Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/226

 218 KHE separated by that river from the northern corner of the Ahbar territory ; it trends to the south-east still marching with the Abhan lordship; then crossing the Chauka, that river forming the boundary between the Jángres and the Janwárs, it extends to the Kauriúla and even crosses it into Bahraich, but is met in the south-east by the Raikwárs, a corner of whose dominions comes in between the Janwars and the Jángres, forming a pro- mentory stretching from the great Raikwár dominion of Baundi Rám- nagar. Beyond the Suheli, the ancient channel of the Sárda, the Palári Súrajbans Chhattris have, within the last thirty years, taken Khairigarh from the Banjáras; this they now hold up to the Molán, the northern boundary of Ondh. Annals of the Chhuttri clans fabulous. None of these clans or families have any trustworthy annals; the Albans and Surajbaus claim a very long pedigree, the former of 107 generations, the latter of about 90, but none of them rank high in the scale; the Janwárs and Jángres both claim to be Chauhans who have adopted local names. The Ahbans are said to be Cháwar Chhattris who once ruled in Gujarat. Gopi and Sopi, two brothers, are said to have come from that province shortly after the commencement of the Clristian era. The former acquired the pargana of Gopamau, a descendant of the latter, who first settled in Bhúrwára, took possession of Pataunja, three miles west of Misrikh in pargana Nimkhár. This is the reputed residence of the Dryad Abbhàwan, who is alleged to bave given supernatural assistance to her favourite, the Cháwar Chief, who henceforth took the name of Ahhan. At any rate, Pataunja became a local centre of secular and religious power. A tribe of Kurmis and a gotr of Tiwari Brahmans have called themselves after Pataunja--a fact which tends to indicate that, although now a mere village, it was formerly the capital of a state possessing some independence. The after history of the Ahbans is related in Chapter V. They rose to great prosperity, how great it is impossible to state, for of all Chhattri clans they are the most men- dacions, and many plans for the advancement of individuals have been foiled by this defect of theirs. Their Rája, Man Singh, thought that he could oppose the British army in its successful march across Oudh after the battle of Buxar in 1764. He was defeated and killed: bayoneted through the flowing pyjamas which this degenerate Chhattri thought was a suit- able panoply for the battle field. They rose again and again; their chief Lone Singh took up the losing cause in 1857. He seized some British officers and ladies who claimed his protection. He was foolish enough to chain them in the market-place of his fort at Mitauli; he delivered them to the Lucknow authorities, who shot the officers and imprisoned the ladies. Lone Singh was himself transported for life for complicity in murder, and his estate forfeited in 1859. Some cadet branches of the family still survive and have considerable estates; most of them are converts to the Musalman faith. The other Chhattri clans need not be referred to in detail here. The Janwárs settled in Kheri pargana in the sixteenth century, having come from Rajputana. The Jángres about the same time drove out the Bachhil Chhípi Khán from Fort Kámp, whose ruins are still to be seen on the bank of the Chauka. The Palaria Súrajbans entered the district as late as 1838 from Dhoti and Kanchanpur in Naipal. The Báchhils, who still