jkjslksplkspAfghan Rule, 1539-1576 started in Bengal in 1539 after the discomfiture of

humayun at Chausa at the hands of Sher Khan and ended in 1576 with the Mughal victory at
rajmahal over daud karrani. But long before Sher Khan (who assumed the title of sher shah
after his victory at Chausa) had wrested Bengal from Jahangir Quli Khan, the Mughal deputy,
in October 1539, the Afghans had entered the services of the Bengal sultans. Like the Sharqi
sultans of Jaunpur, the sultans of Bengal too used to recruit Afghans in their services. So by
the time Sher Shah conquered Bengal, the Afghans were no strangers. They now found their
own man on the throne, first of Bengal and Bihar and ultimately of the Indian empire. Bengal
under the Sur governors (1539-53 AD) Realising justly the importance of Bengal for his
empire building, Sher Shah paid his utmost attention for its proper administrative
reorganisation. He deposed his first governor Khizir Khan for treacherous activities within a
span of two years and, as a novel scheme, subdivided Bengal including Chittagong into a
number of smaller units, each under a separate muqta. He appointed Qazi Fadilat, a learned
scholar of Agra, as the supreme superintendent with a jurisdiction on all the subordinate
muqtas. Sher Shah's plan worked well and the Afghans became so permanently domiciled in
Bengal that its climate and culture had transformed them almost beyond recognition vis-a-vis
the non-Afghan Bengalis. Islam Shah (1545-53 AD), son and successor of Sher Shah,
wielded a very firm control over the whole of Bengal. But in his bid to further centralise the
administration he removed Qazi Fadilat and appointed as governor his own relative
Muhammad Khan Sur in 1545 AD. The new governor retained his position by successfully
chastising a rebel named Sulaiman Khan alias Kali Das Gajdani in 1546-48. Subsequently
when the unworthy Adil Shah had usurped the Afghan throne of Delhi by murdering Islam
Shah's son and successor Firuz Shah, Bengal governor Muhammad Sur deemed it below his
dignity to acknowledge the authority of the usurper and declared independence in 1553 AD
with the title of Sultan Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah Ghazi. His successors ruled Bengal up
to 1563 AD, when his line was brought to an end with the ascendancy of the Karrani Afghans
in Bengal. Karrani dynasty (1563-76 AD) The third quarter of the 16th century saw the rise
and fall of a new Afghan dynasty in eastern India. Son of Jamal Khan Karrani, who was a
Sahib-i-Jama and grandee of Afghan sultans like Sher Shah and Islam Shah, Taj Khan had to
his credit a long political career ever since the rise of Sher Shah in the beginning of 1540. His
steady rise to political eminence culminated in his assumption of sovereign status with the
capture of Gaur, capital of Bengal from the usurper Ghiyasuddin III in 1563 AD. Badauni
calls him the wisest and most learned man among the Afghans. Taj Khan was succeeded by
his brother sulaiman karrani in 1563 AD. His skilful discharge of sovereign authority till his
death in 1572 AD/980 AH earned him fame and glory. Sulaiman's initial measures included
his shifting of the capital of Bengal from Gaur to Tanda; the climate of Gaur being
detrimental to the health of both men and beasts. Highly ambitious by nature Sulaiman
Karrani was jealous of Fath Khan Batani who was predominant in south Bihar with the
famous fort of Rohtas as his headquarters. Through diplomatic maneuvers Sulaiman pacified
Fath Khan, who accepted service under Sulaiman until he was perfidiously put to death on
malicious charge of seditious correspondence with Sulaiman's enemies. The conquest of
Orissa by defeating Mukunda Deva in 1567 AD/975 AH was another feat of Sulaiman's
glorious and outstanding military career. Sulaiman then captured Kuch Bihar in 1568 AD.
The Afghans advanced as far as Tezpur and occupied a number of places in the environs and
outskirts of the Kuch capital.

