YOU write, “that a very great intimacy and friendship subsists “between Syed Zynûl Aabideen Khân and Noorûddeen Hûsain Khân, “the latter of whom is come there [i. e. to Poonah] on a mission from “Mr. Boddam, the Governor of Bombay; and that the aforesaid Syed, “actuated by his attachment to our Sircar, furnishes you, privately, “with the secret intelligence of that quarter, and is furthermore ready, “if it meets our approbation, to take steps towards establishing a friend­ship between us and the said Governor.” It is well. We have no objection to your agitating this affair, as you propose, with the Syed. You must also obtain the most accurate intelligence from thence, and regularly communicate the same to us. You will, likewise, take the same occasion to represent,* that our territories and those of the English are contiguous to each other;* and that, at the time of the treaty con­cluded between us and the English, it was stipulated, that no assistance should be afforded, either openly or secretly, to our enemies: and, accord­ingly, we are in possession of copies of the said treaty, containing the aforesaid stipulations, under the respective seals of the Governors of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. This being the case, it is unsuitable to the rules of friendship, and is even a violation of good faith, that not­withstanding his delivery [to us] of a treaty under his own seal, the Governor of Bombay should afford assistance to our enemies. Such con­duct is abundantly remote from the usages and conduct of great chiefs.

Agreeably to your suggestion, we enclose a letter to the address of Nujmûd’ Dowlah Behâdûr,* which you will forward [to him].

I believe that the Zynûl Aabideen, mentioned in the foregoing letter, was an agent employed at the court of Poonah by the Nabob of Cambay. The Sultan’s letter to the latter, being merely complimentary, and only designed to lead to a further intercourse, is omitted.

The treaties with the English, spoken of in this letter, must, of course, refer to the separate treaties concluded at different times between Hyder Ali and the respective British presidencies. The treaty of Mangalore, likewise, contains a stipulation to the same effect as that so much insisted on here by the Sultan. The Governor of Bombay was not, however, a subscribing party to that treaty.

I am ignorant to what circumstance the Sultan alludes, where he charges the Governor of Bombay with affording assistance, at this period, to the Mahrattahs.