Conquest of India - The Black Hole - Extra History - Part 3

[@extrahistory]

This weeks episodes are brought to you by Ting Mobile! If you like talking to people or just texting someone and then tossing your phone across the room, like I do, then why not try Ting?! They offer great plans on a budget and you can use our link for $25 credit. extracredits.ting.com/ And We're doing a giveaway at: gleam.io/Sb3oO/win-extra-credits-merch Enter unique code WELCOMEKAT to get extra entries as a thanks for checking out this episode!

[@navy2843]

2 days ago?

[@chariotrequiem6552]

hi

[@eshanjadhav265]

We want a video of the Marathas and Shivaji Maharaj pls

[@darrenbutler9819]

@@navy2843 think it's some Patreon thing where they get access to videos sooner.

[@gi-hun9777]

Cool

[@a.d.malcolmson3759]

Interesting how one lost battle and a subsequent ill-considered decision can initiate a complete shift in the status quo. Thoroughly enjoying this series, thank you so much!

[@somsahay2161]

No, the Mughals were already a spent force by 1756, even the Bengal Nawabs were a second rate power, having ceded Orissa and having to pay tribute to the Marathas. The East India Company's real challenge would come over the course of the 4 Anglo Mysore wars and 3 Anglo Maratha wars. The Marathas were the most dominant force int he subcontinent from 1730 onwards, meanwhile the Mysore state under Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan created one of the most well organized modern armies in Asia at the time. The east India company lost the first 2 Anglo Mysore wars and the 1st Anglo Maratha war, being forced to pay indemnity and even tribute, yet its joint stock Company structure and the fact that most of Indian bankers backed the company and were its share holders alongwith the new Bengali landed estate holders, allowed the East India Company to bounce back from the crisis. Of course political and diplomatic geniuses like Warren Hastings, and later Generals like Arthur Wellsey (future Duke of Wellington) and Visocunt Lake allowed the British to top it off finally. It was only by 1805 that the British really became the most dominant power in the subcontinent.

[@mayukhmitra5819]

@@somsahay2161 I second this.

[@davidsuda6110]

I got the impression from the vid that it was a long-ish decline in the early 1700s anyway. Funny how 30-70 years can feel like an instant.

[@def3ndr887]

All because the British were paranoid of the French

[@Swift-mr5zi]

@@somsahay2161 How did Britain lose the Second Anglo-Mysore War? It ended in Status quo ante bellum

[@anirudh177]

By the time Shah Alam II became the Mughal ruler, his state wasn't even an empire. His power was so depleted during his reign that it led to a saying in the Persian language, _Sultanat-e-Shah Alam, Az Dilli ta Palam_ , meaning, 'The empire of Shah Alam is from Delhi to Palam', Palam being a suburb of Delhi.

[@ihl0700677525]

True, but EIC was not an "empire" either, just one of many European companies and British govt did not send the royal army and navy from Britain or the Americas to directly help EIC. If British govt send in the royal army, like how they deploy ~50,000 men against American rebels, EIC could (probably) outright dethrone the emperor and take over the entire Northern India (that was under nominal rule of the Mughals) in one fell swoop.

[@anirudh177]

@@ihl0700677525 North India wasn't under the nominal rule of the Mughals at that time, it was the Marathas and Afghan Durranis who held real power.

[@sztypettto]

@@ihl0700677525 - don't think he claimed EIC as an Empire. Sounds like he was referring to the Mughal dude.

[@ihl0700677525]

@@sztypettto My point is, Mughal "empire" was indeed in terminal decline, but EIC was not an "empire" either. EIC did not even get any direct aid from British govt in this war. If Shah Alam II only ruled Delhi and surrounding area, then EIC only "ruled" several coastal factories, not even the city of Kozhikode/Calicut or Chennai/Madras. The war was a simple "corporate acquisition", done by bunch of corporate employees, not by a nation state.

[@breaderikthegreat3224]

It barely existed Bengal was more then 50% of the nation and he gave it up

[@carter342000]

The constituanal mess of the ending is bizarre. You have a private company owned partly by the British Crown and private share holders becoming lords who collect taxes for a Indian Emperor, and would be theoretically enforcing some of his laws in his own lands. What can go wrong?

[@kafial1958]

Nothing can go wrong except for EVERYTHING.

[@DieNibelungenliad]

Its a private trading company becoming landlords by using their private army of local mercenaries to force the Emperor to give them his lands so they can collect rent on his behalf.

[@DieNibelungenliad]

@Ulises Leon The Emperor.

[@mjbull5156]

And that at this time, the Company only has indirect ties to the English/British government. None of what it is doing is official British policy.

[@BluePieNinjaTV]

@Ulises Leon the emperor building a massive army to crush them

[@shubharthidutta979]

0:27 a short note from the very same people who the eic fought. The crime wasn't commited by the nawab himself, even he wasn't acknowledged of that incident, but by the very same commander who betrayed us and helped the British in the battle of Plassey, Mir Zafar . In fact when the nawab was acknowledged of the incident he immediately freed them and gave orders for the survivors well treatment

[@nolifelongboarding]

*Mir Jafar

[@MegaGun2000]

It makes perfect sense if you think about it

[@ecurewitz]

unfortunately, it was too late for him

[@Mymindischaos1]

Eic harbor political fugitives( krishna das) , harrased local merchants, misused faruksiayars farmams and fortified without permission. All this was condensed to overstep of line. Not fair.

[@MegaGun2000]

@@Mymindischaos1 considering that the leaders of the EIC were such assholes that the British crown themselves didn't like them I'd assume they'd like that they're remembered as cheaters

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

I think the Marathas, Mysore Kingdom and Sikhs deserve their own episodes. As these guys fought anglo-maratha wars (total 3 wars), anglo-mysore wars (total 4 wars) and anglo-sikh wars (total 2 wars) against the British and EIC.

