Battle of Buxar

The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of the British East India Company, and the combined armies of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daula Nawab of Awadh; and Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor. The battle fought at Buxar, then within the territory of Bengal, a town located on the bank of the Ganges river, was a decisive victory for the British East India Company.

The battle and booty

British troops engaged in the fighting numbered 7,072 comprising 857 British, 5,297 Indian sepoys and 918 Indian cavalry. The number of the native forces were estimated to be around 40,000. Lack of co-ordination among the three desperate allies, each with a different axe to grind, was responsible for their decisive debacle. British losses are said to have been 1,847 killed and wounded, while the three Indian allies accounted for 2,000 dead; many more were wounded. The victors captured 133 pieces of artillery and over 1 million rupees of cash. According to the British Durrani and Rohilla cavalry were present during the battle.

Treaty of Allahabad
the prime victim Shuja-ud-Daula, signed the Treaty of Allahabad that secured Diwani Rights for the Company to collect and manage the revenues of almost 100,000,000 acres (400,000 km 2) of real estate which form parts of the modern states of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, as well as areas in the neighboring country of Bangladesh. He was also forced to pay a war indemnity of 5 million rupees. However, all his pre-war possessions were returned except for the districts of Karra and Allahabad. Shah Alam II became a pensioner with a monthly stipend of 450,000 rupees towards upkeep of horses, sepoys, peons, barkandazis (matchlock men) and household expenses. Mir Qasim, who was not a general, was quietly replaced. He also received a small share of the total land revenue, initially fixed at 2 million rupees. The Treaty of Allahabad heralded the establishment of the rule of the East India Company in one-eighth of India proper with a single stroke. The battles of Plassey and Buxar secured a permanent foothold for the British East India Company in the rich province of Bengal, and secured its political ascendancy in the entire region later to be named India. Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula was restored to Oudh, with a subsidiary force and guarantee of defence, the emperor Shah Alam II solaced withAllahabad and a tribute and the frontier drawn at the boundary of Bihar. In Bengal itself he took a decisive step. In return for restoring Shah Alam II to Allahabad he gave the imperial grant of the diwani or revenue authority in Bengal and Bihar to the Company. This had hitherto been enjoyed by the nawab, so that now there was a double government, the nawab retaining judicial and police functions, the Company exercising the revenue power. The Company was acclimatized, as it were, into the Indian scene by becoming the Mughal revenue agent for Bengal and Bihar. There was as yet no thought of direct administration, and the revenue was collected by a Company-appointed deputynawab, Muhammad Reza Khan. But this arrangement made the British East India Company the virtual ruler of Bengal since it already possessed decisive military power. All that was left to the nawab was the control of the judicial administration. But he was later forced to hand this over to the Company in 1793, thus the company's control was virtually complete. In spite of all this the East India Company was again in the verge of bankruptcy which stirred them to a fresh effort at reform. On the one hand Warren Hastings was appointed with a mandate for reform, on the other an appeal was made to the State for a loan. The result was the beginnings of state control of the Company and the thirteen-year governorship of Warren Hastings. Hastings's first important work was that of an organizer. In the two and a half years before the Regulating Act came into force he put in order the whole Bengal administration. The Indian deputies who had collected the revenue on behalf of the Company were deposed and their places taken by a Board of Revenue in Calcutta and English collectors in the districts. This was the real beginning of British administration in India.

Treaty of Allahabad
The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on August 16, 1765 between Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II (son of late Emperor Alamgir II) and Lord Clive of the British East India Company after the Battle of Buxar (22 Oct 1764). Based on the terms of the agreement, Shah Alam II grantedDiwani rights or right to administer the territory and collect taxes to the East India Company. These rights allowed the Company to collect revenue from the people of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. In return, the Company gave an annual tribute of 2.6 million rupees (260,000 British pounds) while securing for Shah Alam II the districts of Kora and Allahabad. The tribute money paid to the emperor was for the maintenance of the court of Allahabad. The accord also dictated that Shah Alam II restore to Balwant Singh the province of Varanasi as long as Balwant Singh continued to pay revenue to the Company. Awadh was returned to Shuja-ud-Daulah but Allahabad and Kora was taken from him. TheNawab of Awadh also had to pay 53 Lakhs rupees of war indemnity to the British.

East India Company Act 1773

By the Regulating Act of 1773 (later known as the East India Company Act 1772), the Parliament of Great Britain imposed a series of administrative and economic reforms and by doing so clearly established its sovereignty and ultimate control over the Company. The Act recognised the Company's political functions and clearly established that the "acquisition of sovereignty by the subjects of the Crown is on behalf of the Crown and not in its own right." Despite stiff resistance from the East India lobby in parliament and from the Company's shareholders the Act was passed. It introduced substantial governmental control and allowed the land to be formally under the control of the Crown, but leased to the Company at 40,000 for two years. Under this provision governor of Bengal Warren Hastings became the first Governor-General of Bengal, and had administrative powers over all of British India. It provided that his nomination, though made by a court of directors, should in future be subject to the approval of a Council of Four appointed by the Crown - namely Lt. General Sir John Clavering, The Honourable Sir George Monson, Sir Richard Barwell, and Sir Philip Francis. Hastings was entrusted with the power of peace and war. British judicial personnel would also be sent to India to administer the British legal system. The Governor General and the council would have complete legislative powers. The company was allowed to maintain its virtual monopoly over trade in exchange for the biennial sum and was obligated to export a minimum quantity of goods yearly to Britain. The costs of administration were to be met by the company. These provisions were initially welcomed by the Company, but with the annual burden of the payment to be met, its finances continued steadily to decline.

After wining the battle of Pallesy in 1757, the East India company made Mir zaffar as the Nawab of Bengal (The then Bengal means Bengal+Bihar+Orissa) But ultimately the company lost faith on Mirzafar and his son in law Mir quashim was made Nawab. Mirquashim denied to be the puppet of the British. He shifted his capital from Murshidabad to Mungher. Mirquashim was a freedom loving Nawab, tried a last opportunity to get rid of the British, he organised a pact with Nawab Sujauddaullah of Audh and the then Mughal badsah Sah Alam. But unfortunately the combind force of Mirquashim, Sujauddaulla and Sah Alam faced the defeat in the battle. The British faught under the its chief commander John Adam with five thousands trained soldier only while the combined force of Mirquashim had five times more . Hystorian Dr R.C Majumdar said " They also reveal that the establishment of British rule in Bengal was due to as much at least to the irresistible of facts as to the element of chance". The battle of Buxar played a very important role results a long term effect on Indian history. After wining the battle the company reached an agreement Allahabad Agreement) with the Nawab Sujauddaullah and they returned Audh to Sujauddaulla except two district Kara and Allahabad in exchange of huge money. In another agreement with Mughal badsah Sah Alam-2nd, they presented Kara and Allahabad to Sah Alam and and agreed to pay an annual amount of Rs. 26 lakhs in exchange of the power of revenue collection and rule Bengal presidency ("Grant of Diwani"). And thus emerged the British colonial rule and expansion in India. The hystorian Dodwell said "In short the grant of Diwani was designed to secure the full contr ol Bengal affairs so far as the company's interest went, without incurring the inconvenience formal dominion."