As for me, worn down by the fatigue of the campaign, I obtained leave to remain at Azim-abad; but my two brothers, Ghalib-aaly-qhan, and Séyd-aaly-qhan, thought proper to accompany the Navvab; and I thought them gone for the remainder of the year, when, on the fourth day after their departure, I was surprised to see Ghalib-aaly-qhan returned. I asked the reason. He answered, that the Navvab had bid him, as well as his brother, remain at Azim-abad, or repair to their father, which last would prove a better party, than that of fatiguing themselves with such repeated journeys; and that he had assured them, that whether there, or at camp, he did not consider them as being less in his service and pay. Ghalib-aaly-qhan added, that for his own part, he had pre­ferred to return to Azim-abad; but that his younger brother, Séyd-aaly-qhan, not liking the intimation, had followed the Nav­vab. On hearing this intelligence from Ghalib-aaly-qhan’s mouth, I concluded that the Navvab being now engaged in some disputes and broils with the English, had thought it expedient to keep at a distance from his person and camp, people whose connections with that nation he strongly mistrusted. This conclusion seemed so natural, that I resolved to know of the Navvab himself what was his pleasure on our account; and as I was too weak to go by land, I got into a boat, and in a few days arrived at Monghyr, where I asked of my brother, Séyd-aaly-qhan, how matters had happened? The man, mistaking the Navvab’s intention, had really thought that by dismissing him at Azim-abad, he wanted only to oblige the family, and to afford him some rest. But I thought very differently, and thought right; for in five or six days’ time, the Navvab entrusted Mirza-shems-eddin, with a commission to go to Shudjah-ed-döulah, and to the Emperor’s Court, in order to request their assistance, and to prepare their minds against any emergencies, which his disputes with the English might produce; and that officer, who was an intimate friend of mine, and who knew how far I might be capable of keeping a secret, desired me, at his departure, to order my youngest brother, Séyd-aaly-qhan, to avail himself of his (Shems-eddin’s) company to get out of camp, and to repair to his father. I asked the reason, why the Navvab was bent on keeping my two youngest brothers at a distance from himself? He answered, “That as he reckoned upon my secrecy, he would tell me the truth, but under condition, that I should be careful not to mention it to any one; as such a dis­covery might do a great deal of harm to himself (Shems-eddin). You have concluded right,” said he, “that the Navvab greatly mistrusts Séyd-aaly-qhan; and that he takes him to be a spy of the English; and as every day now gives rise to some new subject of discontent and displeasure on both sides, he thinks it very improper that your brother should remain in his camp, hanging about his person; but as on the other hand, dismiss­ing him alone would have given an insight into his secret inten­tion, he intimated his desire to both brothers, that Ghalib-aaly-qhan might retire at the same time with him.” If that is the case, answered I, why does the Navvab suffer me in his camp? At that rate he must deem me the head spy, and full as dangerous as the two others put together. Mirza-shems-eddin answered, “That the Navvab did not object to me, because knowing my con­nections with some of the English, he reserved me as an instru­ment that might some day or other prove of use; but that over and above that, he considered me as a kind of pledge for my father’s good behaviour, and as an hostage for that of my brother’s.” This intimation of Mir shems-eddin’s confounded and amazed me. I was very near despairing of my life and honour, but thought it best to conceal my grief; so that sending for Séyd-aaly-qhan, I exacted an oath of secrecy from him, and then I informed him of the state of things, exhorting him to be gone by all means, if he was desirous of living. I then recommended him to my friend, and saw him depart. As for me, being too ill to move, I remained at Monghyr, where the Navvab, to keep a veil upon his suspicions, used now and then to inquire after my health by a chopdar, and to send me every day a table covered with victuals. At last, having recovered my health, and bathed according to law, I pitched upon the feast of the sacrifice, and went to pay him my respects. He received me with kindness; and, as I observed that he was going towards the women’s sanctuary, I hastened to the gate of the secret apartment, and made him my bow. He paused, spoke to me with kindness, and putting his hand into his own paan dan,* he gave me two byris of paan, adding these words: “Have I not done well to dismiss your two brothers, that they might take care of their aged sire? Let them take some rest, and