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Unit 1: British Expansion

from England. Clive was urged to do his work as rapidly as possible for the Madras authorities Notes
wanted their troops back in Madras for defence against the impending French attack. The expedition
sailed on 16 October 1756 and reached Bengal on 14 December. Manik Chand, the Nawab’s officer
incharge of Calcutta, was bribed and he surrendered Calcutta to the English after making a show of
resistance. In February 1757, the Nawab made peace with Clive by the Treaty of Alinagar (Calcutta
renamed so after Siraj-ud-daula captured it) restoring to the English their former privileges of trade,
granting permission to fortify Calcutta and promising compensation for the losses suffered by the
English.
The wheel had gone a full circle. Now the English were on the offensive. Taking advantage of the
disaffection among the Nawab’s officers, Clive arranged a conspiracy in which Mir Jaffar (the
Commander-in-Chief of the Nawab’s army), Rai Durlabh, Jagat Seth (an influential banker of Bengal)
and Omi Chand, an intermediary, joined. It was planned to make Mir Jaffar the Nawab who in turn
was to reward the services of the Company and pay compensation for the losses suffered by them
earlier.
The English had given great offence to the Nawab by capturing the French settlement of
Chandernagore in March 1757. At a time when the Nawab feared an Afghan invasion from the north
and a Maratha invasion from the west, the English force under Clive proceeded towards Murshidabad
to fight against the Nawab. On 23 June 1757 the rival forces faced each other on the battlefield of
Plassey, a mango grove 22 miles south of Murshidabad. The English army consisted of 950 European
infantry, 100 European artillery, 50 English sailors and 2,100 Indian sepoys. The Nawab’s large army
of 50,000 was commanded by the treacherous General Mir Jaffar. An advance party of the Nawab’s
troops led by Mir Mudan and Mohan Lal got the better of the English troops and forced Clive to
withdraw his forces behind the trees. A stray shot from the English side, however, killed Mir Mudan.
Siraj-ud-daula summoned his army officers and sought their advice. Mir Jaffar played upon the fears
of the Nawab and counselled a withdrawal of the army behind the entrenchment. Further, the Nawab
was advised to retire from the battlefield leaving the control of operations to his Generals. The card
was well played. The Nawab retired to Murshidabad followed by 2,000 horsemen. The little band of
Frenchmen who held out were soon overpowered by Clive’s troops. Mir Jaffar merely looked on.
Clive won the day and received a message of congratulations from Mir Jaffar. Mir Jaffar reached
Murshidabad on 25th and proclaimed himself the Nawab of Bengal. Siraj-ud-daula was captured
and put to death. Mir Jaffar rewarded the services of the English by the grant of the zamindari of 24-
Parganas besides a personal present of £234,000 to Clive and giving 50 lakh rupees in reward to army
and naval officers. The Company was compensated for the losses suffered at Siraj-ud-daula’s capture
of Calcutta. All French settlements in Bengal were surrendered to the English. It was also understood
that British merchants and officials would no longer be asked to pay duties on their private trade.
Importance of the Battle of Plassey: The battle—rather the rout of Plassey—was hardly important
from the military view-point. It was a mere skirmish. The total casualties were 65 on the Company’s
side and 500 in the Nawab’s army. The English army showed no military superiority either in
manoeuvres or startegy of the battle. It was desertion in the Nawab’s camp that gave Clive the victory.
After Mir Mudan’s death treacherous commanders held the field. If Mir Jaffar and Rai Durlabh had
remained faithful the outcome of the battle would have been different. It was treason that drove the
Nawab from the battlefield, it was treason that made Clive the victor. Perhaps it was in the game of
diplomacy that Clive excelled. He played on the fears of the Jagat Seths, worked up the ambition of
Mir Jaffar and won a victory without fighting. K. M. Pannikar believes that Plassey was a transaction
in which the rich bankers of Bengal and Mir Jaffar sold out the Nawab to the English.
The battle of Plassey is important because of the events that followed it. Plassey put the British yoke
on Bengal which could not be put off. The new Nawab, Mir Jaffar, was dependent on British bayonets
for the maintenance of his position in Bengal and for protection against foreign invasions. An English
army of 6,000 troops was maintained in Bengal to help the Nawab maintain his position. Gradually
all real power passed into the hands of the Company. How hopeless was the position of Mir Jaffar is
clear from the fact that while he wanted to punish Diwan Rai Durlabh and Ram Narayan, the deputy
governor of Bihar, for disloyalty, the English held his hand. Mr. Watts, the British Resident
at Murshidabad, held considerable influence. Ghulam Hussain Khan, the Muslim historian, noted

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