topics: |  bengal | history |

  
murshid quli (d.1727)			AlivardI (1671-1756)		   sirAj-ud-daulAh (1733-1757)

how little we know our own history

most bengalis know little of the history of bengal.  many of us
know the nitti-gritties of oliver cromwell's machinations or paul
revere's ride, but we know little about how AlivardI came to power or how
murshidAbAd got its name. we care little for our own history.

even what little we know of bengal history is seen through the colonizer's
eye.  we vaguely know about "the black hole of calcutta", and that there is
some dispute, but the 1756 sack of the older fort william by
sirAj-ud-daulAh and the events that caused it (and eventually
led to palashi war) are little known.

there is a general perception that the english became rulers of india
almost unwillingly after the battle of plassey, but it is little known that
in 1685, well before that battle and even before charnock's landing in
sutAnuTi, the-then governor of the company, sir josiah child convinced the
directors (and king james II) to raise an army from england, with the
objective of conquering chittagong and dacca.

a twelve-ship fleet, 600 men and 200 cannon, sailed under admiral
nicholson.  they proclaimed war on the mughal empire, and plundered some
mughal ships carrying haj pilgrims in the west coast.  in bengal, most of
the army perished of malaria on a swampy island in the river delta
(downstream of today's haldia).  in the west, a mughal fleet under sidi
yaqub from the island port of murud-janjira blockaded bombay, engaging the
british navy for over a year.  the british sued for peace, and agreed to
pay reparations, and to expel their governor john child (unrelated to
josiah child).

the company had been engaged in conquest (and the consequent large-scale
depredations) in other parts of india (and africa) since much earlier
times.  as for bengal, there was a second naval expedition, sent under
captain heath, but this was also ineffective.  however, the european trade
was lucrative to the crown, and the traders were invited back.
subsequently, europeans were again invited to open up their trade
factories, and in 1690 the english landed at sutAnuTi and the french at
chandernagar.

while palAshI (plassey) is remembered, whereas the battle of guria, by
which AlivardI came to power, or the defeat of the magh and portuguese
navy at the mouth of the ganga by shAista khan's navy, or even the naval
defeat inflicted on the british at bombay in 1689, is largely forgotten.

the arrival of the british into bengal is commonly thought of as
coinciding with job charnock's landing at sutAnuTi in august
1690. however, the east india company (and charnock himself) had been in
bengal for many decades before this.  if they managed to obtain some trade
rights for export, they would invariably abuse this, particularly by
indulging in within-India trade - their boats would often carry salt
upstream; a huge quantity of salt was offloaded in 1727-28, and the
english were forced to pay a penalty for recovering it.

virgin scholarship; nationalist views

the labours that made this volume possible are revealed by sarkar in the
introduction.  writing about his own chapters - about half the pages in
the work - he discusses how he

	had to clear the jungle and break virgin soil in respect of certain
	periods, such as the viceroyalties of prince muhammad shuja, shAista
	khan, and murshid quli khan.  in these, my predecessors, the
	riyAz-us-salAtin and its english version, stewart's history of
	bengal, had merely left to us an uncharted wilderness, and i had to
	construct their true story by piecing together a large number of
	stray hints in persian manuscripts and letters and european traders'
	reports p.ix

poor reception in british history circles

it seems this book was largely ignored by orientalist scholars.
the cambridge historian peter hardy reviewed it ten years after
publication, in the bulletin of the school of oriental and african studies
(february 1957, pp 207-207).  hardy has little positive to say of the work,
deprecating it as a mere political history that does not ask deeper
questions of the social and cultural forces at play.  "it is a chronicle of
chronicles, and very dull."

it is a political history, true, but it is also one of the first to compile
many aspects from a close reading of the original indian sources in
persian, urdu and other languages.  also, the sheer details incorporated
make the writing far from dull.

nationalist undercurrents

looking at it today, this disparagement may be partly owing to its
indian point of view, often bordering on the nationalist. for example, in
the discussing the marAThA raids in bengal, 1745-1752, sarkar laments:

	then was seen a spectacle which no indian can remember without shame:
	the sovereign of the country could not protect his subjects, and
	every indian of wealth and every government official of the
	neighbourhood who could, took refuge in these forts of
	foreigers... 396

narratives of battles, blood splashed on every page

to me, reading it in the 21st century, it is far from being "very dull",
especially in its detailed description of the battles and other
machinations for power.  one can hear the bullets shot that kills
sirAj-ud-daulah's cousin shaukat jang, his turban falling to the ground,
encrusted with diamonds and emeralds; one can feel the dagger of the
daughter of the panjabi khatri king of bardwan, who drives it into the
usurper shambho singh when he tries to molest her.

also deeper questions of social forces can be asked only against the
backdrop of the initial spadework of political history, and at the time
this was written, there was little cross-reference to establish a solid
political history for this turbulent period in the history of bengal.
undoubtedly, later historians consulted this work widely, focusing more on
its defects than its positives.

thanks to the digital library of india for making this long out-of-print
book widely available for browsing...

