Modern History Simplified: Battle of Plassey and Battle of Buxar explained.

Prelude to Battle of Plassey

1. Challenges to Siraj-Ud-Daula (1756-1757)
   1. The officials of the company made rampant misuse of its trade privileges that adversely affected the nawab’s finances.
   2. The english fortified Calcutta without the nawab’s permission.
   3. The English East India company provide asylum to a political fugitive, Krishna Das, son of Raj Ballah who had fled with immense treasures against the Nawab’s will.
   4. The company suspected that Siraj-Ud-Daula would drastically reduce its trade privileges in collusion with the French in Bengal. 
2. Siraj-Ud-Daula ordered both the French and the British to stop fortification. The French compiled whereas the British refused. The British inturn demanded absolute right to trade freely in Bengal irrespective of Bengal Nawab’s orders. 
3. This was a direct challenge to Nawab’s sovereignty. Hence Siraj-Ud-Daula seized Kasim Bazar and Calcutta and drove the English out of the city. Also he renamed the city as Alinagar. 
4. The reinforcement from Madras, sought by the English, arrived under the leadership of Robert Clive and Charles Watson and recaptured Calcutta. 
5. Treaty of Alinagar was signed in February 1757. The main provisions of the treaty were:
   1. The nawab will allow the English all the privileges sanctioned to them by Farrukh Siyar’s farman of 1717
   2. All the English goods passing through Bengal with the company’s Dastak will be exempted from customs duties
   3. The nawab will permit the English to fortify Calcutta without any hindrance; 
   4. The English will have the liberty to mint coin money in Calcutta.
6. However, the peace was short-lived.

Battle of Plassey 1757

1. Took place in June 1757.
2. The peace forged by Treaty of Alinagar was short-lived.
3. The English conquered Chandannagar and Siraj-Ud-Daula offered protection to the French. This enraged the English and Robert Clive declared war on Siraj-Ud-Daula. 
4. Course of War:
   1. The secret alliance of the British with the conspirators strengthened the British foothold in the battle.
   2. Mir Jafar, with around one-third of the Bengali army, did not join the battle and contributed to Nawab’s defeat.
   3. The Nawab was killed by Miran, the son of Mir Jafar.
   4. The Battle is regarded as a historic turning point for the British in India; it established the political and military supremacy of the British in Bengal.
5. Consequences of Battle of Plassey 1757
   1. Mir Jafar was crowned as the Nawab of Bengal
   2. The battle established the military supremacy of the English in Bengal. Their main rivals, the French, were ousted. 
   3. The British were allowed undisputed free trade rights in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa.
   4. The British received Zamindari of 24 paraganas in Calcutta. 
   5. British merchants and traders need not pay tax on private trade.

Battle of Buxar 1764

1. Mir Jafar was increasingly irritated by the interference of Robert Clive.
2. Mir Jafar entered into a conspiracy with the Dutch at Chinsura. But the Dutch were defeated and humbled by the English forces.
3. The treachery of Mir Jafar and his failure to make the payments due to the Company, annoyed the English. Hence Mir Jafar was replaced by Mir Kasim.
4. The Company had thought that Mir Kasim would prove to be an ideal puppet for them. However, Mir Kasim belied the expectations of the Company.
5. Mir Kasim put an end to the misuse of Dastak and abolished all duties on internal trade against British wishers in order to protect Indian traders. 
6. The Nawab-Company tussle over transit duty led to the outbreak of wars between the English and Mir Kasim in 1763.
7. The English gained successive victories which led to Mir Kasim fleeing to Awadh (Oudh). 
8. Mir Kasim fled to Awadh (or Oudh) and formed a confederacy with the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-daulah, and the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II, with a view to recover Bengal from the English.
9. The combined armies of Mir Kasim, the Nawab of Awadh and Shah Alam II were defeated by the English forces under Major Hector Munro at Buxar in 1764. 
10. The importance of this battle lay in the fact that not only the Nawab of Bengal but also the Mughal Emperor of India was defeated by the English.
11. The victory made the English a great power in northern India and contenders for the supremacy over the whole country.
12. The Treaty of Allahabad: Robert Clive concluded two important treaties at Allahabad in August 1765—one with the Nawab of Awadh and the other with the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II.
13. Consequences was the Establishment of the Dual Government
    1. After the battle of Buxar, the East India Company became the real masters of Bengal. Robert Clive introduced the dual system of government, i.e., the rule of the two—the Company and the Nawab—in Bengal 
    2. In this system, both the Diwani, i.e., collecting revenues, and Nizamat, i.e., police and judicial functions, came under the control of the Company. 
    3. The Company exercised Diwani rights as the diwan and the Nizamat rights through its right to nominate the deputy subedar. 
    4. The Company acquired the Diwani functions from the emperor and Nizamat functions from the subedar of Bengal.