Mayi clan

The Mayi were a clan of Muslim Rajputs who controlled the Narhat-Samai (Hisua) chieftaincy in modern-day Nawada district of Bihar and were considered to have played a prominent role in the political history of Southern Bihar.[1][2]

History

The progenitor of the Mayi clan was Nuraon Khan whose family arrived in South Bihar in the 17th century from Talwandi in modern-day Pakistan.[3] Following the families conversion to Islam, they retained their original clan name.

Nuraon Khan had two sons, Azmeri and Deyanut who worked for a Brahmin zamindar as revenue farmers. Azmeri and Deyanut eventually refused to pay the revenue to the Brahmin and ousted him from his land. The Mughals later granted the brother's zamindari rights over six parganas. The opportunity provided by the state allowed the Mayis to build strength and wealth. The Mayis eventually became more powerful under the leadership of Kamgar Khan who was one of Deyanut's five sons. Kamgar Khan waged war on neighbouring zamindars and seized their land. However, his expansion was checked by Sundar Singh of the Tekari Raj who was also expanding his chieftaincy.[3] Despite the Mayi's owing much of their wealth to the Mughals, Kamgar Khan frequently defied them and attempted to assert the Mayi's independence. Eventually, Afghan mercenaries had to be used to put down the rebellions of Kamgar Khan and Sundar Singh.[3]

Kamgar Khan's descendant was Akbar Ali. Under his rule, Narhat Samai was owed a large amount of unpaid revenue to the British East India Company. To escape his debts, he participated in the 1781 revolt where certain zamindars attempted to rid themselves of British rule. Akbar Ali's attempt to gain independence failed however, and his estate was confiscated and he fled to Delhi.[4]

References
  1. Kumkum Chatterjee (1996). Merchants, Politics, and Society in Early Modern India: Bihar, 1733-1820. BRILL. pp. 36–37. ISBN 90-04-10303-1.
  2. Tahir Hussain Ansari (20 June 2019). Mughal Administration and the Zamindars of Bihar. Taylor & Francis. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-00-065152-2.
  3. Gyan Prakash (30 October 2003). Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude in Colonial India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 87–89. ISBN 978-0-521-52658-6.
  4. Paramita Maharatna (2007). "Explaining Chait Singh's Revolt in Bihar (1781): The Role of the Refractory Bihar Zamindars". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 68: 565–572. JSTOR 44147866.
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