Excerpts

from ch. XX: bengal under shAista khan and ibrahim khan

		[by jadunath sarkar]

the english in bengal before calcutta 1642-1680

the english east india company had established their first factory in
bengal at hugli in 1651. for some years before it they had been making
their purchases and sales in bengal from their agency or head factory at
balesore in orissa (founded in 1642), through subordmates who used to
visit a few centres in bihar and bengal periodically every year.

at first their transactions in bengal were on a very limited scale and
unprofitable. before 1651, their annual investment in this province was
less than one-tenth of the value of the dutch company's.

the civil war in england (1642-1648) and the war between holland and
england under the protectorate (1652-54), ruined the business, and the
london directors of the latter company at one time issued orders for
abandoning the trade in bengal and "the bay" altogether.

but after 1660, after aurangzib's final accession to the throne restored
peace in india and the restoration of charles II settled affairs in great
britain, the english trade with bengal began to improve rapidly. by 1680 the
company's exports from bengal had risen to £150,000, and next year to
£280,000.

deprivations by shAista khAn's officials

but in august 1682, when william hedges arrived at hugli as the first
governor and agent of the english company in bengal (which was now removed
from the control of madras), he found the trade almost brought to a
standstill by the lawlessness and greed of the mughal officials.

	the several affronts, insolences, and abuses daily put upon us by
	bAlchAnd (the customs-collector at hugli and shAista khan's favoured
	instrument of extortion), being grown insufferable, the agent and
	council made use of diverse expedients for redress of their
	grievances, but all means proving ineffectual, it was agreed that the
	only expedient now left was for the agent to go himself in person to
	the nawAb and diwAn at dacca... to make some settled adjustment
	concerning the customs.

hedges spent six weeks in dacca, and his diary, which has been edited by
sir h yule (1888), gives a graphic account of the life and court of
shAista khan and the condition of the country and the people as observed
by him.  but nothing resulted from this mission, shAista merely promised
that he would request the emperor to give the english a farmAn, and the
local officials at hugli continued to stop the company's boats and seize
their goods.

at last the english traders lost all patience with the corrupt and lawless
mughal government.  "hedges and others urged upon the (directors of the)
company that trade in bengal would never prosper till they came to a
quarrel with the native authorities, got rid of the growing exactions, and
were established in a defensive settlement with ready access to the sea."
this resolve was to bear fruit in the foundation and fortification of
calcutta before the 17th century was over.

the company launches war against the mughals 1686

the court of directors obtained from king james II permission to retaliate
their injuries by hostilities against shAista khan and aurangzib, and in
1686 ships with troops were sent to india from england for making a
vigorous attack upon both sides of the indian peninsula. only three of
these ships reached bengal.  the english troops arrived by driblets
towards the end of 1686, and were quartered in hugli and near it. these
preparations for war could not be concealed from shAista khan, who
concentrated 3,000 foot and 800 horse at hugli to guard the town (wilson,
I 90-96) .

[hostilities started on 28 october 1686...  much of hughli was burned
down.]  the english lost two men killed and several wounded, and their old
factory and its godown were burnt.  but on the mughal side about 60 men
were killed and a great number wounded, while four to five hundred houses
and a great number of boats were burnt down (lbid, i 97)

shAista khan on hearing of the sack of hugli sent vast detachments of
cavalry there and ordered the english to be seized.  the english used the
respite to pack their stores and evacuated hugli with all their property
and sailed down the river with a halt at sutAnuTi, from where their agent
job charnock continued the negotiations with shAista khan...

burning of balasore - 1687, 1688

on 9th february charnock left sutanuti and captured the imperial forts at
thAnA (modern garden reach, facing mAtiA burj), a few miles west of
calcutta and down the ganges, and seized the island of hijli, on the east
coast of the medimpur district (contai subdivision; at confl. of rasulpur
on ganga), where the english established themselves after landing their
men and guns.  next month (march) a detachment of 170 english soldiers and
sailors landed at balasore, took the mughal fort and burnt down the two
towns, called old and new balesore.

about the middle of may 1687, abdus samad, a lieutenant (bakShi) of shAista
khan arrived before hijli with 12,000 men, to expel the english... [most
of the english - about 200 (2/3ds) had died of malaria, but the remaining
fought and managed to sue for peace, and were able to evacuate with their
guns and munitions.]

on 16 august, 1687, shAista khan issued a letter to the english permitting
them to build a fort at uluberiA (20 miles S of calcutta) and renew their
trade at hughli.  so charnock with his ships returned, and halted at sutAnuTi
(september)...

but a new difficulty arose on account of the english war on the mughal
shipping on the bombay coast (by sir john child) and shAista khan withdrew
his concessions...  a year was wasted in this way, and on 8th november 1688
the english evacuated calcutta a second time, abandoning all their stations
and business in bengal.

their new agent, the naval captain heath (who had superseded job charnock),
now sailed to balesore, stormed the mughal fort (29th november). and seized
new balesore town, committing unspeakable atrocities on the inhabitants,
christians and non-christians, men and women alike.  on 23rd december, he
made sailed away to chatgaon, wishing to seize that town and make it an
independent fortified base of the english in the bay of bengal.

