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{{Short description|Battle of the Bengal War (Battle of Buxar)}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2009}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict= Battle of Buxar
|partof= [[Bengal War]]
|image=Battle of Buxar -Crown and company- Arthur Edward Mainwaring pg.144.jpg
|image_size=300px
|date= 22/23 October 1764
|place= Near [[Buxar]] |result= [[English East India Company]] victory
|combatant1= [[Mughal Empire]]<ref name="History of the Freedom Movement in India">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n_Vi8sSjgYsC&pg=PA2 | title=History Of The Freedom Movement In India (1857–1947) | publisher=New Age International | author=Sen, Sailendra Nath | year=2009 | isbn=9788122425765 | page=2}}</ref>
*[[Nawab of multan|Multan Subah]]
*[[Durrani]] and [[Rohilla]] Factions
|combatant2= [[English East India Company]]
|commander1= '''[[Shah Alam II]]'''<ref name="History of the Freedom Movement in India" />
*[[Amar Balach]]
*[[Mirza Najaf Khan]]
*[[Mir Qasim]]
*[[Shuja-ud-Daula]]
*[[Raja Balwant Singh]]
|commander2= [[Hector Munro, 8th of Novar|Hector Munro of Novar]]
|Major Robert Munroe ;
|strength1=40,000 140 [[cannon]]s
|strength2=7,072 30 [[cannon]]s
|casualties1=Disputed British claim:<ref name="Fortescue102">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7a-6PwAACAAJ | title=Fortescue's History of the British Army - | publisher=Naval & Military Press | date=29 February 2004 | last=John William | author-link=John William Fortescue | volume=2 | isbn=978-1-84342-715-5}}</ref> 2,000 killed
|casualties2=1,000 killed, wounded or missing<ref name=Fortescue102 /><ref name="Black160">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neUKEvaYPZYC | title=The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492-1792 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=28 March 1996 | author=Black, Jeremy | editor=Wyse, Liz | volume=2 | location=[[Cambridge, England|Cambridge]] | page=160 | isbn=978-0-521-47033-9}}</ref>
}}
{{Campaignbox
| title = [[Seven Years' War]] [[Bengal War]]
| name = Campaignbox Bengal War
| listclass = hlist
| battles =
* [[Battle of Plassey]]
* [[Battle of Patna (1760)]]
* [[Battle of Gaya (1760)]]
* [[Battle of Sirpur]]
* [[Battle of Birpur]]
* [[Battle of Siwan]]
* [[Battle of Gheria]]
* [[Battle of Katwa]]
* [[Battle of Patna]]
* [[Battle of Udaynala (1763)]]
* Battle of Buxar
* [[Battle of Patna (1764)]]
* [[Battle of Kora (1765)]]
}}

The '''Battle of Buxar''' was fought on 22/23 October 1764, between the forces under the command of the British [[East India Company]], led by [[Hector Munro, 8th of Novar|Hector Munro]], and the combined armies of [[Mir Qasim]], Nawab of Bengal till 1764; the [[Nawab of Awadh]] [[Shuja-ud-Daula]]; and the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]] accompanied by [[Balwant Singh of Benares|Raja Balwant Singh of Kashi.]]<ref>{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Modern History (1707–1947) |author=Parshotam Mehra |isbn=0-19-561552-2 |year=1985 |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> The battle was fought at [[Buxar]], a "small fortified town" within the territory of [[Bihar]], located on the banks of the [[Ganga|Ganga river]] about {{convert|130|km}} west of [[Patna]]; it was a decisive victory for the British [[East India Company]]. The war had been brought to an end by the [[Treaty of Allahabad]] in 1765.

==Battle==
The British army engaged in the fighting numbered 7,072<ref name="Cust1858">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DoZCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA113 | title=Annals of the Wars of the Eighteenth Century: 1760–1783 | publisher=Mitchell's Military Library | last=Cust | first=Edward | author-link=Edward Cust | year=1858 | volume=III | location=London | page=113}}</ref> comprising 859 British, 5,297 Indian [[sepoy]]s and 918 Indian [[cavalry]]. The alliance army's numbers were estimated to be over 40,000. According to other sources{{who|date=August 2017}}, the combined army of the Mughals, Awadh [[Mir Qasim]] and raja Balwant singh of banares consisting of 40,000 men was defeated by a British army comprising 10,000 men. The Nawabs had virtually lost their military power after the battle of Buxar.

