Khojah Petrus Arathoon [Khwaja Petrus] [Coja Petrus] [Coja Petruse] [Cojah Petruse], Excerpt from Armenians in India: From the Earliest Times to The Present Day: A Work of Original Research
by Mesrovb Jacob Seth
[The Jagat Seths were a Bengali Jain banking family and the title of the eldest son of the family. The family sometimes referred to as the House of Jagat Seth, were a wealthy business, banking and money lender family from Murshidabad, Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, during the time of Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah.]
(Member, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal; Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Indian Historical Records Commission; Calcutta Historical Society; Numismatic Society of India; The American Numismatic Association; Bengal Library Association; and Examiner in Classical and Modern Armenian to the University of Calcutta)
1937
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-- The Black Hole -- The Question of Holwell's Veracity, by J. H. Little, Bengal, Past & Present, Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society, Vol. XI, Part 1, July-Sept., 1915
-- Full Proceedings of the Black Hole Debate, Bengal, Past & Present, Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society, Vol. XII. Jan – June, 1916
-- Interesting Historical Events, Relative to the Provinces of Bengal, and the Empire of Indostan. With a Seasonable Hint and Persuasive to the Honourable The Court of Directors of the East India Company. As Also The Mythology and Cosmogony, Facts and Festivals of the Gentoo's, followers of the Shastah. And a Dissertation on the Metempsychosis, commonly, though erroneously, called the Pythagorean Doctrine. Part II. By J.Z. Holwell, Esq.
-- Fort William-India House Correspondence and Other Contemporary Papers Relating Thereto, Vol. I: 1748-1756, Edited by K. K. Datta, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of History, Patna University, Patna
-- Holwell's Religion of Paradise, Excerpt from The Birth of Orientalism, by Urs App
Chapter XXVIII: Armenians at Saidabad
Armenians formed their first settlement in Bengal in the year 1665 by virtue of a royal Farman issued by the Mogul Emperor Aurungzebe granting them a piece of land at Saidabad, a suburb of Murshidabad, with full permission to form a settlement there. Murshidabad was at that time the capital of Bengal, the richest province (Subah) of the Mogul Empire, justly styled by Aurungzebe, as the paradise of nations.
Bolts, in his Considerations on India Affairs, published in London in 1782, refers to the Armenian Settlement at Saidabad, as follows: —
"The Armenians, who have ever been a great commercial body in Hindustan, have also long had considerable settlements in Bengal, particularly at Syedabad. Their commerce was likewise established by the Mogul's firman whereby the duties on the two principal articles of their trade, piece-goods and raw silk, were fixed at three-and-a-half per cent."
For a period of about a hundred years since their settlement in that place, there is nothing on record of their activities — social, commercial or political. They were engaged in the peaceful pursuit of commerce, importing and selling piece-goods and exporting raw silk for which the Murshidabad district has always been famous.
By the middle of the 18th century, we find a large number of Armenians residing at Saidabad. The most notable Armenian merchant in the days of Nawab Ali Verdi Khan, the last of the great Nawabs of Bengal, who died in 1756, was Agah Petros, the son of Rev. Nicholas of Julfa. For his probity, urbanity, modesty and piety, he was a great favourite with Ali Verdi Khan, so much so that the nawab's wife used to call him brother and she would receive him and converse with him freely without observing purdah, (veil) contrary to the strict Mohammedan custom of those days. We are told by Thomas Khojamall that the grandees and the noblemen at the court of Nawab Ali Verdi Khan, paid great respect to the Armenian merchant and looked upon him, with great veneration, as a saint for his great piety. We shall have occasion to refer to this humane Armenian again when writing of the sufferings of the English prisoners who were taken to Murshidabad after the tragedy of the "Black Hole" of Calcutta in June 1756.
He died full of years and honours in 1767, and was buried in the Armenian churchyard at Saidabad where his revered grave, with a beautiful marble tombstone, can be seen to this day.
