Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/270

 262 KHE General Sleeman passed on his tour through Oudh, and his account of the clan may be given here. “The estate through which we liave been passing is called Bharwara, and contains the sites of nine hundred and eighty-nine villages, about one- tenth of which are now occupied. The landbolders are all of the Ahbun Rajpoot tribe; but a great part of them have become Musulmans. They live together, however, though of different creeds, in tolerable harmony; and eat together on occasions of ceremony, though not from the game dishes. No member of the tribe ever forfeited his inheritance by changing his creed. Nor did any one of them, I believe, ever change his creed, except to retain his inheritance, liberty, or life, threatened by despotic and un- scrupulous rulers. They dine on the same floor, but there is a line marked off to separate those of the party who are Hindoos from those who are Musulmans. The Musulmans have Mahommedan names, and the Hindoos Hindoo names, but both still go by the common patronymic name of Ahbuns. The Musulmans marry into Musulman families, and the Hindoos into Hindoo families of the highest castes-Chouhans, Rathores, Rykwars, Janwars, &c. Of course all the children are of the same religion and caste as their parents. They tell me that the conversion of their ancestors was effected by force under a prince or chief called Kala Pahar. This must have been Mahomed Firmally alias Kala Pahar, to whom his uncle Bheilole, king of Delhi, left the district of Bahraetch as a separate inheri- tance a short time before bis death, which took place A.D. 1488. This conversion seems to have had the effect of doing away with the murder of female infants in the Ahbun families who are still Hindoos; for they could not get the Musulman portion of the tribe to associate with them if they continued it, " The estate of Bharwara is divided into four parts-Hydrabad, Hurun- poor, Aleegunge, and Sekunderabad. Each division is subdivided into parts, each held by a separate branch of the family; and the subdivision of these parts is still going on as the heads of the several branches of the family dic and leave more than one son. The present head of the Abbun family is Mahomed Hussan Khan, a Musulman, who resides in his fort in the village of Julalpoor, near the road over which we passed. The small fort is concealed within, and protected by a nice bamboo-fence that grows round it. He holds twelve villages rent-free as nankar, and pays revenue for. all the rest that compose his share of the great estate. The heads of families who hold the other shares enjoy in the same manner one or more villages rent-free as nankar. These are all well cultivated, and contain a great many cultivators of the best classes such as Koormees, Lodhies, and Kachies." Muhammad Hasan Khan's sons held at annexation forty-two villages comprised in the estate of Jalálpur, Bhúrwára, Bargadia. Another son of Tarbiat Khan's left many descendants, but one of them held two villages and the others none at all, From a third son was descended Madár Bakhsh, who left an estate of some twenty villages with his headquarters at the old family residence of Kotwára. But the family tree showing a few of the more prominent members is given at the end of this account, + Sleeman's Tour, Vol II., pages 97—99.