The East India Company’s victory over Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah at Plassey enabled it to install Mir Jafar as nawab and begin exercising decisive political influence in Bengal—commonly treated as the start of Company rule in the region.
At Buxar, Company forces defeated an alliance including the Mughal emperor and the nawab of Awadh. The victory confirmed and expanded Company power in eastern North India and set the stage for formal revenue authority in Bengal.
The Mughal emperor Shah Alam II granted the Company the Diwani (rights to collect and administer revenue) for Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa—an institutional foundation for Company governance in Bengal.
A major famine struck Bengal and Bihar during 1769–1770, causing extensive mortality and economic disruption under Company-era arrangements, and becoming a landmark event in debates about Company administration and revenue practices.
Parliament’s Regulating Act created the post of Governor-General of Fort William in Bengal and established a Supreme Court at Calcutta, marking the first major British state intervention to supervise Company rule.
Pitt’s India Act created a British governmental Board of Control, tightening metropolitan oversight of Company political affairs and reinforcing a dual system of Company administration under increasing state supervision.
The Company implemented the Permanent Settlement (associated with Cornwallis), fixing land-revenue demands in Bengal and creating durable incentives and power structures through recognition of zamindars as revenue-collecting landholders.
Parliament renewed the Company’s charter for another term, continuing its territorial administration while adjusting governance rules and affirming Fort William’s supervisory position over other presidencies.
The 1813 charter renewal ended the Company’s monopoly on trade with India (while retaining limited exceptions), further separating its commercial role from its expanding administrative responsibilities in Company-ruled territories.
The 1833 Act ended the Company’s commercial activities and reconstituted it as a primarily administrative governing body; it also strengthened central authority by redesignating the Governor-General of Bengal as Governor-General of India.
Mutiny and violence at Meerut on 10–11 May 1857 helped trigger a wider revolt against Company rule; the rebellion rapidly spread to major centers including Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow.
Parliament passed the Government of India Act, ending Company governance and transferring authority to the British Crown. The Act received royal assent on 2 August 1858 and commenced on 1 November 1858, formalizing the post-rebellion reorganization of rule.
East India Company rule in Bengal (1757–1858)
