The French report on Sirajuddaulah's siege of Calcutta, 1756
The French Council at Chandernagore to the Superior Council in the Isle of France, 16 December 1756
We think, gentlemen, you will be astonished to learn the principal circumstances of the revolution which has just driven the English from all their Settlements in Bengal. We will give you a very brief account of them.
The Nawab, Siraj-uddaula, having, contrary to every one's expectation, succeeded his grandfather Aliverdikhan, in the month of April, as Suba of Bengal, the English had speedily a most terrible experience of the violent and passionate character of this young Prince, whom they had irritated by their arrogance and the shelter they had given to one of his enemies. Driven to extremities by their bravados, he first treacherously seized a little fort which they had near the capital, and then came with a formidable army to besiege them in Calcutta which was their chief Settlement on the Ganges.
The vanity of the English having persuaded them the Moors would never dare to venture so far, they were so surprised and terrified that they lost their heads and could not profit by any of those advantages which Europeans have over such contemptible troops. Though numbering six hundred whites, well provided with all sorts of munitions and sheltered in a regular fort, they made scarcely any resistance at all after the Nawab's arrival. The Governor himself, Mr. Drake, with the Commandant of the troops, the greater part of the Council, officers and inhabitants, and all the women, took refuge on board the ships which were in the port. The few soldiers, who had remained in the fort, refusing to recognize any authority, disorder prevailed to such an extent that the white flag was displayed on the afternoon of the 20th, i.e. after three days' siege. But the Moors, before the capitulation was arranged, crowded to the gates and, as no one fired on them, easily burst them in and entered, killing all who tried to resist. The plunder in the Settlement and fort was immense as the English had not taken the precaution to embark their wealth.
That was, so to say, the beginning of their ills. The prisoners to the number of two hundred having been hurriedly shut up in a warehouse were almost all suffocated in one night. Those who survived, especially the chief men, after having suffered all kinds of misery and after having been dragged in chains to Murshidabad, the capital of Bengal, were sent back to us by the Nawab in the most deplorable condition, which we tried to alleviate in every possible way.
The lot of those saved in the ships has been hardly less wretched. Having with difficulty gained the mouth of the river, they have since endured all the bad weather of the rainy season, and at the same time been embarrassed by the numbers of women and children with whom their ships were crowded. This, joined to the bad provisions which were all they could obtain, quickly caused a kind of pestilential sickness which carried off many of them.
The capture of Calcutta drew with it the ruin of all the small factories which they possessed scattered over Bengal, and now they do not retain a single establishment in this kingdom. Since this sad revolution only one vessel has arrived from Europe. It brought them two hundred and fifty men from Madras, but this reinforcement not being large enough, they have planned no enterprise so far. They expect every moment the arrival of a squadron of six ships of war and five of the Company's, which left the coast on the 14th October and which brings them one thousand Europeans and three thousand sepoys. There is no doubt that with these forces they will be strong enough to retake Calcutta, which is now defended by only a small number of Moors. But besides the fact that its capture will not recoup them ... the colony being entirely ruined and plundered, it is not certain that they will be able to maintain themselves in it against all the forces of the Nawab. What is absolutely certain is that this war must derange commerce, as it drives all the merchants away.
Since the above was written the English squadron has arrived in the Ganges. The Director received a letter some days previously, by which M. Verrier, chief of the Surat factory, informed him that a small vessel, which was sent express by the English chief at Bassora and arrived at Bombay on the 5tb October, brought letters from London intimating that war had been declared between France and England the 17th May preceding, that the Governor of Bombay had announced this by beat of drum in his island, and had immediately sent pattamars express to , the Commander of the English squadron in the Roads at Balassore so that he might profit by this news and capture any of our vessels which were entering or going out of the Ganges. This news obliged us to postpone the departure of the Ruby. But the frigate Danae which had just arrived having passed without any difficulty makes us think that the English, whom we cannot suppose ignorant of the aforesaid news, having other things to think of, do not intend to avail themselves of their superior forces against us, and the owners of the Ruby having in consequence determined to dispatch this vessel promptly in order to profit by these favourable circumstances, which make us suppose that the English think they must be careful in their behaviour towards us. Consequently we are going to work so as to dispatch the La Favorite as quickly as possible.
From: A. Berriedale Keith, ed. Speeches and Documents on Indian Policy, 1750-1921. Vol. I. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1922, 3-6.