The Establishment and Expansion of British

Dominion in India | Indian History

Mamta Aggarwal
Link: The Establishment and Expansion of British Dominion in India | Indian History (historydiscussion.net)

The earliest English settlement in eastern India dates back to 1633 when they established their
factories at Hariharpur and Balasore in Orissa.

The first English factory in Bengal was established at Hugli in 1651 under permission of Sultan Shuja,
the Viceroy of Bengal who granted them the privilege of trading in return for a fixed annual payment
of duties worth Rs.3000.

Soon they established their factories at Qasim Bazar, Patna and other regions nearby. The main items
of English trade were silk, cotton piece goods, saltpetre and sugar. Through a series of Farman in 1651,
1656 and 1672 the British were exempted from custom duties in return for fixed sums to be paid by
the Company to the Indian authorities.

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In 1698, the English obtained the Zamindari of the villages of Sutanuti, Kalikata and Govindpur on
payment of Rs. 1200. Here the English built Fort Williams around its factory and Sir Charles Eyre was
the first president of the Fort Williams.

In 1717, the Company secured valuable privileges under a royal Farman by the Mughal Emperor
Farrukh Siyar which granted the Company the freedom to export and import their goods in Bengal
without paying taxes and also the right to issue passes or dastaks for free movement of goods.
The Company’s servants were permitted to trade but were not covered by this Farman. As a result,
they had to pay the same taxes as Indian merchants. This Farman became the perpetual source of
conflict between the Company and the Nawabs of Bengal.

This also meant a loss of revenue to the Bengal government. The officials of the Company on the other
hand misused the dastaks to evade taxes on their private trade. Both Murshid Quli Khan and Alivardi
Khan had objected to misuse of the dastaks by the Company officials. The Company in turn left no
opportunity to defy the authority of the nawabs.

Siraj-ud-Daula (1756-1757):
Conflict began when Siraj-ud-Daula succeeded Alivardi Khan to the throne of Bengal. The new
Emperor faced serious challenge from his rivals Ghasiti Begum of Dacca and Shaukat Jang of Purnea
and was also suspicious of the English. He was strictly against the royal Farman and wanted to trade
with the English on the same basis as in the times of Murshid Quli Khan without any privileges.

The English on the other hand prepared themselves for yet another round of Anglo-French struggle in
Europe. The French had established their settlement at Chandernagore. The main causes of dispute
between Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula and the English were the misuse of the dastaks by the servants of the
Company, the refusal to pay taxes on their goods to the Nawab and the levying of duties on the Indian
goods entering Calcutta which was in their control.

Problem arose when the English began to fortify Calcutta as part of the preparations of war with the
French without the permission of the Nawab. Siraj- ud-Daula asked both the French and the English
to pull down their fortifications and considered them an attack on the Nawab’s sovereignty. The
French Company complied but the English refused to obey the orders.

Siraj-ud-Daula was young and short-tempered and could not tolerate this defiance. He responded by
seizing the English factory at Qasim Bazar and subsequently Fort Williams was captured at Calcutta
on 20th June 1756. It was during this occupation of Calcutta that the so-called Black-Hole incident
occurred.
It is known that about 146 English prisoners were confined on one hot summer night in a small room
of Fort Williams and only twenty-three of them survived. This is remembered as a tragedic episode.
Leaving Calcutta in the hands of Manikchand, Siraj-ud-Daula returned to Murshidabad to celebrate
his victory, letting the English escape with their ships. He committed the mistake of underestimating
the enemy.

Meanwhile the English escaped to Fulta, a small island and awaited aid from Madras. A strong naval
and military force arrived from Madras under Col. Clive and Admiral Watson. Hugli was plundered
and Calcutta re-occupied in the beginning of 1757.The Nawab was forced to sign the Treaty of Alinagar
on 9th February 1757, wherein all the demands of the English were conceded. The nawab was asked to
restore the rights and immunities of the Company and to compensate them for the losses they had
suffered in the war.

The Battle of Plassey (1757):

By that time the English had decided to remove Siraj from the position of the nawab and place a
puppet in his place. They conspired with the leading men of the Nawab’s court such as Manikchand,
the official in-charge of Calcutta, Aminchand, a rich merchant, Jagat Seth, a well-known banker, Mir
Jafar, the Mir Bakshi, and Rai Durlabh, the Nawab’s general.

It was decided to place Mir Jafar on the throne of Bengal. On 23rd June 1757, the rival forces met each
other in the battlefield of Plassey about thirty kilometres from Murshidabad. A major part of the
Nawab’s army led by the traitors Mir Jafar and Rai Durlabh did not participate in the fighting. A
handful of Nawab’s forces fought under the leadership of Mir Madan and Mohan Lai and were
defeated. The Nawab tried to flee but was captured and put to death. Mir Jafar was proclaimed the
Nawab of Bengal.

