Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/424

416 MAH now son of Deo Ridh Ráe. Nine generations later came Súrat, son of Ráe Dalpat, when a great schism took place in the family, springing from the pride and over bearing behaviour of Rája Madári Singh of itaunja of the elder branch. The circumstances have been mentioned in the history of that family. Up to this time the Haweli and Rewán families bad always acknowledged the leadership of this branch of the house, but they resolved to elect a chief of their own. Accordingly they went to Ráe Súrat, the head of the second branch, and with the sanction of the authorities they made him rája. Rája Súrat Singh made it the occasion for extending his dominions. He said he could not be ráją without a ráj to rule over, and be received from the Musalman chaudhri of Kursi, who was glad enough to see some check likely to be put upon the power of the Raja of Itaunja, the four villages-Hálupur and Rewámau, Bidhánpur, and Sánipur,-the two latter of which were renamed Raepur and Rájapur, perhaps to commemorate the transition from ráe to rája. - Naráin, the son of Rája Súrat, had five sons. Kesri, the eldest, inherited his title and estates, which descended for three generations till his line ended with Bhawani and Mándháta, his two grandsons, who died without heirs. Then came a dispute for the succession. Four of the sons of Rája Naráin had been by one wife, and the fifth, Bolsáh, by another. Mardan Singh, descended from the fifth son, contended that one of the branches of the family had had their chance of the ráj, and that now it was the turn of the other The two candidates were Bisrám, fourth in descent from Khushál, the fourth son of Naráin, and Mardan, fourth in descent from Bolsáh, the fifth son of Naráin, by his second wife. But it happened that when they were all met in full assembly to have the case decided, and Balwant Singh, the brother of Raja Shiu Singh, of the elder branch, who had been sent to fix thc tilak (a mark made on the forehead) on the successful claimant, called on the candidates to come down froni the flat roof of the house where they were standing; that Bisrám Singh effected the manceuvre by jumping straight off the roof into the midst of them and got there first. Mardan came down by the ladder. Balwant and all present declared for the man who showed the promptness, and he was made the rája. Yet Mardan's family have always shown great chergy and perseverance in amassing villages, and have got together an iláqa of 121 villages of their own; nor, when the settlement was made in the district, had they forgotten their old claim, and they made a bid for the whole taluqam. Rája Bisrám was a determined and somewhat unscrupulous man. He managed to acquire several villages by standing security and taking them in default. On one occasion he refused to pay up his revenue, and was attacked in his fort of Umaria by the Amil Páthak Kundan Lal, and driven out and forced to kcep in hiding for a year. He was succeeded by his son Drigbijai, whose career has been an evil He took a leading part in the rebellion of 1856-57, and, though not actually concerned in, connived at the murder of Europeans, and after escaping for some years, was finally taken and sentenced to pass the rest of his days in the penal settlements across the seas, But his estate, much one.