Expediency and far-sightedness masked Sulaiman's relation with the Mughals. He displayed
unique statesmanship and skilful diplomacy by following the wise policy of placating the
Mughals with occasional gifts and presents as well as by the lip service of outward
submission with a promise to recite the khutba and strike the coins in the name of Akbar.
Sulaiman Shah Karrani died perhaps in October 1572 AD/980 AH. His son Bayazid Karrani
succeeded him. Bayazid as a prince had previously held out great promise for the future, but
now as the sultan he initiated a policy of harassment and persecution. The aggrieved party at
court had him murdered in less than a month's time and offered the throne to Bayazid's
younger brother Daud Khan Karrani. Daud's accession witnessed dissension among the
ncient Period The reconstruction of the history of Bengal in the pre-Muslim period is
difficult due to paucity of sources. The difficulty is felt more acutely for the earlier period,
down to the 4th century AD, when Bengal came under the Imperial Guptas. For this period
we have to depend on very scanty references in the Vedic, Epic and Puranic literature as well
as on the available archaeological evidence. From the Gupta period onwards we get written
records in the form of epigraphs and literature which contain information on the history of the
'region' of Bengal.

Background In the earliest period Bengal was known to be inhabited by different groups of
people, whose names came to be associated with the area inhabited by them. Thus the ancient
janapadas of vanga, pundra, radha and gauda came to be recognised as inhabited by non-
Aryan ethnic groups bearing those names. samatata was an important janapada in the trans-
Meghna region of Bangladesh in its southeastern part (Comilla-Noakhali area). The name of
this janapada was purely descriptive and had no ethnic connection. The Chittagong area with
its adjacent areas was known by the name of harikela. The existence of these janapadas is
known from later Vedic literature, as areas inhabited by non-Aryan people.

Aryan influence in ancient India came to be felt in the northwestern parts in the middle of the
second millennium BC and it took a long time for the Aryans to reach the eastern limits of the
subcontinent. Thus the people of Bengal felt the tide of Aryanisation quite late. From about
5th century BC it pushed into Bengal from the west and it took about one thousand years to
Aryanise the whole of Bengal. By the time Aryan influence reached Bengal, it had become
feeble during its long march through the entire area of northern India. Thus the pre-Aryan
elements in the culture of the people of Bengal got time to become deeply rooted and even
under Aryan influence, which was feeble, they retained many elements in their life and
culture which were non-Aryan and pre-Aryan.

Stone tools provide the earliest evidence of human settlements. Prehistoric stone implements
have been discovered in various parts of West Bengal in the districts of Midnapur, Bankura
and Burdwan. But it is difficult to determine, even approximately, the time when people
using them first settled in Bengal. It might have taken place ten thousand years (or even
more) ago. The original settlers were the non-Aryan ethnic groups- Nisadas or Austric or
Austro-Asiatics - who are now represented by the primitive peoples known as Kola, Bhil,
Santal, Shabara, Pulinda etc. At a subsequent age, peoples of two other ethnic stocks settled
in Bengal, whose languages were Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman.

Archaeological discoveries at pandu rajar dhibi in the valley of the Ajay river (near Bolpur)
in Burdwan district and in several other sites on the Ajay, Kunar and Kopai rivers have
thrown fresh light on Bengal's prehistory. Pandu Rajar Dhibi represents the ruins of a trading
township, which carried on trade not only with the interior regions of India, but also with the
countries of the Mediterranean world. The history of ancient Bengal from the 4th century AD
onwards, which appears to us in a more or less clear light, is the history of gradual
Aryanisation and Aryan domination, both from the political and cultural points of view.

Greek and Latin sources (3rd century BC - 1st century AD) refer to an eastern Indian
nation/state called 'Gangaridae' (Greek)/'Gangaridai' (Latin) which was very strong militarily.
Scholars have located 'Gangaridai' in parts of southern and southeastern Bengal, adjacent to
the mouths of the Ganges (Bhagirathi and Padma).

