Bahawal pur. Jhind. Nabha. Phulkian Chiefs. Pattiala dates as a sovereign State from the year 1752. During the Nipal war and the Mutiny, the Rulers of this State rendered most important services to the British Government. The late Maharaja was a Knight Grand Commander of the Star of India. BAHAWALPUR.*-The ancestor of the ruling family of this State came from Sind about the middle of the 18th century. The Chiefs of Bahawalpur rendered assistance to the British Government during the Afghan war; and in 1847-48, during the rebellion of Multan, the army of Bahawal Khan III. co-operated with Sir Herbert Edwardes. In 1863 and 1865, the subordinate Chiefs rebelled against the Nawab ; but were defeated in the field. The mother of the present chief was a Daudputra woman of good lineage, but the wife of a poor wood-cutter. The late Chief admiring her, removed her husband and married her. Bahawalpur depends for its cultivation mainly upon inundation canals; and the present Political Agent, who during the minority of the Chief presides over the administration, has effected immense improvements in the system of irrigation, and has thus nearly doubled the revenues of the State. The young Nawab is a fine athletic boy; a capital polo-player. JHIND.-Gajpat Singh founded this principality in 1763, and was recognised as Chief by the Emperor of Delhi in 1768. His successors have ever been conspicuous for the steadiness and heartiness with which they have supported the British Government. Among the foremost and most sincere of those who proferred allegiance after the overthrow of the Mahrattas was Bagh Singh, of Jhind; and, in 1857, Sarup Singh, Raja of Jhind, was the first to march against the mutineers at Delhi. His troops acted as the vanguard of the army, and remained in the British camp before Delhi until the re-occupation of the city. A portion of them took part in the assault. He received, in return, extensive grants of territory. NABHA. Hamir Singh founded the town of Nabha in 1755 ; and greatly extended the principality. During the first Sikh war the ruling Chief neglected to attend to the requisitions of the Governor-General's Agent, and was accordingly deposed. * Vide "Ocean Highways," March, 1874, In 1857, the young Chief, Bharpur Singh, rendered good service to the British Government, and was rewarded by a large grant of lands. thala. KAPURTHALA. The family of the Ahluwalias claim descent K a purfrom Rana Kapur, a Rajput immigrant from Jaisalmir. The family first acquired political importance during the disorders consequent upon the invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Durani. In the first Sikh war the Kapurthala troops fought against the British at Aliwal, and the Cis-Satlej estates of the Chief were accordingly confiscated. In 1849, Sirdar Nehal Singh, of Kapurthala, was created a Raja. He stood to his allegiance in the Mutiny, and was rewarded with grants of land. His son, and successor, died when on his way to England, at Aden. MANDI. The town of Mandi was founded in 1527 by Bahu Mandi. Sen, the first Raja. In February 1846, Raja Balbir Sen formally tendered his allegiance to the British Government. Of the 360 forts, which tradition assigns to this principality, only ten are now in preservation. Of these the most famous is the fort of Kamalgarh. There are salt mines at Guma and Dirang. MALER-KOTLA. -This State came under British protection Malerin 1809. The near relatives of the Chief enjoy a share in the family estate, and exercise sovereign powers therein, subject to a general subordination to the Nawab. FARIDKOT.-The autonomy of this State dates from 1763. On the outbreak of the war with Lahor in 1845, the Raja Pahar Singh rendered service to the British Government, and received in recognition of his loyalty a grant of half the territory confiscated from the Raja of Nabha. During the second Sikh war and the Mutiny, Raja Wazir Singh co-operated with the British troops, and was duly rewarded. Kotla. CHAMBA.-In 1846 this mountain State passed into the hands Chamba. of the British, and a part of it was transferred to Gulab Singh, of Jammu; but, in 1847, an agreement with the Jammu Chief restored the alienated portion to the British Government, when the whole was graciously conferred upon Raja Sri Singh and his heirs. The forests of Pangi on the Chenab, and of Barmor on the Ravi, are noted for their fine timber. SUKET.-Until the year 1200, Mandi and Suket were twin Suket. States, united in many interests, yet partially independent of Sirmur. Petty States of the Pan jab. each other. The valley of Bal, 10 miles in length, stretching from within five miles of Mandi to the town of Suket, was the debateable country, and many a battle fought there is still sung in the stirring ballads of Mandi. By the treaty of Lahor, Suket became British territory. But, in 1846, full-sovereignty was conceded to the old reigning family in perpetuity. The Chief, among other engagements, is bound to suppress slavery and the practice of burning and drowning lepers. SIRMUR. The present dynasty dates from the year 1095, when Ugar Sen, Rawal of Jaisalmir, being in the neighbourhood, on a pilgrimage to the Ganges, and having heard that the Chief of this principality was drowned in a flood, is said to have seized the State for himself and his heirs. In 1803, the country was conquered by the Gurkhas. When these intruders were expelled in 1815, Karram Prakash was the Chief; but, owing to his notorious imbecility and profligacy, he was removed in favour of his eldest son, Fatteh Prakash. By a formal Treaty, dated September 1815, the Government conferred the greater portion of the ancient possessions of the family on this Chief and his heirs in perpetuity. PETTY STATES OF THE PANJAB.