[@BlueflameKing1]

The martha confederation is definetly an interesting one.

[@isaactomangrief9158]

Yes, and active and successful (in all cases I think) with very minimal influence from foreign-trained mercenary armies

[@MegaGun2000]

If I'm not wrong they have a patron only series about Tipu Sultan. I would love something about either the Maratha confederacy or the Sikh Empire like you said, And if they want something with just as many sources but not as connected to European history, they could go for the Vijayanagara Empire

[@ecurewitz]

YASSS!

[@DieNibelungenliad]

Yeah, they skipped all the wars and rebellions the Mughal armies were in that allowed the EIC and other trading companies to beat the Mughal armies in battle

[@krishnamurthyk9797]

The main reason for the collapse of Mughal Empire is the Mughal - Maratha wars which lasted for 25 years. The Mughal Empire became bankrupt and powerless. Strong regional kingdoms started to emerge.

[@anirudh177]

@Agastya This is why Akbar is cool, he was cunning and shrewd, he realised that in a land with a majority Hindu population, appeasing and allowing Hindus to do their own thing was something he should do.

[@shubharthidutta979]

@Agastya yes . If Aurangzeb patron hindus like his predecessors there might be an another scene of India can be present now . For example the Mughals are the Emperor of undivided India Marathas are the prime minister and form the council of ministers alongwith commanding the Indian Navy. The rajputs are the army chief of whole India. Also assistance from bengali educated and renaissance elites would have transformed India into a world power

[@niessin1483]

@@shubharthidutta979 @Agastya I heard Aurangzeb hired most of his employee are hindu than any other of Mughal Emperor. Jizyah was actually a lesser paid tax for non-muslim and not discimination. He destroy and build many Hindu temple in hi conquest to unite India as whole. Im quite confuse now there alot of paradox of his own story.

[@BrokeBillionare]

I hate when people just calls leaders after Aurengzeb weak and ineffective. Aurengzeb emptied the treasury in war with Marathas which he got from all the leaders before him. The princes after Aurengzeb couldn't keep their throne because they couldn't pay the army. Aurengzeb was responsible for the demise of Mughals because of his vanity, not his successors.

[@anirudh177]

@@niessin1483 1. Why the argument that the number of Hindu officers increased under Aurangzeb is complete fallacy and misrepresentation : We can't ignore the gross increase in the number of officers under the reign of Aurangzeb which was upwards of 14,000 in the later part of his reign, while trying to assess his employment of Hindu officers in his Bureaucracy/nobility. But by merely analysing the gross increase of total number of officers there is no appreciation for the fact that in reality the value of offices and positions that the Hindu nobility was granted under Aurangzeb had degraded considerablly. The inflation in the total number of Hindu officers is a result of the influx of the Marathas and other Deccanis, who weren't recruited out of a concern for religious tolerance or integration, but rather due to the practical necessity to employ local chiefs,to help smoothen the conquests of the Deccan.

[@morshedulhaquemoin8920]

You simplified the Battle of Plassey down to the bone. The Nawabs army was numerically superior, true. But before the battle, A few nobles from the Nawabs court and the commander of the Nawabs army (Mir Jafar) secretly conspired with the British. The Nawab was winning the battle initially, due to some loyal officers. But the Mir Jafar refused to charge his calvary against the British and called a temporary truce. The British broke the truce and routed a numerically superior force. The Nawab fled the battlefield, later captured and executed by Mir Jafar's son. And guess who the British installed after the last independent Nawab? Mir Jafar. Mir Jafar was then toppled by the British as he thought he was independent and then they installed Mir Jafar's son-in-law, Mir Qasim. Mir Qasim tried to kick out of the Brits too, but he was crushed at the Battle of Buxar.

[@BlueHooloovoo]

They'll probably bring that up in their "Lies" segment to clarify anything that was left out.

[@farhanrahman7119]

@@BlueHooloovoo thats not the best strategy..

[@Brslld]

@@BlueHooloovoo if you need a video to explain your inaccuracies in an entire series then your not a credible source of information merely entertainment. Imagine writing a series of books and then releasing another book basically saying "hey umm remember those books, yeah alot of them are pretty wrong and we also missed alot."

[@aceous99]

Greed... Greed never changes....

[@TheMaxORyan]

@@Brslld "if you need a video to explain your inaccuracies in an entire series then your not a credible source of information merely entertainment" this series is quite literally entertainment first, they're having to shorten 2 centuries worth of info into 6 8 minute episodes, it's stupid to expect them to deliver all the details for every battle. Claiming it's inaccurate because of that is very fucking stupid

[@Artur_M.]

It's obvious that you have to do a lot of simplification in a series like this one but I kinda hope that you will talk about other powers in India in the next episode, chiefly the Marathas and also the Sikh Empire later on. Although, they probably could get a whole series each. BTW Excuse me for being the fashion police but I'm glad that we moved to the 18th century, so the way the British are drawn isn't anachronistic now. ;)

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

Mysore should also be added afterall they defeated British in 2 wars unlike Sikhs who lost their all war against British.

[@Artur_M.]

@@SafavidAfsharid3197 You are absolutely right. I have to admit, I'm not exactly an expert in Indian history. I need to learn more about Maysore.

