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 Southern India, and oust the English from Bengal. The leading nobles at Murshedabad were disgusted with the folly and tyranny of their young ruler, and the commander-in-chief of his army, Meer Jaffir, opened negotiations with Clive to overthrow the nawab, and elect him in his room. The office of nawab had never been an hereditary one, and from time immemorial might had been right in the country, so that the proposal was quite in keeping with the traditions of native government, and Clive willingly entered into a treaty which promised safety and prosperity to the country under a stable government.

In the middle of June, 1757, Clive marched against Murshedabad. The nawab, alternating between defiance and terror, advanced with his army to meet the British, and, on the 23rd June, near the little village of Plassey, the two armies met, and the victory which made secure the foundations of the British Empire in India was won. The defeated Suraj-ud-Dowlah mounted a swift camel, and, accompanied by some two thousand of his army, fled to Murshedabad, leaving in his camp at Plassey several hundred women, who, according to Verelst, "Meer Jaffir sent to offer to Col. Clive."

From his deserted palace the stricken nawab fled again at midnight with the very few faithful