The mahasthan brahmi inscription, found in an excavated site of the old pundranagar, now

different factions of the Afghan nobility. Daud inaugurated his rule by first avenging his
brother's murder and punishing the regicide Hansu, the son of his uncle Khwaja Iliyas
Karrani. He assumed absolute sovereignty by having the khutba read and coins struck in his
own name to the utter displeasure of Akbar. Daud's next step was to appoint the leading noble
Lodi Khan to the governorship of Bihar and pacification of another potential noble Gujar
Khan who was about to install Bayazid's son as a rival claimant of the throne. Daud had his
general Lodi Khan murdered; Lodi's well wishers took his son Ismail to munim khan, the
Mughal governor, in order to provide for his safety. This dramatic turn of the situation
offered Munim Khan the opportunity to besiege Patna, which Daud immediately evacuated
and reached Katak in the farthest Orissa via Garhi, Tanda and Satgaon. The Mughals hotly
pursued him there, and war became inevitable. The battle of Tukaroi (3 March 1575) ended
thncient Period The reconstruction of the history of Bengal in the pre-Muslim period is
difficult due to paucity of sources. The difficulty is felt more acutely for the earlier period,
down to the 4th century AD, when Bengal came under the Imperial Guptas. For this period
we have to depend on very scanty references in the Vedic, Epic and Puranic literature as well
as on the available archaeological evidence. From the Gupta period onwards we get written
records in the form of epigraphs and literature which contain information on the history of the
'region' of Bengal.

Background In the earliest period Bengal was known to be inhabited by different groups of
people, whose names came to be associated with the area inhabited by them. Thus the ancient
janapadas of vanga, pundra, radha and gauda came to be recognised as inhabited by non-
Aryan ethnic groups bearing those names. samatata was an important janapada in the trans-
Meghna region of Bangladesh in its southeastern part (Comilla-Noakhali area). The name of
this janapada was purely descriptive and had no ethnic connection. The Chittagong area with
its adjacent areas was known by the name of harikela. The existence of these janapadas is
known from later Vedic literature, as areas inhabited by non-Aryan people.
Aryan influence in ancient India came to be felt in the northwestern parts in the middle of the
second millennium BC and it took a long time for the Aryans to reach the eastern limits of the
subcontinent. Thus the people of Bengal felt the tide of Aryanisation quite late. From about
5th century BC it pushed into Bengal from the west and it took about one thousand years to
Aryanise the whole of Bengal. By the time Aryan influence reached Bengal, it had become
feeble during its long march through the entire area of northern India. Thus the pre-Aryan
elements in the culture of the people of Bengal got time to become deeply rooted and even
under Aryan influence, which was feeble, they retained many elements in their life and
culture which were non-Aryan and pre-Aryan.

Stone tools provide the earliest evidence of human settlements. Prehistoric stone implements
have been discovered in various parts of West Bengal in the districts of Midnapur, Bankura
and Burdwan. But it is difficult to determine, even approximately, the time when people
using them first settled in Bengal. It might have taken place ten thousand years (or even
more) ago. The original settlers were the non-Aryan ethnic groups- Nisadas or Austric or
Austro-Asiatics - who are now represented by the primitive peoples known as Kola, Bhil,
Santal, Shabara, Pulinda etc. At a subsequent age, peoples of two other ethnic stocks settled
in Bengal, whose languages were Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman.

Archaeological discoveries at pandu rajar dhibi in the valley of the Ajay river (near Bolpur)
in Burdwan district and in several other sites on the Ajay, Kunar and Kopai rivers have
thrown fresh light on Bengal's prehistory. Pandu Rajar Dhibi represents the ruins of a trading
township, which carried on trade not only with the interior regions of India, but also with the
countries of the Mediterranean world. The history of ancient Bengal from the 4th century AD
onwards, which appears to us in a more or less clear light, is the history of gradual
Aryanisation and Aryan domination, both from the political and cultural points of view.

Greek and Latin sources (3rd century BC - 1st century AD) refer to an eastern Indian
nation/state called 'Gangaridae' (Greek)/'Gangaridai' (Latin) which was very strong militarily.
Scholars have located 'Gangaridai' in parts of southern and southeastern Bengal, adjacent to
the mouths of the Ganges (Bhagirathi and Padma).

