The Conquest of Bengal

Ruling the Countryside, The Company Becomes the Diwan, Mahalwari Settlement, Permanent Settlement etc.

Trade-in Bengal:

The first English factory was set up on the banks of the Hugli river in 1651. This factory became the base from where the Company’s traders would operate. As the Company’s trade expanded, more and more merchants and traders came to settle near the factory. Soon, they started building a fortress in Madras known as Fort St. George. Problems arose when the British lay-ed off the Hugli River and challenged the Emperor. They ended up failing and resorted to flattery and humble pleas. Fort William completed construction which led to the establishment of Calcutta. The Company further bribed Mughal officials to give them zamindari rights to three villages, including Calcutta, and convinced Aurangzeb to allow the company the right to conduct trade duty-free.

Trade led to Battle:

After Aurangzeb’s death, the Bengal Nawabs came into power. They refused to give the Company concessions and asked for tributes in exchange for conducting trade in the state. They also denied the Company any rights to mint coins and asked them to stop the construction of further fortifications. The Company tried to make the situation favourable for itself by stating that trade could only be profitable if there were no taxation. It also said that the construction of settlements and fortifications was necessary for the expansion of trade. When both the parties couldn’t come to a conclusion, the conflicts led to the infamous Battle of Plassey.

Battle of Plassey

Afraid of losing control, the Company was desperately looking for a puppet ruler to take more control in the Bengal area. Meanwhile, in 1756, Nawab Alivardi Khan, died making Siraj Ud Daulah the Nawab of Bengal. Unfortunately for the English, Siraj Ud Daulah gained control of the English factory at Kasimbazar and then ventured to Calcutta to capture the Company’s fort. Robert Clive, who was the Company’s head, sent officials to Madras in hopes of negotiations. In 1757, after prolonged attempts at coming to a settlement, Clive led his army against Siraj Ud Daulah at Plassey. Robert Clive had secured his win by turning one of Siraj Ud Daulah’s ministers Mir Jafar against him, by promising him the seat of the Nawab after the Company’s win. The Battle of Plassey marked one of the first significant victories of the East India Company. After the defeat in the Battle of Plassey, Siraj Ud Daulah was assassinated, and Mir Jafar became the new Nawab.

Battle of Buxar

After Mir Jafar became the nawab, he got involved with the Dutch East India Company, which led to the East India Company supporting his son, Mir Qasim, as the new nawab. Due to the pressures by the Company, Mir Jafar resigned, and Mir Qasim became the nawab. But soon enough, he also wanted to rule independently. The Company realised that it was difficult to keep track of a puppet ruler, taking charge instead. In 1763, a battle broke out between the Company and Mir Qasim, later known as The Battle of Buxar. Mir Qasim fled to Awadh (known as Oudh then) and formed a confederacy with the Shuja-Ud-Daulah (Nawab of Awadh) and Shah Alam II (Mughal Emperor). The combined armies of Mir Qasim and Shuja-Ud-Daulah met with the British troops in 1764. The British armies defeated the joint armies, and Mir Qasim surrendered. The battle ended with the Treaty of Allahabad.

The Company Becomes Diwan

In August 1765, the East India Company became the Diwan of Bengal. Becoming a diwan meant that the Company had become the chief financial administrator of the territory under its control. After becoming diwan, the company started to set up revenue resources to meet the increasing needs of the company. They also had to set up a trading system to use the market to sell and buy products beneficial to them.

Permanent Settlement

Since all the revenue from the trade from Bengal was going to the Company, Bengal was facing a deep economic crisis. A terrible famine in 1770 ended up killing a third of the state’s population. Since the economy did not seem to get better, the Company grew uncertain of its revenue income. To improve the agriculture and the economy of the state, the Company introduced the Permanent Settlement. Under Permanent Settlement, the British would receive a fixed revenue that could not be changed in the future by the peasants. The Rajas and Taluqdars were regarded as the zamindars. The British assumed that this policy would lead to the zamindars investing more in the land to help the agriculture and bring a steady cash flow to the coffers. consequently, in greed, the zamindars didn’t care for the condition of the land and saved money for themselves

Mahalwari Settlement

In the early 19th century, the Company had realised that the Permanent Settlement system had many flaws, and a new system had to be devised. In 1822 a new system called the Mahalwari system was put into effect. According to this system, the revenue was supposed to be given to the village headman, also known as the mahal, instead of the zamindars. The revenue was also not fixed and revised periodically depending on the land and its conditions. This system became a central part of India.

Even though a new system was put into action, it didn’t last long. The revenue officials set the revenue too high to increase their income from the land. Since the peasants were unable to pay the revenue, most of them fled to the countryside, and villages became empty. The company officials had imagined that the new systems would make the peasant into flourishing farmers, but this was not the case.

Conclusion

We looked into how the British East India Company recruited the dismissed army leader of Siraj-ud-Daulah, Mir Jafar, to overthrow Siraj-ud-Daulah. Siraj-ud-Daulah was apprehended and killed. The Company ultimately won the fight, capturing the whole province of Bengal and installing Mir Jafar as Nawab of Bengal.

The Conquest of Bengal