Birbhum and Western Bengal in the Eighteenth Century
By Gottlieb L. Schanzlin
Summary
The eighteenth century was a turbulent period for western Bengal, and this article provides a regional case study centred on Birbhum. Drawing on archival records, revenue surveys and contemporary accounts, the author sketches the political landscape after the decline of Mughal authority. Local zamindars such as the Raja of Birbhum navigated a complex web of allegiances with the Nawab of Murshidabad, Maratha raiders and the rising East India Company. The paper chronicles the devastation wrought by successive Maratha incursions, the fiscal pressures on peasant cultivators and the resulting demographic shifts. Attention is also given to the rise of indigenous banking networks and the role of Jain merchants in financing agricultural and mercantile activities. The author highlights how agrarian policies, war and trade interlocked to reshape rural society. By comparing Birbhum’s experience with that of neighbouring districts, the study argues that western Bengal cannot be viewed simply as a passive victim of external invasion: local actors exercised agency, negotiated with multiple powers and shaped their own destinies within a rapidly changing world.
Conclusion
By focusing on a single district, the article demonstrates the value of micro‑history for understanding larger processes of imperial decline, regional adaptation and colonial expansion. It shows that eighteenth‑century western Bengal was marked not only by turmoil but by resilience and strategic engagement on the part of local elites and communities.