Ideology and Empire in Eighteenth-Century India: The British in BengalRobert Travers' analysis of British conquests in late eighteenth century India shows how new ideas were formulated about the construction of empire. After the British East India Company conquered the vast province of Bengal, Britons confronted the apparent anomaly of a European trading company acting as an Indian ruler. Responding to a prolonged crisis of imperial legitimacy, British officials in Bengal tried to build their authority on the basis of