; on the east it is bounded by Bawan, and on the north by Shahsibad. The greatest length is 8 J and breadth 6 miles. Its area is 35 square miles, of which 21 are cultivated. It is intersected by numerous streams ; of these the Sukheta is the largest and most valuable. It runs in a loop round the north-eastern corner of the pargana, and then stretches southwards through the heart of it till, after being joined by its principal affluents, the Gauria and the Kasrua, it flows along the south-eastern boundary for about four miles, approaching to within half a mile of the Garra at the southernmost extremity of the pargana. In the dry season the Sukheta is easily fordable except where it has been dammed up for irrigation. It is crossed by an old stone bridge at Saromannagar ; and at Dalelnagar, an encamping ground on the route from Shahjahanpur to Unao, there is a ferry during the rains. In the hot season these streams dry up, but by a system of dams water is kept in them till March, after which month irriga tion is not required. The Garra, rising in the Himalayas, never fails. Along its bank lies a belt of rich Tarai villages, whose land always remains moist, so that wells are scarcely required. These villages are subject to floods, and after heavy rains the autumn harvest suffers, but the loss is in such seasons made good by the increased outturn of the spring crops. To the east of these villages, about a mile away from the river, on either side of the Sukheta and its affluents, but mainly along the western bank of that stream, stretches a belt of jungle villages two miles broad. In these the soil is generally firm and good, and almost entirely free from sand, but in some places it is very stiff and hard to work. The tillage in this tract is backward. The jungle is full of nil-gae and wild hogs which do infinite damage to the crops. Rents are low and cul tivators somewhat scarce. Though backward this tract is highly impro vable, but its villages can never become so rich as those which lie along the Garra. To the east of this belt lies a strip of sandy, light villages, above and away from the network of streams that covers the rest of the pargana, but * By Mr. A. H. Harington, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. 318 SAR irrigable for the most part by wells. Here the small lever-wells (dhenkli) are used. They cost from one to two mpees, and last one and sometimes two seasons. In the jungle villages these wells are also used, but the large wells worked by bullocks can be also made for from three to five rupees, and last for three years. The lever and pitcher system (dhenkli) is used all along the Garra for irrigation, and on the Sukheta, wherever the banks are too high to allow of the "lift" method being employed. Tanks and jhils too, of which there are 230, contribute considerably to the irrigation of the pargana. Only two-sevenths of the irrigation is from wells ; 36 per cent, of the cultivated area is irrigated from wells, rivers, and ponds. Only two roads cross the pargana, the unmetalled road from Sandi to Shahabad, a part of the old Shah-Rah, or king's highway to Delhi from the south, and an unfinished road from Hardoi to Fatehgath, which stops short half-way at the Garra, and is not kept in repair. No ferry is kept up over the Garra in this pargana. The nearest ferries are at Pali and Barwan. In the dry season it is fordable in most places. The staple products are wheat, barley, and bajra, covering about two- thirds of the crop area. On the remainder rice, gram, and arhar are most largely cultivated. The climate is not so good as in drier tracts. The Sombansis are the oldest and largest land owners. They hold twenty villages. Next to them come the Chamar Gaurs with fifteen. Three have been decreed to Government. Brahmans and Kayaths each own two. In thirty villages the tenure is imperfect pattidari, in the remain ing twelve it is zamindari. The Government demand, excluding cesses, is Rs. 22,298, being a rise of 35 per cent, over the summary assessment. The rate is Re. 1-10-5 per acre of cultivation and Re. 0-15-10 per acre of total area; Rs. 9-11-2 per plough; Rs. 2-0-11 per head of agricultural, and Re. 1-6-10 per head of total population. The pargana is well populated with a total of 15,624 or 446 to the square mile. There are only 293 Muhammadans to 15,331 Hindus. Males to females are 8,651 to 6,973, and agriculturists to non-agriculturists 10,827 (69 per cent.) to 4,797. Rajputs, Brahmans, Chamars, and Muraos head the list, together making up half of the Hindu population. In the other half Ahirs, Kahdrs, Pasis, and Kisans predominate. No fairs are held. The only market is at Saromannagar on Sundays and Thursdays. Schools are more numerous than in many other parts of the district. There are village schools at Saromannagar, Shahpur, Naydgdon, Sakrauli, and Nasauli. The pargana is named from its only town, which was founded by Rae Saroman Das in 1708 A.D. In 1803 Raja Bhawani Parshdd, Chak ladar of Muhamdi, took villages out of the adjacent parganas of Pali and Sara, and made them into pargana Saromannagar. Like all this part of the country, it was originally occupied by Thatheras. About the middle of the twelfth century, and perhaps much earlier, the Thatheras seem to have been driven out of many of their possessions by a body of SAR 319 Gaur Rajputs under the command of Kuber Sdh. A little later, and about a generation before the fall of Kanauj, their expulsion was completed by the Sombansis under the following circumstances. A strong body of Sombansis headed by Raja Sdtan migrated southwards from Delhi and established themselves at Sdtan Khera (Sdndij. Thence they sprfad over the whole of the Barwan pargana and into the Pali and (what is now) the Saromannagar country, gradually driving out the Thatheras. The local tradition is that Mawdn Sah, a Sombansi chief resident at Barwan, went out one day in search of game towards Shiupuri, a Thathera town, seven miles north of Barwan. The Thatheras resented his intrusion within their borders ; there was a quarrel, and Mawdn Sah summoned his clansmen from Barwan. They drove out the Thatheras from Shiupuri, and settling there themselves renamed it Bhaiangdon, since corrupted into Behgaon. The name (Shiupuri) is perhaps worth noting as a possible indication that the Thatheras were worshippers of Shiva, Since then no important change seems to have taken place in the owner ship of the pargana. SAROMANNAGAR* — Pargana Saromannagar — Tahsil Shahabad — District Hardoi. — Saromannagar, the chief village in the. pargana of the same name, district Hardoi, lies 15 miles north-west from Hardoi, 6 south of Shahabad, and 18 north of Sandi, at the point where the old Shah-Rab, or king's high road from Sandi to Shahjahanpur crosses the Sukheta nala. It was founded in 1708 A.D. by Rae Saroman Das, a Sribastab Kayath of Sandi, in the employ of Nawab Abdulla Khan, the celebrated Barha Sayyad, Governor of Allahabad, and afterwards Farukh Siari's wazir, who, with his brother Hasan Ali, "made four Timiirides emperors, dethroned and killed two, and blinded and imprisoned three" (Blochman's translation of the Afn-i-Akbari, page 391). In those days a dangerous jungle surrounded Gaeghat, as the crossing of the Sukheta was then called, and the spot was of evil repute among travellers. Rae Saroman Das bought this wild bandit-haunted tract from its owners, the Sombansis of Bhadauna, cleared it, bridged the Sukheta, and built in his own name a small fortified town. Saromannagar has a population of only 1,4.52, of whom 1,303 are Hindus, mostly Brahmans. It contains two brick and 140 mud houses. A Government village school accommodating 100 pupils was built in 1868. The sarae, wall, and bastions built by Rae Saroman Das are in ruins. Market days are Sundays and Thursdays. Reginald Heber visited Saromannagar in 1824, and has thus described itf:— " A large village with an old fortress. The country improved in beauty, becoming more and more woody and undulating, but was neither so well * By Mr. A. H. Harington, C. S., Assistant Commissioner. t Heber's Journey II., page 3. 320 SAR inhabited nor so well cultivated as that which we had gone through before (Sandi and Bilgrdm). " The fortress is pretty much like a large sarae, surrounded .by a high brick wall, with round towers at the flanks, and two gothic gateways oppo site to each other. "That by which I entered had a tall iron-studded door like a college, with a small wicket in one leaf; within on each side of the passage was a large arched recess about three feet from the ground where were seated twelve or fifteen men, armed as usual, with one or two guns, and matches lighted, but mostly having bows and arrows ; all had swords and shields. I passed on through a narrow street of mud houses, some looking like warehouses, and the whole having more the air of a place where the peasantry of a small district were accustomed to secure their stores, than the usual residence of any considerable number of people. I went on to the opposite gate, which was supplied with warders in the same way as the previous one, and then entered a little straggling bazar, which, with some scattered huts, completed the hamlet. " A pretty stream winds under the walls of Saromannagar through a beautiful carpet of green wheat interspersed with noble trees." The quiet beauty of the spot moved the pious Bishop to note: — " It is strange, indeed, how much God has done to bless this land, and how perversely man has seemed bent to render his bounties unavailing." SARWAN— Pargana Maura'nwan— Tahsil Purwa — District Unao.— This village lies in latitude 26° 36' north, longitude 80°56' east, at a distance of six miles north-east of Purwa, and 26 miles due east of Unao. It is a very old village, and the date of foundation is unknown. The site is good. There is a school here. The climate is agreeable, and water good. The population amounts to 2,183, of which Hindus amount to 2,067, and Musalmans to 116. Referring to the foundation of the village and the temple of Billesur Mahadeo, Mr. C. A. Elliott gives the following (pp. 5-6, " Chronicles of Oonao) : — " To worship at this temple and to shoot and hunt in the wild forest country around came Raja Duseruth from Ajoodhia, the father of Ram- chundur, the fifty-seventh Raja of Ajoodhia, in direct descent from its great founder Icshwaca. He was encamped at Sarwara on the edge of a tank. " By night came Surwun, a holy Rishi, from Chounsa (near Ajoodhia), by caste a Bunniah. He was going on pilgrimage, and was carrying his blind father and mother in a Kanwar,* slung over his shoulders. Reach ing the tank he put his burden down and stopped to drink. Raja Duse- * A pair of baskets hung on a bamboo, carried on the shoulder by all pilgrims in India. SAT 321 ruth heard a rustling noise, and thinking it was some wild beast, took up his bow and shot an arrow which struck Surwun and he died. Then his blind parents in their misery lifted up their voices and cursed the man who had done that thing. They prayed that as he had slain the son who was the light of their hearts, so he might have trouble and sorrow from his own children, and might die of grief even as they were dying. Having so said ?ney gave up the ghost, and from that day to this no ' Chhattri ' has lived in the town which is founded on the spot and is called Surwun. Many Rajpoots have tried it, but evil has overtaken them in one way or another. The tank remains to this day, and by it lies under a tree the body of Surwan, a figure of stone; and as he died with his thirst unquenched, so if water is poured into the navel of the stone figure, the - hole can never be filled up, but is inexhaustible in its demand." SXTAN — Pargana Harha — Talisil UnAo — District Unao. — This vil lage is about 14 miles from the sadr station to the south-east. A river called Gurdhoi runs about a mile north of this place. Some 500 years ago, when there Was jungle all over the place, a Muhammadan mendicant named Satan lived here. A Brahman of the Pathak class was his des ciple, and succeeded him after his death ; having all the jungle cleared away, he founded this village and called it after his late master (Satan.) That Brahman's descendant is still the lambardar of the village. The soil is clay and sand mixed, It is situated on a plain with scarcely any jungle in its vicinity. The appearance of the village is pleasant, climate healthy, and water good. There are many mango, babul, and nim trees in the vicinity. There is a well and temple to Sitla Debi of very ancient date. There are two markets weekly, and one fair annually in honour of Sates- war Mahadeo lasting for one day, at which about 4,000 people assemble. Population : — r Hindus ...^ Brahmans ... Chhattris Pasis Ahirs Other castes 673 6 87 305613 Total ... ... 1,584 Muhammadans 69 Grand Total ... 1,653 There are 340 mud-built houses and one masonry house. Two temples, one Shiwala and one to Debi. The average annual amount of sales at bazar Satan is Rs. 4,800. SAT /WAN — Pargana Rae Bareli — Tahsil Rae Bareli— District Rae Bareli.— This town was founded by one Sdthu ; it is on the road from Bareli to Bihar ; the river Sai flows past to the east. The population is 2,952. The soil is good, and the place is surrounded by numerous groves. SATHAN— Pargana Inhauna— Tahsil Digbijaiganj— District Rae Bareli. — This little town is pleasantly situated on high ground overlooking the Gumti, six miles north of the police-station (Jagdispur), and forty miles 41 322 SAT north-west of Sultanpur. It was founded by Sathan, a Bhar, and called after him, but the date of its foundation is unknown. The Moslems under Sayyad Salar are said to have expelled the Bhars. Shekhs and Sayyads now reside here. One Shah Abdul Latif came after the mutiny, settled here as a missionary of pure religion ; he built a mosque on high ground near the Gumti, and hundreds of the Sunnis assemble every Friday to hear his harangues. The idgdh of this town is a place of considerable resort for the faithful when the Id festival comes round. The population is 2,253, of whom only 1,028 are males. There are no temples, but one brick imdmbara erected in 1256A.H. SATRIKH Pargana— Talisil Nawabganj — District Bara Banki.— This pargana is bounded on the north by parganas NaAvabganj and Partab ganj, on the east by Siddhaur, on the west by Dewa, and on the south by Haidargarh. Its area is 46 square miles or 29,404 acres; the cultivated land amounts to 19,318 acres, and the culturable to 10,086. Of the former only 5,207 acres are irrigated. The number of villages in the par gana is 42. The prevailing soil is clay. The Gumti forms part of the western boundary ; it frequently damages the kharif crops by overflowing its banks. The river takes a southerly course ; its length being about 16 miles. • There are 12 villages on its banks. Water is met with at six to twelve feet. The only road is an unmetalled one from Nawabganj to Satrikh town. There are three ghats in this pargana — viz., Tikra, Tirgaon, and Ibrahimabad. The first two lead to Amethi, Goshainganj, &c, and the third is the route to the tahsil station Haidargarh. There is no trade save that in salt. Schools are established at Ibrahimabad and Satrikh, also a branch at Lachhmanpur. There are post and registry offices at Satrikh. The Government revenue amounts to Rs. 47,986. The tenure is as follows: — Taluqdari ... ... ... ... 17 villages. Zamindari ... ... ... ... 20 „ Pattidari ... ... ••• ••• 5 „ 42 „ The population of the pargana amounts to 24,157, being at the rate of 525 to the square mile. Satrikh, Ibrahimabad, and Sethmau are villages possessing a population of more than 2,000. For the origin of the name see Satrikh town. The taluqdars of the pargana are Raja Nawab Ali, Rani Rukmin Kunwar, Mir Buniad Husen, and Amjad Husen, Sahib-un-nisa, and Qazi Ikrdm Ahmad. SATRIKH Pargana Satrikh — Tahsil Nawabganj— District Bara Banki. This town lies 5 miles south-east of the civil station and 28 miles south of Bahramghat, in latitude 26°51'20" north, and longitude. 81°14'40" east It was founded by a Hindu Rdja, Sabtrikh, but was taken by the Musalmans in the days of Mahmud of Ghazni. Salar Sdhu,_ alias Birdha Bdba, married the sister of Mahmud, and led the invaders against the town; here he died and a shrine was built in his honour. The dargah has a rent-free o-rant of 54 local bighas of land for its expenses. A fair lasting two days is held here in March at which 17 to 18,000 people assemble. SAT— SHA 323 There is a market at which the trade is chiefly in salt. There is a school, and a registry and post-office. The population amounts to 3,584; Hindus number 2,177 and Moslems 1,407. SEOTA— Pargana Kundri (North)— Tahsil Bisw an. —District Sita pur — Is 32 miles due east from Sitapur, and lies four miles north of the road from that place to Chahlari .and Bahraich. It is four miles to the east of the Chauka, and five miles west of the Gogra, both navigable rivers, and between it and the latter are several smaller streams fordabl'e in the dry season. It was founded by Alha, a Chandel Thakur, the story of whose expedition is generally sung in this part of the country and is styled " Xlha." This chieftain was a protege" of Raja Jai Chand of Ka nauj, and was granted possession of all the surrounding district known as Ganjar. He with his patron was killed by Rde Pithaura, King of Delhi and Ajmer, who in turn was slain by Shahab-ud-din Ghori in 1193 A.D. There is a superstition against building a masonry house or growing sugarcane. Besides a school, there are good bazars at which the value of annual sales is Rs. 2,000. There are the ruins of a mosque, and of an ancient taluqdar's fort. On every Puranmdshi a fair is held in honour of Sonari consort to Alha. The population numbers 3,428. SH A"DIPUR. — Pargana BAngarmau. — Tahsil Safipur — District Unao— Lies about nine miles north-west from the tahsil station and 26 miles from Unao. There is no river or large town near ; the date of its foundation is not known, but it is said that some three-hundred years ago there was one Parshddi Gujar living here, when the place was inhabited by Gujars. The Rajputs came afterwards from Shiurdjpur of Cawnpore district and brought ruin for the Gujars, but the name of the place was retained. The soil is principally clay. It is on a level, and there is some jungle towards the south about one mile from the site. The appearance of the place is very agreeable. Climate healthy, and water good. Hindus and Muhammadans live amicably, There is no sarae, thana, tahsil, or school here. There is no bazar but three fairs in the year — one in March, one in October, and one in August — on account of the 8th incarnation of the deity, the great Krishna. These fairs last one day each where some 2,000 people assemble. Sweetmeats and toys are brought for sale. There are no manufactures excepting earthenware and shoes. Latitude ... ... ... 26°68' north. Longitude ... ... ... 80°12' east. SHAHABAD Pargana* — Tahsil Shahabad — District Hardoi.— A sub division of tahsil Shahabad in the district of Hardoi comprising 143 vil lages. It is bounded on the north by the Shahjahanpur district; on the west the river Garra divides it from parganas Pachhoha and Pali ; on the south it is bounded by pargana Soromannagar ; on the east the Sukheta nala divides it from parganas Alamnagar and Sara. J By Mr, A. H. Harington, CS. 324 SHA Its extreme length and breadth are 14 and 11J miles, and its area 131 square miles. Three-fifths (6171 per cent.) is cultivated ; more than a fifth (221 per cent.) is culturable. About an eighth (12-2 per cent.) is returned as barren. Rather more than an eighth (13'47) is rated as third class, i.e., sandy and light. Two-fifths of the cultivated area (4173) is irrigated in the proportion of two-thirds from wells and a third from tanks and ponds. The percentage under groves is 3'99 ; 6| acres is the average area of cul tivation per plough. As the rivers and streams of the pargana all flow from north to south the physical features will be most conveniently observed by crossing it from west to east or vice versa. Beginning with the Garra on the west, and the villages along its left bank, the following characteristics will be noticed. The Garra, rising in the Kumaun tarai, flows past Pilibhft and Shahjahanpur across the Oudh border into pargana Shahabad. Fed with Himalayan snows it never dries up. As remarked of the Saromannagar villages which it fertilizes after leaving this pargana, " along its bank lies a rich belt of tarai (or khadir) villages, whose land always remains moist, so that wells are scarcely required. These villages are subject to floods, and after heavy rains the autumn harvest suffers, but the loss is in such seasons made good by the increased outturn of the spring crops." In the dry season it is generally fordable. The lever and pot (dhenkli) system of irrigation is used all along it ; wherever the bank is too high to admit of the use of the ordinary 'lift' method. Though the soil in these villages is light, they are the best in the pargana. East of them there is the usual strip of uneven sandy villages marking the edge of the ' bangar' and the ' tarai.' Further east is a considerable tract of good but backward land, watered by the Narbhu and Gauria nalas holding one or two large jhils, and thickly interspersed, in the southern half of the pargana, with dhak jungle and brushwood. The soil here is firm and good and retentive of water, and bears fine rice crops, but wild animals do much damage in the jungle parts, and rents are low and cultivators rather scarce. This tract will gradually improve. Large wells worked by bullocks can be cheaply dug in it for from three to five rupees, and last about three years. Further to the east the quality of the soil falls off, becoming light and poor. Towards the Sukheta, which forms the eastern boundary, a quantity of ' dhak' and thorn jungle is met with, full of nil-gae, wild hog, hare, pea-fowl, partridge, and bush quaiL The cost of protecting the crop from the depredation of jungle animals is a heavy drag on the cultivator. The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway runs through the pargana, with a station near Shahabad. The road (unmetalled) from Shdhjahanpur to Hardoi also runs through it, parallel with and about two miles west of the railway, From Shahabad other unmetalled roads branch off from it SHA 325 to Pali, Sandi, and Pihdni. The road from Sitapur to Shahjahdnpur vid Pihani crosses the north-eastern corner. The chief products are wheat, barley, bdjra, gram, judr, paddy, arhar and sugarcane. Of these at survey wheat occupied nearly a third of the acreage under cultivation; barley covered a tenth; bajra nearly a tenth; gram, jujb: and paddy together, nearly a fourth. The areas returned as under cane, cotton, poppy, tobacco, and indigo were respectively, 2,928, 1,292, 129, 36, and 5 acres. The nearness of the Rosa Factory at Shdh- jahdnpur accounts for the large breadth of sugarcane. The climate is considered good. The 143 villages are thus held- SombansisChamar-Gaurs Nikumbhs ... Total Chhattris Tiwari Brahmans Misrs Piithaks ... Pandes ... Tirbedis ... Agnhotris Barmhcharis Upaddhias ... Shekhs ,., Sayyads ... Pathans .., Total Brahmans Total Muhammadans Kayaths ... Goshain ... European (Messrs. Carew) Government Total Miscellaneous 4 .. Hi 3 3 ,.. 3 .. 8 ... 5 3 .. 4 2 1 .. 251 ... 4 ... 4 ... 64 ,.. 72 ... » 1 1 ... 13 ... 24 26 of the villages are taluqdari, 82 are zamindari, 35 pattidari. The Government demand, excluding cesses, is Rs. 93,426 — a rise of 30 per cent, over the summary assessment. It falls at Re. 1-12-11 on the cultivated acre, Re. 1-1-10 per acre of total area, Rs. 11-8-4 per plough, Rs. 2-3-4 per head of agricultural, and Re. 1-6-1 per head of total popula tion. Population is extremely dense — 516 tot he square .mile. The leading statistics are total 67,646 ; Hindus to Muhammadans, 56,187 to 11,459; males to females, 35,894 to 31,752; agriculturists to non-agriculturists 42,297 to 25,349. Brahmans are most numerous, and are an eighth of the whole ; Chamars are rather less than an eighth ; Lodhs a tenth ; Murdos a twentieth ; Ahirs- Chhattris 2,523 ; Kahars, Telis, and Pdsis make up most of the remainder. 326 SHA There is an Anglo-vernacular tahsil school at Shahabad, and village schools at Udranpur Parial, Fatehpur Goind, Bdsitnagar, Puraili, and Bdri, and female schools have been established at Udranpur and Parial. The pargana is not mentioned in the Xin-i-Akbari, not having been con stituted till about 1745 A.D, when the villages to the east of the Garra in what was then pargana Pali were made into a new pargana (Shahabad). The leading events have been the expulsion of the Thatheras, the growth and spread of their Chhattri successors, the successful campaign of Diler Khan, and the foundation of Shahabad and of the Pathan taluqa of Basitnasar. "a" The chief Thathera settlement seems to have been at and round Angni Khera, the nucleus of the present town of Shahabad. It consisted of twenty-six villages surrounding a fort named Shabazpur, Todarpur, Nizdm- pur, Sorapur, Jangpur, Muhiuddinpur, Chaudhripur, Dalawalpur, Mahesh- pur, Chandpur Khokar, Nidmatpur, Hdlabpur Hans, Bibipur Gautar, Bibi- pur Udhaukal, Bahddurpur, Malikpur, Nahok Bara, Jamdlpur, Kautaia, Chand Thok, Muhammadpur alias Jamalpur, Thok Dalu, Khandi, Momin- pur, Yusufpur, and Malhaia. These names are obviously modern. The conquest of this settlement is attributed to a pilgrim band of Pande Parwar Brahmans, who on their way from Kdshi (Benares) to Hardwdr halted here, noticed the weakness of the Thatheras, and on their way back fell upon and disposessed them ; who these Pande Parwdrs were is a mystery. The tradition gives only the name of their leader Angad, and traces their origin to a Kori, who, from the accident of his being found with a thread (tdga) on his body, when Brahmans were in great request for a royal "jagg," got irregularly enrolled among the Pande Brahmans, and was dubbed Pande Parwar. The date of this displacement of the Tha theras may be presumed to have been synchronous with the great Brah- manical revival which set in with the sacking of Samath, and the expul sion of the Buddhist monks from India in the eighth century. To the Pande leader Angad is traced Angni Khera, the name whereby the ruined site of their town is called, and Angad Khera, a spot which, it is said, was the " akhdra" or " campus martius," where the Pande youths used to hold their athletic sports. The only surviving Thathera name is to be found in the Tank Ratauka, derived from Rde Than, or the seat of Rde, a Thathera prince. The Pathdn, Ghoris of Jamra, claim to be converted Sombansis. Their tradition goes to show that the Muhammadan conquest took place before the Thatheras by Chhattris had been completed, Rdja Santan Sombansi they say, of Santan Khera (Sandi), had four sons who ruled at Barwan, at Siwa- ichpur, at Semar Jhala, and at Raigawdn. Dalip Singh, of Raigawan, fought against Ald-ud-din Ghori for twelve years. At last while out in search of game he was taken captive and carried to the Muhammadan Sultan, and imprisoned at Delhi for twelve years. SHA 327 Then his brother ransomed him. On his return home his kinsmen treated him as an outcast till he should propitiate the Brahmans. In spite of his protestations that he had not become a pervert during his captivity his brethren held aloof from him, and when at last prevailed upon to eat with him, drew a line of demarcation on the floor. Stung deeply with th,e affront, he renounced the faith of his fathers before them all, took horse for Delhi, sought the Sultan, told the tale, and announced his desire to become a Muhammadan, Whereupon he was admitted as a convert, was named Midn Dilpasand Khan, and honoured with a grant of eighty-four villages, among the chief of which were Fatehpur Goind, Aigawan, Adran- pur, Maujhala, and Loni. And in those days two and twenty Thathera chieftains still ruled from Angni Khera to the Sarju, against whom he warred with great renown. And he died leaving four sons, of whom Mustafa Khan dwelt at Loni, and there his descendants are to this day ; and Daulat Khan lived at Piani, and Jajhar Khan at Raigawan, and Mahmud Khan at Jamra. The Bais under-proprietors of Bhairaia relate a third displacement of Thatheras in this pargana from Pairas and Deoras and the adjacent forest by their ancestor Pahalwdn Singh, who, married to the sister of Raja Sat- mor, left Baiswara, and sought distinction in his wife's country. The Pande Parwdrs retained possession of Angni Khera and the neighbourhood till the reign of Aurangzeb. In an evil moment they plundered a convoy of treasure on its way from Khairabad to Delhi. The Sultan despatched Diler Khan Afghan, a distinguished officer, to repress the bandits arriving at Shahjahdnpur, recently founded, and then, commanded by his brother Bahadur Khan, Diler Khan rode out alone towards Angni Khera to reconnoitre. Smitten with thirst he begged water of an ancient crone. The gift of two gold mohars loosened a garu- lous tongue, and he learned from her the strength and ways of the Pande Parwdrs. In particular he heard that on a certain date the whole tribe mustered at the old Thathera tank Ratauha to bathe. Returning to Shahjahanpur he mustered a strong force, marched secretly to Angni Khera on the night of the bathing, and surrounded and slew the unsus pecting Brahmans. In reward for his skill and daring he was granted the whole of their possessions in pargana Shahabad and Sara in jagir, and became Nawab Diler Khan Bahadur Haft Hazari, or commander of seven thousand. His descendants held the grant rent-free till Saddat Ali Khan resumed it. In 1677 A. D., he founded the city of Shahabad on Angni Khera, filled it with his Afghan kinsmen and troops, assignino- them jungle grants in the neighbourhood : and in the midst raised the spacious mansion known as the Bari Deorhi. Fifty-two wards or muhallas trace their present names to the followers who then built in the places on which they stand. The further progress of the family has been thus described by Captain Gordon Young in his settlement decision regarding the village of Dariapur. 328 SHA " These Nawabs acquired either by purchase, mortgage, fraud, or force every village in the pargana, and held as proprietors till fifty or sixty years ago, when the family began to decay and the taluqa to fall to bits, the old proprietors in a few instances getting back, mostly by purchase from the Nawab's family. The sales made by the Nawabs were generally fol lowed by possession. There was no question at that time as to whether they had the right to sell. They sold, and the vendees got in and held and the title was respected. In dealing with the transactions of those days one is reminded of the stanza — ' The good old rule sufficeth them, — The simple plan, That those should take who have the power, And those should keep who can.' " Elsewhere the same officer writes : — " The sons of Nawab Diler Khan were four — namely, Kamdlud-din Khan, Chand Khab, Dildar Khan, and Fateh Muhammad Khan. " The eldest son and his sons have always been known as the " Bari Deorhi Wdlas' from the large fort he built, and this appellation still apper tains to this branch of the family, which is now represented by Sarfrdz Husen Khan and Ahmad Husen Khan. The descendants of Chdnd Khan are known as the ' Khera Deorhi Walas.' Dildar Khan's branch is repre sented by the present taluqdar (of Bdsitnagar) Nawab Husen Ali Khan." SHAHABAD* — Pargana Shahabad — Tahsil Shahabad — District Har doi.— Latitude 27°38' north, longitude 79°59'. The chief town of the pargana of the same name in the Hardoi district. Thornton's account of it is: — "A town on the route from Lucknow to Shahjehanpur, 15 miles south of the latter and 30 miles north-east of Futtehgurh." Tieffenthaler describes it, about A.D. 1770, " of considerable circuit, and nearly in the middle is a palace of brick, strengthened with towers like a fortress, with a vestibule and spacious covered colonnade. Most of the houses are of brick, and there is a fine mosque built of the same material, and inclosed by a wall The town extends a mile from north to south ; its breadth is something less, but of its flourishing state little remains." When visited by Tennant, A.D. 1799, it was an expanse of ruins " that appeared in the form of hills and broken swells crumbling to dust." Heber found it, in 1824, " a considerable town or almost city, with the remains of fortifica tions and many large houses." According to Tieffenthaler, " it was found ed by Angad, the nephew of Rama, king of Oudh , and if so ; must be of high antiquity, as Rama is considered to have reigned 1600 years B.C.; hence it is sometimes called Angadpur. It was renovated by Dilawar Khan, an Afghan chief, contemporary with Aurangzeb. At present it has abaziir and encamping ground, close to which are two tanks lined with brick. The road to the north or towards Shdhjahdnpur is good ; to the south-east, or towards Lucknow, very bad. Latitude 27°39', longitude 80°1.' " Shahabad, with its population of 18,254, is fourth in the list of Oudh towns and first among the Hardoi ones. The proportion of Muhammadans • By Mr. A. H. Harington, C.S., Assistant Commissioner. SHA 329 is very large, being 7,540 to 10,714 Hindus, There are 985 brick and 3,668 kachcha houses, grouped in numerous wards or muhallas. Named for the most part after the followers and companions in arms of the founder Diler Khan (see pargana article), they are called : — Sidi Khalil, Pirzddagan, Ibanzai, Shekhpur, Malkapur, Jangalia, Khalil Nabi«i$asti, Wali Yeman, Shamsher Khan, Ghilzi, Hakim Moinuddin, Mirdn-ki-Basti, Jdfar Khan alias Kairgarh, Bankuri, Bazid Khalil, Hdji Hayat Khan alias Mauldganj, Mahmud, Sulaimdni, Garhi Kaldn, Garhi Baghia, Bdqarzai, Tajpur, Sidi Khalil Sani, Bhuron, Dilawalpur, Ikhtiydrpur, Inayatpur, Yiinas Khalil, Bibi zai, Khera Azmat Khan, Gagiani, Mahi Bagh, Baira Zainab, Kot Arobian, Bazid Khalil, Niamat Khan, Kanauli Khanzada, Ibnazai, Ndlbanddn, Sayyadwdra, Bazid Khalil, Sani Mahmud Khan, Talwa Wiran, Talia Wiran, Kanhaia, Binoria, Barapur Wirdn, Maruf Ismdil, Kot Bdchhil, Sajjan Khan. The brick fortress-like palace in the centre, described by Tieffenthaler, is the Bari Deorhi of Nawab Diler Khan. The inhabitants date the decline of the town from the decay of the Delhi empire and groAvth of the Nawabi into power. Its present popula tion is said to be only a third of its former size. It is connected with Shdhjahdnpur, Pali, Sandi, Hardoi, and Pihdni by unmetalled roads, and the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway passes close to it, and has a station here. The subdivisional office (tahsil) and police station (thdna) are located in the enclosure of the Jama Masjid — a mosque built by Diler Khan. Among other buildings are an Anglo-vernacular tahsil school, a dis pensary, and a sarae built originally by Rde Mangli Ldl, Chakladar, and repaired by the present Government. Bathing fairs are held at the old Thathera pool, Raitanha, and at a masonry tank built by Diler Khan and called Narbada, because water from that river was poured into it when it was opened, but they are not attend ed by pilgrims from any distance. There is no trade or manufacture of importance ; for sugar, the most valuable product of the neighbourhood, is worked up at the Rosa Factory at Shahjahanpur. Bazars are held in Sarddrganj, Jamdl Khan's Ganj, Namak Mandi, Roshan Bazar, Nihalganj, Dilerganj, Saddatganj, called also Katra, the Chauk, Maulaganj, and Mahmudgani. Mahmudganj has been opened since annexation, and a daily grain market is held in it. The town is noted for its excellent mangoes, and grafts are exported to a dis tance. A native cloth called ' Mahmudi' used to be manufactured here and was much prized. Sir W. Sleeman's account of Shahabad (1850) is worth extracting, as it gives the origin of the chronic ill-feeling between Muhammadans and Hindus which has smouldered ever since, and broke out into active dis order at the Muharram of 1868 : — " Palee is a good place for a cantonment, or seat of public civil estab lishments, and Shahabad is no less so. The approach to both, from the 42 330 SHA south-east, is equally beautiful, from the rich crops which cover the ground up to the houses, and the fine groves and majestic single trees which surround them. " Shahabad is a very ancient and large town, occupied chiefly by Pathan Mussulmans, who are a very turbulent and fanatical set of fellows. Sub- sookh Rde, a Hindu, and the most respectable merchant in the district, resided here, and for some time consented to officiate, as the deputy of poor old Hafiz Abdoollah, for the management of the town where his influence was great. He had lent a good deal of money to the heads of some of the Pathan families of the town, but finding few of them disposed to repay, he was last year obliged to refuse further loans. They determined to take advantage of the coming mohurrum festival to revenge the affront as men commonly do who live among such a fanatical community. The tazeeas are commonly taken up and carried in procession ten days after the new moon is first seen at any place where they are made ; but in Oudh all go by the day in which the moon is seen from the capital of Lucknow. As soon as she is seen at Lucknow, the king issues an order throughout his dominions for the tazeeas to be taken in procession ten days after. The moon was this year in November first seen on the 30th of the month at Lucknow, but at Shahabad where the sky is generally clearer she had been seen on the 29th. The men to whom Subsookh Rde had refused fur ther loans determined to take advantage of this incident to wreak their vengeance ; and when the deputy promulgated the king's order for the tazeeas to be taken in procession ten days after the 30th, they insti gated all the Mahommedans of the town to insist upon taking them out ten days after the 29th, and persuaded them that the order had been fabricated, or altered, by the malice of their Hindoo deputy to insult their religious feelings. They were taken out accordingly, and having to pass the house of Subsookh Rde, when their excitement, or spirit of religious fervour had reached the highest pitch, they there put them down, broke open the doors, entered in a crowd, and plundered it of all the property they could find, amounting to about seventy thousand rupees. Subsookh Rae was obliged to get out, with his family, at a back door, and run for his life. He went to Shajehanpoor, in our territory, and put himself under the pro tection of the magistrate. Not content with all this, they built a small miniature mosque at the door with some loose bricks, so that no one could go either out or in without the risk of knocking it down, or so injuring this mock mosque as to rouse, or enable the evil-minded to rouse, the whole Mahommedan population against the offender. Poor Subsookh Rae has been utterly ruined, and ever since seeking in vain for redress. The Government is neither disposed nor able to afford it, and the poor boy who has now succeeded his learned father in the contract is helpless, The little mock mosque, of uncemented bricks, still stands as a monument of the insolence of the Mahommedan population, and the weakness and appathy of the Oudh Government." — (p.p. 46 — 47, Tour through Oudh, Volume II.) SHAHXB-UD-DIN-ABAD— Pargana Manikpur— Tahsil Kunda— Dis trict Partabgarh. — This place was founded on the bank of the Ganges by Rdja Sayyad Abdul Qadir M(r Xdil. See the history of pargana Mdnikpur. SHA— SID 331 It is 36 miles from Partabgarh. A magnificent palace was erected here ; part of it has fallen down, part been carried away by the river, but enough remains to attest the magnificence and taste of the founder. A long stately front of red stone from Fatehpur Sikri is varied by several buildings, the hall of forty columns, the hall of colours and others ; these have balconies boldly projecting over the river with finely carved columns and delicate tracing. Population, — 1,106 Hindus ; 153 Musalmans; total 1,259. There are 103 masonry houses, two temples to Mahddeo, and four mosques. There is a bathing fair here in Kartik attended by about 30,000 people. SHAHGANJ OR MUQIMPUR— Pargana Pachhimrath— Tahsil BfKA,, PUR — District Fyzabad. — The town was founded by a Mughal on the land of the village Muqimpur ; but seized by Raja Darshan Singh, who built here his fort and residence of Shahganj, celebrated during the mutiny. It is about ten miles from Fyzabad. The population consists of 3,077 Hindus and 667 Musalmans, of whom 113 are Shias. There is one mosque, one temple to Hanomdn, one to Mahadeo, and one vernacular school. SHXHPUR— Pargana Biha'r — Tahsil Kunda — District Partabgarh. — This town was founded by a royal prince ; it is on the bank of the Ganges, thirty-seven miles from Partabgarh and eight from Manikpur. The population amounts to 1,031 Hindus, 100 Musalmans ; total 1,131. There is a fine old tomb and a mosque with its southern wall in the water of the river. There is a fair here. SHEKHPUR SAMODA — Pargana Bachhrawan — Tahsil Digbijaiganj — District Rae Bareli. — The town lies six miles west of the Gumti on the road from Rae Bareli to Bachhrdwdn. The soil is good, and the climate healthy, but the country is rather bare of trees. The population is 2,672, of whom 428 are Brahmans, 351 Chhattris. There is a weekly market ; the sales average about 400 rupees. SIDDHAUR Pargana* — Tahsil Nawabganj and Haidargabh — Dis trict Bara Banki. — This pargana is bounded on the north by Partab ganj, on the east by Surajpur pargana, on the south by Haidargarh and Subeha, and on the west by Satrikh. Its area is 141 square miles, or 64,474 acres. Of cultivated land thereare 44,225, and of uncultivated 20,249 acres. The irrigated area is 26,263, and the unirrigated 37,049 acres. The villages lying close to the Gumti are uneven ; the land is also cut up by ravines. The soil is chiefly loam. The climate is good. The Gumti borders the pargana on the south ; it flows from east to west, having a course of 30 miles. There is a stream (the Rari) also in the interior of the par gana flowing for 12 miles through it. There are about 30 villages lyino- along the banks of the Gumti. The road from Nawabganj to Debiganj and Haidargarh passes through this pargana, and another from the chief town to the Daryabad and Safdarganj stations. There are seven ferries * Half in Nawabganj and half in Haidargarh tahsils. 332 SID on the Gumti ; country cloth is the only item of export. There are seven schools ; the post and registry offices are at Siddhaur. There are fairs purely local in honour of Siddheshwar Mahddeo on the day of Shiurdttri, and in honour of Qazi Qutab on the Id and Baqarid. The temple of Durga Debi at Bibipur is visited on Mondays and Fridays. The Government revenue amounts to Rs. 119,860. The tenure is as follows -.— Taluqdari ... ... ... ... 68 villages. Zamindari ... ... ... ,„ 54 Pattidari ... ... ... ... 