1865.] Report of the Archcsological Survey. 275 



dominant power in eastern Rohilkhancl beyond the Ramganga, while 

 western Rohilkhand was held by the Bhidar, Givdld, and other tribes, 

 from whom the Katehriyas profess to have wrested it. Gradually the 

 Bdchhals must have retired before the Katehriyas, until they had lost 

 all their territory to the west of the Deoha or Pilibhit river. Here 

 they made a successful stand, and though frequently afterwards harried 

 by the Muhammadans, they still managed to hold their small territory 

 between the Deoha river and the primeval forests of Pilibhit. When 

 hard pressed, they escaped to the jungle, which still skirts their an- 

 cient possessions of Oarh Gdjana and Garha Khera. But their resis- 

 tance was not always successful, as their descendants confess that about 

 300 or 400 years ago, when their capital Nigohi was taken by the King 

 of Delhi, the twelve sons of Raja Udarana, or Aorana, were all put to 

 death. The twelve cenotaphs of these princes are still shown at Nigohi. 

 Shortly after this catastrophe Chhavi Rana, the grandson of one of the 

 murdered Princes, fled to the Lakhi jungle, where he supported himself 

 by plundering ; but Avhen orders were given to exterminate his band, 

 he presented himself before the King of Delhi, and obtained the district 

 of Nigohi as a jdghir. This place his descendant Tarsam Sing still 

 holds, but the jdghir is reduced to the town of Nigohi with a few of 

 the surrounding villages. 



367. The Gotrdchdrya of the Bachhal Rajputs declares them to be 

 Chandravansis, and their high social position is attested by their 

 daughters being taken in marriage by Chohans, Rahtors, and Kach- 

 Avahas. According to Sir H. Elliot; Bachhal Zemindars are found in the 

 districts of Aligurh and Mathura, as well as in Budaon and Sliahjahan- 

 pur of Rohilkhancl. But the race is even more widely spread than the 

 G-angetic Bachhals are aware of, as Abul Eazl records that " the port of 

 Aramray (in the Peninsula of Grujarat) is a very strong place inhabited 

 by the tribe of Bachhal." Of the origin of the name nothing is known, 

 but it is probably connected Avith bdchhnd, to select or choose. The 

 title of Chhindu, AAdiich is given in the inscription, is also utterly 

 unknoAvn to the people, and I can only guess that it may be the name 

 of one of the early ancestors of the race. 



XXV.— BALAI KHERA. 



368. Bdliya, or BaJai Khera, is a large ruined mound about 1,200 

 feet scpiare, or nearly one mile in circuit, and not less than 20 feet, in 



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