Advent of the Europeans & Conquest of Bengal — Plassey to Buxar

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is one of the highest-yield areas of Modern History for SSC and RRB exams. Expect 1 to 2 questions from it in almost every SSC CGL, CHSL or RRB NTPC paper. The examiners love it because it is packed with clean, checkable facts: which European power came first, which came last, the year of each first factory, and the sequence of battles that gave the English control of Bengal. Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764) between them have appeared in SSC papers more often than almost any other pair of battles.

The sub-topics that repeat most are: order of arrival of European powers, first factories with years, the Carnatic Wars (especially Wandiwash), the Black Hole incident, Plassey and its conspirators, Buxar and the three rulers who fought it, the Treaty of Allahabad, and the Dual Government of Bengal. Master the tables at the end of this chapter and you will not drop a mark here.

1. Why the Europeans Came to India

For centuries, Indian spices, cotton textiles and indigo reached Europe through Arab merchants and Italian city states, mainly Venice and Genoa. After the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, the old land routes became costly and insecure. European kingdoms on the Atlantic coast, first Portugal and Spain, began searching for a direct sea route to India.

Two dates open this story:

• 1487: Bartholomew Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.
• 1498: Vasco da Gama reached Calicut on the Malabar coast on 17 May 1498, guided across the Arabian Sea by a Gujarati pilot, Abdul Majid. He was received by the local ruler, the Zamorin of Calicut.

Remember the order of arrival. SSC asks it as a chronology question again and again: Portuguese → Dutch → English → Danes → French. The Portuguese came first and, in fact, left last (Goa remained Portuguese till 1961).

2. The Portuguese (1498)

Vasco da Gama's cargo sold in Europe at roughly sixty times its cost. Profit like that guaranteed more voyages. Pedro Alvarez Cabral came in 1500, and Vasco da Gama returned in 1502.

First factories: The Portuguese set up their first factory at Calicut (1500) under Cabral, and their first fortified factory at Cochin (1503). A factory at Cannanore followed in 1505.

Portuguese governors you must know

Governor	Tenure	Key facts
Francisco de Almeida	1505–09	First Portuguese governor in India. Followed the Blue Water Policy (control the sea, not land).
Alfonso de Albuquerque	1509–15	Real founder of Portuguese power. Captured Goa in 1510 from the Sultan of Bijapur (Yusuf Adil Shah). Encouraged Portuguese men to marry Indian women. Abolished sati in his territory.
Nino da Cunha	1529–38	Shifted the capital from Cochin to Goa (1530). Acquired Bassein (1534) and Diu (1535) from Bahadur Shah of Gujarat.

Other Portuguese possessions included Daman (1559), Salsette, and Hooghly in Bengal. The Portuguese introduced tobacco cultivation and the printing press (1556, Goa) to India.

Decline of the Portuguese

• 1632: Mughal emperor Shah Jahan drove the Portuguese out of Hooghly because of their piracy and slave trading.
• 1661: Portugal gave Bombay to Charles II of England as dowry when he married the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza.
• Their religious intolerance, the union of Portugal with Spain (1580), and the rise of Dutch and English sea power finished them as a major force. They kept only Goa, Daman and Diu until 1961.

3. The Dutch (1602)

The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) was formed in March 1602. Note this well: the Dutch company was founded two years after the English company, but SSC counts arrival by presence in India, where the Dutch preceded the English in setting up a chain of factories.

Dutch factories: first at Masulipatnam (1605), then Pulicat (1610), Surat (1616), Bimlipatam (1641), Karaikal (1645), Chinsurah (1653), Cassimbazar, Baranagore, Patna, Balasore, Nagapatam (1658) and Cochin (1663). Their headquarters was first at Pulicat, later at Nagapatam.

The Dutch were mainly interested in the spice trade of Indonesia (the Spice Islands), so India was secondary for them. Their end in India came at the Battle of Bedara (also written Bidara or Hooghly), 1759, where the English under Robert Clive's forces defeated them. Remember: Bedara 1759 finished the Dutch, just as Wandiwash 1760 finished the French.

4. The English (1600)

The English East India Company was granted its charter by Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, giving it a monopoly of Eastern trade for 15 years. Its original name was "The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies."

