Bengal has been the richest province of the
Mughal Empire included present-day Bangladesh, and its Nawab had authority over
the region constituting present-day states of Odisha and Bihar. Exports from
Bengal to Europe consisted of raw products such as saltpeter, indigo, silk,
salt, indigo, pepper, sugar, handicrafts, etc. After seeing the raw products of
Bengal The English East India Company started having commercial interests in
Bengal, as nearly 60 percent of the British imports from Asia consisted of
goods from Bengal. During the 1630s, regular contact of the British with Bengal
continued when they established factories in Hooghly, Kasimbazar, Balasore,
Dacca and Patna. By the 1690s, the foundation of Calcutta by the English
company completed the process of English commercial settlement in Bengal. The company started paying a sum of Rs 3,000 (£ 350) per annum to the Mughal
emperor who allowed them to trade freely in Bengal. In return, the Company’s
exports from Bengal were worth more than £ 50,000 per annum.
In 1700, Murshid Quli Khan became the Dewan of
Bengal and ruled till his death in 1727. He was succeeded by his son-in-law,
Shujauddin fought the battle of Plassey in 1757 who ruled till 1739. After
that, for a year (1739-40), Sarfaraz Khan, an incapable son of Murshid Quli
Khan became the ruler he was killed by Alivardi Khan. Alivardi Khan ruled for
15 years till 1756 and also stopped paying tributes to the Mughal emperors.
Under the rule of these rulers, Bengal made great progress. There were other
factors too, which helped Bengal to grow, for example, the rest of India was
disturbed by inter-border disputes, Jat revolts, and external invasions by Nadir
Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali. The region of Bengal was fortunate enough to escape
these challenges. So the friction between the English commercial interests and
the Bengal government became the chief cause for conflict between the two.
During a short period between 1757 and 1765, the power got transferred from the
Nawabs of Bengal to the British with the latter defeating the former.
By: Shivani Awasthi (FullFry)
