The Bengal Navy That Defied the British: Khwaja Alimullah and the Last Naval Battle

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a forgotten chapter of Bengal's resistance: the naval campaign led by Khwaja Alimullah, the Nawab of Dhaka, in 1763. After the British capture of Calcutta and the fall of Mir Qasim, Alimullah built a fleet of war boats armed with cannons and rallied riverine chieftains along the Meghna and Padma rivers. The climactic Battle of Pirojpur saw Bengali war boats, or 'nawaras', face off against the British East India Company's sloops and schooners. Lucas explains the tactical innovations of the Bengali navy, their use of the monsoon winds, and how the British ultimately used scorched-earth tactics to burn the shipyards of Narayanganj. The episode touches on the role of Armenian and Portuguese mercenaries, the destruction of the fleet, and Alimullah's exile and death. It sheds light on why this naval resistance has been overlooked in standard histories, and how it foreshadowed later anti-colonial movements. #KhwajaAlimullah #BengalNavy #BattleOfPirojpur #NawabOfDhaka #MirQasim #EastIndiaCompany #WarBoats #RiverineWarfare #Narayanganj #MeghnaRiver #PadmaRiver #ArmenianMercenaries #PortugueseMercenaries #ScorchedEarth #18thCentury #SouthAsia #History #FexingoHistory #BengalHistory #PalaEmpire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo