Bastille Day had often held people jailed on the basis of "lettres de cachet" (literally "signet letters"), arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed and did not indicate the reason for the imprisonment. The Bastille held a large cache of ammunition and gunpowder, and was also known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy. As it happened, at the time of the attack in July 1789 there were only seven inmates, none of great political significance. The crowd was eventually reinforced by mutinous "Gardes Françaises" ("French
Great Britain in the Seven Years' War it was soon under threat. A number of smaller Indian Princely states aligned with either Britain or France. One of the most assertive of these Princes was the pro-French Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, who resented the British presence in Calcutta. In 1756 he had succeeded his grandfather Alivardi Khan who had been a staunch British ally. By contrast he regarded the British East India Company as an encroaching threat. On 20 June 1756 the Nawab's troops stormed Fort William capturing the city. A number of the British civilians and prisoners of war were locked in the small guard room