The Battle of Plassey was a battle that took place on June 23 1757, near Palashi (Bangla: পলাশী, anglicised to Plassey), a small hamlet on the Bhagirathi River (a distributary of the Ganga), located about 150 km north of Kolkata, and south of Murshidabad (then capital of the Nawab of Bengal) in India.

It was a battle between the forces of the British East India Company and Siraj Ud Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal. Though this battle did not directly involve the English or French governments, who were battling each other in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), it involved the British East India Company and the La Compagnie des Indes Orientales on either side of the conflict.

The battle is considered a watershed in the history of colonial India, because it marked the transition of the British East India Company from traders to king-makers.

The wealth gained from the Bengal treasury after its victory in the battle allowed the company to significantly strengthen its military might.

Background

The primary reason for the battle was the Nawab's attack and capture of Fort William, India at Calcutta (which he renamed to Alinagar) during June, 1756.

This attack was caused by a number of disputes:

• the illegal use of Mughal Imperial export trade permits (dastaks) granted in 1717 by the English to engage in internal trade within India - they began competing with local Indian merchants, and tried to avoid paying taxes using the permit;
• English interference in the Nawab's court due to their support for the claim to the throne of another of his father's widows, Ghasiti Begum. Upon his ascension to the throne, Siraj requested the English to surrender the advisor to the Begum who had sought refuge in Fort William;
• the additional fortification with mounted guns of Fort William without the consent of the Nawab, and;
• their policy of favouring Hindu Marwari merchants over local ones.

During the capture of Fort Williams, an event known as the Black Hole of Calcutta took place during June, 1756 at Fort William. The Nawab placed one hundred forty-six English prisoners into a hole measuring 18 by 15 feet on a June night. By the morning only twenty-three prisoners remained alive. English reprisal quickly followed the Black Hole Massacre.

The English settlement at Fort William, India sought assistance from Presidency of Fort St. George at Madras, which sent Colonel Robert Clive and Admiral Charles Watson. They re-captured Calcutta on January 2, 1757, but the Nawab marched again on Calcutta on February 5, 1757, and was surprised by a dawn attack by the English . This resulted in the Treaty of Alinagar on February 7, 1757 .

Growing French influence

Growing on the sidelines was the French influence, at the urging of the enterprising French Governor-General Joseph François Dupleix, at the court of the Nawab. This was resulting in increasing French trade in Bengal. They lent the Nawab some French soldiers to operate heavy artillery pieces.

Ahmad Shah Abdali

However, Siraj Ud Daulah was facing a two-front war. On his Western border was an advancing

So although he was humiliated by the Treaty, Siraj Ud Daulah sent the better part of his troops west under the command of his general, Raja Ram Narain.

Court intrigue

In the midst of all of this, was an ongoing court intrigue at Siraj Ud Daulah's court at Murshidabad. Siraj was not a particularly well-loved ruler. Young (he suceeded his father in April, 1756 at age 27) and impetuous, he was prone to quickly make enemies.

Company policy

The Company had long decided that a change of regime would be conducive to their interests in Bengal. In 1752 Robert Orme, in a letter to Clive, noted that the company would have to remove Siraj's grandfather, Ali Vardi Khan, in order to prosper.

Hence, after the premature death of Ali Vardi Khan in April, 1756 without a male heir, the English began supporting the claim to the throne of his widow, Ghasiti Begum against that of his grandson, Siraj.

Instructions dated October 13, 1756 from Fort St. George instructed Robert Clive, "to effect a junction with any powers in the province of Bengal that might be dissatisfied with the violence of the Nawab's government or that might have pretensions to the Nawabship". Accordingly, Robert was negotiating with two potential contenders, one of Siraj's generals, Yar Latif Khan, and Siraj's grand-uncle and army chief, Mir Jafar Ali Khan, through William Watts, chief of the Kasimbazar factory of the Company, who was proficient in Bengali, and Persian languages.

On April 23, 1757 the Select Committee of the Board of Directors of the British East India Company approved Coup d'état as its policy in Bengal.

Mir Jafar, negotiating through an Armenian merchant Khwaja Petruse, was the Company's final choice. Finally, on June 5, 1757 a written agreement was signed between the Company (Robert Clive signed) and Mir Jafar ensuring that Mir Jafar would be appointed Nawab of Bengal, once Siraj Ud Daulah was deposed.

