Dangos 1520 canlyniad

The districts of Kond Pasarah/Basarah, Kadah Pavi, etc., have been under the administration of Nawab Shuja al-Daulah and my late father for a long time. Whatever amount is raised from these districts is used as our income for living. Sometime back Lakhi Ganpat Dahr created difficulties in the administration and collection of taxes from these districts. I wrote to you about this at that time and you sent him a note to refrain from such activities. He stopped for sometime but has again started mischief, claiming that these districts were mortgaged to the French Company. This is creating problems in the administration of these district and collections of taxes. As I have had no dealings regarding this with the French Company I will be grateful if you could issue a parvanah in the name of Ganpat Dahr asking him to abstain himself from these activities.

At the time of writing this letter, which is Tuesday, 27 Jumada II, reg.yr. 6 because of the recent upheavels the finnacial situation of myself, my relatives and dependants has deteriorated.

A contemporary translation of the contents including an intelligence or news report is CC2/9, item no. 360.

I hope you have received my earlier letter. After completing my tasks assigned to me by yourself I have left Murshidabad in the evening of Sunday, 4 Rajab, and after travelling continuously throughout the night will come and see you soon and inform you about the rest of the details personally when we meet.

Thank you very much for your letter informing that you will be reaching Baroh in the morning of 9 Rajab. I will come and see you in the morning of the date mentioned in your letter. Another, contemporary translationof the contents is CC2/9, item no. 365

One munshi and two harkarahs belonging to Shitab Rai are present in the camp of the Prince; two other men of Shitab Rai are with the French forces. Four men belonging to Rajah Ram are also in the service of the French. Two of these men were caught while sleeping; the other two are still there. A letter from Rajah Dulabha Ram addressed to Khudadad Khan was received here. A reply has been sent. Rajah Ram, Narayan Singh, Mathra Mall, etc., present news reports to the Prince which they receive from their men in Bengal. A bank draft of twelve thousand rupees addressed to the French was received at Benares from Azimabad. This was forwarded to Chatarpore but the French had left that place thirteen days ago so the bank draft was returned to Benares. -- Here no one trusts people from Bengal. We have to do everything with great care and cleverness. Two of my men are in the camp of Pihalvan Singh and another two are with Khudaddad Khan in Benares. Two other are in the Camp of Monsieur Lally. Fourteen other are present in the camp of the Prince. Thirteen, including a chef, are with me. As it all involves many expenses, I will be coming to see you in a few days to discuss this. I hope you have read my earlier petitions in this respect. At present Chatu Babu and Bhaghari Harkarah of Mathra Mall are in Benares and Himmat Singh who was with the French with four of his men has left Benares for Calcutta. A Bengali man, called Khvajah Pitrus, belonging to Tate tribe and an inhabitant of Hujrah who was employed by the messenger of Torimall, and who was sent to the French camp, will be returning soon.

I have already sent you the news about the arrival of Ramdev Naik at Mirzapore but later I came to know from Captain Manikum Sahib that you had left for Calcutta. I was at that time at Bans Baidyah and was waiting there for a reply so that just after receiving your orders I could travel all night and reach Burdwan and arrange the collection of the revenue there. However, this scheme was ruled out at Calcutta. Please do let me know what to do to recover the revenue amounting to two Lac rupees without going to Burdwan. Because of the presence of the Tilangas and the Captain Sahib there is no revenue available there. It is therefore requested to appoint a detachment of fifty or sixty tilangas in Burdwan to protect the public and help in the restoration of the collection of revenue there. I have written to Nand Kumar as well who will be able to provide further details to you.

Delighted to have received your letter. I have sent two envelops, one addressed to Mr Amherst in charge of Azimabad Factory and the second addressed to Maharajah Ram Narayan so that he could send it to you by post. In this I have informed about the details of entry of our forces in Palakha[?]. Another, contemporary translation of the contents is CC2/10, item no. 386.

Mentions arriving 17 Rajab at Sadiq Bagh from Farah Bagh [Feria Bagh] near Murshidabad, and receiving a letter, of which a copy is enclosed, from Ramnarayan dated 11th, which arrived on 17th, which mentions that the prince's army is on the move, and that of `Allam/Ghulam[?]. Ramnarayan's letter ends with mention of need for reinforcements because the latter's army has decamped and taken a fort, cannons and a cannon emplacement. Another, contemporary translation of the contents is CC2/10, item no. 395.

I have received a letter from His Majesty along with a letter from Nawab Vazir al-Mumalik Bahadur. I have already sent a copy of this letter to you. Later on I thought that it would be good to send a copy to the Prince as well. Therefore, I have written to him a letter explaining the situation and have enclosed a copy of the above mentioned letter. I am asking Rifat Panah Abd al-Rahim Khan to deliver my letter along with a copy of the above letter to you. If you consider it appropriate you may send this to others. -- Enclosure: Copy of the letter from Shuja al-Mulk Bahadur to the Prince [Ali Gohar, later Shah Alam II]. In the past we have tried a number of times to submit our petitions to His Majesty but did not received any response. But now we have received a special shuqqa from him, a copy of which was also sent to other courtiers for information. After reading this letter I would like to request to you that if you are coming to Bengal for sightseeing we have no objection. On the contrary it will be a great honour for us to welcome you here, but if you are thinking of raising the standard of rebellion against the rule of His Majesty then I am completely helpless and would not be able to welcome you here. Another, contemporary translation of the contents is CC2/10, item no. 403.

