The attack of Chandernagore had been strongly recommended to Clive's
attention (A. D. 1757) by the government of Madras; and it was evident
that, while the French kept so strong a force at that settlement, the
safety of Calcutta must be endangered whenever its garrison was weak,
or the Nabob of Bengal chose to contract an intimate alliance with
our European enemy. This danger was at the moment much increased by
the success of Bussy. That leader, alike remarkable for his sagacity
and courage, after rendering the greatest services to the Subadar of
the Deckan, Salabut Jung, and obtaining in reward a large grant of
territory, had become an object of such jealousy to the prince whom he
had placed on the throne, that an effort was made to destroy him and
his party.
Not only were all the chiefs of the Deckan summoned to aid their prince
in effecting this object, but the Mahrattas, also, were called in. The
French general took possession of a palace called the Chahar-Mahal,
within the city of Hyderabad, where he sustained a memorable siege
against this combined force; and on being reinforced by a party from
Pondicherry, commanded by M. Law, he ultimately triumphed over his
numerous assailants, and Salabut Jung was obliged to confirm all the
grants he had before made to him. These included the fruitful provinces
of Masulipatam, Vizagapatam, and Ganjam, which he was now engaged in
settling; and his comparative vicinity gave credit to the daily reports
that he was on his march to Bengal with a force, the numbers of which
had been greatly exaggerated.
Whatever might be Bussy's intention, it was sufficiently obvious that
he possessed the power of forming a junction[102] with the French force
on the Ganges; and it was equally obvious, that such a junction would
be ruinous to the English interests.
These considerations recommended the immediate attack of Chandernagore;
but many and serious objections presented themselves to that measure.
These were the strength of the French, the weakness of the English
force, and the fear of producing a rupture with the Nabob, who was
known to be most adverse to such an attack.
Clive, alluding to the expressed sentiments of Suraj-u-Dowlah on this
subject observes, in the postscript of a letter (under date of the 1st
of March, 1757) to Mr. Watts, the resident at the Nabob's court:--
"The admiral and myself are determined not to be guilty of a breach of
faith in attacking Chandernagore, contrary to the expressed order of
the Nabob."
But at the same time that he communicated this resolution, Mr.
Watts was instructed to make every effort to obtain the consent of
Suraj-u-Dowlah to the prosecution of this measure.
The necessity of this operation appeared more urgent from intelligence
obtained, that the Nabob was carrying on secret intrigues with the
French, and from the declaration of the latter, that, however willing
to enter into an armistice in Bengal, they had no power to pledge
themselves for its observance by the government of Pondicherry, or by
those acting under its orders. The remembrance of Dupleix's disavowing
the authority of La Bourdonnais to ransom Madras, and the position of
Bussy, acting under an authority superior to that of the government
of Chandernagore, made Admiral Watson very reluctant to sanction
an engagement so liable to be broken, whenever it should suit the
convenience of the enemy. Clive endeavoured for a period to overcome
the Admiral's scruples, from an impression that, should the Nabob
join the French, the English force in Bengal was too weak to maintain
a protracted contest; and so far from expecting aid from Madras, the
superiority of the French on the coast of Coromandel urgently required
his early return to that Presidency.
Intelligence of the occurrence of hostilities between France and
England had been received; but the official declaration of war did
not reach Admiral Watson till the first week of March. That officer,
understanding that the Committee still continued apprehensive of the
bad consequences likely to result from the attack of Chandernagore,
wrote[103] to Clive as follows:--
"If the Nabob should not give his consent to our attacking the French,
I will desist, provided the gentlemen of the Committee strongly
represent to me that it will be more for the Company's interest that
I should not undertake any thing against the French; for, as the
declaration of war is an order to all officers under the King to
distress the enemy as far as it is in their power, the Committee here
should take it upon themselves the concluding a neutrality; but I will
take upon me to give my word, that I will not commit any hostility
against the French here, unless the Governor-General and Superior
Council of Pondicherry will not consent to a neutrality within the
Ganges."
Admiral Watson had for some time carried on a correspondence with
the Nabob, from which it appears that he was as anxious as Clive to
convince Suraj-u-Dowlah it was for his interest and safety, as well
as for that of the English, that Chandernagore should be attacked.
