Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/505

 MIS 497 And these live in 7,946 houses, to each of which there are thus 5-1 individuals. To every square mile there are 328 souls. Each head of the agricultural population has 1.8 acres of cultivated, against 3 acres of assessed area. From which facts it is seen that there is very considerable room for extension of cultivation. The Musalmans are 8 per cent. of the entire population. With the exception of a sandy tract to the east of, and adjoining the "Kathna and Gumti rivers, the soil of the pargana is on the whole good. It is like the rest of this district, well wooded. There are no lakes, mountains, or forests to be inet with, Two roads cross it, both from Sitapur. One passes on to Nimkhár, the other further north to Dúdhanmar on the Gumti, and there is a cross- country road joining Misrikh to Machbrehta. With these and the Gumti the pargana is well provided with means of communication. Bi-weekly bazars are held at Misrikh, which is the headquarters of a tahsil, at Qutubnagar, the residence of Taluqdar Mirza Ahmad Beg, at Aút, the residence of Rája Shamsher Babédur, and at Wazirnagar, the Sitapur residence of the Gaur Raja of Pawayan in Shahjahanpur. The pargana derives its name from that of the town. The original lords of the soil were Ahban Chhattris, whose dynasty expired 200 years ago on the death of Raja Mán Singh. The founder of the ráj was Sopi Chand, whose brother, Gopi Chand, founded Gopamau in the Hardoi district; Sopi made his headquarters at Pataunja, three miles west of Misrikh, now an inconsiderable village, but in his days a very extensive city. To the present day the site of one of its gates is pointed out three miles to the north-west in the village of Sultannagar, where there is an ancient temple marking the spot. The Ahbans were succeeded by Panwárs, Káyaths, Musalmans, and others, including Brahmans, whose descendants are still in possession of their forefathers' acquisitions. The pargana contains 139 demarcated villages, of which 108 are zamindari, and are thus distributed, -35 Panwar, 45 Gaur, 10 Kayath, 6 Brahmans (Dichhits), 3 Gosháíns, 8 Musalmans, 1 Ahban. The talugdaris (31) are held by Mirza Ahmad Beg of Qutubnagar and Rája Shamsher Bahadur of Aút; an account of the former has been given under the Aurangabad pargana. The Aút Rája is commonly styled a Mughal, but is in reality a Yusuf Zai Pathán; his ancestor having come to Delhi in 1739 A.D. with Nadir Shah's invading army. Subsequently the rája's great grandfather, Mirza Agha Muhammad Ali Beg, being sent in command of troops to Oudh, was rewarded for good service by the grant of a landed estate. The title of rája is inherited by the taluqdar from his father, Muhammad Akbar Beg, upon whom, Wajid Ali Shah, of Oudh, conferred it. Down to 1210 fasli, or 74 years ago, the pargana consisted of 1,009 villages. In that year 466 were put into Maholi, and 159 into Nimkhár. The remaining 384 were increased by 5 from Machhrehta ; and thus the number remained until we took the country, when 50 were put into the neighbouring parganas, and 2 were added from Gopamau, making up 341,