Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/296

 288 KUR The soil of Kurauna is good, much better on the whole than that of any other pargana in the tahsil, with the exception of Machbrehta, and the per- centage of first class crops is large. The irrigation is almost entirely from wells, as the jhíls are very few in number, and no streams intersect the pargana, which might be utilized for the purpose. There is only one road, that which connects Nímkhár with Machhrehta. There is no water com- munication, the stream Baita which separates it from Machhrehta being unnavigable. There are two bazars held bi-weekly at Kurauna and Nagwa Jairám, but nothing save the ordinary necessaries of life are sold at either. The pargana boasts of one fair held annually in March at Jargavan, one of the places visited by the Nímkhár pilgrims on their "Paikarma” (vide town Misrikh). There are no mines or quarries in the pargana: nor are there any notable manufactures carried on, nor does it produce anything out of the common. The pargana is called Kurkhila in the Aín-i-Akbari, and was known ander native rule as "Kurkhila alias Kurauna," both words being the names of two distinct towns, five miles from each other. Kurauna being eigh- teen miles south from Sitapur and five miles east of Kurkhila. The name in either case has for root the Sanskrit word "kar" meaning a hand, from which also is named the "karjúra" or "hand-joining" tank at Jargawán,- i.e.," the village of the joining;" and tradition tells us that very many cen- turies ago one of the kings of the Solar dynasty having had the misfortune to lose both his hands, had them restored by bathing in the waters of this tank, which ever since has been known by the name it now bears. The old zamindars were, it is said, Pásis; and here again, as in the case of Khairabad and Láharpur, we find that the members of that tribe were once of a station in life very different to that which they now enjoy. Some 400 years ago they were driven out by an invasion of Janwar Rajputs, wbose descendants, represented by Deo Singh and Mádho Singh, still own the greater part of the pargana, including Kurauna and Jargawán. The 51 villages of the pargana are thus distributed,—32 Janwár, 10 Mos- lem, 3 Káyath, 2 Gosháin, 4 newly-formed grants. The 10 villages marked Moslem, known as “ Iláqa Kullí," are held by Muhammad Husen Khan, who acquired them in 1855 A.D. in mortgage from the original Janwar prop This gentleman is a taluqdar, and owns also Ilıqa Rájápára in the neighbouring pargana of Machhrehta. He is a Sayyad from zila Budaun, and was a chakladar of Khairabad prior to annexation. The history of Deo Singh and Madho Singh's family has been lost, and nothing is known about them save that their ancestors came into the country four centuries ago from Janakpur in Tirhoot. They themselves are the sons of Raghunath Singh, who died full of years in 1286 faşli (1850 A.D.), after having enjoyed his estate for 72 years. His father before him, Makhan Singh, was in possession for even a longer period, for he held the property for 75 years. Such an instance of longevity, a father and son holding their estate for a century and a half, is without parallel in this part of Oudh, and would probably be difficult to match elsewhere Even Raghunath Singh did not die in his bed, for he was alain with his eldest son, Dulár Singh, when defending his house against the attack of the Khairabad chakladar's troops. His other two sons escaped, and recovered