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Sleeman, William, 1788-1856

"II"

Dan
Bahader, enriched by the pillage of Bankee, came to Lucknow, and
purchased permission to incorporate Bankee with his old estate of
Toolseepoor.
Khyreeghur and Kunchunpoor, on the western border of that forest,
were made over by us to Oude at the same time, as part of the
cession. They had been ceded to our Government by the treaty of 1801,
at an estimated value of two hundred and ten thousand, but, up to
1816, they had never yielded to us fifty thousand rupees a-year. They
had, however, formerly yielded from two to three lacs of rupees a-
year to the Oude Government, and under good management may do so
again; but, at present, Oude draws from them a revenue of only
sixteen thousand, and that with difficulty. The rent-roll, however,
exceeds two hundred thousand, and may, in a few years, amount to
double that sum, as population and tillage are rapidly extending.
The holders of Khyreegur and Kunchunpoor are always in a state of
resistance against the Oude Government, and cannot be coerced into
the payment of more than their sixteen thousand rupees a-year; and
hundreds of lives have been sacrificed in the collection of this sum.
The climate is so bad that no people from the open country can
venture into it for more than four months in the year--from the
beginning of December to the end of March. The Oude Government
occasionally sends in a body of troops to enforce the payment of an
increased demand during these four months.


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