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Robert Clive
The Lord Clive | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Clive in military uniform c. 1770s | |
| Governor of the Presidency of Fort William | |
| In office 1757–1760 | |
| Preceded by | Roger Drake as President |
| Succeeded by | Henry Vansittart |
| In office 1764–1767 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Vansittart |
| Succeeded by | Harry Verelst |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 September 1725 Styche, Shropshire, England |
| Died | 22 November 1774 (aged 49) London, England |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 9, including Edward |
| Alma mater | Merchant Taylors' School |
| Nickname | Clive of India |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Bengal Army |
| Years of service | 1746–1774 |
| Rank | Major-general |
| Unit | British East India Company |
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief of India |
| Battles/wars | War of the Austrian Succession Battle of Madras Siege of Cuddalore Siege of Pondicherry Tanjore Expedition Second Carnatic War Siege of Trichinopoly Siege of Arcot Battle of Arnee Battle of Chingleput Seven Years' War Battle of Vijaydurg Battle of Chandannagar Battle of Plassey |
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, KB, FRS (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India,[1][2][3] was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British East India Company (EIC) rule in Bengal.[4][5][6][7][8][9] He began as a writer (the term used then in India for an office clerk) for the EIC in 1744 and established Company rule in Bengal by winning the Battle of Plassey in 1757.[10] In return for supporting the Nawab Mir Jafar as ruler of Bengal, Clive was guaranteed a jagir of £30,000 (equivalent to £5,100,000 in 2023) per year, which was the rent the EIC would otherwise pay to the Nawab for their tax-farming concession. When Clive left India in January 1767 he had a fortune of £180,000 (equivalent to £30,500,000 in 2023) which he remitted through the Dutch East India Company.[11][12]
Blocking impending French mastery of India, Clive improvised a 1751 military expedition that ultimately enabled the EIC to adopt the French strategy of indirect rule via puppet government. Hired by the EIC to return (1755) to India, Clive conspired to secure the company's trade interests by overthrowing the ruler of Bengal, the richest state in India. Back in England from 1760 to 1765, he used the wealth accumulated from India to secure (1762) an Irish barony from the then Whig PM, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, and a seat for himself in Parliament, via Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis, representing the Whigs in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (1761–1774), as he had previously in Mitchell, Cornwall (1754–1755).[13][14]
Clive's actions on behalf of the EIC have made him one of Britain's most controversial colonial figures. His achievements included checking French imperialist ambitions on the Coromandel Coast and establishing EIC control over Bengal, thereby furthering the establishment of the British Raj, though he worked only as an agent of the East India Company, not of the British government. Vilified by his political rivals in Britain, he went on trial (1772 and 1773) before Parliament, where he was absolved from every charge. Historians have criticised Clive's management of Bengal during his tenure with the EIC, in particular regarding responsibility in contributing to the Great Bengal Famine of 1770, which killed between one and ten million people.
- ^ G. A. Henty (1 March 2012). With Clive in India: Or, The Beginnings of an Empire. The Floating Press. ISBN 978-1-77545-628-5. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ John Basil Watney (1974). Clive of India. Saxon House. ISBN 9780347000086. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ "Hundreds sign petition to remove 'Clive of India' statue in UK". India Today. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ He "was celebrated in so many subsequent histories as the founder of 'British India.'" Emma Rothschild, The Inner Life of Empires: An Eighteenth-Century History (Princeton UP, 2011) p. 45.
- ^ C. Brad Faught, Clive: Founder of British India (2013)
- ^ Lord Clive: The Founder of the British Empire in India, a Drama in Five Acts. St. Joseph's Industrial School Press. 1913.
- ^ Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. Macmillan. 12 August 2000. ISBN 9780312263829.
- ^ "Robert Clive".
- ^ "Robert Clive (1725–74) | Statue by John Tweed, 1912".
- ^ Sibree, Bron (19 September 2019). "The Anarchy: how the East India Company looted India, and became too big to fail, explored by William Dalrymple". Post Magazine (Book review).
- ^ Clive of India, by John Watney, published 1974, p.149
- ^ Spear, T.G Percival (1 March 2023). "Robert Clive - Clive's Administrative Achievements".
- ^ "CLIVE, Robert (1725–74), of Styche Hall, nr. Market Drayton, Salop; subsequently of Walcot Park, Salop; Claremont, Surr.; and Oakley Park, Salop". The History of Parliament.
- ^ "Robert Clive – Biography, papers and letters written by him". britishonlinearchives.co.uk. British Onlive Archives. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
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