UPSC History Expansion Company and Bengal Nawabs Short Notes - East India Company

East India Company

• Company rule in India effectively beganin l757afterthe Battle of Plassey.
• In the Battle of Plassey, Nawab of Bengal surrendered his dominions to the Company.
• Company was granted the diwani, or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal and Biharin 1765.
• When the Company established a capital in Calcutta, Warren Hastings was appointed the first Governor General.
• Company's rule lasted until 1858 after Indian rebellion of 1857.
  • Siraj-ud-Daula was   the   last independent Nawab of Bengal who succeeded Alivardi Khan to the throne.
• The end of his reign marks the end of the independent rule in India and beginning of the company's rule that continued unabated over the next two hundred years.
• Mir Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur, commonly known as Mir Jafar, [c. 1691-February 5,1765) was the first Nawab of Bengal under Company rule in India.
  • After Siraj decline Mir Jafar was installed as the Nawab in 1757 by the British East India Company.
• Mir Qasim [ May 8, 1777) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763.
• The Battle of Buxar was fought on 23 October 1764 between East India Company led by Hector Munro and the combined army of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal: the Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal King Shah Alam II.

Governors of Bengal and Governor Generals of India

Rule of the British Governors and Governor Generals

• After the victory of the English in Buxar, Clive was appointed the governor and commander-in-chief of the English possessions in Bengal.
• He settled relations with Oudh by the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765.
• Warren Hastings was appointed the Governor of Bengal in 1772.
• To bring forth a reform in the affairs of revenue Warren Hastings introduced a five year settlement of land revenue in 1772.
• In 1773 the Regulating Act was passed which provided for the setting up of a supreme court to try all British subjects.
• Warren Hasting faced an uphill task in dealingwith the Indian rulers. He faced stiff resistance from the Marathas in the North and Hyder Ali in the South.
• The court of Directors sent Cornwallis in 1786 to carry out the policy of peace outlined in Pitts in India Act to reorganise the administrative set up of the country.
• This Permanent Settlement was introduced by Cornwallis.
• Other incidents:    Treaty    of
• Seringapatam (1792], third Anglo- Mysore War - defeat of.Tipu Sultan (1790-92).
• Sir John Shore succeeded Cornwallis and followed a policy of non- intervention in the affairs of the native states.
• Lord Wellesley is considered to be one of the most brilliant Governor Generals of Bengal.
• He introduced the Subsidiary Alliance system to undo with the French influence and bring the Indian states within the purview of the British power of Jurisdiction.
• In 1805, Lord Cornwallis came back as the Governor General for the second time.
• George Barlow was followed by Lord Minto who was the president of the Board of Control before he became the governor general of the Company.
• Lord Minto-I (AD 1807-13) was followed by Lord Hastings who governed from 1813 to 1823.
• His rule is famous for a treaty with Shah of Persia and Treaty of Amritsar (1809) with Ranjit Singh.
• Marquess of Hastings (AD 1813 1823)- He was the first to appoint Indians to the highest posts of responsibility. The first vernacular newspaper Samachar   Patrika published during his time.        
• Lord Amherst (AD 1823-1828)-His reign is known for the first Anglo Burmese War [1824-26) and mutiny of Barrackpur(1824).
• Lord William Bentinck (AD 1828-35)- English accepted as the medium of instruction after the famous Macaulay's recommendation: Medical colleges at Calcutta in 1835: Charter Act of 1833 was passed and he was' made the first Governor General of India; Abolition ofsati in 1829.
• Sir Charles Metcaife (AD 1835-36)- He removed the restriction on the vernacular press.
• Lord Auckland (AD 1836-42)- Important events of his regime included the outbreak of first Afghan war and the signing of a Tripartite Treaty among the English, Ranjit Singh and Shah Shuja of Afghanistan.
• Lord Ellenborough (AD 1842-44)- His period is known for the end of the first Afghan war, annexation of Sindh to the British Empire (1843).
• Lord Hardinge (AD 1844-48)- The most important event of his tenure is the First Sikh War (1845-1846).
• Lord Dalhousie (AD 1848-56)- Doctrine of Lapse, The Second Burmese war. The Second Anglo Sikh , War, Shimla made the summer capital,

First railway line was laid from Bombay to Thane, in 1853.

