Theme 4Part A · The British conquest
The conquest of Bengal
1756 to 1772 · from Siraj ud Daula to the end of the dual government
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa formed the richest province of the Mughal empire. In sixteen years the English Company went from a trading tenant there to its real ruler, through two battles, three puppet nawabs and one treaty.
Event 11756 to 1757
Siraj ud Daula and the fall of Calcutta
Alivardi Khan died in April 1756 and his grandson Siraj ud Daula, about 23, became Nawab of Bengal. Within weeks he was at war with the English Company.
Why they quarrelled
Company servants used the duty free passes of 1717 for their private trade too, and sold them to Indian merchants, cheating the nawab of revenue.
Expecting war with France, the English and French fortified Calcutta and Chandernagore. Siraj ordered both to stop; the French obeyed, the English did not.
The English sheltered Krishna Das, son of an official who had fled with treasure, and refused to hand him over.
Swipe the map sideways to see all of it.
Siraj seizes the English factory at Kasimbazar and takes Calcutta on 20 June 1756, renaming it Alinagar. English prisoners are locked in a small room; Holwell's account of the "Black Hole" claims 123 of 146 died, a number historians doubt.
Clive and Admiral Watson sail from Madras and retake Calcutta (January 1757). Siraj signs the Treaty of Alinagar (February), restoring the Company's privileges. Clive then takes French Chandernagore (March).
Clive marches north with about 3,000 men to Plassey (Palashi) on the Bhagirathi. The nawab has perhaps 50,000, but his commander Mir Jafar has already agreed to change sides and his troops stand aside. Mir Madan and Mohan Lal fight loyally; when Mir Madan is killed, Siraj flees. He is caught and killed at Murshidabad.
The men who sold Siraj
- Mir Jafarcommander of the army; promised the throne
- Jagat Seththe great banking house of Murshidabad
- Rai Durlabha commander who held back his troops
- Amir Chand (Omichand)Calcutta merchant, cheated by Clive with a forged treaty
- Yar Lutf Khana commander in the plot
- Robert Cliveorganised the plot with William Watts
Event 21757 to 1763
Puppet nawabs: Mir Jafar and Mir Qasim
The Company had made a nawab; now it had to be paid. The next six years show how quickly a kingmaker becomes the real master.
- Mir Jafar1757 to 1760Pays the Company and its officers huge sums and grants the zamindari of the 24 Parganas; Clive gets a jagir. He cannot pay what he promised, and is replaced.
- Mir Qasim1760 to 1763Put in by Governor Vansittart in return for Burdwan, Midnapore and Chittagong. Able and independent: moves his capital to Monghyr, reforms the army and its finances, and then abolishes all internal duties so Indian traders compete equally with the English. War follows.
- Mir Jafar again1763 to 1765Restored by the Company; on his death his son Najm ud Daula is made nawab and hands over the army and administration.
Swipe the map sideways to see all of it.
Mir Qasim is beaten at Katwa, Giria and Udhua Nala near Rajmahal. As he retreats he has English prisoners killed at Patna, and escapes to Awadh.
Three powers join to drive out the English: Mir Qasim, Shuja ud Daula, Nawab of Awadh and the emperor's wazir, and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, who was living in Awadh. Their army of perhaps 40,000 marches to the Bihar border.
Hector Munro with about 7,000 men defeats them at Buxar on the Ganga. Unlike Plassey, this is a real battle, won by fighting. Shah Alam comes over to the English; Shuja flees and later submits.
Plassey 1757
A plot more than a battle. It gave the Company a puppet nawab and the money of Bengal, but the nawab was still the ruler in law.
Buxar 1764
A hard won victory over the Mughal emperor, the Nawab of Awadh and the Nawab of Bengal together. It made the Company the strongest power in north India and won it the diwani.
For the answer: Plassey opened the door, Buxar confirmed British power. Most historians rate Buxar the more decisive battle.
Event 31765 to 1772
The diwani and the dual government
Clive returned to India in 1765 and, at Allahabad, turned victory into a legal title. The Company became the revenue collector of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in the name of the Mughal emperor.
Swipe the map sideways to see all of it.
The Company holds the 24 Parganas around Calcutta as zamindar.
Add Burdwan, Midnapore and Chittagong, given by Mir Qasim.
The diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Kara and Allahabad go to Shah Alam II. Awadh is returned to Shuja ud Daula as a buffer state against the Marathas.
The two Treaties of Allahabad, 1765
| With Shah Alam II | With Shuja ud Daula | |
|---|---|---|
| Company gets | the diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa | ₹50 lakh as war indemnity |
| Company pays or gives | ₹26 lakh a year; Kara and Allahabad | Awadh back, except Kara and Allahabad |
| Also | emperor lives at Allahabad under Company protection | Company troops to defend Awadh at the nawab's cost |
The dual government, 1765 to 1772
- Companyholds the diwani: collects the revenue
- Deputy diwansMuhammad Reza Khan (Bengal) and Shitab Rai (Bihar) collect for it
- Nawabkeeps the nizamat: police and justice, with no money to pay for them
Power without responsibility for the Company; responsibility without power for the nawab.
Who's who14 people
People
Alivardi Khan
Nawab 1740 to 1756
Kept the Europeans in check; is said to have compared them to bees that sting if disturbed.
Siraj ud Daula
Nawab 1756 to 1757
Took Calcutta; defeated at Plassey and killed.
Mir Jafar
Nawab 1757 to 1760, 1763 to 1765
Betrayed Siraj; the Company's first puppet.
Mir Qasim
Nawab 1760 to 1763
Capable reformer who abolished internal duties; fought and lost.
Mir Madan and Mohan Lal
Siraj's commanders
Fought loyally at Plassey.
Jagat Seth
banker
Financed the Plassey plot.
Shuja ud Daula
Nawab of Awadh
Lost at Buxar; Awadh became a buffer state.
Shah Alam II
Mughal emperor
Granted the diwani at Allahabad (1765).
Robert Clive
Governor of Bengal
Plassey (1757) and the Treaties of Allahabad (1765).
Admiral Watson
Royal Navy
Retook Calcutta with Clive.
Henry Vansittart
Governor
Put Mir Qasim on the throne (1760).
Hector Munro
English commander
Won at Buxar (1764).
J. Z. Holwell
Company official
Wrote the disputed Black Hole account.
Muhammad Reza Khan
deputy diwan
Collected Bengal's revenue for the Company under the dual government.
Key terms8
Terms
- Diwani
- The right to collect land revenue and administer civil justice.
- Nizamat
- Police, criminal justice and defence: the nawab's side of the dual government.
- Dual government
- Clive's system of 1765 to 1772: diwani with the Company, nizamat with the nawab.
- 24 Parganas
- The district around Calcutta given to the Company as zamindari in 1757.
- Black Hole
- The small room at Fort William where English prisoners were held in June 1756.
- Buffer state
- A state kept between two powers to keep them apart; Awadh, between Bengal and the Marathas.
- Treaty of Alinagar
- February 1757; restored the Company's privileges in Bengal.
- Drain of wealth
- The flow of revenue out of India without an equal return, which began with the diwani.
Mains angleHistoriography
Was Plassey a revolution?
A turning point
Older British histories called Plassey a revolution: the start of British rule.
A palace coup
Later historians, including P. J. Marshall, see it as one of many Bengal court intrigues in which the Company took sides; the real change came with Buxar and the diwani.
For the answer: treat 1757 to 1765 as one process. Plassey made the Company kingmaker; Buxar and the diwani made it sovereign in fact.