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The Battle of Plassey

• The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company
over the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-daulah on 23 June 1757. The battle established
the Company rule in Bengal which expanded over much of India for the next
hundred years. The battle took place at Plassey on the banks of the Bhagirathi
River, about 150 km north of Calcutta and south of Murshidabad, then capital of
Bengal.
Background and Causes of Battle
• By the early 18th century, the British East India Company had a strong presence
in India with the three main stations of Fort St. George in Madras, Fort William in
Calcutta and Bombay Castle in western India. These stations were independent
presidencies governed by a President and a Council, appointed by the Court of
Directors in England. The British adopted a policy of allying themselves with
various princes and Nawabs, promising security against usurpers and rebels. The
Nawabs often gave them concessions in return for the security.
• By then, all rivalry had ceased between the British East India Company and the
Dutch or Portuguese. The French had also established an East India Company
under Louis XIV and had two important stations in India - Chandernagar in Bengal
and Pondicherry on the Carnatic coast, both governed by the presidency of
Pondicherry. The French were a late comer in India trade, but they quickly
established themselves in India and were poised to overtake Britain for control.

Alwardi Khan ascended to the throne of the Nawab of Bengal in 1740 after his
army attacked and captured the capital of Bengal, Murshidabad. Alivardi's attitude
to the Europeans in Bengal was strict.
During his wars with the Marathas, he allowed the strengthening of fortifications
by the Europeans and the construction of the Maratha Ditch in Calcutta by the
British. On the other hand, he collected large amounts of money from them for the
upkeep of his war.
Maratha Ditch was a three-mile long moat excavated by British around Calcutta in
1742. as a protection against possible attacks by Marathas The "natives" had to pay
for the construction of the Maratha Ditch to protect the British seat of power. Fort
William.The Marathas. however, never came to the city. Later, the ditch proved to
be useless when the Nawab of Bengal. Siraj ud-Daulah. came and ransacked the
British settlement in 1756. It was mostly filled up in 1799 to build the Circular
Road The area bound by the ditch was considered to be the original town of
Calcutta)
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Alwardi Khan was well-informed of the situation in southern India, where the
British and the French had started a proxy war using the local princes and rulers.
He did not wish such a situation to transpire in his province and thus exercised
caution in his dealings with the Europeans.
However, there was continual friction; the British always complained that they
were prevented from the full enjoyment of the farman of 1717 issued by Mughal
Emperor Farrukhsiyar. (British East India Company had purchased duty-free
trading rights in all of Bengal for a mere three thousand rupees a
year from Farrukhsiyar. It is said that the Company's surgeon, William Hamilton,
cured Farrukhsiyar and the Emperor was moved to grant trading rights to the
Company)
The British used to give passes to native traders to trade custom-free and levied
large duties on goods coming to their districts - actions which were detrimental to
the Nawab's revenue.
In April 1756, Alwardi Khan died and was succeeded by his twenty-three-year-old
grandson, Siraj-ud-daulah. His personality was said to be a combination of a
ferocious temper and a feeble understanding.
He was particularly suspicious of the large profits made by the European
companies in India.
The British wanted to occupy the rich and prosperous region of Bengal by
subjugating the power of the Nawab and the other European powers.
Fort William was established to protect the East India Company's trade in the city
of Calcutta, the principal town of the Bengal Presidency. With the possibility of
conflict with French forces, the British began building up the fort's strengths and
defences. Siraj ud-Daulah, was unhappy with the company's interference in the
internal affairs ot his province and perceived a threat to its independence and
immediately ordered them to stop such activities as they were doing it without
permission. When the British refused to cease their constructions, the Nawab led a
detachment to surround the fort and factory of Cossimbazar and took several British
officials as prisoners, before moving to Calcutta The defenses of Calcutta were weak and
negligible especially against the Nawab's force of nearly 50,000 infantry and cavalry.
• The city was occupied on 16 June by Siraj's force and the fort surrendered.The
garrison's commander organised an escape, leaving behind 146 soldiers under the
command of Holwell. a senior East India Company bureaucrat who had been a military
surgeon.The fort fell on 20 June.
The Black Hole of Calcutta
♦ The Black Hole of Calcutta was a small dungeon in the old Fort William in Calcutta,
where troops of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, held British prisoners of war after
the capture of the fort on 20 June 1756.
• One of the prisoners, Holwell. claimed that following the fall of the fort, British and
Anglo-Indian soldiers and civilians were held overnight in conditions so cramped that
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123 prisoners died out of 146 held from suffocation, heat exhaustion and crushing.
However, the precise number of deaths, and the accuracy of Holwell's claims, have been
the subject of controversy.
The Holwell's account
♦ Holwell wrote about the events after the fall of the fort. He met with Siraj, who
assured him "on the word of a soldier that no harm should come to us". After seeking a
place in the fort to confine the 146 prisoners (including Holwell), at 8 pm, the jailers
locked the prisoners in the fort's prison which was 14 by 18 feet in size. When the "Black
Hole" was opened the next morning at 6 am, only 23 people were alive.
• Regarding responsibility, Holwell believed that it was the result of revenge and
resentment in the breasts of the lower Jemmaatdaars, to whose custody we were
delivered, for the number of their order killed during the siege. So Siraj did not
order it and was not informed about it.
• After the prison was opened, the corpses were thrown into a ditch. Holwell and
three others were sent as prisoners to Murshidabad; the rest of the survivors
obtained their liberty after the victory of a relief expedition under Robert Give.
• As a result of Holwell's account, Robert Give was sent in October to retaliate.
controversies
• Some argue that, because so many non-combatants were present in the fort
when it fell, the number who died cannot be stated with any precision.
• In 1915, British scholar J.H. Little challenged Holwell's claims in his article,
'The •'Black Hole' — The Question of Holwell's Veracity", arguing that Holwell
was an unreliable witness and his veracity is questionable.
• A floor area of 267 square feet could not contain 146 European adults.
• Absence of any independent confirmation: It is stated that apart from Holwell's
account no other source mentioned such an incident. Given its nature, it seems very
unlikely that all traces of such a thing having happened would have disappeared.
• Only forty-three of the garrison were listed as missing from Fort William after
the incident and therefore the maximum number of deaths could only be forty-
three. However, this is also subject to the objection that according to the Holwell
account itself, not all the prisoners would have been listed as members of the
garrison.

Response of British
• When news of the fall of Calcutta broke in Madras on 16 August 1756, the
Council immediately sent out an expeditionary force from Madras under Colonel
CUve and Admiral Watson.
• A letter from the Council of Fort St. George, states that "the object of the
expedition was not merely to re-establish the British settlements in Bengal, but also
to obtain ample recognition of the Company's privileges and reparation for its
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losses" without the risk of war. It also states that any signs of dissatisfaction and
ambition among the Nawab's subjects must be supported.
• Clive assumed command of the land forces, consisting of 900 Europeans and
1500 sepoys while Watson commanded a naval squadron. The fleet entered the
Hooghly River in December.
• On 29 December, the force dislodged the enemy from the fort of Budge Budge
Clave and Watson then moved against Calcutta on 2 January 1757 and the garrison
of 500 men surrendered after offering a scanty resistance.
• With Calcutta recaptured, the Council was reinstated and a plan of action against
the Nawab was prepared. The fortifications of Fort William were strengthened and
a defensive position was prepared in the north-east of the city
The Bengal Campaign
• On 9 January 1757, a force of 650 men, under Captain Coote and Major
Kilpatrick stormed and sacked the town of Hooghly, 37 km north of Calcutta. On
learning of this attack, the Nawab raised his army and marched on Calcutta,
arriving with the main body on 3 February and encamping beyond the Maratha
Ditch.
• Despite their successes, the British were cut off from trade and resupply while
the war lasted. It was in Nawab's interest to prolong it. Instead, he made the
strategic mistake of trying to finish off the war quickly. He brought his army - with
40,000 horses, 60,000 soldiers on foot and 50 elephants - up to Calcutta and began
preparing to attack the city. Give decided to launch a pre-emptive attack. It proved
to be a winning decision. Nawab's army broke up and many fled. The British lost
57 men, the Nawab 1,300. Faced with a surprising defeat, Siraj-uddaula capitulated
and decided to negotiate a deal with the British. On 9 February a peace Treaty of
Alinagar was signed.
Treaty of Alinagar (Feb. 9.1757)
• The attack scared the Nawab into concluding the Treaty of Alinagar with the
Company. The treaty was named after the short-lived title 'Alinagar' given to
Calcutta by Siraj after his capture of the city.
• The Treaty of Alinagar was signed on February 9,1757 between Robert Give
and Siraj Ud Daula. Based on the terms of the accord:
1. Nawab agreed to restore the Company's factories.
2. Nawab would recognize all the 1717 provisions of Mughal Emperor Farrukh
Siyar's firman.
3. All British goods that passed through Bengal would be exempt from duties.
4. British would not be hindered from fortifying Calcutta, as well as mint coins in
Calcutta.
• The Nawab withdrew his army back to his capital, Murshidabad. The signing of
the treaty was one of the events leading up to the famous Battle of Plassey.
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• For the moment there was peace, but it wasn't to last. Give had come to Bengal
not just with the objective of retaking Calcutta. Even before setting sail for Bengal,
he had written, "this expedition will not end with the retaking of Calcutta only -
and that the Company's estate in these parts will be settled in a better and more
lasting conditions than ever."
• After displaying extraordinary skills on the battlefield, Give was now going to
employ his other talent - trickery. In the coming months, he set about plotting the
demise of all the potential rivals to the British power in Bengal. The intention was
to secure Company's profits, not to rule Bengal. But inadvertently, it will set about
a chain reaction of events resulting in British as masters of one of wealthiest parts
of the world, oceans away from their homeland.
Sacking Chandranagore
• Concerned by the approach of Bussy to Bengal and the Seven Years' War in
Europe, the Company turned its attention to the French threat in Bengal. Clive
planned to capture the French town of Chandernagar, 32 km north of Calcutta.
Clive needed to know whose side the Nawab would intervene on if he attacked
Chandernagar. The Nawab sent evasive replies and Clive construed this to be
assent to the attack.
• Clive commenced hostilities on the town and fort of Chandernagar on 14 March.
The French expected assistance from the Nawab's forces from Hooghly, but the
governor of Hooghly, Nand Kumar had been bribed to remain inactive and prevent
the Nawab's reinforcement of Chandernagar. The fort was well-defended, but
Admiral Watson's squadron forced the blockade in the channel on 23 March, On
24 March, a flag of truce was shown by the French.
• After plundering Chandernagar, Clive decided to ignore his orders to return to
Madras and remain in Bengal. He moved his army to the north of the town of
Hooghly.
• The Nawab was infuriated on learning of the attack on Chandernagar. His
former hatred of the British returned, but he now felt the need to strengthen himself
by alliances against the British. The Nawab was plagued by fear of attack from the
north by the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and from the west by the
Marathas. Therefore, he could not deploy his entire force against the British.
• Siraj started secret negotiations with Jean Law, chief of the French factory at
Cossimbazar. and Bussy. The Nawab also moved a large division of his army
under Rai Durlabh to Plassey. on the island of Cossimbazar.
Conspiracy
• In Europe, the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) was on between France and
England and in a mirror of their European rivalry, the French East India Company
sent a small contingent to fight against the British in favor of Nawab. Siraj-ud-
Daulah had a numerically superior force. The British, worried about being
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outnumbered and also French help to Nawab, formed a conspiracy with Siraj-ud-
Daulah's demoted army chief Mir Jafar, along with others such as Yar Lutuf Khan,
Jagat Seths (Mahtab Chand and Swarup Chand), Omichund and Rai Durlabh.
• Popular discontent against the Nawab flourished in his own court. The Seths, the
traders of Bengal, were in perpetual fear for their wealth under the reign of Siraj,
contrary to the situation under Alivardi's reign.
• William Watts, the Company representative at the court of Siraj, informed Give
about a conspiracy at the court to overthrow the ruler. The conspirators included
Mir Jafar, Rai Durlabh, Yar Lutuf Khan Jagat Seths and Omichund, a merchant
and several officers in the army.
• When communicated in this regard by Mir Jafar, Give referred it to the select
committee in Calcutta on 1 May. The committee passed a resolution in support of
the alliance. A treaty was drawn between the British and Mir Jafar to raise him to
the throne of the Nawab in return for support to the British in the field of battle and
the bestowal of large sums of money upon them as compensation for the attack on
Calcutta.
• Mir Jafar and the Seths desired that the confederacy between the British and
himself be kept secret from Omichund, but when he found out about it, he
threatened to betray the conspiracy if his share was not increased to three million
rupees. Hearing of this, Give suggested an expedient to the Committee. He
suggested that two treaties be drawn - the real one on white paper, containing no
reference to Omichund and the other on red paper, containing Omichund's desired
stipulation, to deceive him.
On 14 June, Clive sent a declaration of war to Siraj. On 15 June, after ordering an
attack on Mir Jafar's palace in suspicion of his alliance with the British, Siraj
obtained a promise from Mir Jafar to not join the British in the field of battle. He
then ordered his entire army to move to Plassey, but the troops refused to quit the
city until the arrears of their pay were released. The delay caused the army to reach
Plassey only by 21 June.
On 23rd June 1757 was the Battle of Plassey fought between the armies of Siraj-
ud-daula (with French help also) and Clive. The confrontation came on a cloudy
morning north of the village of Plassey on the bank of the Bhagirathi River. There
could be no comparison between the respective forces of the enemies. The Nawab's
army contained 50,000 infantry 28,000 Cavalry and Clive's army consisted only
3,000 men including English Soldiers. Out of three division of Nawab, One
division was commanded by Mir Jafar. From the beginning of the battle, Mir Jafar,
Rai Durlabh and Yar Lutuf Khan assembled their troops near the battlefield but
made no move to actually join the battle.
Only two generals Mohan Lai and Mir Madan were fighting desperately on behalf
of the Nawab. Mir Madan fell dead on the field and thus the Nawab lost courage.
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For hours the course of the war remained undecided and uncertain. Mir Zafar
advised the Nawab to send order to Mohan Lai to stop war and return back. Siraj,
who distrusted his generals and had already been warned of impending defeat by
his astrologer (who had possibly been bribed), lost his nerve when Mir Jafar
advised retreat. Siraj fled on a fast camel. His demoralized army followed suit.
Siraj-ud-daula fled from the battle field for life but was killed by Miran the son of
Mirzafar. Mir Jafar now entered Murshidabad as the new Nawab.
Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulla was the grandson of Nawab Alivardi Khan and
son of Amina Begum and Zainuddin Ahmed Khan or Mirza Muhammad Hashim.
He was born in 1733 and soon after his birth Alivardi Khan was appointed as the
deputy governor of Bihar. So Siraj-ud-Daulla was regarded as a 'fortune child in
the family and his grandfather had special affection and favour for him. It is stated
that Alivardi had given his heart to Siraj-ud-Daulla from the day of his birth and '
never kept him apart from himself.
Alivardi Khan celebrated Siraj-ud-Daulla's marriage with Umdat-un-nisa [Bahu
Begum), daughter of an aristocrat, Irij Khan, in August 1746, with great pomp and
grandeur. In May 1752, the nawab declared Siraj-ud-Daulla as his successor. On
this occasion the European trading companies in Bengal also greeted him. During
the closing years of his reign, premature death of some family members shattered
Alivardi both mentally and physically and the old nawab died on 9th April 1756 at
the age of eighty. Immediately before his death the nawab advised Siraj-ud-Daulla
to strive for the suppression of the enemies (of the province) and devote himself to
secure the well-being of the subjects by removing all evils and disorders. He
implored Siraj to nurture the goodwill of the people and follow his (Alivardi's)
footsteps. Luke Scrafton (one of The East India Company:- directors 1765-1768)
relates that Siraj-ud-Daulla swore on the Quran at the death-bed of his grandfather
that he would not touch any intoxicating liquor in future and that he kept the
promise ever after. Siraj-ud-Daulla ruled for little over one year (April 1756 to
June 1757). During his short lived administration the young nawab faced enemies
from within the family as well as from out-side.
During the reign of Alivardi Siraj-ud-Daulla built a palace named 'Heera Jheet
(lake of diamonds) on the opposite banks of the present Hazarduari Palace. About
a mile to the north west of Fara Bagh {garden of pleasure), opposite to Jaffarganj,
is the site of the Palace. It is said that Siraj was very jealous of his aunts palace
'Moti Jheet and wanted a similar palace of his own. The Heera Jheel palace is also
known as 'Mansurganj Palace. Siraj-ud-Daulla erected this palace with materials
brought from the ruins of Gaur. The remains of the palace no longer exists. By
1788 AD, due to the change of course of river Bhagirathi, the whole Palace has
been destroyed. Here were the famous treasure vaults of Siraj-ud-Daulla, After the
battle of Plassey Mr. Walsh, the Commissary of the Army, accompanied Colonel
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Clive, Mr. Watts, the Resident, Mr. Lushington, Ram Chand the writer, and Naba
Krishna the munshi, into the vaults of the palace. They found stored up there
£176,000 in silver, £230,000 in gold, two chests of gold ingots, four chests of set
jewels, and two smaller ones, containing loose stones and gems. Ram Chand, at the
time of the battle of Plassey, was a writer on Rs. 60 a month. He died ten years
afterwards, worth £720,000 in cash and bills; and he also left 400 large pots, eighty
of which contained gold and the rest silver, £180,000 in land, and jewels to the
value of £200,000. The following story is told of its completion, to explain the
name of Mansurganj: As the building was nearly finished Siraj-ud-Daulla invited
Allvardi to see it. When he came(Siraj-ud-Daulla locked him up in a room, and
refused to release him unless the " zam'mdars" there paid a fine for their land. This
request the Nawab was compelled to grant, and also to allow to his petulant
grandson the privilege of erecting a granary. This granary the people called
Mansurganj, i.e., the Granary of the Victorious Siraj-ud-Daulla, who outwitted his
grandfather. The abwab or extraordinary taxation, extorted on this occasion, is said
to have amounted to five lakhs.
Siraj-ud-Daulla received the title of 'Mansur-ul-Mufk, Seraj-ud-Daulla, Hybut
Jang (Victory of the Country, Light of the State, Horror in War)'. He was to
succeed as the Nawab of Bengal in April 1756 AD at the age of 27. Siraj-ud-
Daulla's nomination to the nawabship caused jealousy and enmity of Mehar-un-
nisa Begum or Ghaseti Begum {eldest sister of Siraj's mother Am/'na Begum),
Raja Rajballabh, Mir Jafar Ali Khan and Shaukat Jang (Siraj's cousin). Ghaseti
Begum possessed huge wealth, which was the source of her influence and strength.
Apprehending serious opposition from her, Siraj-ud-Daulla seized her wealth from
Moti jheel Palace and placed her in confinement. The nawab also made certain
changes in high government positions giving them to his own favourites. Mir
Madan was appointed Bakshi (Paymaster of the army) in place of Mir Jafar (fild-
tfUad). Mohanlal was elevated to the post of peshkar of his Dewan Khana and he
exercised great influence in the administration. These supercessions caused great
mortification to Mir Jafar and Raja Rajballabh. Eventually Siraj-ud-Daulla
suppressed Shaukat Jang, governor of Purnea, who was killed in a clash.
Siraj-ud-Daulla had three main grievances against the British - i) the unauthorized
fortifications of Fort William, ii) illegal private trade and shameless abuse of
dastaks by the company servants, and iii) illegal ■ shelter given to the nawab's
erring subjects. The nawab asked the British to take measures to remove his
grievances and sent several diplomatic missions to Calcutta for amicable
settlement of the dispute. The nawab demanded the extradition of Krishna Das and
asked the English to demolish the new fortifications and ordered to fill up the
ditch, which surrounded the Calcutta Settlement. The English insulted nawab's
special envoy, who carried his letter to Calcutta.
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On receiving intimation of Governor Goger Drakes refusal to break down certain

