Battle of Plassey, 1757 — 1757 · Plassey

Language Movement, 1952 — 1952 · Language

Liberation War, 1971 — 1971 · Liberation

Partition of Bengal and Swadeshi movement, 1905 — 1905 · Partition

❦

Discover Bengal · Unfolded

❦

Robert Clive

✦

East India Company Commander

The Company commander whose victory at Plassey accelerated British political power in Bengal.

Est. 1947 · Bengal✺A Bilingual Archive

Biography

✦

Context

In the context of His Bengal career centered on the 1757 Battle of Plassey, the Company’s acquisition of revenue rights after 1765, and the military-political expansion that followed., Robert Clive is recognized as East India Company Commander. The Company commander whose victory at Plassey accelerated British political power in Bengal.

Contribution

As an East India Company commander, he led Company forces at Plassey and used alliances with Bengal’s court factions to expand British influence.

Impact

Clive’s victory at Plassey and subsequent political settlements helped shift Bengal from a regional court contested by European companies toward Company-dominated rule.

plasseyeast-india-companycolonial-expansion

Topic Hub: Explore related topics - Bangladesh History Timeline Topic Hub: Explore related topics - Colonial Bengal: From Plassey to Permanent Settlement

Timeline Placement

✦

Robert Clive appears in 4 linked timeline events, spanning 1757 - 1770.

First Appearance

1757

Latest Appearance

1770

Active Span

1757 - 1770

Linked Events

Legacy Summary

✦

Clive’s victory at Plassey and subsequent political settlements helped shift Bengal from a regional court contested by European companies toward Company-dominated rule. This influence is reflected across 4 connected events.

References

✦

Key sources for understanding this figure

A Comprehensive History of Modern Bengal, 1700-1950

A three-volume survey covering the Nawabi era, colonial remaking, and the freedom struggle through 1950.

Cited in: 4 events

Seir Mutaqherin / Siyar-ul-Mutakhkherin

A late eighteenth-century history of Mughal India that is essential for understanding Bengal Nawabs and Plassey.

Cited in: 4 events

The English Factories in India

Calendar records of East India Company activity are valuable for trade, factories, and the commercial expansion that preceded colonial rule.

Cited in: 4 events

Diwani

Bengal-focused reference on the diwani system, the 1765 agreements, and how revenue authority passed to the East India Company.

Cited in: 3 events

East India Company

Overview of the Company's shift from trade to colonial rule, including the grant of diwani rights and its economic consequences in Bengal.

Cited in: 3 events

Fakir-Sannyasi Movement in Rajshahi: Regional Study of a Pioneer Peasant Resistance in Colonial Bengal

Regional mapping of the rebellion in Rajshahi and North Bengal; strong for local geography, peasant support, and rebel routes.

Cited in: 2 events

✦

Related Figures

Jagat Seth

Banking House and Court Financier

Mir Jafar

Commander and Later Nawab of Bengal

Siraj ud-Daulah

Nawab of Bengal

Shah Alam II

Mughal emperor and grantor of the Bengal Diwani

Alivardi Khan

Former Nawab of Bengal

Charles Watson

Royal Navy Admiral

Related Events

1757

Battle of Plassey

1764

Battle of Buxar

1765

East India Company Gets Diwani Rights in Bengal

1770

Great Bengal Famine

Related Places

Palashi / Plassey

Buxar

Bengal Region

Appears In Events

✦

Timeline View

1757

Battle of Plassey

The Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked a decisive shift in Bengal's political destiny. A short military encounter became a structural transfer of power as the East India Company worked through court conspiracy, military defection, and financial alliance to break Siraj ud-Daulah's position. The aftermath reshaped governance, revenue extraction, and sovereignty, laying the foundation for long-term colonial rule.

1764

Battle of Buxar

In 1764, the Battle of Buxar gave the East India Company a decisive military advantage over the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula, and Shah Alam II. While Plassey opened the gate in Bengal, Buxar consolidated Company coercive power at a wider regional scale. The outcome set the stage for the 1765 diwani arrangement and deeper colonial revenue extraction.

1765

East India Company Gets Diwani Rights in Bengal

In 1765, the East India Company secured the diwani, or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. That settlement turned post-Plassey influence into formal fiscal power. Revenue extraction, administrative leverage, and political authority began to flow through the Company, even as Mughal and nawabi institutions remained in place.

1770

Great Bengal Famine

The famine of 1770 devastated Bengal, producing catastrophic mortality across agrarian and urban communities. Crop failure, grain-market distortions, and rigid revenue collection under East India Company authority combined to turn environmental stress into a social collapse. The crisis became an early warning of how colonial political economy could magnify human vulnerability.