[however, he found the fortifications at chittagong too strong]
and at last giving up this idea, he sailed away for madras (17th february
1689), abandoning all his bengal projects.

aurangzeb invites the english to return to bengal, 1689

by this time shAista khan had left bengal (june 1688), and aurangzib had
issued orders for conclliating the english and restoring their trade in his
dominions, which made a fair addition to his customs revenue.

on 2nd july ibrAhim khan, immediately after coming to bengal as viceroy (in
the place of khan-i-jahAn kokah, dismissed after eleven months' tenure),
wrote to the madras council inviting the english to return to bengal and
promising them fair treatment, and this letter was received on 7th october

in february 1690, peace was finally concluded between the mughal government
and the english on the west coast, and on 23rd april the emperor wrote to
ibrahim khan to let the english trade freely in bengal as before. (stewart's
bengal, app vii and vi)

so, the madras council decided to send job charnock back to bengal as agent.
he arrived at sutAnuTi on 24th august 1690.  this was the foundation of
calcutta in the same year the french made a humble but independent settlement
of their own at chandernagore, in a purchased village. 385

ibrAhim khan, subahdar of bengal, 1689

[ibrAhim khan was a son of the famous ali mardAn khan of shah jahAn's reign.]
he was a pure persian by birth and breeding, and had held the subahdAri of
one province after another since 1662.  when he reached bengal (1689) he was
already a weak old man. his disposition was mild, his habits sedentary, and
his sole passion was to read persian books.  without military abilities, he
desired to administer justice with strict impartiality and to encourage
agriculture and commerce.  the english traders called him "the most famously
just and good nabob", and the muslim historian records that "he did not allow
even an ant to be oppressed".  (riyAz, 223 ) 392

immediately after reaching dacca, he released the english merchants who had
been confined there, by the emperor's orders, and wrote letters to job
charnock then at madras, inviting him to return to bengal and resume the
english trade in this province. p.392

english and french settlements, 1690

at last, on 24th august 1690, agent charnock with his council and factors,
landed at sutAnuti, and was well received by the mughal officers of the
district (hughli).  on 10th february 1691, an imperial order (i e,
hasb-ul-hukm) was issued under the seal of Asad khAn the wazir, allowing
the english to continue their trade in bengal in composure of mind, on
payment of rs 3,000 yearly in lieu of all dues.  thus was founded the english
settlement of calcutta, destined in time to be the centre of a british indian
empire.

the french establishment of chandernagar, too, was legally constituted at
exactly the same time. du plessis had bought a piece of land, on the bank of
the ganges, four miles south of hughli, at the village of chandernagar, in
1674; but the dutch out of jealousy influenced the subahdar to forbid the
french to build any residence there.

in april 1690 however, the agent deslandes, by bribing the nawab's court at
dacca, secured full rights, and at once began to erect enclosing walls, brick
houses, and large warehouses, of which the architect was the jesuit duchatz,
and the estimated cost rs 26,000.  by july 1692, most of the work had been
completed.

by promising to pay the emperor rs 40,000 (one-fourth of it cash down and the
balance in six yearly instalments of 5,000), deslandes obtained (in january
1693) an imperial order giving the french the right to trade freely in
bengal, bihar and orissa, with the same privileges as the dutch, and paying
like the latter 3½ p c. custom duty. (kaeppelin, 321-322). p.392

the bardwan rebellion and zabardast khan

[in 1695-98, a local landlord shobhA singh rebelled and killed the rajah of
bardwan. he was joined by the afghan rahim khan from orissa, and together
they plundered the west bank of the ganges, with their base in bardwan.
their only resistance came from the dutch, who dislodged them from hughli.

hearing of these events, aurangzeb dismissed the ineffective ibrAhim khan,
and sent his grandson, the prince azim-ud-din as subahdar of bengal.
in the interim, shobhA singh had been stabbed and killed by the daughter of
the ex-rAjA when he tried to molest her; she killed herself thereafter, with
the same dagger.

[Aniruddha Ray, banglapedia: 
The historian Salimulla, writing 67 years after the event, narrated the
romantic story of Sobha Singh's death caused by stabbing by Krishnaram's
daughter, when Sobha Singh tried to molest her. jadunath sarkar believed it
in his History of Bengal, but discounted it in favour of the report
(Akhbarat) that Prince Azimuddin had killed Sobha Singh in 1698. Both these
accounts are found to be inaccurate. The farman of 1734 and the contemporary
European documents clearly mention that, excepting a son, who was given back
the zamindari later, all family members of Krishnaram were killed. The
contemporary French letters of 21 November 1696 and 15 January 1697 clearly
mention that while Sobha Singh was regaling with ladies, he died of a fall
from a high terrace. The despatch of Prince Azimuddin (Akhbarat) is suspect
since the rebels held out till 1703-04 and were finally flushed out by
murshid quli khan for which he was rewarded by the emperor. ]

before the prince's arrival, ibrAhim's son zabardast khan was asked to raise
an army and counter the rebels.  in may 1697 forces under this young general,
aided by an artillery manned with feringhi gunners, routed the rebels under
rahim khan at bhagwangola.  however, zabardast was mistreated by the prince
when he arrived after the monsoons, and left bengal to join aurangzeb in the
deccan.

rahim khan had fled, and was finally defeated by imperial forces at
chandrakonA and rahim was beheaded by hamid khan qureshi.
[this JS version, based on the Akhbarat, is suspect, see banglapedia note above.] 
(akhbarat'i-darbar-i-mu'ala, or reports of everything that was done or said
in public at the Court or camp where the Emperor was present in person. These
were written daily, — sometimes twice a day, when (as usual) there were
morning levees and evening Courts held by His Majesty. - Maasir-i-Alamgiri, 
A History of the Emperor Aurangzib-'Alamgir ]

fortresses at the european settlements

in this period, public order disappeared and the mughal administration had
collapsed.  the three european settlements in bengal - calcutta, chandernagar
and chinsura applied to ibrAhim khan at dacca for permission to fortify their
factories.  the viceroy in general terms ordered them to defend themselves.