48 u 168 The population amounts to 59,085. Siddhaur and Bibipur are the only "villages possessing a population of above 2,000 souls. This pargana had its origin in the time of Akbar Shah. The Bhars were the original occupants ; they were expelled by the Moslems at the time of the invasion of Masaud. The Sayyads form a great part of the population. The taluqdars of the pargana are Pande Sarabjit Singh, Wdjid Husen, and Ahmad Husen, Amjad Husen, Rdja Farzand Ali Khan, Hakim Karam Ali, Bfbi Bech-un-nisa, Thdkur Shiu Sahae, Rani Lekhraj Kunwar, and Ghulam Qdsim Khan. Sleeman writes as follows : — "February 26th, 1850,Sidhore,sixteen miles west south-west. The country a plain, covered as usual with spring crops and fine foliage ; but intersected midway by the little river Kuleeanee, which causes undulations on each side. The soil chiefly dumatand light, but fertile. It abounds more in white ants than such light soil generally does. We passed through the estate of Soorujpoor Behreylee, in which so many of the baronial robbers above described reside, and through many villages beyond it, which they had lately" robbed and burnt down, as far as such villages can be burnt. The mud- walls and coverings are as good as bomb-proofs against the fire, to which they are always exposed from these robbers. Only twenty days ago, Chundee Behraleea and his party attacked the village of Siswae, through which we passed a few miles from this plundered it, and killed three per sons, and six others perished in the flames. They served several others in the neighbourhood in the same manner ; and have within the same time attacked and plundered the town of Sidhore itself several times. " The boundary which separates the Dureeabad from the Sidhore district we passed some four miles back ; and the greater part of the villages lately attacked are situated in the latter, which is under a separate Amil, Aga Ahmud, who is in consequence unable to collect his revenue. The Amil of Dureeabad, Girdhara Sing* on the contrary acquiesces in all the atrocities committed by these robbers, and is in consequence able to collect his reve nue and secure the favour of the court. Some of the villages of the estate held by thewidowof Singjoo, late Raja of Soorujpoor, are under the jurisdic- * Girdhara Sing's patron is Chundee Sahaee, the miniate's deputy, whose influence is aramonnt at present, SID— SIK 333 tion of the Sidhore Amil ; and, as she would pay no revenue, the Amil took a force a few days ago to her twelve villages of Sonowlee, within the Dureeabad district, and seized and carried off some three hundred of her tenants, men, women, and children, as hostages for the payment of the balance due, and confined them pell-mell in a fort. The clamour of the rest of Ihe population as I passed was terrible ; all declaring that they had paid their rents to the Ranee, and that she alone ought to be held responsi ble. She, however, resided at Soorujpoor within the jurisdiction and under the protection of the Amil of Dureeabad. " The Behraleea gangs have lately plundered the five villages of Sadut- poor, Luloopoor, Bilkhundee, and Subahpoor, belonging to Soorujbulee, the head canoongo, or chowdheree of Dureeabad, who had never offended them. Both the Amils were with me for the latter part of the road ; and the dispute between them ran very high. It was clear, however, that Girdhara Sing was strong in his league with the robbers, and conscious of his being able to maintain his ground at court ; and Aga Ahmud was weak in his efforts to put them down, and conscious of his being unable much longer to pay what was required, and keep his post. He has with him two companies of Najeebs and two of Telingas and eight guns. The guns are useless, and without ammunition or stores of any kind ; and the Najeebs and Telingas cannot be depended upon. The best paymaster has certainly the best chance. It is humiliating and distressing to see a whole people suffering such wrongs as are every day inflicted upon the village communities and towns people of Dureeabad, Rodowlee, Sidhore, and Dewa, by these merci less freebooters ; and impossible not to feel indignant at a Government that regards them with so much indifference."— ( " Sleeman's tour through Oudh," Vol. II., pages 316—318.) SIDDHAUR — Pargana Siddhaur — Tahsil Haidargarh — District Bara Banki. — This town lies 16 miles west of the civil Station and 24 from Bahramghat in latitude 26°46' north, longitude 81°26'10" east. The original name is said to have been Siddhpura (the residence of a holy man or siddh), but it is now corrupted into Siddhaur. There is an old temple of Siddheshwar Mahadeo and a dargah of Qdzi Qutub, where fairs are held respectively on Shiurdttri and Id and Baqarid. It is connected by an unmetalled road with the sadr station and Zaidpur, and by another with Daryabad. A good deal of fever prevails in the town at the com mencement of the cold season. There is a school, a registry office, and a post office here. The population amounts to 2,203. SIKANDARPUR Pargana— Tahsil Un ao— District Unao.— This par gana is bounded on the north by Pariar, on the east by Unao, on the south by Harha, and on the west by the district of Cawnpore. It is about 10 miles long from east to west, and 8 miles broad from north to south. It has an area of 37,023 acres or about 58 square miles comprising 51 villages, of which 48 are the zamindari of the Parihdr Chhattris. The soil is chiefly loam and clay. The chief products are barley and sugar cane, 1,013 acres are under groves. There are three lakes in the pargana. The climate is healthy. There are fiye markets, The land revenue amounts 334 SIK to Rs. 60,876, and the assessment falls at Re. 1-10-3 per acre. The landed property is held under the following tenures : — Taluqdari 11,528 acres, Pukhtadari 468 acres. Pattidari 15,394 „ Zamindari 9,642 „ The population amounts to 34,544. This pargana was formed in the reign of Akbar (A.D. 1565). The original name of it was Burhdnpur, but in A.D. 1297 Sikandar Khan, an agent of Ala-ud-din. altered the name to Sikandarpur. In 1535 A.D. this pargana was held by Harju Mai Dhobi (washerman), but in the reign of Sher Shah in 1540 he was killed by Medni Mai, Parihar Thakur of Jigni, from whom the present taluqdar, Gopal Singh, descends. The Parihdr Thdkurs of this pargana are thus described by Mr. Elliott : — "The present Purihars in the Unao district inhabit the pargana of Suro- see, or as it has recently become habitual to call it Secunderpore, and possess the mystic number of 84 villages — -a tract of land which is called a Chowrassie. According to their local traditions they came from a place called Jigirfre (which is not to be found on the map), or Sarinagur, i.e., Cashmere. "From that high hill country they were driven, we know not by what cause to inhabit the sandy plains of Marwar; expelled thence, they were broken into innumerable little principalities, which found no abiding place, and have undergone continual changes, till we meet with a small portion of the clan who settled comparatively a short time ago in a little corner of Oudh, and even here the name of the beautiful valley from which they came ten centuries ago is still common in the mouths of men. "The story of the settling of the ancestors of the clan in Suroseeis thus told. About three hundred years ago, in the time of Humayun, king of Delhi, a Dikhit girl from Purenda was married to the son of the Purihar Raja, who lived in Jiginie across the Jumna. The bridegroom came with a large escort of his friends and brotherhood to celebrate the marriage, and the party on their journey passed through Surosee. "As they sat down around a well (the localty of which is still shown though the well has fallen in), they asked who were the lords of the fort which stood not far off. They were told that the fort was held by Dhobies (washermen) and other Soodurs who owned the neighbouring country. The procession then went on to Purenda, and returning conducted the bride to her home. Just before the Holie festival a party headed by Bhage Singh returned, waited for the evening of that riotous feast, and then, when the guards of the fort were heavy with wine, and no danger was looked for, suddenly attacked and slaughtered them, and made themselves masters of the fort and the surrounding country. "Bhage' Singh had four sons, and they divided the eighty-four villages he had conquered at his death. Asees and Salhu, the two eldest sons, took the largest portion of the estate ; twenty villages falling to the former and to the latter forty-two. SIK 335 "The third son, Manik, was a devotee, and refused to be troubled with worldly affairs. All he asked for was one village on the banks of the Ganges, where he might spend his life in worship, and wash away his sins three times a day in the holy stream. The youngest son, Bhooledhan, was quite a boy at the time of his father's death, and took what share his brothej^ chose to give him, and they do not seem to have treated him badly. "The law of primogeniture did not exist among the family, and every son, as he grew up and married, claimed his right to a separate share of his father's inheritance, and thus the ancestral estate constantly dwindled as fresh slices were cut off it, till at last the whole family were a set of impoverished gentlemen, who kept up none of the dignity which had belonged to the first conquerors, Bhage Singh and his sons. For six generations they stagnated thus, no important event marking their his tory till the time of Heera Singh. "The family property in his time had grown very small, and he had five sons to divide it amongst ; and to add to his misfortunes he was accused of some crime, thrown into prison at Fyzabad, and loaded with chains. With the chains on his legs he escaped, arrived safely at Surosee, and lay in hiding there. His pride being thus broken, he resolved to send his third son, Kulunder Singh, to take service in the Company's army. He rose to be Soobadar Major in the 49th Regiment of Native Infantry, and in this position, through his supposed influence with the Resident, be came a very considerable man. He knew that as long as he was at hand, no chukladar would venture to treat the Purihar zemindars with injustice ; but on his death they would be again at the mercy of the local authorities. "He therefore collected all the members of the brotherhood who were descended from Asees, and persuaded them to mass their divided holdings nominally into one large estate, of which his nephew, Golab Singh, should be the representative talookdar ; so that while in reality each small share holder retained sole possession of his own share, they should present the appearance of a powerful and united talooka making Golab Singh their nominal head. Thus the chukladars would be afraid to touch a man, who seemed to hold so large an estate, though in reality he only enjoyed a small portion of it. The brotherhood consented to this, and from 1840 till annexation the estate was held in the name of Golab Singh alone, and they had no further trouble from the oppressions of the chukladars." " Elliott's Chronicles of Oonao" pages 58-60. Golab Singh is now the recognized Taluqdar of Sarausi. SIKANDARPUR — Pargana Sikandarpur— Tahsil Unao — District Unao. — This village, which has a population of 1,679 gives name to the pargana. It is situated six miles west from Unao, and close to a lake called Barkota. No road passes through or near it. There is no jungle, but groves of mango and mahua are to the west. The water is sweet and climate healthy. Their is a Government school here. There is no market held or fair celebrated in this village. There is one temple to Mahadeo. For 336 SIK— SIN the origin of name see pargana Sikandarpur. Near this village the Prince of Wales went out pig sticking in 1876. SIMRAUTA Pargana— Tahsil Digbijaiganj— District Rae Bareli — This pargana is bounded on the north by Haidargarh of the Bara Banki district, on the east by Inhauna, on the south by pargana Rae Bareli, and on the west by Kumhrdwan and Hardoi. Its area is 97 square miles and population 58,771 being at the rate of 606 per square mile. Of the soil 28,302 acres are cultivated, 7,457 acres culturable, and 26,518 barren. The irrigated land amounts to 22,612 acres, and unirrigated to 5,722 acres. The surface is level, climate good, soil chiefly loam. The only river running through this pargana is the Naiya, and the only road is that which leads from Rae Bareli to Bara Banki. There are no ghats (fords). The traffic is carried on by means of bullock carts, buffaloes, and ponies. The manufactures are gdrha and gazi cloths and blankets. The principal import is cotton from Cawnpore, and export grain. The Government revenue amounts to Rs. 63,355, being at the rate of Re. 1-12-4 per arable acre. The distribution of landed property is as follows :— Taluqdari villages. Zamindari villages Kanhpuria ... 3i 0 Bachgoti ... 7 0 Musalmans ... 7 14 Other castes ... 0 10 49 24 The pargana taluqdars are Rdja Jagmohan Singh of Chandapur, Rudr Partab Singh of Siwan, Murtaza Husen of Sikandarpur, Rdja Shankari Bakhsh of Parasi, Raja Mahesh Nardin of Tok, and Hah: Bakhsh of Baridrpur. The only village worthy of mention in this pargana is Mungtal ; in it is a tank in the centre of which Raja Daljit Singh built a masonry house, and king Nasir-ud-din Haidar lived in this house for a short time. The prevailing caste is that of the Kanhpuria Chhattris. There are six schools, in which are taught Ndgri and Urdu, a post-office, a registry office, and a police station in the pargana. History. — The country was at first held by the Bhars. Raja Madan Singh of Mdnikpur came and after a fight took possession from them. Two fairs are held — one at Janai in the month of November on the Kdrtiki Puranmdshi, and the other in Mahrajganj bazar called Rdmlila in October. There is a temple of Debi called Anharwa-ki-Bhawdni. SINGXHI — Pargana Khairigarh — Tahsil Nighasan — District Kheri,— Is situated north of the Suheli, 101 miles north from Lucknow, lying in latitude 28°19' north, longitude 80°57' east. It belongs to Rdja Indra Bikram Sdh, taluqdar of Khairigarh. It has a good market, in which articles of country consumption are sold. The average annual sale of cotton SIN— SIS 337 fabrics is estimated at Rs. 2,000. The place is reckoned unhealthy. Popula tion, 1,995. The Hindus amount to 1,577 and the Moslems 418. SINJHAULI SHAHZXDPUR— Pargana Akbarpur.— Tahsil Akbar- PUR — District Fyzabad. — For the history of this town see pargana Akbar pur. It was founded by Sujhawal, a Bhar chief, called from him Sujhawalgarh, and this shortened to Sujhauli. Khattris got this place rent-free from Akbar. Prior to this one Sayyad Taj settled here and dug a tank ; a tomb in an island within this tank still bears an inscription dated 1365 A.D., one of the oldest in Oudh. It is a picturesque spot on the high bank of the Tons, opposite Akbarpur, 36 miles from Fyzabad on the road to Jaunpur, here crossed by the road from Sultanpur to Gorakhpur. There an numerous groves here. A great family of Khattri bankers, head ed by Gajadhar Mai and Shiubans Rae, formerly flourished here. The population is 5,069, of whom 2,021 are Sunnis, 84 are Shias, 2,964 are Hindus. There are 91 6 houses, of which 24 are of masonry. There are four mosques, three temples to Mahadeo, and one to Bhawdni. SISSAINDI — Pargana Nigohan- Sissaindi — Tahsil Mohanlalganj — District Lucknow. — Sissaindi is the chief village of a small pargana known in former times as the pargana of Sissaindi on the bank of the river Sai, about six miles to the south-east of the tahsil station of Mohanlal ganj, and connected with it by a cross country road made by the taluqdar Raja Kashi Parshad, whose principal residence was in this village, and from which his taluqa takes its name. The rise of the raja's family is recent, and the village once, together with the 27 villages that formed the'pargana| are said to have belonged to a clan of Gautams, an offshoot of the Xrgal rdj, Who must have established a colony here in very early times ; for their ancestor, Bhuraj Singh, is said to have led an expedition, as a servant of the Rdja of Kanauj, against the Bhars of a neighbouring village, who had the presumption to propose an alliance with the daughter of a Janwur chief. The Janwar appealed to Bhuraj Singh, who was leading a marriao-e pro cession through the neighbourhood, for help, and it resulted in the invasion and conquest of the pargana by the Gautams. In the village there is a small heap of stones worshipped under the name of Bhura Baba, probably the same as Bhuraj Singh; but the name of the village seems to have been given to it by Shiu Singh, his son, if it be not due to some more mythic origin for the worship of Shiva under his emblem seems to prevail very extensively in the village. The population is chiefly Hindu in which there are a great many Brah mans. The Musalman element is very small. The total population is 3 140 the and number of houses is 723, of which a very few are masonry. But in the centre of the village the raja has built an imposing edifice. Notwith standing that it was known as the headquarters of a pargana, it never attamed to any importance. There are the usual trades carried on in the village, and a good deal of traffic passes through it direct for Unao to which 43 338 SIS— SIT place a toad, with a bridge over the Sai, has been made, and by a rough country road that meets the Mohanlalganj and Bani road at about six miles to the west of Sissaindi. The annual sales in bazdrs amount to Rs. 9,587-8-0. SITAPUR DIVISION. — A division of Oudh governed by a Commissioner who resides in Sitapur. It contains three districts whose names, areas, and population are given in the following table : — Area and population. Area in sta. V tute British a Distiict. sguaremiles. m Division. o 0) a Bca « J3 2 "3 > ¦s "5 P.o rt a o n is ht O S S M H a fe H «l Sitapur .. Sitapur 2,359 2,214 1,428 813,331 117,807 771 40 497,211 435,718 932,959' 417 Harcioi 1,901 2,295 1,319 845,293 85,034 SW 9 500,951 430,423 931,3771 406 Kheri 1,777 2.9S7 1,206 671,686 74,3u7 73 18 403,827, 342,513 740,350 2i!> Total 6,097 7,298 3,953 2,330,310 277,798 880 67 1,402,022|1,208,654 2,610,686 357 It corresponds with the old administrative division or sarkar under the Delhi emperors called Khairabad. This embraces the whole of the pre sent division of Sitapur, including the three districts Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, with the exception of a row of parganas on the extreme south. Kachhandan, Bilgram, Mallanwan, Sandila, Gorinda, and Gundwa, are now in Hardoi; Bari, and Bilahra, now Mahmudabad are in Sitapur. They were formerly in the Sarkar Lucknow. The following table shows the parganas in Akbar's time, their proprietors, and gives similar information for the present time. Statement showing the revenue owners, &c., of parganas according to " A'in-i-Akbari" throughout tlve province of Khairabad. Revenue de Parganas. Area In bighas. mand ac cording to Ain-i-Ak- bari. Proprietors in Ain-i- Akbaii. Present proprietors. Big. bis. lis. Khail'igol h 43,050 7 45,233 Bais, Bisen, Baehhil, Kurmi. Pahdria Chhattris. Kheri 260,168 81,504 Ttiseu, JanwiSr Janwdr, Chauhans, 21,710 6,152 Various tribes ... Musalmans. 141,321 48,752 Bachhils Musalmans, &c. Garh Qila Nawa Dhaa- 15,811 16 12,246 Ahfr Jangre, Sikhs, &c. Barwflr ... 135,319 88,631 Rajputs and Brahmans... Various tribes. Khairabad 159,0? 2 54,031 Brahmans Ditto. Luharpur 208,288 75,512 Ditto Gaurs. 6S.S32 52,299 ChauhSn ... Ditto. Gopamau 120,698 20,779 Chawar, Kunwar, (Ah- ban), Baehhil. Various tribes. SadrpurChatiapur (Sitapur) 107,308 1,40,512 Janwar, Baehhil Raikwar, &c. ... Gaur, Rajputs Ganr. Sandi 211,714 78,883 Sombansi Sombansi. Paiia 64,706 44,131 Baehhil Janwar, Chauhan. B;isara 8,971 10,886 Ditto Ditto. Paila 56,156 81.631 Ahfr, Asas Various. Kimkh-ir 58,770 89,151 Ahirs Ditto. ¦Muehhrphta Bachhils ... Ditto, Ilurg^m Brahmans Gaur. SIT 330 The comparison of the proprietary possession in the two periods reveals some interesting facts. In only two parganas the old owners are still found ; in that of Gopamau the then proprietary body, the Chdwar or Ahban Chhattris, still retain a portion of their possessions ; the Sombansis also now hold part of Sandi. The Baehhil Chhattris who held Basdra, Sandila, Biswdn, Sadrpur, Machhrehta, and part of Khairigarh now do not possess any lands m those parganas. Similarly the Bisens have disappeared from Khairigarh and Kheri. Ahirs no longer hold Nimkhar or Garh Qila Nawa. It is not that these tribes have gone elsewhere ; they have died out, or become mere tenants-at-will. One or two Chhattri tribes have prospered mightily ; of such are the Gaurs who then had only Sitapur, but now have Sitapur, Ldharpur, Chan dra, Hargam, Bawan, Barwan, Sara, in main part; the Chauhan Janwdrs of Oel, who then had no villages and now have over 300 ; the Nikumbb, Katiar, and Jdngre, who now have several parganas and formerly had none. It is, however, the Musalmans who have made the greatest progress. They now hold 1,445 villages in this division. In Akbar's time only Bilgram is mentioned as being partly the property of the Sayyads. They probably had not more than 50 villages. In fact, as elsewhere remarked, the Musal mans never aimed at acquiring property in land till the latter end of Akbar's time ; and this is the reason that no deeds of mortgage or sale can be found bearing a date prior to his reign. Musalmans then aimed at getting rent-free land granted them for life only. Since Akbar's time, and above all during Alamgir's reign, Musalmans have been gradually acquiring large estates over Khairabad and everywhere in Oudh except in Baiswdra. They have spread out from each town — from Sandila, Sandi, Shahabad, Bilgrdm, Mahmudabad, Aurangabad, Kheri ; during Shuja-ud- daula's reign Musalmans held probably two-thirds of the whole country. The reaction which took place since Saddat Ali Khan's time deprived them of much of their property, but they still hold estates far beyond the pro portion which might be expected from their numbers and influence. Another remarkable matter in Khairabad is the fixity of the internal divisions. In a few cases ancient parganas have been broken up into several small ones, butthere has been no wholesale uprooting of ancient land marks and redistribution of the lands. The reason is not far to seek. The great taluqdars who acquired possession of eastern Oudh, and who in many cases paid tribute and allegiance to the central Government just when it suited them, considered each man's property as a separate estate, in which the owner was to exercise authority civil and criminal, and for which the Government revenue was to be paid separately. In fact, local government superseded central, and consequently the territorial jurisdictions of local magnates superseded the ancient divisions. The former were very gene rally called after their owner's name or after his favourite fortalice ; he was never satisfied till he had rebaptized the territory and got the new name entered in the Government records. So Partabgarh, Parshadepur, Gha- tampur, Dalippur, Mohanganj, Bhagwantnagar, Mohanlalganj, were called after various chiefs of south-east Oudh; and Dhingwas, Rampur, Ateha,, Daundia Khera, Haidargarh after their forts; in each case displacing, split- 340 SIT ting up, and blending, in new combinations the older subdivisions. No thing of the kind took place in Khairabad, at least not to such an extent. No great Hindu barons rose to power and remade the map of Hardoi or Kheri. Laharpur and Mahmudabad are instances in Sitapur of how powerful Gaurs and Musalmans did break up ancient divisions, supersed ing in fact the pargana or country by the muhal or estate. Khairabad was afterwards broken up under the Oudh kings into the chakladaris of Sandi, Pali, Tandiaon, Muhamdi, Khairabad, SIT 341 SITAPUR DISTRICT ARTICLE. m ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS. I— General aspects. II. — Agriculture and commerce. III.— The people. IV.— Administration. V. — History. CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL FEATURES. Boundaries, area— General aspect— Soil — Subdivisions— Rivers — Groves —Jhils —Jungles- Vegetable products— Wild animals— Mineral products— Fauna— Game birds - Tempera ture— Winds— Climate— Rainfall— Medical aspects. Boundaries and area. — The district of Sitapur which takes its name from the country town of the same name, lies between the parallels of 27°53' and 27°7' north latitude, and 80° 21' and 81°26' east longitude. Situated in the interior of Oudh, it is bounded on the north by the Kheri district on the east by that of Bahraich, from which it is separated by the great river Gogra ; on the south by districts Bara Banki and Luck now ; and on the west by Hardoi ; the river Gumti being the common boundary of both. In shape like an ellipse, its greatest length from south-east to north west is 70 miles, and its extreme breadth from north-east to south-west 55 ; its area is 2,250* square miles. Its population is 932,959, being at the rate of 414 to the square mile. There have been no changes in the area of the district; its capital bears the same name. Physical features and characteristics of the soil. — Without hills or val leys, devoid of forests and lakes, properly so called, the district presents the appearance of a vast plain ; well wooded through the numerous groves and scattered trees with which it is covered ; well cultivated save in those parts where the soil is barren and cut up by ravines; intersected by numerous streams, and possessing many of those shallow ponds and natural reservoirs of water which in the rains are full to overflowing, but in the hot season become dry, and which are called jhils in the vernacular tongue. A plain, it slopes imperceptibly from an elevation of 505 feet above the level of the sea in the north-west to 400 feet above the level, in the south east, the fall being just 1|- foot in each mile. Soil. — With the exception of the eastern parganas, which lie in the duab of the Gogra and Chauka, the soil of the district is as a rule dry. In many parts, especially in the neighbourhood of the larger rivers, we meet with tracts of sand ; barren land " usar" is found all over the district ; the lands close to the smaller streams are much cut up by the ravines' * By census report ; by settlement returns the area is 2,214, 342 SIT which form the natural drainage of the contiguous country; and in the eastern parganas specially there are numerous patches of land covered with that white mineral efflorescence called "reh," a combination of sulphate of soda and other salts, which is deadly to vegetation, but which recent experiments have demonstrated can be decomposed and got rid of by an improved system of tillage. Inundations. — The eastern parganas are flooded more or less entirely every year (^"descriptions ofTambaur, Kundri north and Kundri south); the inundations often ruining entire villages and always causing loss to the inhabitants by the destruction of their houses and cattle. At the present time (September, 1871) all that part of the country is under water, and for the past six weeks it has been with the greatest difficulty that the zamindars have been got to come into Sitapur, or that the process- servers have been able to execute the orders of the courts. And it is said the greater part of the autumn harvest has failed. Subdivisions. — The collection of the demand is entrusted to the collector of the district, who is assisted in the duty by four nativesub- collectors or tahsildars, having their headquarters at the four tahsils into which the district is divided. These tahsils with their component par ganas are as follows : — Tahiil. Parganas. f Sitapur. j Khairabad, I.-Sitapur ... £— | Hat-gam. ^Laharpur. iBari. Manwan. Mahmudabad. Sadrpur.Kundri south. ¦* f Misrikh. IAurangabad. Gnndlamau. III.— Misrikh ... { Machhrehta. • Chandra. | Malioli. l_Kurauna. fBiswan. IV.— Biswan ... < Tarobaur. (. Kundri north. Rivers, water communication, 300 miles. — Sitapur is well provided with rivers and streams — from the Gogra in the east to the Gumti in the west. The former is a very large river indeed, fordable nowhere during any part of the year, and in the rains having a width of from four to six miles. The Chauka. — Eight miles to the west is the Chauka, the second largest river in the district, and running into the Gogra at Bahramghat in the Bara Banki district. This ghdt is connected with Lucknow by a railway, and thus a ready outlet to the west is provided for the grain from the east of Sitapur which borders on the Gogra. SIT 343 Smaller streams. — Between these two rivers the country is cut up by numerous smaller streams, which are all fordable in the dry weather, and the chief of which are the Bahdi, the Gubraiya, the Yaha, the Ghagghar, and the Sukni ; this part of the district is known as the Gogra Chauka Dudb, and is subject to frequent and heavy floods as mentioned above. Ul, Kewani, Sumli. — West again of the Chauka is the Ul flowing into the Kewani, and the Sumli, all three fordable during the dry season, but navigable for country boats during the rest of the year. Old bed of the Chauka. — We then meet with a narrow strip of moist land overlooked by a ridge of earth of from 20 to 40 feet in height, and running down from Kheri through Sitapur to the Bara Banki district ; •this strip of land was apparently once the bed of the Chauka (now 9 miles to the east), and the ridge of earth its right bank. The river is said to have changed its course about 150 years ago. Gon. — Twelve miles further west we meet with the Gon, an inconsider able stream, and not used as means of communication. Sardyan. — It flows into the Sarayan at Pirnagar 14 miles south of Sitapur through which town that river passes ; and the united stream goes on in a south-easterly direction until it meets the Gumti at Hindaura Ghat. West of the Sardyan, and flowing into it, is a small stream, the Retha, and still further west is the Retia, also a small stream, joining the Gumti at Dudhanmau. Gumti— -Last of all comes the Gumti, a good sized navigable river, and at the same time fordable here and there in the dry season. It flows down through Lucknow, Sultanpur, and Jaunpur until it meets the Ganges at Benares. Of the above rivers the Chauka, the Gogra, and the Gumti. described at length under their proper headings, are navigable for boats of from five to twelve hundred maunds ; the Kewani, and the Sarayan are navigable by boats of one hundred maunds. Their beds are all sandy. There are no towns upon their banks,nor is there any trading population. Formerly only the feudal lords resided near the rivers in order to command the passage by their cannon, and compel trading vessels to pay for permission to proceed. The Gogra is fordable nowhere ; all the others are fordable in innumerable places ; the Chauka about five years ago changed its course, and the main stream now joins the Kauridla or Gogra at Malldpur. The traffic on them is detailed under that heading. Details of the area of the district as shown by the khasra survey. The khasra survey of the district was commenced in the cold weather (1863-64,) and was completed inl866-67. This survey was superintended by the settlement officer, and is not to be confounded with the survey con ducted by the revenue surveyor which preceded it. The former goes much more carefully into details than the latter, but both correspond pretty exactly in their results for the whole district. 344 SIT The khasra survey then shows as follows for the years in which it was accomplished : — Cultivated area Culturable „ Revenue-free „ Barren Total Acres 943,863 „ 253,698 „ 30,339 „ 212,809 1,440,209 Groves, jhils, jungles.— -The detail of the jhils, groves, and jungles is given thus : — Groves J ungle Jhils Acres 45,841 „ 180,866 „ 57,713 The above figures are given by the settlement officer. But the follow ing table is an abstract of the statistics given in the final settlement report, and they differ materially from the preceding. It omits the grants of wraste lands, for the reason that they pay no land revenue ; in other respects the table is generally correct. General statement explanatory of the revised assessment. Bari. Misrikh. Sitapur. Biswan. Grand total. No. No. No. No No. Number of muhals ... 548 657 650 510 2,365 acres. acres. acres. acres. acres. Total area of muhals 3 1 8,469 378,-. 85 353,673 367,127 1,417.554 Barren 48,415 37,749 44,600 44,988 175,752 Groves less than 10 per cent. ... 6,784 6,523 11,957 10,531 35,794 Totil non-assessable 55,796 45,518 62,857 63,682 219,853 Irrigated by wells 10 504 3',7I5 15,957 7,!09 65,285 Ditto by ponds ... 38,410 12.669 30,467 8,209 89,755 Unirrigated ... ... 159,849 222,908 173010 233 734 759,001 Total cultivation 208,263 237,292 219,434 249,152 914,041 Total assessable ... 262,673 332,767 290,816 311,445 1, 97,701 No. No. No. jSo. No. Resident cultivators 26,' 39 22,932 24,231 30.955 104,760 Non-resident cultivators ... 11,218 9,581 14,593 18,333 53,705 Total number of cultivators ... 37,857 32.5 3 38,827 49,288 158,466 Number of ploughs 26,639 27,097 27,079 27,221 108,036 Ditto cattle 188,570 177,310 178,261 217,552 774,793 acres. acres. acres. acres. acres. Sir ... 18,297 17,918 24,686 17,724 78,622 Other cultivation of proprie 2,257 14,677 6,462 1,843 25,539 tors. Of resident cultivators ... 147,060 158,975 115,493 164,029 585.562 Of non-resident cultivators ... 40,348 45,822 57.476 49,889 191,434 Rs. a. p. Rs. a. p. Rs. a. p. Rs. a. p. Rs. a. p. Rent-iate on cultivation 1 10 7 I 6 4 1 7 7 1 4 8 1 7 3 Ditto culturable I 5 I 0 15 li 1 1 10 10 4 1 1 9 Total 1 1 4 0 14 0 0 14 8 0 13 10 0 14 10 SIT 345 There are a number of lakes in Sitapur, but most of them are merely large ponds with stretches of marshy land all round. There are four in pargana Bari, — one borders on the villages Bahirwa, Chhdjan, Jaldlpur, Andhna, a second on Haraiya, Ramddna, Bhandia, Ajai, and a third on Chauriya, Chandiyd, Uncha Khera, Semra, Kaima, Rampur, and others, a fourth on Surjanpur, Shankarpur, Sair. In Mahmudabad there is a fifth small Take bordering the villages Kaurar, Maddrpur, Bhdnpur, Lodhaura, and others. In Tambaur pargana there are two jhils at Harharpur and Rudrapur. In Kundri at Ajaipur and Rajpur. All of them are naviga ble by small boats of shallow draught, but they are only useful for irriga tion. Vegetable products. — To come to the vegetable products they may be divided into A cultivated produce, B uncultivated produce. Taking the latter first we have that derived from trees under the form of timber, fruit, fibres, dyes, gum, and lac, and the trees yielding these are as follows : — Mango (Mangifera indica). Pipal (Ficus religiosa). Giilar (Fious glomerata). Pakar (Ficus venosa). Bargad or Banyan tree (Ficus indica) Nim (Azadirachta indica). Sissoo (Dalbergia Sisso). Tun (Cedrela toona). Phalenda (Syzygium jarabolanum). Jamuu (Eugenia jambolana). Bel (iEgle marmeros). Kathal (Artocarpus integrifolia). Babul (Acacia Arabica). Khair ( Acacia catechu}. Dhak (Butea frondosa). Khajur (Phoenix sylrestris). Apula (Phyllanthus emblica). Siras (Memosa serissa) Tamarind (Tamarindus indica). Kachnar (Bauhinia variegata). Common Bamboo (Bombusa). Semal (Bombax heptaphylla). Of these the only tree grown in groves is the mango, and it, and many of the others notably the pipal and bel are considered by the Hindus to be sacred trees, and no devout member of that body will destroy them with the axe or by fire or in any other way. The bel, for instance, is a representative of Shiva, and the pipal and banyan represent Vishnu ; the person who plants one of the latter does so expecting that just as he has set apart a tree to afford shade to his fellow-creatures in this world so after death he will not be scorched by excessive heat in his journey to the kingdom of Yama, the regent of death. These two with the giilar and pakar are of the fig genus ; the fruit of the galar being of a better and larger description than that of the pdkar Lac is yielded by the pipal. The leaves of the nim possess medicinal properties, as does also the fruit of the bel tree. The semal is the "cotton tree" growing to an immense size and bright with crimson flowers ; the phalenda is a larger species of the jamun both having a purple fruit as large as a damson; and |the kathal is the well known "jack fruit tree.'? The babul, khair, and dhak are smaller trees than any of the others, and grow in the most barren soil ; the first yields both a dye and a gum, the ordinary ¦' gum arabic," the last the gum known as " dragon's blood or kino," and the khair produces the "catechu" familiar to doctors. All three are combined to form the khdki colour used in dyeing the uniforms of many of the native regiments and of the well known Oudh constabulary. A red dye is obtained from the scarlet flowers of the dhak 44 346 SIT and is used at the Holi and at weddings for smearing the clothes of those who take part m tiiose joyous festivals. A red dye is also obtained from a gum which the pipal yields, and from it the country red ink is made. The khajiir is the common date palm, and is useful in this part of India rather for its leaves than for its fruit, the former making good matting ; its fruit is very small, and it yields a juice or tdri just like that of the properly so called tari tree. The kachndr in the month of February is exceedingly pretty being one mass of lilac-coloured flowers; and these are not only pretty to the eye, but when cooked form a delicate vegetable for the table. The fruit of the &onla is about the size of a small orange. The siras, of the genus acacia, is a small but graceful tree, with pretty leaves, and covered in the season with yellow flowers. The tamarind and bamboo are two well known to require any description here. The dhak mentioned above is known in other parts of India as the palds or paras, and from this word the village of Plassey, the scene of Clive's famous victory, takes its name. These are the trees of Sitapur. There are no forests to be met with as has already been stated : nor do we find the mahila tree which is so com mon in the. other parts of Oudh. This is very much to be regretted, as the profits arising from it are very considerable, and in bad seasons the zamindars and grove-holders would have something to fall back upon. In one district (Partabgarh), the area of which is only two-thirds that of Sitapur, the settlement officer has estimated the yearly value of the mahua crop at one lakh and a half of rupees, the flower being used in the distil lation of spirit, the fruit as food for man, and when plentiful for beast; and the seed for oil. Uncultivated products. — The other uncultivated vegetable products of this, district are the fibres obtained from the roots of the dhak, from the munj and sarpat grass, and from the date palm already mentioned. From the munj and sarpat a string is twisted which is woven into matting, and a coarse rope is made from the other two which is used for tying up cattle and such like purposes. Mud wells are often lined with a sort of cable made from the rus, a wild shrub, growing to the height of four or five feet. Wild animals. — The wild animals resemble those of Upper India gene rally, and are the nil-gde, the black buck, parha, gond, and other kinds of deer, the wild pig, fox, jackal, wolf, and hare. We meet with none of the larger carnivora, nor are wild elephants, rhinoceroses, or wild buffaloes found anywhere within the district. There are a few wolves ; no rewards are paid for killing snakes. In the river itself there are the different varieties of the Indian crocodile and river porpoise, and of course fish of many descriptions, but the hilsa, the Cekti, and the mahsir are not among them. " The following sporting particulars are given by Major Tweedie : — As a rule, on the plains in India game of all descriptions will generally be found most abundantly in the neighbourhood of large rivers. The SIT 347 reason of this is apparent. The inundations caused by the overflow of rivers during the rains cause tracts of land to be covered with grass, where a great deal of sand is deposited by the floods a very coarse description of grass springs up, and on low lying lands where inundated by rivers whose source is in the plains, the grass is generally the kind used for thatching purposes by the natives. In the Sitapur district, therefore, nil-gae, pig, parha, ana antelope will be found in the greatest numbers in the waste lands lying along the banks of the rivers Gumti, Chauka, and Gogra. A few swamp deer are also to be found in the eastern parts of the district. The antelope being the most numerous of all the fauna in this district, is deserving of mention first. The black buck, the male of an antelope, is so well known in India that any lengthy description of him would be out of place here. Antelope are found more or less all over the district, but in greatest numbers on high and low ground running along the banks of the river Gumti, where they may be seen in herds of some 20 and 30 does to one black buck. The young bucks are not allowed to remain in the company of the does, and generally herd together in small parties. Directly the black buck of a herd is shot, another takes his place. Should an outsider approach a herd before the master buck has been shot a fight instantly takes place, and at this time they can be easily approached and shot. At other times the does keep a watchful look out, one in a herd always remaining standing, and on the first approach of danger a grunt or two is given and all begin to stand up ; at this time the only way to kill the buck is to circle him ; if the circling is properly performed the buck will be under the delusion that you are walking away from him. This plan is however only followed by European sportsmen, the exertion being usually too great for natives. A shot can then be generally got at about 120 or 150 yards, and the shot should always be delivered standing. Natives shoot and kill them in a variety of ways, the most common being that of shooting with a trained bullock. The bullock is driven with a rope passed through his nostrils, and the shikari walks alongside of the bul lock. When near enough, say some 50 yards, the bullock is checked and the shikari shoots either behind or underneath the stomach of the bullock ; another very common way is for the shikari to dig a pit in the middle of the grass plains inhabited by the antelope, just deep enough to conceal the shikari sitting down, the top of the pit is left quite flush with the ground. This is a very tedious way of shooting them, and can only be fol lowed by natives who wait patiently for hours before getting a shot ; when however they do get one they are certain to kill as they shoot at very short distances, and rest their gun on the edge of the pit. A class of men called Bahelia come frequently from the neighbourhood of Gwalior, and are very skilful in catching antelope by the legs with nooses. Pegs are driven into the ground in a line often some 200 yards long and at distances of two or three feet apart. To these pegs are attached nooses, and these are fastened to the grass so as to raise them a few inches of the ground, as soon as a herd of deer is seen in the vicinity of the place; the shikaris gently drive themtowards the line of nooses. Two or three of the deer generally manage to get their legs into the nooses, and the shikaris running up des patch them with their clubs and knives. Antelope are very destructive to young crops, and as they feed by night their depredations are very S48 SIT great. Where numerous the cultivators are obliged to watch the field by night. " After the antelope the nil-gae (Tortax picta) come next as regards num bers in this district. No Hindu will kill the nil-gae, as they consider then allied to the domestic cow. Such however is not the case, for they belong to the same family as the antelope, and are so classed by naturalists. Thej are very destructive animals and require shooting carefully, or will invari ably get away to die of their wounds. The male is a very handsome creature, and if he has come to mature age is of a dark blue colour. This is the blue bull of the Indian sportsman. The Muhammadans are very fond of eating his flesh, but it is usually considered coarse and inferior to the flesh of the antelope by Europeans. They are to be found in numbers on the waste land, situated in the eastern part of the district. They are, however, scattered in small numbers all over it, and wherever there is a piece of tree jungle nil-gae are sure to be found. The female is of a light dun colour, and like the female of the antelope has nothing very striking about it in appearance. Europeans usually consider shooting the nil-gde but very poor sport, for there is not the same excitement about it as there is in antelope shooting. The nicety and delicacy of hand required in antelope shooting is probably one of its chief charms to the English sportsman. The nil-gde is, however, a very destructive animal as he can eat as much as an English ox, and their numbers should always be kept down if possible. " The wild pig (Sus Indicus) is dying out rapidly in this district. They are still to be found on the low grass lands in the eastern portion of the district, and a few in the tree jungles in the western portion. The part of the district inhabited by these animals is however not suitable for the sport of riding them down and killing them with a spear. The wild pig is a very fine looking creature, feeds cleanly, and is of a very different habit from his domestic native relation. The Pdsis are the greatest hunters of the wild pig in this district, and it is to their exertions, together with the spread of cultivation, that this animal will in a few years only be known by name. " The pdrha, known also as the hog-deer, is found in the eastern portion of the district, and inhabits the same kind of ground as the wild pig. Like the pig they are becoming very scarce, and in a few years hence will cease to exist. There is one other animal still existing in this district which requires notice. The swamp deer of Bengal (Cervus wallichu) known also as the gon, barah singha, and maha. They are to be found in small numbers in the tall grass jungles on the banks of the Chauka and Gogra. The stag is a very handsome creature with fine branching horns and not unlike the red deer of Scotland. This year (1874) I have shot two stags, but took good care not to shoot the hinds ; and as long as the grass jungle remains we shall still have the pleasure of seeing this noble creature. They are very harmless and shy, but rarely leave the grass jungle and feed entirely on grass. Their flesh is quite unfit for consumption, and the only inducement to shoot them is for the sportsman to hang up the heads and horns as a trophy to delight his eyes when the time comes when he will be unable to sight and draw the trigger of his rifle. SIT 349 " The tiger was very plentiful in this district some 20 or 25 years back. At that time a much larger body of water used to come down the river Chauka, and the floods were consequently much more extensive than they are now ; of late years the river Gogra has carried off the most of the water which used to flow into the Chauka, and the grass and jhdu jungle is gradually disappearing before the spread of cultivation. The king of Oudh ITnd his nobles used to pursue the sport of tiger shooting in the eastern portion of this district, and there are also native gentlemen now alive who have killed many tigers there. The last tiger killed here fell to the gun of Colonel E. Thompson, C.S.I., and was shot near Budhbar some few years ago. "The leopard (Felis leopardus) is occasionally killed in this district. A few still find their way down through the tree jungle on the banks of the river Kathna. They are very scarce, however, and as the tree jungle is gradually disappearing in this district, so will the leopard like the tiger and wild pig become eventually to be known only by name." Domestic animals. — The domestic animals of the district require no particular mention; they are the ordinary oxen, buffaloes, ponies, asses, goats, pigs, sheep, and dogs, met with all over India. In addition to these the wealthier inhabitants possess elephants, camels, and imported horses. Game birds. — Feathered game of all kinds is to be found in fair quan tity in this district. It comprises — The peacock (Pavo Cristatus). Black partridge (Francolinus vulgaris). Grey partridge (Ortygornis Pondiceriana). Common grey quail (Coturnix Communis) Rain quail (Coturnix Coromandelicos). Florican (Sypheotides bengalensis). Leek Florican (Sypheotides auritusj, Kulan (Grus cinerea). Snipe fSolopax gallinago). Painted snipe (Rhynchcea bengalensis). Teal (Querguedula crecea). Garg«nuing Teal (Querguedula circia). Pochard (Hranta rufina). White-eyed duck (Athya nyroca). Mallard (Anas Boschaa). Pintail duck (Dafila acuta). Ruddy sheldrake (CaBarca rutila). Cotton teal (Nettapus coromandelianus). Whistling duck (Dendroeygnaaw-snree). Shoveller duck (Spatula clypatea). Wild goose (Auser cinureus). Comb goose (Sarkidiornis melanotus). The peacock is to be found in considerable numbers in the western por tion of this district. They are however not so numerous as they were a few years back, owing to the soldiers from the Cantonment at Sitapur being extremely fond of shooting them. It will be long however before they become extinct as the Hindus do all they can to prevent their destruc tion. No prettier sight can be seen than peacock strutting about in the early morning in the spring time. Then is the time of their courting1, and the male displays his tail to the admiring eyes of his future wives. 