In the second place, it has been suggested that Dupleix attempted too much, and the division of his force in the Deccan and the Carnatic” was the real cause of his failure. It is hard to accept this view as even substantially correct. In the first part of 1754 Dupliex had enough military strength at his disposal to force the issue to a final decision. Even after the English had advanced to the help of Muhammad `Ali, there was no reasonable apprehension that the French could be either outnumbered or out-manoeuvred by the English.
On a consideration of all the relevant facts, the failure of Dupleix seems to be due to two main causes. He failed to recognise that the game in which he was engaged was one at which two could play, that the English could imitate his own policy in retrieving their lost position. Had he recognised this, he would have come to a final reckoning with Muhammad Ali, one way or the other, before the English were ready to send any effective help to him.
Secondly, the hopeless incompetence of the French generals prevented him from rectifying his initial mistake. It is idle to deny the fact that the subsequent course of events in the Carnatic was determined to a large extent by personalities rather than circumstances. The brilliant genius and bold dash of Clive on the one hand, and the indecision and lack of energy displayed by Law and his colleagues on the other, determined the issues. Had Dupleix had at his disposal a military genius of the type of Clive, the History of the French in India might have been altogether different. If Dupleix could have triumphantly ended the war either at the beginning or even at the and of 1751, the French Government would have hailed him the founder of their Empire in India and sent abundant supplies to him in men and money. His failure to do this involved him in disgrace and obloquy. He was engaged in one of those risky undertakings where success elevates a man to the rank of a hero but failure denounces him as an obstinate and perverse adventurer.
nglish Success in Bengal
The peace between the English and the French continued undisturbed till the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War in Europe, news of which reached India towards the end of 1756. As in the case of the War of the Austrian Succession, England and France took opposite sides in this European war, forcing the English and the French in India to engage in hostilities which neither of them probably desired. During the interval between the two wars, the relative positions of the English and the French had changed considerably, first by the struggle in the Carnatic which we have described above, and secondly by the events in Bengal to which we now turn.
Like the Deccan, Bengal was under a Subahdar who nominally acknowledged the suzerainty of the Mughul Emperor of Delhi, but was to all intents and purposes, an independent king. Like the Deccan, too, Bengal lacked any political strength or stability. Conspiracies and revolutions were the order of the day and corruption and inefficiency sapped the vitality of the State.
‘Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal, who owed his accession to the throne in 1740 to a successful revolution against his master, Nawab Sarfaraz Khan, proved a strong and capable ruler. But almost his whole regime was spent in an unceasing warfare with the Maratha plunderers, whose repeated incursions caused untold miseries to the people of Bengal. At last he had to buy peace by the cession of the revenues of a part of Orissa and an annual payment of twelve lacs of rupees as chauth to them (May or June, 1751). During the remaining five years of his reign he tried to restore order and set up a regular system of government, but failed.
The failure was due partly to the ill-health of the Nawab, but mainly to the uncertainty of succession after his death. ‘Alivardi had no male heir. His three daughters were married to three sons of his brother. Siraj-ud-daulah, tho son of his youngest daughter, was his chosen successor, but the arrangement was naturally disliked by the two other sons-in-law, who were governors respectively of Dacca and Purnea. It was inevitable that they should be centres of plots and conspiracies by scheming persons. Although both of them died towards the close of Alivardi’s reign, Ghasiti Begam, the widow of the’ former, and ShALLkat Jang, the son of the latter, pursued their policy up to the very end. Ghasiti was ably supported by her Diwan Rajballabh, who really carried on affairs in the name of the princess. Amidst these troubles ‘Alivardi died on 9th April, 1756, and Siraj-ud-dALLlah ascended the throne without any difficulty. But although his succession was unopposed, his troubles indeed were’ great. In addition to the hostile activities of Rajballabh and Shaukat Jang, he found himself implicated in a bitter dispute with the English Company.
Even when Siraj-ud-daulah was administering the State during the illness of ‘Alivardi, the relations between the Nawab and the English had been anything but friendly. The main cause of the dispute was the additional fortification of Calcutta, which the English had recently undertaken, ostensibly as a measure of precaution against the French. Tho recent events in the Carnatic were certainly calculated to rouse the suspicion of the Nawab against any such measure. The manner in which it was done in the wrath of the Nawab still further. The English not only mounted guns on the old fort but also commenced to build additional fortifications without the on or even the knowledge of the Nawab. The fact was that the English discounted, like many other, the chance of Siraj- ud-daulah’s on to the throne, and were therefore to court the favour of Rajballabh, the leader of the opposing party, with surer ohances of success. This explains why at the request of Watts, their agent at Cassimbazar, the English agreed to give protection to Rajballabh’s son is, who fled to Calcutta with his family and knew full well that, this step was calculated to provoke the wrath of Siraj-ud-dsulah against them. There is ho doubt also that Siraj-ud-daulah construed the event as proving the complicity of the English in the schemes of Rajballabh against him.
The contemporary historian, Orme, writes: “There remained no hopes of Alivardy’s recovery; upon which the window of Nawajis (i.e. Ghasiti Begam) had quitted Muradabad (the capital city of Murshidabad) and encamped with 10,000 men at Moota Ghill (Moti jhil), a garden two miles south of the city, and many now began to think and to say that she would prevail in her opposition against Surajo Dowla (Siraj-ud-daulah). Mr. Watts therefore was easily induced to oblige her r and advised &e Presidency (of Calcutta) to comply with his request.”
