Nabob
A Nabob (Pronunciation:neɪbɒb) is an Anglo-Indian term for an East India Company servant who had become wealthy through corrupt trade and other practices.[1][2][3]It also means, a conspicuous wealthy man, who made his fortune in Orient - especially in Indian subcontinent.
Nabob literally means, deputy governor or viceroy in the Moghul Empire rule of India - This title was later adapted by local vassals of Bengal, Oudh, and Arcot.[2] [4][5][6]
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[edit] Etymology
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The word looks derived as a derivative from nabab - navab(Hindi), nuwwab(Arabic), or nawab(Urdu) during British Colonialism era in India. It might have been derived directly from nababo(Portuguese) or nabab(Spanish) itself - Portuguese and Spanish are derivative languages of Latin - The word Nabob might have been derived directly from Latin itself; otherwise, Indian word itself is derived from Portuguese nababo as Portuguese people arrived India before British people.[4][7][8][6]
Colloquially, the word is under usage in England from 1612. Native Europeans use the word Nabob on those who come back home from India after having made a fortune there. Hence, stands for a very rich man or a person of great wealth, returning Europe from India.[4][7][8][6]
[edit] Britishers perception
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Europeans perceived the name[nabob] as a one, who made a lot of money in India or abroad and then returned to Europe; hence, possessive of too much money power. In England, the name was applied to men who who made fortunes working for the British East India Company and reverted home to purchase Parliament seats; thus, the word nabob meant someone of great wealth or unsual prominence.[2][5]
Britishers feared these individuals - nabobs, their agents, and those who took their bribes will ultimately build East Indian interests by bribing and corrupting Parliament itself. In addition, collapse of Company's finances in 1772 due to bad administration, both in India and Britain, aroused public indignation towards East India Company activities, especially the behaviour of the Company's servants, [2]
Accordingly, the pernicious influence of reverting nabobs, in both social and political life of Britain, forced East India Company servants - Warren Hastings, first Governor-General of India, was impeached in 1788 and acquitted in 1795 after a long 7 year trail; and Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury, was hauled up before Parliament and was forced to defend himself in House of Commons - to undergo inquiry and impeachment, on charges of corruption and misrule in India.[2] [9][6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ An authentic copy of the correspondence in India - East India Company, Bengal (India). Supreme Council. J. Debrett. 1787. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=KXEIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA233&lpg=PA233&dq=Books+on+Nabob,+east+india+company&source=bl&ots=1l5wdf-Fxu&sig=dgbET-J_t1jF93VcH3G1eH8IBZA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=A7g6T7akE8bsrAfEgdXWCA&ved=0CGwQ6AEwCA#v=snippet&q=Nabob&f=false. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
- ^ a b c d e "The East India Company and public opinion - Nabobs". parliament.uk. http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliament-and-empire/parliament-and-the-american-colonies-before-1765/the-east-india-company-and-public-opinion/. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
- ^ "British India 1763 - 1815". historyhome.co.uk. http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/india/india.htm. Retrieved 2012-02-14. "Company paid lucrative dividends, and its servants (the so-called "nabobs") took fortunes from India"
- ^ a b c "nabobical - Word Origin & History - nabob". dictionary.reference.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/nabobical. Retrieved 2012-02-14. "1612, "deputy governor in Mogul Empire," Anglo-Indian, from Hindi nabab, from Arabic nuwwab"
- ^ a b "nawab, English nabob". britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/407089/nawab. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
- ^ a b c d "Nabob". dictionary.reference.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Nabob. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
- ^ a b "nabob (governor)". Memidex.com. http://www.memidex.com/nabob+governor. Retrieved 2012-02-14. "Etymology:Hindi nawāb, nabāb, from Arabic nuwwāb, plural of nā'ib, deputy, active..."
- ^ a b "nabob". oxforddictionaries.com. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/nabob. Retrieved 2012-02-14. "from Portuguese nababo or Spanish nabab, from Urdu; see also nawab"
- ^ "Tillman Nechtman, "Nabobs: Empire and Identity in Eighteenth-Century Britain" Cambridge University Press, 2010". newbooksinsouthasianstudies.com. http://newbooksinsouthasianstudies.com/2011/06/14/tilman-nachtman-nabobs-empire-and-identity-in-eighteenth-century-britain-cambridge-up-2010/. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
[edit] External links
- India and the British - The East India Company - Nabobs
- Robert Clive, at the age of 35, extorted a fortune worth over £230,000 in settlement with Mir Jafar, in addition to an annual income of £30,000 from his jagir (land titles). Having made their money, these nabobs retired to Britain with their wealth, their Indian artefacts, their Indian servants and, occasionally, their Indian wives and children.
