282 
F. S. Growse —The town of Bulandshahr. 
[tfo. 3, 
Nur-ud-din of Ghazni. The descendants of this, the first Muhammadan 
Governor of Baran, still occupy a respectable position in the town and 
retain their ancestor’s title of Kazi. Similarly, Ajaypal’s descendants still 
style themselves Chaudharis ; though the name by which they are more 
commonly designated is Tantas, or Mischief-makers. These unworthy 
representatives of a long line of independent princes form a fairly numerous 
section of the community but are badly off and of ill-reputation. They 
are one and all Muhammadans. During the raid of the Sikhs in 1780 
they opened the gate of the town to them, in imitation of their recreant 
forefather ; and again in the Mutiny of 1857 they were the first to plunder 
the bazar. The social distinction of the old family has been better trans¬ 
mitted in the female line by a daughter of the house, who was given in 
marriage to the Bargujar chief Pratap Sinh, who came up from Rajaur, 
now in the Jaypur State, to join Prithi Raj of Delhi in his attack on 
Mahoba. After the conquest he returned no more to his own country, 
but settled down at Pahasu, where he is now represented by his direct 
descendant Nawab Sir Faiz Ali Ivhan, Iv. C. S. I. 
To sum up the Hindu Annals of Baran. It was founded about a 
thousand years before Christ by Tomar chiefs from Delhi: under the 
Indo-Scythian and Gupta dynasties, at the commencement of our era, it 
was a place of some wealth and importance; and for a considerable period^ 
iip to the ninth or tenth century it included in its population a community 
of Buddhists. About the year 800 A. D. the Dor Rajputs rose to power, 
and their leader Chandraka, having established himself as a Raja, made 
Baran his capital. His descendant in the sixth degree, Hara-datta, founded 
the town of Hapur and ruled an extensive tract of country including 
Mirath and Kol; but, in 1017, being hard-pressed by Mahmud’s invading 
force, he submitted to terms, which lost him the confidence of his people. 
On the withdrawal of the conqueror, domestic disturbances ensued, but—- 
after a temporary usurpation—the old dynasty was eventually restored 
and occupied the throne till the year 1193, when Raja Chandra Sen, the 
last of the line, was defeated and killed by the army of Kutb-ud-din, and 
the Fort then passed into the hands of the Muhammadans. 
Under the new administration it would seem to have been still considered 
a place of military importance. On the accession of Kai Kubad in 1286 A. D. 
Malik Tuzaki, a man of high rank and importance in Balban’s reign and 
Muster-master General ( A'riz-i-mamdlih ) held the fief of Baran, and after 
be had been got rid of by the favourite Nizam-ud-din, his appointments 
were conferred upon Jalal-ud-din, who in 1290 became Emperor. His 
murderer and successor Ala-ud-din, also made it for some days his head¬ 
quarters before he marched upon Delhi, and it was here that he received 
the submission of all the principal nobles, whom he bought over from 
