Item CR9/16/27 - Letter from Rajah Shitab Rae to Clive.

It appears that the vakil of the Marathas has told you that I had told him that the official vakil of the government was about to go to see Rajah Januji to discuss the issue of Orissa province. I am not so stupid as to say such things to him. The fact is that three days before arriving here the aforesaid vakil had first met Zain al-Abidin Khan at Azimabad and discussed with him the issue of chauth for Maharaja Januji. I replied that no one had the authority to discuss this issue except by the authority of Nawab Amir al-Mumalik. The Vakil replied that people have informed him that the Nawab has appointed Mirza Zain al-Abidin to proceed to see Maharaja Januji to discuss the issue of chauth with him; I told him that I was not aware of this. Afterwards he told me that he wanted to see me regarding this issue and I told him that he should seek your permission before doing so. He seems to dig out information from allcomers. He had arrived here after hearing the news of the departure of Mirza Zain al-Abdin Khan. As Mirza had left in a hurry he did not have the time to write and inform you. He has told similar stories to Nawab Mubariz al-Mulk Bahadur and asked him to send him with the Mirza.