1865.] Report of the Archeological Survey. 275 
dominant power in eastern Rohilkhand beyond the Ramganga, while 
western Rohilkhand was held by the Bhidar, Gwéld, and other tribes, 
from whom the Katehriyas profess to have wrested it. Gradually the 
Béchhals 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 Garh 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 Nigohé 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 Nigohv. 
Shortly after this catastrophe Chhavi Rana, the grandson of one of the 
murdered Princes, fled to the Zakhi jungle, where he supported himself 
by plundering ; but when 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 jaghir 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- 
wahas. According to Sir H. Elliot, Bachhal Zemindars are found in the 
districts of Aligurh and Mathura, as well as in Budaon and Shahjahan- 
pur of Rohilkhand. But the race is even more widely spread than the 
Gangetic Bachhals are aware of, as Abul Faz records that ‘the port of 
Aramray (in the Peninsula of Gujarat) 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 with bdchhnd, to select or choose. The 
title of Chhindu, which is given in the inscription, is also utterly 
unknown 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. Baliya, or Balai Khera, is a large ruined mound about 1,200 
feet square, or nearly one mile in circuit, and not less than 20 feet in 
35 
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