Battle Of Buxar (1764)

On October 22, 1764, the British army under Hector Munro engaged an alliance of Indian kings from Bengal, Awadh, and the Mughal Empire at the Battle of Buxar. This pivotal conflict paved the way for the British to dominate India for the following 183 years. After winning the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British East India Company turned its attention to Bengal. The Mughal Emperor submitted and Bengal was taken over by the British in 1765, marking the end of the conflict. 

 

•    The Company reasoned that Mir Kasim would make a perfect puppet for them. Mir Kasim, on the other hand, exceeded the expectations of the Company.

 

•    The deputy governor of Bihar, Ram Narayan, ignored the nawab's repeated requests for the submission of Bihar's revenue accounts.

 

•    Mir Kasim was unable to defend his authority against such blatant disobedience. However, the English officials in Patna backed Ram Narayan.

 

•    Tensions between the nawab and the English were also exacerbated by Company officials misusing the dastak or trade permit (a permit that freed the designated products from duty payment).

•    The misuse of the dastak cost the nawab tax revenue.

 

•    Additionally, it made regional businesses compete unfairly with those owned by the company.

 

•    Through an imperial Farman, the English corporation had been granted permission to conduct business in Bengal without having to pay transit fees or tolls.

 

•    The Company's servants, however, asserted the same rights for their personal businesses.

 

•    The Company's employees also offered to sell Dastak to Indian merchants in exchange for a commission.

 

•    Furthermore, they violated the principles of duty-free commerce by using coercive tactics to obtain goods at lower costs.

 

•    Simply put, shopping duty-free meant finding a decent deal in a market that was otherwise competitive.

 

•    The British objected to Mir Kasim's decision to completely abolish the tariffs and insisted on receiving special treatment over other businessmen.

 

•    The English and Mir Kasim went to war in 1763 as a result of the Nawab-Company dispute over transit duties.

 

•    In short succession, the English triumphed at Katwah, Murshidabad, Giria, Sooty, and Munger.

 

•    In order to retake Bengal from the English, Mir Kasim went to Awadh (or Oudh), where he joined forces with Shuja-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Awadh, and Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor.

 

•    A united force of 40,000 soldiers from the Mughals, Awadh, and Mir Qasim was mercilessly routed by a British army of 10,000 soldiers, marking one of the subcontinent's first significant defeats.

 

•    One of the main factors contributing to this setback was the absence of coordination amongst the key three dissimilar allies.

 

•    Major Hector was able to set up the British lines and stop the Mughals' advance when Mirza Najaf Khan led the Mughal Army's first flank to ambush the British at dawn.

 

•    The Mughal Grand Vizier Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh, retaliated by blowing up his boat bridge after crossing the river when Munro separated the British Army into columns and followed him.

 

•    The unforeseen result of this was that Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor, and his troops decided to stop fighting.

 

•    John Willaim Fortescue, a historian, claims that while the Indian allies lost 2000 troops, the British suffered 847 casualties.

 

•    Munro then made the decision to aid the Marathas, who were referred to as a "warlike race" distinguished by their steadfast animosity against the Mughal Empire and its Nawabs.

 

•    He took offence at the terms "farmans" and "dastak" used by the English.

 

•    He formed an alliance with Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor, and the Nawab of Awadh in order to conspire against them.

 

•    He served as Awadh's Nawab.

 

•    Along with Shah Alam II and Mir Qasim, he established a confederacy.

 

•    He was the Mughal Emperor.

 

•    He wanted Bengal free of the English.

 

•    He was major in the British Army, 

 

•    In the Buxar War, he served as the English leader.

 

•    After winning the buxar war, he formed treaties with Shuja-Ud-Daulah and Shah Alam II.

 

•    On October 22, 1764, at Buxar, English forces under Major Hector Munro defeated the united armies of Mir Kasim, the Nawab of Awadh, and Shah Alam II.

 

•    The English's brief but effective campaign against Mir Kasim.

 

•    The English's victory against both the Mughal Emperor of India and the Nawab of Bengal made this fight significant.

 

•    With the triumph, the English became a dominant force in northern India and a candidate for hegemony over the entire nation.

 

•    Following the battle, Mir Jafar, who was appointed Nawab in 1763 after relations between Mir Kasim and the Company soured, agreed to hand over the districts of Midnapore, Burdwan, and Chittagong to the English for army maintenance. 

 

•    With the exception of a 2% salt tariff, the English were likewise permitted duty-free trade in Bengal.

 

•    After Mir Jafar passed away, his minor son Najimud-dula was named nawab, but the naib-subahdar, who could be chosen or removed by the English, actually held the true power of administration.

 

•    Robert Clive signed two significant treaties in Allahabad in August 1765, one with the Nawab of Awadh and the other with Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor.

 

•    Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula consented to hand over Allahabad and Kara to Emperor Shah Alam II, pay the Company Rs. 50 lakh as a war indemnity, and grant Balwant Singh, the Zamindar of Banaras, full ownership of his domain.

 

•    Shah Alam II consented to live in Allahabad, which the Nawab of Awadh had given him, under the protection of the East India Company, to issue a farman granting the East India Company the diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in exchange for an annual payment of Rs 26 lakh and to provide Rs 53 lakh to the Company in exchange for the nizamat functions (military defense, police, and administration of justice) of the said provinces.

 

•    After the Battle of Buxar, the East India Company came to be seen as Bengal's legitimate king.

 

•    Robert Clive established the dual system of governance in Bengal, sometimes known as the rule of two the Company and the Nawab under which the Company was in charge of both the nizamat (police and judicial powers) and diwani (revenue collection).

 

•    By choosing the deputy subahdar, the Company, acting as the diwan, exercised its nizamat and diwani privileges.

•    The Company received the nizamat and diwani duties from the subahdar of Bengal and the Emperor, respectively.

 

•    The system gave the business many advantages.

 

•    It gave the Indian puppet king the illusion of power while still preserving sovereign authority in the Company's hands.

 

•    The Company provided both money and forces to the nawab, who was in responsibility of upholding peace and order, as the latter controlled the army and revenues.

 

•    To perform diwani duties, the Company selected two deputy diwans: Raja Sitab Roy for Bihar and Mohammad Reza Khan for Bengal.

 

•    Additionally, Mohammad Reza Khan served as the subahdar or deputy nazim.

 

•    The dual system led to a breakdown in the administration, which was terrible for the Bengali people.

 

•    Administration and public welfare were not a concern of either the Company or the Nawab.

 

•    Warren Hastings ended the dual system in 1772.

 

Because it would have required the Company to defend a sizable land border against Maratha and Afghan incursions, Clive did not want to acquire Awadh. The contract made Awadh a buffer state and the Nawab a steadfast supporter of the Company. Similar to how Clive came to an agreement with Shah Alam II, it was driven by practical considerations. As a result, the Emperor served as a priceless "rubber stamp" for the Company. Additionally, the Farman of the emperor authorized the Company's political success in Bengal. The deposed Nawab of Bengal, Mir Kasim, lived out the remainder of his days in terrible poverty before passing away in June 1777.