Mainpuri anciently formed part of the great kingdom of Kanauj, and after the fall of that famous state it was divided into a number of petty principalities, of which Rapri and Bhongaon were the chief. In 1194 Rapri was made the seat of a Moslem governor. Mainpuri fell to the Moguls on Baber's invasion in 1526, and, although temporarily wrested from them by the short-lived Afghan dynasty of Shere Shah, was again occupied by them on the reinstatement of Humayun after the victory of Panipat. Like the rest of the lower Doab, Mainpuri passed, towards the end of the 18th century, into the power of the Mahrattas, and finally became a portion of the province of Oudh. When this part of the country was ceded to the British, in 1801, Mainpuri town became the headquarters of the extensive district of Etawah, which was in 1856 reduced by the formation of Etah and Mainpuri into separate collectorates. On the outbreak of the Mutiny in 1857 the regiment stationed at Mainpuri revolted and attacked the town, which was successfully defended by the few Europeans of the station for a week, until the arrival of the Jhansi mutineers made it necessary to abandon the district. MAINTENANCE (Fr. _maintenance_, from _maintenir_, to maintain, support, Lat. _manu tenere_, to hold in the hand). The action of giving support, supplying means of subsistence, keeping efficient or in working order. In English law maintenance is an officious intermeddling in an action that in no way belongs to one by maintaining or assisting either party, with money or otherwise, to prosecute or defend it. It is an indictable offence, both at common law and by statute, and punishable by fine and imprisonment. It invalidates all contracts involving it. It is also actionable. There are, however, certain cases in which maintenance is justifiable, e.g. any one who has an interest, even if it be only contingent, in the matter at variance can maintain another in an action concerning the matter; or several parties who have a common interest in the same thing may maintain one another in a suit concerning the same. Neither is it reckoned maintenance to assist another in his suit on charitable grounds, or for a master to assist his servant, or a parent his son, or a husband his wife. The law with regard to the subject is considered at length in _Bradlaugh_ v. _Newdegate_, 1883, 11 Q.B.D. 1. See also CHAMPERTY. For the practice of "livery and maintenance" see ENGLISH HISTORY, §§ v. and vi.