ABSTRACT
What followed, though lost to the ages, set the scene for a strong response by the British. The lurid "Black Hole" narrative of John Zephaniah Holwell, which did not target Siraj but, rather, was directed at his own countryman, Roger Drake, set into motion a furious response by the British. This had a particularly bad effect on an Oswal house known as the Jagat Seth Mahtab Rai and also on Maharaja Swaroop Chand. Regardless of the Maratha assaults and Ali Vardi's exactions, Bengal's economy was resistant to decline until the post-Plassey period or even later, after 1813. In September 1756 the Company decided to mobilize Admiral Watson's royal squadron and Colonel Clive's Company troops to retake Calcutta. The declining Mughal power during the last days of Aurangzeb, and following his death of March 3, 1707, empowered the Hindu traders to decline the credit requests of Muslim merchants.
