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CHAPTER V

IN HASTINGS' DAY

Jaffir Ali's deposition, and residence at Alipore—Hastings' connection with Alipore; his second wife—Mrs. Hastings' town house—Mrs. Fay and her house—Francis and his houses—The site of the duel—Major Tolly and "Belvedere," and Tolly's Nullah.

In 1760, three years after the battle of Plassey, the Nawab Jaffir Ali Khan, who had been created nawab by Clive, was deposed by Clive's successor in the Government, Mr. Vansittart, and his son-in-law, Meer Cossim, was made nawab in his room. The deposed nawab petitioned the Calcutta Board for permission, which was readily granted, to reside in Calcutta, on the ground that he "could not be safe in Bengal excepting under English protection." He accordingly took up his residence in the neighbourhood which has since been known as Alipore. It was a custom of Mohammedan rulers to rename any town or locality which they might occupy, and the distinctly Mohammedan name of Alipore, among the Hindu villages of Bhowanipore, Durgapore, and Kalighat, tells of an alien occupation, while any

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