The Battle of Plassey was a battle fought between the British East India Company and the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. The decisive British victory at Plassey ultimately led to the British annexation of Bengal in 1772 and the rest of India soon after; the Battle of Plassey is judged to be one of the pivotal battles in the control of the Indian Subcontinent by the colonial powers, and Indian millenarians believing that Company rule in India would end after exactly 100 years used the date of the Battle of Plassey to predict the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
History[]
In 1756, the Nawab (governor) of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, captured the British settlement of Calcutta after a disagreement concerning defenses constructed without his permission. Irritated by British abuse of their trading privileges, the Nawab was also fearful of alien domination. A number of British prisoners (allegedly 146) were shut up overnight in a small cell. About 21 (far fewer than the number claimed by the British) died in this "Black Hole of Calcutta." Troops commanded by Robert Clive sailed from Madras and quickly recaptured Calcutta. The Nawab was forced to sign a treaty reconfirming British trading rights, but he was clearly unreconciled and plotting with the French. With the support of Hindu Bengalis, the British decided to replace him with Mir Jafar, a more compliant potentate. In the ensuing battle at Plassey Clive was outnumbered and also outgunned, as the Nawab had a unit of French artillery. However, many of the Nawab's commanders had been suborned by the British during preliminary "negotiations." Clive called a council of war where a majority opposed fighting but were overborne by the aggression of Major Eyre Coote. The battle itself was soon over, as most of the Nawab's commanders prevaricated. One exception was Mir Madan, who made a disastrous cavalry charge and was killed. Ordinary soldiers unaware of their officers' disloyalty made a furious but unavailing charge, and the Nawab lost an artillery duel because rain dampened his powder. Clive then made a direct attack on the Nawab's defenses, and resistance crumbled. The victory made the British masters of Bengal, from where, eventually, they ruled most of India.