I have already sent a shuqqah along with my letter to you; I hope it has reached you safely. Meanwhile, Huzur-i pur-nur has sent another shuqqah addressed to you with instructions that I should send him a reply as soon as possible. This is enclosed with this letter. I would be grateful if you could instruct your officials to send me the appropriate replies to these shuqqas so that I could forward them without any further delay.
We have, by the 28th Jamadi al-Avval, San 8, exhausted all the money which was advanced to us. Out of this sum we had to pay the money we owed to the bankers and at the same time we have not been able to pay the salaries of our army for the past six or seven months. I am therefore asking you to send me five or six Lac rupees as a bankers draft through Maharajah Shitab Rae so that we can satisfy the needs of our army.
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.
Thank you for your letter received here on the 11th of Jamadi al-Avval, San 8, informing me that you had sent a request from Nawab Siraj al-Daulah Bahadur that the present status enjoyed by his sons may be improved and that they should be awarded new honours, testimonials, khillats and mansabs. As it was not necessary for you to be informed about the outcome of this request and you were busy in your campaigns in Deccan there was a delay in sending this request to me. As the Nawab has not received any response to his request he is rather upset about it. -- I had put forward this request to the King at Jhatrah? with the remarks that the Nawab was in the habit of making such requests. As a consequence of this request I was told that it would be approved. I have therefore, prepared all the necessary documents and have sent them to the King for his approval. As I have not received his approval I am unable to send these documents to you. However, the King has now been advised that we should have nothing to do with the Nawab as whenever he wants to increase his status and honours he does it without the permission of the King. Therefore we should have nothing to do with the grant of awards of honours to him.
I have already sent you replies to your letters as well as an enclosed letter from Nawab Sabitjang Bahadur with my letter. After applying for ten days leave from the Nawab I came to Bareilly from Pelibhat and came to know the strength of the cavalry and foot soldiers of Nawab Qasim Ali Khan in the city.
It is sad that all means of communications between us were closed and that Pandit Sahib, the Prime Minister of Peshwa, and Navab Nizam al-Daulah Bahadur were facing each other in Berar with large armies and heavy artilleries and were ready to shed blood and destroy each other. Afterwards a treaty of peace was agreed and Raghunath Rao kindly agreed to pay twenty Lac rupees from the Province of Malva and seventeen Lac rupees for the maintenance of the army. In addition, he also agreed to pay the amount of chauth he received from Bengal. As the above terms were not acceptable he went back to Nagpore and sent his able and intelligent diplomat as his envoy to negotiate the new terms of the treaty of friendship.
After the death of Nawab Mahbub Ali Khan his wife had petitioned you for her son to succeed the late Nawab. It was fortunate that he was installed as the next Nawab and he was able to allocate an allowance of five thousand rupees for the upkeep of the dependants of the late Nasir al-Mulk Bahadur. Until recently I was living on that amount. The late Nawab had four wives. I am the first wife, and the mother of Mir Sayyido is the fourth wife. During the life of Begam Sahibah I was given the authority to manage this amount but now this authority has been given to the mother of Mir Sayyido. For the last four months I and an unmarried daughter of the late Nasir al-Mulk who lives with me have not received a penny. I would be grateful if you could enquire about the situation from Sahib Ram Diwan, who for a long time used to manage the estate of the Begam Sahibah, and then divide the amount of the above stipend amongst the dependants of the late Nasir al-Mulk Bahadur in a just manner.
Thank you for your letter informing me that Mr. Middleton had complained to you that Mr.[Roger?] Drake and Mr Khatnak [?] were trading in Azimabad without the permission of the Company. As I imprison anyone who conducts unauthorized trade in this province and transport them to Calcutta I should not have made an exception in this case. Before Mr [Samuel?] Middleton wrote to you he had already mentioned this matter to me and accordingly I had sent my men to Hajipore to get hold of these two persons and they have now been put in prison. In future I will not delay in implementing any order given to me by Mr. Middleton.