A few words about Ali Verdi Khan, the last of the great Nawabs of Bengal, may not be out of place. He was a stern but a just ruler, dreaded by the Mahratta freebooters, whom he turned out of Bengal. The English who were slowly capturing the trade of the country by peaceful penetration, dreaded him too as can be seen from the following episode. In 1749, an English man-of-war had seized some ships laden with the goods of various Hooghly merchants, Armenian and Mohammedan, and also containing valuable things belonging to the Nawab. Exasperated at the high-handed and unwarranted action of the English, Ali Verdi Khan immediately sent a parwana (order) to the Governor of Fort William, Calcutta, which concluded with the following menace, in which the terrible teeth of the fierce Bengal tiger were ominously visible. He wrote, "as you are not permitted to commit piracies, therefore I now write to you that, on receipt of this, you deliver up all the merchants' goods and effects to them, as also what appertains unto me, otherwise you may be assured a due chastisement in such manner as you least expect." The Council at Calcutta first attempted to pacify the infuriated Nawab by the present of a fine Arab horse, and at the same time contemplated measures of retaliation against the Armenian merchants of Calcutta, whose cause the Nawab had espoused. It soon appeared, however, that Ali Verdi Khan was in earnest and meant what he said, for he stopped the boats which were bringing down their goods, and cut off the supply of provisions at Dacca, reducing the Englishmen of that place to the greatest straits. He then surrounded the English Factory at Cossimbazar with troops, and finally compelled the English to accept the terms which he dictated. The English, the records say "got off after paying to the Nawab, through the Seths* [The Seths, the Rothchilds of India, were rich Indian bankers at Murshidabad, who through their immense wealth, played a very important part in Bengal politics, as can be seen later on.] twelve lakhs of rupees". On another occasion, Ali Verdi Khan demanded the estate of a rich Mohammedan who had died at Calcutta intestate and without any relatives. After his claim had been paltered with for many years, he again threatened to order an attack on the Factory at Cossimbazar, in 1751. The Calcutta Council knowing with whom they were dealing, immediately paid over the value of the deceased Mohammedan's estate, and were compelled to add a further sum on account of interest, lest they should rouse the ire of the Nawab and share the fate of the Mahrattas.
The next notable Armenian merchant at Saidabad was Khojah Petrus Arathoon, who achieved fame as a diplomat in the eventful days when Suraj-ud-dowlah, that monster of lust and cruelty, ascended the masnad (throne) of Murshidabad as the Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Behar and Orissa, as a successor to his grandfather, the great Nawab Ali Verdi Khan, referred to above, Khojah Petrus Arathoon, or the "Armenian Petrus", as Clive called him, played a very important part in the conspiracy which led to the overthrow of the young Nawab Suraj-ud-dowlah and the placing of a new Nawab on the tottering throne of Murshidabad.
The Armenian merchant-diplomat first appears on the scene, as a good Samaritan, immediately after the tragedy of the "Black Hole" when he spontaneously came to the assistance of the English in their hour of need, although he was afterwards misjudged by them and unjustly accused of having been a spy in the service of the Nawabs of Bengal from Suraj-ud-dowlah to Mir Kasim, as can be seen later on.
The humane Armenian hearing of the terrible sufferings of the English inhabitants of Calcutta, who with Drake, the Governor, had taken refuge in their ships at Fulta, after the fall of Fort William, he secretly supplied them with provisions for a period of six months and but for the timely succour of Khojah Petrus, the unfortunate English refugees at Fulta might have been starved to surrender before the arrival of the Army of Retribution from Madras under Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive on the 20th December 1756. Khojah Petrus was afterwards employed by Clive as a confidential agent in negotiating with Mir Jaffier for the overthrow of Suraj-ud- dowlah, the author of the "Black Hole" tragedy. And in 1760, when it was found expedient to remove the imbecile Mir Jaffier and place his son-in-law, Mir Kasim, on the Masnad of Murshidabad, Khojah Petrus' services were again requisitioned as he was known to be very friendly with Mir Kasim. And for all the valuable services which Khojah Petrus had rendered to the English in Bengal, at the risk of his life, there is nothing in the records to show that he had been rewarded for his loyalty to the British cause. Being unable to get justice from Clive and his colleagues in Calcutta, for his loyalty, once the crisis was over and the tide had turned in favour of the English, he addressed a long letter to the Court of Directors in London on the 25th January 1759, enumerating the various services he had rendered to the British cause in Bengal since the capture and sack of Calcutta in June 1756. The following is a copy of the letter: —
Letter from Petrus Arratoon to the Court of Directors dated 25th January 1759.
"Honourable Sirs,
It is with the most humble submission I assume liberty to address the following narrative to your Honourable Board, to set in a true and faithful light — the indefatigable pains, charges, and imminent danger myself and the persons therein mentioned underwent to relieve the miseries of the English Gentry after they had been extirpated from Calcutta by the invasion, of the Moor, and refuged on board their ships at Fulta and to be instrumental to bring matters to the happy state they are in at present.
