Saturday, June 23, 2007
250 years of the Battle of Plassey
In Kolkotta on June 23, a play, "Plassey" marked the completion of 250
years of the Battle of Plassey.
The Battle of Plassey took place on June 23, 1757, at Palashi, India,
on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, about 150 km north of Calcutta,
near Murshidabad, then the capital of the Nawab of Bengal. The
opponents were Siraj Ud Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal,
and the British East India Company. The battle was waged during the
Seven Years' War in Europe (1756�1763); the French East India Company
sent a small contingent to fight against the British East India Company.
Siraj-ud-Daulah's army commander defected to the British, causing his
army to collapse. As a result, the entire province of Bengal fell to
the Company. The enormous wealth gained from the Bengal treasury
allowed the Company to significantly strengthen its military might.
Today, Plassey is judged to be one of the pivotal battles leading to
the formation of the British Empire in India.
P�lash, an extravagant red flowering tree (Flame of the forest), gives
its name to a small village near the battlefield. A phonetically
accurate romanization of the Bengali name would be Battle of Palashi,
but the spelling "Plassey" is now conventional.
Background
The ostensible reason for the Battle of Plassey was Siraj-ud-Daulah's
capture of Fort William, Calcutta (which he renamed Alinagar) during
June, 1756, but the battle is today seen as part of the geopolitical
ambition of the East India Company and the larger dynamics of colonial
conquest.
This conflict was precipitated by a number of disputes [2]:
* The illegal use of Mughal Imperial export trade permits
(dastaks) granted to the British in 1717 for engaging in internal
trade within India. The British cited this permit as their excuse for
not paying taxes to the Bengal Nawab.
* British interference in the Nawab's court, and particularly
their support for one of his aunts, Ghaseti Begum. The son of
Ghaseti's treasurer had sought refuge in Fort William, and Siraj
demanded his return.
* Additional fortifications with mounted guns had been placed on
Fort William without the consent of the Nawab; and
* The British East India Company's policy of favouring Hindu
Marwari merchants such as Jagat Sheth .
During this capture of Fort William, in June 1756, an event occurred
that came to be known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. A narrative by
one John Zephaniah Holwell, plus the testimony of another survivor,
Cooke, to a select committee of the House of Commons, coupled with
subsequent verification by Robert Orme, placed 146 British prisoners
into a room measuring 18 by 15 feet, and only 23 survived the night.
The story was amplified in colonial literature, but the facts are
widely disputed[3]. In any event, the Black Hole incident, which is
often cited as a reason for the Battle at Plassey, was not widely
known until James Mill's History of India (1817), after which it
became the grist of schoolboy texts on India.
As the forces for the battle were building up, the British settlement
at Fort William 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 British [4]. This resulted in the Treaty of Alinagar on
February 7, 1757 [5].
Growing French influence
At the connivance of the enterprising French Governor-General Joseph
Fran�ois Dupleix, French influence at the court of the Nawab was
growing. French trade in Bengal was also increasing in volume. The
French also lent the Nawab some soldiers to operate heavy artillery
pieces.
Ahmad Shah Abdali
Siraj-Ud-Daulah faced conflicts on two fronts simultaneously. In
addition to the threat posed by the British East India Company, he was
confronted on his western border by the advancing army of the Afghan,
Ahmad Shah Abdali, who had captured and looted Delhi in 1756. So,
Siraj sent the majority of his troops west to fight under the command
of his close friend and ally, the Diwan of Patna, Ram Narain.
Court intrigue
In the midst of all of this, there were intrigues at Siraj Ud Daulah's
court at Murshidabad. Siraj was not a particularly well-loved ruler.
Young (he succeeded his grandfather in April, 1756 at the age of 23)
and impetuous, he was prone to make enemies quickly. The most
dangerous of these was his wealthy and influential aunt, Ghaseti Begum
(Meherun-Nisa), who wanted another nephew, Shawkat Jang, installed as
Nawab.
Mir Jafar, commander-in-chief of the army, was also uneasy with Siraj,
and was courted assiduously by Ghaseti. Eventually, through the
connivance of traders such as Amichand (who had suffered as a result
of the siege of Calcutta), and William Watts, Mir Jafar was brought
into the British fold.
Company policy
The Company had long since 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, Alivardi Khan, in order to prosper [6].
