I
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OnAP. X.] AGREEMENT WITH MEER JAFFIER. 573
ill Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, and engages never more to "allow them any more a.d. it&7. to settle in the three provinces." Ai'ticles IV., V., VI., and VII. give compensa- tion as follows: — To the Company for losses, and the maintenance of forces, one crore of rupees (£1,000,000) ; to the English inhabitants in Calcutta, fifty lacs Agreemint of rupees (£500,000); to the Gentoos, Mussulmans, and other subjects of MeeiJumei Calcutta, twenty lacs (£200,000) ; to the Armenian inhabitants, seven lacs compl^y. (£70,000). Article VIII. gives to the Company all the land within the Mah- ratta. Ditch belonging to zemindars, and also 600 yards without the ditch. Article IX. convei-ts all the land to the south of Calcutta, as far as Culpee, into a zemindary, and gives it to the Company, subject, however, to the payment of revenue, in the same manner as other zemindars. Article X. engages to pay for the maintenance of any English troops whose assistance may be demanded ; Article XL, not to erect any new fortifications, below Hooghly, near the Ganges; and Ai'ticle XII., to pay the aforesaid stipulated sums on being established in the government of the three provinces.
The thirteenth, or additional article, is the counter-obligation, in which, "on Tiie com- pany's condition that Meer Jafiier Khan Beliauder shall solemnly ratify, confirm by comiter-
oath, and execute all the above articles, we, the underwi-itteu, do, on behalf of *^*^'"®"
the Honourable East India Company, declare on the holy Gospels, and before
God, that we wiU assist Meer Jaffier Khan Beliauder, with all our force, to
obtain the soubahship of the province of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa ; and fui-ther,
that we will assist him to the utmost against all his enemies whatevef, as soon
as he caUs upon us for that end ; provided that he, on his coming to be nabob,
shall fulfil the aforesaid articles." This article, as well as the treaty, was signed
by Admiral Watson, Mr. Drake, governor of Calcutta, Colonel Clive, Mr. Watts,
Major Kilpatrick, and Mr. Becher, one of the membei"s of council. Had there
been no objection to it in any other respect, it is strange how it never occurred
to them that in engaging to employ all their force to obtain the soubahship for
a creature of their own, they were usm-ping the sovereign rights of the Mogul
emperor, and pledging them.selves, if he resisted or resented their interference,
to wage open war against him. This ovei"sight is the more remarkable, becaase
the treaty, on the face of it, recognizes the emperor's su])remacy. Meer Jaffier
designates him.self "servant of King Alumgeer," and the date of the deed is
"the foui-th year of the reign." What right then had Meer Jaffier to rule over
provinces to which, even if he had been the next heir, instead of being a
stranger in blood, his title would not have been valid until confirmed at Delhi ?
and what right could the representatives of a body of English merchants have,
not only to sanction his usui-pation, but solemnly pledge themselves " to assi.st
him to the utmost against all his enemies whatever?" No answer can be given
that will bear a moment's examination ; but it is needless, when so much of an
extravagant nature was done, to dwell on a matter which, in the now degraded
condition of the Mogul empire, may possibly have been regarded as mere pmictilio.
