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Furthermore both of the sons were sent to the newly established Mohammadan Anglo Oriental School (M.A.O College) at Aligarh by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who was a friend of his father Maulvi Habib-ur Rahman. This M.A.O School later on became the Aligarh Muslim University. While the sons of Maulvi Habib-ur-Rahman were studying in Aligarh, the estate was being managed by Wasi uz Zaman (as caretaker) and it seems that the dispute had already begun by then as to who will succeed to this large estate along with the privileges of being a Taluqdar of Oudh.

Here is a caption from the Gazetteer of Oudh by W. Bennet Vol III paged 536 that is the irrefutable evidence that the succession of Maulvi Habib-ur-Rahman was in dispute. This book was published in 1878.

After the completion of their studies at Aligarh, when both of the sons returned, they found Wasi uz Zaman as the de-facto Taluqdar of the estate and for obvious reasons he was not willing to leave the seat after enjoying the rule for the past so many years. When the real successors, both the sons of Maulvi Sahib found the situation quite grim and they sensed that if they rose against Wasi uz Zaman, it would lead to an un-ending chain of unfavourable events and even bloodshed, they withdrew from Asiwan, relinquished their claim as Taluqdar of Miyanganj and left Asiwan with their mother, taking up a large tract of land around Safipur for themselves. A very large number of villages near safipur, Maulvi Khera, Rahimabad area were farmed and managed by Maulvi Khalil-ur-Rahman, the eldest son of Maulvi Habib ur Rahman. I would further claim that Khalil ur Rahman had taken over as the Taluqdar of Miyanganj after his return and was mentioned in the revenue records as Taluqdar. (Please see the doc on page no. 29. May I know why he was mentioned a Taluqdar here? The Answer is simple, he was the eldest son of his father Maulvi Habib ur Rahman and the government knew that well. Even after this, if both these brothers forsake their claim to the seat, I would call it a sage’s sacrifice. No ordinary man can leave such a large estate with royal privileges so easily.

In one of documents attached below, you shall see that Khalil ur Rahman is clearly mentioned as the Taluqdar and also as Numberdar. The document is dated 5 May 1893 when Khalil ur Rahman visited the record room and verified the document0s. It proves that Khalil ur Rahman was already in charge of the taluqa being the eldest son of the Title holder Maulvi Habib ur Rahman and he later on withdrew himself because of the reasons I have given.

This is a unique instance of sacrifice by Maulvi Khaleel-ur-Rahman where he happily relinquished his claim to Taluqdari and all the privileges that were associated with the Taluqdari and left his father’s house and village just to avoid a future tussle and blood-shed. I don’t remember any such sacrifice in recent times where a legally bonafide heir quit his claim just to avoid any disturbance and bloodshed despite that fact that he was capable of handling all such situations competently. Hats off to Maulvi Khalil-ur-Rahman! Maulvi Khalil-ur-Rahman was an educated person. Since he had got a very large part of the estate for himself, he erected a house in Molvi Khera village in Safipur and settled there to manage his Zamindari. In the city of Unnao he constructed houses at Qaisar ganj and Chaudhrana mohallas in Unnao and was known as Khaleel Miyan, Raees of Unao. He held a respectable position in the city and was elected to the Municipality of Unnao. He was a keen cricketer with a passion in hunting and wildlife sports. He passed away in 1954 and was survived by three sons and two daughters. His younger brother Jalil ul Rahman was a government servant and went on to become a Tehsildar.