The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c15.s1.40

c15.s1.40

However, after what has been said about the precarious balance that the inner frontier implied, it is clear that the English venture could all too easily lead to overextension and play havoc with the company's finances—as indeed happened during the first decade or so after Plassey. Essentially, the choices before the English were to involve themselves and their resources at the local level, to manipulate and arbitrate competition and conflict—as the Mughals had been forced to do—or to withdraw as far as possible from local conflict in order to pool and reserve the company's power and resources. Since the first course of action—especially in the form of illegal private trade by company servants using the company's power and privileges—had proved disastrous, it was the second that imposed itself. This found its clearest expression in the Permanent Settlement of 1793. Whatever this momentous decree may have done for the introduction of full private ownership of land protected by law, its main thrust was the reservation of British power and of the use of force, and it reflected the British refusal to get involved in local affairs. This meant that the state, now a public realm, was decisively set apart from the web of competing social forces, which were left to cope with their local situations, as many new-style landowners found to their grief.