Buxar, Battle of, was a decisive battle fought between British and Indian forces at Buxar, a town on the Ganges River. Mir Qasim, the nawab (governor) of Bengal, wanted to rid his territory of British control. He formed an alliance with the Nawab of Oudh and Shah Alam II, the Mughal emperor. The combined Indian armies invaded Bengal and clashed with British troops, led by Major Hector Munro, in October 1764. A hotly contested battle resulted in victory for the British.
As a result of this triumph, the British administrator and military leader Robert Clive returned to India from England. In 1765, he signed the Treaty of Allahabad with the Nawab of Oudh and Shah Alam II. The treaty effectively legalized the British East India Company’s control over the whole of Bengal.
