Vol. Ill, K'o. 6.] Tlie Ferincji Pirates of Ghafgaon. 423 



Bagla,* a part of Bengal, lying in their usual path, was [formerly], 

 full of cultivation and houses, and yielded every year a large 

 amount [124, a] to the Imperial Government as duty on its hetel- 

 nuts. They swept it with the broom of plunder and abduction, 

 leavinjT^ none to inhabit a house or kindle a fire in all the tract. 



Governor 



his energies to the defence of that city only, and the prevention 

 of the coming of the pirate fleet to Dacca, and stretched f 



iron chains across the nullah of Dacca and setup some bridges of 



{jioJiar) of the city. 



Dkmoralised Bengal Navy. 



r 



The sailors of the Bengal flotilla were in such a friglit, that 

 I may say without exaggeration that whenever 100 war-ships of 

 Bengal sighted four ships of the enemy, if the distance separating 

 them was great the Bengal crew showed fight by flight, considered 

 it a great victory that they had carried off their lives in safety, 

 and became famous in Bengal for their valour and heroism ! If 

 the interval was small and the enemy overpowered them, the 

 men of the Bengal ships — rowers, sepoys, and armed men alike 

 threw themselves without delay into the water, preferring drown- 

 ing [125, &] to captivity. 



Once *Ashur Beg^ an officer of Prince Shuj*a, was cruising 

 with about 200 boats, when a few of the enemy's fleet, in number 

 not even one-tenth of the Imperial flotilla, came in sight. 'Ashur 

 Beg was mortally frightened; in great agitation he cried to the 



manjhl or captain of his ship, '*-4^ hcti 5sh bedeh ! "* The mSnj'hi 

 in perplexity asked, ** Mir-jtu ! whence can I get broth at such a 

 time ? Just now these pirates will cook a nice broth for you ! " 

 *Ashur Beg in agitation and bewilderment kept up crying, ** You 

 confounded fellow, give Sshy " and the manjhi went on replyinpr, 

 " I have not got it with me, whence can I bring it ?** [The fact 

 is] sailors use the terra war^ to mean * backing the boat * ; *Ashur 

 Beg in his terror had forgotten the word and used ash instead ! In 

 no other part of the Mughal empire has any neighbouring infidel 

 [king] the power to oppress and domineer over Muslims; but 

 rather do [iufidel kings] show all kinds of submission [125, a] 

 and hujnility in order to save their homes and lands, and the 

 [Maghal] officers of those places engage in making new acquisitions 

 by conquest. In Bengal alone the opposite is the case ; here the 

 mere preservation of the Imperial dominion is considered a great 

 boon. Those Governors in whose times these piracies were less 

 frequent, congratulated themselves and exulted at it. None of them 

 tried to stop the path of oppression and domination of this wicked 

 tribe through their fear of the necessary expenditure and exertion, 



1 Bakla inclnded Backerganj and part of Dacca (J.it.S.B., Pt. 1., 



1873, p. 209). 



* " Ho, brother, ^\Te [me] broth." Bdi ia the Darra pronunciation of 



Bhdi, 



