The Battle of Buxar (1764 AD)

The Battle of Buxar (1764 AD)

The Battle of Buxar was significant event in the rise of British rule in India. The foundation of the British Empire in India which was led by Clive at Plassey was strengthened at Buxar. The Battle of Buxar was the outcome of the clash between the British and Mir Kasim, the Nawab of Bengal.

Mir Kasim was the most efficient of all Nawabs of Bengal from 1756 onwards. He suppressed the rebellious zamindars of Bengal and Bihar, who had challenged the authority of the Nawab. Unlike his predecessor Mir Jafar, he always tried to maintain his position and dignity by keeping himself away from the British influence. For that purpose he transferred his capital from Murshidabad to Monghyr.

To satisfy his ego and vanity he liked to inaugurate his new regime at a new place where there would be none to interfere in his activities as a Nawab. To strengthen his power he organized his army in the same way as the Europeans did. He made arrangements for the manufacture of fire arms at Monghyr with a view to equipping his army adequately. He wanted to remain at a safe distance from Calcutta so that there would be less of supervision and interference from the British authority. He wanted to develop an army with a view to overthrowing the power of British. This attitude of Mir Kasim incurred displeasure of the British.

The matter came to a crisis when Mir Kasim wanted to put an end to all private trade. The company had been granted the privilege of free sea-borne trade by an imperial Farman in 1717. But after 1756, the servants of the company also illegally claimed the same privilege for their private trade mainly in salt and betel leaves. Because of this extensive private trade of the servants of the company, the Nawab had to suffer the loss of huge amount of revenue. Mir Kasim decided to stop it by taking drastic action. Under instructions, from the Nawab, his officers in the district began to seize the boats belonging to the English merchants in spite of their having Dastaks with them.

These English merchants were forced to pay taxes to the Nawab the Nawab ultimately abolished the system of Dastak and the transit duties which put the Indian and English traders on equal footing. This created fury among the English. They carried the matter immediately to Vansittart, the then governor of Bengal. The governor violently reached to this kind of measure of Mir Kasim.

Mir Kasim took few other measures which hampered the interest of the English merchants in India. He immediately increased the number of customs stations in the country with a view to checking the private trade of the English. New stations were established in places where there was none before. He increased the number of soldiers stationed in the Chaukis to stop the English boats effectively. He also instructed the local Amils to strike off all kinds of commercial relations with the East India Company. All these measures led to huge financial loss to the company.

The company sent in relief troops from Fort St. George of the Madras headquarters. The troops led by Robert Clive and Admiral Watson retook Calcutta on 2nd January, 1757. The treaty of Alinagar was signed between the Nawab and the Company.

However Clive's military ambitions were on the ascendancy. His troops captured the French settlement of Chandernagore. He tempted Siraj's uncle Mir Jafar to ally with him in exchange for the Nawab's position. On 23rd June, 1757, the Company troops marched against Siraj. Betrayed by his own men Siraj was defeated in the Battle of Plassey, which is said to have lasted only a few hours. He was soon assassinated in his capital Murshidabad. From being traders, the Company turned kingmakers in Bengal and Mir Jafar was installed as the new Nawab. Clive got his pound of flesh from the Nawab in terms of 234,000 pounds and was awarded an annual salary of 30,000 pounds per year. This made him one of the richest Britons in the world. The company also secures rights over a large area south of Calcutta. Construction of a new Fort William was started and was completed in 16 years in 1773. These events led to the rise of Calcutta and the decline of Murshidabad.

It is said that the origins of Calcutta's most famous public festival - the Durga Puja can be traced to the victory of the British in Plassey. Raja Naba Kissen Deb, a financial backer of the Company, threw a party in honor of Robert Clive during the occasion of Durga Puja.

In 1760, Mir Jafar was succeeded by his son-in-law Mir Kasim. He handed over the districts of Chittagong, Midnapore and Burdwan to the Company. Robert Clive returned to England in the same year. Mir Kasim (reign:1760 to 1763), made an attempt to recover Bengal from the hands of British. In 1764, he enlisted the help of Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and Nawab Shuja Ud Daulah of Oudh. But their troops were defeated in the Battle of Buxar by the company troops led by Major Hector Munro.

The armies of Mir Kasim and his allies Emperor Shah Alam II and Shuja-ud-daula, Nawab of Avadh, out-matched the British in number. To Mir Kasim's force of 40,000 Robert Clive's army commanded by Major Hector Munro had about 18,000 men. Early on, East India Company forces had to retreat across the river. But they were allowed to get away; the forces retreat across the river. But they were allowed to get away; the forces regrouped and through a naval force attacked through the river route. Mir Jafar also had trained Afghan cavalry and modern cannon manned by European mercenaries and led a charge on the Company's forces. However, the Company relied on its strength of sequenced shooting-its musketeers put up volley of gunfire. This coordinated gun shooting became very much a trademark of the British way of war over the next few decades. The sheer power of gunfire ensured that attacking cavalry scattered. The establishment of British paramountcy along with the diwani (revenue administration) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa was the major significance of The battle of Buxar.

