Plassey and its importance

 The Battle of Plassey was a major battle that took place on 23 June 1757 at Palashi, Bengal about 150 kilometres north of Calcutta. This was near Murshidabad which was the capital of Bengal at the time.
Plassey is the anglicised version of Palashi. The battle was between Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the British East India Company.
The battle -- rather the rout of plassey – was hardly important from the military view- point .it was a mere skirmish .the total casualities were 65 on company’s side and 500 in the Nawab’s army.the English army showed no military superiority either in manoeuvres or strategy of the battle .it was desertion in the Nawab’s camp that gave Clive the victory.After MirMadan’s death treacherous commanders held the field.if Mir jaffar and Rai Durlabh had remained faithful the outcome of the battle would have been different .it was treason that drove the Nawab from Battlefield ,it was treason that made Clive the Victor.
The battle of plassey is important because the events that followed it.passey put the British Yoke on Bengal which could not be put off.The new Nawab Mir Jaffar ,was dependent on British Bayonets for the Maintenance of his position in Bengal and for protection against foreign invasion .An English Army of 6000 troops was maintained in Bengal to help the Nawab.Gradually all real power passed into the hands of the company .We can understand the hopeless position of Mir Jaffar from the fact that he wanted to punish Diwan Rai Durlabh and Ram Narayan ,the deputy governor of Bihar ,for disloyalty ,the English held his hand .When Mir Jaffar refused to read the writing on wall,he had to give place to Mir Kasim.
The battle of Plassey and subsequent plunder of Bengal placed at the disposal of the English resources .the first instalment of money paid to the company immediately after plassey was a sum of £ 800000( paid in coined silver).In the graphic language of Macaulay ,”the fleet which conveyed this treasure to Calcutta consisted of more than a hundred boats.”The vast resources of Bengal helped the English to conquer the wars of the Deccan and extend their influence over Northern India.
The great transformation came about in the position of the English company in Bengal .Before plassey The English was just one of the European Companies trading in Bengal after Plassey the English company virtually monopolised the trade and commerce of Bengal .The French never recovered their lost position in Bengal ,The dutch made a last bid in 1759 but failed.From commerce the English proceeded to monopolise political power in Bengal.
Plassey proved a battle with far –reaching consequences in the fate of India .there never was a battle in which the consequences were so vast ,so immediate and so permanent ( writes Mallesson).