Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/474

 466 MAN waited in vain for the performance of the religious services of the day Astonished, and not well pleased at such a state of things, he enquired why prayers were delayed. He was informed in reply that there were a great number of Dámghánis resident in the muhalla, and that until all were assembled prayers could not take place; in other words that the Dámghánis were not going to trouble themselves in the matter. Upon this the saint remarked that it was clear that malak-ul-mart, or the angel of death, had visited the town, which was tantamount to the utterance of a curse from the lips of so holy a man. From that day, it is said, that numbers of Dámghầnis were seized with a mortal sickness, the most dis- tressing symptom of which was excruciating pains in the head, which, accompanied by fever, carried off thousands. Panic-stricken the survivors fled from Manikpur, and neither they nor their successors have since resided in the place. Makhdúm Jahánión Jahángasht and the Gardezis. After leaving the Dámgháni quarter of the town, Makhdúm Jahánián Jahángasht went to the muhalla of the Gardezis. Here he was hospitably received by Sayyad Aziz-ud-din and Sayyad Sharf-ud-dín, descendants of Shahab-ud- dín Gardezi. Perceiving that his hosts wore the dress of the religious brotherhood, while their kinsmen and others were clad as soldiers and carried arms, the saint asked why the latter were thus dressed in place of the quieter garments of sanctity. The reply was that, harassed by the attacks of neighbouring rájas, they were forced in self-defence to organize a system of military defence. Thereupon the saint turned to Aziz-ud-dín and said:—" From this day forth you are invested with the title of rája of of this country," and turning to Sharf-ud-din, he said :-"And you will bear the rank of qázi.” To both of them he added that so long as they and their descendants walked uprightly, their respective dignities should be transmitted from generation to generation. It is commonly reported, but there is no documentary evidence to corroborate the assertion, that on leaving Manikpur, Makhdúm Jahánián was accompanied by the recently dubbed rája and qázi as far as Partabgarh nála. On taking leave of them at this place, the saint informed them that their respective government and jurisdiction should extend so far. From this time. the Gardezis increased in power and influence. It was in this year 802 Hijri (A.D. 1400), during the time of Tamerlane, that the provinces of Oudh, Kanauj, and Karra Mánikpur were attached to the kingdom of Jaunpur under Khwája Jahan. In 1480, the empire of Jaunpur was overturned by Bahlol Lodi, and Mánikpur passed under the sovereignty of Delhi. In this contest between the two kingdoms, the Hindus of Oudh, disgusted with the persecution to which they had been subjected by the priest-ridden kings of the east, yielded valuable assistance to Bahlol Lodi. Tilok Chand, the Bais Chief, pro- bably laid the foundation of his greatness when he aided Bahlol Lodi by pointing out the fords over the Jumna at Kálpi. Bahlol Lodi died about 1488, having prior to his death divided his dominions-Jaunpur to his eldest son Báibak, Bahraich to his nephew Kála Pahár, and Delhi to his younger son Sikandar Lodi. The latter claimed