 He is also the chief cultural patron and an essential part of all religious celebrations.The family tradition goes back to the year 1000, when a ascetic of Utaria, a village near Benares, foretold the succession of his descendants to the dominions then governed by a Hindu raja.With the decline of Mughal Empire, in the area south of Avadh, in the fertile riverain rice growing areas of Benares, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Ghazipur, Ballia and Bihar and on the fringes of Bengal, it was the 'military' who strengthened their sway.