454
HISTORY OF BRITISH RULE.
Patna
Massacre,
1763 -
Battle of
Baxar,
1764 -
Districts of Bardwan, Midnapur , and Chittagong , estimated toyield a net revenue of half a million sterling. But Mir Kasimsoon began to show a will of his own, and to cherish dreamsof independence. He retired from Murshidabad to Monghyr ,a strong position on the Ganges , commanding the only meansof communication with the north-west. There he proceededto organize an army, drilled and equipped after Europeanmodels, and to carry on intrigues with the Nawab Wazir ofOudh. He resolved to try his strength with the English , andfound a good pretext.
The Company’s servants claimed the privilege of carryingon their private trade throughout Bengal, free from inlanddues and all imposts. The assertion of this claim causedaffrays between the customs officers of the Nawab and thenative traders, who, whether truly or not, represented thatthey were acting on behalf of the servants of the Company.The Nawab alleged that his civil authority was everywhere setat nought. The majority of the Council at Calcutta wouldnot listen to his complaints. The Governor, Mr. Vansittart,and Warren Hastings , then a junior member of Council,attempted to effect some compromise. But the controversyhad become too hot. The Nawab’s officers fired upon anEnglish boat, and forthwith all Bengal rose in arms. Twothousand of our Sepoys were cut to pieces at Patna ; and about200 Englishmen, who there and in various other parts of theProvince fell into the hands of the Muhammadans, weremassacred. 1
But as soon as regular warfare commenced, Mir Kasim metwith no more successes. His trained regiments were defeatedin two pitched battles by Major Adams, at Gheria and atUdhunala (Oodeynullah); and he himself took refuge with theNawab Wazir of Oudh, who refused to deliver him up. Thisled to a prolongation of the war. Shah Alam , who had suc-ceeded his father as Delhi Emperor, and Shuja-ud-Daula theNawab Wazir of Oudh, united their forces, and threatenedPatna , which the English had recovered. A more formidabledanger appeared in the English camp, in the form of the firstSepoy Mutiny . This was quelled by Major (afterwards SirHector) Munro, who ordered 24 of the ringleaders to beblown from guns—an old Mughal punishment. In 1764,Major Munro won the decisive battle of Baxar, which laid
1 The massacre of Patna is described in sufficient detail under articlePatna District in The Imperial Gazetteer of India, and in Hunter’sStatistical Account of Bengal, vol. xi. pp. 71 el seq.