Going through the classic book "ANARCHY" written by the English Author William Dalrymple, I was fascinated by the character of Robert Clive, who as an employee of the British East India Company (EIC) established the British empire in India. When the young man from a cold, English countryside arrived in a chaotic, post Mogul India, no one in his wildest of dreams, not even Clive himself ever thought that he will lay the foundation of the British empire in India. But in reality it was not Great Britain, but a company called British East India Company (EIC) which with only a few thousand Englishmen present in India ruled a nation of 200 million people for 100 years, until the Queen of England officially took over India after the Sepoy Mutiny or India's first war of independence in 1857.
The British after Sir Thomas Roe in 1605 AD presented himself and his credentials to Mughal Emperor Jahangir on behalf of the King of England to earn trading rights with India continued to flourish in India, a rich country those days. Sir Thomas Roe was impressed by the opulence and gargantuan sized treasury of the Mughal Emperor so much so that he famously said the wealth of the King of England would pale in size of the wealth of Alamgir (Emperor) Jahangir. Soon Thomas Roe settled in the court of Jahangir and became close to the Emperor. Their admiration was mutual. Jahangir was very fond of Thomas Roe and the gifts he got for him from England. Fascinated with England and stories of their countrymen Jahangir was curious about England and to know whether Englishmen could fart as normal humans do. Once Jahangir laughed nonstop when Thomas Roe farted loudly in front of him. However their friendship was detested by Jahangir's all powerful wife Nur Jahan who never liked Sir Thomas Roe, jealous of the later's closeness with her husband.
Britons traded for more than a 100 years until the ambitious Robert Clive gave them a break and confidence in 1757 with a spectacular win in the famous victory in Bengal's Mango marshland near a village named Plassey and there was no looking back for them. But much before that, nearly 100 years ago before the Battle of Plassey which led to the foundation of the British empire in India, Chattrapati Shivaji, the Maratha strongman could foresee their ascension. He once said about the British - "The Englishmen aren't mere traders. They are a very shrewd race and can steal from right under your nose without you even knowing it". He was so prophetic.
Coming to Robert Clive, he was a petulant child of a middle class Englishman. From his childhood and during his youth Clive was a street fighter - short tempered and impulsive in nature. Neither good in academics nor a helping hand to his parents, Clive's father managed to get a job for his son in the British East India Company. Soon a young Robert Clive was on aboard on the next sailing ship to India, a trip which took close to a year as there was no Suez Canal those days and the ships to India had to circumvent via "Cape of Good Hope", the southern tip of Africa. The long journey to India was hardly remarkable for Robert Clive. He fell sick throughout the journey and fought with his shipmates. One day fell overboard and could have drowned but for the alertness of a lone sailor who saw him at the nick of time and saved his life. Least the unknown sailor knew that he saved the life of a person who was going to write history by laying the foundation of the British Empire in India.
After his arrival in Madras port, Clive took time to settle down. He hated every bit of India and Indians, starting from the dark skinned natives to the hot, humid, dust laden climate of his new country of arrival. He longed for the cool, salubrious English weather, its lushly, green rolling meadows in the letters he wrote back home. Soon he contracted Malaria and became very week. He went through bouts of depression and tried to end his life by putting his pistol inside his mouth and pulling the trigger. The gun didn't fire. He was destined to live another day, only to die another day after establishing the British empire in India.
In his early 20s, Clive started as a clerk, the only job the uneducated young man was fit for. But his rise was fast in the echelons of the Company as he was a risk taker with a "can do" rather than a "can't do" approach, endearing all by his unique leadership quality showing tremendous grit and courage at time of adversities, getting things done. He was an excellent trainer and strategist. Clive rapidly rose in ranks and was the chief architect of creating a battalion of Sepoys called "Telengas", consisting mostly from present state of Telengana, training them with the modern European style of warfare and strict discipline of following offers. His biggest success was removing the threat from the French in Carnatik South and Madras with whom the English were perpetually at loggerheads. Impressed, British the East India Company promoted Clive and sent him to Calcutta. Before sailing to Calcutta, Clive got married to an English girl who fell for his flamboyant personality which is quite normal for young girls, even those days. Though he lacked the culture, mannerism of an educated English boy, Clive's street smart intelligence, grit and strong, determined personality impressed his beau. No wonder it is said that good girls fall for bad boys.
