Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/168

 160 PIH Daúdpur.-Dáúdpur-in the Ráepur Bichhaur taluqa, hissa 9-20th--was formerly a place of some note. It is traditionally asserted that the founder of the town and fort, Dáúd Khan, was in the first instance a Bhar, but that alarmed for his safety at the Muhammadan invasion, he embraced the faith of Islám, and returned as an adherent with the conquering Alá-ud- din Khilji to the Sultán's court. He was then rewarded with a grant of twelve villages in this part of the country and dubbed a Kumedán within the Subah of Allahabad. His two brothers, Ibrahim Khan and Saif Khan, founded about the same time the two adjacent villages of Ibrahim- pur and Saráe Saif. After a lapse of some time, the property of Dáúd Khan and his posterity passed into the hands of a family of Bisráha Chhat- tris* (an offshoot of the Bachgoti clan), and was by them held until 1182 fasli (À.D. 1795), when it became incorporated in the taluqa of Patti Saif- abad. On partition of the latter estate in 1217 fasli (A.D. 1809), Dáúd- pur went into the taluqa of Raipur Bichhaur. The two sieges, which havo rendered the fort of Däúdpur famous, have already been narrated in Mr. King's account of the pargana. It was only leveiled in A.D. 1858, when orders were issued to destroy all native standing forts.. Dáúdpur itself has now dwindled down into a small and insignificant village. The Bachgoti clan deserves a more general notice ; it numbers, including the Rájkumárs, above 40,000 in Oudh besides many in Jaunpur ; it extends over three districts—Partabgarh, Sultanpur, and Pyzabad—having started originally from Tappa Asl in Sultanpur, to which one of its early scions gave its name. It was exceptionally fortunate during the mutinies ; none of its chiefs lost even a portion of their estates through persistence in rebel- lion, or concealment of cannon; none of their estates are of unwieldy size, the largest, that generally known as Nissa-igara, covering only 60,000 acres. Several of its leading men are of considerable intelligence and education. The clan originally possessed a very perfect feudal organization; its rája of Hisámpur turned Musalman, and since then its titular terminology has become confused. It has several rájas, several díwáns, several bábus, and several ráos. For a further history of the Rájkumár branch, see pargana Aldemau. It only remains to be added that the pargana is a fertile and well watered one. There are numerous jhíls, and water is found at about 24 feet from the surface. PIHÅNIT-Pargana PHẢNI PINDARWA-Tahsil SHAHABAD-District HARDOI. (Latitude 27°38' north, longitude 80°14' east.) A town of 7,582 inhabitants on the unmetalled road between Sitapur and Sháhja- hánpur; 3,088 of the residents are Muhammadans, and 4,494 are Hindus. They are lodged in 327 brick and 1,493 mud houses. Its public build- ings are a police station and a Government school. Its chief interest lies in its association with Akbar's celebrated chancellor, Sadr Jahan. misalliance. The term is derived from "Bisár," & Sanskrit work, signifying seed which has been borrowed in advance from a Mahájan in contradiction to saved seed, and is used to denote impurity, or rather what is improper. † By Mr: A. H. Harington, C.s, Assistant Commissioner.
 * These Bistáhas were e degraded offshoot of the Bacbgotis, owing, it is said, to a