MIR JAFAR

SUBMITTED BY:
Tanushka shukla B.A. LL.B.(Hons.)
SUBMITTED TO:
Dr. Priya Darshini,
Faculty, Legal History

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

I hereby declare that the project entitled “Mir Jafar” submitted by me at CHANAKYA
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY is a record of bona fide project work carried out by me under
the guidance of our mentor Ms. Priya Darshini ma’am . I further declare that the work reported
in this project has not been submitted and will not be submitted, either in part or in full, for the
award of any other degree or diploma in the university or in any other university.

TANUSHKA SHUKLA

ROLL NO- 2169

B.A.L.L.B.(Hons.)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a fact that any research work prepared, compiled or formulated in isolation is inexplicable to
an extent . This research work, although prepared by me, is a culmination of efforts of a lot of
people who remained in veil, who gave their intense support and helped me in the completion of
this project.

Firstly, I am very grateful to, my subject teacher MS. Priya Darshini, without the kind support
and help of whom the completion of this project was a herculean task for me. I would like to
thank her for her valuable suggestions towards the making of this project.

I am highly indebted to my parents and friends for their kind co-operation and encouragement
which helped me in completion of this project. I am also thankful to the library staff of my
college which assisted me in acquiring the sources necessary for the compilation of my project.

Last but not the least; I would like to thank the Almighty who kept me mentally strong and in
good health to concentrate on my project and to complete it in time.

I thank all of them!

TANUSHKA SHUKLA

ROLL NO.-2169

B.A.LL.B. (Hons.)

SESSION: 2019-2024
Contents

DECLARATION.........................................................................................................................................2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...........................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................5
LIFE HISTORY OF MIR JAFAR........................................................................................................................7
ROLE OF MIR JAFAR IN BRITISH OCCUPATION OF BENGAL.......................................................................12
MIR JAFAR IN NAWAB YEARS...........................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................21
Subedar of the Nawab of Bengal...........................................................................................................22
Nawab of Bengal....................................................................................................................................22
BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................................................24
 INTRODUCTION

Mir Jafar was the first Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa under the British rule in
India. He succeeded Siraj-ud-Daulah. Mir Jafar or Sayyid Mir Muhammed Jafar
Ali Khan bears the formal title of Shuja ul-Mulk, Hashim ud-Daula, Nawab Jaafar
Ali Khan Bahadur, Mahabat Jang. He was the second son of Sayyid Ahmad Najafi.
He is remembered in India by the name of Gaddar-e-Hind. He took over the reign
as the eighth Nawab of Bengal and also counted as the first of Najafi dynasty. Mir
Jafar became the Nawab of Bengal by cheating Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daulah and
surrendered the Nawab’s army against Robert Clive in the battle field.

His rule is regarded as the initiation of the rule of British in India. It was a key
stem in the complete domination of British in India. He got a job in the army of the
Nawab and gradually promoted himself. Nawab Alivardi Khan afterwards married
off his half-sister Shah Khanam and provided 7000 horses to command. His early
military career was glorious. Mir Jafar rescued the nephew of Alivardi Khan, the
hapless Sauqat Jung, from the hold of Mirza Baqir at Katak. He also played a vital
role in various military campaigns of Alivardi Khan, against the Marathas and
against the earlier Nawab Murshid Quli Khan’s grandson. He was an ambitions
man. He had conspired along with Ataullah (the faujdar of Rajmahal) of murdering
Alivardi Khan. However, the conspiracy was disclosed and he was deprived of
most of his powers.