this was the beginning of fort william. fort d,orleans, and chinsura
ramparts. at calcutta the english merchants built walls and bastions round
their factory (in the modern dalhousie square) and certain works which were
dignified with the name of a fort, mounted guns on the ramparts, and
substituted a structure of brick and mud for the old thatched house which
used to contain the company's stores and provisions. 395

	in july 1698, for the sum of rs 18,000 the english procured letters
	patent from the prince, allowing them to purchase from the existing
	holders the right of renting the three villages of sutAnuti (north),
	calcutta (centre) and govindpur (south), and thus the security of
	calcutta was completely assured"· (wilson, i. 147-150).

at chandernagar, francois martin in november 1696 raised palisades around
the french loge and also a bastion of earth on the side facing the river;
and in april 1697, he built a second bastion for flanking the four curtains
of chandernagar "which thus assumed the aspect of a small fortress".
(kaeppelin. 339-340). similarly, the dutch fortified their factory in
chinsurA. with walls. all three nations enlisted temporary bands of indian
soldiers -- rajputs and "baksarias", to augment their handful of white
soldiers and sailors.

fortresses shelter traders during marAThA bargI raids

then was seen a spectacle which no indian can remember without shame : the
sovereign of the country could not protect his subjects, and every indian
of wealth and every government official of the neighbourhood who could,
took refuge in these forts of foreigners to save their lives and honour. the
same thing was witnessed about the same time in madras and pondicherry
during the anarchical wars between the mughals and the marathas in the
eastern carnatic. 396

[for the half century in the early 1700s,  bengal was ably ruled by the
nawabs murshid quli khan (1700-1727) [ch.xxi], and alivardi khan
(1740-1756) [ch.xxiii].   ]

murshid quli and alivardi between them gave this province a peace unknown in
that age elsewhere in India.  no repercussion of the dynastic revolutions at
delhi reached bengal except in the change of the name on the coin.  maratha
incursion which convulsed and transformed the face of malwa and gujrat,
khandesh and berar, was felt in bengal as merely a passing blast (1743-'52);
1t touched the fringe of the province and at the very end (1752) only tore
away orissa from bengal.  396

XXI. bengal under murshid quli khan: jadunath sarkar

tributes to delhi in murshid quli khan's time

the unceasing drain of silver from bengal, amounting on an average to one
kror of rupees very year, kept the volume of true money in circulation
here extremely small, and the price of local produce very low. (kaeppelin,
462 and 524, french reports from chandernagar). hence, it is no wonder
that while sebastien manrique about 1632 found rice selling at murshidabad
at four to five maunds a rupee, ninety years later, in murshid quli's
time, the "price of rice there was still commonly four maunds"
(salimullah).  this fact proves that the circulating medium had not
increased in a century's time, in spite of the growth of production and
trade.  the common people had no capital...

The land revenue was forced up so high only by the heartless squeezing of
the peasantry and inhuman torture of the contractor collectors.  the
pressure applied by the nawab at the top naturally passed through the
intermediate grades finally on to the actual cultivators, who were left
with the bare means of existence.  [meanwhile] the gold, pearls and gems
piled up in the treasure chamber of the murshidabad palace, which dazzled
the eyes of colonel clive after plassey.. [p.417]

after plassey : looting the national surplus of bengal

[FN:
robert clive, became one of the richest men in england...  he had to face
an inquiry by parliament, where he stated in his defence:

	consider the situation in which the victory of plassey placed me.  a
	great prince was dependent on my pleasure; an opulent city lay at my
	mercy; its richest bankers bid against each other for my smiles, i
	walked through vaults which were thrown open to me alone, piled on
	either hand with gold and jewels.  mr. chairman, at this moment i
	stand astonished at my own moderation.”

sarkar dryly comments that clive [officially] took only 40 lakhs rupees,
at a time when one rupee bought four maunds of rice. 419]
[considering one kilo of rice today (2010s) to be 30 rs. , 
	one clive rupee = 4x40x30 = 1200rs;
	40 L  = 4 x 1.2 x 109 rs = 480 cr. ]

the whole of the surplus national stock [of bengal] for sixty years was
whisked away to britain in the days of mir Jafar and mir qAsim,
and a generation later the gilded pauper in the murshidabad palace
had to beg the calcutta government for relief from insolvency. 418

austrian settlement in bAnkibAzAr

the ostend company, formed in austrian netherlands, received a charter from
their emperor in 1723, but in 1727 diplomatic pressure by rival European
powers, forced the austrian monarch to suspend its privileges for seven
years.

its chief settlement in india, at bAnkibAzAr, three miles north of
barrackpur, hoisted the austrian flag and continued to trade under 1ts
protection (hence it was called the german company).  but in 1744 the
faujdAr of hugli (instigated by the english and the dutch traders) besieged
bAnkibAzAr.

the small garrison fought well, and at last its handful of survivors
evacuated the place and sailed away in their ship, taking to a life of
piracy in the Indian waters (cambridge hist of india, V, 115). 420

XXV. sirAj-ud-daulah

	 	jadunath sarkar

alivardi sank into the grave in the midst of darkness and despair.  his long
years of striving with the marathas had ended in his admission of utter
defeat.  and now as he entered his eighty~second year, death dealt a quick
succession of blows at his heart; in the course of one year he lost two
sons-in-law and one grandson, leaving two immature youths as his only
possible successors. p.468

alivardI had no son, but three daughters only.  they had been married to
the three sons of his brother the hAji, who were known from their seats of
governorship. as the dacca nawab, the purnia nawab, and the patna nawab.
all his three daughters had been widowed in his life time.  the eldest
mihir-un-nisa (ghasiti begam) was childless.  the second (she of purnia)
had a grown up son named shaukat jang and a boy named mirza ramzani.  the
third (aminA begam) had two sons left, sirAj-ud-daulah, and mirza mahdi.