enjoy themselves for a while.” These words, the intent of which I could not mistake, made me applaud his attention, and I extolled that goodness of his which prompted him to so much regard. “And where is the master in these days,” did I exclaim, “who, without discontinu­ing a large salary, would release his servants from that attendance to which he has so much right?” These words seemed to please him; and he added, “That, in fact, he had with me an acquaintance of old standing, but none indeed with them, or very little.” This was an arrant lie of his; but fain I was to applaud again; for, in former times, when there was an equality between his family and ours, and even some superiority on our side, I had not the least acquaintance with him, and very little friendship indeed for his father-in-law, Mir-djaafer-qhan, or for Miren, his brother-in-law; whereas, Séyd-aaly-qhan himself, living in Bengal, and being a man of pleasure, was in connections with these sort of people, and of course, with that family also, among the rest. After having asked the readers’ pardon for these little anecdotes, about private affairs, let us revert to the disputes with the English.

The Navvab’s officers, having found means to seize some of the mercantile agents of the English, sent them to their master, who kept them prisoners, as hostages for those officers of his, which the English had at first seized. All this happened in consequence of the Navvab’s precipitancy, who, by sending orders to his officers to exact duties from the goods of the English, before Vansittart had time to arrive at Calcutta, and to settle that matter on an equitable footing, put it out of that Governor’s power, on his arrival there, to withstand the members of the Council, who, hitherto dispersed all over Bengal, had now assembled in that city, and formed a majority that shut up the gates of friendship, walled up the door of return, and, by dint of numbers, obliged Vansittart to command the Navvab to hold all English goods whatever free from duties, and to dismiss the English agents, his prisoners, immediately. The Navvab con­ceived, that to submit to orders which he knew to come from those Counsellors that were his enemies, was disgraceful; and, on the other hand, he found it difficult to stand his ground upon the articles of custom and duty. He, therefore, betook himself to the expedient of suppressing all customs and duties whatever, whether for native merchants or for others; and he answered the imperious letter, sent him by the Council, by writing personally to Vansittart, “That it was notorious that merchants of all sorts made it a practice to pass their own goods under the name of English agents; and that as a release of duties to the latter would, in fact, amount to a general exemption also to most of the former, save only a few wretches too obscure to afford the expense of purchasing protectors, and too poor to afford duties that would be worth perception; he had, therefore, taken the party to suppress all customs and duties whatever, and to render the exemption general. Since so long as the principal merchants could find means to pass duty free, under an English mask, it would be hard to torment a few poor people who would submit to duties, but whose contributions would never repay the charges of perception. That as to the order of dismissing the English agents, prisoners in his camp, it was an injunction vain and absurd; since the English having first seized and confined his officers, these, of course ought to be released first, before the others could be dimissed at all.” This answer of the Navvab’s being perused in the Council of Calcutta, the Counsellors that were in confederacy against him, said, “That this general exemption of the Navvab’s was calculated to throw a slur upon them, by putting them on a footing with the other merchants. That, if Mir-cassem’s intention was to remain on terms of friendship with the English, he must putthings upon the ancient footing, to wit, exact duties from the other merchants, and let English property pass duty free. That as they knew that Mr. Vasittart, infatuated by his blind attachment to Mir-cassem, wanted to render his opposers ridiculous and despicable, so they were resolved to send one of their own body in embassy to the Navvab, to explain their intention; for, if he grants the envoy’s demands,” said they, “we shall have carried our point; and if he does not, then friendship shall cease between us.” The Governor, overcome by a majority that seemed to know no moderation, was, against his own opinion, obliged to put his name to such a letter as they thought proper to dictate, and compelled to consent to the resolution of deputing one from amongst themselves. In consequence of that resolve, Mr. Amyatt, and Mr. Hay, under the escort of one company of Talingas, commanded