"The ready obedience," he observes in one of these letters, "I paid
to your desire, in not attacking the French, will, I persuade myself,
convince you, that nothing but the strongest necessity could make me
again apply to you on that subject. I beg you will give your most
serious attention to what I am going to say. Immediately on the receipt
of your past letters, I not only gave over thoughts of attacking the
French, but invited them to enter into a treaty of neutrality, and
to send people to settle the terms; but judge what must have been my
surprise, when, after they were in some manner settled, the French
deputies owned that they had no power to secure us the observance of
the treaty, in case any commander of theirs should come with a greater
power after my departure! You are too reasonable not to see, that it is
impossible for me to conclude a treaty with people who have no power
to do it; and which, besides, while it ties my hands, leaves those
of my enemies at liberty to do me what mischief they can. They have
also a long time reported, that Monsieur Bussy is coming here with a
great army. Is it to attack you? Is it to attack us? You are going
to Patna. You ask our assistance. Can we, with the least degree of
prudence, march with you, and leave our enemies behind us? You will
then be too far off to support us, and we shall be unable to defend
ourselves. Think what can be done in this situation. I see but one way.
Let us take Chandernagore, and secure ourselves from any apprehensions
from that quarter; and then we will assist you with every man in
our power, and go with you, even to Delhi, if you will. Have we not
sworn reciprocally, that the friends and enemies of the one should
be regarded as such by the other? And will not God, the avenger of
perjury, punish us, if we do not fulfil our oaths? What can I say more?
Let me request the favour of your speedy answer."
Subsequent to the despatch of this letter, the accounts received
from Moorshedabad completely satisfied the Admiral of the Nabob's
insincerity. Suraj-u-Dowlah, while he delayed the execution of the
engagements he had entered into with the English, intrigued with French
agents, and detached a body of men to reinforce the Governor of
Hooghley, which it was fully believed was meant to aid the neighbouring
garrison of Chandernagore.
This intelligence caused the Admiral to address him in a style
calculated to put an end to all further evasions:--"I now acquaint
you," were the concluding words of this letter[104], "that the
remainder of the troops which should have been here long ago (and which
I hear the Colonel told you he expected), will be at Calcutta in a few
days; that in a few days more I shall despatch a vessel for more ships
and more troops; and that I will kindle such a flame in your country,
as all the water in the Ganges shall not be able to extinguish.
Farewell! remember that he who promises you this never yet broke his
word with you or with any man whatsoever."
Suraj-u-Dowlah appears to have been alarmed at this communication; to
which he replied in two notes, one dated the 9th, the other the 10th,
of March. In the first, he endeavours to excuse himself for his want
of punctuality in fulfilling his engagements with the English. In the
second, he gives, though in general terms, that permission which had
been so long desired, to attack Chandernagore. "You have understanding
and generosity," he observes: "if your enemy, with an upright heart,
claims your protection, you will give him his life; but then you
must be well satisfied of the innocence of his intentions; if not,
whatsoever you think right, that do."
Mr. Watts, Resident with the Nabob, had communicated to the Committee
the fullest evidence of that prince's intrigues with the French; and,
in his letter to Clive of the 1st of March, he asserts that he had
advanced them one lac of rupees; and gives his opinion that the capture
of Chandernagore is quite indispensable for the security of the English.
Mr. Watts's letter to the Committee closed (as appears by a letter from
Mr. Drake to Clive) in the following words: "If you have not concluded
with our enemies, I am persuaded you may attack without being under any
apprehensions from the Nabob." In another letter to Clive, of the 10th
of March, the Resident observes, "This serves to enclose a copy of my
letter to the Committee, by which you will observe the Nabob has given
his verbal consent for attacking Chandernagore."
In a letter of the 11th of the same month, Mr. Watts states, that the
Nabob desired him to inform Colonel Clive that if he attacked the
French he would not intermeddle.
The receipt of these letters, and the arrival of reinforcements from
Bombay, led to the attack of Chandernagore being ultimately determined
upon. The negotiation for an armistice, which was far advanced, was
broken off. The letters subsequently written by the Nabob[105],
retracting his assent to this measure, were deemed an indignity; and
the very ground which he urged, the expected advance through Cuttack of
Bussy, was considered an additional reason for hastening the siege.
Clive commenced operations by land, and displayed his usual judgment:
but the early fall of this settlement must be chiefly ascribed to the
daring boldness and admirable skill and intrepidity of Admiral Watson,
and to the valour of those under his command.
Few naval achievements have excited more admiration; and even at
the present day, when the river is so much better known, the success
with which the largest vessels of this fleet were navigated to
Chandernagore, and laid alongside the batteries of that settlement, is
a subject of wonder. The Kent and Tiger, with the flags of Admirals
Watson and Pocock on board, were the only vessels engaged.[107] They
were so close, that the musketry from the tops and poop were most
annoying to the enemy, who behaved with great gallantry, keeping up a
heavy and destructive fire: nor did they offer to capitulate till their
batteries were a heap of ruins, and all their guns dismounted.
