Robert Clive, the ruthless military commander who is often credited for the British establishing a firm hand in India that ended in 200 years of colonial rule has often generated quite conflicting opinions as centuries have passed now. Quite the controversial figure, ‘Clive of India’ as he was also known has been often called a racist plunderer and accounts of his ‘spoils of war’ are very public. In a recent Twitter thread, Scottish historian William Dalrymple shared some detailed information on Clive’s loot that he amassed from erstwhile Bengal’s Murshidabad district after the decisive battle of Plassey or ‘Palashi’ as it is known in Bengali.
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| Baron Robert Clive. bing.com |
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| Baron Clive, first major looter of India. www.bing.com |
Fought between the British East India Company and the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab. The British had started extending their fortification in Bengal and Siraj-ud-Daulah, who sat on the throne a year before had ordered them to stop. Clive, in order to win, famously bribed Mir Jafar, the commander-in-chief of the Nawab’s army. Siraj-ud-Daulah was defeated at Plassey in 1757 and captured Calcutta. Clive, after the win reportedly seized many artifacts, rare treasures, etc., and many of them are stored safely in the Museum
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| Big mansion,Wales Clive bought it from looted money in India |
Sharing on Twitter details of the plunder by Clive, Dalrymple wrote how all that treasure made him the ‘richest self-made man in Europe’.
“In 2004, a Qatari royal bought a jade flask from his descendants for £3m. Its now in Islamic Museum in Doha.”
In the thread, Dalrymple continues, “The rest of Clive’s loot, including Tipu Sultan’s Campaign Tent and Siraj ud Daula’s abandoned palanquin, remains with Clive’s descendants in Powis. Tragically, there is no comparable collection of late Mughal treasures left anywhere in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh.”
Several Twitter users commented on the tweet thread saying the enormous quantity of treasures looted is shocking as to how India has been looted over the centuries by invaders ranging from “Ghanavids, Ghurids, Timurids, down to Nader Shah and Abdali, right up to the British.”
Dalrymple also mentioned in one of his tweets how Clive, at his impeachment, said about his behavior at the House of Commons in 1773: “I stand astonished at my own moderation”.
https://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/untoldlives/2016/05/robert-clive-arrives-in-india.html
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