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BIL

314

Haidar of Bilgram from the Akbam^ma, the Tabaqat-i-Badaoni, Fafishta, Akbarndma by Shelch Ildhddd of Sarhind, and Ahul Fazl's lettefs, The sources in italics have never of which the compiler had four hooks. been used by preceding historians. This work is perhaps the only critical Bilgram was a great seat of Muhamhistorical work written by a native. mad an learning from the time of Akbar to the present century. For the literati of the town, vide the Tazkirah by Ghulam Ali A'zid, entitled the

'Sarw-e-Azad'" (Fasc. IV,

"

p. 316).

Heber visited Bilgram in 1824. His notes on it are worth quoting Our stage to-day (Mallanwan to Bilgram) of 7 kos through the same

country was to Bilgram, a place remarkable as on for the British 'advanced force' as it then There are still (1824) was, which was afterwards fixed at Cawnpore. several traces of what the king's sawars said were bells of arms and officers' bungalows, which certainly might be such, but were now heaps of level

and

fruitful style of

being the station

first

fixed

ruins. "

The town

itself is small,

with marks of having been

much more

con-

containing some large and good, though old, houses, the Here again after a long interval habitations of the tahsildar, kotwal, &c. I found a good many scattered palm-trees, both of the date and toddyspecies, and there is a noble show of mango-trees in every direction. siderable,

but

still

" The Gomashta said the soil of Oudh was one of the finest in the world; that everything flourished here which grew either in Bengal or Persia; that they had at once rice, sugar, cotton, and palm-trees, as well as wheat, maize, barley, and peas; that the air was good, the water good, and the grass particularly nourishing to cattle; but the laws are not good,' the judges are wicked, the zamindars are worse, the Amins (Amils ?) worst of all, and the ryots are robbed of everything, and the king will neither I asked him the rent per bigha of the land. He said see nor hear. generally Rs. 4, but sometimes 6. "

We passed a neat garden

of turnips and some potatoes. These last, exceedingly disliked, but were now becoming great favourites, particularly among the Musalmans, who find them very useful as absorbents in their greasy messes" (Journal II, p. 101).

he

said,

were at

first

Under the ex-government Bilgram produced many officers of rank and Among them may be mentioned the following: Sayyads Baqar Ali, Chakladar of Bangar under Shuja-ud-daula, Hashmat Ali and Chirdgh Ali, Chakladars of Bithiir and Cawnpore under A'sif-ud-daula, and Qudrat distinction.

Ali,

Chakladar in Haidarabad; Shekhs

Muhammad Ata, Chakladar of Muhammad Askari, Chakladar

Jalalabad under Ghazi-ud-dln Haidar, and of Rasiilpur under Wajid Ali Shah.

Other Sayyads of distinction were Sayyads Dawar and Muhammad Mdh at the Courts of Alamglr and Shah Alam; Mir Abdul Jalll, Military Pay Master (Bakhshi) in Gujarat; Bahadur Ali Khan, Chief of the Police at Lucknow under Asif-ud-daula; Muhammad Khan, Mir Munshi to the Governor General, Foreign Department, now a pensioner residing at Bilgrim; Abu Hasan Khan, Naib N^zim of Rasulabad; Rukn-ul-Amin Khau,