CLIVE IN ENGLAND; AND IN BENGAL
The visit of Clive to England was scarcely the success hoped for. His
fame had preceded him, and the Court of Directors had assured him,
through the Governor of Madras, that they had 'a just sense of his
services.' Perhaps the person who had been the most astonished at his
brilliant success was his own father. He had remarked, when he first
heard of his victories, that 'the booby had some sense after all.'
But then it must be recollected that the father had seen but little
of the boy during his childhood and growing years, and that his
unfavourable impression had been derived probably from the aversion
shown by the lad to enter his own profession. But even he, now, was
prepared to follow the stream, and give a hearty reception to the
defender of Arcot. So, at first, Clive was feted and toasted in a
manner which must have convinced him that his services were
appreciated. The Court of Directors carried out the promise I have
referred to by giving a great banquet in his honour, and by voting
him a diamond-hilted sword as a token {76}of their esteem. This
honour, however, Clive declined unless a similar decoration were also
bestowed upon the chief under whom he had first served, Major
Stringer Lawrence.
Clive had earned sufficient money to live with great comfort in
England. He did not look forward then to return to India as an
absolute certainty. Rather he desired to enter Parliament, and await
his opportunity. It happened that the year following his arrival the
dissolution of the existing Parliament gave him an opportunity of
contesting the borough of St. Michael in Cornwall. He was returned as
a supporter of Mr. Fox, but the return was petitioned against, and
although the Committee reported in his favour, the House decided,
from a purely party motive, to unseat him. This disappointment
decided Clive. He had spent much money, and with this one result--to
be thwarted in his ambition. He resolved then to return to the seat
of his early triumphs, and applied to the Court for permission to
that effect.
The Court not only granted his request, but obtained for him the
commission of lieutenant-colonel in the royal army, and named him
Governor and Commander of Fort St. David, with succession to the
Governorship of Madras.
Clive took with him to India three companies of artillery and 300
infantry. He was instructed to convey them to Bombay, and, joined by
all the available troops of the Company and their Maratha allies, to
endeavour to wrest the Deccan from French {77}influence. But, just as
he was sailing, he discovered that, through royal influence, Colonel
Scott of the Engineers, then on the spot, had been nominated to the
command, with himself as his second. Not caring to take part in an
expedition in which his own voice would not be the decisive voice,
Clive was anxious to proceed to take up his government at Fort St.
David, when, on his arrival, he learned the death of Colonel Scott.
This event recalled him to the original plan. But another
complication ensued. Very shortly before he had arranged to march
there came the information that the French and English on the
Coromandel coast had entered into a treaty, binding on the two
nations in India, not to interfere in the warlike operations of
native princes. The Deccan project, therefore, had to be abandoned.
Another promptly took its place. A small fort built by the great
Sivaji on a small island in the harbour of Viziadrug, called by the
Muhammadans Gheria, had for many years past been made the
headquarters of a hereditary pirate-chief, known to the world as
Angria. This man had perpetrated much evil, seizing territories,
plundering towns, committing murders, robbing peaceful vessels, and
had made his name feared and detested along the entire length of the
Malabar coast. The necessity to punish him had long been admitted
alike by the Marathas and the English. The year preceding the Bombay
Government had despatched Commodore Jones with a squadron to attack
Angria's possessions. Jones accomplished {78}something, but on
arriving before Dabhol he was recalled on the ground that the season
was too late for naval operations on that coast.
In the autumn of the following year Admiral Watson came out to assume
command of the squadron. It had by this time become more than ever
necessary to bring the affair to a definite conclusion, and, as Clive
and his troops were on the spot, the Bombay Government, acting with
the Marathas, resolved to despatch the fleet and army to destroy the
piratical stronghold. Of the expedition, which reached its
destination in February, it is sufficient to state that in two days
it destroyed Gheria. Thence Clive pursued his voyage to the
Coromandel coast, and arrived at Fort St. David on the 20th of June.
