m his son had
collected, retired, and allowed him to take possession. The son
seized upon all the property the father had left, and now employs it
in maintaining this band and rewarding the services of Court
favourites. The Nazim of the district is not permitted to interfere,
to restore rights or preserve order in the estate, nor would he,
perhaps, do either, if so permitted, for he has been brought up in a
bad school, and is not a good man. The pretext at Court is, that the
father is deranged; but, though not wise, he is learned, and no man
can be more sober than he is, or better disposed towards his
sovereign and tenants. That he is capable of managing his estate, is
shown by the excellent condition in which he left it.

Prethee Put, of Paska, is not worse than many of the tallookdars of
Oude, who now disturb the peace of the country; and I give a brief
sketch of his history, as a specimen of the sufferings inflicted on
the people by the wild licence which such landholders enjoy under the
weak, profligate, and apathetic government of Oude.

Keerut Sing, the tallookdar of Paska, on the left bank of the Ghagra,
between Fyzabad and Byram-ghaut, was one of the Chehdwara
landholders, and had five sons, the eldest Dirgpaul Sing, and the
second Prethee Put, the hero of this brief history. Before his death,
Keerut Sing made over the management of his estate to his eldest son
and heir; but gave to his second son a portion of land out of it, for
his own subsistence and that of his family. The father and eldest son
continued to reside together in the fort of Dhunolee, situated on the
right bank of the Ghagra, opposite Paska. Prethee Put took up his
residence in his portion of the estate at Bumhoree, collected a gang
of the greatest ruffians in the country, and commenced his trade, and
that of so many of his class, as an indiscriminate plunderer. Keerut
Sing and his eldest son, Dirgpaul, continued to pay the Government
demand punctually, to obey the local authorities, and manage the
estate with prudence.

Prethee Put, in 1836, attacked and took a despatch of treasure,
consisting of twenty-six thousand rupees, on its way to Lucknow, from
the Nazim of Bahraetch. In 1840 he attacked and took another of
eighty-five thousand rupees, on its way to Lucknow from the same
place. With these sums, and the booty which he acquired from the
plunder of villages and travellers, he augmented his gang, built a
fort at Bumhoree, and extended hi