Siraj ud-Daulah

Mirza Muhammad Siraj ud-Daulah (Urdu: میرزا محمد سراج الدولہ‎‎, Bengali: নবাব মীর্জা মোহাম্মেদ সিরাজউদ্দৌলা), more commonly known as Siraj ud-Daulah[a] (1733 – 2 July 1757), was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of British East India Company rule over Bengal and later almost all of South Asia.

Siraj succeeded his maternal grandfather, Alivardi Khan as the Nawab of Bengal in April 1756 at the age of 23. Betrayed by Mir Jafar, then commander of Nawab's army, Siraj lost the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757. The forces of the East India Company under Robert Clive invaded and the administration of Bengal fell into the hands of the Company.

The Battle of Plassey (or Palashi) is widely considered the turning point in the history of the subcontinent, and opened the way to eventual British domination. After Siraj-ud-Daulah's conquest of Calcutta, the British sent fresh troops from Madras to recapture the fort and avenge the attack.

Monument at the Plassey battlefield, Nadia
A retreating Siraj-ud-Daulah met the British at Plassey. He had to make camp 27 miles away from Murshidabad. On 23 June 1757 Siraj-ud-Daulah called on Mir Jafar because he was saddened by the sudden fall of Mir Mardan who was a very dear companion of Siraj in battles. The Nawab asked for help from Mir Jafar. Mir Jafar advised Siraj to retreat for that day. The Nawab made the blunder in giving the order to stop the fight. Following his command, the soldiers of the Nawab were returning to their camps. At that time, Robert Clive attacked the soldiers with his army. At such a sudden attack, the army of Siraj became indisciplined and could think of no way to fight. So all fled away in such a situation. Betrayed by a conspiracy plotted by Jagat Seth, Mir Jafar, Krishna Chandra, Omichund etc., he lost the battle and had to escape. He went first to Murshidabad and then to Patna by boat, but was eventually arrested by Mir Jafar's soldiers.