After the premature death of Alivardi Khan in April, 1756, his
nominated successor was Siraj-ud-Daulah, a grandson whom Alivardi had
adopted. The circumstances of this transition gave rise to
considerable controversy and the British began supporting the
intrigues of Alivardi's eldest daughter, Ghaseti 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, Clive deputised William Watts, chief of the Kasimbazar
factory of the Company, who was proficient in Bengali and Persian, to
negotiate with two potential contenders, one of Siraj's generals, Yar
Latif Khan, and Siraj's grand-uncle and army chief, Mir Jafar Ali Khan.
On April 23, 1757 the Select Committee of the Board of Directors of
the British East India Company approved Coup d'�tat 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, represented by Clive, and
Mir Jafar. It ensured that Mir Jafar would be appointed Nawab of
Bengal once Siraj Ud Daulah was deposed.
Troops
The British army was vastly outnumbered, consisting of 2,200 Europeans
and 2,100 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 - British
* Major Killpatrick
* Major Grant
* Then Major Eyre Coote, later Lieutenant-General, and then Sir
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 [7]
* 50 naval ratings from HMS Tyger [8]
Battle details
The battle opened on a very hot and humid morning at 7:00 a.m. on June
23, 1757 where the Nawab's army came out of its fortified camp and
launched a massive cannonade against the British camp. The 18th
Century historian Ghulam Husain Salim describes what followed:
" Mīr Muhammad Jafar Khān, with his detachment, stood at a distance
towards the left from the main army; and although Sirāju-d-daulah
summoned him to his side, Mīr Jafar did not move from his position. In
the thick of the fighting, and in the heat of the work of carnage,
whilst victory and triumph were visible on the side of the army of
Sirāju-d-daulah, all of a sudden Mīr Madan, commander of the
Artillery, fell on being hit with a cannon-ball. At the sight of this,
the aspect of Sirāju-d-daulah's army changed, and the artillerymen
with the corpse of Mīr Madan moved into tents. It was now midday, when
the people of the tents fled. As yet Nawāb Sirāju-d-daulah was busy
fighting and slaughtering, when the camp-followers decamping from
Dāūdpūr went the other side, and gradually the soldiers also took
to
their heels. Two hours before sun-set, flight occurred in
Sirāju-d-daulah's army, and Sirāju-d-daulah also being unable to stand
his ground any longer fled. "
[9]
At around 11:00 a.m., 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 a British
cannonball. This cannonade was essentially futile in any case; the
British guns had greater range than those of the French.
At 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 p.m. 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 p.m., 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), while the Nawab's army
lost at least 500 men killed and wounded [10].
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's son.
Ghaseti Begum and other powerful women were transferred to a prison in
distant Dhaka, where they eventually drowned in a boat accident,
widely thought to have been ordered by Mir Jafar.
Mir Jafar as Nawab chafed under the British 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 British led by Colonel Forde managed to defeat them at Chinsura on
November 25, 1759. Thereafter Mir Jafar was deposed as Nawab (1760)
and they appointed Mir Kasim Ali Khan, (Mir Jafar's son-in-law) as
Nawab. Mir Kasim showed signs of independence and was defeated in the
Battle of Buxar (1764), after which full political control shifted to
the Company.
Mir Jafar was re-appointed and remained the titular Nawab until his
death in 1765, while all actual power was 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 [11]. 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 British nobleman could live a life of luxury on an annual
income of � 800 [12].
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 British 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 British 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.
* 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 Calcutta.
* The infamous meeting between Mir Jafar and Watts took place at
Jaffarganj, a village close to Murshidabad. Mir Jafar's palace now
stands in ruins at the place, but close to it is a gate called
Namakharamer Deori (literally traitor's gate) where Watts is supposed
to have entered the palace disguised as a purdanasheen (Urdu for
veiled) lady in a palanquin.
* One of the unseen protagonists of the court drama was a wealthy
Sikh 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 British head quarters to Calcutta in
1773 [13].
* The Indian rebellion of 1857 began almost exactly a century
later during May, 1857
* Plassey Day is still celebrated by 9(Plassey) Battery, Royal
Artillery
Quotes
* "A great prince was dependent on my pleasure, an opulent city
lay at my mercy; its richest bankers bid against each other for my
smiles; I walked through vaults which were thrown open to me alone,
piled on either hand with gold and jewels! Mr. Chairman, at this
moment 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 [14] [15]
* "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
1. ^ a b c Paul K. Davis (1999). 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient
Times to the Present. Santa Barbara, California. ISBN 1-57607-075-1.
2. ^ Dirks, Nicholas. Scandal of the Empire - India and the
creation of Imperial Britain London, Harvard University Press, 2006,
ISBN 0-674-02166-5
3. ^ Dalley, JanThe Black Hole: Money, Myth and Empire,London, Fig
Tree, June 2006, ISBN 0-670-91447-9
4. ^ Robert Clive reports to his father on his victory over
Sirajuddaulah, 23 February 1757
5. ^ Bad Link
6. ^ Hill,S.C. The Indian Record Series, Bengal in 1756-7., 3 vols.
