after leaving garrisons at Khirāpārah and Mansurgarh (Hamiduddin's Padishahnamah, I.A., 333). The Qutbshahis assembled in force to recover the fort, but Baqar Khan on hearing of it made a forced march and defeated the Deccan army. The news of this second victory reached the Emperor on the 23rd April 1631 (Ibid, 373).

SECTION 4.-BAQAR KHAN'S ADMINISTRATION.

Complaints against Baqar Khan's oppression of the peasantry and zamindars repeatedly reached Shah Jahan's ears and at last on 24th June 1632 an order was issued removing him from the post. It is said that this Governor called all the zamindars of the province together and then threw them into prison to extort revenue. By his order seven hundred of the captives were massacred, and only one escaped and carried the tale to Shah Jahan's Court. This fugitive produced a list (tumar, rent-roll) showing that Baqar Khan had collected forty lakhs of rupees from the province. The Khan was in consequence recalled, and ordered to account for the money (Masir-ul-umara, iii, 484). His successor Mutaqad Khan ruled the province long and well, and died on 17th October 1651 in extreme old age.

SECTION 5.-INTERREGNUM AND IHTISHAM KHAN'S ADMINISTRATION.

From September 1657, when Shah Jahan fell ill and a war of succession broke out among his sons, to 6th May 1660, when Shuja fled from Dacca and Aurangzib became the sole master of Eastern India, there was anarchy in Orissa. The troops and most of the officers were withdrawn by Prince Shuja for his two advances on Agra and latterly for his prolonged struggle with Mir Jumla in the Rajmahal and Malda Districts. Taking advantage of this state of things, all the Orissa zamindars withheld the revenue, and several of them built forts and looted their neighbourhood, for which they had afterwards to pay a heavy penalty, as we shall see in the section on Khan-i-Dauran's administration. But, by the autumn of the year 1659, Mir Jumla had established himself in Western Bengal in sufficient

strength to enable him to detach from his army Ihtisham Khan to take charge of the governorless province of Orissa. Ihtisham Khan's stay there was too short to enable him to restore orderly government. That arduous task fell to the lot of Khan-iDauran, who in April, 1660, was transferred from Allahabad to Orissa and worked there as subahdar till his death in May, 1667.

Ihtisham Khan's first acts were to issue a proclamation that the khutba should be read in all the mosques of Orissa, in the name of the new Emperor Aurangzib (Muraqat, 45), and to send a parwanah to all the mansabdars, zamindars, chaudhuris, kanungoes, &c., of the province announcing his own appointment as subahdar and ordering them to meet him at Narayangarh, whither he would march from Medinipur, the northern frontier of the province, some time after 14th November 1659 (lbid, 47-49).

When, less than a year afterwards, he was replaced by Khani-Dauran, and sent to Bengal to serve under Mir Jumla, he tried to carry away with himself as prisoners for default of revenue, the brothers of Rajah Nilkantha Dev, Gopinath, the brother of Bharat Patnayak and chief officer of Rajah Mukund Dev, and the other zamindars of the environs of Katak. As their zamindaris could not be administered nor any rent collected in the absence of these men, the Mughal faujdar of Katak secured the release of Gopinath Patnayak by himself signing a bond for Rs. 14,000 to Ihtisham Khan. And the other captives were similarly released. For this the faujdar was severely censured by Khan-i-Daurar, who insisted that they should be unconditionally delivered up to him as Ihtisham Khan's successor in office (Muraqat, 183-184, 156-157).

SECTION 6.-MUGHAL RECONQUEST OF ORISSA UNDER KHAN-IDAURAN, 1660-1663.

The first part of Khan-i-Dauran's viceroyalty was devoted to a task that was practically equivalent to the reconquest of Orissa for the Mughal Government, as Imperial authority had disappeared from the province during the late War of Succession.

The state of anarchy is very graphically described in the letters of this subahdar: "All the zamindars are refractory, owing to the slack rule of my predecessors " (page 134). The "zamindars on the further side of the Katjhuri, in the jurisdiction of Sayid Sher Khan, have refused tribute and declared war againt him " (page 59). "Krishna Bhanj, of Hariharpur, the leading zamindar of this province, during the interregnum spread his power over the country from Medinipur to Bhadrak, a distance of 50 or 60 kos, seizing the property of the inhabitants and wayfarers and severely oppressing the people" (pages 72 and 107). "The fort of Machhara or Bachhara (?) was wrested from Shuja's men by Lakshmi Narayan Bhanj, the Rajah of Keonjhur, during the time of disorder " (pages 52, 58, 129). "For the last three years, the zamindars on the further side of Katak have been collecting vast forces and getting ready for war" (page 72). "Bahadur the zamindar of Hijli is in rebellion " (page 130). "Chhut Rai has dispersed the ryots of Medinipur, and is building a fort in the jungles with evil intentions" (page 190). It is useless to give a list of the names of the other rebel zamindars here, as they will be mentioned in detail in the history of Khan-i-Dauran's campaigns which follows.