Thereafter he returned to Murshidabad and was successful to win the trust of Siraj-
UdDaulah, the grandson of the Nawab. There he conspired with Shawkat Jang to
invade Bengalwhich was again disclosed resulting in his replacement. There was a
pact between the British and Mir Jafar to overthrow Siraj in order to make him the
Nawab of Bengal. The British soldiers under the command of Robert Give
advanced to Murshidabad and confronted Siraj in the Battle of Plassey in the year
1757. Mir Jafar’s army betrayed Siraj-Ud-Daulah by denying fighting for him and
in the end Siraj was defeated and killed. Mir was made the new Nawab. However
he realised that the British had high expectations and he attempted to set free from
them with the help of the Dutch

The Dutch were defeated by the British and British retaliated by compelling Mir
to renounce the throne in favour of Mir Qasim, his son-in-law. Mir Qasim was
made the ruler but he did not bow to the British. The Company fought with him
and he was overthrown. Mir Jafar however was able to gain the confidence of the
British and he was again made the Nawab of Bengal in the year 1763. He was the
Nawab till he died in the year 1765.
 LIFE HISTORY OF MIR JAFAR

Mir Jafar Ali Khan Nawab of Bengal from 1757 to 1760 and again from 1763
to1765. Mir Jafar (full name Mir Jafar Ali Khan) was an Arab by descent and son
of Sayyed Ahmad Najafi. He came to India as a penniless adventurer like his
master Nawab ALIVARDI KHAN, who gave him the hand of his half-sister (Shah
Khanam) and raised him to the post of Bakhshi, a position next only to the nawab
himself.

Jafar Ali had gained a reputation for valour by his rapid march to rescue SHAWKAT
JANG near Katak before his defeated and fleeing captors could murder him (1741)
and later by a victory over the Marathas on 14 December 1746. But he proved his
cowardliness when in February 1747 he was ordered to make a stand against the
Marathas at Medenipur; he fled to Burdwan on hearing of the advance of the
Maratha forces under Bhonsle, and abandoned Medenipur to the Maratha ravagers.
Soon afterwards he entered into a conspiracy with Ataullah (the faujdar of
Rajmahal) to overthrow Alivardi. The conspiracy was unearthed and he was
dismissed along with his fellow conspirator.

But Mir Jafar’s designs did not stop there. Nawab SIRAJUDDAULA came to the
throne in a house divided against itself and hostile factionalism grew in the army
due to several factors including Mir Jafar’s ambition. Soon after Alivardi’s death
Mir Jafar sent a secret letter to Purnia urging Shawkat Jang to invade Bengal,
assuring him of his own support as well as the support of other disgruntled
elements in the army and the court of Murshidabad. His unbridled ambition drove
him to make a plan for the ouster of Sirajuddaula. With that aim in view he started
intrigues at the Delhi Imperial Court for a farman granting Shawkat Jang the three
eastern subahs.  

Mir Jafar Ali Khan

  
But he failed. Siraj reshuffled appointments, placing his own partisans in important
posts. Mir Jafar was replaced by Mir Madan as the bakhshi. When the English
decided to overthrow Sirajuddaula after the recapture of Calcutta, a conspiracy to
oust Sirajuddaula developed' with the help of the English in Calcutta. JAGAT
SHETH; Rai Durlabh, the former diwan, and Mir Jafar had joined hands with the
English to overthrow the nawab. Towards the end of April 1757 the English got
promises of cooperation from these conspirators, and on 1 May 1757 the Calcutta
Council agreed to a secret treaty with Mir Jafar, promising to place him on the
throne on certain conditions. WILLIAM WATTS, the chief of the English factory
at KASIMBAZAR, conducted and completed the conspiracy with remarkable
diplomatic skill, secrecy and courage. On 5 June 1757 he visited Mir Jafar and
obtained his oath of allegiance.

In the battle of PALASHI, on receiving the news of Mir Madan's fall, Sirajuddula
called Mir Jafar to his tent and begged his loyalty. Mir Jafar swore by the Holy
Quran to fight the English; advised the nawab to withdraw the troops from the field
and promised to fight with renewed vigour next morning. On coming out of the
nawab's tent to his own troops in the field, he sent a letter to ROBERT
CLIVE informing him of the nawab's helplessness and despair and urging the
English to advance at once and seize the camp.

