Jansath

Jansath was a home base of the Barha Sayyids in the upper Doab. Two members of this military aristocracy, Abdullah Khan and Husain Ali Khan, became decisive figures in Mughal politics after Aurangzeb's death. They helped Farrukhsiyar obtain the throne in 1713 and then held the empire's leading civil and military offices. Their authority rested partly on the soldiers and family connections of their home region.

Jansath's links to the court were broader than the two brothers. Ratan Chand, a Hindu merchant from the town, became Abdullah's trusted official for financial and clerical work. In 1719 the brothers deposed Farrukhsiyar and supported a succession of replacement emperors. Their dominance ended in 1720, when Husain Ali was killed and Abdullah defeated and imprisoned. Members of their following withdrew their families to Jansath. The town's early eighteenth-century history therefore reached into the struggle over the Mughal succession while remaining a place of family refuge and local connections.