Storia do Mogor 13.2.6

13.2.6

In 1706 Manucci lost his wife, and at some date between that event and 1712 he moved his home to Pondicherry. In the latter year he proposed to make a journey to the Mogul court at Lahor on the request of Shah 'Alam, who had become emperor five years before. The Madras Council wished to make use of his mediation to clear up certain long-pending difficulties with the Mogul, and secure fresh privileges for their honourable masters. The death of Shah 'Alam put an end to Manucci's plans. But as a reward for previous services during Da'ud Khan's attack, the governor and Council on January 14, 1712, conceded to him in perpetuity his leasehold house and garden at Madras, situated outside the north-west corner of the then Black Town. The previous history of this renewal presents one or two points of interest. An order of March 22, 1705, directed a renewal for twenty-one years on the levy of a fine of sixty pagodas, with the rider: 'It being the generall opinion of all that the aforesaid Nicolo Manuch is very poor, and in consideration of his readiness to serve the Company on all occasions, 'tis agreed that upon his payment of the sixty pagodas before-mentioned, it be returned to him as a gratuity for his good services' ('Factory Records,' Fort St. George, vol. xiii., fol. 37).