Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/425

 MAH 417 reduced by the settlement of 1264 fasli (1856 A.D.), had "been settled with his brother Bábu Prithípál, who had judiciously come in, and his pos- session was not disturbed. He is now recognised as taluqdar, and holds twenty-three villages, which have been assessed at Rs. 15,981-4-0. But the resources of the estate as yet remain undeveloped; it contains a good deal of culturable jungle land that requires only to be broken up, and the bábu hias much cause to thank the leniency of the British Government that left him in possession of so five a property. The Chauháns of Kathwira.—The Chauhans of Kathwára possess a small estate of eight villages situated on the banks of the Guinti at the south-west extremity of the pargana, and are said to have left their native town of Mainpuri under the leadership of Achhraj and Bachhráj, some thirteen generations ago. They appear to have entered the pargana at the "same time as Panwárs of Itaunja. This part of the country was also under Kurmi rule, and the Kurmi leader here was Ráe Dhándu. The Chauhans have a similar story to the Panwárs, that they effected their conquest by first sending a member of their family to take service with the native chief. Ráe Dhándu was driven out, and Achhráj settled in Kathwára taking eight villages, Bachhráj in Magat receiving twelve. Old traditions surround the village of Kathwára. At the end of the Dwápar age, it is said to have been under the rule of a Dait Hansan Dhuj, who had seized the horse that Arjun had let loose during his horse sacrifice. The Dait was then attacked by Arjun and Pardumn, son of Srikrishn, and Birk Khet, son of Rája Karan, and the place where their. armies met has been called Katakwára (Katak, an army) or Kathwára ever since. Hansan Dhuj is said to have had a large caldron which he kept filled with boiling oil , and he vowed he would throw into it any one of his army that lingered. But the youngest of his sons Sadanand yield- ing to the entreaties of his wife stayed behind one more day. Thereupon the pitiless rája, placing his royal oath above the instincts of paternal love, consigned him to the boiling oil; guiltless, however, as he was of any wish to shirk the common peril, the oil turned cold, and he came out unharmed. Near Chandanpur, a bamlet of the village, on the east side of it is the place where this caldron was fixed, and to this day charcoal and ashes are dug upon the spot. Close to it is a small shrine dedicated to Debi Chandikam The Bhars are said to have succeeded to this race of demons, and the Kurmis to the Bhars. These Chauhans were a turbulent set of men, and were never quiet in the Nawabi. On one occasion they carried their depredations into the very city of Lucknow, and a large body of men were sent against them; but they kept out of the way till the matter had blown over, and then returned to their village. On another occasion, so late as 1258 fasli (1851 A. D.), they refused to pay in their revenue, and had to be compelled by Khán Ali Khan, the Chakladar, with a body of the king's troops. They still hold their old villages. The Chauhans of Magat.—The history of this family of Chauhans of Magat is contained in that of Kathwára. After the expulsion of the Kurmis Bachhráj received twelve villages, with Magat for his headquar- ters as his share of the conquest. It does not seem that his portion was