01A battle bought in advance
Clive came up the river with about 3,000 men, some 800 of them Europeans, and ten guns, and on the morning of 23 June stood in the mango grove of Lakshabagh facing an army many times larger. He had already made a secret compact with Mir Jafar, the Nawab’s chief commander, and with the bankers Jagat Seth and the merchant Amir Chand. Only Mir Madan and the Hindu general Mohan Lal, with a small French gun party, pressed the attack. A midday shower soaked the Nawab’s powder while the Company kept theirs dry; then a ball killed Mir Madan. On Mir Jafar’s advice Siraj ordered the army back to camp, and Mir Jafar’s divisions stood and watched as the retreat became a rout. Siraj fled to Murshidabad and was killed there on 2 July.
02The field today
The Bhagirathi has since changed its course and carried away much of the ground, mango grove and all. A memorial obelisk stands near the old field, with a few smaller pillars marking where the Nawab’s commanders fell, and a gate on the highway bears the name Palashi. The battle made Mir Jafar Nawab and the Company the real master of Bengal’s revenue; eight years later the diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha was formally granted to it after Buxar.
The life of this place
- 23 June 1757Battle of Plassey; Siraj-ud-Daulah is defeated through Mir Jafar’s betrayal.
- 2 July 1757Siraj-ud-Daulah is killed at Murshidabad.
- 1765After Buxar the Company receives the diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.