fortifications that were in progress at Calcutta, Siraj-ud-Daulla attacked the English
fortification at Cossimbazar and imprisoned all the English officers. The factory
chief surrendered but the company's governor at Calcutta became obstinate. He
then attacked Calcutta and drove the English out, forced Fort William to surrender.
The Nawab was then to be falsely implicated in the infamous episode of the 'Black
Hole' of Calcutta
1756 AD, in which 146 English prisoners are said to have suffocated to death by
being confined to a small and airless prison 24 by 18 feet (8 by 6 meters) in size.
Only 23 were said to have survived the overnight ordeal. The verdict of modern
historians has exculpated Siraj-ud-Daulla from his being an active accomplice of
this cruel murder. Four of the survivors of that night of horror, that added its gloom
to the sufferings of the victims, one of whom was Holwell, were sent up by boat to
Murshidabad. On arrival they were being led in chains through the streets of the
city. Siraj on his return, while passing in his palanquin, noticed the prisoners and at
once ordered their release.
Meanwhile the news of the English reverses at Cossimbazar reached Clive at
Madras. Secret Conferences were held at Jagat Seth's (Madhab Rai and Swaroop
Chand) house and the deposition of Siraj-ud-Daulla was decided upon. A mutual
division of the treasury was made, in which the share of Omichand '*, one of the
confederates, was put down at thirty lakhs. The plan of the white and the red treaty
was then devised. When everything was finalised the company's forces under
RobertjCil^e and Charles Watson& moved towards Murshidabad.
On 18c June 1757 Clive reached Katwa, about 80 miles north of Calcutta. There
was much trouble to him. He had 800 Europeans and 2200 Indians; Siraj-ud-Daulla
in his entrenched camp at Plassey («prffl) was said to have about 50,000 trained
men with heavy artillery. On the morning of 21st June Clive called a war council,
with Major Kilpatrick (the second-in-command} and five seniors and put to it the
question, 'Whether in our present situation, without assistance and on our bottom, it
would be prudent to attack the Nawab, or whether we should wait till joined by
some country power. After discussion, Clive and twelve of his officers voted that
the danger of defeat was too great if they should try to advance: they must retreat.
On the other hand, seven officers, led by Major Eyre Coote, voted against this, and
advised an instant attack on the Nawab's camp. By thirteen to seven the council
decided not to fight. Then Clive was left by himself. He was not happy in his mind,
and as he strolled about in the shade of the trees he began to think the whole
question over again. Delay, he, knew, was dangerous, and would, moreover, give
time for the French to come to the help of the Nawab; the more the delay, the
worse the position for the English. In an hour Clive had made up his mind; he
would fight.
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During the day no movement was made. The little army started at sunset, and after
a terrible march in pouring rain, often through water waist-deep, reached Plassey at
one in the morning, utterly worn out, Here they camped in a grove of mango-trees
near the river, and not more than a mile from Siraj-ud-Daulla's army. The grove
was about eight hundred yards long, by three hundred broad, and round it was a
ditch and a bank of earth. It was a good position to defend. Close at hand stood a
little hunting-box belonging to Siraj-ud-Daulla, and which was surrounded by a
strong wall. Clive at once occupied this house. At night, as Clive reflected in his
tent, the monsoon burst with torrents of rain, a warning that action must be speedy
or it would be impossible. Clive must have had some bad moments in the
flickering candlelight beneath the thudding of the rain. The next afternoon came
what he had probably been waiting for, another message from Mir Jafar. He was
on the march; he would inform Clive of his arrival at the nawabs camp; the time
for action had come. This was enough. Two hours after receiving the message he
crossed the river and made his way in pouring rain to Plassey grove. The 'battle
lasted no more than a few hours, and indeed the outcome of the battle had been
decided long before the soldiers came to the battlefield. The aspirant to the
Nawab's throne, Mir Jafar, was induced to throw in his lot with Give, and by far
the greater number of the Nawab's soldiers were bribed to throw away their
weapons, surrender prematurely, and even turn their arms against their own army.
Jawaharlal Nehru, in The Discovery of India (1946), justly describes Give as
having won the battle 'by promoting treason and forgery , and pointedly notes that
British rule in India had an unsavory beginning and something of that bitter taste
has clung to it ever since.
Plassey was decisive for the British in India and for Clive, But it was not notable as
a battle - the fighting was marginal and the result fortuitous. Give's reputation,
which soared when the news of success reached Britain, plummeted later when his
critics realized that it was more the work of a lucky trickster than a daring military
genius. It showed no sign of military genius. He was firing notes rather than
cannon balls to the last moment. In the battle itself he showed courage and
resource and he took advantage of the enemy's loss of nerve in the afternoon. But
he had the lucky bonus of Mir Madan's death and the decisive move was made by
Kilpatrick without his orders.

Blame the British Raj on bankers

This month, 350 years ago, an event occurred that changed India. In April 1662,
England’s King Charles II took possession of Bombay, given to him as dowry.
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Though the Portuguese lied to him earlier and had promised everything up to
Borivali, Charles II was given Bombay from Colaba to Mahim.
I believe this event, more than any other, and the thinking of a small group of
Indians, more than any other, led to British rule in India. Let’s see how.
The traditional narrative of the British capture of India focuses on the east rather
than the west. It runs like this: Enraged by the Black Hole incident, Robert Clive
bribed Mir Jafar to betray Siraj ud Daulah, the governor of Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa. At Plassey in 1757, a small force of Britishers and sepoys defeated the
governor’s army and installed a puppet. Britons took the revenue collection
(diwani) rights of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa from the weak Mughal emperor in Delhi
after the Battle of Buxar. From here they expanded till 1857, when they took Delhi.
Partners in war: Popular narrative believes Robert Clive colluded with Mir Jafar to
win the Battle of Plassey.
This narrative misses one important element that, to my knowledge, has not been
considered. It is the role of one community’s members in making sure the British
succeeded in both east and west. I suspect, and as I gather more evidence I am
convinced, that this community’s individuals wanted the British to take over the
administration of the country. The community is the Jain baniyas, who financed
the Mughals in Bengal, and the Jain and Hindu baniyaswho financed the two (the
Mughals and the British) in Surat.
Let’s look at the east first. What exactly happened before the Battle of Plassey? Sir
Penderel Moon (The British Conquest and Dominion of India) says “some
influential Hindu bankers in Murshidabad, alienated by Siraj ud Daulah’s violence
and caprice, had secretly informed (the British) that they were meditating his
removal”. These influential bankers were Oswal Jains, led by a man whose title
was Jagat Seth, meaning “banker to the world”. His name is not known for certain,
but it might have been Madhav Rai. The Muslims had no confidence in running the
economy and usually trusted the Hindu mercantile castes to do this. Akbar’s
economist Todar Mal was Punjabi Khatri.
The problem the Oswal Jains had with Siraj ud Daulah was that, only in his 20s, he
was not mature or knowledgeable. He did not understand interest or finance, and
did not apply the rule of law. He preferred rule by whim. He became violent when
it was learnt that he had no money to pay salaries to the army. Sir Penderel writes:
“He is said to have struck Jagat Seth, the leading Hindu banker, in the face and
threatened him with circumcision... It seems to have been Jagat Seth who took the
lead in approaching the English for help in overthrowing him.”
Jagat Seth played from the shadows. History records the broker of Plassey’s
treachery as another trader in Bengal, a Punjabi Khatri called Amin Chand. He is
said to have cemented the deal between Clive and Mir Jafar, but then blackmailed
the British saying he would tell Siraj ud Daulah unless he was paid Rs 30 lakh.
 12

Clive went along, but duped him with a fake signature on their agreement, and
Amin Chand is said to have fainted in shock on finding out. But later books show
that Amin Chand was back in British favour and doing business with them. This
does not strike me as being normal.
My speculation is that Amin Chand was unimportant to Plassey, and the main
character was Jagat Seth.
Jagat Seth ran the economy for Siraj ud Daulah, Mir Jafar, and later for Mir Qasim.
It is recorded that Rs 3 out of Rs 4 collected as revenue in the state went straight to
Jagat Seth, against loans he had already advanced to the nawabs.
After Mir Jafar refused to fight at Plassey and Siraj ud Daulah was defeated, Jagat
Seth was the person who crafted the terms on which Clive and other officers took
their payback. Mir Jafar had promised the British £2 million, or around Rs 16 crore
now (as damages in war) to instal him but the treasury only had £1.3 million. Jagat
Seth decided how and when the balance would be paid in instalments. Most
importantly, it was Jagat Seth who went to Delhi to convince the Mughal emperor
to accept the English victory and instal Mir Jafar as nawab.
He was clearly a man of enormous reach and influence with the Mughals. So why
did he keep going out of his way to help Clive and the British? It is because he had
done business with them. The newly founded city of Calcutta, which was under
British control, was where the Jain and Hindu baniyaskept their money and papers.
They trusted the rule of law that the British brought to their possessions. They
knew from their fellow baniyasin the west how carefully the British managed trade
in their new city of Bombay. They observed the fact that the British risked life to
make sure that a violation on their sovereignty, such as the Black Hole incident,
was punished.
Jagat Seth’s next move was to soften his support to Mir Jafar and his successor,
Mir Qasim, leading to a shortage in finances. With the economy unmanageable and
the army unpaid, the path was open for Clive to seize Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
For this, Jagat Seth paid the price, and two of his family members were killed by a
desperate Mir Qasim. Their bodies were fed to animals, by Qasim’s mercenary
Soomro (a butcher from Strasbourg whose name was Reinhardt). But Jagat Seth
ultimately won. Murshidabad lost its glory and power moved to British Calcutta.
Now let’s look at the west. The English set up a warehouse (what they referred to
as “factory”) in Surat, where they stocked the items they were allowed to trade
with India by Jahangir in the early 17th century. In 1617, Sir Thomas Roe declared
Surat was the “fountainhead and life of all the East India trade”.
B.G. Gokhale writes (Surat in the 17th Century) that Surat was “perhaps the only
great city of its time in India where the humble, submissive and much maligned
baniya broker was the hero, the creator of its values”. Surat’s Mughal governorship
was a post that was bid for. The man promising highest revenue to Delhi got it. To
 13

secure this money and make his own, he would squeeze the Hindu and Jain
merchants. The leading merchant of this period was Virji Vora, a Sthanakvasi Jain.
Like Jagat Seth, Vora funded British trade. Like Jagat Seth, Vora was not fond of
Mughal rule. In 1638, Shah Jahan fired Surat’s governor Masih uz Zaman for
wrongly jailing Vora, after the angry baniyasprotested.
During Aurangzeb’s reign, Shivaji looted Surat twice. First he came in 1664,
sending a letter demanding that governor Inayat Khan and Virji Vora come out to
meet him, else he would burn the city. Khan shut himself in the fort, refusing to
defend Surat, and Shivaji came, looting Rs 1 crore from merchants, including Virji
Vora, and burning Surat down. He returned in 1670. Again the Mughals were
unable to protect the merchant citizens from loot.
Both times, only the British factory kept the Marathas out, with sepoys expertly
shooting their rifles from its rooftops. Vora and the baniyaswould have noted this.
In 1669, Surat’s qazi had ordered the baniyasto convert to Islam, according to John
F. Richards (The Mughal Empire). The qazi forcibly converted and circumcised a
baniyaworking as an accountant. The man killed himself in shame. Surat’s 8,000
baniyasabandoned the city in protest, travelling to Bharuch and leaving their wives
and children with their next of kin, according to Sushil Chaudhary (The Surat
Crisis of 1669). Vora died soon after.
Richards, who has written the Cambridge history on the subject, thinks Vora was a
Dawoodi Bohra. But this cannot be the case, as a letter published by Makrand
Mehta (Indian Merchants and Entrepreneurs in Historical Perspective) shows.
After Vora’s death, the most influential baniyawas a Hindu, Bhimji Parikh, who
moved to Bombay to set up its first printing press.
In 1672, the French East India Company’s Abbe Carre wrote in his The Travels of
the Abbe Carre in India and the Near East From 1672 to 1674: “...many Hindus
and their families were leaving the town to avoid (the Mughal governor’s)
extortions and from fear of another attack by King Shivaji.” The baniyas went to
Gerald Aungier (later to become governor of Bombay) for asylum from the
Mughals. In 1679, Aurangzeb imposed jaziya, the property tax on non-Muslims,
but by then the baniyashad already made up their mind. Jain and Hindu baniyas
were united on this. In 1672, only 10 years after Charles II got Bombay, Aungier
was already farming out free land and trading rights to Surat’s merchants, flocking
to the city.
Surat’s decline and Bombay’s rise came in the west, mirroring the decline and rise
in the east. Perhaps this story is not as clean as historians would want history to be.
For instance, Surat’s subsequent decline was slow rather than precipitous. Other
reasons exist for Bombay’s rise than the migration by baniyas, but the sequence is
revealing. I am writing a play on Plassey that carries this background. And what
drama there is in this story.
 14

