Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam
79. The Battle of Plassey, Part 2 of 2
By Professor Nazeer Ahmed
Concord, CA
With the Moghul Empire in ruins, the focus shifted to its successor states in the provinces. The Moghul Emperors had appointed nawabs (governors) to run each of the major provinces. With the empire in disarray, these nawabs became independent.
The capable administrators NawabMurshadQuli Khan and NawabAliwardi Khan governed the large province of Bengal (1722-1756). When Aliwardi died in 1756, his grandson SirajadDaula became the Nawab. This upset Mir Ja’afar, a brother-in-law of Siraj, who had hoped to be the next Nawab. The Bengali court in Murshidabadbecame a cobweb of plots and counter plots. These court intrigues provided an opening for the British who were not content with commercial expansion in Bengal, but wanted political control as well.
When the East India Company reinforced Fort William in Calcutta against his expressed wishes, SirajadDawla was furious. At his orders, 155 Englishmen were locked up in a small chamber barely large enough to accommodate half as many. Most of the hapless prisoners did not survive the summer heat of Bengal, and the British dubbed the death chamber the “Black Hole of Calcutta”.
The battle lines were now drawn. By 1757, Britain was by far the paramount sea power in the world. It had displaced the Dutch, outmaneuvered the French, and established itself in America and Asia alike. Its holdings included colonies in America, Canada, West Africa, India and Australia. The slave trade had made England rich and its horizons now reached out to the control of the great landmass of Asia and Africa.
On the Indian subcontinent the British East India Company held the strategic ports of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Robert Clive, a shrewd and capable administrator who had outfoxed the French in southern India, led the Company affairs. Clive knew through his agents the intrigues in Murshidabad, and made a deal with Mir Ja’afar. In return for the latter’s support against SirajadDawlah, Clive promised him the Nawabship of Bengal. The zamindars and bankers of Bengal also joined Clive’s camp.
On June 28, 1757, at the Battle of Plassey, a day marked with infamy in the history of India, the Bengal forces met the British. The Bengal army had 50,000 troops commanded by Mir Ja’afar. The British contingent was barely 3,000 strong. As soon as the battle began, Mir Ja’afar betrayed SirajadDawla, and went over to the British with the bulk of his army. SirajadDawla was killed in the first hour of combat. With Bengal at his feet, Clive appointed Mir Ja’afar the nawab. In return, Mir Ja’afar showered the British with untold riches. Clive himself received a million pounds in gold and precious stones. Taxes for the East India Company were forgiven. But when the wily Mir Ja’afar showed his reluctance to part with additional wealth, Clive replaced him with another satrap, Mir Qasim.
The East India Company had by now a taste of the wealth of Bengal, accumulated over centuries of opulent Moghul rule. Unable to satiate the unquenchable greed of the Company, Mir Qasim traveled westward to ask for help from the Nawab of Oudh in expelling the British. Oudh, in turn, requested assistance from the Moghul court in Delhi. Without financial resources, the Moghuls could not sustain an army. Only eighteen years separated the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah (1739) from the Battle of Plassey (1757). The Moghul armies were a shadow of their former self. Nonetheless the Emperor sent a contingent to help the Nawab of Oudh. The Indian armies met the British at the Battle of Buxor (1764). By now, the British could field more than 10,000 troops plus an equal number of Indian Sepoys. The armies were well supplied with cannon and rifles. The Indians suffered a disastrous defeat. Under the terms of capitulation, the Moghul Emperor surrendered to the British the revenues from Bengal, Bihar and most of the United Provinces. The document signed at the termination of the Battle of Buxor became the legal basis for the British Raj (British rule).
What Robert Clive started, his successor, Warren Hastings completed. With the instincts of a cold, ruthless extortionist, Hastings used every administrative trick in his bag to extract the last ounce of gold from Hindus and Muslims alike. He imposed hefty taxes on Indian manufactures while flooding the Indian market with cheap cotton goods manufactured in Lancashire. He waged war on the Afghans of Rohilkhand, pillaging the northern territories as he went. He starved the Begums (princesses) of Oudh and tortured their servants using another traitor Asif udDawlah as his tool, until the Begums surrendered more than a million pounds in state jewels. Within a span of ten years, Bengal was on its knees. What was once the richest province of Asia wasnow broke. Famine set in in1765 and the streets of Calcutta were littered with corpses.
The transfer of this immense treasure from Bengal made possible the Industrial Revolution in Europe. It is significant that historians date the Industrial Revolution from 1758, one year after the Battle of Plassey. Capital is the energy that gives momentum to invention. Without capital, inventions have as much power as dead rocks. The infusion of capital into England accelerated innovation. Inventions appeared in rapid succession. The flying shuttle was invented in 1760, the spinning jenny in 1764, the steam engine in 1768 and the “mule” in 1779. Before the Battle of Plassey, the iron and steel industry in England was no more advanced than that in Bengal. Within a generation after Plassey, Europe had far outstripped Asia in technology.
Some scholars have dated the turning point in relations between the Islamic world and Europe from 1799, the year Napoleon landed in Egypt. This date misses the mark by more than forty years. By the time Napoleon invaded Egypt, the wheels of fortune had turned, and it was too late for the Islamic world. The Industrial Revolution had been in full swing for more than a generation. Napoleon’s triumph over the Turks in Egypt was only a symptom of the technological superiority achieved by Europe over Asia. The pivotal historic hinge was the Battle of Plassey, fought on the sweaty swamps of Bengal in 1757.
The loot from Bengal heralded the onset of the capitalist society. Industrialization further consolidated the accumulation of capital. With the wealth of Bengal at their command, the British successfully fought off Tippu Sultan of Mysore (1770-1799) and subdued India. With the resources of the great subcontinent of India at its command, European colonization of Asia and Africa in the 19th century was only a footnote.
(The author is Director, World Organization for Resource Development and Education, Washington, DC; Director, American Institute of Islamic History and Culture, CA; Member, State Knowledge Commission, Bangalore; and Chairman, Delixus Group)
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