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Battle of Plassey

Date : June 23rd, 1757
Place: Plassey (present day Palashi ) on the Ganga in Nadia district of West Bengal

Image source: commons.wikimedia.org/
The battle of Plassey was fought between the army of Siraj-ud-Doula, the last independent Nawab of Bengal and the troops of the British East India Company under Robert Clive. Clive had 1100 Europeans and 200 sepoys whereas Siraj-ud-doula’s army composed of about 50,000 men strengthened by a train of heavy artillery. However about 45000 of the Nawab’s troops were under command of three traitors Mir Jafar, Yar Latif khan and Rai Durlabhram. Mir Jafar was the general of Siraj-ud-doula. A small force under Mohanlal and Mir Madan joined the battle.

After Mir Madan’s death from a stray shot, Siraj-ud-doula suspended the fight for the day on Mir Jafar’s treacherous advice. The withdrawal result in the complete disaster for the nawab’s army. Fearing his life Siraj fled from the battle. The chaos reigned supreme. The casualty on English side numbered 23 killed and 49 wounded. 500 were killed on Nawab’s side.

Though battle of Plassey was a mere skirmish, going by the results of the battle it can be safely concluded that its importance was more than that of the some of the greatest battles of the world. It facilitated the British conquest of Bengal and subsequently the whole of India.
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Comments

  1. UnknownMay 8, 2011 at 3:05 AM

    what was the reason of battle of plassey

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shamik BhattacharyaSeptember 13, 2012 at 3:02 PM

    British had attacked Chandernagore, a place near Murshidabad where French had established their factory.Siraj-ud-Daullah was highly dissatisfied on hearing the incident as the Brithish attacked French without his permission.The war between England and France also known as the seven years war was then in almost all the colonies all over the world.Siraj did not find it appropriate to allow them to meet their personal settlements in his country.So he with the aid of France decided to attack British at the village of Plassey ,some 42 kms from his capital Murshidabad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GREAT MILITARY BATTLESMay 16, 2015 at 6:17 PM

    Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.

    Your article is very well done, a good read.

    ReplyDelete
  4. GREAT MILITARY BATTLESMay 16, 2015 at 6:17 PM

    Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.

    Your article is very well done, a good read.

    ReplyDelete

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