Siraj-ud-Daulah, The Bengal Nawab

                                Mir Jafar and Robert Clive after the Battle of Plassey by Francis Hayman

After the death of Aurangzeb, the disintegration of the Mughal Empire was rapid.  Delhi, the seat of power of the Mughals, gave way to Bengal as the centre of political importance in India. It can be ascertained from the fact that the British win over Siraj ud Daula in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, which took place just 50 years after death of Aurangzeb, laid the foundation of the British Empire in India. During the period, Bengal was ruled by the Nawabs with their capital at Murshidabad. Though nominally governors or viceroys of the Mughals, the Nawabs were independent heads of state for all practical purposes. 

Siraj ud Daula became the Nawab of Bengal after the death of his grandfather Alivardi Khan who died in 1756. He was the son of latter's youngest daughter. This was not liked by his near relations including his mother’s eldest sister, Ghasiti Begum, and his cousin Shaukat Jung who went all length to conspire against him.  In addition Siraj ud Daula found in Mir Jafar, the Commander-in-Chief of the army, a formidable enemy.

Though inexperienced and lacking decision making power, Siraj-ud-Daulah became successful in overcoming these challenges by killing Shaukat Jung in October 1756. Ghasiti Begum was rendered powerless by the confiscation of her wealth. Mir Jafar was replaced by Mir Madan as the commander of the army.

Siraj ud Daula, the then Nawab of Bengal, resented to the interference by the East India Company in his province. He was also livid with the company’s abuse of the commercial privileges which was granted by the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar under the firman of 1717.

The ‘Black Hole’ was a tragic incident that happened in the run-up to the Battle of Plassey. The incident served as casus belli for the invasion by the British on Murshidabad.

With the worsening of the relations between the Bengal Nawab and the English, the latter hatched a conspiracy with Mir Jafar. The battle of Plassey was fought on 23 June 1757, resulting in the defeat of Siraj-ud-Daulah who fled from the battlefield. He was, however, captured and put to death by the orders of Miran, the son of Mir Jafar who was now made the Nawab of Bengal.

Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)

Lord Wellesley was appointed Governor General of Bengal in 1798 at the age of 37. One of the top British rulers in India, he devised strategies to establish British paramountcy in India. He ranks among the highs of Lord Clive, Lord Dalhousie and Warren Hastings. When it comes to achievements, he is a cut above the rest of the British rulers in India.

During his tenure of seven years, Lord Wellesley became successful in defeating the adversaries of the English Company. Jettisoning the non-intervention policy, he applied the system of Subsidiary Alliance with a missionary zeal. Under the Subsidiary Alliance system, the Indian ruler, who entered into this alliance, was to surrender a part of his territories or give money for the maintenance of a subsidiary force of the British needed for the defence of the state. The subsidiary state had also to surrender its external relations to the Company and accept a British resident at the capital.

The Indian states and rulers who entered into Wellesley’s Subsidiary Alliance System were Mysore, Hyderabad, Tanjore, Berar, Awadh, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bharatpur, Macheri, Bundi, and the Peshwa.

During his rule, the Fourth Mysore War took place in 1799 resulting in the defeat of and killing of Tipu Sultan. The Second Anglo Maratha War (1803-04) witnessed the defeat of Sindhia, the Bhonsle and the Holkar which dealt a body blow the Maratha power in India.

Another feather in Bihar's crown: Remains of another university found

Bihar, which boasts of being home to the ancient universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila, can now add another laurel to its past glory. The architectural remains of another university have been found at the Buddhist monastery site of Telhara in Nalanda district of the state. 

Telhara has been referred to by the 7th century AD Chinese traveller Heuen Tsang who visited India to obtain the copies of Buddhist scriptures. He has mentioned Telhara as "Teleadaka" in his account. 

The archeologists are of the opinion that Teleadaka, also known as "Tiladhak" university, was established in 5th century during the Gupta period.

Battle of Buxur

The historical importance of the Battle of Buxar lies in that it firmly established the position of the British East India Company as the new and prominent power. It was fought on 22nd October in 1764 between the English and the combined armies of Mir Qasim ( the nawab of Bengal), Shuja-ud-Daula ( the nawab of Awadh) and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. The battle resulted in the defeat of the allied forces.

The Battle of Buxur confirmed the position of the English as the virtual masters of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Awadh was placed at the mercy of the British.  With the passage of time the British became the masters of whole of India.

Ramsay Muir remarks, "Buxar finally riveted the shackles of Company's rule upon Bengal." In the opinion of Sir James Stephen, “The battle of Buxar deserves far more credit than the battle of Plassey as the origin of the British power in India.”

Alamgir II (1754-59)

Alamgir II, the second son of former Mughal emperor Jahandar Shah (reigned 1712–13), was raised to the throne in 1754 by his wazir Ghazi-ud-Din Imad-ul-Mulk after dethroning his predecessor Ahmad Shah.

Known as Aziz-ud-Din before he ascended the throne at the age of 55 years, Alamgir II had had practically no experience of administration and warfare as he had spent almost all his life in jail. Such a ruler cannot be expected to exert his independence and he became a virtual prisoner in the hands of his wazir Ghazi-ud-Din who was now donning the mantle of Sayyid brothers who raised and dethroned some Mughal emperors at their will.