sirAj was his grandfather's darling, because he was born just before
AlivardI gained the deputy governorship of bihar (1733) which was for him
the stepping-stone to the throne of these three eastern subahs.  his family
regarded this new-born child as the bringer of good fortune to the beggarly
adventurer from persia who had started life in orissa on a monthly pay of
rs. 100 and ended by becoming the master of three kingdoms.

his grandfather's superstitious affection proved a fatal boon for
sirAj-ud-daulah; it led him through a riotous life to a tragic and
dishonoured end.  he was given no education for his future duties, he never
learnt to curb his passionate impulses; none durst correct his vices; and
he was kept away from manly and martial exercises as dangerous to such a
precious life.  thus the apple of old alivardi's eye grew up into a most
dissolute, haughty, reckless and cowardly youth, and the prospect of his
succession to the government of bengal, filled all people with alarm.

about the character of sirAj-ud-daulah the evidence of the
english merchants of calcutta or that of the famous patna historian
sayyid ghulam husain (the tutor of his rival shaukat jang) might
be suspected as prejudiced. i shall therefore give here the opinion
of monsieur jean law, the chief of the french factory at qasimbazar,
a gentleman who was prepared to risk his own life in order to defend
sirAj against the english troops.  law writes in his memoirs,

	"the character of sirAj-ud-daulah was reputed to be one of the worst
	ever known. in fact he had distinguished himself not only by all
	sorts of debaucheries. but by a revolting cruelty. the hindu women
	are accustomed to bathe on the bank of the ganges.  sirAj-ud-daulah,
	who was informed by his spies which of them were beautiful, sent his
	satellites in little boats to carry them off.  he was often seen, in
	the season when the river overflows, causing the ferry boats to be
	upset or sunk, in order to have the cruel pleasure of seeing the
	confusion of a hundred people at a time, men, women and children, of
	whom many, not being able to swim. were sure to perish.  every one
	trembled at the name of sirAj-ud-daulah ".

on the eve of alivardi's death sirAj and his cousin shaukat jang stood face
to face as rivals for the throne of bengal, bihar and orissa.  but shaukat
jang lived far away, in purnia.

sirAj's nearest and greatest enemy was his mother's eldest sister ghasiti
begam, a childless widow.  as the best-loved and most domineering daughter of
alivardi, she had used her position of influence to amass a vast fortune,
which she kept with herself, in a castle surrounded by a lake called the
moti-jhil, a few miles north [AM: ?south?] of the city of murshidabad,
guarded by her armed retainers as a threat to the ruler in the capital.  but
she was a woman, unable to come into the field in person.  hence she had to
act through male agents, such as her lovers and managers.  it had been her
ambition to raise sirAj's younger brother akram-ud-daulah to the throne. and
rule the country as his regent from behind the veil; but that boy had died
about a year before alivardi.  she then turned her eyes on shaukat jang and
invited him to invade murshidabad.

thus every enemy of sirAj found a patron in ghasiti begam.  in fact, the
approaching death of alivardi threatened to provoke a war of succession,
which did not turn out so terrible as the war for aurangzib's throne 50 years
earlier only because the claimants were two worthless youths.

but the most formidable enemy of sirAj was mir ja'far ali khan, the
commander-in-chief of alivardi's army.  by reason of his mature age,
experience of war, and official position, he was the only man whom sirAj
had reason to dread in a trial of strength.  ja'far ali had come to india
as a penniless adventurer like his master, but alivardi had given him the
hand of his half-sister (shah khanam), and gradually raised him to a
position next only to himself, as the bakhshi (literally meaning the
paymaster-general, but really the captain-general of the forces) ja'far ali
had gained an undeserved reputation for valour by the rapid march which
enabled him to rescue saulat jang near katak before his defeated and
fleeing captors could murder him (1741), and later by a victory over the
marAThas in 1746 (ch 24, sec 7).

but his courage entirely oozed out when in february, 1747, he was ordered
to make a stand against the marAThas at medinipur, but fell precipitately
back on bardwan.  the soldiers had no confidence in a general with such a
record.  worst of all, he was so ungrateful as to conspire for the
overthrow and murder of that alivardi, who had raised him from the dust to
the second position in the realm.  if alivardi could kill his benefactor
shuja-ud-din's heir and seize the throne, ja'far ali had the same moral
right to kill alivardi (or his heir) and take the throne; that was his
argument.

sunk in gross sensual pleasures and weakened by his addiction to
opium and the hemp drug (bhang), he had not even the energy of alivardi,
who was twenty years older in age.  in his last years, in the ignominious
repose of the throne of bengal, as "lord clive's jack-ass", he developed
leprosy, - a loathsome end to a loathsome life. p.470

sirAj-ud-daulah's charges against the british

the causes of siraj's rupture with the english can be now
clearly known from the published records and correspondence.

1. roger drake, the chief of their bengal factories had not followed the
   usual practice of congratulating him on his accession with a suitable
   present, as a foreign nation living in the laud is bound to do.

2. in Alivardi's time when sirAj had wished to visit the country-house of the
   english near qAsimbAzAr, the factors had refused to admit him, as it was
   very likely that the drunken disorderly youth would have damaged and
   defiled it.

