Patna Crisis

Summary

This episode took place in 1762-63 during the 3rd Carnatic War. The Governor of Bengal Henry Vansittart deposed Mir Jafar and made Mir Kasim Nawab of Bengal. A treaty with Mir Kasim designed to counter the corruption amongst East India Company merchants was repudiated by the Council of Calcutta and worsening relations led to an attack on Patna by the the British, instigated by the Company Agent William Ellis. Ellis and his forces were soon ejected from the city by the Nawab's troops and pursued to Manjee where they were forced to surrender on 1st July 1764. Major Thomas Adams recaptured Patna on 6 November 1763 but not before Mir Kasim had executed 50 Europeans prisoners taken at Manjee. The conflict finally ended with the Treaty of Allahabad following the defeat of Shah Alam II the Mughal Emperor, Mir Kasim Nawab of Bengal and Shuja-ud-Daula Nawab of Oudh at the Battle of Buxar.

Biographies

Entries in the Dictionary of Indian Biography 1906
Thomas Adams (????-1764)
Mir Jafar (1691-1765)
Mir Kasim (????-1777)
Shah Alam (1728-1806)
Shuja-ud-Daula (1731-1775)
Henry Vansittart (1732-1770)

External Links

The Patna Crisis Google Books
Patna Crisis indianetzone.com
Execution of Ellis, Hay and Lushington Google Books

Historical Books on-line

A Narrative of the Transactions in Bengal from 1760 to 1764 by Henry Vansittart 1766 (Google Books)
The Diaries of Three Surgeons of Patna 1763 edited by Walter K Firminger 1909 (archive.org)