Being patient and watchful was not in Robert Clive's lexicon. His bosses and colleagues were not very enthusiastic on Company's military approach and wanted to focus on trade and trudge slowly on political arena. But an ambitious Clive who underestimated the Indians wanted to fiddle in the politics of Bengal - a huge swathe of rich, fertile state. He could sense the anarchy and instability in the political system in and around Bengal at a time the popular Sultan Aliverdi Khan had just died and his power usurped by an arrogant, fickle young man and equally unpopular, his new nephew Siraj-Ud-Daula. The young, newly crowned Nawab of Bengal was more known for his bisexuality, debauchery acts of picking young, beautiful girls taking bath on the bank of river Ganga for his Harem than his administrative skills. A haughty and arrogant Siraj-Ud-Daula misbehaved with Mir Jeffer, the uneducated but powerful commander of his military which would prove costly for him.
Sensing the internal division in Bengal Confederacy Robert Clive established secret contact with Mir Jaffer and brought him to his side, promising him the position of the Nawab of Bengal if the later helps him to remove the young Siraj-Ud-Daula. Another powerful man of the time, the Jagat Seth brothers, a duo of rich financiers constantly humiliated by the new Nawab were ready to finance the East Indian Company to take out Siraj-Ud-Daula and replace him with the more malleable Mir Jaffer.
Unaware of all these conspiracies behind him, Siraj-Ud-Daula with a military of 100,000 was over confident of defeating Company's army of 3000 - 800 Englishmen plus 2,200 Sepoys, consisting mostly of lower caste "Telengas". But his unwarranted complacency would turn out detrimental to him for several reasons. First and foremost, due to constant invention and innovation in a Renaissant Europe the British had access to the weapons made of latest technology. The English and French guns and cannons were far superior in quality to the Mughal era weapons and muskets. Secondly, the East India Company's Army were adept with the modern European strategy of battalion style movement of bionet holding cavalry, hitherto unknown in India still relying heavily on war Elephants who turned liability than assets in context of modern warfare. Thirdly, the Englishmen had a well trained, disciplined, motivated Sepoys whereas the Nawab's Bengal Army consisted of recruits who were least disciplined and motivated, ready to flee the battlefield at any moment. So the numerical advantage of Siraj-Ud-Daula's army didn't make any sense in the context of warfare. Fourthly, a large chunk of Siraj-Ud-Daula's army under the leadership of Mir Jaffer was ready to betray him.
And lastly, God was an Englishman. No wonder they say "Fortune favors the Brave". Not every one in British East India Company but Robert Clive was confident of their army of 3,000 defeating a numerically larger army of 100,000 as the opponent sides were lined up against each other in the swampy, mango orchard of Plassey on June 23, 1757. This was early monsoon days in India. A heavy downpour during the noon dampened the gun powder of Nawab's Army which was kept without any protective cover. But the East India Company generals were prudent enough to keep their gun power dry well covered and secured under tarpaulin. No sooner the rain stopped, than the highly efficient British canons came blazing through their opponents, while the helpless army of Siraj-Ud-Daula became cannon forders as they couldn't use their own cannons to retaliate due to their stupidity of leaving their gun powder uncovered under torrential rains.
The Nawab's indisciplined army fled without offering much resistance while those loyal to Mir Jaffer stood aside without offering any semblance of resistance. Robert Clive was happy that his strategy, both political and military succeeded as planned. Nothing succeeds like success and Clive became an instant hero in the eyes of the Company. In no time, a dilettante English youth educated worthy to be a clerk rose to become the Governor of Bengal, a Confederacy which included modern day Bangladesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand so much so that, he wrote to his folks in England - "Give me just 2,000 English soldiers. I can conquer entire Hindustan (India)". There was no point of return for Robert Clive, though he chose to return back to England. The young man who left England not long ago with few pennies in pocket returned home like a Nabob, with enough money to buy a large estate and a seat in the British Parliament.
Clive wrote to his friend and biographer Robert Ormy in London - "Fortune seems determined to accompany me to the last". But nothing lasts forever, certainly not the good days of Clive's fortune, perhaps destined to last until he gave foundation to the British empire in India. He already had survived two close calls to death. Robert Clive though initially admired and honored, was soon charged of corruption in English Parliament as he could not justify his source of income as his employer British East India Company came under strict audit, both in terms of finance and conduct. Humiliated in Parliament, Clive slipped into depression. Persuaded by his wife, he toured France and Italy, buying paintings.
But nothing could change his melancholy mood swings. His constant tryst with Gout and stomach pain made his depression worst. Few months before his 50th Birthday, his wife found him dead in bathroom where he apparently killed himself by slashing his wrist using a crude knife. It was not the first time Robert Clive attempted to take his own life, but he failed in his earlier attempt. He even fell overboard on a ship to India only to be saved at nick of time by an alert sailor. But this time luck wasn't on his side. Died unsung, he was buried very next day without much fanfare. Thus concludes the story of ROBERT CLIVE, the end of a remarkable life, of a man who led the foundation of the once mighty British empire in India, the "Jewel in its Crown" for another 200 years to come.
