Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/61

 PAL 53 try of which Pali is the centre was conquered from the Thatheras by the Sombansis under Rája Sátan before the Muhammadan conquest. The name may, not improbably, be connected with the Pál dynasty of Kanaaj, from which place Pali is distant only 34 miles. The founding of Pali is placed by local tradition at the close of the twelfth century, shortly after the great compaign of Shahab-ud-dín Chori , and the downfall of the Ráthor dynasty of Kanauj. In those days the country round Pali was ruled froma Sátannagar (Sándi) by the Sombansi Rája Harhar, surnamed Shiusál Deo, son of Rája Sátán. The office of mace-bearer at Rája Harhar's court belonged hereditarily to a powerful family called variously Gabrs (fire-worshippers) and Kisáns. They lived a little to the west of the present town of Pali on the new ruined site called Sándi Khera, and enjoyed the revenues of a considera- ble tract lying round it, known then as Sándi Pali. These Gabrs (or Kisáns) seized the opportunity of the Ghorian invasion to revolt from their prince, and possess themselves of his dominion. Harhar strove in vain to recover it. In his strait he despatched Giám Pánde, his priest, to his brother, a risáldár in the Musalman garrison of Kanauj. At his request troops were sent from thence under the command of Shekh Moín-ud-din Usmáni, son of Háji Sálár. The upstart Gabrs were crushed ; Rája Harhar was restored. Shekh Mkín-ul-dín, Giam Pinde, and his brother, the risáldár, were each rewarded with a rent-free grant of five hundred bighas. Settling down on their grants they gradually cleared away the forest along the river bank, and founded the present town of Pali. The Brahmans established themselves to the north and the Shekhs to the south of the site. The former became the chau- dhris and the Shekhs the qázis of the tract. At this day Shekh Moin-ud-dín is represented in Pali by his doscendants Shekhs Nazir Ahmad, Tajammul Husen, and Qázi Niwazish Ali ; Giám Pande by Chaudhri Hanwant Singh, and the risáldár by Chaudhris Ráe Singh, Dariáe Singh, and Buddhi Singh. Mr. Carnegy (I do not know upon what authority) assigns a much later date to the founding of the Shekh colony at Pali under Shekh Moin-ud-din :-“There, about “ 1350, really began the Muhammadan inmigration. Shekh Moín-ud- "dín, grandson of a lieutenant of Alá-ud-dín Khilji, Governor of Oudh, "stationed at Kanauj, crossed over to Pali and established a colony which “was afterwards increased by the assimilation of numerous adventurers." (Notes on Tribes, page 66.) In the Nawabi, from 1839 to 1854, the náib or deputy chakladar of the Sándi Pali chakla, or revenue circle, was stationed at Pali. There are five muhallas or wards—(1) the Shekhs quarter, (2) Qázi Sarae, (3) the Malik and Patháns quarters, (4) the Maghrabi or western quarter, inhabited exclusively by Pathans, and (5) the Hindu town, in which Pánde and other Brahmans preponderate. The Hindu town looks well to do, but the Muhammadan muhallas have, for the most part, a decayed and impoverished appearance. The resumption of rent-free grants, and the loss of Government service, have been felt here as elsewhere. Out of 1055 houses only 32 are of brick. There are two mosques and a