The British forces were reinforced with the arrival of Watson and Clive .Clive reconquered Calcutta and made the Nawab concede to all his demands.Now he wanted a pliant Nawab on the throne .Meanwhile he also hatched a conspiracy against the Nawab with the help of Mir Jafar ,the commander -in-chief of the Nawab's army ,Manick Chand ,the man in charge of Calcutta ,Omichand ,a rich merchant ,Jagat Seth ,the richest banker in Bengal and Khadim Khan who commanded a large contingent of the Nawab's army . Jafar was promised the Nawabship while the others were offered huge bribes.
Spoiling for war,Clive put forward some demands. It was clear that war was inevitable . Siraj did not pay heed to French warning of the intrigue .In the Battle of Plassey that followed only a small force of the Nawab participated.Mir Jafar took no part in the fighting .The Nawab fled but was chased and put to death.Mir Jafar,who was proclaimed the new Nawab ,gave the British undisputed right to trade without taxes.He paid a huge sum as war compensation to the EEIC.The EEIC servants collected gifts worth 30 million rupees from the Nawab and the Bengal treasury !
The victory in this battle paved the way for the British conquest of Bengal and eventually the whole of India. It transformed a mere trading company to a political power and a major contender for the Indian Empire.
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.
ReplyDeleteYour article is very well done, a good read.
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.
ReplyDeleteYour article is very well done, a good read.