Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, Anno Dom. 1757 — A Reader’s Guide

A Resident Under Threat

Watts details the escalating personal danger he faced after the Nawab's initial hostility toward the British. The Nawab, described as 'intoxicated with sovereign power,' first forbade Watts's vaqueel (agent) from court—an insult Watts explains was 'very gross in India.' This was followed by direct threats relayed through ministers: the Nawab would 'cut off that Gentleman's Head, or cause him to be impaled' upon any troop movement. Watts emphasizes that such treatment violated the 'law of nations' and left him at liberty to seek safety. He claims he wrote to the Governor 'without any exaggeration,' urging the committee to proceed without concern for his safety—a detail he includes because the recipient was still alive to verify it.

Court Intrigue and Shifting Allegiances

The narrative contrasts the public posture of the Nawab with the private maneuvering of his courtiers. Watts observes that 'the only Oracle that every Man consulted was his own Interest,' and that reversals of fortune were 'equally sudden and frequent.' Courtiers in highest favor one day were in disgrace the next, creating an atmosphere where 'no Man was secure, and therefore no Man was contented.' This instability is presented as both a cause and a consequence of the conspiracy against the Nawab. Watts's account suggests that the British were not the sole architects of the revolution; they exploited existing fractures within the Bengali elite, where self-interest trumped loyalty.

The Company's Calculated Response

Watts describes the Company's decision-making as cautious and deliberate. The Select Committee resolved 'not to precipitate any thing, to act with the utmost Caution, and to lay hold of any favourable Opportunity.' The inhabitants of Calcutta were already alarmed by the Nawab's caprice, having experienced his earlier sack of the settlement. Watts frames the eventual military intervention as a defensive measure: the Company put troops into condition 'to repel Force by Force.' He does not detail the battle itself, but his memoir serves as a prelude, emphasizing that the revolution was a calculated response to a pattern of threats, not an act of unprovoked aggression.

Watts writes with the authority of a participant, yet his memoir is also an apologia for the Company's role in deposing a sovereign. Readers should note that the text is a partisan source, shaped by Watts's need to justify his own actions and those of his superiors. The excerpts reveal a narrative built on contrasts—between public threats and private intrigue, between the Nawab's volatility and Watts's professed composure. These tensions invite scrutiny of how the memoir constructs a moral framework for imperial intervention.

Decades in these stacks taught me that empire's ledger has odd footnotes. Watts watched a throne change hands in Bengal, a quiet transaction of power, and I often recall it while thinking of The buccaneers and marooners of America — Key Ideas to Explore, where lawlessness wears a rougher coat. Both are tales of men seizing what seemed unguarded, leaving history to tidy the account.