Page:Bulandshahr- Or, Sketches of an Indian District- Social, Historical and Architectural.djvu/74

Fifty years later, viz., in 1780, Baran had its final fall, being then abandoned even by the Amil, or subordinate revenue official, who had hitherto made it his head-quarters. The spot that he selected in preference was on the opposite side of the river, some six miles to the north. The village had previously been known as Rathora; but the new Fort was placed by its founder, the Ámil Hak-dád Khán, under the patronage of a saint, popularly styled Málamál, who had a shrine close by, and it received the name of Málagarh. In 1857 Hak-dád's grandson, Walidád Khán, put himself at the head of the revolt and proved a formidable opponent. He was connected with the royal family of Delhi—his sister's daughter having been married to one of the king's sons—and he had thus obtained from Muhammad Bahádur a formal grant appointing him Súbadar of this part of the Doáb. Málagarh became the resort of all the disaffected from far and near; his troops overran the whole neighbourhood, fought several sharp engagements, and for a few days occupied the town of Bulandshahr. On the 28th of September they were driven out, and their leader escaped across the Ganges. The demolition of his fort at Málagarh, which took place a few days later, was accompanied by a deplorable accident. The officer who fired the mine was Lieut. Home of the Engineers, one of the heroes of the Kashmir Gate, and he was killed by the explosion. His body was interred in the Station Cemetery, where a handsome stone monument forms a conspicuous object and records the untimely death of the first V. C. in India.