The mahasthan brahmi inscription, found in an excavated site of the old pundranagar, now

rough signing of the Peace Treaty of Katak whereby Daud is said to have agreed to become a
Mughal feudatory committing himself never to revolt. Munim Khan's death brought Husain
Quli Khan Jahan, nephew of the famous Bairam Khan, in the Mughal war-front as the new
governor. Both sides were in a frenzy of battle cry. The battle of rajmahal, fought on 12 July
1576 AD, sealed Daud's fate. He was captured alive and taken before Khan-i-Jahan who
ordered his execution. [Mohammad Ibrahim]

Bibliography JN Sarkar (ed), History of Bengal, II, Dhaka, 1948; MA Rahim, History of the Afghans
in India, Karachi, 1961; M Ibrahim, Afghan Rule in Eastern India (1535-1612), Unpublished PhD
Thesis, Aligarh Muslim University, India, 1986. Mughal period upto 1757 Mughal rule was
established in Bengal after the defeat of the Karrani Afghan Sultan Daud Khan in the battle of
Rajmahal, 12 July 1576 at the hands of Khan Jahan. With Khan Jahan's victory over Daud Khan,
the Mughals made determined and sustained efforts to establish their authority over Bengal,
till ultimately in 1612, Islam Khan Chishti, the subahdar of jahangir, brought the whole of
Bengal (except Chittagong) under the Mughal control. With Daud Khan's defeat ended the
Sultanate rule in Bengal, but this in no way meant the end of Bengali resistance to the
imperial power. Different military chieftains and bhuiyans, some of whom were powerful
enough to be styled as rajas (kings), controlled different pockets of Bengal. They tried to
resist the Mughal aggression as independent or semi-independent chieftains. Among those
who resisted the Mughals, some bhuiyans, known as bara-bhuiyans (twelve territorial
landholders) stand out prominent. The rajas, bhuiyans and the zamindars who put up stubborn
resistance to the Mughals were many, about 36. The bara-bhuiyans resisted the Mughal
aggresion for several decades. The chief of the bara-bhuiyans was Isa Khan who assumed the
title of Masnad-i-Ala. He combined with other bhuiyans and led them in the struggle against
the Mughals till his death in 1599. Isa Khan's son musa khan took the leadership of the bara
bhuiyans and put up a stubborn resistance to the Mughals. But they were at last forced to
submit to the imperial armies led by Subahdar Islam Khan Chishti in the reign of Emperor
Jahangir. After Jahangir's accession, Islam Khan took up the task of subjugating the remnant
resisting elements. For political reason, he transferred the capital from Rajmahal to Dhaka.
The bara-bhuiyans were then finally defeated. As a political strategy, the defeated bhuiyans
and chiefs were not allowed to retain their principalities under their control. Instead, they
were motivated to work under the Mughals. After conquering Bhulua and driving its ruler,
Raja Ananta Manikya across the Feni River towards Arakan, Islam Khan sent a large army
against Khwaja Usman Khan Afghan of Sylhet who was defeated and killed. With that ended
Bengal's resistance to Mughal expansion. During the last two years of Jahangir's reign, the
Bengal administration had to face the Arakanese Magh raids into coastal Bengal. The first
subahdar of Emperor shahjahan, qasim khan jwini (husband of Manija Begum, Nurjahan's
sister), recovered Hughli from Portuguese occupation in 1632. Later, they were allowed to
return, but with the condition of respecting the Mughal authority. Subahdar islam khan
mashhadi met the challenge of the Ahom king in the Kamarupa frontier and forced him to
sign a treaty of non-aggression in 1639. Then came Prince shah shuja, who was a subahdar
for twenty years (1639-1658), when the province enjoyed uninterrupted peace., Aurangzeb
and Murad. Each of them wanted the throne by denying the claim of others. Shuja enthroned
himself, but after long struggles, first against Dara and then against Aurangzeb, was defeated
in 1660, fled from Bengal and took shelter with the king of Arakan. The king of Arakan
brutally murdered him in 1661 to seize the treasure in his possession. mir jumla, who had
come to Bengal at the heels of Shah Shuja, was appointed subahdar. Taking his position in
Dhaka, Mir Jumla went to suppress the rebellion of Raja of Kuchbihar and punish the king of
Assam, who had grabbed a part of Kamarupa during the war of succession. He occupied the
Kuch capital Kamtapur, and drove out the Raja Pran Narayan and then proceeded to Assam.
The Ahom king could not resist him. The subahdar occupied his capital, Garhgaon and
pressed forward. He stayed at Garhgaon during the rains, but due to damp climate, he fell
seriously ill. The Mughals suffered due to shortage of ration, many soldiers and horses were
lost and during the rains the Ahom army also harassed them. Mir Jumla thought it wise to
make a treaty with the enemy. The treaty was to his advantage, the Ahom king agreeing to
surrender gold and silver and portion of his territory. But Mir Jumla died on his way back, a
little away from Khizrpur (near Narayanganj) on 30 March 1663. shaista khan was appointed
the next subahdar of Bengal who belonged to the family of Nur Jahan. He was a son of Asaf
Khan and a brother of Mumtaz Mahal, queen of Shahjahan, i. e. he was a maternal uncle of
the Emperor Aurangzeb. He was not only of noble birth, but also an accomplished Persian
poet and scholar and a great general. He served in various parts of the empire before taking
the assignment in Bengal. Shaista Khan ruled Bengal for twenty-two years with a break for a
little more than one year during which time azam khan koka (Fidai Khan) and Prince
muhammad azam became subahdar one after another. Shaista Khan first reached Bengal in
March 1664 and completed his first term of office in early 1678. His second term of office
began on 13 October 1679 and ended in June 1688. Shaista Khan was already 63 when he
first came to Bengal, after 24 years when he left Bengal for good he was 87. Though past 60,
he ruled Bengal with vigour, but the English merchant William Hadges who saw him in 1683
reports that he was very old and feeble. He was accompanied by a few grown up and gifted
sons who helped him in administering the country. His sons were Buzurg Umed Khan,
Aqidat Khan, Jafar Khan, Abu Nasr Khan and Iradat Khan. They held charge of different
sarkars or divisions, the father and the children sharing the administration and they ruled the
country worthily.

