Battle of Plassey

The Battle of Plassey or Jang e Palasi (Bengali: পলাশীর যুদ্ধ Pôlashir Juddho, Hindi: प्लासी का युद्ध, Palashi ka Yuddha) was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757. The battle established the Company rule in Bengal which expanded over much of India for the next hundred years. The battle took place at Plassey (anglicised version of Palashi) on the banks of the Bhagirathi River (another name of Hooghly River upstream of Kolkata), about 150 km north of Calcutta and south of Murshidabad, then capital of Bengal (now in Nadia district in West Bengal). The belligerents were Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the British East India Company. When Alivardhi Khan died in 1756, Siraj-ud-dulah became the nawab of Bengal. He orderd the English to stop the extension of their fortification. Robert Clive bribed Mir Jafar the commander in chief of the nawab's army and attacked Calcuta. He defeated the Nawab at Plassey in 1757 and captured Calcutta.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle of Plassey