All the bribing in Bengal, which for the Indian was second nature, could not have
been swallowed as cleanly by the English. Clive killed himself in England,
stabbing his throat repeatedly with a penknife, according to Burton Stein. He was
condemned for taking £234,000 of the company’s plunder. He was honoured for
setting up British rule in India.
But my belief is that without the baniya’senthusiasm, the British could not have
had their Raj.

Jagat Seth
Jagat Seth
Died 1763
Murshidabad, Bengal
Known for Role in Battle of Plassey

House of Jagat Seth

The Jagat Seths were a rich business and Money lender family in Murshidabad,
Bengal during the time of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula.
Jain Acharya Sri Bhratruchandra Suri was his spiritual guru. The Seths were
among the most powerful bankers of India during the first half of 18th century.
Roben Orme (official historian of East India Company) described Jagat Seths as
the greatest shroff (money changer) and banker in the known world.[1]
According to Nick Robins:[2] "The Jagat Seths were unrivalled in northern India
for their financial power. Known as 'banker of the world', this Marwari family had
build up formindable economic resources on the back of its control of the imperial
mint and extensive moneylending. They wielded this financial clout at the Bengali
court and were judged to be 'the chief cause of revolutions in Bengal' by a French
commentator at the time."
He, along with Omichund and Mir Jafar joined the successful conspiracy against
the Nawab, engineered by Robert Clive, due to which the Nawab lost the battle of
Plassey. The British East India company thus emerged as a major power broker in
India.[3] Mir Jafar became the ruler of Bengal with the support of East India
company.
The Jagat Seth family were beheaded in 1763, during the reign of Mir Jafar's
successor, by the troops of Mir Qasim. Mir Qasim was initially supported by the
East India Company as he was in friendly terms, but later he had attempted to curb
their power and throw them out of Eastern India.
 15

The Rise and Fall of the Jagat Sheths

The Rise and Fall of the Jagat Sheths
HOMEPAGE TRIBUTE
SHARE
JOSEPH ROZARIO , JUNE 12, 2015 / 3830 0

The story of the Jagat Sheths, who once dominated the economy of Bengal and lay
the foundations of Marwari enterprise in India, began with Hiranand Sahu,
purportedly a jeweller-turned-moneylender, who is said to have left home in
Nagaur in circa 1650, with the blessings of a Jain saint. His search for better
prospects took him to Patna—a prosperous city and important business hub by
then—where he started off with moneylending and banking operations. In addition,
he started dealing in saltpeter, a commodity that was much in demand among
European traders owing to its multifarious uses, not least of which was as an
ingredient of gunpowder.

Hiranand Sahu prospered quickly, and as was wont among those involved in
seventeenth century banking operations, he sent his sons to other cities to expand
his scope of business. Son Manik Chand was sent to Dacca (now Dhaka), the then
capital of (undivided) Bengal, with the twin motives of expanding the existing
family banking network and simultaneously tapping the lucrative Dacca market
which at the time was a trading Mecca for silk, cotton and opium. Manik Chand
proved particularly gifted. He soon flourished and gradually took to financing large
scale trade. In the process, he extended his financial clout to even befriending
Murshid Kuli Khan, Emperor Aurangzeb’s appointed diwan of the Subah of
Bengal. As diwan—and a rather able one at that—the treasury and all financial
transactions gradually came under Manik Chand’s control. This brought him in
serious conflict with Prince Azim-ush-Shan, the grandson of Emperor Aurangzeb,
the then subedar (viceroy) of the Subah of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, which
necessitated his transfer to Mauksusabad (as Murshidabad was then known). Prince
Azim-ush-Shan likewise was transferred to Patna. When Murshid Kuli Khan
shifted base to Mauksusabad in 1704, his dear friend Manik Chand followed suit,
shifting his headquarters to the new city and setting up a palatial residence in
Mahimapur which stands to this day. In effect, Manik Chand became the collector
of revenues and his treasurer and together they resolved to jointly develop the new
city which Murshid Kuli Khan had renamed Murshidabad after himself. Manik
Sheth is said to have spent enormous sums in the process.

Nagar Sheth, Manik Chand

 16

Meanwhile, in Delhi, Emperor Aurangzeb’s breathed his last in 1707. His death
marked the beginning of the decline of the mighty Mughal Empire with a quick
succession of less able rulers hastening its disintegration. With the empire
tottering, Murshid Kuli Khan saw his power and influence rising in Bengal. An
old-timer from the reign of Aurangzeb, he was an able administrator and leader
who brought about land and agrarian reforms, systematised revenue collection and
promoted trade and commerce which brought prosperity and stability to the land.
But he continued to pay a hefty yearly tribute to the emperor.
By 1717, the influence of the Mughals had waned sufficiently to let Murshid Kuli
Khan exert his influence as the virtual ruler of Bengal. Trade with the Europeans
flourished greatly under him, which further fuelled Manik Chand’s growth and
financial clout as Murshid Kuli Khan’s banker, economic advisor and mentor.
When Farrukh Siyar became emperor in 1712, cash strapped that he was like the
latter day emperors, he had to turn to Murshid Kuli Khan. Finally, Manik Chand’s
magnanimity provided the much-needed funds. Pleased with him, the emperor
bestowed the title ‘Nagar Sheth’ upon him. It marked the beginning of
the Jagat Sheths’ reign as the financial
tsars of India.

Jagat Sheth, Fateh Chand

Manik Chand died in 1714. As he had no heir, his nephew and adopted son, Fateh
Chand, took over the reins of the family fortunes. Fateh Chand proved even better
than his predecessor and his expertise in financial matters and astuteness as a
banker–trader took the family to the peak of its luminescence, so much so that
Emperor Mahmud Shah in 1723 bestowed the title ‘Jagat Sheth’ (Banker to the
World) upon him. Fateh Chand’s banking and hundi network was extensive. It had
a presence in all major cities and key trading hubs across the subcontinent.
Moreover, the house enjoyed nearness to both the nawabs of Murshidabad and the
Mughal emperors of Delhi. Given Bengal’s flourishing trade at the time, where the
Dutch, the French and the English vied with each other for dominance, and the fact
that in the aftermath of Murshid Kuli Khan’s death, the mints of Murshidabad and
Dacca gradually came under Fateh Chand’s control, he virtually controlled the
money market of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and even beyond. Consequently, it
became impossible for anyone to engage large scale inland or external trade
without involving him.
At its height, the house of Fateh Chand Jagat Sheth acted as the nawab’s treasury,
and considering the geographic extent of the Nawab of Murshidabad’s influence,
operated much like a central bank. It loaned monies to zamindars, collected
interest, dealt in bullion, had seigniorage rights and minted coins for both the state
as well as foreign traders, financed trade, exchanged money, controlled exchange
 17

rates, operated extensive hundi operations, collected and retained two-thirds of the
revenue from the Bengal-Bihar-Orissa province on behalf of the nawab, made
remittances to the emperor, etc. The biggest trading houses of the time, including
the English, Dutch and French East India Companies, sought to keep Fateh Chand
in good humour and strove to gain his favours, even if it be in the form of a mere
recommendation, because his word carried much weight. Because of the monopoly
he enjoyed and the political influence he wielded, Fateh Chand was among the
most illustrious, powerful and influential of the Jagat Sheths.

The richest man in the world

When Fateh Chand died in 1744, his grandson Madhab Rai (the son of his eldest
son Anand Chand, who had predeceased him), took over as the next Jagat Sheth,
while his cousin Swarup Chand (son of Fateh Chand’s second son) was bestowed
the title ‘Maharaja’. The wheels of political fortune had meanwhile turned and
Alivardi Khan was the nawab of Murshidabad now. Madhab Rai and Swarup
Chand got on well with Alivardi Khan, with the latter continuing to support and
respect the cousins, which in turn helped the duo expand their business horizon
with newer avenues of income, though still within the broad purview of the
banking, hundi, trading, minting and exchange operations that the Jagat Sheths
were experts at. Around this time the Marathas are said to have repeatedly raided
and looted Murshidabad, on one occasion even leaving the Jagat Sheths poorer by
two crore rupees. But that supposedly did not dent their liquidity or fortunes in any
significant way. To put the cousins’ wealth into perspective, popular folklore has it
that they possessed so much gold and silver that it could stop the flow of the
Bhagirathi.
And, according to East India Company historian Robert Orme, Madhab Rai Jagat
Sheth was the richest man of the time in the known world.

The rise of the British

Alivardi Khan’s reign came to an end with his death in 1756. As he had no male
heir, his grandson Siraj-ud-Dowlah succeeded him as Nawab of Bengal at the age
of 23. Young, haughty and beset right from the outset with palace intrigues, threats
of invasions, dissenting family members, scheming local rajas and other notables
of the time, including Jagat Sheth, his year-long rule was troubled and marked by
one of the darkest chapters of India’s history.
It all started with an ever-ambitious British East India Company seeking to further
consolidate their position in Calcutta, much to the resentment of the Nawab Siraj-
ud-Dowlah, who, history has it, put paid to their ambitions a crushing blow to the
East India Company stronghold Fort William, in Calcutta, in 1756. It led to the
capture of East India Company’s small private army and other British prisoners of
 18

war and their subsequent incarceration in a tiny, suffocating cell—the infamous

‘Black Hole of Calcutta’—which resulted in their death overnight. The incident,
exaggerated by Company officials, fuelled outrage among the British, who swore
punitive action against the nawab. This was made possible through the schemes of
one of East India Company’s private military officers, Robert Clive, who with the
connivance of Mir Jafar, the nawab’s chief of army; Omichund, a wealthy local
merchant; Jagat Sheth and other subversive elements hatched a conspiracy to
overthrow Siraj-ud-Dowlah. The imminent confrontation between the nawab’s
army (or whatever part of it that was still loyal to him) and Robert Clive’s modest
forces took place one fateful rainy day in June, 1757, on the banks of Bhagirathi.
The nawab’s army was predictably defeated. A fleeing nawab was later captured
and murdered by Mir Jafar’s son, Mir Miran’s men. The historically significant
battle, better known as The Battle of Plassey, changed the course of Indian history
in that it ultimately paved the path for British rule in India.

Gathering gloom
Mir Jafar, as agreed in his secret pact with Robert Clive, was appointed Nawab of
Murshidabad, but being no more than a puppet ruler, he was forced to pay such
exorbitant compensatory sums to the British (as per the terms of the pre-war treaty
with Robert Clive) that it left the state bankrupt. Omichand never saw the cut (of
the booty) he was promised, thanks to Robert Clive’s unscrupulous ways. And as
for the Jagat Sheth cousins, things fared worse for them. Mir Kasim, who
succeeded Mir Jafar as nawab, tried to restore Murshidabad to its former glory to
the extent of even engaging the British—unsuccessfully. After his defeat, incensed
at the treacherous role played by the Jagat Sheths during the Battle of Plassey, he
murdered both Madhab Rai and Swaroop Chand and threw their bodies off the
ramparts of the Monghyr Fort (in Bihar). This was in 1763. The Battle of Buxar
followed in 1764 in which the British scored their second decisive victory against
the combined forces of a beleaguered Mir Kasim, the Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-
Daulah, the Nawab Wazir of neighbouring Awadh province; and the fugitive
Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II (who had taken refuge in Awadh).
The Battle of Buxar changed the status of the East India Company from a trading
entity to a territorial power and turned them virtually into the masters of Bengal
and Bihar. It helped them wrest diwani rights from Emperor Shah Alam II at the
Treaty of Allahabad which allowed them to directly collect revenues in Bengal and
Bihar. It marked the beginning of Britsh rule in India and the turning point of the
reversal of Jagat Sheths’ fortunes.

Bitter twist of fate

 19

With the ascent of the British, the Jagat Sheths’ once stranglehold over the money
market of Bengal as state bankers and treasurers diminished. The revenues that the
British collected and the trading grants they enjoyed after the Treaty of Allahabad
obviated their dependence on the Jagat Sheths for loans or selling of bullion to
them (to be minted into currency). Further, the British had long desired for a mint
in Calcutta which would reduce their dependence on Jagat Sheths’ Murshidabad
mint and this became possible when Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General
of Bengal, transferred the state treasury from Murshidabad to Calcutta.
After Madhab Rai and Swaroop Chand’s death, Kushal Chand (son of Madhab
Rai) was granted the title Jagat Sheth, while Udwat Chand (son of Swaroop
Chand) was bestowed the title ‘Maharaja’. Kushal Chand was said to have been
extravagant, spending exorbitantly and donating huge amounts, in spite of the fact
that their businesses were falling apart. There also are rumours about Kushal
Chand having stashed away a huge cache of precious metals, jewels, coins and
other valuables; but to this day, it has remains untraced.
With their traditional sources of income drying up gradually, in a bitter twist of
fate, the Jagat Sheths now had to turn to the British to meet their expenses. Robert
Clive offered them a yearly grant of three lakh rupees, but Kushal Chand, too
proud to accept such paltry a sum (when the monthly household expenses of the
family, even in these times of adversity, was no less than one lakh rupees) declined
it.

