BRITISH AND FRENCH WARS IN INDIA

After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, and later Nadir Shah’s invasion from Persia and the loot of Delhi in 1739, the Mughal power weakened considerably. But even then there was no opening in Western India where the Marathas held way and also in the East where the strong Alivardi Khan was the Nawab of Bengal. The strong Asaf Jah Nizam Ul Mulk died in 1748. The Marathas regularly raided Hyderabad and other places in the South collecting Chouth. This created instability in the area which the East India Company exploited.

However, the English were not the only foreigners who had their eyes on India. It was the Portuguese and Dutch before the English whom they ousted. The French East India Company was formed in 1664 and was firmly established at Chandernagore near Calcutta and Pondicherry. It also had several factories in the East and West Coast. In 1742 there was a war between England and the French for 6 years which spilled into India when the companies fought each other. After the war ended, their hostilities in India too ceased, however, the battle for trade supremacy went on between them.

Dupleix was the French Governor General at Pondicherry and he was looking around for an opportunity to present itself. In 1748 situations in the Carnatic and Hyderabad. In the Cranatic Chanda Saheb was conspiring against Nawab Anvaruddin, while in Hyderabad the death of Nizam Ul Mulk resulted in a fight for succession between his son Nasir Jung and grandson Mujaffar Jung. Duplex seized the opportunity and signed treaties with Chanda Saheb and Muzaffar Jung to help them with his forces.

In a battle at Ambur in 1949, the 3 allies defeated the Carnatic nawab Anwaruddin, and the nawabs son Muhammed Ali fled to Trichinopoly. The rest of the Carnatic passed into Chanda Saheb’s hands.

In Hyderabad too the French were successful and Muzaffar Jung was installed as the Nizam. Muzaffarjung apart from giving large sums to the French as a reward, also gave it territory near Pondicherry as well as the town of Masulipatam. Dupleix was also made the Governor of all the territories of the East Coast from river Krishna to Knayakumari. Dupleix stationed his best officer Bussy at Hyderabad with a French army.

Muzaffarjung was accidentally killed and Bussy immediately raised Salabat Jung the 3^rd son of Nizam Ul Mulk to the throne. In gratitude the new Nizam granted to the French the Northern Circars consisting of the 4 districts of  Mustafanagar, Eluru, Rajahmundry and Chicacole (Srikakulam). This was the time when the peshcush was not remitted by soem coastal Jamindars and Bussy came with a small French army to correct the position. It was during this time in 1757 the Battle of Bobbili took place.

While their rivals the French were resorting to all these machinations, obviously the English cannot lag behind. They threw in their weight behind Muhammed Ali who fled to Trichnopoly and also Nasir Jung, the 1^st son of Nizam Ul Mulk as the French have now raised Salabat Jung the 3^rd son of Nizam to the throne.

After Muhammed Ali fled to Trichinopoly, the French and Chanda sahib together attacked the fort. Clive was a clerk in the East India Company then and he suggested that the pressure on Trichinopoly would be eased by the English and Salabat Jung attacking Arcot, the capital of Carnatic. He was allowed to do so and he attacked Arcot with 200 British and 300 Indian soldiers and occupied it. This makes us wonder how easy it was to occupy a capital city of a big territory. Just 500 soldiers accomplishing it. The French forces were repeatedly defeated and Chanda Saheb captured and killed. This battle raised the stature of Clive.

Finally the French Government did not like the heavy cost of war in India and also fearing loss of their American colonies agreed to withdraw Dupleix from India in 1754 as the East India Company wanted.

Matters between the two companies continued like that for till 1756 when again war broke out between England and France in Europe. Their Indian companies, as usual followed suit. In the beginning of the war itself the British gained control over Bengal by the battle of Plassey in 1757 which was again accomplished by Clive. The rich resources of Bengal tilted the fortunes in the English favour. The decisive battale of the war between the companies was fought at Wandiwash in 1760 when the English General Eyre Coot defeated the French General Lally. The French in India lost their possession one by one to the English.

When the war in Europe between England and France ended in 1763, the French possessions in India were restored to them but with a condition that they could not be fortified and also could not station troops in them.

