Pak Studies
Pak Studies
Pak Studies
Battle of Plassey
This Battle of Plassey had transformed British East India Company into a political power from a trading
company.
Background
Aurangzeb (1658 – 1707) sent Murshid Quli Khan to Bengal as Deevan in 1700. Murshid Quli Khan
transferred the capital of Bengal from Dhaka to Murshidabad.
Mughal King Farrukshiyar (1713-1719) completely waived off the custom duties from EIC & Murshid
Quli Khan was made the first Nawab of Bengal in 1717.
After the death of Farrukshiyar, Bengal became an independent state.
Throne of Bengal
Murshid quli khan made his son in law, Shuja ud din muhammed new nawab of Bengal. He was succeeded
by his son Sarfaraj khan(1727 – 1739).
Alivardikhan was a loyal sepoy of Shuja ud din muhammed. By considering the ability of Alivardi khan,
he was made General in 1728 then became Deputy Subedar of Bihar.
Now he no longer wanted to live as a Deputy Subedar, he killed Sarfaraj khan in the battle of Giria in 1740
and became the Nawab of Bengal.
After the death of Alivardi khan his grand son Siraj ud din Daulah becasme the Nawab of Bengal.
Cause of the Battle
In 1756 Seven year war was started in Europe. Britain and France were against each other in this war.
British had fear the French can attack on their factory hence they started fortification.
EIC was making a lot of money but was not paying any tax.
Farrukshiyar era was over, now Bengal was under Siraj ud din daulah. He invite representative of French
EIC and British EIC to his court and told them that you will have to pay tax now also the fortification you
are building have to be stopped.
Black Hole Incident
French agreed but British doesn’t hence Siraj ud din Daulah attacked on Fort William.
Some managed to escape but 146 were captured, among them children’s & ladies was there. They are
packed in small guard room, on next morning when gate opens only 23 survived, remaining were died due
to suffocation. This is know as “Black Hole Incident”.
After Black Hole Incident
Escapes EIC employees sent the message to the Colonel Robert Clive (Madras).
Robert Clive came to Bengal along with 3000 Soldiers.Another Governor attacked on Bengal port. Nawab
was not able to defeat them, hence “Treaty of Alinagar” was signed between them.
Condition of Treaty
Fort William again became a British property.
EIC does not have to pay any tax.
Britisher’s were allowed to mint coins.
Britisher’s were allowed to keep army in Bengal.
Robert Clive had now decided that he would not allow Siraj ud din Daula to remain the Nawab for long.
Robert Clive lured Mir Jafar(commander in chief of Nawab army) to made him the Nawab of Bengal and
meet hands with him.
Course of the Battle of Plassey
Britishers attacked French factory Chandranagar, Bengal. Siraj ud din daula thought British E.I.C. are
crossing their limit, hence he decided to attack on them with his Force 50k strong force.
Force of Nawab met with Robert clive’s 3000 soldiers on the banks of the Bhagirathi-Hooghly River, near
the small village of Plassey (Palashi) ,Kolkata.
This battle was fought on 23 June 1757 and know as “Battle af plassey”.
With the help of Mis Jafar, Robert clive Killed Siraj ud din Daula.
Impact of Battle of Plassey
In 1757 Mir Jafar was made the nawab of Bengal but he was not more than a puppet in hands of Robert
clive.
After the Battle of Plassey ,East India Company transformed into a political power.
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Battle of Buxar
The Battle of Buxar was an important battle in Indian history that was fought between the British East
India Company and the combined army of Nawab of Bengal, Awadh and Mughal King . British EIC won
this battle and got Complete control over Bengal.
Background
Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah in the Battle of Plassey and made Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal.,
but he had to accept all the demands of the British East India Company. The East India Company used him
as a puppet and he had to forcibly fulfill all the demands of the EIC.
As the days were passing , the demand for the East India Company was kept on increasing. Hence, Mir
Jafar joined hands with the Dutch Company to get rid of the East India Company. He called the Dutch EIC
and told them do whatever you want to drive the British EIC out of Bengal.
The Dutch EIC also felt that there could never be a better opportunity than this to become a leading
company in Bengal, so they accepted the proposal of Mir Jafar. When the East India Company saw that the
Dutch East India Company was coming with their soldiers to fight with them, they sent their soldiers to
Chinsur.
Chinsura is a place near to Kolkata and here the “Battle of Chinsurah” took place between the British
EIC and the Dutch EIC. The British EIC was victorious in this war.
When the East India Company came to know about the evil mind of Mir Jafar they took strong action
against him and made Mir Qasim the Nawab of Bengal in place of Mir Jafar.
