Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/419

MAH 411 has been placed. The whole of the pargana, a small portion of the south end excepted, is within the jurisdiction of these two stations. The area is one hundred and thirty-five square miles. At Bakhshi-ka-tálúb is one of the encamping grounds for troops, There is a large tank here which in fact gives its name to the place, the Bakhshi's tank, built by Bakhshi Tipur Chand, the paymaster of Nasír-ud- dín Haidar, the 2nd king of Oudh. It is a handsome tank, with flights of steps leading down to the water on its four sides, and flanked by four towers at its corners. On the far side, facing the road, was a temple raised to the god Thákur Bánke Bihári, and alongside the founder built a hand- some house, and walled in a garden for himself. But the Bakhshi fell into disgrace, and the whole is falling into ruins. Road communication in the pargana is good. It is traversed through- out by the imperial road leading from Lucknow to Sitapur, and different country roads from Biswán in Sitapus through Amániganj, and from Kursi through Mahona lead into it. There is plenty of outlet for its produce, and the Lucknow market affords the best means of disposing of it. Hence bazars are at a minimum, and the only considerable ones are at Itaunja and, Amániganj . This latter was a market-place founded by the pious king Asif-ud-daula, who, on his way to Rehar, to fight the Ruhelas, founded the Amániganj in Malihabad, and on his return founded its name- sake in Mahona. In the Nawabi it was a place of more importance, being the highway of the traffic from Khairabad and Biswán in Sitapur to Luck- now and Fyzabad. But the traffic now passes along the new road. Mahona is a place of no importance; it was formerly the headquarters of the pargana, where was placed a staff of Government officials for the assessment and collection of the revenue of the pargana, and where a fort was built for their protection. But the homestead of the village of Gobind- pur bordered it, and the story goes, that on one occasion the Brahman pro- prietors of the latter village dug through the walls of the fort, and recovered a child that had been placed there as hostage for some revenue. After this the ámil took the fort to the more open village of Bahadurganj. Hence Mahona has for a long time ceased to have any importance as a pargana town. Mariáon was at one time a place of importance ; it formed the headquar- ters of a pargana of its own. The pargana of Mandigaon is mentioned in the Ain-1-Akbari. It was here, too, that Nawab Saádat Ali Khan, the fifth Nawab of Oudh, fixed the old cantonments, where three regiments of Company's troops were quartered during the Nawabi. Itaunja is chiefly known as the seat of the Panwar Rája, Jagmohan Singh, son of Rája Ratan Singh, who holds one of the largest taluqas in the district, The tenure in this pargana is in great part taluqdari, the two chief taluqdars being Rája Jagmohan Singh and Bábu Pirthipál Singh of the Panwar tribe of Rajputs, and near of kin. These are the only two taluq- dars indigenous to the pargana, The remaining chief families are the