Treaty of Alinagar

Context: The Treaty of Alinagar, signed in 1757, was a reluctant agreement signed by Bengal’s Nawab Siraj ud Daula with the English East India Company.

About Treaty of Alinagar:

• The treaty of Alinagar (changed name of Calcutta) was signed between Robert Clive of the British East India Company and the Nawab of Bengal, Mirza Muhammad Siraj Ud Daula.

Terms of the treaty:

• The Nawab would recognize all the provisions of Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar’s farman of 1717.
• All British goods that passed through Bengal would be exempt from duties.
• The British would not be hindered from fortifying Calcutta, as well as mint coins in Calcutta.
• The signing of the treaty was one of the events leading up to the famous Battle of Plassey.
• The Nawab was defeated and killed by Clive and his allies.

Significance of the treaty:

• The Treaty strengthened the position of the British in Bengal.
• It laid foundations for the Battle of Plassey.
• It set the stage for British colonial expansion in India, turning what was an economic enterprise into an imperial one.

Source:  Indian Express

Previous Year Questions

Q.1) With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements:

1. The Dutch established their factories/warehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by Gajapati rulers.
2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate.
3. The English East India. Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara empire.

Which of the statements given above are correct? (2022)

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Q.2) In the first quarter of the seventeenth century, in which of the following was/were the factory/factories of the English East India Company located? (2021)

1. Broach
2. Chicacole
3. Trichinopoly

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. 1 only
2. 1 and 2
3. 3 only
4. 2 and 3