18 History of Co och Behdr. [jAtf* 



pointed ; and these estates had been granted as a part of the means by 

 which the expense of the army was to be defrayed. The descendants 

 of the Nazir deo had enjoyed these estates from the time of the Mos- 

 lem conquest, but on the British army being' bound by treaty to defend 

 the country, the raja represented that he had no occasion to support a 

 military establishment, and that therefore the general had no pretence 

 for keeping lands to enable him to maintain soldiers. It has been 

 "thought just to allow the raja to enjoy these estates as a zemindar, and 

 to receive whatever profits may be derived from their management. The 

 possession which the Nazir deo had obtained from the Moslems seems 

 to render the case doubtful ; but the claim of the raja is certainly pos- 

 sessed of great weight*. 



* In 1788*89, Messrs. Mercer and Channet were appointed to investigate 

 amongst other matters, the respective claims of the raja and Nazir Deo. From the 

 documents presented to them there does not appear to be any grounds for supposing 

 that the Moslems had any thing to do with the partition of the country into three 

 estates between the Raja, the Nazir Deo, and Dewan Deo. For some generations the 

 rajas had been appointed by the Nazir Deo, and it was acknowledged to the com- 

 missioners that the Nazir Deo's sanction was necessary to give validity to the en- 

 thronement of the rajas. The Nazir Deo claimed a 9 anas 10 cowry share in the raj, 

 and though this may seem exorbitant, yet considering the power of the Nazir Deos 

 as commanders in chief, it may be believed that the rajas, who were entirely indebted 

 to the Nazir Deos for their thrones, had voluntarily submitted to the considerations 

 proposed by the Nazir Deos. The commissioners gave no opinion on the respective 

 claims, but merely submitted the evidence collected by them to Government. Amongst 

 the documents submitted, are the accounts of receipts and disbursements of the ra; 

 from 1181 to 1189 B. E. or during the period of the reigns of the two preceding rajas 

 and the two first years of the reign of the present raja. In these accounts the col. 

 lections are entered in the names of the three sharers according to their respective 

 shares, and the disbursements are made in the same manner. The Company's tri- 

 bute, which is expressly for the maintenance of troops, and the pay of the retained 

 Sebundies, are thus made general charges against the three sharers, not against the 

 Nazir Deo alone ; and in the same manner are charged all the Durbar charges and 

 charges of the courts, not against the raja's share only. This seems to disprove the 

 raja's claim. For many years these claims were under discussion with our Govern- 

 ment, and the Nazir was obliged to be satisfied, until they were settled, with a small 

 estate and 500 rupees a month. At length the Government on a discovery of the 

 raja's independence, and the Nazir Deo's subjection to him, declined to interfere and 

 referred the claims to the justice, equity, and good conscience of the raja. It seems 

 needless to add, that the Nazir Deo's claims are still in abeyance, but the raja has 

 ever since been endeavouring to recover half the estate settled on the Nazir Deo 

 through the intercession of the British Government— F. J. 



