BATTLE OF PLASSEY A TURNING POINT TO THE ENGLISH IN INDIA.

The Battle of Plassey was an extremely important and key battle in Indian History. It paved the way for establishment of the rule of the British in India.  In this battle Clive who was then a Colonel defeated the army of Sirajuddaula the Nawab of Bengal. While Clive had an army of just 3200 men and 8 cannon, the nawab had an army of 50,000 men and 52 cannon, yet lost the battle. What is the reason for this miserable defeat despite having such superiority in numbers?

 

Firstly Sirajuddaula was just 23 years old and was inexperienced and rash. He succeeded his grandfather Alivardi Khan. The English had certain permission for free export of their goods under Murshid Quli Khan, the predecessor to Alivardi Khan from their port of Calcutta. When the English tried to misuse them for profit, Alivardi Khan being a strong nawab disciplined them and they had to bow down to him. 

When the inexperienced Sirajuddaula became the nawab the English wanted to get back those concessions to which Sirajuddaula refused to allow. The British now felt stronger as they ousted the French from the South. The French had a base at Chandernagore in Bengal from where they carried on their trade.

The English then started fortifying Calcutta although with an intention of having a war with the French. This fortification without his permission in his territory challenged  Sirajuddaula. Being rash, without planning he rushed with his army to Calcutta and took the city in June 1756 and then immediately retired to celebrate his victory. In the process he let the English ships slip through without destroying them. They then went and took refuge at a place till the English reinforcements arrived from Madras.

In the meantime they intrigued with the leading men of the nawab’s court and wove a web of treachery. Chief of the disloyals was Mr Jafar, the main commander of the nawab’s forces and also his uncle through marriage. Then there was Khadim Khan another commander and also the Jagat Seths, the richest bankers of Bengal. Mir Jafar influenced Raja Durlabh Ram and Yar Lutf Khan the other two commanders.

The English force from Madras was commanded by Colonel Clive and the fleet by Admiral Watson. Clive marched to Chandernagore to take the trading post from  the French. Sirajuddaula sent one commander to intervene in the matter but Clive bribed him and then took and destroyed the settlement in March 1757.

Sirajuddulah suspected treachery from some of his commanders but was not sure. The one body of troops that Siraj-ud-Daulah can rely upon fully, was Monsieur Law and his French troops and  Siraj-ud-Daulah ordered them to move 160 KM to the west, to Bhagalpur.

 After the capture of Chandernagore, Siraj-ud-Daulah and the East India Company Committee in Calcutta exchanged a long series of letters. During the three months of this correspondence, Siraj-ud-Daulah moved his army to Plassey on the Bhagirathi River, 35 Km south of Murshidabad, his capital. His army was commanded by Raja Durlabh Ram and contained a large force led by his uncle by marriage, Mir Jafar Khan. Both these commanders were already in dialogue with Clive proposing to betray Siraj-ud-Daulah.

During this time, Clive negotiated a treaty, through the intermediary William Watts, with Mir Jafar Khan, whereby the English would assist Mir Jafar Khan in obtaining the Nawabship of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. This was in exchange for substantial payments to the Company and its various officers later. Many of Siraj-ud-Daulah’s senior officers including Raja Durlabh Ram and Yar Lutf Khan were in support of Mir Jafar Khan in this conspiracy. Under the treaty Mir Jafar Khan undertook to change sides during any hostilities.

Clive had 950 European troops, 2100 sepoys, 100 artillerymen and 60 sailors and also 8, 6 pounder cannon and 2 howitzers. That was a total of about 3200 soldiers on his side. As Clive and his army approached Siraj-ud-Daulah’s camp, the correspondence with Mir Jafar Khan became less than satisfactory, leaving Clive in doubt as to whether Mir Jafar would abide by the pact and betray Siraj-ud-Daulah. If he did not, then Clive’s army would be overwhelmed in a battle.

Clive halted the advance at Katwa, hesitated to proceed further and held a Council of War with all his officers. They discussed as to whether Mir Jafar would defect or not.

The majority of the officers were for staying put and so was Clive. On hearing that Clive halted at Katwah, Siraj-ud-Daulah rushed his force forward to occupy the camp at Plassey, which was an established post for his army.

After the Council of War, a letter reached Clive from Mir Jafar Khan, confirming that in the event of battle he would join the English against Siraj-ud-Daulah. Clive then immediately changed his mind and the army marched.

