Nanpara : A Taluqdari Estate in Awadh
The Nanpara Taluqdari was one of the taluqdaris (feudatory states) in British India. The title of “Raja” was conferred on the Nanpara House in 1763 by the Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula, the King of Oudh and was then recognized by the British. With holding of 439 villages it was the largest Muslim taluqdars (landowners) in British India.
The Great Estate of Nanpara occupies a large portion of the north of the district, and comprises 333 villages and portion of nine others in the parganas of Nanpara, Charda, Dharmapur, Bahraich, Ikauna, Fakhrpur and Hisampur, and one village in Bara Banki. In Bahraich it covers 297,434 acres or 464 square miles, and is assessed to a revenue of Rs 2,48,588.
At annexation it was held by a minor, Jang Bahadur Khan, who during his long tenure improved the property to an astonishing degree and raised it from a condition of extreme depression to unusual prosperity. Raja Sir Jang Bahadur Khan, K.C.I.E., died on the 1st of May 1902 and was succeeded by his son, Raja Muhammad Sadiq Khan. His father was an Honorary Magistrarte of the 2nd class and an Honorary Munisf; he was created a Companion of the Indian Empire in 1886, and was knighted in 1901. The Title of Raja was conferred in 1763 by Shuja-ud-daulah, and was recognised as hereditary in 1877.
In 1637 A.D. Rasal Khan, a Pathan Risaldar in the Emperor’s service, was appointed keeper of the fort of Bahraich, and five villages of pargana Salonabad were assigned for the pay of his troops. These villages, then of very doubtful value, were destined to become the nucleus of one of the finest estates in oudh. The Risaldar lived at Kumaria in Baundi, and he and his son, Jahan Khan, are buried there. His grandson, Muhammad Khan, was the first to settle in Nanpara, where his son, Karam Khan, laid the foundation of the present estate. The office of captain of the fort was probably relinquished when Muhammad khan left Bahraich, but the family still continued to be mansabdars and to hold their jagir. Karam khan exerted himself so successfully against the Banjaras that he gained the local title of Raja, and left his son, Mustafa Khan, a considerable estate apart from the somewhat increased jagir. When ordered to pay a revenue of Rs. 5,000 by Major Hancook on behalf of the Oudh Government, Mustafa Khan refused and was carried off to Lucknow, where he died in 1777A.D.
