British Residents at the Darbar of Bengal Nawabs at Murshidabad (1757-1772)

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The British Residents at the Darbar of Bengal Nawabs played a vital role in consolidating the English power in Bengal. Encouraged by the weaknesses of the Indian rulers, the English obtained the zamindari of Calcutta, fortified their settlements, claimed trade privileges and extended asylum to the fugitives from the Nawab. To accept a British Resident at the darbar was the greatest blunder of the Nawab as a result, the Plassey-episode became a deliberate intrigue fomented and successfully finalized by the Resident. So Plassey was neither a great battle nor was it a fair fight. The battle proved that the life of Siraj was a story of betrayal. The office of the Resident was of great weight, next only to the Governor, but after Plassey, the Residency at Murshidabad became a guarantee of fortune. The savage spirit of monopoly and extortion occasioned anxiety and horror, destitution and helplessness. This unending rapacity and attendant vices culminated in the terrible famine, unknown to the history of mankind. The situation rumbled as far as England where it was realized to undertake direct responsibility of administering the province in 1772.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Subhas Chandra Mukhopadhyay

Born in 1938 in a reputed family of Village Bagda, District Purulia, West Bengal, Dr. S.C. Mukhopadhyay received his B.A. Degree from the University of Calcutta in 1959 and obtained a first class M.A. Degree in History in 1961 from Ranchi University. He has a brilliant academic career and has been awarded a Ph.D. Degree in 1971 and a D.Litt, Degree in 1984 from the Ranchi University. He is engaged in active research for more than two decades and his works, the Career of Rajah Durlabhram Mahindra Published in 1974; Diwani in Bengal, 1765, Published in 1980 and The Agrarian Policy of the British in Bengal 1698-1772, published in 1987, have earned wide reputation. The present work on the British Residents at the Darbar of Bengal Nawabs at Murshidabad (1757-72), is his D. Litt. thesis and has lavishly been praised by all examiners. Dr. Mukhopadhyay has a long standing of teaching experience since 1963. He is, at present, Reader in History, Banaras Hindu University. He has been awarded several grants for his research works from the University grants commission and from the Indian Council of Historical Research as well.