Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/503

MIA 495 Ali Khan. Lord Valentia in 1803 found it prosperous, Heber in 1823 found " trees, towers, gates, and palaces sinking fast into rubbish and forgetfulness." A fine bridge was built here over the Sai by Mián Almás. The mutineers were defeated here in 1857. There are two masonry saráes for travellers. Population 3,555, of whom 2,451 are Hindus, 1,104 Musalmans. There are 4 temples and 13 mosques. Colonel Sleeman writes as follows (Tour in Oude, Vol. I, pages 320 to 322) " Meean Almas, after whom this place Meeangunge takes its name, was an eunuch. He had a brother, Rahnaut, after whom the town of Rahmut- ganj, which we passed some days ago, took its name. Meean Almas was the greatest and best man of any note that Oudh has produced. He held for about forty years this and other districts, yielding to the Oude Government an annual revenue of about eighty lacs of rupees. During all this time he kept the secure in life and property, and as happy as people in such a state of society can be, and the whole country under bis charge was during his lifetime a garden. He lived here in a style of great magnificence, and was often visited by his sovereign, who used occasionally to spend a month at a time with him at Meeangunge. A great portion of the lands held by him were among those made over to the British Government on the division of the Oude territory by the treaty of 1801, concluded between Saadut Allee Khan and the then Governor-General, Lord Wellesley. "The country was then divided into equal shares according to the rent- roll at the time. The half made over to the British Government has been ever since yielding more revenue to us, while that retained by the sovereign of Oude has been yielding less and less to him; and ours now yields in land-revenue, stamp-duty, and the tax on spirits, two crores and twelve lacs a year, while the reserved half now yields to Oude only about one crore, or one crore and ten lacs. When the cession took place, each half was estimated at one crore and thirty-three lacs. Unider good management the Oude share might in a few years be made equal to ours and perhaps better, for the greater part of the lands in our share have been a good deal impoverished by over-cropping, while those of the Oude sbare have been improved by long fallows. Lands of the same natural quality in Oude, under good tillage, now pay a much higher rate of rent than they do in our half of the estate. “ Almas Allee Khan, at the close of his life, was supposed to haveaccumu- lated immense wealth, but when he died he was found to have nothing, to the great mortification of his sovereign, who seized upon all. Large sums of money had been lent by him to the European merchants at Lucknow, as well as to native merchants all over the country. When he found his end approaching, he called for all their bonds and destroyed them. Mr Ousely and Mr. Paul were said to have at that time owed to bim more than three lacs of rupees each. His immense income he had expended in useful works, liberal hospitality, and charity. He systematically kept in check the talookdars, or great landholders, fostered the smaller, and encour- aged and protected the better classes of cultivators, such as Lodhies, Koor-