Nawabs of Bengal

This article is about the last viceroys/semi-independent/puppet rulers of Bengal (1717–1880). For the titular aristocrat family of Murshidabad (1882–present), see Nawabs of Murshidabad.

Nawab of Bengal
Coat of arms of the Nawabs of Bengal
First to reign
Murshid Quli Khan
1717 – 30 June 1727
Details
StyleHis Majesty
First monarchMurshid Quli Khan
Last monarchSiraj ud-Daulah (Independent)
Mansur Ali Khan (Under British)
Formation1717; 307 years ago (1717)
Abolition1884; 140 years ago (1884)
ResidenceHazarduari Palace
Appointer

The Nawab of Bengal[1][2][3][4] (Bengali: বাংলার নবাব, bāṅglār nôbāb) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the de facto independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which constitute the modern-day sovereign country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. The Bengal Subah reached its peak during the reign of Nawab Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan. [5][6][7] They are often referred to as the Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa (Bengali: বাংলা, বিহার ও উড়িষ্যার নবাব).[8] The Nawabs were based in Murshidabad which was centrally located within Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. Their chief, a former prime minister, became the first Nawab. The Nawabs continued to issue coins in the name of the Mughal Emperor, but for all practical purposes, the Nawabs governed as independent monarchs. Bengal continued to contribute the largest share of funds to the imperial treasury in Delhi. The Nawabs, backed by bankers such as the Jagat Seth, became the financial backbone of the Mughal court.

The Nawabs, especially under the rule of Alivardi Khan of 16 years, were heavily engaged in various wars against the Marathas. Towards the end, he turned his attention to rebuilding and restoring Bengal.[9]

The Nawabs of Bengal oversaw a period of proto-industrialization. The Bengal-Bihar-Orissa triangle was a major production center for cotton muslin cloth, silk cloth, shipbuilding, gunpowder, saltpetre, and metalworks. Factories were set up in Murshidabad, Dhaka, Patna, Sonargaon, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Cossimbazar, Balasore, Pipeli, and Hugli among other cities, towns, and ports. The region became a base for the British East India Company, the French East India Company, the Danish East India Company, the Austrian East India Company, the Ostend Company, and the Dutch East India Company.

The British company eventually rivaled the authority of the Nawabs. In the aftermath of the siege of Calcutta in 1756, in which the Nawab's forces overran the main British base, the East India Company dispatched a fleet led by Robert Clive who defeated the last independent Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Mir Jafar was installed as the puppet Nawab. His successor Mir Qasim attempted in vain to dislodge the British. The defeat of Nawab Mir Qasim of Bengal, Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula of Oudh, and Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II at the Battle of Buxar in 1764 paved the way for British expansion across India. The South Indian Kingdom of Mysore led by Tipu Sultan overtook the Nawab of Bengal as the subcontinent's wealthiest monarchy; but this was short-lived and ended with the Anglo-Mysore War. The British then turned their sights on defeating the Marathas and Sikhs.

In 1772, Governor-General Warren Hastings shifted administrative and judicial offices from Murshidabad to Calcutta, the capital of the newly formed Bengal Presidency, and the de facto capital of British India.[10] The Nawabs had lost all independent authority since 1757. In 1858, the British government abolished the symbolic authority of the Mughal court. After 1880, the descendants of the Nawabs of Bengal were recognised simply as Nawabs of Murshidabad with the mere status of a peerage.[11]

  1. ^ Farooqui Salma Ahmed (2011). A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Pearson Education India. pp. 366–. ISBN 978-81-317-3202-1.
  2. ^ Kunal Chakrabarti; Shubhra Chakrabarti (22 August 2013). Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow Press. pp. 237–. ISBN 978-0-8108-8024-5.
  3. ^ "Bengal, nawabs of (act. 1756–1793), rulers in India". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63552. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ "ʿAlī Vardī Khān | nawab of Bengal". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Bengal | region, Asia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Odisha – History". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  7. ^ Silliman, Jael (28 December 2017). "Murshidabad can teach the rest of India how to restore heritage and market the past". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  8. ^ A Comprehensive History of India. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 1 December 2003. p. 27. ISBN 978-81-207-2506-5.
  9. ^ Datta, Kalikinkar (1948). The Dutch in Bengal and Bihar, 1740–1825 A.D. University of Patna. p. 12.
  10. ^ "Kolkata – Capital of British India". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  11. ^ Sir George Watt (1987). Indian Art at Delhi 1903: Being the Official Catalogue of the Delhi Exhibition 1902–1903. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 4. ISBN 978-81-208-0278-0.