02. The British monopoly

Since the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, Bengal was ruled independently by the Nawabs. Bengal was treated as a province of the Mughal Empire, so it was known as "Sube Bangla," or the province of Bengal, and needed to pay an annual tribute to the Mughal emperor.

Siraj-ud-Daulah became the Nawab of Bengal in April 1756 at the age of 27. He was young and inexperienced, but as the direct political disciple of his maternal grandfather Ali Vardi Khan, was aware of the global British interest in colonization and hence, resented the British politico-military presence in Bengal represented by the British East India Company. Tensions and suspicions between Siraj-ud-daulah and the British culminated in the Battle of Plassey. On June 23rd of 1757, at a small village and mango grove between Calcutta and Murshidabad, 3,000 soldiers of the British East India Company led by Robet Clive defeated 50,000 men under Nawab Siraj Ud Daulah of Bengal. The French East India Company had also sent a small army to join the Nawab's force against the British. The British, however, had formed a conspiracy with Siraj-ud-Daulah's military chief Mir Jafar promising him the next nawab title. Mir Jafar, Rai Durlabh and Yar Lutuf Khan and other conspirators thus assembled their troops near the battlefield but made no move to actually join the battle. The "battle" lasted no more than a few hours.
The defeat of the nawab marked the beginning of the English ascendancy in Bengal and gradually the entire subcontinent surrendered its destiny to the East India Company. A trading company was now responsible for the civil, judicial and revenue administration of India's richest province, with some 20 million inhabitants. 

It is of symbolic value that during the Liberation War in 1971, the first government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh took oath at Amrakanon (in Meherpur, Kushtia) - the mango garden of Palashi where Bengal had lost its independence .


Tipu Sultan took over as ruler of Mysore after the death of his father around 1782. In addition to his role as a farsighted and progressive ruler, he was a scholar, soldier, and poet. He could foresee East India Company's design to get entrenched in India. He therefore negotiated with the French for help and also sought assistance from the Amir of Afghanistan and the Sultan of Turkey. \ In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War the combined forces of the British East India Company and the Nizam of Hyderabad defeated Tipu and he was killed on 4 May 1799, defending the fort of Seringapatam.

With the French  Revolution , the French government inclination to expand colony in Indian region declined.

Along with The Battle of Buxar (1764) which established British dominion over East India and gradual deteriorating of the Maratha Empire as an outcome of the three Anglo-Maratha wars (1775-1818), the British also got hold of Bombay and the adjacent areas. Thus, the British had control over almost all the parts of India except the Mughal Empire, The later Mughal rulers held on to their throne, but they were simply puppets of the British.

The East India Company found itself transformed from an association of traders to rulers exercising political sovereignty over a largely unknown land and people. The British company employed sepoys--European-trained and European-led Indian soldiers--to expand its military and protect its trade. Local rulers sought their services to settle scores in regional power struggles. The British thus enjoyed a monopoly on trade and paid no taxes. They engaged local farmers to produce commodities needed for their industries and marketplace. For the next fifty years, the British were engaged in attempts to eliminate Indian rivals, and British territorial expansion was achieved with ruthless efficiency.


Bengal, a centre of rice cultivation as well as fine cotton called muslin and the world's main source of jute fibre, and its surrounding lands became the first regions in India to experience the direct impact of British rule and the beginnings of modernization. In particular, Calcutta became the focus of British administration, trade, and commerce.For the remainder of the eighteenth century and throughout the early decades of the nineteenth century, the British laid the foundations for civil administration. They established communication and transportation systems, a modern bureaucracy, an army and police. They further instituted law courts, and opened schools and colleges.

Thw Nawabs that ruled Bengal before 1757 had no connection with the Bengalis by race. His departure from the scene hardly made any difference to the common Bengali. This was a very populous region of India. The Bengali common man was a much exploited and oppressed man. But this exploitation and oppression was done by his own Bengali landlords and revenue collector class. The British did not change the system in this regard.

In Bengal, about 55% were Muslims and were primarily engaged in agriculture.  Among the remaining Hindus, the  upper castes of Brahmin and Kshatriyas embraced the educational opportunities. Thus it was the middle and upper classes were employed in administrative positions in the British system and were generally pro-British.