EQUIVOCAL ENGLISH POSITION IN BENGAL 181

this very time, indeed, Bussy, with his French contin- gent at Haidarabad, was in much the same position as Olive with his English levies in Bengal. But when Lally had recalled Bussy from Haidarabad, the power of the French disappeared from the Deccan, and was soon after extinguished in their general discomfiture; THE GREAT MOSQUE AT KALBARGAH IN HAIDARABAD. while the English were now consolidating their suprem- acy over a kingdom that they had practically conquered. The difficulty of this consolidation was greatly en- hanced by the perplexity and indecision of the English as to their actual situation in the country. Although they were conquerors de facto, they neither could nor would assume the attitude of rulers de jure; they were merely the representatives of a commercial company with no warrant from their nation to annex territory, and were obliged to pretend deference toward a native ruler who was really subservient to themselves. Noth-