208 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XV, 
their own territories in 1821. Thus the engagement entered 
into by the Zamindars of Chhattisgarh in that vear (see No. 
CLXVI in Vol. I, Part IV of Aitcheson’s Treaties) retites that 
upon any Zamindar or other person without the orders of the 
Sirear. These chieftains held in fact a position closely 
analogous to that of the Heads of the 48 Zamindaris into 
which the Bastar State was formerly divided, each of whom, 
as Agoagee by Major Vans Agnew in 1821 (see para. 65 below), 
“pay a rent long since established and which does not vary, 
‘and exercise an almost unlimited authority within their res- 
“pective Zamindaris but are subject to the Rajah in all that 
‘refers to the general interests of the State.” 
CHAPTER IV. 
THE TaLug or BARHON. 
19. We now come to the more obscure, but none the less 
interesting, subdivision known in Chhattisgarh as the T'aluq or 
Barhon (from Barah meaning 12), owing to the fact that it 
was conventionally supposed to comprise an area of 12 villages. 
The chief authority for this old territorial grouping in Chhattis- 
garh is the reference, in paras. 59 to 63, 74, 75, 145 and 239 of 
Mr. Hewitt’s Raipur er Report of 1869, to what he 
calls ‘‘the Taloogdaree Syst He writes: ‘‘ Under the 
“** Haihaibansi dynasty the Gorman seems to have been a 
** patriarchal eeoneey the system being derived from the Gonds. 
“Under the nomad invaders of the Turanian race the unit 
- ‘seems not “a have been the family but the clan. Hence, 
while in Upper India the family developed into the village 
‘comm munity, among the Turanian races the clans settled 
- themselves in a number of neighbouring villages which were 
‘formed into a T'alooqua. All the original inhabitants of each 
* of the ise were attached to their chief by the _ = 
“blood or community of interest (para. 59)....... In 
generations the old system was almost philbeeted, 
“two or three or even single villages were give applicants, 
“ while the Gond ryots were swamped by Acti she (para. 
‘ 62).. Though the vitality of the land system of 
. “Chhattisgarh had laos almost annihilated....... owing to 
ted, yet the old Talooquas were numerous in 
2 1818 as ihe following remarks, quoted from a report 0 
