Battle of Plassey — British Rule Begins

On June 23, 1757, Robert Clive of the British East India Company, with a force of just 3,000 men, defeated the 50,000-strong army of Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, at the Battle of Plassey. The victory was achieved largely through bribery and conspiracy — Clive had secured the defection of the Nawab's general, Mir Jafar, who was installed as a puppet ruler. Plassey was less a battle than a transaction, but its consequences were epochal: it gave the Company control of Bengal — India's wealthiest province — and its vast revenue. This economic base funded further conquests across the subcontinent. What began as a trading company gradually became a colonial government, and by 1857 the East India Company controlled most of India. Plassey marked the beginning of British imperialism in India and the systematic extraction of wealth that would drain the subcontinent for nearly two centuries.