y this from the Emperor Aurengzebe, and
under pretext of collecting it they ravaged a large portion of
India.]

[Footnote 3: Court, or Court officials and nobles.]

[Footnote 4: Such fires are mentioned in many Indian legends. In the
"Arabian Nights" we read of a demon changing himself into a flaming
fire.]

[Footnote 5: His age is stated by some as nineteen, by others as
about twenty-five. See note, p. 66.]

[Footnote 6: Amina Begum.]

[Footnote 7: _Diwan_, i.e. Minister or Manager.]

[Footnote 8: The English at Dacca surrendered to the Nawab of that
place, and were afterwards released. Those at Jugdea and Balasore
escaped direct to Fulta.]

[Footnote 9: Captain George Minchin.]

[Footnote 10: Known in history as the Black Hole of Calcutta.]

[Footnote 11: Both stories may be true. Manik Chand was nearly
killed at the battle of Budge Budge by a bullet passing through his
turban, and the incident of the _nautch_ may have happened at
Calcutta, where he certainly showed less courage.]

[Illustration: FORT D'ORLEANS, CHANDERNAGORE, 1749. (_Mouchet._)]

CHAPTER II

M. RENAULT, CHIEF OF CHANDERNAGORE

The French East India Company was founded in 1664, during the
ministry of M. Colbert. Chandernagore, on the Ganges, or rather that
mouth of it now known as the River Hugli, was founded in 1676; and
in 1688 the town and territory were ceded to France by the Emperor
Aurengzebe. I know of no plan of Chandernagore in the 17th century,
and those of the 18th are extremely rare. Two or three are to be
found in Paris, but the destruction of the Fort and many of the
buildings by the English after its capture in 1757, and the decay of
the town after its restoration to the French, owing to diminished
trade, make it extremely difficult to recognize old landmarks. The
Settlement, however, consisted of a strip of land, about two leagues
in length and one in depth, on the right or western bank of the
Hugli. Fort d'Orleans lay in the middle of the river front. It was
commenced in 1691, and finished in 1693.[12] Facing the north was
the Porte Royale, and to the east, or river-side, was the Water
Gate. The north-eastern bastion was known as that of the Standard,
or Pavillon. The north-western bastion was overlooked by the Jesuit
Church, and the south-eastern by the Dutch Octagon. This last
building was situated on one of a number of pieces of land which,
though within the French bounds, belonged to the Dutch before the