Bengal War
| Bengal War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Seven Years' War and Anglo-Mughal Wars | |||||||
 A portrait of Sir Hector Munro with the battle in the background | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Mughal Empire[1]  Kingdom of Awadh  Bengal Subah |
 British East India Company  Kashi Kingdom | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Shah Alam II[1] Najaf Khan Shuja-ud-Daula Mir Qasim |
Hector Munro of Novar John Caillaud Thomas Adams William Ellis  Balwant Singh | ||||||
The Bengal War,[2] also called the second Anglo-Mughal war,[3] was a war waged by the Mughal Empire, the Kingdom of Awadh and Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim against the British East India Company (EIC) to expel it from Bengal following Its success in Seven Years' War. Hostilities began in 1763 and ended in 1765.[4]
Background
[edit]In 1717, Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar granted the EIC the right to trade within Bengal coupled with some exemptions for taxation. In the view of the Emperor as per Indian custom, this was no more than an honorary decree, however in the eyes of company officials it had granted them an encompassing devolved sovereignty over Bengal, making them equals to even the Nawab (title equivalent to Grand duke) of Bengal. [5]
When Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah ascended to the throne in April of 1756, he was greatly concerned with the British claims of absolute sovereignty and began seeking an alliance with France, despite this he still tried to keep the line of negotiation with the EIC open, however negotiations broke down when the company continued fortifying their forts despite his protests and refused to give the Nawab customary gifts following his ascension to the throne, triggering the war. [3][5]
On June 1st 1756 the Nawab's army marched on the Company factory at Calcutta, which was besieged on June 16th and fell 4 days later.[6] 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. [7]
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. [8]
Hostilities
[edit]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. [9][4]
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.[10]
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."[7] Ultimately Taki Shah was killed and Qasim was forced to retreat
Mir Qasim set up his defenses near Jangipur[which?] 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.[which?][11]
Mir Qasim was defeated again at Udaynala,[9] where the British headed by Major Thomas Adams successfully stormed a well-defended Ganges gorge downstream of Rajmahal on 5 September 1763. After inflicting heavy losses at the gorge, Adams captured Monghyr.[12]
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.[9]
Mir Qasim forged an alliance against the East India Company with Shah Alam and Shuja-ud-Daula.[13]
On 3 May 1764 British EIC forces under the command of Colonel John Carnac were victorious in a 3rd battle at Patna[13] 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.[9]
Battle of Buxar
[edit]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.[13]
After the battle of Buxar, Mir Qasim's and Shujah-ud-Daula's forces retreated into 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, Mulhar Rao fled to Kalpi, and Mir Qasim sued for peace.[14]
Aftermath
[edit]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.[15] 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.[16] The document granting the revenues to the EIC was treated as a proto-constitution, a "Magna Carta".[17]
The EIC waged a campaign to overthrow Shuja-ud-Daula.[citation needed]
The end of this war signified the beginning of direct British rule in Bengal.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b History of the Freedom Movement in India (1857–1947), p. 2, at Google Books
- ^ Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780313335389.
- ^ a b c Bayly 2013, p. 338.
- ^ a b Clodfelter 2017, p. 111.
- ^ a b Bayly 2013, p. 329.
- ^ Hill 1905, pp. lv–lx.
- ^ a b Malleson, George Bruce (1885). The Decisive Battles of India, from 1746 to 1849 Inclusive. Allen. p. 136.
mir qasim company trade.
- ^ Shah, Mohammad (2012). "Mir Qasim". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ a b c d Jaques 2006, p. 780.
- ^ Malleson, George Bruce (1885). The Decisive Battles of India, from 1746 to 1849 Inclusive. Allen. p. 151.
mir qasim battle katwa.
- ^ Jaques 2006, p. 392.
- ^ Jaques 2006, p. 1049.
- ^ a b c Jaques 2006, p. 177.
- ^ Jaques 2006, p. 542.
- ^ Nadeau 2023, p. 17.
- ^ Nadeau 2023, p. 216.
- ^ Bayly 2013, p. 330.
Sources
[edit]- Hill, S.C., ed. (1905), Bengal in 1756–1757, Indian Records, vol. 1, London: John Murray, OCLC 469357208
- Nadeau, Adam (June 2023). Inheriting Empire: Royal proclamations, parliamentary legislation, and imperial integration in British North America and India, 1760-1793 (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). University of New Brunswick.
- Bayly, C. A. (2013). "The British Military–Fiscal State and Indigenous Resistance India 1750–1820". An Imperial State at War: Britain From 1689-1815. Taylor & Francis. pp. 322–354. ISBN 978-1-134-54602-2. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
- Thompson, E.; Garratt, E.T.G.T. (1999). "The Conquistadores". History of British Rule in India. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Limited. pp. 80–98. ISBN 978-81-7156-803-1. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- Jaques, Tony (2006-11-30). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges [3 Volumes]. Westport, Conn: Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. OCLC 68786744.
- Malleson, G.B. (1885). The Decisive Battles of India: From 1746 to 1849 Inclusive. W.H. Allen & Company. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- Clodfelter, M. (2017). "Bengal War: 1763−65". Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015, 4th ed. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4766-2585-0. Retrieved 2024-07-10.