The Nawabs of Bengal (the Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa) were Muslim rulers of Bengal, and significant portions of present-day Bihar and Orissa. With their capital in Murshidabad, they ruled the Mughal Bengal subah, while nominally subordinate to the Mughal empire, in between 1717 and 1772. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, lost the Battle of Plassey to the British East India Company in 1757. He was betrayed by Mir Jafar in the battle, who was subsequently installed as the titular Nawab Nazim.

Following the victory in Plassey and later in Buxar, the British East India Company established itself as a strong political power-hold in the region of Bengal. In 1765, the system of dual government came to be established, as per which the East India company collected all the revenue, while the Nawab was responsible for running the administration of the province. In 1772, the system was abolished and Bengal was brought under direct control of the Company. When the nizamat (administration, judicial, and military powers) of the Nawab was also taken away in 1793, they remained as the mere pensioners of the Company. Following the abolition of the title of Nawab of Bengal in 1880, the last Nawab of Bengal, Mansur Ali Khan, abdicated on 1 November 1880, in favour of his eldest son, Hassan Ali Mirza.