1. Who has not heard of the "Black Hole of Calcutta" and of the miscreant Surajah Dowlah, the _nawab_, or native governor, of Bengal? This man hated the English, and he resolved to expel them from his province. Marching to Calcutta with a large force, he seized all our countrymen within his reach, and thrust them for the night into a small stifling room. When the door was thrown open in the morning, only 23 out of 146 staggered out alive. All the rest had fallen dead from the intense heat and suffocating air. 2. When the news reached Madras there went up a cry for vengeance, and all eyes turned to Clive as the avenger. A part of the famous 39th regiment, lately arrived from England, formed the backbone of Clive's force. Admiral Watson was also at hand with a small fleet, and sailed with the avenging army to the mouth of the Hooghly (Hugli). 3. On their arrival the work of retribution began. Calcutta soon fell into their hands. The nawab's capital, Moorshedabad, was the next object of attack, Clive boldly advancing against it with his small force of 3000 men. The nawab drew up his army of 50,000 men on the plains of Plassey, a few miles in front of his capital. Whilst Clive could only muster ten light field pieces, his enemy had fifty heavy guns at his command. But there was treachery in his ranks, for Clive had won over Meer Jaffier, the principal commander of his troops, and the nawab himself was hated by his own people. 4. Clive drew up his troops in front of a grove of mangoes, and near it was a hunting-lodge from the roof of which Clive watched the nawab's army take up its position. They came on with all the pomp and panoply of war--the infantry with their banners flying, the cavalry with their drawn swords flashing back the rays of the rising sun, the elephants with their scarlet trappings, and the heavy guns with their unwieldy platforms and struggling teams of white oxen. The battle that followed lasted till noon. 5. At the right moment, Clive ordered a general advance, and after a brief struggle, disorder and dismay having spread through the ranks of his army, Surajah gave the order to retreat. Clive immediately darted forward with all his men, while the hosts of the enemy fled panic-stricken before them. The nawab mounted a swift dromedary, and was the first to reach Moorshedabad, with a bodyguard of 2000 horsemen. Plassey was not a great battle, but it was fruitful in great results. It was fought on 23rd June, 1757, a date from which is reckoned the foundation of British rule in India.