The last of the Jagat Sheths

Kushal Chand died at 39 without an heir, as his son Gokul Chand had died when
he was barely 20. He was succeeded by Harreck Chand, who is credited with
having built the still surviving Kathgola Palace in Murshidabad. Harreck Chand
had two sons: Indra Chand and Bishen Chand. The family treasures had almost
dried up by now and the last of the Jagat Sheths’ fabulous treasures were just
memories of the past. Indra Chand, who succeeded Harreck Chand, was later
succeeded by his son Gobind Chand, under whom the last of the family treasures
were sold off to make ends meet. The family had no choice but to turn to the
British again, who mercifully granted a pension in view of the services rendered by
his ancestors to the British. Gobind Chand had no issue and so adopted Gopal
Chand. The family pension was now reduced to r1,200. After Gopal Chand’s
death, his widow adopted Golab Chand, whose son Fateh Chand was the last
notable of the long lineage of wealthy, illustrious bankers, who once were the
financial emperors of India. After Fateh Chand’s death in 1912, almost nothing
was left of the once mighty Jagat Sheths except perhaps the rebuilt house at
Mahimapur, the Kathgola Palace and the Adinath Temple within it. As if nature
too had turned against them, the grander edifices of the Jagat Sheths were either
 20

swallowed up by the meandering Bhagirathi or devastated by the Great Assam

Earthquake of 1897.

The Jagat Seth Family

Origin of 'Seths'
The Jagat Seth dynasty has been a most Illustrious Oswal Jain family of Gailara
gotra of India having outstanding achievents and Influence in political, religious
and business circles. It is said that Gailara gotra had its origin from Khichi Gahlot
Rajputs in 1495 AD. One Girdhar Singh Gahlot was Induced into Jainism by Jain
Saint Jinhans Suriji. The Gailara gotra came into being after the name of his son
Gailaji. The belonged to the sect Svetambara.

In 1652, Heeranand Sahu (the stock from which the Seths claim their
descendance), was compelled to leave Nagore (their native place) in Marwar for a
livelihood elsewhere. With the blessings of a Jain Saint he migrated to Patna,
(reached Patna on the third day of New moon on the month of Baisakh in the
Vikram Samvat year 1709 BS), where he was attracted by the bustling city and its
great wealth. He started as a banker and a trader of saltpetre. Saltpetre from Bihar
was then the most sought after commodity by the Europeans and he soon
prospered. He advanced loans to Europeans and discounted bills of exchange, they
received from other places. Heeranand Sahu had seven sons - Manick Chand,
Nayan Chand, Amen Chand, Muluk Chand, Roop Chand, Sudhanand and
Gobordhan. When his sons arrived at manhood, became bankers and scattering
themselves all over India. The son whose career is most interesting is Manick
Chand. He settled in Dacca, then the capital of Bengal, and the home of the Dewan
of Bengal Murshid Quli Khan. Heeranand Sahu also had a daughter whom he gave
in marriage to a son of Uadichand.
Seth Manick Chand
When Manick Chand established his Kothi at Dacca, the then capital of Bengal,
there was political termoil in the country. The Mughal Emperor Aurangseb was
loosing his influence and the chiefs at distant places were increasing their personal
influence and power to establish independant states. Aurangzeb had appointed
Murshid Quli Khan as Dewan of Asim-ush-Shan, the Nawab of Dacca. Intelligent,
courageous and bold, both Murshid Quli Khan and Manick Chand, who had
brotherly affection for each other, wielded great influence and power in Dacca. But
while safeguarding imperial interests, the Dewan came into conflict with Azim-
ush-Shan (the grandson of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb). Murshid Quli Khan
was about to lose his life, but he faced the problem with courage and somehow
escaped. Aurangzeb intervened and allowed him to shift his Dewani daftar (office)
from Dhaka (Jahangirnagar / Dhaka) to Mukhsusabad, on the banks of river
 21

Ganges in 1704. The emperor also ordered his grandson Azim-ush-Shan to shift to
Patna (which was renamed to Azimabad) and govern the province through
deputies. Manick Chand moved with the court and was given a post of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the duties of a collector of revenue. Manick
Chand was keeper of the Nawab's purse and treasure. Murshid Quli Khan built his
palace named "Chahel Setun" (near present Chowk Masjid) and Manick Chand's
palace [Location Map - House of Jagat Seth, Mahimapur : 24°12'N 88°15'E] was at
Mahimapur 3 km from "Chahel Setun". The town of Murshidabad along river
Ganges was set up with joint effort of both of them. Seth Manick Chand invested
heavily to make it a prospeous town. They sent an annual revenue of rupees two
crores to Aurangzeb in place of the existing revenue of rupees one crore and thirty
lacs.
After the defeat of Jahandar Shah in the battle at Agra on 10th January 1713 AD,
Farrukhsiyar (second son of Azim-ush-shan and nephew of Jahandar Shah) became
the Emperor at Delhi. The title "Seth" was conferred upon the Marwaris by
Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1715 AD. Thus Manick Chand was the founder of the
Seths of Murshidabad. The Nawabs, Dewans, chief and senior officers of the
British East India Company used to consult Seth Manick Chand in important
matters. Shining star of the 18th century he played a very important role in the
history of Bengal. He maintained a strong army of 2000 soldiers at his own cost.
the entire revenue of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa was collected by Seth Manick
Chand and the currency minted by him was used in these three states.
Seth Manick Chand had huge amount of gold and silver which could not be
measured in any terms. He had ahuge stock of emeralds. Proverbally it was said
that he could stop the flow of the river Ganges by constructing a wall of gold and
silver accross the steam. It is believed that no civilian in India had wealth equal
that of him in those days. Several times his wealth was looted but he coninued to
remain the richest person.
Jagat Seth Fateh Chand
Manick Chand having no son adopted a nephew, one Fateh Chand Seth (in the
Samvat year 1757 BS), chief partner in a firm in Delhi. Manick Chand died in
1722 AD, and his remains were placed in Manikbag. It is said that when Fateh
Chand established himself in Murshidabad he was the richest man in India. The
title, "Jagat Seth" (banker of the world), was conferred on Fateh Chand at his first
visit to the Emperor Muhammad Shah, in 1724 AD. There is no doubt that
Fateh Chand was a power, and when a "Khillut" (present of honour) was sent to the
Nazim, a similar favour was shown to the banker, and among other presents, he
received an emerald seal bearing the title "Jagat Seth". When Suja-ud-Daulla
(সুজা-উদ-দদৌল্লা) succeeded Murshid Quli Khan in 1727 AD, Fateh Chand was
one of his four councillors. Fateh Chand found favour with each ruling Nawab, and
 22

the succession of Sarfaraz Khan (শরফরাজ খাাঁ)in 1739 AD, made no change in his
position. A breach occurred between Sarfaraz Khan and Fateh Chand, when to the
lust of the Nazim Sarfaraz Khan, who hearing of the great beauty of the wife of
Fateh Chand's son, sought to see her. How great an insult such suggestion
conveyed can only be understood by a dweller in the East. Jagat Seth, burning with
hatred towards his oppressor, entered into communication with Alivardi Khan
(আলীবদী খাাঁ). Carried back to honour and power after the successful revolt of
Alivardi Khan, Fateh Chand lived in luxury until 1744 AD (Samvat year 1801 BS),
when he died, leaving his riches and honours to "Jagat Seth" Madhab Rai, his
grandson (son of his eldest son Anand Chand). His remains were placed in Jagat
Bisram. He had three sons Seth Anand Chand, Daya Chand and Maha Chand, and
two daughters. Seth Anand Chand was born at Patna. Anand Chand received the
title of "Seth" from the Emperor Mumahhad Shah in the fourth year of his reign.
Anand Chand died before his father. Fateh Chand's second son's child, Swaroop
Chand, received the title of "Raja". The fortune of the two Seths is said to have
been equal to £10,000,000.
Jagat Seth Madhab Rai
In 1744 AD Emperor Muhammad Shah conferred the title of "Jagat Seth" to
Madhab Rai and the title of "Maharaja" to Swaroop Chand. In 1756 AD Alivardi
Khan died, and Siraj-ud-Daulla employed the Seths in his transactions with the
English. After Alivardi's death, Siraj-ud-Daulla could not get the farman (order) for
Bengal's Subahdari from Delhi, instead his cousin brother Shaukat Jang the nawab
of Purnea got it. Siraj-ud-Daulla approached Madhab Rai for a loan of Rs 3 crore,
but he was denied of the requisition. Madhab Rai Jagat Seth was insulted, and
slapped on his face by Siraj-ud-Daulla. Later Madhab Rai Jagat Seth helped Mir
Jafar to receive the Subahdari of Bengal from the Samrat at Delhi. Thus the
wealthy and prosperous Jagat Seth's played a key role in the politics of Bengal. On
June 22nd, and August 22nd, The East India Company's scattered Council met at
Fultah, and sent a letter to the Madhab Rai Jagat Seth, asking him to intercede with
the Nawab. The fate of this letter was to be detained by Omichand. In the
meanwhile, Siraj-ud-Daulla, quarrelled with the Jagat Seth, who protested against
being the means of wringing more money from the Nawab's oppressed subjects. It
is said that the enraged Nawab struck the banker, and caused him to be imprisoned.
This treatment of the Seth further estranged Mir Jafar Ali Khan, who was already
smarting under his own grievances. On April the 23rd 1757, Yar Latif Khan,
commanding the Nawab's cavalry, and also the bodyguard of the Seths, who paid
the commander extra for his protection, came to Mr. Watts at the factory at
Cossimbazar. At the instigation of the Seths, he was to betray the city to the
English, and give material assistance. This plot was the one which, afterwards, by
 23

the adherence of Mir Jafar, became the means by which Lord Clive was able to
overthrow the Nawab at Plassey. In 1764 AD After the defeat at the Battle of
Bauxer at Udaynala Mir Qasim carried off Madhab Rai Jagat Seth and Raja
Swaroop Chand with him to Mongyer, where they were murdered. They were
thrown from one of the bastions of the fort into the Ganges.
go top
Jagat Seth Khushal Chand
Jagat Seth Madhab Rai and Raja Swaroop Chand were succeeded by their sons.
These two Seths, Khushal Chand, eldest son of Madhab Rai, and Udwat Chand,
eldest son of the Raja Swaroop Chand, revived the family fortunes, and in 1766
AD the Emperor Shah Alam II conferred the title of "Jagat Seth" on Khushal
Chand (in the Hijri Year 1170 AH), while the title of "Maharaja" was granted to
Udwat Chand. Kushal Chand was born at Dacca on the fifth day of the new moon
of Bhadra in the Samvat year 1810 BS. Lord Clive appointed Khushal Chand
"Jagat Seth", to be the treasurer to the East India Company, and to manage the
newly acquired receipts from the provincial revenues. After nineteen years work,
Khushal Chand died (in the Hijri year 1196 AH approx 1782 AD). The fortune of
the Seths, from one cause and another, began to dwindle away at this time. They
spent money with a lavish hand, but it was the check on the income that ultimately
reduced them, from the highest position to one of very minor importance, among
the merchants of the district. Tradition tells that Khushal Chand buried huge
money and treasure. Where this is, no one knows, as Khushal died suddenly,
without revealing the secret.
Golab Chand son of Madhab Rai Jagat Seth received the title of "Seth" from the
Emperor Shah Alam in the Hijri year 1173 AH, the first year of his reign. He
obtained the title of Jagat Indra in the Hijri year 1196 AH. He died on the eighth
day of the new moon of the month of Baisakh in the Samvat year 1853 BS. He had
no sons. Madhab Rai's another son Sumer Chand received the title of "Seth" from
the Emperor Alamgir II on the 2nd Robi-ul-Awal in the sixth year of his reign. He
died on the second day of the new moon of the month of Bhadra in the Samvat
year 1838 BS. Madhab Rai's youngest son Sukhal Chand received the title of
"Seth" from the Emperor Alamgir II in the sixth year of his reign.
go top
Jagat Seth Harreck Chand
Khushal had a son Gokul Chand who was born in the Samvat year of 1815 BS but
he died before his father in the Samvat Year 1836 BS, at the age of 20. Khushal
Chand, having no heir, adopted a nephew, Harreck Chand. Harreck Chand was
born on the third day of the new moon of the month of Mag in the Samvat Year
1828 BS. He married a daughter of Hukum Chand Mahanat of Azimganj. The
coveted title of "Jagat Seth" was conferred on him by the British Government
 24

during the administration of Governor General Warren Hastings through Mubarak-

ud-Daulla the Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Behar and Orissa, without any reference to
Delhi in 1784 AD. Giving up the Jain tenets, Harreck Chand became a follower of
Vishnu. Showing a proper spirit of gratitude, the Seths have remained Vashnavs.
Harreck Chand's two sons, Indra Chand, and Bissen Chand, received equal shares
of their father's property. Harreck Chand died on the eigth day of the full moon of
the Asar in the Samvat year 1870 BS.
Bissen Chand, second son of Harreck Chand was born on the eighth day of the full
moon of the month of Falgun, in the Samvat year 1855 BS. He received the tile of
"Seth" from Babar Ali the Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Behar and Orissa in the Hijri
year 1221 AH. He died on the eleventh day of the new moon of the Bhadra in
Rangmahal Palace. He had only one son named Seth Kissen Chand. Kissen Chand
was born on the third day of the month of Mag in the Samvat year 1873 BS. He
was granted the title of "Seth" by the British Government under Lord William
Bentinck through Humayun Jah on the month of Mag in the Samvat year 1890 BS.
He received a pension of Rs 800 after the death of Jagat Seth Gobind Chand (son
of Indra Chand). Kissen Chand died at Benaras on the thirteenth day of the new
moon of the month of Jaistha in the Samvat year 1939 BS. He had no son.
go top
Jagat Seth Indra Chand
Indra Chand elder son of Harreck Chand, was born in the Samvat year 1852 BS.
He married a daughter of Rai Singh Singhee. Indra Chand received the title of
"Jagat Seth", and it became extinct after his death. He died on the fourteenth day of
the new moon of the month of Mag in the Samvat year 1879 BS. Indra Chand's
only son Gobind Chand, inherited his father's fortune. Whatever this amounted to,
Gobind Chand was not long in spending it. He then parted with the family jewels,
and lived on the money realized by their sale. Lastly, when all was gone, he turned
to The East India Company. The Council granted him a pension of £1,200 a year,
as a recognition of the services rendered to the English by his ancestors. Gobind
Chand was born on the tenth day of the full moon of the month of Ashwin in the
Samvat year 1867 BS. He married a daughter of Harreck Chand Raka of Baluchar
in the Samvat year 1882 BS. Gobind Chand died on 12th December 1864 AD
Gobind Chand had no son, so he adopted a boy named Gopal Chand, on the 23rd
January 1845 AD.
Maharaj Gopal Chand
Maharaj Gopal Chand was born on the fifth day of the new moon of the month of
Ashwin in the Samvat year 1896 BS. He obtained the title of "Maharaja" from the
Emperor Bahadur Shah II with a gold umbrella on the eleventh day of the new
moon of Falgun in the Samvat year 1909 BS. The British Government granted him
a pension of Rs. 1200 a month on the 1st of July 1843 AD during the
 25

administration of Lord Auckland. Gopal Chand died on the 15th August of 1862
AD, at 9 pm. Gopal Chand had two sons, Gupi Chand and the other died in
presence of Gopal Chand. Gupi Chand was offered a pension of Rs 300 which he
thankfully declined. Gupi Chand was born on the 12th of December 1878 AD at
the age of twelve in the presence of Jagat Seth Gobind Chand and Kissen Chand.
After Jagat Seth Gobind Chand's death his wife Jagat Sethani Pran Kumari Devi
adopded Golab Chand, on the third day of new moon of the month of Baisak in the
Samvat year 1935 BS . Golab Chand was born at Bikanir in Rajputana on the 29th
November 1867 AD. He married a daughter of Jay Chand Baid in the Samvat year
1941 BS. He had four sons of whom the youngest died in his presence. The eldest
Jagat Seth Fateh Chand succeeded him. Lord Curzon paid a visit to the old and
new houses of Jagat Seth on the March of 1901 AD, Sir John Woodburn on 4th
August, 1901 AD and Lord Kitchener on the 4th of March, 1908 AD. He was a
staunch Jain. Fateh Chand died on 7th April, 1912 AD at Calcutta. Fateh Chand's
only son Sobhag Chand who was murdered at his house in Mahimapur in a
dacoity, leaving his two sons Gyan Chand Jain and Seth Bijoy Chand. Jagat
Sethani Pram Kumari Devi died on the fourth day after the full moon of the month
of Ashwin on Samvat year 1947 BS.

