In those days the Emperor Aurangzeb was in that part of the kingdom, straitened by his enemy for provisions, and his camp was reduced to starvation. Upon this the chief of the factory in the Carnatic sent vessels laden with grain, showing great considera­tion for the throne, and proved of great service. The Emperor was much pleased with the English people, and desired to know the Honourable Company's wishes. The English chief re­quested him to grant a sanad and farmán, giving permission to establish factories in all parts of the kingdom, and particularly in Bengal. The request was granted, and the royal orders exempting the Honourable Company's ships from custom duties, fixing a sum of three thousand rupees as a peshkash to be presented to the bakhshí of the port, and giving permission for the establishment of factories, were issued. Mr. Chának returned with the royal farmáns from the Dakhin to Bengal. He sent his agents with the peskhash and some presents to Ja'far Khán, and obtained permission to erect a factory in Calcutta. Mr. Chának accordingly erected a new factory at the place where he anchored after returning from the Dakhin, which is known by the name of Chának. He founded the city and populated it, and gave a stimulus to the trade of Bengal. That factory is well known to this day by the name of the Old Fort.

Calcutta is a large city, situated on the banks of the Bhágíratí. It is a large port, and the great mart of the trade of the Honour­able Company and their dependents. Small vessels called salap (sloops?) every year trade with this port from China, Europe, and other countries, and almost at all times some are at anchor there. In these days this city is the residence of the chief English officers, and the city and its dependencies are considered their property. The buildings are built entirely of masonry, plastered with lime or mud. The land, on account of its vicinity to the sea, is very brackish and damp, and hence the houses are raised two or three stories high. The lower apartments are not fit to be inhabited. The buildings are like those of Europe, airy, spacious, and commodious. The city is very large, and all constructed of brick. Besides the English, the Bengalís, Armenians, and other inhabitants, are also opulent merchants. The water of the wells, on account of its brackish quality, is not drinkable. If any person drinks it, he is sure to suffer. In the hot and rainy seasons it becomes peculiarly bitter and saline, and consequently drinking water is procured from tanks. The sea is forty kos distant from the city, and the ebb and flow of the tide occur every day and every night. At full moon the bore rushes in for three days with unusual violence. It presents a curious and wonderful scene; it throws some boats on the shore, and breaks others to pieces; those which are not near the shore receive no injury from it, and therefore no boat, large or small, is left there unanchored. In the same manner, towards the end of the lunar month, the water rolls in with great violence for three days and nights. These high floods are called homán in the Bengalí language, and that which takes place daily is termed jowár-bháta .

A mud fort towards the south, outside the city, constructed after the English model, is very marvellous. Its praise is beyond all expression; it is well worth seeing. The wall which encircles it appears in every direction low from the outside, just like the embankment of a tank; but looking at it from the inside it appears high. Very large and lofty buildings are erected within it, and much skill is shown in the entire construction of this fort. There are many other wonderful and excellent works in this city. As regards the beauty of the buildings and various novelties, there is no city like this in the whole of Hindústán, except Sháh-Jahánábád, which is incomparable. Its only defects are that the air is very insalubrious, the water brackish, and the soil damp, to such a degree that the floors of the houses, although made of bricks and lime, are still, from the excess of moisture, always damp, and the walls also are wet to the height of two or three cubits. For four months in the winter the climate is not so unhealthy; but for eight months during the summer and rainy seasons it is very injurious.

Calcutta is a wonderful city, in the country of Bang.
It is a specimen of both China and Farang.
Its buildings are heart-attracting and delightful.
Their heads are exalted to the height of the sky.
The decorations executed in them by skilful persons
Exhibit a variety of good colours and beautiful drawings.
From the beauty of the works of the European artists
The senses of the spectator are overpowered.
The hat-wearing Englishmen who dwell in them
All speak the truth and have good dispositions.
As are the dwellings, so are their occupants.
How can I sufficiently indite their praises?
The roads made of pounded brick are so level,
That the morning breezes sweep away all the dirt from them.
In all the lanes persons whose faces are like the moon take their walks,
So that you would say the earth was bathed in moonlight.
One is like the moon, the other like the planet Jupiter,
The third shows a beauty like that of Venus.
As a multitude of persons like the planets roam in every direction,
The streets take the resemblance of the Milky Way.

You will see, if you go to the bazár, all the excellent things of the
world.
All things which are produced in any part of the inhabited world
Are found in its bazár without difficulty.
If I attempt to write in praise of the marvels of the city,
The pen will refuse its office.
But it is well known to all of every degree
That it combines the beauties of China and Farang.
The ground is as level as the face of the sky,
And the roads in it are as straight as the line of the equator.
People go out to walk on them,
And there they meet together like the planets.
Such a city as this in the country of the Bengalís
Nobody has seen or heard of in the world.

Account of Farásdángá.

Chandernagore, alias Farásdángá, is twelve kos from Calcutta, and there is a factory in it belonging to the French Christians. It is a small town on the banks of the Bhágíratí. An officer on the part of the King of France remains there to govern the town and manage the commercial affairs of the place. The English have no concern with it. In the same manner, Chochrá (Chinsura) is in possession of the tribe of Walandíz (Hollanders). This place is a little to the south of the port of Húghlí, and is one kos to the north of Farásdángá. In like manner, Seorámpúr (Serampore), which is also situated on the same stream, and opposite to Chának, has a factory of the tribe of Danámár (Denmark), by which name the station itself is sometimes called. In these places no other rule prevails than that of the nation which owns the factories.

I again resume my original subject. Nawáb Ja'far Khán, towards the close of his life, built on his own property, which lay to the east of the city of Murshidábád, a ganj, a katrá, a mosque, a minaret, a reservoir, and a large well. He also raised his tomb at the foot of the stairs of the mosque, with the view that by that means it might not soon get injured, and that by the fortunate contiguity of the mosque, prayers might constantly be made in his name. As his end approached, having no son, he appointed as his representative and successor Sarfaráz Khán, his daughter's son, whom he had brought up from infancy, and consigned to his care all public treasure, the buried wealth, furniture, and all the privileges appertaining to the Nizám and the Emperor.

The Sixth Year of the Reign of Ahmad Sháh.

In this year, 'Imádu-l Mulk (Gházíu-d dín), having secured the concurrence of Malhár Mahratta, attacked Súraj Mal Ját, who was one of the dependents of Safdar Jang. Súraj Mal, having taken refuge in one of his forts, wrote to Ahmad Sháh and Intizámu-d daula, representing that if 'Imádu-l Mulk, joined by the Mahrattas, should acquire power, he would assuredly ruin the Empire as well as the Wazárat. Intizámu-d daula saw the evil, and persuaded the Emperor to proceed, on pretence of hunting, towards Sikandrá, where Holkar Mahratta suddenly made an attack upon the royal army. Ahmad Sháh with his mother, Intizámu-d daula, and some other followers, fled. All the royal camp equipage and the insignia of royalty were plundered by the Rájpúts. Malika Zamániya, the daughter of Farrukh Siyar, with other ladies of the royal household, were captured by the Mahratta and received into his zenána, and the honour of the family of Tímúr received a deadly wound.*