Mir Jafar's treacherous advice worked. The nawab suspended the engagement of
his troops for the day and ordered the withdrawal. When the nawab's troops began
to withdraw Clive launched an assault upon the retiring troops. The vast cavalry
hordes of Mir Jafar, Durlabh Ram and Yar Latif were retiring further and further
away without having fired a single shot during the whole day, while Clive's
musketeers kept up a steady volley. Clive himself sprang forward to deliver the
decisive blow. The nawab's army fled in confusion. The nawab himself was forced
to flee, but soon after he was captured and put to death by one Muhammadi Beg
under orders from Mir Jafar's son, Miran. On 29 June Clive met Mir Jafar at
Sirajuddaula's Hirajhil Palace and there, in the presence of the great zamindars and
other courtiers, he led Mir Jafar by the hand to the masnad, and saluted him as the
nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, upon which the courtiers congratulated him
and paid him the usual homage.
As a reward the company was granted undisputed right to free trade in Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa. It also received the zamindari of the 24 Parganas near Calcutta.
Mir Jafar paid a sum of Rs. 17,700,000 as compensation to the company for
Sirajuddaula's attack on Calcutta and the traders of the city. In addition, he paid
large sums as 'gifts' to high officials of the company. Moreover, it was understood
that British merchants and officials would no longer be asked to pay any taxes on
their private trade. The company's officials wished to grasp all they could by using
Mir Jafar as a 'golden sack' into which they could dip their hands at pleasure.

Mir Jafar soon discovered that it was impossible to meet all the demands of the
company and its officials, who on their part, began to criticise the nawab for his
incapacity in fulfilling their expectations. Therefore, in October 1760, the company
forced Mir Jafar to abdicate in favour of his son-in-law, MIR QASIM. But soon the
independent spirit of Mir Qasim led to his overthrow and the English restored Mir
Jafar as nawab in 1763 and collected huge sums for the company and its high
officials. Mir Jafar's inglorious nawabship ended with his death in 1765.
[Mohammad Shah]
 ROLE OF MIR JAFAR IN BRITISH OCCUPATION OF BENGAL

