Battle of Plessey 1757: Was this an act of Providence?
In 1757 a great battle was fought at a nondescript village a 100 miles from Calcutta. The battle between the East India Company army and the Nawab of Oudh resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Company force commanded by Robert Clive. He is one character who has fascinated me and reading Nirad Choudhry's famous book " Clive of India" does give an insight into the greatness of this man. It also raises doubts in my mind and particularly with regard to the battle of Plassey and act of providence. Providence is defined as divine guidance and care. The battle of Plassey established British rule in East India and maybe it was ordained.
Reading about that period makes one sad. India was steeped in superstition, sati was rampant,lower classes suppressed and over life in the villages at a standstill. Somebody was needed to stop all this. Who could it be? Was the battle of Plassey an act that acted as a catalyst, so that India could move toward? The battle fought on 23 November was overwhelmingly weighted in favour of Nawab Siraj ud dowlah. He had over 65000 men under him and he was aided by the French gunners from Cossipore. Clive had just about 3000 soldiers, of who only 750 were ethnic English. We now learn that Mir Jafar one of the generals of Nawab Siraj had about 15000 cavalry under his command, but he was in league with Clive. Despite this, victory for the forces of Oudh, should have been a formality. The battle however ended in a great victory of Clive. The British lost only 22 soldiers killed, while the forces of Oudh had over 500 deaths. Still, this does not explain why Clive won.
We studied this battle at Staff College and their is no rationale explanation. One factor was that it rained on that day and the French guns failed to fire. Clive had covered the Company guns and these opened up. The battle of Plassey resulted in total rout of the Oudh forces by Clive. This battle was the cornerstone of establishment of the Raj. It was an act of god and maybe it was destined for the British to rule India. It was part of evolution of establishment of India as a nation.
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