Though the outworks of Chandernagore had been taken by Clive, no
breach had been made on the land side; but, while the battery guns and
mortars opened upon the town, the troops were pushed forward, and, from
the tops of the houses adjacent to the wall, kept up a galling and
destructive fire; which, as it increased the loss of the French, no
doubt hastened their surrender.
We cannot give a better account of the immediate causes which led to
the attack of Chandernagore, than in the words of Clive in his report
to the governor of Fort St. George.
"I acquainted you," he observes, "that the neutrality with the French
was not likely to be concluded. I continued encamped on the same
ground; and, on the 7th instant, received a letter from the Nabob,
desiring me to join against the Affghans, the van of whose army was
attempting an irruption into this province. Accordingly, I began my
march the next morning; and, thinking it a convenient opportunity
to prevail on him to suffer us to take Chandernagore, I wrote him
word of our having endeavoured to conclude a neutrality with the
French, but that the Director and Council were not vested with proper
powers for that purpose; that, whilst we were engaged at a distance
assisting him against his enemies, the French, joined by Monsieur
Bussy, might make an attempt on Calcutta; and that therefore I should
wait off Chandernagore, in hopes of receiving his leave to attack it.
Accordingly, on the 12th I encamped at the back of it, within a mile
of the fort; and on the 13th the Admiral received a letter from the
Nabob, the purport of which was, that we might act as we pleased with
respect to the French; and, having intelligence at the same time that
the troops he had sent to their assistance were withdrawn, I summoned
the place to surrender that night; but, receiving no answer, the next
morning I attacked their western battery, which they defended very
briskly the whole day, but at night abandoned it. A detachment I sent
about noon to the southward took post in a garden near the fort, and
within some of their batteries. The loss they had sustained at the
western battery, and the apprehension of their retreat being cut off by
our detachment, made them likewise desert that night all their works
to the southward; among the rest, a strong half-moon on the river
side, mounting heavy metal, and a battery of three guns playing down
the channel, both which must have annoyed our ships greatly in their
passage up. The batteries to the northward were all quitted at the same
time.
"On the 19th, the King's ships got to the Prussian gardens, about
a mile from the fort; but it was the 23d before they attempted to
pass the vessels which had been sunk by the enemy, opposite to the
half-moon. They weighed at daybreak, and in less than an hour were
abreast of the fort. A thirteen-inch mortar of ours, with several
cohorns and royals, had played incessantly the whole night; and when
the ships weighed, we opened two batteries very near the walls, one
of four pieces of cannon, the other three, all twenty-four-pounders;
and kept a continual discharge of musketry from the adjacent houses.
In short, the fire from the ships and the shore was so great, that
they capitulated in three hours. A copy of the terms granted them is
enclosed. You will observe the surrender is made to Admiral Watson;
but common report will be just in publishing how great a share the
land forces had in this conquest!" Clive, in his evidence before the
House of Commons, states, "that Admiral Watson's fleet surmounted
difficulties which he believes no other ships could have done, and that
it was impossible for him to do the officers of the squadron justice on
that occasion."
In a private letter[108] to Mr. Pigot, written upon the same occasion,
Clive observes, "I make no doubt but the forces are impatiently
expected at Madras. It is a very great blow that has detained them--no
less than the attack and taking of Chandernagore; of more consequence
to the Company, in my opinion, than the taking of Pondicherry itself.
It was a most magnificent and rich colony; the garrison consisted of
more than five hundred Europeans and seven hundred blacks, all carrying
arms; three hundred and sixty are prisoners, and near one hundred have
been suffered to give their parole, consisting of civil, military, and
inhabitants. Nearly sixty white ladies are rendered miserable by the
loss of this place. However, nothing has been wanting, either on the
Admiral's part or mine, to render their condition supportable: their
clothes, their linen, and every thing have been suffered to go out.
"I must refer you to the Committee's letter for many particulars. I
fear I shall not be able to send a list of military and artillery
stores by this conveyance, which are very great, and will abundantly
supply Calcutta. By the Nabob's letters, you will find of what a
wavering and pusillanimous disposition he is. However, I am in hopes
this last stroke will fix him. He has already performed almost every
article of the treaty; paid Mr. Watts the three lacs of rupees;
delivered up Cossimbazar, and all the other factories, with the money
and goods therein taken. The gentlemen write from thence, that little
or nothing is wanting.
