Objective: This article analyzes how the Nawabi regime in early 18th-century Bengal (1700-1757) employed fiscal reorganization as a strategic tool to consolidate political authority and redefine sovereignty during the decline of the Mughal Empire.
Methods: The study utilizes a historical-institutional approach, analyzing primary Persian revenue records [3], contemporary chronicles [4], and early British administrative documents [1]. A critical interpretation of evolving revenue terminology [8, 9] is used to track institutional shifts.
Results: The reorganization was characterized by a shift from standardized Mughal assessments to enhanced local revenue extraction, particularly through the imposition of new abwaˉb (extra-cesses) and the increased power to reassign land rights [10]. Crucially, the reliance on high-credit banking houses for underwriting revenue and crisis finance transformed the state into a financially dependent entity, yet strengthened its regional autonomy. The political landscape exhibited the "seismic activity" of a shifting power base, demonstrating the fragility of established political expectations.
Conclusion: The Nawabi fiscal strategy was a successful, though ultimately incomplete, declaration of regional sovereignty. Current predictive models for political decline, much like those for geological shifts, are insufficient to fully capture the speed and transformative impact of these internal fiscal negotiations. These reforms laid the critical administrative foundation later exploited by the East India Company.