by Captain Djonson, departed on their embassy to Monghyr. At their departure, Vansittart wrote a short letter to Mir-cassem-qhan, which he gave to the latter’s agent at Calcutta; and he sent him, at the same time, a long message to this purport: “That he exhorted him, by all means, to be firm and punctual in the execution of the treaty, which had at first inter­vened between himself, on the part of the Company, and the Navvab, a treaty that had been confirmed by oaths on both sides, and by a thorough examination; a treaty, upon the tenor of which, the Navvab ought to regulate his conduct without the least deviation. That the Counsellors, who had been hitherto dispersed all over Bengal, having all assembled in Calcutta, the party opposed to the Navvab, formed a majority, to which he, the Governor, was of course obliged to submit, especially after the management of the affairs of Government had slipped out of his (the Governor’s) hands, through the Navvab’s precipitancy, which had put every matter out of his power. That Mr. Amyatt, supported by the majority in Council, was now setting out on an embassy to Monghyr, and might possibly make him some pro­posals which would not be of the Navvab’s liking; but that probably they might prove such as would not bring any material detriment to his Government; the more so, as in five or six months hence, the members opposed to him being all to be dismissed the service by an order from home, he ought, for the present, to submit to whatever conditions they might propose actually, and dismiss their envoy with honour and regard, so as to give him full satisfaction; this being the only method to prevent the dispute from going farther, or breeding more serious consequences; as otherwise, the helm being now out of his hands, he (the Governor) was certain that he would not have it in his power to oblige him in the manner he (the Navvab) might wish.” The Navvab, on the arrival of this letter and message, referred the whole negotiation with and the management of the English, to Gurghin-qhan, who was both his General and Minister, and the man whom he most trusted. He considered that he was of the same religion* with the English; acquainted with their customs and manners; and informed of their several characters, in consequence of his corresponding with his brother, Codja-bedros, and his other friends at Calcutta. The Navvab, therefore, sent for him, informed him of the contents of the letter, and of the purport of the message, and asked him his opinion about the propriety of submitting to the Council’s orders, The Navvab is determined to a resistance by Gurghin-qhan’s advice. or of rejecting the same. Gurghin-qhan, who was both extremely imprudent, and extremely proud, and who detested in his heart every man of birth or of understanding, advised the Nav­vab to reject the proposal, together with Vansittart’s advice. “Your Highness and the English,” said he, “are now upon a par and upon a level. If you submit to-day, you shall daily lose of your character, and of that awe and respect with which they are now impressed; and, at last, you shall become contemptible in their eyes; but if you listen only to the dictates of honour and courage, and stand firmly on your ground, your character shall daily acquire new respect in their minds; and their own power shall daily lose of its strength and conse­quence.” The Navvab, who had the highest opinion of his knowledge and attachment, and was accustomed always to defer implicitly to his opinion, adopted his advice without reserve, and resolved to act accordingly. That Prince, sensible of the opposition formed against him at Calcutta, and anxious to take every precaution necessary in a dispute of so much consequence, had harboured this longwhile heavy suspicions against the two Djagat-seats; nor did he think it consonant, to the rules of prudence, to leave two such men in M8rsh8d-abad, at such a critical conjuncture. He remembered that they had been deeply concerned, both by their money and influence, in transferring the supreme power from Seradj-ed-döulah to Mir-djaafer-qhan, and lately from Mir-djaafer-qhan to himself; and, being a great connoisseur in men’s tempers, as well as an inquirer into their characters, he dreaded the consequences of two such men’s remaining at M8rsh8d-abad, and so near Calcutta, at a time when his disputes with the English ran higher and higher, and his difficulties with them were increasing daily upon his hands. He therefore thought it incumbent upon him to have both these brothers in his power, at least; and, as he knew that so far from moving a foot on his sending them letters or orders, they would from that very moment apprehend for their safety, and contrive to escape to Calcutta, where they would prove of infinite service to his opposers, by their wealth, intrigues, and