Getting a foothold

• 1608: Captain William Hawkins arrived at Surat and travelled to the court of Jahangir (1609). He knew Persian and impressed the emperor, but Portuguese pressure blocked a permanent farman.
• 1611: First English factory in the south at Masulipatnam.
• 1612: English naval victory over the Portuguese at Swally (Suvali) near Surat changed Jahangir's mind.
• 1613: Jahangir permitted a permanent English factory at Surat.
• 1615: Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador of King James I, reached Jahangir's court and secured trading rights in Mughal territory.

The three Presidency towns

Town	Year	How acquired
Madras	1639	Francis Day obtained the site from the Raja of Chandragiri (a Vijayanagara remnant). Fort St George built here.
Bombay	1668	Charles II leased it to the Company for £10 a year (he had received it as dowry in 1661). Gerald Aungier developed it.
Calcutta	1690	Job Charnock settled at Sutanuti. Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata grew into Calcutta. Fort William built in 1700.

The Farman of 1717

In 1717, Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar issued a farman to the Company after a mission led by John Surman. The Company surgeon William Hamilton had cured the emperor of an illness, which helped. The farman allowed the Company duty-free trade in Bengal for an annual payment of only Rs 3,000. Historians call it the Magna Carta of the Company. The misuse of this farman by Company servants for private trade became the root quarrel with the Nawabs of Bengal.

5. The Danes (1616)

The Danish East India Company was formed in 1616. The Danes set up factories at Tranquebar (Tamil coast, 1620) and Serampore (Bengal, 1755). Serampore later became famous as the base of the Baptist missionaries William Carey, Marshman and Ward. The Danes never mattered politically and sold their settlements to the British in 1845. Exam tip: "Which European power sold its Indian possessions to the British in 1845?" has a one-word answer, the Danes.

6. The French (1664)

The French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes Orientales) was founded in 1664 by Colbert, minister of Louis XIV. Two features distinguish it: it was the last European trading company to arrive in India, and it was a state-controlled company, not a purely merchant venture.

French factories: first at Surat (1668) under Francois Caron, then Masulipatnam (1669) under Marcara. Francois Martin founded Pondicherry in 1674 on a site obtained from the Sultan of Bijapur's local governor; it became the French capital in India. Chandernagore in Bengal was acquired in 1690. Other French centres: Mahe, Karaikal, Balasore, Qasim Bazar.

7. The Carnatic Wars — England vs France (1740–1763)

By the 1740s only two serious rivals remained, England and France. Their contest played out in the Carnatic (the Coromandel coast and its hinterland, capital Arcot) because Anglo-French wars in Europe automatically spread to their colonies.

First Carnatic War (1746–48)

• Extension of the War of Austrian Succession in Europe.
• The French under governor Dupleix captured Madras in 1746 with naval help from La Bourdonnais, French governor of Mauritius.
• Battle of St. Thome (1746): a small disciplined French force defeated the much larger army of Anwaruddin, Nawab of Carnatic, led by his son Mahfuz Khan. Lesson learnt by everyone: small trained European-style infantry could beat large Indian armies.
• Ended by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748). Madras was returned to the English in exchange for the French fortress of Louisbourg in North America.

Second Carnatic War (1749–54)

This one was fought without any war in Europe. Dupleix tried to build French power by backing rival claimants in two succession disputes:

Throne	French candidate	English candidate
Hyderabad	Muzaffar Jang	Nasir Jang
Carnatic	Chanda Sahib	Muhammad Ali (son of Anwaruddin)

• Battle of Ambur (1749): Chanda Sahib, Muzaffar Jang and the French defeated and killed Anwaruddin.
• French influence peaked; Bussy was stationed at Hyderabad.
• The English reply came from a young clerk turned soldier: Robert Clive captured and then held Arcot in 1751 with about 200 English and 300 Indian soldiers, surviving a 53-day siege. Chanda Sahib was later captured and killed; Muhammad Ali became Nawab of Carnatic.
• The French company, tired of expense, recalled Dupleix in 1754. His successor Godeheu signed the Treaty of Pondicherry (1754), agreeing not to interfere in Indian princely quarrels.

Third Carnatic War (1758–63)

• Extension of the Seven Years' War (1756–63) in Europe.
• The French commander Count de Lally captured Fort St David (1758) but failed before Madras.
• Battle of Wandiwash, 22 January 1760: English general Sir Eyre Coote decisively defeated Lally. Bussy was taken prisoner. This is the single most asked battle of the Carnatic Wars.
• Pondicherry surrendered in 1761. The Treaty of Paris (1763) ended the war. French factories were restored, but they could no longer be fortified. The French remained in India only as traders. The English had no European rival left.