"Our stay till August, which is now become unavoidable, will, I
hope, settle every thing here in the most advantageous manner for
the Company, and perhaps will induce the Nabob to give up all the
French factories. This will be driving them out root and branch. I am
well informed, without Chandernagore, the Islands must starve, and
Pondicherry suffer greatly. My inclinations always tend towards the
coast; and I hope to be with you, with a very considerable force,
in September. The lateness of the season makes the passage now very
uncertain; and the length of it would certainly cause the loss of a
great part of our forces.
"It was with great reluctance Mr. Watson consented I should sign the
articles of capitulation, though drawn out in his name, notwithstanding
it was impossible the fort could ever have been taken without our
assistance.
"We attacked the enemy six or seven days before the ships, and drove
them from eleven batteries, one of them by the river side, of very
heavy metal, under which were sunk four or five ships and vessels
to prevent the passage of the squadron, which could never have been
effected without mastering that battery. We erected one of five[109]
twenty-four-pounders within a hundred yards of the south-east bastion,
and another of three twenty-four-pounders within a hundred and fifty
yards of the north-east bastion; besides which, we manned all the tops
of the houses, and kept up such a fire of musketry, that the enemy
could not appear either on the ramparts or bastions, by which means the
fire was insignificant to what it would have been."
From this letter, and from one he wrote to Mr. Mabbot, the Chairman
of the Directors, there can be no doubt that Clive's intention was
to return to the coast as early as he could, and that he expected
everything would be settled by September, when the season would be
favourable for that voyage; but the jealousy and alarm of the Nabob
at the rising power of the English were greatly increased by the fall
of Chandernagore; and his character and past actions gave no security
against his intrigues and hostility, unless overawed by the presence of
a superior force, and the establishment of a commanding influence at
his court. The President of the Committee at Calcutta was unequal to
the duties now performed by Clive; nor was there one officer in Bengal
upon whom these could devolve with the slightest hope of preserving,
much less of improving, the advantages that had been obtained.
Placed in such circumstances, Clive, though he had received repeated
orders to repair to Fort St. George, was not therefore exempted from
the duty of exercising his judgment as to the course which it was
best for the general interests of the Company that he should pursue;
and he had to balance against that obedience which he owed, and
was anxious to pay to his superiors, the imminent danger which his
departure from Bengal would produce. The attack of Chandernagore had
been indispensable to give security to the English against an European
enemy: but the very success which had attended their arms upon this
and other occasions was likely, with a prince of Suraj-u-Dowlah's
character, to involve them in a further and more extensive scene of
hostilities.
This Clive foresaw before that operation commenced; and, writing to
the Committee at Calcutta upon this subject, he observed, "If you
attack Chandernagore, you cannot stop there; you must go further.
Having established yourself by force, and not by the consent of the
Nabob, he by force will endeavour to drive you out again." In a private
letter to Mr. Pigot, written a month after the fall of the French
settlement[110], he gives a vivid description of the Nabob's character,
and of the motives and feelings which he supposes to agitate his weak
and vacillating mind, at a period critical both for himself and for the
Company's establishments in Bengal.
"The most of the articles of the peace," he observes, "are complied
with; yet, from the tyranny, cowardice, and suspicion of the Nabob,
no dependence can be had upon him. No consideration could induce him
to deliver up the French: it is true he has ordered them out of his
dominions, and they are at some distance from his capital; but he
has retained them secretly in his pay, and has certainly written to
Monsieur Deleyrit and Bussy, to send men to his assistance. One day
he tears my letters, and turns out our vakeel, and orders his army to
march; he next countermands it, sends for the vakeel, and begs his
pardon for what he has done. Twice a week he threatens to impale Mr.
Watts: in short, he is a compound of every thing that is bad, keeps
company with none but his menial servants, and is universally hated and
despised by the great men. This induces me to acquaint you there is a
conspiracy going on against him by several of the great men, at the
head of whom is Jugget Seit himself, as also Cojah Wazeed. I have been
applied to for assistance, and every advantage promised the Company can
wish. The Committee are of opinion it should be given as soon as the
Nabob is secured. For my own part, I am persuaded, there can be neither
peace nor security while such a monster reigns."
"Mr. Watts and Omichund[111] are at Moorshedabad, and have many
meetings with the great men. The last letter I received from Mr. Watts,
he desires that our proposals may be sent, and that they only wait for
them to put every thing in execution; so that you may very shortly
expect to hear of a revolution which will put an end to all French
expectations of ever settling in this country again. The Patans, who
were coming this way, have been pacified by a sum of money, and are
returning to their own country. Had they approached near, every thing
would have been overset in this country, from three fourths of the
Nabob's army being against him. It is a most disagreeable circumstance,
to find that the troubles are likely to commence again: but the opinion
here is universal, that there can be neither peace nor trade without a
change of government."
