250 J. Beames —Notes on the History of Orissa. [No. 3, 
Here lyeth the body of Ann late wife of Captain Francis Wishaw 
who died y e p m °- 9 her aged 26 years. 
Also the body of Edward his son who deceased the 27th of the same 
month aged 4 years Anno Dni. 1684. 
There were minor settlements at Soroh and Bhadrakh, and the chief arti¬ 
cle of trade was that in “ Sanahs” a peculiar kind of fine cloth which is 
still occasionally brought for sale to Balasore. This will explain the fre¬ 
quent allusions to the weavers in the early records. 
Balramgarhi is situated at the mouth of the Balasore river, and 
was formerly a large and flourishing place. The native village was 
washed away in the storm of 1831 and since then the place has been 
desolate. The old house, however, has lately been repaired and is 
inhabited. 
We have only scattered notices of Balasore from time to time in the 
various histories. These I proceed to put together into as continuous a 
narrative as possible, aided by the few vague local traditions which still 
remain. 
In 16S5 Balasore was near being abandoned by the English alto¬ 
gether. Shaista Khan the Nawab of Bengal was accused by them, of 
oppressing their servants and injuring their trade. Apparently the 
English were not free from blame themselves. However, as usual they 
carried matters with a high hand, and the Company at borne with per¬ 
mission of James II sent out a fleet of 10 ships under Admiral Nicholson 
with orders to proceed first to Balasore, and remove the Company’s ser¬ 
vants and break up the factory. He was then to go to Chittagong, 
fortify it and make it a base of operations and asylum for the English, 
from which to commence the war, by first attacking Dacca and gradually 
over-running Bengal.* Nicholson’s fleet, however, met with bad weather 
and eventually arrived at Hughli, and a war ensued which was not brought 
to a close till 1687 ; a peace was made in that year but did not last many 
months. The Company annoyed at the failure of Nicholson’s expedition, 
sent a second under Captain Heath, whose first proceeding was to carry off 
Mr. Charnock and the Company’s servants from “ Chuttanutty” (now 
Calcutta) and taking them on board his ships sail for Balasore. The 
Governor of that place, whose name is not mentioned, offered to treat 
with him, but as Heath would not consent to do so, the Governor seized 
the Company’s two factors and imprisoned them. “ Heath landed with a 
party of soldiers and seamen on the 29th November 1688 attacked and 
took a redoubt of 30 guns and plundered the town of Balasore.”f The 
* Stewart, p. 312. 
f Stewart, p. 321. 
