Bhagwant Rai Khichi

The Khichar family of Asothar is said to have been founded by one Deogaj Singh, who in 1543 came from Khichiwara, better known as Raghogarh, in central India state of Madhya Pradesh, and married the daughter of the Gautam Raja of Aijhi on the banks of the River Yamuna, to whose possessions he subsequently succeeded. Raja Bhagwant Rai was son of Araru Singh a descendant of Deogaj Singh. A man of great ability and courage Raja Bhagwant Rai, for many years held a practically independent state and successfully defeated the Mughal troops till in 1735 when he was killed owing, it is said, to the treachery of Chaudhri Durjan Singh of Kora. He was succeeded by his son, Rup Singh, who held his possessions in peace till his death in 1780, when his place was taken by Bariar Singh

Raja Bhagwant Rai of Asothar was not only a poet himself, who use to write and sing Dhrupad verses, but was a great patron of literature, collecting around him several persons of minor celebrity, such as Bhudhar of Asothar, Shimbhunath Misr, and Shiam Lal of Jahanabad. His nephew, Bhawani Singh, patronized the poet Sarang of Asothar, and his descendant, Kamta Parshad of Lakhpura, who was born in 1854, wrote in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Persian and the vernacular.

During the reign of Araru Singh and his son Bhagwant Rai, they rose to power and acquired a large estate, headquarters being at new fort at Ghazipur district Fatehpur. It was then the attention of Mughal Government was attracted when faujdar of Kara and Kora, Jan Nisar Khan, brother of the Wazir Qamr-ud-din, was killed by Khichar in 1734. A large army was brought from Delhi against Ghazipur, and the fort was besieged, but Bhagwant Rai escaped and took refuge in Asothar. Eventually Qamr-ud-din abandoned the attempt and left Muhammad Khan Bangash to carry on the campaign; but Bhagwant Rai managed to get rid of him, it is said by a payment of money, and then recovered his power, getting the whole of Kora within his grasp. Bhagwant Rai attempted to further strengthen his position by calling in the aid of the Marathas & Maharaja Chhatrasal Bundela as-well. In 1735 Saadat Ali Khan the then Nawab of Awadh (Aoudh) took a large force against Ghazipur, and a severe action ensued, the Khichar leader being at first successful defeating the significantly larger Army in a fierce Battle at Mudchaura near Ghazipur. It is said that, post this battle, Bhagwant Rai and his nephew Bhawani Singh were killed by the treachery of Durjan Singh, Chaudhri of Kora.

• Survey of Kheechi Chauhan History, By A H Nizami & R S Kheechi
• FATEHPUR: A GAZETTEER, BEING VOLUME XX OF THE, DISTRICT GAZETTEER OF THE UNITED PROVINCES OF AGRA AND OUDH, BY H. R. NEVILL, I.C.S., F.R.G.S., F.S.S. (Pages 100, 102, 156) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• Bhagwant Rai Khichi Aur Unke Mandal Ke Kavi(भगवंतराय खींची और उनके मंडल के कवि ), By Dr. Mahendra Pratap Singh
• Jai Singh Vinod, By contemporary Poet, Dev (देव कवि कृत : जैसिंह विनोद)
• The First Two Nawabs of Awadh . A critical study based on original sources. With a foreword by Sir Jadunath Sarkar. (3-Capmpaign Against Bhagwant Singh Udaru, November 1735, Pages 44 to 49)