A History of Agriculture in India v2.c62.s6: Hindu Chiefs Under Firoz

v2.c62.s6.1

Under Firoz we hear very little of the Hindu Chiefs, the Rais and Ranas, the other important class of intermediaries. The general averments of continued tranquility, taken with the absence of records of punitive expeditions, suggest that their relations with the Administration were normally friendly. There is record in regard to two chiefs belonging to the province of Avadh. 'When the King was marching through this province on an expedition to Bengal, the Chiefs (Rai) of Gorakhpur and Kharosa, who had formerly paid their revenue in Avadh, but for some years had been in "rebellion" and had withheld payments, came to make their submission and offered valuable presents. At the same time they paid into the Camp treasury "several lakhs" of tankas on account of the arrears of former years, and agreed to the sums to be paid in future, for which they gave formal engagements. They accompanied the King for some marches through their country; and, in recognition of their submission, orders were issued that not a single village of theirs was to be plundered, and that any animals which had been seized were to be restored.'