An unprincipled Ghazi-ud-Din unsuccessfully tried to form an anti-Maratha coalition. During Alamgir’s reign the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India for the fourth time in 1756. Delhi was "slandered and its unhappy people again subjected to pillage".

Alamgir II’s tried to free himself from the control of Imad-ul-Mulk. This worsened the relationship between them. Consequently the Mughal emperor was put to death in 1759 by the latter’s orders. Alamgir II was trapped to visit a saint by the associates of Imad-ul-Mulk and was stabbed to death by Balabash Khan, one of the Wazir's assassins. The pathetic condition of a Mughal emperor can be gauged from the fact that his naked corpse was thrown down the banks of the river Jamuna.

Rafi-ud-Daulah (Shah Jahan II ): Phantom Mughal Emperor

Rafi-ud-Daulah was one of the phantom kings raised to the Mughal throne by the powerful Sayyid Brothers, known as the King-makers in the Mughal history. He was proclaimed Mughal emperor on 6 June 1719 by them when the health of his predecessor Rafi-ul Darjat showed signs of decline.

Rafi-ud-Daulah, also known as Shah Jahan II, was also a mere puppet in the hands of Sayyid Hussain Ali Khan Barha, younger of the Sayyid brothers. He was not allowed to attend the Friday prayers. Not to speak of going out hunting he was not even allowed to enter into any conversation with any of the nobles.

During the reign of Rafi-ud-Daulah, a new claimant to the Mughal throne came in the form of Niku Siyar, who was declared ruler at Agra by a rival party opposed to Sayyid brothers. Niku Siyar was the son of Auragzeb’s rebel son Akbar. However, Niku Siyar was defeated and sent to prison where he had spent most of his early life.

Rafi-ud-Daulah died on 17 September 1719. He is buried near the shrine of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki in Mehrauli in Delhi.

Rafi-ud-Darajat: Puppet Mughal Emperor

After the ninth Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar lost the confidence of the Sayyid brothers, known as the King-makers in the Mughal history, Rafi-ud-Darajat, son of Rafi-us-Shan (one of the sons of Bahadur Shah I), was elevated to the throne by them on 28 February 1719. He was a virtual prisoner in the hands of the powerful Sayyid Brothers who now wanted to “rule through imperial puppets.”

Rafi-ud-Darajat was addicted to drinking and as consequence his health began to show signs of decline fast. On his suggestion his elder brother Rafi-ud-Daulah was placed on the Mughal throne on 6 June 1719 by the Sayyid Brothers.

Rafi-ul Darjat died of consumption on 13 June 1719.

Later Mughal Emperor Jahandar Shah: Incompetent and Morally Depraved

After his death on the 27th February, 1712, Bahadur Shah I, son and successor of Aurangzeb, was succeeded by his son Jahandar Shah. Jahandar’s accession to the Mughal throne was not a smooth affair. In the war of succession that followed Bahadur Shah I’s death, he killed his brother Azim-us-Shan. His other brothers Jahan Shah and Rafi-us-Shan were also killed during the war of succession.

Jahandar Shah owed his accession to the throne to Zulfiqar Khan, son of Asad Khan. The father son duo was the important members of the Irani party of the later Mughal nobility. Zulfiqar Khan was made the chief minister and became supreme in the state.

Slave to the charms of his favourite mistress Lal Kunwar, Jahandar Shah became oblivious of his duties to the state. His brief reign was the heydays of the merrymakers. "In the brief reign of Jahandar", observes contemporary historian Khafi Khan, "violence and debauchery had full sway. It was a fine time for minstrels and singers and all the tribes of dancers and actors." Matters were made worse by the Zulfiqar Khan who was under the influence of his favourite named Subhag Chand and entrusted his most of his official work to him.

Jahandar Shah was not destined to be Mughal emperor for a long time. Farrukhsiyar, his nephew and Azim-us-Shan's son, with the help of Sayyid brothers, defeated him outside the city of Agra on the 10th January, 1713. Jahandar Shah fled to Delhi in a bullock cart where he was strangled to death in prison on Farrukhsiyar’s orders. Zulfiqar Khan also met the same fate.

Jahandar Shah lies buried in the Humayun’s tomb in Delhi.


Key Takeways
Jahandar Shah abolished the Zajiya tax which was imposed by Aurangzeb.

Akbar’s Conquest of Garah Katanga

In l564 Akbar sent Khwaja Abdu-Majid, better known as Asaf Khan, the governor of the Mughal province of Kara, to make a conquest of the kingdom of Garah Katanga, a territory, abounding in hills and jungles in the Gondwana region presently forming parts of the northern districts of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It had remained unconquered since the advent of Islam in India.

At this time the kingdom of Garah Katanga was being governed by a valiant lady of noble character Rani Durgavati, as the regent for her minor son, Bir Narayan. Durgavati was a princess of the famous Chandela kingdom of Mahoba, a powerful dynasty of India some five centuries earlier. Equipped with about 500 elephants and 20,000 horses this gallant Rajput lady met the Mughal forces between Garah and Mandala (now in the Jabalpur district). During the battle an arrow struck her. When she saw that she might be taken prisoner, she plunged a dagger into her stomach and died. The young ruler, Bir Narayan, fought bravely but was defeated and trampled to death by horses.

The enormity of the booty captured by the invaders in the form of jewels, gold, silver, and other stones can be gauged by the fact that it proved difficult to compute even the tenth part of it.