Wishesh Magazine November_2018 Wishesh Magazine November 2018 | Page 104

INDIAN HISTORY
military service and his tactical
flair and personal bravery had
earned him rapid promotion
and a great personal fortune.
His army was about
3,000-strong, including 2,100
Indian sepoys (infantry) and
about 800 Europeans. The
latter included the 1st Madras
European Regiment and 600
Crown troops from the 39th
Regiment. Clive had only
ten field guns and two small
howitzers.
104
Clive’s army
suffered a mere
22 killed and
50 wounded
as opposed to
over 500 for the
Nawab.
it simultaneously began to
involve itself in local politics,
especially in Bengal, India’s
richest province.
The Bengali ruler Siraj-ud-
Daulah had been in dispute
with the Company for some
time. A year before the
Battle of Plassey, when the
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Company refused to halt
military preparations against
the French, he had attacked
and captured its stronghold
of Fort William in Calcutta
(Kolkata).
The armies
Siraj-ud-Daulah (1733-57)
commanded around 50,000
men, including 16,000 cavalry.
He also had 50 field guns, a
combination of 32-, 24- and
18-pounders. Officers on loan
from the French commanded
this artillery.
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert
Clive (1725-74) commanded
the British force. Formerly
a writer (clerk), Clive had
switched to the Company’s
One year later, Clive exacted
revenge at Plassey. With
the help of the Nawab’s
uncle, Mir Jaffar, and local
moneylenders, the Jagat
Seths, Siraj ud-Daulah was
betrayed. The formidable
Bengal army of about 60,000