Within two decades of Vasco-da-Gama's discovery of the sea-route to India the Portuguese had established a flourishing trade mart at Pipli, at the mouth of the Subarnarekha. The English had established trade settlements at Hariharpur and Balasore by 1633. In subsequent years, the Dutch, the Danes and the French appeared at Balasore and established their respective footholds. In 1757 when the Battle of Plassey was fought and won, the legal title of Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha passed on to the English. In 1765, Shah Alam granted the East India Company the Dewani of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. But this Odisha was only a small territory to the north of the Subarnarekha.
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