Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/255

 KHE 247 between us; break uot the pledge which thou hast given me; forget it not. Beware! Many are the claims which I have upon thy soul Be they great or be they sınall, do not thou forget them. Call to thy remem- prance my deeds of martial glory. Forget not the exertions of that bounty which distributed so many a jewel to my servants and dependants. When I am gone, do not thou forget me, nor the afflicted in the hour of need. Ponder word for word on all that I have said ; do thou bear all in mind, and again, forget me not.' “ After expressing himself as above, be directed Sadr Jaban once more to repeat the Kelmah, and he recited the solemn text himself with a voice equally loud and distinct. Ile then desired the Sadr to continue repeating by his pillow the sourah neish, and another chapter of the Koran, together with the adeilah prayer, in order that he might be enabled to render up his soul with as little struggle as possible. Accordingly Sadr Jahan had finished the sourch neish, and had the last words of the prayer on his lips, when with no other symptom than a tear drop in the corner of his eye, my noble father resigned his soul into the hands of bis Creator." Sadr Jahán's tomb is in Piliáni: it was completed in 1651 A.D. His descendants held high office under the Mughal emperors. Like his masters, Akbar and Jahángír, he had married Hindu wives, by one of whom, Párbati, a Brahmani, he had Murtaza Khan and Irtiza Xhan. Murtaza Khan was faujdar of Gopaman,* and Irtiza Khan held the more important charge of the Rantambhaur fort. Badr Jahíín, another son, held both Barwar and Kheri in rent-free tenure. Of this fact there can be no doubt. Not only do the family, archives confirm it, but it is admitted by the present owners of Kheri, who have risen on the ruins of this great principality stretching from the Ganges to the Gogra. The estate must have been broken up before 1707 A.D., the date of a túmár or rent-roll of pargana Kheri, when it had been brought on to the revenue-paying register. After the death of Chhippi Khan, already mentioned, the management of Barwar was entrusted to Muqtadi Khan, grandson of Murtazá Khan. He proceeded to Barwar, and built a large quadrangular fort there on the ruins of a Bhar or Báchhil stronghold of older date. He greatly enlarged the estate during the reign of Alamgir. He kept the Ahban Řája of Mi- tauli, a Hindu, in prison for twelve years, pressing him to sign a deed of sale of estate in his favour. Báz Khan, Ahban of Bhúrwára, who belonged to the Musalman branch of the family, was summoned to Delhi by the Emperor Aurangzeb to give security for the revenue due on his estate. The Ahban, a rural magnate, unfamiliar with the ways of courts, applied to his more polished neighbour, the Sayyad of Barwar, for advice. The latter promised himself to be security, and the pair travelled together to Delhi. Arrived there, the crafty Sayyad made excuses for not immediately furnish- ing the security. The imperial officials threatened the Ahban with im- prisonment, the Sayyad insidiously advised him to abscond for a short time till he could complete arrangements which would satisfy the revenue • Shah Jahan's farman, 2050 A. H.