Why the English beat the French, in four lines: the English company was a private company with quicker decisions, the French company depended on a slow state; English naval power was superior; the English held the richer base of Bengal after 1757 while the French purse was empty; and English commanders (Clive, Lawrence, Coote) outperformed Lally, who quarrelled with his own officers.

8. Bengal — the Richest Prize

Bengal (which then included Bihar and Orissa) was the most fertile and industrious province of the Mughal empire, famous for textiles, silk and saltpetre. Around 60 per cent of British imports from Asia came from Bengal.

The Nawabs before Siraj

Nawab	Period	Points to remember
Murshid Quli Khan	1717–27	Became first Nawab of Bengal in 1717, practically independent of Delhi. Shifted the capital from Dacca to Murshidabad.
Shuja-ud-din	1727–39	Son-in-law of Murshid Quli Khan.
Sarfaraz Khan	1739–40	Killed at the Battle of Giria (1740) by Alivardi Khan.
Alivardi Khan	1740–56	Fought repeated Maratha (Bargi) raids; ceded Orissa's revenue by treaty with the Marathas (1751). Did not allow the English or French to fortify their factories.

Siraj-ud-daula and the road to Plassey

Alivardi Khan died in April 1756. His grandson Siraj-ud-daula, barely in his twenties, succeeded. He faced rivals inside his own court, chiefly his cousin Shaukat Jang (faujdar of Purnea) and his aunt Ghaseti Begum, plus a hostile banker lobby led by the Jagat Seth family.

The Company gave him cause for war: it fortified Calcutta without permission (expecting a war with France) and misused the dastaks (duty-free trade permits) of the 1717 farman. Siraj ordered both English and French to demolish new fortifications. The French at Chandernagore complied; the English at Calcutta refused.

• June 1756: Siraj captured the Cossimbazar factory and then Calcutta (20 June 1756). He renamed Calcutta Alinagar and left it under Manik Chand.
• The Black Hole incident (20 June 1756): According to J.Z. Holwell, 146 English prisoners were locked overnight in a small room in Fort William and 123 died. Historians doubt Holwell's numbers, but the story became English war propaganda. For the exam, remember Holwell as the narrator.
• October 1756: A strong force under Robert Clive and Admiral Watson sailed from Madras. They retook Calcutta in January 1757.
• Treaty of Alinagar, 9 February 1757: Siraj restored all English privileges, allowed fortification of Calcutta, and paid compensation.
• March 1757: The English captured the French settlement of Chandernagore, removing French help for Siraj.

The Battle of Plassey, 23 June 1757

Clive then organised a conspiracy against Siraj with the men who wanted him gone: Mir Jafar (Mir Bakshi, the army paymaster, promised the throne), Jagat Seth (banker), Omichund (merchant middleman), Rai Durlabh (courtier), Manik Chand, and Khadim Khan. Omichund demanded a heavy cut and threatened to leak the plot; Clive tricked him with a fake copy of the treaty carrying a false promise.

At Plassey (Palashi), on the bank of the Bhagirathi river, on 23 June 1757, Clive's roughly 3,000 troops faced Siraj's army of about 50,000. It was hardly a battle. Mir Jafar and Rai Durlabh, commanding most of the Nawab's army, simply stood still. Only the loyal generals Mir Madan and Mohan Lal, with a small French detachment, actually fought. Mir Madan was killed. Siraj fled, was captured, and was executed by Miran, son of Mir Jafar.

Results of Plassey: Mir Jafar became Nawab and paid the Company Rs 1.77 crore plus the zamindari of the 24 Parganas. Clive and other officials took huge personal "presents." The Company gained decisive influence over the richest Indian province, and Bengal's wealth financed all later English wars in India. Plassey was militarily minor but politically it began British rule in India.

Mir Jafar and Mir Qasim

Mir Jafar (1757–60) proved a puppet who could not meet the endless demands of Company servants. In 1760 the Company replaced him with his son-in-law Mir Qasim, who by treaty ceded the districts of Burdwan, Midnapore and Chittagong to the Company.

