When did the company become diwan?

The East India Company became the Diwan of Bengal, on 12 August 1765. As Diwan, the Company became the chief financial administrator of the territory under its control. The Company needed to administer the land and organise its revenue resources. It needed to be done in a way that could yield enough revenue to meet the growing expenses of the company.

Revenue for the Company

The Company’s aim was to increase the revenue to buy fine cotton and silk cloth as cheaply as possible. Within a span of five years, the value of goods bought by the Company in Bengal doubled. The Company, before 1865, purchased goods in India by importing gold and silver from Britain. Now it was financed by the revenue collected in Bengal. Artisanal production was in decline, and agricultural cultivation showed signs of collapse. Then in 1770, a terrible famine killed ten million people in Bengal.