A Comprehensive History of Modern Bengal, 1700-1950

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Edited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya

A three-volume survey covering the Nawabi era, colonial remaking, and the freedom struggle through 1950.

Est. 1947 · Bengal✺A Bilingual Archive

Referenced In Events

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Timeline View

1704-1717

Murshid Quli Khan Shifts the Capital to Murshidabad

In the early eighteenth century, Murshid Quli Khan shifted Bengal's effective administrative center from Dhaka to Makhsudabad, later known as Murshidabad. The move strengthened centralized revenue management, aligned court and banking networks around a new political hub, and reoriented the province's governing geography before Plassey.

1727

Shuja-ud-Din Administrative Phase in Bengal

Shuja-ud-Din Administrative Phase in Bengal was a significant turning point in the political and social trajectory of Bengal/Bangladesh.

1740

Alivardi Khan Becomes Nawab

In 1740, Alivardi Khan defeated Sarfaraz Khan and took power in Bengal, opening a nawabi phase defined by military pressure, Maratha incursions, and attempts to defend provincial autonomy.

1741-1751

Maratha Raids on Bengal (Bargi Invasions)

Between 1741 and 1751, repeated Maratha raids, remembered in Bengal as Bargi invasions, devastated parts of Bengal and strained Alivardi Khan's regime.

1756

Black Hole of Calcutta and Imperial Propaganda Debate

Black Hole of Calcutta and Imperial Propaganda Debate was a significant turning point in the political and social trajectory of Bengal/Bangladesh.

1757

Battle of Plassey

The Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked a decisive shift in Bengal's political destiny. A short military encounter became a structural transfer of power as the East India Company worked through court conspiracy, military defection, and financial alliance to break Siraj ud-Daulah's position. The aftermath reshaped governance, revenue extraction, and sovereignty, laying the foundation for long-term colonial rule.

1764

Battle of Buxar

In 1764, the Battle of Buxar gave the East India Company a decisive military advantage over the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula, and Shah Alam II. While Plassey opened the gate in Bengal, Buxar consolidated Company coercive power at a wider regional scale. The outcome set the stage for the 1765 diwani arrangement and deeper colonial revenue extraction.

1765

East India Company Gets Diwani Rights in Bengal

In 1765, the East India Company secured the diwani, or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. That settlement turned post-Plassey influence into formal fiscal power. Revenue extraction, administrative leverage, and political authority began to flow through the Company, even as Mughal and nawabi institutions remained in place.

1770

Great Bengal Famine

The famine of 1770 devastated Bengal, producing catastrophic mortality across agrarian and urban communities. Crop failure, grain-market distortions, and rigid revenue collection under East India Company authority combined to turn environmental stress into a social collapse. The crisis became an early warning of how colonial political economy could magnify human vulnerability.