350 SIT The black partridge is still to be found along the banks of the large rivers m this district, as also in the tree and grass jungle in the western portions They are much sought after by European sportsmen, and their flesh is deservedly esteemed. The grey partridge is scattered all over the district, but in small numbers and chiefly delights in the comparatively open country. They are not in much request by European sportsmen, but natives are fond of keeping them in cages. The common grey quail is numerous all over the district in the winter and spring months. They are much sought after by Europeans as well as natives, and the latter keep them in cages in large numbers for fighting purposes. The quail is a bird of passage, and leaves the country as soon as the hot weather begins. The rain quail and button quail breed in the district, but are not to be com pared to the grey quail for culinary purposes. The jhils and tanks contain numerous kinds of ducks. Large numbers are snared by the fowlers for sale, and are readily bought both by Europeans and natives. All the jhils in which there is grass cover contain snipe, as many as 60 and 100 couple have frequently been shot in a day. Their numbers never decrease, and each succeeding year sees the jhils well stocked with this delicate bird. The snipe does not breed in this country, but retires to colder latitudes on the approach of the hot weather. The whistling teal or tree duck breeds in this district in large numbers during the rains. Their nests are invariably placed in trees, and as soon as the young are hatched the old birds carry them down on their backs to the nearest piece of water. The cotton teal also breeds in the district during the rains. The kulan, a species of crane, is very abundant just after the rains ; they feed entirely in the rice fields, and at night collect in large numbers on the sand banks in the rivers Chauka and Gogra. There are two species of the kulan, one is larger than the other, and has a very pretty tuft descending from the back of his head. They are good eating, and much appreciated by the natives. Sportsmen should refrain from shooting partridges or peafowl after the first of March, as they then begin to pair and make preparations for incubation. In making mention of the fauna in this district, I have omitted to men tion the hare. (Lepus vulgaris). They are to be found everywhere, and are about one-half the size of their English brethren. Mineral products. — There are neither mines nor quarries, properly so called, in the district. Kankar is dug up all over the country, and is used for local purposes, the lime burnt from it in the town of Mahrajnagav having a certain local repute. We do not meet here with any salt-producing lands such as exist in southern Oudh, the proceeds from which formed such a large source of profit to the zamindar and the State under the native rule. Temperature. — The average temperature ranges from 45° in the cold season to 96° in the hot weather, but it is often so cold at night that hoar-frost is seen in the morning and the manufacture of ice in shallow earthenware vessels is carried on with success in December and January. Winds.'- — The prevailing winds are from the east during the rains, and from the west during the remainder of the year. SIT 351 Climate. — The climate is considered very salubrious for Europeans, and the cantonments of Sitapur are famous for the small mortality of the British stationed there. There are no diseases peculiar to the district. Seasons. — The year may be divided into four seasons as follows : — From 1st February to 1st April, pleasantly warm. * ,, 1st April to I5th June, very hot. „ 15th June to 1st October, rains. „ 25th Octobei to 31st January, cold weather. Rainfall. — The average yearly rainfall for the past five years ending 1871 was 32£ inches, the provincial average being 38. This is one of the driest districts of Oudh, the average for the last ten years being thirty five inches ; 1867 and 1870 were years of excessiver rain ; ) 864, 1866, 1868, aud 1873, years of partial drought. This subject will be referred to afterwards undei; that of famines. Here it may be remarked that as elsewhere the rainfall is most uneven varying almost 300 per cent, in one year, falling from 60 inches in 1867 to 21 inches in 1868. Except in so far that the water level in the wells may probably be slightly raised by the heavy rainfalls of preceding years, there is no store of water from previous abundant seasons to counteract the effects of a drought. No canals of any kind have been made in this district, and it seems one in which some more enlarged means of storing water will shortly be required. Masonry wells are not used for purposes of irrigation except in rare in stances for garden lands. Av erage fall of rain. Tears. Inches. Remarks. 1804 260 1865 31 0 1866 ... ... 25 0 1867 ... 60-5 It' 68 ... . 21-3 1869 27-6 1»70 ... 559 J c7 I ... 49 2 1872 ... 32 9 1873 ... 25-0 1874 ... 43-8 8 1875 328 3 Average for twelve years. 35 4 4 The following table exhibits the rainfalls for the last two years of drought, 1868 and 1673, each of which was followed in 1869 and 1874 res pectively by a considerable scarcity. It will be noted that the entire rainfall was not scanty, but the distribu tion 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. OOZ SIT First the June rains, the former rains as they may be called ; in 187 they were quite wanting ; there was no rain to moisten the earth for th ploughed to" water the early rice. Second, the main monsoon, which commences in July and ends at th commencement of October; this was sufficient in both years; but the fal in September, 1873, was only 37 inches, and it ceased too soon, viz., oi September 15th. Thirdly, the latter or October rains, which are required to water thelat rice and moisten the land for the winter ploughings, were wholly deficien in both year's. Fourth, the January-February rains, which were wholly wanting ii 1869 and in 1874, amounted to an inch and a half. Speaking broadly then the rains commenced fairly in 1868, badly ii 1873 ; they ended with nearly five inches 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 ri rain in the either year from October till January, but in January-Februai there was no rain in 1869, and a good fall in 1874. Total Raini-aix. Rainfall from 1st June to October 1st From October 1st to December 31st In June In September In October ... Date of rain commencing ( f rain ending Rain in January-February of ensuing year 1866. 1873. 25-6 23-9 00 o-o 2 9 00 4-8 5-3 00 00 June 5th July 6th. September 22nd September 1 7th. 00 1-60 * Medical aspects. — The climate of the station and greater part of th district of Sitapur is considered healthy and I believe justly so. Th soil is light and sandy and fairly cultivated. There is little jungle noi remaining in the district and what does exist, distributed in patches of n great extent, is neither high nor dense. Jhils are neither very numerou nor very large, and except in the north western part of the district there i not much low lying or marshy land. Temperature. The range of the thermometer in the shade throughou the year is from a minimum of 40° in December and January to a maxi mum of 112° in May and June. The mean daily range is however onlj about 13.° These figures are taken from records kept in hospital. The tempera ture is taken by a common thermometer, the minimum at sunrise ; if takei • By the Civil Surgeon. SIT 358 by a self-registering thermometer the minimum a little before suuri.se would be less and the daily range greater, but the figures given above show a close approximation to the range, and we may fairly infer from them that the daily range, is not great, and this fact is more important as far as health is concerned than the actual temperature. The cold weather is good and bracing, better than that of most districts in the province, Vital statistics. — From examination of the mortuary returns for the last three years it would appear that 77 out of every 100 deaths in the district are due to fevers. The returns for 1872 put down 63 per cent, of total deaths to fever. Those for 1873 ... ... ... ... 83 per cent. „ „ 1874 ¦•• ... ... ... 87 „ „ The fever is supposed to be of the intermittent kind and of malarious origin ; but these returns are obviously incorrect. The death rate calcu lated from them and the census of 1869 is for 1873 a little under 12 per 1,000 of the population, and for 1874 under 11 per 1,000, giving an average life of about 87 years. In dealing with returns which gives such results great care is necessary. Fever. — The prominent symptoms of fever are common to other dis eases, and I have no doubt that in many cases these symptoms were mis taken for the disease, and deaths put down to fever which were caused by other diseases. From August to November intermittent fever is prevalent, but the type of fever prevailing in the greater part of the district is not a bad one ; the cases met with at the dispensaries yield readily to treatment and are seldom fatal. From my experience of the district, I would not expect the- mortality from fever to be great. The conditions most favourable to malaria are not present in the greater part of the district, at least to any great extent. I except from this statement the north-west part of the district, the parganas of Tambaur and Kundri in the Biswdn tahsil and Kundri pargana in the Bari tahsil, that part of the district between the Gogra and Chauka, and a strip of land on the eastern side of the latter river ; these parts are low lying and marshy. The staple crop is rice, and the ground during the rains is more or less under water. Here the conditions favourable to malaria are present in abundance, and intermittent fever of a bad type is present during the latter months of the year. The mortuary returns would indicate that fever is nearly equally prevalent in other parts of the district. In this and other respects I believe the returns are incorrect. Small-pox. — The returns put down 12 per cent, of the mortality to small pox. This disease is much more easily dangerous than fever, and I am inclined to think the returns not far from the mark on this point. The disease is prevalent from March to September, and vaccination has made little progress in the district. 45 354 SIT Cholera. — Some deaths from cholera are reported every year, but the disease seldom appears in the district as an epidemic, and the mortality from it is comparatively trifling. In 1869 it prevailed during April and May in an epidemic form. It commenced at the Nimkhdr fair on the Gumti in the beginning of April, and spread to different parts of the dis trict on the return of the pilgrims to their homes. I cannot obtain any mortuary returns for 1869, but I know that the mortality from cholera that year was considerable. As a rule, however, the district is very free from epidemic cholera. The ratio of total deaths to deaths 'from cholera for the last three years is as 1 to '0018. I do not know of any disease especially peculiar to the district. SIT 355 CHAPTER II. AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE. Towns— Principal staples — Agricultural operations— Kharif and rabi crops —Sugarcane— Cotton — Poppy — Indigo. Silk filatures— Kachhiana crops — Cultivated fruit trees — Bat' — Condition of the people— Wages — Irrigation — Rents — Interest — Prices— Famines — Fisheries — Manufactures -Roads — Weights and measures. Towns and villages. — There are 235 towns and villages in the district ; their average area is 609 acres, or something less than a square mile, the provincial average being 619 acres. Chief towns with their population. — Of these the chief with their popu lations, as given by the Census of 1 869, are as follows : — Sitapur ... ... Khairabad ,., Kamkot ... Hargam Laharpur ... ... Talgaon Nabinagar ... Misrikh Nimkhar ... Aurungabad RutubnagarBihat Batagaon ... ,., Maholi These towns have all been described separately ; suffice it to say here that Khairabad is the fifth largest city in the province, and that Hargdm and Manwdn possess a special interest for the antiquarian. The former is believed by the inhabitants to be the city of king Bairdt where the Pandavas spent the thirteenth year of their exile ; and the latter, formerly known as Manpur, is said to be the Mainpur of the Mahabharat, in the neighbourhood of which Arjun, the third Pdndava, was slain by his son Babar Bahan. One mile from the town is the village of Ranuapdra, " or the place of the battles," and here it was that the son killed the father. Laharpur is famous as being the birth-place of the celebrated Raja Todar Mai. Principal staples. — The principal staples of Sitapur resemble those of the greater part of Upper India, and are as follows : — Wheat Barley Juar GramSugarcaneBajraOil seeds , Rice 5,780 Bari ... 3.042 15,677 Manwdn 1,069 1,977 Mahmudabad 6,312 2,832 Paintepur ... 5,127 10,890 Rampur Mathura 2,217 2,098 Sadrpur 2,109 2,649 Batisura 2,822 2,113 Biswan 7,308 2,307 Jahangirabad 2,640 8,000 Mahrajnagar 2,003 2,256 Seota 9,428 2,058 Mallapur 4,045 2 066 Tambaur 3,014 1,676 Average price during last Acres. fioe years. 165,003 18 sers 15 ch. per. Re. 95,003 31 „ 12 „ 70,000 so ., R> „ 95,000 25 „ 1 „ IS, 000 62,000 30,000 81,000 6C3.006 356 SIT In addition to these there are of course the " Kachhiana," or vegetables and other similar crops cultivated by the Kdchhis and Muraos who are found in most villages. Tobacco.— The tobacco grown and manufactured at Biswan is much sought after, and is exported to other districts. Poppy. — The poppy is cultivated under arrangements with the local Opium Agent, whose headquarters are in Sitapur. Cotton. — Cotton is grown, but to an inconsiderable extent, and only to supply local needs. Indigo and silk— There are no indigo factories or silk filature in the district, and the mulberry tree is unknown, and almost the same may be said of flax, which is grown very sparingly. The following extracts are mostly taken from the Settlement Report. Agricultural operations and crops. — In addition to what has been already stated, it may be observed that in Sitapur the main crops are wheat, barley, gram, kodo, juar, urd, and tobacco. This last crop is its specialty, that of Biswan especially is celebrated; 18,000 ; acres are devoted to this cultivation, above a quarter of the whole area in Oudh, 69,000 acres, so applied. The best Biswan tobacco sells at three and a half sers for the rupee, ordinary tobacco at eight seers for the rupee. But the price has fallen slightly this year; at the town itself it is sold for from Rs. 3 to Rs. 7 per maund after being kept and dried for a year. The price has fallen from recent rates which were from Rs. 8 to Rs. 11 per maund, but is still higher than the prices current in the Nawdbi, Rs. 3 to Rs. 6 per maund. The reason of this is that the sale has expanded with the opening of roads and Biswan tobacco which formerly all went to Luck now, now is transported to Bareilly and Rampur. Halwais on the spot pre pare the tobacco with sugar and spices brought from Lucknow, the fra grance of Biswan tobacco is ascribed to the water. Akbarpur in pargana Mahmudabad is most celebrated for its produce. There is no secret in the preparation. The crop is watered about five times. A good crop is reckoned three maunds to the local bigha, but half that is above the average. The maund used in the tobacco trade is 56 sers or exactly one hundred weight; it is supposed to be three local maunds; a very good crop then will be 20 maunds or rather l,6201bs. per acre, and 8101bs. about an average ; its value will be about Rs. 52, at Rs. 7 per hundred weight ; rent will be Rs. 18, cost of irrigation with a dhenkli watering four biswas Rs. 18, manure Rs. 3, ploughing Rs. 6, dressing Rs. 3, — total, Rs, 48 per acre. Crops. — The cultivated produce consists of the following staples :— I. The Kharif or autumn crops. Rice (Oryza Sativn). Kodo* (Paspalum Sero biculatum). Sanwan (I'.-micuin frumontaceum). Mindwa (Eleusinc coracnna). Kakun (Panicum italicum). Juar large and small ("Tea Mays and Sor ghum Vtilgare). Bajra (Penicillaria spicat.a), Til (Sesamum indicum). Urd or Mash (Phaseolus radiatus). Mtlng ( Phaseolus Mungo). Moth (Phaseolus aconitifolius). SIT 357 Patwa (Hibiscus sabdariffa) sanai or san (Crotalaria jimcea). These are well known and call for no detailed notice here ; suffice it to say that there are very many varieties of rice, and this crop is the staple of the eastern portion of the district. The name paddy, -by which it is very generally known among Europeans, appears to be like many other Anglo- Indian f m 2.3 4i Famine. — There has never been a serious famine in this district since 1837, and even concerning it the reports are somewhat conflicting. There have been a great number of scarcities notably since annexation. Famine prices seem to be reached when no grain is under fifteen sers for the rupee. The district was verging on famine for a few months at the close of 1869, but a plentiful crop restored the balance. The following details for the entire division of Sitapur are drawn from a report prepared for the Oudh Government' in 1867. Sitapur apparently always suffers with its neighbour Hardoi, except perhaps that locusts and hail storms do more damage in the latter district. " The Deputy Commissioner of Sitapur reports that from local enquiry it appears in 1769-70 as well as 1784-85, 1837-38, and 1860-61 famine extended to Oudh, owing particularly to want of rain and dryness of the weather. The immunity from famine referred to in the letter under reply is attributable principally to the fact that there was little or no export from the country as compared with other provinces. " The Deputy Commissioner of Hardoi states that of the famine of 1769-70, I can in these parts learn but little. It is said that there was a famine but no particulars of it are still matter of common report. The latter fact may indicate that it was not a famine of great severity. " The famine of 1784-85 is well known. It is called the ' barah sadi famine' by the Muhammadans and the ' chalisi' famine by the Hindus ; it having taken place in 1200 Hijri or 1840 Sambat. From want of rain it continued for two years. The scarcity was very great, and the loss of SIT 367 life from starvation great. Children were disposed of by sale or abandoned ; some reports, which are possibly untrue, say that they were roasted and eaten. " The famine of 1837 was felt. A little rain fell in the early part of the usual rainy season ; but was not followed by rain, and none fell till the end of Bhadon when it rained for one day only. There was not so great distress here as in parts further west, but the distress was much increased by the influx of people from other parts. Grain sold at eight sers for the rupee. " In 1860 rain fell seasonably but not in abundance, and there was scarcity but not drought or famine. The officer reporting states that he has no knowledge of ' meteorology or of the divine counsels,' and cannot account for the uncertain incidence of famine. Nothing is said about the scarcity of 1864-65. " The Deputy Commissioner of Kheri reports : — It would appear that Oudh was visited by a severe famine in 1253 fasli (1837 A.D.) It is known among the natives as ' tirpanna' from the year 53 or tirpan in which it occurred. Grain sold as low as 8 sers and under for the rupee, and there was great distress throughout the land. The scarcity was not in any way owing to local causes, but owing to the influx into the country of the starving population of the North-Western Provinces. " In 1860-61 there was no scarcity although the price of grain rose, owing to the large exports of grain made by the traders in the province to the north-west." In 1865, in 1869, and in 1873, the same thing has happened ; the rains ceased early; a poor rice-crop was the result, and there was little water in the tanks for irrigating the spring crops, while there was no rain except an occasional drizzle from October till February. Statement of Prices. Retail sale — quantity per rupee. o O* 0> 09 Articles. OO "a c. CO3 tuo 3 < a CD P. 03 C CS9aci >-> CD 6=4 Md. s. Md. s. c. Md. s. c. M( Md.s.c- Md. s. c. Md. s. c. Wheat, 1st quality 0 12 1 0 10 13 0 10 15 ,. .«• 0 10 13 0 10 5 Ditto, 2nd quality 0 12 4 0 11 2 0 114 ., .. 0 11 6 0 10 10 Gram, 2nd quality 0 12 13 0 11 1 0 11 4 .. at 0 10 11 0 10 13 Bajra 0 10 4 0 9 14 0 10 0 ,, .. 0 19 1 0 20 1 Juar ... 0 8 6 0 8 0 0 9 0 ., „ 0 20 0 0 29 2 Arhar ... 0 15 3 0 12 15 0 13 1 *• ., 0 12 4 0 13 5 Urd 0 12 1 0 10 14 on o ., ,. 0 17 7 0 17 5 Masiir 0 16 5 0 13 14 0 14 0 „ „ 0 10 4 0 19 5 Mung 0 8 fi 0 8 0 0 7 6 ., >• 0 16 0 0 14 IS Bice, 2nd quality 0 7 6 0 7 2 0 8 10 •• • • 0 11 1 0 11 14 368 SIT Fish. — The Collector of Sitapur says young fish are caught, but not to any great extent ; they are taken by damming in the smaller streams during the dry weather, and in irrigated fields during the rainy season. The minimum size of the mesh of nets employed is about a quarter of an inch ; no difficulty exists in regulating its size, which might be fixed at one inch. He opposes altogether prohibiting the sale of the fry of fishes, observing — ' no real harm is done by catching young fish in tanks, jhils, or irrigated fields, for these fish, if left alone, would never find their way back to the river.' Captain Thompson, in 1868, reported from this place — " fishing goes on at all seasons of the year, and there can be no doubt that in the small rivers and tanks the supply would be materially increased by a short ' close time.' Still I hardly think that the protection is necessary in the large rivers. But the narrow and shal low streams of this district can be well nigh cleared of fish with the net, and the supply is scanty in consequence. In such rivers the protection of the spawning fish would, no doubt, have a very good effect." — Para. 283, " Francis Day's Fresh-water fisii and fisheries of India amd Burma." " At Sitapur the native official observes tha tthe Kahars and Guryas take fish at certains times, but their regular occupation is agriculture. The local markets are not fully supplied. Large fish obtain two annas, small ones one anna a ser, mutton two annas a ser. He is unable to give the proportion of fish-eaters. The general opinion is that fish have increased, due to several consecutive years of floods. The smallest size of the mesh of nets is given at a quarter of an inch. Fish are trapped during the rains in the irrigated fields. The native names of the nets and traps in use are pandijal, locari jai, miha jai, kharia jai, patia jai, pailnajal, tapa jai." Manufactures. — The only manufactures of any note are those of smoking tobacco and tazias at Biswan, with a little cotton printing and weaving in Biswan, Khairabad, and generally in all the towns. In Biswan there are one hundred houses of weavers ; the same remarks as those already made about Bara Banki weaving apply to Sitapur, except that country thread has not been so entirely displaced in the latter district. The same com plaints are heard that cotton is dearer, and that English cloths have now actually lowered the price offered for the local products. Native thread sells here for Re. 1-4-0 to Re. 1-8-0 per ser ; English from Rs. 2 to Rs. 2-8-0. No emigration of the distressed weavers from this neighbour hood has as yet taken place. Roads aggregate, length 266 miles. — Like all other districts in the pro vince, Sitapur is well provided with good unmetalled roads, running in all directions, and generally carried over the smaller streams by bridges, many of which were built before we took the country. In addition, there is the fine metalled high road from Lucknow going on to Shahjahdnpur ; travellers from either of which cities reach Sitapur in eight or nine hours by post chaise or dak gari. Hardoi is a 12 hours' journey to the west of Sitapur by palanquin post, and a similar means of locomotion takes the traveller in nine hours to Lakhimpur in the north. SIT 369 The following is an extract from the official route book :— Roads. — There are two metalled roads — one from Sitapurto Lucknow, the other to Shahjahanpur. The former passes for 33| miles through the dis trict; the stages from Sitapur are Jalalpur 11 miles, Bahadurpur 10£, Jai- p>ilpur 10 ; the only river is the Gon, which is bridged. The latter passes for 23 ^niles through the district ; the stages are Maholi, 14J miles from Sitapur ; other stages are in the Kheri district ; the only river is the Sarayan which is bridged. The district unmetalled roads are — 1. From Sitapur to Lakhimpur ; the only stage within this district is Selamau, 10 miles from Sitapur. There are no rivers. 2. From Sitapur to Hardoi ; the distance withinthis district is 21 miles ; the stages are Ramkot seven miles from Sitapur and Dudhuamau 14. The livers are Sardyan and Pirai ; both bridged. 3. Sitapur to Mahmudabad and Gonda vid Bahramghat. Total length within this district is 37 miles. The stages are — 1. Sarayyan, eight miles from Sitapur ; 2. Biswan, 12f miles further ; 3. Muhmudabad 16£. The rivers are the Gon and Gumti ; the latter is bridged only by a tem porary structure ; other stages are in Bara Banki district. 4. Sitapur to Bahraich vid Chahldri Ghat ; this passes for 40f miles through this district ; the stages are Sarayyan, eight miles from Sitapur, then Biswan 12, Rasulpur 11, and Chahldri 9 The rivers are the Gon and Chauka ; the former is bridged, but the latter has a ferry. Other stages are in the Bahraich district. 5. Sitapur to Malldpur towards Bahraich vid Laharpur. This passes for 34 miles through the district. The stages are — Knsraila, seven miles from Sitapur, Laharpur 10 miles, Chandi 11 miles, Tambaur six miles, and Malldpur six miles. The rivers are the Gon, Kewani, Gogra, Ul, Kathna, Chauka, and Gubraiya, — all of which except the first are unbridged ; communication is effected by ferries and fords. 6. Sitapur to Mehndi Ghat vid Bargadia Ghdt. This passes for 23£ miles through this district, and the following are its stages — Ramkot seven- and a half miles from Sitapur, Misrikh eight miles, and Bargadia Ghdt eight miles. The rivers are Sarayan ; Pirai, and Baita — all of which are bridged. Other stages are in the Hardoi distiict. 7. Sitapur to Sandila vid Nimkhdr. This is 21 J miles within this dis trict. The stages are Ramkot seven and a half miles from Sitapur, Misrikh eight miles further, and Nimkhdr six miles. The rivers are Sarayan, Pirai, and Baita, all of which are bridged. 8. Sitapur to Nimkhdr vid Machhrehta. This is 25 miles long within this district ; the only stages are Machhrehta, 14 miles from Sitapur, and Nimkhdr 11 miles, The rivers arc Sardyan and Baita ; both bridged, 47 37a SIT 9. Sitapur to Kasta and Mitauli. This passes for 15£ miles through this district, and has the following stages, — Saddatnagar 14 miles from Sitapur, and Bhatpurwa one and a half mile. The only river is the Sarayan which is bridged. The road passes on to the Kheri district. 10. Sitapur to Pihdni in Hardoi. This is 26 £ miles long within this district; the stages are Maholi 14£ miles from Sitapur, and Kulabhamagar 12. The rivers are Sarayyan, Pirai, and Kathna — all of which are bridged. 11. Bari to Mahmudabad. This is only 19 miles long ; the stages are Bhandia seven miles from Bari and Mahmudabad 12. No river. Land measures : local weights. — The rate of rent is always per "kachcha" or _ small bigha throughout this district. This is supposed to form one- third of a regulation bigha containing 3,025 square yards, in which case about four and three-quarters local bighas go to an acre. But the measurement of this unit varies with the pleasure of the landlord, his servant the pdtwari being the surveyor. All the fields have been, it is true, surveyed and mapped out by Government ; elaborate maps and records of the field areas are in the muniment rooms at every tahsil ; a duplicate is at the headquarters, and a triplicate in the hands of the patwari, but in all money* rented and appraisedf fields the patwari remeasures the fields at each harvest affixing the rent agreed upon. If the land is under garden crops a smaller local bfgha is used, but appa rently there is not so much variation in this respect as in the district of Bara Banki. When the crop is actually divided there is of course no necessity for measurement at all. The local weights vary in every bazar just as is related in the Bara Banki district article ; the local maund being from 16 to 20 regulation sers, and the local sers one-fortieth of it. * Jama. t Kut. SIT 371 CHAPTER III. THE PEOPLE. Population — Tenures— Table exhibiting the tribal distribution of property — List of taluqdars. Popmlation.- — The population of the district numbered at the census of 1869 so many as 930,224 souls living in 181,764 houses ; and as its area is 2,250 square miles, these figures show that there are 414 inhabi tants to the square mile, and 5-l to each house against a provincial average of 476 and 4'5 respectively. Hindus and Musalmans. — Of this population there are 812,776 Hindus against 117,448 Musalmans ;.the latter being thus 12-6 of the entire num ber, which is something higher than the provincial percentage of 10'7. Male and female. — There are 494,833 males against 435,391 females, the males forming the majority in each of the two great religions. Jiural and Urban population. — The population may further be divided into rural and urban as follows : — Rural ... ... ... ••• ... 880,542 Urban ... ... ... ... ... 49,682 Total ... 930,224 Which shows thatthe inhabitants of the towns are 5 '4 per cent, of the whole; this is something lower than the provincial average of 71 per cent., but is still the 5 th highest among the twelve districts, the percentages of which range from 317 for Lucknow to 13 for Partabgarh. Principal castes, Musalmans. — The principal Musalman castes, if we may so call the subdivisions of the Muhammadan population, are as follows : — Pathans ,„ ... 17,694 ] Shekhs ... ... 10,439 I Taluqdars, zamindars, and servants, Sayyads ... ... 2,7 34 j private and public. Mughals ... ... 1,910 ] Julahis, weavers .. ,.. 30,895 Kanjras, greengrocers ... 4,289 Ghosis, milkmen... ... 3,649 Qasais, butchers ... ... 2,138 Darzis, tailors ... ... 7,025 The remainder is made up of inconsiderable numbers of: — Dyers. Musicians. Cutlers. | Water-carriers and others. Hindus I. — High castes. — Among the Hindus the chief castes are the following : — Sikhs ,.. ... ,„ ... ... ... 238 Khattris ... ... .., ... ... ... 1,468 Brahmans ... ... ... ... ... ... 99,596 Rajputs ... ... ... ... ... ,., 39,696 Vaishyas ... ... ... ... ... ... 16 745 Kayaths ... .., ... ... .„ ... 12,5,37 -J at-; ... ... ... m ... ,., 650 372 SIT II— Low caste.— The low-caste tribes are principally distributed thus : Ahir, cowherds Bhunjwa, grain-parchers... Bhat, bards ... Barhi, carpenters, Pasi, watchmen, labourers, &c. Arakhs, ditto ditto ... Tamboli, pawn-sellers ... ,.'. Teli, oilman ... Chamar, tanner and labourers Halwai, confectioner ... ,„ Dhobi, washerman Dhunia, labourer, cotton-cleaner Kabfir, palki-bearers. Sunar, goldsmith Kumhar, potter ... ... Kurmi, cultivators and zamindars Kalwar, distillers Kori, weavers ... Gararia, shepherds Lodh, cultivators Lonia, cultivators and saltpetre manufacturers Lohiir, ironsmiths Murao, gardeners and cultivators Nau, barbers ... ... Bhaw and^ Thdrus.— There are 319 " Bhars" in Manwdn, Bari, and 18 " Tharus" in Laharpur. These low-caste Hindus do not all necessarily follow the peculiar occupation of their tribe, for many of them engage in agriculture in common with Lodhs and Kurmis. Religious professions. — The Hindus who have adopted religion as a profession are the following : — Goshains ... ... „. ... ... 4,040 Nanakshahis 1 Jogis and others "• '" "' •" •" j 8'505 but among these we find some (of the Goshdins) in possession of land as zamindars. The foregoing account of the population of the district does not deal with the numbers of the troops, European and native, or with the Europeans and Eurasians, temporarily stationed in it. It also excludes the European planters resident in the district. Area and population. 85,509 12,584 4,684 10,974 72,771 2,8325,576 20,204 111,745 4,163 15,483 11,586 26,367 4,248 7,685 74,597 8,993 14,209 16,44 ' 36,146 8,429 11,865 82,593 19,776 00 Area inBrU en oi 9 tish square Population s'a * ,A miles. ¦* m Parganas. a s. ajj -a a O CQ GO 8 o . 53 S CD u Si J3 CO H S >- 3 ° 170 o H115 "3 o 67 a 5 3 s 26,824 aCD ft o 3° r Sitapur ... 41,825 8,071 23,072 49,896 434 M \ Hargam ... 96 66 48 20,075 3,786 12,908 10,953 23,62 361 £ Laharpur 165 191 133 65,544 19,186 44,477 40,263 68,3g3 444 2^ Khairabad ... 153 123 76 48,934 14,794 34,600 29,128 49,275 480 *l Pirnagar ... 54 44 28 14,220 1,075 8,193 7,102 1,5719 348 Ramkot ... Total ... 12 65o| 20 564 11 3~57 8,600 191 4,782 4,009 8,8017 439 199,198 47,103 131,784 114,517 246,301 433 SIT 373 Area and population — (concluded.) CO Area nBri « .2 S3 tish s juare Population. §fl mh es. U CD ¦ Parganas. a & »J- CO - 0J M t3 4 0 ¦h a* O ui ¦a u Z cy o a n 215 +3 o H ca "a 157 D a 3 | CO 13 Q>a Pn "3 ?a o H 2 * I Biswan 220 87,197 17,958 55,262 49,893 105,155 479 M 1 Tambaur ... 166 190 132 63,421 5,868 36,678 32,6 1 1 69,289 365 Kundri (North) Total ... Misrikh ... 128509 142 165576 126 108 _ 397 66 63,816 5,769 36,866 32,718 69,584 422 214,433 29,595 128,806 115,222 244.028 426 r 37,976 3,343 22,173 19,146 41,319 328 Chandra ... 150 129 94 32,862 1,449 19,072 15,229 34,301 266 Maholi 87 80 45 31,893 1,785 18,094 15,584 33,678 423 Machhrehta ... 126 10S 68 34,921 2,756 19,884 17,793 35,677 345 oo Kurauna ... 51 46 27 14,484 323 7,868 6,939 14,807 352 s Aurangabad ... 84 60 69 17,106 2,260 10,070 9,295 19,360 323 I Gundlamau ... Total ... Bari 67 657 129 61 613 125 46 "385 80 19,647 673 10,936 9,284 20,225 316 188,878 12,489 4,648 108,097 93,270 201,367 328 ,1 45,689 26.705 23,632 50,837 402 Manwan ... 69 69 46 28,720 1,833 16,044 14,509 30.553 443 Mahmudabad.., 197 ISO 92 61,381 12,387 88,760 35,008 73,768 667 ml Sadrpur 114 108 78 47,095 7,382 28,905 25,' 72 64,477 504 ( Kundri (south) Total ... District Total Europeans ... 39 548 66 498 2,250 40 336 £,476 27,382 2,011 15,732 13,661 29,393 445 210,2o7 812,776 M« 28,26 1 126,146 494,633 633 112,382 238,528 479 2,364 117,448 435,391 141 930,224 774 414 ... Eurasians ... ... ... ... ... ... 21 19 40 Military (Na tive) ... ••• ... 555 359 777 ,.. 137 914 ... Prisoners, &c. in jail Grand Totat, 2,364 2,250 ... ... ... 977 30 1,007 1,475 813,331 117,807 497,541 435,718 932,969 414 Landed tenures and other statistics. — The following notes and tables from the settlement report and other sources convey an idea of the landed rights in the district, and of the division of property. Some of the infor mation given in the settlement report tables is hardly correct, and some requires explanatory comments. We are told, for instance, that there are 104,760 resident cultivators, and 53,705 non-resident cultivators, but the large majority of the latter have been reckoned as residents in their own villages, and are counted again as non-residents for other villages in which they occupy and till fields, 374 SIT The table No. IV. merely states how many villages are zamindari, patti dari, and bhayyachdra. The taluqdari villages are recorded at 937 in form No. IV., but at 1,019 in a list of their estates furnished by the Deputy Commissioner. There are about 1,150 villages in estates paying above Ks. 5,000 revenue. s Soils.— We find, what are called first, second, and third class soils in the following proportions : — 1st class ... ... w ... 19.S5 2nf » ••• ••• ... ... 69-39 3r(1 » ». ... ... ... 11-06 The first class in this district is matiar or clay, which in all other districts has been reckoned second class. Appendix No. IV., Settlement Report, shows us at a glance how many mauzas in the collectorate are zamindari and how many taluqdari, noting at the same time how many of the latter are held in sub-settlement. From it we learn that 937 villages, being 36 per cent, or a little more than one-third of the entire number, are in taluqas, and that of these only 43 have been decreed in sub-settlements. But this does not represent the entire under-proprietary rights of the ex-zamindars, for column 4 of the same statement informs us that in 146 other villages smaller holdings, that is to say sir, dihdari, and nankar lands, have been decreed. The sub-tenures. — In every instance whether of an entire village, a por tion of village or a sir, &c, holding, the rent payable by the sub-proprietor to the taluqdar has been fixed for the term of the present settlement at an amount in the computation of which the two principal factors are, the rent payable under native rule, and that now assessed by the settlement officer as payable by the taluqdar. Speaking generally, no under-proprie- tor pays for his tenure more than 75 or less than 60 per cent, of the esti mated gross rental " nikdsi kham." In some cases we find the ex-zamin dars with rent-free nankar and dihddri lands, but this is exceptional. From Appendix No. VII. we gather that the profits of the general body of under-proprietors amount to Rs. 27,531 for the whole district. Of sir land the statement would show that each sub-proprietor has acres 36. But this is not quite correct, for each of these sub-proprietors has a number of pattidars or co-sharers, perhaps ten or even fifteen on an average, which %ould bring each actual sub-proprietor's holding down to ten or fifteen kachcha bighas. And as these ten or fifteen co-sharers in the natural order of things increase and multiply, their tenures will be further split up, so that we may expect in the course of another genera tion to find a very numerous body of small under-proprietors living more or less from hand to mouth, except in the case of those families who may be fortunate enough to have a son or brother in Government employment, and thus able to contribute ready money towards meeting the rent on quarter day. This, however, is only a speculative contingencey which need not be dwelt upon here. The taluqdari villages. — The statement further shows that the 937 taluqdari villages are distributed among thirty taluqas, the areas of which, with the Government demand payable on the same, and the profits of the taluqdars, are detailed in Appendix No, VII, SIT 375 The zamindari and the pattidari villages.