Sahanpur

The Sahanpur family is said to have been founded by one Nahra Singh, a Jat(of Kakrana Clan) of Ramraipur, near Jind, Haryana.His son, Basru Singh, left the ancestral home in 1600 and settled at Bahadurgarh in the neighbourhood of Delhi. Tegh Singh or Padarath, the youngest son of Basru Singh, gained the favour of Jahangir (by providing Military support), and obtained in 1603 the grant of 660 villages in the parganas of Jalalabad, Kiratpur and Mandawar, together with the title of Rai, which is to this day held by the family as an hereditary distinction. Proceeding to his jagir, with several members of his family, he founded Nagal in 1604, and two years later built the fort of Sahanpur. Another version of the story is that the Jats migrated hither on the overthrow of the Suris by Humayun, and that Padarath won his estates as a reward. for his services to Jahangir during a hunting expedition in the vicinity of Hardwar.

Padarath died in 1631, and was succeeded by Rai Bhim Chand, the second of his five sons. This man died without issue, and the estates passed to Nathai Singh, the son of his youngest brother. He was followed by his brother, Rai Sabal Singh, who gave his name to the fortress of Sabalgarh, and left three sons; the first two predeceased their father, and the property passed to Rajaram Mahabali. The latter had two sons, of whom Tara Chand succeeded, but on his death in 1753, the principality was taken by his brother, Sabba Chand, instead of devolving on his son Jaswant Singh, who had no children, and was succeeded by Rai Ram Das, the eldest, son of Sabba Chand. During this time Sahanpur rulers possesed 2042 villages. He again left no issue, having been killed in the year of his accession in a fight with the Pathans while defending Sahanpur. The next incumbent was his brother, Rai Basu Chand, who held the throne for eleven years and died in 1796.

His elder son, Khem Chand, was murdered two years later, and the younger, Tapraj Singh, came into possession, holding the Sahanpur when Bijnor was ceded to the British, and retaining it till his death in 1817. Once again the eldest son, Rai Jahan Singh, met with a violent death, being killed in an affray with dacoits in 1828, and the property passed to the youngest brother, Rai Himmat Singh, who continued to hold Sahanpur for 45 years, dying in 1873. The elder son of Himmat Singh was Rai Umrao Singh, who died in 1882, and then the property was taken under the Court of Wards during the incumbency of his brother, Rai Dal Chand. It was released on his death in 1897, and made over to his eldest son, Rai Partab Singh who died in 1902, leaving a minor son, Rai Datt Prasad Singh, otherwise known as Aftab Jang. The property is managed by his uncle, Raja Bharat Singh, the present actual head of the family. It consists of 90 villages in pargana Najibabad, 35 in Kiratpur, 18 in Akbarabad, 20 shares in Mandawar and one in Bashta, with a total revenue demand of Rs. 51,935.

Raja Bharat Singh had three sons, including Kunwarr Charat Singh and Kunwar Giriraj Singh. Raja Charat Singh had a son, Raja Devendra Singh, and a daughter, Pushp Lata Kumari, who married Raja Bhalender Singh of Patiala. Kunwar Giriraj Singh had two sons, Kunwar Shashi Raj Singh and Kunwar Ravi Raj Singh. Raja Devendra Singh had a son, Raja Bhartendra Singh, who is the former MP of Bijnor district.