36 Letters. [Fee. 



' Lahurpur was originally Laliurpiir (jj-J^^^), shortened into Lahurpiir, 

 and now very commonly called still shorter Lahui'pur. The name is spelled 

 in the first manner in a sanad granted by Todar Mall himself to the ancestor 

 of the present Qaniingo. 



' Todar Mall's only son, Dharii Mall, was slain in battle, and died without 

 issue. And there are no descendants of the Eajah, on either side, extant 

 in Lahurpur. 



' There can be no doubt whatever that the local belief is correct ; for 

 the man was not a mythical hero, but a veritable officer of King Akbar's. 

 Strange that in a note to Elphinstone's History of India, fifth edition, 

 page 510, he is said to have been a Kayath !' 



Mr. Blochmann said — 



Mr. Ferrar's first letter regarding TT)dar Mall, which was published in 

 the Proceedings for September, 1871, (p. 178), has been read with some 

 interest in Labor, and Maulawi Muhammad Husain of the Labor College 

 lately wrote a note on this subject to Babii Rajendralala Mitra, of which I 

 shall read a few extracts in translation. 



1. The opinion generally received in Upper India is, that Todar Mall 

 was a K'hatri of Labor. Elphinstone calls him a Kaith ; but the syllable 

 Mlall in Todar Mall's name renders this altogether impossible. 



2. There is a Mahallah in Agrah, where the funeral ceremonies (t5^5^-'0 

 are held by all K'hatris, and every one there knows that it was the Mahallah 

 where Todar Mall used to live. In fact he had chosen his residence there, 

 in order to be present at funeral, ceremonies of members of his caste. 



3. Todar Mall's name often occurs in old popular songs in which he is 

 invariably called a Tunan ((^r^-') K'hatri of Labor. 



4. An old Brahman of Labor says that one of his ancestors had been 

 Purohit to Todar Mall. The Brahman had often heard from his father that 

 Todar Mall's father was a Tunan K'hatri of Labor ; he had been a very poor 

 man, and used to sell g'liungni in the streets. Once Akbar's Mamu* had 

 made a conspiracy to murder the Emperor, and Todar Mall's father had given 

 information to Akbar's mother, to which fact Todar Mall owed his promotion. 



5. The Madsirul JJmard clearly states that he was a Tunan K'hatri of 

 Lahor.f There are also several buildings in Labor and a tank, ascribed 

 to Todar Mall. 



Thus, it will be seen that the people of Labor are not willing to resign 

 their claim on Todar Mall. On the other side, the fact that Todar Mall 

 first served Akbar in Audh may be looked upon as supporting Mr. Ferrar's 

 account. 



* This is a curious piece of information. Th.e maternal uncle (Tndinli) alluded to 

 is Khwajah Mu'azzam, who, for the murder of his wife, was executed by Akbar. 

 t The Madsir merely calls him (CH*^ lSJ^"^^ ^^ J^" *^'j. 