The calamities and condition the English Familys were in on board their ships at Fulta, I need not describe, no doubt but the Honourable Company have had a very particular account of their dilemma and sufferings: I shall proceed to relate how far their deplorable state made impressions on one Abraham Jacobs (a Jew) and myself. The said Abraham Jacobs applyed himself to me with the prospect to join him to endeavour to contribute the English some relief. A proposition of that commiseration and humanity, I readily came into, solemnly plighted him my faith to yield them my utmost assistance with all imaginable alacrity, fervency and fidelity, even to the hazard of my life, upon this Abraham Jacobs remained in my house at Calcutta disguised in Moor's habit. We mutually consented and agreed the first step we were to take was to get the speech of Omichand* [Omichand was a Punjabi Hindu merchant of Calcutta and had acted for many years as agent for the English in their purchases of saltpetre and other Indian goods in Bengal. His real name was Amir Chand but he is better known as Omichand.] and to bring him over to be an instrument to promote our schemes who had great interest with the Moors and though Mr. Drake and Council addressed him twice before to no effect, he not so much as giving them an answer, yet we were so fortunate as to prevail with him to join our cause, and the first thing we effected was to obtain the country people to bring provisions to Fulta market which they were restrained from before — We likewise conveyed boats and lascars to attend the ships, and indeed we studied and laboured and left no stone unturned to yield them all the conveniences and necessarys we possibly could obtain either by interest or present out of our shipwrecked fortunes, for there were no favours, scare humanity to be expected from such mercenary wretches without the prevailance of presents. We then proceeded to advise Major Kilpatrick to send a letter to Monickchund, Governor of Calcutta, which he did and we delivered it to him and were so happy to have him receive it favourably and returned an answer. This success spirited us to advise the Major to write to Coja Wazeed and Jugut Seth and we carried these letters to Hughly and delivered them to the said Coja Wazeed and Jugut Seth's gomastas and returned with satisfactory answer to the Major. The good consequence of these correspondences was the obtaining of a cessation of hostility or disturbances of the Moors towards the English, which continued till the arrival of His Majesty's Squadron. The said Abraham Jacobs and myself were almost incessantly employed in travelling up and down the river, carrying them all the assistance we could and giving them advices of all the occurrences we could learn, which brought on us great expenses by keeping a great number of servants, boats, small presents to the Moor's under-officers not to impede or molest us, as well as the inexpressible trouble and anxious fears lest we might be betrayed. As I hinted before, our fortunes were for the major part shipwrecked at the sacking of the town and our circum- stances were at a very low ebb. All the money we received from Mr. Drake and Major Kilpatrick at Fulta amounted to no more than Rupees 150 and 380, which last sum was employed on this occasion. It was thought necessary towards accommodating matters with the Nabob we should have the King's phirmaund to produce if required, which was lost, but William Frankland Esquire accidently found among his papers the copy of the phirmaund, which we got fair translated, and paid that sum to an officer at Hughly who had the Mogul's chap [seal] to affix it to the same. In the beginning of October 1756, Omichand went to Muxadavad [Murshidabad] in order to endeavour an accommodation when the said Abraham Jacobs wearied out with continual fatigue fell sick at Chinsurah so that the whole weight of affairs fell alone upon me, to be perpetually employed backwards and forwards to Fulta etc. as prementioned, till the arrival of His Majesty's Squadron, Admiral Watson of glorious memory and Colonel Clive, who finding nothing could be effected by fair means with Seraj-ud-dowla, he being a Prince whose word could in no wise be depended on, perfidious in his nature and a promise-breaker, which occasioned hostility to commence on the side of the English, and after retaking Calcutta* [Calcutta was retaken by the British on the 2nd January 1757 and Drake, the former Governor, reinstated as President.] the Colonel and his army encamped to the northward of the town, and the Nabob soon marched his army from Muxadabad and encamped very near him. However a treaty was set on foot, and I was employed to negociate between both partys, but the brave Colonel Clive rightly conceiving the Nabob trifled and did not mean to come to any terms of accommodation, he judged it necessary to compel him by force of arms, accordingly he gave him battle, and God was pleased to crown him with victory which brought the Nabob to terms of peace which being settled and Articles confirmed he returned with his army to Muxadabad.
