Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924024153987).pdf/363

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BHI

285

Hanomaa and Banw^ri Kayaths the place has no history one Madhab Thakur, a man of note resided here, and the tradition remains that his field near the village never requires irrigation, however dry the season. A vernacular school attended by 64 pupils, and a mosque are the

years ago by



institutions of the village. The population is 4,656, of whom 2,700 are Chhattris, 166 are Musalmans. There are no masonry houses or market, and the place is singularly rural for its size. The large Chhattri population is its

only feature of interest.

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BHITATJLI Pargana

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Tahsil Fatehpur District |Bara Banki. This pargana adjoins Ramnagar; it was formerly in the Bahraich district; it lies west of the Kauridla, between that river and the Chauka. The area of the pargana is 62 square miles, of which 32 are cultivated; the population is 26,664, at the rate of 430 to the square mile. The Government demand is Rs. 9,263 being at the rate of 5| annas per arable acre the lightest assessment in Oudh, taking everything into consideration. It originally belonged to the Raja of R£mnagar it is now the property of the R£ja of Kapurthala, who resides in the Panjdb. The agent of the landlord resides in Bahraich. As this former gentleman is now almost the only titled representative of the Raikwdr clan, and as Bhitauli, their residence, a strong fort lying in the tongue of land between the Chauka and the Kauriala, was rather celebrated during the mutinies, it is desirable to give here an account of the Raikwar clan.

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It settled on both sides of the river Kauriala or Gogra, for some unacAs a rule, a great river divides a clan, but here we have countable reason. the Raikwars in Bahraich on one side, in Kheri, Sitapur and Bara Banki on the other. The following is the account of the family given by Mr. H. B. Harington

"

Some 600

years ago, three brothers, Sal, Bal and Bhairwanand, Jummoo, on the borders of Kashmir.

left

the

city of Raika, near

" They first passed on to their connexion, the Raja of Kanauj thence to Bukheri, at that time a portion of what has since been known as the Bhitauli estate, in the old pargana of Sailuk.

Bukheri was washed away by the Gogra, and finally they settled in Sihali in pargana Fatehpur, a village on the borders of Suratganj. In this village a large chabutra standing by a masonry well, which is stated to have been made by the Bhars, marks the tradition that one of the three brothers, Bhairwanand, fell into the well and was allowed by the other two to remain there under the hopes that a pandit's prophecy might be realised, that their raj in Sailuk would endure so long as Bhairwanand remained at the bottom of the well. To the present day the Raikwars make an annual pilgrimage to do worship at the chabutra of Bhairwanand. The remaining brothers are said to have taken service under the Bhar rdjas, Sarangdhar and Kaplirdhar, who held large territories on either side of the Gogra. Sdl represented their interests as their wakil at the Delhi Court and Bal became The Bhar rajas fell into arrears and refused to pay up the their ndib. balance due. Thereon a force was sent from Delhi. The Bhar rajas were overcome and slain, and their territories made over, those trans-Gogra and known as Bhaunri to Bal, and those on this side to S^l. "

Chanda