Genealogy of :: Jagat Seth family

Kathgola House Gallery

References :
A history of Murshidabad District (Bengal) (1902) - By John Henry Tull
Translation from Hindi Note Book preserved in the Seth family - By J.H.Little
Murshidabad - By Lewis Sydney Steward O'Malley (1914)

JAGAT SETHS OF MURSHIDABAD

The Jagat Seth dynasty has been a most illustrious Qswal Jain family of Gailara
gotra of India having outstanding achievements and influence in political, religious
and business circles.
It is said that Gailara gotra had its origin from Khichi Gahlot Rajputs in 1495. One
Girdhar Singh Gahlot was inducted into Jainism by Jain saint Jinhans Suriji. The
Gailara gotra came into being after the name of his son Gailaji.
Hiranand an ancestor of the Jagat Seths was compelled to leave Nagore (their
native place) in Marwar for a livlihood elsewhere. With the blessings of a Jain
saint he migrated to Bengal. He had six sons and one daughter. His fourth son Seth
 26

Manik Chand was the first to be honoured with the title of Jagat Seth followed by
all his descendents.
Born to poor parents, Seth Manik Chand achieved a very high position. The
Nawabs, Diwans, chief and senior officers of the British East India Co used to
consult him in important matters. Shining star of the 18th century he played a very
important role in the history of Bengal. He maintained a 2000 strong army at his
own cost. Having a very influential position he was considered as fortune maker in
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
When Seth Manik Chand established his Kothi at Dacca, the then capital of
Bengal, there was a political shake up in the country. The Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb was losing his influence and the chiefs at distant places were increasing
their personal influence and power to establish independent states. Aurangzeb had
appointed Murshidkuli Khan as Diwan of Azimusshan, the Nawab of Dacca.
Intelligent, courageous and bold, both Murshidkuli Khan and Seth Manik Chand,
who had brotherly affection for each other, wielded great influence and power in
Dacca. Seth Manik Chand had much helped him in becoming the Nawab of
Bengal. The town of Murshidabad along river Ganga was set up with joint efforts
of them both. Seth Manik Chand invested heavily to make it a prosperous town.
They sent an annual revenue of rupees two crores to Aurangzeb in place of the
existing revenue of rupees one crore and thirty lakhs. Pleased with this, Aurangzeb
shifted the capital from Dacca to Murshidabad. Azimusshan remained only a titular
chief. The people of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa regarded Murshidkuli Khan and
Seth Manik Chand as uncrowned princes of their heart. Seth Manik Chand always
generously helped the poor, redeemed the miseries of the oppressed and the
peasants and made their condition better both financially and socially. Bengal
became much peaceful and prosperous as a result of his wise fiscal policies and
development of trade and commerce by him.
After the murder of Jahandarshah, the valid successor of Delhi throne, Farukhsiar
became the Emperor of Delhi. Cured of a disease by an Englishman, Dr. Hamilton,
Farukhsiar gifted 40 Parganas along the river Ganga to the English. Realising the
cunning political game of the English, Murshidkuli Khan and Manik Chand
thought over the matter and returned the Emperor's Farman to safeguard the
political interest of Bengal and the country. Murshidkuli Khan boldly wrote to the
Emperor that he would not spare even an inch of land to the English. He also
instructed the zamindars not to give any land to them under any pressure. Greatly
annoyed with this disobedience, the Emperor appointed Seth Manik Chand as
Diwan in place of Murshidkuli Khan and honoured him with the title of Jagat Seth
to be continued from him to his descendents. On receiving the Farman for his
appointment as Diwan, Seth Manik Chand met Murshidkuli Khan and removed the
misunderstanding from his mind. With his consultation he wrote to the Emperor
 27

that though he accepts the post but again hands it over to deserving Murshidkuli
Khan. It shows the great character of Seth Manik Chand. He tackled the order
about releasing the land to the English very intelligently and managed that instead
of transfer of land to them the English may do business in the area without paying
custom-tax.
The entire revenue of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa was collected by Jagat Seth and the
currency minted by him was used in these three States. The contemporary Muslim
historians wrote that Jagat Seth Manik Chand had huge amount of gold and silver
which could not be measured in any terms. He had a huge stock of emeralds.
Proverbially it was said that he could stop the flow of river Ganga by constructing
a wall of gold and silver accross its stream. It is believed that no civilian in India
had wealth equal that of him in those days. Several times his wealth was looted but
he continued to remain the richest person.
Seth Manik Chand had no issue from both of his wives Manik Devi and Sohag
Devi. As wished by Manik Devi, he had built a Jain temple of black touch stone on
the bank of river Ganga at a very huge cost. The temple was washed away by the
river. Its ruins were later renovated. Mohammad Shah who suceeded the Delhi
throne after Farukhsiar also honoured Manik Chand with the title of Jagat Seth. He
was the first to receive this most honoured title from the Mughal Emperors and
also enjoyed several other court honours of great distinction. The Nawabs of
Bengal invariably cunsulted him in all important matters.
After the death of Seth Manik Chand his nephew (?n%3r) Fateh Chand suceeded
as Jagat Seth. Saraf Khan, the then Nawab of Bengal, who was son of Shujauddin,
son- in-law of Murshidkuli Khan, was highly sensual. He tried to molest the girl
who was likely to be engaged to the son of Seth Fateh Chand. The infuriated Seth
succeeded in getting him removed. Religious minded Aliwardi Khan was
appointed Nawab in his place. He always sought the cooperation of Jagat Seth and
had much regard for him. While the Marathas attacked Murshidabad he removed
Fateh Chand to a safe place and deputed a trusted chief Mir Habib to protect
Murshidabad and the residence of Jagat Seth. Unfortunately Mir. Habib turned
treacherous and wealth worth rupees two crores was looted from Seth's residence.
A year after Balaji and Bhaskar Pandit again attacked Bengal. Balaji was sent back
with a gift of rupees ten lakhs. As discussed with Bhaskar Pandit, Jagat Seth took
Aliwardi Khan to him for peace talks. Shortly after initiation of the talks Aliwardi
Khan murdered Bhaskar Pandit treacherously which greatly shocked Seth Fateh
Chand. Thereafter began the downfall of Bengal. Jagat Seth kept himself aloof
from all political activities.
His grand palace, meeting place of several chiefs and noblemen for important
consultations was washed away by the river Ganga. Important persons of the time
like Maharaj Tilok Chand of Burdwan, Nawab Raj Vallabh, Rai Alam Chand and
 28

Haji Ahmed used to participate in such meetings. Seth Fateh Chand had sent one
lakh golden coins minted by him in the name of Nadir Shah to save Bengal from
being looted by him After Seth Fateh Chand's death his grandson Mehtab Chand
succeeded as Jagat Seth. Ahmed Shah, the then ruler of Delhi, had honoured him
with the title of Jagat Seth and his brother Sarup Chand with the title of Maharaja.
Seth Mehtab Chand made a great name in business also in Northern and Southern
India.
After the battle of Plassey there continued a conference for three days at the
residence of the Jagat Seth to select a new Nawab of Bengal. Even though Mir
Jafar had much helped in rescuing Mehtab Chand from imprisonment by
Sirajuddola who had arrested him under suspicion that the Jagat Seth alongwith
another influential person of the time Seth Amin Chand was favouring the English
against him, Jagat Seth was not in favour of Mir Jafar for whose treachery Nawab
Sirajuddin had been defeated in the battle by the English. Seth Mehtab Chand gave
importance to the selection of a person loyal to the country than to the personal
obligation of Mir Jafar upon him. Mir Jafar was, however, made the Nawab
because of other pressures.
Mir Jafar proved himself a perfectly incapable administrator. He allowed the East
India Co. to mint the currency from Calcutta alongwith minting of currency by
Seth Mehtab Chand from Murshidabad. About six crores of rupees went out of
Bengal exchequer exchequer making it financially weaker. From this order also
followed the downfall of the Jagat Seth dynasty.
On refusal to give gratis money to an influential Englishman Holwell, Jagat Seth
suffered further difficulties at the hands of the English. Distressed with all these
affairs he proceeded to the pilgrimage of Shri Sammed Shikharji alongwith his
army of 2000 persons.
After Mir Jafar his son-in-law Mir Qasim became the Nawab of Bengal. Of
doubtful nature, he had kept under detention Seth Mehtab Chand and his brother
Maharaja Sarup Chand at Monghyr. After his defeat at Udhuyanala be ordered
drowning of them both in river Ganga under the fear lest they may not have
alliance with the English. Thus came an end to the life of these two illustrious
persons of Bengal.
After Mehtab Chand his son Seth Khushal Chand was honoured with the title of
Jagat Seth by Emperor Shah Alam. Lord Clive who had made him the Banker of
the East India Co. later developed differences with him in asking more money
from him. On Warren Hastings' becoming the Viceroy, Jagat Seth made a
representation to him to look to the difficulties which had been created for him and
his family. Hastings assured him to look into them on his return to Calcutta, which
was then the capital of the English. Unfortunately Seth Khushal Chand died before
Hastings returned to Calcutta.
 29

Seth Khushal Chand was greatly religious minded and built several temples at
Sammed Shikharji. He also built about 108 ponds. Having no issue he had adopted
his nephew Harak Chand as his son. The latter became a Vaishnava under the
influence of a Vaishnava saint in the hope of birth of a son by his blessings and
acts of worship. He had built a Vaishnava temple near his residence. After him, his
son Indra Chand and after him his son Gobind Chand became Jagat Seth in name
only. Seth Gobind Chand had adopted Gulab Chand who had his son Seth Fateh
Chand.
Category: Progressive Jains of India
Navigation menu

The Marwaris: From Jagat Seth To The Birlas

Thomas A Timberg
Allen Lane, Penguin
184 pages; Rs 499
Agrasena was the legendary king of Agroha (now in the Hisar district of Haryana).
It is said that 17 of his sons decided to become tradesmen. As their profession was
vanijya, Hindi for commerce, they came to be called the Banias. When north India
was hit by waves of invaders, the community spread to towns and villages in other
parts of the country. For centuries together, they controlled commerce in the
country as traders, shopkeepers, moneylenders and bankers. Some of them even
financed wars and military campaigns. The most famous of them are those from
the arid regions of Rajasthan - what was once called Maru Desh, or desert. Over
time, they came to be collectively called the Marwaris.
The rise of the Marwari community has been documented very well by several
researchers. Thomas A Timberg is an old expert on the subject. His Harvard
doctoral dissertation was on the rise of the Marwaris as industrialists. In 1978, he
wrote The Marwaris: From Traders to Industrialists, which is recognised as one of
the most authoritative texts on the community. The Marwaris: From Jagat Seth to
the Birlas is his second book on the subject and the fifth in Penguin's "The Story of
Indian Business" series.
The all-important question is, what is it that has made the Marwaris so successful
in business? Gurcharan Das, in the foreword to the book, says it is something akin
to the Protestant ethic, which, according to Max Weber, made Europe progress
faster than others: belief in hard work, thrift and rationality. Apart from that, the
readiness to postpone instant gratification, coupled with the ability to take risks,
has stood the Marwaris in good stead. They are practical people who stay away
from disruptive confrontations as much as possible. The Marwaris have given to
the world the hundi system of bill discounting, the parta way of accounting, and
 30

established the importance of trust in business (in other words, the importance of
protecting one's honour, or saakh, by sticking to one's word). The Marwaris were
vilified for long in popular culture as bloodsuckers; it is only in the post-
liberalisation era that people have woken up to the contribution that the community
has made to economic growth.
The most famous of all Marwari families are the Birlas. Before them was Jagat
Seth of Murshidabad, who, along with Omichund and Mir Jafar, is said to have
conspired against Siraj-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Bengal, in the Battle of Plassey in
1757. That gave the East India Company its first decisive victory in India and
helped establish its first colony. Various travellers of that time wrote about Jagat
Seth's enormous wealth (one traveller described him as "the greatest shroff and
banker in the known world") and his clout in the Bengal court. But who really was
Jagat Seth? Mr Timberg tells us that Jagat Seth (the name means banker to the
world) was an honorific given to one Fateh Chand by the Mughal emperor in 1722.
The founder of this house was Hiranand Sahu, who came from Nagaur in Marwar
to Patna in 1652.
He lent money to local chieftains as well as foreign traders there. His eldest son,
Manik Chand, moved to Dhaka, the capital of Bengal and a key centre of
commerce, in the later years of the 17th century. When Murshid Quli Khan, the
Nawab, moved the capital to Murshidabad, Manik Chand too went along with him.
On his death, in 1714, Manik Chand was succeeded by Fateh Chand - or Jagat
Seth. Between 1718 and 1730, he lent on an average Rs 4 lakh a year to the East
India Company. But he knew how to hedge against his risks. As late as 1757, he
was also lending Rs 4 lakh a year to the Dutch East India Company and Rs 15 lakh
to the French East India Company.
Though Jagat Seth supported the British in the politics around the Battle of
Plassey, his importance began to decline soon thereafter. The capital moved to
Calcutta, which left the family (Jagat Seth died in 1763) stranded at Murshidabad.
It failed to diversify into new areas like inland trade. Splits led to costly litigation
and some serious erosion of the family's wealth. Even in Murshidabad, by 1971,
the largest banker was not the house of Jagat Seth but Manohar Das Dwarka Das, a
Varanasi Agarwal. By the 19th century, the Jagat Seth family was forced to seek a
pension from the British government in order to survive.
Gurcharan Das, in the foreword, says that in his childhood, elders would take three
names while talking about fabulous wealth: (JRD) Tata, (Ghanshyam Das) Birla
and (Ramkrishna) Dalmia. Thus, two of the three richest Indians were Marwari
gentlemen; the third, Tata, was a Parsi. Since then, the world of business has
become more open. Other communities have made serious inroads into Marwari
territory. In "The Billionaire Club", Business Standard's annual listing of stock
market wealth, there were just two Marwaris among the top 10 in 2013 - and three
 31

among the richest 25. Their representation was particularly weak in sunrise sectors,
such as information technology, pharmaceuticals, financial services and real estate.
If their importance has reduced, how relevant is Mr Timberg's book? This series of
books is meant to introduce the reader to the country's business history. It serves
that purpose.

260 Years on, Betrayal at Plassey Still Has Lessons

For Bengal
In 1740, the year Nadir Shah sacked Delhi, Siraj’s maternal grandfather Alivardi
Khan conspired with the aristocracy, including Haj Ahmad, the house of the Jagat
Seths (World’s Bankers) and Rairayan Alam Chand, to depose Sarfaraz Khan, the
naib nazim of Bihar, who was a pretender to the throne in Murshidabad.

