The political history of eighteenth-century India was marked by the break-up of the Mughal empire, the rise of several independent states; the expansion of the Marathas and the emergence of the East India-Company as a powerful factor in Indian politics. Among the states which asserted their independence the subah of Bengal, for a number of reasons, was most important. In 1756, after the death of Alivardi Khan, the young and inexperienced Sirajuddaulah succeeded to the marnad of Bengal. The incursions of the Marathas, the growing power of the Company and great discontent among the influential Hindus for which he himself was partly responsible made the position of the young nawab extremely difficult. Rajah Durlabhram (Rai Durlabh), to whose career the present study is devoted, played the principal role in the events that led to the overthrow of Sirajud-daulah and the establishment of British ascendancy in Bengal. Durlabhram held important positions under Alivardi and his successors. His success in holding on to positions of power and influence until his death in 1770 bears testimony to his abilities, especially to his shrewdness to realise that his interests lay in alignment with the British. He does not seem to have been inspired by any higher motives in shifting his allegiance and taking part in the revolutions which took place in Bengal. Financial advantages for himself and his family were the main considerations that determined his attitudes and policies. In the mid-eighteenth century even British about using their official po-In fact change in the govern-servants of the Company with administrators felt no qualms station for making a fortune government of Bengal provided the a coveted opportunity to make themselves rich.
The mighty Mughal Empire started disintegrating in the 18th century after the death of Aurangzeb. Naturally distant subahs in general and Bengal in particular, fell into the hands of powerful invaders and sometimes the subah became a prey to political usurpers. There were chaos and disintegration everywhere in the subah of Bengal. Plunder, arson and loot became the order of the day. The people could not live in peace, the security of life and property became a thing of the past.
This political turmoil had been further aggravated by the intrusion of different foreign traders. The English and the French Companies in particular continued an arduous struggle and carried on senseless and destructive quarrels on the soil of Bengal. So in that century mercantile aristocracy also played a prominent part in the subah.
At that critical juncture of Indian History, Alivardi Khan usurped the masnad of Bengal in 1740. For his own interest, he wanted to establish peace and security in the realm. During his rule, he became a popular independent ruler. He employ-ed many Hindu Officers in his court and preferred the services of the Hindus for their skill in the revenue department of the state. The basis of his popular Government depended much on those Hindu Officials. One such Hindu Official, Rajah Durlabhram, became the Chief Diwen of the state and made his influence felt in the various Departments of the state upto his death in 1770. As the Rajah exercised and moulded the state policy to a considerable extent from behind the scene, a thorough investigation of his life and career is deemed essential. The career of Rajah Durlabhram acquired such prominence during that time that he was generally looked upon as the leader of the Hindus.
While carrying on research on the career of the Rajah, I had to face various difficulties and problems. Rajah Durlabhram was not a hero of our history like Alivardi, Siraju-ddaulah, Mir Jafar and Mir Qasim, about whom there are plenty of records both published and unpublished. Nor there was any chronicler or traveller who could supply us with the details of the Rajah. We come to know about him when he acquired prominence by becoming the Peshkar of Orissa, Int even such information was also not systematic. There were occasional references here and there to the activities of the Rajah and I had to collect all those information in order to make his career systematic. However, I have tried in my humble way to make a critical study of the career and achievements of the Rajah from the following sources:
1. Primary sources: These include the records of English East India Company, both unpublished and published.
2. Contemporary sources: These include the records of contemporary writers, court-chroniclers and travellers in English, Persian, Bengali, French and Marathi.
3. Secondary sources: There were innumerable writers and travellers in later generations in both English and Bengali, who. left valuable information in their books, journals and magazines.
As for the records of the English East India Company, some unpublished records have been brought to light by me for the first time and some published records which had been utilised by other scholars, have been used in a more systematic manner. The value of both these records is great, as they are mostly free from numerous defects. These became immensely helpful to me from the point of view of doing accurate assessment of the career of Rajah Durlabhram.
The writing of contemporary European writers and travellers have been used with due caution as some of them were biased in writing the history of our country. So these pieces of information have been used with due discrimination and discernment. Of course, some of them proved very useful for my purpose.
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