The changes which were sparked off by the replacement of Francis Sykes by Richard Becher as Resident at the Durbar ultimately made Reza Khan redundant and the system which perpetuated him obsolete, though neither Verelst nor Becher anticipated this.

When Sykes resigned his post in January 1769 Verelst had already appointed Becher to fill the vacancy. In a Council bedevilled by ‘interested opposition’, Becher would seem, like Verelst, to have had fewer vested interests to defend than most. And besides, being a man of moderation, Becher was also a man of vast experience. Having joined the Company's service in Bengal in 1743 he had been a witness to the rule of Alivardi. During the troubles which ended in Siraj-ud-daulah's capture of Calcutta in 1756 he was the chief of the Dacca factory. When the news of the recapture of Calcutta reached the Directors, he was chosen as one of the three to be governor of Calcutta by rotation. In the interest of the greater good of the Company and his nation, Becher gave up his rights, and jointly with Watts and Manningham offered the post to Clive. Soon after, he left for home. When the news of the acquisition of the Diwani reached London, the Directors sent Becher again to Bengal with a seat on the Select Committee and in the Council, which he joined in 1767. For some eighteen months after his appointment he kept aloof from the craze for the quick acquisition of wealth.