• Lord Canning (AD 1856-58) - Annexation of Avadh, enactment of Hindu Widow Remarriage Bill, 1857,

establishment of universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, revolt of 1857.

• Following the       Queen's recommendation in 1858, transferring the Government from the company to the British Crown, Lord Canning was made the first Viceroy of India.
• Lord Elgin 1st (AD 1862) - Suppression of the Wahabi tribe.
• Lord John Lawrence (AD 1864-69)- Two famines hit India; first in 1800 in Orisa and second in 1868-69 in Bundelkhand and Rajputana.
• A Famine Commission was set up under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Campbell.
• Lord Mayo (AD 1869-72)- Organised first census which was held in 1871 and started the process of financial decentralisation in India. Established the Department of Agriculture and commerce.
• Lord Northbrook (AD1872-76)- The Kuka movement; visit of Prince of Wales, famine in Bihar and Bengal in 1873-1874.
• Lord Lytton (AD 1876-80)- The Delhi Durbar, January 1, 1877 and the Vernacular Press Act,
• Lord Ripon   (AD   1880-84)- First factory Act of 1881. Local Self-Government was introduced in 1882. Repeal of Vernacular Press act.
• Lord Dufferin (AD 1884-88)- Third Anglo Burmese war, Establishment of Indian national congress in 1885.
• Lord Lansdowne (1888-94)- Factory Act of 1891 granted weekly holiday and stipulated working hours for women and children.
• Civil services were divided into imperial, Provincial and Subordinate Services. Indian Councils Act of 1892.
  • The Durand Commission defined the Durand Line between British India and Afghanistan [now between Pakistan and Afghanistan) in 1893.
• Lord Elgin II (AD 1894-99)- Southern uprisings of 1899. Great famine of 1896-1897 and Lyall Commission on famine was established.
• Lord Curzon (AD 1899-1905) - Famine Commission,  Agriculture Research Institute at Pusa, Partition of Bengal in 1905.
• Lord Minto II (AD 1905-10)- Minto- Morley Reforms in 1909. Swadeshi movement (1905-08), foundation of Muslim League [1906), Surat session and split in the congress [1907).
• Lord Hardinge II (AD 1910-16)- In the honour of King George V and Queen Mary of England, Coronation Darbar was held at Delhi.
  • Capital of country was announced to be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
  • The First World War broke out in 1914.
• Lord Chelmsford   (1916-21)- Government of India Act 1919 [Montague-Chelmsford    Reforms), enactment of Rowlatt Act [1919), Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy (1919), beginning of the Non-co-operation Movement.
• Lord Reading (AD 1921-26) - Repeal of Rowalatt Act, Chauri-Chaura incident; Moplah Rebellion [1921) took place Kakori Train Robbery; Communal Riots of 1923-25 in Multan,

Amritsar, Delhi, etc.

• Lord Irwin   (AD   1926-31)- Appointment of Simon commission in 1928. Gandhi-Irwin Pact in 1931; First Around Table Conference [1930).
• Lord Willington (AD 1931-36)- The Second Around Table Conference 1931, The communal award, 1932, the Poona pact. Third Round Table

Conference, 1932.

• Lord Linlithgow (AD 1936-43)- Beginning of the Second World War. Arrival of the Cripps Mission. Beginning of the Quit India Movement.
• Lord Wavell (AD 1944-47)- Wavell Plan and Shimla Conference, Cabinet Mission [Lawrence,  Cripps  and Alexander), Direct Action Day" on

August 16,1946, Attlee's Declaration,

• Lord Mountbatten, (March 1947- June 1948) Last Viceroy of British India and first-Governor general of free India. Partition of India in third week of June, 1947; Indian Independence Act, Partition of the country between two independent states of India and Pakistan. He was succeeded by C. Raiaeopalachari.

Some Important rulers in India (1720-1949)

Some important Nawabs of Bengal (1717-1772)

Tribal Revolts