Context | Battle of Buxar |
---|---|
Signed | 16 August 1765 |
Location | Prayagraj |
Signatories | |
Parties | |
Languages | English, Persian |
Full text | |
Treaty of Allahabad at Wikisource |
The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on 16 August 1765, [1] between the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, son of the late Emperor Alamgir II, and Robert Clive, of the East India Company, in the aftermath of the Battle of Buxar of 22 October 1764. The treaty was handwritten by I'tisam-ud-Din, a Bengali Muslim scribe and diplomat to the Mughal Empire. [2]
The treaty marked the political and constitutional involvement of the British in India. [3] Based on the terms of the agreement, Alam granted the East India Company Diwani rights, or the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Emperor from the eastern province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. These rights allowed the company to collect revenue directly from the people of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. In return, the Company paid an annual tribute of twenty-six lakh rupees 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 Emperor's court in Allahabad. The accord also dictated that Shah Alam be restored to the province of Varanasi as long as he continued to pay a certain amount of revenue to the company. Awadh was returned to Shuja-ud-Daula, but Allahabad and Kora were taken from him. The Nawab of Awadh Shuja ud Daulah also had to pay fifty lakhs of rupees as war indemnity to the East India Company.
Moreover, the two signed an alliance by which the company promised to support the Nawab against outside attacks provided he paid for services of the troops sent to his aid. This alliance made the Nawab dependent on the company. This was a turning point in Indian history.
Awadh, known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a historical region in northern India, now constituting the northeastern portion of Uttar Pradesh. It is roughly synonymous with the ancient Kosala region of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain scriptures.
Shuja-ud-Daula was the third Nawab of Oudh and the Vizier of Delhi from 5 October 1754 to 26 January 1775.
Mirza is a name of Persian origin. It is used as a surname or prefix to identify patriarchal lineage. It is derived from the term Mirzadeh (میرزادہ).
Shah Alam II, also known by his birth name Ali Gohar, or Ali Gauhar, was the seventeenth Mughal emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal Empire. His power was so depleted during his reign that it led to a saying in the Persian language, Sultanat-e-Shah Alam, Az Dilli ta Palam, meaning, 'The empire of Shah Alam is from Delhi to Palam', Palam being a suburb of Delhi.
The Battle of Buxar was fought between 22 and 23 October 1764, between the forces of the British East India Company, under the command of Major Hector Munro, and the combined armies of Balwant Singh, Maharaja of the Banaras State; Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh; and Shah Alam II, Emperor of the Mughal Empire.
The Nawab of Bengal was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the de facto independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which constitute the modern-day sovereign country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. The Bengal Subah reached its peak during the reign of Nawab Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan. They are often referred to as the Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The Nawabs were based in Murshidabad which was centrally located within Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. Their chief, a former prime minister, became the first Nawab. The Nawabs continued to issue coins in the name of the Mughal Emperor, but for all practical purposes, the Nawabs governed as independent monarchs. Bengal continued to contribute the largest share of funds to the imperial treasury in Delhi. The Nawabs, backed by bankers such as the Jagat Seth, became the financial backbone of the Mughal court.
Mir Syed Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur was a commander-in-chief or military general who reigned as the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expansion of British control of the Indian subcontinent in Indian history and a key step in the eventual British domination of vast areas of pre-partition India.
Allahabad Fort was built by the Mughal emperor Akbar at Prayagraj in 1583. The fort stands on the banks of the Yamuna, near its confluence with the Ganges. It is classified by the Archaeological Survey of India as a monument of national importance.
Mir Qasim was the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763. He was installed as Nawab with the support of the British East India Company, replacing Mir Jafar, his father-in-law, who had himself been supported earlier by the East India Company after his role in winning the Battle of Plassey for the British. However, Mir Jafar eventually ran into disputes with the East India Company and attempted to form an alliance with the Dutch East India Company instead. The British eventually defeated the Dutch at Chinsura and overthrew Mir Jafar, replacing him with Mir Qasim. Qasim too later fell out with the British and fought against them at Buxar. His defeat has been suggested as a key reason in the British becoming the dominant power in large parts of North and East India.
Alivardi Khan was the fourth Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself.
Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad or Allahabad in an anglicized version in Roman script, and anciently Prayag, is a city situated on an inland peninsula, surrounded by the rivers Ganges and Yamuna on three sides, with only one side connected to the mainland Doab region, of which it is a part. This position is of importance in Hindu scriptures for it is situated at the confluence, known as Triveni Sangam, of the holy rivers. As per Rigveda the Sarasvati River was part of the three river confluence in ancient times. It is one of four sites of the Kumbh Mela, an important mass Hindu pilgrimage.
The Nawab of Awadh or Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers of Kingdom of Awadh in northern India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to an Iranian dynasty of Sayyid origin from Nishapur, Iran. In 1724, Nawab Sa'adat Khan established the Kingdom of Awadh with their capital in Faizabad and Lucknow.
Murshid Quli Khan, also known as Mohammad Hadi and born as Surya Narayan Mishra, was the first Nawab of Bengal, serving from 1717 to 1727.
Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan was the second Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. He married Zainab un-nisa Begum and Azmat un-nisa Begum, the daughters of Murshid Quli Khan by Nasiri Banu Begum. Shuja-ud-Din's third wife was Durdana Begum Sahiba. After the death of his father-in-law on 30 June 1727, he ascended to the Masnad (throne) of the Nawab.
Feroze Jung III or Nizam Shahabuddin Muhammad Feroz Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi also known by his sobriquet Imad-ul-Mulk, was the grand vizier of the Mughal Empire when it was under Maratha suzerainty, making them the de facto rulers.
The Bengal Subah, also referred to as Mughal Bengal, was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire encompassing much of the Bengal region, which includes modern-day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and some parts of the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha between the 16th and 18th centuries. The state was established following the dissolution of the Bengal Sultanate, a major trading nation in the world, when the region was absorbed into the Mughal Empire. Bengal was the wealthiest region in the Indian subcontinent.
The decline of the Mughal Empire was a period in Indian history roughly between the early 18th century and mid 19th Century where the Mughal Empire, which once dominated the subcontinent, experienced a large scale decline. There are various factors responsible for this decline such as internal conflicts, Rajput, Sikh and Maratha rebellions, Afghan and Persian invasions and expansion of East India Company influence and power.
The Oudh State was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a princely state in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of the state, also written historically as Oudhe.
Mīrzā Muḥammad Iʿtiṣām ad-Dīn Panchnūrī or Itesham Uddin, was a diplomat for the Mughal Empire. He became the first Indian to travel to Europe, in the modern era, in 1765. He was also a munshi serving the Nawabs of Bengal as well as the British East India Company. He had also written the text of the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad.
Maharaja Beni Bahadur was an administrator, minister, soldier and househelp in the courts of the Nawabs of Awadh from 1733 / 1734 to at least 1798 and at most 1814. He was most notable for his rapid rise to power, industry and charity.