Hathwa Raj
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Hathwa Raj
Estate in Bengal, situated for the most part in a compact block in the north-west of Saran District, but also com- prising property in Champaran, Muzafifarpur, Shahabad, Patna, and Darjeeling, and in the Gorakhpur District of the United Provinces. It has an area of 561 square miles, of which 491 square miles are cultivated. The population in 1901 was 534,905. The rent roll (including cesses) amounted in 1903-4 to 11-51 lakhs, and the land revenue and cesses to 2-55 lakhs.
The Hathwa Raj family is regarded as one of the oldest of the aristocratic houses in Bihar, and is said to have been settled in Saran for more than a hundred generations. The family is of the caste of Gautama Babhans or Bhuinhars, to which the Maharajas of Benares, Bettiah, and Tekari also belong. The authentic history of Raj Huse- pur or Hathwa commences with the time of Maharaja Fateh Sahi. \\'hen the East India Company obtained the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in 1765, Fateh Sahi not only refused to pay revenue but resislfd the Company's troops who were sent against him, and was with difficulty expelled from Husepur. He retired to a large tract of forest between Gorakhpur and Saran, whence he frequently invaded the British territories, and gave constant trouble until 1775.
For some years the estate remained under the direct management of Government, but in 1 79 1 Lord Cornwallis restored it to Chhatardhari Sahi, a grand-nephew of Fateh Sahi. The title of Maharaja Bahadur was conferred on him in 1837, Fateh Sahi having died in the interim. During the Mutiny the Maharaja displayed conspicuous loyalty, and was rewarded by the gift of some confiscated villages in Shahabad District, which yielded a gross rental of Rs. 20,000 per annum. Maharaja Chhatardhari Sahi Bahadur died in 185 8 and was succeeded by his great-grandson, Maharaja Rajendra Pratap Sahi, who held the estate until his death in 1896, when the Court of Wards took possession on behalf of his minor son. In 1868 the Privy Council held that the estate is an impartible Raj descending to the eldest son. At Hathwa, 12 miles north of Siwan, stands the Maharaja's palace, a splendid modern building with one of the most magnificent darbdr halls in India. The Maharani has recently built a handsome hospital, named the Victoria Hospital. A model agricultural and cattle-breeding farm has been opened at Sripur.
