Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/392

 384 SIT To the east the Ahbans held formerly parganas Nímkhár, Aurangabad, Maholi, and part of Khairabad, besides parts of districts Kheri and Hardoi, Lone Singh, the great rája of Mitauli, was banished for rebellion in 1859, and his estate divided among a number of loyal grantees. His only bro- ther tried in vain to recover a part of the property wbich once is said to have included 2,700 villages. The Ahbans produce a family tree with 109 generations; they are Cháwar Chhattris and came from Gujrát. Almost the only survivor of the clan in Sitapur is called a Kunwar, and is a man of little property or infuence. The clan is now of no importance, so hollow and transitory is the power of these great landowners. A number of deeds were produced in the Kheri courts in which the Ahban chiefs are styled Mahárájas by the Emperors Akbar and Jahángír; they were skil- fully executed forgeries. Their former parganas are now held by Mughal grantees from the Oudh kings, by Káyaths and others, probably retainers of the ancient Ahbans, The middle portion of Sitapur is held by many different clans of Chhat- tris. Originally there was a powerful Chauhan sovereignty in Sitapur, and a Raghubansi principality in Tambaur ; they have both disappeared. A variety of clans occupy each a pargana or the greater part of a pargana, except in Biswán and Khairabad which were the seats of local governors, who took care to destroy the co-berence of the clan system by breaking up its possessions and distributing them miscellaneously. It is remark- able that no clan except the Gaurs asserted its supremacy over large areas like the Kanhpurias, Sombansis, or Bais in southern Oudh; it is a mistake, indeed, to call them clans: each is a collection of a few families, of whom the eldest member was the leader, and was called the Thákur. These gentlemen increased their estates during the latter Nawabi times by appropriating the shares of their brethren. The land owning clans are the following: Pargana. Name of Chhattri clan. In Gundlamau Báchhila. Bári Mabwan Panwar. Rámkot Janpir. Kurauna Janwar. Machurehta Kachbwáha, Janwár, Bachlil, Bais, Ráthor. It may be observed that the Janwárs are mainly to the west of the Saráyan river, the Bais to the east; both of these clans are probably of indigenous origin as are also the Bachhils and the Raghubansis. The Panwars, Kachhwáhas, Gaurs are immigrants from Rajputána. None of the above clans have a rája in the district; from outside the district the Ahban rája of Mitauli, the Panwar raja of Itaunja, and the Raikwár rája of Baundi did to a certain extent exercise a control over their clansmen in the district. But it is noteworthy that there is not in the district a single rája by descent recognized as such by the people, the title is not even claimed by any one. The special feature of the Sitapur land proprietary is the existence of a number of men, about fifteen, with large estates paying Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 19,000 land revenue, who have not been entered in the ... 19 99 Bais. Bais. » Pirnagar J? 11 35