Shaista Kahn's greatest fame in Bengal lay in his conquest of Chittagong. The Magh king of
Arakan with the aid of Portuguese pirates attacked the Mughal province of Bengal whenever
he found an opportunity. Moreover, the Portuguese pirates used to attack the coastal regions,
looted property and enslaved men, women and children. The Portuguese piracy was a regular
menace. So Shaista Khan's policy was to make the area safe by wresting Chittagong from the
king of Arakan and also to save the coastal area from the menace of the pirates and making it
a part of the empire. Soon he conquered Chittagong and made the whole region free from the
Arakanese raids.

Shaista Khan was succeeded by Mir Malik Husain entitled Khan Jahan Bahadur, a foster
brother of Aurangzeb. He was a man of weak character and was not equal to the dignity of a
subahdar. His tenure was less than a year and he was replaced by ibrahim khan, son of the
celebrated Amir-ul-Umara Ali Mardan Khan, the grand noble of the time of Shahjahan. In his
time shobha singh of Benares revolted and began plundering raids to the neighboring
districts. In his plundering Shobha Singh was joined by rahim khan, an Afghan chief of
Orissa and both plundered and looted an extensive area in Burdwan, Hugli and Murshidabad
districts up to Rajmahal. They attacked the Hugli fort and the faujdar of the place fled for life.
Ibrahim Khan was a man of mild disposition. He could do little to subdue the rebels.
However, the dutch company from chinsura first blocked the path of the rebels and drove
them away from Hughli. Zabardast Khan, son of Ibrahim Khan took the field on the side of
the Mughals. He cleared the whole area up to Burdwan. The rebels fled towards the hills and
jungles of Midnapore and Chandrakona.

Aurangzeb removed Ibrahim Khan and appointed in his place Prince Muhammad Azimuddin,
his grandson. Azimuddin, later entitled azim-us-shan, was a son of Prince Muhammad
Muazzam, later emperor Shah Alam Bahadur Shah (1707-1712). Azim-ush-Shan, on his way
to Dhaka first visited Burdwan, completely destroyed the rebels, consoled the affected people
and rehabilitated the displaced zamindars. Azim-ush-Shan utilised his tenure in Bengal in
amassing money, by whatever means he could, because he was sure about a war of
succession after the death of Auranzeb. In lieu of cash gift, he first permitted the English east
india company to purchase from the owners, the three villages of Sutanuti, Govindpur and
Kalikata in 1698 and thus paving the way to the ultimate establishment of British rule in India
within half a century.

One very important event of Azim-us-Shan's subadari was his quarrel with the diwan,
murshid quli khan. To avoid his presence, Murshid Quli Khan shifted his diwani to
Murshidabad, and the subahdar later shifted his nizamat to Patna. Dhaka thus lost the glory of
being the capital of Mughal Bengal. It is asserted by many scholars that the prosperity of
Dhaka and its hinterland Eastern Bengal began to decline since the transfer of the government
agencies to Murshidabad and Patna.

