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MINOR CHRONICLES : IX. CHIEFS OF KO-LON   203

Kolang. From this onwards there are two branches of the family, the descent of

each being carried on separately.

The son of Sīngi was Sharsum ; of Sharsum, Chogan ; of Chogan, Hari Ram ;

of Hari Ram, Bhimī Ram. Bhimi Ram had two sons, Nimā Singh and Gatti. Nimā

Singh's son was Moti Ram, and Gatū's son was Devi Chand. At this time Moti Ram's

son Bhāg Chand and Devi Chand 1 himself are in possession of the jāgīr. The second

branch is : the son of Nono Chogan was Chhiyāng Namgiyal ; and the son of Chhiyāng

Namgiyāl was Tashi Angiyāl ; and the son of Tashi Angiyāl was Chhiyāng ; and of

Chhiyāng, Bhāg Chand : and to Bhāg Chand two sons were born, Dharam Singh and

Tashi Angtā, known as Dharam Chand. Dharam Singh died without issue. Dharam

Chand had a son Tara Chand, and Tara Chand had three sons, Hari Chand, Ram Chand,

and Mihr Chand. In 1877 A.D. Thakur Tara, Chand died in his 74th year ; and

according to ancient custom the succession fell to me, Thakur Hari Chand, the eldest

son, and I am now in possession. After me my son Amar Chand, now one and a half

years old, will succeed.

Thakur Ram Chand's son, Jai Chand, is alive. Mihr Chand died without issue.

For something over two hundred years, i.e. from the time of Nono Chogan down to the

time of Tara Chand, this district remained subservient to the rajas of Kullū. In

1843 A.D., in the time of Thakur Tara Chand, the Sikhs conquered Kullū from Raja

Jīt Singh. At that time Lāhul, too, came under the Sikhs. The Sikhs ruled for six

years. Then even the above-mentioned jāgirs of my family remained as before.

In 1849 A.D. the English Government took over the Panj āb. Then, too, these two

jāgirs of my family remained as before. These three changes of rule occurred in the

time of Thakur Tara, Chand. It is the custom in our jāgirs, following the custom of

the hill Rajas, that the eldest son of the Thakur is called Tikah. The whole of the

jāgir is his right. The other brothers are counted as his dothā,é, and they are entitled

to subsistence only from this ancient jāgir. If there is [no] Tikah born to a real

. Thākur, then the nearest dothā,é is considered to be the rightful heir to the jāgir.

About 800 years have elapsed since Rana Nil Chand came from Kolong in the district

of Bangal to settle in Lahul. At the same time Thakur Ratan Pal of the Pal family,

a resident of Gondh in Bangal, came to Lāhul and settled in Tinan, and named Tinan

Gondala after his first place of residence ; and of his family at the present time Thakur

Hīrā Chand is alive and the holder of the jāgir of Gondala.

1.  As long as the Tibatan rule remained, [our ancestors], under the Tibatan

rulers, governed the whole of Lāhul.

2.  Under the rule of the Kullū Rajas all state business between the Rajas of

Kullū and Laddākh and Tibat was entrusted to us : our ancestors conducted it.

3.  In the beginning of the English rule, on account of the social position of the

family, first on 17th September, 1852, all the business of Lāhul was entrusted to

Neg (Pārah 2) Thakur Tara Chand. He performed various services for his superior

officers and various European travellers in these parts and also on the Tibat frontier.

I First cousin of Moti Ram ?

2 I do not understand what pārah and chārah mean. They do not appear to be proper names. [Wilson's glossary gives the word nek-dārī in the sense of sums or portions of the crop, collected from the cultivators ' of a village for ` the village expenses and payments to the village officers and servants '.—F. W. T.]