^-We also see that here are 1,635 villages, or not quite two-thirds of the district other than taluqdari, and classified as zamindari, pattidari, and bhayyachara. _ These are all held by brotherhoods similar to the ordinary village communities of Hindustan, the great majority of them being Hindus of the Rajput, Kayath, Kurmi, and Bs&hman castes. The non-taluqdar proprietors, who appear from the appendix to number only 2,301, are in reality many more. For every zamindar whose name is recorded in the khewat is a proprietor, and in many villages such persons number so many as forty or fifty, while in others they are only four or five ; so that instead of two thousand there are actually nearer twenty thousand proprietors. Statement of Tenures, &c. No. OF PRO- TENURES AND NUMBER OP VILLAGE;, PRIETORS & ilwraj/e &C, OP BACH KIND. SUB-PRO area. PRIETORS. TALUQDAEI. INDEPENDENT. i Pro- orietors. 'A5 u o > Sub-set- OT w Name of ] "Tame of pargana. tlem&nt. to a' rt § o +J t! ¦3 rt CS - "t, „ C3 to a -5 1 cj s +3 a p. .a u ca 01 T3 to to CX'fic3 O a u ain toW "c3 c3 a I 2 "eci ¦d a o to a O a Oh 1 • M ft •1 q fl u > 8 No. wi No. > cri N a, P5 B SJ » h a o o 1 9 5 No. 6 No. 7 8 No. 9 No. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 No. No. No. No. No. No. A. E. A. Bari 2 6 39 41 27 6 33 74 2 41 6 8 2 24 B.lri 22 45 46 67 23 13 . 93 138 3 61 17 6 1 30 Mahmudabad ... 10 2G 1?,1 131 51 13 11 75 206 3 25 34 3 2 32 Sadrpur IB S6 Rf> 23 7 6 35 121 ... 1 11 10 5 ?. 74 Kundri (South), ¦I 19 30 38 1 1 2 40 l\ * 37 5 3 57 Total 14 88 327 311 150 49 30 238 679 9 1 142 104 6 2 45 Misrikh ... Machhrehta ... 1 10 10 75 54 3 132 1«| ... 81 1 5 3 51 Gundlamau ... ... 2 2 27 31 13 71 73 .. 40 8 0 Kurauna ... in 10 42 6 48 58 1 17 6 0 ... Aurangabad .., 2 27 27 8 8 3E 1 6 •i 9 2 15 Misrikh ... 1 3G 39 87 21 6 117 15f •t 54 1 6 1 145 Chandra 13 IS 116 22 4 141 15 1 20 ... 8 2 Maholi Total 4 61 61 26 5 31 9! 1 44 271 i 5 5 3 16 8 162 162 380 142 26 546 71( 6 7 0 39 Sitapur ... Eamkot 3 9 12 1 ! 1 8 ] 4 2 14 Hargdm !i( HI 67 ii SE 11 > ... 3! 5 0 Laharpur ... 20 IS » 10' 6B 7 72 17 i 3 3; 14 '6 2 52 Khairabad 8 li 11 14< li ... 154 17 1 1 101 2 . 4, 3 15 Pirnagar ... ... 18 1! 25 IS ... 4( 6 i ... 3 4 1 Sitapur Total Biswan 23 6 2f 4 S ie: 81 ; '18 9 12C 6' .. 18' 18 1 1 81 ... 3 3 > 411 1 12 11 53 71 3 6 30 ' 3 7 4 3 29 BlswiJn ... ) 4 ) 3 16! 26 0 5 2 1 1 * 5 3 39 Tambaur ... 8 8 : 8 1 i ... 8 ) 16 9 4 1 3 4 3 33 Kundri (North), Total Graud Total ... C 43 r 2 14( (i 6 1 C ... 6 ' 13 6 2 1 1 2 5 5 3 13 24 . 89 1 21 3 26 3 4 4 3 31 J 66 5 9 4 3 4 5 6 1 21 1 93 r 1,22 i 35 3 59 1,63 5 2,57 2 30 76 9 19 3 5 2 3G 376 SIT Number of higher proprietors and pukhtadars as referred to in Fcr,m No. 4 in final settlement report. NOMBBR OF HIGHER PEOPBIETOBS. u 9 ca a -= a n> ~ .5 "" Z 2 ° £ e*l Si ° -j — . ^" s3 3 1 CO C tn ¦<-« cfi 'O m P..M 03 •*. O -. o 9 a h"o a ca o 187 152 51 114 6 "HTo Number of shareholders. u if Is-1 o ° a U "* |b a-o 55 1 i° S a Name of pargana. " B » £.s§ g £ 5 6D 3 cb 53^ 267 287 70 190 6 Number ofshar ersas given in mauzawar khewat i ti ca . .a co m a, are 19,669 and under-proprietors 193, a total of 19,852— a deficiency of only 148, not too far in an estimate; and that the settlement officer has only recorded the number as an estimate, for there was no form of the number of sharers prepared in Settlement Department. Table showing the number of villages possessed by the different castes. a ^ 5 . Villages in y S a •a 01S S 5. a 7,119 1,308 7,119 sv =h a °.s 2,054 2,054 1,683 1.C83 370 370 380 SIT Population of Thdnas. Name of thana. Population. Sitapur ... •>t !•• 115,522 Khimauna ... ... ... ¦ •¦ 58,703 Laharpur ... ... >•* • •• 114,167 Misrikh ... r*> •ft »¦• 79,007 Maholi ... *•( 90,232 Bari ... ... • •* 116,237 Biswan .... • •1 111, 425 Mahmudabad ... ... • • 112,406 Tambaur ... ... ..* • •• 67,814 Thanagaon ... ... Total ••• • *• 67,446 932,959 Control. — The entire force is under the district superintendent and his inspectors and sub-inspectors, all acting under the general control of the deputy commissioner. The following table represents the criminal statistics of the six years ending 1872 ; another gives the accidental deaths and the suicides for the same period. _ Crime Statistics. Murders and attempts Culpable homicide ... DacoityEobbery Eioting and unlawful assembly Theft by bouse break ing or house tres pass ... Theft (simple) Theft of cattle Offences against coin and stamps Cases reported. 10 1840 634 94 2050 758108 26 3067 1102 112 20 3000 1129 104 2481 1584 104 Cases investigated. 3969 640 2229 241 16 67 21 26 1058 448 112 13 36 843 Cases convicted. 16 17 Comparative memorandum of accidental deaths. Suicides. By drown ing. By snake bite. By wild quadru peds. By fall of buildings. By other causes. Total. Years. •aa 33 15 21 "ca a•• 2,425 tablishmet lt,„ 54,445 ... ... 38,136 ... • •• 5,795 486 ... ..* 1,245 ... *•• 2,169 ... ••• 39,341 ... ... 3,824 ... ... 6,600 Total Rs. «•¦ 1,55,363 The following tables exhibit receipts and charges from local funds: Receipts. Rs. One percent, road cess » „ school cess J „ district dak 3 „ local and margin Education fund Dispensary „ Pound „ Nazul „ ... ... ... i«t 13,166 13,166 ... ... ... ... 3,297 n ... ... ... 37,315 ..a ... ... ... 4,677 ... ... ... >•« 1,013 6,1*2 ... ... Total Rb. tit 395 79,09* Provincial al lotment „ Total Bs. • • « 52,502 Gkand 1,31,593 382 SIT Charges. EducationHospital and dispensaries District dak Pound >M Nazul Rs. 29,540 7,604 2,012 1,829 Public Works. . . Rs- Communications ... ... „. 55,088 Civil Buildings, Sec. ... ... „. 25272 Establishment, &c 8,785 89,145 Total ... Rs. 1,30,130 Assessed taxes. — Over and above the state revenue the zamindars pay the following assessed taxes : — Road fund ... ... ... 1 per cent.^ School fund ... ... ... 1 1 District post , ... a [ 3| per cent, on the Margin fund ... f ' 1 Government demand. Under the" Oudh Loca'l Rates Bill" I£ " J These taxes are quite distinct from the municipal cesses (octroi, chaukidari tax, &c.) paid by the inhabitants of the larger towns, and from the 8 annas per cent, paid by the taluqdars towards the Canning College Fund ; and another 8 annas per cent, paid by the same body to the funds of the taluqdars association in Lucknow. Education. — Popular education is spreading steadily from year to year. There are now 111 Government schools of all grades in the district at which the number of scholars on the books is 4,052, or about 1 to every 228 of the entire population. Of these 4,052, it is to be noted that 114 are girls. There is an aided mission (Wesleyan) school at Khairabad, with a roll of 80 pupils, the headquarters of the Mission being at Sitapur. Post-offices.- — The following statements are supplied by the Post-office authorities. They show the working of the department, the number of letters, &c. Statement showing the working of the district dak for 1876-77. .Number of miles of dak line 28 Number of runners 6 Cost for the year Rs. 1,954-3-5 Number of covers delivered 16,117 Number of covers returned undelivered 1,562 Total number of letters sent to district post-office ... 17,679 Statement showing the number of articles received for delivery and those returned undelivered durinsr 1876-77. Letters. Papers. Packets. Parcels, Given out for delivery ... 15,885 1,568 93 143 Returned undelivered 1,527 29 1 6 SIT 383 CHAPTER V. HISTORY. Early history of the taluqdars — Family histories of the landed proprietors— Events of the mutiny. Ea%ly history and present property of the clans. — The following brief history of the taluqdars of this district was compiled in 1865. Further details concerning each family will be found under the pargana in which it resides.A few general remarks may be made concerning the present distribu tion of property in the district among the clans, and their earlier history. To the east the Raikwsirs occupy most of the country between the Chauka and Kauriala, north and south Kundri, forming part of the block of territory extending north and south about sixty miles along both sides of the Kauridla, over which for one or two centuries the Raikwars have exercised a real or nominal supremacy. The great estates of Baundi and Ramnagar are fully described under articles Bahraich and Bhitauli ; here it need only be stated that the younger branches of the clan settled at Mallapur, at ChahMri, and Rampur — all on the western bank of the Kau riala. The ancestor of each branch got three or four villages, and has gradually increased his possessions through the aid and influence of the great lords of his blood in Baundi and Ramnagar. The estate of Chahlari was forfeited after the mutiny for rebellion. The clan is a very small one in point of numbers. To the north in parganas Sitapur, Laharpur, Hargam, Chandra, and Tambaur, the great Bamhan Gaur clan from Narkanjari settled itself towards the close of Xlamgir's reign. It was a resolute and warlike body of men. It commenced by attacking the Ahbans and the Janwars of Kheri which were driven into exile about A.D. 1760. The Gaurs then pro ceeded further to the north-west having meanwhile consolidated their power in Sitapur and Laharpur ; they attacked the Musalman rdja of Muhamdi, defeated and drove him out. At length the Rohillas came to the aid of the raja and drove back the Gaurs with heavy loss ; the last battle was fought at Mail-mi, twenty miles north of Kukra, so far had the Gaurs carried their victorious arms. They then joined with the Raja of Dhaurahra in resisting Nazim Sital Parshad, the most sanguinary of all the satraps whom the early Oudh ISlawabs let loose upon the conquered coun try. They were defeated with heavy loss at Dhaurahra; one of their chiefs was beheaded in the river under the fort of Khairigarh, and the clan then settled down into ordinary rustic squires. To the south the Khanzada family of Bilahra, in the Bara Banki district, has within the last seventy years occupied most of the parganas of Mahmudabad, Sadrpur, besides acquiring large estates in Biswan, by mortgage or simply as trustee. This family has generally numbered among its members men of ability and energy ; they were connected by marriage with the influential Shekhzadas of Lucknow, and were used by the Lucknow court as a check upon the great Raikwar raj along the Gogra, which their principality almost cut in two. 384 SIT To the east the Ahbans held formerly parganas Nimkhar, Aurangabad, Maholi, and part of Khairabad, besides parts of districts Kheri and Hardoi, Lone Singh, the great raja of Mitauli, was banished for rebellion in 1859, and his estate divided among a number of loyal grantees. His only bro ther tried in vain to recover a part of the property which once is said to have included 2,700 villages. The Ahbans produce a family tree with 109 generations ; they are Ch&war Chhattris and came from Gujrat. Almost the only survivor of the clan in Sitapur is called a Kunwar, and is a man of little property or influence. The clan is now of no importance, so hollow and transitory is the power of these great landowners. A number of deeds were produced in the Kheri courts in which the Ahban chiefs are styled Maharajas by the Empeiors Akbar and Jahangir ; they were skil fully executed forgeries. Their former parganas are now held by Mughal grantees from the Oudh kings, by Kayaths and others, probably retainers of the ancient Ahbans. The middle portion of Sitapur is held by many different clans of Chhat tris. Originally there was a powerful Chauhan sovereignty in Sitapur, and a Raghubansi principality in Tambaur ; they have both disappeared. A variety of clans occupy each a pargana or the greater part of a pargana, except in Biswan and Khairabad which were the seats of local governors, who took care to destroy the co-herence of the clan system by breaking up its possessions and distributing them miscellaneously. It is remark able that no clan except the Gaurs asserted its supremacy over large areas like the Kanhpurias, Sombansis, or Bais in southern Oudh ; it is a mistake, indeed, to call them clans: each is a collection of a few families, of whom the eldest member was the leader, and was called the Thakur. These gentlemen increased their estates during the latter Nawabi times by appropriating the shares of their brethren. The land owning clans are the following : — Pargana, Name of Chhattri clan. In Gundlamau ... „ Bari „ Pirnagar ... „ Man wan ... „ Ramkot ... „ Kurauna „ Machhrehta ... Bachhils. Bais. Bais. Pan war. Janwar. Janwar. Kachhwaba, Janwar, Baehhil, Bais, Rathor. It may be observed that the Janwars are mainly to the west of the Sarayan river, the Bais to the east ; both of these clans are probably of indigenous origin as are also the Bachhils and the Raghubansis. The Panwars, Kachhwahas, Gaurs are immigrants from Rajputana. None of the above clans have a raja in the district ; from outside- the district the Ahban raja of Mitauli, the Panwar rdja of Itaunja, and the Raikwar raja of Baundi did to a certain extent exercise a control over their clansmen in the district. But it is noteworthy that there is not in the district a single raja by descent recognized as such by the people, the title is not even claimed by any one. The special feature of the Sitapur land proprietary is the existence of a number of men, about fifteen, with large- estates paying Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 19,000 land revenue, who have not been entered in the SIT 385 taluqdar's list. Practically this is now no loss to them, and in some res pects is an advantage. Antiquity of the clans. — About the origin or antiquity of these clans little need be said. The Bais are not Tilokchandi at all, and the asser tion of the taluqdars to that effect is in defiance not only of the statement of the admitted descendants of the great Baiswara chief but is opposed to all chronology. For instance, they make Todar Mai a contemporary of Tilok Chand's, although the latter died in the reign of Babar. The Bais really belong to the very numerous clan of Kath Bais, whose power seems to have centered in Kursi pargana and. Gundwa pargana of the Lucknow and Hardoi districts ; these are only separated from the Bais colony in Bari and Pirnagar by the Baehhil intruders of Gundlamau' These Bais are probably some aboriginal tribe which assumed the title of Rajput after the break-up of the Buddhist system. The rajas and raos of Bais wdra deny that they have any, even illegitimate, connexion with them selves, or are in any way descended from Salbahan, the great ancestor of the Tilokchandis. The Janwars are also probably aboriginal. The Raghu- bansis allege a descent from the former rulers of Ajodhya ; they possibly are of the S&rajbans blood ; they had four large estates each of 44 villages in pargana Kundri, but have none now. The Kayaths allege very old tenures in Biswan and Sadrpur, but their statements are not confirmed. Janwdr Chhattris. — Kalka Bakhsh, of Ramkot, pargana Ramkot. The family which this gentleman represents has, it is said, lived in Ram kot for some 300 years. Its early history is obscure. The immediate predecessor of Kalka Bakhsh, Hardeo Bakhsh, distinguished himself by profuse expenditure on-works of public utility. A very fine tank at Ram kot, and the long and fine avenues of trees upon all public roads converg ing on the village, still attest his great liberality. Kalka Bakhsh was a foundling, and Hardeo Bakhsh having no heir adopted him as his son. Subsequently, and contrary to his expectations, a son was born to him. The adopted son succeeded to the estate on hia father's death, and took the management while the son was a minor. The latter holds half the- estate under his adopted brother. Kalka Bakhsh, in the rebellion of 1857, received into his fort a British officer who escaped from the massacre at Sitapur, and forwarded him on towards Lucknow where he arrived safely. An estate of the annual rental of Rs. 1,000 was conferred upon him by Government for this act of loyalty. Gaur Chhattris, Pargana Laharpur. — (1). — Thakur Shiu Bhaksh Singh, of Katesar. (2).— Thakur Beni Singh, of Kanhmau. (3>.— Thakur Shiu Bakhsh Singh, of Bihat. (4). — Fazl Ali Khan, of Akbarpur. (5).— Bahadur Singh, of Keshopur. (6). — Munnu Singh, of Barehta. These six gentlemen and a large number of smaller landholders in the Sitapur district date their family history from their ancestor Chandar 49 386 SIT Sen, whom tradition asserts to have been of royal descent in Narkanjan. He came to Oudh m the time of Alamgir Aurangzeb, about A.D. 1658 From his four sons— Ajit Mai, Nag Mai, Khark Sen, and Udho Ram-are descended a large family of Gaurs who have absorbed nearly the whole land in the Sitapur, Laharpur, and Chandra parganas. Their descendants are known by the name of the ancestor of each branch. Of the six great taluqdars detailed above the three first are known as Nag Mais, the three last as Ajit Mais, and of the smaller zamindars, descendants of the four sons of Chandar Sen, each preserves the family appellative of his own hne. Of the Nag Mais, Tej Singh, one of their ancestors, was invested •with the title of raja about AD. 1650. Musalman Gawr Rajput— Thakur Fazl Ali Khan, of Akbarpur, par gana Laharpur, is a Musalman. The estate of this branch was confiscated three generations back in consequence of certain disturbances in which the head of the family Mahabali took part. It was, however, restored to him on condition of his embracing the Musalman faith, which condition he accepted. Since then the family have been Muhammadans, but they still observe Hindu customs, and mix with the Hindu members of the family on friendly terms, observing only those distincttwas which the diversity of religion renders compulsory. Raikwdr Rajput,— Thakur Gum fin Singh, taluqdar of Rampur. Ma thura, pargana Kundri, is the present representative of a family which have held the Rampur property for the last 680 years. They claim relation ship to Maharaja Jai Chand, said to have formerly ruled Oudh when it was subordinate to Kanauj ; and they came from their native town Raika, in the Jummoo territory, seventeen generations back. Family tradition holds that the estate, at that 'time lying waste, was conferred on their ancestor for services against the notorious daeoits named Sarangdhar and Kapurdhar of the Bhar caste. Beyond this nothing is known of their family history. Other branches of this stock held estates in Ramnagar, in Bara Banki, in Rahwa, and Hariharpur in Bahraich, and in Mallapur in Sitapur. The Chahlari estate in Sitapur, and the Baundi estate in Bahraich, belonged also to members of this family, but were confiscated for rebellion in 1857. Rao Muneshar Bakhsh, of Mallapur, is related by blood to the Rsimpur taluqdar, and his family have held this estate for ten generations, before which they occupied, it is said, lands in Baundi. As in the case of the Rampur family, their exact history is not known, but tradition assigns a common origin to the two families. Bais Chhattris. — Mahraj Singh, taluqdar of Kanhmau, pargana Bari. This family traces its descent from Tilok Chand, who is said to have been the father of all the Bais clan in Oudh. He is said to have come from Mungi Pfttan in the west ; but the connexion of this family with SIT 387 the great Tilok Chand is fabulous, and they have no commensality with the real descendants of that monarch. Bhikham Singh and Thana Singh came to Bahrimau, in Pirnagar, in the service of Diwan Kesho Das, who was agent for Dost Muhammad Khan and Pir Muhammad Khan, at that time Subahdars in Oudh, and who held the lands as jagir. Qn the resumption of the jagir, thirteen years later, Bhikham Singh and Thana Singh remained in possession as zamindars. For three generations the estate was undivided, but in the time of Jagat Rae the estate was divided between his two sons, Kanh Singh and Madkar Sahae ; Kanh Singh took the Kanhmau estates, and is the ancestor of the present representative, Mahraj Singh. The father of the latter was rewarded for loyal services in the rebellion by a grant of land of the annual value of Rs. 2,000, and was made Honorary Assistant Commissioner in his own estates. Jawahir Singh, taluqdar of Basahidih, pargana Bari. This gentleman is descended from Madkar Sahae, brother of Kanh Singh, and is therefore nearly related to the Kanhmau family, of which Mahraj Singh is the present head. Jawahir Singh was rewarded for loyal conduct in the rebellion of 1857 by a grant of land of the annual value of Rs. 5,000. He afterwards was made an Honorary Assistant Commissioner, but was allowed to resign office in 1863. He was convicted of taking part in a riot attended with loss of life in November, 1873, and was imprisoned for seven years with fine of Rs. 10,000. Panwdr Chhattris. — Harihar Bakhsh, taluqdar of Saraura, pargana Manwan. The family of this taluqdar came from Gwalior about A.D. 1602, and the three brothers, Malam Deo, Phiil Deo, and Mai Deo, from whom the family are descended, possessed themselves of large estates in Itaunja, Mahona, Saraura, and Nilgaon. The descendants of Malam Deo still hold the Itaunja estates in the Lucknow district. The last represent ative of the family of Phiil Deo, Digbijai Singh, lost the Mahona estates for rebellion in 1857, and the descendants of Mai Deo hold the estates of Saraura and Nilgaon ; the family estates of that branch having been divided by the two brothers, Binda Das and Hari Das, in the third genera tion from Mai Deo. The Saraura family, of which Harihar Bakhsh is the head, is descended, from Binda Das. Thakur Durga Bakhsh, of Nilgaon, pargana Manwan. This gentleman is descended from Harf Das in the third generation from Mai Deo. He was rewarded for good and loyal services in the rebellion of 1857 by a grant of land of the yearly rental of Rs. 1,000. Kdyath. — Thakurs Anant Singh, Jagan Nath Singh, Ganga Bakhsh, and Hardeo Bakhsh, taluqdar of Rampur Kalan, pargana Biswan. The ances tor of this family received in reward a jagir of 20 villages about A.D. 1150 from the king of Delhi, and he and his family have lived in Biswan since that time. Such is the family chronicle, but it may be remarked that Oudh was not in the kingdom of Delhi at any time during the twelfth century, 388 SIT They were at one time driven out by the Bhars, but were subsequently restored in the reign of Akbar some twenty years later, and the office andl title oi qdnungo were then conferred on the head of the family. The present representative is qdnungo of Biswdn. Thakur Dariao Singh, the ™h5,° f * hese gentlemen, was rewarded for loyalty during the rebellion of 1857 by the grant of an estate of Rs. 1,000 rental. Another branch of the main stock is represented by the non-taluqdari family of Chaudhri Arjun Singh. Kliattri.— Seths Sita Rdm and Raghubar Daydl, taluqdar of Moiz-ud- dinpur, pargana Biswdn. The ancestor of this family, Jiwan Das, came from Delhi about 1720 with Nawab Saddat Khan, and received from him a grant of 137 villages. In the third generation the estate was seized by the Government, but about AD. 1820 a portion of it, known as Moiz-ud- dinpur, was restored. The rest was confiscated. These taluqdars' pre decessor, Murli Manohar Seth, was rewarded for loyalty during the rebellion by a grant of land of the annual value of Rs. 2,000, and remission of Rs. 1.000 from his revenue. He held the office of treasurer of the Sitapur district. Sita Rdm Mehra, taluqdar of Bisendi, pargana Biswan. The ancestor of this gentleman was a Delhi banker, who came to Oudh about 200 years ago and settled in Lucknow and Biswdn, in which places the family have been bankers ever since. The greater part of the estate was acquired in A.D. 1863 by purchase. Sita Ram Mehra was rewarded for loyalty during the rebellion by the grant of an estate of the yearly rental of Rs. 2,000. Khdnzddas. — Raja Amir Hasan Khan, taluqdar of Mahmudabad, par gana Mahmudabad. This gentleman is descended from Shekh Nathu, who about 1360 A.D. was employed by the king ofDehli against the Bhars, and was rewarded for good services by the grant of large estates in and about Fatehpur. In the fourth generation Ddud Khan was invested with the title of " Nawab," which was supplemented by several additional distinctions " Muzaffarjang," "Bahadur," &c, in the time of Bazid Khan in the sixth generation, but these titles died with him. In the twelfth generation a division of estate took place between the issue of Muhammad Imdm Khdn. Muhammad Imam Khan. Muhammad Ikram Khan. Maztiar Ali Khan. Musahib Ali Khan and Sarfaraz Ali Khan. Amu Ali Khan. These two branches divided the estate in equal portions. Musdhib Ali Khan and Sarfaraz Ali Khan dying childless, Musahib Ali's widow managed SIT 389 the estate during her life, and before her death adopted one of the sons of Amir Ali Khan, named Nawab Ali Khan, who succeeded her in posses sion of her estate. The other, and elder son of Amir Ali Khan, named Ibdd Ali Khan, succeeded to the whole of Amir Ali Khan's estate, which is now known as the taluqa of Paintepur. In 1850 the title of rdja was conferred upon Nawab Ali Khan by the king of Oudh, and in 1852, the titles " Hfuqim ud-daula" Bahadur " Qdim Jang" were added. The present raja owes his title to the British Government. Nawab Ali Khan died in 1858 during the rebellion ; and on re-occupation by the British, his son, then a minor, was placed under the Court of Wards. The estate is the largest in the Sitapur district. It was brought to its present condition mainly by the exertions of Musahib Ali Khan, his widow, and Nawab Ali Khan. The caste of this family is Musalman Shekh, but they are usually called Khdnzadas, because at some remote time the title " Khan" was conferred on one of their ancestors. Muhammad Kazim Husen Khan, taluqdar of Paintepur Bilahra, par gana Mahmudabad. This taluqdar is the son of Rdja Ibad Ali Khan. It is said that the title of rdja was conferred on Rdja Ibad Ali Khan in 1853 by the king of Oudh, but it was not recognized by the British Government. Arab. — Mirza Muhammad Ali Beg, taluqdar of Aurangabad, and Mirza Ahmad Beg, taluqdar of Qutubnagar, pargana Mahmudabad, have for their ancestor Mirza Bah'idur Beg, otherwise known as Farrukh Fal, an Arab, who settled at Delhi in the time of Shdh Jahan about 1644 A.D. In the reign of Aurangzeb he received a grant of land in Nimsar then a large pargana, and in honour of the king he named the estate Auranga bad, by which name the pargana is known to this day, the old name of Nimsar having fallen into disuse. It is said that the estate consisted of 1,500 villages. Of the four sons of Bahddur Beg, the two youngest returned to their native country, the two remaining divided the estate, the elder Saddat Khan retaining the main portion, and the second, Ydr Ali Beg, receiving the Qutubnagar estate. Mughal. — Nawab Amjad, Ali Khan,* taluqdar of Sendhur estate, par gana Khairabad. This nobleman is the son of Munawwar ud-daula, formerly Wazir of Oudh, who acquired the estate during his tenure of office. Pathan. — Rdja Shamsher Bahadur, taluqdar of Saddatnagar in Sitapur, pargana Misrikh and Jalalnagar in Hardoi. The family of this gentleman are commonly called-Mughals, but are really Yusufzai Pathdns. An ances tor followed Nddir Shah from Kdbul to Delhi in the year A.D. 1734, and more recently the great-grandfather of the present rdja, Mirza Agha Muhammad Ali Beg, came to Oudh in command of troops, and was rewarded for good services by the grant of an estate. The father of the present representative was created a raja by Wajid Ali Shah the king of Oudh, which title his son inherits. * Has died since these remarks were written. 390 SIT Sayyad.— Mir Muhammad Husen, taluqdar of Kali, pargana Misrikh and Rajapara. This gentleman is a native of Budaun, where he has some small landed property. He entered the service of the Oudh Government and was chakladar for some time, and afterwards rose to be a collector. During his tenure of office he became possessed of his present estate by mortgage. The precise history of this family is not known. One brother was killed during the rebellion, and another, Fida Husen, commonly known as " Captain," is now a taluqdar in the Kheri district. The non-taluqdari families. — The following gentlemen have large pro perty and influence, although they are not taluqdars : — Janwdr Chhattris. — Thdkur Madho Singh, &c, of Jargawan in pargana Kurauna, tahsil Misrikh. The history of this gentleman's family has been lost, and beyond the fact that their ancestor came to Oudh from Janakpur about 400 years ago even tradition is silent. The names of the heads of the family cannot be traced back beyond four generations; but of these four it may be recorded that one was in possession of the estate for 75 and another for 72 years, instances of longevity which can hardly be equalled in any family in the district. Janwdr Chhattris. — Thakur Debi Singh, of Banidnmau, in pargana Machhrehta, tahsil Misrikh. Tradition assigns a very ancient date to the first acquisition of the estate by the head of this family. The genealogical tree extends back over 33 generations and 1,149 years. Beyond the names and dates, however, little or nothing is known, except that the family came originally from Gujarat. Beni Singh, taluqdar of Dlra, in pargana Biswdn, tahsil Biswdn. This gentleman's family have lived in Sitapur for fourteen generations. Then- ancestor was Dewa Ram, who came from Jaipur and settled in Oudh about AD. 1510. Beyond the genealogical tree little or nothing is known. Thdkur Balbhaddar Singh, of Bujhera, in pargana Sadrpur, tahsil Bari, is descended from Hastraj, a native of Gwalior, and a risaldar in the Oudh service. The estate belonged to the Bhars, a race at that time in process of extermination, and now extinct. It is supposed that the estate was conferred on Hastrdj for good service, and that he drove out the Bhars and took possession. Raghubansi Chhattris.— Gopal Singh, taluqdar of Bainhnawdmin pargana Kundri, tahsil Biswan. The family of this gentleman is descended from SdthanR.de, a resident of Ajodhya, who about AD. 1072 settled in the Mallapur dudb driving out the aborigines from Garh Qila. The history of the family is obscure, but it is certain that the estate has suffered much in recent times, and that the family of Raghubansis, formerly a large and powerful clan, is gradually dying out. In that portion of the dudb still known as Garh, and which comprises nearly the whole of pargana Kundri, a tradition exists that the cultiva tion of sugar is fatalto the cultivator, and that the tiling of a house brings SIT 391 down divine displeasure upon the builders. To this day no sugar is grown nor a house tiled in the whole of the Garh estates. The origin of this tradition has been lost. Thakurain of Shiu Bakhsh Singh, of Sikri Sipauli, in pargana Tambaur, tahsil Biswan. This lady is also a descendant of Sathan Rde, and inherits part of the old family estates of Garh Qila. The history of the ancestors been has lost though their names have been preserved. The separation of branches took place in the third generation from Sathan Rae. These two families alone possess property in this district of the once all powerful Raghubansis. Kunwar Chhattris. — Ranjit Singh, Munnu Singh, Mahi'pat Singh, taluq dars of Deokalia, in pargana Biswan, tahsil Biswdn. The history of this family has been lost, but they trace their pedigree back for eleven genera tions, and believe themselves to belong to the aboriginal inhabitants of Oudh. They are Ahbans of the Mitauli family. Kachhwdha Chhattris. — Widow of Hari Singh, Bhikham Singh, Raghu ndth Singh, Bijai Singh, and Zalim Singh, taluqdars of Bihat Bairam, in pargana Machhrehta, tahsil Misrikh. This family descended from Bairam Singh, an inhabitant of Jaipur, who settled in Oudh about 1459 A.D. The family history is unknown, but the names of the various members of it have been preserved for eleven generations back to Bairam Singh, from whom the taluqa derives its name (Bihat Bairdm). The present represent atives were honourably distinguished in the rebellion of 1857 by protect ing European fugitives, for which they were rewarded by a grant of land of the annual value of Rs. 443. Converted Kdyatk. — -Muhammad Bakhsh, taluqdar of Sarwa Jalalpur in pargana Biswan, tahsil Biswdn, is a member of the same family as Thdkur Anant Singh. The estate was divided in the third generation, and both branches remained Hindu until recently. The grandfather of Muham mad Bakhsh was his father's only son by a Muhammadan mother, and the estate descended to him in default of Hindu heirs. phekh. — Chaudhri Lutf Ahmad and Ghuldm Ahmad, taluqdars of Alla- dddpur in pargana Bari, tahsil Bari. This family has lived in the Sitapur district for ten generations. They were originally Hindus, but their ances tor, Partab Singh, is said to have suffered from a boil, and for its cure to have been anointed with the fat of cows when insensible, in consequence of which he turned Musalman. About this time he received in reward from the king of Delhi an estate in the Sitapur district, into which, accor ding to the custom of those days, he had to fight his way with the sword. He was subsequently appointed Chaudhri of Bari, which post his family have held for ten generations. Partab Singh had three sons (Hindus) by his first wife, and one son (a Musalman) by a second marriage. The larger estates in Bari are held by the descendants of the Musalman branch, and some smaller estates are still in possession of the Hindu family, descendants I of the three sons of his first marriage. 392 SIT Events of the mutiny in 1857 A.D.-A description of this district would hardly be complete without an account of the mutiny and outbreak of the native troops stationed at Sitapur in 1857. The following graphic account by Mr. Martin Gubbins, who bore so prominent a part in the defence of Lucknow, will well repay perusal. With it ends this notice of the district of Sitapur, it being only sufficient to add here" that on the restoration of order in 1858 the Government offices were re-opened and that ever since the district has enjoyed complete repose, and the people are rapidly progressing in the march towards prosperity and civilization. Outbreak of the troops, 3rd June, 1857.— The first outbreak took place at Sitapur, the headquarters of the Khairabad division, of which Mr. G. J. Christian was Commissioner. On the 4th of June, a scrap of paper containing a few lines, without any signature, brought in by a police horse man, stationed on the Sitapur road, announced to us that some European refugees from that station required assistance. Captain H. Forbes at once started from Lucknow with a party of mounted volunteers and Sikh horsemen to escort them, and every carriage, buggy, and conveyance avail able was sent out to bring them in. Late in the evening they arrived ; a party of men, ladies, and children, worn and exhausted, having travelled all that day in the burning sun, and all the preceding night. Some of the ladies had ridden the whole way, others with the children had been conveyed in buggies. Many of the ladies had returned by this time from the Residency to my house, and we now gladly received a party of the Sitapur refugees, viz., Mrs. Apthorp and three children, and Mrs. and Miss Birch. The other officers and ladies were accommodated at the-Residency at Mr. Ommaney's and in the houses of the garrison ; this party of the fugitives had been escorted in by about thirty sepoys of the 41st regiment, native infantry, to which they themselves mainly belonged. About half these men had from the first protected them, and had started with them, the second half had followed and joined them on the road not without suspicion of their having come with evil intention. But there being several well-armed officers of the party, if such ill designs had been harboured they were not attempted. All the men therefore were most cordially received by Sir Henry Lawrence; high praises and promises of reward were given them ; and they were placed under their own commander, Major Apthorp, in the Machchhi Bhawan.- Strange is it that, within one fortnight, even these men could no longer be trusted. A Christian drummer overheard some mutinous discourse, and it was thought best to tender to them the option of returning to their' homes. When this offer was made, it was gladly accepted by all without- exception, and not a man remained with the officers whose lives they had before saved. Some days after, by ones and twos, other fugitives arrived. Mr. Bickers,- a clerk, and his family, who had been concealed [and kindly treated by the villagers, Lieutenant Lester, Assistant Commissioner, who spoke- highly of the kindness and aid which he had experienced from the- people who had escorted him from village to village. This officer joined- SIT 393 my garrison. About three weeks afterwards arrived a native cart escorted by a few villagers containing Mr. Dudman, a clerk, and his family, and several other East Indiars ; with them arrived Mrs. Dorin, whose hus band while commanding the 10th regiment, Oudh irregular infantry, at Sitapur, had been butchered before her eyes. She was dressed in native clothes, had been lodging in a native village for more than a fortnight, and now found a home in our house. All this party spoke highly of the kind ness with which they had been treated ; and, with Sir Henry Lawrence's sanction, I sent to the zamindar who had thus protected them an official documentpromising him high reward. From all these parties we fully learnt the sad particulars of the mutiny at Sitapur. At that station were quartered the 41st regiment of native infantry, the 9th and 10tli regiments of Oudh irregular infantry, and the 2nd regiment of military police. The troops rose on the 3rd of June. The outbreak had long been feared, and the Commissioner, Mr. Christian, who maintained a bold and manly bearing throughout the anxious time, had collected the civilians and their, families at his house, which he proposed to defend by aid of a strong guard of the regiment of military police which he believed to be staunch. He had advised his military friends to send their ladies to him also for safety, but fortunately this had not been done. One lady from cantonments alone came, Mrs. Stewart, and she with extraordinary prudence took a good survey of the position. On two sides of Mr. Christian's compound flowed the small river Sarayan, and there was no means of reaching the high road but through the military canton ments. Considering the position to be unsafe, she returned to her home, and fortunately was one of the first party of refugees. On the morning of the 3rd June, a cry was raised in the lines of the 41st regiment that the 10th irregulars were plundering the treasury ; and as the men were in a state of excitement, the commander, Colonel Birch, who reposed the most entire confidence in his men, called out the two.most suspected companies, the light and the rifle, and led them to the treasury. All there was found to be quiet, and the colonel was about to return, when a sepoy of the guard stepped out. Of the ranks and shot him in the back. Colonel Birch fell from his horse dead ; and Lieutenant Smalley and the sergeant-major were then killed. The adjutant, Lieutenant Graves, escaped wounded, through a volley of bullets. The mutiny soon spread to the irregular regiments. In the 9th regiment the commandant (Captain Gowan) and his wife, the second in command (Lieutenant Greene), and the Assistant Surgeon (Mr. Hill) were destroyed. Mrs. Greene escaped. In the 10th regiment the commander (Captain Dorin) the second in command (Lieute nant Snell), his wife, and child were murdered. Mrs. Dorin (whose arrival had been mentioned) and the Adjutant (Lieutenant Burnes) escaped. Captain John Hearsey, commanding the 2nd regiment military police was protected by some of his men, and escaped. At Mr. Christian's bungalow the scene must have been fearful. At the commencement of the outbreak he proceeded outside to put in readiness the guard of military police in whom he confided. The wretches immediately turned and fired on him. Flying ' back into the house, he alarmed the assembled inmates; and the men, ladies, 50 &9€ SIT and children fled out of the bungalow on the opposite side of the house which faced the river ; pursued and fired upon by the miscreants of the military police, and other regiments which now joined them, some wene shot down before they reached the stream, others were killed in it, a few perished on the opposite bank, two or three only escaped, viz., Sir Mountstuart Jackson and his two sisters and little Sophy Christian, who was saved by Sergeant Major Morton. There fell Mr. and Mrs. Christian and child, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Thornhilland their children, and several others. Those who escaped broke into two parties. Lieutenant Burnes, Sir Mountstuart, and Miss Madeline Jackson, Sergeant- Major Morton and little Sophy Christian found refuge, though an unwilling one, with the Raja Lone Singh at his fort of Mitauli. Mrs. Greene, Miss Jackson, and Captain John Hearsey fled north wards, and, after being joined by other refugees, found shelter at Mathidri with the Rdja of Dhaurahra, whence also they had soon to fly. The following account of a battle near Biswdn and subsequent proceed ings is taken from Sir Hope Grant's Sepoy War : — " On the 13th April we marched at daybreak, but had scarcely gone three miles on our way when I heard the advanced guard commence firing. The road or rather track had been very bad, and I had remained behind to see the heavy guns brought across a nala. I immediately galloped to the front, and found that a strong cavalry picket of the enemy had attacked our advanced guard, had surrounded a troop of Wale's horse, wounding one of the officers, Prendergast,* and would have taken the two guns which were with it, when they suddenly perceived a squadron of the 7th Hussars, which the dust had hitherto prevented them from seeing, ready to charge them, whereupon they wheeled about and galloped off. When I reached the scene of the conflict I saw this hostile force, which now amounted to some thousand men, working round our right flank, evidently bent on attacking our baggage, which extended over a line of nearly three miles. I instantly brought up 300 cavalry and two of Mackinnon's guns to protect our flank, and fired several shots at them, but without effect. In addition to our rear guard, I ordered the Bengal Fusiliers to cover our right flank. I sent a troop of the 7th Hussars to patrol along both flanks, and another squadron to watch the movements of the sowars. The enemy came round in rear of a village, and were in the act of charging upon our baggage when the troop of the 7th Hussars, who were ready prepared for them, dashed down and galloped through them, putting them to flight and sabring many of their number. " Captain Topham,*f- who commanded the troop, and who had run a native officer through the body, was wounded by a lance. He had two men mor tally and six men slightly wounded. A little after another body of the rebels charged down upon our baggage, but were' met by two companies of the Bengal Fusiliers, who poured a volley into them when within 30 yards distant, which rolled a number in the dust. Thereupon they desisted from further attacks, and retreated as quickly as possible. t Now Major M. M. Prendergast, second in command of the 4th Bengal cavalry. f Captain R. Topham is now in command of the 16th Bengal cavalry.. SIT 395 " The infantry were then ordered to advance. The enemy occupied a village on a hill in front of us, at the base of which a stream flowed. Large columns were posted on both sides of this valley. I threw out the rifle brigade in skirmishing order, supported by the 5th Punjab corps. The main line in rear advanced close up to the village under a heavy fire and st§ifmed it gallantly, capturing two colours. " We afterwards advanced and took the higher ground, the rebels bolting without firing a shot. The cowardly fellows might, with a little resolution, have defended the position for some time, as the banks and honey-combed ground would have delayed us under- fire considerably, but they had no confidence either in themselves or in their leaders. Whether they had artillery or not I cannot say. Our cavalry on the right captured a wag gon filled with ammunition, but no guns opened on us. " We proceeded to Beleri, three miles distant, and were there told that the Maulvi had commanded the cavalry in person. This I doubt, as all their leaders valued too much their precious lives. "The next day we marched to Burassie, 12 miles off. The weather was now becoming excessively hot, and poor Augustus Anson, who had held out so long, was taken very unwell with a dreadful sickness and dysentery. He was obliged to get off his horse, and was carried in a doli. " A decoction of the bel fruit, which was now ripe was given to him, and the next day he was in a fair way to recovery. On 15th April we marched for Mahmudabad where it was reported Khdn Ali Khan had collected a force of 3,000 men. On reaching the town, however, we found it deserted, and the chief's house, though surrounded with mud walls and bastions, left undefended." SITAPUR Pargana*— Tahsil Sitapur — District Sitapur. — Pargana Sita pur runs north and south, and in shape resembles a pear ; its length being 20 miles and its greatest breadth 9 miles. It is bounded on the east and south by the Sardyan, a small stream fordable in the dry weather, but rising to a great height in the rains, on the west by pargana Maholi, and on the north by the district Kheri. The superficial area is 115 square miles, of which 67 are cultivated, and the following is the detail in acres : — 43,029 cultivated, ") asgessed 12,221 culturable. J assessed. 