After Alivardi’s death in 1756, a conspiracy was hatched against the young and
arrogant successor Siraj by the fauzdar of Purnea Saukat Jung, the army
commander Mir Muhammad Jafar Ali Khan (better known to the world as ‘traitor’
Mir Jafar), Jagat Seth and others such as Umi Chand and Rai Durlabh.
Illustration of Robert Clive with Mir Jafar. (Photo: <a
href="https://twitter.com/Rodrimadrid33/status/558975461301428224">Twitter.co
m/@rodrimadrid33</a>)
Illustration of Robert Clive with Mir Jafar. (Photo: Twitter.com/@rodrimadrid33)
But the attempted coup d’etat came to naught. It was the failure of this conspiracy
to dethrone Siraj with the aim to protect the deeply entrenched political and
commercial interests of the landed and moneyed elite that drove the plotters to the
British.
While Plassey ensured that some East India Company worthies such as Robert
Clive and Warren Hastings could engage in private trade, without the
encumbrances of tariffs and side payments to the nawab, it also helped the
landlords and traders to take full control of the state’s levers. But from 1757, it
took a mere 15 years – climaxing with the 1764 battle of Buxar and the 1765
award of Bengal’s diwani to the British – for the Murshidabad nobility to be fully
ousted by the East India Company.
Before Plassey, Alexander Row wrote in his 1773 book History of Hindostan, “the
balance of trade was against all nations in favour of Bengal”. But in the years after
1757 the flow had reversed. The Bengal famine of 1770, itself the result of the
Company’s rapacity, killed an estimated 10 million people. The 1793 permanent
settlement destroyed the hereditary rights of thousands of Bengal’s small
landholders.
 32

By ruthlessly combining economic power with a private army, the Company was
able to seize monopoly power. Astonishingly, Britain was able to use India’s
resources to pay for exports back to Europe. The company, in the words of Nick
Robins, had become “a monstrous combination of trader, banker, conqueror and
power broker.”

The moral of the post-Plassey story is that the domestic elite’s collaboration with
an outside power can prove economically and politically disastrous for any local
authority. The history of more recent years shows that the Left Front’s debacle in
Bengal in large part was hastened, among other factors, by the party’s
collaboration with real estate barons and building promoters, beginning in the late
1980s.
It led to widespread corruption, weakened the state and zonal committees, had a
debilitating impact on industrialisation and caused dissension and disaffection that
split the CPI(M). The weakening authority of the party-government prepared the
ground for Mamata Banerjee’s political surge across the state.

Mamata sought to usher in paribartan – much as the clique of nobles in

Murshidabad did in 1756-57 by collaborating with the British – by the promise of
getting rid of the Marxists, turning Kolkata into another London and taking Bengal
to its lofty heights of the past. But soon after coming to power in 2011, her party
and government machineries were opened up to the same promoters and real estate
sharks who drained the Left Front regime.
The siphoning of wealth in the late 18th and 19th centuries with new systems of
exchange and exploitation truly led to Empire. Bengal prospered too though, in the
words of 18th century political thinker Philip Francis, “there is nothing before the
eyes of the natives but an endless, hopeless prospect of new flights of birds of prey
and passage.”

While the 34 years of Left misrule left Bengal an industrial wasteland, in the four
years that Mamata has been at the helm, the state has seen the exercise of what
Edmund Burke called “arbitrary power” – as reflected in the whimsical transfer of
the secretariat from the stately Writers’ Building on the east bank of the Hooghly
to the monstrous Nabanna on the west.

Kolkata has not become London, but the six years between 2011 and now has been
a catalogue of one party’s misdeeds brought on by the machinations of a
combination of political and real estate elites. Today, much in Bengal has changed
and it bears only a faint resemblance to the Bengal that Siraj lost and Clive gained.
 33

What has not changed, however, is the deceit and perfidy of an elite willing to
collude with a political class itself complicit in chicanery, corruption and
mendacity.
(On the 260th anniversary of the Battle of Plassey, The Quint is republishing this
article from its archives. It was originally published on 23 June 2015.)

Bankers' Banker - Jagat Seth, from Murshidabad,

Bengal
Jagat Seth was a rich businessman and money lender from Murshidabad, Bengal
during the time of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula. He was well connected with the royal
family, nobles and amirs, no doubt, he had considerable political clout. He came
from a rich Hindu Marwari business family in Murshidabad and his spiritual guru
was Jain Acharya Sri Bhratruchandra Suri. The Seths were among the most
powerful bankers of India during the first half of 18th century. Roben Orme
(official historian of East India Company) described Jagat Seths as 'the greatest
shroff (money changer) and banker' in the known world.

Jagat Seth- tunnel connecting his house with Kathola.credit:static.panoramia.com

The family of Jagat Seth maintained their position as state bankers at Murshidabad
from generation to generation. Even after the conquest of Bengal by the British
after the battle of Plassey, Murshidabad remained for some time the seat of
administration.

According to Nick Robins "the Jagat Seths were unrivaled and matchless in
northern India for their financial power and connection with the upper strata of the
society. Known as 'banker of the world', this Marwari family had built up
formidable economic resources on the strength of its control of the imperial mint
and extensive money-lending. They wielded this financial clout at the Bengali
court and were judged to be 'the chief cause of revolutions in Bengal' by a French
commentator at the time."
He, along with Omichund and Mir Jafar joined the successful conspiracy against
the Nawob, engineered by Robert Clive, with support from William Watts due to
which the Nawob lost the battle of Plassey and at last his precious life. The British
thus established the first colony in India on the tomb of Siraj. Mir Jafar was
installed as the puppet ruler of Bengal.

On the part of Jagat, who was close to Siraj, it was the most degrading act and
breach of trust and confidence. The Jagat Seth family members were beheaded in
 34

1763, during the reign of Mir Jafar's successor, by the troops of Mir Kasim. Mir
Kasim had initially been installed by the East India Company as a puppet, but had
attempted to rebel.

Jagat Seth meaning the "Banker of the World", was a title conferred on Fateh
Chand, a very rich banker in Bengal in the first half of the 18th century. The
founder of the house of Jagat Seth was Manick Chand who came to Dhaka from
Patna in the early eighteenth century and established a trading firm.
When Murshid Quli Khan, the Dewan of Bengal transferred his capital to
Murshidabad, Manick Chand moved with him to the new capital. Emperor
Farrukhsiyar, soon after his accession to the throne of Delhi in 1712, honoured
Manick Chand with the title of "Nagar Seth" (Banker of the city). Manick Chand
died in 1714 and Fateh Chand, his nephew, adopted son and successor to the the
house achieved real greatness. The title of Jagat Seth was bestowed on Fateh
Chand by emperor Muhammad Shah in 1723. The transactions of this firm have
been compared with those of the Bank of England.

Ref: http://murshidabad.gov.in/plassey.ht

Battle of Plassey

The Battle of Plassey (Bengali :পলাশীর যুদ্ধ, Pôlashir Juddho), 23 June, 1757, was
a decisive British East India Company victory over the Nawab of Bengal and his
French allies, establishing Company rule in India which expanded over much of
South Asia for the next 190 years. The battle took place at Palashi, West Bengal,
on the riverbanks of the Bhagirathi River, about 150 km north of Calcutta, near
Murshidabad, then the capital of the Nawab of Bengal. The opponents were Siraj
Ud Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the British East India
Company.

The battle was waged during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) and in a mirror of
their European rivalry, the French East India Company sent a small contingent to
fight against the British. Siraj-ud-Daulah had a numerically superior force and
made his stand at Plassey. The British, worried about being outnumbered and so
promising huge amounts in bribes, reached out to Siraj-ud-Daulah's demoted army
chief - Mir Jafar, along with others such as Yar Latif, Jagat Seth, Umichand,
Maharaja Krishna Nath and Rai Durlabh. Mir Jafar thus assembled his troops near
the battlefield, but made no move to actually join the battle, causing Siraj-ud-
Daulah's army to be defeated. Siraj-ud-Daulah fled, eventually to be captured and
 35

executed. As a result, the entire province of Bengal fell to the Company, with Mir
Jafar appointed as the Company's puppet Nawab.

This is judged to be one of the pivotal battles leading to the formation of the
British Empire in South Asia. The enormous wealth gained from the Bengal
treasury, and access to a massive source of foodgrains and taxes allowed the
Company to significantly strengthen its military might, and opened the way for
British colonial rule, mass economic exploitation and cultural domination in nearly
all of South Asia. The battles that followed strengthened the British foothold in
South Asia and paved way for British colonial rule in Asia.

Pôlash (Bengali :পলাশ), an extravagant red flowering tree (Flame of the forest),
gives its name to a small village near the battlefield. A phonetically accurate
romanization of the Bengali name would be Battle of Palashi, but the anglicised
spelling "Plassey" is now conventional in English.

Growing French influence

At the connivance of the enterprising French Governor-General Joseph François

Dupleix, French influence at the court of the Nawab was growing. French trade in
Bengal was increasing in volume. The French also lent the Nawab some soldiers to
operate heavy artillery pieces.

Ahmad Shah Abdali

Siraj-Ud-Daulah faced conflicts on three fronts simultaneously. In addition to the

threat posed by the British East India Company, he was confronted on his western
border by the advancing army of the Afghan Ahmad Shah Abdali, who had
captured and looted Delhi in 1756—as well as the possibility of raids by the
Marathas (who had raided/looted Bengal many times during the reign of his
grandfather, and continued to raid Northern and Eastern India of which Bengal was
part). So, Siraj sent the majority of his troops west to fight under the command of
his close friend and ally, the Diwan of Patna, Ram Narain.

Court intrigue

In the midst of all of this, intrigues were occurring at Siraj Ud Daulah's court at
Murshidabad. Siraj was not a particularly well-loved ruler. Young (he succeeded
his grandfather in April 1756 at the age of 23) and impetuous, he was prone to
make enemies quickly. The most dangerous of these were his wealthy and
 36

influential aunt, Ghaseti Begum (Meherun-Nisa) who had wanted another nephew
to succeed to the throne; Shaw (who had suffered as a result of the siege of
Calcutta); and Mir Jafar (who was demoted from the post of army chief and
eventually brought into the British fold).

Company policy

The Company had long since decided that a change of regime would be conducive
to its interests in Bengal. In 1752, Robert Orme, in a letter to Clive, noted that the
company would have to remove Siraj's grandfather, Alivardi Khan, in order to
prosper.

After the premature death of Alivardi Khan in April 1756, his nominated successor
was Siraj-ud-Daulah, a grandson whom Alivardi had adopted. The circumstances
of this transition gave rise to considerable controversy, and the British began
supporting the intrigues of Alivardi's eldest daughter, Ghaseti Begum, against that
of his grandson, Siraj.

Instructions dated 13 October, 1756 from Fort St. George instructed Robert Clive,
"to effect a junction with any powers in the province of Bengal that might be
dissatisfied with the violence of the Nawab's government or that might have
pretensions to the Nawabship". Accordingly, Clive deputised William Watts, chief
of the Kasimbazar factory of the Company, who was proficient in Bengali and
Persian, to negotiate with two potential contenders, one of Siraj's generals, Yar
Latif Khan, and Siraj's grand-uncle and deposed army chief, Mir Jafar Ali Khan.

On 23 April, 1757, the Select Committee of the Board of Directors of the British
East India Company approved coup d'état as its policy in Bengal.

Mir Jafar, negotiating through an Armenian merchant, Khojah Petrus Nicholas,

was the Company's final choice. Finally, on 5 June, 1757, a written agreement was
signed between the Company, represented by Clive, and Mir Jafar. It ensured that
Mir Jafar would be appointed Nawab of Bengal once Siraj Ud Daulah was
deposed.

Troops
The East India Company's army led by Robert Clive, consisting of 950 Europeans
and 2100 native Indian sepoys and a small number of guns was vastly
outnumbered. The Nawab had an army of about 50,000 with some heavy artillery
operated by about 40 French soldiers sent by the French East India Company.
 37

However, 16,000 of the 50,000 were under the control of Mir Jafar. Upon the
promise of crown from the 'company masters', he chose not to fight, so the morale
of the Nawab's army sank.

Along with Mir Jafar, the troops commanded by yar Latif and Rai Durlabh did not
take part in the battle because of a secret pact made with the British. Only 15,000
troops actually engaged in battle, which was still significantly superior to the
estimated 2,500 British soldiers facing them and there was a time when Clive
thought that he would be forced to retreat. A cannonball strike that killed army
chief Mir Madan and the ensuing confusion in the Nawab's ranks turned the course
of the battle. The casualty figures - less than 20 British deaths - point to a very
unequal battle.

Principal officers - British

Major Killpatrick
Major Grant
Then Major Eyre Coote, later Lieutenant-General, and then Sir Eyre Coote
Captain Gaupp
Captain Richard Knox, 1st CO of the 1st Bengal Native Infantry

Principal officers - Nawab

Mir Jafar Ali Khan - commanding 16,000 cavalry
Yar Latif
Mir Madan
Jagat Seth
Rai Durlabh
Monsieur Sinfray - French artillery officer

British East India Company regiments

1st Bombay European Fusiliers, also known as 103rd Regiment of Foot
Royal Madras Fusiliers, also known as 102nd Regiment of Foot
Royal Bengal Fusiliers, also known as 101st Regiment of Foot
1st Bengal Native Infantry (BNI), also known as the Lal Paltan (Hindi for Red
Platoon)
Queens troops (regular British army units lent to the EIC)
39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot, 1st Battalion
9th Battery, 12th Regiment, Royal Artillery
50 naval ratings from HMS Tyger
 38

Battle details
The battle opened on a very hot and humid morning at 7:00 a.m. on 23 June, 1757,
when the Nawab's army came out of its fortified camp and launched a massive
cannonade against the British camp. The 18th century historian Ghulam Husain
Salim describes what followed:
“Mīr Muhammad Jafar Khān, with his detachment, stood at a distance towards
the left from the main army; and although Sirāju-d-daulah summoned him to his
side, Mīr Jafar did not move from his position. In the thick of the fighting, and in
the heat of the work of carnage, whilst victory and triumph were visible on the side
of the army of Sirāju-d-daulah, all of a sudden Mīr Madan, commander of the
Artillery, fell on being hit with a cannon-ball. At the sight of this, the aspect of
Sirāju-d-daulah’s army changed, and the artillerymen with the corpse of Mīr
Madan moved into tents. It was now midday, when the people of the tents fled. As
yet Nawāb Sirāju-d-daulah was busy fighting and slaughtering, when the camp-
followers decamping from Dāūdpūr went the other side, and gradually the soldiers
also took to their heels. Two hours before sun-set, flight occurred in Sirāju-d-
daulah’s army, and Sirāju-d-daulah also being unable to stand his ground any
longer fled. ”
At around 11:00 a.m., Mir Madan, the chief of the army and one of the Nawab's
most loyal officers, launched an attack against the fortified grove where the East
Indian Company was located. However, he was mortally wounded by a British
cannonball, and this caused confusion among his troops.
At noon, a heavy rainstorm fell on the battlefield. The British quickly covered
their gunpowder, cannons and muskets against the rain, but the untrained troops of
the Nawab, in spite of French assistance, failed to do so. When the rains stopped,
therefore, the British still had firepower while the Nawab's guns were useless. As a
result, the cannonade ceased by 2:00 p.m. Clive's chief officer, Kilpatrick,
launched an attack against the water ponds in between the armies. With their
cannons and muskets completely useless, and with Mir Jafar's cavalry, who were
the closest to the English, refusing to attack Clive's camp, the Nawab was forced to
order a retreat. By 5:00 p.m., his army was in full retreat and the British had
command of the field.
The battle cost the British East India Company just 22 killed and 50 wounded
(most of these were native sepoys), while the Nawab's army lost at least 500 men
killed and wounded.
Aftermath
The Battle of Plassey is considered as a starting point to the events that established
the era of British dominion and conquest in India.
 39

Mir Jafar's fate

Mir Jafar, for his betrayal of the Nawab Siraj Ud Daulah and alliance with the
British, was installed as the new Nawab, while Siraj Ud Daulah was captured on 2
July in Murshidabad as he attempted to escape further north. He was later executed
on the order of Mir Jafar's son Miran. Ghaseti Begum and other powerful women
were transferred to a prison in distant Dhaka, where they were eventually drowned
in a boat accident, widely thought to have been ordered by Mir Jafar.
Mir Jafar chafed under the British supervision, and so asked the Dutch East India
Company to intervene. They sent seven ships and about 700 sailors up the Hoogley
to their settlement, but the British led by Colonel Forde managed to defeat them at
Chinsura on 25 November, 1759. Thereafter, Mir Jafar was deposed as Nawab
(1760) and Mir Kasim Ali Khan, (Mir Jafar's son-in-law) was appointed as Nawab.
Mir Kasim showed signs of independence and was defeated in the Battle of Buxar
(1764), after which full political control shifted to the Company.
Mir Jafar was re-appointed and remained the titular Nawab until his death in 1765,
though all actual power was exercised by the Company.