When Chandernagore was taken, Clive's next object was to root out the
French from this quarter of India. This appears from all his letters,
public and private. It was, as he repeatedly states, his confirmed
opinion, that the English and their European rivals could not have
coexistence, as political powers, in India; and both had gone too far
to be able to recede. The superiority was, therefore, to be decided by
the sword; and on this ground, he deemed it to be his duty to follow
up the success which had attended the British arms, by the pursuit and
capture of such of the European enemy as yet remained in Bengal.
The corps under the command of M. Law, when joined by the deserters and
French officers, and men who had broken their parole, or escaped from
Chandernagore, amounted to only a hundred Europeans and sixty sepoys;
but they were, notwithstanding his protestations to the contrary,
protected by the Nabob, who evidently looked to them as auxiliaries in
a war which he anticipated with the English.
The hopes with which the French continued to feed him, and in which
they themselves probably indulged, of receiving reinforcements from
Bussy through Cuttack, were not of a nature to be treated with
neglect. The great plan formed by Dupleix, and executed by Bussy,
of establishing a paramount power and influence in the Deckan, had,
to a great degree, succeeded; and though commercial considerations
had, during the short interval of peace in Europe, led to an opposite
policy, which condemned the whole system pursued by the French governor
as one of irrational ambition, and irreconcileable with the interests
of the French company, the moment war with England occurred, prudential
resolutions were forgotten, and every preparation was made to establish
the French supremacy in India. Godeheu, who succeeded Dupleix, and who,
at first, appeared only anxious to abandon all his predecessor had
gained, now sought to preserve and improve every advantage which yet
remained, as the result of former measures. Bussy was promised early
support, and directed to maintain the possessions ceded to France,
which extended six hundred miles along the coast of Coromandel, and
Orissa, from Moodappely south, to the pagoda of Juggernaut, north.
Under such circumstances, nothing appeared more likely, than that this
able and enterprising officer should have reinforced his countrymen
in Bengal: and the probable consequences of a party of any strength
co-operating with the Nabob, were of a character that justified all
the jealousy and alarm which Admiral Watson and Clive entertained upon
this subject; and quite authorised them in those decided measures
they adopted for the permanent security of the British factories and
territories in Bengal and Bahar. To have stopped short--much more to
have left the country--before this important object was accomplished,
would have been to cast away the fruits of their success, and to have
uselessly wasted all the blood and treasure that had been already
expended in this memorable expedition.
That these were the sentiments of Clive at this period, is proved by
the purport of all his letters, public and private; and these afford
strong evidence that he by no means contemplated success as certain. In
a letter (dated the 11th of March) to Mr. Orme, who was his agent at
Madras, he requests him to remit his money to Calcutta, to be sent to
England, as "the times were dangerous." Such facts are important, as
they prove, that the measures he found himself compelled at this period
to adopt originated in a sense of duty, and not in that spirit of
ambition, and desire of wealth and personal aggrandizement, which have
been stated by some as the chief, if not sole, motives of his conduct
at this remarkable epoch of his life.
I have already spoken of the designs of the French, and the means they
had of carrying them into execution. I shall now examine how far they
were likely to be aided by Suraj-u-Dowlah.
Aliverdi Khan, the grand-uncle and predecessor of the reigning Nabob,
had protected those European factories which he found established under
the authority of firmans, or mandates, from the emperors of Delhi. He
gained an increase of revenue by the duties on that commerce which the
enterprise of these foreign merchants encouraged; and he taxed the
wealth they accumulated, by making them give to him or his officers
occasional presents, and by compelling them to contribute their portion
of the sums he had so frequently to pay the Mahrattas, to purchase
either exemption from attack, or the retreat of their predatory bands
from Bengal. The sums thus levied were, during Aliverdi's government,
not immoderate; and the policy of that able prince made him so vary
the time of his demands, that they came at distinct periods, and under
different pretexts, upon the different factories: for though, no doubt,
fearful of the union of the Europeans settled in his country, he was
sufficiently acquainted with their national jealousies to know, that
nothing but a dread of ruin, operating at the same moment upon them
all, could lead them to combine in any effort to oppose his demands.
