The Modern Age

Karisma Amjad
Lecturer
Dhaka International University 1
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The Modern Age

 The English placed Mir Jafor on the throne of Bengal as a reward for cooperating with
them. He became a puppet in the hands of the English. The real power lay on the hand of
the English. Mir Jafor had a secret pact with the English before the battle of plassey.
According to that, the Zamindari of 24 pargans was handed over to the English company.
The Nawab at that time became dependent on the English for military matter.

Lord Clive Governor Vincitart

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 The aim of the English was to get as much favor as possible from the Nawab. When Mir
Jafor could not give them the money they demanded, they removed him from the
throne. Before this the English Governor Robert Clive returned to England (1760 A.D). The
new Governor Vincitart removed Mir Jafor from the throne and instead made his son in
law Mir Kasim the Nawab. Mir Kasim agreed to pay money to the Company according to
a secret pact. Besides, the Zamindaros of Burdwan, Midnapur and Chittagong districts
were given to the company.
 The English tried to use Mir Kasim too as puppet Nawab like Mir Jafor. But Mir Kasim was of
An Independent nature. As a result, war broken out between the English and Mir Kasim
(1763). Though he fought bravely, Mir Kasim was defeated. He fled but tired to restore the
independence of Bengal with the help of Sujuddowala, the Nawab of Oudh and the
Emperor Shah Alam II, he attached the English. He was defeated miserably in the Battle of
Buxer in 1764 A.D.
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Mir Kasim
 When the fight with Mir Kasim Stared, the English placed Mir Jafor for the Second time on
the throne of Bengal with the promise of getting a lot of advantages. When Mir Jafor died
in 1765 A.D, the English placed his son Najimuddowlah on the throne of Bengl. An
agreement was signed between Najimuddolah and the English to the effect that the
whole administrative power of Bengal would lay in the hand of a high official whose title
would be ‘Naib-e-Nazim”. The Nawab would be the administrator in name only. The
English rule in Bengal was thus established.
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The English as the Ruler of Bengal:

 After the Battle of plassey the English were slowly grabbing the power of Bengal from behind
the screen. Robert Clive came to Bengal in 1765 A.D for the second time as Governor of
Bengal. He made arrangements for taking the power directly in Bengal. In accordance with the
treaty of Allahabad, he returned Oudh to the Nawab of Oudh in exchange of 50 lack rupees.
Separating Allahabad and Kara from Oudh, he returned them to Shah Alam II. The company,
on the other hand, gained permanent authority to collect revenue and tax from Bengal, Bihar
and Orissa in exchange for paying the Emperor 26 lacks of the rupees annually. Thus the
company secured fully authority to collect the revenue of Bengal i, e, they gained the Diwani
of Bengal.
 The company kept the financial matter in its own hand and left the administration in the hand
of Nawab. The division of the whole administration in this manner is known in history as Dual
Administration. Again, since the company had the right of appointment of “Naib- e- Nazim”,
the administration was run according to its wish. Then The English appointed a revenue expert
named Syed Muhammad Reza Khan as “Naib-e-Diwani”. Persecution came upon the people
of Bengal as they had to pay excessive amounts of money. Calamity fell upon agriculture and
business sectors of Bengal. To add to the misfortune, there were no rains and drought, prevailed
in the whole of Bengal in 1770 A.D. As a result, a devastating famine swept over the whole
country in the Bengali year 1176. In history it is known as the “Famine of 76”.
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 When the Dual Administration failed in this manner, the Company directly took over the
power of administration. Warren Hastings was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1772 A.D.
He transferred the revenue department from Mushidabad to Kalkata. The Nawab then
became completely powerless.

Lord Cornwallis
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 Hastings introduced a new system of collecting revenues. In the first place he leased out the land to
the Zamindars for five years. When this did not bear good results, he made settlement for one year.
This also did not ease the misfortune of the famers. In 1786 A.D, Lord Cornwallis came as the new
Governor- General. He took new measures to make settlements for lands. First he made settlement
with the Zamindars for ten years Known as Dassana (1790 A.D.). Later on, this came to be known as
the Permanent Settlement of 1793 A.D.
 A bill had been published in 1773 A.D in the British Parliament. Known as the Regulating Act, this law
made Bengal the Centre of the British rule in the Sub continent.

Lord Wellesley Lord Hastings William Bentick Lord Dalhousie

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 The next Governor General after Lord Cornwallis, Lord Wellesley (1798 A.D. -1805 A.D)
resorted to more craft and cunningness in order to spread the British Empire. By taking up
many measures, he established supremacy of the British over many states of the Indian
subcontinent. Of the Governor Generals who came later, mention may be made of Lord
Hastings (1813A.D- 1856A.D), William Bentick (1828A.D- 1835A.D) and Lord Dalhousie (1848
A.D- 1856A.D). The British Rule expanded to the whole of the sub-continent became
agitated at the imperialistic policy and oppression of the English. As a reaction to it, in
1857 A.D. the great anti British uprising took place.
 The Aforesaid Movements culminated in the great rebellion of 1857 A.D. the scoops of the
country fell on the English with the little strength they had. The Movement of 1857 A.D,
however, failed. This is known in history as first struggle for independence in the sub-
continent.
 After the struggle for the independence failed, in 1858 A.D the British Parliament passed a
new Act to rule India. This act which is known as the “Government of India Act” brought
an end to the rule of the East India Company in this country. Simultaneously, the British
Government took over to rule this country directly.
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Queen Victoria
 Queen Victoria of England became the Empress of India. From now on, the person who
was sent to rule India on behalf of the queen of England was called the Viceroy instead of
Governor General. One minister of the British Cabinet used to remain in change of the
affairs of India. He was called the Secretary of State for India. There was a council to
advice him.
 When India came under the British Government, both the Hindu and Muslims realized that
to achieve their right, they would have to acquire strength and ability. In the first place
they should be educated in English and be well organized politically. Following the path,
in 1885 was established the political institution of India, Indian National Congress. Shortly
afterwards, the Muslim League was formed Dhaka with help of the Muslim leaders.
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