be signed by the Diwan and sent to the Prince; the reason for delay being the multiple complains lodged by Choudhury who was ultimately granted a compensation of 1000 Rupees by Azim-ush-Shan, of which half had to be borne by the Company. Around early July, the Choudhury made another last-ditch effort at stalling the transfer by promising a sum of 6000 Rupees to the Prince but failed. On 14 July two copies of Nishaan were received but on 22 July, it was asked of Welsh to get them stamped by the Qadi; on 1 August, three appropriately-stamped copies of nishaans were finally received. The zamindari rights, not only for Dihi Kalikata but also for Sutanuti and Govindapur, had been transferred to the Company but subsequent to them paying the Choudhury another 1000 Rupees. The company started execution of the transfer in around October. Despite the nishaans and presence of Mughal officials, the Choudhury proved unwilling to part with the lands and even threatened to complaint Aurangzeb about Azim-ush-Shan's ways. So, the Company proposed to pay them an additional 500 Rupees, if they consented in writing about relinquishing all claims to the lands permanently. On 9 November 1698, the bainama (sale/transfer-deed) was finally executed in tune with what the Company sought; the Choudhury had sold all of their rights to Charles Eyre for a renegotiated sum of 1300 Rupees. On 3 February 1699, Diwan Izzat Khan issued a parwana declaring the sale deed to be operative; thenceforth, the Mughals were to recognize the Company as the permanent taluqdars. The Choudhury moved to Barisha soon after the sale. This pioneer purchase of zamindari will remain a keystone for the British ascendency in South Asia; the three villages will gradually merge with each other (and other adjacent territories) under the Company administration, to form the modern town of Calcutta. Analysis The sale proved to be a deviation; prior, the Mughals had seldom bothered with negotiating the sale of zamindaris and usually gave the involved tax-farmers a free hand. This is popularly attributed to the Company's showering of a variety of gifts on Azim-ush-Shan as well as his relatives and officials. However, the gifts or token sums are not perceptible as bribes — being mostly in the form of nazrana or peshkash — and they were anyway too meager for the concessions decreed. Durga Puja The Sabarna Roy Choudhurys were one of the earliest