Lecture 5 - Nawabs and British

The Independent Nawabs of Bengal
 In 1707 AD: Emperor Aurangazeb passed away in Delhi. The central rule had never been stronger
than during Aurangzeb’s rule, which had suddenly collapsed. As his heirs fought for the succession,
more destruction followed.
 As security for the Europeans trading company from the Mughal Empire evaporates, the
Europeans take a fateful step and decide to create their own military forces
‘Sipahi’ – ‘Soldier’ – ‘Sepoy’
They were mercenaries i.e.; they were paid to kill or engage in war.
 Europeans created small, trained, paid corps of subcontinental mercenaries to protect their
economic assets. They used the mercenaries to interfere in the internal affairs of the sub-continental
kingdoms (which emerge/reemerge after the collapse of the central rule).
 The mercenaries always managed to win because they were highly trained and disciplined.
 Meanwhile, in Kingdom of Mysore, rulers like Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan prepared their soldiers
to be taught by the French. Hence, their soldiers were French trained soldiers.
In this way, they became the main enemy of the Europeans.
 These coincided with the European wars of Global Supremacy being waged between Britain and
France and their allies in Europe, Americas and Africa.
 In 1686 AD, the English tried to attack the Mughal Empire and were nearly damaged and kicked
out of the sub-continent (during the rule of Aurangazeb). But in post 1707, they became stronger and
stronger at the expense of the subcontinental kingdoms and the French East India Company.
 After the death of Nizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad in 1784 AD, a series of succession wars broke
out in Deccan region which was known as Carnatic Wars. The British & French openly sided with
the various principalities & kingdoms, thus increasingly imposing themselves as ‘players’ in struggle.
 Most subcontinental rulers did not realize the danger posed the English-French rivalry. Bengal
and the Indian subcontinent had invaluable wealth and resources. The British and French could not
tolerate the presence of any other country to gain the Global Supremacy.
Murshid Quli Khan carves out an Independent Kingdom
 In 1710 AD, Murshid Quli Khan became the Chief Financial Administrator of Bengal. He was a
capable one and completely reorganized the system of governance.
 He brought in the Hindu Merchants and officials to run the administration too.
 Under his presence, flourishing in the trade was seen, including with the Europeans.
 He broke off from the Mughal System where the Farmers were the serfs i.e.; they were tied to the
land and could not be thrown out of the land.
 He introduced the precursor of ‘Zamindari’ or ‘Landlordism’ system where the farmers did not
have rights as they did under the Mughal System.
 In 1717 AD, he quietly broke away from the Mughal Rule, re-establishing an independent Bengal.
The capital was at Murshidabad, West Bengal. Bihar and Odisha were also part of the kingdom.
Bengal was one of the richest kingdoms in the Indian subcontinent.
 In 1717 AD, Emperor Farukhsiyar granted a royal firman or ‘license’ to the British to trade with
Bengal. The license allowed a duty-free imposition on the goods.
The problem was, the license applied only to the company goods and not to the goods of the
individual officials. So, when the officials claimed that their private goods were company goods, in
order to get them duty free, the Indian officials seized their goods.
 This created a tension as the Bengal revenue officials frequently clashed with the British officers
of the East India Company.
The Age of Nawab Alivardi Khan (1740 AD – 1756 AD)

 Murshid Quli Khan, an Independent Nawab, died in 1727 AD. The next two nawabs were
Shuja-ud-din- Left his governance to his advisor-Alivardi Khan
Sarfraz Khan- He was pious, but also an alcoholic.
 In 1740 AD, Alivardi Khan, the advisor of Shuja-ud-din was falsely accused by the court factions
of treason. He then took to battlefield against Sarfraz Khan, where he defeated & killed Sarfraz Khan.
 Alivardi Khan became the Nawab of Bengal. He was also a veteran administrator and an
experienced military commander. He was a very compassionate man. Even after the death of Sarfraz
Khan, he allowed the family of Sarfraz Khan to live as royals with their same status.
 A 16 years old reign began which was marred by attacks from neighboring Maratha confederacy
(Nagpur). The Marathas carried out 10 years of reign of terror against Bengal.
 In 1742 AD & 1745 AD, Maratha raiding parties reached Murshidabad.
 In 1751 AD, Bangal had to pay huge indemnity, but the Maratha ruler of Poona renounced treaty.
 Despite financial loses, Bengal continued to thrive. Though European trade was lucrative,
Alivardi Khan was a shrewd diplomat. He did not want to get involved in the European conflicts. His
only condition was that he British & French must not militarily fortify their training bases in Calcutta
and Pondicherry respectively. He gave the same advice of his successors.
 In 1756 AD, Alivardi Khan passed away of natural causes at the age of 84.
 His favorite grandson, Siraj-ud-Dawla, became the Nawab without any problems (which was
unusual for that time in the subcontinent).
 At the same time, the Seven Years’ War (1756 AD- 1763 AD) started in Europe between the
British and the French Empires as the European struggle for global supremacy.
 Siraj-ud-Dawla, the last independent ruler of Bengal, faced 3 enemies:
1.Shaukat Jang 2. Lady Ghaseti Begum 3. British
 In June 1756, the British refused to dismantle their fortifications at their base at Calcutta.
 Siraj then lead the Bengali Army to major victory over the British at Calcutta.

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The Independent Nawabs of Bengal

Murshid Quli Khan carves out an Independent Kingdom

The Age of Nawab Alivardi Khan (1740 AD – 1756 AD)

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