Q. Dual Government in Bengal 1765.

Comman Intro
After winning the Battle of Buxar (1764)
Clive's solution of the political tangle of
Bengal was the setting up of the infamous
Dual Government System in 1765 whereby
the the Company acquired authority (real
power) while the responsibility for
administration rested on the shoulders of
the Nawab of Bengal.

Framework of the Dual Govt

in February 1765, Najm-ud-Daula was
allowed to succeed as Nawab of Bengal (after
the death of his father Mir Jaffar) on the
condition that he practically surrendered the
Nizamat functions, i.e., the military defence
and foreign affairs of the province entirely
into the hands of the Company and the civil
administration to the care of a Deputy
Subahdar to be named by the Company and
not removable without their consent.

The firman issued by Emperor Shah Alam an

12 August 1765 granted the Diwani functions
to the Company in return for an annual
payment of Rs. 26 lakhs to the Emperor.

Thus, the Company acquired the Diwani

functions from the Emperor and the Nizamat
functions from the Subahdar of Bengal.
At this time the Company was neither willing
nor able to undertake the direct collection of
revenue. For the exercise of Diwani
functions, the Company appointed two Deputy
Diwans, Mohammad Reza Khan for Bengal and
Raja Shitab Roy for Bihar.
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

remembered as Dual System or Dyarchy, i.e.,
rule of two, the Company and the Nawab.
Clive's Justification of the Dual System.
Clive was fully conscious of the fact that all
power had passed into the hands of the
Company and nothing was left to the Nawab
except the name and shadow of authority.

Clive gave his reasons for the new set up:

Firstly, open assumption of authority would

have brought the Company in its true colours
and might have achieved the miracle of
uniting some Indian princes against the
Company and thus embroil them in war;
Secondly, it was very doubtful whether the
French, the Dutch or the Danes would readily
acknowledge the Company's subahship and
pay into the hands of their servants the
duties on trade or the quit-rents of those
districts which they had long possessed by
virtue of Imperial firmans or grants from
former Nawabs of Bengal;

Thirdly, open assumption of political power

could create complications in England's
diplomatic relations with France, Holland,
Portugal or Sweden and might urge those
powers to join in an anti- British front the
like of which Europe saw later during 1778-
80 (the American War of Independence);
 Fourthly, the Company did not have at its
disposal trained personnel to take over and
run effectively the work of administration.

Fifthly, the Court of Directors were opposed

to the acquisitionof the territoriesfor that
might interfere with their trade and profits.
The Directorswere more interested in
commerce and finance than territorial
acquisitions,

Lastly, Clive well understood that open

assumption of political power of Bengal might
move the British Parliament into interfering
with the affairs of the Company.
Evil Effects of the Dual System
The scheme of government devised by Clive
proved ineffective and unworkable and
created anarchy and confusion in Bengal. It
failed from the very moment of its inception.

Administrative breakdown.
Owing to the impotence of the Nizamat, the
administration of law and order virtually
broke down and the administration of justice
was reduced to a farce.
While the Nawab had no power to enforce
law and provide justice, the Company on their
part disavowed all responsibility for
administration. In the countryside the
dacoits roamed freely and the Sannyasi
raiders reduced the government to a
mockery.
The whole administration from top to bottom
was unscrupulous and corrupt.
In this vitiated atmosphere, the people of
Bengal suffered.

Decline of Agriculture.
Bengal, once the granary of India was laid
waste.
The land revenue was annually farmed out to
the highest bidder. The tax collectors or
contractors had no permanent interest in the
land and they rack rented the cultivators.
The Bengali peasant suffered from the evils
of over-assessment, harshness of collection
and was subjected to the worst exactions by
government officials. Thus many cultivators
ran away to jungles or joined the ranks of
the robbers.
Then came the famine of 1770 which
produced untold miseries and took a heavy
tool of life. During the famine land revenue
was collected with severity and even
extortion practised, while the servants of
the Company added to the misery of the
people by trading and profiteering in
essential articles of foodstuff.

Disruption of Trade and Commerce.

Agricultural depression adversely affected
the trade and commerce of the country
 By thefirman of 1717 issued by Emperor
Farrukhsiyar the Company had been granted
the privileges of trading duty-free in Bengal.
This concession authorised the President of
the Company at Calcutta to issue dastaks
(Trade permit) exempting the goods
mentioned in it from duty, stoppage or even
inspection. its misuse ruined the country
merchants and traders.
The Company's servants virtually monopolised
the internal trade of Bengal and would
undersell the Indian merchants in the local
markets.

Ruination of Industry and Skill.

The weaving industry of Bengal received
arude setback.
the silk winders of Bengal were compelled to
work in the Company's factories.
various and innumerable methods of
oppressing the poor weavers which were duly
practised by the Company's agents or
gomastahs in the country, such as by fines,
imprisonments, floggings, cutting off their
thumb, forcing bonds from them etc.
the prices which the Company's gomastahs,
and in confederacy with them the
Jachendars (examiners of fabrics) fix upon
the goods, are in all places at least 15 per
cent, and in some even 40 per cent less than
the goods so manufactured would sell in the
public bazar or market upon free sale"
The artisans no longer found their
traditional occupations profitable and
deserted them.
Thus Indian industry languished.

Moral Degradation.
The farmer realised that the more he
laboured the more he would have to pay to
the revenue-farmers and government
officials would work no more than was
absolutely necessary for the bare needs of
his family. Similarly, the weaver who could
not keep all the reward of his hard work did
not give his best to his work. The incentive
for work being no longer there, the society
became static and showed unmistakable signs
of decay.

Comman Conclusion
In actual practice the Dual System proved a
sham, for the East India Company exercised
all political power and used the Indian agency
merely as an instrument for their purposes.