Mīrzā Sayyid Muḥammad Iʿtiṣām ad-Dīn ibn Tāj ad-Dīn ibn Shahāb ad-Dīn Panchnūrī or Itesham Uddin ( bn, মির্জা সৈয়দ মোহাম্মদ ইতেশামুদ্দীন পাঁচনূরী, fa, ), was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

diplomat for the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and the first educated

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

n to travel to Europe, in 1765. He was also a

munshi Munshi is a Persian word, originally used for a contractor, writer, or secretary, and later used in the Mughal Empire and India for native language teachers, teachers of various subjects, especially administrative principles, religious texts, ...

serving the

Nawabs of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...

as well as the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

.C. A. Storey, Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Volume 1, Part 2, Psychology Press, 2002, p.1142 He had also written the text of the 1765

Treaty of Allahabad The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on 12 August 1765, between the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, son of the late Emperor Alamgir II, and Robert Clive, of the East India Company, in the aftermath of the Battle of Buxar of 23 October 1764. The ...

Early life and ancestry

Sayyid Muhammad I'tisam-ud-Din was born in 1730, to Sheikh Sayyid Taj-ud-Din, at the local Kazipara Masjid near his village. He belonged to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family of

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

s from the village of Panchnur; near the town of

Chakdaha Chakdaha is a town and a municipality in the Kalyani subdivision of the Nadia district, located in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Chakdaha is a prominent urban local body in the district of Nadia, one of the southern dist ...

within

Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influentia ...

in the

Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah ( bn, সুবাহ বাংলা; fa, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal ( bn, মোগল বাংলা), was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire (and later an independent state under the Nawabs of Ben ...

C.E. Buckland, Dictionary of Indian Biography, Haskell House Publishers Ltd, 1968, p.217 The contemporary Bengali historian Shabnam Begum equates his grandfather, Sheikh Sayyid Shahab-ud-Din, to

Shihabuddin Talish Shihab al-Din ( ar, شهاب‌ الدین ) may refer to: *Adib Sabir (died 1143), royal poet of Persia *Am'aq (died 1148), Persian poet *Shahab al-Din Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi (1144–1234), Persian Sufi *Shahab al-Din Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardi ...

, author of the '' Fathiya-i 'Ibriya'', an account of Mir Jumla's invasion of Assam. His birthplace, Kazipara Masjid, still stands today and his forefathers were said to have arrived to Panchnur following the Battle of Pandua. His ancestors settled in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

after fleeing the

Mongol invasion of Persia The Mongol conquest of Persia comprised three Mongol campaigns against Islamic states in the Middle East and Central Asia between 1219 and 1256. These campaigns led to the termination of the Khwarazmian dynasty, the Nizari Ismaili state, and th ...

Education

I'tisam-ud-Din came from a privileged background, in which he was well educated and fluent in the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, Hindustani and

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

s. His elder brother was a ''

mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...

'' and adviser to the

Nawab of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...

Alivardi Khan Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself. During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequent Mar ...

. Munshi Salimullah and Mirza Muhammad Qasim, who worked under

Mir Jafar Sayyid Mīr Jaʿfar ʿAlī Khān Bahādur ( – 5 February 1765) was a military general who became the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expan ...

, trained I'tisam to also become a

and taught him the

Career

He began his career as a

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. During ...

. On the accession of

Mir Qasim Mir Qasim ( bn, মীর কাশিম; died 8 May 1777) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763. He was installed as Nawab with the support of the British East India Company, replacing Mir Jafar, his father-in-law, who had himself been su ...

, he entered the service of the

's Major Martin Yorke and Major Mark and took part in a campaign against

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

Asad uz-Zaman Khan of

Birbhum Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impor ...

. After the battle, Emperor

Shah Alam II Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar (or Ali Gauhar), was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal empire. His powe ...

recognised his efforts during a visit to

Azimabad Azimabad ( hi, अज़ीमाबाद, ur, ) was the name of modern-day Patna during the eighteenth century, prior to the British Raj. Today, Patna is the capital of Bihar, a state in North India. In ancient times, Patna was known as Pata ...