During their battle with the French in India the English learnt valuable lessons which they later exploited to the full. They found that there was no nationalism in India and one power can be played against another power easily for their gain. They also found that the traditional Indian troops were no match for their own troops (both Indian and British) and they can be easily defeated by use of western style weapons backed by artillery. 

The Indian soldier as he lacked nationalism can be hired by anyone who paid him the most. The English now started creating an army where the soldiers were Indians known as sepoys and the officers were Englishmen. With this well disciplined, well trained, well paid and well armed soldiers at their disposal,  the Indian rulers did not stand a chance. 

BATTLE OF PLASSEY A TURNING POINT TO THE ENGLISH IN INDIA.

The Battle of Plassey was an extremely important and key battle in Indian History. It paved the way for establishment of the rule of the British in India.  In this battle Clive who was then a Colonel defeated the army of Sirajuddaula the Nawab of Bengal. While Clive had an army of just 3200 men and 8 cannon, the nawab had an army of 50,000 men and 52 cannon, yet lost the battle. What is the reason for this miserable defeat despite having such superiority in numbers?

 

Firstly Sirajuddaula was just 23 years old and was inexperienced and rash. He succeeded his grandfather Alivardi Khan. The English had certain permission for free export of their goods under Murshid Quli Khan, the predecessor to Alivardi Khan from their port of Calcutta. When the English tried to misuse them for profit, Alivardi Khan being a strong nawab disciplined them and they had to bow down to him. 

When the inexperienced Sirajuddaula became the nawab the English wanted to get back those concessions to which Sirajuddaula refused to allow. The British now felt stronger as they ousted the French from the South. The French had a base at Chandernagore in Bengal from where they carried on their trade.

The English then started fortifying Calcutta although with an intention of having a war with the French. This fortification without his permission in his territory challenged  Sirajuddaula. Being rash, without planning he rushed with his army to Calcutta and took the city in June 1756 and then immediately retired to celebrate his victory. In the process he let the English ships slip through without destroying them. They then went and took refuge at a place till the English reinforcements arrived from Madras.

In the meantime they intrigued with the leading men of the nawab’s court and wove a web of treachery. Chief of the disloyals was Mr Jafar, the main commander of the nawab’s forces and also his uncle through marriage. Then there was Khadim Khan another commander and also the Jagat Seths, the richest bankers of Bengal. Mir Jafar influenced Raja Durlabh Ram and Yar Lutf Khan the other two commanders.

The English force from Madras was commanded by Colonel Clive and the fleet by Admiral Watson. Clive marched to Chandernagore to take the trading post from  the French. Sirajuddaula sent one commander to intervene in the matter but Clive bribed him and then took and destroyed the settlement in March 1757.

Sirajuddulah suspected treachery from some of his commanders but was not sure. The one body of troops that Siraj-ud-Daulah can rely upon fully, was Monsieur Law and his French troops and  Siraj-ud-Daulah ordered them to move 160 KM to the west, to Bhagalpur.

 After the capture of Chandernagore, Siraj-ud-Daulah and the East India Company Committee in Calcutta exchanged a long series of letters. During the three months of this correspondence, Siraj-ud-Daulah moved his army to Plassey on the Bhagirathi River, 35 Km south of Murshidabad, his capital. His army was commanded by Raja Durlabh Ram and contained a large force led by his uncle by marriage, Mir Jafar Khan. Both these commanders were already in dialogue with Clive proposing to betray Siraj-ud-Daulah.

During this time, Clive negotiated a treaty, through the intermediary William Watts, with Mir Jafar Khan, whereby the English would assist Mir Jafar Khan in obtaining the Nawabship of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. This was in exchange for substantial payments to the Company and its various officers later. Many of Siraj-ud-Daulah’s senior officers including Raja Durlabh Ram and Yar Lutf Khan were in support of Mir Jafar Khan in this conspiracy. Under the treaty Mir Jafar Khan undertook to change sides during any hostilities.

Clive had 950 European troops, 2100 sepoys, 100 artillerymen and 60 sailors and also 8, 6 pounder cannon and 2 howitzers. That was a total of about 3200 soldiers on his side. As Clive and his army approached Siraj-ud-Daulah’s camp, the correspondence with Mir Jafar Khan became less than satisfactory, leaving Clive in doubt as to whether Mir Jafar would abide by the pact and betray Siraj-ud-Daulah. If he did not, then Clive’s army would be overwhelmed in a battle.

