Item CR9/17/28 - Letter from Munir al-Daulah Bahadur to Clive.

I would like to assure you that I am constantly busy in carrying out your wishes. Akbar Ali Khan, Saif al-Din Muhammad Khan, Bahadur Ali Khan, Beram Khan, Darogha of the royal artillery, and Rajah Ram Nath have all become my enemies and have poisoned the ears of the Emperor making him extremely angry with us and thus making it extremely difficult for me to perform my duties. They have all joined together and are sending secret letters in my name to Raghunath Rao. They are similarly conducting secret correspondence with the friends of Raghunath including Aithul Rao, Naro Shankar, etc. Whatever they do they keep it a secret from me. -- Nilu Pandit is still with me; the elephants and other gifts you sent for him have now crossed the river. As soon as they arrive here I will pass these gifts on to him so that he can take them to the Marhatta sirdar. The above-mentioned people have sent a petition to His Majesty that you [Clive] were becoming very friendly with the Marhattas and that you were sending gifts of jewels and elephants to them. They have advised His Majesty that he should send a trusted friend who could accompany the Marhatta vakil, Aithal Rao, with gifts and meet the Mahatta Sirdar. Ali Quli Khan, as a representative of Malhar Rao, was also present there at that time. It was suggested that he should be sent to Raghunath Rao to convince him to become his ally. They have also advised him not to listen to the advice of Munir al-Daulah Bahadur as he has secretly joined hands with Shuja al-Daulah Bahadur and wants to turn His Majesty into his puppet and, ultimately, a prisoner. Personally, I was not in favour of you sending any gifts and a robe of honour to Raghunath Rao. I am at present busy in suppressing the rebellion of Afzal Haq and his associates.