Mir Qasim (1760–63) turned out to be the ablest Nawab after Alivardi. His measures:

• Shifted the capital from Murshidabad to Munger (Monghyr, Bihar), away from Company influence.
• Reorganised the army on European lines and set up arms and gun factories at Munger.
• Streamlined finances and curbed corrupt officials; executed the deputy governor of Bihar, Ram Narayan, a Company favourite.
• His boldest step: since the Company misused dastaks to avoid internal duties, he abolished internal trade duties for everyone (1762), putting Indian merchants on an equal footing. The Company found this equality intolerable.

War broke out in 1763. Ellis, the Company chief at Patna, attacked the city; Mir Qasim retaliated and killed Company prisoners at Patna (the "Patna massacre"). Defeated in a series of battles (Katwa, Murshidabad, Giria, Sooty, Udhuanala) by Major Adams, Mir Qasim fled to Awadh. Mir Jafar was reinstalled as Nawab.

The Battle of Buxar, 22 October 1764

In Awadh, Mir Qasim formed a triple alliance with Shuja-ud-daula, Nawab of Awadh, and Shah Alam II, the Mughal emperor. Their combined army of about 40,000 to 50,000 met roughly 7,000 Company troops under Major Hector Munro at Buxar (Bihar, on the Ganga) on 22 October 1764.

The English won completely. Buxar matters more than Plassey in military terms: Plassey was won by treachery, Buxar was won in open battle against three allied powers, including the Mughal emperor himself. It confirmed English mastery of Bengal and exposed Awadh and Delhi.

After Buxar: Mir Jafar died in 1765; his son Najm-ud-daula was made Nawab on a Company pension arrangement. Mir Qasim died an obscure fugitive in 1777.

9. Treaty of Allahabad (1765) and the Dual Government

Robert Clive returned as Governor of Bengal (second term, 1765–67) and settled matters through two treaties signed at Allahabad in August 1765:

With Emperor Shah Alam II:

• The emperor granted the Company the Diwani (revenue-collection rights) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa on 12 August 1765.
• In return the Company gave him the districts of Kora and Allahabad and an annual payment of Rs 26 lakh.
• The emperor lived at Allahabad under Company protection.

With Shuja-ud-daula of Awadh:

• Awadh was returned to Shuja-ud-daula on payment of a war indemnity of Rs 50 lakh.
• Kora and Allahabad were taken from him (given to the emperor).
• Awadh became a friendly buffer state between Bengal and the Marathas or Afghans, tied to the Company by a mutual defence arrangement.

This was deliberate policy. Clive did not annex Awadh or march on Delhi because the Company was not yet ready to digest so much territory.

Dual Government of Bengal (1765–72)

Clive's arrangement in Bengal is called the Dual (Double) Government:

• The Company held the Diwani: collecting revenue and deciding civil justice, exercised through Indian deputy diwans, Mohammad Reza Khan in Bengal and Raja Shitab Roy in Bihar.
• The Nawab kept the Nizamat: police, criminal justice and ceremonial administration, in practice also run through Mohammad Reza Khan as deputy nazim.

So the Company enjoyed power without responsibility, and the Nawab carried responsibility without power. Administration collapsed, revenue was squeezed brutally, and the terrible Bengal famine of 1770 killed an estimated one-third of Bengal's population. Warren Hastings abolished the Dual Government in 1772 on the orders of the directors, and the Company took over direct administration of Bengal. That story, and the wars with Mysore and the Marathas, come in the next chapters.

