Plassey and the Indian banker:



JAGAT SETH


The battle of Plassey was fought on 23rd June 1757. It is one of the most significant battles in Indian history, as it led to the eclipse of Muslim power in India and the establishment of the British Empire in the subcontinent.

One of the most famous Indian bankers of all time is Jagat Seth, who conspired against Siraj-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Bengal, in the Battle of Plassey. That gave the East India Company its first decisive victory in India and eventually helped establish its rule over the entire subcontinent.

Various travellers of that time wrote about Jagat Seth's enormous wealth (one traveller described him as "the greatest banker in the known world"). The name Jagat Seth itself means banker to the world.

The house of Jagat Seth came to achieve a reputation akin to that of the Rothschilds. According to some sources, the British economy in the 1720s was less than Jagat Seth’s' wealth. He had assets worth approximately 1000 billion pounds or more in today's money. He had more money than all of England's banks combined, according to sources.

Between 1718 and 1730, Jagat Seth lent on average Rs 400 thousand a year to the East India Company. But he knew how to hedge against his risks. As late as 1757, he was also lending Rs 400 thousand h a year to the Dutch East India Company and Rs 1500 thousand  to the French East India Company.

The East India Company found a natural ally in Jagat Seth.  In the prelude to the Battle of Plassey, Jagat Seth joined hands with the traitor Mir Jafar and convinced the East India Company officials to overthrow the Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula. The Nawab had insulted the banker, when he refused to offer him a loan. Jagat Seth therefore joined hands with its client the East India Company to bring about the Nawab’s downfall.

Jagat Seth financed the entire Plassey campaign. However, once Mir Jafar was on the throne of Bengal, they realised their folly. By the 1760s, they had turned against the new regime, and sought support of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam to undermine the new regime’s influence.  When Mir Jafar’s successor Mir Qasim discovered letters that implicated Jagat Seth in a plot to overthrow the Nawab, he ordered him beheaded. The Seth was the richest man on the planet when he was killed.

In retrospect, the Battle of Plassey was one of the pivotal battles in the control of Indian subcontinent by Britain. After their victory, the British now wielded enormous influence over their puppet Nawab Mir Jafar and amassed huge wealth. They used this revenue to increase their military might to establish the British Empire in India.

It is one of the ironies of history that the battle which led to British domination over India was funded by an Indian, then the world’s richest banker.

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