Estimate of Warren Hastings:
He was a gifted personality endowed with ‘strong will, great energy and resourcefulness’. His long stay in Bengal, ‘in the shadow of the Mughal Cultural tradition’ gave him, enough opportunity to’learn Oriental languages such as Bengali (the local language) and Persian (the diplomaticlanguage) and to develop ‘oriented tastes’. Since he considered Indian culture as a basis for sound Indian Administration, he patronised the learning of Indian languages and arts. His task was a challenging one since he was surrounded by hostile forces. “He faced his external enemies with unflinching courage and unfailing resource and his internal opponents with extraordinary patience and firmness”. It was on the foundation which Warren Hastings laid down, that others erected a ‘stately edifice”.