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

@@Artur_M. Yes brother hope your interest in history remains till the end 👍

[@mohsen6274]

Also the invasion of Delhi by persians

[@fatrooster4632]

@@SafavidAfsharid3197 The Sikhs had to fight the EIC at the height of its power and wealth, while also dealing with traitorous generals and governors, and still nearly defeated the British twice, only barely losing

[@robertdicke7249]

There is a claim that my great grandfather, Robert Henry Dicke, coined the term “black hole” to describe those found in space. The reason they say he described it as a “black hole” is cause he really liked the history behind the conquest of India and liked to describe dark, inhospitable, or crowded places as “being like the black hole of Calcutta”. It only made sense to make the connection for him, as they say. Of course this can only be speculated upon, there were a lot of physicists working on understanding the phenomena. It is still a good story that I like cause I was named after the man.

[@GameyRaccoon]

That's very interesting!

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

Another thing at that time Mughal empire was already gone as the nawab of Bengal, Nizam of Hyderabad and nawab of Oudh were nearly independent and the Mughals were now on their route to become the puppet of Marathas. Also should have mentioned the nearly 30 year devastating Mughal-maratha war and the capture of malwa, battle of delhi and battle of bhopal in which the Marathas crushingly defeated the combined armies of Mughals and Nizam of Hyderabad.

[@grapeshott]

They were still under the nominal authority of the Mughals. Even for sometime those kingdoms payed money to Delhi

[@mayukhmitra5819]

I was Expecting them to say something about Marathas.

[@anirudh177]

reminds me of this Persian saying about Shah Alam II (25 June 1728 - 19 November 1806). His power was so depleted during his reign that it led to a saying in the Persian language, _Sultanat-e-Shah Alam, Az Dilli ta Palam_ , meaning, 'The empire of Shah Alam is from Delhi to Palam', Palam being a suburb of Delhi.

[@MegaGun2000]

@@mayukhmitra5819 correct me if I'm wrong, but the British hadn't started to manipulate their way into the Maratha courts at this point right? I mean, they were definitely present in Bombay and made contacts, but I assume that the way they convinced the Maratha lords to fight one another would be discussed in the next episode since they are speaking chronologically

[@somsahay2161]

@@grapeshott No, it was a bit more complicated than that. Think of it like Henry II and his Angevin Empire with France. So the according to the terms of the 1713 treaty, the Mughal empire recognized the Maratha Swarajya (Sovereign rule) which included Shivaji's orignal kingdom, alonwith their new conquests in Khandesh, Berar and part of Karnataka. However, beyond this the Marathas also demanded chauth and sardeshmukhi from the 6 Mughal provinces of the Deccan, that is roughly around 35,% of the revenues of those provinces. The Mughals accepted this, but in return the Marathas had to maintain peace, as well as provided 15000 cavalry for the Emperor's security (essentially to protect the Vazir show as colliding with the Marathas). These rights to the tributes were given as hereditary right to the Marathas, for which they had to pay a sum of 10 lakh rupees, or 100000 pounds, annually for the letters patent. This was seen as a fair trade as the Deccan revenue was measured to be about 14 crores or 1.4 million. Thus, these tribute rights were essential to the Marathas. Later the Marathas annexed entire provinces such as Malwa, Guajrat, Bunkelkhand, Orissa and even Agra and Ajmer, this too was done in the capacity of Mughal protectors and allies. By the 1784, the Marathas signed a treaty that not only confirmed their rule, but also put a condition that every Mughal appointment must be made with their suggestion and such an appointee must pay the Maratha court for receiving his commission. At the time, due to its weakness, the Emperor needed the Maratha protection against his own court. The Marathas were an independent kingdom that had secured a stake in the Mughal empire, much like the Angevins had done to France. Here the Marathas could exact tribute and control Mughal policy both foreign and military, meanwhile the Mughals couldn't exert any sovereign power over the Marathas.

[@davididiart5934]

The show Turn:Washington’s Spies actually had a character whose father was trapped in the black hole. I think he was as well. Fascinating to finally see it depicted in a video like this.

[@danielboggan2479]

The actual man’s dad died of pneumonia on a ship

[@marem3038]

The East India company became so rich and powerful that they control an area larger than the whole of Britain combine.

[@topnotchshinobi]

Indeed, which is why their rise to power is the top page quote of TV Tropes’ “NGO Superpower” article.

[@IAmTheStig32]

"A popular parlour game among historians is debating when the modern world began. Was it when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, in 1440? Or when Christopher Columbus discovered America, in 1492? Or when Martin Luther published his 95 theses, in 1517? All popular choices. But there is a strong case to be made for a less conventional answer: the modern world began on a freezing New Year's Eve, in 1600, when Elizabeth I granted a company of 218 merchants a monopoly of trade to the east of the Cape of Good Hope."

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

The Nawabate of bengal alone had population nearly as much as France and it had great amount of wealth. Though most of which was reduced after the bengal famine of 1770 where 10 million people died of starvation.

[@ossifiedprophet7495]

Mir Jafar was one of the three general of Nawab’s army and was Nawab’s relative. He partnered with the EIC to remove Siraj and become Nawab himself. In the Battle of Palasy the huge Nawabi army was commanded by the three generals, one of whom was Mir Jafar who incidentaly was in command of the larger garrison. He convinced his men and Mir Madan (one of the other generals) that the war is over and the British retreated (after firing twenty od cannon shots) and when the Nawab army packed up and prepared for their return the EIC soldiers opened fire from the back. That’s how EIC defeated Nawab’s numerically superior and way better equipped force not because EIC was superior but because Mughal lust was unparallel, backstabbing was a popular hobby. Mir Jafar became the next Nawab but in reality was just a ceremonial head of the state, EIC held all the power. How did you miss this? You were unaware? Let me tell you no historian is debating this incidents, this is in Mughal records, British records and other regional powers also recorded this event. Did you intentionally choose to not include this?

[@mayukhmitra5819]

They tend to gloss over things gor simplicity. The WW2 video on logistics is just bad due to the amount of glossing over.

