Since
time immemorial with respect to wars and expansion of
empires, governance, etc there have been many acts of betrayal, back
stabbing and treason carried out by certain band of daring people
driven by greed, revenge and their motives may range from
the altruistic to totally selfish like betraying their own countries
in return for personal gains unlike squealer or whistle blowers, who are mainly concerned with social causes like corruption, malpractices, etc.
The
British imperialists were good at exploiting this human frailty. Mir
Jafar was a close relative and military commander under the Nawob of
Bengal Siraj-ud Dalah. Robert Clive of the British India took over
the control of Bengal after the Battle of Plassey – 1757; he
defeated and deposed the Nawob with the help of Mir Jafar who was
later made the the puppet Nawob of Bengal. As part of the deal
Robert Clive took control of the Bengal army and the East India
company and received large bribes from the new Nawob.
Upon
realizing the British company's ambitious plan of expanding their
activities all over India and
his glaring mistake,
the Nawob aligned with the Danish to stop them but this resulted in
defeat and his exit. With tactics later he won the confidence of the
British and regained the throne for which he had to pay annually a
large sum to the company. He ruled the state until his death in
1765.
After
his death the British took complete control over Bengal and kept it till its
independence 200 years later. Because of betrayal of his own country
and people, Mir Jafer indirectly helped the British lay a strong
foundation on the Indian soil. The British grabbed the Indian
subcontinent one by one using tactics and military power. India was
a big catch, the most important country in the British Empire. Mir
Jafar is still known as Gaddar-e-Abrar, the betrayer of true faith.
Lesson:
''Wrong decision taken in haste or in a moment of aberration will
have disastrous consequences.''
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