HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE 

 ACCOUNT 



OF 



BRITISH INDIA. 



CHAPTER I. 



British Conquest of Bengal, 



Difficulties of the early Settlements— Reign of Aliverdi Khan— Suc-> 

 ceeded by Surajah T)owiah— His Jealousy of the English— Captures 

 Cossimbutar — Advances upon Calcutta — Plans of Defence — Proceed- 

 ings of the Enemy — ( arrison deserted by the Ships and the Governor 

 — Surrender — Confinement in the Black Hole — Dreadful Sufferings— - 

 Conduct of the Nabob — Armament from Madras under Clive and Wat- 

 son— Their Landing and first Encounter with the Enemy— Calcutta 

 surrenders — Surajah Dowlah attempts to retake it — Treaty — Capture 

 of Chandernagore — Plan of dethroning the Nabob — Intrigues — Trea- 

 chery of Meer .laffier — Advance of Clive — Battle of Plassey — Eleva- 

 tion of Meer Jaffier— Capture and Death of Surajah Dowlah — Invasion 

 by the Shazada — Defeat of the Mogul and the Nabob of Oude — Bad 

 Conduct of the new Nabob — Succeeded by Meer Cossim — His' Dis- 

 putes with the Company — Rupture — Patna taken and retaken — Victory 

 gained by Major Adams— Massacre of English Prisoners — Meer Cos- 

 aim's Flight into Oude — Repeated Defeats of Sujah Dowlah — The 

 Mogul joins the English — Death of Meer Jaffier — Clive returns to In- 

 dia—Restores Sujah Dowlah — Obtains for the Company the De- 

 wannee of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. 



The British establishments in Bengal had, during a long 

 period, held only a secondary place, and been subservient 

 to those formed on the coast of Coromandel. But the time 

 was now arrived when they were to become the theatre of 

 the most interesting events, and finally the centre and chief 

 seat of our Indian dominion. The manner in which the 

 factory at Calcutta was first founded has been already men- 



Vol. II.— B 



