S
IDELIGHT TO mSTORY
Robert Clive
During the fighting In South India. Robert Clive. a young British
employee of the East India Company, len the life of an otflce
clerk 10 become a mllilary offlcer In the company's army. lie
served with distinction. dlrecllng many Brtttsh vtetortcs over the
French. After his victortes In Ihe south. Clive was called 10 Ihe
north. for the company's posilion In Bengal was being threat­ erred. The Muslim ruler of Bengal and Its dependencies died In
1756. and his successor set out to re-establish control over
European-held territories In his realm. The new ruler's first tar­ get was the Brttlsh post at Calcutta. The new ruler won a quick
victory, whIch was made famous by the "Black Hole of Calculi a­ Incident. Captured British soldiers were Imprisoned on a. hot
June ntght In a small room without food or water. By the next
morning many of the prisoners, by British accounts as many
as two thirds. had died. For years thereafter. British Imperialists
described the room where the prisoners died as a "black hole."
Robert Clive. Architect of Empire
Robert Clive 11725-/7741 Is remembered as the person
who made the IIrst erTecUve moves that led to the ere­
atlon of Brttaln's Indian Empire. At the age of .19, Clive
left his home In England, sailed halfway round the world.
landed In India, and became a clerk for the East India
Company. A year later. Clive asked for and received a
transfer to the company's army. The clerk-turned-soldier
had found an occupaUon that was well sulled to his rest­
less and adventuresome nature. Within a short time, he
demonstrated his military genius and was soon wtnnlng
Important battles In South India and Bengal. These vtcto­
rtes laid the foundations of the Brtush Empire In India.
After his mllltary. triumph at Plassey In 1757, Clive
became the first governor of Bengal. Under Clive's able
dtrection. Bengal became the most profitable of the Brttish
trading areas. ~'the lime he returned to Great Brttaln In
1760. Clive's achievements on the subcontinent had be­
come legendary. For his great services he received from
the Brttish monarch an lrtsh peerage and the Ulle of
Baron Cllve of Plassey. Clive returned to the subconUnent.
where he was appointed governor of Bengal a second
lime. serving from 1765 to 1767. Clive administered
Bengal efftctently and at first reduced corrupUon. When
Clive took on revenue collection In the territories under
the company's control. Clive -sowed the seeds that later
led to the company's loss of lis pollUcal power and lis
eventual end.
East India Company officials had many opportunJUes
to enrtch themselves lIIegally. and not all officials could
resist the temptaUon. As a result of a number or prob­
lems. Including the large size of the territory to be con­
trolled, the East India Company's admlnlslraUon became
Inefllclent and corrupt. Returning to Great Britain after
the end of his second governorship. Clive met with per­
sonal trouble. Charges of misconduct were brought against
him by offlctals In Parliament. After a long tnvestlgauon
Clive was acquitted In 1773 of all charges of personal
wrongdoing. But the stress of the long trial took a toll on
his physical and mental health. Depressed by the ordeal.
Clive took his own life In 1774.
In exploiting Ihe Incident, the British pointed to Ihe soldiers'
Imprisonment and death as an example of unclv1l1zed Indian
hehav1or. The Brilish descriptions of what happened. however.
are thoughl 10 he greally exaggerated.
Calcutta was recapt ured by Clive in January 1757. By this
lime news of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) between Great
. Britain and France had reached the subcontinent. Despite the
protests of Bengal's ruler, Clive attacked and captured the most
Important French post in Bengal. A few months laler Clive met
and defeated rhe forces of the native ruler at the Bailie of Plas­
sey. Clive's victory brought Bengal under company control. Later
Bengal became Ihe base from which the Brillsh launched their
drive for an empire on the Indian subcontinent.
Methods oj Tax Collection
Before the coming of the East India Company to the subconti­ nent. the nllers of Ihe reglon's stales gained revenue by taXing
land and crops. The East India Company In lis aclmlnlstrallon
of Ihe terrttortes II controlled followed the lead of these rulers.
