A Narration on Muslim Bengal's Struggle for Freedom

  • Mohammad Abu Tayyab Khan

Abstract

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East India Company, a commercial enterprise of United Kingdom, came to the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent, gradually succeeded in transforming itself into a ‘political power’. In 1757 landmark event of the Battle of Plassey firmly established the Company as the supreme power. Within a few years followed the Grant of the Diwani to the East India Company by Emperor Shah Alam (1765). For a trifling sum of Rs.26 lacs per annum the Company secured the entire control of the affairs of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.The wording in which the grant was made would be considered amusing if the consequence of this action were not so tragic for a whole person who suffered foreign subjugation for a period of nearly two centuries. A document described as ‘strange’ in ‘Bengali Literary Review’ (1973) edited by Prof. Syed Ali Ashraf says:"At this happy time (i.e. after the defeat at Buxar) our royal Firmaund (i.e Farman) indispensably requiring obedience, is issued: that whereas in consideration of the attachment of the services of the high and mighty, the noblest of exalted nobles, the chief of illustrations of royal favours, the English Company, we have granted them the Dewanny of the Provinces of Bengal, Behar and Orissa… It is requisite that our royal descendants, the viziers, the bestowers of dignity… as well as the future as the present, using their constant endeavours for the establishment of the royal command, leave the said office in possession of the said Company from generation to generation, forever and ever….. Knowing our commands to be most strict and positive, let them not deviate there from."That was how the right of collecting the revenues of these provinces along with which went administration of criminal law came into the hands of the Company. For all practical purposes the Financial Instrument the (Diwani) meant the surrender of sovereignty by the Mughal Emperor. This surrender had far reaching effects especially on the position of the Muslims. Great deterioration was noticeable not only in their political status but also in their economic condition. Politically they lost all the importance which they had possessed and the privileges they had enjoyed for centuries as rulers of the land. And since the British had replaced as rulers, they saw to it that the Muslims did not lift their heads once more. This study is a narration of the struggle of Muslim Bengal that describes the role of various actors that finally destined to the struggle for Pakistan.

Published
2019-12-19
How to Cite
Khan, M. A. T. (2019). A Narration on Muslim Bengal’s Struggle for Freedom. Journal of History and Social Sciences, 3(2), 81-102. Retrieved from https://jhss-uok.com/index.php/JHSS/article/view/26
Section
Articles