Which of the following led English company in Battle of Plassey (1757)?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4 i.e. Robert Clive.
The Battle of Plassey was fought in north-eastern India on 23 June 1757. Troops of the British East India Company, led by Robert Clive, came up against the forces of Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last Nawab of Bengal, and his French allies.
Britishers won the battle and the victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, who was Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah's commander in chief.
Events that preceded the Battle of Plassey and became a cause for this battle:
Siraj-Ud-Daula was succeeded by his grandfather Alivardi Khan to become the Nawab of Bengal. He had become the Nawab of Bengal the year before, and he had ordered the English to stop the extension of their fortification.
The victory of Britishers in the Carnatic wars has made Siraj-Ud-Daula apprehensive about the rising power of Britishers in India.
The officials of the Company made rampant misuse of its trade privileges that adversely affected the nawab’s finances.
The Britishers fortified Fort Williams without the permission of Nawab which infuriated him further. He marched to Fort Williams and captured 146 Britishers and imprisoned them in a small room due to which 123 Britishers died. This incident is known as “Black Hole Tragedy of Calcutta”.
Upon this, Robert Clive was sent to Bengal to strengthen the position of Britishers in Bengal. He bribed some of the chief members of the Nawab of Bengal and promised kinship to Mir Jafar in return for his betrayal to Nawab.