Brutality of the Battle of Plassey

 Although the British were in India for a very long time dating back in the early 15^th century, the colonial period is said to have begun in 1757. (1) What began colonialism was the Battle of Plassey, in which the British, led by Robert Clive, defeated Indian forces.

The outcome of this battle was almost unquestionably in India’s favor. However, although the Indians outnumbered the British 50000 to 3000 (2), their technology was obsolete. During the battle, there was a fierce storm. The Indians’ guns were loosened and dysfunctional because the rain affected the gunpowder. Weather was not the only problem; poor leadership from Nawab, the Indian general, ordered relentless gunfire without much success. (3) As a result, India’s next move was cavalry rampage (4); they hoped that the British guns had the same malfunction to loosen up, but it was not the case. Soon after, the Indians anticipated defeat and fled. In this way the British force dominated.

The treatment of Indians by Robert Clive and his forces became extremely significant; Clives’s. What he did was immoral and disgusting. It was reported that Clive bribed them to “give up and drop all weapons, surrender, and even turn their arms against their own army.” (5)This was irreverent, shocking, and unfortunately effective. This determined British rule over India. However, this display of mockery was recollected many times and used as a reason to split later on. Jawaharlal Nehru, an extremely revered political leader in India, recollected the event in 1946: "an unsavory beginning and something of that bitter taste has clung to it ever since.” (6)