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AME

52

had become only half as large again, when in 1846 it for the second time the hands of the Amethi taltiqdar, in the general lease he obtained from Maharaja Man Singh. To this summary mode of dealing with his estate, Balwant Singh, the proprietor, yields anything but a ready acquiescence, so to silence his opposition, Rdja Madho Singh seized him and held In this sorry plight he remained at the time of General in confinement. Sleeman's tour. " Madhoparsh^d of Amethi," writes the Resident, " has lately seized upon the estate of Shahgarh, worth twenty-thousand rupees a year, which had been cut off from the Amethi estate, and enjoyed by a it

fell into

branch of the family for several generations. He holds the proBalwant Singh in prison in irons, and would soon make away with him were the Oudh Goyernment to think it worth while to enquire after collateral

prietor

him."

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

When

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

it

is

The common account

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

m,

-D

jx,

1

X-

W^S^n.

How long this

numerical exactitude continued

is

not clearly ascertain-

enough that the estate increased considerably during the followmg 30 years. It then began to exhibit signs of approaching decay. able



it is