The Nawab had to maintain a British contingent at his own expense also have to pay tax for it , In
return they will protect territories of him.
The company gave the district of Kora and Allahabad to Mughal king and recieved the Diwani Right of
Bengal, Bihar, Odisha.
As Mir Quasim ran away in between the battle, British EIC has taken up the control of Bengal.
Although, Muslim League stood 2nd but it was still very embarrassing for Muslim League because it could
gain only 20% of 482 Muslim reserved seats. In this respect, Congress fared better as out of 58 Muslim
reserved seats on which Congress candidates were contesting – they won 26 Seats. So, Congress’s strike
rate was close to 50%.
From these statistics, it became clear that Muslim League does not represent entire Muslim Population,
which it used to claim.
Formation of Ministries after Provincial Elections of 1937
Congress had absolute majority ( i.e. they won more than 50% seats ) in Central Province, Bihar, Orrisa,
Madras and United Province. So, in these 5 Provinces – Congress form the ministries.
Apart from these, there were 3 other provinces – NWFP, Assam and Bombay. Here Congress emerged as
the largest party in the election of 1937 but failed to get absolution majority by very less number of seats.
So, Congress tied up with local parties to form coalition government in these 3 provinces.
Muslim League too formed coalition government in 2 provinces.
Punjab – In coalition with Unionist Party of Sikandar Hayat Khan.
Bengal – In coalition with Krishak Praja Party of Fazlul Haq.
At Sindh, Muslim political party made the government.
So, for these discussions, British government held 3 round table conferences at London during 1930 –
1932.
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For the First time, right of Indians to frame their own Constitution was recognised, Indian constituent
assembly was supposed to have only Indian members.
It was also for the first time that British government had explicitly offered Dominion Status
2. Viceroy Executive Council was expanded, now for the first time Indian leaders outnumbered
British members in the council.
3. Indian representatives were also included in the War Advisory Council.
4. Minorities were given VETO power which means that now, after August Offer, no constitutional
provision can be adopted without the consent of Minorities.
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5. All promises will be fulfilled after the War and that too only if all the communities and political
parties would help the British in their war efforts.
According to Quit India Resolution, Indian National Congress decided to initiate a mass movement under
the leadership of Gandhiji.
Voices against Quit India Movement, within Congress
It is not that everybody in Congress was convinced to start Quit India Resolution. There were a set of
people with INC who felt that it is not a good idea to initiate a movement at that time.
One of such leader was C Rajagopalachari, who resigned from INC in his protest against the initiation of
Quit India Movement.
C Rajagopalachari believed that British Government is busy in World War II, at this time if they start a
movement it can weaken the British Government and may lead to the situation that Japan or Germany
comes and Invade India. So, Rajaji felt that Quit India Movement may worsen the situation.
Quit India Movement Launched
On 9th August 1942, Gandhiji called for a meeting at Gowalia Tank, Bombay.
Gowalia Tank is now known as August Kranti Maidan, It is
currently in Mumbai.
Thousands of people gathered to hear Gandhiji, Here in this meeting Gandhiji officially launched the Quit
India Movement. And, the slogan he gave was “DO or Die”.
In his speech Gandhiji promised that this time he is not willing to do any kind of negotiation with the
Viceroy. Because, now Gandhiji was not ready to settle for anything less than complete independence.
While giving the slogan ‘Do or Die’ to the people of India, Gandhiji appealed to the people of India that
this time either the people of India will get Independent or die in the effort to achieve it.
Gandhiji gave instructions to different sections of the society:
Government Officers were also not to leave their job. Instead, extend their support to congress openly,
while being in the job.
Soldiers were asked not to leave their Posts and disobey any orders where they were asked to fire at
their own countrymen.
Also, Peasants and Landlords were also not to pay revenue to the government.
Gandhiji gave an instruction to everybody who wish to join the movement.
It is possible that during the course of movement, congress leadership may not be able to issue instructions or guidance to the people
associated with the Movement. In such Circumstances, people were expected to decide on their own and consider themselves as free
citizen already.
How did the Quit India Movement Progressed ?
Within few hours of Gandhiji’s speech, entire Congress leadership including Gandhiji was put behind the
bars.
Press was gagged. Especially the 2 newspapers published by Gandhiji – Harijan and National Herald.
These 2 newspapers were banned for the entire during on Quit India Movement, however, other newspaper
was banned only for some time.
Within 6 to 7 weeks, movement was at its peak. People from different part of India joined the movement.
There were large number of cases reported related to Violence. Reason Being, Large number of people
joined the movement but there was no leaders to guide them as all big leaders were in jail.
