An appreciation of the ancient traders and Indigenous Bankers commercial merchants of Bengal and India before British colonization. The Marwadi Jain Family from Nagaur came to Murshidabad and became the Banker to Alvardi Khan of Bengal Nawabs. Fateh Chand Seth conspires against Siraj ud-dhaula of Bengal and supports the British army to dethrone the nawab of Bengal for his business prospects.

1. The Conspiracy of
Jagat Seth
against
Siraj ud-Daulah
the
NAWAB of BENGAL
PROFESSOR & LAWYER
PUTTU GURU PRASAD of VIVA-VVIT

2. Professor & Lawyer
Puttu Guru Prasad
B.Com., M.Com., M.Phil., M.B.A., PGDFTM., AP.SET., M.Phil.,
DRMS., L.L.B., ICFAI TMF., DIRM., L.L.M., Pre PhD (PhD)from
JNTUK., Topper
Domain Topper & 30th Batch Topper at ICFAI -2009 Training for Management
Faculty
“Diploma in Psychology from YALE
University”
MHRDI’s 'Institution's Innovation Council (IICs)Ambassador
NSS Certified Program Officer, (A.U)
LL.B Degree Gold Medallist from ANU-2005
ICFAI UNIVERSITY Trained Senior MBA Faculty
Eminent Faculty for Accounts, Business Studies, Economics,
Head, Board of Administration & Management Science,
BHAGAVAD GITA & CLAT & IPMAT Program Coordinator,

3. The Jagat Seth family was a wealthy merchant,
banker, and money lender family from Murshidabad
in Bengal during the time of the Nawabs of Bengal.

4. The house was founded by Jain Hiranand Shah from
Nagaur, Rajasthan, who came to Patna in 1652. In 1707,
Manikchand helped Prince Farrukhsiyar financially to
become the Mughal Emperor.

5. In award, Farrukhsiyar conferred the title of Jagat Seth on
Manik Chand, the head of the family, meaning "banker or
merchant of the world". This indicates the favor the family
had gained at the Mughal court.

6. Roben Orme, the official historian of the British East India
Company described Jagat Seth as the greatest banker and
money changer known in the world at that time.

7. The historian Ghulam Hussain Khan believed that "their
wealth was such that there is no mentioning it without
seeming to exaggerate and to deal in extravagant fables".

8. They built up their business towards the last quarter of
the 17th century and by the 18th century, it was perhaps
the largest banking house in the country. In the 1750s,
their entire wealth was estimated to be 14 crores. Jagat
Seth was extremely influential in financial matters in
Bengal and had a monopoly on minting coins there.

9. The Nawabs of Bengal such as Murshid Quli Khan used the
credit networks of the Jagat Seth family to pay annual
tribute to the Mughal Emperors in Delhi. Alivardi Khan
came to the throne of Bengal in a military coup financed
and planned by the Jagat Seths.

10. According to William Dalrymple, they could "make or
break anyone in Bengal, including the ruler, and their
political instincts were sharp as their financial ones".

11. Once a local businessman named Kantu borrowed money
from Jagat Seth Fateh Chand and was interested in the
purchase of silk. However, he failed to return the money.
Indian businessmen refused to deal with the East India
Company unless Kantu returned the money to Fateh
Chand. This shows the great respect the local
businessmen had for the Jagat Seths.

12. Fateh Chand suffered a great loss in Delhi during
Nader Shah's sack of the city in 1740, but he was
able to continue his business. He died on 2
December 1744. The Jagat Seths were the most
prominent moneylenders to the East India Company .

13. Siraj ud-Daulah, the new Nawab of Bengal, alienated
figures important to the interest of his state- including
Jagat Seth.The Nawab demanded a lavish tribute of 30
million rupees from the banker. Of course, Jagat Seth
refused, and a result, Siraj ud-Daulah hit him.

14. The Jagat Seth was a co-conspirator of Robert Clive against Siraj ud-
Daulah, along with other alienated figures, among them prominent
being- Mir Jafar, Krishna Chandra Roy, Omichund, Ray Durlabh & other
leading men. The Jagat Seth and other wealthy bankers funded the
British for the conspiracy.

15. Any members of the conspiracy group had no
intention to found British rule in India, instead, they
were just concerned about their political futures.

16. The decline of JAGAT SETH
Wealth and Political Influence
• After the Battle of Plassey, Mir Qasim became the new Nawab. He organized
the killing of several members of the family including Jagat Seth Mehtab
Chand and his cousin Swarup Chand, in 1763, and threw their bodies off the
ramparts
• off Munger Fort. Mahtab Chand's son, Kushal Chand, was granted the title of
Jagat Seth, but with the transfer of the treasury and mint to Kolkata by the
British, the need for a private banker at Murshidabad was vastly diminished.
• Kushal Chand was only 18 years old when he became Seth. He lacked his
father Mehtab Chand's political shrewdness and was a spendthrift. Thus, the
fortunes of the Jagat Seth began declining.
• Govind Chand, the next Seth, died in 1864 succeeded by Gopal Chand and
Gulab Chand respectively. By then, the fortunes of the family had declined by
a considerable amount.

17. The decline of JAGAT SETH
Wealth and Political Influence
• Museum
• The house of the Jagat Seths, complete with a secret tunnel as well as
an underground chamber, where illegal trade plans were hatched, has
been converted into a museum. House of Jagat Seth Museum was
established in 1980. It is privately managed.
It contains personal possessions of the Jagat Seth family including coins
of the bygone era, muslin, and other extravagant clothes, and Banarasi
sarees embroidered with gold and silver threads.
• According to the Archaeological Survey of India the house, temple, and
ruins associated with the memory of Jagat Seth's house at Mahimapur
are State Protected Monuments.