Subsidiary Forces

When Richard Wellesley was Governor-General (1798-1805), the Nawab of Awadh was forced
to give over half of his territory to the Company in 1801, as he failed to pay for the “subsidiary forces”.

Battle at Buxar

Mir Qasim was defeated in a battle fought at Buxar (1764), driven out of Bengal, and Mir Jafar was reinstalled.

Defeat of Nawab at Battle of Plassey

When Alivardi khan Khan died in 1756, Sirajuddaulah became the nawab of Bengal. The Company was worried about his power and keen on a puppet ruler who would willingly give trade concessions and other privileges. So it tried, though without success, to help one of Sirajuddaulah’s rivals become the nawab. An infuriated Sirajuddaulah asked the Company to stop meddling in the political affairs of his dominion, stop fortification, and pay the revenues. After negotiations failed, the Nawab marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at Kassimbazar, captured the Company officials, locked the warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen, and blockaded English ships. Then he marched to Calcutta

to establish control over the Company’s fort there. On hearing the news of the fall of Calcutta, Company officials in Madras sent forces under the command of Robert Clive, reinforced by naval fleets. Prolonged negotiations with the Nawab followed. Finally, in 1757, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey. One of the main reasons for the defeat of the Nawab was that the forces led by Mir Jafar, one of Sirajuddaulah’s commanders, never fought the battle. Clive had managed to secure his support by promising to make him nawab after crushing Sirajuddaulah.The Battle of Plassey became famous because it was the first major victory the company won in India.

East India Company begins trade in Bengal

The first English factory was set up on the banks of

the river Hugli in 1651. This was the base from which

the Company’s traders, known at that time as “factors”,

operated. The factory had a warehouse where goods

for export were stored, and it had offices where Company

officials sat. As trade expanded, the Company persuaded

merchants and traders to come and settle near the

factory. By 1696 it began building a fort around the

settlement. Two years later it bribed Mughal officials

into giving the Company zamindari rights over three

villages. One of these was Kalikata, which later grew

into the city of Calcutta or Kolkata as it is known today.

It also persuaded the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to

issue a farman granting the Company the right to trade

duty free.

The Company tried continuously to press for more

concessions and manipulate existing privileges.

Aurangzeb’s farman, for instance, had granted only

the Company the right to trade duty free. But officials

of the Company, who were carrying on private trade on

the side, were expected to pay duty. This they refused

to pay, causing an enormous loss of revenue for Bengal.