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IV.-Marathi Copper-plate of Puri.

By K. N. Dikshit, M. A.

The plate is a record on metal (dimensions 9" x 63′′) of the usual agreement given by a pilgrim to a ministering priest at places of pilgrimage by which the latter is to be recognized as the by any one of the pilgrim's family who may visit the place (subject to the turning up of a similar promise of an earlier date).

The language is Marathi and the script Modi, which is even now current in the Maratha country.

Amritrao Raghunath of the Peshwa family hereby recognized Gauranga Paṇḍe resident at Jagannath-puri or Puri, as the Tirthopadhyaya for his family, at the request of one Jagannatha Harihara, an agent of the Tirthopädbyāya who saw the Peshwa in his camp.

It reads thus :

श्रीमंत का म्टतराव रघुनाथ |

श्री

१ | वो । ' राजश्री गौरंग पांडे वास्तव्य

२ । चं त्र पुरुषोत्तम जगन्नाथ गो ' ॥

३। सेवक व्ाम्टतराव रघुनाथ नमस्कार सु । '

1 =

3

fa abbreviatel form of address for learned Brahmans.

2 = गोसावी This epithet marks the close of tho address proper.

3 The adopted son of the Peshwa Raghunathrao. He never actually succeeded to the throne of the Peshwas (except for a spell during the troubles of 1802), as a son was born to Raghunathrao after the adoption,-the notorious Baji Rao II, the last Peshwa. Amritrao retired on a pension offered by the British and his lineal descendants are still to be found at Karwi or Chitrakut in Banda District (U.P.).

1- सुरहेन.

The Marathas continued to use the Muhammadan calendar, though in a corrupt fashion.

(Seal of the illlustrious Amritarao Raghunath.)

8 | मया तैनव व्यालफ जगनाथ हरिहर गुमास्ता तु५ | म्हा कडौल याणो क्षेत्र मजकूर चे तीर्थउपाध्यप ६ । याविशी हुजूर श्रीचे मुकाभौ येऊन विनंती ७ । केलो त्याजवरून क्षेत्रमजकूरचे तौर्थ उपाध्य ८ । पण तुम्हास लेहून दिल्हे व्यसे तरी क्षेत्र मन ६ । कुरी आमचे वंशीचे येतील ते तुन्हाकडे

१० । तौर्थ उपाध्ये पण चालवितील यापूर्वी दु

११ । सरे को हाकडे वडिलाचा लेख निघाल्यास हे पत्र १२ । रद असे जणीने ४१ शवाल समश ःथं जाय ।

TRANSLATION.

श्रौ

लेखन मर्यादा |

To Gaurang Pande, resident of the sacred seat (Kshetra) of Purushottama Jagannatha.

Amritrao Raghunatha, with compliments, informs that at the request of Jagannatha Harihara, your agent, who requested His grace in camp for the conferring of the dignity of his Tirthopadhyāya, he is pleased to confer on you in writing the same. Hence if any of our family visit this sacred place they will continue to patronize you. This charter should be considered null and void if any one else is able to produce a document (conferring the same priesthood) by any of our forefathers. 1st day of Shawal ; Let this be known.

[The end of the writing.]

V.-Translation of Maharajah Kalyan Singh's Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh.*

(I.)

By Khan Bahadur Sarfaraz Husain Khan.

ACCOUNT OF THE NAZIMS OF BENGAL FROM THE REIGN OF JAFAR KHAN TO 1227 HIJRAH.

SOME ANECDOTES OF MAHABAT JANG, SUBEDAR OF BENGAL, AND OF SERAJUDDAULA BAHADUR, GRANDSON OF MAHABAT JANG. Jafar Khan.

Jafar Khan was a court noble. In the time of Mohammad Aurangzeb he was appointed to the office of Dewan of the Government Estates in Bengal. He was a good administrator and worked with caution and sagacity. The Viceroyalty of Bengal devolved on the princes of the royal blood, till at last prince Azimushshan, the son of Bahadur Shah, was appointed Subedar of Bengal. Jafar Khan all along continued as Dewan of Bengal. After the death of Mohiuddin Mohammad Aurangzeb, Azimushshan hurried to the assistance of his father Bahadur Shah in his struggle with Azam Shah. After gaining victory in this battle, Azimushshan chose to remain with his father, and got Jafar Khan appointed to the Subedari of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa as well as to the Dewanship of Bengal. After this, Jafar Khan, whose real name was Murshid Quli Khan, laid the foundation of the city of Murshidabad in his Sarfaraz Khan was the son of Shujauddaula and the sonin-law of Jafar Khan. But the relations between husband and wife were strained and Jafar Khan's daughter separated from her husband, and along with her son Sarfaraz Khan Alauddaula lived with her father. Jafar Khan brought up his grandson, and planned to have him appointed his successor in office,

name.