Importance of the Battle of Plassey:

The battle of Plassey was only a battle in name and it was of immense historical importance because it
paved the way for the conquest and mastery of Bengal by the English and subsequently the whole of
India. It boosted the morale of the English Company and the rich revenues helped them to organize a
strong army for defence. Most importantly it provided an opportunity to the officials of the Company
to amass untold wealth at the cost of the people of Bengal.

K.M. Pannikar believes that Plassey was a transaction in which the rich bankers of Bengal and Mir
Jaffar sold out the Nawab to the English. Plassey proved a battle with far-reaching consequences in
the fate of India. “There never was a battle”, writes Col. Malleson, “In which the consequences were so
vast, so immediate and so permanent.”

Mir Jafar (1757-1760):

Mir Jafar rewarded the Company by granting them the undisputed rights to free trade in Bengal,
Bihar and Orissa, the Company also got the zamindari of 24 Parganas near Calcutta. Besides, Mir
Jafar also paid large sums as gifts and bribes to the officials of the Company. The Company was
compensated for the losses suffered at Siraj-ud-daula’s capture of Calcutta. All French settlements in
Bengal were surrendered to the English.

It was also understood that British merchants and officials would no longer be asked to pay duties on
their private trade. Mir Jafar found the English yoke galling and intrigued with the Dutch to oust the
English from Bengal. Clive thwarted this design and defeated the Dutch at Bedara (November 1760).
The Nawab soon realized that he has struck a bad bargain with the English. His treasury was almost
emptied by the demands of the Company. The Company also became greedy and placed more
demands to be fulfilled.

His incapability to fulfil demands led to his forceful abdication in October 1760 in favour of his son-in-
law Mir Qasim. Mir Qasim (1760-1763). The new Nawab rewarded the Company by granting them the
zamindari of the districts of Burdwan, Midnapur and Chittagong.

He also paid them huge sums of money as bribes and booty. Mir Qasim was an efficient and strong
ruler determined to improve the affairs of the state and transferred his capital from Murshidabad to
Munger (1762). He realized that in order to maintain his independence he must have a full treasury
and an efficient army. He also checked the misuse of the Farman of 1717 by the Company officials to
evade internal custom duties.

He therefore took the extreme step of abolishing all duties on internal trade and benefitting his own
subjects by giving them the concession that the English had forcefully snatched. The problem
remained as Mir Qasim regarded himself as an independent ruler while the British wanted him to be a
puppet in their hands.

The Battle of Buxar:

The war between the Company and Mir Qasim began in 1763 and in a series of encounters the Nawab
was defeated. He fled to Awadh and formed an alliance with Shuja-ud-Daula the Nawab of Awadh and
the fugitive Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II in a final attempt to oust the English from Bengal. The
three allies clashed with the Company’s army at Buxar on 22 nd October 1764 and were completely
defeated.
It was the most decisive battle in the history of the Indian sub-continent and it established the British
firmly in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa and placed Awadh at their mercy. Never after the battle of Buxar
did the Nawabs of Bengal challenge the might of the English.

If the Battle of Plassey had made the English a powerful factor in the politics of Bengal, the victory of
Buxar made them a great power of Northern India and contenders for the supremacy of the whole
country. The English now faced the Afghans and the Marathas as serious rivals in the final struggle for
the empire of Hindustan. If Plassey had imposed the European yoke on Bengal, the victory of Buxar
riveted the shackles of bondage.

Mir Jafar (1763-1765):

Mir Jafar was reinstated for the second time in 1763 as the Nawab of Bengal after the outbreak of the
war between the English forces and Mir Qasim. He died in 1765.

Najm-ud-daula (1765-66):
Najm-ud-daula, son of Mir Jafar, was made the Nawab of Bengal in 1765 and remained a puppet in
the hands of the British during the period of ‘Dual system of Government.’ He signed a treaty with the
Company and became a titled pensioner on fifty-three lakhs of rupees per year which was subse-
quently reduced.

On Najm-ud-daula’s death in 1766, his minor brother Saif-ud-daula was proclaimed his successor.
The new nawab’s pension was reduced by Rs. 12 lakhs. He signed a treaty (1766) by agreeing that the
protection of the provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and the force sufficient for that purpose, be left
entirely to the Company’s discretion and good management.

He died in 1770. His successor was his minor brother Mubarak-ud-daula who had to submit to a
further cut of Rs. 10 lakh in his pension. In 1772 he was pensioned off when the Company took over
the direct charge of Bengal.

Clive’s second term as the Governor and Commander-in-chief of the British possessions in Bengal
constitutes a landmark in the history of Bengal because it led to that administrative transition which
prepared the ground for the introduction of British system of administration in India. Clive’s first and
foremost task was to settle and define relations with the defeated powers.

