Nathaniel Brassey Halhed - Bengal and The East India Company

Bengal and The East India Company

Halhed's father was bitterly disappointed in him and therefore decided to send him to India under the employment of the East India Company through his connections. His petition for a writership was granted and endorsed by the former governor of Bengal, Harry Verelst. Though appointed on 4 December 1771, Halhed knew about it long before and spent the remainder of the year preparing himself for his new career. He had to learn accounting and at Oxford he learnt Persian and, possibly, dabbled in some Arabic.

Halhed was first placed in the accountant general's office under Mr. Darrel and next as a Persian translator. He went to Cossimbazaar to strengthen his knowledge of Persian through practical application and also acquaint himself with the silk trade. It was in Kasimbazaar that Halhed also acquired another language, Bengali, that was crucial while dealing with the aurungs or weaving districts. However, despite his hardship in Bengal he still had several romantic affairs with Elizabeth Pleydell, a certain Nancy, Diana Rochfort, and Henrietta Yorker among others.

Halhed's tenacity of writing poetry did not abate till much later by which time he had written a diverse amount of poetry in the form of pleas and love poems. The opening of the Calcutta Theatre in November, 1773 gave Halhed occasion to write no less than three prologues. A production of King Lear also spurred him to write five more pieces. Amid the varied and culturally rich atmosphere of Bengal, Halhed was inspired to write several humorous verses and poems one of which, A Lady's Farewell to Calcutta, was an eloquently expressed lament for those who regretted staying in the mofussil. These poems though not valued from a literary perspective paint a vivid picture of life in Bengal when only a handful of British residents populated Calcutta.