A History of India, Third Edition

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

directors of the Compagnie des Indes took a different view of these
activities. The trade of the company had completely stopped during the
war and had hardly revived after the peace treaty of 1748. The military
exploits of Dupleix and de Bussy seemed to be examples of foolish
extravagance, as far as the directors were concerned. They therefore fired
Dupleix and sent one of the directors to India: he liquidated most of the
French possessions there and arrived at an agreement with the British
which was very much in their favour. When this happened—in 1754—the
French could not have foreseen that the Seven Years War would soon
precipitate another global confrontation with the British. In the interests of
cutting the losses of the Compagnie des Indes the measures adopted at the
time appeared to be prudent and well considered. The warmongers were
made scapegoats, La Bourdonnais was imprisoned; Dupleix died a pauper
in France; only de Bussy stayed on in India—but his military potential was
now greatly restricted, as he had been forced by his French masters to
relinquish the four districts which the nizam had bestowed upon him.

Robert Clive and the Diwani of Bengal

At the same time as Dupleix left India the young hero of Arcot, Robert
Clive, also returned home. Whereas Dupleix was doomed, however, Clive
hoped for a political career and aspired to a seat in Parliament. At just 29
years of age he had acquired enough money in India to invest in an
electoral campaign: he won the election but lost his mandate when the
result was declared invalid. Having spent most of his savings in this
political enterprise, he was now forced to return to India in order to recoup
his losses: he saw to it that he got a commission as a lieutenant colonel
before embarking for India once more.
Clive reached Madras just as the news was received that the nawab of
Bengal had attacked the British factories there and he was dispatched with
some company troops in order to relieve Calcutta. Siraj-ud-Daula, the young
nawab of Bengal, had succeeded his great-uncle, Alivardi Khan, in 1756 and
had ordered the British to dismantle their fortifications which had been
constructed without due permission. Clive arrived in Calcutta just in time,
but his military operations were initially not very successful and he had a
hard time establishing his credentials with the British officers there.
Furthermore, the royal troops who accompanied him and his company
troops thought of themselves as very much superior to those mercenaries:
consequently, they obeyed his orders only grudgingly. Clive finally managed
to relieve the British factories and to capture the French factory at
Chandernagar in addition; he also concluded his negotiations with the
nawab and should have returned to Madras when his mission was
accomplished. He disobeyed those instructions. After having indulged in a
secret intrigue with Mir Jaffar, the commander of the nawab’s troops, Clive