(5^2 IILSTORV OK INDIA. [Book IFI
A i>. 17G5. to hiiri by a treaty which the presidency had concluded with hirn in name of
the Company. Tiii« was only a first instalment of a much more extensive
Territories guarantee, for he was ultimately to be put in posse.ssion of the whole terri-
granted to ,
ti.eeraperor torics of Sujali Dovvlal), liis latc vizier, with whom he was now openly at war.
The presidency, however, had, in giving this guarantee, undertaken more than their superiors would allow them to perform, and the part of the treaty relating to the other territories was destined, as will be seen, to become a dead letter.
During these transactions, another event, fraught with more important con- sequences, had taken place. Meer Jaffier, after his restoration to the musnud_ had accompanied the army, and remained the reluctant spectator of a war which he would willingly have terminated by a cession of territory or any other sacri- fice. His treasury was as empty as ever, and in addition to war expen.ses at the rate of five lacs a month, he had not only heavy arrears to the Company to discharge, but was pestered by their servants with indefinite demands of com- Death of pensation for losses. In his eagerness to resume a throne which it would have
Meer Jaffier. "^ _ _ °
been his wisdom to decline, he had agi'eed to this so-called compensation, which consisted for the most part of imaginary claims of damage for the stoppage of private trade. This compensation, when he agreed to it, was estimated at ten lacs, but continued mounting up, till at last it exceeded more than five times the original estimate. In the hope of more readily obtaining pa^Tnent, the council brought the old nabob down to Calcutta, where the constant irritation in which he was kept brought on a serious illness. It proved fatal ; for, after languishing a few weeks, he was with difficulty removed to Moorshedabad, and died there in the beginning of February, 1765.
The question of succession remained to be settled, and was immediately taken up by the presidency, who, having the power of nomination completely in their hands, saw many reasons for proceeding without delay to exercise it. .< Appoint- -jij^Q only individuals who could be regarded as rival claimants were Meer
ment of Ins "^ "^
saccessor. Jafficr's cldcst Surviving son, Nujum-ud-Dowlah, and a gTandson by bis eldest son Meerun. Both of them were illegitimate, and therefore without any valid legal title. Had they been legitimate, the better title was in Nujum-ud-Dowlah according to the Mahometan law, which, in.stead of continuing the succession by representation, always prefers a surviving son to a grandson. In another i-espect Nujum-ud-Dowlah was preferable. He was about twenty, while Meerun's son was only a boy of about six years of age. This difference, indeed, was of little consequence, as the nabob was in future to be a mere puppet, while all power was to centre in the Company. Such being the real object, something might have been gained by appointing a nabob who was incapable of acting from nonage. This, however, was counterbalanced by a serious disadvantage. An infant nabob could hardly be supposed capable of making presents, and yet it may be affirmed, without any breach of charity, that on these presents the nabob-makers of Calcutta were far more intent than on the interests of their