News reports from Rajah Ram Narayan's camp, dated Rajab. Raja Ram Narayan traveling in a palanquin, wearing expensive clothes and accompanied by a company of horsemen went to Phulwari to meet the Prince. He reached Mihrpur early in the morning and stopped at Yakbagh. From here he sent Diwan Shitab Rai to Nawab Madar al-Daulah and asked him to wait for his instructions. The aforesaid Diwan replied to all the questions put forward by Nawab Madar al-Daulah. After this Rajah Rama Narayan came to see Nawab Madar al-Daulah. Shah Shakir Khan and Shitab Rai, Diwan of Sikhs came from the camp of the Prince to Rajah Ram Narayan and accompanied him to see Madar al-daulah Bahadur. Shah Shakir Khan, Shitab Rai and Mustafa Ali Khan sat in one place. Shaikh Hamid al-Din Jamadar presented five rupees and Murad Khan jamadar two rupees as nazar to the Nawab. After a ghari had passed Rajah Bahadur, Nawab Madar al-Daulah, Nawab Mustafa Ali Khan and Shah Shakir Khan and Khudad Khan and Shitab Rai Diwan all sat on an elephant and went towards Phulwari. Here they went to see Nawab Muhammad Quli Khan who had camped there. After a while Nawab Muhammad Quli Khan and Nawab Madar al-Daulah came out and took Rajah Ram Narayan to see the Prince. He took with him two elephants, four horses, five trays of clothes, some ashrafis, etc., as a nuzr for the Prince. A contemporary translation of the contents is CC2/10, item no. 401. It also includes a translation of the covering letter.

A contemporary translation of the contents is CC2/11, item no. 441.

I hope you have received my letter in which I had enquired about your health and welfare. Please reply and let me know that you are well.

A contemporary translation of the contents is CC2/10, item no. 404.

I have received today a letter from Maharajah Ram Narayan Bahadur and Rajah Murlidhar, dated 22 Rajab, reg.yr. 6, along with a reply to your letter. These are enclosed with this letter. I have received a letter from Rajah Fath Singh that he has started the war with cannons and guns. -- P.S. I have received a letter from my mother addressed to you. This is also enclosed. -- Enclosure 1: Letter from Maharajah Ram Narayan to Clive, 22 Rajab,[ 1172], San 5 [21 March, 1759]. -- Thank you for your reply regarding the return of Mr Amyatt and his associates from here. I would like to assure you that I have always been faithful and will always remain so. I have so far managed to defend the fortress by whatever means I have available here. The enemy has tried to enter the city but we have made sure that they do not enter the fort with their armaments. Today, 22 Rajab, San 5, the enemy forces have marched from Phulwari and have entered Bagh Ja’far Khan. We will be conducting negotiations with them tomorrow. I am desperately waiting for your help to arrive. If life permits I will be able to tell you the rest personally. -- Enclosure 2: Letter from Rajah Murlidhar, 22 Rajab,[1172], San 5 [21 March, 1759]. – I am sure Maharajah Ram Narayan has been keeping you informed about the situation here. The Maharajah has been constantly in touch with me through messages or personal contacts about the progress of the Company forces. Today 22nd Rajab, the army of the Prince has left Phulwari and entered Bagh Ja’far Khan. They tried their best to enter the city but the Maharajah got them involved in negotiations and meanwhile managed to strengthen its defences. He has so far not lost any ground but we will see what happens tomorrow during negotiations. The situation at Shajajahnabad is that the King Emperor has bestowed the governorship of Azimabad on another Prince and the governorship of Allahabad to a son of Nawab Shuja al-Daulah Bahadur. The Nawab has left Lucknow and is now at Bijnor. He has bestowed the khillat of governorship on his son and asked him to march to Allahabad. I do not know what is the logic in taking over the fort of Allahabad. Enclosure 3: Letter from Bibi Shah Khanam, daughter of Mirza Muhammad to Clive, 22 Rajab, [1172], San 5 [21 March, 1759]. -- I have written three letters to you recently but have not received reply to any one of them. I will appreciate if you could inform me about your wellbeing. Another, contemporary translation of the contents of the letter and the enclosures are CC2/11, items no. 422-24.

You may have read the news of this area from the persons faithful to you in this area as well as from copies of letters which have come to my possession and which I had forwarded to you. Today, Thursday, 22nd inst. [22 March 1759] the army of the Prince marched from Phulwari and entered the Bagh of Jafar Khan. Madar al-Daulah is encamped near Tun Tun Khurdah[?]. Harkarahs have brought news to the Prince that Murshidabad artillery was stationed near the borders of Bhagalpore and it was protected by a company of soldiers and horsemen. After hearing this news the Prince ordered a force to travel at night and attack this post and recover the artillery from the enemy. He also ordered that another post at Monghyr should also be conquered. He has, therefore, despatched his forces for this purpose. Your letters which you had addressed to Rajah Ram Narayan and Bare [British officer] Sahib were received by Gulab Chand but he did not inform me about their presence. I came to know only after they were returned to you. Another, contemporary translation of the contents is CC2/11, item no. 435.

A contemporary translation of the contents is CC2/11, item no. 434.

I am pleased to have received your letter, along with much awaited copies of the letters you have sent to the Prince and to Muhammad Quli Khan. After reading the contents of these letters, I appreciated your ability to negotiate as well as your bravery and courage. You have written regarding opening of letters received from you. After opening your letters and reading them I send them to Nasir al-Mulk for information who returns them to me after reading. Another, contemporary translation of the contents is CC2/11, item no.440.