Battle of Plassey
| Battle of Plassey | |||||||||
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| Part of the Seven Years' War | |||||||||
 Lord Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, oil on canvas (Francis Hayman, c. 1762) |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 France
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah
Monsieur Sinfray
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 750 English European soldiers 100 Topasses 2,100 Indian sepoys 100 gunners 50 sailors 8 cannon (six 6-pounders and 2 howitzers) defectors: 15,000 infantry of Mir Jafar 35,000 infantry |
Mughal Empire: France: 50 artillerymen (6 field pieces) |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 22 killed 50 wounded |
500 killed and wounded | ||||||||
Colonel Robert Clive
Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah
Mughal Empire:
7,000 infantry
5,000 cavalry of Siraj ud-Daulah
35,000 infantry (defected)
15,000 cavalry of Mir Jafar (defected)
53 field pieces (mostly 32, 24 and 18-pounders)
The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757. The battle consolidated the Company's presence in Bengal, which later expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred years.
The battle took place at Palashi (Anglicised version: Plassey) on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Calcutta and south of Murshidabad, then capital of Bengal (now in Nadia district in West Bengal). The belligerents were the Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the British East India Company. Siraj-ud-daulah had become the Nawab of Bengal the year before, and he ordered the English to stop the extension of their fortification. Robert Clive bribed Mir Jafar, the commander in chief of the nawab's army, and also promised him to make him Nawab of Bengal. He defeated the Nawab at Plassey in 1757 and captured Calcutta.
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