3. but the provoking cause was the question of arresting a fugitive harboured
   in calcutta, krishna ballav, [whose father was the diwan of dacca, and
   whom sirAj had accused of embezzling funds.]  krishna ballav had bribed mr
   drake, the governor, and secured an asylum in calcutta.

4. besides sirAj's personal grievances against the english, there was a more
   serious threat to the nawab's power, namely the new fortifications being
   built at calcutta early in this year.

	the european factories in bengal received a warning from their head
	offices at home [c.1756] of the probability of a war soon breaking
	out between england and france (the seven years' war actually began
	in europe in may 1756.)  the english immediately set themselves to
	repairing their long-dilapidated defences on the river side (west of
	the present general post office), clearing the half-choked maratha
	ditch, and throwing up some earth-works in the northern environs
	(especially a redoubt and a draw-bridge, called perring's redoubt,
	across the ditch at baghbazar).

	this was a clear violation of the terms under which the mughal
	government had allowed them to live in bengal.  alivardi, justly
	alarmed by bussy's ascendancy over the muslim powers of the deccan,
	had persistently refused to allow the europeans to fortify or arm
	their factories in bengal, telling them, "you are merchants, what
	need have you of a fortress?  being under my protection you have no
	enemies to fear."

[FN:
s c hill (Bengal in 1756-57, Murray 1905) calls the nawab's grievances
against the english as "pretexts for war", but admits
(1) as regards fortifications, it is quite clear that the
    british (in calcutta) had exceeded their rights.
(2) as regards the abuse of trade privileges, it must be confessed that the
    british had used the dastaks or passes for goods free of custom in a
    way never contemplated by the farmAns.
(3) concerning the protection given to the servants of the native
    government, [in] the case of krishna dAs the English had no right to
    shelter the servants of Government from the authorities in their own
    country.  -- it will be seen, therefore, that sirAj-ud-daulah had a
    show of reason in all the pretexts he alleged for his attack on the
    british." (Vol I liv-lvi )
]

therefore, siraj had sent a spy to find out the unauthorised
fortifications and armament of calcutta, but this agent had been
summarily ejected from the settlement by the governor's peons.

sirAj attacks the british may 1756

on may 16 may, sirAj [was on a campaign against his cousin shawkat jang]
when he heard the news of the disgrace of his messengers by
governor drake.  he immediately decided to settle accounts with the english
before turning to the purnia nawab.

the qasimbazar factory of the english was invested by the
nawab's troops on 24th may, and the englishmen were made
prisoners in violation of a solemn promise, when visiting the nawab
some days later. a few of the factors escaped to their friends'
houses. the factory was occupied and looted.

on 5th june the nawab started for the invasion of calcutta,
and using unexpected promptitude, covered 160 miles in eleven
days and arrived outside calcutta on the 16th of june.
[...]

III fall of calcutta, june 1756

on 16th june, an attempt of the nawab's army to force the marATha ditch over
the chitpur bridge by attacking perring's redoubt which covered it, was
foiled.  but the thana fort (near matiaburuz) after being taken by the
british fleet could not be held for lack of men.  meantime, many of the
nawab's troops and the looters who hung in the rear of the army, flocked
into the town by fording the ditch. sirAj himself took up his quarters in
amir chand's garden, in the quarter known as simla.

the black town or indian quarter of calcutta in the north consisted almost
entirely of bamboo and straw huts.  the english decided to defend only the
european quarter, (dalhousie square and east and south), and first "set on
fire the straw-houses within the lines of defence, to clear the town as much
as possible.  the fire spread, and did much damage," (c 14th) again, in the
night of the 16th, they set fire to part of the town in order to drive out
the nawab's men.  next day, the british destroyed all the native houses to
the eastward and the southward, and the nawab's plunderers set fire to the
great bazar, (the old bara bazar, north of the modern fairlie place) and
other parts of the black town, which burnt till morning."

all the british women were brought into the fort on the 16th, and next day
the portuguese and armenian women and children crowded into the fort, (their
relatives) the militia declaring that they would not fight unless their
families were admitted. "everything in the fort was thrown into confusion.
all the peons and servants of the europeans, the porters of munitions and
gun laskars fled away in fear, till the british defenders began to starve
for want of men to cook their meals.

the attack on the line of defence began on 18th june.  the english prepared
for it by a council order to their soldiers "to give no quarter, as the
fort prison was already crowded." the nawab's main attack was made on the
defences from the east and south (bowbazar street sealdah side, and
esplanade east).  by occupying the strongly built and scattered european
houses in these directions, the invaders by their fire drove out the small
bodies of the advanced english defenders and rendered the artillery of the
fort ineffective, and even the batteries outside the fort had to be
abandoned to the enemy.

so the english fell back into a smaller and inner line of defence, covering
the old fort william and a few yards around it (i.e., from fairlie place to
the southern limit of the general post office, and from the ganges to
dalhousie square west).

in the night of the 18th as many women in the fort as could be accommodated
on board were sent to the ships.  "the defenders of the fort were now wearied
out.  the men at the outposts were left to starve as there were no cooks
... the supply of ammunition had run short." so, between 1 and 2 o'clock in
the morning of 19th june, mr drake "held an informal council ... it was
determined to abandon the fort, but how or when to make the retreat could not
be decided upon."

