Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/14

 G NAN There are district post-offices at Motípur and Shiupur bazar. Besides the thána at Nánpára, there is also a police station at Motípur. Situated on the skirt of that belt of Tarái which lies immediately under the Naipál hills, the pargana has been the scene of continual con- tests for the debateable land between the lieges of the Delhi Sovereign and the tribes of the north. As early as the reign of Bahlol Lodi-viz., 891 Hijri (A.D. 1474)--one Rája Sangrám Sáh, a hill chieftain, is found paying nominally a revenue of Rs. 54,921 for pargana Rajhat, which lies between Nánpára and the hills, but it may safely be assumed that the entry of this payment was a mere boast, and that Sangrán Sáh was independent, for Todar Mal is more honest and admits that his imperial master only held sway over 4,064 bíghas of cultivated land in Rajhat: There is a tradition that shortly before Akbar's reign-viz., in 1500 A.D.- the whole of this part of the country had the misfortune to be cursed by a saintly mendicant by name Shah Sujan, who bad bis dwelling at Dúgáon, a town on the banks of the Sarju. The ban was effectual, the city was deserted by its inhabitants in one day, and the country side was overrun by the Banjáras. It is certain, however, that this did not happen until after the time of Akbar; for in Abul Fazl's record the town is spoken of as being a flourishing place, the centre of a considerable trade with the hill tribes; and in the Aráish-i-mahfil, under the name of Deokhan or Deokan, it is described in similar terms, mention being made also of a mint of pice which was established here. The town was evidently one of some importance, the ruins of the houses which still exist proving the very substantial character of the buildings. The Banjáras in the reign of Shah Jahan became so troublesome that Salona Begam, the wife of Prince Dára, was unable to obtain possession of a jágír of 148 villages, which, under the name of Salonabad Pargana, had been granted to her by her husband's imperial father. It was then, in 1632 A.D., that one Rasul Khan, Afghán, Togh, received a commission from the emperor to coerce the Banjáras, obtaining a grant of five villages and one-tenth of the rental of the whole of this disturbed tract of country. This risáldár is the ancestor (seventh in ascent) of the present Raja of Nánpára, whose family gradually secured a firm hold of the large estate now owned by him. In 1662 A.D., the Rája of Saliána, a fort situated ithin the hills, held the pargana of Rajhat, and also a portion of pargana Sujauli on the west, but he was apparently unable to penetrate further south, though he was supported by other hill chieftains on the east of Salonabad. In 1784 A.D., the condition of this part of the country is illustrated by, a clearing lease that was given to Bhayya Himmat Singh, of Piágpur, by Asif-ud-daula, from which it appears ther out of 1,734 villages in the north of Bahraich 1,486 were completely duserted, while the Nánpára estate oply comprised 59 villages. Subse- quently the Nárpára rája pushed further northwards, and occupied 105 villages of pargana Rajbat; the Rája Kansúr Sáh of Saliána being driven back until his Tarái territory was limited to 173 villages. This remaining tract of country was, after the successes achieved by General Ochterlony, annexed by the British, and made over to the Oudň Govern- ment in 1816 A.D.; Kansúr Sáh being killed in 1822 A.D. by the Chau- hán Raja of Tulsipur, to whom this portion of the conquered territory was