INTRODUCTION :
The Battle of Buxar was fought between The Forces under The Command of The British East India Company , led by Hector Munro , and The Combined Armies of Mir Qasim , Nawab of Bengal till 1763 ; Shuja – ud – Daulah , The Nawab of Awadh ; and The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam – II . The Battle was held in 22 October , 1764 at Buxar ( Now The Bihar State , India ) .
BACKGROUND :
v
Mir Qasim : He
was the ablest
among all The
Successors of Nawab
Alavardi Khan .
v
Mir Qasim , an
efficient and strong
ruler , determined to improve
the affairs of
the state and
shifted his capital
from Murshidabad to
Munger ( Bihar ) in
1762 .
v
He realized
the importance of a full
treasury and an efficient army
required to maintain
his independence .
v
Mir Qasim
regarded himself as an independent
ruler which was a problem
for the British
as they wanted
him to be
a puppet in
their hands .
v
Tussle between
Mir Qasim and
the British : Due to
the misuse of
the Farman of
1717 by the
British to evade
internal custom duties , Mir
Qasim took the
extreme step of
abolishing all duties
on internal trade
and benefitting his
own subjects by
giving them the
concession that the
British had forcefully
snatched .
v
This was
strongly protested by the British
and a preferential
treatment over other
traders was demanded.
v
These conflicts
over transit duty
led to the
outbreak of wars
between the British
and Mir Kasim
in 1763 which
resulted in British
victories at Katwa , Murshidabad , Giria , Sooty and
Munger .
v Mir Kasim fled to Oudh ( Awadh ) and formed a confederacy with the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja – ud – daulah , and the Mughal Emperor , Shah Alam – II , with a view to recover Bengal from the British .
COURSE OF WAR
:
In October 1764 , in a final attempt to oust the British from Bengal , the combined armies of Mir Kasim , the Nawab of Awadh and Shah Alam – II came together to fight against the former . The armies of Nawabs and the Mughal emperor were decisively defeated by the British forces under Major Hector Munro at Buxar .
THE COMBATANTS
AND THEIR ROLES
OF THE BATTLE
OF BUXAR :
|
Participants
of Battle of
Buxar |
Role
in the Battle
of Buxar |
|
Mir
Qasim – ( Administering
Bengal in place
of Mir Jafar – Nawab of
Bengal ) |
He
disliked misuse of
dastak , farmans by the
English , hence tried to
conspire against them
by forming an
alliance with Nawab
of Awadh and Mughal
Emperor Shah Alam – II . |
|
Shuja – Ud – Daulah : Nawab of
Awadh ( Oudh ) |
Was
a part of
a confederacy with
Mir Qasim and
Shah Alam – II . |
|
Shah Alam – II : Mughal Emperor |
He
wanted to overthrow
English from Bengal . |
|
Hector
Munro – British Army Major |
He
led the battle
from the English
side . |
|
Robert
Clive |
Signed
the treaties with Shuja – Ud – Daulah and
Shah Alam – II after
winning the battle . |
RESULT AFTER
THE BATTLE :
v
Mir
Qasim , Shuja – Ud – Daula
and Shah Alam – II
lost the battle
on October 22 , 1764 .
v
Major
Hector Munro won
a decisive battle
and Robert Clive
had a major
role in that .
v
English
became a great
power in Northern
India .
v
After
the battle , Mir Jafar
was reinstated as
the Nawab of
Bengal in 1763 . He
agreed to hand
over the districts
of Midnapore , Burdwan and
Chittagong to the
British for the
maintenance of their
army .
v
The
British were also
permitted duty – free trade
in Bengal , except for a duty
of 2% on
salt .
v
Mir
Jafar died in
1765 and was
succeeded by his
son Najm – ud – Daulah . However
, the real power of
administration still remained
with the British .
v
Najm – ud – Daulah signed
a treaty with
the Company and
became a titled pensioner on fifty –
three ( 53 ) lakhs
of rupees per
year which was
reduced with every
new successor .
v
In
1772 , the British completely
ended the pensions
and took over
the direct charge
of Bengal .