our. The Nawab began to perceive
that the bankers were necessary to him. The English
would have no one except them as mediators, and so they
had become, as it were, responsible for the behaviour of
both the Nawab and the English. Accordingly after the
Peace there was nothing but kindness and politeness from
the Nawab towards them, and he consulted them in everything.
At the bottom this behaviour of his was sheer
trickery. The Seths were persuaded that the Nawab who
hated the English must also dislike the persons whom the
English employed. Profiting by the hatred which the
Nawab had drawn on himself by his violence, and distributing
money judiciously, they had long since gained over
those who were nearest to the Nawab, whose imprudence
always enabled them to know what he had in his heart.
From what came to the knowledge of the Seths it was easy
to guess what he intended, and this made them tremble, for
it was nothing less than their destruction, which could be
averted only by his own. The cause of the English had
become that of the Seths; their interests were identical. Can
one be surprised to see them acting in concert? Further,
when one remembers that it was this same house of bankers
that overthrew Sarfaraz Khan[85] to enthrone Aliverdi Khan,
and who, during the reign of the latter, had the management
of all important business, one must confess that it ought not
to be difficult for persons of so much influence to execute a
project in which, the English were taking a share."[86]

Law could not persuade Renault to act, and without his doing so the
game was nearly hopeless. Still, he worked at forming a French party
in the Court. By means of Coja Wajid, an Armenian merchant of
Hugli, whose property had been plundered by the English, he obtained
an interview with the Nawab, and persuaded him to send the 2000
soldiers who were with Renault at the beginning of the siege. More
would have been despatched but for the apparent certainty that the
treaty of neutrality would be signed. In fact, Renault was so
worried that, on the complaint of Watson and Clive that Law was
exciting the Nawab against the English, he wrote Law a letter which
caused the latter to ask to be recalled from Cossimbazar, and it was
only at Renault's earnest request that he consented to remain at his
post. Law continued forming his party.

"It would appear from the English memoirs that we
corrupt