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William after attacking the English factory at a series of battles between June to September
Kashimbazar. Soon, he and the British came into 1763, and this led to the battle of Buxar in 1764.
conflict with each other and fought the famous Once again Mir Jafar was made the Nawab.
Battle of Plassey. Battle of Buxar (1764)
The Battle of Plassey (1757) Having been defeated, Mir Qasim fled to Awadh.
The armies of Siraj-ud-Daulah and the British met In Awadh, Mir Qasim made an alliance with
at Plassey on 23 June 1757. The British forces Shuja-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Awadh and Shah
were led by Robert Clive. Clive bribed Mir Jafar, Alam II, the Mughal emperor. The armies of these
the Nawab’s uncle and promised to make him three rulers met the British forces at Buxar on
Nawab if he sided with the British. Mir Jafar, the 22nd October 1764. The British gave them the
commander in chief and a large section of the crushing defeat at Buxar. And a treaty was signed
Nawab’s army took no part in the battle. The at Allahabad by which the British were given the
battle was easily won by British, though by diwani rights (the right to collect revenue in
treachery. Siraj-ud-Daulah was captured and Bengal, Bihar and Orissa). The districts of Kota
killed, Mir Jafar was made the Nawab. and Allahabad were taken from Shuja-ud-Daulah.
In addition, he had to pay `50,000,00 as war
damages. The Mughal emperor granted the jagir of
Northerns Circars and became a pensioner of
`26,00,000 per
annum under the
British. The diwani
granted by the
Mughal emperor
greatly increased
Mir Qasim Mir Jafar the income of the
company.
The Battle of Plassey is an important landmark in Battle of Buxar
the history of India. It laid the foundation of British
rule in India. Mir Jafar became the puppet of the DUAL OR DOUBLE GOVERNMENT
hands of the British. They got the right of free The British established a dual system of
trade in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. They even got government where they had the actual power of
the territory of 24 paraganas. The company got controlling revenue while the administrative
more than Rs 30 million from Mir Jafar. When he responsibility lay in the hands of the Nawabs. The
could pay no more, he was replaced by Mir company became the real master of Bengal. The
Qasim. In turn, he had to assign zamindar of military was under its control. Thus, the company
Burdwan, Midnapur and Chittagaon districts. had all powers and money but without any
Soon, Mir Qasim realised his position of utter responsibility.
dependence on the English company. He tried to Mir Jafar had all the responsibilities without any
make him free from the clutches of company. He power and source of income. This unique
dismissed the court officials who favoured the arrangement of the British is generally known as
British. He hired European mercenaries to train his the dual or double government which was
army in new warfare techniques. He abolished the introduced by Robert Clive , the first governor of
custom duties so that the Indian merchants could Bengal. It made the Nawab a nominal head of
trade on the same terms as the company’s Bengal where all the powers lied in the hands of
officials. The company did not like all these the English.
actions of Mir Qasim and decided to overthrow
The dual system of government in Bengal ended
him. So, they attacked and defeated Mir Qasim in
in 1772. Warren Hastings put an end to this
Establishment of Company Power
13
