Siyar al-mutaʾakhkhirin 28.1.2

28.1.2

and, on the other hand, they saw every day what a strict discipline the English officers of those days did observe, and how those amongst them that travelled, carried so strict a hand upon their people, as to suffer not a blade of grass to be touched or spoiled, and no kind of injury to be offered to the feeblest man; then indeed the scales were turned, and when the same Prince made his second and third expedition into those parts, I heard the people load him with imprecations, and pray for victory and prosperity to the English army. But those same people feel nothing for them now, fully sensible that these new rulers pay no regard or attention to the concerns of Hindostanies, and that they suffer them to be mercilessly plundered, fleeced, oppressed, and tormented by those officers of their appointing, and by their other dependants; those same people, I say, reduced now to despair, have altered their language, and totally changed in their hearts, on finding that their rulers had so far altered from what they had seemed to be. Amongst the various grievances complained of, this is one of the most stinging kind. The head Harcara, or head Spy, in several of the best English houses, never fails to become their Major Domo, and the hinge upon which turn most transactions, although he should be, as he is in general, a man of the lowest clan, and of the vilest kind.