I am writing a detailed account of my experience for your attention. -- I had come here to pay a visit to Thakur Sahib when I happened to meet the Nawab [Janab-i Ali ]. He started questioning me about you again and again. I can hardly repeat some of the questions he asked me about you; particularly about the amount of nazur to be paid. He wanted to honour me with gifts for this but for some reason or other delayed the matter and on the advice of someone he cancelled all agreements he had made with me and moved on. When he had travelled three manzils he dismissed his wife and Miyan Amani from his company. Whatever agreements we had reached he replaced them with some other clauses and in this way destroyed what we had already agreed. -- I have already sent you a detailed report about my activities. He has collected over one Karor rupees in cash and jewels out of which he wants to deposit only two or three Lacs with me for you. Two of his men asked why he needed such an expenditure as he is carrying jewels worth twenty five Lacs and seventy Lacs in cash and kind and why I did not accompany them. It is because of this that I have decided to go with them. Please do let me know if you have any objection as you are my master. Please also let me know if you are willing to receive the representatives of the Rohellas and Afghans so that we could take control of their states without going to war against them. Navab Shuja al-Daulah has asked for me a number of times but I have not been able to go see him.
One of my old friends Muhammad Sardar Khan, a resident of Bhagalpore, is coming to Calcutta and will be calling on you. As his son Muhammad Azam Khan was innocently killed during a dispute over land at Navadiah and his assets were looted he will be requesting you to help him in this case. I hope that Intizam al-Daulah, Mr Saxson? Sahib and Nawab Muin al-Daulah Sayyid Muhammad Riza Khan Bahadur are also present there so that you could ask them to help him in this court case.
I have been hearing news of your achievements and victories and pray for further successes. As a small zamindar I will be pleased to serve you and I am enclosing a small nuzr as a mark of respect for you. I would like to come and pay my homage personally at a convenient time. Meanwhile, I look forward to your act of kindness. -- É -- Enclosure: I am enclosing four ashrafis and one rupee as a nuzr.
Following the wishes of his father my son, the late Nawab Najm al-Daulah, had sent you five Lac rupees with the instructions that this sum may be distributed as charity amongst your soldiers. Last year my late son had deposited another six Lac rupees with the accountant/administrator of the East India Company for the same purpose. Out of this amount three Lac rupees were received at Murshidabad. The remaining three Lac rupees remain in the treasury of the Company. This amount should be allocated for the welfare of soldiers and distributed amongst them appropriately.
I have already sent you the account of my travels with Nawab Munir al-Daulah to Benares as well as informing you that I have sent a petition to Dada Sahib. The latest news is that after marching from Benares I have now arrived at Allahabad and have been to see the emperor. At present I am waiting for his permission to leave Allahabad. Munir al-Daulah has informed me that Maharajah Rao Raghunath Rao is with the emperor and that he intends to suppress all rebellions and administer the territories on behalf of the emperor. As Dada Sahib's intentions are different I will go and see him as soon as I am allowed to leave this place. I will then convey your advice to him clearly so that he understands it fully. If he accepts you as his master and agrees to act upon your advice he will have to do so in writing. If, on the other hand, he marches with his forces towards the capital I will at once leave this place and come to see you. Dada Sahib fully agrees with your policy to evict Haidar Naik and to occupy the provinces under his control. I am fully convinced that soon all differences between Dada Sahib and us will be resolved and we will be able to come to an agreement. Like everyone, he knows that the English are true to their words and whatever happens they stick to their agreements.