Afterwards William Watts Esquire and I were sent thither to receive what compensation was agreed on in the treaty of peace. A part thereof was received, the remainder withheld by the Nabob. Here words can't express what trouble Mr. Watts and self had in attendance and endeavouring to get from him the remainder. That gentleman perceived plainly the Nabob was dealing treacherously with the English, and had information he was privately perfidiously concerting measures with the French, and his behaviour confirmed Mr. Watts in the same, for which he sent me to demand from the Nabob the remaining money, he threatened if Mr. Watts presumed to make any further demand, to take his life away. Due advice of these particulars were remitted to Calcutta. In the interim, Mr. Watts, whose whole study was taken up for the good of the Company and publick cause, sent me to Jaffir Ally Cawn, one of the Nabob's noblemen, and who tacitly was disaffected with the Nabob's treacherous proceedings to him. I was to lay open a new scheme, which I did and had I been detected, nay even suspected herein, it would have cost Mr. Watts and me our lives, but to proceed. I brought Jaffir Ally Cawn to a concession to Mr. Watts' proposal, and to enter into the scheme, and appointed a day for Mr. Watts to have an interview with him in private, to accomplish which I provided in readiness a covered palankeen such as the Moor women are carryed in, which is inviolable, for without previous knowledge of the deceit no one dare look into it. At the appointed time Mr. Watts was carried to Jaffir Ally Cawn's house, and there concluded and confirmed the scheme until an answer of approbation could be had from the Select Committee at Calcutta. As soon as the same arrived, I requested leave of the Nabob for Mr. Watts and self to retire for three days to the Garden House without the city which being granted we lost no time to make our escape from thence to meet Colonel Clive who was on the march with the army for Muxadavad, and by the blessing of Providence got there safe, a narrow escape indeed, for had we deferred our flight three hours longer, though we acted with the greatest conduct and secresy till matters were ripe for action, we should have both been taken and put to the most miserable death. Your Honours may be pleased to observe here what risque Mr. Watts and self ran of our lives for your interest. I need not mention the wonderful effects and issue our labour has produced. What a happy change in the state of your affairs, to have a peaceable possession of Calcutta confirmed to you, etc. But I must beg leave to exhibit to Your Honours that though I have gone through such great travel, pain, anxiety, and dangers in assisting the English familys in the depth of their distress, being instrumental towards the happy Revolution, yet Your Honours have not taken the least notice or mention of me nor of Abraham Jacobs, my fellow labourer, until the fatigues, as prementioned, afflicted him with sickness, nor even the expenses we disbursed have not been repaid us, which incites me to believe that my services have not been represented to Your Honours. If they have, I have reason to believe not in a clear and genuine but very faint light, for had your Honours been made truely and particularly sensible of my vigor, fervency and fidelity in your service, I flatter myself, I should have been honoured with some instance of Your Honours' favour, therefore, I humbly refer this genuine, but short narrative in regard to the particulars, to your Honours' serious consideration, and hope you will consider me worthy of the gratuity to have some post in Your Honours' service conferred on me, and not forget the service of Abraham Jacobs, as in your wisdom you shall judge, I merit, or such reward as Your Honours shall deem fit. Permit me, Honourable Sirs, to tender my sincere wishes for prosperity and success to attend you in all your affairs, and most respectfully to subscribe, Hanourable Sirs, Your most obedient and faithful humble servant,
PETROSS ARRATOON."
We have not however, been able to find out yet what reply the Court of Directors gave to the above letter, as the Records are silent on that point, but it is not likely that the Court of Directors would have ignored that valuable historical document entirely. And in order to prove by documentary evidence the important part played by Khojah Petrus in the negotiations which led to the establishment of British rule in Bengal, we shall now proceed to give some extracts from state letters and documents of the time which shed a flood of light on the history of the negotiations and the principal actor therein, as unfortunately very little is known of that great Armenian merchant-diplomat of Calcutta, who at the risk of his life, helped the English in their hour of need.
In a letter to Mr. Pigot, dated Camp, 25 January 1757, Colonel Clive writes: —
"Yesterday his (Nabob's) Prime Minister despatched one Coja Petrus, an Armenian, to me, desiring I would send a trusty person with our proposals, intimating that the Nabob was desirous of settling matters in a private manner without the mediation of the French. I have desired the gentlemen will send their proposals very fully explained that we may lay them before the Nabob as soon as possible."