The first major conflict of the British against an Indian power was in Bengal. The
history of Bengal from 1757 to 1765 is the history of gradual transfer of the power
from the nawabs to the British. During this short period of eight years three
nawabs, Siraj-ud- Daula, Mir Jafar and Mir Qasim ruled over Bengal but they
failed to uphold the sovereignty of the nawab and ultimately the reign of control
passed into the hands of the British .The British, unable to compete with the Asian
merchants in business, resorted to force, taking control of Bengal in 1757 under the
pretext of the “Plassey revolt”. The result was that the British achieved victory in
Bengal, for their use of force led to the decline of the very trade they so longed to
control. By the time Sirajud- Daula succeeded Ali Vardi Khan as nawab of Bengal
in 1756 trade privileges and their misuse by the Company and its officers had
already become an issue of conflict. There was a privilege which had been granted
to the Company for its export and import trade by the Mughal emperor
Farrukhsiyar. According to this Imperial farman, the Company had to pay Rs. 3000
a year and in return could carry on trade duty- free in Bengal. The Company’s
servants extended this privilege to their own coastal trade, inter- Asian trade and
finally the inland trade. This was an obvious usurpation. Certain other factors like
the fortification around Calcutta without the permission of the nawab and repeated
defiance of the nawab’s authority along with sheltering the offenders of the nawab
were the acts on the part of the English Company which provoked the nawab. The
Company officials also suspected that nawab was going to have an alliance with
the French in Bengal. Siraj-ud-Daula’s attack on Calcutta precipitated an open
conflict. The British retaliation started with hatching a conspiracy against the
nawab in alliance with his officers like Rai Durlabh, Ami Chand, Mir Jafar and
Jagat Seth. So English victory in the battle of Plassey (23 June, 1757) was pre-
decided. It was not the superiority of the military power but the conspiracy that
helped the English in wining the battle. Mir Jafar, The commander-in-chief of the
Nawab was awarded the Nawabship by Clive for his support to the English. Mir
Jafar responded by paying a sum of Rs.One Crore and Seventy Seven lakhs
(17,700,000) to the Company and large sums to the Company officers as bribe. But
Mir Jafar could not support the ever increasing demands of the English who were
also suspicious about his collaboration with the Dutch Trading Company. Mir
Jafar, who was made nawab after the battle of Plassey, was deposed in 1760. Mir
Qasim was placed on the throne by the British in the hope that he would be able to
meet their financial demands. The new Nawab assigned to them the district of
Burdawan, Midnapore and Chittagong for the expenses of the British army which
was to help him. This alliance was of great help to the British in their campaign
against the French in 1760–1761; the money paid by Mir Qasim helped the
Calcutta Council to finance their war in South. The Nawab succeeded in
establishing a better system of administration. But he came into conflict with the
British in Bengal on the question of a privilege i.e. duty free private trade of the
Company. Mir Qasim’s proposed plan about equal trade duties for British and
Indian traders was turned down by the British council at Calcutta. Mir Qasim, in
the circumstances, remitted all duties on Indians and the British alike for two years.
This measure deprived the British private traders of the privileged position they
had created for themselves, they could not compete with Indian traders on equal
terms. The Nawab’s attempts to reorganize the army and shifting of capital from
Murshidabad to Monghyr were also taken as unforgivable offences by the
Company. In June 1763 under Major Adams British army defeated Mir Qasim the
Nawab of Bengal. Mir Qasim fled to Patna and took help from Emperor Shah
Alam II and Shujaud-Daula (Who was Nawab of Awadh and also the Wazir of the
Mughal empire). Matters came to a head when the chief of the Company’s factory
at Patna, tried to seize the city. This precipitated war. Mir Qasim, an excellent civil
administrator, was no military leader. His army was defeated. When he was forced
to withdraw to Awadh, the Nawab Wazir and emperor Shah Alam II decided to
come to the defence of the eastern subas of the empire. The confederates advanced
to Patna, and a battle was fought at Buxar on October 22, 1764. With a decisive
victory at Buxar, the British army overran Awadh. The Nawab Wazir fled to the
Rohilla country, but Shah Alam II came to terms with the British. Lord Clive, then
British Governor in Calcutta, also concluded treaty of Allahabad with the Shuja-
ud-Daula Nawab Wazir of Awadh, who was to pay fifty lakhs of rupees for the
expenses of the war and was given back his dominions. He entered into defensive
alliance with the Company. Awadh became for the British a buffer state. Shah
Alam II was now a fugitive- Delhi had now fallen into the hands of the Rohilla
chief Najib-ud-daulah. The British gave emperor Shah Alam II possession of Kara
and Allahabad, while he granted them the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in
return for a regular annual payment of twenty- six lakhs of rupees
 MIR JAFAR IN NAWAB YEARS

Nawab Years
After the Battle of Plassey পলাশী on 23rd June 1757 AD, Clive placed Mir Jafar on
the viceregal throne at Murshidabad on 29th June 1757 AD. Clive met Mir Jafar at
Siraj-ud-Daulla's Heera JheelPalace and there, in the presence of the rajas and
other courtiers, he led Mir Jafar by the hand to the masnad, and saluted him as the
nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Qrissa, upon which the courtiers congratulated him
and paid him the usual homage.

As a reward the company was granted undisputed right to free trade in Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa. It also received theZamindari of the 24 Parganas near Calcutta.
Mir Jafar paid a sum of Rs. 17,700,000 as compensation to the company for Siraj-
ud-Daulla's attack on Calcutta and the traders of the city. In addition, he paid large
sums as 'gifts' to high officials of the company. Moreover, it was understood that
British merchants and officials would no longer be asked to pay any taxes on their
private trade. The company's officials wished to grasp all they could by using Mir
Jafar as a 'golden sack' into which they could dip their hands at pleasure.