In Bengal the company adopted the procedures of the Mogul
Empire. Akbar had dlvtded his empire Into 12 prov1nces. a num­ ber that had nsen to 21 by Ihe lime of Aurangzeb. Each prov­ Ince had a dlwBn. In many parts of Ihe empire the dtwan gave
the responslhllily for tax collecllng 10 the landowners of large
estates In the villages. These lax-collecting landowners were
called zamlndars. No zarnmdar, regardless of how Illtle he col­ lected. could fail 10 forward the requtreri amount to the dlwan.
C)
",j
As hereditary tax colleclors. t lu: zallli!ll.hll'S could colleCI
only In the lands they owned. It was their Job to collect
enough taxes to forward the required amount to the dlwan and
to corhpensate Ihemselves for their work. Usually Ihe zamindars
colleclcd a tax from each peasant that was about 10 percent
higher than the amount due. But. to enrich themselves. some
zamlndars taxed the peasants at mUch higher rates.
In 1765 RObert Clive signed a treaty with the Mogul emperor
that gave the East India Company the rtght to collect taxes In
Bengal and the nelghbortng provinces of Bihar and Onssa. For
almost 30 years the zamlndar1 system was continued. with the
dlwans acting as Intermedlar1es between the company offlclals
and the zamlndars. AJthough abuses of tax collection had been
Common under the Mogul emperors. Ihe tax-collecting abuses
Increased sharply after 1765_ Brttlsh offlclaJs demanded huge
brtbes from the dtwans, the dlwans demanded even larger sums
(rom the zamtndars, and the zamlndars. In turn. extorted still
larger Sums (rom the peasants.
and Cornrcn to supervise the company's territories on Ihe sub­
conuncnt. The governor of Nepal was to LJe Governor-General.
wlt h authorlty both to admlntstcr his own province and to su­
pervise the actions of the governors at Madras and Bombay.
Uoth Govcr nor-cOencral and the Council were to be appointed
by and accountable to Parltarnent.
t axes
The Policies ofHastings
Warren lIastlngs. a career employee of the East India Company.
was the first Governor-General appointed under the Regulating
Act. Hastings was told not to expand British control In subconti­
nental India. His basic task was to hold the territory already
occupied by the company. Hastings was also to attempt to win
the respect for Brtttsh leadership among the hundreds of native
rulers on the subcontinent.
I( Hastings was to achieve these goals. he had to overcome
many obstacles. In Bombay the Brtttsh found themselves on the
losing side In a struggle for power among the Marathas. and
Hastings had to send troops to that region to maintain the COIll­
parry's position. In the south he had to deal with powerful and
ambitious rulers who had combined their forces to attack lhe
Brttish. Also In the south were the French. who were ,attempting
to regain terrttortes that they had lost to the Uritlsh. The French
were also aiding Great Brttain's rebellious American colonies in
their war for Independence. In the northeast the company was
at war with several native rulers. In the words of l lasttngs. there
was "a war actual or Impending in every quarter [area] and with
every power In Hlndustan. ~
It Is a tribute to Hastings' genius that he maintained the
company's position In the face of overwhelming odds. He could
count on IItUe help from the British government. for its re­
sources were strained In fighting the American colonies and
their European' allies. The governors at Madras and Bombay
continued to make Imprudent agreements with Hindu and Mus­
lim rulers. and these governors were too far away (or Ilas lings
to take any action before the damage was done. Indeed. many
of Hastings' difficulties with the 'native rulers were brought
about by such agreements. But despite the odds. Hastings pre­
served the company's dominant position-an accomplishment
that was of great Importance for the future of the subconllnent.
A Changing Company Role
Years of trading. fighting. and plotting had wrought great
changes In the East India Company. From a small trading con­
cern. the company had evolved Into a major political and mili­
tary force with centers of power In the west. the southeast and
the northeast' of the Indian subcontinent. Bengal. with Robert
Clive as governor.. had become especially powerful and indepen­
dent. AJmost from the beginning. however; the East India Com­
pany had expertenced difficulty In admlnlstertng Its realm. One
very Important reason (or the trouble was that the principal
holdings were widely separated. The main sites of the company's
power-Bengal. Bombay. and Madras-fonned a huge trtangle
that covered nearly the entire Subcontinent. Within the three
points of the trtangle were numerous Hindu and Muslim monar­
chies. few of which were. consistently frtendly to the Brttlsh.
