— BAR
258
they were joined by the Khanzadas of were connected with them by marriage.
Mahmudabad and
Bilahra,
who
The battle was fought at Chheola Ghat on the Kalyani, on the road to Lucknow. The Musalmans, headed by Nawab Muizz-ud-din Khan of Mahmudabad, won the day. The Balrampur raja was killed it is said, and an immense number of the allied host, some 15,000 were killed or wounded on both sides. Nor would this number be at all remarkable when large armies, inflamed against each other by religious hatred in addition to the ordinary motives, fought at close quarters. From this event dates the rise of the Khdnzadas. The Raikwars were proportionately depressed the estates
of both
Baundi and Ramnagar were broken up, and but a few
with the
raja.
The process
of agglomeration
commenced
villages left
again, seventy years
afterwards, about 1816, on the death of the sagacious Saadat Ali Khan, and before annexation, in 1856, the E,d,mnagar raja had recovered the whole family estate and added to it largely, while his brother of Baundi had similarly added 172 villages to his domain.* An account of the Raikwars, slightly differing from the preceding, is given under article Bhitauli. The clan declares itself to be of Slirajbans origin ; they marry their daughters to Bais and Chauhans, they receive the daughters of Surajbans, Chandel, Bisen, and Janwar. There are other Cbhattri clans in the district, but they have generally sunk from the position of proprietors to that of cultivators. Above all, this is the case with the Chautians ; they formed a portion of the great colony which occupies the west of Fyzabad, Pachhimrath, and Mangalsi, extending into Rudauli and Daryabad in this district. There, too, they have succumbed to chakladars and taluqdars they are very numerous, very proud, and poor they number about 3,000 in Bara Banki and 9,000 in Daryabad, and had 565 villages. The great estate of Maharaja M^n Singh in Fyzabad and Bara Banki was formed mainly out of their possessions, much of it recently. Some villages, like Intg£on for instance, were acquired since annexation.
The report
principal chiefs of
Bara Banki are thus referred
to in the settlement
Taluqa of
Bdmnagar.
—
"
The
large
property
consisting
of
253
Raja Sarabjit Singh, of whom mention has already been made. The Raja is the head of the Raikwar clan, who, according to Mr. Elliot, " immigrated to Oudh from the hill country about Kashmir eighteen generations or 450 years ago, that is, about 1400 A. D. It is a curious fact that whereas all Rajputs place a special value on the wood of the nim tree, theRaikwars alone are forbidden to use it." villages belongs to
—
Taluqa of Hardha. The present proprietor of this taluqa is Raja Narindr Bahadur, the head of the Sdrajbans Thakurs. His father, R^ja Chhatarpat Singh, is yet alive. Both father and son are afflicted with mental incapacity. The estate, which consists of sixty-six villages, paying a revenue of Rs. 55,000, is under the management of the local authorities, and there it is likely to remain. Certain members of the Raja's family fortunately held the estates of
Ranimau Qiampur
in a separate qubtiliat
- Bahraicb Settlement Keport, page 49.