Murshid Quli Khan, blessed by the support of Auranzeb, became the virtual ruler of Bengal
subah. He was appointed subahdar of Orissa, diwan of three provinces, Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa and faujdar of five districts Murshidabad, Sylhet, Midnapur, Burdwan and Katak.
After the death of Aurangzeb during the reign of Shah Alam Bahadur Shah, he was
transferred to south India, but he was appointed diwan of Bengal again in 1710. From this
time onward he remained in Bengal till his death in 1727. He made the Bengal economy
dynamic and paid imperial dues regularly. So, in 1716, Murshid Quli Khan became the
subahdar of Bengal. During his subahdari Bengal flourished economically. The foreigners
who came to participate in Bengal export trade were forced to observe the law of the land.

Murshid Quli Khan, though he paid tributes to the centre regularly, became practically an
independent nawab. So at the time of his death he nominated his grandson (from daughter's
side) sarfaraz khan to succeed him. And accordingly he became the nawab of Bengal in 1727.
But soon he was ousted by his father, shujauddin muhammad khan, who became the nawab
of Bengal in the same year. Shujauddin Khan, at the time of his death, nominated his son
Sharfaraz Khan to the masnad in 1739. But Sarfaraz was a weak ruler and alivardi khan
ousted him in 1740.

Alivardi Khan's rule was marked by annual maratha raids. He had to buy peace with the
Marathas, by practically ceding Orissa to Mir Habib who was under the influence of the
Marathas and paying 12 lakhs of rupees to the Marathas annually as chauth. Alivardi was a
kind man and skilful ruler, he developed a puritanical temperament and unlike others of the
time he was not addicted to debauchery or drunkenness. The rise of the banking family, the
jagat sheth, was a remarkable feature of his regime. It was the Sheths who were mainly
responsible for the political change that occurred through the staged battle of palashi in 1757.
Alivardi Khan died on 10 April 1756 at the age of 80. Earlier he nominated sirajuddaula, his
grandson from daughter's side, to the throne.

Sirajuddaula, the new nawab was only 23 when he ascended the throne of Bengal. Soon he
found himself surrounded by enemies, local and foreign. In his own house his greatest enemy
was ghaseti begum (Meherun-Nisa), the eldest sister of his mother. shawkat jang, his cousin,
living in Purnia, was another great rival. Then there was mir jafar ali khan who was the
commander-in-chief of Alivardi's army. He also was the husband of a half-sister of Alivardi
Khan. Most dangerous was the Jagath Sheth family which controlled the Bengal money
market and who had many sympathisers in the Durbar. The greatest enemy was the English
East India Company, which was quite openly ignoring the nawab. Without taking any
permission from the nawab they were fortifying the fort william of Calcutta and taking other
military preparations. The Fort William was made a safe haven for the criminals and violators
of the law of the land.

To bring the English under law, Nawab Sirajuddaula attacked Calcutta. The English left the
city for Fulta wherefrom they came back being reinforced from Madras. Colonel Robert clive
entered into a conspiracy with the disaffected officials of the nawab, Mir Jafar, Jagat Sheth,
Rajballabh and others. The Fort William Council agreed to a secret treaty with Mir Jafar
promising to place him on the throne, and the latter agreeing to grant territorial, financial and
trade facilities to the English. Armed with this treaty and the treachery of Mir Jafar and
others, Clive arrived at Palashi and took position on 23 June 1757. Siraj also came to the
place to encounter the company's army. But to his dismay he found that the larger part of his
own army defied his command and stood silent. Siraj fled from the field, but was captured
and brought back to the capital and killed. Clive, in accordance with the terms of the secret
pact, placed Mir Jafar on the throne. The Mughal sovereignty was virtually over with the
event of Palashi though the English took a decade more to assert real power.

