Hastings did propose to
the board, that, whatever provision might in the said treaty be made
for the interest of the Company, the same should be "without an
encroachment on the just rights of the Rajah, or _the engagements
actually subsisting with him_."

VII. That the said Warren Hastings, then having, or pretending to have,
an extraordinary care of the interest of the Rajah of Benares, did, on
his transfer of the sovereignty, propose a new grant, to be conveyed in
new instruments to the said Rajah, conferring upon him further
privileges, namely, the addition of the sovereign rights of the mint,
and of the right of criminal justice of life and death. And he, the said
Warren Hastings, as Governor-General, did himself propose the resolution
for that purpose in Council, in the following words, with remarks
explanatory of the principles upon which the grants aforesaid were made,
namely:--

MINUTE.

VIII. "That the perpetual and _independent_ possession of the zemindary
of Benares and its dependencies be _confirmed_ and guarantied to the
Rajah Cheyt Sing and his heirs forever, _subject only to the annual
payment of the revenues hitherto paid to the late Vizier_, amounting to
Benares Sicca Rupees 23,71,656.12, to be disposed of as is expressed in
the following article: _That no other demand be made on him either by
the Nabob of Oude or this government; nor any kind of authority or
jurisdiction be exercised by either within the districts assigned him_."
To which minute he, the said Warren Hastings, did subjoin the following
observation in writing, and recorded therewith in the Council books,
that is to say: "_The Rajah of Benares, from the situation of his
country, which is a frontier to the provinces of Oude and Bahar, may be
made a serviceable ally to the Company, whenever their affairs shall
require it. He has always been considered in this light both by the
Company and the successive members of the late Council; but to insure
his attachment to the Company, his interest must be connected with it,
which cannot be better effected than by freeing him totally from the
REMAINS of his present vassalage under the guaranty and protection of
the Company, and at the same time guarding him against any apprehensions
from this government, by thus pledging its faith that no encroachment
shall ever be made on his rights by the Company._" And the said Warren
Hastings, on the 5th of July, 1775, did himself propose, among other
article