-The States noted in the Kalsia. Baghal. Kumharsain. Dhami. Kothar. Mangal, Beja. Darkuti. Tiroj. Sangri. margin range in extent from upwards of 3,000 to 5 square miles. The Sirdar of Kalsia is one of the Cis-Satlej chiefs. He possesses sovereign powers in his State; but capital sentences require the confirmation of the British Government. The States of Pataudi, Loharu and Dujana are situated in the Delhi territory. The three Nawabs are of Afghan descent, and received their States from the British Government, in 1806, in recognition of services rendered. The remaining States lie in the mountains between the rivers Satlej and Jamna. Their aggregate area is about 5,441 square miles, with a population of 386,800. The Hill Chiefs of the Panjab are of pure Rajput descent, having acquired a footing in the mountains, by conquest, between A.D. 816 and 1310. In 1803, the country was brought under subjection by the Gurkhas, who in turn were conquered in 1815 by the British, under Sir David Ochterlony. Sentences of death passed by these Chiefs require the confirmation of the Superintendent of the Hill States and the Commissioner of the Division. Other cases are finally disposed of by the Chiefs themselves. Chapter II.-THE NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES. RAMPUR. In the latter part of the seventeenth century, Rampur. two Afghan brothers, Shah Alam and Hussein Khan, came to India to seek service under the Moghal Emperor. Shah Alam, the elder, left two sons, Daud Khan and Rahmat Khan. Daud Khan distinguished himself in the Mahratta wars, and received a grant of land near Budaon. His adopted son, Ali Mahomed, for his services against the powerful family of Bárá Syeds, obtained from the Emperor of Delhi the title of Nawab. Amid the confusion preceding the dissolution of the Moghal Empire, his life was passed in conflicts with the Raja of Kamaon, the Nawab Wazir of Oudh, and occasionally with the imperial forces, till after a signal reverse he was compelled to surrender all his possessions and seek refuge at the Court. But when the whole force of the Emperor and the Nawab Wazir was occupied in repelling the invasion of the Afghan Chief, Ahmed Shah Durani, Ali Mahomed seized the opportunity to re-occupy his old territory, which ultimately he so extended that at his death he left his heirs the territory formerly called Katehar, and now Rohilkhand. The latter name is believed to be derived from the original seat of the family in Afghanistan. But his sons were hostages at Delhi; so the guardianship of the State was assumed by their uncle, Rahmat Khan, known as Hafiz (guardian) Rahmat Khan, together with a cousin of their father. Before long the heirs were released, and a division of territory was made between them and the guardians, the younger son, Faizulla, receiving the jaghir of Kotera, worth about Rs. 6,00,000 a year. But Hafiz Rahmat Khan was still looked upon as head of the family; and as such led the Benares. Rohilla army at the battle of Katra, where he was slain in defending Rohilkhand against the English,* discreditably allied with the Nawab Wazir of Oude in pressing an unjust claim for indemnity charged on account of the Rohilla Chief's failure to help in paying off the Mahrattas, at a time when he was deserted by his Sirdars. On the death of Faizulla, nearly 20 years later, the elder of his two sons was assassinated by the younger, and the Nawab Wazir called in the aid of the English on behalf of Ahmed Ali, the infant son of the rightful heir. The usurper, with an irregular force of 25,800 men, made a stand near Bareilly, and was completely defeated; but not before a Highland regiment had been almost cut to pieces by the Rohilla Horse. The town of Fattehganj denotes by its name the scene of the victory; a monument on the field commemorates the British loss; and the puppet shows of Bareilly still exhibit the slaughter of the flying red-coats by the usurper's cavalry. To the infant Nawab was assigned Rampur with lands worth Rs. 10,00,000 a year, and the Nawab of Oude received the rest of Rohilkhand, which, in 1801, he ceded to the English, together with all claims upon the jaghir of Rampur. Rampur was continued to Ahmed Khan and his heirs by the British Government. Mahomed Yusaf Ali Khan rendered good service in 1857, and was rewarded with an increase to his salute, an additional title, and villages yielding a revenue of more than a lakh of rupees. BENARES.-The traditions of the family go back to about the year 1,000, when a Brahman ascetic of Utaria, a village near Benares, foretold the succession of his posterity to the dominions then governed by a Hindu Raja. Munsa Ram (who died in 1739), occupying the ancient family seat in Utaria, rose to high favour with the Governor of Benares, under the Nawab Wazir of Oude; and his son, on presenting a nazzarana of Rs. 21,770, to the Emperor at Delhi, was confirmed in the government of the Jaunpur, Benares and Chunar districts, the possession of four pergunnahs in his own right, and the title of Raja Bahadur. He fortified Utaria, changing the name to Gangapur, reduced * Vide Macaulay's Essay on Warren Hastings. |