Robert Clive
The Lord Clive | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Clive in the dress uniform of a British officer. Although Clive never served in that capacity in the British Army, officers of the East India Company Army wore uniforms of a similar style. 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 | Lieutenant colonel |
| Unit | British East India Company |
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief, Bengal |
| 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 Battle of Seringham 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, 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. He began as a "writer" (the term used then in India for an office clerk) for the EIC in 1744, however after being caught up in military action during the fall of Madras, Clive joined the EIC's private army. Clive rapidly rose through the military ranks of the EIC and was eventually credited with establishing Company rule in Bengal by winning the Battle of Plassey in 1757. In return for supporting the Nawab Mir Jafar as ruler of Bengal, Clive was guaranteed a jagir of £90,000 (equivalent to £10,200,000 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 £900,000 (equivalent to £30,500,000 in 2023) which he remitted through the Dutch East India Company.
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. In 1755 he was hired by the EIC to return to India, where he secured 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 obtain an Irish barony from the Prime Minister, Thomas Pelham-Holles, and a seat in Parliament via Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis, representing the Whig party in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (1761–1774), as he had previously done in Mitchell, Cornwall (1754–1755).
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 the great famine of 1770, which killed between one and ten million people.