8,651 revenue-free, S unasgesSed 9,794 barren, j unassessea. making up a total of 73,695 acres. Its villages (mauzas) number 159, besides which there are 11 grants amounting in all to 170. There are no hills or lakes in the pargana, and its natural features are those of the greater part of Oudh — namely, a flat fertile country with * By Mr, M. Ij. Ferrar, B.A., C.9., Assistant Commissioner. 396 SIT numerous groves. There are many wells ; water being found at a depth of from 20 to 28 feet from the surface of the ground. Beside the bazars in the town of Sitapur there are others at Artia, Sar- di, Khamolia, and Kania. There are no places of special historical interest in the pargana, and the only sacred buildings deserving notice are the Qazi's Imdmbara, the Shiwdla of Shdmndth, Mahadeo, and a temple in honour of the mythical Sita — all in the town of Sitapur. The population as estimated at the census of 1869 is as follows : — Hindus, agricultural 21,790 s Musalman, agricultural 1,050 „ non-agricultural . 20,035 f „ non-agricultural 7,021 21,790s Musal . 20,035 f „ 41,825 ) Total Hindus 41,825 ) Total Musalmans 8,07 1 The total population of the pargana being 49,896, or 434 to the square mile. The Musalmans form about 16 per cent, of the entire population, and the principal castes of the Hindus are Brahmans 6,036, Rajputs 3,918. Kayaths 1,117, Ahirs 2,657, Pdsis 4,092, Chamars 6,725, Kahars 1,596, Lodhs 1,085, Muraos 1,766, Kurmis 1,196. The amount of cultivated land per head of agricultural population is 190 of an acre, and of assessed land 2-4. There are no mines or quarries in the pargana with the exception of some inconsiderable kankar diggings, lime being manufactured from the kankar. The manufacture of sugar is also carried on to some extent, and with these exceptions the productions of the district under notice are of the ordinary description. The present assessment amounts to Rs. 66,079, being an increase of Rs. 9,868, or 17| per cent, on the summary settlement, and giving the following incidence -. — O n cultivated land 19 6 per acre. assessed „ l «J * •• ,, total. area „ ... .» ••• u is n » The pargana contains 9,697 houses, which gives an average of 51 individuals to each house. Of 159 villages only five are owned by taluqdars, and of the remaining 154 so many as 115 are held by Gaur Chhattris, and only nine by_ the Nandwdni Chauhdns who preceded them in the dominion of the district. The climate is good, the productive powers of the soil a good average, and the state of agriculture fair. The rents are almost entirely paid in kind. The history of the pargana is traditional only and is as follows : — Rdm Chandar and his consort Sita are said to have sojourned in the place SIT 397 where Sitapur now stands, which town was founded in her honour by King Bikramajit, who raised a temple to the heroine and called the name of the place Sitapur or the city of Sita. To come to later times, in 590 AH. (AD. 1092), or about seven centuries ago, a tribe of Chauhdns under Gahildeo, a relative of King Pirthiraj of Delhi, invaded the district and drove out the then possessors who were Kurmis and low-caste tribes, and founded a fort in Saddatnagar then called Bhik Gahildeo, and his successors reigned for 10 generations it is said, each reign lasting 50 years. This is manifestly incorrect, but the people believe it and give the dynasty thus : I. Gahildeo, II. Lohang Sah, III. Suraj Sdh, IV. Sujan Sdh, V. Ddra Sdh, VI. Lachhman Sah, VII. Kalian Sdh, yilL Chandar Sen, IX. Gutram, X. Hiraman. These Chauhdns are locally known as Nandbansis, and they possess at the present day nine villages only, one of them being the ancient Bhik, now Saddatnagar. So Gahildeo and his descendants held sway for five centuries until the reign of Aurangzeb, when (in 1070 A.H.) a tribe of Gaur Chhattris, led by another Chandar Sen from the North- West Provinces, invaded the country and dispossessed the Chauhdns from the sovereignty, leaving them Sitapur, Saddatnagar, and Tehar. This warrior king had four sons named Ajit Mai, Nag Mai, Kharak Sen, and Udho Ram, whose descendants are now distinguished from each other by the names of their four progenitors, the Nagmals for instance, being different from the Ajit Mais. They all belong to that caste of Gaurs, which is known as the Bamhan Gaur caste, and they still possess the greater part of the pargana, though a stranger to both them and the Chauhans possesses the town of Sitapur, Gur Parshad Qanungo, whose title rests on a deed of sale to him from the former proprietors. As constituted by TodarMalthe pargana consisted of 1282 villages with certain Chaks and fractional parts of a village. The summary settlement recognized 312 villages, which have now at regular settlement been demarcated into 170. With the exception of the Rdmlila festival celebrated in the town of Sitapur there are no fairs at all held in the pargana. In the Ain-i-Akbari this pargana under the name Chhftfipur occurs in the list of muhdls making up " Sarkar Khairabad," and to the present day the name is generally pronounced by the villagers as there spelled. SITAPUR* — Pargana Sitapue— Tahsil Sitapur — District Sitapub. — '• Sitapur, the chief town of the pargana of the same name is situated on the small river Sardyan, and is 52 miles north-west from Lucknow, and 53 from Shahjahanpur, the high road between which two places passes through it. The name is derived from that of Rdm Chandar's consort, who is said to have tarried in this locality some time during her pilgrim age ; and the town itself was founded after the Musalmans had captured * By Mr. M, L. Ferrar, B.A., C.S., Assistant CommissioDer. 398 SIT— SRI Delhi in her honour by certain Nirbansi Chhattris, whose descendants, as Nandbansis, held it down to modern times. It now belongs to a Kdyath family. The population numbers 5,780, being pretty equally divided between Hindus and Musalmans, being about 5 of the former to 6 of the latter. There are besides the ordinary Musalman and Hindu religious buildings a temple in honour of Debi, and said to have been founded by Sita, a num ber of Government buildings, such as a school-house, district offices, jail, dispensary, &c. ; and as the place is at the same time the headquarters of a Commissioner, and is garrisoned by European and native troops, there are good bazars in which not only country but also foreign commodities can be purchased. From Sitapur travellers can proceed to Lucknow or Shdhjahdnpur by dak gari, the roads to either being metalled, and to Hardoi 40 miles, and Kheri 30, by palanquin dak on a good unmetalled road. The town and station are prettily situated, with good groves in all directions ; an extensive serpentine artificial lake is a great ornament. The Sarayan river meandering to the south-east is fordable in the dry weather, but in the rains rises to a great height, and occasionally as in 1870 floods the town. There is no water communication with any other town ; neither canal nor railway come near the place. There are no manufactures, no very large fairs, though 8,000 people are said to attend at the Kans-ka-mela in Bhddon (August), nor is the place in any way historically famous. There are 56 masonry and 980 mud-built houses in the native town, attending the school are 170 boys. The bazar sales are estimated to average annually Rs. 4,82,010. The town lies in longitude east 80°43' and in north latitude 27°35'. SRINAGAR Pargana— Tahsil LAKHtMPUR— District KHERI.— The par gana as it is at present constituted consists of the old pargana of Srma- gar and the trans-Ul portion of the old pargana of Kheri, consisting of 51 villages of that pargana which have been transferred since the census was taken Previous to this there had been a rectification of frontiers along the Chauka, andthecis-Chaukaportionof pargana Dhaurahra, consist ing of eleven villages and one grant, were transferred to Srinagar ; on the other hand, the trans-Chauka villages of the old pargana of Srinagar now belong to Dhaurahra. The pargana is very irregularly shaped something between a square and a circle. It is bounded on the west by pargana Bhur • there is no natural boundary, and the line of separation is irregular and about 21 miles in length ; on this side the pargana is only 15 miles in length from north to south. On the south it is 24 miles broad, and s , separated from Pargana Kheri by the river Ul, and on the north it u 22 miles broad, and separated from pargana Dhaurahra by the river Chauka. At the north-west corner at Pachperi Ghdt it just touches pargana JNigna- san On the east there is no natural boundary, and here the pargana is only seven miles long from north to south. It is bounded on this side by the pargana of Tambaur in the district of Sitapur. The original geographical feature of this pargana is the river Chauka or Sdrda, and the history and topography of the pargana would to a great SRI 399 extent consist of an account of the numerous changes in the course of this river. At Buseha in Bhur, which lies to the north of the village of Srinagar in the pargana of that name, there occurred many years ago a great and important change in the river's course ; this has now to be des cribed. Up to about 40 years ago the Chauka seems to have flowed from Buseha to Pachperi, and so on in its present channel, along the frontier of Srinagar and Dhaurahra. In these days a small back water of the river left it at Buseha and passed under Srinagar to the south, and after a winding course of about 12 miles, it was joined by the river Kandwa 'under the old village of Mahewa, the headquarters of the Mahewa taluqa. Those two villages were large, populous, and prosperous places ; both had bazars and temples and mango groves ; the former had a large brick fort built at a time when Srinagar gave its name to a taluqa of Muhammadan Bisens, of which it was the headquarters. About forty years ago an unusually heavy rainfall caused the Chauka to rise about Buseha beyond its banks. It swept over into the back water communicating with the Kandwa, rushed up it, and covered the surrounding low country with deep floods over an extent of about 50 square miles. These floods caused widespread ruin ; Mahewa and Srinagar and several intervening villages were completely destroyed, and a large tract of country was depo pulated and remained for many years a desolate waste. After the autumn rains had ceased, the main body of water continued to flow down the bed of the back water, partially deserting the old chan nel on the north. The Kandwa, which flowed into the back water at Mahewa, had up to this time given its own name to the united streams from that point, and they had flowed on till they rejoined the Chauka at Rahria, 16 miles east of Mahewa. But from this time the little Kandwa lost its identity by its connexion with its big neighbour, and for the last 16 miles of its course the united stream became known as the Chauka, and by way of distinction I will now call it the southern Chauka. It is gene rally called the Chauka in this pargana while the name Sdrda is reserved for the more northerly stream. After this for about 30 years the Chauka flowed in two large streams ; its own channel to the north and that of the Kandwa or south Chauka to the south, which channels now average about six miles apart. About ten years ago the fickle waters again completely returned into their old bed and left the back water communicating with the Kandwa quite dry. Thus that branch of the river Chauka which I call the southern Chauka does not now carry the waters of the real Chauka in any part of its course. It is merely a continuation of the Kandwa and its tributaries. In the last few years since the back water dried up, the villages of Srinagar and Mahewa and those between them have greatly improved, and will pro bably in time regain all their former prosperity. Population has been attracted in large numbers in the last few years, but a considerable period must still elapse before the villages in this part of the pargana are once more as well inhabited and cultivated as they used to be. The high ridge as marking'the southern limit of the river Chauka in pargana Bhur has almost disappeared at the point where the river 400 SRI enters pargana Srinagar at the village of that name. It appears to cross over to the north side of the river between Buseha and Srinagar, for we find a high and steep bank bounding the Chauka on the north in the villages of Sona Adlabad and Munra Munri in pargana Nighdsan, and running off thence into pargana Dhaurahra. There are ridges of varying height along both banks of the southern Chauka throughout the whole of its course, from Srinagar where, though now dry, its waters used to leave the Chauka to Rahria where, conveying the waters of the Kandwa and its tributaries which it has received on its way, it rejoins the Chauka. - There is this difference between the ridges on the north and the south bank of the southern Chauka, the ridge on the south bank gradually rises into a still higher tract of country which reaches as far as the river Ul ; the ridge on the north bank gradually sinks into a very low plain inter sected by ravines and covered with marshes. This plain has an average width of about three miles, and it then rises almost imperceptibly towards the north into another ridge which bounds the southern bank of the Chauka. The Chauka seems to resemble deltaic rivers in its formation of these parallel ridges along its sides, the usual course of such rivers is to cast up silt along their sides, thus gradually making the lands through which they flow higher than those somewhat further off. So much for the river Chauka. The Ul, which bounds the pargana on the south, is a very different river. It has a low tarai on both sides varying in width from a quarter of a mile to half a mile, and this tarai it overflows in the autumn rains, but never gets beyond it. It is a slow sluggish stream with a small volume of water, an average width of twenty yards, and an average depth of 10 feet Be yond the tarai the land rises by a gentle ascent into a flat plain of fertile soil which has an average width of 3 or 4 miles, and bounds the Ul along its whole course in this pargana. In this plain are situated all the 51 villao-es which have been transferred to this pargana from Kheri, and this tract bears a greater resemblance to pargana Kheri than to the rest ot pargana Srinagar. After the Chauka and the Ul the Kandwa remains to be mentioned ; this river has been shortly described in the article on pargana Bhtir It enters this pargana at Mitra Bhoji on the west frontier at a distance of three miles from the Ul, and flowing parallel to that river for ten miles, joins the southern Chauka at Mahewa as has been mentioned above. On its way it is joined by a little stream called the Kutnaiya on the south and by the Jandi on the north. The Jandi enters the Srinagar pat-a aJBiLyapur on the Bhur frontier and after receiving the waters of the Mihanni ana the Kusaiya joins the Kandwa a mile above Mahewa. The tract of country through which flow these small streams gradually converging to one point like" the spokes of a wheel is low and marshy ^and lies on a level intermediate between the high fertile plain along tne.Ul and the gdnjar country bounding the Chauka. It is evident then that the geography of the pargana at once suggests the chaks into which it should be divided. First we have the plain along SRI— SUB 401 the Ul, just beyond the Ul river plain comes the low marshy tract which is watered by the little Kandwa and its still smaller tributa ries, then still further to the north and east are the gdnjar lands along the river Chauka. These naturally constitute two chaks. The one consists of the ridges along the north bank of the southern Chauka and the south bank of the Chauka ; the other consists of the low plain between Aiese ridges. In describing these chaks I take the ganjar country first. An explanation of the name appears necessary, but I am unable to give its etymology. It is applied generally to the low plains lying between the Chauka and the Kauridla rivers and stretching away to the foot of the Himalaya range. Inhabitants of the country more to the south apply the term also to the plain between the Ul and the Chauka. But the residents of those parts for instance of Aliganj would repudiate the name. I am told that the word is derived from gde (a cow) and means the cattle pasturing country. I have said that there is a high ridge along the north bank of the southern Chauka, and another high ridge along the southern bank of the Chauka or Sarda. This follows the river along its southern bank throughout the whole length of the pargana. During the rains the waters rise and flow off out of the Chauka through various back waters towards the south and south-east ; and as the surface of the land rises up towards the ridges along the two rivers, and sinks into a wide low plain at a distance of a few miles from them, the floods discharged by the Chauka through these back waters first inundate the low plain, and then gradually in a very wet season rise up over the ridges to the north and south, and flow over either into the southern Chauka or back again into the Sdrda ; the whole of the two ganjar chaks is therefore more or less liable to inundations, but the waters do not stay so long in the land as they do in the low plains along the river in pargana Bhur. The villages are large and contain many small hamlets scattered all over their areas ; their sites as in Bhur generally escape the floods ; but mango groves are here numerous, and the scatterred khair and giilar, i.e., catechu and wild fig trees so abundant in the more northern pargana do not form here a chief feature of the landscape. All over the gdnjar country population has increased greatly during the last ten years, and prosperous fairly cultivated villages now stand in places where ten years ago there was nothing but grass jungle. The entire pargana contains an area of 229 square miles divided into 143 villages. Of this area of 146,339 acres 76,962 are cultivated, 49,020 are arable, and 19,120 are barren; the population is 75,840 at the rate of 331 to the square mile; the proprietary rights are mainly divided between the taluqdars of Oel and Mahewa, who acquired possession as a revenue arrangement about thirty-five years before annexation. A few villages belong to the qanungo of Kheri. SUBBHA Pargana — Tahsil Haidargarh — District Bara Banki. — This pargana is bounded on the north by the Gumti, on the east by pargana Jagdispur of Sultanpur, on the west by pargana Haidargarh, and on the south by pargana Inhauna of Rae Bareli. Its area is 88 square miles or ! 56,467 acres. Of cultivated land there are 30,783 acres, and of uncultivated 51 402 SUB 25,684; the irrigated area*is as much as 19,471 acres. In some parts which are cut up by ravines the surface is uneven, but the greater part of the pargana islevel. The soil is chiefly loam. The climate is salubrious. The river Gumti flows from west to east on the north border of the pargana ; its length here is 24 miles; it skirts 15 villages. Water is met with at from 50 to 60 feet. The chief thoroughfares are the road from Lucknow to Sultanpur, and that from Rae Bareli to Daryabad. There is also a third tract to Richh Ghdt. There are ferries at 12 places on the Gumti. There are no manufactures except that of country cloth. Schools are at Subeha, Bhatwdra, Granwdn, Kursia, Pachori, and Muhammadpur. There are post and registry offices at Subeha. The Government revenue amounts to Rs. 66,105. The tenure is as follows : — Taluqdari ... ... t ... ,„ 22 villages. Zamindari ... ... ... _.. 3 Pattidari ... ... ... "„ 6, " 86 The population is 52,510. In Subeha there is a shrine of ShadmanShahid where a fair is held every Jeth (May) ; the gathering is exclusively local. Subeha and Chaubisi are villages possessing more than 2,000 inhabitants. This has been known as a pargana since Akbar's time. The Bhars were the former owners of the soil, but the Musalmans drove them away about 900 years ago under Masaud who was killed at Bahraich ; in later times the Bais obtained possession. The taluqdars of the pargana are Chaudhri Murtaza Husen and Bech-un-nisa. SUBEHA — Pargana Subeha — Tahsil Haidargarh — District Bara Banki. — This town lies in latitude 26° 38' north, longitude 81° 34' east, 52 miles north-west of Sultanpur, and 30 miles east of Bara Banki near the river Gumti. The tahsil station of Haidargarh is 10 miles to the south-west. There are good many tanks and masonry wells, but most of the former are so shallow that in the rainy season the water overflows them. Depth of wells is from 50 to 60 feet. There is a market held here on Mondays and Thursdays. Country cloth is the only manufacture. There is a school for teaching Urdu, Persian, and Nagri, also a police post and a registry office. The population is 2,754, and the number of houses is 691. The origin of the name and the date of foundation of the town are lost in obscurity. It is supposed to have been in the dominions of the Bhars prior to the invasion by Sayyad Salar. The Moslems then seized it, and they form a large portion of the inhabitants still. The principal inhabi tant, the late Chaudhri Sarfaraz Ahmad, was a large landed proprietor ; his ancestors, Khwaja Bahrain and Khwaja Nizam, are alleged to have accompanied Sayyad Sdlar and settled here. But the family was obscure till 1033 A.H. (A. D. 1616), when Shekh Nasir was appointed chaudhri of the pargana Subeha by the Emperor Shah Jahan, His descendants divided the pargana amongst themselves, but the office of chaudhri remained undivided, and in 1209 (A. D. 1792), Chaudhri Imdm Bakhsh commenced to absorb all the separate properties into his own SUB— SUK 403 estate. Chaudhri Sarfardz Ahmad continued this career of aggrandize ment; he acquired the Bhilwal estate also in this district/ and was granted another near Simrauta in Rae Bareli as a reward for his exertions after the mutiny. His successors are Murtaza Husen and his widow Bech-un- nisa. A fort was built here by Mirza Quli; Chakladar, in the reign of Asif-ud-daula, and a tahsildar was stationed here till 1227 (A. D. 1810). The hfte owner of the property built a good brick house, and laid out a garden on the banks of the Gumti, SUDXmX'NPUR — Pargana Dalmau — Tahsil Lalganj — District Rae Bareli — This village is situated two miles north of the Ganges ; it is so called after Sudaman Singh, its founder, a Janwar Chhattri, who came here about 500 years ago. It is situated in rather low ground which receives the drainage of a large area and is greatly cut up by ravines. The ground rises gradually, and the skirts of the village are buried in groves. The population is 2,140. There is a temple and fair in honour of Kakoran, a Bhar hero, killed by Musalmans, referred to in Dalmau par gana article. SUKHETA river — District Kheri — Has its source in the Shahjahanpur district in latitude 27°55' north longitude 80c7' east, forming the boundary between Shahjahanpur and Kheri. It flows in a south-easterly direction for about 20 miles from its source ; it then runs about 2 miles east by north, and finally turning in a south-westerly direction, enters into the Hardoi district about 23 miles from its source in latitude 27° 39' north, longitude 80°13' east. Following the same direction it flows into the Garra in latitude 27° 18' north, longitude 80°2' east. Its total length may be estimated at about 84 miles. It is a torrent in the rains, and cuts off communication with Shdhjahanpur. 404 SUL SULTANPUR DISTRICT ARTICLE* ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS. I.— Physical features. II.— Agriculture and Commerce. III.— The people. IV.— Administrative features. V.— History. CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL FEATURES. Change of territory— General appearance— Rivers and streams— Jhils— Natural produc tions—Mineral productions— Fauna— Climate— Rainfall— Medical aspects. Sultanpur. — The district of Sultanpur lies on both sides of the Gumti, being bounded by Fyzabad on the north, by Partabgarh on the south, and Jaunpur on the east. The district as at present constituted differs entirely from that which existed prior to 1869. It will appear that there were formerly twelve parganas in Sultanpur, of these seven remained in the new district which also received four — Isauli, Sultanpur Baraunsa, Alde- mau, and Surharpurf from Fyzabad. Of the five remaining one (Subeha) went to Bara Banki, and the four others — Inhauna, Rokha Jais, Simrauta, and Mohanganj — to Rae Bareli. The area of the district, however, was little altered, and the population only rose from 930,000 to 996,000. The object was to render the district more compactly arranged round the headquarters and to secure easier means of access to the courts and authorities for all the inhabitants. This object was achieved at considerable cost, and the confusion of statis tics so caused has not yet been cleared up. The old district. Tahsil. Ils-HAHKA MOHANGANJ Pargana. Inhauna ••• Jagdispur ... Subeha ... Total Rokha Jais ... Simrauta ... Gaura Jamun Mohanganj ... Total Number of mauzas or townshipB. Total area in Brtish statutemiles. 77 166.86 100154 88 329 342 110 73 9175 164 97 93 80 349 421 Remarks. " Most of the information contained in this article is taken from the settlement report. f Part only of the old Surliarpur pargana was transferred to Sultanpur ; there are thus two parganas of this name— one in this and the other in the Fyzabad district. SUL The old district — (concluded.) '405 Tahsil. Pargana. Number of mauzas or townships. Total area in British statute miles. Remarks. ( Amethi ... 1 Amethi ... ... Isauli ... ... Tappa Asl ... Total SultanpurChanda ... Total Distriet Total 364 85 97 299 6167 546 427 Sultanpur ... • 299 290 246 130 689 376 1,913 1,569 The additions to the district then comprise the trans-Gumti parganas of Isauli, Sultanpur Baraunsa, Aldemau, and Surharpur ; a description of them is given under the respective headings, and for an account of the old district of Sultanpur, which still constitutes the main portion of the new one, the settlement officer may be consulted. The present 'district lies between 81°36' and 82° 43' east longitude, and between 26° 3' and 26° 38' north latitude. Its extreme length is above 80 miles; its extreme breadth about 38. Slope and watershed. — With the exception of a gradual and scarcely perceptible slope from north-west to south-east, its surface is generally level, being broken only by ravines by which its drainage is effected. Its watershed is identical with that of the Gumti and Sai rivers, starting from a point nine miles west of Haidargarh in the Bara Banki district ; it passes a little to the south of Jais and Sultanpur ; its altitude above mean sea level being there 351 and 352 feet respectively, and thence onward to Daudpur some miles east of Partabgarh. General appearance. — The various parts of the district present by no means a uniform aspect ; the scenery of many spots on the Gumti is exceed ingly pretty, but its immediate neighbourhood is for the most part a black and ravine cut tract, the dreariness of which is sometimes relieved only by mango groves and single trees, and sometimes even these are wanting. The road from Lucknow to Jaunpur again traverses nearly throughout its entire length in this district; highly cultivated and well wooded villages, rich in landscapes as picturesque and varied as a level country can display, while in strong contrast with this fertile range there lies on the extreme south a broad belt of rice land which, interspersed with large arid plains and swampy jhils and marshes, possesses the dismal and uninteresting character peculiar to such vicinities. 406' SUL Rivers and streams. — Not a single river, unless rain-streams be dignified with the name, intersectsthe interior of the district. It is traversedhowever for a considerable distance by the Gumti. The Gumti takes its rise from the Fuljar Tal in an alluvial tract between the rivers Deoli or Garra and Gogra in the district of Shahjahanpur; it has a mean south-easterly direc tion, but its course is often extremely sinuous, a feature from which its name is sometimes with questionable accuracy supposed to have arisen.* It first touches this district on the west, and then flows along its entire north-eastern border at the opposite extremity of which it enters the district of Jaunpur. Within these limits its bed is generally regular, and consists of a superficial stratum of clay overlying an inferior one of sand. The former is usually about five or six feet in depth ; the latter is more uneven ; in some places it is of immense thickness, in others it has been penetrated and found to rest on a second kankar-dotted formation of clay of yet unascertained dimensions. In some places, however, the regularity of the bed is broken by large and curious kankar reefs, the most remarkable of which is in the vicinity of the civil station, where it nearly hinders the passage of the river. The water of the Gumti is sweet and wholesome but not always clear, often being after rain has fallen of a muddy yellow colour, probably attri butable to the nature of its bed. Its banks differ greatly from each other, the high bank is generally lofty and abrupt, pierced here and there by ravines hollowed out by the scour of rain floods; though in some places strips of low lying land intervene between the ordinary stream of the river and the high level, the left bank is low, and the land behind it, on the Fyzabad side, ascends by a very gentle and gradual incline. Its affluents individually insignificant are numerically important, and fed by them its stream is liable to great and sudden changes. The degree to which it may be affec ted by this cause in the rainy season will be seen from the following particulars : — From November to June its ordinary breadth is under 200 and its depth about 12 or 13 feet, its velocity being then about two miles an hour, and its volume about 5,000 cubic feet : in the heavy floods of last September it attained a depth of 48 feet, its velocity increasing to close upon four miles an hour, and its volume, where it flowed through the embankments of the new pile bridge at Sultanpur, to more than 100,000 cubic feet; all this time, moreover, an escape was open to it in the inundation of the low lands on its left bank for a distance of a mile or more. * If this derivation were accurate, the name should be " GMmti." The absence of the h might perhaps be explained by the extremely evanescent nature of that letter, but the correct Sanskrit name is well known, and is not " Ghumti" b at " Gomati." The Gomti is mentioned in the Vishnu Puran under its Sanskrit name (Asiatic Society's Journal, I., 10, 1865). It is also referred to in the following passage of the " Junia-ut-tawankli (A.D. 1310) :— " Afterwards the waters of the Ganga, the Bahab, the Kuhi, and the Sarjn unite near the city of Bari." For General Cunningham says that the Kuhi is un doubtedly the Gomti, the union of the Sarju with the Gomti being a fable (Elliott's History of India, Vol. I., 49-50). Later Muhammadan writers, e.g., Babar and Abul Fazl, call it Kodi or Godi. In the " Tarikh-i-Farishta it is called Kawah (Elliott, III., 307)." SUL 407 Of rain-streams the most important are the Kandu, the Pili, the Tengha, the Nandhia. The Kandu takes its rise in a morass in the village of Raepur, pargana Simrauta, and in the upper or western portion of its course skirts the Inhauna pargana, being there a shallow stream known by the name of Naiya. Further on, near Jagdispur, it becomes a small river with rugged banks, and is then called the Kandu, under this name it proceeds onward to the Gumti with which it ultimately unites itself, forming during the last portion of its course the boundary between the Isauli and Jagdispur parganas. The Pili nadi becomes in the rains a considerable stream, but at other times consists of a string of disconnected jhils and swamps. Their ramifications cover a great portion of the south of Chanda, but where they commence it is im possible to say— not apparently anywhere in this district. They appear rather to belong to a vast system, and to be continuous with other similar ones in Rae Bareli, the connection being maintained by those in the Amethi and Mohanganj parganas. The Tengha is so called from a village of the same name in pargana Amethi, where it is spanned by an old masonry bridge erected about half a century ago by Mir Ghulam Husen, the Nazim of the period. In the first portion of its course it consists of two branches, the village of Sukulpur being the point of bifurcation after flowing south-east for a distance of five miles from that village, it crosses the borders of the Partabgarh district, and falls eventually into the Chamrauri, a tributary of the Sai. The Nandhia nadi first appears in the village of that name in pargana Tappa Asl ; for some way it holds a course parallel to one of the branches of the Tengha, but ultimately unites with the main body of that stream, at the point where it dis charges itself into the Chamrauri. Both the Tengha, and the Nandhia are streams of some consequence as their channels are deep though narrow, and form the outlet for the superfluous waters of extensive series of jhils. Lakes. — One of these series known as jhil Lodhai commences in the village of Bhalgaon and stretches through Goawan to Narain, a distance of thirteen miles, where the lacustrine formation ceases, and is succeeded by one of the branches of the Tengha. A second series is composed principally of the " Raja's Bandh," a dam of great magnitude in the village of Katra Rani, thrown up between twenty and thirty years ago by Raja Bisheshwar Singh of Amethi, the name, though strictly speaking it refers to the dam itself, is commonly given to a vast sheet of water several miles in length, the collection of which is in great measure due to it. Below the Bandh the line of jhils is resumed, and goes on until it gives place to the second branch of the Tengha. This branch is naturally of less importance than it formerly was owing to the interception of so much water by the Raja's Bandh, but it proved useful when that embankment burst two years ago in carrying off the tremendous quantity of water which was then set free, and which for a time caused a partial inundation of some of the adjacent villages. The jhils connected with the Nandhia nadi may be traced back from the head of that stream to the village of Bisara in the Isauli pargana ; from the latter as far as Dhamaur it is called Jhil Naiya, the remaining portion of it being known as Bandh Bujhwa. 408 SUL Natural productions: vegetable. — Of woods and forests though none now remain, tradition tells of the existence within the last sixty years. One large tract of dense jungle, it is said, extended in an unbroken stretch from the residence of the Raja of Amethi quite up to the provincial road to Lucknow, and the Bhadaiyan jungle, also, which even after the mutiny covered more than a thousand acres, is said to have been the remains of an extensive wood, patches of which are still to be found in villages far removed from Bhadaiyan. The only tree-covered tracts of spontaneous growth at the present day are dhak jungles. These, however, cannot be called forests of which they lack the stateliness and density ; seen in the twilight at the season of the year their leaves are gathered for fuel, their crooked trunks and branches present the appearance of a number of gaunt weird figures in all sorts of grotesque and fantastic attitudes. The absence of forest scarcely furnishes matter for regret. If they have come under the axe, it is because it is more profitable to cultivate the land they occupied ; and a satisfactory substitute for them, devoid of their iinhealthiness, is to be found in the large and noble groves with which the district is plentifully studded. Two or three well known single groves are over fifteen acres in extent, and elsewhere separately planted ones combine to fill an area of more than half that size. The trees most in favour for groves are the mango, the jamun, and the mahua, interspersed now and then, especially near village sites, with an aonla, giilar, or kathal ; the mahua is also often found alone or in clumps of two or three in open spots, as are the bel, the kaitha, and the nfm. Grand old solitary trees of immense magnitude, the banyan, the pakar and the pipal, planted perhaps in the days of Bhar supre macy, here and there form a prominent feature in a village landscape; and the cotton tree and the dhak are at one season of the year rendered con spicuous for a long distance round by the brilliancy of their profuse and gaudy blossoms. The tamarind and the palm which affect damp and feverish localities are comparatively rare in the district ; such as there are lie principally near old Muhammadan qasbas. The babul is common everywhere. The sissoo and the tun, though they seem to thrive with very moderate care, are only found in the civil station and in road-side avenues planted from nurseries at that place. The asok, the teak, and the Millino-tonia are of recent introduction, and must, with regard to this dis trict, be at present considered garden trees. A teak raised from seed sown a few years ago is now eighteen feet in height, and has a fine straight stem, with a girth at its thickest part of eighteen inches. It is already- valuable for its handsome foliage, but, as it takes from sixty to eighty years to come to maturity, it will be time enough two or three generations hence to base an opinion on it as to whether trees of its class could he profitably grown in this climate for their timber. Of horticultural produce a great variety is to be found in the public gardens at Sultanpur, and also in many private ones. Most sorts of European vegetables will thrive in the cold season, though fresh seed requires to be imported annually for them; the cabbage, cauliflower, beet-root, carrot, and tomato reach great perfection ; the artichoke, asparagus, and celery, the pea and various sorts of beans, though inferior to the former, are still of a very fair quality ; brocoli and Brussels sprouts have been found to succeed SUL 409 but are not commonly grown ; lettuces and cress last during the greater portion of the year. The vine and the strawberry have been cultivated with considerable success, the pine apple grows, but has never yet borne fruit, whether it is capable of being made to do so is, I think, an open question. There are lechi, apple, and pear trees in the Sultanpur gardens, but their fruit is 6T little value. The orange, lemon, guava, and custard apple, the peach, pomegranate, the plantain, and the kamrak are more common. They are to be met with in private gardens all over the district, into which, indeed, many kinds — not only of fruit, but of vegetables also — have already found their way. It is probable that with these examples of the possi bility of successful cultivation before their eyes, the more skilful agricultural castes will soon venture to make the experiment of field cultivation with many of the more hardy vegetables. The potato is already ceasing to be uncommon. I have seen enclosed fields of it in Mohanganj, Chanda, and Isauli. Some classes, however, are said to have a prejudice against it. Minerals. — Kankar, a carbonate of lime, containing silica and oxide of iron, is the only mineral production of the district, in nearly every part of which it is found in great abundance. It lies at a distance of from a few inches to 3 or 4 feet from the surface, in a stratum of about the same thickness. It is of four sorts — bichua, black in appearance, and a first rate road metal; mathia, a lighter softer kind, with which a quantity of clay or earth is always intermixed ; pathria, a sandy stony metal, and chatan, a hardy yellow metal good for roads, which neither mathia nor pathria is. The kankar reefs of the Gumti have been already mentioned ; some of these contain a fossil formation of a yellow colour from which excellent lime is to be obtained. A bed about five acres in extent, and about four feet from the surface of Multani-matti or Armenian bole, an earth used for dyeing purposes, which has been recently found in pargana Chanda, may perhaps be worthy of notice. Animals. — Very few wild animals infest the district, and even those, with the exception of wolves, are rather mischievous than dangerous. Wolves haunt the neighbourhood of ravines ; nil-gae are found in a few of the denser jungle .tracts ; wild pigs are comparatively scarce, sugarcane fields, furnishing at once both food and shelter, are their favourite resort, " the wild hog's reedy home ;" jackals are ubiquitous ; monkeys are not numerous, but where they do take up their abode, commit sad depreda tions on the crops. It is worthy of remark that deer and antelope, so common in other portions of the province, have no place whatever in the zoology of this district. Game of various sorts — the hare, wild goose, partridge, quail, and wild ducks being the most common — is plentiful in the cold weather ; fish is found in large quantities both in the river and in large tanks and jhils. The mullet and the rohu are held in most esteem ; the former, which is particularly fine, is confined to the Gumti ; the latter is more general. Of useful animals there are few indigenous breeds, and what there are, miserably poor. The horse is altogether wanting ; the nearest approach to it is the ordinary wretched pony of the country ; the standard of excellence 52 41(0 STJL of horned cattle, the buffalo, excepted, is similarly low ; the supply of the better sort of these animals is kept up by importation. Horses may often be purchased of itinerant dealers who pay occasional visits to most towns of any consequence ; but the husbandman who wishes to renew his team of oxen generally prefers to undertake a journey to one of the great cattle depdts and there make his own selection'. Nanpara, Dhaurahra, and Khairigarh are the places he most commonly resorts to. "There are three descriptions of produce," says a French writer,* "which man may demand from cattle besides the manure, the hide, and the offal, namely, their labour, their milk, and their flesh. Of these three the least profitable is the first " The French agriculturist requires labour from his cattle in preference to everything else ; the British agriculturist looks chiefly to the milk and the meat ; the Indian agriculturist, different from both, contents himself with the labour of the ox and the milk of the cow ; it is only where non-Hindu communities reside that the flesh of those animals becomes a source of profit. Their hides indeed, in the first place, supply all local wants, and any surplus there may be is carried to some neighbouring bazar, to be thence forwarded directly or indirectly to Calcutta or Bombay, and forms an infinitesimal quota of the immense num ber annually exported from those places. The labour demanded from the ox is to carry the packsaddle and draw the cart and plough. Of sheep and goats large flocks are often kept with the principal object of; obtaining the valuable manure they afford. When used for this pur pose they are folded on the land the manure is required for, and the owner receives his remuneration in kind ; a goat or sheep being thought a fair return for the loan of the flock for a night. The goat is further useful for its milk and the sheep for its wool, which is manufactured into coarse blankets for the wear of the village population. Both of these animals are slaughtered to a limited extent for food. The indulgence is sometimes,indeed, restricted to festival occasions, and even then is invested with a sacrificial character; but if it is not more common, it arises as much from the comparative expensiveness of the diet as from the vegeta rian propensities of the Hindus. Climate — The climate> judged by a tropical 'or sub-tropical standard, is mild, temperate,. and healthy. From October to June westerly winds prevail, and during the first four of those months are dry, cold, and bracing, more particularly after rain, of which there is almost invariably a slight fall about Christmas. Towards the end of February they begin to increase in force, their temperature becoming higher, and by the end of March, if not earlier, the hot winds usually set in. These, however, are much less trying than they are in many places further to the west. They do not begin for some hours after day-break, and seldom last long after dark, while they occasionally cease for several days together. In these intervals, which become more and more frequent as the _ hot weather progresses, a north-east wind takes its place. About the middle of June the rainy season commences, and with occasional breaks of greater or less duration conti nues till the end of September or beginning of October ; sometimes, but • liural Economy of England, 31. 