Siraj Ud Daulah
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Siraj-ud-daulah was the last independent Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The end of his reign marks the start of 190 years of British colonial rule in India. Follwing the death of Alibordi Khan, his maternal grandfather, Siraj succeeded as the Nawab of Bengal in April 1756 at the age of 27. He resented British presence in Bengal, and managed to capture Kolkata from the British in June 1756. During this time, he is alleged to have put 146 British subjects in a 20 by 20 foot chamber, what is now known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. Only 23 survived in the overnight ordeal. This horror story was later discredited by the work of historian Akshay Kumar Maitreya. However, the misinformation caused Siraj to gain much notoriety among the British.
The next year, he lost Bengal to his relative, Mir Jafar, who was aided by East India Company soldiers led by Robert Clive at the Battle of Plassey. He was killed a few days later on July 2, 1757 at his capital, Murshidabad (now in West Bengal). He was betrayed by his uncle, Mir Jafar, as aspirant to the throne, who ordered his execution. The Battle of Plassey is regarded as the start of British rule in India.
"Siraj-ud-daula has been pictured", says the biographer of his vanquisher, Lord Clive, "as a monster of vice, cruelty and depravity." But though he may have suffered from the demoralizing effects of too much wealth and power at too early an age, he was in fact no more cruel than most eighteenth-century European exploitative powers, such as the British. His main fault was weakness, which caused him to be fickle and indecisive; he was also arrogant, of changeable temper, and lacking in courage.