Battle of Plassey 1757

Story hook

It is 23 June 1757. On a mango grove in Palashi (Plassey), Bengal, Robert Clive commands ~3,000 soldiers — mostly sepoys. Facing him: Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah with ~50,000 men + 50 cannons. By monsoon afternoon, Clive has won — not by tactics but by bribing Mir Jafar (commander of Nawab's army) to defect. Within 7 years, the Company — chartered to trade — controls Bengal's revenue. Within 100 years, it rules the largest empire in history.

For UPSC, Plassey + Buxar + Diwani are the founding moments of British India — the single most-tested chunk of Modern History.

Why this matters for UPSC

For UPSC:

• Prelims: Plassey date + Mir Jafar + Siraj-ud-Daulah; Black Hole of Calcutta; Buxar 1764 — Mir Qasim + Shuja-ud- Daulah + Shah Alam II; Diwani 1765 + Allahabad Treaty; Robert Clive's Dual Government; Warren Hastings; Bengal Famine 1770; Regulating Act 1773.
• Mains GS-I: Why Plassey-Buxar mattered; transition from trader to ruler; Permanent Settlement 1793; revenue policy.
• Interview: Mir Jafar's name as synonym for traitor; Bengal Famine as Britain's first colonial atrocity.