On that very day there occurred in Calcutta the terrible tragedy of
the Black Hole. The Subahdar of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, the Nawab
Siraj-ud-daula, had, for some fancied grievance, prompted probably by
the hope of plunder, seized the English factory at Kasimbazar, near
his capital of Murshidabad, plundered it, imprisoned the garrison,
and had thence marched against Calcutta. He attacked that settlement
on the 15th of June, and after a siege of four days, conducted with
great want of leading on the part of the English, obtained possession
of it. The English Governor, Mr. Drake, the senior military officer,
and many others, had fled for refuge on board the ships in the river
Hugli, which immediately had weighed anchor and stood downwards,
leaving about 145 men, some of {79}them high in office, and one lady,
Mrs. Carey, a prey to the enemy. These were seized and taken before
the Nawab and his commander of the forces, Mir Jafar by name. The
Nawab spoke kindly to them, and ordered that they should be guarded
for the night, having no intention whatever, there is the strongest
reason to believe, that any harm should befall them. But, owing to
the natural cruelty or indifference of their guards, they were
thrust, after the departure of the Nawab, into a small room, about
eighteen feet square, ill ventilated, and just capable of receiving
them when packed together so closely as to render death certain to
the majority. Vainly did they remonstrate; vainly did they send a
message to the Nawab: he was asleep, and no one dared to awaken him.
Into that hole they were locked, and in it they remained until the
light of day showed that the pestiferous atmosphere had been fatal to
all of them except twenty-three. These were then released and taken
before the Nawab. Far from expressing regret for the sufferings of
which he had been the involuntary cause, the Nawab questioned them
only about the place in which their treasure had been hidden. For, so
far, he had been greatly disappointed at the result of his raid.
The story of the capture of Kasimbazar reached Madras on the 15th of
July. The Governor immediately despatched a detachment of 230
European troops for the Hugli, under command of Major Kilpatrick, and
this detachment reached its position off {80}the village of Falta on
the 2nd of August. For the moment we must leave it there.
It was not until three days after the arrival of Kilpatrick at Falta
that information of the Black Hole outrage reached Madras. The
position there was critical. The Governor was in daily expectation of
hearing that war had been declared with France, and he had already
parted with a large detachment of his best troops. The question was
whether, in the presence of the possible danger likely to arise from
France, he should still further denude the Presidency he
administered. The discussion was long. Happily it was finally
resolved to despatch to the Hugli every available ship and man. The
discussion as to the choice of the commander was still more
prolonged; but, after others had insisted on their rights, it was
finally determined to commit the command of the land-forces to
Clive--who had been summoned from Fort St. George to the
consultation--in subordination, however, to Admiral Watson,
commanding the squadron. It was not until the second week of October
that every detail was settled, nor until the 16th of that month that
the fleet sailed for the Hugli. The first ship reached the river, off
Falta, the 11th of December. But with the exception of two, one laden
with stores, the other grounding off Cape Palmyras, but both of which
joined at a later period, the others reached their destination at
periods between the 17th and 27th of that month.
The land-forces at the disposal of Clive consisted, {81}including the
few remnants of Kilpatrick's detachment,[1] which had suffered
greatly from disease, of 830 Europeans, 1200 sipahis, and a detail of
artillery. One ship, containing over 200, had not arrived, and many
were on the sick-list.
[Footnote 1: Orme states that one-half of them had died and that only
thirty were fit for duty.]
On the 17th of December Watson had written to the Nawab to demand
redress for the losses suffered by the Company, but no answer had
been vouchsafed. As soon then as all the ships, the two spoken of
excepted, had assembled off Falta, Watson wrote again to inform him
that they should take the law into their own hands. On the 27th the
fleet weighed anchor, and stood upwards. On the 29th it anchored off
Maiapur, a village ten miles below the fort of Baj-baj. It was
obvious to both commanders that that fort must be taken; but a
difference of opinion occurred as to the mode in which it should be
assailed, Clive advocating the proceeding by water, and landing
within easy distance of the place, Watson insisting that the troops
should land near Maiapur, and march thence. Clive, much against his
own opinion, followed this order. Landing, he covered the ten miles,
and posted his troops in two villages whence it would be easy to
attack the fort on the morrow. The troops, tired with the march, and
fearing no enemy, then lay down to sleep. But the Governor of
Calcutta, Manikchand, had reached Baj-baj that very morning with a
force of 2000 foot and 1500 horse. He had noted, unseen, all {82}the
dispositions of Clive, and at nightfall he sallied forth to surprise
him. The surprise took effect, in the sense that it placed the
English force in very great danger. But it was just one of those
situations in which Clive was at his very best. He recognized on the
moment that if he were to cause his troops to fall back beyond reach
of the enemy's fire, there would be a great danger of a panic. He
ordered therefore the line to stand firm where it was, whilst he
detached two platoons, from different points, to assail the enemy.
