Murshid Quli Khan's Relations with the European Merchants

Summary

In this detailed study of early eighteenth-century Bengal, the author examines Nawab Murshid Quli Khan’s policies toward European merchants. Murshid Quli recognised that Bengal’s prosperity depended on foreign commerce, particularly trade carried by ships from Europe; however, he was wary of the growing power of English merchants and strove to keep them in checkfile:///home/oai/share/563035_compressed-5-113.pdf#:~:text=IHQ. Initially, he granted licences to the English East India Company to trade but increased customs duties and required large lump-sum payments. The article notes that the Nawab treated merchants of all nations with a mixture of indulgence and suspicion, seeking revenue without allowing any single power to become dominant. He moved the provincial capital from Dacca to Murshidabad, thereby increasing administrative control over trade. Through correspondence and archival records, the author recounts episodes such as Murshid Quli’s 1712 demand that the English Company purchase the right of ferry at Hugli, his confiscation of goods when duties were unpaid and his insistence that the Company pay ground rent and kickbacks for their factory at Calcutta. The Dutch and Portuguese fared no better; they were granted trade privileges but were also subjected to strict supervision and occasional harassment. The Nawab’s treatment of the Armenians is also described; he saw them as useful intermediaries in trade but restricted their activities when they aligned with European interests. The article analyses the political context: Murshid Quli Khan was a revenue administrator appointed by Aurangzeb and later made de facto Nawab of Bengal. His revenue reforms increased the province’s income and enabled him to challenge the declining Mughal centre. He used his control of commerce as leverage to extract funds from the European companies while keeping them militarily weak. The study traces the negotiations between the English Company and the Nawab’s officials, showing how disputes over customs duties escalated into confrontations, culminating in the English removal of their factory from Cossimbazar in protest. It also explores the impact of Murshid Quli’s death in 1727, after which his successor Shuja-ud-din adopted a more conciliatory policy towards the English. Overall, the article portrays Murshid Quli Khan as a shrewd financier who balanced revenue needs with geopolitical caution, using trade regulations to preserve Bengali autonomy against encroaching European powers.