Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/236

 228 RAE of erecting a kingdom on the union of the hitherto discordant elements which he found in Oudh. With a singular absence of superstition he selected the class system as an admirable instrument for this end, and enrolled the principal families of his own army and of the conquered country in his own clan, fully comprehending that unity of name is almost as powerful as unity of interest.* The boundaries of his rule do not now admit of being defined with absolute certainty, but it is possible that he was undisputed king in the twenty-two Bais parganas, while his influence must have extended far beyond those limits. On bis death the whole structure fell to pieces. Pirthi Chand, one of his sons, took the western provincet with the ancestral castle of Sangrampur, the other, Harhardeo, ruled over the east from Sáthanpur, which his grandfather had built when he conquered the Bhars of the Khíron pargana. The Káyaths of Rae Bareli may or may not have acquired a limited dominior the neighbourhood of that town. The Kanhy rias on the death of Parshád Singh fell into three branches, Janga Singh taking Tiloi, Madan Singh Simrauta, and Mán Singh Ateha. Even the small clan of the Amethias in Haidargarh divided their posses- sions, Díngur taking Kumhráwán, Rám Singh Ansári, and Lohang Ráe Akhaipur, with the pretentious titles of rája, ráo, and rána. Nothing further of importance is recorded till we come to the reign of Humáyûn, which was marked by a general conversion to the imperial religion without parallel in the annals of the district. The Bhále Sultáns, the Bisens of Usmanpur, and the zamindari families of Bais of Gareu and of Sehen, the Chauháns of Ashanjagatpur and the Raghubansis of Hardoi, each contributed a convert The Shekhs of Bhilwal made use of the opportunity presented by the improved condition of their co-religionists to recover their villages from the Amethias. . The defeated Hindus submitted gracefully, and one of their number, Jai Singh, received the then fashion- able distinguishing mark of Islám. In the general confusion the Bhars left in that neighbourhood rose against the Hindus of Rae Bareli, and suc- ceeded in killing Bhagwati Dás, the representative of the Nábh Ráe, who had been adopted and established there by Tilok Chand. His five sons fled to Allahabad, whence they procured assistance, and their hearty vengeance closes the last appearance of the Bhars in this history. necessarily apply to the innumcrable clans of Bais scattered over eastern Oudh from Sing- ramau in Jaunpur to the heart of the Bara Banki district, and from the Gogra to the Ganges. These, iostead of the very highest, occupy nearly the lowest position among Oadh Chhattris. They differ from each other and from the real Bris in their family traditions; and while some can boast pedigree of 26 generations, connecting them with the 13th cen tury and Ablai Chand's invasion, lista of from 14 to 17 generations refer the great majo- rity to the epoch of Tilok Chand. It seems most probable that about 400 years ago numbers of the agricultural and military aristocracy of all castes assumed the title of Bais, in mueb the same way as the leading families of Origsa and parts of Central India are now claiming to be Chhattrin. † Worth 14 lakhs.
 * It should be rememhered that what I have written of the Tilokchandi Bals does not