HISTORICAL EVENT OF THE MONTH

 Battle of Buxar

     One of the decisive battles in the history of pre-independence India, the battle of Buxar took place on October 22, 1764 in Buxar, a town about 130 km west of Patna in present-day Bihar. It was fought by the combined armies of Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daulah, Nawab of Awadh; and Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II on one side and the British East India Company's forces led by General Hector Munro on the other. 

     Although the allied army was numerically much stronger, comprising about 40,000 men as against the Company's army of about 7000, the differences of opinion between the allies as well as the British superiority in artillery turned the tide in favour of the British. The allied army was effectively routed. War casualities mounted to about 850 wounded or dead on the British side and 2000 to 5000 on the side of the three allies.  

     The war eventually led to the signing of the Treaty of Allahabad in August 1765 between Shah Alam II and Robert Clive of the East India Company, according to which the Mughal Empire ceded property rights over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the British. The treaty thus enabled the British to establish their control in the eastern part of the country, ultimately paving the way for the establishment of British colonial rule over India that continued for the next two centuries.