“First, I, who am the Nabob Asoph ul Dowlah Bahadur, do agree that the jaghires and the gunges and monthly allowance of the officers and servants, and of the ladies of the zenanah, and of those specified in the accounts annexed, shall be at the disposal and under the management and authority of the Begum, and no one shall oppose or prevent it:  this I will punctually observe.  In this agreement Mr. Middleton and the English are engaged.

     “Second, Whenever the Begum may choose to go to Mecca, I will not
     oppose it.

“Third, Whenever the Begum should go to Mecca, she shall leave her lands, jaghires, &c., either in the care of my mother or of me; and I will procure bills for the amount of their revenues, and send them to her:  no one shall oppose this.

     “Fourth, The Begum shall have authority over all the ladies of her
     zenanah; she shall let them remain with me, and not let them go
     anywhere without my permission, or keep them with her.

     “Fifth, The jaghires Coda Gunge and Ali Gunge, &c., with the mahal
     and syer belonging to the Begum and made over, shall remain as
     heretofore in her possession:  Total, 14,460 rupees per month.

     “Eighth, The Begum has authority over the ladies and attendants of
     the zenanah; neither myself nor any one else will oppose it.

“Ninth, The Begum, my grandmother, shall have the authority in all festivals, and in the marriage of the children of the late Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah, and, with the consent of my mother and myself, shall regulate them:  excepting in the festivals (shadee), the authority is mine.

     “The English are guaranties to the above engagements, so long as
     the Begum shall exist.”

Your Lordships will observe something here worthy of your notice.  You will first perceive, that the very treaty in which Mr. Hastings, by his representative, Mr. Middleton, was a party concerned, supposes that the Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah had other children besides the reigning prince by his sole legitimate wife; and yet Mr. Hastings, in his defence, has thought proper, with a full knowledge of that circumstance, to doubt whether there were any other children.  You next see that these women have Mr. Middleton’s (that is, Mr. Hastings’s) guaranty for the allowances which are made and settled upon them, and for the maintenance of their attendants, for the security and enjoyment of their own possessions, for their having a law officer of high rank, a moulavy, of their own.  In short, there is a regular establishment formed for all these women:  they are not separated as a part distinct from the Begums, but they are put by this very guaranty entirely under their management; the maintenance of the children is secured; the whole order and economy of their establishment is delivered entirely to the Begum, the grandmother, and the Begum, the mother, of the Nabob.