the 19th was a day of increasing confusion and agony.  the ships alongside
calcutta, on which the hope of a safe evacuation depended, dropped down the
stream.  on shore the armenians and portuguese half-breeds who formed the
militia, were too terrified to act. even the pure european soldiers could be
persuaded with difficulty to resume their arms.  but on learning that all the
remaining powder was damp and useless, a stampede ensued for the boats.  the
governor drake and the commandant minchin themselves escaped in the last few
boats.  some of the ships [the prince george, neptune, calcutta, and
diligence] ran aground and their inmates were made prisoners by the nawab's
troops.  the ships that escaped "set ashore all the refugees on board who had
no connection with the europeans" and then anchored at falta, (26 june).

calcutta, thus deserted by 1ts governor and military commander, had still
170 white men capable of conducting its defence, (not counting the
unreliable armenians and eurasians).  they held a council, suspended their
two fugitive heads, and appointed mr j z holwell, the zamindar or
magistrate-collector of native calcutta as governor and military
commander. (in the afternoon of the 19th) holwell tried to make a stand,
but the enemy's musketry from the european houses they occupied took a
heavy toll and made it almost impossible to stand upon the ramparts of the
invested fort. this night saw all the houses around burning.  the british
soldiers now refused to obey their officers, broke open the houses of the
runaway members, and made themselves drunk with the liquor found there.

sunday 20th june began in utter hopelessness. in the night before, 53
soldiers (chiefly dutch) out of the small white contingent left had
deserted to the enemy.  in the fighting from morning to noon, the english
lost 25 men killed and 70 wounded, and only 14 men were left to serve the
guns. with no laskar or porter.  holwell, "hoping to amuse the enemy till
nightfall, when a retreat might be effected, hosted a flag of truce."  but
about 4 o'clock in the evening, the enemy scaled the walls from all sides
and the little river-gate of the fort was burst open by a dutch sergeant
and delivered to the enemy.  some of the defenders were cut down, but
holwell now surrendered, the fighting ceased. and sirAj-ud-daulah entered
calcutta as victor.  but there was no arrest of prisoners, "the portuguese
and armenians were allowed to go free and disappeared, and several of the
europeans simply walked out of the fort, making their escape, to hugli or
the ships at surman's garden."

IV the black hole tragedy

that sunday evening, the british who had surrendered were well
treated. their chief holwell had three interviews with the nawab and
received an assurance of safety from him.  the victorious troops "had
plundered the europeans of their valuables, but did not ill-treat them.
but about sunset, some european soldiers had made themselves drunk and
assaulted natives.  the latter complained to the nawab, who asked where the
europeans were accustomed to confine soldiers who had misbehaved in any
way.  he was told -- in the black hole ... and ordered that they should all
be confined in it."  all the prisoners were crowded into this chamber 18
feet by 14 feet 10 inches, with only one small window, throughout that hot
night of june, and in the morning many were found to have perished of
suffocation or their wounds. (hill, i, xc)

up to this point, the evidence is clear.  we see that the english council
had begun the war by ordering their soldiers not to take any prisoners, as
they had no safe place to keep them in. neither had the murshidabad troops,
but they did not follow such an inhuman course, nor did they use their
legitimate right under international law which makes prisoners of war
liable to be shot if they assault their guards.  with oriental humanity
they merely put restraints on the rowdy englishmen, but in the unsettled
conditions of a fort taken by storm, with fires raging outside, they had no
time to separate the sheep from the goats, and the prison was left in
charge of the common soldiers throughout the night.

but the number of victims afterwards given out and accepted in europe
(namely 123 dead out of 146 confined) is manifestly an exaggeration.  [it
rose to 200 men in the story told by some english fugitives sheltered in
chandernagar.]

for one thing, after the death, evacuation, stealthy walking away already
described from authentic records and admitted by hill, 146 britishers could
not have been left in sirAj's hands at 7 pm, three hours after the
surrender.  this point was first argued by mr little, headmaster of the
english high school in murshidabad.  secondly, a floor area of 267 square
feet cannot contain 146 european adults.  this point was established by
bholanath chunder, who fenced round an area 18 feet by 15, with bamboo
stakes and counted the number of his bengali tenants who could be crammed
into it, the number was found to be much less than 146, and a bengali
villager's body occupies much less space than a british gentleman's.  it is
nowhere admitted that a list was made of the britishers surrendering after
4 pm that evening.  nor even a count of heads made.  at the same time as
many of the foreigners in the fort as could, escaped by walking away
secretly between the surrender and the time of putting the prisoners in the
black hole.  even holwell was offered by a friend the chance to escape
thus.

therefore 146 europeans could not have been left in the hands of sirAj's
soldiers at 7 pm that fatal evening.  the true number was considerably
less, probably only sixty.  it is a very reasonable supposition that all
the former british residents of calcutta whose manner of death could not be
clearly ascertained in that week of confused fighting, administrative
breakdown, and loss of home and records, were afterwards set down as
"perished in the black hole" and their names were blazoned on holwell's
monument.  [hill,i xciv gives 56 names, to which lord curzon added the
names of some who had been killed in fighting.  hill admits (i xcvi), "in
the careless talk of calcutta the black hole and (old) fort william seem to
have been often confounded."

