History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c74.s5.7

v5.c74.s5.7

But this source brought in very little. In their extreme penury, the Maratha Government offered to sell the fort of Tevenapatam (afterwards St. David) with a gunshot of land round it, to the European Companies, who began to bid for it. The French were given the refusal of it at 50,000 hun, but they were too poor and their able agent Francois Martin wisely declined the offer. [Kaep. 274]. The English were more eager; after some skilful haggling they beat down the Marathas to 51,500 *chakram*,* or Rs. 1,08,150. Early in August 1690, Rajaram signed a *farman* selling the fort and a "random shot" of land round it to the English, for that amount. The English governor cunningly wrote to his agent at Kunimedu to contrive to delay taking possession of Tevenapatam till their best brass gun had arrived from Madras, so that the "random shot" might range over the greatest possible width of territory! But alas for the vanity of human wishes, in their greed of territory they had reckoned without Maratha perfidy. M. Martin had found out to his cost that "the Marathas need money so badly that they do not respect old promises and written *farmans*." [Kaep. 273.] The English president Elihu Yale now discovered the same truth. As he wrote in his bitterness, "the mercenary Marathas may be induced by bribes to resell the fort ten times over to the same or several persons. Nay, they will sell their honour and conscience, too, to any that will buy it." [*Madras Diary*, 21 July.] Manji-kupam, one of the villages included within the "random shot," remained a subject of dispute, the Dutch claiming it by virtue of an old *farman* and the Marathas supporting their claim in order to get more money out of the English.