Nawabs of Bengal

The Nawab Nizams of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa ruled over the Bengal Subah and were subordinate to the Mughal empire, however after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, and acquisition of the administration of the subah from the then Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II, by the British East India Company, the Bengal Presidency was established, which included the Bengal subah and surther, the system of dual government was established in 1772. Thus, the Nawabs became "puppet rulers" of the British, with very little real power and authority to exercise and lost even that little power when the Nizamat (power to exercise military power and criminal justice) of the Nawab was also taken away from them; the Nawabs remained as the mere pensioners of the British East India Company. After the Revolt of 1857, the regions under the Company rule came under the British Crown, and by now, the post/office of the Nawabs was just titular. They had no real power and authority. Further, after Indian independence, in 1947, the region first came under the rule of the Dominion of Pakistan for two days, and then the Dominion of India, followed by the Republic of India in 1950, and since then has remained under the rule of the republic. Shown here is a 1776 map of the Bengal Presidency, after it came under Company rule and prior to its takeover by the British Crown and the partition of Bengal.