[hill, i xciv gives 56 names, to which lord curzon added the names of
some who had been killed in fighting.  hill admits (i xcvi), "in the careless
talk of calcutta the black hole and fort william seem to have been often
confounded"]

holwell and some other leading servants of the company were removed as
prisoners to murshidabad, but a few days later they were set free, and
joined the english fleet at falta.  only one white woman (mrs carey, the
wife of a sea-faring man) entered the black hole and she came out of it
alive; but "almost all the white women and children of calcutta were on
board the ships that escaped" to falta (hill, i xcvii).

the capture of calcutta and other factories in bengal inflicted a loss of
95 lakhs of rupees on the e i company besides 160 lakhs on private persons,
though sirAj found only half a lakh in the company's treasury.  three days
after the surrender, sirAj-ud-daulah left calcutta and after levying forced
contributions from the dutch and the french factories (4.5 and 3.5 lakhs
respectively), re-entered murshidabad on 11 july in pompous celebration of
his triumph.

battle of manihari, 16 October 1756

[the next month, sirAj launched an expedition against his cousin shaukat
jang, the nawab of purnia, who had received a letter from mir-jafar "urging
him to invade bengal and assuring him of the support of himself and many
other captains in murshidabad."  shaukat jang set forth with an army, which
was met by sirAj's troops.]

the flags of sirAj-ud-daulah's advanced division (under mohan lal) were seen
moving into the plain outside the village of manihari, about three miles
south of the purnia troops.  leaving their tents and baggage on the bank of
the ganges, in the rear, the invaders drew up their forces carefully and in
proper order...

[shaukat jang insisted that his troops cross over a swamp and attack the
bengal forces, eventually taunting them of cowardice.]

some highborn shia' captains, stung to the quick by shaukat jang's taunts,
set out to deliver a charge.  they had crossed only half the jhil and were
still struggling with the mud in loose broken formation, when the bengal
artillery and musketeers began to shoot them down from their safe position
on the opposite bank.  no reply to this fire was possible. many of the
purnia troops were slain and wounded, many who had reached the other bank
were captured, the rest broke, recrossed the jhil and fled away without
having once had the chance of drawing their swords.

the bengal army now made a general advance and the field was soon swept clear
of the enemy.  shaukat jang stood on his elephant in a drunken and dazed
condition, with only 15 or 16 attendants, but a musket shot killed him, his
jewelled turban rolled down to the ground, and the contest was over.  by the
time the battle ended it was sunset, and so, there could be no pursuit.  the
fugitives (including the historian ghulam husain) escaped to their homes
without any molestation.
		[siyar, text 215-224, eye-witness's account.] p.480

[the text is replete with this type of battle narrative, which seems
to easily defy peter hardy's charge of being "very dull."]

Contents

CHAPTER I. Muslim Conquest of Bengal 					1
	Kalika Ranjan Qanungo, Prof & Head, History, Dacca U.
	[Section 2 by Jadunath Sarkar]
	Appendix A Race, parentage and dates of Md. Bakhtyar Khilji
	Appendix B. Geographical notes
	Appendix C Coins and Chronology of 'Iwaz

CHAPTER II. Bengal under the Mamluks (1227-87) : K. R Qanungo   	42

CHAPTER III. Bengal under the House of Balban : K. R Qanungo 		58
	Appendix A Chronology

CHAPTER IV. Rise of the llyas Shahi Dynasty 				95
	Nirod Bhusan Roy, Professor of History, Mymensingh College
	[Sections 1 and 7 by Jadunath Sarkar]

CHAPTER V. Intervening Hindu Dynasty :  Jadunath Sarkar 		120
	[Section 4 by K. R Qanungo]

CHAPTER VI. Later Ilyas Shahis and the Abyssinians (1442-1493) 	130
	A. B. M. Habibullah, Lecturer Calcutta University

CHAPTER VII. Husain Shahi Dynasty (1493-1538) 			142
	A B M Habibullah

CHAPTER VITI. Bengal under Imperial Afghan Rule 			166
	Nirod Bhusan Roy

CHAPTER IX. Last Afghan Sultans, (1553-1575) 				179
	Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER X. FIrst Mughal Conquest of Bengal 				187
	Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER XI. Man Singh Kachhwa, Viceroy 				207
	Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER XII. Transformation of Bengal under Mughal Rule 		216
	Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER XII. State of Bengal under Jahangir
	Sudhindra Nath Bhattacharya, M.A., Ph D.
		Lecturer, Department of History, Dacca University

CHAPTER XIV. Conquests of Islam Khan (1608-1613)  			247
	Sudhindra Nath Bhattacharya
	Appendix Islam Khan's dates

CHAPTER XV. Last Achievements of Islam Khan 				273
	Sudhindra Nath Bhattacharya

CHAPTER XVI. Twenty Years of stagnation and reverse (1613-1633)  	289
	Sudhindra Nath Bhattacharya

CHAPTER XVII. Bengal under Shah Jahan  				316
	Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER XVIII. Mir Jumla in Bengal 1659-1663  			339
	Sections 1 and 2 : Jagadish Narayan Sarkar,
				Lecturer, Patna College
	Sectrons 3-5: Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER XIX. The Portuguese in Bengal 				351
	Surendra Nath Sen, Director, National Archrves of India

CHAPTER XX. Bengal under Shaista Khan and Ibrahim Khan 		371
	Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER XXI. Bengal under Murshid Quli Khan 				397
	Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER XXII. Shuja-'ud-din Md Khan 					422
	Kali Kinkar Datta, Ph.D.
	Head of Department of History, Patna College

CHAPTER XXIII. Alivardi Khan 						436
	Kali Kinkar Datta

CHAPTER XXIV. Marathas in Bengal  					455
	Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER XXV. Siraj-ud-daulah 						468
	Jadunath Sarkar

CHAPTER XXVI. End of Muslim Rule 					481
	Jadunath Sarkar

BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX