Omichund

Omichund was an Indian merchant from the 18th century. He was one of the principal authors of the conspiracy leading to the Battle of Plassey. An upcountry merchant from Agra, Umichand came to Bengal in the second decade of the eighteenth century with the help of Bishnudas Seth, a dadni merchant and broker of Calcutta who arranged his passage to Murshidabad. In the 1730s he became a leading merchant of Calcutta and had traded mostly in saltpeter and opium.

Through trade he was closely connected with the English East India Company and had also had close connections with the Nawab of Bengal Ali Vardi Khan and his successor Siraj ud-Daulah. Connected with the Company and the nobility of Bengal, Omichund was ideal for the Company to get him involved into their conspiracy against Siraj ud-Daulah. Omichund played his part in hatching the conspiracy but his appetite had grown as the conspiracy was about to launch. He wanted 5 percent of the Nawab’s wealth after the coupe. The English agreed to the sum requested, but only to calm their co-conspirator until the coupe was over. After the Battle of Plassey, which marked the start of British rule over Bengal, Robert Clive refused to give him the money saying that the agreement made with him was only a trick to keep ‘the double agent’ in good humor.