1843.] Mineral Resources of India* 50 1 



I request permission to encourage and improve the iron mahal in my 

 zemindary, the produce of which, provided I am allowed to attend to 

 the improvement of it without interruption or check, will in a great 

 measure make up for the want of assets in the malgoozary mahals. 



Committee s Order. — The above iron mahal was granted to Mr. Farqu- 

 har by the Honorable the Governor General in Council, and must remain 

 in his possession according to the terms of the grant, as he has hitherto 

 held it. 



In September, Farquhar represented the state of affairs to the Board of 

 Revenue, and the attempts the Zemindar made to oust him. He pointed 

 out clearly, that he was only responsible to Government for the loha ma- 

 hal ; but that no official alteration had been made in the Rajah's sunnud 

 as directed in October 1778, and the annoyance had been renewed : he 

 forwarded his sunnuds, such as they were. The Board ■ referred the 

 matter to Government, and received orders to act vigorously. A per- 

 wanna was despatched to Beerbhoom, forbidding the Zemindar to inter- 

 fere with the iron mahal, ordering him to send in a list of the new 

 furnaces built, and to produce his authority for so doing. 



In 1786, new authorities having arisen, ' who knew not Joseph,' the 

 attack was immediately renewed. The Zemindar, in arrears to Govern- 

 ment, put down Farquhar as his debtor for the rent due on the loha 

 mahal at 953 Rupees, and requested the Collector to levy accordingly. 

 Farquhar, as might be expected, calmly denied any connection whatever 

 with the Zemindar. The Collector was puzzled ; there were records, 

 it is true, in his office, but to disturb their venerable dust ! a reference 

 for orders was made to the Board. Farquhar's sunnuds were at that 

 moment in the records of the Board, never having been returned. A 

 call was made on him to produce them. He preserved a solemn silence. 

 The call was repeated ; he was deaf. After four letters, he wrote back 

 to request the return of certain papers deposited with them, wftich being 

 done he forwarded them back with a new Ufa/ah as the papers required, 

 accompanied by a dry apologetic epistle. Here concluded this chapter 

 of annoyances. 



On his appointment to the gunpowder manufactory at Pulta about 

 1789, he relinquished the iron speculation, to devote the energies of his 

 mind to the new pursuit by which, to quote Col. Forbes again, " he 

 afterwards amassed so enormous a fortune." He however preserved 



