The British East India Company faced challenges in its efforts to gain control of India trade, by the mid 1700s the power of the French East India Company rivaled that of the British. In Southern India, the French and British fought a series of wars. Sir Robert Clive in 1751 won an important victory for the British East India Company against the French and Indian allies. In the north, Clive defeated a Mogul-led army at the Battle of Plassey near Fort William in Bengal in 1757. The balance of power shifted to the British. After defeating the French and Moguls the British became the dominant power in India after WWII. For much of that time the British East India Company had all sovereign powers of government in ruling much of India. The british were in India to stay.