Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/88

 80 HAW orderlies, whose chief duty it was to guard his master's bed. By Gházi-ud-din Haidar, who succeeded Saadat Ali Khan, Darshan Singh was entrusted with the command of a regiment, and when that ruler was afterwards made king by us, one of the first persons whom he in turn ennobled was the Kurmi Darshån Singh, who was then created a rája. In the reign of the next sovereign, Nasír-ud-dín Haidar, the importance of the rája was still further advanced by his being permitted to sit in the royal presence, with the additional title of Ghálibjang (conqueror in battle). Darshan Singh continued to prosper throughout the reigns of Muhammad Ali Shah and Amjad Ali Shah, and he died in 1851, while the last king of Oudh still sat on his throne, at the great age of eighty. The career of this adventurer was not, however, without many vicissi- tudes, and they are all recorded in Sleeman's journal volume I., pages 154 to 162. One day a royal favourite with boundless influence, another the occupant of a cage with snakes and scorpions for his companions. In the year 1835 A.D., and again in 1843 A.D., we find that be incurred the royal displeasure, in consequence of which the fine estate that he had pre- viously created was broken up, and its component villages were restored to the former proprietors. The displeasure was, however, only of tem- porary duration, for at the annexation we found the son of Darshan Singh, Rája Jai Lál Singh, in possession of the Maujadubanspur taluqa, the only taluqa that had its headquarters in this pargana, and which on the death of his father be duly inherited. The taluqa was made up of the estates noted below, where also the year of incorporation is mentioned :- Manjadubinspur 8 villages in 1227 Faali. Palia Shali. Badi Janaura, &c. Ránúpálí Deokáli 1255 . 1229 9 23 21 ... 2.4 3 47 4 2 31 800 GE 1230 .. 9 11. 39 IP Total 64 . Rája Jai Lál, who played an important part against us in the mutiny, was committed by ine for trial, and hanged at Lucknow, in September 1859, on proof of the following charges :-" (1) Being a leader in rebellion; in organizing a rebel government; in having placed himself at the head of rebel sepoys and murderers ; in becoming the spokesman of the rebel officers to the Begam, and medium of communication between the rebel army and Birjisqadr; in holding high office; in having a jail for the con- finement of Christians, and in encouraging the arrest and extermination of Christians generally, and their followers. (2) Aiding and abetting in the murder of Mrs. Green, Miss Jackson, Mrs. Rodgers, Mr. Baptist Jones, Mr. Carew, Mr. J. Sullivan, Mrs. Feelow (insane), and other Christians, and Mahmúd Khan, Kotwal, in all 22 or 23 persons on the 24th September, 1857." His property, including Government paper, was confiscated, and his estate was conferred on Rája Rustam Sáh for conspicuous loyalty. Jai Lal's son Thákur Parshád is at present a student in the Canning College. The younger brothers of Jai Lál Singh, Raghubar Dayál and Beni Madho, who were also rebel leaders, are residents of the Azamgarh district, and are still in possession of Government paper to the extent of Rs. 2,18,000