74' 
ON THE OEIGINAL INHABITANTS 
The Bhars like other tribes have embraced the difierent 
creeds, which from time immemorial prevailed in India; 
* ' when the Bhars, who were then in universal possession of the land, were 
*' overthrown ; and (3) that the great mass of the landowners of to-day can 
trace no further hack than to an ancestor whose origin is easity discovered 
" to be both indigenous and spurious. . . I have found the opinion so gener- 
*'ally entertained that there was a Eajptit conquest and colonization of 
" Audh, that it requires a distinct answer. . .1 have not discovered the esist- 
" ence of any such central tradition of conquest by Eajputs from without., 
" I aan refer to the histories of many Eajput clans, . .but none of them declare 
" . .the arrival of an army of clansmen, and colonization by the victors with 
" their families and Mn. The very fact of the singular connections to which 
" so many of the clans trace their descent is opposed to the idea of a con- 
" quest by arms. An orthodox Hindu, the conqueror of a low-bom race, 
" would not have founded a family by an alliance which his religion sternly 
" rebuked. . .It is finally noticeable that the Audh clans who claim an extra- 
" pro\ancial origin, trace their descent to single Chatris, and not to troops 
" of Eajput invaders. Such are the Bais of Baiswara, . .and the Eajkumars. 
" . .With these two exceptions none of the clansmen of eastern Audh claim a 
"western origin. In regard to the t/urd class, it is always invidious to 
" enter into details of pedigrees, but a few amongst very many available 
"instances may be given. The Kanpuria is one of our most important 
"clans; so is the Bandelgot. In twenty generations according to the 
" members, both these pedigTees are lost in obscurity ; but what the world 
" says is this, that they are the offspring of mal-alliances between two 
"Brahman brothers, and women of the Ahir and Dharkar tribe. The 
" Amethia is not an unimportant clan. They call themselves Chamar-gor 
" Eajputs, and their generations are not longer than the other named. 
" What the world saj'S of this, is that a Chamar-gor is the offspring of a 
' ' Chamar father and a Gor-Brahman woman. Moreover within the memory 
"of man, an Amethia Chief has, according to Sleeman, taken to wife the 
" grand -daughter of an ex-Pasi Chowkildar and raised up orthodox seed 
" unto himself. The Eaotars are another numerous clan with but half the . 
" number of generations, and with precisely a similar parentage as the Kan- 
" purias (Brahman- Ahlr). Their name is taken from Eawat, an Ahii- chief. 
" The Pulwars are influential and numerous, and of these it is s;iid that they 
"are descended from a common ancestor, who had four wives, of whom 
" one only was of his own status, the others being a Bhar'ui. an Ahlrin. and 
"another low caste woman. Here we have a Hindu-Bhar origin fi-eely 
"admitted. The Bhalesaltan clan, also, is comparatively modern, and of 
" equivocal Ahlr origin. There are numerous families of Bais, too, who are 
"in no way related to the Tilokchandl Bais of Baiswara. The former are 
" modern and equivocal, the term Bais being, it may be mentioned, the most 
" ready gate bj' which eiilistment into the fraternity of Eajputs could for- 
" merly be achieved. . .. Finally, all those landowning families, who can only 
" urge an indigenous origin, must, whether they admit it or not, recognise 
" t)ie fact that thoy are descendants of Phars, for cveiy acre of land was 
