RESULTADOS Y DISCUSION

On Mir Jafar’s death Reza Khan became a part of the new political settlement between the Company in Bengal and the new Nawabo He was thereby drawn alse into the internal polities of rival factions among the Company’s servantso This involvement would ultimately prove dangerous, but in 1765 one party was to raise him to power, another to confira him in what

Hastings later called ” the sovereignty of this province”,^

Kir Jafar died at about noon on Tuesday , 5 February 1765fbut he had already had on 29 January seated Najn ud daulah , his eldest surviving sonp

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on the masnad with all due ceremonies, Shortly before his death, in tne forenoon of 5 February, the eld Nawab committed his son Hajm ud daulah, the rest of the family and Handkur.iar to the protection of the governor and Council in a letter to Spencer, In a postscript, perhaps addej after Mir Jafar*s death, Nandku.ar, "your servant” professed his attachment and obedience to the Company and asked for such kindness from them as he had received from the late i.awabo^The Nawab had also sent for

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£>eth and otherJloading citizens of Murshidabna ♦

Najm ud daulah commenced his rule by publicly assuring the Resident that "whatever engagements his father had entered into ♦ •<>he would strictly adhere to,,*o”, and by publicly expressing the'hope that th© Company would favour him as they had his father,. His inaugural speech also contained an 1.Hastings to Court’s Secret Committee, 1 Sep 1772, Add I ss 29125 P 134» 2,'iddleton’s letters,29 Jan,5 Fab 17&5© 4 and 8 Feb 1765©

3*Mir Jafar ans Manckumar to Spencer, reed* 7 Feb 1765© CMC,I,2549* 4«The Jagaf >eth was a hereditary title of the senioruost member of the

house ,anci Maharaja, of the next senior member.After the murder of Mahtab Chand an Swarup Chand by Mir *1uin the titles came to be held by Khoshal ChanJ n. IJai Chand respectively.

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a n expression of appreciation of the attachment and services of l i a n d k u n a r

whose confirmation in office he held under M r Jafar was also announced,. After the ilurbar ceremony the Nawab was proclaimed through the city and •rders and notices were sent t© the different parts ©f the country.^ T©

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Middleton everything seemed to be in perfect tranquillity , but the authorities in Calcutta had a different view©

Middleton*s letter ©f 29 January reporting M r Jafar* s illness reached Calcutta en 31 January* Spencer*s comment was that ” prevention at all times is better than remedy” t and apparently tc forestall pny possible disturbances er attempt by Shuja ud daulah t© exploit the situation* he took'varieus measures© Capt Grant was ordered to stay with MiMleton and to take coiamand of the Comapny*s sepoys j ether officers were sent to

Murshidabad on the pretence of sending them to i-onghyr; four companies of troops ano a subMtern wore ordered frora Burdwan to Murshidub&d, and

Mddleton was authorised to detain any officer or detachment ®f troops that should pass through Murshidabad, if he so d -sired© The Resident was to keep the governor constantly informed of developments in Murshi&abal and to

await instructions should the Nawab die. M d die ton was also urged to take these measures discreetly, however, so as to cause no umbrage should M r Jafar recover©^

On hearing of the Nawab* s death and Kajsr u£ d&ulaji* s accession Spencer 4

and his Council became more active, and John Johnbtcne 'ms recalled from Burdwan to help in their deliberations© The Council on 8 Febru. ry rMtcr- ated its decision of 31 January to support ” as yet” M r Jafar*B family © They had not decided what the new relations with the Nawab should be , but they were determined en big changes, and believed it was of great cens*-* quence to reseat Najra ud daulah on the masnad ” in a proper and public manner £sqJ that he as well as the whole country may see that he receives his government from the Company”0 Middleton was therefor© directed ” te discourage to the utmost any application for Sunnuds for the provinces frwvi 1o Najn ud daulah also addressed his brothers,3aifud daul -h or hajabat Ali

Khan and Mubarak ud daulah , the nominal IM.zims of Bihar and Orissa to look upon him as they did upon their father, but it does not appear that he had any message for M r 3aidu, his nephew and sen of Mran. 2. Middleton*s letter, 5 ^eb *h3C 8 Feb 17^5»

3© Spencer*3 letter ,31 J^n ana 1 Feb.BSC 8 Feb 17&5*

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any quarter*' for though sanads without the Company’s backing were not effective " yet they might in improper hands be sufficiently so to

embarrass our affairs”* If any sanad was necessary it should be "procured thr© our influence alone”! This was, ©f course, no real problem since Shah Alen was already in English camp living under English protection#

Exactly a week after Najm ud daulah had started functioning as Nawab Nazim at Hurshidabad, the Council at Calcutta reinforced by the arrival of Johnstone from Burdwan and Major Hector liunro from up ecu*1 "try -took up the succession question© The majority decided to " permit and confirm” Mir Jafar's nomination of N&jra ud daulah despite John Burdett's plea for the

succession of Kir Saidu, Mi ran’s minor son • The majority agreed that Mir Saidu had a prior ri^fct according to the " order of Succession in Europe”©

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But Najm ud daulah,though born of a slave girl, had, been recognised as

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Chhota Nawab during Mir Jafar's lifetime ana as Nawab After Mir Jafar’s death. As natters stood, any alteration in favour of Mir Saidu would " run the hazard of fresh convulsions and parties in the country" while the

English were yet engaged in a distant war against Shuja ud daulah. The long state of minority of Mir Saidu was also considered as another reason against his succession©^

Buriett was not reconciled to the majority view* It would seem that in pleading for liran's son he was pushing the private views of Rai Durlabh, who w;is desirous of controlling the Murshidabad government from which he had been successfully excluded by Nandkunar. he therefore

characterised the new arrangement at Murshidabad as ” entirely plann'd and executed by Nundcowar, a man so much disaffected to us” and he

countered the argument of Saidu's minority by suggesting the remedy, ” our appointing proper ministers to manage the affairs of the government under our inspection”*^ Whether in thus suggesting a change ef ministers as well

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1* BSC ti February, 1765#

2#Burdett even sougnt to deny legitimacy of Najm ud daulah by describing him as a sQn of a concubine. The majority called him Mir Jafar's son r *”th© not by hi^married wife”0 Najm ud daulah's mother, Munni Begun was

*& slave girl owned by Mubarak ud daulah's grandmother who nad© a gift ef her to Mir Jafar0 .Unlike a free woman, a slave did not need a formal marriage to bear'a bhild ef her master. A$ soon as she gave birth to a sen, she ceased to be a. slave, and becar.e'an 'unmul walad', A son so b o m was as much a legitimate;heir as on© b o m of^ free woman©

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as ©f Kawabs he was merely a spokesiru-n for Rai Durlabh is not clear,but 1 we do know that Rai Durlabh had given a note promising money to Burdett* Burdett failed to undo Najm ud daulah*s accession tut his denunciation of Nandkumar could not be so easily set aside0 After Hastings^ departure from Bengal the opposition to Nandkunar had weakened and Spencer and some of the members of the Council seemed prepared to overlook the widely voiced objections to the L&haraja provided he could recommend himself to them by becoiaing regular in payment of the stipulated money to the Company* The Resident had therefore been ordered on 31 January to support the

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ministers of Mir Jafar in case anything happened to the Nawab0 The

neutral attitude of tolerating Nandkunar in his present position became almost impossible after Burdett had denounced him in a public document, the more so as the Directors had already declared that ** Mundcomar is a persor improper to be trusted with his liberty*• *.", and had asked the Calcutta

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