Nawab of Bengal Mir Jafar passed away on this day. He was instrumental in the defeat that Siraj-ud-Daulah suffered at the hands of the British at the Battle of Plassey in 1757.
Mir Jafar had helped Ali Vardi Khan to assume power in Bengal, but later conspired against Siraj, Ali Vardi’s grandson, and replaced him as Nawab of Bengal. He agreed to pay the British East India Company and Europeans living in Kolkata large sums of money for their support to him as the new Nawab.
The Bengal treasury was too small. But Mir Jafar fulfilled his promises to please the British, which led to the further depletion of the coffers. He was deposed in favour of his son-in-law Mir Qasim, but was reinstated after a conflict began between Mir Qasim and the British. He made further concessions to the British, which led to his downfall.
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