Page 19 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

was governed by the rulers of Dera Ghazi Khan, i.e. first by Mirrani Balochs,
then Gujjars and Kalhoras, then by various governors directly appointed by
the Durrani kings of Kabul, and finally by the Nawabs of Bahawalpur. The
east central part of the district lying on the right bank of the Chenab opposite
Multan was nominally ruled by the Multan governors. The northern part of
the district, including the Thal, after passing through a stage of anarchy,
became subject to the governors of Mankera, who were locally known as the
Nawabs of the Thal.
The First Government – Seetpur

The kingdom of the Seetpur was established by the Nahar dynasty. In 1455 ,
when Bahlol Khan Lodhi, who had been Governor of Multan, became the
King of Delhi, he granted the country lying between the Indus, which then
joined the Chenab at Ūch, and the Suleman range, south of a line drawn
from Harand to Uch and north of Shikarpur in Sindh, to his relation Islam
Khan Lodhi. This tract comprised what is now the southern part of the Tehsil
Alipur, the southern part of the District Dera Ghazi Khan and the northern
part of Sindh. Islam Khan or his descendants took the title of Nahar. Islam
Khan’s grandsons, Qasim Khan, Salam Khan and Tahir Khan, quarreled and
divided the country among themselves. The southern part of the present
Tehsil Alipur, the chief town of which was then Seetpur, fell to Tahir Khan,
who established his rule there and died in due course of time. There were 27
generations of the Nahar family. The last of the Nahars was Bakhshan Khan,
who was jamadar of chaprasis in Tehsil Alipur, and who enjoyed a small
allowance from the Government for looking after the family tombs. After him
the incumbents of the office were widows. One of the Nahars built a fine tomb
and a mosque in his lifetime, which still exist. His name was Tahir Khan,
also known as Sakhi or the liberal. Another Nahar, named Ali Khan founded
Alipur. No other memorial of the Nahars exists.
At the end of the fifteenth century the Balochs began to come down from the
hills, and occupied the country on the left bank of the Indus, from Seetpur
to Kot Karor in Layyah. In 1484, Haji Khan, a Mirani Baloch founded Dera
Ghazi Khan and established a dynasty the rulers of which alternately bore
the titles of Haji Khan and Ghazi Khan. These chiefs expelled the Nahars
from the south of the District Dera Ghazi Khan, and pressed the Seetpur
Nahars very hard. Treachery was at work at the very doors of the Nahars.
Sheikh Raju, the Makhdum of Seetpur, who was a counselor of the Nahars,
began to seize the country for himself. He did not entirely expel the Nahars
for, when he was later overthrown by the Nawabs of Bahawalpur, parts of
the country were still in possession of the Nahars. The greater part, however,
of the south of the district was governed by the Makhdums of Seetpur. Until
the inroads of Bahawalpur began, nothing more is heard of the Nahars or of
the Makhdums.
The Nahars appear to have been indifferent rulers. They left no public works
behind them except Tahir Khan's tomb and adjoining mosque. The title of
Nahar was given to them for their rapacity. Popular stories attest their want

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