History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c41.14.1

v2.c41.14.1

The records of the Honourable East India Company, as far as they are available to the public, show that Śivarām was a very able and energetic officer. We can judge this from the tone of annoyance and petulance in the correspondence of the officers of the East India Company with him. Just before the date on which the published Calendar begins, Nawāb Mīr Ja'afar 'Alī Khān entered into a separate treaty with Rājā Jānujī Bhonsle regarding the payment of *chauth*.¹ The earliest letter on record is a circular issued on the 26th January, 1761, to three Maratha officers named Mukunda Pandit, Sheobhat Sāntrā and one Rāgmānji Jāchak. The last named person cannot be recognised in the mutilated form in which his name has been preserved by the Persian *munshis* employed by the British Government. The correct Marathi form ought to be Raghunāthji Jāchak. In this letter the Governor of the Presidency of Fort William requests these three Maratha officers to order their people not to molest the Company's forces.² On the same date two letters were issued to an agent of the East India Company, named Ghulām Muṣṭafā, directing him to be regular and careful in sending letters to and from Madras.