Arrival of European Traders in Bihar
- First of all, the arrival of European traders started in Bihar in the 17th century.
- The Portuguese came first in Bihar. The Portuguese came to Patna through the Hugli waterway. The Portuguese brought spices, porcelain, etc. with them and they used to take cotton clothes from Patna.
- The Dutch Company was established in Bihar in 1632 AD. The Dutch Factory was the building on the northern side of the present Patna College, Dutch traders dominated the saltpetre trade of Bihar.
- Job Charnock was appointed the head of the Patna factory in 1664 AD and he remained on this post till 1680 AD. Sir John Marshall served under Job Charnock during this time.
- Annoyed by the imposition of 5% tax on the trade of the English Company in 1680 by Subedar Shaista Khan of Bihar, Job Charnock looted the city of Hooghly in 1686.
- Farrukhsiyar again granted freedom to the British in 1717 to trade in Bihar and Bengal.
- The British reopened the Patna factory in 1718. During this time, the company started the practice of bribery in business.
- Due to the pressure of Nawab Alivardi Khan, the Patna factory was closed again in 1750, but Hallwell tried to reopen the Patna factory in 1755.
European Companies in Bihar
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Company’s Name
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Year of establishment
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Product
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Portuguese factory
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First half of 17th century
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Cotton clothes
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Dutch (Netherland) factory
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1632
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Grain, shore, cotton cloth
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British factory
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1651
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Indigo, cotton
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Danish (Denmark) factory
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1774
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Cotton clothes
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- The Subedar of Bihar, Syed Hussain Ali Khan and his brother Abdullah Khan, known as the Syed brothers, were famous as king-makers.
- In 1763, Mir Qasim got 148 prisoners arrested in Patna, including Ellis, the English agent of Patna, killed. This incident is known as the Patna Massacre.
- Under the chairmanship of James Alexander, in 1770 AD, a Lagan Parishad was formed in the name of Revenue Council of Patna. The other two members of the Lagan Parishad were Robert Palk and George Vansittart.
- In 1770 AD, Purnea district of Bihar was the center of Sanyasi rebellion.
- Sir John Shore’s permanent settlement system was implemented in Bihar by the Governor General Lord Cornwallis in 1793 AD.
- When the East India Company got the diwani rights of Bihar in 1765 AD, the post of Naib Nazim or Deputy Governor was created to run the administration of Bihar.
- In 1772, Warren Hastings deposed Shitab Rai and conferred the title of Rai Rayan on his son Kalyan Singh.
- After the year 1770 AD, in 1783 AD, there was famine again in Bihar. To solve this problem and for storing grains, Patna Golghar was built in 1784-1786 AD,
- Patna Gol Ghar was built by Captain John Garstin, a British engineer.
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