Rewards
As per their agreement, Clive collected £2.5 million for the company, and
£234,000 for himself from the Nawab's treasury . In addition, Watts collected
£114,000 for his efforts. The annual rent of £ 30,000 payable by the Company for
use of the land around Fort William was also transferred to Clive for life. To put
this wealth in context, an average British nobleman could live a life of luxury on
an annual income of £ 800 .

Robert Clive was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1765 for his efforts. William
Watts was appointed Governor of Fort William on 22 June, 1758. He later resigned
in favour of Robert Clive, who was also later appointed Baron of Plassey in 1762.
Clive committed suicide in 1774, after being addicted to opium.

Diwani and Dual government In Bengal: Terms of Agreement

These were the terms agreed between the new Nawab and the Company:
Confirmation of the mint, and all other grants and privileges in the Alinagar treaty
with the late Nawab.
An alliance, offensive and defensive, against all enemies whatever.
The French factories and effects to be delivered up, and they never permitted to
resettle in any of the three provinces.
 40

100 lacs of rupees to be paid to the Company, in consideration of their losses at

Calcutta and the expenses of the campaign.
50 lacs to be given to the British sufferers at the loss of Calcutta
20 lacs to Gentoos, Moors, & black sufferers at the loss of Calcutta.
7 lacs to the Armenian sufferers. These three last donations to be distributed at the
pleasure of the Admiral and gentlemen of Council.
The entire property of all lands within the Mahratta ditch, which runs round
Calcutta, to be vested in the Company: also, six hundred yards, all round, without,
the said ditch.
The Company to have the zemindary of the country to the south of Calcutta, lying
between the lake and river, and reaching as far as Culpee, they paying the
customary rents paid by the former zemindars to the government.
Whenever the assistance of the British troops shall be wanted, their extraordinary
charges to be paid by the Nawab.
No forts to be erected by the Nawab's government on the river side, from Hooghley
downwards.

Contributing factor in Battle of Plassey and Buxar

One of members of Clive's entourage at Plassey was a young volunteer called
Warren Hastings. He was appointed the British Resident at the Nawab's court in
1757. Hastings later became the first Governor-General of India for the British
East India Company from 1773 to 1786, he was impeached for corruption.
Clive was later awarded the title Baron of Plassey and bought lands in County
Limerick and County Clare, Ireland naming part of his lands near Limerick City,
Plassey. It retains this name to this day and is now the site of the University of
Limerick.
The French guns captured at this battle can still be visited at the Victoria Memorial
in Calcutta [http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/arms_cannon.html].
The infamous meeting between Mir Jafar and Watts took place at Jaffarganj, a
village close to Murshidabad. Mir Jafar's palace now stands in ruins at the place,
but close to it is a gate called Nemak Haramer Deori (literally traitor's gate) where
Watts is supposed to have entered the palace disguised as a purdanasheen (Urdu
for veiled) lady in a palanquin.
One of the unseen protagonists of the court drama was a wealthy Marwari trader
who went by the family name Jagat Sheth (English :World Banker (actual name -
Mahtab Chand)). He was a hereditary banker to the Mughal Emperor and the
Nawab of Bengal and thus well conversant with court intrigues. He negotiated a
5% commission from Clive for his assistance with the court intrigue to defeat Siraj.
However, when Clive refused to pay him after his success, he is supposed to have
 41

gone mad. The family (i.e. Jagat Seth's) remained bankers to the Company until the
transfer of the British head quarters to Calcutta in 1773 .

Drama in Plassey
It is from this West Bengal village that the journey of British rule in India began.

“This is where India was sold to the British,” tells my omniscient guide Quadir
when we visit an abandoned mango grove in Plassey, a small village in West
Bengal, which for the last 250 years has remained as a silent spectator of a drama
that changed the fate of India.

History books account that so called drama as “Battle of Plassey”, which in 1757
was staged between Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daula, ruler undivided Bengal, Bihar, and
Orissa and Lord Clive of East India Company.

Murshidabad, located 150 km away from Kolkata was then the bustling capital of
Siraj's empire; now a shabby district town where almost every stone and brick has
a story of lust and passion, obedience and conspiracy, power and greed to narrate.
That's enough to lure visitors like me to land there on a weekend and browse
through the impoverish townscape, dotted with ruined palaces, mosques,
monuments, mausoleums, tomb and graveyards.

The history during the golden period of Murshidabad is very interesting. Situated
on the banks of the Bhagirathi, it was established in 1717 by Nawab Murshid Quli
Khan as the capital of his province in Eastern India at a time when the might of
Mughals in Delhi was on the wane. The British East India Company, established a
century ago in Calcutta, was becoming more interested in territory than trade. They
had organised an army of their own and built walled bastions in Calcutta, Madras
and Bombay. Other European colonizers — the French, Dutch and Portuguese —
were also trying to make their presence felt, but their scores were limited.

Siraj-Ud-Daula, ascended to the throne in April 1756 at the age of 26, after the
death of his grandfather Ali Vardi Khan, superseding other princes, senior
ministers and nobles. This aroused extreme jealousy among close family members
and officials. From day one, Siraj was not in good terms with the British Company,
particularly because of their strengthening the fortification in Calcutta. So in June
1756, he attacked the fort, captured it and held 146 British subjects in a small, dark
chamber, recorded in history as the infamous “Black Hole of Calcutta”. Only 23
 42

were said to have survived the ordeal. Revenge became the top of the agenda item
for the Company.

At the same time, a conspiracy to overthrow Siraj was growing exponentially in

Murshidabad. His most senior minister Mir Zafar, aunty Ghasetti Begum and many
others including wealthy merchants like Jagath Seth and Umichand, joined hands
with Lord Clive, the commander of East India Company and struck a deal that if
Siraj can be ousted, the throne will be awarded to Mir Zafar.

So on June 23, 1757, the 3,000-strong army of Clive met face-to-face with
Nawab's 50,000 men equipped with a train of heavy artillery at the tranquil mango
grove of Plassey at the outer periphery of Murshidabad. However, the outcome of
the battle had been decided long before the soldiers came to the battlefield.
Nawab's soldiers were bribed by Mir Zafar to throw away their weapons and
surrender prematurely. So without many gun shots fired, the battle ended within a
day and with Siraj fleeing for his life; but he was soon captured by Mir Zafar's son
and brutally murdered.

Nawabs for puppets

Mir Zafar and his descendants became the future Nawabs, but remained as puppets
under the British, who wasted no time thereafter to establish their reign, not only in
Bengal, but all over India. Years later Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book Discovery of
India aptly described Clive as having won the battle “by promoting treason and
forgery”, thus marking a sordid start to British rule in India.

A monument stands today in the ill-fated battle ground, perhaps to remind the
generation of independent India and visitors as well, how sovereignty of a nation
was lost and to make them think what would have India looked like today if a fair
game was played.

Mir Zafar was never forgiven for his disloyalty to his motherland. He was
nicknamed Gaddar-e-Abrar in Urdu meaning unfaithful traitor and remembered in
history as another word for betrayal. It's said people kick and spit on his decorated
graveyard, though we see none doing so when we visit his ruined palace, of which
nothing remains except the ornamental gate called the “Nimak Haram Deorhi”
meaning traitors gate.

There is also nothing much left to remember Siraj other than his grave in Khosh
Bagh, located on the other side of the river. He rests there alongside his
 43

grandfather and wife Luft-un-nisa, inside an arcaded mausoleum, surrounded by a

pleasant garden, peppered with 108 varieties of roses.

Italian architecture

The town's most tourist occupied venue is the Hazarduary Palace, which surfaced
long after the era of Siraj and Mirzafar. Built in 1837, it's an Italian architectural
styled three-storied edifice, fitted with 900 real and 100 artificial doors (hazarduary
literally means thousand doors), guarding 114 rooms which now display an
exquisite collection of Nawabi memorabilia. The 41-acre walled area that also
houses a Clock Tower, a mosque, an impressive white- painted Imambara and a
huge 4m long cannon, which has been kept idle after it fired its first shot. Its
explosive sound was so loud that all pregnant women within a 15 km radius gave
birth to their child prematurely.

The oldest monument of significance in Murshidabad is the Katra Masjid, a large

mosque built on a 20-acre property in 1723 by Nawab Murshid Quili Khan. During
heyday, this mosque could accommodate thousands easily and had numerous cave-
type cells for worshippers to read the Koran. Though this monument, like few
others is maintained by the Archaeological Society of India, unfortunately signs of
neglect are evident everywhere.

The Traitors of Plassey

The faithful commanders of Nawab were Mir Madan and Mohan Lal. The right
arm of the army was commanded by Rai Durlabh, Center by Yar Lutuf Khan and
Left close to British by Mir Jafar, all traitors.
The Nawab’s army had attacked vigorously in the beginning but Clive kept his
ammunitions in reserve and soldiers safe under a groove / embankment. There was
a rainfall, which led the ammunition and powder of Nawab drenched while the
British used tarpaulins to protect their ammunition. When the Nawab’s army
realized that the British ammunition is rendered ineffective Mir Madan asked the
cavalry to take charge but the next moment a shot from British claimed his life.
Nawab tried to reconcile with Mir Jafar, but he did not turn up.
The traitors of Battle of Plassey were as follows:
Mir Jafar : He became the first titular Nawab of Bengal paving the way for British
Empire in India.
Jagat Set : A Marwari Banker. After 9 years of the Battle of Plassey, the entire
family of Jagat Seth was beheaded by Mir Kasim.
 44

Omi Chand or Amir Chand : He tried to get 5% from the treasure after Mir Jafar
becomes Nawab but was deceived by the British by fake treaty and this shock was
enough to plunge him into mental retardation. He survived for some 10 years and
died anonymously.
Manik Chand: This was an officer in Calcutta
Rai Durlab: He was the treasurer of Nawab.
Ghaseti Neghum: The rich maternal aunt of Nawab.
Mir Jafar , the Gaddar-e-Abrar
Mir Jafar was placed as a titular Nawab of Bengal in 1757. The British extracted
enormous sums from Mir Jafar as the price of his elevation. Mir Zafar paid 1 Crore
77 Lakh Rupees as compensation for the attack on Calcutta to the company and the
traders of the city. The East India Company claimed 1.5 Crore. Clive was promised
280,000 Rupees.
The long cherished dream of becoming Nawab of Bengal of Mir Jafar was
achieved. But he could not bear the extortionist policies of the British for long.
When he realized that British expectations were limitless he tried to wriggle out of
their grip. For this he took the help of the Dutch.

of the Raj: The Battle of Plassey (Part Two)

June 16, 2013 by Sandeep Bhardwaj
Read: The Beginning of the Raj: War over Calcutta (Part One)

Bengal in 1750s. This map is not accurate; it is only intended to give an estimation.
Bengal borders are modern-day, not a reflection of Bengal in 1750s.
Bengal in 1750s. This map is not accurate; it is only intended to give an estimation.
Bengal borders are modern-day, not a reflection of Bengal in 1750s.

Clive’s victory over Nawab’s forces in February 1757 had ensured that the British
were back to the status they had been before Siraj-uddaula had taken the throne.
But now he wanted to make sure that they retain their power for all time to come.
He turned his attention to the French. The French and the British had lived in
Bengal amicably for many decades. Even during the recent war between the
Nawab and East India Company, the French had remained neutral. But Clive had
spent his career in Madras, where Europeans regularly fought with each other.
Looking from that prism, the French appeared as the greatest threat to the British.
In reality, they were far from it. The French East India Company in Bengal was
broke, drowned in debt from the local merchants. Its town Chandernagore had little
fortifications or manpower. So when the British began making threatening moves,
it sought the Nawab for help.
 45

But the Nawab had bigger concerns. The Emperor in Delhi was once again
threatening to march on Bengal. To pre-empt this attack, the Nawab wanted to
move his forces up to Patna to defend Bengal. His army was severely demoralized
after their defeat in Calcutta, so he sought help from the only logical ally he could
think of – the British. He proposed to Clive to march with him to Patna in return of
Rs. 1 lakh a month as retainer. Clive said he was happy to oblige but in return he
wanted permission to attack the French town of Chandernagore. After much back
and forth, the Nawab reluctantly gave his permission.

The attack was swift. Within days the French were driven out of Chandernagore.
They sought refuge in Murshidabad. The attack was of immense importance, for it
drove out the French from India forever. The day the news of attack reached
London, the Company’s stock rose by 12% in one day. By this time the threat from
Delhi had once again disappeared and Siraj-uddaula was now regretting having
allowed Clive to attack the French. The British were now stronger than ever before
and there was no one to check their power.

At this time another man entered the picture – Omichand. He was a rich Hindu at
the Nawab’s court of unparalleled deviousness. He had already switched sides
many times during the previous war between Siraj-uddaula and Clive – sometimes
advising the Nawab and sometimes spying for the British. Now he set his eyes on
even a bigger goal, playing the kingmaker. Siraj-uddaula, suspicious of him, had
confiscated a lot of his property. Omichand decided that to get it back, he must
remove the Nawab from power.

For this he approached the Seth family, one of the richest bankers in Bengal. The
Seths had their own grievances with the Nawab. Siraj-uddaula had always insulted
them, having once slapped Jagat Seth in front of the entire court. The Nawab had
also let Clive defeat the French despite strong lobbying from the Seths who were
the biggest creditors of the French. Most importantly, the bankers were worried
that with the British so strong, Siraj-uddaula will start extorting money from their
families instead of the Europeans.

Omichand suggested putting a weak man on the throne, someone he could control.
But the Seths insisted on strong leadership. So an approach was made to Mir Jafar,
the Nawab’s well-respected general, who had once sworn his loyalty to Siraj-
uddaula on the Koran. After some persuasion, Jafar agreed to be the point man of
the conspiracy.
 46

To complete the plot, Omichand now opened a line between Clive and Mir Jafar.
Seths will bankroll the enterprise, Jafar will be the political face and the British
will provide the provocation. For putting the whole thing together, Omichand
wanted 5% of all the money in the state treasury. Outdoing him in his own game,
Clive drew up two versions of the secret treaty; one of them falsely promised
Omichand the five percent that Clive had no intention of paying him.

