Dastak
Topic: Europeans in India and the Rise of Company Rule · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A dastak was a free trade pass. It allowed the East India Company to move goods in Bengal without paying customs duties, which are taxes on goods being moved or traded. The right came from a farman (royal order) issued by the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1717. Company servants misused the passes for their own private trade. This caused repeated conflict with the Nawabs of Bengal.
Example
Company officials sold dastaks to friends or used them for their own trade. Indian merchants had to pay duties, so they were left at a disadvantage and the Nawab lost tax money. In 1763 Nawab Mir Qasim removed all duties so that Indian traders could compete on equal terms. The quarrel that followed led to the Battle of Buxar in 1764.
Don't confuse with
- Cartaz: this was a Portuguese navigation permit that every ship in the Arabian Sea had to buy. It was a sea pass sold by the Portuguese, not a duty-free trade pass inside Bengal.
Related concepts
- Divide and rule
- Black Hole of Calcutta
- Siraj-ud-daulah
- Robert Clive
- Battle of Plassey
- Mir Jafar
- Mir Qasim
- Battle of Buxar 1764
- Treaty of Allahabad 1765
- Diwani of Bengal