Page:The Aristocracy of Southern India.djvu/124

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
84
The Aristocbacy of Southern India.

was found within the idol of Ramachandi in the temple. He tried to remove it and in the attempt lost his life, as the cobra bit him.

Kubera Mitra had 9 sons, the eldest of them being Durga Prasan. In the battle between the Kings of Bastar and Jaipur, Durga Prasan who went to fight under the orders of the Nizam, distinguished himself so well that the Nizam conferred on him honors, and loaded him with wealth. While returning, he brought with him some girls of the Chohanu community who were very famous for their beauty and married two of them. One of them poisoned herself and died, while the other died in child-bed. Making his eldest son his successor, he left the place and stopped at Sardhapur a village near Kallikote, where he performed a grand jagam. When this ceremony was being performed, there arose a dispute between two of the Brahmins that were present, when the Rajah ordered their immediate removal. In the duel that ensued they killed each other, and the Rajah considering this a bad omen, built two temples in memory of those two Brahmins.

Bholabhadra Rana, the next in succession, went to Oudh, married the eldest daughter of his maternal uncle Harischandra Singh and settled down at Kespur, where he erected a fort. He established 258 villages and dug a canal known as Kharkari which is now the boundary line between Kallikote and Atagada. He performed a jagam called "Choyana." He had two sons Narasinga Rana and Deva Ballabba Rana. The former was a great warrior and an accomplished athlete. In a competition between him and one of the warriors of Daduva Durga Mohan Singh, Rajah of Oudh, he came out victor. In