36

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.

tion of his sentence he died dependent on the charity of a Brahman landowner, to whom all the sanads were left. Of the original given by Akbār to Rājā Rāmchandra, I append a trans lation.

The original branches, therefore, possessed themselves of the old parganahs, Sheorājpūr, Sheoli, and Bithūr, and also stretched over the river

Pandu into parganah Akbārpūr. One branch, however, the renegade branch of Sachendi, remains to be noticed. The Persian MS., which

gives a clearer account than the Hindi one— belonging to the Sachendi family—says, regard ing their rise:—“They say that Harsingh Deo, son of Karkaj Deo, a brother of Karchand, who lived at Bihári (? Pyāri), on the banks of the Ganges, had a son, Hindu Singh, very strong and great, but infamous for his oppression of the rayats. At that time Rājā Indarjit, hearing of this, was grievously offended. One day that very man, passing through Lachhmānpūr Misrān, got up a quarrel with the inhabitants, and began to oppress them greatly. The Brähmans com plained to the rājā, and set forth all the oppres sion they had undergone. The rājā, becoming very angry, wrote to him, ordering him.to leave

his home and seek another country, and warned him that to eat and drink in this country was forbidden him : it were better he went elsewhere.

He then, with all his belongings, went and settled in Tappa Sapihi (v.s.), and became the servant of the Rāo of Sapihi. At that time fortune so favoured Hindu Singh that he rose to great power, and built forts in Behnor and

Sachendi, and established his rule over a large tract of country, and engaged thousands of soldiers, horse and foot, and obtained victories

in many battles waged against him.

His fame

was noised abroad, and he assumed the title of

Rājā of Sachendi.” From the Hindi MS., how ever, the family history of the Sachendi line, we obtain the following account of the rise of that

family, which overran the whole south of Jājmau, and eventually got the territory under the old family temporarily in its grasp. “The 35th was Gargaj Deo, who had two sons—Karchan Deo, by a concubine, and Harsingh Deo, the sister's son

of the Tilakchand

Bais. When

Gargaj Deo died, Karchan Deo and Harsingh Deo disputed about the succession, hearing which Tilakchand came to the rāni and desired

she would give the rāj to Harsingh Deo. She refused, and set Karchan Deo upon the gaddi. Harsingh Deo left Sheorājpúr, came to Behnor,

[FEBRUARY, 1873.

and founded Bir-(? Har-)singhpūr and a second

gaddi.” The truth appears to be more with the latter account, Hindu Singh being a descendant some generations distant of Harsingh Deo, and living in the reigns of Indarjit and Hindúpat, cotemporary of Firoz Shah, to which rājās, says the MS., “Hindu Singh, in spite of his power, never failed in respect, nor committed so grave an offence as that of his son, Sambhar Singh.”

Hindu Singh's power indeed became so great, and his contumacy so determined, that the reigning emperor got the Badauria rājā to attack him and expel him the country, the great forts of Behnor, Sachendi, &c., being given over to the Badaurias. Sambhar Singh, however, returned 18 years after, and recovered the whole of the lost territory. This same Sambhar Singh rose to such power, that he ousted the young Risāl Singh (who had to fly the country), and obtained title-deeds to the greater part of the country, and established a “ Thána in Sheorājpür.” With the aid, however, of Nawāb Najaf Khān, Názim of Nawab Wazir-fil-Mamālik Asf-ād-Daulah, he

(Risāl Singh) re-established his authority over the whole parganah of Sheoråjpúr. Thenceforth the history is but of local interest, the Persian MS. being an account of the rājā's relations with the English, and the Hindi MS. a barren list of names, useless except for the purpose of tracing the founding of any particular village.

The above pretends to no scientific accuracy, but is merely a resumé of the more interesting portions of two genuine family histories trans lated by the writer. In reality the Hindi MS. is devoted to the wonderful doings of Parmál

Deo and his heroes, Ala and Udal, whose feats absorb quite half the volume. For grace of style (notably in the account of how Hindúpat was persuaded to marry again, though blind, after the death of a favourite son) the Persian MS. is greatly to be preferred, but for a thorough sample of a family history the Hindi MS. is specially valuable, -

-

Sanad of Jalal-ād-din Akbār to Rájá Rāmchand. Since it has been brought to our notice that

from time of old, according to immemorial cus tom, Rs. 15,000 for support, and one “tinka” per cultivated bigha by right of seigniory from the villages of parganah Bithūr, Sirkār Kanau], by title of zamindári, have been received by my good friend Rāmchandra Chandel, and that he is in

possession of full enjoyment of that grant and fees : he has petitioned our majesty that an