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• Vasco da Gama reached Calicut on 17 May 1498; the local ruler was the Zamorin.
• Order of arrival: Portuguese (1498) → Dutch (1605 factory) → English (1608–13) → Danes (1620) → French (1668).
• Cochin (1503) was the first Portuguese fort in India; first factory Calicut (1500).
• Francisco de Almeida (1505–09), first Portuguese governor, followed the Blue Water Policy.
• Albuquerque captured Goa from Bijapur in 1510; capital shifted to Goa in 1530 by Nino da Cunha.
• The Portuguese brought the printing press (1556) and tobacco to India.
• Shah Jahan expelled the Portuguese from Hooghly in 1632.
• Dutch VOC founded 1602; first Dutch factory Masulipatnam 1605.
• The Dutch were crushed by the English at the Battle of Bedara, 1759.
• English East India Company chartered by Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600.
• Captain Hawkins (1608) and Sir Thomas Roe (1615) visited Jahangir's court.
• First English factory: Surat, 1613; first in the south: Masulipatnam, 1611.
• Madras founded 1639 (Francis Day, Fort St George); Calcutta 1690 (Job Charnock); Fort William 1700.
• Bombay came to England as dowry (1661) and to the Company on lease in 1668 for £10 a year.
• Farrukhsiyar's farman, 1717: duty-free trade in Bengal for Rs 3,000 a year, the "Magna Carta of the Company."
• Danish settlements: Tranquebar (1620) and Serampore (1755); sold to the British in 1845.
• French company founded 1664 by Colbert; Pondicherry founded 1674 by Francois Martin.
• First Carnatic War ended by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748); Madras returned to the English.
• Clive's capture of Arcot (1751) turned the Second Carnatic War; Dupleix recalled 1754.
• Battle of Wandiwash, 22 January 1760: Eyre Coote defeated Count de Lally; end of French power.
• Murshid Quli Khan (1717) was the first independent Nawab of Bengal; capital Murshidabad.
• Black Hole of Calcutta, 20 June 1756; the story comes from J.Z. Holwell.
• Treaty of Alinagar, February 1757, between Clive and Siraj-ud-daula.
• Battle of Plassey, 23 June 1757, on the Bhagirathi; traitors: Mir Jafar, Jagat Seth, Omichund, Rai Durlabh.
• Siraj's loyal generals at Plassey: Mir Madan and Mohan Lal; Siraj was killed by Miran.
• Mir Qasim shifted his capital to Munger and abolished all internal trade duties (1762).
• Battle of Buxar, 22 October 1764: Hector Munro defeated Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-daula and Shah Alam II.
• Treaty of Allahabad, August 1765: Company got the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa; emperor got Kora, Allahabad and Rs 26 lakh a year.
• Dual Government (1765–72) was set up by Clive and abolished by Warren Hastings in 1772.
• The Bengal famine of 1770 killed about one-third of Bengal's people.

Memory Tables

Table 1: European powers at a glance

Power	Company founded	First factory in India	Headquarters	End of power
Portuguese	1498 (arrival)	Calicut 1500 / Cochin 1503 (fort)	Cochin, then Goa (1530)	Declined 1600s; kept Goa till 1961
Dutch	1602 (VOC)	Masulipatnam 1605	Pulicat, later Nagapatam	Battle of Bedara 1759
English	31 Dec 1600	Surat 1613 (south: Masulipatnam 1611)	Surat, then the three Presidencies	Ruled till 1947
Danes	1616	Tranquebar 1620	Serampore (1755)	Sold to British 1845
French	1664	Surat 1668	Pondicherry (1674)	Battle of Wandiwash 1760; Treaty of Paris 1763

Table 2: The Carnatic Wars

War	Years	European war behind it	Key battle	Ending treaty
First	1746–48	War of Austrian Succession	St. Thome 1746	Aix-la-Chapelle 1748
Second	1749–54	None (local succession disputes)	Ambur 1749; Siege of Arcot 1751	Pondicherry 1754 (Godeheu)
Third	1758–63	Seven Years' War	Wandiwash, 22 Jan 1760	Paris 1763

Table 3: Conquest of Bengal — event chain

Year	Event	Key people
1717	Farrukhsiyar's farman; Murshid Quli Khan becomes Nawab	John Surman, William Hamilton
1756	Siraj takes Calcutta; Black Hole incident	Siraj-ud-daula, Holwell
Feb 1757	Treaty of Alinagar	Clive, Watson, Siraj
23 June 1757	Battle of Plassey	Clive vs Siraj; Mir Jafar's treachery
1760	Mir Qasim made Nawab; cedes Burdwan, Midnapore, Chittagong	Mir Qasim
1762–63	Duty dispute; war; Patna massacre	Mir Qasim, Ellis, Major Adams
22 Oct 1764	Battle of Buxar	Hector Munro vs Mir Qasim + Shuja-ud-daula + Shah Alam II
Aug 1765	Treaty of Allahabad; Diwani granted	Clive, Shah Alam II
1765–72	Dual Government of Bengal	Clive; deputies Reza Khan, Shitab Roy
1772	Dual Government abolished	Warren Hastings

Practice MCQs

Q1. Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in which year? (a) 1492 (b) 1498 (c) 1500 (d) 1510