Troops

The British army was vastly outnumbered, consisting of 800 Europeans and 2,200 native Indians and a small number of guns. The Nawab had an army of about 50,000 with some heavy artillery operated by about 40 French soldiers sent by the French East India Company.

Principal officers - English

• Major Killpatrick
• Major Grant
• Major Eyre Coote
• Captain Gaupp
• Captain Richard Knox, 1st CO of the 1st Bengal Native Infantry

Principal officers - Nawab

• Mir Jafar Ali Khan - commanding 16,000 cavalry
• Mir Madan
• Manik Chand
• Rai Durlabh
• Monsieur Sinfray - French artillery officer

British East India Company Regiments

• 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot, 1st Battalion
• 1st Bombay European Fusiliers, also known as 103rd Regiment of Foot
• Royal Madras Fusiliers, also known as 102nd Regiment of Foot
• Royal Bengal Fusiliers, also known as 101st Regiment of Foot
• 1st. Bengal Native Infantry (BNI), also known as the Lal Paltan (Hindi for Red Platoon)
• 9th Battery, 12th Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 50 naval ratings from HMS Tyger

Battle details

The battled opened on a very hot and humid morning at 7:00 am on June 23, 1757 where the Nawab's army came out of its fortified camp and launched a massive cannonade against the British camp.

At around 11:00 am, Mir Madan, one of the Nawab's most loyal officers, launched an attack against the fortified grove where the East Indian Company was located, and was mortally wounded by an English cannonball. This cannonade was essentially futile in any case; the British guns had greater range than those of the French.

At 12:00 noon, a heavy rainstorm fell on the battlefield, wherein the tables were turned. The British covered their cannons and muskets for protection from the rain, whereas the French did not.

As a result, the cannonade ceased by 2:00 pm and the battle resumed where Clive's chief officer, Kilpatrick, launched an attack against the water ponds in between the armies. With their cannons and muskets completely useless, and with Mir Jafar's cavalry who were closest to the English refusing to attack Clive's camp, revealing his treachery, the Nawab was forced to order a retreat.

By 5:00 pm, the Nawab's army was in full retreat and the British had command of the field.

The battle cost the British East India Company just 22 killed and 50 wounded (most of these were native sepoys),

Aftermath

The Battle of Plassey is considered as a starting point to the events that established the era of British dominion and conquest in India.

Mir Jafar's fate

Mir Jafar, for his betrayal of the Nawab Siraj Ud Daulah and alliance with the British, was installed as the new Nawab, while Siraj Ud Daulah was captured on July 2 in Murshidabad as he attempted to escape further north. He was later executed on the order of Mir Jafar and his British allies.

Mir Jaffer chafed under the English supervision, and so requested the Dutch East India Company to intervene. They sent seven ships and about 700 sailors up the Hoogley to their settlement, but the English led by Colonel Forde managed to defeat them at Chinsura on November 25, 1759. Hence, Mir Jaffer was deposed as Nawab by the English in 1760 and they appointed Mir Kasim Ali Khan, (Mir Jaffer's son-in-law).

He in turn was replaced by Mir Jaffer in 1763, when he began showing signs of independence from the English. Mir Jaffer remained the titular Nawab until his death in 1765, while the actual power was being exercised by the Company.

Rewards

As per their agreement, Clive collected £ 2.5 million for the company, and £ 234,000 for himself from the Nawab's treasury . In addition, Watts collected £ 114,000 for his efforts. The annual rent of £ 30,000 payable by the Company for use of the land around Fort William was also transferred to Clive for life. To put this wealth in context, an average English nobleman could live a life of luxury on an annual income of £ 800.

Robert Clive was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1765 for his efforts. William Watts was appointed Governor of Fort William on June 22, 1758. But he later resigned in favour of Robert Clive, who was also later appointed Baron of Plassey in 1762. Clive later committed suicide in 1774, after being addicted to opium.