The lack of basic co-ordination among the major three disparate allies was responsible for their decisive defeat.

[[Mirza Najaf Khan]] commanded the right flank of the Mughal imperial army and was the first to advance his forces against Major [[Hector Munro, 8th of Novar|Hector Munro]] at daybreak; the British lines formed within twenty minutes and reversed the advance of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]]s. According to the British, [[Durrani]] and [[Rohilla]] cavalry were also present and fought during the battle in various skirmishes. But by midday, the battle was over and [[Shuja-ud-Daula]] blew up large tumbrils and three massive magazines of gunpowder.

Munro divided his army into various columns and particularly pursued the Mughal [[Grand Vizier]] [[Shuja-ud-Daula]] the [[Nawab of Awadh]] and [[Balwant Singh of Benares|Balwant singh]] who responded by blowing up his boat-bridge after crossing the river, thus abandoning the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]] and members of his own regiment. [[Mir Qasim]] also fled with his 3 million rupees worth of [[Gemstone]]s and later died in poverty in 1777. Mirza Najaf Khan reorganised formations around [[Shah Alam II]], who retreated and then chose to negotiate with the victorious British.

Historian [[John William Fortescue]] claimed that the British casualties totalled 847: 39 killed and 64 wounded from the European regiments and 250 killed, 435 wounded and 85 missing from the East India Company's sepoys.<ref name=Fortescue102 /> He also claimed that the three Indian allies suffered 2,000 dead and that many more were wounded.<ref name=Fortescue102 /> Another source says that there were 69 European and 664 sepoy casualties on the British side and 6,000 casualties on the Mughal side.<ref name=Black160/> The victors captured 133 pieces of artillery and over 1 million rupees of cash. Immediately after the battle, Munro decided to assist the [[Maratha]]s, who were described as a "warlike race", well known for their relentless and unwavering hatred towards the [[Mughal Empire]] and its [[Nawab]]s and [[Sultanate of Mysore|Mysore]].

==Aftermath==
The British victory at Buxar had "at one fell swoop", disposed of the three main scions of Mughal power in Upper India. Mir Kasim [Qasim] disappeared into impoverished obscurity. Shah Alam realigned himself with the British, and Shah Shuja [Shuja-ud-Daula] fled west hotly pursued by the victors. The whole Ganges valley lay at the company's mercy; Shah Shuja eventually surrendered; henceforth company troops became the power-brokers throughout Oudh as well as Bihar".<ref name="Keay2010">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XpdgQt6Tc54C | title=The Honourable Company | publisher=HarperCollins UK | date=8 July 2010 | last=Keay | first=John | author-link=John Keay | edition=Paperback | location=London | page=374 | isbn=978-0-00-739554-5}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Shah Alam II, Mughal emperor of india, reviewing the East India Companys troops.jpg|The [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]], as a prisoner of the [[British East India Company]], 1781
File:The Navab's arrival before Clive's position.jpg|The [[Nawab of Bengal]], [[Mir Qasim]]
File:अवध के नवाब शुजाउद्दौला.jpg|[[Shuja-ud-Daula]] served as the leading [[Nawab]] [[Vizier]] of the [[Mughal Empire]], he was lifelong of [[Shah Alam II]].
File:Mughal amir horseback large c hi.jpg|[[Mirza Najaf Khan]] Baloch, the commander-in-chief of the [[Mughal Army]].
File:IGI1908India1765a.jpg|Political map of the Indian Subcontinent in the year 1765.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Battle of Plassey]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150113120926/http://livelystories.com/2013/09/13/battle-of-buxar/ A detailed description of the Battle of Buxar]

{{Mughal Empire|state=expanded}}
{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Patna Division topics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord missing|Bihar}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buxar}}
[[Category:British East India Company]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Indian kingdoms]]
[[Category:Battles involving Bengal]]
[[Category:Battles involving the British East India Company]]
[[Category:1764 in India]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1764]]
[[Category:History of Bihar]]
[[Category:1764 in the Mughal Empire]]

Battle of Buxar - Revision history

82.36.65.176: enhance content for accuracy and added references

24.213.201.196: Eliminate duplicate sentence