His grand-nephew, Suraj-u-Dowlah, was of a very different character
from Aliverdi Khan. The latter, trained amid the vicissitudes of
fortune, showed, in every measure he adopted, that he merited the
throne which he had usurped. His successor, cradled in prosperity, came
into power without an effort, and evinced, in every action, a weak
and feeble mind, that had no objects but those of self-gratification,
which he sought by means that were usually as cruel and unjust, as they
were arbitrary and violent. This prince early showed that he owned no
check upon such dispositions but that of personal fear: his cowardice
fully equalled his presumption, and both were excessive. In looking
round for objects of plunder after he ascended the musnud, or throne,
the English settlements at Cossimbazar and Calcutta attracted his
peculiar attention, on account of the reputed wealth, not only of the
Europeans, but of the natives who had settled under their protection.
The injuries and cruelties he had, in the prosecution of this object,
inflicted upon the nation and upon the individuals whom he had wantonly
attacked, were of a nature which a mind like his could not believe
would ever be forgotten or forgiven. The disgrace he had sustained, in
being obliged to fly before the British arms, and to purchase peace
by concessions and a partial restitution of plunder, rankled in his
breast; and, alarmed at a power he had hitherto contemned, he sought
the alliance of the French, whose co-operation he now regretted he had
not earlier obtained.
The government of Chandernagore had so far conciliated him, that they
refused to join the English in their efforts to compel him to make
reparation for his injustice and oppression; though the armistice
which they desired was offered them as the reward of their adopting
a cause which, had commercial considerations alone regulated their
proceedings, was obviously that of every European settled in Bengal.
But Suraj-u-Dowlah well knew that other feelings actuated both the
English and French, and that each desired the total expulsion of the
other from his territories. Acting upon this knowledge, and with that
deep exasperation which belongs to the wounded pride of a despot, he
secretly courted the French, to avenge himself on those by whom he
had been defeated and humbled. He at first sent aid to Chandernagore.
His subsequent assent, imperfect as it was, to the attack of that
place, was only extorted by the fear of the moment; and it was
retracted almost as soon as given. He still cherished hopes that the
French garrison might repel their enemies; but their early surrender,
and the whole character of the attack, particularly the tremendous
fire of the men-of-war, filled his mind with a mixture of dread, and
irreconcileable jealousy and hatred, towards a nation who, in a few
months after he had exulted in his triumph over their defenceless
factory, had established themselves in his country, in a position which
already caused the native princes and chiefs to view them as the future
arbiters of India.
The British commanders were, no doubt, at this period prepared to
consent to any settlement, which gave them indemnity for the past, and
security for the future, rather than incur the hazards of war, at a
moment when they could, in case of reverse, expect no succour: for the
very force by which it must be carried on was urgently required on the
coast of Coromandel. But the mind of Suraj-u-Dowlah was quite incapable
of comprehending the nature and force of such grounds of action. He
probably thought they would act as he would have done if success had
favoured his arms: perhaps he still rested on his own strength, and
the hopes held out by the French. Whatever were his motives, so far
from showing a disposition to pursue a course which might lead the
British authorities to confide in him, he hurried on to the adoption
of every measure that could produce a contrary impression; and, in a
very short period subsequent to the fall of Chandernagore, it became
quite obvious, that his continuing Nabob of Bengal was irreconcileable
with every prospect of peace to the English settled in that country;
and that the departure of the fleet, and a very considerable proportion
of the troops, for Madras, would be the certain signal for renewed
hostilities. But the immediate causes of the war, which terminated in
the dethronement and death of this ill-fated prince, must now be stated.
The sentiments Clive had formed of the Nabob's character and policy
have been fully given in his letter[112] to Mr. Pigot, already quoted.
The proofs that his conclusions were just are to be found in various
documents, but particularly in the letters from Mr. Watts[113], and in
the communications made by the Nabob to the French officers Bussy and
Law, some of which were intercepted at the time, and others found after
the battle of Plassey.
Before Chandernagore was taken, accounts of the Nabob's overtures to
Bussy had been sent by Mr. Watts, the correctness of whose statements
was corroborated at that period from other quarters, and their truth
subsequently confirmed, by the copies of the letters being found at
Moorshedabad.
In a letter to Bussy, about the end of February, the Nabob
observes[114]: "These disturbers of my country, the Admiral and Colonel
Clive (Sabut Jung[115]), whom bad fortune attend! without any reason
whatever, are warring against Zubat ul Toojar[116] (M. Renault), the
governor of Chandernagore. This you will learn from his letter. I, who
in all things seek the good of mankind, assist him in every respect,
and have sent him the best of my troops, that he may join with them,
and fight the English; and if it become necessary, I will join him
myself. I hope in God these English, who are unfortunate, will be
punished for the disturbances they have raised. Be confident; look
on my forces as your own. I have wrote you before for two thousand
soldiers and musqueteers under the command of two trusty chiefs. I
persuade myself you have already sent them, as I desired; should you
not, I desire you will do me the pleasure to send them immediately.