[@watcherzero5256]

And Mir Jafar offered the EIC a £4m and £1.29m a month mercenary contract to be there in the first place to support his coup. It was a bit of an Chancellor Palpatine Clone Wars plan, you control both sides in the war to make yourself the ruler.

[@Nolaris3]

I assume it's not one of those things you can fit in a short 10 minute series, might be discussed in the "Lies" episode. But yeah, any mention of the Battle of Plassey is often attached with mentioning "Mir Jafar"

[@Vajrapani108]

@@mayukhmitra5819 simplicity here will do harm. The series started to break the myth of a all conquering British, and the fact that the first main war was won by backstabing and not fighting needed to be mentioned

[@suckassmork2972]

I bet Oversimplified would do a better job.

[@kafial1958]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You left out Mir Zafar's treason part. That's the best part in the whole story line😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@mayukhmitra5819]

True..

[@farhanrahman7119]

Ikr..

[@mayukhmitra5819]

@@farhanrahman7119 Yep. Though Madan lal failing to know that the British the gunpowder was dry was also equally important.

[@kafial1958]

@@mayukhmitra5819 50,000 soldier defecting and keeping gunpowder dry are of the same importance? By the way, the canons and artillerymen were French. So I don't know how that's Mir Madan's fault...

[@mayukhmitra5819]

@@kafial1958 To me it is. Yeah. Its wasn't exactly his fault but he did the cavalry charge not knowing that British gunpowder was dry.

[@rohandalvi6476]

When you called Mughal Maratha battles, 'small wars' while both sides had armies as big as nepoleon in terms of manpower.

[@commodoresan7275]

This series really be understating the role Marathas had in dismantling the Mughal Empire and in turn allowing British conquest.

[@Nexandr]

napoleon didn’t really need a lot of men to destroy his enemies tbh

[@soumajitsen1395]

@@Nexandr *Looks at the Invasion of Russia*

[@sentinel7672]

I mean, considering how they explained the *usual* size of the Mughal armies, it's entirely possible that the wars between the Mughals and Maratha were comparably small wars relative to the absolute destructive power of the Mughals at their peak. Beyond that they could be talking about the wars from the perspective of the EIC, which likely wouldn't care about them beyond their ability to profit off them and the possibility that they'd disrupt the EIC's operations.

[@The-Plaguefellow]

"Small wars" in relative terms to the average scale of wars that the Mughals and Marathas fought, I presume. But I can definitely see how that could be misconstrued, since they never really mention the usual scale of the two's conflicts.

[@hasifbinsaeed1055]

Fun fact: The battle of Plassey could've easily been won by the bangalies(because of the crazy numerical advantage) but the Nawabs cheif military commander betrayed him. And his name 'Mir jafar' has become a slang for betrayer. Kinda like Judas. Anyway happy to see my nation 🇧🇩 sorta being represented 💪

[@AstralSeer]

Atleast it got him a role as a villain in a Disney movie? :P

[@archsteel7]

Legitimate question, does that have anything to do with why the villain of Aladdin is named Jafar?

[@farhanrahman7119]

Same, bangladesh lesgooo🇧🇩

[@ecurewitz]

so is that how Disney got the name for the villain in Alladin

[@kafial1958]

Yeah! Total 50,000 infantry and cavalry defected with Mir Zafar. Nawab was left with 5,000 cavalry and 53 canons with wet gunpowder...(only 6 was functional)

[@sharadowasdr]

0:55 The Mughals were barely holding on as an empire at this time. The dominant power in India was the Maratha Empire. When the British were scheming in Bengal the Marathas were conquering Punjab.

[@karanacharya7689]

Growing up in India, none of my history lessons at school ever mentioned “The Black hole of Calcutta” incident as the precursor for British conquest of Bengal or that such an incident ever happened. This series is truly eye opening.

[@MegaGun2000]

Really? Pretty much every history textbook book I know of, especially the NCERT textbooks mention it, even going to Great lengths to point out that this gave them a perfect justification to describe the people of India, or the rulers of India at least as monsters. Which history books did you use? Genuine question, not a taunt

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

In odisha we are taught about this at class 9 history books. I don't know which State are you from maybe it's get mentioned in eastern indian state boards?

[@951sht]

But there is one fact you missed, that Mir Jafar was the reason of defeat at the Battle of Plassey.

[@karanacharya7689]

Siraj ud daulah was a psychopathic sadist unlike his predecessor Nawab Alivardi Khan. No wonder Mir Jafar switched sides to the British EIC.

[@mayukhmitra5819]

The French fought even after the Bengalis left.

[@cs-mi8ur]

Honestly you got a narcissistic ruler who disrespected the noble families,merchants,generals, dishonours noble woman-any one would switch over to the British.Whats gonna change, a British officer rulling instead of a Persian ruler.

[@srikrishnak196]

@@cs-mi8ur Just blabbering nonsense, isn't it. Don't forget there were Marathas on the borders, always trying to raid Bengal and add it.... Except the last sentence in your comment, everything else can be agreed upon...

[@jhonshephard921]

@@cs-mi8ur Persian? I see you are drinking the BJP poison koolaid. Those "Persian" rulers were culturally FAR more Indian than the British ever were or ever became. To THIS day, for better or worse, Pakistani Muslim weddings are far more similar to Indian ones than Arab or Iranian ones. Name one tradition the British copied from India, they didn't even bother to learn Hindi or Urdu. There is a reason we Pakistanis and Indians call each other bahi when we meet in the US.