On the 2nd February, 1757, we find Suraj-ud-dowlah again sending Coja Petrus to Clive asking for the despatch of envoys, but he did not wait for a reply.
On the following day, writing from Camp, Clive commences his letter to the Select Committee at Fort William, as follows: —
"Gentlemen — Coja Petruse is returned with a letter and present from the Nabob and I propose despatching the commissaries to him without delay, therefore request you will send me the proposals immediately."
On the 6th February 1757, we find Clive writing to the Nabob in the following terms:
"I sent two gentlemen to treat with you about a peace at Nabobgunge where, by your letter, and the promise from your own mouth to Coja Petruse, I expected they would have found you, instead of which they found you in Calcutta. This action sufficiently shows you meant only to amuse me."
In a letter from Mr. Watts to Colonel Clive, written 10 coss from Hooghly, and dated the 18th February 1757, we find the following: —
"I have certain advice from Coja Petrus and from two gentlemen I sent on purpose to Chinchura that the French are sending their effects there, they saw several boats loaded with chests, chairs, pepper, cotton etc., etc., some carrying on shore, so that you will find nothing but an empty shell. I am informed the Danes give the same protection, but of this you will be able to get better intelligence than I."
In a long letter to the Secret Committee at London, dated Camp opposite to Barnagul, Clive writes on the 22nd February 1757, as follows: —
"On the 3rd instant letters came in from the Nabob proposing to restore our settlement and make some reparation for the effects taken, and desiring proper persons to be sent to confer with him on the subject, at the same time the van of his army appeared in sight, and passed along towards Calcutta, just without reach of the cannon of our battery to the eastward.
Coja Petrus, an Armenian, who brought the Nabob's letters assured me that the Nabob had by his own mouth promised to wait at a place called Ganga where he then was till the conference was over and I directly wrote him testifying my satisfaction at his pacifick intentions and that two gentlemen would be deputed immediately to treat with him.
The next day, being the 6th, the Nabob decamped and removed to Dum Dumma, and the Armenian was again sent to me with a letter from Rangeet Roy desiring if we meant peace to transmit our proposals to the Nabob who was inclined to comply with them."
In a letter from Mr. Watts to Colonel Clive, dated the 26th April 1757, we find the following: —
"Mir Jaffier two days ago sent for Petrus privately and told him the Nabob [Suraj-ud-dowlah] was greatly disliked, that he ill used and affronted everybody, that for his part whenever he went to visit him he expected assassination, therefore allways had his son and forces in readiness, that he was persuaded the Nabob would not keep to his Agreement and says he only waits till Monloll [Mohan Lall] is well and for some forces that are expected from Patna in eight or nine days to attack us. Mir Jaffieir therefore sent for Petrus and desired him to tell me that if you are content, he, Raheem Cawn, Roydoolab and Bahaudar Ally Cawn and others are ready and willing to join their forces, seize the Nabob and set up another person that may be approved of."
In a letter dated the 14th May, 1757, Mr. Watts writes to Colonel Clive as follows: —
"Mir Jaffier likewise having expressed an utter distrust and disgust at his being any ways concerned in the Treaty, and as delays are dangerous, I therefore with Petrus had a meeting with Mir Jaffier's confident [Omar Beg] who set out to-day with the accompanying Articles, which he says he is sure Mir Jaffier will comply with."
In a letter to Colonel Clive, dated the 8th June 1757 Mr. Watts writes from French Gardens, Chandernagore: —
"I have not been duped as you must know by this time and be convinced Omichand has been the occasion of the delay. As a further proof, I enclose you copy and translate of a letter from him to Petrus. Please send for Petrus' brother [Khojah Gregory, better known as Gorgin Khan] and ask him upon oath if Omichand did not dictate and he wrote such a letter to his brother [Coja Petrus]. If this will not satisfy you and Omichand's address has more weight than my proofs I will send you the original with his own signing. Let me beg of you to comply with this request not to divulge what I have inclosed or write you to Omichand till I am in place of security, as he is implacable in his resentments and may be induced to discover everything by writing up here [Chandernagore] in order to sacrifice Petrus and me to his resentment. The Nabob [Suraj-ud-dowlah] and Mir Jaffier are at open variance and it is apprehended troubles between them will soon ensue."