One of these suffered greatly from the enemy's fire, but the
undaunted conduct of the English in pressing on against superior
numbers so impressed the native troops that they fell back, despite
the very gallant efforts of their officers to rally them. Clive was
then able to form his main line in an advantageous position, and a
shot from one of his field-pieces grazing the turban of Manikchand,
that chief gave the signal to retire. That night the fort of Baj-baj
was taken by a drunken sailor, who, scrambling over the parapet,
hailed to his comrades to join him. They found the place abandoned.
On the 2nd of January Calcutta surrendered to Clive. A great
altercation took place between that officer and Watson as to the
appointment of Governor of that town. Watson had actually nominated
Major Eyre Coote, but Clive protested so strongly that, eventually,
Watson himself took possession, and then handed the keys to Mr.
Drake, the same Drake who had so shamefully abandoned the place at
the time of {83}Siraj-ud-daula's attack. Three days later Clive
stormed the important town of Hugli, once a Portuguese settlement,
afterwards held by the English, but at the time occupied for the
Nawab.
Meanwhile that prince, collecting his army, numbering about 40,000
men of sorts, was marching to recover his lost conquest. To observe
him Clive took a position at Kasipur, a suburb of Calcutta, now the
seat of a gun-factory. As the Nawab approached, the English leader
made as though he would attack him, but finding him prepared, he drew
back to await a better opportunity. By the 3rd of February the entire
army of the Nawab had encamped just beyond the regular line of the
Maratha ditch. Thither Clive despatched two envoys to negotiate with
the Nawab, but finding that they were received with contumely and
insult, he borrowed some sailors from the Admiral, and, obtaining his
assent to the proposal, resolved to attack him before dawn of the
next day. Accordingly at three o'clock on the morning of the 4th of
February, Clive broke up, and, under cover of one of those dense fogs
so common in Bengal about Christmastime, penetrated within the
Nawab's camp. Again was he in imminent danger. For when, at six
o'clock, the fog lifted for a few seconds, he found the enemy's
cavalry massed along his flank. They were as surprised at the
proximity as was Clive himself, and a sharp volley sent them
scampering away. The fog again descended: Clive knew not exactly
where he was; his men were becoming confused; and Clive {84}knew that
the step from confusion to panic was but a short one. But he never
lost his presence of mind. He kept his men together; and when, at
eight o'clock, there was a second lifting of the fog, and he
recognized that he was in the very centre of the enemy's camp, he
marched boldly forward, and not only extricated his troops, but so
impressed the Nawab that he drew off his army, and on the 9th signed
a treaty, by which he covenanted to grant to the English more than
their former privileges, and promised the restoration of the property
he had seized at the capture of Calcutta. This accident of the fog
and its consequences form, indeed, the keynote to the events that
followed. The circumstances connected with it completely dominated
the mind of the Nawab; instilled into his mind so great a fear of the
English leader that he came entirely under his influence, and, though
often kicking against it, remained under it to the end. This feeling
was increased when, some weeks later, Clive, learning that war had
been declared between France and England, attacked and conquered the
French settlement of Chandranagar (March 23), in spite of the Nawab's
prohibition. He displayed it to the world a little later, by
dismissing from his court and exiling to a place a hundred miles
distant from it a small detachment of French troops which he had
there in his pay, commanded by the Law who had so misconducted the
siege of Trichinopoli, and by recalling his army from Plassey, where
he had posted it, to a point nearer to his capital.
{85}Of Siraj-ud-daula something must be said. The province which he
ruled from his then capital of Murshidabad had been one of the great
fiefs which the dissolution of the Mughal Empire had affected. The
family which had ruled it in 1739 had had the stamp of approval from
Delhi. But when the invasion of Nadir Shah in that year overthrew for
the time the authority of the Mughal, an officer named Ali Vardi
Khan, who had risen from the position of a menial servant to be
Governor of Bihar, rose in revolt, defeated and slew the
representative of the family nominated by the Mughals in a battle at
Gheria, in January, 1741, and proclaimed himself Subahdar. Ali Vardi
Khan was a very able man. Having bribed the shadow sitting on the
throne of Akbar and Aurangzeb to recognize him as Subahdar of Bengal,
Bihar, and Orissa, he ruled wisely and well. On his death in 1756 he
had been succeeded by his youthful grandson, the Siraj-ud-daula, who,
as we have seen, had come, so fatally for himself, under the
influence of Clive.