[@curiousbengali6607]

The Battle of Plassey deserves a own episode of itself. Nawab Siraj's army was more than 10times stronger than Robert Clive's. But, during the time of battle, Nawabs Senapati (General) and brother-in-law *Mir Jafar* betrayed. Later Mir Jafar became the Nawab of Bengal. A puppet of EIC. Mir Jafar has his tomb In Murshidabad. And even today every Bengali kicks his tomb as a reminder of his betrayal. The term Mir Jafar is considered a slang in Bengali. The Battle of *Plassey* . Plassey or polasi is flower in Bengal. Red in color. When battle was about to begin, the entire plain field was covered with red flowers. That's why the place is called Plassey.

[@coolio3267]

As someone who had to learn all this in school I have to say I hope u mention the Maratha's and the kingdom of Mysore next episode but all of this was SO WELL put together and explained

[@MegaGun2000]

I agree, the methods through which those powerful states were taken down is both fascinating and saddening,

[@ccggenius]

WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME!?!

[@coolio3267]

@@ccggenius wut name?

[@andrewklang809]

@@ccggenius Dammit, beat me to it.

[@anirudh177]

@@coolio3267 You mispelled "Maratha" as "Martha"

[@Freekymoho]

An empire crumbling because of a weak succesion doesnt really seem that paradoxical?

[@sircoloniser5454]

india never would have been colonised, if there had been one more sunny day in the seven years war

[@advaitdhoundiyal435]

THIS IS WAY TOO TRUE XD

[@sircoloniser5454]

@@advaitdhoundiyal435 and or if the indians at Plassey had better gun powder

[@DieNibelungenliad]

Or if Mir Jafar didnt betray Siraj Ud Dawlah

[@jjdude5531]

what is this in reference to?

[@sircoloniser5454]

@@jjdude5531 the indians gun powder at plassey became useless due to the rain

[@mehek_13]

Amazing episode, I remember learning about all of this in school. You should include the betrayal part of Mir Zafar as well it was pretty crucial on why Bengal was defeated. Eagerly waiting for the next episode!!!

[@thenoblepoptart]

The normally excellent pacing of Extra History comes to a grinding halt every time the armchair shows up, I hope this is the last time we see him…

[@Mar1aHass4n]

Agreed

[@malachiphoniex8501]

Agreed. I'm all for for jokes but I'm not a kid.

[@CrimsonBlasphemy]

@@malachiphoniex8501 Let's be real, even children will find the Armchair an annoying digression and sock puppet caricature.

[@malachiphoniex8501]

@@CrimsonBlasphemy true dat.

[@Mathadar]

Please ditch the Armchair. Jesus!

[@mr.o8539]

As a Bengal...I’ve been waiting for this episode.

[@aritrobhattacharya6480]

Ondho Kuup Hottya kotota nobab er kora seta niyeo kintu proshno ache

[@sohamdas7199]

@@aritrobhattacharya6480 Ondho kup hotta ekta british propoaganda...ami joto dur porechi

[@aaronmoots2797]

Nothing better than seeing that Extra Credits released the video I’ve been waiting all week for!!

[@habbyhouse]

I was waiting for this episode. Best weekend ever.

[@agnibho]

The Company won the battle of Palashi due to the betrayal of Mir Jafar. He was bribed by the Company and refused to enter the battle with his army while the soldiers loyal to the Nawab were massacred. This is why the word "Mirjafar" is often used in Bengali as a stand in replacement for the word "traitor".

[@tawh1d]

He was Shia. Says enough.

[@shashwatsinha2704]

Mir jaffar was the Nawab's Commander in Chief and he plotted with the British. Half of the army was under his control and he switched sides when the battle began.

[@azwadarhamaryas4914]

you just did not mention mir jafar's betrayal and I love how the merchants wanted to pay low taxes.

[@Sasputa]

Amazing video as always! I have been looking forward for episode 3 and it finally came.

[@hamzasadiq7672]

I feel like you overstated the mughal empires might after Aurangzeb. Internal fighting and the maratha, Persian, and afghan invasions had already made the empire a regional force with the marathas becoming the most powerful empire in India till being beaten at the battle of panipat

[@somsahay2161]

Pretty much. Even at the time of Nader Shah's invasion, most of Mughal generals did not participate in the battle..The Nizam ul Mulk had in fact sent away his main army back to the Deccan, and stayed on with just 5000 men, who did not even participate in the battle. And the 'Empire' only had effective control over Delhi, Agra, some parts of Punjab and the Upper Gangetic valley, and even these areas were contested by the Rohilla and Bangash Pashtuns, Jats between Agra and Bharatpur, and finally the Sikhs in Punjab. The war was really a forgone conclusion.

[@islammehmeov2334]

​@@somsahay2161 NEDER SHAH WES TURKIC not GEYRAN

[@AbcXyz-dd8yo]

Battle of Plassey wasn't even a big battle. The British actually bribed the Commander-in Cheif so he switched side and the king wasnt even able to fight. The Commander in Cheif then became the next king.

[@ethandyson6070]

Loving this series so far. Please don't bring the arm chair back in the next one.

[@SatyreIkon]

Oh, this takes me back. I remember writing papers about the newspaper coverage of this and other incidents at uni. Great topic, and really interesting when you consider the leanings of each specific paper. Thank you for covering this topic!

[@bigbadbob7070]

I never would have believed that Britain managed to pretty much stumble into becoming one of the greatest colonial powers in the world almost by accident.

[@greywolf2887]

Just adding this extra fact, in the Battle of Plassey, Siraj lost due to the fact that his uncle and commander betrayed him. So the majority of his army, didn't even pick the sword, or else it was a done deal

[@joshuafrimpong244]

Hope all you guys chairs are prepared for next week. This episode explained things that frankly I had never looked into

[@caliburn1123]

7:35 you should have mentioned this The English couldn't have beaten the Nawab even if they had brought the whole English army. Mir Kasim(the Nawabs uncle) betrayed him. Unlike the foreigners the Indian troops were incredibly disciplined they only raised arms when their commander ordered. Mir Kasim who in charge of more than half of the Nawabs army. The ones under his command didn't fight. If the Nawab hadn't been betrayed history mught have been very different.

