Bengal War

The Bengal War, also called the second Anglo-Mughal war, was a war between a coalition consisting of the Mughal Empire, the Awadh Subah and the Bengal Subah against the British East India Company (EIC) from 1763 and to 1765, ending with a British victory and the signing of the Treaty of Allahabad on August 16th, 1765.

Background

Under the Mughal Empire, Bengal which was variously described as the 'Paradise of Nations', had been one of its wealthiest and most prosperous ''subahs'' (provinces), it alone accounting for 40% of all Dutch exports from Asia and was a major exporter of silk and cotton textiles, steel, saltpeter, and agricultural and industrial produce.

The British East India Company (EIC) had been trading in the East Indies ever since the early 17th century, however following Amboyna massacre in 1623 which saw an attack on one of their factories in the spice islands by the Dutch, they were compelled to abandon their efforts in South-east Asia and shift their focus almost entirely on to the Indian Subcontinent and Bengal specifically. They had first acquired a lease on the banks of the river Hughli in 1658 and later established their chief fort in the region, Fort William in 1696. Throughout this period their relationship with Mughal authorities was one of imbalance, during this period they mostly acted as Junior partners to Mughal authority and rarely butt heads with them, the only exception to that where they tried using military force ( the Anglo-Mughal war) ended terribly for the company, with them being forced to swear fealty to the Mughals just to get their factories back.

English fortunes however changed in the early 18th century, a period which saw the decline of the Imperial authority following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb, a situation which allowed regional governors to establish their own authority. This took place In Bengal, where its provincial government was separated into two major cabinets, the ''Nizamat'' (governorship) presided over by a Subahdar who oversaw general administration, justice and defense and the ''Diwani'' (Premiership) presided over by a Chief Diwan who oversaw revenue administration, both positions were to ultimately answer to the Emperor.

However this system changed in 1704 over a bitter rivalry between the incumbent Subahdar, Royal prince Azim-ush-Shan and his Chief Diwan Murshid Quli Khan which led to the former being shifted elsewhere by Aurangzeb, leaving Murshid Quli Khan as sole de-facto governor of all of Bengal Subah. This meant that, aside from the striking of coins in the Mughal Emperor's name and nominal tribute to the court, Bengal became independent under Murshid in all but name. This was cemented in 1717 when Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar officially granted the title of ''Nawab'' (equivalent to Grand duke) to him.

This allowed for the English to grow their own influence in this anarchy. In 1717, Farrukhsiyar also issued a ''Farman'' (decree) which granted the EIC the right to trade within Bengal coupled with some exemptions for taxation. While as per Indian custom, this was but honorary, in the eyes of company officials it had granted them an "encompassing devolved sovereignty over Bengal", making them equals to even the newly christened Nawab and sowed the seeds of tension between the two.

Initial Tensions

With the outbreak of the Austrian War of Succession in Europe the EIC fought numerous wars against the French for control of the south-eastern coast of the subcontinent. Starting in September 1746 when French Navy officer Mahé de La Bourdonnais Landed off Madras with a Naval squadron and Laid siege to the city which fell after 3 days. Following a failed counterattack by the British and The Nawab of Arcot Anwaruddin Khan to retake the city and a failed siege of Pondicherry, the war ended in 1748 with the treaty of Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which brought back the '' status-quo ante bellum''.

Between the Company's notion of sovereignty over Bengal and the outbreak of the Carnatic wars with France in the south, tensions with the Nawab were high, with the attitude of Nawab Alivardi Khan (r. 1740 - 1756) towards the Europeans was described as 'strict', causing friction between him and the British frequently complained of Alivardi's taxing of them to finance defenses against the Marathas during the Maratha invasions of Bengal and not being allowed to enjoy the full privileges granted to them as per Farrukhsiyar's Decree.

When Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah ascended to the throne in April of 1756, he was deeply suspicious of the large profits made by them and troubled by their notion of 'sovereignty' by constructing a fort at Calcutta and so began seeking an alliance with France, despite this he still tried to keep the line of negotiation with the EIC open as, however negotiations broke down soon after the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, which while largely taking place in the South on the Indian front, prompted both the French and British to improve their fortifications in Bengal, to which Siraj opposed, while the French yielded the British did not, sparking war between both parties

On June 1st 1756 a column of the Nawab's men marched on the Company factory at Cossimbazar and seized it easily before setting of towards the other factory at Calcutta which was besieged on June 16th and fell 4 days later. When news of this broke Madras on August 16th, the company sent a detachment under Colonel Robert Clive to retake Calcutta and restore the Company's previous privileges, the ensuing conflict lasted nearly a full year, culminating at the Battle of Plassey on June 23rd, 1757. In the aftermath of which, Siraj was arrested, tried and executed by the British and Mir Jafar would be placed on the throne as a puppet of the British up till his removal in 1760, with his son-in-law Mir Qasim taking his place.

