Historical stories · 23 June 1757
The Battle of Plassey
Explore the 1757 confrontation in Bengal, political alliances and the Company’s later acquisition of revenue power.
The Battle of Plassey placed the East India Company’s forces against those of Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, in June 1757. The outcome helped enlarge the Company’s political influence. It did not instantly create British rule over the whole subcontinent; later military encounters and revenue arrangements were essential to the transformation of a commercial corporation into a territorial power.
Plassey took place in Bengal, not in Calcutta itself. Company expansion was a sequence of changes; the historical overlay does not show surveyed 1757 frontiers.
Explore this story on the map ↗Alliances mattered alongside armies
The National Army Museum describes negotiations involving Mir Jafar and Bengal’s banking elites as part of the Company’s effort to replace the Nawab. This makes the battle more than a comparison of troop numbers. The account should also be read as an institutional military narrative, alongside the political and economic framing in NCERT.
Source: National Army Museum — Battle of PlasseyRevenue power came through later steps
NCERT follows the Company from trading privileges into territorial administration. Plassey, Buxar and the Diwani are separate developments, even though they form a connected history. Distinguishing them prevents a single dramatic victory from erasing the later arrangements through which revenue and governing authority changed hands.
Source: NCERT — From Trade to TerritoryChronological milestones
- 23 June 1757
The battle in Bengal
Clive’s Company forces defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah’s army in a confrontation shaped by prior political arrangements.
Source: National Army Museum — Battle of Plassey - 1764
Buxar is another turning point
The later battle must be distinguished from Plassey when following Company expansion.
Source: NCERT — From Trade to Territory - 1765
The Company obtains the Diwani
Revenue-collecting rights in Bengal formed a further step in the Company’s political transformation.
Source: NCERT — From Trade to Territory
Sources & further reading
Original editorial summaries. The sources below support the history and offer different institutional perspectives; maps show approximate political geography.