Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/240

 232 RAE acquired in equal shares, giving rise to the title Adhiári, which, whilst it has been discarded by the proud house of Khajúrgáon, is retained with complacency by the less fortunate Thákurs of Samarpha, the descendants of Rudr Sáh. Of Domandeo's eight sons, three deserve especial notice. The eldest, Ajít Singh, succeeded to the Khajúrgaon chieftainship, and his brothers, Pahar Singh and Mitarjít, attended the brilliant court of Shah Jahan, where their yeoman manners seem to have excited some amusement. The sarcasms of the courtiers were repelled by retorts which are fondly preserved by the family, but whose effect must have depended rather on their rudeness than on their wit. They accompanied Prince Aurangzeb on his ill-starred expe- dition to Candahar, and in the retreat in 1647 Ă.D., were overwhelmed by an avalanche. * Their present representatives are the Taluqdars of Páhu and Kurihár Satawan, Shortly after the time of Shakt Singh's invasion of Dalmau, his first cousins, Har Singh Rae and Bír Singh Rae, founded the present house of Naistha by establishing themselves in the Bihar pargana. The Rája of Murármau appears to have regarded their emigration as an invasion of his own dominions, and Bír Singh Ráe was killed by his hand or his forces, The Ráo of Daundia Khera took the part of the Naihestas against the head of his family, and their combined efforts resulted in the death of Bhupat Singh, and the flight of his widow and son to Rudr Sáh, the warlike chief of tae Simbasis. He readily embraced the opportunity, and succeeded at least in re-establishing the youthful Chhatarpat Singh in Murármau, though it does not appear that the rajás ever regained their old position. The Naisthas at any rate retained their new conquests. Bir Singh's sons remained in Pátan Bihár, while Rám Singh, the son of Harsingh Rée, removed into the Bachhráwán pargana, and founded the house of Kurihár Sidhauli. It must be remembered, therefore, that there was first the elder branch with its Rája of Murármau, its Ráo or Bábu of Daundia Khera, and its Rája of Purwa; this by the way was a man of personal distinction, for Rája Achal Singh's descendants were simple bábus. Then there was the younger branch divided into Simbasi with its two Ránas of Khajúrgáon and Shan- karpur and the Naistha, with numerous small taluqdars. This rapid summary brings our history down to the end of the reign of Sháh Jahán. The first years of his successor saw the continued depres- sion of the house of Murármau. Amar Singh was engaged in an incessant petty warfare with Ráo Purandar Singh of Daundia Khera, in which he was invariably the loser, and his death was followed by the ruin of his family. The infant, Raja Debi Singh, was left in the charge of his uncle, Gopái Singh, who betrayed his trust, and assuming in his own name the property of his orphan nephew and ward gave rise to the Rajkumári branch • Their date is further proved by a tradition whieh describeg a duel between Mitarjít and the famous Rustam Khan.