Clive, Robert

Clive, Robert baron (1725-74), soldier, statesman, b. Market Drayton, Shropshire, England.

At the age of eighteen Clive went to India as a clerk with the East India Company. War broke out with France and Clive joined the army as a junior officer. He was soon promoted and in 1751, with less than 500 men, he captured the city of Arcot.

For seven weeks, over 7,000 French and Indian troops tried to recapture Arcot. In the end, they gave up. After this Clive won more victories and, in 1753, he returned to England a hero.

He went back to India two years later as governor of Fort St David.

In 1756 the Nawab of Bengal captured Calcutta. He shut up 146 British prisoners in the 'Black Hole' and all but twenty-three of them died. Clive soon recaptured Calcutta and the Battle of Plassey followed. In this, Clive, with 3,200 men, defeated the Nawab of Bengal's army of 50,000. This victory made Britain the chief power in India.

Returning to England in 1760, Clive became a Member of Parliament and in 1762 he was made a baron. Three years later he was back in India again as governor of Bengal.

He worked hard to put the affairs of the East India Company in order, but returned to England in poor health in 1766.

In his early days in India, Clive had received a fortune in gifts from Indian rulers. Parliament decided he should not have taken all this money, and Clive killed himself.

See Robert Harvey Clive of India