Bengal Presidency

The Bengal Presidency was a major administrative unit of British India, governed by the East India Company and later the British Crown. Its boundaries changed over time and at their widest encompassed much of eastern and northeastern South Asia.

Battle of Plassey: A 1757 battle in which the East India Company defeated the nawab of Bengal and his French allies. The Company’s victory opened the way to political control in Bengal.
Permanent Settlement: A 1793 land-revenue system that fixed the tax demand on Bengal’s zamindars in perpetuity. It reorganized landholding and revenue collection across much of the presidency.
Bengal famine of 1770: A catastrophic famine in Bengal in 1769–1770 that killed millions amid crop failure and severe revenue demands. It exposed the human costs of Company rule and its revenue priorities.
Bihar and Orissa Province: A British Indian province created in 1912 from territories separated from the Bengal Presidency. Its creation marked a major reduction of the presidency’s jurisdiction.
Robert Clive: An East India Company officer whose military victories helped establish Company power in Bengal. His victory at Plassey made him a central architect of the Company’s Bengal rule.
Battle of Buxar: A 1764 battle in which Company forces defeated the Mughal emperor, the nawab of Awadh, and the nawab of Bengal. Its outcome helped secure the Company’s authority over Bengal’s revenues.
Zamindar: A landholder or revenue intermediary whose authority varied across South Asian regions and historical periods. Zamindars were central to the presidency’s land-revenue arrangements.
Bengal Renaissance: A nineteenth-century movement of social, intellectual, and cultural reform centered in Bengal. Calcutta’s institutions and colonial encounter helped shape this regional movement.
Assam Province: A British Indian province formed in 1874, with boundaries and administrative status that changed over time. Assam’s separation illustrates how eastern territories shifted out of Bengal’s administration.
Lord Cornwallis: A British governor-general of India who introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal in 1793. His land-revenue policy left a lasting imprint on the presidency.

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