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| Nabob (Nawab) slidetodoc.com |
Above image: Nabob is an Anglo-Indian term that came to English from Urdu, possibly from Hindustani nawāb/ navāb during British colonial rule in India. It is likely, the word existed before the arrival of the British in India. Portuguese ''nababo'', it is believed, having preceded the British in India. The English use of nabob was for a person who became wealthy over a short period in a foreign country, particularly India, and returned home with considerable, wealth power and influence. In England, the name was meant for men in the employ the East India Company who earned vast fortune far beyond their salary and, upon return to England, was wealthy enough to purchase seats in parliaments. Such men with ill-gotten money used to own big mansions and estates in the country sides.................. Above image: A Nabob’s return - Australia's The National Gallery of Victoria's rare painting of British Nabob represents John Pybus Senior (1727–1789), a retired East India Company servant and his wife Martha, née Small, (1733–1802) with their children -not in the above painting. Hailing from a modest family, the only child of Bryan Pybus (1690–1747) aged fifteen, on 15 December 1742, John was sent to Fort St George, Madras, to take up a clerical job in the East India Company and later held many positions during a span of 20 years. Robert Clive, finally appointed him as the new chieftain of Masulipatan (Masuliptinam in AP) and here Pybus must have made the fortune he had been so keen to acquire. Subsequently, he left the EIC and back in England his family settled at Brudley Street, Berkeley Square. Soon in August, 1768, John Pybus bought the ancient property of Pricklers in East Barnet, Hertfordshire, just outside London, from Thomas Brand MP, in whose family the property had been since 1558. In true nabob fashion, the Pybus family were establishing themselves with their Indian-made money both in town and country.......There could be no better way to advertise their new wealth and prosperity than to commission a family portrait by one of the most fashionable artists of that time. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/a-nabobs-return-the-pybus-conversation-piece-by-nathaniel-dance-2 .....................The English company was founded in 1600 as the Company of Merchants of London Trading in SE Asia, particularly in the East Indies. Initially, they had no intention of capturing the Indian provinces, though the land was fertile and the rulers were rich beyond description. Nor had they any modicum of desire to establish an empire. British colonialism had taken roots in the Bengal province of India in the 1700s with the East India Company, taking complete control over the vast region including its large revenue under the diabolical scheming of Robert Clive who began his career as a clerk in Fort St. George of Madras, now in Chennai. He toppled the ruling head and later killed him tactically using dissident nawabs in the court in return for power and exalted status. The Battle of Buxar fought between 22 and 23 October 1764, between the the command of the British East India Company, led by Hector Munro, and the combined armies of various rulers ended in favor of the British who became the undisputed rulers of Northern India and wielding enormous power and supremacy throughout India.
Robert Clive played crucial role in the battle and signed two important treaties with Shuja-Ud-Daula and Shah Alam-II called the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765 and this consolidated their firm hold on the Indian soil. the company's attitude started changing over a period as the prospects for revenue were enormous far beyond comprehension. Armed with more power with support from the English company and the establishment in London, the imminent growth of company's wealth, made the officials ill treat and oppress not only the prominent officials in the employ of Nawab, but also the poor people of Bengal, etc. The company used the Indian revenue not to improve Bengal, but it was sent to England to revamp their quality of life and economy.
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| aftermath of battle of Buxar 1764 w.slideshare.net |
How did the officials of EIC make money on the sidelines? In the early period, the English ran mercantile business without any permit from the local ruler and paid no taxes to the ruler in charge. Many officials blinded by greed to make quick money forced the Indian artisans and peasants to sell their produce at rock-bottom price so that they could sell them at a huge profit their mark-up would be around 4 to 5 time times. many acted as middlemen and pocketed a part of the deal as commission from
the landlords and farmers.
The unbearable heat and other factors like tropical diseases, harsh monsoons, loneliness, working in dangerous thick jungles prompted many young British Bobs to make fast bucks in a short period to get back home and live comfortably with the money they accumulated in India. The inspiration came from the lavish lives of rich Maharajahs and Nawabs in India. Many company officials without self-esteem shamelessly pursued a different path. They made the well-to-do Zamindars - big land owners, Nawabs and Amirs give expensive gifts to them in the form of gold and jewelry, etc., under coercion in return for some favor.
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Corruption in British East India co. jantoo.com
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Illegal gratification, corruption and dishonesty became a hall- mark of British East India company's Indian operations. Corruption was institutionalized way back in the power corridors of EIC which continues even today in modern India in the state and central levels. Thus the British who were going around the places, making enormous money on the side lines, besides salary and other perks from the company became Nabobs back in their countries. Often the English Nabobs wallowing in vast money were looked upon with contempt as Asiatic Plunderers.
Well-known nabobs included Robert Clive, Sir Robert Fletcher, General Richard Smith, Sir Francis Sykes, and Paul Benfield. |
| Robert Clive, Nabob general.nam.ac.uk |
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nabob Francis Sykes nam.ac.uk
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Above image: Wealth accumulated in India in the 1750s allowed Sykes, first baronet (1730-1804) to purchase an estate in Yorkshire; his service and private trade as Resident at Murshidabad in the 1760s substantially augmented this fortune....
."In the 19th century the East India Company repurposed and deployed the term to produce colonial moral authority and termed "this substantially augmented fortune as moral lapse—a result of the scheming influences of the local population. On the other hand, the “native” assistants and officers were depicted as naturally corrupt and collectively immoral'''A common fear was the nova rich nabobs, their agents, and those who took their bribes – would use their wealth and vitiate the political atmosphere by influencing to corrupt Parliament in their home land. They were subject to criticism and satire in high social circles of the stratified society. Dubbed as lazy and materialistic, with poor knowledge of Indian economy, most of them hailed from middle class families of Caledonian origin, often being seen as lower part of the social ladder far removed from virtuous British culture. The families of Russell of Swallowfield Park, Berkshire Sir Henry Russell, 1st baronet (1751-1836) and several several of their descendants made a fortune in India and had built palatial mansions, etc., in England. Only a few families remained rich and never flaunted their ill-gotten money.
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| 1783 engraving. rambled Nabob..sciencephoto.com |
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East India company, corrupt officials. blogs.warwick.ac.uk
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| English company nabobs, slideshare.net |
Many of the nova rich nabobs, though had risen to a decent status economically in a conservative and status-conscious British society, neither developed social skills and norms matching their new position nor social grace and manners of the so called aristocrats. They paraded their riches to win admiration and in the process they became broke in a short time. Hard-pressed for money in the late 1700s and early 1900s lots of English people heard about stories of the rags to riches - of the British officials and their Maharaja-like cozy, carefree life in India making big money in a short period that would assure them of future security and comfortable retired life back in England.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabob
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265984348_Nabobs_Empire_and_Identity_in_Eighteenth-Century_Britain_review
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