Britons in Bangladesh
[1] The Company was perceived in a poor light by local rulers by the early 18th century; its officials' behaviour was characterised by brawls and foul language, and its construction of military forts was seen as a potential threat.Alivardi Khan, Nawab of Bengal, was petitioned by several groups to drive the British out, but on one such occasion, likened Europeans to a hive of bees that would provide honey if unprovoked, but "sting you to death" otherwise.[2] Company servants, for their own part, had low views of local rulers, supposing them to be despotic and corrupt.Some Company officials believed that if they were in charge, they could enact quick reforms in Bengal that would allow for greater wealth generation and extraction.[3] One writer claimed that in the first decades after 1757, the British had transformed from "pettifogging traders quarreling over their seats in church [...] into imperialist swashbucklers and large scale extortionists.