Later, I'tisam served under Captain Mackinon as paymaster for an orphanage. He fought alongside Mackinon and the Company against Mir Qasim in 1763 during the Battle of Giria and the Battle of Udhwa Nala. Bardette also made I'tisam the Tehsildar of Kutubpur.[2]
Travel to Europe
In 1765, he entered the service of John Carnac and had another audience with the Emperor Shah Alam at Jahazgarh. He assisted Colonel Carnac in a battle from Faizabad to Shora-Shapur. Following the battle, Shah Alam II offered I'tisam the title of Mirza if he was willing to work under him as a Munshi as well as the opportunity to travel to Europe. In Murshidabad, he set off with Captain Archibald Swinton on a diplomatic mission to the court of King George III to send a letter from Shah Alam II and 1 lakh takas.[9] I'tisam was also accompanied by his servant, Muhammad Muqim.[10] 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.[11] I'tisam taught Swinton the Arabic tales of Kalila and Demna. Robert Clive 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 in France via the southern coast of Africa.[12] He also visited Mauritius, Madagascar, the Cape of Good Hope and Ascension Island.[2] In Nantes, Swinton left for England while I'tisam remained in France for a month travelling to Calais as well.
From Calais, I'tisam took a ship to Dover, reaching Britain in 1766. He remained in London for three months before reuniting with Swinton in Oxford, where they assisted Sir William Jones with South Asian manuscripts, the translation of the Persian book Farhang-i-Jahangiri into English and Jones' book, A grammar of the Persian language.[4] During his time, he also taught Persian to those who intended to work in the Mughal Empire.[13]
Return to Asia
He returned to Bengal after a three-year absence due to food problems. He was later employed by the British East India Company in negotiations with the Maratha Empire. He travelled with John Hamilton to Pune and drew up treaties and settled peace.[5] Locals gave Itesamuddin the nickname of Bilayet Munshi due to him being the first to travel to what was known as the Vilayet.[14]
In 1785, he published the Shigurf-nama-i-Wilayat (or 'Wonder Book of England'), in the Persian language, detailing his travels.[5] He was the first Indian to visit England and describe the journey.[5][2] The work has been translated into English, Hindustani and Bengali.[15][unreliable source]
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"
^ abC. A. Storey, Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Volume 1, Part 2, Psychology Press, 2002, p.1142
^ abChristian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 12 Asia, Africa and the Americas (1700-1800). 2018. pp. 544–548.
^ abcdeC.E. Buckland, Dictionary of Indian Biography, Haskell House Publishers Ltd, 1968, p.217
^Begum, Shabnam (1994). "Arabic and Persian literature in Bengal during eighteenth century: Shaykh Itisamuddin". Bengal's contribution to Islamic studies during the 18th century (Thesis). Aligarh Muslim University. pp. 103–107.