The farman appointing Khan-i-Dauran to Orissa was sent from the Imperial Court on 3rd April, 1660 (Alamgirnamah, 474). He received it at Allahabad, where he was subahdar, and soon set out for his new province "in the very height of the monsoons, defying raging storms, excessive mud, and flooded rivers, which had closed the paths" (Muraqat, 85). On 26th September he entered Medinipur, the first town after crossing the Orissa frontier (page 130). After spending some days here to settle the district, organise the civil administration and revenue collection and station faujdars in all directions, he set out for Jaleshwar, in the meantime writing to the zamindars of northern Orissa to meet him on the way and pay their respects as loyal subjects (page 131). His intention was to "finish the Hijli business" first. Bahadur, the zamindar of that port, had rebelled, and had to be subdued before

the Mughal route from Medinipur via Narayangarh and Jaleshwar to Baleshwar could be rendered safe. But "the other zamindars report that the country of Hijli is now covered with mud and water, and, not to speak of cavalry, even foot soldiers cannot traverse it. After a time, when the roads of the district became dry again, the campaign should be opened" (pages 132 and 134). So, Khan-i-Dauran put off the idea, and went direct to Jaleshwar, which he reached in the latter half of

October [1] (page 156).

At the news of the Governor's approach, both Bahadur and Krishna Bhanj, the Rajah of Hariharpur (i.e., Mayurbhanj), wrote to him professing submission and promising to wait on him at Jaleshwar (pages 133, 136 and 181). The Mughal faujdar of Remuna, on the Mayurbhanj frontier, wrote to the new Governor that the agents (wakils) of these two zamindars had reached him to arrange for their masters' interviews. He was ordered in reply to reassure them with kindness and send them back to their masters that they might come without fear or suspicion and see Khan-i-Dauran at Jaleshwar (page 181).

SECTION 7.-HARIHARPUR (MAYURBHANJ) AFFAIRS.

Bahadur evidently changed his mind and held off; Krishna Bhanj [] came, but met with a terrible fate, which is best described in the Governor's own words: "When I reached Jaleshwar, which is near his zamindari, Krishna Bhanj saw me after wasting a month on the pretext of choosing a lucky day[for the visit], and offered false excuses [for his late disloyal conduct]. During the inquiry and discussion for settling the amount of the revenue to be paid by him, he, inspired by pride in the largeness of his force, drew his dagger and rushed towards me. His companions,

[1] On page 156 we read that he expected to reach Jaleshwar on 19th October but on page 137 we have a letter written by him on the 24th from the bank of the river of Jaleshwar.

[] His offences are thus summed up: "He kept one thousand horses and ten or twelve thousand foot soldiers, and was obeyed and helped by all the zamind ars of this country. [During the an aroby] he had plundered the tract from Bha drak tc Medinipur, carried off the ryots to bis own territory, increased their cultivation and ruined the Imperial dominions" (page 107).

too, unsheathed their swords and made repeated charges. The grace of the Emperor saved my life. We slew Krishna Bhanj and many of his men. The rest fled. Some chiefs, such as Udand, the zamindar of Narsinghpur, Chhattreshwar Dhol, the zamindar of Ghatsila, and Harichandan, the zamindar of Nilgiri, threw away their weapons and delivered themselves up as prisoners" (pages 72 and 107-109).

"The relatives of the slain Rajah [of Mayurbhanj] raised disturbances, molesting the ryots. So, I started for Hariharpur to punish them and halted at Remuna on the frontier of his dominion. His brother, Jay Bhanj, submitted, begged pardon, and brought to me his mother and son and three elephants and some money as a present (peshkash), and begged the tika of the Rajahship and zamindari for the son. I agreed, and then started to punish the rebels near Katak" (page 109).

"

SECTION 8.-KHURDA RAJ AFFAIRS.

When the Khan reached Katak, Rajah Mukund Dev of Khurda, "the leading zamindar of this country, whose orders are obeyed by the other zamindars "," whom all the other zamindars of this country worship like a god [3] and disobedience of whose order they regard as a great sin" (pages 77 and 102),waited on him with due humility, accompanied by the other zamindars and Khandaits [of Central Orissa] (page 110). Then, owing to the badness of the climate, a severe malady seized the governor and he was confined to bed for two months, unable to move about." "The rustics [i.e., uncultivated local zamindars] seized the opportunity and caused disorder. Rajah Mukund Dev absented himself from the force sent by me to punish the rebels, and himself caused lawlessness. The Mughal troops subdued many of the rebels and took several forts. After recovering a little I (.e., Khan-i-Dauran) on 7th February 1661 set out from Katak against the other forts which

[] Cf. Stirling : "The title of sovereignty has been always acknowledged, by the general voice and feeling of the country, to vest in the Rajahs of Khurda. Down to the present moment the Rajahs of Khurda are the sole fountain of honour in this district " (86).