: He succeeded his grandfather Alivardi Khan as the Nawab of Bengal. In a vain bid to oust the British in Bengal, he captured the....){kind=link}
Siraj Uddaula (1756-57): He succeeded his grandfather Alivardi Khan as the Nawab of Bengal. In a vain bid to oust the British in Bengal, he captured the English settlement of Calcutta but it was soon recaptured by Clive who later conspired to dislodge the Nawab.
Mir Jafar: He was the brother-in-law of Alivardi Khan. Clive enticed him to his side by promising him the Nawabi. While secretly conspiring against the Nawab, Mir Jafar pledged his full support to him against the English.
Battle of Plassey : The strong force of Siraj Uddaula were defeated on Jun 23, 1757, through deceit and treachery by the English forces. Mir Jafar who was acting as one of the commanders of the Nawab, not only did not fight but also gave deliberately wrong advice on the strategic moves in the battle field resulting in the easy defeat to Indian forces.
The Importance of the Battle of Plassey : It paved the way for the conquest of British in Bengal and eventually of the whole of India.
British acquisition of Bengal : As already agreed, Mir Jafar ceded the Zamindari rights of Twenty Four Parganas District to the East India Company. Two years later, in 1760, Clive left for home. During his absence Mir. Jafar was deposed for non-payment of company’s dues and was replaced by his son-in-law Mir Qasim. Mir Qasim having failed to satisfy the English was again replaced. He ran away to Awadh.
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Battle of Buxar (1764) : Mir Qasim persuaded the Nawab Wazir of Awadh and the Emperor Shah Alam to help him against the British which caused the Battle of Buxar between the joint forces of nawab Wazir of Awadh and Shah Alam on the one hand and the British forces on the other. The Indian forces were defeated.
The Importance of the Battle of Buxar: As a result of this battle Bihar and Awadh in addition to Bengal, became company’s possessions and the Emperor became the servile instrument of the British.
Clive on his return in 1765, tried to win over the Indians. He restored Awadh to Wazir Nawab for a payment of 30 lakh rupees and allowed the Emperor to retain with him the district of Kara and Allahabad and fixed a pension. In return, the Emperor ceded to the company, the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.