Bengal before the Battle of Plassey

In the early eighteenth century, Bengal Subah—encompassing modern West Bengal, Bangladesh, Bihar, and Odisha—was the richest province of the Mughal Empire. Known as the Paradise of Nations, Bengal contributed nearly 60% of all British imports from Asia. The gradual decline of central Mughal authority after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 allowed regional governors to establish an autonomous state while retaining nominal allegiance to Delhi.

Rise of Autonomous Nawabs in Bengal

The autonomous line of the Nawabs of Bengal began with Murshid Quli Khan and passed through successive rulers who managed the administration, revenue systems, and foreign commercial interests.

Murshid Quli Khan (1717–1727)

• Appointed as Diwan (revenue collector) in 1700 by Aurangzeb and elevated to Subahdar (governor) in 1717 by Emperor Farrukhsiyar.
• Shifted the provincial capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad.
• Introduced the Mal Jasmani system, transforming land revenue collection by replacing Mughal jagirdars with local revenue contractors (ijaradars) and hereditary zamindars.
• Reorganized agricultural finances by granting taccavi (agricultural loans) directly to peasants to boost crop yield and revenue.
• Regular remittance of yearly revenue to Delhi secured his de facto independence from central imperial interference.

Shuja-ud-Din (1727–1739) and Sarfaraz Khan (1739–1740)

• Shuja-ud-Din, son-in-law of Murshid Quli Khan, consolidated the governance of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha.
• He annexed Bihar into the Bengal Subah and appointed Alivardi Khan as its Deputy Governor.
• His son, Sarfaraz Khan, assumed power in 1739 but was overthrown and killed at the Battle of Giriya (1740) by Alivardi Khan.

Alivardi Khan (1740–1756)

• Legitimized his usurpation by sending a payment of two crore rupees to Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah.
• Faced constant military harassment from Maratha invasions under Raghuji Bhonsle of Nagpur between 1741 and 1751.
• Concluded a treaty with the Marathas in 1751, ceding the territory of Odisha and agreeing to pay an annual chauth (tribute) of 12 lakh rupees.
• Strictly controlled European trading companies, forbidding them from fortifying their factories or conducting private armies within his territory.
• Nominated his youngest daughter’s son, Siraj-ud-Daulah, as his successor.

Economic Profile and Foreign Trade Connections

Bengal was the commercial hub of South Asia, possessing advanced banking systems and a globally integrated export economy.

Origins of Conflict Between the British and Siraj-ud-Daulah

Siraj-ud-Daulah ascended the throne in April 1756 at the age of 23. His reign was contested internally by his cousin Shaukat Jung (Faujdar of Purnea) and his aunt Ghaseti Begum. The British East India Company took advantage of these domestic rivalries to expand its influence.

Misuse of Trade Concessions

• The Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar had issued a Royal Farman in 1717 granting the British the right to trade in Bengal without paying transit duties, issued via trade permits called dastaks.
• Company servants routinely abused dastaks for their personal private trade, bypassing local custom checks.
• This practice undercut local Indian merchants and caused severe losses to the Nawab’s treasury.

Unauthorized Fortifications

• Fearing European warfare due to the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War, both the British and French began strengthening their settlements.
• Siraj-ud-Daulah ordered both parties to demolish new military works.
• The French complied, but the British refused to stop fortifying Fort William in Calcutta.

Protection to Political Fugitives

• The British sheltered Krishna Das, son of Rajballabh (a wealthy official of Ghaseti Begum), who fled to Calcutta with state funds.
• The Company refused to hand him over to the Nawab despite repeated demands.

Military Confrontation and Palace Conspiracies

The escalation of trade and sovereignty disputes quickly led to open military action.

Siege of Calcutta (June 1756)

• Siraj-ud-Daulah marched on Calcutta, captured Fort William on June 20, 1756, and placed the city under Governor Manik Chand.
• British officer J.Z. Holwell alleged that 146 British prisoners were locked in a small room overnight, resulting in the death of 123 people due to suffocation—an incident known as the Black Hole Tragedy.

Treaty of Alinagar (February 1757)

• A British relief force led by Admiral Charles Watson and Colonel Robert Clive arrived from Madras and recaptured Calcutta in January 1757.
• The Nawab signed the Treaty of Alinagar on February 9, 1757, restoring all British trade privileges, allowing the fortification of Calcutta, and granting the Company the right to mint its own coins.

Formation of the Murshidabad Conspiracy

• Robert Clive entered into secret negotiations with discontented members of the Nawab’s court.
• Mir Jafar (Mir Bakshi/Commander-in-Chief of the Nawab’s army) was promised the throne of Bengal in exchange for defecting.
• The conspiracy brought together key elites: Rai Durlabh (treasurer), Jagat Seth (banker), Manik Chand (officer in charge of Calcutta), Khadim Khan (army commander), and Omichand (merchant negotiator).
• This internal betrayal exposed Bengal’s political vulnerability, directly paving the way for the engagement at Plassey on June 23, 1757.

Key Historical Facts

The European commercial presence in Bengal was organized through fortified coastal centers. Job Charnock laid the foundation of Calcutta in 1690 by combining three villages: Sutanuti, Gobindapur, and Kalikata. The zamindari rights over these three villages were sold to the East India Company in 1698 for 1,200 rupees under Azim-us-Shan, the Mughal Subahdar of Bengal. The Nawabs lacked a standing navy and relied on a modest land force. Murshid Quli Khan’s army contained only 2,000 cavalry and 4,000 infantry, leaving the state reliant on military alliances and regional levies. This structural weakness in military organization, combined with the rising financial influence of banking houses like the Jagat Seths, shifted actual state power away from the military commander toward moneyed elites. These dynamics ultimately allowed a private foreign trading company to subvert the political authority of Bengal.