Clive halted the advance at Katwa, hesitated to proceed further and held a Council of War with all his officers. They discussed as to whether Mir Jafar would defect or not.

The majority of the officers were for staying put and so was Clive. On hearing that Clive halted at Katwah, Siraj-ud-Daulah rushed his force forward to occupy the camp at Plassey, which was an established post for his army.

After the Council of War, a letter reached Clive from Mir Jafar Khan, confirming that in the event of battle he would join the English against Siraj-ud-Daulah. Clive then immediately changed his mind and the army marched.

At 6 am on 22nd June 1757, the army crossed the Bhagirathi River to the east bank, using the accompanying flotilla of boats which carried the supplies. The crossing took most of the day and brought the army within 21 Km of Plassey.

Clive’s army marched again at sunset on 22nd June 1757. It was now raining heavily, the earlier onset of the annual monsoon weather occurred and, in places, the river overflowed its banks, forcing the soldiers to march in water that reached up to their waists.

Sirajuddaulas army had 35000 foot soldiers most poorly armed and lacking in discipline. His cavalry numbered 15000 horsemen mostly Pathans armed with swords and spears.

Siraj-ud-Daulah’s artillery comprised 53 cannon, all of heavy calibre; 32, 24 and 18 pounders. Guns of this size, more usually deployed in fixed position fort siege work, were not ideal for use on the battlefield, being cumbrous, slow to load and difficult to move. The heavy ammunition could not be easily carried with the guns in sufficient quantity for a battle. 

Siraj-ud-Daulah’s gunners attempted to deal with these various problems by mounting the guns on enormous wooden trucks, towed by oxen and pushed by elephants.

The guns were fired from these platforms and the rate of fire would be slower than on the ground, with each discharge and heavy recoil damaging the wooden structures and terrifying the animals, particularly the elephants, notoriously unreliable in battle and dangerous to their own side.

On the battlefield, a ball from a 32 pounder gun would do little more damage than one from a 6 pounder. Indian gunners were not well drilled and produced a slow rate of fire, taking, around fifteen minutes to fire each round, as against 2 or 3 rounds a minute for European gunners.

Locally manufactured, the Indian guns lacked modern refinements such as elevating screws, making it near impossible to aim the guns with any accuracy from the wooden trucks.

With all these problems, despite the large number of guns, it is likely that Siraj-ud-Daulah’s artillery was of little assistance to his army. It inflicted few casualties on Clive’s army as was later known by the English casualties.

Supervising the Indian gunners and working a few smaller calibre field guns themselves were 40 or 50 Frenchmen, retained from Monsieur Law’s force, most of which was sent to Bhagalpur by Sirajuddaula. All these Frenchmen were deeply resentful at Clive’s destruction of the French settlement at Chandernagore and were commanded by Monsieur St Frais.

Contrary to the usual Indian practice of placing artillery together, Siraj-ud-Daulah’s guns were dispersed along his line of troops in twos and threes.

Both armies were in place by 8am. The French, under St Frais, fired the first gun, which acted as a signal for the opening of a heavy bombardment all along the line of Siraj-ud-Daulah’s army. The Indian line was enveloped in a cloud of powder smoke. The English guns returned the fire and inflicted considerable damage on Siraj-ud-Daulah’s troops.

Clive could not afford even the few casualties caused by the French and Indian gunfire.  At the end of half an hour and with 30 casualties Clive pulled his line back behind the mound along the perimeter of the mango grove where they camped.. The mango grove had a mound in the front.

Clive’s men were now in cover. They dug openings in the mango grove mound for their guns to fire through.

Encouraged by the English withdrawal, Siraj-ud-Daulah’s guns moved nearer and continued their fire.

Siraj-ud-Daulah’s cannonade was hopeless and caused havoc only among the mango trees, firing over the heads of the English soldiers concealed behind the mound. So, all that fire was foolishly wasted.

Clive’s guns resumed their fire with considerable effect, killing Indian gunners and causing supplies of their ammunition to explode, generating panic among the draft animals and clouds of powder smoke.

