Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/422

414 MAH the site of which may be still seen in the village, and the latter by Rae Mohan, who lived in what is now known as the town of Mahona. They may have been rebellious, or backward in paying their revenue. Deo Ridh Ráe was sent to drive them out. This he seems to have effected partly by fraud, for his brother, Rám Singh, had preceded him and had taken service with the Kurmis, and in the subsequent attack he opened a gateway which admitted Deo Ridh Ráe into the fort. The Kurmis were driven out and their country taken. Sone few villages fell to Rám Singh, and his descendants are known as the Thánapati Panwárs. The Panwars, however, do not seem to have come straight to the country they now hold. There is a tradition that the small tappa of Rahímabad, in the west of Malihabad, was once held by them, and there are the remains of a fort there which it is said was built by them. The tappa is now held by. Salanki Rajputs and Shekhs, who seem also to have come from Málwa, the Panwárs' country. The Shekhs say that they drove the Panwárs out, but the more general belief is that the estate was conferred on them by the latter tribe. Deo Ridh Ráe had three sons, Díngar Deo--perhaps so called from his father's exploits in the capture of Ding;-Sahlan Deo, and Karan Deo. These three divided their father's possessions. The pargana is said to have been managed by Tilok Chand, qanungo, who had come with the invading force. The conquered tract was divided into eight tappas, four of which, called the Itaunja tappas, fell to Dingar Deo, two, the Haweli tappas, to Sahlan Deo, and two, the Rewan and Bahírgáon, to Karan Deo. Rae Dingar Deo is ancestor of the present taluqdar, and was then made the rája of his house, which title has descended unbroken to the present time. Six generations after this, while Mádho Singh, the rája of the time, and the eldest son of Suraj Sen, was at Delhi, Asúkh Mal, the second son, assumed the title and took the estate. Mádho Singh was content with this arrangement, and only reserved for himself six villages, which his descendants still hold. Three generations later came Raja Níri, who was a great hunter and athlete, and let his affairs fall into disorder. His brother, Bahadur Singh, professed to look after the estate, but his revenue fell into arrears, and the Subahdar Diler Khan came against him, and in the fight that ensued both Níri and Bahadur were killed. There are two or three stories current about this. Some say that the rája had a bitter quarrel with Rúpnaráin, another of the sons of Asúkhmal, the rája's grandfather, and that it was only on his misrepresentations that the nawab came with a force against the rája. Another story loves to recall the rája’s far-famed strength and brate behaviour. It states that once on a visit to the emperor he came across the Nawab Diler Khan, who was a man of great stature and strength. Thrice he looked up and turned pale when he saw him, and thrice when he looked down and saw his own trusty sword he recovered himself and turned red. The emperor, who was observing him, noted this change of colour, and asked the rája what it meant, and the raja replied that when he saw the nawab he feared, but when he looked on his own sword he recovered his courage, and felt ready to fight him. The emperor consis