After losing the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757, Siraj-ud-Daulah fled to Murshidabad. When the support he expected there fell away, he left the palace in disguise late on 24 June or in the early hours of 25 June, taking a small trusted party and valuables. He headed toward Bhagwangola, hoping to escape north by boat, but was captured at Rajmahal.
From the battlefield to Murshidabad
Siraj first escaped the battlefield itself: after his defeat at Plassey, he rode back toward his capital, Murshidabad. Accounts disagree on when he arrived. Sudeep Chakravarti’s account in Scroll summarizes the Siyar account as placing his arrival around 8 a.m. the next day, while Robert Orme and a letter by Dutch deputy resident George Lodewijk Vernet place it around midnight. The exact arrival time is therefore uncertain.
The political circumstances of the defeat help explain why Siraj did not simply regroup with his army. Mir Jafar had been offered the nawabship if Siraj was defeated, and his forces did not join the battle, according to the National Army Museum’s overview. That overview describes Siraj’s army as about 50,000 strong and Clive’s as about 3,000, but those are battle figures, not the size of the party that later fled with Siraj.
Why he left the palace
In Murshidabad, Siraj sought protection from commanders and others around him. The Siyar account, as summarized by Chakravarti, says the commanders went home and that even his father-in-law, Muhammad Iraj Khan, refused his appeal. Siraj tried to keep people with him by ordering payments from the treasury, but the account says they took the money and left. With no dependable force forming around him, a covert escape became his remaining option.
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How Siraj escaped from Murshidabad
Siraj arranged for members of his household and valuables to be sent away before slipping out of the palace in disguise. The accounts differ on the precise hour: Orme gives 10 p.m. on 24 June; a letter Jafar Ali Khan sent to Clive on 25 June gives about 11 p.m.; and the Siyar version places the departure around 3 a.m. on 25 June. The safest summary is that Siraj left late on 24 June or in the early hours of 25 June.
The details of his companions also come through different accounts. Orme, quoted by Chakravarti, says Siraj wore plain clothes, carried a casket of valuable jewels, and went with Lutf-un-Nisa and a eunuch. The Siyar account describes a small group of favourites, his wife and principal consort, and as much gold and jewellery as they could carry. These are reported details, not a single independently verified eyewitness scene.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where he was going—and how the escape ended
Siraj headed toward Bhagwangola, roughly 20 kilometres northeast of Murshidabad in Chakravarti’s account. He hoped to find a boat and continue north along the Ganga-Padma river system. The river channel has since shifted eastward from the village, so today’s geography may not match the route as it was in 1757.
He did not get away. The narrative in British Heritage says he reached Rajmahal on 2 July, sheltered in a deserted garden, and was betrayed to the local military governor. It says Miran, Mir Jafar’s son, had him killed that night. An older 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica entry also places his capture at Rajmahal but dates his death to 4 July. The capture at Rajmahal appears in both accounts; the execution date is not settled by the sources cited here.
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What the accounts establish
- Siraj fled Plassey and returned to Murshidabad, though reports differ on his arrival time.
- He found his expected support collapsing and left the palace secretly in disguise with a small party and valuables.
- He aimed for Bhagwangola and a boat route north, but was captured at Rajmahal.
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