Some
Important Historical Events
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The
Sultanpur district Gazeteer published in 1903 A.D. throws some light on the history and
origine of the district. It is seen that the chief land owning families of the past were
the Rajputs of the various clans, who possessed 76.16 percent of the total land area.
Among them the Rajkumars along-held over one-fourth of
the district, while their kinsmen, the Bachgotis and Rajwars owned 11.4 and 3.4 percent,
respectively. The Rajkumars were the proprietors of nearly the whole of Aldemau. Their
chief was the Raja of Dera. The head of Bachgotis was the Raja of Kurwar while the
taluqdar of Samrathpur represented another branch of the family. The chief of Rajwars was
the taluqdar of Pratabpur. Another member of the Rajwars family was the Raja of Hasanpur.
Allied to him were the families of Maniarpur and Gangeo and between them they owned a
large portion of the central area. Next to Bachgotis and their kinsmen come the
Bandhalgotis, who owned almost the whole of Amethi pargana. Their head was the Raja of
Amethi while the taluqdar Shahgarh belonged to the same clan. The Rajputs with
large properties in the district were the Bhale Sultans who owned 4.72 percent, the
Kanhapurias with 4.7 percent, and the Bais with 2.8 percent. Of the Bhale Sultans half
were Hindus and half Mussalmans. They were dwelling in the |
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Another important branch of the land owning clans was the house of Raj Sah. Raj Sah had
three sons, Ishri Singh, Chakrasen Singh and Rup Chand. From Ishari Singh, after nine
generations came Bijai Chand, who had three sons. Harkaran Deo. Jit Rai,
and Jionarain. Harkaran Deo was the ancestor of Nanemau taluqdar; the descendants of Jit
Rai were the owners of Meopur Dahla, Meopur Dhaurua, and Bhadaiyan; and from Jionarain
descended the Raja of Dera. The fourth descendant of Jionarain led the the first of the
six colonies of Rajkumars across the Gomti and planted
himself at Dera on the banks of the river. This house became one of the main branches of
the Bachgotis of Sultanpur. |
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At the begining of the nineteenth century Babu Madho Singh, eleventh in descent from
Jionarain was the rular of the estate which consisted of 101 villages. Babu Madho Singh
who is remembered as the successful leader and who managed his property well died in 1823.
He was succeded by his widow, Thakurain Dariao Kunwar, a most remarkable woman, who
through toil and turmoil not only bravely held her own, but added to her estates than her
husband had done in his life time. The direct line of succession had ended with the death
of Thakurain's husband, Babu Madho singh. The Next male collateral heir was Babu Rustam
Sah, whom Thakurain disliked. Babu Rustam Sah was in the service of Maharaja Man Singh,
the nazim of the day and with his help succeded in
capturing Thakurain and made her write a deed in his favour. That formidable woman, whose
pride was hurt grieved for a few months and died. Rustam Sah was given the possession of
the property by the nazim. Rustam Sah came to know later that the nazim had ulterior
motives in helping him. A fight would have followed and Rustam would have killed nazim,
but for a
pandit
who advised him that the time was not propitious. Later, Rustam Sah sought asylum across
the British border and was made the taluqdar of Dera, which consisted of 336 villages.
Rustam Sah rendered excellent service during the Mutiny. He died in 1877 and was succeded
by his nephew, Raja Rudra Pratap Singh. |
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Bariar Singh, the youngest brother of Rustam Sah, received an estate of 20 villages and
three pattis in the parganas of Baraunsa and Aldemau in return for services rendered
during the Mutiny. This property was known as Damodra or Sultanpur.
All
these local rajas
were
under the control of Dilli
hukumat
and
nawabs
of Avadh. |