I 



Vol. Ill, No. 6.] The Conquest of Chatgaon, 407' 



tie protection of the zemindar of Arracan, giving half their 

 booty from Bengal to him, the Nawwab sent Shaikh Ziaiiddin 

 Ynsuf, one of his own officers, as daroglia of the port of Lad- 

 hikol, 1 which is near Dacca and where Ferin^^i merchants, engaged 

 in the salt trade, live ; he ordered the Shaikh to manage that 

 these Feringis should write to their brethren, the pirates of 

 Chatgaon, offering assurances and hopes of Imperial favours and 

 rewards, and thus make them come and enter the Mug-hal 

 service. Ziauddin [117, a], too, was to send conciliatory letters, 

 [of his own] to them. 



Sbaista Khan Creates a new Flotilla. 



On the 13th December, 1664, Shaista Khan first entered Dacca^. 

 [137, &.] He devoted all his energy to the rebuilding of the flotilla ; 

 not for a moment did he forget to mature plans for assembling the 

 crew, providing their rations and needments, and collecting the- 

 materials for shipbuilding and shipwrights. Hakim Muhammad 

 Husain, mansabdar, an old, able, learned, trustworthy, and virtu- 

 ous servant of the Nawwab, was appointed iiead of the ship-build- 

 ing department. The musharraft of the flotilla was given, i^/ce Qazi* 

 Samu, to Muhammad Muqim, an expert, clever, and hardworking 

 officer serving in Bengal, whom Mir Jumla had left at Dacca in, 

 supervision of the nawwdra at tlie time of the Assam expedition. 

 Kishor Das, an Imperial officer, a well-informed and experienced 

 clerk, [138, a] was appointed to have charge of the parganahs of 

 the nawwdra, and the stipend of the jagirs assigned to the [naval] 

 officers and men. To all posts of this department expert officers 

 were appointed. Through the ceaseless exertions of the Nawwab, 

 in a short time nearly 300 ships were built and equipped with 

 [the necessary] materials. Those who had seen the [sorry] 

 plight of the naivioara after the death of Mir Jumla, can under- 

 stand the great change effected by Shaista Khan in a sliort 

 time. 



Securing Bases for the War. 



[139, i.] Sangramgar is situated at the point of land where 

 the Ganges and the Brahmaputra unite. [140, a.] The Nawwgb 

 ordered Muhammad Sharif, the late faujdar of Hughli, to go to 

 Sangramgar as thanahdar, with many men, officers, and guns, and 

 build a fort there. Abul Hassan was posted there with 200 ships 

 to patrol and check the pirates. Muhammad Beg ^bakash, with 

 a hundred ships, was stationed at Dhapa, to ^o to reinforce Abul 

 Hassan whenever he heard of the coming of the pirates. 



A wide high road (dl) was built from Dhapa* to Sangram- 

 gar, so that even in the monsoons horse and foot could proceed on 

 land from Sangramgar to Dacca, a distance of 18 Jws. 



[Sondip was a halfway house between Sangramgar and 



J In Rennell, Sheet 1, Luricool, 13 miles west of Chaudpoar. 

 2 The site of Dh§pa is not given in Rennell. 