[@parkus1416]

Amazing content y’all! You guys never miss.

[@farabi1217]

I am from Bangladesh and thanks for sharing part of our history.

[@MrMahankumar]

Mate, you did well...just add to add the role of Mir Jafar, one of the most known betrayer in India to the Battle of Plassey

[@deepakdahiya9]

Many inaccuracies in this video. I didn't expect this from extra credits. Firstly:- By 1756 Mughal empire didn't exist in India. It was largely replaced by local independent kingdoms where Maratha empire was the largest encompassing most of mughal territories. Mughal sultan was himself a vassal to Maratha empire paying revenue in order to seek peshwa's protection. Secondly:- Sirajuddaula the nawab of Bengal didn't lose to a more disciplined British force but he was cheated by his own army generals most notably Mir Jafar who switched sides during the middle of the battle.

[@farhanrahman7119]

Yess, good to know more people know these things, very important details

[@watcherzero5256]

Secondly Mir Jafar didnt just switch sides in the middle of the battle, he offered to pay the company £4m and £1.29m a month to use EIC company troops to support his coup which was motivated by the punishing taxes the Marathas were imposing on the Bengalis via the local Mughal ruler.

[@anirudh177]

true, I mean Baji Rao I captured and sacked Delhi in 1737.

[@anirudh177]

You forgot to mention Mir Jafar's betrayal and defection at the battle of Plassey. The victory was only possible due to the defection of Mir Jafar, who was Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah's commander in chief. Strength of the EIC at Plassey:- 750 British soldiers 2,100 Indian sepoys 100 gunners 50 sailors 8 cannons Strength of the Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah at Plassey:- 5,000 cavalry of Siraj ud-Daulah 35,000 infantry (defected) 15,000 cavalry of Mir Jafar (defected) 53 field pieces (mostly 32, 24 and 18-pounder pieces) French allied troops of the Nawab: 50 artillerymen (6 field pieces)

[@maxdavis7722]

Why did he betray?

[@anirudh177]

@@maxdavis7722 In 1747 the Maratha Empire led by Raghoji I Bhonsle, began to raid, pillage and annex the territories of the Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. During the Maratha invasion of Odisha, its subedar Mir Jafar and Ataullah the faujdar of Rajmahal completely withdrew all forces until the arrival of Alivardi Khan and the Mughal Army at the Battle of Burdwan where Raghoji I Bhonsle and his Maratha forces were completely routed. The enraged Alivardi Khan then dismissed the shamed Mir Jafar and punished him. Jafar initially showed loyalty to Alivardi Khan's successor Siraj Ud Daulah despite being humiliated by Alivardi Khan, but when the Nawab elevated and appointed Mohanal to the prominent position of his "supreme Diwan", caused the Muslim nobility, and in particular Mir Jafar, to take great offense. Mir Jafar was then the head of the armed forces, second only to the Nawab, and the elevation of a Hindu to a post above him was taken almost as a personal insult.

[@maxdavis7722]

@@anirudh177 so to summarise the betrayal came because the leaders weren’t considerate of religious differences? It seems that would be part of the responsibility of the leader to take care of. Did he join the British side or go somewhere else?

[@farhanrahman7119]

@@maxdavis7722 its because the brits offered him the crown, and because of the other thimgs mentioned, sirajudullah had captured secret letters between jafar and the brits but chose to give him one final chance and forgive him, making him swear by the holy quran, but in the end mir jafar did what hes known for

[@maxdavis7722]

@@farhanrahman7119 so the betrayal was organised by the British? Isn’t this just strategy against a divided foe used by the massive underdog in this battle?

[@theblurjay2986]

We are literally learning about this right now in history class! This is crazy

[@debopriyochakraborty871]

Dude.. you guys left out the most important points.. like how the majority of Bengal force did not participate in the war.. and betrayed the king... 🤔🤔🤔

[@billcipherproductions1789]

The Nawab broke the 101 points of being a ruler: Keep the Army Happy.

[@nageshwaranrahul]

Ngl why not? Being ruled by a foreign king who forces his Views and policies on you. So why not betray such king ? So I kind of understand where the people of Bengal are coming from.

[@MashZ]

@@nageshwaranrahul Actually the soldiers were pretty disciplined and strictly followed their commander Mir Zafar (cousin of the nawab). He was the most senior commander with most armies under his command. He became the next nawab.

[@debopriyochakraborty871]

@@nageshwaranrahul he was betrayed by his own relatives... Still now we Indians have issues working together for a common goal.

[@MashZ]

Most senior members of the royal family, nobles and merchants didnt like the nawab because he was only 20 years old when he assumed power as a part of the last nawab's(his grandpa) will. But there were many older male members of the nawab family with political power, money and parts of the army under their command. So the conspiracy against the nawab was pretty strong. The British just used the situation by taking the usurper's side (Mir Zafar against Shiraj Udulla and then Mir Qashem against Mir Zafar) in each power struggles and increasing own strength until they were objectively stronger than anyone else. Then they formerly took over power

[@mr_bridou6507]

Could you make a serie on Talleyrand one day?

[@NguyenHoang-mo7hs]

The British didn’t even want to fight Bengal in the first place. But the ministers, merchants, bankers and even the Nawab’s uncle invited them in. Too late did they realize that the British were there to stay.