At 6 am on 22nd June 1757, the army crossed the Bhagirathi River to the east bank, using the accompanying flotilla of boats which carried the supplies. The crossing took most of the day and brought the army within 21 Km of Plassey.

Clive’s army marched again at sunset on 22nd June 1757. It was now raining heavily, the earlier onset of the annual monsoon weather occurred and, in places, the river overflowed its banks, forcing the soldiers to march in water that reached up to their waists.

Sirajuddaulas army had 35000 foot soldiers most poorly armed and lacking in discipline. His cavalry numbered 15000 horsemen mostly Pathans armed with swords and spears.

Siraj-ud-Daulah’s artillery comprised 53 cannon, all of heavy calibre; 32, 24 and 18 pounders. Guns of this size, more usually deployed in fixed position fort siege work, were not ideal for use on the battlefield, being cumbrous, slow to load and difficult to move. The heavy ammunition could not be easily carried with the guns in sufficient quantity for a battle. 

Siraj-ud-Daulah’s gunners attempted to deal with these various problems by mounting the guns on enormous wooden trucks, towed by oxen and pushed by elephants.

The guns were fired from these platforms and the rate of fire would be slower than on the ground, with each discharge and heavy recoil damaging the wooden structures and terrifying the animals, particularly the elephants, notoriously unreliable in battle and dangerous to their own side.

On the battlefield, a ball from a 32 pounder gun would do little more damage than one from a 6 pounder. Indian gunners were not well drilled and produced a slow rate of fire, taking, around fifteen minutes to fire each round, as against 2 or 3 rounds a minute for European gunners.

Locally manufactured, the Indian guns lacked modern refinements such as elevating screws, making it near impossible to aim the guns with any accuracy from the wooden trucks.

With all these problems, despite the large number of guns, it is likely that Siraj-ud-Daulah’s artillery was of little assistance to his army. It inflicted few casualties on Clive’s army as was later known by the English casualties.

Supervising the Indian gunners and working a few smaller calibre field guns themselves were 40 or 50 Frenchmen, retained from Monsieur Law’s force, most of which was sent to Bhagalpur by Sirajuddaula. All these Frenchmen were deeply resentful at Clive’s destruction of the French settlement at Chandernagore and were commanded by Monsieur St Frais.

Contrary to the usual Indian practice of placing artillery together, Siraj-ud-Daulah’s guns were dispersed along his line of troops in twos and threes.

Both armies were in place by 8am. The French, under St Frais, fired the first gun, which acted as a signal for the opening of a heavy bombardment all along the line of Siraj-ud-Daulah’s army. The Indian line was enveloped in a cloud of powder smoke. The English guns returned the fire and inflicted considerable damage on Siraj-ud-Daulah’s troops.

Clive could not afford even the few casualties caused by the French and Indian gunfire.  At the end of half an hour and with 30 casualties Clive pulled his line back behind the mound along the perimeter of the mango grove where they camped.. The mango grove had a mound in the front.

Clive’s men were now in cover. They dug openings in the mango grove mound for their guns to fire through.

Encouraged by the English withdrawal, Siraj-ud-Daulah’s guns moved nearer and continued their fire.

Siraj-ud-Daulah’s cannonade was hopeless and caused havoc only among the mango trees, firing over the heads of the English soldiers concealed behind the mound. So, all that fire was foolishly wasted.

Clive’s guns resumed their fire with considerable effect, killing Indian gunners and causing supplies of their ammunition to explode, generating panic among the draft animals and clouds of powder smoke.

Despite that, the cannonade continued for three hours, but without any decisive effect. Siraj-ud-Daulah’s guns maintained their fire and there was no sign of any of his commanders deserting him. Till now all the battle had been only with cannon and there was no troop engagement.

At 11am, Clive called his senior commanders to a council to decide what to do. It was resolved to continue the battle until nightfall and then attack Siraj-ud-Daulah’s camp.

Soon after the council ended, a heavy rainstorm broke, continuing for an hour. The English troops were used to campaigning in a country where the monsoon had an impact on battles. They produced tarpaulins and covered the artillery ammunition to keep it dry. Siraj-ud-Daulah’s artillery did not have tarpaulins and much of their powder was ruined by the rain and rendered unusable. Their fire fell away and their cannon became useless.

Mir Madan Khan, Siraj-ud-Daulah’s only reliable commander, commanding on the right wing by the river, assumed that the English artillery must have suffered the same catastrophe as his own and got neutralized. He launched an attack with his cavalry. They were met with a devastating discharge of canon at short range, which decimated and repelled the charging cavalry and mortally wounded Mir Madan Khan. The dying commander was brought to Siraj-ud-Daulah.

