Negotiating authority in transition: Nawabi Bengal and the politics of fiscal reorganization

Historical transitions have been the focus of extensive academic debate. Some scholars characterize these periods as marked by turmoil and disorder resulting from the collapse of political cultures, economic realignments, and social reconfigurations. Others interpret them as periods of redefinition, economic revitalization, and the emergence of new social structures. This study argues that the main contribution of the Nawabi regime in eighteenth-century Bengal was its creation of a new, distinct, and regionally grounded political order during a time of imperial upheaval. Rather than viewing this era solely as a phase of decline between the Mughal Empire and the English East India Company, the Nawabi regime should be recognized as a significant and intentional experiment in political transformation. The regime restructured key administrative institutions, particularly the offices of Subadar and Diwan, thereby demonstrating deliberate negotiation of authority and adaptation during imperial transition. This paper contends that structural tensions within the Mughal administrative framework facilitated the emergence of influential intermediaries, exemplified by Murshid Quli Khan. His fiscal reforms and expanded bureaucratic authority marked a transition in Bengal’s political culture from imperial cohesion to a system primarily oriented around revenue collection. Rather than interpreting the Nawabi state as a mere vestige of Mughal decline, this study identifies it as a distinct political formation that negotiated sovereignty in response to both internal challenges and external pressures. Through analysis of archival records, Persianate administrative texts, and contemporary commentary, the Nawabi regime is shown to represent a form of ‘liminal sovereignty’—a transitional political state shaped by processes of imperial decline and colonial encroachment. The defeats at Plassey and Buxar are therefore interpreted as consequences of these persistent structural contradictions rather than as isolated events.