29 '0 32 0 42 5 26 3 43 5 88 4 66 9 40 5 32 0 46 6 39 2 SUL 411 not often, lasting till the middle of the latter month ; the wind during this period scarcely ever leaves the east. The following statement exhibits the rainfall for eleven years* : — Inches. Tenths. 1865 1866 1867 1868 ... 1869 ... 1870 ... 1871 ... 1872 1873 ... 1874 ... ... ... ... 1875 ... ... ... ... Average for eleven years ... 41 5 The rainfall up to date — September 5th, 1877 — has been from June 1st 10' 7*. That for the same period during the preceding five years has been — 1872 ... 1873 I ~74 ... 1875 ... 1876 ... ... h Average ... 34 7 The accompanying table exhibits the rainfall 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. These amounted only to 1'7 inches — not sufficient to moisten the earth for the plough and to water the early rice. * This is for the whole district. The figureB given subsequently are from Obgetva- tions taken at the Sultanpur dispensary only, hence the difference. Inches. Tenths, 39 2 82 2 54 8 27 0 17 5 412 SUL Second, — The main monsoon which commences in July and ends at the commencement of October. This was sufficient in both years, but the fall m September, 1873, was only 37 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 ploughings, were wholly deficient in both years. Fourth,— The January-February rains, which were wholly wanting in 1869 and in 1874, were under an inch. Speaking broadly then the rains commenced well in 1868, badly in 1873; they ended with a fair 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 about an inch in 1874. Rainfall from June 1st to Octo ber 1st . From October 1st to December 3lst. In June ... ... ••• In September ... «. In October ... Date of rain'commencing „ of rain ending ... ... Rain in January February of en suing year. 1868. 25-4 00 1873. 36 1 02 3-5 >-7 4-7 3-9 00 00 June 16th, June 13th. September 21st. September 16th. 00 09 The following memorandum on medical aspects was furnished by the Civil Surgeon, Dr. A. Cameron : — Vital statistics. — There is no registration of births carried on at present in this district. Birth statistics appear to have been collected in 1869 and 1870, but their collection was discontinued in the latter year, Registered deaths per 1,000 of population. 183 18-35 7-83 5-5 SUL 413 The registraton of deaths has been attempted during the last 5 or 6 years, but hitheno the numbers registered have been very far below the truth. The numbers for the last four years were — 1870 1871 1872 1873 It is needless to say that these are altogether impossible figures repre senting as they do an average duration of life of somewhere between 55 and 180 years. The agency at present employed for the collection of these statistics is that of the village cbaukidars who are called upon to report the deaths that take place in their villages once a month, or oftener in epidemic seasons, at the police stations. It was hoped when this agency was adop ted in 1870, that it would yield better results than the one previously employed, and for some time the number of deaths registered was consi derably higher than it had been, but the returns of the last two years show that the improvement was only temporary. Endemic diseases. — The principal endemic diseases of the district are fevers, of which the prevailing types are intermittent and remit tent. Continued fevers are also met with, but they bear a small proportion to the periodic, and appear to be merely aggravated cases of intermittent or remittent, and without any specific character of their own. Fever, pure and simple as it is met with in this district, is, in fact, altogether of the " malarious " kind. Of 2,000 cases of fever treated at the Sultanpur Dispensary the pro portion of quotidian agues was said to be fths, of tertian about |, of quar tans about t^th, and of remittents about -rj-th. None were entered as " continued," but it is probable that some of the remittents would more properly have been so named. In severe cases the remission is often very slight or not at all perceptible. It is impossible to say precisely to what extent fever prevails amongst the general population. Amongst the prisoners in the Sultanpur Jail the average annual number of attacks during the four years, from 1870 to 1873, was 13 per cent, of average strength, and amongst the Sultanpur police during the same period it was about 15 per cent. Assuming that the general population suffered in an equal degree, and making allowance for repeated attacks in the same individual, it is no extravagant estimate to assume that at least 10 per cent, of the population suffers every year from fever. No trustworthy statistics with regard to the death-rate from fever can be given. The mortuary returns, as already stated, are unreliable, and the mortality amongst the police and the prisoners is no criterion, as it is affected by the treatment the patients receive. Considering the great preponderance of the comparatively non-fatal intermittent type it ia 41* SUL probable that the mortality is nothing like what it is represented to be in the mortuary returns, where it appears as the cause of more than half the deaths in the district. +vT!f/r?-at CfU"eS °f the fever that Prevails in the dist"ct appear to be the defective drainage and the annual saturation of the soil by the rains. Ihe surface is so flat and the natural drains so few that surface water cannot find a ready escape. It accumulates wherever there is a hollow m the surface, forming stagnant pools, or sinks into the ground raising the subsoil water level. In many places this rises in the rains to within a foot or two of the surface. In this way the soil becomes waterlogged, except in the immediate vicinity of the water courses, and the immediate result is an outbreak of fever. Theperiodof the year from July to Novem ber being that during which the ground is thus saturated is the sea son in which fever is most prevalent. Its severity appears to be propor tionate to the rainfall; the greater the fall the more prevalent the fever. The amount of fever depends also on the manner of the rainfall. When the showers are moderate and occur at intervals the water escapes by percolation into the soil or by evaporation, and the result* ing fever is proportionally moderate, but when the rain falls in heavy bursts, lasting for days together as it sometimes does, the soil becomes completely waterlogged, extensive tracts of land are flooded, and fever breaks out with great severity. The rainy season of 1871 was marked by heavy floods in September, and as a consequence of this the number of deaths reported from fever during that and the three following months was very great, more than the whole numbers set down to the same cause in 1872 when rain fell more equally and at greater intervals. In proportion as the surface-water dries up and the subsoil water level sinks, the fever diminishes until it reaches a minimum in the dry hot season. The cultivation of rice, which is extensively grown during the rains, must greatly assist in the production of fever by obstructing the surface drainage, and the decay of the rank vegetation which springs up during the rains may also have an effect in producing fever. The latter cause cannot, however, be a very powerful one as cultivation is general through out the district, and jungly tracts are few and of limited extent ; at the same time many marshy places are covered with a kind of long coarse weedy grass and other weeds, which in process of rotting and drying up under the hot sun may give forth malaria. Perhaps the alluvial nature of the soil itself may have much to do with the prevalence of malarious fevers. It is impossible to say in the absence of reliable statistics whether increased cultivation has had any effect in lessening the prevalence of fever of late years. Conservancy has as yet made but little progress, being almost entirely confined to the small town of Sultanpur itself, and its effect in diminishing theprevalence of fever has yet to be tried. The clearing away of rank vegetation from within and around villages, and the protection SUL 415 of the drinking water from pollution, would no doubt do much good. The great want of the country, however, in relation to fever is drainage, and until some improvement is made in this, there is not likely to be much diminution in the prevalence of fever. Bowel complaints. — The most important of the endemic diseases after fever are dysentery and diarrhoea. According to the mortuary returns the annual number of deaths from " bowel complaints," which are probably chiefly dysentery and diarrhoea, is from -j-th to ^-th of the whole mortality. It is impossible to say how near this is to the truth. Comparison with jail mortality would not be proper, as prisoners are placed under very different hygienic conditions from the free population, and these must greatly influence the mortality from bowel complaints. The police, again, receive careful medical treatment. The number of attacks amongst the police may, however, be taken as a measure of the extent to which these diseases prevail amongst the gene ral population. During the last four years the police have been attacked with dysentery at the rate of 2'3 per cent, per annum, and with diar rhoea at the rate of 13 per cent, per annum. It is, for many reasons, pro bable that the general population suffered more than this, and, for them, 5 per cent, for both diseases together would not be an excessive estimate. The end of the rainy season and the beginning of the cold weather is the period when bowel complaints are most prevalent. The dry hot season is the period when they are least so. The fact that dysentery and diarrhoea prevail most at the same time of the year that fever is most common points to a common cause, and it seems probable that dysentery, at all events, is of malarial origin. There are many circumstances, however, in the ordinary life of the poorer classesof natives which render them peculiarly liable to bowel complaints. These are chiefly the exposure of the abdomen, which the native dress but scantily covers, to sudden chills, the drinking of impure water, about which the average native is not particular, and the eating of green vegetables and unripe fruits in inordinate quantities whenever procurable. In times of scarcity, too, the poorest classes are reduced to the necessity of supporting life on poor and unwholesome grains. Jail experience teaches also that a native whose strength has been reduced by fever and old people generally, are exceedingly liable to attacks of dysentery and diarrhoea, and the most careful attention to diet is necessary to ward these off. In their own homes, where no such intelligent care is taken of them, their almost super stitious attachment to their " roti" (bread), or their inability to obtain food suitable to their condition, must, under these circumstances, often prove fatal to them. Leprosy. — Leprosy is a common disease in the district, and there are probably few villages of any size which do not contain some victims of this frightful malady. The number of lepers was estimated in the census report of 1869 at 651 or -06 per cent, of the population, but the writer cannot help thinking that the disease is much more common than this represents it to be. 416 SUL It appears to affect chiefly the lower classes, but it is by no means con fined to them. Its cause is quite unknown. Most probably it is some local condition connected with the food of the people The consumption ot arhar dal has been suggested as a cause, but this, like many other con jectures regarding leprosy, seems to rest on very insufficient grounds The disease appears to be, in many cases, hereditary. Goitre.— Goitre is almost unknown in the district. A few cases are to be met with on the border of the Fyzabad district, in some parts of which the disease is common, but the rest of the district is quite free from the disease. Stone.— Stone in the bladder is a not uncommon affection. From 10 to 20 cases are treated every year at the dispensaries, and there are pro bably many more that never apply there for treatment. There is no other important disease of a markedly endemic character in the district excepting perhaps simple cholera which is noticed further on. Amongst less important diseases, however, may be mentioned two very common affections of the skin— the " dad," or dhobies itch and "senhwa," or scurf skin, both of which, if net peculiar to the natives of the country, affect them to a much greater extent than diseases of a similar nature do Europeans. The dad is a disease closely resembling ringworm, which attacks the loins, the fork of the thighs, or other moist parts, and often spreads exten sively over the surface of the body. It is unpleasant in appearance, but does not appear to cause much inconvenience. It is easily cured by the application of a lime and sulphur lotion, but the subject of it is usually too regardless of it to do anything for it. The senhwa is not so common. It attacks the neck, shoulders, and upper part of the body, appearing in small droplike patches which gradually coalesce, are covered with branny scales, and are paler than the surround ing skin. It is identical with the Pityriasis Versicolor of Europe. It is curable by the same means as the dad, but not so readily. Both diseases appear to be of parasitic vegetable origin, and their being so com mon is no doubt due to the native custom of bathing in stagnant and usually filthy water, and dressing afterwards without drying the skin. Epidemic diseases. — The diseases that prevail in the district in an epi demic form are cholera and small-pox. Measles is probably sometimes present also, but judging from the experience of the last 6 or 7 years, it does not seem ever to become widely epidemic. Indeed, it does not appear at all amongst the names of diseases treated at the dispensaries, and the only reason the writer has for saying that it is probably to be met with is that he has seen the disease in two contiguous districts. Cholera was epidemic in the district in 1869 (the first year for which statistics are forthcoming), 1870, 1871, and 1872 ; since June, 1872, a period of more than two years, the disease has not appeared in an epidemic form. The epidemic of 1869 lasted from June to November, and is represented by the mortuary returns to have caused during that period about 2,000 SUL 417 deaths. The disease then subsided, but did not altogether disappear, and again assumed epidemic proportions in October, 1870. This outbreak was comparatively mild, the recorded deaths being under 1,000, and the disease again subsided in February, 1871. During the succeeding months it was still present, but was not very fatal till October following, when it broke out again, with great virulence, numbering upwards of 5,000 victims in three months. In February, 1872, it had again all but disappeared, but once more became epidemic in March, and caused about 2,000 deaths during that and the three following months. In July, 1872, it ceased to be epidemic, and 6ince that time, with the exception of a few sporadic cases occurring chiefly during the warm weather, the disease has entirely disappeared. The above brief account contains almost all that can be told of epidemic cholera in this district. Nothing positive seems to have been ascertained regarding the mode in which the disease was introduced, if it was introduced from without, the classes of people chiefly attacked, the proportion of fatal cases, and many other points of interest regarding it. The general impres sion of the Civil Surgeons who bad to do with these epidemics seems to have been that the disease spread through the medium of the drinking water, the general neglect of conservancy in villages, and the pollution of wells and tanks used for drinking purposes, greatly favouring the spread of, if they did not actually produce the disease. Epidemic cholera is not peculiar to any season as the above account of its latest outbreaks shows, but the rains and the three months immediately following appear to be most favourable to it. As already noticed, this is the period when fever is also most prevalent. The epidemic of 1872, which began in March and lasted till June, may be looked upon as a revival of the severe epidemic of 1871, which for some reason received a check in January and February. Excluding the period of this outbreak, there appears a general coincidence between the season at which fever and cholera most prevail. It is worthy of remark, too, that the great mortality from the latter disease in 1871 was coincident with a very high death rate from fever, the heavy floods of that year appearing equally favourable to both. Though not epidemic every year, cholera appears to be always present more or less in the hot weather and rains. Looking at the mortuary returns of the last five years, it may in fact be said to be endemic in the district. Not a month passed, from 1868 to September, 1872, without some deaths being reported, and though the disease entirely disappeared during the cold weather of 1872-73, sporadic cases again appeared in each month from April to November following. These sporadic cases are simi lar to all appearance to those that occur during an epidemic, and whatever may be the difference between the sporadic and the epidemic disease in point of causation, there is none to be detected in the symptoms presented by individual cases. So far as known at present, it is most probable the epidemic disease is either imported by travellers from a distance or spreads from neighbouring districts, and is not a mere occasional aggravation of the endemic disease. 53 «8 SUL Small-pox.— Small-pox unlike cholera is epidemic in the district every year. It is never wholly absent, but during the cold weather the number of deaths is usually small The epidemic season begins with the dry hot weather and lasts till June. On the setting in of the rains the number of deaths rapidly diminishes till it reaches a minimum about the beginning of the cold weather throughout which the disease remains comparatively inactive to wake again into activity in March. This, with but little vari ation, is the history of the disease from year to year as shown by the mortuary returns, and these may be accepted as correctly representing, in a general way, the annual course of the disease. The regular recurrence of its outbreaks each hot weather is due, no doubt, partly to the increased temperature, but in greater measure to the free intercourse amongst the people at that period ; March, April, and May being the great months for marriages and visits amongst relatives. The mortality from small-pox varies according to the returns from 300 or 400 to 1,200 per annum. It is impossible to say how far these varia tions are due to defective registration, but it is probable the actual morta lity does vary considerably, a circumstance somewhat remarkable, seeing that the people remain equally unprotected from year to year, and adopt no precaution against the spread of the disease. This is a phenomenon common to all epidemic diseases, however, and is no more to be explained as regards small-pox than other diseases of the same class. The proportion of deaths to attacks cannot be precisely ascertained. It is probably not very high, judging from the fact that at least 90 per cent. of the population are attacked with small-pox before they reach adult age. So common is the disease that it is looked upon as inevitable that every one should have the disease at least once in his life, and the sooner the better after infancy. The people do not, however, attempt to anticipate the natural course of things by practising inoculation ; this does not appear to be anywhere practised throughout the district. A few vaccinators have been employed by Government during the last 3 or 4 years, but the efforts of these have very properly been concentrated chiefly on the small town of Sultanpur itself and its neighbourhood, and the offer of vaccination has not as yet been extended to the great mass of the people. Judging from the small progress the prophylactic has made in the esteem of the small section of the people which has been offered it, it will be long before small-pox ceases to be one of the chief scourges of the district. Cattle epidemics. — The principal epidemic disease that prevails amongst cattle in the district is rinderpest. It is the only one alluded to in the district sanitary report, and though foot and mouth disease is said to be also prevalent, there is no definite information regarding it, and it is probable many cases of so-called foot and mouth disease are really cases of rinder pest, the ulceration of the mouth attending the latter disease giving rise to the mistake. The symptoms of rinderpest as observed in the district are those usually ascribed to the disease. They are briefly fever, bloody purging, SUL 419 and ulceration of the mouth, with occasionally a pustular eruption on the skin. On examination after death the bowels are found to be congested and ulcerated, and this is all that is usually observed. The disease would seem to be always more or less prevalent in the district, and to have its seasons of dormancy and activity like small-pox in the hUtman being to which it bears some resemblance. It is very fatal ; but in the absence of statistics it is impossible to say anything definite regarding either its prevalence or the rate of mortality amongst the animals attacked. It may, however, be stated that it is not nearly so fatal as the same disease in Europe. Notwithstanding that the disease is so evidently spread by contagion, the owners of cattle do not seem to make any attempt to separate the sick from the healthy. Nor do they, as a rule, attempt any curative measures. The " stamping out" of the disease by killing the diseased animals is of course out of the question in a Hindu community, nor would it be justifi able, as a large proportion of the animals recover. Fairs. — There are no large fairs held in this district, and the few local gatherings that take place cannot have much effect in propagating dis ease, as they do not in any instance last more than a day, and are chiefly attended by the people of the neighbourhood. Indigenous drugs. — The following is a list of some of the most important of the indigenous medicines found in the district : — Native name. English or scientific name. Therapeutic action. Adrak M« ... Ginger ... ... Stimulant and carminative. Afiun ... ... Opium ,.. Sedative, narcotic, &c. Amiltas ka phiil ... Cassia pulp ... ... Purgative. Ananta Mul ..1 ,.. Hemidismus Indicus ... Alterative, diaphoretic, diu retic, tonic. Anar ka jar ka chilka ... Pomegranate root bark ... Anthelmintic, Babul ka gond ... Gum acacia ... ... Demulcent. Bel gari ... Bael fruit ... ... Astringent. Dhatura ... ... Dhatura alba ... ... Anodyne and antispasmodic. Imli ... ... Tamarind fruit ... ... Laxative and refrigerant. Indrain til ... Colocynth (pseudo) ... Purgative. Kaladaua ... ... Black seed (pharbitis nil), Ditto. Madar ... ... Calotropis ... ... Alterative diaphoretic eme tic. Naustidar ... ¦•< Sal ammoniac .., ... Alterative. Fudina ... ,. Mint ,,, ... Carminative. Shora til „. Saltpetre ,,. ... Refrigerant, diuretic, and diaphoretic. 420 SUL Native practitioners. — There are few, if any, native practitioners of repute, either Hindu or Musalman, in the district. The village Baid or Kabiraj possesses at most but a smattering of medical knowledge, though his pharmacopoeia is extensive and varied enough. His system of treat ment appears to be founded on the humoural pathology, which ascribes all disease to the derangement of the four humours — blood, bile, mucous, and wind. Disturbance of the normal balance of the humour gives rise to disease, and the curative means employed are directed to restoring the normal balance. This is first attempted by reduction and regulation of diet, the food allowed being of a stimulating or non-stimulating nature, according as the disease is understood to be caused by cold or heat. Should these means fail bloodletting, emetics, or purgatives are employed to expel the peccant homour ; the first when the patient is plethoric, the second when the mucous humour is in excess, and the last especially when the bile or wind is in undue abundance. Besides these means they appear to use a great variety of medicines whose chief merit is that they are either cooling or heating in their properties. They also employ tonics largely, both vegetable and mineral. Their prescriptions are usually very complicated, and include a large number of substances. The ingredients are sometimes of an extraordi nary nature —such articles as gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones being very commonly prescribed. There seems in superficial inquiry to be but little difference between the system of the Kabiraj and that of the Hakim, except that the treat ment of the former is more stimulant and less exhausting to the patient than that of the Hakim. The following is a list of some of the drugs used by them besides those in the list above given : — Mineral. 1 Vegetable. Arsenic. A us. Cinnabar. Chiretta. Bichloride of mercury. Kim. Gold. Pepper. Silver. Rasot. Sulphate of copper. Aconite. Antimony. Lotus root, &c., & The natives of the district are of fair average P^que, though judged b an English standard they are, taken as a whole, both, »der««d wd deficient in bony and muscular development. Amongst the higher castes there are many tall well built men to be met with, and even amongst the ower castes there are many exceptions to the general rule of mfenonty o T»r.vqimie still the great mass of the population are short in stature com- jSSStth Englishmen and greatly inferior in muscle The difference , » the nature of their -diet and the scanty way in which the labouring native SUL 421 is enabled to feed himself are quite sufficient to account for his inferiority of physique. Average temperature. — The average temperature is lowest in January, the mean of that month being about 65°F. It gradually rises till May, when it ranges from 90° to 100°; on the setting in of the rains the mean tem perature comes down to about 85°, and remains about that height till October, when it begins gradually to decrease, reaching its minimum again in January. . There are no severe frosts, but cold blighting winds are not unfrequent in December and January. There are also occasional hailstorms about March and April, which sometimes do great damage to crops, 422 SUL CHAPTER II. AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE. Crop area-Irrigation-Pood of the people-Fish-Prices-Traffic-Exports and imports- Manufactures— Communications. Crop area.— The following table shows the crop area in detail as derived from the settlement records for the old district of Sultanpur. This is probably correct with the important exception that dufasli crops (the area bearing two crops) are not entered. The entire area under cultivation was 505,520* acres, the detailed crops in the accompanying table only account for 488,423 acres; this will leave_ 17,000 acres or 3 J per cent, for fallow— a fair percentage ; and the remainder will be the area under cultivation cropped once, but about 20 per cent, of the land is cropped twice, so that the crop area really should be about 600,000 acres. The present area of cultivation is 890 square miles or 509,600f acres, sc the changes of boundary have practically not affected the area under cultivation. In order to correct the settlement return a considerable area should be added to the kharif crops ; this return wa3 prepared in the cold weather, the cold weather crops were entered, and the fields which had borne a kharif harvest, and which exhibited the stubble, but crops of kharif which had been replaced by cold weather crops, were not apparent to the observer, and were not entered. The crops which have suffered most from this omission are juar and the maset, or mixed crop of mash (or urd) and moth. The main feature of Sultanpur cultivation is the predominance of the two staples — wheat and rice — to the exclusion of maize, barley, &c. High cultivation — such as tobacco, sugarcane, poppy, and vegetable — requiring repeated irrigations amounts to 32,600 acres, or about 6 per cent, of the total; this is fairly good. The departmental opium return gives the opium areas at 4,103 and 3,842 acresa — about half the area in Rae Bareli. The outturn in these two years amounted to 1,430 maunds, and the amount paid to the cultivators, at Rs. 5 the ser, to Rs. 2,86,000: — Ebabif cbops. Name of crop. Area in acres. Dhan it* *•* 201,233 Kapas (cotton) ... ... ... 6,854 Sugarcane ... ... #•• 8,066 Indigo ••i • *• ... SOD Tobacco ¦ M ••¦ 6,261 Juar (Iudian-corn) ¦ *. • it ..< 4,200 Oil seeds •*• • ¦• ... 765 "Vegetables ... »•• ••* 2,285 Miscellaneous Tofcal *•< 10,323 239,127 * Statistical Tables I.E.8. t Statistical Tables I.A.I. SUL 423 Name of crop. WheatGram and arhar Foppy Vegetables ... Oil seeds ... Miscellaneous EABI CEOPS. »«• •*• ... >•* Total Grand Total Area in actus, ... 148,092 ... 44,508 5,IH 3,505 133 ... 48,247 ... 249,296 .. 488,423 Irrigation. — There is no correct information about the irrigable area of the present district. That of the old district was 77 per cent., and as that of Fyzabad, portions of which have been transferred to Sultanpur, was 72 per cent., we may say roughly that three quarters of the present district are irrigable, while none of the tahsils present any special features in this respect. This however is the often sanguine settlement estimate ; it applies only to ordinary years ; this year (1877) not one-twentieth of the. kharif has been irrigated, and unless we have heavy rain, the wells will soon be as dry as the jhils now are, and the rabi sowings will not germinate. Food of the people. — The principal food at present, September 5th, is a mixture of barley and mahua; the former is at 18 to 19 sers the rupee, the latter is at about 2£ maunds the rupee, the crop having been very good, wheat is at 14 sers, gram is at 20 sers the rupee ; a common food is birra or barley and gram mixed. The following quotations are from Dr. Day's " Fisheries" : — " The Collector of Sultanpur observes that breeding fish and young ones are destroyed, but not to any great extent. Those taken are from tanks and marshes fed by the rain, or filled by the overflow of rivers such as the Gumti. The meshes of the nets are small enough wheji so required to catch fish about the size of a gudgeon. Interference is not con sidered desirable, because there would be a difficulty at first in the novelty of making regulations laying down the size of the mesh of nets, and he refrains from answering what size he considers advisable. As a rule, the fry of fish are reported not to be sold in the bazar, and he would avoid all novel regulations suitable for European countries, interfering with pro perty and old customs. He considers no objection exists to a close season ' for breeding fish in hilly districts." — Para. 286, " Francis Day's Fresh water Fish and Fisheries of India and Burma." " At Sultanpur the native official estimates the fishermen at from 900 to 1,000, all of whom have also other occupations ; they are Mullahs, Kahars, Kewats, and Gurias. The markets are said to be fairly sup plied with fish, the larger sorts obtaining from an anna and a quarter to two annas a ser, and the smaller from three quarters to one anna and a quarter a ser ; whilst the bazar mutton obtains from one and a quarter to two annas a ser. Three-fourths of the population are said to eat fish. The amount in the Gumti are said to have decreased of late years. 424 SUL Very small ones are netted and taken by a trap called ' puhra.' The mesh of the nets ' is so small, hardly anything can pass.' Fish, but not to any great extent, are trapped in the inundated fields during the rains. Streams are dammed and fish thus taken ; various sorts of nets, traps, and hooks are also employed."— Para. 307, "Francis Day's Fresh-water Fish and Fisheries of India and Burma. " Prices. — The average prices for the last six years for juar, gram, and wheat were as fallows : — Years. Wheat. Gram. Juar. per Ee. per Ee. per Ee. Sers. Sers. Sers. 1871 ... 20 23 19* 1872 ... 15 191 17 1873 ... 13J 19 20 1874 ... 17 20| 21 1875 ... 21* 30J 45 1876 ... 32 26 46 The following statement gives the prices of different food grains for 10 years : — Description of produce. Faddy ... Common rice (huslced) Best rice (husked) ... Wheat ... Earley ... ••< ••• Bajra ... ••• ••• Jufir ... ••> ••• Gram ... <•• ¦•' Arhar, Cytisus cajan ... Urd or mash, Phaseolus max ... Moth, Phaseolus aconitifolius „. Mung, Phaseolus mungo Masur. Ervum lens ••• Ahsa or matra, Pisum sativum ... GhuiySn, Arum colocasia ... Sarson, Smapis dichotoma roxb ... X&hi, Sinapis nigra ... >« Baw sugar ... •«• 2U 14 28> 351 28»32 32 35 J 28{32264 33.1 4040 16 20 5 37 4 21* 1428135J2813232 35J 30 32 281 35 \ 40 48 16 20 5 36 18|2735| 23433|3ii 2312421 18 \ 23} 40 48 16 20 5 35| 19 Hi 26J 3022J3032^21 174 25} 10411\40 48 16 20 5 24 7 4 1619 20* 201 16!12| 1218} 12f 8 40 48 16 20 5 28 91 *i 1924J 23 30J 22 194 17! 25 17 10 31 32 16 20 34 31 16 9J 19 29 23 30 14}12i 20 27 IS 304 20} 22 27 34 27 29 17 10 34J35 16 20 Sj 26-!22} 27 13! 24435 40 17 IS 45 24 111 8 12! 16 15 16154"! 141610|16 15 16164 16 4* 31 11! 84 1324 145 16414 16 134 16 144 14 15 16 154 164 4} CU TENtJHE AND NUMBER <)F VILLAGES, &c, OFEACHKLND. TENURES AND NUM- BER OF VILLAGES, &c, OF EACH KIND. NUMBER OF PROPRIETORS AND SUB-PRO^- PKIETORS. Taluqdari. Proprie Pargana. ) NDEPENDENT. tors. Tahsil. Sub- CO sett le nient. -6 cflChCS O U 0CD 'iH P» O o c$ 5L a JO 3 a-3 O n3 Ph 1- JS ctl h 3 co. H P. CO ° p. e S3 OC 'lH ¦ca 53O O O CH O CH O <13 & C8 o aE a; 16 TOcp d n3 a 03 0 >> 5? -rf H ¦a a Ch a H .0 Eha a > 40 > 169 o in 2>5 cd tSJ 14 CM cs 6 0 174 Ch O 3P9 17 3 3 188 3 *5 Sultanpur, j Sultanpur ... 93 2344 13S2 Clianda ... 12 122 134 6 160 ... i56 290 Ii 1620 168 255 Total ... Amethi 52 56 16 8 291 278 359342 20 243 67 3.30 22 689 364 ¦28 3964 356 1577 Amethi ... < ( 4 18 3 242 22 3007 Isauli ... 3 3 36 4* 2 82 «5 2 699 106 ... Tappa Asl ... 1 1 2 14 1 8! 95 97 2 1914 246 1 Total ... 57 8 282 347 54 63 82 >99 546 7 2855 374 3008 ( tnhnuna 1 92 23 26 £6 2 54 77 3 455 64 8 Inhauna ... < Jagdispur ... 2 8 3o 4<1 57 60 9 126 166 4 133c !88 28 ( Subeha ... Total ... Rokha Jais, 3 5 u 92 17 69 51 20 83 545 6 38 22s.s 66 246 55 J 86 329 4 11 4676 78 330 79 3 89 29 124 6461 29 ( 110 4 705 10 Mohanganj ) Simr.iuta ... i 2 44 50 23 ... ... 23 73 5 14 14 149 GaurnJamuti, 9 8 61 68 13 10 23 9i 8 255 35 93 ( Mohanganj, ... 1 60 61 4 10 ... 14 75 4 612 43 2 Total ... 3rand Total 14J I28J 13 46 206 848 233J 1022.) f9 2«5 182 1 15J 890J 349 1913 21 67 1586 14866 K3 1233 254 232 4T6-10 (868 436 SUL Statement showing the number of mauzas held by eacK caste, and their area in acres, except the parganas Sultanpur, Baraunsa, and Isauli, transferred from Fyzabad. 1 2 3 4 Number of mauzas. Area in acres. Caste or tribe. i 3 8 a A fco 3 ... * CO 3 12 4 12io i 'cn 3 WJ l«CO 3 16 11 8 3 'co a ¦3 CO W 14 11 14 *3 ea C3 19 1 Remarks. Brahmans ChhattrisKayaths Goshfiins Banian Agarwala Bhats Goldsmiths ... Ahirs Musalmans ... Government ... 75 1,633 67 5 62 1 175 1 19,721 694,on 15,938 694 2,218 262 165 628 134,876 493 The register of the area of the parganas, Sultan pur, Baraunsa, and Isau li has not been sent by the Settlement Depart ment of Fyzabad, and therefore could not be entered in thiB state ment. Total ^ 1,967 869,009 List of Taluqdars of the District of Sultanpur. HCU * -i 5 "-o w 3 00 a ~« 3 cn o Z _cS'h CD O"^ Name of taluqdar. Name of estate. 145 144 Babu Ishraj Singh Ditto g 5 ^ .H =D cH OS O = Revised revenue Of each estate. 149 Musammfit Shiuraj Kunwar. 226 Raja Muhammad Ali Khan. 227 6 228 Rani Kishnath Kun war, widow of the late Raja Ma dho Partab Singh. Bibi Ha hi Khanam, Shi- Da- Meopur Dehla, Shaharapur Meopur rakati. Sultanpur modra. Hasanpur JaieinghpurMungra KurwarHatgaon Maighat Kore- part. Maniarpur Ditto Pali 1 3 36 0 3 0 27 21 2 6438 1 Rs. a. p Of each taluq dar. Remarks. 11, '286 13 888 10 4,779 7 28 29 2 47 25 4,858 6 0 32,533 9 18,156 9 650 14 20,534 8 18,666 7 1,184 10 23,193 4 11,407 15 Rs a. p. 16,954 14 11 4,868 6 0 51,241 0 0 40,385 9 9 34,601 3 0 SUL List of Taluqdars.— (concluded.) 437 s •a . -a Revised revenue to «_ S5 — a> "h- o .3 & 42 Ph Kb. a. P- Rs. a. P. 7 229 Babu Kamta Par Bhadaiyan 14 20,143 12 9 shad and Balm Fazilpur 3 2 2,056 6 1 230 Uishnatb Singh. Thakurain Dariao Daoribirapur .. Garabpur 3 31 3 6 1,012 14 6 23,213 8,406 1 8 4 6 8 8,406 8 6 Kunwar. 9 231 Zabar Singh and Baijuiith Singh. Partabpur 2 44 7,570 3 0 7,570 3 0 10 232 Bikarmajit Singh, 8-biswa share ami ?„- A n a n t Parshad, > Rampur . ... 38 3D 15,910 2 0 12-biswa share. ) 233 Bikarmajit Singh... Rudr Partab Sah, Makundpur ... Dera 5 69 0 59 1,'91 14 0 17,202 0 0 11 38,830 1 Amahat 26 3 11,3.2 0 4 Dhanao Dih ... 8 1 2,942 0 0 Madanpur Pa- 8 8 5,146 13 6 58,230 14 10 mar, 12 234 Raja Madho Singh, Amethi 318 3 1,90,681 7 0 1,90,681 7 0 Estate trans 13 235 Raja Bahadur Singh Shahgarh 20 1 10,292 2 0 10,292 2 0 ferred to 14 236 Jamshed Ali Khan, Mahona .. 25 2 22,145 11 7 22.146 11 7 his brother, 15 237 Dargahi Khan tjnchgaon Bha- 7 0 6,572 14 0 5,572 14 0 Lal Chhatar 16 238 Rani H a r n a t h Kunwar. daur. Katiiri 13 0 10,403 4 0 10,403 4 0 pal Singh. 17 239 Ganesh Kunwar, widow of the late Jagannath Bakhsh Singh. Jainun 17 0 14,966 4 0 14,966 4 0 18 240 Sripal Singh Barolia 13 0 8,545 14 0 8 545 14 0 19 241 Jageshwar Bakhsh Singh. Bhawanshapur, 12 0 5,8j8 9 2 5,868 9 2 20 242 Ganesh Knnwar, widow of the late Arjun Singh. Rehsi 10 0 6,790 14 0 6,790 14 0 21 243 Babu Hardatt Simratpur 25 4 12,426 9 0 Singh Chakmawaiya, 2 0 477 12 0 12,904 5 0 22 244 Jahangir Bakhsh ... Gangeo 17 4 7,644 1 0 245 Babu Lallu Sah ... Bhamurpur ... Meopur Dehla, 1 6 0 12 945 12 0 8,689 13 0 23 6,743 6 0 Karomi 1 0 526 8 0 144 Ditto Madhiiban Shaharapur ... 2 0 03 902 7 0 8,172 5 0 24 629 3 6 Meopur Shi- 0 27 3,186 4 10 rakti. «—_^M«W_ 3,715 3 4 25 246 Babu Sitla Bakhsb, Nanamau 8 12 6.274 2 0 Ramgarh 4 5 2,227 14 0 Dhannfipur .. 