The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on 12 August 1765, between the
Mughal Emperor
Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar (or Ali Gauhar), was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal empire. His powe ...
, son of the late Emperor
Alamgir II, and
Robert Clive, of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
, in the aftermath of the
Battle of Buxar of 23 October 1764. The treaty was handwritten by
I'tisam-ud-Din
Mīrzā Sayyid Muḥammad Iʿtiṣām ad-Dīn ibn Tāj ad-Dīn ibn Shahāb ad-Dīn Panchnūrī or Itesham Uddin ( bn, মির্জা সৈয়দ মোহাম্মদ ইতেশামুদ্দীন পাঁচনূরী, fa, ...
, a
Bengali Muslim
Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...
scribe and diplomat to the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
.
The Treaty marked the political and constitutional involvement and the beginning of British rule in India.
Based on the terms of the agreement, Alam granted the East India Company ''Diwani rights'', or the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Emperor from the eastern province of Bengal-Bihar-Orissa. These rights allowed the company to collect revenue directly from the people of
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, Bihar, and
Orissa
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...
. In return, the Company paid an annual tribute of twenty-six
lakhs of rupees (equal to 260,000
pounds sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...
) while securing for Shah Alam II the districts of Kada and
Allahabad. The tribute money paid to the emperor was for the maintenance of the Emperor's court in Allahabad. The accord also dictated that Shah Alam be restored to the province of
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
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*
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* The city has a syncretic t ...
as long as he continued to pay a certain amount of revenue to the company.
Awadh
Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
was returned to
Shuja-ud-Daula
Shuja-ud-Daula (b. – d. ) was the Subedar and Nawab of Oudh and the Vizier of Delhi from 5 October 1754 to 26 January 1775.
Early life
Shuja-ud-Daula was the son of the Mughal Grand Vizier Safdarjung chosen by Ahmad Shah Bahadur. Unlik ...
h, but Allahabad and Kora were taken from him. The
Nawab of Awadh
The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishap ...
Shuja ud Daulah also had to pay fifty lakhs of rupees as war indemnity to the East India Company.
Moreover, the two signed an alliance by which the company promised to support the Nawab against outside attacks provided he paid for services of the troops sent to his aid. This alliance made the Nawab dependent on the company. This was a turning point in Indian history.
See also
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List of treaties
This list of treaties contains known agreements, pacts, peaces, and major contracts between states, armies, governments, and tribal groups.
Before 1200 CE
1200–1299
1300–1399
1400–1499
1500–1599
1600–1699
1700–1799
...
References
Allahabad
British East India Company
History of Bengal
1765 in India
1765 treaties
Treaties of the British East India Company
1765 in Great Britain
A
History of Allahabad
1765 in the Mughal Empire
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