Sentence:  That the evils in India have solely arisen from the court of proprietors is grossly false. In many of these, the directors were heartily concurring; in most of them, they were encouraging, and sometimes commanding; in all they were <WSD>conniving</WSD>. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  "Often followed by" '''(at)''': to pretend to be ignorant of something in order to escape blame; to ignore or overlook a fault deliberately.