Plassey, Battle of de la Frontera, later known as Huamanga (1539) He was also responsible for allotting Indians in encomienda and repartimiento to reward his followers and supporters, a tactic he also used to buy off potential adversaries, including members of the Inca royal family such as Manco Inca’s half brother Pallu, to whom he granted a repartimiento of more than 5,000 Indians in 1539 This was the same year that the Crown granted him the title of marquis and his own coat of arms, which depicted a chained Atahualpa reaching into two chests laden with treasure His most consequential political error, in the judgment of many scholars, was to sow the seeds of the Almagrist war by his own extreme greed and his niggardly allotments to Almagro, whose supporters slew him in 1541 His many descendants ranked among the richest and most powerful members of Peru’s colonial society An imposing statue of the legendary conquistador astride his steed can be found in the town of his birth, facing the palace built by his brother Hernándo Further reading: Gabai, Rafael Varon Francisco Pizarro and His Brothers: The Illusion of Power in Sixteenth-Century Peru Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997; Hemming, John The Conquest of the Incas New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1970; Prescott, William H History of the Conquest of Peru New York: Modern Library, 1998; orig 1847 Michael J Schroeder Plassey, Battle of Robert Clive of the British East India Company was the winner of the Battle of Plassey, 70 miles north of Calcutta in 1757 At the head of 1,000 English and 2,000 Indian (sepoy) soldiers and with eight pieces of artillery, he routed the 50,000 soldiers and 50 Frenchmanned cannons of his opponent Siraj-ud-Daula, the governor, or nawab, of Bengal This victory established British primacy in Bengal With the Mughal (Mogul, Moghul) Empire in India in rapid decline in the 18th century, Great Britain and France became competitors for control of the subcontinent Their rivalry was played out by employees of their respective East India Companies and when the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) and Seven Years’ War (1756–63) pitted Britain and France on opposing sides, India became a theater of war France won the first 311 round when its agent in India Joseph Dupleix captured the British outpost Madras in 1746 and then extended French influence in the Indian state of Hyderabad However Dupleix was outmatched by a brilliant young Briton named Robert Clive, who decided to expand British power to the Bay of Bengal and the Ganges River delta during the Seven Years’ War First he took revenge on the unpopular Mughal governor of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daula, for the death of many Britons in the infamous “Black Hole of Calcutta.” He recaptured Calcutta in 1756, then moved upriver and captured the French fort at Chandernagore in the following year In the next phase of the conflict, the French supported Sirajud-Daula, whose oppressive rule had alienated his Muslim noblemen, including the powerful Mir Jaffa On the other hand Britain had the support of Bengali businessmen and bankers These rivalries culminated in the Battle of Plassey, June 23, 1757, which pitted Clive’s 1,000 European soldiers and 2,000 Indian sepoys (no cavalry) and eight cannons against Siraj-ud-Daula’s 50,000 combined infantrymen and cavalry and 50 cannons manned by French soldiers Mir Jaffa’s neutrality and Siraj-udDaula’s flight in the midst of battle caused demoralization and the rout of the latter’s army Clive lost only 22 European soldiers; fewer than 50 were wounded Clive’s victory was a turning point in Indian history French influence was eliminated from Bengal, and at the end of the Seven Years’ War, from all of India Britain’s client Mir Jaffa was invested the new governor of Bengal by the Mughal emperor in Delhi, who in turn granted landholder’s rights of 882 square miles around Calcutta to the British East India Company Clive remained in Bengal for two years to organize the new administration In 1759, the Mughal emperor granted land tax rights of all Bengal and Bihar provinces to the British East India Company and made Clive the highestranking noble of the Mughal Empire The British government made Clive baron of Plassey Events that developed after Clive’s victory at the Battle of Plassey would change the British East India Company from a trading company to a governing power and draw Britain to conquer the whole of India Thus the Battle of Plassey was a historic turning point, and its principal participant Robert Clive an empire builder See also Delhi and Agra; French East India Company Further reading: Bence-Jones, Mark Clive of India London: Constable and Company Limited, 1974; Edwards, Michael Plassey: The Founding of an Empire London: Hamish