On this day Robert Clive returned for the second time to Kolkata to take charge of the British administration as Governor of Bengal. He had defeated nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-Daula in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, installed Mir Jafar in his place and returned to England. But in the aftermath of the Battle of Buxar (1764), which the British won against the combined forces of the Mughal emperor, Awadh and Bengal, but which led to a complicated political scenario, Clive’s presence was required again. Corruption and mismanagement was also widespread in the East India Company’s affairs.
Clive returned Awadh to Shuja-ud-Daulah and the Mughal emperor was conferred an annual tribute, in return of which he gave the revenue administration Bengal to the East India Company. Clive also reformed the administration and army, introducing drastic changes.