Battle of Plassey was fought on 23 June 1757 between British East India Company and Nawab of Bengal and his French allies under the leadership of Robert Clive. The battle helped the British seize control of Bengal.

The Battle of Plassey is considered a crucial event in the history of India. By the mid of 18th century, the empire of later Mughals was declining. Many European countries competed for getting their hold over India. On such occasions, the British East India company was involved in conflict with the French for trade supremacy.

The British began to make use of local politics. The Battle of Plassey was the result of it. It paved the way for establishing British rule in India. At the end of the Battle of Plassey, Bengal was conquered by the British army under Robert Clive.

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NCERT Notes on Battle of Plassey – What is it?

• The Battle of Plassey was a decisive event that took place on 23rd June 1757.
• The battle was fought at Palashi on the banks of the River Hoogly.
• It was fought by the British East India Company against the Nawab of Bengal (Siraj-ud-Daulah) and his French allies.
• The British East India Company defeated the Nawab and captured Calcutta.
• The Battle of Plassey 1757, was a huge victory for the British in South Asia and helped the British to get a stronghold over Bengal.

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NCERT Notes on Battle of Plassey – Causes 

• The British East India Company made excessive misuse of its trade privileges, due to which finances of nawab were adversely affected.
• Calcutta was fortified by the British without the consent of the Nawab.

The capture of Fort William:

• It is one of the immediate causes of the Battle of Plassey.
• Following the Seven-years war, the British were building military operations against the French.
• They refused to halt these operations against the French.
• So, Siraj-ud-daula attacked the British in Fort William in Calcutta and captured the Fort.
• The British army turned against Siraj-ud-Dawla to retaliate

Black Hole tragedy:

• The Nawab, Siraj-ud-Daula is said to have imprisoned 146 Englishmen in a small chamber.
• It was told that 123 out of 146 Englishmen died due to suffocation.
• This aroused the anger of the Englishmen.

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NCERT Notes on Battle of Plassey – Combat

• When the news about Fort William reached Madras, a strong British force was sent under the command of Robert Clive from Madras to Calcutta in order to recapture Calcutta.
• In March 1757, the French settlement of Chandernagore was captured by the English. This was the ignition point of the Battle of Plassey.
• Robert Clive bribed Mir Jafar, the commander-in-chief of Siraj-ud-Daula, and promised to make him the Nawab of Bengal in return for his service to the company.
• The English strengthened their position still by forming a secret alliance with the traitors of the Nawab.
• Siraj-ud-Daula along with his French allies had 50000 soldiers, 40 canons, and 10 war elephants.
• All these were defeated by the handful of soldiers the British.
• Thus at the end of the Battle of Plassey, Siraj-ud-Daula was captured and murdered by Mir Jafar’s son Miran.
• After the Battle, the English captured Bengal and gradually monopolized the trades in Bengal.

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NCERT Notes on Battle of Plassey – Significance

• The Battle of Plassey laid the foundation for the British empire in India.
• Military supremacy over Bengal was established by the British.
• The French settlements in Bengal were captured.
• Mir Jafar became the Nawab of Bengal.
• A resident was posted in the Nawab’s court.
• Mir Jaffar awarded the British with the grant of zamindari of 24 Parganas and a huge sum of money for their service in the Battle of Plassey.
• The victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 increased the prestige of the British.

Key figures of the Battle of Plassey:

Siraj-Ud-Daulah, Nawab of Bengal:

• Was involved in the Black-Hole Tragedy in which 146 English people were imprisoned and 123 of them died of asphyxia).
• The battle and capture of the English fort at Calcutta revealed the hostility of the British to the Nawab, who decided to fight a war against the EIC.

Robert Clive:

• Siraj-Ud-Daulah’s Commercial privileges were being abused under him.
• Calcutta fortified without the nawab’s permission.
• Krishna Das, a political fugitive, was granted asylum, but he was dissatisfied.

Mir Jafar (Commandant-in-Chief of the Nawab’s army):

• Got bribes from the East India Company (EIC).
• For conspiring against Siraj-Ud-Daulah, the EIC wanted to make him Nawab.
• Siraj-Ud-Daulah was duped during the war.

Rai Durlabh (a commander in the Nawabs Army):

• He joined Daulah’s Siraj-Ud-army but did not fight in the conflict.
• The Nawab was again duped.

Omi Chand, a Bengal merchant:

• A signatory to the treaty made by Robert Clive prior to the Battle of Plassey in 1757, and one of the principal conspirators against the Nawab.

Jagat Seth (Influential Banker):

• He was involved in the scheme that led to Nawab Siraj-Ud-arrest Daulah’s and eventual death.

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