For all the actions of Clive at this period prove that he was
resolved to place matters in Bengal on such a footing as would render
impossible atrocities akin to that of the Black Hole. Were he to quit
Bengal, he felt, after accomplishing the mission on which he had been
sent, and that mission only, what security was there that the
Subahdar would not return to wreak a vengeance the more bitter from
the mortifications he had had to endure? No, there {86}was but one
course he could safely pursue. He must place the Company's affairs on
a solid and secure footing. Already he had begun to feel that such a
footing was impossible so long as Siraj-ud-daula remained ruler of
the three provinces. As time went on the idea gathered strength,
receiving daily, as it did, fresh vitality from the discovery that
among the many noblemen and wealthy merchants who surrounded the
Subahdar there were many ready to betray him, to play into his own
hand, to combine with himself as against a common foe.
Soon his difficulty was to choose the man with whom he should ally
himself. Yar Lutf Khan, a considerable noble, and a divisional
commander of the Siraj-ud-daula's army, made, through Mr. Watts, the
English agent at Kasimbazar, the first offer of co-operation, on the
sole condition that he should become Subahdar. It was followed by
another from a man occupying a still higher position, from the
Bakhshi, or Commander-in-chief, Mir Jafar Khan. This Clive accepted,
receiving at the same time offers of adhesion from Raja Dulab Rao;
from other leading nobles, and from the influential bankers and
merchants of Murshidabad.
Then began those negotiations one detail of which has done so much to
stain the name of the great soldier. The contracting parties employed
in their negotiations one Aminchand, a Calcutta merchant of
considerable wealth, great address, unbounded cunning, and absolutely
without a conscience. When {87}the plot was at its thickest, this
man--who was likewise betraying the confidence which Siraj-ud-daula
bestowed upon him, when the least word would have rendered it
abortive--informed the Calcutta Select Committee, through Mr. Watts,
that unless twenty lakhs of rupees were secured to him in the
instrument which formed the bond of the confederates, he would at
once disclose to the Subahdar the plans of the conspirators. The
inevitable result of this disclosure would have been ruin to all the
conspirators; death to many of them. To baffle the greed of this
blackmailer, Clive caused two copies of the document to be drawn up,
from one of which the name of Aminchand was omitted. To disarm his
suspicions, the false document was shown him. This latter all the
contracting parties had signed, with the exception of Admiral Watson,
who demurred, but who, according to the best recollection of Clive in
his evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons, did not
object to have his name attached thereto by another.[2]
[Footnote 2: These are the facts of the transaction: they will be
commented upon in a future page. Vide comment near the end of Chapter
X.]
Space would fail were I to detail the various modes employed by the
confederates to produce on the mind of Siraj-ud-daula the conviction
that his only safety lay in battle with the English. He had tried
many methods to escape the dilemma, to rid himself of the heavy hand
of Clive. He had made overtures to Bussy at Haidarabad; to the
Marathas; to the Court {88}of Delhi; to the Nawab-Wazir of Oudh. But
every proposed combination had fallen through. He had quarrelled with
Mir Jafar, with his chief nobles, with the bankers. He had suspected
treachery, but had never been quite certain. At last, on the
thirteenth of June, information was brought to him that the English
agent, Mr. Watts, and his subordinates, had fled from Kasimbazar,
after an interview with Mir Jafar, at the time in his disfavour. Then
he gave way: then he realized that, without the aid of his nobles, he
was helpless: then he guessed the whole plot; the schemes of Clive;
the treason of his own people: then he turned to Mir Jafar for
reconciliation, imploring him not to abandon him in his distress. Mir
Jafar and the other nobles, most of whom were in the plot, all swore
fealty and obedience, Mir Jafar leading the way. They would risk
everything for the Subahdar. They would drive back the cursed
English, and free Bengal from their influence. Recovering his
equanimity from these assurances, Siraj-ud-daula ordered his army to
march to an intrenched camp he had prepared near the village of
Plassey, in the island of Kasimbazar,[3] twenty-two miles distant.
There was some difficulty regarding the arrears of pay of his men,
failing the settlement of which they refused to march. But, with
friendly assistance {89}this difficulty was overcome; the army set
out three days later for its destination, and arrived in the
intrenched camp on the 21st of June.
[Footnote 3: Kasimbazar is called an island because whilst the base
of the triangle which composes it is watered by the Ganges, the
western side, on which lies Plassey, is watered by the Bhagirathi;
the eastern by the Jalangi.]
I propose now briefly to record the movements of Clive: then to
describe the decisive battle which followed his arrival on the
island.
{90}