Omichand's letter to Coja Petrus, in the handwriting of Khojah Gregory [Gorgin Khan] was written in Armenian, the following being a free translation of a part of the letter which Mr. Watts sent to Clive with a copy of the original as stated above. The translation was no doubt made by Khojah Petrus himself for Mr. Watts.
"Omichand's compliments to Petrus.
There's letters gone for Mr. Watts to forbid his coming down till permission is given from hence. You and I are one: let us consider what is for our own interest and act so as to make it pass that we have had the whole management of this affair. If our friend [Mr. Watts] is not set out, keep him a few days: affairs are not settled here, hereafter I will write you the particulars. You have a good understanding, therefore there is no occasion to write you much. Our success depends upon each other. All my hopes are in you."
Facsimiles of Omichand's original letter with the rough copy of the same, were published by Sir Richard Carnac Temple, Baronet, in the Indian Antiquary, Vol. XLVII for November 1918. In the original copy, Omichand has signed his name in Hindi (Punjabi) as Amirchand. There is no signature on the copy and neither of them bears any date, but they must have been written on the 4th or 5th June 1757, as Mr. Watts refers to it in his letter of the 8th June which he wrote to Clive enclosing the letter in question. Needless to add that the clever plan of the wily Omichand miscarried because the Armenian Petrus remained true and loyal to the English, as in the past. Had Khojah Petrus complied with Omichand's request and kept back Mr. Watts, things would have taken a different turn and the British cause would have been endangered, since Omichand was no friend of the English and for his double dealings he got his desserts shortly after when the infamous forged treaty* [ ] was drawn up and shown to him as a reward for his treachery, villainy and chicanery. *Clive, the heaven-born hero of Macaulay, played a shabby trick on Omichand which was quite unworthy of an Englishman of his position. For his participation, as an intermediary, in the conspiracy for the overthrow of Suraj-ud-dowlah, Omichand, claimed thirty lakhs of rupees as compensation for the heavy losses which he said he had sustained when Suraj-ud-dowlah had taken Calcutta in June 1756. He threatened to inform the Nawab of the plot unless his claim was satisfied. Clive, who was more than a match for the wily Punjabi, closed his mouth by means of a trick. He had two treaties drawn up, one on white paper and the other on red. The former, which was the real treaty, contained no stipulation as regards the compensation to Omichand and it was not shown to him. The latter guaranteed Omichand's claim and was shown to him. It may be mentioned here that on the sham treaty Admiral Watson's signature was forged, by Clive without any compunction whatsoever, and when, some years after, he was arraigned before the House of Commons for the shameless forgery, he told his accusers nonchalantly, that he would do it again a hundred times! After the conspiracy had succeeded, par excellence, Omichand came to receive the promised amount, under the terms of the red treaty, but he was shockingly disillusioned when Clive showed him the white treaty by which he was to receive nothing. It was a case of "the biter bit".
As Omichand 's letter to Khojah Petrus is rather an important document, from a historical point of view, inasmuch as it served to put Khojah Petrus on his guard to save Mr. Watts from falling into the hands of Nawab Suraj-ud-dowlah, as Omichand had cleverly planned, we shall therefore give a verbatim translation of the original Armenian letter, which, with the rough copy, were found among the Clive MSS. some years ago by Sir George Forrest.
Here is the translation: —
"To the most illustrious Sahib of Sahibs, Aga Petrus,
Be it known humbly in the service of him who is written above that up to the present time we have no favour from the Sahib. We are very anxious, and hearing of the arrival of Amirchand, I came to Gorothi and enquired about the real state of affairs about my Sahib.
He [Amirchand] told me to write these few words. Amirchand offers his devotions in the service of the Sahib. He says that they have written to Wach [Watts] from this place that no one is to come till we do not write. It remains that you and I are one. What will be good for us, do that. Be thoroughly manly till the end and everything is ours. And about your home, be of easy mind, I am here. And if the friend who is to come with you has arrived, it is good, if not, delay him for a few days, as there have been no deliberations here yet. I will write to you what is necessary to-morrow [when] the deliberations are over. It is not expedient to write details, because you are a wise man, moreover, my weal is yours and yours is mine. My entire affair I have left open to your wish. No more.
Amirchand."
