1809.] The District of Lddidna. 91 



comers, till mollified by Shaikh Chachti, who subsequently took ad- 

 vantage of his presence at a wedding to murder him. Shaikh Chachii 

 then took possession of Hattiir. He had two sons, Pahru and Nopal. 

 The former remained in Hattur, where an 'idgdh, built by him, is 

 still standing, while Nopal founded the village of Shahjahanpur, near 

 Raikot. Pahru had two sons Rai Dalla and Rai Jaggti. They 

 rented from 'Ala-ucldin Grhori (Khilji?) the perganahs of Tihara, &c, 

 and received the title of Rai Raian. At that time, their possession 

 extended from Firozpur to Machiwara, and, as their descendants are 

 fond of saying, comprised 1360 villages. They also acquired some 

 villages on the other side of the Satlaj. Among these was one named 

 Dalla (after the founder Rai Dalla), near Sultanpur in Kapiirthalla. 

 The village still bears his name. Rai Dalla had a son Rai Kanial- 

 uddin, who received the title Sultan for his military services in the 

 south. 



To enumerate all the branches of the Rais would be a minute and 

 profitless task. Many of the towns and villages in the Ludiana district 

 were founded or re-founded by them ; some still bear names of indivi- 

 dual members of the family ; and others, as for instance Jagraon, Rai- 

 kot, and Talwandi Rai, have incorporated the word Rai itself. It is 

 also said that many members of the family settled in other parts of 

 India, even as far as Patna on the one side and the province of Grujrat 

 on the other. One Rai Kulla colonised Talwandi Rai in Sambat 

 1535. About Sambat 1600, another member of the family Fath Khan 

 rebuilt Bassian, which had been in ruins before, and which went to 

 ruin again after his death. A second Rai Kulla built Raikot in Sambat 

 1643. Jagraon, at present the second commercial city in the district, 

 was founded by another member of the family Kamal-uddin 1125, Hijri . 

 There are different derivations of the name Jagraon ; some say that it 

 means Jagah Raian, the place of the Rais ; but the more probable 

 explanation is, that "Jag" was the name of a Rajput who preceded 

 the Rais, and that the two names are united in the word Jagraon. 

 Omitting minute and unimportant family details, we come to Rai Kulla 

 who, in Sambat 1743, threw off his allegiance to the emperor of Dihli. 

 'All Muhammad Rohila, governor of Sarhind, reduced him to submis- 

 sion for a time, but was then called off by the inroads of the Sikhs, 

 and Rai Kulla established his independence. He died in Sambat 1826. 

 13 



