The British conquest of Bengal was a significant moment in the history of British colonial rule in India. Bengal was the richest province in the eighteenth century. The British East India Company benefited most from the Bengal province. It is, thus, natural for the English East India Company to strengthen its position in Bengal. They had some advantages there, as the headquarters of the Company in India was at Calcutta (present-day Kolkata). The Dutch and the French were present in Bengal only through their subordinate factories, like Chinsurah (Chuchura) of the Dutch East India Company and Chandernagar of the French East India Company.
In 1756, Siraj-ud-Daulah became the successor of Alivardi Khan. He was young and inexperienced; besides, he had many enemies within his family. The English East India Company and the French were fighting in the South. The English started fortifying Calcutta without the permission and knowledge of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. Siraj ordered them to stop their enhancement of military preparedness, but the Company refused to do so. The English were also misusing Dastak (free permit) based on the Mughal firman issued to them in 1717 by Farrukhsiyar. It was understood that the concessions allowed by the Mughals applied only to goods imported by the East India Company from Europe. The English officials had no right to claim immunity from duty for goods belonging to the servants of the East India Company. But its employees started using, rather misusing, the Dastak for personal trade, causing huge financial losses to the exchequer of Bengal. Besides, they also started selling the Dastaks to Indian traders. Another complaint Siraj had against the British was that they gave refuge to Krishna Das, son of Raja Rajballabh, whom the Nawab had imprisoned for accumulating illegal wealth.
Siraj-ud-Daulah attacked Calcutta on June 16, 1756, and captured it on June 20. His large army and sudden attack surprised the English. Though the majority of the English had already fled to Fulta, twenty miles lower down the river, a few were taken captive and confined in a small cell in Fort William, leading to the infamous incident known as the Black Hole tragedy.
The Black Hole is the current term for the local 'lockup' in which the English captives were kept. J.Z. Holwell, the defender of Calcutta and one of the survivors, narrated what happened in the cell where British subjects were imprisoned. His version was that 146 prisoners were confined in a small room (18 feet by 14 feet) on the night of June (the time of the year when Calcutta is hot and humid). 123 died overnight of suffocation.
The whole story and the figure seem to be an exaggeration as the local (especially Persian) records do not support the claim made by Holwell. This kind of propaganda against Indian rulers was common in those days to prove them barbaric and to justify British rule in India. In any case, Siraj was personally not involved in the so-called Black Hole tragedy.
If Siraj committed any mistake, it was not pursuing the fugitive English to Fulta and destroying them completely. Neither did he take adequate steps for the defence of Calcutta. Unfortunately, history is not lenient towards such mistakes. The English, led by Robert Clive and Watson, recovered Calcutta in January 1757, and Siraj had to sign the Treaty of Alinagar (the new name of Calcutta) on February 9, 1757, practically conceding to all the demands of the English. The English became so confident that they attacked Chandernagar, the French settlement, in March 1757, again challenging the sovereignty of the Nawab.
Siraj, who wanted to balance the power of the British in Bengal with a strong French force, asked the British to abstain from hostilities against the French. Instead of obeying him, Robert Clive started conspiring against him, and there was no dearth of conspirators in and out of his court, or for that matter, in the court of any Indian ruler. Chief among them was Mir Jaffer, the Mir Bakshi (Commander-in-chief), Jagath Seth (Banker), Ghaseti Begum (eldest daughter of Alivardi Khan), and Amin Chand (Trader).
In the Battle of Plassey (June 23, 1757), Siraj was defeated by a small army of Robert Clive, thanks mainly to the treachery of Mir Jaffer and Rai Durlab. Mir Jaffer, as promised by Robert Clive, was made Nawab of Bengal. Siraj was later captured and put to death on July 2 by the men of Miran, son of Mir Jaffer.
As expected, the British took huge cash from the new puppet Nawab Mir Jaffer. Clive got $234,000, Watts received $80,000, and the others got amounts according to their rank and file. The English East India Company got 24 Parganas—yielding about £150,000 in rental. The loot of Bengal can be judged by this fact: the entire booty was transported to Fort William by a fleet of 300 boats.
Mir Jaffer continued as Nawab from 1757 to 1760, but Robert Clive and his men emptied his treasury. He was of no use to the Company anymore. Some British officials, like Holwell, opposed Mir Jaffer. On September 27, 1760, Mir Qasim, the son-in-law of Mir Jaffer, was made Nawab. This was a peaceful transfer. He granted the lands of Burdwan, Midnapore, and Chittagong to the East India Company. Initially, he too was under British control, but the misuse of Dastak had disrupted the entire revenue system. When he failed to prevent its misuse, he declared all trade in Bengal duty-free. This move angered the Company, leading to Mir Qasim’s deposition. Mir Jaffer was reinstalled as Nawab. Mir Qasim shifted his capital to Monger.
With the support of Mughal emperor Shah Alam II and Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh, Mir Qasim challenged the British in the Battle of Buxar (October 22, 1764). However, the Company's army, led by Major Hector Munro, proved to be more disciplined and modern than the combined forces of the Indian rulers. The industrial and technological backwardness of India in the 18th century was evident in these battles against European forces.
Mir Jaffer was reinstated as Nawab, and a treaty was signed with Shah Alam II and Shuja-ud-Daula in 1765 at Allahabad. Through a Firman, the Mughal emperor granted Diwani rights to the East India Company for Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. In return, the Mughal emperor accepted a pension of 26 lakh rupees from the Company, while 53 lakh rupees were allotted to the Nawab of Bengal. It was also agreed that Shuja-ud-Daula would cede the regions of Allahabad and Kara to the Mughals and grant the zamindari of Banaras to Balwant Rai, a loyalist of the Company.
A unique form of government was established in Bengal from 1765 to 1772, known as the Dual Government. Two Deputy Diwans—Raja Shitab Rai and Reza Khan—were appointed by the Nawab with the advice of the East India Company, but they worked in the interests of the Company rather than the appointing authority. This system arose because the Company had obtained Diwani rights (the right to collect revenue) while the Nawab retained responsibility for civil and criminal administration. In other words, the Company acquired power without responsibility, and the Nawab bore responsibility without power. Ultimately, the people of the region suffered the most.
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