[@cygaming1222]

I have been binging this channel for a month now but i can't stop

[@lgusty1]

Perhaps it has already been requested, but I would love to see the Portuguese represented. They had been establishing factories ("feitorias") all over the Indian Ocean since 1500. I have heard it said that they are the original "dutch" in the doing it earlier and better category. It is understandable that they would be less active in this time period due to the Iberian Uniom 1580-1640 (or rather, QUITE active making the invicible Spanish armada so "invincible" with some of the finest ships afloat at the time) , but if we are discussing historical paradoxes and forgotten players, then their story is not only definitely interesting but also some would say crucial

[@pa-29ameygujar74]

Being an Indian and an long time subscriber of this channel I understand the western interpretation of the conquest of India still there were many other Kings who weren't part of Mughal Empire. One notable name was and still remains is Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj{Founder of Maratha Kingdom} and this was direct result of atrocities of Mughals towards the local indigenous people of India and these people came together which resulted in weaking of Mughal Empire. Also the Sikh Empire would also be a great empire that didn't pledged directly to Mughals and opposed them as the nineth Guru Shri Gurudev Tej Bahadur left this world fighting against Mughals. The most notable event would be the 3rd Battle of Panipat after which there was a power vacuum which would later be filled by the British. Also as an Indian many invaders after winning would glorify and have documented about how they were in battle but the local folklore the local languages the local literature would say otherwise.

[@callanadamwilliams8200]

You kind of ignored the most important reason for the decline of the Mughuls. The Marthas and most importantly the Persian invasion. The Persians led a huge army that fought with muskets that raided Mughul india and not only destroyed their armies but forced them to pay a tribute so huge that the people of Persia were exempted from taxes for several years. Having the best of your military totally destoyed and then losing all of your tax revenue will lead to a states collapse.

[@krealyesitisbeta5642]

8:02 "THINK Indian man THINK!"

[@abulhamza563]

Why you guys always bypass very skillfully how British EIC defeated The Nawab of Bengal in 1757 through treachery of the Generals and Nobles. No mention at all. So frustrating....

[@siddhanttewari5147]

that analogy at 4:46 tho is so scary. so dystopian. and I saw a few comments drawing conclusions and making asertions. remember that this is a very concise summary which has to skip over a lot of detail.

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

The thing was the marathas, Mysore, bengal and Sikhs had their own armies.

[@alessandrodelogu7931]

Every time a state relies too much on mercenary troops, the mercenaries end up becoming the true masters of the land. It happened with the Germanic peoples in the Roman Empire and with the Turks in the Middle East. This is just another example. The Black Hole incident reminds me of the destruction of opium by Lin Zexu, shortly before the First Opium War. Both China and Bengala underestimated their opponent.

[@physicscodingcamp]

I'm from calcutta. Thanks for sharing this history to world.

[@nageshwaranrahul]

Kolkatta* :p cheers. Be proud of our local names.

[@physicscodingcamp]

@@nageshwaranrahul Calcutta is more popular.

[@raunaksinghdhanjal4168]

The battle of Plassey and Buxar are also very interesting. British did not won them merely because they were good, a large portion of Bengali army were under the new Nawab Mir Jasim who was skimming with the the British. Kings and generals have a video on that battle.

[@theanglo-lithuanian1768]

It was a bit of both. The British could not have won with only a small force even with the betrayal if the small force didn't know what it was doing. The EiC was by that point a well trained and battle experienced fighting force.

[@hereticpariah6_66]

*Holy Cats!!* i had _no idea whatsoever_ where the expression "the black hole of Calcutta" came from!! ...well, you learn something new every day... _so long as you subscribe to this channel!!!_

[@Arman-xv1zf]

Hey there ! I dont know if it's because you took my comment of last time to heart and decided to add metrics to your descriptions but in any case it is a welcomed addition to your videos ! Thank you for the content !

[@DJtrainzzz]

These are some of my favourite history vids ever

[@heheboi7443]

Destruction is imminent when there is no unity. A lone lion dies when faced with a pack of hyenas.

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

And at that time Marathas controlled odisha (not Orissa it's just a colonial name) not the nawab of Bengal. Odisha was given to maratha after the continuous invasions of Marathas towards the territories of nawab of Bengal. Odisha would belong to EIC after 2nd anglo-maratha war I think.

[@yj9032]

Marathas destroyed Orissa. This killled 1000s of people there.

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

@@yj9032 i doubt maratha destroyed Odisha as odisha was already destroyed by the bengal, Golconda, vijayanagara and Mughal invasions in 16th and 17th century. Though Marathas themselves didn't tried to improve that. The end for odisha came when British got it after 2nd anglo-maratha war after which it's lost all its industry and had to endure famines after famine. The indian government just put salt in the wounds of not only odisha but entire eastern India after they put forward fright equalisation policy.

[@zerubiszeus4687]

It's cool to see the story behind Britain's rise in India. Most people like to simplify it as evil colonizers had guns and India was weak. The truth is so much more satisfying

[@gkgaming6197]

Make a series about the independence struggle too of india

[@Mills_Lu]

Thank you for making this videos! They help me a lot for a project for school!!

[@SuperNova-so2cj]

the telling of this history really emphisizes how central the wants of very rich men was and not some unified national project on either side

[@Robytmro]

Did you just skip the rise of the Marathas? That was a big thing by the 1750s and 60s. Not to mention Dupleix's campaigns.

[@SafavidAfsharid3197]

Marathas were the main reason Mughal empire crumble tbh. They fought a devastating war with Mughals in Deccan which lasted from the reign of Aurongzeb to his grave. After that they defeated the Mughal army in malwa and took it, snatched gujurat from the Mughal, defeated the Nizam and got the right to collect taxes in Deccan, again defeated Mughals in Bundelkhand, then started marching towards delhi, defeated them at the first battle of delhi and sacked it in 1737 and even defeated a combine mughal-nizam army at battle of bhopal. They should have at least gotten some mentioned.