Further particulars you will learn from M. Renault. Oblige me with
frequent news of your health."
In another letter, written in the end of March, the Nabob adds: "I
am advised that you have arrived at Echapore. This news gives me
pleasure: the sooner you come here, the greater satisfaction I shall
have in meeting you. What can I write of the perfidy of the English?
They have, without ground, picked a quarrel with M. Renault, and taken
by force his factory. They want now to quarrel with M. Law, your chief
at Cossimbazar; but I will take care to oppose and overthrow all their
proceedings. When you come to Ballasore, I will then send M. Law to
your assistance, unless you forbid his setting out. Rest assured of
my good will towards you and your Company; and to convince you of my
sincerity, I now send purwannahs (orders) to Deedar Ali, and Ramajee
Pundit, and to Rajaram Singh, that, as soon as you may enter the
province, they may meet and lend you all possible assistance, and not,
on any pretence, impede your march, both at Cuttack, Ballasore, and
Midnapore."
Copies of these letters had been seen at the time of dispatch by
Cojah Wazeed, who had communicated their contents to Mr. Watts; and
this intelligence was corroborated by the fact that servants of the
Nabob, in charge of an elephant and jewels for M. Bussy, had passed
Ballasore; and by the protection given to M. Law, who, notwithstanding
his professions to the contrary, was retained in the service of
Suraj-u-Dowlah.
That prince at first seemed not to oppose the surrender of this small
party of the French to the English; he afterwards pretended to banish
them from his dominions, and they marched from Moorshedabad for Patna,
but in consequence of a note[117] from the Nabob, M. Law remained at
Rajhmahal, the manager of which district had been directed to supply
him with money, and to aid him, in every way he could, until Bussy's
approach.
The Nabob by these acts, by his positive refusal to allow the English
to proceed up the river, by his non-performance of some of the articles
of the treaty, and by his advancing a part of his army to Plassey, had
placed himself in a position hostile to the Company: but he artfully
desired to throw the odium of renewed hostilities upon the English.
He complained of the continuance in the field of the troops under
Clive, and of the fleet's lying off Chandernagore. If the British
commanders would return to Calcutta, or leave the river, he would, he
said, withdraw his advanced corps from Plassey, and remain on friendly
terms, as he would then be convinced that the object of the English
was commerce, not war! This was the purport of several communications;
but every day brought proof of their insincerity, and shewed that the
Nabob's sole object was to lull them into a fatal security, till, from
the departure of their force and the arrival of his French allies, he
could accomplish his design of extirpating them from his dominions.
An intercepted letter[118] from M. Law to the chief of one of the
lesser French factories, afforded, of itself, proof of this fact, had
any been wanting: but the indiscretion of the Nabob was too great to
allow him to conceal his designs; and a number of the chief nobles and
ministers of his government, who had long been discontented with his
rule, perceiving what must early happen, sought the alliance of the
English, concluding that they must desire the dethronement of a prince
whose continuance in power was incompatible with their existence.
One of the chief causes that had hitherto kept the Nabob in check, was
the dread of the Affghân conquerors of Delhi: but news had arrived
of their prince Ahmed Abdalla having returned to his own country,
and its effects were soon visible in the threatening language and
conduct of Suraj-u-Dowlah towards the resident, who now earnestly
recommended Clive to lose no time in decidedly attaching himself to
the party already formed against the Nabob. In one letter[119] Mr.
Watts observes, "Jugget Seit, Runjutroy, Omichund, and others, in
short all degrees of persons, are persuaded he (the Nabob) will break
his agreement, and attack us whenever he is disengaged, or our forces
weakened by your leaving us and the departure of the men-of-war, or
whenever he can be assisted by the French."
The resident commences a letter, written two days after the one quoted,
with the following strong expression: "The Nabob will not keep his
agreement. This you may depend upon." He mentions that Suraj-u-Dowlah
himself publicly speaks in this tone; but adds that three fourths of
his army were his enemies.
The most serious of all the dangers with which the English were
threatened at this period, was the expected arrival of Bussy, of whose
real movements they had no correct intelligence. We find a letter,
under date the 14th of May, A. D. 1757, from Mr. Drake, Governor of
Calcutta, to Colonel Clive, which states: "The report that has so long
been rumoured of M. Bussy's march into this province is now verified,
by advice from the Ballasore factory of the 10th instant, certifying
that M. Bussy was advanced five days on this side Cuttack, with seven
hundred Europeans and five thousand sepoys."
