Bengal War

For other uses, see list of wars involving Bengal.

Bengal War
Part of the Seven Years' War and Anglo-Mughal Wars
Date 1763–1765 Location Bengal Subah Result Company victory
Belligerents
Mughal Empire[1] Nawab of Audh Bengal Subah Durrani and Rohilla factions	British East India Company
Commanders and leaders
Shah Alam II[1] Najaf Khan Shuja-ud-Daula Siraj ud-Daulah Mir Qasim	Hector Munro of Novar John Caillaud John Knox

The Bengal War,[2] also called the second Anglo-Mughal war,[3] was waged by the Mughal Empire in order to expel the British East India Company (EIC) from Bengal Subah. Hostilities began in 1763 and ended in 1765.[4]

Background

In 1717, Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar granted the EIC the right to trade within Bengal coupled with some exemptions for taxation. In the eyes of the Company, this decree granted it sovereignty, a right to trade undisturbed by the imperial powers. The EIC's opinion was that the emperor thus devolved its power and became a mere "official".[5]

While the last independent Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah was concerned with the British claims of absolute sovereignty, EIC was only one part of his problems. Siraj, while trying to have an alliance with France, was also keeping the line of negotiation with Britain open. On the other hand, when Mir Qasim (1760-1764) rose to power, he saw the advance of EIC as an existential threat and attempted to rebuild a smaller state in West Bengal where the private merchants would be excluded. This defiance eventually led to the war.[3]

Hostilities

EIC agent William Ellis with a small detachment captured Patna by surprise. In the 1st battle of Patna on 25 June 1763, Bengali troops led by Armenian mercenary Maskarian drove the British out of Patna, captured and held in captivity most of them.[6]

Main article: Third Battle of Katwa

After the destruction of British forces in the 1st battle at Patna, Mir Qasim's forces faced the British column headed by Major Thomas Adams intent on restoring Mir Jafar as a Nawab of Bengal. In a heavily-contested battle near Katwa fortress on 19 July 1763, Adams' forces were victorious and Qasim's general, Mohammed Taki Shah, was killed.

Mir Qasim set up his defenses near Jangipur^[which?] on Sooty on the plain of Giria. British forces under Major Thomas Adams attacked on 2 August 1763 and, after a bloody battle, forced Mir Quasim to retreat to Udaynala.^[which?][7]

Mir Qasim was defeated again at Udaynala,[6] where the British headed by Major Thomas Adams successfully stormed a well-defended Ganges gorge downstream of Rajmahal on 5 September 1763. After inflicting heavy losses at the gorge, Adams captured Monghyr.[8]

After Udaynala, Mir Qasim killed the British soldiers captured in the 1st battle of Patna. Major Thomas Adams besieged Patna and captured the town in the 2nd battle of Patna on 6 November 1763 that saw heavy losses in the Bengali army.[6]

Mir Qasim forged an alliance against the East India Company with Shah Alam and Shuja-ud-Daula.[9]

On 3 May 1764 British EIC forces under the command of Colonel John Carnac were victorious in a 3rd battle at Patna[9] against the Nawab of Oudh Shuja-ud-Daula. The British occupied defensive positions outside of Patna and caused heavy losses for the attacking Shuja's forces. After repulsing the attack, Carnac decided against a pursuit, but heavy rains caused Nawab's retreat a month later.[6]

Battle of Buxar

Main article: Battle of Buxar

On 23 October 1764, following the 3rd Patna battle, British forces under the command of Major Hector Munro, despite their numeric inferiority, carried a decisive victory over Indian allies at Buxar, west of Patna.[9]

After the battle of Buxar, Mir Qasim's and Shujah-ud-Daula's forces retreated into Doab with Major John Carnac in pursuit. They managed to join forces with a Marathi army headed by Malhar Rao Holkar. On May 1765 the British successfully defeated them. After the rout that followed, Mulhar Rao fled to Kalpi, and Mir Qasim sued for peace.[10]

Aftermath

As a result of the war, the EIC became an indispensable military and fiscal instrument for the Mughal Emperor who was relying on the Company's military protection and financial means.[11] While becoming effectively a sovereign in Bengal and Northern India by controlling the Bengal diwani in exchange for a fixed payment, the company was saddled with a large cost that EIC was forced to continue carrying due to commercial and political reasons.[12] The document granting the revenues to the EIC was treated as a proto-constitution, a "Magna Carta".[13]

The EIC waged a campaign to overthrow Shuja-ud-Daula.^[citation needed]

The end of this war signified the beginning of direct British rule in Bengal.[3]

See also

• Shah Alam II
• Mir Jafar
• Great Bengal famine of 1770

References

1. History of the Freedom Movement in India (1857–1947), p. 2, at Google Books
2. Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780313335389.
3. Bayly 2013, p. 338.
4. Clodfelter 2017, p. 111.
5. Bayly 2013, p. 329.
6. Jaques 2006, p. 780.
7. Jaques 2006, p. 392.
8. Jaques 2006, p. 1049.
9. Jaques 2006, p. 177.
10. Jaques 2006, p. 542.
11. Nadeau 2023, p. 17.
12. Nadeau 2023, p. 216.
13. Bayly 2013, p. 330.

Sources

• Nadeau, Adam (June 2023). Inheriting Empire: Royal proclamations, parliamentary legislation, and imperial integration in British North America and India, 1760-1793 (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). University of New Brunswick.
• Bayly, C. A. (2013). "The British Military–Fiscal State and Indigenous Resistance India 1750–1820". An Imperial State at War: Britain From 1689-1815. Taylor & Francis. pp. 322–354. ISBN 978-1-134-54602-2. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
• Thompson, E.; Garratt, E.T.G.T. (1999). "The Conquistadores". History of British Rule in India. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Limited. pp. 80–98. ISBN 978-81-7156-803-1. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
• Jaques, Tony (2006-11-30). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges [3 Volumes]. Westport, Conn: Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. OCLC 68786744.
• Malleson, G.B. (1885). The Decisive Battles of India: From 1746 to 1849 Inclusive. W.H. Allen & Company. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
• Clodfelter, M. (2017). "Bengal War: 1763−65". Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015, 4th ed. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4766-2585-0. Retrieved 2024-07-10.