Despite that, the cannonade continued for three hours, but without any decisive effect. Siraj-ud-Daulah’s guns maintained their fire and there was no sign of any of his commanders deserting him. Till now all the battle had been only with cannon and there was no troop engagement.

At 11am, Clive called his senior commanders to a council to decide what to do. It was resolved to continue the battle until nightfall and then attack Siraj-ud-Daulah’s camp.

Soon after the council ended, a heavy rainstorm broke, continuing for an hour. The English troops were used to campaigning in a country where the monsoon had an impact on battles. They produced tarpaulins and covered the artillery ammunition to keep it dry. Siraj-ud-Daulah’s artillery did not have tarpaulins and much of their powder was ruined by the rain and rendered unusable. Their fire fell away and their cannon became useless.

Mir Madan Khan, Siraj-ud-Daulah’s only reliable commander, commanding on the right wing by the river, assumed that the English artillery must have suffered the same catastrophe as his own and got neutralized. He launched an attack with his cavalry. They were met with a devastating discharge of canon at short range, which decimated and repelled the charging cavalry and mortally wounded Mir Madan Khan. The dying commander was brought to Siraj-ud-Daulah.

This was a key to the battle. If Mir Madan Khan lived and commanded in the key part of the battlefield, it was possible for Siraj-ud-Daulah to win the battle. But without that capable and faithful commander, he was at the mercy of the other three commanders, all disloyal.

Siraj-ud-Daulah sent for Mir Jafar Khan, threw his turban on the ground and begged Mir Jafar to protect him. Mir Jafar promised to defend him to the utmost, then rode back to his wing of the army and sent a letter to Clive informing him of the death of Mir Madan Khan and urging him to attack without delay. This letter did not reach Clive during the battle.

Siraj-ud-Daulah then spoke to his other two commanders. Raja Durlabh Ram urged Siraj-ud-Daulah to order his army to return to the camp and leave the camp himself. Siraj-ud-Daulah adopted this advice and left on a camel for his capital, Murshidabad, with an escort of 2,000 horsemen. That was a fatal move by Sirajuddulah but he was inexperienced and all his commanders that were left were unfaithful men.

The three treacherous commanders began the withdrawal to the camp, without the troops of the 3 betraying commanders engaging the enemy. The artillery lead the withdrawal column. They were a little restrained in their treachery because the rest of the army was generally still faithful to their Nawab, Siraj-ud-Daulah.

In any case, the French commander, St Frais, refused to retreat and continued to fight from the large tank despite the fact that the soldiers of the now dead Mir Madan Khan joined the withdrawal to the camp.

Clives army then advanced on to Sirajuddaulas withdrawing forces. Mir Jafars army meanwhile after withdrawing went and joined with Clive.

Siraj-ud-Daulah’s soldiers fought hard, but were leaderless as their commanders were nowhere to be seen. Without direction, other than that of St Frais’ Frenchmen there was confusion in the army ranks. The cannon and musket fire from Clive’s positions inflicted great loss on Siraj-ud-Daulah’s troops and the oxen towing the platforms for the heavy guns.

Clive launched an attack on the French men and was successful. From then on, resistance by Siraj-ud-Daulah’s army ebbed away and, by 5pm, the English were in possession of Siraj-ud-Daulah’s camp and the battle was over.

Clive’s army casualties were 23 dead and 49 wounded mainly during the first fusillade from the canon after which the cannon became useless due to rain. Sirajuddaulas army suffered only 500 casualties because the bulk of the soldiers have been removed by Mir Jafar.

It is treachery of the highest order that won the battle for Clive and laid the foundation for British rule in India, and not any superior General ship of Clive as the Britisher’s and some historians claim.

The battle of treachery is perhaps a more appropriate name for it. After knowing about Clive, one gets a doubt that perhaps most the company’s officers have the same tendency to bribe and intrigue.

RESULTS OF THE BATTLE: What happened after the battle? Mir Jafar was made the nawab of Bengal as promised. What did he give in return to the English? He allowed complete free trade to the company in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and also the Jamindari of 24 Parganas near Calcutta. He paid a sum of Rs 17,70,000 as compensation to the company and the traders of Calcutta for the attack made on the city. He also paid large bribes to the Company officials. Clive was paid Rs 20,00,000, Watts over 10,00,000. Clive himself later estimated that the Company and its servants had collected more than 3 crore rupees from the puppet nawab.In the year 1758 this was a huge fortune. 