This was a key to the battle. If Mir Madan Khan lived and commanded in the key part of the battlefield, it was possible for Siraj-ud-Daulah to win the battle. But without that capable and faithful commander, he was at the mercy of the other three commanders, all disloyal.

Siraj-ud-Daulah sent for Mir Jafar Khan, threw his turban on the ground and begged Mir Jafar to protect him. Mir Jafar promised to defend him to the utmost, then rode back to his wing of the army and sent a letter to Clive informing him of the death of Mir Madan Khan and urging him to attack without delay. This letter did not reach Clive during the battle.

Siraj-ud-Daulah then spoke to his other two commanders. Raja Durlabh Ram urged Siraj-ud-Daulah to order his army to return to the camp and leave the camp himself. Siraj-ud-Daulah adopted this advice and left on a camel for his capital, Murshidabad, with an escort of 2,000 horsemen. That was a fatal move by Sirajuddulah but he was inexperienced and all his commanders that were left were unfaithful men.

The three treacherous commanders began the withdrawal to the camp, without the troops of the 3 betraying commanders engaging the enemy. The artillery lead the withdrawal column. They were a little restrained in their treachery because the rest of the army was generally still faithful to their Nawab, Siraj-ud-Daulah.

In any case, the French commander, St Frais, refused to retreat and continued to fight from the large tank despite the fact that the soldiers of the now dead Mir Madan Khan joined the withdrawal to the camp.

Clives army then advanced on to Sirajuddaulas withdrawing forces. Mir Jafars army meanwhile after withdrawing went and joined with Clive.

Siraj-ud-Daulah’s soldiers fought hard, but were leaderless as their commanders were nowhere to be seen. Without direction, other than that of St Frais’ Frenchmen there was confusion in the army ranks. The cannon and musket fire from Clive’s positions inflicted great loss on Siraj-ud-Daulah’s troops and the oxen towing the platforms for the heavy guns.

Clive launched an attack on the French men and was successful. From then on, resistance by Siraj-ud-Daulah’s army ebbed away and, by 5pm, the English were in possession of Siraj-ud-Daulah’s camp and the battle was over.

Clive’s army casualties were 23 dead and 49 wounded mainly during the first fusillade from the canon after which the cannon became useless due to rain. Sirajuddaulas army suffered only 500 casualties because the bulk of the soldiers have been removed by Mir Jafar.

It is treachery of the highest order that won the battle for Clive and laid the foundation for British rule in India, and not any superior General ship of Clive as the Britisher’s and some historians claim.

The battle of treachery is perhaps a more appropriate name for it. After knowing about Clive, one gets a doubt that perhaps most the company’s officers have the same tendency to bribe and intrigue.

RESULTS OF THE BATTLE: What happened after the battle? Mir Jafar was made the nawab of Bengal as promised. What did he give in return to the English? He allowed complete free trade to the company in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and also the Jamindari of 24 Parganas near Calcutta. He paid a sum of Rs 17,70,000 as compensation to the company and the traders of Calcutta for the attack made on the city. He also paid large bribes to the Company officials. Clive was paid Rs 20,00,000, Watts over 10,00,000. Clive himself later estimated that the Company and its servants had collected more than 3 crore rupees from the puppet nawab.In the year 1758 this was a huge fortune. 

This battle which was won by sheer treachery nevertheless boosted the British prestige and made them as a major contender for the Indian Empire. The rich revenue from Bengal enabled them to organize a strong army and meet the cost of conquest of rest of the country.

Bengal at that time contributed 50% of the GDP of the Moghul empire or 12% of the worlds GDP. Dhaka then had a population of 10 lakhs when Calcutta was 3 lacs, Madras 2 lacs and Bombay 70,000.

The British estimated the wealth of Bengal to be inexhaustible and ordered that Bengal foot the bill for expenditure in the Madras and Bombay presidencies as well. The treasury of Bengal was looted and was made empty. In 1760 Mir Jafar was removed and Mir Quasim was installed as his successor and the loot continued despite his resistance.

Finally Mir Qasim was defeated in the battle of Buxar along with the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II & Shuja Uddaulah of Oudh. This battle forced Shah Alam to give the Diwani (right to collect revenue) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the company.

Such rapacious exploitation of Bengal also resulted in the great Bengal famine in 1770 in which one third of Bengals population perished. Although the famine was precipitated by failure of the rains, the effect was enhanced by the policies of the company.