Page 11 - DHIS204_DHIS205_INDIAN_FREEDOM_STRUGGLE_HINDI

Indian Freedom Struggle (1707–1947 A.D.)

Notes Rs. 3,000. Soon after English factories sprang up at Kassimbazar, Patna and other places in the province.
In 1698 the English obtained from Subahdar Azim-us-Shan the zamindari of the villages of Sutanuti,
Kalikata and Govindapur, the present site of Calcutta, on payment of Rs. 1,200 to the previous
proprietors. In 1717 Emperor Farrukhsiyar confirmed the trade privileges granted by earlier Subahdars
of Bengal, besides according permission to the Company to rent additional territory around Calcutta.
In 1741 Alivardi Khan, the Deputy Governor of Bihar under Nawab Sarfaraz Khan, rose in revolt,
killed the Nawab in a battle and to fortify his position as the new Subahdar of Bengal got a confirmation
from Emperor Muhammad Shah by payment of a large sum of money. Alivardi Khan’s rule of fifteen
years was spent in fighting the Maratha menace which assumed alarming proportions during this
period. Taking advantage of the Maratha incursions into Bengal, the English obtained the Nawab’s
permission to dig a ditch and throw up an entrenchment around their settlement of Fort William.
Alivardi Khan’s attention was drawn to the developments in the Karnatic where the European
Companies had usurped all power and he was urged to expel the Europeans from Bengal before they
struck roots there.
Note: The Nawab likened the Europeans to bees who would make him honey if left in peace but
would sting an intruder to death.
Alivardi Khan died on 9 April 1756 and was succeded by his grandson, Siraj-ud-daula. The new
Nawab besides facing rival claimants to the throne like Shaukat Jang of Purnea and Ghasiti Begum of
Dacca had serious apprehensions about the designs of the English. Anticipating another round of
Anglo-French struggle in Europe and its extension to India, the English had begun to strengthen the
fortifications of Fort William and mounted guns on the walls of the fort. Besides, the English gave
offence to Siraj-ud-daula by indirectly lending support to the claims of Ghasiti Begum besides giving
asylum to political offenders from Bengal. Siraj-ud-daula’s repeated pleadings with the English to
desist from their nefarious projects only evoked evasive replies. Finding his authority flouted in his
own dominions, Siraj-ud-daula launched the offensive against the English. Philip Woodruff’s argument
that plunder was the main motive behind the Nawab’s attack on Fort William hardly stands the test
of careful scrutiny. Fort William was besieged on 15 June 1756 and surrendered after a feeble resistance
of five days. Governor Roger Drake and other important citizens escaped through the back door
down the river Hooghly. The Nawab placed Calcutta under the charge of Manik Chand and returned
to Murshidabad.
The Black Hole: Mention may be made here of the much propagated Black Hole Episode. Following
the normal practices of war, English prisoners at Calcutta which included some women and children
were lodged in a prison room of the fort. The number of prisoners is given out as 146 and the
dimensions of the prison room as 18 feet long by 14 feet 10 inches wide. So the story goes, that out of
the 146 white prisoners shut up on 20th June only 23 survived the next morning when the prison
room was opened, the rest having trampled one other down for places near the window. Excessive
heat and suffocation took a heavy tool.
Siraj-ud-daula has been painted as a monster of cruelty and directly responsible for the tragic
happenings. J. Z. Holwell, one of the survivors of the Black Hole and the prime author of the story,
did not mention the names of the victims. Probably the number of victims was far less. And they
were kept in the guard-room or prison of Fort William itself. Further, it was a subordinate officer of
the Nawab who had shut up English prisoners into that prison room, for which the Nawab himself
was in no way directly responsible. The casualties were thus, in no way, due to malice or callous
nature of the Nawab. The Nawab’s fault lay in that he did not punish the guard responsible for the
tragedy. Nor did he show any tenderness to the survivors. The prisoners fell victims to the summer
solstice. The incident was considered so insignificant as not to deserve any mention at the hands of
the contemporary Muslim historian Ghulam Hussain, the author of Siyar-ul-Mutakherin. However,
the East India Company’s authorities used the episode as a propaganda device to malign the Nawab
and won support of the British public opinion for the war of aggression which it was to wage almost
uninterruptedly for the terrible retribution that followed it.
The Battle of Plassey: When the news of the capitulation of Calcutta reached Madras, the authorities
there immediately decided to direct an army which had been built up to fight against the French
towards Calcutta. The command of the expedition was given to Robert Clive who had recently returned

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