The MS. of this work was placed in my hands by Syed Khursed Nawab, since deceased, of Patna City.

inasmuch as in his lifetime he had asked the reigning sovereign for the grant of the sanad and other necessary orders sanctioning his grandson's succession in in the Viceroyalty. But it so happened that he fell ill and died.

Shujauddaula.

Shujauddaula, the son-in-law of Jafar Khan, resided in the province of Orissa, but was really an inhabitant of Burhanpur in the Deccan. He belonged to the "Afshas.", which is a class of Turks of Khorasan. During the stay of Aurangzeb in the Deccan, he married the daughter of Jafar Khan, the then Dewan of the province of Bengal, and accompanied him. With the political rise of Jafar Khan, Shujauddaula also rose, so much so that during the Viceroyalty of Jafar Khan, Shujauddaula became Subedar of Orissa or a Deputy of Jafar Khan. The mother of Ali Verdi Khan Mahabat Jang belonged to the tribe of "Afshas" and was related to Shujauddaula. Mahabat Jang, together with his father and his brother Haji Ahmad, was in the service of the Emperor Azim Shah. After the death of Azim Shah, Ali Verdi Khan was reduced to straitened circumstances and lived a retired life. In the beginning of the reign of Mohammad Shah, Mirza Mol.ammad, the father of Mahabat Jang, presented himself before Shujauddaula and got into his service. Shujauddaula treated him well. Having heard this, Mahabat Jang proceeded from Shahjahanabad to Orissa in a most wretched condition and made his appearance before Shujauddaula and his father. Shujauddaula kept him also in his service. Mirza Mohammad Ali Mahābat Jang was a talented man. He soon ingratiated himself into the favour of Shujauddaula and rose to a high position in his service. He then sent for his brother Haji Ahmad with his family and relatives. He remitted to them a decent amount for their travelling expenses, and they all travelled safe from Shahjahanabad to Orissa. Haji Ahmad also got into the service of Shujauddaula. The two brothers were men of great merit and their services to Shujauddaula conduced much to the stability

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of his government. By virture of his courage and judgment Mirza Mohammad Ali Mahabat Jang rose to a much higher position than his father, brother and other nobles of Shujauddaula's court. Shujauddaula recommended him to the Emperor for a suitable post and the title of Mohammad Ali Verdi Khan. But Jafar Khan was displeased with Shujauddaula, and in view of his ill-health he was anxious that Alauddaula Sarfaraz Khan should succeed him in office. It was therefore that he asked His Majesty through his representatives to appoint Sarfaraz Khan who was then the Dewan of Bengal to act as the Viceroy of Bengal. Hearing this Shujauddaula consulted Mohammad Ali Verdi Khan and Haji Ahmad. With their advice he made a representation to the King, asking His Majesty to be pleased to confer upon him the Viceroyalty of Bengal and Orissa. He submitted this representation with a magnificent present. He then arranged for two daks, one from Orissa to Shahjahanabad for a reply from the King and the other from Orissa to Murshidabad with a view to get timely information of the health of Jafar Khan, who was suffering from a fatal disease. Ostensibly he dismissed some of his military officers and sent them to Murshidabad to remain in different places and await his arrival. He made extensive arrangements for boats, as the roads were then almost impassable on account of the rainy season, and anxiously waited for an opportunity till at last he received the intelligence of the despatch of the royal sanad, and of the approaching death of Jafar Khan, who it was said could not live for more than five or six days. In Orissa he left Mohammad Taqi, his son by his second wife, to act for him as his deputy, and himself proceeded to Murshidabad with Mohammad Ali Verdi Khan and other nobles. He travelled partly by boat and partly by land. But on his way he heard the news of Jafar Khan's death, while the royal sanads conferring upon him the Viceroyalty of Bengal and Orissa also reached him. He named the place where he received this auspicious news Mubarak Manzil. From there he hurried to Murshidabad, and held court in Chehlul Setoon, the

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