Q2. Which European power was the first to arrive in India and the last to leave? (a) Dutch (b) French (c) Portuguese (d) English

Q3. Who captured Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510? (a) Francisco de Almeida (b) Alfonso de Albuquerque (c) Nino da Cunha (d) Francois Martin

Q4. The first English factory in India was set up at Surat in 1613 with the permission of which Mughal emperor? (a) Akbar (b) Shah Jahan (c) Jahangir (d) Aurangzeb

Q5. The city of Madras was founded in 1639 by: (a) Job Charnock (b) Gerald Aungier (c) Francis Day (d) William Hawkins

Q6. The farman of 1717, called the "Magna Carta of the Company," was issued by: (a) Bahadur Shah I (b) Farrukhsiyar (c) Muhammad Shah (d) Shah Alam II

Q7. The Battle of Wandiwash (1760) was fought between: (a) English and Dutch (b) English and French (c) French and Portuguese (d) English and the Nawab of Carnatic

Q8. Which treaty ended the First Carnatic War and returned Madras to the English? (a) Treaty of Paris (b) Treaty of Pondicherry (c) Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (d) Treaty of Alinagar

Q9. Pondicherry was founded in 1674 by: (a) Dupleix (b) Francois Caron (c) Count de Lally (d) Francois Martin

Q10. Who among the following remained loyal to Siraj-ud-daula at the Battle of Plassey? (a) Mir Jafar (b) Rai Durlabh (c) Mir Madan (d) Jagat Seth

Q11. Match the pairs:

1. Battle of Bedara — A. 1764
2. Battle of Plassey — B. 1759
3. Battle of Buxar — C. 1760
4. Battle of Wandiwash — D. 1757 (a) 1-B, 2-D, 3-A, 4-C (b) 1-C, 2-D, 3-A, 4-B (c) 1-B, 2-A, 3-D, 4-C (d) 1-D, 2-B, 3-C, 4-A

Q12. Mir Qasim shifted his capital from Murshidabad to: (a) Dacca (b) Patna (c) Munger (d) Purnea

Q13. Which three rulers fought against the English at the Battle of Buxar (1764)? (a) Siraj-ud-daula, Shuja-ud-daula, Shah Alam II (b) Mir Jafar, Mir Qasim, Shah Alam II (c) Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-daula, Shah Alam II (d) Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-daula, Alamgir II

Q14. Arrange the following in the correct chronological order:

1. Treaty of Allahabad 2. Black Hole incident 3. Battle of Plassey 4. Treaty of Alinagar (a) 2, 4, 3, 1 (b) 2, 3, 4, 1 (c) 4, 2, 3, 1 (d) 3, 2, 4, 1

Q15. Under the Dual Government of Bengal (1765–72), the Company held the Diwani. Who exercised it as deputy diwan in Bengal? (a) Raja Shitab Roy (b) Mohammad Reza Khan (c) Rai Durlabh (d) Manik Chand

Answer Key

Q	Answer	One-line reason
1	(b)	Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut on 17 May 1498.
2	(c)	Portuguese arrived in 1498 and held Goa till 1961.
3	(b)	Albuquerque took Goa from Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur in 1510.
4	(c)	Jahangir permitted the Surat factory in 1613.
5	(c)	Francis Day obtained the Madras site and built Fort St George.
6	(b)	Farrukhsiyar granted duty-free Bengal trade for Rs 3,000 a year.
7	(b)	Eyre Coote (English) defeated Count de Lally (French) on 22 Jan 1760.
8	(c)	Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) ended the War of Austrian Succession and the First Carnatic War.
9	(d)	Francois Martin founded Pondicherry, the French capital in India.
10	(c)	Mir Madan (with Mohan Lal) fought and died for Siraj; the others betrayed him.
11	(a)	Bedara 1759, Plassey 1757, Buxar 1764, Wandiwash 1760.
12	(c)	Mir Qasim moved to Munger to escape Company pressure and built arms factories there.
13	(c)	Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-daula of Awadh and Emperor Shah Alam II lost to Hector Munro.
14	(a)	Black Hole (June 1756) → Alinagar (Feb 1757) → Plassey (June 1757) → Allahabad (1765).
15	(b)	Mohammad Reza Khan was deputy diwan of Bengal; Shitab Roy handled Bihar.