HISTORY OF INDIA: Battle of Plassey-"First War of East India Company"

HISTORY OF INDIA: The battle took place between the Nawab of Bengal and the British East India Company. The war took place near Bhagirathi river, Plassey on 23rd June 1757 and that is the reason for calling it the "Battle of Plassey".
HISTORY OF INDIA: Battle of Plassey-"First War of East India Company"
HISTORY OF INDIA: Battle of Plassey-"First War of East India Company"Image Credit: Representative Image

HISTORY OF INDIA: The Britishers came to India in 1600 and by the end of half a century, they established 23 factories throughout India.

This was the time of the Mughal empire and the Dehli Sultanate was under Aurangzeb who separated Bengal province to work on its own and made Murshid Quli Khan the Nawab of Bengal.

After a long time of struggle, Britishers get their hook from Farruqhsiyar who exempted all the taxes from Britishers.

Now when the battle took place, the Nawab of the Bengal was Siraj ud-Daulah, and the reason that broke the battle out were-

  • Tax-free duties, which made commerce difficult for the inhabitants of Bengal.

  • Fortification by Britishers in the province of Bengal.

Siraj ud-Daulah
Siraj ud-DaulahImage Credit : Pinterest

HISTORY OF INDIA: Trial of Britishers in Bengal province

After looking at the going things, Nawab of Bengal called up the BEIC (British East Indian Company) and the FEIC (French East India Company) to his court and ordered them to pay the tax and to stop fortification.

The ordered regulation was accepted by FEIC but the BEIC denied to accept it.

This ignoring behavior of BEIC provoked the Nawab to take action and the result was the capturing of 146 people of Fort William as hostages.

The hostages were kept in a very dark room which resulted in the death of 123 Britishers, and this incident was known as the "BLACK HOLE TRAGEDY".

The captives held from fort Willian
The captives held from fort Willian

After the Black Hole Tragedy, Robert Clive- Major General of the province of Madras moved his army troops toward Bengal and the idea was to take over the province of Bengal.

Robert Clive
Robert Clive Image Credit: Nathiniel Dance, National portrait gallery, London

HISTORY OF INDIA: Weakening of the pillars

Now if Robert Clive had directly attacked Bengal, he would have loose. But the fact about Robert Clive is that he was one of the most cunning Britishers in the history of India.

What he did was weakening of the main pillars of the Bengal province which were-

  • The army commander of Bengal province- Mir Zafar

  • Finance minister- Jagat Seth

Mir Zafar and Robert Clive
Mir Zafar and Robert CliveImage Credit: Pintrest

What he did was he bribed Jagat Seth and promised Mir Zafar for the province of Bengal so that they fight against their own ruler and the result came out being enslaved by the British East India Company.

The Battle of Plassey took place on 23rd June 1757 near the Bhagirathi river and ended up with the victory of the Britishers.

HISTORY OF INDIA: BEIC Control Begins

After the battle, Mir Zafar was appointed as the new Nawab of Bengal by the Britishers. The illusion of being an independent Nawab was fading day by day as Mir Zafar was not the one taking care of the Diwani and Nizamat rights.

Talking about these two rights, Diwani referred to the revenue-related rights whereas the Nizamat dealt with law-making rights and both these rights were taken care of by the Britishers which made Mir Zafar feel like a pawn of the Britishers.

HISTORY OF INDIA: Rage led to the end of Mir Zafar

Being the pawn of the Britishers didn't satisfy the soul of Mir Zafar and he decided to attack the BEIC. For this attack to be successful, he took the help of the Dutch East India Company which was the biggest mistake as the strength of BEIC was far greater than the DEIC.

Mir Zafar and Robert Clive
Mir Zafar and Robert Clive

The revolt turned out to be an unsuccessful one as Mir Zafar was thrown out from the throne and the new Nawab Mir Qasim (son-in-law of Mir Zafar) took his place.

Conclusion

This was the very first step of the British East India Company towards capturing India and making it their slave.

From then onwards, when the Battle of Plassey took place, the Mughal empire was no more independent and a new arc was carved out that controlled the whole of India for a very long time.

Frequently asked questions

Q

Who fought "the Battle of Plassey"?

A

The battle took place between the Nawab of Bengal and the British East India Company.

Q

Why is it called "Battle of Plassey"?

A

The war took place near Bhagirathi river, Plassey on 23rd June 1757 and that is the reason for calling it the "Battle of Plassey".

Q

Who defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah?

A

Siraj-ud-Daulah was the last independent Nawab of the province of Bengal and was defeated by his own ministers Mir Zafar and Jagat Seth, who got bribed by the Britishers.

Q

What is "Battle of Plassey" in simple words?

A

Battle of Plassey can be stated as the commencement of the British Empire in India which was a long dark night for the country.

HISTORY OF INDIA: Battle of Plassey-"First War of East India Company"
HISTORY OF INDIA: Bharat Ka Vidyapeeth- "Nalanda University"

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