Estate of Malihabad

Tharri-Fatehnagar estate
Type Taluqdari estate
Established 1827
Founder Nawab Faqir Muhammad Khan 'Goya'
Region Malihabad, Awadh
Country India
Divided 1850
Successor estates Sahlamau and Kasmandi Khurd

Tharri-Fatehnagar estate was a historical taluqdari estate in the Malihabad area of Awadh, established by Nawab Faqir Muhammad Khan 'Goya', an Afridi military officer and Urdu poet. The estate developed during the first half of the 19th century through Faqir Muhammad Khan's lease of the Malihabad pargana and his subsequent acquisition of villages and proprietary interests. The Lucknow: A Gazetteer, published by the Government Press in 1904, records that these acquisitions formed an estate known as Tharri-Fatehnagar.[1]

The estate was formed during the period of the Nawabs of Awadh, when landed families in the region acquired and consolidated villages through leases, proprietary rights and administrative arrangements. Faqir Muhammad Khan obtained the lease of the Malihabad pargana in 1827 and retained it until 1843. During this period he acquired several villages and obtained liens over others, establishing the estate associated with Tharri-Fatehnagar.[2]

Following Faqir Muhammad Khan's death in 1850, the estate was divided between his two sons. Muhammad Naseem Khan received the portion known as Sahlamau, while Muhammad Ahmad Khan received the portion that became known as Kasmandi Khurd.[3]

History

Malihabad and the formation of the estate

Malihabad was historically a pargana of Awadh and developed into an important centre of Pathan landholding in the region. During the period of the Awadh rulers, a number of Pathan families acquired estates and villages in and around Malihabad.[4]

Faqir Muhammad Khan was an Afridi who became associated with Malihabad and its surrounding estates. The district gazetteer records his role in the establishment of the landed estates that later became known as Sahlamau and Kasmandi Khurd.[5]

In 1827, Faqir Muhammad Khan obtained the lease of the Malihabad pargana from its amils, Gobardhan Das and Param Dhan. He held the lease until 1843. During this period he acquired several villages whose proprietors had defaulted and obtained liens over other villages. These acquisitions formed the landed estate subsequently identified as Tharri-Fatehnagar.[6]

The formation of the estate was therefore gradual. Rather than originating from a single grant, its territorial base developed through the lease of the pargana and the accumulation of individual villages and proprietary interests.

Faqir Muhammad Khan Goya

Faqir Muhammad Khan, also known by his literary pen name Goya, was an Afridi military officer and Urdu poet associated with Malihabad during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His activities connected the military and landed history of Malihabad with its developing Urdu literary culture.

The Lucknow: A Gazetteer identifies Faqir Muhammad Khan as the founder of the estates later known as Sahlamau and Kasmandi Khurd and records his acquisition of property in the Malihabad pargana.[7]

His literary identity is independently documented by the Library of Congress, which lists Faqir Muhammad Khan Goya among individual authors of early Urdu literature and records his death in 1850.[8]

The literary history Āb-e Ḥayāt, written by Muhammad Husain Azad, also discusses Faqir Muhammad Khan Goya. The account identifies Goya as a pupil of Khwajah Vazir and describes his life as that of a poet who avoided the conventional dependence on wealthy patrons and maintained a simple way of life.[9]

Literary work

Faqir Muhammad Khan Goya was associated with Urdu poetry and literary translation. His name appears in historical literary sources as an Urdu poet of the period preceding the Indian Rebellion of 1857.[10]

A surviving bibliographical record at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies identifies Faqir Muhammad Khan Goya as the translator of Bustān-i ḥikmat, an Urdu translation of Anvār-i Suhaylī, the Persian adaptation of the Panchatantra tradition commonly associated with Kalīla wa-Dimna. The catalogue records an edition published by Munshi Nawal Kishore Press in Lucknow in 1924.[11]

Goya's poetry was also preserved in later editions. The Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy published Intikhāb-i kalām-i Faqīr Muhammad Khān Goyā in 1990, edited by Anjum Malihabadi. The catalogue of Japan's National Institute of Informatics records the volume as an 88-page collection of Urdu poems.[12]

The continued cataloguing and publication of Goya's writings provide independent bibliographical evidence of his place in the history of Urdu literature.

