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The East India Company started their settlement in Bengal in 1651. In 1651, East India Company established a factory and warehouse on the banks of river Hubli. They expanded their establishment and constructed Fort William. They took control of three villages in Bengal by bribery and struck a deal with the then Mughal Emperor of the land. One of these villages is current-day Kolkata.
The Rise of Conflicts Between Nawab of Bengal and British East India company
The trade concessions and privileges lead to huge revenue loss to the Bengal province. However, the Nawab of Bengal honoured the Mughal Emperor’s order.
But the Company started abusing its privileges and trade concessions. The tax-free trade was only for the Company’s trade transactions, and tax was required to be paid on any private transaction undertaken by an official or any other person.
The British East India Company illegally transferred this privilege to other traders, leading to a huge monetary loss for Bengal.
With the demise of Aurangzeb, Bengal became independent of the Mughal empire. With liberation, the Nawab of Bengal attained autonomy and withdrew all the privileges of the British East India Company and demanded huge taxes on trade and ordered them to withdraw their settlements. Same Orders were issued to French and Dutch settlers, which they obeyed.
The Company disobeyed the Nawab’s order and claimed that the policies were detrimental to trade and that they needed to buy villages and expand their settlements to flourish in trade.
Moreover, the Company had a hidden agenda of establishing a puppet Nawab in Bengal that they would control. With this motive, they planned to support Siraj-ud-Daulah’s rivals to overthrow him.
With this, Siraj-ud-Daulah was infuriated by the disobedience of orders and meddling in politics. He attacked the British East India Company’s settlements and captured British officials and Fort Williams.
The East India Company had been well established in Madras. As the news travelled to the Madras, the Company officials sent forces under the leadership of Robert Clive.
The Battle of Plassey
Plassey, also known as Palashi, is a village on the east bank of the Bhagirathi river where the Battle of Plassey was fought in 1757. The battle was fought between the East India Company led by Robert Clive and Siraj-ud-Daulah and his French alliance.
The Battle was won not by the power of arms but by conspiracy. The Company had made a deal with Mir Jafar, the commander of Siraj-ud-Daulah, that if he betrayed the Nawab, the British would appoint him the Nawab of Bengal.
Thus the fate of battle was thus decided well in advance. During the battle, Mir Jafar and his troops didn’t participate, leading to the doom of Siraj-ud-Daulah.
Siraj-ud-Daulah was assassinated, and with the victory in the battle, Britishers became the kingmakers. Mir Jafar became the new Nawab of Bengal.
British traders emerged as the power and led to the demise of Nawab of Bengal with conspiracy. Furthermore, the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765 opened the path to British Rule in India.
The Battle of Buxar
Mir Jafar might have been the Nawab of Bengal, but he faced numerous problems.
First, he had to pay a hefty amount to the Britishers for the indemnification of war, and the Britishers continued to demand more funds. That puts a strain on state revenue. He could not pay regular salaries to his soldiers, and the Mughals attempted to capture Bengal. Moreover, Mir Jafar wanted to be free from the Britishers’ clutches and maintain the Nawab’s dignity.
Setting up a puppet Nawab was not much help for the East India Company. Being unsatisfied with Mir Jafar, East India Company replaced Mir Jafar with Mir Qasim.
Mir Qasim also denied becoming a puppet at the hands of the Britishers. He tried to appoint the people of his choice and managed the military as per his strategy. When Britishers tried to remove Mir Qasim as a Nawab, he didn’t go down easily; instead, he put up a fight against the East India Company. This became the reason for the Battle of Buxar.
Mir Qasim allied with Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal Emperor and fought against the British East India Company army led by Hector Munro. The British defeated the alliance, and this victory was the foundation of the British Empire in India.
Consequences of the Battles
The Battle of Buxar led to the Allahabad Treaty of 1765 between the Mughal Empire and the British East India Company. The sovereignty of Bengal was transferred to the Britishers. Now Britishers controlled Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The Treaty transferred the Diwani right to the Company, which is the right to collect tax. But the administrative rights were left to Nawabs. The Treaty made Britishers powerful and left the Nawabs merely as dummy kings.
Conclusion
The victory of the East India Company changed the political dynamics of Bengal and, in later years, affected India.
The Battle of Plassey, fought in 1757, was the first major victory of the Britishers in India. Battle of Buxar in 1764 led to the shift of control of Bengal to the Britishers. That was the start of two decades of British rule in India.