I have already sent replies to your letters and a letter from Nawab Sabitjang Bahadur. After taking leave from you for ten days I reached Bareilly from Pelibhat to look after the administration of the city. Here I found a contingent of Nawab Qasim Ali Khan's army had already arrived here. He had sent a letter inviting me to come to Hifz Jhandi for a night. As I could not accept this invitation without the permission of my master I wrote to him from Bareilly giving details of the state of affairs there. In reply to my letter I was told to accept the above invitation and then return to Pelibhat to report and that he would consult you regarding any future action. -- I arrived to see the Nawab Qasim Ali Khan on the 27th of Rabi al-Sani and tried to find out the reason for his actions. I discovered that he had given fifty thousand rupees to Maulavi Ghulam Jilani, twenty five thousand rupees to Mihr Khan, son of Yahya Sardar Khan, and other Jamadars. A bank draft of forty thousand rupees has been sent to Sa'adat Khan Afridi and Murtaza Khan in Shahjahanabad so that they could raise an army of ten thousand foot soldiers and horsemen and bring it here as soon as possible. Badal Khan has been summoned to Sanbar. The Afghans are increasing their rioting everywhere and I was informed by Najib al-Daulah and Duvaid Khan that they have received letters from Rajah Balabdahr informing them that the Nawab had arrived there with his army and there was going to be trouble. Meanwhile, Mir Inayat Allah Khan, the son of the Nawab, has arrived at Bareilly from Pelibhat so that he can prevent his father, the Nawab, from taking any action. Meanwhile, the Nawab's son asked me to summon Shah Sidq Ali from Hifzjhandi, question him and then go to Bareilly. Therefore, today Thursday the 27th of Rabi al-Sani he will be arriving at Bareilly.
The late Nawab, Mir Muhammad Ja'far Khan, was a great patron and knew my circumstances well. This patronage and benevolence continued after his demise under the rule of his son Nawab Najm al-Din who succeeded him. When Nawab Najm al-Din passed away and you came to Murshidabad I wanted to come to see you but unfortunately this could not be arranged. I am now destitute and at your mercy and would like to come and present my case before you personally; I will be there in a few days.
I hope you are back in Bengal by now. Kindly let me know if Lord Clive is attending to my work. It would be good if you could send Mir Jamal al- Din Khan and Shams al-Din Muhammad Khan to remind him. -- P.S. Please remind him to send word to the emperor asking him to bestow further honours on me as he did on the rulers of the Deccan.
Thank you very much for your letter informing me that Mohan Prashad of Calcutta was living in Azimabad and that I should send him at once back to Calcutta. After a great deal of searching I found out that he has already left for Calcutta about ten days ago and by now he should have come to see you. If he fails to do so I will search for him again and follow your instructions.
I hope you have received my earlier letter in which I had informed you about the situation in pargana Baspore, near Chaklah Bandar Balsar. The Amil of this district lives in the above pargana. Damodar Bhij/Zumurrad Shaikh, a landlord of Fort Harbalpore, who is subordinate to the Faujdar of the Company is creating trouble and mischief in the area and has brought his forces into the above mentioned pargana. He is interfering in the administration of this district and as the above pargana falls amongst the mahallat belonging to this zamindar it will be necessary for our forces to cross over to his territory to evict him from our side. For this reason we have not asked our forces to go there. As there is a complete understanding and agreement between the Maharajah and yourself it is prudent that you advise him to stop this nuisance so that the Amil of this area can carry on his duties without further interference.
As there is a complete understanding and agreement between Maharajah Januji Bhonslah and your government and that so far there has been no cause for concern which could effect our relations adversely, we have been enjoying cordial relations between one another. But now I would like to bring to your notice that, as before, the zamindar of Harbalpore, i.e. Zamurrad Shaikh, has started creating mischief and it is necessary that as last year he should be reprimanded. In addition, if he persists in his actions he will be severely punished. We hear that he has brought his forces into Basalpore, near Bandar Balsar, and is interfering in the administration of the district. As this area is under your control I am surprised that you have allowed this mischief to take place. I am sure that you have not changed your policy regarding the Maharajah and I hope that the present situation will not effect our relations. -- I am staying at Bandar Balsar at present where I will wait for your reply to my letter.
I am glad to have received the news that you have returned to Calcutta safely. I hope you will honour me by writing to me regularly about your well-being.