This battle which was won by sheer treachery nevertheless boosted the British prestige and made them as a major contender for the Indian Empire. The rich revenue from Bengal enabled them to organize a strong army and meet the cost of conquest of rest of the country.

Bengal at that time contributed 50% of the GDP of the Moghul empire or 12% of the worlds GDP. Dhaka then had a population of 10 lakhs when Calcutta was 3 lacs, Madras 2 lacs and Bombay 70,000.

The British estimated the wealth of Bengal to be inexhaustible and ordered that Bengal foot the bill for expenditure in the Madras and Bombay presidencies as well. The treasury of Bengal was looted and was made empty. In 1760 Mir Jafar was removed and Mir Quasim was installed as his successor and the loot continued despite his resistance.

Finally Mir Qasim was defeated in the battle of Buxar along with the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II & Shuja Uddaulah of Oudh. This battle forced Shah Alam to give the Diwani (right to collect revenue) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the company.

Such rapacious exploitation of Bengal also resulted in the great Bengal famine in 1770 in which one third of Bengals population perished. Although the famine was precipitated by failure of the rains, the effect was enhanced by the policies of the company.

TIPU SULTAN.

Tipu Sultan is a controversial figure to many Indians. Unfortunately for Indian history, by many people it is being viewed through the prism of religion alone and that gives us a completely distorted picture of history.

For me it does not matter whether Tipu Sultan is a Muslim or Hindu or for that matter from any other religion. Of late the religious interpretations of history have totally distorted its context making Tipu into a villain which he never was.  Yes, he was very vengeful and ruthless of those who tried to take favour from the British and intrigue against him, because he realized unlike many kings of the time, that the British were a threat to the country. 

That makes him the first nationalist of India way before the first struggle for independence in 1857. Kings/Nawabs of that time, be it the Marathas or the Nizam, the  Bengal nawabs or the Audh nawabs  never had this concept of stopping the British and they were quarreling within themselves to let the British in, in the process.

I felt proud when I read that for 30 years first Hyder Ali and then Tipu have been at the forefront of British public consciousness. Terrifying tales of attacks on British forces and threats to trading settlements like Madras appeared in the British newspapers of the day. By the time he died at the hands of General Harris’s troops in 1799, Tipu Sultan was the most famous Indian in the eyes of the British at that time. 

That he could overawe the British who later ruled the entire India clearly proves his worth as nothing else does. With training by the French officials Tipu modernized his army so well that it could not only match the British but also surpassed them in technology. Chinese might have invented rockets but in the world it was Hyder Ali and Tipu who first used rockets in war.

Hyder Ali had expanded on Mysore's use of rocketry, and deployed as many as 1,200 specialized troops in his army to operate rocket launchers. These men were skilled in operating the weapons and were trained to launch their rockets at an angle calculated from the diameter of the cylinder and the distance to the target. The rockets had twin side sharpened blades mounted on them, and when fired, spun and wreaked significant damage against a large army. Tipu greatly expanded the use of rockets after Hyder's death. 

 The rockets deployed by Tipu during the Battle of Pollilur were much more advanced than those the British East India Company had previously seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missiles (up to 2 km).

The British suffered their worst defeat in a war in India till that time in the battle of Pollilur with Tipu, suffered heavy casualties and surrendered. Here was a man who who beat the British at their own game of modern warfare while all the other kings/nawabs preferred to stay technologically backward by fighting mostly with swords and spears against modern British armies.

After Tipu's defeat in the fourth war the British captured a number of the Mysorean rockets. These became influential in British rocket development, inspiring the Congreve rocket, which was soon put into use in the Napoleonic Wars. Tipus rockets had a steel rod encasing the propellant material which was a first.

How was Tipu defeated? While the British attacked from one side, the Marathas attacked from another side. Tipus army was badly outnumbered.  The British troops themselves numbered 30,000. Even then there was the ever present element of British treachery in the battle. Tipus brother in law helped the British to weaken the fort walls that helped the British to enter the fort. The French advisors with him advised Tipu to escape which he refused and died heroically fighting for his kingdom.

