The fate of Anti-nationalist – Mir Jafar

In this digital age, a new word is getting popular. A word which does not have an iota of positivity and a sensible mind may dread to associate it.  The word is ‘Anti-nationalism’. Some people proudly call themselves anti-national either to vent out their dissatisfaction towards a political party and its ideology or just to appear progressive and cool.  However, given their naivety, they do not understand what the word means and what the fate holds in its sleeves for an anti-nationalist. There are various reason why people turn anti-national, mostly these people are hijacked by selfish motives which are further infuriated by a lack of morality and compassion. These anti-nationalists are like a sore cut on the body which allows the disease to enter.

 

“Betrayal does that — betrays the betrayer”.

                                                                                      – Erica Jong

 

If I offered you kingship, what price are you willing to pay.  Will you betray your friend, family, your place of work, your nation or your conscience? You expect history to remember you a great king, But will history remember you as you wish or as you are…a traitor.  Is a deal with the devil profitable?

Mir Jafar – 18th century 

 

Mir Jafar is famously called “the traitor”, or Gaddar-e-Hind. His final act of treachery towards then-Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daulah, is said to have cost India its independence.

An Arab by birth, Mir came to India as a penniless adventurer but won the confidence of Nawab Alivardi Khan to rise to the post of Bakshi. He gained a reputation as a brave military personnel, playing a prominent role in many of Nawab’s military campaigns. He rescued Nawab’s nephew Saulat Jung in Katak and also defeated the Marathas. However, he proved his cowardliness by escaping from Medinipur on hearing the advances of the Maratha forces. He then conspired with Ataullah to overthrow the Nawab but the plan was unearthed and he was dismissed.

Nevertheless, that did not stop Mir to carry on with his designs. Alivardi’s grandson Siraj-Ud-Dullah came to the throne and he again conspired, this time with Shawkat Jang to invade Bengal. However, the treachery became known to Siraj again and he demoted him and replaced him with Mir Madan as the Bakshi. Mir Jafar took it as a grave personal insult and made up his mind to overthrow Siraj Ud Daulah.

On 1756. Siraj won the Cossimbazar factory from the British and then advanced towards Calcutta but the British soon retaliated and Siraj was compelled to flee to Murshidabad. The British force under Robert Clive marched to Murshidabad and met Siraj in the Battle of Plassey in 1757.

 Mir had secretly made a pact with British to overthrow Siraj in lieu of the promise that he would make the Nawab of Bengal.  Thus, on the battlefield of Plassey, when the war began, Siraj Ud Daulah’s troops that were under Mir Jafar’s control stood silently, watching the rest of his army being crushed by Robert Clive’s well-equipped 3000-odd men.

The story of this war draws tears from my eyes every time. India effectively lost its independence on 23rd of June, 1757. Had it not for that traitor Mir Jafar, the British had no chance of winning.

After Siraj Ud Daulah’s defeat and execution, Mir Jafar was appointed Bengal’s Nawab, in reality, a mere puppet in the hands of the British. His rule—the first under The East India Company—is widely considered the start of British rule in India, a major event in all of history.

But What happened to Jaffar after that. Did his “benevolent” rule Help Bengal to flourish? Did British treat him as a friend an ally? Well, nothing of the sort happened.

As promised, Jafar paid Rs. 17,700,000 as compensation for the attack on Calcutta to the company and traders of the city. In addition, he gave bribes to the officials of the company. Clive, for example, received over two million rupees, Watts over one millionSoon, however, he realized that the company’s expectations were boundless and tried to wriggle out from under them; this time with the help of the Dutch. However, the British defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Chinsurah in November 1759 and retaliated by forcing him to abdicate in favour of his son-in-law Mir Qasim.

However, Qasim proved to be both able and independent, strongly condemned the interference of East India company in the governing of his domain. Mir Qasim formed an alliance to force the British East India company out of East India. The Company soon went to war with him and his allies. The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of the British East India Company led by Hector Munro and the combined army of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal:suja ud-dullah the Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. With the defeat in Buxar, Mir Qasim was eventually overthrown. Mir Jafar managed to regain the good graces of the British; he has again installed Nawab in 1764. But he died immediately within a year.

Today Mir Jafar has become an icon of a treacherous person in India and Bangladesh. His name symbolises the treachery and his house at Murshidabad known as ‘Nimak haram Deuri’ (Traitor’s home) for the visitors.

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