Upon his ascension, Qasim awarded the company with lavish gifts as did Mir Jafar, though just like his predecessor, he too realized the difficulty of appeasing the company with the royal coffers at Murshidabad nearly depleted and ran into multiple issues with the company regarding trade. For example, to enrich themselves, the company had passed an enactment in virtue of which country goods that had European passes should be allowed to descend the Hooghly river, a major artery of trade, without paying the transit duty, whilst goods unprovided with such passes should pay a heavy tax. Even the English flag flying over a boat or a fleet of boats, or the appearance on board of Bengalis dressed as English Sepoys were sufficient to exempt the boats from the search. This system, initially in place to enrich company officials so greatly disorganised local trade that entire cities were left impoverished and Bengali merchants were left destitute.

When Qasim retaliated, placing a modest 9% duty on European traders' private goods as against a duty of 40% for Indians, the Company revolted against it, even after he reduced it from 9% to 2.5% on salt and they further refused to admit the right of the local faujdars or police officers to adjudge disputes. Finally, Qasim abolished all custom duties on internal trade all together, the Company objected to this, demanding that that they be reinstated, to which Qasim refused, charting the path towards war.

Hostilities

Hostilities officially began on June 25th, 1763 when Company agent William Ellis, initially sent to as part of a delegation to mediate negotiations with the Nawab, attacked his capital city of Patna with a force of some 300 British infantrymen and 2,500 sepoys and was met with a counterattack of some 10,000 Sepoys and rebels loyal to Qasim led by his Armenian mercenary general Gurgin Khan soon after, leading to a British defeat and the capture of Ellis.

After the defeat of British forces at the battle, command was put under the command of Major Thomas Adams who began the campaign on July 2nd, the first major engagement of the campaign was at Katwa. At the onset, Qasim had numerical superiority and superior artillery, led by Gurgin Khan, though it was fraught with internal strife and the column that engaged Liuetenant Glenn's force near the British camp of Agradwip on the morning of the 17th was considerably smaller and led by a band of cavalry irregulars, who after hours of fighting were defeated by the British who continued to press towards the fort at Katwa, which surrendered with feeble resistance.

Then, on the 19th of July, Qasim's general, the Faujdar of Birbhum Mohammed Taki Shah moved the vanguard of his force to Takwa which saw "one of the bloodiest and best-contested battles of the whole war." Ultimately Taki Shah was killed and Qasim was forced to retreat

Mir Qasim set up his defenses near Jangipur on Sooty on the plain of Giria. British forces under Major Thomas Adams attacked on 2 August 1763 and, after a bloody battle, forced Mir Quasim to retreat to Udaynala.

Mir Qasim was defeated again at Udaynala, where the British headed by Major Thomas Adams successfully stormed a well-defended Ganges gorge at Teliagarhi downstream of Rajmahal on 5 September 1763. After inflicting heavy losses at the gorge, Adams captured Monghyr.

After Udaynala, Mir Qasim killed the British soldiers captured in the 1st battle of Patna. Major Thomas Adams besieged Patna and captured the town in the 2nd battle of Patna on 6 November 1763 that saw heavy losses in the Bengali army.

Mir Qasim forged an alliance against the East India Company with Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and the Awadhi Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula.

On 3 May 1764 British EIC forces under the command of Colonel John Carnac were victorious in a 3rd battle at Patna against the Nawab of Oudh Shuja-ud-Daula. The British occupied defensive positions outside of Patna and caused heavy losses for the attacking Shuja's forces. After repulsing the attack, Carnac decided against a pursuit, but heavy rains caused Nawab's retreat a month later.

Battle of Buxar

On 23 October 1764, following the 3rd Patna battle, British forces under the command of Major Hector Munro, despite their numeric inferiority, carried a decisive victory over Indian allies at Buxar, west of Patna.

After the battle of Buxar, Mir Qasim's and Shujah-ud-Daula's forces retreated into Gangetic Doab with Major John Carnac in pursuit. They managed to join forces with a Marathi army headed by Malhar Rao Holkar. On May 1765 the British successfully defeated them. After the rout that followed, Malhar Rao fled to Kalpi, and Mir Qasim sued for peace.

Aftermath

As a result of the war, the EIC became an indispensable military and fiscal instrument for the Mughal Emperor who was relying on the Company's military protection and financial means. While becoming effectively a sovereign in Bengal and Northern India by controlling the Bengal ''diwani'' in exchange for a fixed payment, the company was saddled with a large cost that EIC was forced to continue carrying due to commercial and political reasons. The document granting the revenues to the EIC was treated as a proto-constitution, a "Magna Carta".

The end of this war signified the beginning of direct British rule in Bengal.

See also

* Shah Alam II
* Mir Jafar
* Great Bengal famine of 1770

References

Sources

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{{British colonial campaigns

Wars involving the Mughal Empire
Wars involving the British East India Company