Sir Richard Carnac Temple, in his interesting article on "Side-lights on Omichand" which appeared in the Indian Antiquary for November 1918, referring to the above letters says:
"Reviewing the conditions surrounding this remarkable letter, one cannot help considering what would have happened had Agah Petrus acted as Omichand desired and kept Watts in Murshiadabad until Surajuddaulla had him in his power. Clive's letter of 5th June 1757 to Watts shows that had Watts failed in his mission, as he would have done, if Omichand had had his way, Clive, for some months at any rate, would have dropped his scheme of deposing Surajuddaula and setting up Mir Jaffier as Nawab Nazim under British suzerainty, and the world-famous battle of Plassey would not have been fought. No doubt so worthless a prince as Surajuddaula would not long have retained his power and no doubt Clive would in time have found means to obtain supreme authority in Bengal, but it would have had to be achieved in some other way. There was nothing then but the loyalty of Agha Petros to prevent the success of Omichand 's proposal and a complete change in the story of British supremacy in India as we know it. The letter we have been discussing therefore just missed being of the first importance in history."
In a letter written by Colonel Clive to the Select Committee at Fort William, from Cutwa, on the 15th June, 1757, at noon, we find the following: —
"I arrived last night at Cutwa and as the sepoys who came by land are a good deal fatigued, I shall only proceed to Mirzajore to-day where I shall disembark the cannon etc., and I expect to reach Agra Diep in two days, to which place I shall order all the small boats. Mr. Watts with the gentlemen of Cossimbazar joined me yesterday afternoon, also Coja Petrus and a Moorman from Mir Jaffier. They left the city the 13th at night and acquaint us Mir Jaffier's party daily increases. The gunners and Laitee Cawn have joined him, so that there is the greatest probability of a happy issue to the expedition."
In a letter, without date, but received by Colonel Clive on the 23rd June 1757, Jafar Ali Khan [Mir Jaffeir] writes as follows: —
"Your note is arrived. Your trusty man is taken. 1 congratulate you on executing your design. Meirza Aumer [Omar Beg], or Mr. Watts or Coja Petrus, send one of them to me. I am here on the bank of the lake agreeable to your desire."
After such a brilliant record of valuable services, the loyal Armenian becomes the target of the attacks of the arrogant members of the Calcutta Council who forgetting the immediate past, falsely and unjustly accused him of treachery and disloyalty, as can be seen from the following extracts:
In their letter to the Honourable the Secret Committee for Affairs of the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, the Council* [The Council at Fort William, Bengal, was then composed of the following members: — Eyre Coote, P. Amyatt, John Carnac, W. Ellis, S. Batson and H. Verelst.] at Bengal wrote under date, Fort William, the 11th March 1762, as follows: —
"The Armenian Ministers of the revolution Cojah Petruse and Khojah Gregory [Gorgin Khan] are in the highest degree of favour with the Nabob [Mir Kasim] and his adherents, the former resides in Calcutta, retained by Cossim Aly Chan [Nawab Mir Kasim], a known spy upon every transaction of the English of which he never fails to give his master the most regular intelligence, as was too apparent to Colonel Coote and Major Carnac, when they were at Patna. The latter of these Armenians has posts of the greatest trusts near the Nabob's person; and through the means of these men the Armenians in general are setting up an independent footing in the country, are carrying on a trade greatly detrimental to our investments in all parts, and commit daily acts of violence, which reflect no small odium on the English, who are supposed to encourage their proceedings."
The Court of Directors in their reply to the long letter of the Calcutta Council, said
"this paragraph [36] requires no answer from us,"
which goes to show that the cool-headed English gentlemen who presided over the destinies of the Company's trade in India, attached no importance to the false and venomous accusations of their self- interested servants in Calcutta against the two Armenians whose friendship for the English and their loyalty to the British cause was above reproach, for in the Address to the Proprietors of East Indian Stock regarding the revolutions in Bengal, it is stated that "Mr. Holwell being well apprized that Coja Petruse (to whom the Company owed much in the last revolution, but much more in this) had the greatest weight with, and influence over Cossim Aly Khan [Nawab Mir Kasim], had secured him on the side of the Company, and at a private interview with him, at Mr. Holwell's garden, on the same day of the conference between the Governor and Cossim Aly Khan, Mr. Holwell framed a rough plan of the terms which must be insisted on for the Company, in lieu of the protection and support to Cossim Aly Khan, which Coja Petruse engaged he would promote, to the utmost of his power and influence. The next morning, the 24th September, Mr. Holwell communicated his conference with Petruse and laid the rough plan before the Governor and the Select Committee, who approved of it, with little variation, and the 25th was appointed for the conference between him and Cossim Aly Khan."