active 1737-1758 William Watts

author

active 1737-1758 William Watts

A firsthand chronicler of one of the most consequential turning points in 18th-century Bengal, this writer left behind a vivid account of political intrigue, war, and empire. His surviving work offers listeners a rare window into the events surrounding the Battle of Plassey and the rise of East India Company power.

1 Audiobook

Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, Anno Dom. 1757

Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, Anno Dom. 1757

by active 1737-1758 William Watts

About the author

Little is firmly documented under the cataloged author form "William Watts, active 1737–1758," but library and public-domain records connect that name with Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, Anno Dom. 1757. The book is valued as a primary source on the upheaval in Bengal in the mid-18th century.

Reliable reference sources also identify a William Watts who served as an East India Company official in Bengal and was closely involved in the politics surrounding Mir Jafar, Siraj ud-Daulah, and the events that led to the Battle of Plassey in 1757. That connection fits the memoir's subject and perspective, though the "active 1737–1758" label used in library catalogs is best understood as a bibliographic note rather than a full biographical record.

For modern listeners, Watts is most interesting not as a polished literary stylist but as a witness to history. His memoir preserves the viewpoint of someone near the center of dramatic imperial change, making it useful both as a historical narrative and as evidence of how British power in Bengal was explained by those who helped establish it.