10.4 Controversy over the establishment of Padrauna Estate, their lineage and facts
L. K. Mall mentions the
valor of Bhual Rai while describing about the event in which he defeated the
Makwani kings and in return got some land in the form of zamindari (later
Padrauna) from Majhauli King during the period of Akbar. However at second
place, he mentions the lineage of Padrauna Kings from a servant of King Hom Mall.
According to his work, ‘King Roop Mall of Majhauli (Shahjahan period, 1626 –
1654) got married to a Gaharwar princess of Kantit Raj. From the relation, Hom
Mall was born whose descendants later ruled over the Kalakankar estate. One day
a servant was massaging the leg of sleeping Hom Mall. While doing this, his
forehead touched the feet of King which was having sandalwood paste. Due to
this, some paste stick on the forehead of servant. When the King woke up, he
saw the sandalwood on the forehead of the servant and became very happy. He
then gifted 14 miles of land to him.’ This way, Majhauli prince L. K. Mall
mentions the tradition of Majhauli Raj and traces the lineage of Padrauna Kings
from a servant (Bhual or Bhupal Rai) dedicated to King Hom Mall of Shahjahan
period. S. N. R. Rizvi too mentions the same period for Bhopal Rai and shows
his lineage from Kurmi caste. He writes that “Bhopal Rai got a grant of 5
villages in Bansi-Chirgora from Majhauli King. His descendants enlarged the
estate. Nath Rai took possession of many tappas from the hands of Chandel
Rajputs and Raja of Butwal. Nath Rai also attended the court of Auragzeb in
1681.”[15]
The answer to the
controversy created over the lineage of Padrauna Kings and its establishment has
its roots in defining the period of Bhual Rai to whom the traditions of
Majhauli Raj put around 1650 AD while the traditions of Padrauna estate put
around 1580 AD. The family tree of Padrauna shows Nattha Rai as the 6th
descendant starting from Bhual Rai. If one assigns average 20 years for one
generation, then the period of Bhual Rai will be at least 100 years back from
Nattha Rai. So if Nattha Rai was present in the court of Auragzeb around 1681
AD, then Bhual had to be in the period of Akbar. Further the letter written by
Raja Bodh Mall of Majhauli in 1689 AD, who was 3rd generation after Roop Mall
and 2nd generation after Hom Mall, to Rai Nattha Rai of Padrauna is strong
enough to clear the controversy created over the lineage of Padrauna Kings. The
letter has wordings ‘Swasti Shri Sarup Raryaneityadi Vividh Virdawali Virajman
Manonnat Shri Maharaj Hindupati Raj Rajeshwar Shri Shri Shri Shubsen Narendra
Devana sada Samar Vijayi na Shri Nattha Rai aur Hulas Rai ke kuslai poorvak
patra. Mind aage patra aayil. Inha ka samachar nik vaante. Aage ee jagah raaur
hai. Taahi arth kawano sandeh narreywat sabha samet aau jaise raaur khushali
hoi. Taise karab raunwa bhale ab paanch saat hazaar aaswar aur barkaandar
topchi paanch saat sudha apne saath lihle aaise karab, aage apna jagah ka badle
kauwno phikir na kareun. Jaise raura apna jagah per jaisan se karab tahi baat
ka kawano soch na kariyun. Aage abhi to nik baate to saamil sake aaib. Kauno
baat jani mani sami maike aaib jas unhak bharpan aur marjad rahi se. Vikram
Samvat 1745, Baisakh Sudi, 10 Roj, Makwanpur’[16]. It reads that “Swasti
Shri Sarup Raryaneityadi Vividh Virdawali Virajman Manonnat Shri Maharaj
Hindupati Raj Rajeshwar Shri Shri Shri Shubsen Narendra Devana sada Samar
Vijayi na Shri Nattha Rai and Hulas Rai’s betterment with this letter. Here (in
Majhauli) everything is fine. Consider this place (Majhauli) as yours. So come
with 5000-7000 army men and artilleries which suit your position. …’ The
wordings of the letter and the respectable titles used for Nattha Rai and Hulas
Rai, create suspicion that the powerful Bisen King of Majhauli would have given
so much respect to Nattha Rai if the latter descended from the servant of King
Hom Mall. It can be said that the stories of establishment of Padrauna estate
from the servant of Hom Mall were created after the period of Bodh Mall and do
not have any historical background. It should be noted that Nattha Rai refused
to help Bodh Mall when Aurangzeb demanded jajiya tax from him and failing which
the King was converted to Islam. Further to this, Harinandan Pandey too refutes
any such lineage of Padrauna Kings and Stanley Reed in 1935 writes that “Raja
Bahadur Braj Narain Singh, Raja of Padrauna Raj in the district of U.P. was
born in 1875 and succeeded his father Raja Udit Narain Singh in 1900. This
family of Gaharwar Kshatriyas came into prominence in the first half of 17th
century. In 1686, then head of the family Rai Nath Rai received a Nankara grant
of 33 villages and arms from Aurangzeb……………..(see 7.2.1: 16 for detail
statement.)”
After going through the family traditions of Padrauna estate and the historical
materials related to Mughal courts, it is clear that the family does not come
from the same lot from which the ancient Malla - Sainthwar populations have come,
but belongs to Gaharwar Kshatriyas of Kantit Raj. As the families of Gaharwars
of Padrauna (also known as Raikars) and Bisens of Madhuban were close
relatives, they were segregated from the mainstream Rajputs / Kshatriyas after
Bodh Malla alias Raja Salem episode and classified under cultivator’s caste
(Kurmi) in the census of 1881 AD along with the ancient Malla-Sainthwar
Kshatriyas.
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References:
[15] Rizvi, S. N. R. (2004). Zamindars and Revenue
Farmers of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, p. 45. New Delhi: Anamika Publishers and
Distributors.
[16] Mall, M. N. (2005). Bisen Vansh Darpan, p. 138. Gorakhpur.
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Index Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
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