The following is a copy of the Treaty (the original of which was in Persian)
between Clive on behalf of The East India Company and Mir Jafar upon being
invested with the Nawabship of Bengal :
"I swear by God and the Prophet of God, to abide by the terms of this Treaty whilst
I have life.
(Sd.) "Mir Mohamed Jafar Khan Bahadur,
"Servant to King Alamgir.
"1. Whatever at tides were agreed upon in the time of peace with the Nawab Siraj-
ud-Daulla, Mansur-al-Muluk, Shah Kuli Khan Bahadur Hybut Jang. I agree to
comply with."
"2. The enemies of the Enghsh are my enemies, whether they be Indians or
Europeans."
"3. All the effects and factories belonging to the French in the province of Bengal
(the Paradise of Nations) and Bihar, and Orissa, shall remain in the possession of
the English, nor will I ever allow them any more to settle in the Three Provinces."
"4. In consideration of the losses which the English Company have sustained by
the capture and plunder of Calcutta by the Nawab, and the charges occasioned by
the maintenance of the forces, I will give them one crore of rupees."
"5. For the effects plundered from the English inhabitants at Calcutta, I agree to
give fifty lacs of rupees."
"6. For the effects plundered from the Gentoos, Mussalman, and other subjects of
Calcutta, twenty lacs of rupees shall be given."
"7. For the effects plundered from the Armenian inhabitants of Calcutta, I will give
the sum of seven lacs of rupees. The distribution of the sums allotted to the natives,
the English inhabitants, Gentoos, and Mussalman, shall be left to the Admiral and
Colonel Clive (Sabut Jung Bahadur) and the rest of the Council, to be disposed of
by them to whom they think proper."
"8. Within the ditch which surrounds the borders of Calcutta are tracts of land
belonging to several zamindars; besides this. I will grant the English Company six
hundred yards without the ditch."
"9. All the land lying south of Calcutta, as far as Kulpi, shall be under the
zamindary of the English Company and all the Officers of those parts shall be
under their jurisdiction. The revenues to be paid by them (the Company) in the
same manner with other zamindars."
"10. Whenever I demand the English assistance, I will be at the charge of the
maintenance of them."
"11. I will not erect any new foitifications below Hoogly, near the river Ganges."
"12. As soon as I am established in the Government of the Three Provinces, the
aforesaid sums shall be faithfully paid. Dated 15th Ramzan, in the 4th year of the
reign."
** Additional Article **

"13. On condition that Mir Jafar Khan Bahadur shall solemnly ratify, confirm by
oath, and execute all the above articles, which the under-written on behalf of the
Honourable East India Company do, declaring on the Holy Gospels, and before
God, that we will assist Mir Jafar Khan Bahadur with all our force, to obtain the
subahship of the Provinces of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa; and further that we will
assist him to the utmost against all his enemies whatever, as Soon as he calls upon
us for that end; provided that he, on his coming to be Nawab, shall fulfill the
aforesaid articles."

But Mir Jafar failed to satisfy the constant demand of money from the British.
Many extravagant charges were brought against Mir Jafar in justification of his
deposition. Among these were his tyrannical, avaricious and indolent temper; his
retention of abject surroundings, the instruments of his vices, the removal of which
was necessary for good government; the banishment and slaughter of Khwaja
Hadi(Commander-in-Chief); the assassination of his general Mir Kazem at the
gates of the Palace; the slaughter of Yar Mohamed(the Superintendent of
buildings); the massacre of the survivors of the family of Alivardi Khan, Nawajesh
Muhammad Khan and Siraj-ud-Daulla, namely Ghaseti Begum, the widow of
Nawajesh Muhammad Khan, Amina Begum the mother of Siraj-ud-Daulla,Murad-
ud-Daulla who had been adopted by Nawajesh Muhammad Khan; Confinement of
Lutf-un-nisa Begum, widow of Siraj-ud-Daulla and her infant daughter Qudsia
Begum alias Umme Zohra, together with 70 women in the Jinjira palace at Dacca
after the battle of Plassey and accession of Mir Jafar; the imposition of heavy
taxes, to which was ascribed the unusual scarcity and dearness of provisions at
Murshidabad; and the non-payment of Salaries to the army. Tradition goes that
Ghaseti Begum and Amina Begum were taken out and drowned with their barge
into the Dhaleswari river (June 1760) at the instance of Mir Sadeq Ali Khan alias
Miran son of Mir Jafar.

