In 1905 Sir Prahbu Narayen Singh, the hereditary holder of
the Benares meminclari, addressed a memorial to the United Provinces Government asking that he might 'be given a defined and permanent status amongst the ruling chiefs of India. This request has now been granted, and the greater part of the family domains held by the Rajas of Benares will pass to his direct rule. The Native State thus constituted has an area of 887 square miles and a population of 382,000. Sir Prahbu Narayen Singh, who has given signal proof of his public spirit, philanthropy, and devotion to the British Raj, comes of an ancient house, who under the Moguls, and until 1794, administered the whole province of which Benares was the centre ; and since then the family have enjoyed a unique status within their extensive family domains. These claims, coupled with his fine personal record, have now been acknow- ledged by the conferment of a limited sovereignty under various safeguards guaranteeing the rights of British subjects transferred to Native State rule.
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