15. Raghunâth Râo was the first of his family invested by the Peshwâ with the government of the Jhânsî territory, which he had acquired from the Bundêlkhand chiefs. He went to Benares in 1795 to drown himself, leaving his government to his third brother, Sheorâm Bhâo, as his next brother, Lachchhman Râo, was dead, and his sons were considered incapable. Sheorâm Bhâo died in 1815, and his eldest son, Krishan Râo, had died four years before him, in 1811, leaving one son, the late Râjâ, and two daughters. This was a noble sacrifice to what he had been taught by his spiritual teachers to consider as a duty towards his family; and we must admire the man while we condemn the religion and the priests. There is no country in the world where parents are more reverenced than in India, or where they more readily make sacrifices of all sorts for their children, or for those they consider as such. We succeeded in [June] 1817 to all the rights of the Peshwâ in Bundêlkhand, and, with great generosity, converted the viceroys of Jhânsî and Jâlaun into independent sovereigns of hereditary principalities, yielding each ten lakhs of rupees. [W. H. S.] The statement in the note that Raghunâth Râo I 'went to Benares in 1795 to drown himself' is inconsistent with the statement in the text that this event happened 'some twenty years ago'. The word 'twenty' is evidently a mistake for 'forty'. The _N. W. P. Gazetteer_, 1st ed., names several persons who governed Jhânsî on behalf of the Peshwâ between 1742 and 1770, in which latter year Raghunâth Râo I received charge. According to the same authority, Sheo (Shio) Râm Bhâo is called 'Sheo Bhâo Hari, better known as Sheo Râo Bhâo', and is said to have succeeded Raghunâth Râo I in 1794, and to have died in 1814, not 1816. A few words may here be added to complete the history. The leper Raghunâth Râo II, whose claim the author strangely favoured, was declared Râjâ, and died, as already noted, in May, 1838, 'his brief period of rule being rendered unquiet by the opposition made to him, professedly on the ground of his being a leper'. His revenues fell from twelve lâkhs (£120,000) to three lâkhs of rupees (£30,000) a year. On his death in 1838, the succession was again contested by four claimants. Pending inquiry into the merits of their claims, the Governor-General's Agent assumed the administration. Ultimately, Gangâdhar Râo, younger brother of the leper, was appointed Râjâ. The disorder in the state rendered administration by British officers necessary as a temporary measure, and Gangâdhar Râo did not obtain power until 1842. His rule was, on the whole, good. He died childless in November, 1853, and Lord Dalhousie, applying the doctrine of lapse, annexed the estate in 1854, granting a pension of five thousand rupees, or about five hundred pounds, monthly to Lacchhmî Bâî, Gangâdhar Râo's widow, who also succeeded to personal property worth about one hundred thousand pounds.