In 1758 Clive discovered that Mir Jafar, through an agent, Khojah Wajid, had
made a treaty with the Dutch at Chinsurah. Dutch ships of war were seen in the
Hughli. Peace existed between the Dutch and English, but Clive heard that Dutch
troops had been sent for from Batavia. Mir Jafar was asked to direct the withdrawal
of the Dutch. The Nawab went to Hughli (Chinsurah), and from there sent word to
Clive that at the proper season the Dutch ships would depart. Clive was suspicious,
and when the Dutch ships attacked Fort Tanah south of Calcutta, he was ready for
them and repulsed them. They next attacked Captain Francis Forde in a fort below
Chinsurah (known as The Battle of Chinsurah or The Battle of Biderra). With an
order from Clive to back him up, Forde engaged the Dutch and defeated them.
Clive left India in 1760, and shortly after his departure Mir Qasim, as Mir Jafar's
Dewan visited Calcutta. The governorMr. Henry Vansittartproposed that as the
Nawab was old and not able to cope with the difficulties of administration, Mir
Qasim should act for him as Deputy-Nazim. Ultimately, in October 1760, the
company forced Mir Jafar to abdicate in favour of his son-in-law, Mir Qasim. But
soon the independent spirit of Mir Qasim led to his overthrow and the English
restored Mir Jafar as nawab in 1763 and collected huge sums for the company and
its high officials.

Mir Jafar being re-instated as Nawab, gave up to the English the revenues of
Burdwan, Midnapur, Chittagong, and paid five lakhs of rupees per month as the
pay of the English soldiers till to the end of war withShuja-ud-Daulla of Oudh.
Three lakhs of this Sum from the revenues of Bengal were allotted from the
Murshidabad treasury, and two lakhs from the Bihar revenue from the Patna
treasury. Mir Jafar entered Murshidabad on Sunday, July 24th, 1763. After
remaining six days at Murshidabad, and taking a loan of twenty-one lakhs of
rupees from the Jagat Seth's for the expenses of the war, and making Eruj Khan
(father-in-law of Siraj-ud-Daulla) his representative, he set out with the Nizamat
and English army to punish and quell Mir Qasim. Mir Jafar was at the head of
nearly nineteen thousand soldiers, of which twelve thousand were from the English
army. The Governor of Calcutta wrote a letter of congratulation to the re-instated
Nawab on his success in the contest with Mir Qasim : "Bengal now has come into
your hands, and the inhabitants, being freed from the oppression of Mir Qasim,
have come under your protection. If God please, the country will again flourish".

 Mir Jafar became the Nawab of Bengal two times. First he ruled from 1757
to 1760 AD, then from 1760 to 1763 AD his son-in-law Mir Qasim was the
Nawab. Again he became the Nawab on 25th July 1763 AD till his death on 17th
January 1765 AD. He was buried at Jafarganj Mokbara.

Mir Jafar built a palace at Jafarganj, though nothing remains of this palace only a
huge Deorhi (gate) speaks of the past. After the battle of Plassey Miran captured
and killed Siraj-ud-Daulla in a room inside this palace. From that time local people
call this gateNimak Haram Deorhi or the Traitor's gate.