London, 1895-1905, Vol. 2:307
7. ^ The British Army
8. ^ 9 (PLASSEY) BATTERY ROYAL ARTILLERY, THE BATTLE OF PLASSEY, 23
JUNE 1757
9. ^ Ghulam Husain Salim Riyazu-s-Salatin (Calcutta) 1902 Fasc. IV
Available Here
10. ^ Robert Clive's letter to the Select Committee of the Board of
Directors of the British East India Company reporting on the battle,
26 July 1757 - at the Project South Asia
11. ^ This requested article does not exist
12. ^ Prices & Money, The Salacious Historian's Lair
13. ^ Macaulay, Thomas Babbington Critical and Historical Essays,
London, 1828, Part III
14. ^ Bad Link
15. ^ Dirks, Nicholas. Scandal of the Empire - India and the
creation of Imperial Britain London, Harvard University Press, 2006,
ISBN 0-674-02166-5
[edit] Further reading
* Chaudhury, S. The Prelude to Empire; Palashi Revolution of
1757,, New Delhi, 2000.
* Datta, K.K. Siraj-ud-daulah,, Calcutta, 1971.
* Gupta, B.K. Sirajuddaulah and the East India Company, 1756-1757,
Leiden, 1962
* Harrington, Peter. Plassey 1757, Clive of India's Finest Hour,
Osprey Campaign Series #35, Osprey Publishing, 1994.
* Hill, S.C. The Three Frenchmen in Bengal or The Commercial Ruin
of the French Settlement in 1757, 1903
* Landes, David S. The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. New York:
Norton and Company, 1999.
* Marshall, P.J. Bengal - the British Bridgehead, Cambridge, 1987.
* Raj, Rajat K. Palashir Sharajantra O Shekaler Samaj, Calcutta, 1994.
* Sarkar, J.N. The History of Bengal, 2, Dhaka, 1968.
* Spear, Percival Master of Bengal. Clive and His India London, 1975
* Strang, Herbert. In Clive's Command, A Story of the Fight for
India, 1904
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plassey
In Kolkotta on June 23, a play, "Plassey" marked the completion of 250
years of the Battle of Plassey.
The Battle of Plassey took place on June 23, 1757, at Palashi, India,
on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, about 150 km north of Calcutta,
near Murshidabad, then the capital of the Nawab of Bengal. The
opponents were Siraj Ud Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal,
and the British East India Company. The battle was waged during the
Seven Years' War in Europe (1756�1763); the French East India Company
sent a small contingent to fight against the British East India Company.
Siraj-ud-Daulah's army commander defected to the British, causing his
army to collapse. As a result, the entire province of Bengal fell to
the Company. The enormous wealth gained from the Bengal treasury
allowed the Company to significantly strengthen its military might.
Today, Plassey is judged to be one of the pivotal battles leading to
the formation of the British Empire in India.
P�lash, an extravagant red flowering tree (Flame of the forest), gives
its name to a small village near the battlefield. A phonetically
accurate romanization of the Bengali name would be Battle of Palashi,
but the spelling "Plassey" is now conventional.
Background
The ostensible reason for the Battle of Plassey was Siraj-ud-Daulah's
capture of Fort William, Calcutta (which he renamed Alinagar) during
June, 1756, but the battle is today seen as part of the geopolitical
ambition of the East India Company and the larger dynamics of colonial
conquest.
This conflict was precipitated by a number of disputes [2]:
* The illegal use of Mughal Imperial export trade permits
(dastaks) granted to the British in 1717 for engaging in internal
trade within India. The British cited this permit as their excuse for
not paying taxes to the Bengal Nawab.
* British interference in the Nawab's court, and particularly
their support for one of his aunts, Ghaseti Begum. The son of
Ghaseti's treasurer had sought refuge in Fort William, and Siraj
demanded his return.
* Additional fortifications with mounted guns had been placed on
Fort William without the consent of the Nawab; and
* The British East India Company's policy of favouring Hindu
Marwari merchants such as Jagat Sheth .
During this capture of Fort William, in June 1756, an event occurred
that came to be known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. A narrative by
one John Zephaniah Holwell, plus the testimony of another survivor,
Cooke, to a select committee of the House of Commons, coupled with
subsequent verification by Robert Orme, placed 146 British prisoners
into a room measuring 18 by 15 feet, and only 23 survived the night.