The Battle of Buxar and Advance of the British East India Company

The Battle of Buxar was fought between the British East India Company and the combined forces of Mir Qasim- Nawab of Bengal, Shuja-ud-Daula- Nawab of Awadh and Shah Alam 2- A Mughal Emperor. The battle was waged on October 22nd 1764 at Buxar; then within the territory of Bengal, a town located on the banks of the River Ganges and proved to be a decisive victory for the British East India Company or the “Company” as they came to be known.

The British troops in this war numbered 7,072, with 857 being British, 5297 being Indian Sepoys and 918 Indian cavalry. The total number of native forces was around 40,000. One of the major advantages the British had over the forces of the Nawabs was the lack or co-ordination between the three desperate allies and each of them nursing a different grudge.

The British losses included 1847 killed and wounded, where as the Indians recorded more than 2000 dead and many more wounded. After the war, the British captured 133 pieces of artillery and over 1 million Rupees cash.

The person who suffered from the outcome of this war the most was Shuja-ud-Daula, who signed the Treaty of Allahabad and secured Diwani Rights for the Company to collect and manage the revenue of almost 100,000,000 acres of real estate, which forms parts of the present day states of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, as well as the neighboring country of Bangladesh. Shuja-ud-Daula was also forced to pay a war indemnity of 5 million rupees, though all his pre-war possessions were returned except for the districts of Karra and Allahabad.

Shah Alam 2 became a pensioner with a monthly stipend of 4, 50,000 rupees, towards the upkeep of his horses, sepoys, peons and other house hold expenses. Mir Qasim, who was not a general, was quietly replaced. He also received a small share of total land revenue fixed at 2 million rupees.

The treaty of Allahabad introduced the establishment of the rule of the East India Company in 1/8th of India. The battles of Plassey and Buxar assured a permanent foothold for the company in the rich province of Bengal. Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula was restored to Oudh with a subsidiary force and a guarantee of defense. Emperor Shah Alam 2 made peace with Allahabad and in return he gave the Empire Grant or the Diwani revenue authority in Bengal and Bihar to the Company. This was a privilege that had earlier been enjoyed by the Nawab, so that now there was a double government and the Nawab retained judicial and political functions and the Company exercising revenue power. The Company were used to this as they had already been the Mughal revenue agent for Bengal and Bihar and this virtually made them the rulers of Bengal, since they already possessed significant military power.

All that was left to the Nawab was the control of the judiciary administration, which he was forced to hand over to the Company and 1793, hence completing the Company’s control. In spite of all this, the East India Company was on the verge of bankruptcy which pushed them into a fresh effort to reform. On one hand Warren Hastings was appointed with a mandate for reform and on the other hand an appeal was made to the state for a loan. This resulted in the beginning of state control by the Company and thirteen years governorship of Warren Hastings

Hastings’ first crucial job was that of an “organizer” and two and a half years before the “Regulation Act” came into force he put the entire Bengal administration into order. The Indian deputies who had collected the revenue on behalf of the Company were done away with and their place taken by a “Board of Revenue” in Calcutta and English collectors in the district. This was the real beginning of British administration in India.

Treaty of Allahabad

The prime victim Shah Alam II, signed the Treaty of Allahabad that secured Diwani Rights for the Company to collect and manage the revenues of almost 100,000,000 acres (400,000 kms) of real estate which form parts of the modern states of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, as well as areas in the neighbouring country of Bangladesh. He was also forced to pay a war indemnity of five million rupees. However, all his pre-war possessions were returned except for the districts of Karra and Allahabad.

Shah Alam II became a pensioner with a monthly stipend of 450,000 rupees towards upkeep of horses, sepoys, peons, barkandazis (matchlock men) and household expenses. Mir Qasim, who was not a general, was quietly replaced. He also received a small share of the total land revenue, initially fixed at 2 million rupees.

The Treaty of Allahabad heralded the establishment of the rule of the East India Company in one-eighth of India proper with a single stroke. The battles of Plassey and Buxar secured a permanent foothold for the British East India Company in the rich province of Bengal, and secured its political ascendancy in the entire region. Buxar should be seen in conjunction with the third battle of Panipat in January 1761 in terms of its impact on consolidating British presence in north-east India. By the treaty of 1752, the Marathas had essentially taken over administration of all the subahs of the Mughal empire, and had established their right to collect Chauth across these subahs. In return, they would protect the north-west frontier of the Mughal Empire from Afghan invasion. This resulted in nine years of Maratha-Afghan struggle to establish control over the empire, and the subah of Punjab, which was claimed by both. However, due to the Maratha defeat at the third battle of Panipat, and their subsequent ten-year hiatus from North Indian affairs, the British were able to establish a foothold in North Indian affairs. Buxar was an important step in that direction.

Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula was restored to Oudh, with a subsidiary force and guarantee of defense, the emperor Shah Alam II solaced with Allahabad and a tribute and the frontier drawn at the boundary of Bihar. For Bengal itself the Company took a decisive step. In return for restoring Shah Alam II to Allahabad, the Company got from him the imperial grant of the diwani or revenue authority in Bengal and Bihar. This had hitherto been enjoyed by the nawab of Bengal.