Indian Antiquary Vol 49

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 79

APRIL, 1920]
MORE ABOUT KHWAJA (AGHA) PETROS
75
The prince, having accomplished all this, returned to his royal capital of Junnar, where he was welcomed and congratulated by his subjects. He then sent to the king & report of his victories together with rich offerings from the spoil which had been taken by his army. The king of the Dakan, when he heard of the prince's victories, highly praised him before the court, and offered up thanks to God. He bestowed robes of honour on the prince's messengers, and sent by them to the prince a special robe of honour, and a jewelled waist-belt, and bestowed on him in jagår all the forts which he had captured. The prince then enjoyed himself, free from care, in his capital. 18
(To be continued.)
MORE ABOUT KHWAJA (AGHA) PETROS. An Addition to Sidelights on Omichund (ante, Vol. XLVII, pp. 265-274)..
BY SIR RICHARD TEMPLE. In the Life and Adventures of Joseph Emin, Second Edition, edited by Amy Apcar, there is an interesting allusion to the Armenian merchant who remained loyal to the East India Company in 1756-1757 and also a long note (pp. 434—438) giving details regarding Khwaja Petros and his family. Both are worth reproducing as an appendix to my article, noted above.
After an account of how Joseph Emin obtained an Ensign's brevet from Governor John Cartier, President of Bengal, in 1770, the author adds the following remark:
“Emin omitted ingerting that when Mr. Cartier favoured him with the brevet, the late rich Armenian Coja Petrus, at that time the earthly god of the other Armenians in Calcutta, being an old acquaintance of the author's father, and hearing of his good guccess, thought it polite to make him some presents, and ventured to send him a large horse (worth 600 rupees), with rich Turkish silver harness, and a pair of stirrups of the same metal, each large enough to weigh four pounds of silver, together with several fine shauls, the whole of the value of about 2,000 rupees; but Emin, whose spirit was above it, though poor, refused the present, and returned it with the following message:
"Several afternoons, when, in obedience to my father, I used to make you visits, you detained me in your house, in the cold season, till it was dark and foggy, without even offering me a mashal (toroh] to light me home; and now, when you see me supported by the English, you send me presents! I return them with many thanks. Be pleased to send me some bread and salt, with a maund of rice, and half a maund of ghee, to confirm our friendship and to satisfy you that I can forgive all your Asiatic artful methods of setting a father against his son, who was lost, and then found. The same noble nation, through whom you thrive with riches among the Armenians in Calcutta, have provided, and will provide for me, rest satisfied.'
"At this the Armenians were astonished; but the noble-minded English admired it, commending Emin for his disinterested spirit, when they heard his simple reasons, saying,
18 The nature and object of this campaign in the Konkan are entirely misrepresented. Ahmad was not a chivalrous young prince defending or extending the dominions of his elder brother, but a rebellious Provincial governor busily engaged in carving a kingdom for himself out of the directa membra of the king. dom of the Bahmanida and in overthrowing all officers who still remained faithful to that dynasty. The absurdity of the claim of royal descent for Ahmad is once more apparent. Mabud Shah anoended the throne in 1842 at the age of twelve, and according to Sayyid 'All Abmad was his younger brother, so that at the time of this campaign, which oocurred in 1482 or 1483, he was not more than eleven or twelve years of age. Abmad had been, in fact, sufficiently old, before 1478, to become an object of suspicion and was then sent to Mohár as a commander of 300 horse. See note 4.