Revenue administration Mughal revenue administration in Bengal was elaborately chalked

out. It was made separate from the general administration, the latter was called nizamat while
the former was designated as diwani. While the general administration including defence and
warfare and maintenance of peace was in the hands of Nazim or subahdar, the revenue
administration was under the diwan. The latter was lower than the subahdar in rank, but he
was completely independent in financial and revenue matters, being under the control of the
Central diwan. The rule for separation of powers and duties was made to safeguard imperial
interests and those of the raiyats, zamindars, taluqdars, ie those who were connected with
land. The emperor from time to time embodying these rules issued orders. The first example
of revenue figures is found in what is known as Todar Mal's bandobast or settlement. But this
was nothing more than paper for, in 1582, when Todar Mal made the settlement, the major
portion of Bengal was outside Mughal control. It is therefore presumed that Todar Mal just
copied the revenue figures prevailing in the pre-Mughal period.
Todar Mal divided Bengal (including Chittagong, which came under the Mughal control 84
years later) into 19 Sarkars, and each Sarkar was divided into a number of Parganas. The
revenues were again divided into mal or land revenue and sair or sayer, which included all
kinds of collection, like custom duty and other sundry duties, excluding the land revenue. In
the Mughal system, lands were also divided into Khalsa and jagir. Khalsa lands were directly
administered by the state through the diwan and his staff. Jagir lands were those which were
assigned to the officers, civil or military, in lieu of their services, i.e. they were paid by jagirs.
In the later period lands were assigned to establishments like the Nawwara (navy), kheda
(catching elephants), Amla-i-Asham (or military establishment for guarding the eastern
frontier). Lands were also endowed for maintenance of religious institutions and were granted
to religious persons like saints, sufis etc as means of their subsistence. An important feature
of the revenue administration was the existence of zamindars, who acted as middlemen
between the rayats and the government. The collection of revenues was no great problem for
the government, the main problem was fixation of the rate of revenue to be collected from the
rayats and the amount to be paid by the collectors/zamindars to the government exchequer.
The diwan and his staff remained busy in settling this issue keeping in view the loss of crops
due to weather condition, the land erosion caused by flood and change of river course, change
of agricultural lands to fallow lands etc. They also decided cases where taqavi or agricultural
loans had to be sanctioned. The Mughal revenue system was designed to achieve the double
purpose of collecting as much revenue as possible and at the same time keeping the rayats
happy and content so that they might prosper and bring more and more land under the
plough.

In Todar Mal's settlement the total Bengal revenues was a little more than one crore rupees
from both Khalsa and Jagir lands. In Jahangir's time the whole of Bengal (except Chittagong)
and Kamarupa were brought under Mughal rule and Todar Mal's settlement actually worked
and necessary adjustments were made determining the real worth of the land. In Shah Shuja's
settlement of 1658, there was an increase of revenue by about 15.5% in 76 years after Todar
Mal's time. Murshid Quli Khan made the next settlement in 1722, this time the increase was
by another 10%. Murshid Quli's system was know as Mal-Jamini which probably meant that
he made the zamindar stand security to realise and pay revenues regularly and in time.

In the collection of revenues, Murshid Quli Khan was harsh, at times to the extent of
brutality. He divided Bengal into 13 Chaklas, but his chakla system did not survive long. He
also established punya, i.e. at the end of the Bengali year on a fixed day Punya was held and
zamindars, taluqdars etc. were asked to clear their payments on that day. The punya system
survived and continued until the abolition of zamindari in the early Pakistan days (1951).
Murshid Quli Khan also introduced a new cess, abwab-i-khashnavisi. The Mughal emperors
always prohibited the imposition of abwabs, because though they were imposed on the
zamindars, the latter realised the same from the rayats. Later Nazims followed Murshid Quli
Khan. Shujauddin, Alivardi and mir qasim, all imposed cesses and by the time of Mir Qusim
the total receipt of the government almost doubled.

With the coming of the Mughals Bengal witnessed the working of certain new forces in her
social, economic and cultural life. These forces transformed Bengal's life and thought and as
has been nicely put by one scholar, 'the outer world came to Bengal and Bengal went out of
herself to the outer world. Unlike the previous period, when she enjoyed independence, free
from outside control, Bengal now became a part, a province of the centralised Mughal
government, under one administration, one law, one official language, a uniform official
cadre and uniform currency. Muslims from various countries came to Bengal from the
beginning, but with the introduction of Mughal rule and with the prospect of peace, prospect
of employment opportunities also increased. So scholarly Muslims, i.e. those who pursued
peaceful life, like the ulama, teachers, poets, physicians and merchants came to Bengal in
larger number. There also came the Shia ulama and scholars in the train of Shia political
leaders, subahdars, diwans and others.

