conquest of the bengal
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The East India Company's conquest of Bengal began when a new nawab, named Siraj, challenged the increasing power of the British. ... After the nawab's soldiers easily conquered the fort, they crammed the British prisoners into a small, dark basement.
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“We have at last arrived at that critical period, which I have long foreseen; I mean the period which renders it necessary for us to determine whether we can, or shall, take the whole to ourselves.”
—Robert Clive, 1765 (Peers 101).
The English East India Company sought to gain access to the province of Bengal because it was the most successful industrial region in India. In 1750, India accounted for 25% of world economic production contrasted to England’s 1.9% (Robins 61). Bengal was at the center of that production. In 1776, in the Bengali city of Dhaka alone, 80,000 women spun cotton for 25,000 weavers who produced approximately 180,000 piece of cloth (63). Indian textiles wove their way so fully into British culture that South Asian names for cloth cropped up in the English language—such as bandana, calico, taffeta, gingham, and chintz (63). In addition to textile manufacturing, Bengal’s fertile soils of the Ganges River Basin made for outstanding agricultural production. Any company seeking a profit in India wanted a piece of the lucrative region.
The East India Company opened a port in Calcutta to access Bengali riches. In 1717, the Company bribed a feeble and short-lived Mughal Emperor to give them a farman in Bengal—a decree that gave the Company the rights to trade duty free in return for a small annual fee to the Mughal court (Keay 228-229). This “get-out-of-all-Bengali-taxes-for-free card” made it impossible for other European powers to compete with the British there. But the local Bengali rulers resented this privilege that deprived them of tax revenue. More still, the farman was granted to the Company by a distant and weak ruler—the Emperor— who had only nominal authority in the province. Despite relentless protests from the local nawab, the British increased their trading presence in Bengal. A military clash seemed likely.
Around the mid 1700s, the European military strength of Great Britain and France surpassed the Mughal Empire. A key turning point was the Battle of Madras in 1746. The French provided their soldiers with the latest muskets that could fire 20 rounds per minute. The local nawab mustered 10,000 men and expected that the Europeans could still fire only once every three minutes. Instead, the new French muskets cut down Indian soldiers at will and the nawab quickly retreated. This was the first battle in South Asia in which European weapons proved dramatically decisive (Keay 281). In the future, superior military technology would have dramatic results when combined with the British desire to further exploit the wealth of Bengal.
—Robert Clive, 1765 (Peers 101).
The English East India Company sought to gain access to the province of Bengal because it was the most successful industrial region in India. In 1750, India accounted for 25% of world economic production contrasted to England’s 1.9% (Robins 61). Bengal was at the center of that production. In 1776, in the Bengali city of Dhaka alone, 80,000 women spun cotton for 25,000 weavers who produced approximately 180,000 piece of cloth (63). Indian textiles wove their way so fully into British culture that South Asian names for cloth cropped up in the English language—such as bandana, calico, taffeta, gingham, and chintz (63). In addition to textile manufacturing, Bengal’s fertile soils of the Ganges River Basin made for outstanding agricultural production. Any company seeking a profit in India wanted a piece of the lucrative region.
The East India Company opened a port in Calcutta to access Bengali riches. In 1717, the Company bribed a feeble and short-lived Mughal Emperor to give them a farman in Bengal—a decree that gave the Company the rights to trade duty free in return for a small annual fee to the Mughal court (Keay 228-229). This “get-out-of-all-Bengali-taxes-for-free card” made it impossible for other European powers to compete with the British there. But the local Bengali rulers resented this privilege that deprived them of tax revenue. More still, the farman was granted to the Company by a distant and weak ruler—the Emperor— who had only nominal authority in the province. Despite relentless protests from the local nawab, the British increased their trading presence in Bengal. A military clash seemed likely.
Around the mid 1700s, the European military strength of Great Britain and France surpassed the Mughal Empire. A key turning point was the Battle of Madras in 1746. The French provided their soldiers with the latest muskets that could fire 20 rounds per minute. The local nawab mustered 10,000 men and expected that the Europeans could still fire only once every three minutes. Instead, the new French muskets cut down Indian soldiers at will and the nawab quickly retreated. This was the first battle in South Asia in which European weapons proved dramatically decisive (Keay 281). In the future, superior military technology would have dramatic results when combined with the British desire to further exploit the wealth of Bengal.
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