Unfortunately some Indians, instead of being proud of this man use his religion to slander him. Nothing can be worse than that. They should remember that the Chief Minister of Tipu as well as his Commander in Chief both were Hindu Brahmins.

HAMMURABI AND THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE.

Babylon remained just another civilization for me till I read about the remarkable King Hammurabi. I knew that Hammurabi gave the first laws in the world but was not aware of any further information.

What I later read about Hammurabi impressed me.  He is a modern ruler but way back in 1790 BC which was ages ago.

Hammurabi ruled Babylon but how did Babylon come about? As we all know civilizations took root around rivers in the ancient times and Mesopotamia was one such area which have rise to multiple cultures by the virtue of it being located between the rivers Tigris and the Euphrates. 

By 3000 BC itself the Sumerians controlled Mesopotamia with their cities Erich, Eridu, Kish, Lagash, Ur and Uruk. Uruk was the first city of the Sumerian civilization which has come up in 3200 BC itself. It had a population of 50,000 which was big by the then standards.

After about 700 years the Sumerian civilization fell to the Akkadians in 2334 BC.  The Akkadians in turn fell in 2154 BC and then it was the turn of the Semitic Amorites who were from the Arabian Desert in the west. They set up a kingdom in about 1800 BC. This civilization had their capital at Babylon and is known as the Babylonian civilization.

The Babylonian king Hammurabi was one of the greatest rulers of ancient times. He was remarkable in forethought and gave a code of laws to the people and also enforced them. This is the oldest surviving law in the world. The code was originally inscribed on a huge basalt rock. This is now in the “Louvre” museum at Paris. The text of his code runs like the edicts of king Ashoka in our country some 1400 years later. This reads thus:

I rooted out the enemy above and below,

I made an end of war,

I promised the welfare of the land,

I made the peoples rest in friendly habitation,

I have governed them in peace. I have sheltered them in my strength.

Babylon had the first standing army in the world, so its borders were fully protected from infiltration by any invader and gave peace to its people.

There were 280 parts of the code with rules and regulations for Babylonian society which was split into 3 classes (like the 4 classes of our own);

1. Amelu--Nobles, warriors & officials

2. Mushkinu—Commoners, merchants, craftsmen and farmers,

3. Wardu—Slaves

The laws varied according to classes. One can see the resemblances to our own Manu in certain instances.

“ If a noble has broken  another nobles bone, they shall break his bone.”

“If he (noble) has destroyed the eye of a commoner or has broken the bone of a commoner, he shall pay one mina of silver”

Theft from a noble had to be repaid 30 times, but theft from a commoner only 10 times. If a house collapsed and killed the owner, the builder was put to death. If the house killed the owners’ son, then the builders’ son has to die.

Surprisingly Hammurabi was concerned about the treatment of women. He thought about it  in 1700 BC which is simply amazing.  He enacted laws allowing women to inherit the husband’s house, land and possessions.  He also introduced legal formalities in business transactions. No one could sell property or transfer it without a written contract. Hammurabi also regulated wages and setting down maximum rates of work in various trades.

Hammurabi did not invent these laws but he assembled the laws prevalent at that time and also added his own to them. The code was inscribed on a huge pillar so that his people would know what their legal rights were. Hammurabi also extended and improved the canal system of Babylon.

The knowledge of the Babylonians in mathematics was enhanced by their contact with the Egyptians. By about 1700 BC, the Babylonians were using multiplication tables, square roots and even some algebra. They understood Geometry and the principles later stated as the theorem of Pythagoras. We derive the 60 minutes in an hour and 360 degrees in a circle from them. The first library in the world was at Babylon where the books were preserved on papyrus rolls. Babylonians loved poetry and their favorite epic was the “Epic of Gilgamesh” which was originally Sumerian but was absorbed into the Babylonian literature. The legend survives to this day.

When this remarkable king did in 1750 BC, he left no capable successor to takeover and Babylon fell on bad times. First Hittites and later Kassites both Indo European races who lived in the regions of Persia overran Babylon.