Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/278

 270 KHE alleged to have been a companion of Janimijai, or from the abundance of rice and milk (khír), which was produced in this then pastoral country. It contained originally 1,059 villages, of which 299 were taken out and formed into pargana Srinagar, 243 used to make up pargana Dhaurahra, and 527 left; at demarcation these were thrown into 211. Of these 50 more; lying between the Chauka and the Ul, have been since added to Srina- gar leaving 161, and the pargana of Basára containing 32 has been included in Kheri which has now 193 villages. Bisens appear to have been the earliest zamindars, probably belonging to the great Manjhauli family which held Dhauralıra during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and, indeed, seems to have spread right across Oudh north of Sitapur; Játs and Banjáras also held partial proprietary rights. The whole pargava, however, became a part of the great estate formed by the Sayyads of Barwar (see Kheri district article, chapter V.). The position held by the Barwar Sayyads in Kheri during the 18th century is surrounded with much. obscurity. From the pargaba Túmár',* dated 1116 fasli, it appears that one Nawab Mustatab Mualla Alqáb held the whole, contain- ing 1,059 villages as jágír. There can be no doubt from the consensus of tradition that this Nawab, whether rightly or wrongly so called, was Sayyad Karim, who died in 1719 A. D. This document further informs us that of these 1,059 villages 61 were granted rent-free to Sayyads and 40 to old zamindar qanungos. Parbal Singh, Chaudhri, the ancestor of the rájas of Oel and Kaimabra had three villages--Kaimahra, Khogi, and Ocl. Jagraj, his grandson, accord- ing to the family tree, had Dhukwa, in which his descendants now remain. Rae Than Singh, who appears to have been the head of the family, had nine villages, and his two sons, Bhagwant and Mandháta, had two each. A brick fort in Bel near Kaimahra is alleged to have belonged to this family, but the workmanship and architecture of the ruin so exactly resemble those of neighbouring old Sayyad forts in Siáthu and Ahmadna- gar, that I have no hesitation in ascribing it to the Piháni nobles. In all the Janwárs had therefore eighteen villages; one Sayyad Abdul Ghafur had seven villages ; Kurmis and qánúngos had the others. The Bais had one village. The contrast between the then ownership of the pargana and that exist. ing at annexation is interesting. The great estate of Mahewa did not even exist; those of Oel and Kaimahra appear one hundred and fifty years ago as a tiny freehold of four hainlets; while the descendants of the great Sadr-us-sudúr, who then held the whole country from the Gogra to the Ganges, between Sitapur and the hills, now barely exist in penury and obscurity. The power of the Sayyads in Kheri appears to have been first shaken by the Láharpur Gaurs, probably after the death of Sayyad Khur- ram, and the dissensions which then arose. The Janwars relate that in Rája Mán's time they had to fly from the Gaurs: this would be about 1740. The Ahbans also of Mitauli for fifteen years in Parsa of Dhaurahra Pargana concealed themselves from the same fierce foe, who also expelled
 * Támár or Band-i-Túmár is a rolled manuscript or weroll often used for chronicles.