set about eliminating the foreign presence. In 1756, he seized Calcutta and incarcerated the resident British population. Robert Clive and his troops took Calcutta back in January 1757. Clive compelled Sirajuddaulah to assent to a treaty which would restore Emperor Fakukhsiyar's order allowing the British to trade unrestricted. Clive then conspired with Sirajuddaulah's relative, Mir Jafar, and obtained the support of a major banker, Jagat Seth. Robert Clive and Sirajuddaulah's troops battled each other at Plassey in June 1757. Mir Jafar abandoned the nawab during the battle, who suffered defeat and was killed. Many historians see this battle as the start of British colonialism in the subcontinent which would last until 1947. After their triumph at Plassey the British transformed Bengal into the center of their growing Indian colony. The British could fully obtain financial authority in Bengal if the diwani was given to the East India Company in place of the Nawab. When Mir Jafar died in 1765 the Emperor Shah Alam implemented that transfer. This guaranteed British authority in the province. while a semi-feudal association was maintained with the Mughal empire. The diwani was used with the approval of the Mughal ruler. While the British East India Company was nominally a diwan, it was practically independent of the Mughals. Indian nationalist historiography pinpoints the battle in Plassey as the start of a foreign and exploitative colonialism which ended in 1947. But the Bangladeshi perspective is that the people of Bengal had been used to fleecing administrations run by foreigners before the rise of the British authority. Bangladeshi historians also contend that colonialism persisted during the post-colonial period when the region was included in Pakistan. The Battle of Plassey did not mark an end to native rule in Bengal. It marked an end to the Mughal system. British rule The British goal was to increase the productivity of the Bengali economy. They experimented on Bengal's administration and economy. The results of some of the experiments were not always successful. The increased taxation in Bengal's unstable climate was a calamity. The taxation was not eased even during the drought and floods of 1769–1770. Along with unmonitored exploitation this caused a severe famine, in which it is believed ten million residents of Bengal died. The Mughal State was disintegrated, causing the principal governor of Bengal to become the de facto ruler. After a replacement was sought by the British East India