Settlement with Oudh:

Clive proceeded Oudh and concluded with Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab Wazir of Oudh, the Treaty of
Allahabad (16 August, 1765). By this treaty, Shuja-ud-Daula was confirmed in his possessions on the
following conditions:

1. That the Nawab surrenders Allahabad and Kara to Emperor Shah Alam;

2. That he agrees to pay Rs. 50 lakhs to Company as war indemnity;

3. That he confirms Balwant singh, Zamindar of Banaras, in full possession of his estate.

Further, the Nawab entered into an offensive and defensive treaty with the Company binding him to
render gratuitous military help to the Company in time of need and the Company to help the Nawab
with the troops for the defence of his frontier on the latter agreeing to pay the cost of its maintenance.

Settlement with Shah Alam II:

By the second treaty of Allahabad (August 1765) the Emperor Shah Alam was taken under the
Company’s protection and was to reside at Allahabad. He was assigned Allahabad and Kara ceded by
the Nawab of Oudh. The Emperor in turn issued a Farman dated 12 August 1765 granting to the
Company in perpetuity the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in return for the Company making an
annual payment of Rs. 26 lakhs to him and providing for the expenses of the Nizamat.
Thus, the friendly treaty with Oudh made the Nawab a friend of the Company and created Oudh into a
buffer state. The Emperor’s Farman legalised the political gains of the Company in Bengal.

Settlement of Bengal:
Clive concluded a treaty with the Nawab of Bengal, Najm-ud-daula, at Allahabad (August 1765) which
led to the setting up of the infamous Dual system whereby the Company acquired real power while the
responsibility for administration rested on the shoulders of the Nawab of Bengal.

The Nawab of Subedar of Bengal, as Viceroy of the Mughal Emperor, exercised two functions: (1) the
Diwani, i.e. revenue and civil justice and (2) the Nizamat, i.e. military power and criminal justice.
Earlier in February 1765, Najm-ud-Daula was allowed to succeed as Nawab of Bengal (after the death
of Mir Jafar) on the condition that he practically surrendered the Nizamat functions, i.e. the military
defence and foreign affairs of the provinces entirely into the hands of the Company.

The fireman issued by Emperor Shah Alam on 12 August 1765 granted the Diwani functions to the
Company. Thus, the Company acquired the Nizamat functions from the Subedar of Bengal and the
Diwani functions from the Emperor.

For the exercise of Diwani functions, the Company appointed two Deputy Diwans, Mohammad Reza
Khan for Bengal and Raja Shitab Rai for Bihar, the Company itself being the actual Diwan.
Mohammad Reza Khan also acted as Deputy Nazim.

Thus the whole administration, Nizamat as well as Diwani, was exercised through Indian agency,
though the actual power rested with the Company. This system of government came to be known as
Dual system or Dyarchy, i.e., rule of two, the Company and the Nawab.

Effects of the Dual system:

i. Owing to the inefficiency of the Nizamat, the administration of law and order virtually broke down
and the administration of justice was reduced to a farce.

ii. The peasants of Bengal suffered from the evils of over-assessment, harshness of collection and was
subjected to the worst exactions by the land revenue officials. This led to decline of agriculture.

iii. The legitimate use of dastaks (issue of pass chits exempting the goods mentioned in it from duty)
by the Company’s servants worked against the interests of the country and its misuse ruined the
country’s merchants and traders. Thus, trade and commerce was disrupted.

iv. By monopolising the internal trade of Bengal, the Company’s servants forced the prices of raw
material like cotton and silk to the disadvantages of Indian producers. The artisans no longer found
their traditional occupations profitable and deserted them. Thus textile industry languished.
 v. Moral degradation also set in the Bengal society. The incentive of work being no longer there, the
society became static and showed unmistakable signs of decay.

Governors of Bengal:
Roger Drake (1756-57):
Capture of Calcutta by Siraj-ud-Daula and Black Hole Episode. Recapture of Calcutta by Clive and the
Battle of Plassey.

Robert Clive (1757-60):

Vansittart (1760-1765):
Replacement of Mir Jafar by Mir Qasim as the Nawab of Bengal (1760) and reinstatement of Mir Jafar
(1763); Battle of Buxar (1764) and succession of Najm-ud-Daula after the death of his father Mir Jafar.

Robert Clive (1765-67):

Coming back to Bengal in 1765 to serve his second term as Governor of Bengal, Clive consolidated the
gains of the Company and regulated the foreign relations on a secure basis. By the treaty of Allahabad
(1765) concluded with Shuja-ud-Daula of Oudh and the Emperor Shah Alam II, Clive defined and
settled the relations with the defeated powers.

He was responsible for setting up of the infamous Dual system in Bengal whereby the Company
acquired real power while the responsibility for administration rested on the shoulders of the Nawab
of Bengal. Verelst (1767-69) and Cartier (1769-72).

Warren Hastings (1772-73):

He abolished the Dual system of administration, pensioned off the nawab, took over the direct charge
of administering Bengal and concluded the Treaty of Banaras (1773) with the Nawab of Oudh. By this
treaty, Allahabad and Kara was handed over to the Nawab for Rs. 50 lakhs.

The Nawab if paid a subsidy, the English Company was to lend him the aid of British troops whenever
required.

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