1 0 175 8 0 iMirpur Sarai- 1 yan. 2 3 1,324 11 0 10,002 3 0 438 stjL CHAPTfiE IV. ADMINISTRATIVE FEATURES. Eliscal-Tahsil-Pargana-ViIlage-Police-Tha,iaS -Crimes- Accidental deaths Kevenue an,! expenditure-Education-Post-offices. Ai Jiff '"TF°r fiSCal and, ge1neral administrative purposes the district is divided into parganas and tahsils. Tahsil— The tahsil as a local division, with fixed boundaries, is a modern innovation and as compared with the pargana an artificial one. It is simply an arbitrary aggregation of a few parganas, the number of which may be varied at pleasure, without causing much inconvenience or confusion. It has no counterpart whatever that I am aware of in Akbar s arrangements ; the "dastiir," the neatest to it, being -rather a district. An approximation to it came into existence in the constitution of the chakla by Sad-ulla Khan, minister of Shahjahan, and its formal remtroduction in the time of Saadat Ali Khan. There were then also tahsildars eo nomine, but their jurisdictions were scarcely analogous to the present tahsils. Pargana. — The pargana, on the other hand, may lay claim to consi derable antiquity ; it is usually believed to have succeeded a still older division, the tappa, which must itself have been in common use for some length of time, as the recollection of it still survives in various familiar names,* though in all other respects it has long been obsolete. The pargana on its first introduction became to the tappa what the tahsil is now to the pargana, the former usually consisting of two or more of the latter; and in old documents the two divisions may be found mentioned together, though their co-existence was probably never recognized offici ally- The exact date of the creation of the pargana is uncertain. Sir H, Elliott says that the name means " tax-paying land," and mentions instances of its use in A.D. 1210 and again in A.D. 1350. Mr. C. A. Elliott in the Chronicles of Oonao shows that it is possible the pargana was constituted by Shahab-ud-din Ghori, and the use of the word in the early years of the thirteenth century favours the supposition. It occurs in Babar' s Memoirs, but on the other hand, is not exclusively employed in the Ain-i-Akbari, where the term muhal is often used as its equivalent. The co-extensiveness of a pargana with the possessions of a clan or individual family has often formed the subject of remark, and in its convertibility with muhal here illustrated lies a very possible explanation of the circumstance ; for it suggests that the pargana was not only tax- paying land, but that like the muhal it was a separately possessed parcel of such land ; in other words, that it was founded on the distribution of properties at the time of its creation. Dr. W. Oldham seems to take a somewhat similar view when he says that " in the early days of Muharr- madan empire parganas appear to have been clearings or cultivated spaces in the forest, occupied generally by a single but sometimes by more than * ITor exainple^Tappa Asl, a name often given to the pargana. SUL 439 one fraternity or clan ;" and Mr. C. A. Elliott thinks there is no doubt that if they are attributable to Shahab-ud-din Ghori they are based on still more ancient divisions which he found already in existence. Further confirmation of the theory I follow lies in the fact, of which numerous examples might be found, that pargana limits have often been expanded or contracted to suit the growth or decay of private estates. The follow ing tablff, which was prepared before the redistribution of territory, shows of what parganas and tahsils the Sultanpur (settlement) district was till lately composed, together with the tappas, muhals, and chaklas out of which they were developed. Territorial Divisions, past and present. Bri ish. Nawabi. u ¦a 1 OS ! D 1 p. 1 Present par ganas. CC CDbu '> CH OO 53 Summary set tlement par ganas. 2INo. ofvillages. ° 1 Nizamat Chakla. 1 Chanda 290 Chanda Sultanpur ... Sultanpur ... * J & 1 Papar Ghat ... 92 ». ... 2 H~ 1 Sultanpur ... 399 Sultanpur ... Miranpur ... 482 43 Sultanpur ... Sultanpur ... 3 B 1 Inhauna 77 Inhauna "89 Baiswara ... Ilaidargarh... 4 Subeha 86 Subeha ... 207 Ditto Ditto 5 -1 I Jagdispur ... 166 Jagdispur ... 278 Sultanpur ... Jagdispur* ... 6 5 \ Asl or Tappa Asl. 97 Asl 156 Ditto Sultanpur ... 7 Ed < < 1 Amethi 364 Amethi 826 Ditto Jagdispur t ... 8 Isauli 85 Isauli ... 106 Ditto Sultanpur H P f Gaura Jamun, 91 Gaura ... 77 ••• Salon ... i Jamun 101 Sultanpur ... Jagdispur ... 10 a¦4 ^ Bo s Rokha Jais ... no Rokha ... Jais 10U 36 ••• Salon ... Ditto ... 11 Simrauta ... 73 Simrauta ... 97 ... Ditto ... 12 I Mohanganj ... 75 Mohanganj ... 99 ••• Ditto ,. * This chakla was sometimes separately held, sometimes included in Chakla Sultanpur. f Kishni by itself constitutes a dastur, 440 SUL Territorial Divisions, past and present.-~-(concluded.) 10 11 12 Mughal' < S B i a ¦ a Subah. Allahabad, Oudh ... Ditto Allahabad. OudhDitto DittoDitto Ditto Ditto Allahabad, Allahabad, Allahabad, Ditto .. Sarkar. Jaunpur ... Oudh Ditto ManikpurOudh Ditto Ditto Ditto Lucknow.., Ditto Manikpur.. Manikpur.. Manikpur... Ditto Dastfir. I'aweli Jaun pur Haweli, Oudh, Ditto Manikpur ba Haweli. Haweli, Oudh Ditto 1 Ditto 2 Kishnif ... Haweli Oudh, Haweli, Luck now. Ditto Bae Bareli Manik ba Ha weli. Rae Bareli .., Ditto Ditto Muhal. Hindu. Chanda Bilahri (part) r Sultanpur (part). Eathat Inhauna ... Subeha ... 1 Satanpur ... 2 Kishni Thana Bha- daun. Garh Ame- ! thi. > Isauli Jais -{ Nasirabad (part ) Jais (part) Ditto Ditto Tappas, None known. Ditto. 1 Hawal or Hasan pur. 2 Tappa Tiar or Harkpur. 3 Sondai. 4 Pura or Pure Bagh Rae. None known. Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Tappa Asl 1 Udiawan. 2 Bishta or Bheta 3 Nanamau 4 Mehndi 5 Haweli 6 E annii 7 Eusahan. 8 Tikri. 1 Handia kalfin. 2 Eumhaon. 3 Babnus 4 Gondar 5 Haweli 6 Shams 1 Dakhanwara(part) 2 Dehli (part). I Haweli Jais (part) 2 Delhi (part). 1 Dewa. 2 Sandha. 3 Knnibah. 4 Mustafabad. 5 Maheshar 6 Haweli. I Haweli Jais (part) 1 Shewan. 2 Murami. 8 Bhadwar (part), 1 Haweli Jais (part) 2 Bhadwar (part). 3 Pidhi. 4 DakhiDwir. Muhdl. — The term muhil has long been extinct as expressive of terri torial division, and I question whether, in that sense, it ever took any * In the assignment of muhals to dastfir subahs and subahg Prof. Blochmann's Ain-i- Akbari (text) is followed. + In Chakla Partabgarh till J249 fasli; in Jagdispur (mnhil tahsil) from 1250 fasJii Ilarurah tahsil from 1253 fasli till annexation. SUL 441 great hold upon popular favour. It is still, however, in ordinary official use to denote the individuality of estates held under separate revenue engagements. With this signification it forms the revenue subdivision of the pargana, and is, indeed, the unit of revenue responsibility. It forms also the point where official fiscal arrangements become merged in private land tenures ; for each muhal is represented by one or more lambardars or headmenrwho possess a double character — on the one hand they are pri vate persons, members of the proprietary body of the muhal, raised to their representative position in conformity with rules springing out of the past customs of the family : on the other hand, they are invested with a quasi- official_ position, inasmuch as they have delegated to them the duty of collecting the revenue payable by their co-sharers, and are primarily res ponsible to the state for its collection. Village.— As the muhal is the unit of fiscal subdivision of the pargana, so is the village or township the unit of loeal subdivision. The town ships, says Elphinstone, are the indestructible atoms, from an aggregate of which the most extensive Indian empires are composed, just as Creasy says Anglo-Saxon townships were the integral molecules out of which the Anglo-Saxon state was formed. Police. — With respect to police jurisdictions, thana circles take the place of the fiscal arrangement of parganas. Their boundaries sometimes but not always coincide. In the district as it stood previous to July, 1869, eight thanas corresponded to twelve parganas, and in the changes which then took place, symmetry was again subordinated to convenience and utility ; the principle acted upon was that each village should report to the nearest thanas, subject to any modifications which might be caused by the local topography of the country. The police force consists of two branches, the regular belonging to a provincial establishment, and the rural which is purely local. The first is partly distributed at the thanas partly employed as jail and treasury guards, and partly held in reserve at headquarters. The regular force allotted to the district numbers 379 of all ranks. The rural police or village chaukidars at the time of settlement were 2,664 in number, or one to every 354 of population. Each of them had his separate fixed beat extending over an average area of 377 acres. A large majority of the chaukidars belong to the Pasi and other low castes ; but a Brahman now and then condescends to fill the post with very ques tionable advantage, I believe, to the village he honours with his service. Statement showing the population of thanas. Name of Thana. Population. Raipur ... ... ... ... i39)6j5 Jagdispur ... ... ... ... 129,697 Musafirkhana ... ... „, 174,708 Kuraibhar ... ... ... ... 114,246 Piparpur ... ... ... ... 61,044 Dostpur ... ... ... ... 87,978 Sultanpur ... ... ... ... 110,190 Lamhwa ... ... ... ... 86,584 Kadipur ... ... ... ... 93,694 Total ... 1,000,786 The total population in this calculation which has been made later differs somewhat from that given in the tabic of area and population in Chapter III. 56 442 SUL Urime Statistics. Cases reported. Cases investigated. Cases convleted. 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 9 1872 2 1867 14 1868 13 18(S91870 1871 9 1872 f. 1867 1ft 1868 3 1869 5 1870 fi 1871 3 1872 Murders and attempts, 14 13 10 9 in 9 » Culpable homicide 9 8 6 6 8 7 9 8 5 B R 7 7 5 1 4 ft 2 Dacoity 2 7 1 2 1 1 •>, 7 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 Robbery 9 18 11 25 4 10 9 IS 11 25 4 1ft 6 8 fi 14 2 6 Bioting and unlawful assembly. Theft by house-breaking 23 24 45 105 118 44 23 24 45 101 118 44 20 12 23 B5 62 26 2927 1399 4342 3638 3799 4800 509 589 1265 749 720 1103 132 16ft 238 177 192 413 or house-trespass 1 Theft slmplo 931 1692 1B91 987 1156 2467 291 437 791 436 554 1121 144 179 270 194 264 644 Theft of cattle 297 25B 149 122 348 685 731 79 133 121 348 5R5 18 24 31 25 61 101 Offences against coin 2 6 in 5 4 7 2 6 in 4 4 7 1 4 2 2 2 4 and stamps I 1 Comparative Memc . ofaccidental deaths. Suicides. By By By wild By fall of By other Tofof. drowning. snake bite. quadrupeds. buildings. causes. CD CD CD CD 29 a a a 8 121' 173 61 97 1 46 25 108 28 337 352 1872 16 30 120 226 62 78 ... 3 15 5 96 33 293 345 The following statements give the receipts and expenditure of the dis trict for 1872 :— Receipts. Recent settlement revenue collections ... ... Rs. 11,57,309 Eents of Government villages and lands Income tax Tax on spirits 1. 2. 3.4.5. 6. 7. Tax on opium and drugs Stamp duty Law and justice ... Expenditure. Revenue refunds and drawbacks Miscellaneous refunds ... Land revenue, Deputy Commissioners and establishment ... ... Settlement ... Excise or jibkiiri Assessed taxes Stamps Law and justice Ecclesiastical Medical 1 ( Service of process \_ Criminal courts ... „ 19,573 ... „ 34,823 2,663 ... „ 57,119 10,363 Total Bs. 12,81,750 ... Rs. 998 ... „ 1.610 ... „ 52,966 ... „ 46,371 2,123 «2 ... ,, 99 ... „ 2,548 ... „ 35,474 108 ... „ 4,640 Total Ks. 1,47,409 SUL 443 The following tables exhibit receipts and expenditure from local funds : — Receipts. One per cent, road cess ,„ „ „ school cess One-fourth per cent, district dak Three „ „ local and margin Education fund ... Dispensary „ Pound „ ... Nazul „ ... Provincial funds ••• Cliarges. Education ... ... Hospital and dispensaries ... District dak ... Pound ... ... ... Nazul ... ... ... Public Works — Communications Civil Buildings, &c. ... Establishments, &c. ... Rs. 11,979 „ 11,974 „ 2,998 „ 31,695 1,102 „ 686 2,103 ,, 1,071 „ 35,919 Total, Ks. 99,0 26 . Rs, >> 17,992 1,814 . >* 3,175 35 • !«• >fl Si2 .. Rs. 46,062 . „ 19,804 . » 9,771 1> Rs. 75,637 Total, 99,465 Educational. — Educational like postal interests have received due atten tion in the revision of assessments, and provision has been made for the levy of a school cess of \ per cent, on the Government demand. The district contains in all 116 schools. Of these the principal is the high school at the civil station. Instruction is afforded in it in four languages, viz., English, Urdu, Hindi, and Persian, together with a variety of other subjects. The standard it teaches up to is that of the entrance examination of the Calcutta University ; next in importance comes the town school of Jagdispur. Then come the village schools. In these of course a lower standard is aimed at, and the curriculum embraces fewer subjects than in the high school, but their usefulness and suitability to the requirements of the village population is manifested by the fact that they attract more than four thousand students. This class of schools at the outset entails a good deal of trouble and expense for building, training teachers, &c, so that they must be established gradually; and as those now in existence come into full working order, some augmentation of their number will take place. The total number of persons who attend the Government schools is 4,607. Postal. — Postal arrangements on a somewhat limited scale were esta blished soon after the re-occupation of the province ; they were, however, almost entirely restricted to the conveyance of the mails to and from out lying thanas and tahsils, and the extension of regular postal communica tions throughout the interior of the district was deferred till the present settlement, being one of certain specific objects for which provision was then directed to be made. Settlement officers were charged with making 444 SUL the requisite arrangements, the main principles laid down for their guid ance being that the thana and tahsil officials should, as far as possible, be relieved of postal duties that a system of independent rural offices should be established, and that there should be a postal delivery in every village. Simultaneously therefore with the introduction of the revised assess ments into any pargana or tahsil a postal scheme satisfying the above condition was introduced therein, and at the end of last year was in opera tion throughout the whole district with the exception of pargana Chanda. _ The working of the scheme was originally placed in the hands of the district officer, but in 1871 with a view to the improvement of the postal service, the district post establishment throughout the province was reorganized as a separate institution, and the control and management was formally transferred to the Chief Inspector of Post-offices in Oudh. Certain modifications of previously existing arrangements naturally sug gested themselves in the substitution of a single homogeneous scheme for one composed of sections constructed independently of each other and at different periods to keep pace with the revision of assessment. The system as it at present stands may be briefly thus described. There is an Im perial office at the civil station, which forms the connecting link between the internal and external postal lines; and rural offices have been fixed at the headquarters of each tahsil and at such other places within it as offer themost convenient sites, m'0.,Ramnia, Amethi, Gauriganj,Piparpur,Mus&fir- khana, Jagdispur, Kishni, Gaura Jamun, Kadipur, Dostpur, Kuraibhar. At Khairabad, Hanomanganj, and Munshiganj offices have recently been abo lished; at these places letter-boxes will continue to be kept up. The neighbouring stations with which Sultanpur is connected by Im perial lines are those of Allahabad, Lucknow, Fyzabad, and Rae Bareli, communication with which is effected by means of foot runners; any more expeditious means of transit for the mails being still among the desiderata of the future, and dependent oncorrespondence with a concomitant increase Of the postal revenues. The transmission of mails from one rural office to another is carried on by the same means. For the delivery of letters each office has attached to it the requisite number of peons or rural messengers; to each of these a separate circle is allotted, within which it is his duty to distribute the incoming letters so received from the Postmaster. He is also furnished with a "travelling letter-box," so that he may at the same time collect any letters intended for outward despatch. The agency employed is of a mixed character, partly imperial and partly local. The imperial office at Sultanpur has been already mentioned; others were placed some years ago at Jagdispur and Dostpur, and others have recently been placed experimentally at Amethi and Musafirkhana, All charges connected with these are met from the imperial revenues. The local agency consists of all but that just described; the income, from Which the cost it entails has to be defrayed is derived from two sources— Viz., the special cess levied expressly for this purpose and a subvention SUL 445 from the imperial revenues computed on the number of police stations in the district, the last remnant of the system which has now been superseded. Statement showing the number of articles received for delivery and those returned undelivered during 1876-77: — Letters. Papers. Packets. Parcels. Gi«*h out for delivery 28,687 470 39 1,010 Returned undelivered 2,654 37 2 20 Statement showing the working of the district dak for 1876-77 : — No. of miles of dak line 94, No. of runners 30,* Cost for the year Rs. 3,037-6-9, No. of covers delivered 27,493, No. of covers returned undelivered 2,713, Total No. of letters sent to district post-office 30,206. * Eight runners have worked for a part of the year. 446 SUL CHAPTER V. HISTORY. History— Places of interest. Earliest Muhammadan settlement in this district— The history of Sul tanpur need not here be carried back beyond the thirteenth century of our era. During this.period it probably was that the first Muhammadan conquests were achieved, and the first Muhammadan colonies planted in the western portion of this district. From the tenure of the message sent to Sayyad Salar when he arrived in Satrikh it may be gathered that the princes of Manikpur claimed dominions over the whole tract which intervened between their capital and Satrikh, nearly the whole of which, indeed, was afterwards included in the Manikpur Sarkar, and the chronicles' of Jais and Subeha towns which lay nearly on the line of march from one place to the other, point to the time of Salar Masaud as that in which they were first visited by Muhammadans. Sultanpur conquered by the Muhammadans. — Sultanpur, in spite of the expeditions sent from Satrikh against Benares and other places to the east, appears for some unexplained reasons to have escaped the fate of its neighbours, Jais on the one side and Jaunpur on the other ; it may have been that its naturally strong position baffled for the time all the attempts of the invaders. But be the cause what it may, the traditions current in its vicinity are singularly unanimous in omitting all mention of Sayyad Salar, and in representing the Bhars to have remained masters of it, until it was captured from them by Ala-ud-din Ghori. And as part of Oudh under Muhammadan governors. — This view is further supported by the fact that about this time the first mention is made of a Muhammadan governor (or Commander-in-Chief) in Oudh, being indeed, so far as I have been able to ascertain, the first instance in which allusion is made to that province by the Muhammadan historians. In relating the history of Muhammad Bakhtiar Khilji, the author of the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri* says that "this Muhammad Bakhtiar was a Khilji of Ghor of the province of Garmsir. He was a very smart, enterprising, bold, coura geous, and experienced man. He left his tribe and came to the court of Sultan Muizz-ud-din at Ghazni, and was placed in the Dfwan-i-arz (office for petitions), but as the chief of that department was not satisfied with him he was dismissed, and proceeded from Ghazni to Hindustan. When he reached the Court of Delhi he was again rejected by the chief of the Diwan-i-arz of that city, and so he went on to Budaon into the service of Hizabr-ud-din Hasan, Commander-in-chief, where he obtained a suitable position. After some time he went to Oudh in the service of Malik Hisdm-ud-din TIghlabak. He had good horses and arms, and he had showed much activity and valour at many places, so he obtained Sahlat and Sahli in jagir." I have quoted this passage in extenso, because Muhammad Bakhtiar is himself credited by Elphinstone with the conquest of a part at least of Oudh, whereas from the above passage it looks as if he found the province * Elliott's History of India, II., 305. SUL 447 under a Musalman governor, or at least in the occupation of a Musalman army on his first arrival in it, and as if it was only by entering the service of the governor (who it may be remarked had been a companion of Qutb- ud-din in the Benares campaign, and had in its termination been immedi ately appointed to a governorship, that ofKoil) that he obtained a base of operations for his subsequent incursions into Behar; at a later period ha may certainly have held the province, as in the year AD. 1202, " he joined the auspicious stirrups and came to pay his respects from the direction of Oudh and Behar." After Muhammad Bakhtiar's unsuccessful attempt to establish an independent eastern empire, and the consequent restriction of his dominion to Bengal proper by Shams-ud-din Altamsh, the rest of the territory previously held by him was parcelled out into smaller jurisdictions, in which may be traced perhaps the outlines of those arrangements which were afterwards more fully elaborated in the Ain-i-Akbari. Among them Oudh became again a separate province ; it was first held by Nasir-ud-din, elder son of Shams-ud-din, and in the next generation reference is made to a " Hakim Oudh." The incumbent of the office being one Qazi Jalal- ud-din, and the recurrence of the title may be noted until after the acces sion of the Khilji dynasty. Extent of Oudh at this period. — The Oudh here alluded to, it must at the same time be remarked, was very much smaller in extent than either the kingdom of Ram Chandar had been in early ages, or than the subah to which it subsequently gave a name ; for contemporary with the Qazi Jalal-ud-din, above-named, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud* afterwards emperor, held the northern portion of the province which constituted the separate district of Bahraich, and in the opposite direction where Oudh marches with Manikpur their mutual boundary line most likely cut across the south-western corner of this district, excluding a large track from Oudh, and placing it in Manikpur. These two governments being thus contiguous, the politics of the one were not unnaturally influenced by those of its neighbours, and it is not surprising to find that when Malik Jhajhu, a nephew of Ghayas-ud-dm, rebelled against his Khilji sovereign in his government of Karra, Amir Ali,^ his contemporary in Oudh, participated in the revolt. One of the immediate effects of the defeat of the confederates, which was speedily effected by the royal forces was the conferment of the government of Karra Manikpur by the emperor on his nephew, Ala-ud-din Khilji, who now first appears in the history of this district, and as he was chief among those whom the king delighted to honour, he soon became still more inti mately connected with it by receiving a second grant, viz., of the govern ment of Oudh, which had of course become vacant in consequence of the rebellion of Amir Ali. Ald-ud-din Khilji' s two governments included the whole district. — Ala- ud-din Khilji was thus the first Musalman governor under whose rule the two previously separate portions of the district were united, % but he is never theless completely ignored in the annals of all parts of it alike. Whether * Elliott's History of India, II., 344. f Also called Hatim Khan (Parishta). % Even then CbSnda belonged to another government. 448 SUL rightly so or not is doubtful; for it has been suggested that to him* of right belongs the honour of the exploit which is ascribed to his namesake of the Ghori dynasty, which would make him the principal character in the principal event in the history of the capital. It would then, indeed, almost 3eem that the Khilji might pride themselves on having monopolised the annihilation of the Bhars of Sultanpur. A Khilji it was who dealt the first blow to their independence by the overthrow of Jais ; for a Khilji has been claimed the honour of first conquering the region in which their principal possessions lay; a Khilji again is said to have demolished their last remaining citadel, and thus effected their complete subjection. But I venture to think that it is quite possible the name has been cor rectly preserved as Ala-ud-din Ghori, being as in the case of Jais, that of a person all but locally obscure ; and that if, as is possible enough, the legend is inaccurate at all, it errs rather in the particular of confounding a private individual with a well known historical character than in that of substituting one distinctive designation for another ; in the instance quoted that of Jais, it will be observed the very word Khilji, which is here supposed to have been merged in that of Ghori, is seen to have been retained unaltered. Ala-ud-din, Khilji, moreover, so far as I have been able to ascertain from the sources of information at my command, does not appear to have once visited Oudh during the short period he was its governor, while it appears, after having been conquered by Musalman armies to have been held by Musalman rulers, for nearly a century before his time I have therefore told the tale as it was told to me, and assigned no more modern a date to the occurrences it narrates than historical pro bability absolutely demands, i.e., the reign of Shahab-ud-din. Whether Ghori or Khilji was the victor, the- thoroughness of the con- nuest is evidenced in the most conclusive manner by the absence of any event connecting Sultanpur with general history, nntil the dismemberment of the Delhi empire in the time of Mahmud Tughlaq. • Sultanpur part of the kingdom of Jaunpur. -V? to ^shortly _ before that period, the jurisdiction of the governor of Jaunpur had been limited to "Jaunpur and Zafarabad," with such provinces to the eastward as were held Ser by petty chiefs nor the lords of Lakhnauti ;+ but when in Al? ^04 Mahmud Tughlaq deputed his Wazir, Khwaja Jahan to that A.D. 139 4, M Atmua lug ; a p ^ ^ ^ Mahk_ uTshat IndTtthe Xtune^xtended his a/thority over the lower Duab and he provinces on the left bank of the Ganges^ When therefore L)uab and tne pro throwing off his allegiance to De^ assumed the eSms of royalty, Sultanpur found itself again as* 'dl^ot^Tel^^^ ^m the old one of Ajodhya The change of the sovereignty does not appear to have Fojgdg marked effect on the even flow of its internal history, and Sultan Ibrahim Ts rndeef the only one of the Sharqi dynasty who lives m ^ f ^Jf {hi he figures among the most ardent of the propagators of the faith^ • But ho has no place in local tradition. t Calcutta Ifeview, 1865, pargana Jaunpur. SUL 449 Islam, and as the indefatigable champion of the professors of that creed. That the tales told of him are exaggerated may be assumed;* but they are nevertheless pervaded by a vein of truth, and the reason for his being made the hero of them is not far to seek. Immediately after ascending the throne he had to hurry off from Jaunpur in the direction of Kanauj to join his army then encamped near the latter place on the left bank of the Ganges, and more than one march and countermarch between the two places is on record ; so that it is quite credible not only that Ibrahim himself actually passed the spots where there still lingers the recollection of his visit, but also that when he did so he had at his back forces sufficient in his estimation to cope with those of Delhi. Establishment of the Mughal power. — The downfall of the Jaunpur kingdom was no more actively felt in this part of Oudh than its erection; nor did anything of note occur within the half century of Lodrf rule. At the close of that period, however, Babar, who had elsewhere established the Mughal power, marched in person into Oudh. Crossing the Ganges in the proximity of Bangarmau, he marebjed by Lucknow eastwards, and encamped on the very day on which his General Chin Taimllr Sultan defeated the Afghan chief, by whom his power was contested in this province "two or three kos above Oudh at the junction of the Gogar and Sirwa." Here he halted some days for the purpose of " settling the affairs of Oudh and the neighbouring country and for making the necessary arrangements'." This halt of Babar's demands attention, as it was the proximate cause of one of the leading events in the history of the Bach goti clan : the conversion to Islamism of Tilok Chand, nephew of the then chief of the clan,| whose descendants afterwards became premier rajas of Oudh. The Sur Kings. — The temporary overthrow of the Mughal power, which occurred about ten years later, and the establishment of the Stir dynasty in the person of Sher Shah, must not be passed over in silence. They were fraught with results, material if not moral also, more impor tant from a local point of view than any other of the numerous dynastic changes which had taken place since the fall of Delhi and Kanauj at the end of the twelfth century. Sher Shah had, soon after Babar's death, made himself master of the province of Behar and of the important forts of Chunar and Rohtas, and though from motives of prudence he bent for a time before the storm, and took shelter in the fortress of Rohtas when Humayun marched against him in A.D. 1538. No sooner did he find his army weather bound in Bengal than he issued from his retreat, took pos session of Behar and Benares, recovered Chunar, laid siege to Jaunpur, and pushed his detachments up the Ganges as far as Kanauj. So confi dent was he in the result of his future operations that at this period he * They are more numerous in Rae Bareli, hut are not altogether wanting in this dis trict. Thus he is said by some accounts to hav.e built a fort in Nasirabad, and another story states that Parshad Singh, the Kanhpuria chief, having attacked a Muhammadan tribe of that town, the Khatibs, they appealed to and obtained the pi-otection of Ibrahim. f That is from the downfall of Jaunpur when the Lodi rule commenced in Oudh to the Mughal conquest. % The conversion is said to have taken place at Allahabad, so that it may not have happened till the following year,.when Babar's camp was pitched in this place ; but it is improbable, as he only halted there for a few hours. 57 430 SUL assumed the title of king. In A.D. 1539 he inflicted a decisive defeat on Humayun who fled to Delhi, and was -occupied there for eight or nine months m repairing his losses, and during that interval his eonqueror con tented himself with retaining his acquisitions in Hindustan, recovering possession of Bengal, and putting all his former territories into order. The renewal of hostilities still found him on the .east of the Ganges opposite Kanauj. It is not immaterial to add that he had been accompa nied throughout all these transactions by his son Salem Shah, who distin guished himself as a soldier in his father's wars ; and was an improver like his ifather, but in public works rather than in laws. Tlie genuineness of the instances of Sher Shah's and Salem Shah's active interference in the affairs of this quarter of Oudh may, therefore, be unhesitatingly admitted. Tilok Chand, the Bachgoti Musalman con vert, was now dead ; but his grandson, Hasan Khan, is said to have managed to ingratiate himself with Sher Shah, and so to have carried still further that aggrandizement of his family which his grandfather had commenced ; and as an example* is ready at hand in Sher Shah himself of the success which might speedily be achieved by soldiers of fortune in such unsettled tim.es ready credence may be yielded to the statement. Careful of the interests of his followers, Sher Shah was no less so of his own; and for the more effectual protection of the latter, he is said, under the influence perhaps of his son's taste for public works, to have ordered the simultaneous erection of fifty-two substantial fortresses * The ruins of many of these still exist ; some of them are to be identified no doubt with the forts of burnt brick noticed in the Xin-i-Akbari. This fact corroborates in an important manner the statement made by Elphinstone, that " Akbar's revenue system though so celebrated for the benefit is conferred on India, presented no new invention, but was in fact only a continuation of a plan commenced by Sher Shah, whose short reign did not admit of his extending it to all parts of his kingdom." Restoration of the Mughal power. — The restoration of the Mughal power by Humayun might remain unnoticed had not his son Akbar left his famous institutions. In the systematic division of the empire into subahs, of subahs into sarkars, and of sarkars again into muhals, which they gave rise to, Oudh was selected to furnish a name at once to one of each of those divisions. Sultanpur in Akbar's time. — Sultanpur formed one of the constituent muhals of the Sarkar of Oudh, and so of course lay in the subah of that name. Neither tlie Sultanpur muhal, however, nor the Sark4r, nor even the subah of Oudh included the whole of the tract known more recently by the name of Sultanpur. What has been vaguely and inferentially remarked regarding an earlier period, may be regarding the time of Akbar more definitely and certainly repeated, viz., that the whole of the eastern and much of the southern and western portions of the present district belonged not to Oudh, but to the sarkars of Jaunpur and Manikpur in the subah of Allahabad. * A similar tale is current in Rae Bareli, but the forts are attributed to the Sharqi dynasty. As Shergarh and Salcmgarh are said to be two of them, I think the Sur dynasty is Uie more probable. SUL 451 Many of Akbar's muh&ls admit of early and certain identification with parganas of the present time, but\vith regard to others there is ample room for doubt, and I therefore give in full three out of the four sarkars just named as described in the Ain-i-Akbari, together with what I believe to be their modern representatives. The Jaunpur sarkar is shown by Sir H. Elliot to have contained Chanda only belonging to Sultanpur, and it will therefore be sufficient to give so much of it as relates to that pargana. Sarkar Oudh, 21 muhals. Present districts 'CD•a s Muhals of the Ain-i-Akbari. Parganas of the present day. (according to arrangements of 1869.) 1 Oudh ba haweli, 2 muhals ... Haweli Oudh ... Fyzabad. 2 Ambodha Ambodha ... ... Basti; 3 Ibrahimabad ... ... Ibrahimabad ... bara Banki. 4 Inhauna Inhauna ... ... 11 ae Bareli. 5 Pachhimrath ... Pachhimrath ... Fyzabad: 6 Bilahri Sultanpur Baraunsa {alias Bilahri.) Sultanpur. 7 Basorhi ... ... Basorhi Bara Banki. 8 Thana Bhadaon* Tappa Asl Sultanpur. 9 Bakteha ... .., Baksaha Bara Banki. 10 Daryabad Daryabad ... Ditto. 11 Rudauli Rudauli ... Ditto. 12 Sailuk Sailuk ... ... Ditto. 13 Sultanpurf Sultanpur Sultanpur. 14 Sathanpurf ... Jagdispur ... ... Difo. 15 Subeha Subeha ... ... Bara Banki. 16 Satrikh Satrikh Ditto. 17 Sirwapali§ ... ,.. Amsin ... ... Fyzabad. 18 Guwarich ... ... Guwarich ... Gonda. 19 Kishni|| Jagdispur Sultanpur. • There is still a village called Bhadaon in pargana Tappa Asl. It formerly gave its name to a tappa which is said to have been in pargana Sultanpur, and both these remarks are equally applicable to Tappa Asl. Both thana Bhadaon and Tappa Asl are very small, and the prevailing -clan in both is the same, the Bachgoti. I hence infer that thana Bhadaon was the old name of Tappa Asl. t The old pargana is now divided into two parts, separated by the river Gumti, and- called Sultanpur Baraunsa and Sultanpur Miranpur :— (a).— Sultanpur Baraunsa is the present name of Bilahri pargana, or rather of part of it ; it continued to be a separate pargana until annexation, and was composed of two zilas of which Baraunsa was one and Gudara or Papar Ghat the other. The junction of the names of the two parganas is not altogether new. Professor Blochmann tells me that " the Muhammadans histories often mention Sultanpur Bilahri, where the battle wa3 fought." Regarding this battle see his Ain-i-Akbari's translation, p. 400. (6) —Sultanpur Miranpur. Miranpur or rather Moranpur Kathot, mordern namo-of the old Kathot pargana. The change occurred when the tahsildar's quarters were" removed- from one place to another. The Sultanpur and Miranpur parganas were separate until after the mutiny ; the latter was then absorbed in the former, and its name was disused for a time,,but revived and combined with that of Sultanpur on the reorganization of districts in l(T69. t Sathan or Satanpur continued to be a separate pargana until 1750 when it was united with Kishni, and a single new pargaua; Jagdispur,- which still exists, superseded them both: § The change of name took place in 1763 ; see pargana Amsin. ff See Satanpur. Kishni still survives as a large qasba and postal town. 452 SUL Sarkdr Lucknow, 55 Muhdls. CD Present districts a3 Muhals of the Ain-i-Akbari Parganas of the present day. according to arrangement of 1869. 1 23 4 Bhitauli Dewa ... ltl Kumbhi* Kursi ,., Mt Bhitauli Dewa Ditto Kursi Bara Banki. Ditto. Ditto.Ditto. 5 Kahanjraf ... .,„ Ditto ... Ditto. 6 Siddhaur ... Sidhhaur ... Ditto. 7 8 Sidhipur Bilgram ... .„ Ditto Bilgram Ditto. Hardoi. 9 Garanda Ditto Ditto. 10 Hardoi ... ... Hardoi Ditto. 11 Kachha Ando ... Kachhandan Ditto. 12 Mallanwan ... ... Mallanwan Ditto. 13 Sandila Sandila Ditto. 14 Amethi ... ... Amethi ... ... Lucknow. 15 Bijnaur ... ... Bijnaur Ditto. 16 Dadraf ... Ditto ,„ Ditto. 17 Deorakh Deorakh ... Ditto. 18 Lucknow ba Haweli Lucknow ... Ditto. 19 Mariaon ... Ditto Ditto. 20 Mahona Mahona Ditto. 21 Malihabad ... ... Malihabad ... ... Ditto. £2 Sande Sissaindi ... ... Ditto. 23 Kakori Kakori Ditto. 24 Ghatampur ... ... Ghatampur ... ... Unao. 25 HaiharS ... Ditto Rae Bareli. 26 Tara Singhana ... Ditto Unao. 27 JSisgarb|| ... ... Ditto Rae Bareli. 98 Pahrimau^f ... „. Ditto .., ... Ditto. 29 Sathanpur ... ... Khiron Ditto. 30 Sihali Ditto ... Bara Banki. 31 Bari ... ... Bari ... ... Sitapur, 32 Manwi ... Manwan Bari ... Ditto. 33 Garh Amethi** Amethi ,„ Sultanpur. 34 Isauli ... ... Isauli ... Ditto. C7. t Kumbhi is given as one of the twenty-two Bais parganas in Chronicles of Oonao, page It has now ceased to have a separate existence. Ditto ditto ditto. J Either Dadra near Nawabganj, or the place of the same name near Isauli ; probably the former. § Haihar or Aihar still gives its name to a small estate. || Still a well known village. ^ftPahrimau is still the name of a taluqa ; it is in the Rae Bareli pargana. ** The Bandhalgotis refer the origin of the first part of this name to the existeuce of a fort, of which the alleged remains are to be seen in Raipur ; but I think it more probable that the Garh is referred to. In the reign of Shah Jahan the parganas of Jais and Amethi were held as jagir by Ahmad Beg Khan, nephew of Nur Jahan (Professor Blochmann's Ah>-i-Akbari's translation, para. 609), but whether Garh Amethi is here intended I cannot say. In later times this pargana belonged to Manikpur Sarkar, how or when it came to do so is not clear. If it is the one Ahmad Beg Khan held, the change may have taken place then. It may have been separated from its old Sarkar when it became his jagir, and have been thrown when he gave it up into the Saikar, to which Jais the remainder of the jagir belonged, which was Manikpur. In Hindi pattas the name of the par- . gana is often preceded or followed by the expression " Rajae Hujiir ;" but the meaning of the first word I cannot ascertain. SUL Sarkar Lucknow. — (concluded.) 453 u Present districts .a B Muhals of the Ain-i-Akbari. Parganas of the present day. according to arrangement fc of 1869. 36 A si wan ... ... Asiwan ... Unao. 37 Asoha Asoha Ditto. 38 Bangarmau ... ... Bangarmau ... ... Ditto. 39 Farosi * Sikandarpur ... ... Ditto. 40 Fatehpur ... ... Fatehpur Ditto. 41 Fatehpur Chaurasi ... ... ... Ditto. 42 Harha Harha ... Ditto. 43 Jhalotar Jhalotar ... ... Ditto. 44 Mukraidf Magr&yar ... Ditto. 45 Mauranwiin ... ... Mauranwdn ... ,., Ditto. 46 Mohan ... ... Mohan ... Ditto. 47 Panhan ... Panhan ... ... Ditto. 48 Parsandan ... Parsandan ... Ditto. 49 l'atan ... Patau Ditto. 50 Ramkot ... ... ... 51 RanbhirpurJ ... ... Purwa ... Unao. 62 Saipur§ ... ... Safipur ... „. Ditto. 53 Snrwan ... Sarwan ... ... Ditto. 54 Unam ... ... Unao ... ... Ditto. 55 Unchgaon|| ... ... Daundia Khera ... Ditto. * See Chronicles Oonao, p. 57. f Village of name still exists (commonly pronounced Magrayar) near Harha. % See Chronicles Oonao. § See Chronicles Oonao, p. 25. || This pargana and those of Sidhipur and Tara Sinsha were formed into one about a century ago under the name of Daundia Khera by Rao Mardan Singh, ancestor of the notorious rebel Babu Ram Bakhsh of the taluqa of that name. See Rae Bareli report and Mr. Benett's Chief Clans of the Rae Bareli district, p. lo, marginal note. Sarkdr Manikpur, 14 muhdls. .a B I Muhals of the Ain-i-Akbari. Aral* Jalalpur Bilkharf Parganas of the present day. PartabgarhPatti Present districts according to arrangement of 1869. Partabgarh. Ditto. * The pargana now called Partabgarh was formerly known as Aror. The chaDge of name took place seven generations ago, when Partab Singh, fixing his residence at a place till then known as Rampur, built a great fort, and giving it his own name, changed the name of the pargana from Aror to that of Partabgarh. t Jalalpur Bilkhar was the old name of Patti Dalippur pargana. It was at the same time the name of a single estate, a partition of which took place ten generations before 1780 A.D., or soon after Akbar's time. Two smaller estates were then formed and called Dalippur and Patti, and from this division the two estates, so called, began a separate exist ence. (Mr. R, M. King's Report, page 10). 454 SUL Barker Mdnikpur. — (continued.) Present districts c CD Muhals of the Ain-i-Akbari. Parganas of the present day. according to arrangement a of 1869. s§ 3 Qariat Paegah* ... Partabgarh and Rae Bareli. 4 Manikpur ... ,., Manikpur ... Ditto. 6 Bhilwalt Haidargarh ... Bara Banki. 6 ThulendiJ Bachhrawan Rae rfareli. 7 Jais§ 1. — Rokha Jais' Ditto. 2 — Simrauta- Ditto. 3. — Mohanganj... Ditto. 4. — Gaura Jamun Sultanpur. 8 Dalmau ... ... Dalmau ... Rae Bareli. 9 Rae Bareli ... ... Rae Bareli ... Ditto. 10 Salon Salon Ditto. * These villages were 256 in number. They are now partly in the Bihar and Salon tahsils" in the Rae Bareli district, and partly in the Partabgarh tahsil in the district of that name. They were like " Guzara, " assigned villages. Their name derived from "Paegah " a stable, indicates the purpose of their assignment) ; their revenues were devoted to the defrayment of expenses connected: with the purchase and maintenance of the royal cattle (duab). The existence of such a grant in the locality may very possibly be due to the circumstance mentioned by the Emperor Babar in his memoirs, that in the 16th century there were thirty or forty villages in Karra Manikpur, the inhabitants of which were exclusively employed in catching elephants. Professor Blochmann thinks it probable that the "old Pathan Sultans kept the elephants there that came up from Purwa." These Qariat Paegah had their own kachahris in" the village of Juir and their own Qanfingos, whose descendants are still called " PaegShwala." t The revenue of the Bhilwal pargana was until the reign of Asif-ud-daula paid at Nagram, now in the Mohanlalganj tahsil, in the Lucknow district. In 1787 the residents of that place having made frequent complaints of the violence and oppression of the military force stationed there, the Chakladar, Haidar Beg Khan, removed tie tahsil office to Fateh- garh where he built a fort and called it after himself Haidargarh. From this time the old name of Bhilwal began to be displaced by that of Haidargarh. Bhilwal is still a large village, a collection of 11 hamlets. % This pargana continued to retain its old name up to the end of native rule. Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi built a fort in the village of Thulendi, and this continued to be the resi dence of officials until Shuja-ud-daula's time. Raja Niwaz Singh, the then Nazim, appropri ated to his own private use an estate of which Thulendi was the village, and in consequence deemed it prudent to transfer his official residence to the neighbouring village of Bachh rawan. This led to Bachhrawan being selected, on the annexation of the province, as the headquarters of a tahsil, and the name of the jurisdiction attached to it was simultane ously altered to bring it into accordance with the actual state of things. § Jais is one of a very few parganas which have been broken up into Beveral smaller ones since the time of Akbar. Its dismemberment has in great measure followed the course of history of the Kanhpurias. That it commenced before A.D. 1775 is mani fest from the mention of Simrauta in a treaty of that year. Since the re-arrangement of pargana boundaries after re-occupation there has been no separate pargana of the name of Jais. The one which contains the old esponymous city is now called Rokha' Jiisj and comprises portions of the old parganas of Jais and XJasirabad. SUL Sarkar Mdnikpur — (concluded.) 455 Number. Muhals of the Ain-i-Akbari. Parganas of the present day. Present districts according .to arrangment of 1869. 11 1213 m Qariat-i-Guzara* Nasirabad-j- ... Kathot ... Rokha ... Miranpur ... ... Rae Bareli. Ditto. Sultanpur. The whole expression " Qariiit-i-Guzara" is variously explained. According to one account, it signified villages assigned to the king's private servants ; according to another, villages of which the revenues were allowed for " Alnd ravind," or expenses incurred in entertaining royal messengers or public servants passing through Manikpur. These vil lages were 262 in number, but few of their names are now known. They are now partly in the Bihar and partly in the Salon tahsils in the Rae Bareli district. They had their own kachahris (in Karetha and Bihar) and their own qanmign's. The present qaunngoofthe Partabgarh pargana belongs to the family of the old " guzsira" officials. f The name of Nasirabad has now been superseded by that of Rokha. latter continued to be the name of a separate pargana until annexation. The Sarkar Jaunpur Muhals. ua a a S3 Muhals of ilie Ain-i-Akbari. Parganas of the present day, Present districts according to arrangement of 1869. 1 Chanda* Chanda Sultanpur. • Chanda appears to have been detached from the Jaunpur Sark&r by the treaty of 1775 A.D. At the same time its size was reduced to the separation of taluqa Singhra- mau, which remained in that Sarkar. Accnrding to local accounts the way it happened was that the Taluqdar of Singhramau rendered good service to the British Government, and in return got his estate taken under its sheltering wing. A more probable explanation is that taluqa Singhramau was the only part of pargana Chanda included in Balwant Singh's estate which formed the extent of the British acquisitions under that treaty. (See Aitchi son's Treaties.) Sultanpur under the Nawab Wazirs' dynasty. — Sultanpur continued to be divided between the subahs of Allahabad and Oudh for about two centuries, or until the time of the Nawab Wazirs. The circumstances connected with the establishment of that dynasty throw some little light on the state of affairs in Sultanpur at that period. Saadat Khan, the founder of the line, was rewarded for his good services to the crown with the Subahdarship of Agra ; and in that post proved him self to be possessed of considerable administrative ability. In the mean time Oudh was in a state verging on rebellion ; and foremost among the 456 SUL refractory was the ancestor of one of the. principal landholders of this district, Mohan Singh, the Kanhpuria Raja of Tiloi, who had been in a chronic state of opposition to the local rulers ; and appears to have been attempting to convert his private estates into an independent principality. Intelligence of this reached Delhi, and the Emperor deemed it prudent to transfer Saadat Khan to Oudh. The new governor at once adopted vigorous measures for the restoration of tranquillity. He first endeavoured to induce the Raja of Tiloi to make peaceful submission, but that chief turned a deaf ear to his advice, and he was at . last obliged to march against him. Saadat Khan's army consisted of but ten thousand men, while that of Mohan Singh was just five times as numerous. Mohan Singh, however, was defeated and slain, and the other chiefs having lost their leader speedily tendered their allegiance. Now, as in the time of Akbar, the possessions of the Kanhpurias broad as they are stretch no further north and east than the old muhal of Jais did.* It would thus appear that Saadat Khan's subah had been enlarged at the expense of that of Allahabad. On the contrary, what brought Mohan Singh into collision with Saadat Khan was that he claimed as his, and sought to annex to his estates in Manikpur, Inhauna and other par ganas belonging to Oudh, and thus owed fealty to Saadat Khan as well as the Subahdar of Allahabad, although he withheld it impartially from both. Again, with Jais on the west and with Chanda on the east, Saftdat Khan had no concern. It was not till this reign that they ceased to be a sub ject to a separate Government,! when Safdarjang after engaging in a civil war with his sovereign consented to make peace on condition that he should be invested with the double Subahdari of Oudh and Allahabad.^ Whether the names of Oudh simultaneously received and extended meaning is uncertain, probably not : for the inheritance of Safdarjang was divided and Allahabad and Oudh were separately held awhile by Shuja- ud-daula and Muhammad Quli Khan. The integrity of the Allahabad subah did not commence to be threatened until Shuja-ud-daula was com pelled, under the treaty of A.D. 1765, to cede the sarkars of Allahabad and Karra to the emperor, and as the subah was thus lopped of the part from which it derived its name, it is possible that what remained assumed the designation of the province to which it continued to be attached. But this dismemberment was only temporary ; and the Nawab Wazir recovered Allahabad and Karra (Rohilkhand being added to them) by the treaty of A. D. 1775. I think it is doubtful therefore whether Jais, Chanda, and Kathot came to be considered part of Oudh proper until the Subah of Allahabad was finally broken up in the reign of Saadat Ali Khan, when a great part of it was ceded to the English. In Saddat A li Khan's time. — This cession by Saadat Ali Khan of a portion of his dominions was made with a view to insuring the better management of the remainder. One of the measures adopted in order to * IE, indeed, in Akbar's time they extended so far, for Jais was then held by various tribes (Aqwam Mukhtalif). t Their union with Oudh under Ala-ud-diu was temporary only. % Elphinstone, 4th Edition, p. 651. SUL 457 give effect to that purpose was a complete reorganization of jurisdiction. IT v°i. j half absolete arrangement of subahs and sarkars was formally abolished, and the province was divided into nizdmats and chaklas* which continued to exist until the introduction of British rule. The importance ol bultanpur was now on the increase. Nizamats each comprised about a quarterof the province, and Sultanpur was selected to give its name to one of Ihem. In its widest sense it now signified a tract extending from the Gogra on the north to the British district of Allahabad on the south and from Jagdispur on the west to the boundary of the province on the east. Here then for the third time in its history Sultanpur is found a political and religious landmark ; of the west the emblem was the crescent, of the east the cross. The masses of the people, indeed, in both directions were of the same persuasion. Brahmanism with them still reigned supreme. The distinction lay between the governing races not the governed ; on the west lay the kingdom of the Muhammadan and Asiatic, the vassal of the Em peror of Delhi, on the east lay the possessions of the Christian and Euro pean subject to the presidency of Bengal. The nizamats were subdivided into chaklas, which however it was practically if not theoretically at the option of the nazim to disregard. Separate officers were usually appointed to each chakla under "amani" nazims, but otherwise only occasionally. An explanation of this difference was once offered to me in the naive remark that it entailed too great an expenditure to find much favour with revenue farmers — a pretty instructive comment on one of the evils of the contract system. The Sultanpur nizamat contained four chaklas, viz., 1 Sultanpur, 2 Aldemau, 3 Jagdispur, 4 Partabgarh. Subjoined is a list of the Nazims of Sultanpur from the date of the institution of the office until the annexation of the province. 1. Mirza Sattar Beg ... 1793 to 1793 2. Sital Parshad ... 1794 „ 18')0 3. Raja Niwaz Singh ... 1801 „ 1802 4. Mirza Jani .. 1803 „ 18J5 5. Raja Jugal Kishor ... 1806 „ 1807 6. Raja Niwaz Singh ... 1808 „ 1810 7. Fazl Ali Khan ... 18 11 „ 18 II 8 Mir Khuda Bakhsh ... i 812 „ 1812 9. Mir Ghulan Husen ... 1812 „ 1814 10. Ikram Muhammad Khan 1815 „ 1817 II. Mfr Ghulam Husen ... 1818 „ 1823 12 Taj-ud din Husen Khan 1824 „ 1827 13. Raja D.irshan Singh ... 1828 ,, 1834 14. Mehndi Khan ... 1835 „ 1835 15. Mirza Abdulla Beg .... 1836 to 1838 16. Qutb-ud-din Husen Khan 1837 7, 1838 17. Raja Darshan Singh ... 1838 „ 1839 18. Mirza Saf-shikan Khan 1840 „ 1840 19. Ata-ulla Beg ... 1841 " 1841 20 Shekh Husen Bakhsh ... 1841 ," 1841 21. Wajid Ali Khan ... 1842 „ 1842 22. Taj-ud-din Husen Khan, .843 „ 1843 23. Raja Inchha Singh ... 1843 „ 1845 24. Qutb-ud-din Husen Khan 1845 „ 1845 25. Raja Man Singh ... 1845 „ 1847 26 Wajid Ali Khan ... 1848 „ 1849 27. Agha Ali Khan ... 1860 ,. 1856 Annexation. — Towards the beginning of 1856 Oudh was annexed to the British Empire. " The revolution was accomplished without the shed- * Perhaps I should rather say constructed nizamats out of the previously existing chakla9, for the latter was no new division. Mr. C. A. Elliott (Chronicles of Oonao, p 127) attributes the introduction of nizamats to Safdarjang, but the popular view of the question in this district is that it was due to Saad.it Ali Khan, and 60 it is in the neighbouring dis trict of Kae Bareli. It is certainly against the supposition that nizamats were not formed until after the treaty of 1801, that the list of nazims commences at an earlier dcite. But Considering how commonly nazims and chakladars are used as synonymous, it is very possibla that one or two officials of the latter degree have been added to make the list commence with the fasli century. 1793 A.D. is equivalent to 1200 fasli. 58 458 SUL ding of a drop of blood, even where difficulty and danger was apprehend ed everything was quietly and prosperously accomplished. The Oudh troops were peacefully disbanded, receiving from the British Government, in addition to their arrears of pay, either a gratuity or a pension, if they were not, as a large number were, drafted into a new irregular force in the service of the company. The people generally gave no sign of discontent. A few of the tradesmen at the capital, and others who had profited by the licentious profession of the court, declared their attachment to the royal family ; but if beyond this there was any regret at the extinction of the old dynasty of Oudh, there was no intelligible expression of feeling. The new system of administration which was applied to Oudh was identical with that which had been found by experience to work s6 well in the Panjab. A mixed commission of soldiers and civilians was appointed with Sir James Outram at its head, and. it was soon said that the disor ganized and distracted kingdom of Oudh was fast subsiding into a tran quil, well ordered province of the British Empire."* But the calm was a deceitful one as was shown by the outbreak in 1857. The following account of the mutiny at Sultanpur is taken from " Gubbins' History of the Mutinies in Oudh" : — "Mutiny. — The station of Sultanpur was commanded by Colonel S. Fisher, whose regiment, the loth Irregular Horse, was stationed there. Besides it there were the 8th Oudh Irregular Infantry commanded by Captain W. Smelt, and the 1st regiment of Military Police under Captain Bunbury. Apprehending an outbreak of the troops, Colonel Fisher sent off the ladies and children on the night of the 7th June towards Allahaba^ under care of Dr. Corbyn and Lieutenant Jenkins. The party reached Par tabgarh safely, but there they were attacked and plundered by the villagers. Three of the ladies — Mrs. Goldney, Mrs. Block, and Mrs. Stroyan, with their children — were separated from the rest, and were taken to the neighbouring fort of Lal Madho Singh at Garh-Amethi, where they were very kindly treated. Madho Singh sent us in their letters to Lucknow, furnished them with such comforts as he could procure himself, and took charge of the articles which we wished to send ; and after sheltering the ladies for some days forwarded them in safety to Allahabad. Tlie rest of the party, joined by Lieutenant Grant, Assistant Commissioner, found refuge for some days with a neighbouring zamindar, and were by him afterwards escorted in safety to Allahabad. " The officers whoremained at Sultanpur were less fortunate. The troops rose in mutiny on the morning of the 9th of June, when Colonel Fisher, in returning from the lines of the Military Police, whom he had harangued and endeavoured to reduce to order, was shot on the back by one of that regiment with a musket-ball. Tlie wound was mortal, and Fisher was attended in his last moments by the Adjutant of the corps, Lieutenant C. Tucker. The troopers of the regiment would not come near their Colonel ; but neither did they injure him. They, however, attacked and killed the second in command, Captain Gibbiugs, who was on horseback near the, * Murray's History of India, p. 724. SUL 459 dooly in which Fisher lay. The men then shouted to Lieutenant Tucker to go ; and finding it useless to attempt to stay longer he rode off, and crossing the river found shelter in the fort of Rustam Sah, at Dera, on the banks of the Gumti. There he was joined next day by Captain Bunbury of the Military Police, and Captain W. Smith, Lieutenant Lewis, and Djp O'Donel, of the 8th Oudh Irregular Infantry. Information was sent into Benares of their escape, and they were brought in by a native escort, which was immediately sent out by the Commissioner of Benares, Mr. H. Carre Tucker. "Rustam Sah is a fine specimen of the best kind of taluqdars in Oudh, of old family, and long settled at Dera, He resides there in a fort very strongly situated in the ravines of the Gumti, and surrounded by a thick jungle of large extent. It had never been taken by the troops of the native Government, which had more than once been repulsed from before it. Rustam Sah deserves the more credit for his kind treatment of the refugees, as he had suffered unduly at the settlement, and had lost many villages which he should have been permitted to retain. I had seen him at Fyzabad in January, 1857, and after discussing his case with the Deputy Commissioner, Mr. W. A. Forbes, it had been settled that fresh enquiries should be made into the title of the villages which he had lost, and orders had been issued accordingly. It is singular that Rustam Sah and Lal Han wat Singh, in the Salon district, who had both been severe sufferers by the settlement proceedings, should have distinguished them selves by their kindness to British officers. * " Thus perished Samuel Fisher, a man well known in India, where he had many friends and no enemies. A keen sportsman, a splendid rider, he excelled in every sport of the field, while his kind and loving disposition endeared him to all who knew him. Until the day before his death I had been in daily communication with him, conveying and receiving intelli gence. On the 10th of June no post arrived from Sultanpur, and we too surelv guessed the cause. "Besides Colonel Fisher and Captain Gibbings, two young Civilians were unhappily also slain — Mr. A. Block, C.S., and Mr. S. Stroyan. When the mutiny broke out, they crossed the river and took refuge with one Yasin Khan, zamindar of the town of Sultanpur. This man at first welcomed them, but afterwards most basely betrayed them. He turned both officers out of his house, and then caused them to be shot down. This is the only instance of like treachery on the part of a petty zamindar in Oudh which came to our notice. " After getting rid of the European officers the mutineers sacked and burned their houses. The three regiments then marched for Lucknow. On the way, however, they heard of the discomfiture of the 3rd regi ment of Military Police, which was on its march from Lucknow to meet them, and turning to the right took the road to Daryabad. Thence they proceeded on to Nawabganj, Bara Banki, which by the 27th June became the rendezvous of all the mutineers in Oudh." 460 SUL The following is an account of some of the clans in this district : — The Tiars. — The Tiars are now nearly an extinct race, but at one time it is said that the lords of the Sultanpur pargana were all Tiars. They succeeded the Bhadaiyans, the conquerors of the Bhars, and were in turn overcome by the Bachgotis, whose star is at present in the ascen dant. This order of succession is chronicled in the following doggerel lines: — Bhar mar Bhadaiyan | Bhadaiyan mar Tiar ; Tiar mar B'ichg»ti. _ The Tiars gave their name to one of the old subdivisions of the pargana, viz., Tappa Tiar, and this perhaps rather than the entire pargana was the extent of their domains. At present they have nothing more than a right of occupancy in a few acres in their old tappa. Regarding the Tiars very little is known. Mr. Carnegy considers them to belong to the Solar race ; * they themselves say they are descended from emigrants from Baiswara, who received a grant of the Bhadaiyan's territory from the Raja of Benares. Nor is much assistance to be gained from their name. Local accounts say they built a fort in the village Terui, and made it their headquarters, but Harkpur is usually considered to have been their principal village. Phonetic resemblance might suggest their connection withTirhoot or Tirab- hakti, especially as their reference to the Raja of Benares points to an east ern origin f but on the other hand, Thornton mentions an influential class called Tiars * in Malabar, and I forbear therefore to offer any conjecture as to what their name denotes or what ethnological relationship it indicates. The Raghubansis. — The Raghubansis profess to be the lineal descendants of Rao-hu, an ancestor of Rama. There are two colonies of them in this dis trict — one in Simrauta, the other in Sultanpur.butueitherof themis of much importance at the present time. The Raghubansis of Simrauta, once possessed half that pargana, which they say they obtained from some Muhammadan king for some unknown reason at some unknown period of antiquity. They were robbed of their independence more than three centuries ago, and few of them now remain. The Raghubansis of Sultanpur claim to have been settled in their pre sent abodes ever since the time of their eponymous ancestor. For cen turies they resisted the threatened encroachments of the Bachgotis, and maintained intact a frontier marked by a little nameless affluent of the Gumti. It was not till within the half century of disorder and misrule which preceded the annexation of the province that they succumbed ; and even now though in a subordinate position, they retain no small portion of I their ancient heritage. ¦"to"- The Bais. — There is scarcely a pargana in this district in which at some period or another, a Bais colony has not been established. In Simrauta, before it was overrun by the Kanhpurias, they shared the proprietorship with the Raghubansis; in Chanda stories yet linger of their having interven- *Notes on races, p. 27 . ! Unless, indeed, one of Jai Chandra's line be referred to. In connection with this circumstance, note the southern origin of the Bais, with whom the Tiars of Sultanpur, claim kindred. SUL 461 ed between the Bhars and the Rajwars; in Amethi the Bais of Udiawan still retain some vestiges of their former rights ; the Bais of Gandeo are still the most extensive proprietors in Inhauna and Subeha; the Bhale Sultans of Isauli and Jagdispur claim descent from the redoubtable Tilok Chand. The Bais of Simrauta. — The Bais of Simrauta claim to have received fifty-four villages in that pargana in dowry with a Chauhan bride from Prithi Raj of Delhi ; but as the fortunes of the Kanhpurias rose their 's declined ; and they are now reduced to the possession of a couple of villages, though a few of them may also be found scattered here and there in culti vation of lauds they have now ceased to own. The Bais of Udidwdn. — The Bais of Udinwan profess to trace their des cent from Tilok Chand, but I have searched in vain for any point of agree ment between their pedigree and that of the Bais of Baiswara. Bijai Singh, their ancestor, they say who lived when the days of Bhar rule were draw ing to a close, married a Bachgoti girl of Asl and, when taking her home to Baiswara, broke his journey at Udiawan, in the Amethi pargana, then the headquarters of an estate of forty-two villages belonging to Brah man Lakhandar Pande. Bijai Singh was a favourite disciple of this Lakhandar, who being childless induced him by a promise of heirship to render his stay permanent. In due time he succeeded his Gamaliel, and on his death left his estate to his three sons — Son Singh, Bharat Singh, and Rathi Singh — by whom it was divided into three parts i thoks) Sonari, Bhareta, and Tengha. How long the dominion of the Bais continued over Udiawan is uncertain, but it is now held by the Bandhalgotis, and it is the general belief, corroborated by the Ain-i-Akbari,* that it was one of their very earliest conquests effected many centuries ago. The Raja of Amethi, indeed, denies that his tribe was preceded by the Bais at all, and says they were settled in the pargana by one of his ancestors from whom they received a large jtigir for military service. They still occupy many villages in the Udiawan ilaqa, but their proprie tary interest in it is now greatly circumscribed. The Bais of Odndeo. — About four hundred years ago a body of Bais, under the leadership of Bariar Sah, set out from Gahumunj (supposed to be somewhere in the Muzaffarnagar district) in quest of a new home. The greater part of Northern India had by that time passed into the hands of Chhattris, and the Bais wandered to the neighbourhood of Inhauna and Subeha before they came to a place which would satisfy the object of their expedition. Here in a tract called Gimdeo, containing three hundred and sixty villages, they discovered an ignoble community of Bhars and Dhobis still in the enjoyment of independence. The name, supposed to mark the spot where the famous bow Gandiva was dropped in his flight by one of the defeated heroes of the great war, suggested reflections full of interest to the Hindus, and thus practical and sentimental considerations * That is to say, the Bais are not there mentioned as zamindars, and the Bandhalgotis are, which means that if the Bais had ever (as is usually believed) been independent zamindarB, they had already ceased to be so. 462 SUL concurred in prompting the adventurers to select this as their abode. ' The reduction of the Bhars and Dhobis was speedily accomplished and the victors have since been known as the Bais of Gandeo, Gareu, or Garhai. This commences and at the same time almost ends their history, the only other event in it worthy of notice being that in the reign of Sher Shah, Bharat Singh's great-grandson of Banar fcsah embraced the Muhammadan faith* The Bharsiyans.— -This name is simply a corruption of the word Bhainsaulian, or natives of Bhainsaul, whence the clan derives its origin. While the Bais of Gandeo were still at Gahtimunj, Jaipal Singh, son of Jagat Singh, Chauhan, was chief of Bhainsaul, in the Mainpuri pargana. He married a daughter of the Gahumiinj family, and the issue of this marriage was a son, Karan Singh, who, with a band of followers, joined the expedition of Banar Sdh. Shortly after the location of the Bais colony in Gandeo he married the daughter of one of their chiefs, Tipur, Rawat ; and there being no sons to stand in his way, succeeded to his father-in-law's estate consisting of forty-two villages. Karan Singh had two sons, Rao and Kunwar, the former of whom died childless, and the latter had two sons, Baz Singh and Jit Singh. Jit Singh died without issue, and Baz Singh received the title of Khan-i-Azam Bhainsaulian. His conversion is reputed to have taken place in the reign of Sher Shah, and his descendants are manifestly the Chauhan-i-nau Muslim alluded to in the Ain-i-Akbari as occupying the Inhauna pargana. Fateh Bahadur Khan, a descend ant of Baz Singh, still possesses a taluqa Bhowa, consisting of twenty- four villages. Mandarkyas. — The Mandarkyas describe themselves as Sombansis, des cendants of a chieftain, Kishan Chand, the founder of the town Kishni. Mandala, they explain in the Sanskrit language, signifies an area of sixty- four kos or one hundred and twenty-eight miles, and such was the extent of Kishan Chand's domains. He was hence styled Mandalak, or lord of a Mandala, and his descendants Mandalakya, or by contraction Mandar- kya. But the word Mandala does not appear to possess the particular mean ing here attributed to it ; it signifies any region or country, and in that sense is of not unfrequent occurrence, as Kosambi Mandala, Chala Mandala, and Garha Mandala ; but by itself, it is altogether meaningless. I venture to offer another derivation of the name, which has at least the recommendation of simplicity. The common pronunciation of the name is Mararkya, but it has just been seen that according to the people themselves the first r is an instance of the common colloquial practice of substituting that letter for nd, and Mandarkya is the more correct orthography. They imply also that kya is a terminal affix only, and that the radical portion of the name is mandar. It is true they make kya an accumulation of two simpler affixes kand yas, but this difficulty is dis posed of by the fact that they do not always use this combination, as * Mr. Benett (Chief Clans of Rae Bareli, page 21) places this event in the reign of Humayun, which is much the same thing. SUL 463 often calling themselves Mandaraks as Mandarkyas. * Now Mandar Sah is the name of one of their ancestors second only in importance to Kishan Chand himself, and this verbal coincidence leads me to think that the Mandarkyas take their name from their ancestor, Mandar Sah, just as the Tilokchandi Bais are called after their ancestor Tilok Chand. The Mandarkyas are partly Musalmans and partly Hindus ; the conver sion of the former was attributed to the time of Sher Shah. Their apostacy does not seem to have bettered their worldly prospects, for none of them even acquired large estates. Hindus and Musalmans together, they now hold but four villages, and the family is in the last stage of decay. Places of interest. — The following are the few places of interest the district possesses : — Ganaur. — Ganaur, pargana- Isauli. In this village are the ruins of what must once have been a vast structure. For a wonder, though its history is unknown, it is not ascribed to the Bhars. The single fact I have been able to ascertain about it is that it was the house of an oilman. The ruins consist of some massive walls of masonry of immense thickness, and three or four pagoda shaped buildings of proportionately substantial construction. The latter are ornamented with beautifully executed scroll-work engraved or rather moulded in the external surface of the bricks ; a- portion of the design only is contained in each brick so that to complete it two or more have to be placed in a particular position — a work of no small difficulty when they are once separated. In the roof of one of the buildings is a large spherical cavity, in which the oilman is supposed to have hoarded his vast wealth to protect it from the rapacity of his neighbours. Who this mysterious individual was, whither he went, how he disappeared, or when he lived, no one seems to know. Bikhar. — Bikhar, pargana Chanda. This village is said' to take its name from the great Vikramaditya, Bikramajit, or Bikram. On the border of one of the tanks in it is a statue said to be that of the legend ary hero, and worshipped by the people of the village. The head of it only is now visible, and even that is said to be gradually disappearing. This is possible enough, and may be traced to natural causes, but this is too simple for rustic superstition, which discovers supernatural agency at work. Vikramaditya is said to be sinking into the earth with horror at the depravity of modern days. As to the reason for the erection of the statue in the village accounts are discrepant. One says it marks the scene of a battle in which Vikramaditya lost his life ; another that it commemorates an exploit of a devotional character. A certain faqir by way of showing his veneration for Bhawani cut off his head, and presented it as an offering to that goddess. So unusual an act of piety deserved an appropriate reward at her hands, so she caused the head to return to his shoulders, and presented him with a buffalo-load of gold. The faqir distributed the gold in charity, and repeated the same ceremony every day with the same satisfactory result. Bikramaditya heard of this and his * According to the Hindus, moreover, the name of one of their clans Chalukya is formed by the addition of the termination keyn to chalu (see " Chronicles of Oonao," page, 56.) 464 SUL enterprising spirit at once prompted him to attempt the feat. He was no less successful than the faqir, and the statue is intended to bear witness to the circumstance. Arjunpur.—Arj\mpwc, pargana Chanda. Here are remains of a large fort built by Salem Shah ; it long ago ceased to be occupied, and little more than the foundations now exist. The walls are about three feet thick with bastions here and there, and enclose a large area now under cultivation. The fort is said to have been called Makarkala and to have given name to the still existing village of Sarae Makarkala from a bazar at which place the inmates of the fort obtained their supplies. Arju. — Arju, pargana Chanda. This village contains a brick well, said to have been in existence since the time of the Bhars. Here, too, are found large bricks nearly two feet in length, which are said to have formerly held a place in the walls of one of those Bhar forts, of which we hear so much and see so little. It is the only one of the kind to which I need allude under this head ; numbers of them are said to have existed in every pargana, but with a few exceptions nothing is known about them, so that an enumeration of their names would be t^edious and unprofitable. Kothot. — Kothot in pargana Sultanpur. The popular account of Kothot is that after the capture of Kusbhawanpur by Ala-ud-din Ghori the Musalmans erected two fortresses. The principal one was Sultanpur on the north of the Gumti on the site of Kusbhawanpur ; the other a kind of outpost, was built a few miles from it on the south side of the river. Hence the latter came to be called by the Sultanpur garrison Kot-ut, or the fort on the other side, and Kothot is simply a corruption of the name so formed. This derivation may be nonsense ; but nevertheless Kothot is a place of undoubted antiquity. The remains of its old fort are still shown in a mound on the borders of the village of Jurapatti, and it gave its name to a pargana in the time of Akbar. It is not at all improbable therefore that it was occupied by Muhammadans as early as the time of Ala-ud-din, the conqueror of Sultanpur. SULTANPUR Pargana — Tahsil Sultanpur — District Sultanpur.— This pargana lies along the south bank of the Gumti; its natural features are described under the district heading. It is rather a dreary and dry expanse of country with no large towns except Sultanpur ; it is intersected with ravines stretching down to the Gumti. It has an area of 246 square miles and a population of 159,225, being at the rate of 644 to the square mile. The most numerous class of the community is the Brahman numbering 22,879; this may perhaps be accounted for by the soundness of the bank of the Gumti along which in this quarter it is believed that no less than 360 temples are to be found. Withal the Brahmans have only managed to get ten villages in the pargana. The Chamars come next numbering 19,829. The Bachgoti Chhattris are the principal landholders owning 190 villages. The KluinzAdas who are converted Bachgotis come next with 130, and the annals of these clans may here be given. Taluqdari. Zamindari 94 98 30 8 111 19 0 13 0 10 0 15 3 2 SUL 465 The landed property is divided between the following clans to the following extent : — Bachgotis ... Rajkumars „, Khanzadas Musalmans ... Brahmans ... Kayaths Other castes ... 238 163 The Bachgoti Khdnzddas of Hasanpur. — Jai Chand Singh's posterity have played a conspicuous part in local history, the head of the family for the time being is still acknowledged premier raja in this part of Oudh. Tilok Chand, son of Jai Chand, says tradition, was a contem porary of Babar, during one of whose eastern expeditions he laid the foundation of the future greatness of his house. Either taken prisoner in battle, or arrested as a refractory landholder, Tilok Chand fell a prisoner into Babar's hands. He was allowed to choose between the adoption of the faith of Islam with immediate liberty, or adherence to his old religion with incarceration for an indefinite period. With many respectable pre cedents to guide him, he selected the former alternative, and was there upon received into the emperor's favour.* His name was changed to Tatar Khan, and with it he received the title of Khan Bahadur, or Khan-i-Azam. Tatar Khan had three sons. One Fateh Sah, whose descendants still hold the Dhamaur ilaqa, was born before his father's conversion, and retained the name Bachgoti; the others, Bazid Khan and Jal&l Khan, were brought up as Muhammadans, and from their father's title coined them selves the new and pretentious name of Khanzadas. Of Bazid Khan nothing but the name is known ; but his son, Hasan Khan, attained to greater eminence than any other member of his family, and in his time the prosperity of the Khanzadas reached its culminating point. Sher Shah,f it is said, during his progress from Bengal to Delhi chanced to make a lengthened halt at Hasanpur, or as it was then called Narmal, the headquarters of Hasan Khan, who following the policy inaugurated by his grandfather of seeking advancement through the medium of court favour, welcomed his distinguished visitor with a sump tuous banquet, worthy of the rank to which he was aspiring, and, indeed, had recently assumed. Sher Shah was much gratified at this_ mark of attachment and respect ; and Hasan Khan having now placed his foot on the ladder of fortune, soon mounted higher and higher, j * I here follow local tradition, but Sir H. Elliott says the Khanzadas must have been converted before the Mughal dynasty commenced, as we read of Bachgotis with Musalman names before that (Supplementary Glossary, IJachgoti). Perhaps the conversion was indi rectly connected with the turbulence already mentioned in Sikandar Lodi's reign. t It may be noted that this is another of the periods during which the Bachgotis distin guished themselves by their turbulence. X Elphinstone, 4th Edition, page 388, Sher Shah assumed the title of king before he had conquered his way as far west as Kanauj. 59 466 SUL One day at court a question arose between the Raja of Riwa and Hasan Khan, the latter boldly asserting his precedence, the former as positively rejecting his pretensions. " How far then," said Sher Shah, " do your vast territories extend ? " whose but mine," promptly answered Hasan Khan, "is the very ground on which your majesty's residence stands ?"* Sher Shah amused at the quick reply, placed Hasan Khan beside him, and said that he should be thereafter styled co-monarch"f at the same time delegating to him the favour to confer the title of raja on whom he pleased within the limits of Banaudha. And this last was by no means a barren honour, for theoretically at least during the investiture, the king-maker stands upon a costly dais, which is constructed of a lac and a quarter of rupees at the expense of the raja elect, and the ceremony over becomes the perquisite of the occupant. + However gratifying these tokens of favour to the recipient, they were not likely fo extinguish the dispute between him and his rival ; and it was agreed that the question at issue should be referred to the arbitra ment of the sword. Hasan Khan conscious of his inability to cope single- handed with his antagonist at once set himself diligently to work to obtain allies. With the Chauhans of Mainpuri he appealed to clan feel ing and the ties of kindred, and argued that it was incumbent upon them to strain every nerve to establish the Chauhan's superiority over the Baghels, to Musalman chiefs he pointed out the merit of making common cause with him, a convert to their faith, against the unbeliever, and by such means as these soon succeeded in collecting a vast army. This he led to the appointed rendezvous ; but the Raja of Riwa shirked the conflict, and failed to put in an appearance on the ground. The Khanzada accordingly returned in triumph, and rose yet higher in the favour of Sher Shah. In the midst of a courtier's life, Hasan Khan found leisure to pay considerable attention to his interests as a landholder. Not only did he found the present village of Hasanpur, but the estate which thence derives its name is said to have seen its palmiest days while it was in his possession. It may, indeed, be surmised that the overthrow of the Sur dynasty caused him to retire into private life, for he is said to have died at Hasanpur. A little to the north of the Lucknow road, on the west of that town, may be seen a brick -built enclosure of massive construction. In its present dilapidated condition it might be mistaken for the ruins of a small castle, but it was built by Hasan Khan as a family mausoleum, and his remains are said to have been the first deposited there. The mantle of Hasan Khan does not appear to have fallen upon any of his successors ; but there are signs that each of them, according to his * "Pae takht badsha kis ke raj men hai ?" It must be remembered that at this time Sher Shah chanced to be at Hasanpur, which appears to give point to the joke. t Badsha doem Masnad-i- Ala. The last words are vulgarly corrupted into"Maaan> ^jelhi.' J Dr. Butter (Southern Oudh, page 150) says that the Raja of Hasanpur is the descen- dent of tho Baja of Banaudha, the last of whom gave his daughter in marriage to " Ghori Badshah." Dr.Butter takes this person to be Qutb-ud-din trhori, but Sher Shah also claimed. to be a Ghori (Elliot 4th edition, pages 384 and 815 note) and the title of Badshah only commenced with Babar. Is it then possible that Sher Shah is the Ghori Badshah of the story, and that Hasan Khan was the raja who gave his dauther to him ? This would fully account for Hasan Khau's good fortune. SUL 467 ability, strove to maintain the honour of the family. Nor did they allow such considerations as kinship to interfere with the pursuit of this object. Fateh Sah's line had in the fourth generation that had elapsed since its commencement, done its best to struggle into importance, and had annexed among others a little ilaqa known as the " twelve kanait villages." Upon these Zabardast Khan of Hasanpur cast covetous eyes, and at last he determined to take possession of them. He accordingly attacked them with a large force, and in the internecine strife which followed, much Bachgoti blood was spilled on both sides. Zabardast Khan remained master of the coveted tract, but to obliterate the recollection of the events connected with its acquisition directed that the name of the village which had been the scene of conflict, Kanait itself, should be no longer used, and it should be for the future replaced by Shahpur. In yet another family quarrel did Zabardast Khan figure about the same time, but an account of it will be more properly given under the history of Mani rpur which is just afterwards given. Roshan Ali Khan son of Zabardast Khan was the first to permanently injure the fair edifice which Hasan Khan had reared. At the outset of his career, indeed, his power was equal to that of his predecessors, and it might have remained so to the last, had he not rashly ventured to mea sure strength with Safdarjang. He was killed in a battle with the Nawab, and the importance of the Hasanpur family thereby sustained a serious blow.* At that time their estate was in danger of being altogether broken up ; as for the next thirty years during the nominal incumbency of Ali Bakhsh,f adopted son of Roshan Ali Khan, it was held under direct management by the officers of Government. Ashraf Ali succeeded Ali Bakhsh ; but for five years afterwards a similar state of affairs conti nued, and it was not until AD. 1809 that he obtained full control over his estate. This he retained for ten years only when he died leaving two sons, Husen Ali and Khairat Ali, both of whom afterwards ascended the gaddi. Until Husen Ali reached his majority (in 1830), Hasanpur was again held under direct management ; in the following year he was admitted to engage for it, and thereafter continued to do so until annexation with the exception of a short break in 1837-38, the date j of which suggests that it may have been in some measure due to the circumstances described in the following story :— Husen Ali was in 1836, when the circumstances referred to occurred, about twenty-five years of age, and an extensive zamindar holding much of the land which lies between his residence and Jagdis pur. * Elliott's Supplementary Glossary. Bachgoti, where Roshan Ali is called Diwan, " but" says Sir H. Ellictt, most people deny the right of the Hasanpur Bandhua family to the title of Diwan, which tney say belongs only to the Bilkharia family, and in practice it is cer tainly usual to give the title to the latter. (The present Hasanpur title is raja.) t Afier Rciahan Ali'- death his widow, Bibi Jamayyat Khanam, obtained a farmSn gianting her the Bhada I]a