Major Highlights of Quit India Movement
1. At lot of places, Indian Flag was unfurled on the government buildings.
2. Crowd were targeting to disrupt British communication system.
Railway track were removed, Telegraph lines were disrupted and telephone lines were set on fire.
Apart from this, Bridges were broken as well.
There were 1600 incidents of cutting telegraph lines reported at Karnataka alone.
3. Major highlight of Quit India Movement was the setting up of Parallel Government at multiple
places.
In some places, the revolutionaries made their local areas independent of the British rule. British
Authorities ran away from these places.
4. Students left the school and college. They played an important role in distributing the pamphlets
and spreading the awareness.
5. Underground Activities was also an important feature of this movement. This also includes the
use of Congress Radio Broadcast.
Ushaben managed to start the Congress Radio Broadcast with the help of Nanka Motwani. Nanka
Motwani was an owner of Chicago Radio Station, at America.
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6. As all the major leaders were in Jail, a number of young leaders came to fore. To name a few –
Achyut Patwardhan, Aruna Asif Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia, Sucheta Kriplani, Biju Patnaik,
Jayaprakash Narayan etc.
Gandhiji’s Fast
Amidst all this, in Feb 1943 the news start spreading that Gandhiji has started a 21 Day Fast. Gandhiji’s
fast was an act of protest against British government’s act of pressurising him to condemn the violence.
British government was forcing him to condemn the violence spread across due to Quit India Movement.
But, this time Gandhiji did not condemn the violent activities of the revolutionaries. Rather, He held
British government responsible of this violence.
Gandhiji said that the ongoing violence is just the reaction of larger violence done by the British
Government.
News of Gandhiji’s fast gave a new energy to the movement. Demonstrations and Strikes started all over.
As Gandhiji’s health was not so good. So, out of concern, thousands of appeals from all over India and
abroad started reaching government’s mailbox.
On 6th May 1944, Gandhiji was released from the Jail on medical grounds.
Outcome of the Movement
After Gandhiji came out of jail in May 1944, movement slowed down. And, when in June 1945, Lord
Wavell came up with his plan called Wavell Plan, Quit India Movement was formally ended.
Analysis of CR Formula
This is for the first time that Congress has agreed to some extent to accept Muslim League’s demand to
form separate country for Muslims.
At a glance, the proposed Formula looks good and it was expected that the political deadlock between the
Muslim League and INC would end.
Muslim League’s Response to CR Formula
Gandhiji began talks with Jinnah to discuss the CR Formula in the year 1944 itself. But, talks failed as
Jinnah had objections related to CR Formula’s proposals.
Why did Jinnah Rejected the CR Formula
Jinnah was particulary not happy with the way plebiscite was proposed to be conducted. As per the
proposal all the people living in the identified Muslim Majority areas were allowed to vote. Whereas,
Jinnah wanted only Muslim population to vote.
According to Jinnah - Hindus, Sikhs, Cristian living in Muslim
Majority Areas should not be allowed to vote in the proposed
Plebiscite.
Not only this, Jinnah was not ready to accept the idea of common centre between these 2 countries.
Thus, CR Formula was rejected by Muslim League.
Others, who too had opposed CR Formula
Sikh Community & Hindu Mahasabha were also opposing the CR Formula.
In Muslim Majority area – NWFP ( North West Frontier Province ) Sikhs were there in large numbers but
were not in majority in any of the districts. So, Sikh community knew that plebiscite would result in
separate Country. Which means, Sikh community had to separete from India even though they did not
want to.
Apart from this, Hindu Mahasabha leaders like – VD Savarkar and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee were also
opposing CR Formula as it was beyond their imagination that Muslim League’s demand could be taken
seriously.
There was a huge improvement in performance of Muslim League. In 1937 provincial elections, Muslim
League could win only 20% of muslim reserved seats. Within just 9 years, it has able to increase its
penetration from 20% to 87%.
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During this great Calcutta Killing, mob attacked Kesoram Cotton Mills on 17 August. Here, 300 Oriya mill
workers who used to stay at Lichubagan, Metiabruz were ruthlessly butchered.
How did all this came to an end
Communal Violence which started on 16 August was still going on till 21 August. And then, Viceroy Rule
was implemented in Bengal on 21 August . 5 British Battalions along with 4 Gurkha battalions were
deployed to control this mess. As a result, communal activities slowed down by the end of the day of 22
August 1946.
Viceroy Lord Wavell asked Governor of Bengal – Fredrick Burrows for the detailed report. Fredrick
Burrows faced a lot of critics for his negligence in this matter.
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