He was a faithful friend of Lord Clive, to whom he left an enormous legacy known
as the Nurjashim 'light of his eyes' valued at 5 lakhs of rupees, gold mohurs and
jewellery. From this legacy the Clive Fund was established to provide relief and
maintenance to invalid and superannuated European soldiers, officers and their
families. In 1756 Mir Jafar sheltered some European ladies in his own quarters to
protect them from Siraj-ud-Daulla. He sent them in his own special boat at night
with his trustworthy companion Mirza Amir Beg, to Governor Drake. This was the
original cause of the friendship between the English and Mir Jafar.
go top
 CONCLUSION

Syed Mir Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur  (c. 1691 – 5 February 1765) was a military
general who became the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India
Company. His reign has been considered to be the start of British
imperialism in Indian history and a key step in the eventual British domination of
vast areas of the Indian subcontinent.

Mir Jafar served as the commander of Bengali forces under Siraj ud-Daulah, the
Nawab of Bengal, but betrayed him during the Battle of Plassey and succeeded
him after the British victory in 1757. Mir Jafar received military support from the
British East India Company until 1760, but failed to satisfy various British
demands. In 1758, Robert Clive discovered that Jafar had made a treaty with
the Dutch at Chinsurah through his agent Khoja Wajid. Dutch ships of war were
also seen in the River Hooghly. Circumstances led to the Battle of Chinsurah.
British company official Henry Vansittart proposed that since Jafar was unable to
cope with the difficulties, Mir Qasim, Jafar's son-in-law, should act as
Deputy Subahdar. In October 1760, the company forced him to abdicate in favor of
Qasim. However, Qasim's independent spirit and plans to force the East India
company out of his dominion led to his overthrow, and Jafar was restored as the
Nawab in 1763 with the support of the company. Mir Qasim however refused to
accept this and went to war against the company. Jafar ruled until his death on 5
February 1765 and lies buried at the Jafarganj Cemetery in Murshidabad, West
Bengal. Mir Jafar remains a controversial figure in Indian history and became a
symbol of intimate betrayal or treachery among Bengalis.
Subedar of the Nawab of Bengal
In 1747 the Maratha Empire led by Raghoji I Bhonsle, began to raid, pillage and
annex the territories of the Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. During the
Maratha invasion of Odisha, its subedar Mir Jafar and Ataullah
the faujdar of Rajmahal completely withdrew all forces until the arrival of Alivardi
Khan and the Mughal Army at the Battle of Burdwan where Raghoji I Bhonsle and
his Maratha forces were completely routed. The enraged Alivardi Khan then
dismissed the shamed Mir Jafar.

Nawab of Bengal

Jafar initially showed loyalty to Alivardi Khan's successor Siraj Ud Daulah, but
betrayed him to the British in the battle of Plassey. After Siraj Ud Daulah's defeat
and subsequent execution, Jafar achieved his long-pursued dream of gaining the
throne, and was propped up by the British East India company as puppet Nawab.
Jafar paid Rs. 17,700,000 as compensation for the attack on Calcutta to the
company and traders of the city. In addition, he gave bribes to the officials of the
company. Clive, for example received over two million rupees, Watts over one
million[3] Soon, however, he realized that company's expectations were boundless
and tried to wriggle out from under them; this time with the help of the Dutch.
However, the British defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Chinsurah in November
1759 and retaliated by forcing him to abdicate in favor of his son-in-law Mir
Qasim. However, Qasim proved to be both able and independent, strongly
condemned the interference of East India company in the governing of his domain.
Mir Qasim formed an alliance to force the British East India company out of East
India. The Company soon went to war with him and his allies. The Battle of
Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of
the British East India Company led by Hector Munro and the combined army of
Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal:suja ud-dullah the Nawab of Awadh and the
Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. With the defeat in Buxar, Mir Qasim was
eventually overthrown. Mir Jafar managed to regain the good graces of the British;
he was again installed Nawab in 1764 and held the position until his death in 1765.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

•WWW.Wikipedia.com

•The career of mir jafar khan by atul Chandra roy

•Modern India by Bipin Chandra

•Plassey: the battle that changed the course of Indian history

•www.livehistoryindia.com