The story was amplified in colonial literature, but the facts are
widely disputed[3]. In any event, the Black Hole incident, which is
often cited as a reason for the Battle at Plassey, was not widely
known until James Mill's History of India (1817), after which it
became the grist of schoolboy texts on India.
As the forces for the battle were building up, the British settlement
at Fort William 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 British [4]. This resulted in the Treaty of Alinagar on
February 7, 1757 [5].
Growing French influence
At the connivance of the enterprising French Governor-General Joseph
Fran�ois Dupleix, French influence at the court of the Nawab was
growing. French trade in Bengal was also increasing in volume. The
French also lent the Nawab some soldiers to operate heavy artillery
pieces.
Ahmad Shah Abdali
Siraj-Ud-Daulah faced conflicts on two fronts simultaneously. In
addition to the threat posed by the British East India Company, he was
confronted on his western border by the advancing army of the Afghan,
Ahmad Shah Abdali, who had captured and looted Delhi in 1756. So,
Siraj sent the majority of his troops west to fight under the command
of his close friend and ally, the Diwan of Patna, Ram Narain.
Court intrigue
In the midst of all of this, there were intrigues at Siraj Ud Daulah's
court at Murshidabad. Siraj was not a particularly well-loved ruler.
Young (he succeeded his grandfather in April, 1756 at the age of 23)
and impetuous, he was prone to make enemies quickly. The most
dangerous of these was his wealthy and influential aunt, Ghaseti Begum
(Meherun-Nisa), who wanted another nephew, Shawkat Jang, installed as
Nawab.
Mir Jafar, commander-in-chief of the army, was also uneasy with Siraj,
and was courted assiduously by Ghaseti. Eventually, through the
connivance of traders such as Amichand (who had suffered as a result
of the siege of Calcutta), and William Watts, Mir Jafar was brought
into the British fold.
Company policy
The Company had long since 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, Alivardi Khan, in order to prosper [6].
After the premature death of Alivardi Khan in April, 1756, his
nominated successor was Siraj-ud-Daulah, a grandson whom Alivardi had
adopted. The circumstances of this transition gave rise to
considerable controversy and the British began supporting the
intrigues of Alivardi's eldest daughter, Ghaseti 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, Clive deputised William Watts, chief of the Kasimbazar
factory of the Company, who was proficient in Bengali and Persian, to
negotiate with two potential contenders, one of Siraj's generals, Yar
Latif Khan, and Siraj's grand-uncle and army chief, Mir Jafar Ali Khan.
On April 23, 1757 the Select Committee of the Board of Directors of
the British East India Company approved Coup d'�tat 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, represented by Clive, and
Mir Jafar. It ensured that Mir Jafar would be appointed Nawab of
Bengal once Siraj Ud Daulah was deposed.
Troops
The British army was vastly outnumbered, consisting of 2,200 Europeans
and 2,100 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 - British
* Major Killpatrick
* Major Grant
* Then Major Eyre Coote, later Lieutenant-General, and then Sir
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 [7]
* 50 naval ratings from HMS Tyger [8]
Battle details
The battle opened on a very hot and humid morning at 7:00 a.m. on June
23, 1757 where the Nawab's army came out of its fortified camp and
launched a massive cannonade against the British camp. The 18th
Century historian Ghulam Husain Salim describes what followed:
" Mīr Muhammad Jafar Khān, with his detachment, stood at a distance
towards the left from the main army; and although Sirāju-d-daulah
summoned him to his side, Mīr Jafar did not move from his position. In
the thick of the fighting, and in the heat of the work of carnage,
whilst victory and triumph were visible on the side of the army of
Sirāju-d-daulah, all of a sudden Mīr Madan, commander of the
Artillery, fell on being hit with a cannon-ball. At the sight of this,
the aspect of Sirāju-d-daulah's army changed, and the artillerymen
with the corpse of Mīr Madan moved into tents. It was now midday, when
the people of the tents fled. As yet Nawāb Sirāju-d-daulah was busy
fighting and slaughtering, when the camp-followers decamping from
Dāūdpūr went the other side, and gradually the soldiers also took
to
their heels. Two hours before sun-set, flight occurred in
Sirāju-d-daulah's army, and Sirāju-d-daulah also being unable to stand
his ground any longer fled. "
[9]
At around 11:00 a.m., 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 a British
cannonball. This cannonade was essentially futile in any case; the
British guns had greater range than those of the French.
At 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 p.m. 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 p.m., 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), while the Nawab's army
lost at least 500 men killed and wounded [10].
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's son.
