l._, and soon after, (upon a pretence of the present Nabob's
minority, and a temporary sequestration for the discharge of his debts,)
to 160,000_l._: but when he arrived at his majority, and when the debts
were paid, (if ever they were paid,) the sequestration still continued;
and so far as the late advices may be understood, the allowance to the
Nabob appears still to stand at the reduced sum of 160,000_l._

[Sidenote: Native officers.]

The other resource of the Mahomedans, and of the Gentoos of certain of
the higher castes, was the army. In this army, nine tenths of which
consists of natives, no native, of whatever description, holds any rank
higher than that of a _Subahdar Commandant_, that is, of an officer
below the rank of an English subaltern, who is appointed to each company
of the native soldiery.

[Sidenote: All lucrative employments in the hands of the English.]

Your Committee here would be understood to state the ordinary
establishment: for the war may have made some alteration. All the
honorable, all the lucrative situations of the army, all the supplies
and contracts of whatever species that belong to it, are solely in the
hands of the English; so that whatever is beyond the mere subsistence of
a common soldier and some officers of a lower rank, together with the
immediate expenses of the English officers at their table, is sooner or
later, in one shape or another, sent out of the country.

Such was the state of Bengal even in time of profound peace, and before
the whole weight of the public charge fell upon that unhappy country for
the support of other parts of India, which have been desolated in such a
manner as to contribute little or nothing to their own protection.

[Sidenote: Former state of trade.]

Your Committee have given this short comparative account of the effects
of the maritime traffic of Bengal, when in its natural state, and as it
has stood since the prevalence of the system of an investment from the
revenues. But before the formation of that system Bengal did by no means
depend for its resources on its maritime commerce. The inland trade,
from whence it derived a very great supply of silver and gold and many
kinds of merchantable goods, was very considerable. The higher provinces
of the Mogul Empire were then populous and opulent, and intercourse to
an immense amount was carried on between them and Bengal. A great trade
also passed through these provinces from all the countries on