Military background

The formation of the estate was connected with Faqir Muhammad Khan's military career. The district gazetteer records that he entered the service of the Awadh court and subsequently acquired influence and property in the Malihabad area.[13]

His military position appears to have contributed to his ability to establish a landed base in Malihabad. His subsequent lease of the pargana in 1827 and acquisition of villages transformed his position from that of a military figure into that of a substantial landed proprietor.[14]

Division of the estate

Faqir Muhammad Khan died in 1850. After his death, the estate was divided between his two sons, Muhammad Naseem Khan and Muhammad Ahmad Khan.[15]

Muhammad Naseem Khan received the portion known as Sahlamau. Muhammad Ahmad Khan received the remaining portion, which became known as Kasmandi Khurd. The division resulted in two separate landed branches developing from the original estate.[16]

The gazetteer subsequently discusses Sahlamau and Kasmandi Khurd as separate Pathan taluqdari estates in the Malihabad area and traces their origins to Faqir Muhammad Khan.[17]

Sahlamau estate

The Sahlamau estate was the portion inherited by Muhammad Naseem Khan after the division of Faqir Muhammad Khan's holdings. It subsequently developed as an independent taluqdari estate in the Malihabad area.[18]

The early 20th-century gazetteer records the villages and landholdings associated with the Sahlamau branch and treats the estate as one of the principal Pathan taluqdari holdings of the Malihabad area.[19]

Kasmandi Khurd estate

The Kasmandi Khurd estate was the portion inherited by Muhammad Ahmad Khan. Like Sahlamau, it developed as a separate landed estate after the division of Faqir Muhammad Khan's original holdings.[20]

The estate remained associated with the Pathan landed families of Malihabad and formed one of the two principal branches that emerged from the Tharri-Fatehnagar estate following Faqir Muhammad Khan's death.[21]

Literary legacy of the family

The family associated with Faqir Muhammad Khan remained connected with the literary culture of Malihabad. Goya's own literary reputation was preserved through Urdu literary histories and later editions of his poetry.[22]

The later literary history of the family included Josh Malihabadi, one of the best-known Urdu poets associated with Malihabad. Modern accounts of Malihabad's literary heritage identify Faqir Muhammad Khan Goya as an ancestor of Josh Malihabadi.[23]

Historical significance

The history of Tharri-Fatehnagar illustrates the development of landed estates in Awadh during the first half of the 19th century. Its formation was associated with the expansion of the landholding interests of Faqir Muhammad Khan in Malihabad and the subsequent division of his property between his sons.[24]

The estate is also notable for the connection between its founder's landed and military career and his literary activity as an Urdu poet. His works remained identifiable in institutional library catalogues more than a century after his death.[25][26]

References

  1. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. p. 92.
  2. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. p. 92.
  3. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. p. 92.
  4. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 91–92.
  5. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 91–92.
  6. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. p. 92.
  7. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. p. 92.
  8. ↑ "Library of Congress Classification: Schedule PJ-PK" (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "Āb-e Ḥayāt: Shaping the Canon of Urdu Poetry". Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "Library of Congress Classification: Schedule PJ-PK" (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  11. ↑ "Bustān-i ḥikmat". Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  12. ↑ "Intikhāb-i kalām-i Faqīr Muhammad Khān Goyā". CiNii Research, National Institute of Informatics. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  13. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. p. 92.
  14. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. p. 92.
  15. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. p. 92.
  16. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. p. 92.
  17. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 91–93.
  18. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 92–93.
  19. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 92–93.
  20. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 91–92.
  21. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 91–92.
  22. ↑ "Āb-e Ḥayāt: Shaping the Canon of Urdu Poetry". Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  23. ↑ "Urdu poet Josh Malihabadi being remembered". Associated Press of Pakistan. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  24. ↑ Nevill, H. R. (1904). Lucknow: A Gazetteer (PDF). Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 91–92.
  25. ↑ "Bustān-i ḥikmat". Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  26. ↑ "Intikhāb-i kalām-i Faqīr Muhammad Khān Goyā". CiNii Research. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
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