Page:Malabari, Behramji M. - Gujarat and the Gujaratis (1882).djvu/141

Rh Bania has risen on the ruin of his Moslem master, let me give here a leaf out of the unwritten autobiography of my Shráwak friend Nyalchand Nyálchand of Ahmedabad. Says Nyálchand:—

"I entered the service of Meer Bakhtáwar Khan in 1840. The Meer was then about nineteen years, and only recently married to the beautiful daughter of the Buxi. Meer Bakhtáwar was by nature very reserved, and as he did not agree with his step-mother, his father gave him, soon after his marriage, a separate establishment. He bestowed upon his only son all the ancestral property he could—including houses, lands, ornaments, books, and a little of cash. The doting father also gave to his son a few "disputed claims" against the British Government for compensation. This last doubtful gift was to be reserved to the last and utilised when there was no source of maintenance left. Thus prepared, and fortified by a very respectable fortune from the Buxi, his father-in-law, Meer Bakhtáwar removed to his new residence with his wife and servants. The day after his removal he formally installed me his head kárbhári, presenting me