When and how did the British acquire Bengal? Paper V

Bengal was the richest province of the eighteenth century. English east India Company benefited most from this province. It is, thus, natural for the English East India Company to strengthen its position in Bengal. They had some advantages there as the headquarter of the Company in India was at Calcutta. The Dutch and the French were present in Bengal only through their sub-ordinate factories, like Chinsura of Dutch and Chandernagar (Chandernagore) of the French.

Battle of Plassey

In 1756, Siraj-ud-daula became successor of Alivardi Khan. He was young and experienced; besides, he had many enemies within the family. The English east India Company and the French were fighting in the South. The English started fortifying Calcutta without the permission and knowledge of Nawab Siraj-ud-daula. Siraj ordered them to stop their enhancement of military preparedness but the Company refused to do so. The English were also misusing Dastak (free permit) based on the Mughal Firman, issued to them in 1717 by Farrukhsiyar. It was understood that the concessions allowed by the Mughals was only on those goods, which had been imported by the East India Company from Europe. The English officials had no right to claim immunity from duty for goods belonging to the servants of the east India Company. But its employees started using, rather misusing, the Dastak for personal trade, causing huge financial loss to the exchequer of Bengal. Besides, they also started selling the Dastaks to the Indian traders. Another complaint which Siraj had against the British was that they gave refuge to Krishna Das, son of Raja Rajballava his enemy’s man.

Siraj attacked Calcutta on June 16, 1756 and captured it on 20^th June. His large army and sudden attack surprised the English had already fled to Fulta, twenty miles lower down the river, but few of them were made captive and kept in a cell.

The Black Hole

The black Hole is the current term for the local ‘lockup’ in which the English captives were kept. J.Z. Howell, the defender of Calcutta and one of the survivors, narrated what happened in the call where British subjects were imprisoned. His version was that 146 prisoners were confined in a small room (18 feet by 14 feet) in the night of June (the time of the year when Calcutta is hot and humid). 123 died overnight of suffocation.

The whole story and the figure seem to be an exaggeration as the local (especially Persian) records do not support the claim made by Howell. This kind of propaganda against the Indian rulers was common in those days to prove them barbaric and to justify the British rule in India. In any case, Siraj was personally not involved in the so-called black Hole tragedy. This incident made the English at Chennai to send a relieving force under Robert Clive to Bengal. Clive entered into conspiracy with Mir Jafar, the Commander in-chief of Siraj. Clive marched towards Plassey, on 23 June 1757 which was near to the Nawab’s capital Murshidabad. As agreed earlier, Mir Jafar, the Chief Commander did not take up arms against the English army. On the other hand Nawab’s soldiers fled from the battlefield. Later, the Nawab was killed and Mir Jafar was made the Nawab of Bengal as promised by Clive.
                                              Results and Significance: 
Paved away for the British mastery of Bengal and eventually the whole of India. Boosted the prestige of the British and made them a major contender for the Indian empire. Enabled the Company and its servants to a mass untold wealth at the cost of the people of Bengal. Marked the beginning of the drain of wealth from India to Britain, that is, economic exploitation of India by the British.

Battle of Buxar

Mir Qasim was young, energetic and ambitious ruler. He wanted to be independent. He shifted his capital to Moghyr, a place far away from Calcutta. He also employed foreign experts to train his army. So quarrels broke out between him and the English. The English decided to overthrow him. It resulted in the Battle of Buxar 1764. The combined armies of Mir Qasim, Nizam-ud-daula, the Nawab of Oudh, and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II were defeated by the English General Major Munro.

The battle came to end with the Treaty of Allahabad, concluded in 1765. As per the treaty, the Province Oudh was return to Nizam-ud-daula. But he had to pay a war loss of Rs. 50 lakhs to the English. The districts of Kara and Allahabad were given to Shah Alam. Shah Alam was granted the Diwani Right of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the English. In turn, the English agreed to pay him a pension of Rupees 26 lakhs per year.

As a result of his success in Bengal, Robert Clive was appointed as the first Governor of Bengal (1758-1760). He consolidated the British power both in Bengal and in the Deccan. He introduced a new administrative system in Bengal called Dual or Double Government.

                                                     Results and Significance: 

Made the British De facto rulers of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa (Dual Government). Made the nawab of Oudh (Awadh) a dependent of the Company and the Mughal emperor its pensioner, thus raising the prestige of the Company. Demonstration of the superiority of the English in military skills and arms.