Siraj ud-daulah biography template

Siraj-ud-daulah was to acquire much notoriety both among the British and the Indians. He was to succeed as the Nawab of Bengal in April 1756 at the age of 27. “Siraj-ud-daula has been pictured”, says the biographer of his vanquisher, Lord Clive, “as a monster of vice, cruelty and depravity. But though he may have suffered from the demoralizing effects of too much wealth and power at too early an age, he was in fact no more cruel than most eighteenth-century Eastern despots.

His main fault was weakness, which caused him to be fickle and indecisive; he was also arrogant, of changeable temper, and lacking in courage” (Mark Bence-Jones, Clive of India [London: Constable, 1974], p. 89). There are few contemporary Bengali accounts of the Nawab; and almost all the principal sources for his life are the writings of such Englishmen as were responsible for his overthrow.

A few months after succeeding to the throne of the Nawab, Siraj-ud- daulah lau

•

Siraj-ud-Daulah

Last independent Nawab (ruler) of Bengal from 1756 to 1757

"Nawab Sirajuddaula" redirects here. For the 1967 film, see Nawab Sirajuddaula (film).

Mir Syed Jafar Ali Khan Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah^[a] (1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah^[b][c] or Siraj ud-Daula,^[6] was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of the East India Company over Bengal and later almost all of the Indian subcontinent.

Siraj succeeded his maternal grandfather, Alivardi Khan as the Nawab of Bengal in April 1756 at the age of 23. Betrayed by Mir Jafar, the commander of Nawab's army, Siraj lost the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757. The forces of the East India Company under Robert Clive invaded and the administration of Bengal fell into the hands of the company.

Early life and background

[edit]

Siraj was born to the family of Mirza Muhammad Hashim and Amina Begum in 1