. Later, I'tisam served under Captain Mackinon as paymaster for an orphanage. He fought alongside Mackinon and the Company against

in 1763 during the

Battle of Giria The Battle of Giria were two battles that took place in Giria, an insignificant census town in Bengal, although not well known, were very significant in the history of Bengal and like the Battle of Plassey, had far reaching consequences. Locat ...

and the Battle of Udhwa Nala. Bardette also made I'tisam the

Tehsildar In India and Pakistan, a Tehsildar or Mamlatdar is a tax officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a tehsil with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as an executive magistrate of the relev ...

of Kutubpur.

Travel to Europe

In 1765, he entered the service of

John Carnac Brigadier-General John Carnac (1716 – 29 November 1800) was a British officer who served three times as Commander-in-Chief of India. The son of Capt. Peter Carnac (1665–1756), and Andrienne, née Lelonte (d. c.1762), he was baptised in Lond ...

and had another audience with the Emperor Shah Alam at Jahazgarh. He assisted Colonel Carnac in a battle from

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpor ...

to Shora-Shapur. Following the battle,

offered I'tisam the title of

Mirza Mirza may refer to: * Mirza, Kamrup, town in Assam, India * Mirza (name), historical royal title & noble * ''Mirza'', the genus of giant mouse lemur * "Mirza", song by Nino Ferrer * ''Mirza – The Untold Story'', Punjabi action romance film wri ...

if he was willing to work under him as a Munshi as well as the opportunity to travel to Europe. In

, he set off with Captain Archibald Swinton on a diplomatic mission to the court of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

to send a letter from Shah Alam II and 1 lakh takas. I'tisam was also accompanied by his servant, Muhammad Muqim. After three weeks at sea, Swinton revealed to I'tisam that neither the letter from Shah Alam nor his tribute of a lakh of takas was on board as it had been seized by

Robert Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

.Michael J. Franklin, 'Orientalist Jones': Sir William Jones, Poet, Lawyer, and Linguist, 1746-1794, OUP Oxford, 22 Sep 2011, p.63 I'tisam taught Swinton the Arabic tales of Kalila and Demna.

later on sent the money to the English king, on his own behalf to suppress contact between England and the Mughals. As such I'tisam never ended up meeting George III and instead accompanied Swinton to

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

via the southern coast of Africa. He also visited

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

and

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

. In Nantes, Swinton left for England while I'tisam remained in

for a month travelling to

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

as well. From Calais, I'tisam took a ship to

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, reaching

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1766. He remained in London for three months before reuniting with Swinton in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where they assisted

Sir William Jones Sir William Jones (28 September 1746 – 27 April 1794) was a British philologist, a puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, and a scholar of ancient India. He is particularly known for his proposition of th ...

with South Asian manuscripts, the translation of the Persian book '' Farhang-i-Jahangiri'' into English and Jones' book, ''A grammar of the Persian language''. During his time, he also taught the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

to those who intended to work in the

Return to Asia

He returned to Bengal after a three-year absence due to food problems. He was later employed by the

in negotiations with the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

. He travelled with John Hamilton to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

and drew up treaties and settled peace. Locals gave Itesamuddin the nickname of ''Bilayet Munshi'' due to him being the first to travel to what was known as the Vilayet. In 1785, he published the ''Shigurf-nama-i-Wilayat'' (or 'Wonder Book of England'), in the

, detailing his travels. He was the first educated South Asian to visit

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and describe the journey. The work has been translated into English, Hindustani and

Written works

*Shigurf Namah i Vilayat (Excellent intelligence concerning Europe) **"The wonders of Vilayet : being the memoir, originally in Persian, of a visit to France and Britain by Mirza Sheikh Iʼtesamuddin, an eighteenth century Indian gentleman" **"Shigurf namah i velaët, or, Excellent intelligence concerning Europe : being the travels of Mirza Itesa Modeen, in Great Britain and France" *Nasab Namah (Family tree of Itisam Uddin)

Death

It is estimated that he died in 1800.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Itisam-ud-Din 18th-century Bengalis People of British India Mughal Empire people 18th-century Indian writers 1730 births 1800 deaths 18th-century Indian Muslims British Indian history Indian travel writers People from Nadia district