Rani Bishnukumari's triumph over Braja, Warren Hastings, and her other enemies in 1775 must have warmed her heart. The quasi-public reunion with her son in the Company's own capital and her installation as head of the family's affairs had to be especially gratifying. By bringing the Burdwan presents to Company servants to the attention of the Council majority, the Court of Directors, and ultimately Parliament, she had reduced the likelihood that she and other zamindars would be squeezed in the future. The prospects for her and the zamindars seemed to be improving in other ways. Sentiment among both the majority and the minority on the Governor General's Council was moving away from short-term settlements with revenue farmers towards settlements of long duration with zamindars. In April 1775, Warren Hastings and Richard Barwell proposed that settlements should be made for one or two life-times. The following January, Philip Francis advocated a permanent settlement. Some Company servants also favored a reduction in the revenue demand in depopulated districts.

Nevertheless, formidable dangers for the rani lay ahead. Those dangers came from Calcutta as well as from within the Burdwan zamindari. In 1776, the Court of Directors refused “at present” to approve of life-time or perpetual leases, except for the raja of Dinajpur who was to be given a life tenure as an experiment. The remainder of Bengal's landholders received one-, two-, or three-year settlements through the following decade. Company officials were uncertain about the amounts at which to fix revenue settlements.