Page:A Statistical Account of Bengal Vol 1 GoogleBooksID 9WEOAAAAQAAJ.pdf/128

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TOWNS, ETC., OF THE 24 PARGANAS.
113

threatened to expose them, so as to put them out of caste. One day the brothers, being unable to bear these taunts any longer, killed the man in a passion, and were taken for trial before Alá-ud-din, the Subahdár of Gaur. The wives of the milkmen went to Goráchánd’s grave and related their misfortunes, when the holy man suddenly rose from the tomb. He immediately repaired to Gaur, arrived before the governor in time to have the brothers released, and returned home with them. Goráchánd had not forgotten Chandraketu; and in order to bring him into trouble, he proceeded a second time to Gaur, and got one Pír Sháh appointed as Governor of Bálindá. The new governor, soon after his arrival, sent for Chandraketu. The latter obeyed the summons; but having considerable misgivings as to the result, he took the precaution of taking a pair of carrier-pigeons with him, and told his family that, in the event of fortune turning against him, he would let the pigeons fly, and their reappearance at home would be the signal for the female members of his family to destroy themselves. Pír Sháh harassed Chandraketu so much, that he lost heart and let loose the birds. As soon as his family perceived the return of the pigeons, they drowned themselves. Chandraketu was ultimately released, but on his return he followed the example of his relatives and committed suicide. The village of Haruá probably owes its name to its containing the hár or bones of Goráchánd, who was buried here. A masonry tomb is erected over them, and the fair is usually held at this spot for a week in February. For a long time the descendants of the brothers Kinu and Kálu Ghosh enjoyed the proceeds of the fair, but the family afterwards became extinct, and the tomb is now in the charge of Muhammadans. The Governor Alá-ud-dín allotted an estate of five hundred acres of land for the maintenance of the tomb, and the lands are held nominally for this purpose to the present day.

Narikelbaria, a small village in the north-east corner of North Baliá Fiscal Division, Basurhát Subdivision. This village is noted as the spot where the rebel fanatic Titu Miyán came into conflict with the British troops in November 1831. This man had made a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he met with Sayyid Ahmad, the founder of the Indian Wahábí sect, and on his return to Bengal became an enthusiastic preacher of the reformed faith. The Revenue Surveyor states that the rebellion took its immediate rise from the landholders of the neighbourhood trying to impose a tax on Musal-