Plassey, a great battlefield in Bengal, now swept away by changes in the course of the river, scarcely 100 m. N. of Calcutta; was the scene of Clive's victory in 1757 with 800 Europeans and 2200 unreliable native troops over Suraj-ud-Dowlah, the ruler of Bengal, which laid that province at the feet of Britain, and led to the foundation of the British Empire in India.