Ghaseti Begum and other powerful women were transferred to a prison in
distant Dhaka, where they eventually drowned in a boat accident,
widely thought to have been ordered by Mir Jafar.
Mir Jafar as Nawab chafed under the British 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 British led by Colonel Forde managed to defeat them at Chinsura on
November 25, 1759. Thereafter Mir Jafar was deposed as Nawab (1760)
and they appointed Mir Kasim Ali Khan, (Mir Jafar's son-in-law) as
Nawab. Mir Kasim showed signs of independence and was defeated in the
Battle of Buxar (1764), after which full political control shifted to
the Company.
Mir Jafar was re-appointed and remained the titular Nawab until his
death in 1765, while all actual power was 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 [11]. 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 British nobleman could live a life of luxury on an annual
income of � 800 [12].
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 British 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 British 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.
* 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 Calcutta.
* The infamous meeting between Mir Jafar and Watts took place at
Jaffarganj, a village close to Murshidabad. Mir Jafar's palace now
stands in ruins at the place, but close to it is a gate called
Namakharamer Deori (literally traitor's gate) where Watts is supposed
to have entered the palace disguised as a purdanasheen (Urdu for
veiled) lady in a palanquin.
* One of the unseen protagonists of the court drama was a wealthy
Sikh 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 British head quarters to Calcutta in
1773 [13].
* The Indian rebellion of 1857 began almost exactly a century
later during May, 1857
* Plassey Day is still celebrated by 9(Plassey) Battery, Royal
Artillery
Quotes
* "A great prince was dependent on my pleasure, an opulent city
lay at my mercy; its richest bankers bid against each other for my
smiles; I walked through vaults which were thrown open to me alone,
piled on either hand with gold and jewels! Mr. Chairman, at this
moment 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 [14] [15]
* "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
1. ^ a b c Paul K. Davis (1999). 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient
Times to the Present. Santa Barbara, California. ISBN 1-57607-075-1.
2. ^ Dirks, Nicholas. Scandal of the Empire - India and the
creation of Imperial Britain London, Harvard University Press, 2006,
ISBN 0-674-02166-5
3. ^ Dalley, JanThe Black Hole: Money, Myth and Empire,London, Fig
Tree, June 2006, ISBN 0-670-91447-9
4. ^ Robert Clive reports to his father on his victory over
Sirajuddaulah, 23 February 1757
5. ^ Bad Link
6. ^ Hill,S.C. The Indian Record Series, Bengal in 1756-7., 3 vols.
London, 1895-1905, Vol. 2:307
7. ^ The British Army
8. ^ 9 (PLASSEY) BATTERY ROYAL ARTILLERY, THE BATTLE OF PLASSEY, 23
JUNE 1757
9. ^ Ghulam Husain Salim Riyazu-s-Salatin (Calcutta) 1902 Fasc. IV
Available Here
10. ^ Robert Clive's letter to the Select Committee of the Board of
Directors of the British East India Company reporting on the battle,
26 July 1757 - at the Project South Asia
11. ^ This requested article does not exist
12. ^ Prices & Money, The Salacious Historian's Lair
13. ^ Macaulay, Thomas Babbington Critical and Historical Essays,
London, 1828, Part III
14. ^ Bad Link
15. ^ Dirks, Nicholas. Scandal of the Empire - India and the
creation of Imperial Britain London, Harvard University Press, 2006,
ISBN 0-674-02166-5
[edit] Further reading
* Chaudhury, S. The Prelude to Empire; Palashi Revolution of
1757,, New Delhi, 2000.
* Datta, K.K. Siraj-ud-daulah,, Calcutta, 1971.
* Gupta, B.K. Sirajuddaulah and the East India Company, 1756-1757,
Leiden, 1962
* Harrington, Peter. Plassey 1757, Clive of India's Finest Hour,
Osprey Campaign Series #35, Osprey Publishing, 1994.
* Hill, S.C. The Three Frenchmen in Bengal or The Commercial Ruin
of the French Settlement in 1757, 1903
* Landes, David S. The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. New York:
Norton and Company, 1999.
* Marshall, P.J. Bengal - the British Bridgehead, Cambridge, 1987.
* Raj, Rajat K. Palashir Sharajantra O Shekaler Samaj, Calcutta, 1994.
* Sarkar, J.N. The History of Bengal, 2, Dhaka, 1968.
* Spear, Percival Master of Bengal. Clive and His India London, 1975
* Strang, Herbert. In Clive's Command, A Story of the Fight for
India, 1904
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plassey
# posted by mediavigil @ 10:36 AM 
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