1748-1751

CLIVE

761

ments and drove him to return to France, where the Government, instead of giving him the honour due to him, threw him into prison. In 1748 Dupleix, who was as able as he was unscrupulous, successfully defended Pondicherry against an attack from the British, who were now supported by the arrival of a fleet. In 1748 the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle compelled him to surrender Madras; but it did not compel him to refrain from pushing his fortune further. The Subahdar of the Deccan, the Nizam-ul-Mulk (whose successors are known by the title of Nizam, which they have derived from him), died in 1748, and left rival claimants to his power. Dupleix sent French sepoys to support one of the claimants, whilst the English sent English sepoys to support the other. The French candidate defeated his rival, and was installed as Nizam, whilst Dupleix was himself appointed governor of the Carnatic from the river Kistna to Cape Comorin, by his own puppet the new Nizam. The native Nawab of the Carnatic was subordinated to him. The English settlement at Madras seemed to be incapable of offering further resistance to the French.

23. Dupleix and Clive. 1751-1754.-The English were still traders, not warriors, but amongst the clerks in Madras was a young man of twenty-five, Robert Clive. He early showed his undaunted bravery. Having accused an officer of cheating at cards, he was challenged to a duel. His antagonist walked up to him, held his pistol to his head, and bade him withdraw the accusation. "Fire!" cried Clive. "I said you cheated, and I say so still, and I will never pay you." The officer threw down his pistol, saying that Clive was mad. In 1751, when Dupleix, paying no attention to the treaty of peace which had been signed in Europe between England and France, threatened Madras, Clive, having volunteered as a soldier, was sent to seize Arcot, the capital of the Nawab of the Carnatic, who was dependent on Dupleix. Clive carried with him a force of sepoys, and as he approached Arcot continued his march, though a violent thunderstorm was raging. The garrison of Arcot was so astonished at his fearlessness in facing the storm that they fled in a panic, leaving the place in his hands. Shortly, however, a vast force of the native allies of France laid siege to Arcot, and Clive and his men were all but starved. So complete was the ascendency which Clive had gained over his sepoys that when they discovered that all the provisions except a little rice had been exhausted they begged that he and the few Englishmen with him would take the rice. As for themselves, they would be content with the water in which the rice

III.

3 D

had been boiled. Before the siege, Clive had sent to Morari Rao, a Mahratta chief, for aid. The Mahratta held aloof till he heard of the brave defence of Arcot. "I never thought till now," he said, "that the English could fight; since they can, I will help them.” Morari Rao came to Clive's help, and Clive gained one success after another. So fearless was he that he became known amongst the natives as Sabat Jung (the daring in war). In 1753 he returned to England, having established English supremacy in south-eastern India. In 1754 Dupleix went back to France, only to suffer the same ill-treatment which had been the lot of Le Bourdonnais.

24. The Black Hole of Calcutta. 1756.-Clive was the servant of a trading company, and his successes were not won like those of Wolfe, a few years later, by the support of the British Government and the valour of a British army. In 1755, when a war with France was imminent, the East India Company sent him out as the governor of Fort St. David, near Madras. When he arrived in 1756 he heard bad news from Calcutta. Surajah Dowlah, the Subahdar of Bengal, knowing that the English merchants were rich, seized all their property and thrust 145 Englishmen and one Englishwoman into a room measuring only eighteen feet by fourteen. In a space so small, many would have been suffocated even in an English climate. Under the scorching Indian sun few could expect to live. The prisoners called for water, and, though some was brought, the skins which contained it were too large to pass through the bars of the window. The prisoners struggled madly for the smallest drop, trampling one another down to reach it. All through the day, and through the night which followed, men were dying in agony. When morning came the doors were thrown open, and of the 146 who entered, only twenty-three staggered out alive.

25. The Battle of Plassey. 1757.-Clive hastened to Bengal to avenge this outrage. He had now with him a regiment in the king's service, and his whole army consisted of 900 Europeans and 1,500 sepoys. On June 23, 1757, he won a great victory at Plassey over 50,000 men of Surajah Dowlah's army. Clive mingled treachery with force, and had won over Surajah Dowlah's chief officer, Meer Jaffier, to promise to desert his master. Meer Jaffier, however, doubting on which side victory would fall, held back from the fulfilment of his promise till Clive's men had all but won the victory. Meer Jaffier was installed as Subahdar of Bengal, though, in consequence of his virtual dependence on the Company, he and his

1757

THE RESULTS OF PLASSEY

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successors are usually known by the inferior title of Nawab. In return for his promotion he was compelled to pay large sums of money to those who raised him to power. Clive received as his

share more than 200,000l., besides a grant of land worth 27,000l. a year. Long afterwards, when he was called in question for his part in despoiling Meer Jaffier, he told how he had walked through the treasure-house of the Subahdar at Moorshedabad, where gold

and jewels were piled on either side. "I am astonished," he added, "at my own moderation."

26. The Battle of Wandewash and the capture of Pondicherry. 1760-1761.-Around Madras, in the meanwhile, the French, under Lally, began a fresh struggle for supremacy; but in 1760 Colonel Eyre Coote gained a signal victory at Wandewash, and Pondicherry surrendered to him early in 1761. The predominance of Englishmen over Frenchmen in India was thus secured. As yet the English did not undertake the actual government of any part of the country. Nominally, the native rulers around Madras retained their powers; but they derived their real strength from the support of the armies which the English had organised mainly out of native soldiers. As far as Bengal was concerned, the government continued to be exercised nominally by Meer Jaffier, the Company only receiving from him the zemindary of the district round Calcutta-that is to say, the right of collecting the land-tax, and of keeping the proceeds upon payment of a quit-rent to Meer Jaffier as subahdar. In point of fact, however, the officials of the Company had everything their own way.

27. Death of George II. 1760.-In all that had taken place George II. had little part, except so far as he had given up all thought of resisting ministers with whom he was dissatisfied. Ministers," he once said, "are the king in this country." On Cctober 25, 1760, he died suddenly. He was succeeded by his grandson, George III., the son of Frederick, the late Prince of Wales, a young man of twenty-two, whose character and training made it unlikely that he would be content to be thrust into the background as his grandfather had been.

1. Character of George III. 1760.-George III. had been educated by his mother the Princess of Wales in the principles of Bolingbroke's Patriot King. From her he had learned that it was his duty to break down that coalition of the great Whig families which ruled England by means of the corrupting influence of wealth. "George, be a king," were the words which she had dinned into his ears. He came to the throne resolved to overthrow the Whig party connection by setting his own personal authority above that of the great Whig borough-owners, and to govern, in the interest of the whole nation, by ministers who, having been selected by himself, would be contented to carry out his policy and to act at his dictation. To a certain extent his intentions resembled those of Charles I. Both were well-meaning and desirous of governing in the interests of the nation; but the political situation of the eighteenth differed much from that of the seventeenth century. Charles I. defied the House of Commons, whereas George III. knew that it was necessary to have the House of Commons on his side, and he knew that it could only be gained by a lavish employment of corruption. Personally, he was simple in his tastes, and strictly moral in his habits; but in pursuit of his political aims he