This was the very circumstance, the probability of the occurrence of
which had constituted the chief ground on which the Admiral and Clive
had urged the Nabob to give them substantial proof of his friendly
disposition, by abandoning wholly all connection with their enemies.
Admiral Watson, in his correspondence with him, had insisted strongly
upon this point. Alluding to the Nabob's frequent evasions upon this
and other subjects, the Admiral writes in his letter[120] of the 19th
of April, "I observe in your letter the following particulars, viz.
That for my satisfaction, and according to our mutual agreement to look
upon each other's enemies as our own, you have expelled M. Law and his
adherents from your dominions, and given strict orders, &c. &c. My
brother, Mr. Watts, who is entrusted with all the Company's concerns,
always writes me the particulars of your intended favours towards us;
but I have never found that what he writes is put into execution;
neither do I find that what you wrote me in your letter, dated the 1st
of Rajub (22d of March), is yet complied with. You therein assured me
that you would fulfil all the articles you had agreed to, by the 15th
of that moon. Have you ever yet complied with them all? No.--How then
can I place any confidence in what you write, when your actions are not
correspondent with your promises? Or how can I reconcile your telling
me in so sacred a manner you will be my ally, and assist me with your
forces against the French, when you have given a purwannah to M. Law
and his people to go towards Patna, in order to escape me, and tell me
it is for my satisfaction, and in observance of the mutual agreement,
you have taken this measure? Is this an act of friendship? Or is it in
this manner I am to understand you will assist me? Or am I to draw a
conclusion from what you write? or what you do? You are too wise not
to know, when a man tells you one thing, and does the direct contrary,
which you ought to believe. Why then do you endeavour to persuade me
you will be my friend, when at the same time you give my enemies your
protection, furnish them with ammunition, and suffer them to go out
of your dominions with three pieces of cannon? Their effects I esteem
a trifling circumstance, and as far as they will contribute to do
justice to your people who are creditors to the French Company, I have
no objection to your seizing them for their use; for money is what I
despise, and accumulating riches to myself is what I did not come out
for. But I have already told you, and now repeat it again, that while
a Frenchman remains in this kingdom, I will never cease pursuing him:
but if they deliver themselves up, they shall find me merciful, and I
am confident those who have already fallen into my hands will do me
the justice to say, that they have been treated with a much greater
generosity than is usual by the general custom of war."
Clive, in several letters to Mr. Watts, written immediately after the
fall of Chandernagore, urges the surrender or expulsion of the French,
as an indispensable condition of the Nabob's continued friendship
with the English. Every artifice was used by Suraj-u-Dowlah to evade
compliance with this urgent and repeated demand. He first pleaded
the debts due by the French to his subjects:--he was told, that the
property of their Company could be made responsible for such debts.
He next stated the loss of revenue to the Emperor, from duties paid
on their trade:--this duty[121], he was told, had been estimated at
60,000 rupees, and would henceforward be paid by the English. Driven by
these propositions from every ground of evasion, and not yet willing
to declare openly his real intentions, the Nabob publicly directed the
march of M. Law towards the dominions of the vizier of Oude, but with
no design, as has been before shown, that the French should leave his
territories.
During the siege of Chandernagore, Roydullub, the principal minister
of Suraj-u-Dowlah, had been sent, with a considerable body of men, to
occupy an entrenched camp at Plassey. This armed force, which was meant
to awe the English into attention to the Nabob's wishes, was not only
continued after the French settlement was taken, but was reinforced by
a party under the Bukhshee[122] (or commander of the army), Jaffier
Ali Khan, and the future intentions of the Nabob were almost publicly
proclaimed, when his officers not only prevented the passage of a
few sepoys up the river to Cossimbazar, but stopped the supplies of
ammunition and stores necessary to restore that factory to its former
state.
These orders, Mr. Watts wrote Clive, the Nabob's officers were
commanded to enforce, by cutting the noses and ears of every one that
attempted to pass the stations where they were posted.
Such a state of affairs could not continue long. The important
events of which they were the prelude will occupy the next chapter;
but before we enter upon the narrative of them, it will be useful
to take a concise view of the nature and construction of the power
of Suraj-u-Dowlah, as well as the reputation and influence of his
principal leaders and officers: for without such knowledge it is quite
impossible to understand, much less to judge, the conduct of Clive in
those wide scenes of intrigue, war, and negotiation, into which he was
at this period compelled to enter, or else to abandon his half-executed
enterprise.