253 Years Ago!!!

253 years ago, on this day, in the morning 3000 troops belonging to the East India Company, led by Robert Clive, faced the numerically far superior army of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-daula, at Plassey. What ensued became historically known as the Battle of Plassey. The nawab was defeated by the conspiracy of his own ministers with the British. This was a major turning point in Indian History as it marked the beginning of British hegemony over India

Many scholars see Siraj as the benevolent ruler, who was dethroned by the imperialist British by underhand means. I contest this argument. Siraj-ud-daula was by no means a benevolent ruler. His father was, but he was not. He was a despot to the core. He was a staunch fanatic and his accession to the throne marked the beginning of torture on the Hindus. Many of the rich merchants in the region were Hindus, called Seths. Siraj used all means under his power to wrench them to lend money to him. Many of the merchants were terrified of him and the British who offered a safe haven for life and property seemed a welcome option. This group formed the bulk of the conspirators and were the designers of the outcome of the battle. If Siraj had been a benevolent ruler like other rulers during the time and later, like Tipu Sultan or Hyder Ali, why would anybody want to conspire and get so much support? Hyder and Tipu fought the British and had the love and support of the people. Conspiracies did not succeed to bring them down. But they succeeded in bringing Siraj down, Does this not say a lot about the kind of ruler he was? If this is so clear, there is no point in sympathising with his defeat. I don’t.