1904] 
G. N. Dutt —History of the Huhua Raj. 
201 
at his death he left behind him. in the two strong-holds of his fort 
55 lakhs of rupees in hard cash, notwithstanding the additions made 
by him in his richly stocked jewellery room, Howdakhana and 
Toshakhana , which including the amount spent in buildings and six 
portant discovery throwing much light on the dark period of some of the Rajas 
before Fateh Shahi. It is the Lakhraj Register of the Raj prepared in 1793 A.D. 
by the Government Deputy Collectors appointed to enquire into the Lakhraj land 
in the country for the Permanent Settlements, and which formed the Magna Charta 
of the Brahmins during the preparation of the Record of Rights subsequently by the 
Court of Wards in the minority of the late Maharaja Sir Krishna Pratap Shahi under 
the then most distinguished Manager, the late Mr. George James Spence Hodgkinson, 
I.C.S., C.S.I., (afterwards Commissioner of the Arakan Division, and some time Chief 
Commissioner of Lower Burma), who had not only sown seeds of Hutwa’s present 
prosperity but had implanted in the heart of the minor in his charge noble ideas and 
principles which had hereafter made him so successful an administrator and an ex- 
amplary chief in all respects. This Lakhraj Register records the Sanads for Brb lands 
granted or alleged to have been granted by the Maharajas of Hutwa. But on a careful 
examination of this record I was sadly disappointed to find it to be not of that value 
as was expected, as only in some instances the period found therein coincided with 
the dates assigned by me, calculated at the rate of 25 years; and in other cases the 
said register proved itself to be wholly unreliable. For instance there is one grant 
of the 89th Maharaja in the line, Maharaja Sangram Shahi Bahadur (the oldest one 
in that register), dated 1013 F.S. = 1606 A.D., granted to Gossain Madhoram of village 
Chowchukka, Muth Madho, and another of the same Maharaja, dated so late as 1145 
F.S. = 1738 AD., given to Parsram Sukul of village Brindaban, thus giving the 
Maharaja’s lease of life for more than 132 years, although there are many Sanads of 
the period intervening and given by the Maharajas succeeding him. Yet both these 
Sanads have been accepted and registered ! There also appears one most glaringly 
false Sanad which the Amin preparing the register notes as having been declared to him 
(Surat hal) to be of 1169 F.S. = 1762 A.D. i.e. (five years before Fateh Sahi’s rebellion) 
and given by Maharaja Kalyan Mall to one Harkumar Bans Tewari of Khajooraha 
Tuppa Bagahi, and on the face of its spuriousness this has been accepted and regis¬ 
tered ! There also appear many Sanads in which the heirs-apparent styling themselves 
Maharajas have been alleged to have granted lands in their fathers’ (the real Maha¬ 
rajas) life-time, which could hardly have been the case. On the nature of these 
Sanads Mr. Hodgkinsson had reported to Government thus: “ The number of illicit 
Brts claimed is simply astounding.” From this it is palpable that the present 
Maharaja and his ancestors have been deprived of a very large portion of their just 
rent by the Brahmins. The survey and record of rights were prepared by in¬ 
experienced Amins under these Deputy Collectors for whom it was not possible to 
detect those fraudulently manufactured from those genuine sanads. An inspection 
of these Sanads might have been very useful for the history of the Raj, but un- 
fortunatly I have not that power and position now in the Raj which I once had 
to induce the possessors to allow me to have a look. 
By the 25 years’ rule I have ascribed the date of the 25th Raja, Maharaja Jubraj 
Shahi, to be 1719 A.D. In the Lakhraj Register I find one of his Sanad dated 1112 
F.S. = 1703 A.D. given to Bholanath of Khurliurwa, and another of 1140 F.S. =1733 
J. 1. 26 