influence;—he therefore wrote to Mahmed-taky-qhan, the Coozza-calanian, who commanded in Birbohom, a man of an acknowledged bravery, and a sincere fidelity, requiring him to repair in all speed to M8rsh8d-abad, where he was to surround the house of the Dja­gat-seat’s, in such a manner, as that not a man might come out, and then to wait until Marcar, the Armenian, might arrive and bring him a letter; on the perusal of which, he was to deliver the two Seats in his hands, taking a receipt in form for the delivery of their persons. After writing the above order, he dispatched Marcar, an Armenian General, of Gurghin-qhan’s recommendation; and putting three or four regiments of Talingas under his command, he ordered him to repair by water to M8r­sh8d-abad, where he was to receive from Mahmed-taky-qhan the two Djagat-seats, and to bring them in all speed to Monghyr, but without departing from a proper regard and attention to their persons and rank. Mahmed-taky-qhan, on receipt of the order, repaired in all speed to M8rsh8d-abad, where he closely surrounded the house of the two Djagat-seats, sending them word at the same time, “That he had no injury to offer either to their persons, fortune, honour, or family; his orders were only to send them to Monghyr, where the Navvab wanted to see them reside near his person; and that he requested them to make themselves thoroughly easy on his own particular subject, as he had no harm to offer.” The two brothers, find­ing The Djagat-seats, the two most potent private men of India, seized and carried to Monghyr. themselves reduced to the single party of submission, prepared for their voyage. In three days more, Marcar, the Armenian, arrived with his Talingas, and the two brothers being delivered up to him, were carried to Monghyr. The Navvab received them with distinction, spoke to them with kindness, deplored the necessity of his affairs, soothed their minds, excused the rigour of his proceedings, and requested their living at Monghyr, where he hoped they would build lodgings for themselves, set up a Banking House, as they had at M8rsh8d-abad, attend at his Court as they did formerly, and, as formerly, transact business in the affairs of Government and finance. He, at the same time, set them at full liberty; but people were secretly set upon them, with orders not to suffer them to go out any great distance. The poor brothers were fain to order a Banking House to be raised for their lodgings, and found themselves obliged to accommodate themselves to the perfidy exercised on them; and as these two men have cut at all times such a figure in Bengal, the reader shall not find fault with his seeing here some account of them. The two brothers, which bore the names of Mahtab-ráy and Radja Ser8p-chund, were both grandsons to Djagat-seat-fateh-chund, by two brothers, sons to this Fateh-chund, who died both in the time of Shudjah-qhan, Viceroy of Bengal; so that his fortune, which was literally immense, and past all belief, passed to those his grandsons, who, in Aaly-verdy-qhan’s time, lived in Bengal with so much credit and authority, as is hardly credible at such a distance of time. Their riches were so great, that no such bankers were ever seen in Hindostan or Decan; nor was there any banker or merchant, that could stand a com­parison with them, all over India. It is even certain, that all the bankers of their time in Bengal, were either their factors, or some of their family. Their wealth may be guessed by this only fact: In the first invasion of the Marhattas, and when M8rsh8d-abad was not yet surrounded by walls, Mir-habib, with a party of their best horse, having found means to fall upon that city, before Aaly-verdy-qhan could come up, carried from Djagat-seat’s house two corors of rupees, in Arcot coin only;* and this prodigious sum did not affect the two brothers, more than if it had been two trusses of straw. They continued to give afterwards to Government, as they had done before, bills of exchange, called dursunies,* of one coror at a time, by which words is meant, a draft, which the acceptor is to pay at sight, without any sort of excuse. In short, their wealth was such, that there is no mentioning it, without seeming to exag­gerate, and to deal in extravagant fables. Thousands of their agents and factors have acquired such fortunes in their service, as have enabled them to purchase large tracts of land, and other astonishing possessions; and now that those two heads of the family are both dead these many years, and their sons, in consequence of the superiority acquired by the English in all the branches of trade over Bengal and Hindostan, fall vastly short of the wealth of their fathers; nevertheless there is not one man of that family, and not one dependant of that house but who lives in the utmost splendour and prosperity.