Given these conditions. It was dtlflcult for one person to admin­
Ister effiCiently all three regions. Each center had a governor
who ruled as' he pleased, With so much Independence and so
little supervision. governors and other officials both enrtched
themselves Illegally and made agreements with Hindu and Mus­
lim rulers that conflicted with Brtttsh Interests.
In 1773 the Brttlsh governmenr took action to limit the grow­
Ing power of the company and to halt the illegal and unwise
activities of company officials. In Ihat year Parliament passed
the RegUlating Act. a hili that established a Governor-General
A Profitable Trade
-z
Having the Indtan suLJconlinent as a colony helped Great Urilaln
make Its trade with China more profitable. Brtttsh merchants
,
doing business with China were hard-pressed 10 pay for cargoes
of tea, silk, and porcelain because few Western goods appealed
to the Chinese. The British merchants had 10 pay Ihelr bills In
sliver bullion. whIch caused a drain on Britain's sliver supply.
But the drain on sliver bullion ended when the Chinese accepted
opium as payment In trade or paid cash for It. Opium Is a drug
made from a plant native to the subcontinent that came to be
In great demand In China. The opium trade became a major
source of Income. wlth the company seiling the drug to mer­
chants who disposed of It In China. Later the opium trade led
10 war between Britain and China. In 1839 the Chinese govern­
ment attempted to wipe out commerce In the dangerous drug.
After the Chinese confiscated and destroyed British stocks of
opium at a Chinese port. Britain dispatched warships and
troops to China. This Opium War raged on and off for three
years before the Chinese were forced to surrender after a Bril\sh
show of force.
Economic Importance to Great Britain
By Hastings' time. the subcontinent had become a key factor
In the British economy. Britain was heavlly In debt because of
the Seven Years' War and the Amertcan Revolution. and It was
entering a cructal phase of the Industrial Revolution. Brtltsh
clvll servants who made fortunes In the servlce of the company
returned to the homeland to spend their wealth. Many stimu­
lated the economy by Investing In new enterprises. The profits
from Britain's trade wtlh the subcontinent. as well as the profits
obtained hy trading the subcontinent's producls wlth other
areas. helped 10 pay Britain's debts and to huy the machines
and hulld the factories needed for Industrialization.
2. Great Changes in the Indian Subcontinent
Because of the growing Importance of the subconllnent. Parlia­
ment In 1784 took further steps to safeguard Its interests by
passing the IndIa Act. This bill limited the East India Company
to commercial actlvltles. All clvtl, ml1ltary. and Ilnancial matters
relaled 10 British India were 10 be laken care of by Parliament.
The East India Company. which had shown signs of becoming
a 'state wtthtn a state.- thus was stripped of virtually all Its
powers.
The India Act Increased the powers of the new Governor­
General. who was Lord Cornwallis. Ihe Brillsh general whose
surrender at Yorktown brought an end 10 fighllng In the Ameri­
can Revolution. During his seven years In office as Governor­
General of India. CornwaJlls Introduced a number of important
reforms. Although his successors had some Interest In further­
Ing reform. Ihey were more concerned aboul strengthening the
Brillsh hold on subcontinental India. By 1850 the subconllnent
was largely a Bril1sh possession. From 1784 to 1850. everything
British and much thai was Iradltlonal to the subcontinent un­
derwent considerable change.
)
C r/l-icAj 7h/nk,'j !3ut'Jf~~
Roperf
C/,'~
1
~A-<
?ayl/cun~nr f?1"iS;~ a. IUd, ~
J.-Yj /773
Roe? a-ldi'n; /k--f;
;+rtsf:/'l
w~~ ~ ()ov-e-vno Y
J
,ahd
W'~e.-
ultzVrt''?
Ih~ ~rsl C~rn<7r- b-enen:c,/
t
kdt'a.
L-oI::-"7 ~ ttu ~/n/~~/~
-j/ltt. et;~a~ beTween 7IUs~ ~o
:J~trrs /y)tU1,.eIl1~ .),I-e
{~ t:W
rr:.; l:,
~~Y,'n/
!Z
~k
~~ u-n/YCJ//'7 ..TY?~hH ~
~'t' -<:-~iC bh.~'/.J ~ ~/R-t.