While the plot was developing, the Nawab, who was currently stationed in Plassey
with his army, got a wind of it. Most likely, it was Omichand who informed Siraj-
uddaula about it, expecting to get reward from the Nawab instead of betting on a
far-fetched scheme. The Nawab quickly ordered Mir Jafar to be arrested, but the
men he sent to arrest the general were beaten back by Jafar’s men.

The Nawab was desolate. While the British threat was growing everyday, he did
not know whom he could trust in his own court. His army seemed to breaking up in
front of his eyes. He needed to resolve the issue now, before his soldiers begun
deserting him. In desperation, he employed a trick his grandfather had once used
successfully – he went to see Jafar and begged him to stay loyal. The general gave
him assurances and acted like the plea had changed his mind.

The Nawab could not be sure of his general’s loyalty, but either way he needed to
end the British menace now before Clive could spread the conspiracy further. As
part of the scheme, Clive had been moving his forces up to Plassey in a showdown.
On 23 June 1757, with no other option in sight, Siraj-uddaula attacked British
forces in the war known as Battle of Plassey. 3,000 British troops met 62,000 of
Nawab’s army.

It was only after the battle began, that the Nawab realized that of his 62,000 troops,
50,000 under the command of Mir Jafar were not fighting. They did not desert or
defect to the British side, just stood and watched the entire battle without firing a
shot. Most likely, it was because even now Jafar could not make up his mind.
Anyways, for the Nawab, the battle was lost. He escaped on a camel leaving his
soldiers demoralized.

In a strange irony of fate, when Siraj-uddaula tried to hide himself from his
enemies, he came across a beggar. The beggar had once been an influential man,
but on some offence the Nawab had his nose and ears cut and mutilated, he now
lived on the streets as a fakir. The beggar recognized Siraj-uddaula and informed
his enemies. The Nawab was quickly captured and put to death.
 47

Mir Jafar now entered Murshidabad as the new Nawab. It must be recognized that
at this point the British were neither in control of Bengal, nor did they have desire
to do so. All they wanted were more trading rights. While British had played an
important role, it was a coup in which Mir Jafar had taken power from Siraj-
uddaula. Jafar still remained the man with the largest army in Bengal. Moreover,
Clive had no intention of ruling Bengal, which made no sense for a company to do.
“So large a sovereignty may possibly be an object too extensive for a mercantile
company,” he wrote to his father.

Nevertheless, Bengal’s political stability had been irrevocably damaged. Ironically,

it was the conspiracy which sow the seeds of Jafar’s destruction. After the battle,
the conspirators like the Seths and Clive clamoured to get their rewards from
Murshidabad and ended up emptying the treasury. Facing overbearing costs of
running Bengal, Jafar was forced to increase taxes on the traders which put him on
a collision course with the British once again. In 1760, the Company and Seths
conspired to overthrow Jafar and replace him with his son-in-law Mir Qasim. Then
the pattern repeated once again. By 1764, East India Company was once again at
war with the Murshidabad. The ensuing Battle of Buxar and the defeat of Mir
Qasim finally sealed Bengal’s fate. This time, the British decided to make sure that
the next Nawab would be nothing but a puppet by keeping the power of taxation –
diwani – in their own hands. Bengal continued to have Nawabs, but none of them
were powerful enough to challenge the Company.
Bengal was now in British control. The Raj had begun.

Origins of Jain Migration into Murshidabad

[Some of the links are now outdated. Any help with links to the history of
Murshidabad in the 17th-20th centuries will be much appreciated. RKD 12/18/98]
Murshidabad, the capital of Bengal after the demise of Mughal rule was founded
by Murshid Quli Khan, the nawab of Bengal from 1704 to 1725, in the early 18th.
century (dates?). Nawabi rule attracted, among others, bankers and merchants and
foremost among them were the Rajasthani bankers who came to Murshidabad
seeking new fortunes.
The name of the Jagat Seths is known to every Indian as the one of the most
(in)famous names in the recent history of Bengal. Originally, they came to
prominence for the vast wealth they accumulated as the Nawab's banker (the title
Jagat Seth means Banker to the World). Since Bengal was perhaps the richest
subah of the Mughal Empire, this should not be too surprising: in the early 18th.
 48

centry, even for a decade or two after Aurangazeb's death in 1707, the Mughal
Empire was still strong, revenues were collected and writ of the Mughal subahdar
still meant something. It was only the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah and and the
subsequent sacking of Delhi by the Marathas that led to Mughal power being
publicly and irrefutably reduced to a cipher by 1839.

In course of events, Murshid Quli Khan was succeed to the subahdari of Bengal by
Shuja Khan (1725-1739) and then by Alivardi Khan (1740-1756) and finally by
abysmally incompetent Siraj-ud-Daulah (1756-7). It was during the rule of the
latter that matters came to a head with the British and in the climactic showdown,
the then Jagat Seth played a pivotal and treacherous role together with Siraj's
maternal uncle Mir Jafar, Umichand and Rai Durlabh in the determining the
outcome of the battle of Plassey in 1757. At Plassey, Robert Clive, commanding a
troop of 400 riflemen of the East India Company and with half of Siraj's army
commanded by Jafar and Durlabh in his back pocket, defeated the ill-organized
forces of an utterly debauched and degenerate young nawab whose only
qualification to govern Bengal was that he was Alivardi Khan's grandson.[1]

This event is widely accepted as the beginning of the British Indian Empire. The
British went on to defeat the Empreror Shah Alam II at Buxar in 1764 and in 1765
the diwani of Bengal passed away to London for the annual sum of Rs 2,600,000 to
be paid to Delhi by the East India Company. The traitor Mir Jafar was installed as
the Nawab by the British and ruled as such from 1757 to 1760, when he fell out
with the British and was taken and killed by Mir Kasim Ali, a relative of Siraj-ud-
Daulah.

Treason didn't pay off for the Jagat Seth himself either. Eventually, he was
imprisoned in Monghyr fort by Mir Kasim Ali (1760-1763) who became Nawab
after the traitorous Mir Jafar had fallen from British grace. The last of the "Jagat"
Seths came to his end when he was rolled off the ramparts of Monghyr Fort into
the river. The family of the Jagat Seth were devout Jains and as they had
prospered, they had performed many of the traditional Jain acts of piety --
culminating in their role as the trustees of the Jain tirtha at Pareshnath (Shikharji
tirth), which they kept up till long after Plassey (till the early part of the 19th.
century in fact). The family house and the Jain temple the Jagat Seths built still
stand in the village of Nashipur in Murishdabad.[2]. They and their community of
Jains are known as the Johori Sath as they were orignially jewellers by trade and
had gone into banking much later.[3]
 49

Other Jains came to Murshidabad too, drawn by the promise of trade and banking
for Murshidabad had become the economic center of Bengal -- silk, muslin, ivory,
agriculture all promised good trade and good trade prmised good banking
opportunities. Several families settled in the twin town of Jiaganj and Azimganj
and this became the nucleus of the Murshidabad Jain community or the
Murshidabad Sangh. In course of time, banking, trade and jagirs and later,
zamindaris acquired under the Permanent Settlement enabled some of these
families to become quite prominent in various acts of Jain piety. The five "heads"
of this community were the Budh Singh Pratap Singh Dugars, the "Azimganj Raj"
Dudhorias, the Nahars, the "Meghraj Mymensingh" Kotharis and the Nowlakhas
(PKD?). At its peak, this community numbered about 100 Jain households at most,
perhaps fewer (PKD?). The Jains of the twin towns of Jiaganj and Azimganj are
known as Sheherwali or the city dwellers and with the gradual economic
devastation of Murshidabad during British rule, they have mostly moved to
Calcutta but retain very strong connections to Jiaganj and Azimganj.[4]

Between them, Jiaganj and Azimganj have several temples and the entire area
Jiaganj-Azimganj-Nashipur has come to be known as a tirth. Pilgrims usually
come by bus from Calcutta and stay at the dharamshala at the Bimalnath Swami
Temple in Jiaganj which is the only place in the area which can accomodate any
sizable group of travellers. The usual itenarary is one day for Jiaganj and Azimganj
Temples and a half day to do the Kathgola Bagan (there is a tiny dadabari and an
Adinath Swami Temple (another picture) in the complex) and the Nashipur
Temple. There used to be some rare ratan pratimas in the Azimganj Temple -- for
security reasons they are no longer on public display and I am told that they are
taken out only during the major occasions when most of the Sangh is present. The
bhandars of some of these temples are reported to contain quite a collection of old
texts as Murshidabad was for a while a center of Jain manuscript collectors (all that
money and nothing to spend it on but Baluchari sarees, Jamiwar shawls, an
occasional diamond or emerald (or two), what's a man to do but collect
manuscripts and build temples?).[5].

Today, however, spending more than a couple of days in the area is strongly
inadvisable: after one has done pujas everywhere, ridden cycle-rickshaws to
Kathgola Bagan, Nashipur and to the Hazarduari Complex (the Nawab's Palace
and Mosque are here) and taken a boat ride on the Bhagirathi to visit Rani
Bhabani's lovely terracotta temple complex, there is nothing left to do.[6]. The
economic devastation of Bengal over the past 300 years is writ large on every
graffiti'd wall, every crumbling mansion and every tottering light pole in these
once glorious towns.[7].
 50

Notes:
[1] Siraj was for many years vilified by British propoganda that he had condemned
146 Englishmen to death in the notorious Black Hole of Calcutta -- recent
historical opinion is that this was fabricated out of whole cloth. In light of this
more sober opinion, this story is instructive for it exemplifies how the the British
were to systematically dehumanize the "natives" who would then feel grateful for
the civilized blessings of British rule. Spin-doctoring false propaganda and utterly
shameless hypocrisy are not by any means new phenomena. However he was a
drunkard, an opium addict and a womanizer and part of the story behind the
collapse of Alivardi Khan's house is that in his youth Siraj had alienated many of
Alivardi's courtiers with rude, arrgant and generally intemperate behavior. He was
also incompetent at organization and a lousy soldier -- rahter he seems to have
taken as his model not the soldierly gandfather he inherited his seat from but an
effete later Mughal courtier whome he resembles in his portrait.

[2] One story is that the Jagat Seths' made their orignial fortune in the Jade trade --
in those days green jade from Burma was highly valued by Mughal courtiers
because of the belief that it would shatter or discolour if poisoned food was served
on it. Today, the nawab's personal dishes are on dsiplay in the Hazarduari Palace
Museum. Apparently, in one such cargo-load, the family found a large number of
shattered pieces of apparently no value -- but being jewellers, they immediately
identified the "valueless" shards as extraodrinarily large emeralds of exquisite
quality and their fortune was made. Emeralds were highly prized by Mughal rulers
and their courtiers and this find made it quite a bit easier for the Jagat Seths to
cement their connection to the nawabs far more effectively with appropriate
nazarana from time to time.

[3] The original Jagath Seth's kothi ("strong house") was cut away by the
Bhagirathi (soon after Plassey) and legend has it that collapse of the house revealed
the existence of vats with mud coins in them. Apparently, in order to avoid the
greedy eyes of the Nawabs who were known to be keenly sensitive to public
displays of wealth by their subjects, earlier Jagat Seths had filled these vats with
gold and silver coins and then bricked them up in the walls of their house as
insurance against the viccisitudes of fortune. The gold and silver are said to have
turned to mud as their heirs tried to salvage the remnants of their ancestral wealth
while those who were not of the Jagat Seths' blood and could get their hands on
these vats found gold and silver in theirs. BTW, in Murshidabad at least, such
legends are common motifs in morality tales of bad (or undeserving or careless or
thoughtless) people getting their just desserts in many different contexts. I have
heard such tales about buried treasure from other sources too in families other than
 51

the Jagat Seth's, so it is hard to say how much of this is true -- however, the old
house definitely was washed away by the Bhagirathi -- this much is sober fact.
Sometimes white sankes or white owls are said to guard buried treasure in old
houses and to this day, in many a locked up kuthibaDi in Jiaganj and Azimganj,
snakes and owls are left alone, just in case.

[4] Most families still go back several weekends in the year to visit the family
temple(s), eat mangoes and just to sit and hear the jhNi-jhi-poka (jhNi-jhi is
bengali for whine and poka is bengali for insect) whine away as night descends. As
usual the power supply is erratic, so at best one has a faint electric lamp to read by
or else one can sit on the roof and hear the artati bells ring and then watch the
temple lights go out. After that, the biggest blessing of having no electricity to
speak of is that there is no light pollution, one can actually see stars -- for
Calcuttans that is a rare event. Eventually, at about 10 pm the streets are dead and
one just has silence -- pure silence that no city in the world can give. Of course
web browsing may be a somewhat more complicated enterprise!

One comes back from Jiaganj and Azimganj having had a glimpse of what life
must have been in those times: life revolved around the gaddi (the banker's place of
business) which was usually located in the house itself, away from the public
rooms as well as the ladies quarters but close to the master bedroom, or around the
mukam (traders' office). At lunchtime, one would invite whoever was in the gaddi
to join one for lunch, followed by a short nap and then a couple more hours of
transacting business. Then it was time for the evening puja and dinner. That
essentially meant walking a couple of hundred feet from the house which was built
just far enough away from the temple so that the shadow of the steeple never fell
on one's house. And then there was always the weekend trip to the bagicha or
garden house built in a more isolated area where one could let one's hair down and
party.

[5] There was considerable rivalry between the various families in terms of
bragging rights over acts of piety so that each tried to do everything else the others
did and then go one over. This led various families to build and endow temples
across the length and breadth of India, to lead Sanghs (this was good for tourism,
good for the Sangha and not incidentally, good for business too -- if one was
leading a Sangh of a few hundred people, one tended to meet maharajas and other
big landlords and rich bankers etc.. so the networking used to be pretty top flight).

[6] Of course, it is obligatory to make sure that one arranges to eat the famous
chaNaboDa -- a gulab-jamun like sweet but made with pure cottage cheese which
 52

gives it a hard burnt exterior and a drippy sweet but never undercooked interior --
the trick is to remember the night one arrives in town to leave instructions that they
are to be brought fresh every morning from Berhampore, one bites ruins you for
life. If there is a sweet that ranks higher thasn chocolate, it must be Berhampore's
chaNaboDas.

[7] Honestly, unless your roots lie there, once you've seen it, you've got wonder
how on earth this place could even have been compared to London and someone
(cite?? -- P. Bothra, conversation, Jiaganj, 1982) could report that one could walk
from one end of Jiaganj to the other across the rooftops of the great mansions that
lay in between! In addition, under a lax district administration the laws are
enforced poorly, crime is rampant and of late, smuggling contraband across the
bangladesh border seems to be the primary occupation of choice of local youth. All
in all this golden, fertile, productive land, once the pride of Bengal (which itself
was the jewel in the crown of the Mughal Empire) has been reduced to levels of
moral and economic devastation not seen perhaps in its entire history: it stands a a
monument to the rapacity and devastation of the East India Company's rule -- its
wealth stripped, its industry destroyed, its people ruined by systematic pillage,
neglect and indifference and in case you think this is hyperbolic exaggeration
check this site out.