History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c41.81.1

v2.c41.81.1

Certain other letters digested in the calendar throw interesting sidelight on the condition of Orissa in 1761. On the 10th of October a letter was written to the Rājā of "Parsautam" (Purushottam or Puri) informing him of the loss of one of the Company's ships in his zamindari and that one Englishman with 100 men and 2 women reached the shore and were now in the *chāklā* of Makhdum. The Rājā's manager was not permitting them to depart, this was very improper and the Rājā should direct his *Diwān* to do so immediately. On the same date another letter to the same effect was addressed to Śivarām with a request to supply them with necessaries and send them to Calcutta with a passport (*dastak*).¹ On the 18th of the same month a letter was written to Śivarām informing him that Dayārām who came with Mr. John Bristow to take possession of Pataspur and other Maratha *parganahs* and then to wait on Mr. Burdett, the chief of Medinipur, might be sent to receive the money due. This amount was apparently the reparation due on British ravages in Orissa. On the next day another letter was addressed to Raḥamat Khān, the *Faujdār* of Balasore, informing him that Dayārām and Husain Beg came with John Bristow to Calcutta as *wakils* from Śivarām and that the Maratha claims had been settled with him. On the 20th of the same month a letter was written to Ghulām Muṣṭafa, *Ḍāk Munshi*, that money had been provided to get the crew of the lost ship and send them to Calcutta.