Introduction
Robert Clive’s victory on June 23rd, 1757, over the Nawab of Bengal at Plassey near Murshidabad was vital to Britain’s successful defence of her colonies in the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) against Louis XV of France, and fixed the British East India Company as the Mughal Emperors’ chief European trade partner. For Hari Charan Das, it was also a judgment on the Nawab’s refusal to listen to his grandfather.
ALIWARDI Khan,* the Governor of Bengal, Maksudabad and Patna, having no son, and seeing that his end was fast approaching, appointed his daughter’s son as his successor, and enjoined on him the observance of two precepts. First, that he should never enter into hostilities with the English. Secondly, that he should never exalt Jafar Ali Khan to any great rank, or entrust him with such power as to involve himself in difficulty, in case of his revolt.
Siraj ud-Daulah,* however, soon forgot these precepts, and when, after the death of Aliwardi Khan, he succeeded to power, he took Jafar Ali Khan into his favour, and conferred on him a jagir,* to which he also attached a troop of horse and foot, and placed his whole army under his command. The English at Calcutta* punctually paid their annual tribute, according to the fixed rate.* But Siraj ud-Daulah, through his covetousness and pride of power, demanded an increase of tribute from them, and became openly hostile towards them. Actuated by his vanity and presumption, he suddenly attacked them in Calcutta, and having plundered their property and cash, put several of their officers to death,* and returned to Murshidabad.*
Aliwardi Khan (1671-1756), Nawab of Bengal from 1740 until his death.
Aliwardi Khan’s grandson, Siraj ud-Daulah (1733-1757), Nawab of Bengal from 1756 until his death. Most Indian princes had to make alliances against their enemies, whether domestic or European, and Siraj was not alone in making the mistake of siding with Louis XV’s France instead of the British East India Company.
A region of feudal land.
In 1691, an employee of the British East India Company, Job Charnock, won permission from Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb for the English to ‘contentedly continue their trade’ at his trading post on the River Hooghly. It was from this settlement that Calcutta grew at an astonishing rate: see Job’s City of Joy.
Das’s statement that the English punctiliously paid all their taxes would not command universal acceptance today. On the one hand, Das’s chief patron was Shuja ud-Daulah (1732-1775), Nawab of Oudh and Vizier of Delhi (1754-1775), who defended Oudh manfully against both the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) and (unsuccessfully) the British at Buxar (1764); on the other, one does not enter into hostilities with the English.
See The Black Hole of Calcutta. On June 20th, 1756, at least a hundred European men and women, including civilians, were packed into a prison cell designed for at most three, and left there for ten hours over a sweltering Bengal night. Twenty-three came out alive, though some of these died later. It was testified by John Zephaniah Holwell, a surgeon who survived the incident, that to the best of his knowledge it was the Nawab’s men, not the Nawab himself, who had given the order.
Murshidabad, about a hundred miles further up the River Hooghly from Calcutta, was at this time the seat of the Nawabs of Bengal.
Précis
In 1756, said contemporary historian Hari Chahan Das, Siraj ud-Daulah succeeded his grandfather as Nawab of Bengal with this grandfatherly advice ringing in his ears: keep the British sweet, and do not trust Jaraf Ali Khan. But Siraj put Jafar in charge of his entire army, and then picked a fight with the East India Company at Calcutta. (58 / 60 words)
In 1756, said contemporary historian Hari Chahan Das, Siraj ud-Daulah succeeded his grandfather as Nawab of Bengal with this grandfatherly advice ringing in his ears: keep the British sweet, and do not trust Jaraf Ali Khan. But Siraj put Jafar in charge of his entire army, and then picked a fight with the East India Company at Calcutta.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, may, must, ought, unless, whereas, who.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