[@wubbers662]

A WW2 video on lesser known allies/axis?

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

They do not do series past 1920 unless sponsored and the games companies that sponsored WWII videos have not sponsored for a while.

[@HarpaxA]

I thought this is the last episode, so i started watch the series... Usually, I wait until all the episodes out, before watching.

[@sizwe.amabaso732]

Losing a strong leader, the curse of all great kingdoms

[@HunterSentinel]

4:40 gah, wade wilsons messing with the time machine again!!!!

[@knickknack2688]

Extra credits is the best

[@superchicken3554]

I love this series! This has been one point in history I don't really know yet

[@silesiaball9505]

Now, when the Mughal empire is gone , the British are going to exploit this power vacuum. Great video

[@runajain5773]

Because maratha s

[@andrewnewell1142]

Gonna continue recommending John Company

[@BaconHer0]

The Anarchy by William Dalrymple is an excellent book on this topic

[@NRH111]

Not a huge fan of the armchair. I feel as though it really disrupts the flow of the episode. Been a long time viewer and have watched every EH and get that humor helps alot with engagement but in this sense its just kinda jarring for a sub par joke. Times like these make me really miss Dan, that being said the new narrator isnt bad in any sense Dan just had a very good delivery and energy.

[@easternhills1329]

7:36 the handguard on the sabre is flipped lol.

[@godscroissant1539]

I think you guys skipped over one of the main reasons for the fall of the moguls which was it's invasion by the iranian empire of Nader shah and their sack of dehli.

[@ronitdhanphole]

Baji Rao captured Delhi two years before Nadir Shah, the Mughals were going down either way.

[@apalahartisebuahnama7684]

4:21 this! Many empires ended in this way, from Roman to Abbasid to Mughal to Ottoman they all have problem with mercenaries. Their loyalty is for highest bidder and when they give you comfort once you loose the favor they will start the gradual decline.

[@nigamrishabh]

Battle of Plassey is interesting because British had some 3000 soldiers versus around 55000 soldiers with Siraj ud-Daulah. But there was treachery involved and around 50000 defected.

[@kahlzun]

Ah, Europe. Your presence alone topples empires

[@TyLarson]

Basically dnd is going amberverse ie shadow in roger zelazny's chronicles of amber. Highly recommend trying it out as diceless can be a lot of fun.

[@TheCreepypro]

man this only gets more and more interesting

[@vineet123kumar123]

Great series so far! do more series about India!!

[@Tralfazz74]

Holy crap. This song shares so many of it's chords with the US-Middle East relationship

[@jamcdonald120]

1:00 gunships right? it was definitly gunships!

[@ryansmith841]

The British: “I fear all French, even French bearing gifts.”

[@berniethekiwidragon4382]

5:29 Why does this situation sound a little like what happened during the Zhou Dynasty's Spring and Autumn, and Warring States Period in ancient China?

[@ravencloud7]

5:43 you saying English when you mean British again?

[@postapocalypticnewsradio]

PANR has tuned in.

[@Sanskar_S_Ratnawat]

Credit is due where it is deserverd the British used the policy of divide and conquer efficiently against India but the atrocities they committed and the audacity to never apologize even once in the past 80 years is seriously infuriating.

[@Sanskar_S_Ratnawat]

They were smart enough to realise that they couldn't win against Indian kings in straight out war so, they pushed Indians against Indians.

[@harpman476]

Please do an extra history series on the permian- Triassic extinction a.k.a. the great dying it could be a special called “extra prehistory”.

[@mayukhmitra5819]

Rember guys The British did all of this while simultaneously fighting 7 years War American Revolution French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars.

[@lysimaquetokmok6755]

As the french

[@mayukhmitra5819]

@@lysimaquetokmok6755 What do you mean. I dont understand.

[@marksnow7569]

@@mayukhmitra5819 The French were also simultaneously fighting those wars, because they were the people against whom the British were actually fighting. Indian states were just dragged into the conflicts from time to time by one side or the other.

[@mayukhmitra5819]

@@marksnow7569 Were the French Fighting Americans, French, Spanish, Dutch, Marathas, Hyderabad and Mysore at the same time?

[@marksnow7569]

@@mayukhmitra5819 No, but that's a different claim!

[@paolocostaimori]

I had very strong "Foundation' feelings from 4 minutes onwards in this video. I know this is not the story that mainly inspired Asimov, but I can see some paralels there.

[@sathaire8120]

Great work

[@krityaan]

"The Mughal Empire was still at its zenith at the start of the 18th century" This is objectively false. Aurangzeb was a disaster to the Mughal empire, who spent the remainder of the already strained treasury on a continuous war that can only be described as a Pyrrhic Victory in the Deccan, primarily against the Marathas, draining money and manpower. Shortly after his death in 1707, Awadh, Bengal, Mysore and Hyderabad effectively seceded from the Empire. This is half the Empire's territory and more than a majority of their richest provinces. The Mughal empire after Aurangzeb was a miniscule shadow of itself before his reign.

[@mesa9724]

In terms of land mass the Mughal Empire was more or less at it’s zenith. But if we are talking about politic and economic power then yeah it’s false.

[@grapeshott]

Aurungzeb had kept his empire intact

[@prfwrx2497]

@@grapeshott but at what cost to future power projection capabilities and valuable war reserves? If the goal is to keep all the land at all costs, sure, but then that's what you get. Land, and little of anything else. Or as we call it, more trouble than it's worth.

[@christopherclark9569]

@@grapeshott but the consequences of his rule weakened the empire

[@CornishCreamtea07]

They may address that on the lies video they usually put up after these.