Terms of agreement

These were the terms agreed between the new Nawab and the Company:

1. Confirmation of the mint, and all other grants and privileges in the Alinagar treaty with the late Nawab.
2. An alliance, offensive and defensive, against all enemies whatever.
3. The French factories and effects to be delivered up, and they never permitted to resettle in any of the three provinces.
4. 100 lacs of rupees to be paid to the Company, in consideration of their losses at Calcutta and the expenses of the campaign.
5. 50 lacs to be given to the English sufferers at the loss of Calcutta
6. 20 lacs to Gentoos, Moors, & black sufferers at the loss of Calcutta.
7. 7 lacs to the Armenian sufferers. These three last donations to be distributed at the pleasure of the Admiral and gentlemen of Council.
8. The entire property of all lands within the Mahratta ditch, which runs round Calcutta, to be vested in the Company: also, six hundred yards, all round, without, the said ditch.
9. The Company to have the zemindary of the country to the south of Calcutta, lying between the lake and river, and reaching as far as Culpee, they paying the customary rents paid by the former zemindars to the government.
10. Whenever the assistance of the English troops shall be wanted, their extraordinary charges to be paid by the Nawab.
11. No forts to be erected by the Nawab's government on the river side, from Hooghley downwards.

Trivia

• One of members of Clive's entourage at Plassey was a young volunteer called Warren Hastings. He was appointed the British Resident at the Nawab's court in 1757. Warren later became the first Governor-General of India for the British East India Company between 1773 to 1786 when he was impeached for corruption.

• Clive was later awarded the title Baron of Plassey and bought lands in County Limerick and County Clare, Ireland naming part of his lands near Limerick City, Plassey. It retains this name to this day and is now the site of the University of Limerick.

• The French guns captured at this battle can still be visited at the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.

• The infamous meeting between Mir Jaffer and Watts took place at Jaffarganj, a village close to Murshidabad. Mir Jaffer's palace now stands in ruins at the place, but close to it is a gate called Namakharamer Deori (Hindi for traitor's gate) where Watts is supposed to have entered the palace disguised as a purdanasheen (Urdu for vieled) lady in a palanquin.

• One of the unseen protagonists of the court drama was a wealthy Hindu trader who went by the family name Jagat Sheth (Hindi: World Banker]] (actual name Mahtab Chand). He was a hereditary banker to the Mughal Emperor and the Nawab of Bengal and thus well conversant with court intrigues. He negotiated a 5% commission from Clive for his assistance with the court intrigue to defeat Siraj. However, when Clive refused to pay him after his success, he is supposed to have gone mad. The family (i.e. Jagat Sheths) remained bankers to the Company until the transfer of the English head quarters to Calcutta in 1773.

• The Indian rebellion of 1857 began almost exactly a century later during May, 1857

Quotes

• "He (Robert Clive) won it by promoting treason and forgery" - First Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India
• "British rule in India had an unsavory beginning and something of that bitter taste has clung to it ever since." - First Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India
• "By God at this moment, do I stand astonished at my own moderation" - Baron Robert Clive commenting on accusations of looting the Bengal treasury after Plassey, at his impeachment trial in 1773
• "Heaven-born general" - British Prime Minister William Pitt 'The Elder', Earl of Chatham referring to Robert Clive
• "It is possible to mention men who have owed great worldly prosperity to breaches of private faith; but we doubt whether it is possible to mention a state which has on the whole been a gainer by a breach of public faith." - Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay, later British Secretary at War, who condemned Clive's actions

References

•   Hill,S.C. The Indian Record Series, Bengal in 1756-7., 3 vols. London, 1895-1905, Vol. 2:307

Landes, David S. The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. New York: Norton and Company, 1999.

Additional readings

• Gupta, B.K. Sirajuddaulah and the East India Company, 1756-1757, Leiden, 1962
• Hill, S.C. The Three Frenchmen in Bengal or The Commercial Ruin of the French Settlement in 1757, 1903
• Sarkar, J.N. The History of Bengal, 2, Dhaka, 1968.
• Strang, Herbert. In Clive's Command, A Story of the Fight for India, 1904
• Datta, K.K. Siraj-ud-daulah,, Calcutta, 1971.
• Marshall, P.J. Bengal - the British Bridgehead, Cambridge, 1987.
• Raj, Rajat K. Palashir Sharajantra O Shekaler Samaj, Calcutta, 1994.
• Harrington, Peter. Plassey 1757, Clive of India's Finest Hour, Osprey Campaign Series #35, Osprey Publishing, 1994.
• Chaudhury, S. The Prelude to Empire; Palashi Revolution of 1757,, New Delhi, 2000.

See also

• Palashi
• Shatranj Ke Khiladi - A movie in Urdu by noted director, Satyajit Ray

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