Establishment of British Rule
The British East India Company was struggling for gaining ground to establish itself permanently on the subcontinent since 1600 AD. The other European colonialist powers had lost their power or will to keep themselves in row with the English because of their superiority on seas. Lord Clive established English influence on sound footing and returned to England in 1709.
When no rival European power was left on the scene, the English took advantage of the unsettled conditions of India and consolidated themselves politically. They cleverly played one local ruler against the other and conquered India with the might of India. They demonstrated a great diplomatic skill and employed improved arms with a better knowledge of warfare. The Indian rulers at last fell a victim to their own entanglement. They were either forced to accept the authority of East India Company or to be completely wiped off. This process of expansion of the British nation of India continued in one form or the other. Kingdom after kingdom fell and then English finally pushed themselves ahead to sueceed the Mughuls.
The Nawab of Bengal Sirajuddaulah was defeated by Lord Clive, in June 1757, in the battle of Plassey because his Commander-in-Chief Mir Jafar, Omi Chand and Jagat Seth canspirated against him. After the war Mir Jafar was crowned as the Nawab of Bengal in June 1758 by Clive. The real power. was exercised by the English who obtained special trading privileges from the time of his installation. With this the English became master of the East and got possession of the richest part of India-a vast territory yielding a revenue of over twenty tive and a half million rupees a year and inhabited by nearly thirty million people.
In 1759 Prince Ali Gohar (later on Emperor Shah Alam II), planning to occupy Bengal, advanced upon Patna. Mir Jafar lost courage and he begged Clive for military assistance. The English army averted the crisis and saved his throne. This made him more dependent upon the English. Because of this absolute dependence, Mir Jafar was nicknamed Clive's ass'.
The Company was, however, not entirely satisfied with Mir Jafar, because he could not meet the ever-growing demands of the Company for cash and coneessions. So they deposed him and put his son-in-law, Mir Qasim, on the throne in 1760. As a reward for this service, Mir Qasim gave to the Company the zamindari of the districts of Burdwan, Midnapore and Chittagong. However, he paid off the liabilities of the Company in a year and a half, and then started to strengthen his position by reducing English influence, He reduced his army but trained the rest on modern lines. Thereafter, he removed the capital from Murshidabad to Monghyr in Bihar) and adopted an independent policy.
Trouble soon broke out between Mir Qasim and the Company especially. over the question of transit dues. The Company's agents had begun to behave dishonestly Since they were paid low salaries by the company, they made money at the expense of the public. The Company had been exempted from paying import and export duties, and the Company's. servants misused this privilege by paying no excise or internal dues on commercial activities of their own. They flew the company's flag on boats which they used for private enterprise. Naturally no duties were paid by them either. Mir Qasim protested, but nobody listened to him. Thereupon. Mir Qasim abolished transit duties altogether. This affected the special position of the English, which strained the relation between the Engish and Mir Qasim. There was a rising against the English, in which a number of Europeans were killed, and this led to a war Mir Qasim was defeated and he fled to Awadh. The English raised Mir Jafar a second time on the throne of Bengal in 1763, and he again gave very large presents to members of the Company.
Mir Qasim formed an alliance with Shuja-ud-daulah, the Nawab-Wazir of Awadh, and Emperor Shah Alam II to drive the English out of Bengal. Their combined forces fought against the English at Buxar on 22 October 1764. The English General Hector Munro won a signal victory over them. The Emperor Shah Alam came to the English camp to ask for terms. The English had taken the fortresses of Chunar and Allahabad and were now virtual masters of Bihar and Bengal. Mir Qasim who had lost his all, lived as an obscure wanderer till he died near Delhi in 1777.
The most predominant figure to wage a ceaseless campaign against the British at Mysore, in South India, was Tipu Sultan, who would not be subdued and overpowered by any threats and forces; but the great treachery and Intrigue Forced him to lay down his life at Seringapatam on 4 May, 1799. It has been correctly remarked: "In the fourth war British gold effected what British guns had so far failed to accomplish".
With the end of these powerful adversaries, the British found a clear ground to pave the way for their consolidation and expansion. With the arrival of Lord Hastings as Governor General in 1812 annexations continued. The Marhatta resistance was feeble and was overcome easily. The Marhatta , State ceased to exist. British ascendancy over the Deccan and the greater part of northern India was established by 1818.
Sindh was annexed to the British dominion in 1843. In Punjab the death of the Lion of Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, in 1839 shattered the control of the Punjabi government. The Punjab's army was defeated and had to pay an indemnity and to cede a large territory to the British. Lord Dalhousie became Governor General in 1848. In 1849, the Punjabis rose in revolt against the British occupation. They were defeated again and the State of Punjab was annexed in 1849. By 1850 only Awadh and Hyderabad remained Muslim states of consequence. The annexation of the former by Dalhousie, in 1856, was a significant factor in causing Muslims to rise against the Company in the Mutiny. The loyalty of the Nizam to the British at that time, however, enabled Hyderabad to remain, under British suzerainty, the leading princely state of India until the Partition of 1947.
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