Some very prominent Mughal subahdars were Shias. Murshid Quli Khan had practically
established a Shia dynasty ever ready to welcome the talented and pious Shias. Names of
many Persian poets are found who either made Bengal their permanent home or passed a part
of their career in Bengal under the patronage of the subahdars and other high officers. Persian
became the official language and not only Persian literature was produced in the country but
also Persian language influenced local Bengali language. Bengali poets borrowed Persian
themes and Persian words in large number have entered into the local language. State revenue
service was more elaborate than before and so the zamindars, muqaddams, patwaris, i.e. all
those locals connected with the revenue service had to learn Persian language in which the
accounts were maintained. Unlike the Bengal sultans, Mughal subahdars came to Bengal for
particular terms. So they had neither the aptitude nor the time to learn local language, and
hence the agents of local zamindars stationed at the court had to be masters of Persian
language.

During early Mughal rule, higher posts in the revenue department were reserved for Muslims
and Hindus coming from upper India like the Khatirs, Lalas etc., but later, particularly from
the time of Murshid Quli Khan, these high posts passed into the hands of the Hindus. In
Murshid Quli's time the chief qanungos were Darpa Narayan and Krishna Narayan, the chief
of the mint was Raghunandan; in the time of Shujauddin the diwan was Rai Raiyan Alam
Chand, who was also a member of the advisory council; in the time of Alivardi prominent
Hindu officers were Janakiram, Durlabhram, Ram Narain, Kirat Chand, Ummid Rai, Bira
Dutta, Ramram Singh and Gokul Chand; in the time of Sirajuddaula,nanda kumar and Omi
Chand etc. With the growth of trade and commerce came the Marwari Banking families like
the family of Jagat Sheth; some zamindars, for example the zamindar of Burdwan also came
from upper India. In trade and commerce also Bengal's isolation was broken, she now took
greater part in inter-provincial trade, the inland trade carried Bengal goods to Patna, Agra,
Delhi and to Multan, while the sea-borne trade carried the goods to Balasore, Katak, Madras
and so on.

In trade and commerce, Bengal came to limelight in history by her international trade. During
the early Muslim-period, Bengal's products could be sold for money to a small extent. The
foreign merchants buying the goods were Chinese, Malayese, Arabs and Persians. Among the
European traders, the Portuguese came first and opened trade in the first quarter of the 16th
century. They first appeared at Chittagong, and after many vicissitudes, got permission to
trade with Bengal. But they prospered when, with the permission from the Mughal emperor
Akbar, they established a settlement at Hugli in 1580. The Portuguese established their
supremacy in the sea, and being unrivalled got enormous profits out of their trade with
Bengal. But soon the Portuguese degenerated, by the first quarter of the 17th century their
power and trade began to decline. Their indulgence in piratical and proselytising activities
invited retaliation from the Mughals, but the main cause of their decline was the competition
with other European companies.
The Dutch East India Company started their trade with Bengal from their base at
Masaulipatam in the Coromandel coast in the beginning of the 17th century, the English East
India Company followed them. Both the companies prospered in their trade with the
privileges received from the Mughal government. They established their factories near Hugli
in the bank of river Bhagirathi, the Dutch at Chinsura and the English at Hughli. Later the
English moved to Calcutta, and when the French company came, they established their
factory at Chandernagar. During the rebellion of Shobha Singh, all the companies fortified
themselves against possible attack, and with the permission of subahdar Azimuddin, the
English purchased from their owners the three villages of Sutanuti, Govindpur and Kolkata
and laid the foundation of the city of Calcutta. Later came the ostend company and from 17th
to 18th centuries Bengal's overseas trade increased by leaps and bounds. The companies
exported from Bengal salt-petre, ingredients of making gunpowder, abundantly available in
Lalganj, North-Bihar. Other goods that were exported from Bengal were fine cotton goods,
coarse cotton textiles, silk and silk-textiles, indigo, Lac, rice (for Asiatic countries and to be
used as ballast).