Robert Clive was a great man of his time.

He was a general of the British East India company and he was

considered to be a brilliant military strategist.

He helped he helped the British East India company take over the province of Bengal after defeating the
Nawab of Bengal Siraj ud Daulah in the battle of Plassey.

The nawab of Bengal had managed to successfully take control of Calcutta which was the headquarters
off the British East India company for a long time. He was he was angered because the British East India
company was planning on expanding their fortifications of Fort Williams. The French East India company
Had goaded Benner above Bengal into taking action against the British East India company by playing on
his insecurities about British control over the subcontinent.

Siraj ud daulah had managed to capture Calcutta and imprisoned British soldiers within a dungeon inside
Fort Williams called the black hole.

It Is said that over 146 prisoners of war we're trapped in that room overnight. It was a small and
cramped cell and many died that night due to dehydration and claustrophobia.

we still don't know what the actual number of prisoners were that died that night in the black hole some
say the number was not more than 26 and that the British historians had exaggerated the number to
demonize siraj ud daulah.

Siraj ud daulah was unable to hold on to Calcutta for more than a day because his main general, Mir
Jafar, had been approached by the British East India company to betray siraj ud daula in exchange for
becoming the new nawab of Bengal.

Robert Clive came in at the last moment with his cavalry and managed to win the battle of plassey in one
fell swoop. Siraj dola was murdered and his body was thrown in the river.

Mir qasim, Mir jafar’s son, vow to get redemption for his father's actions for betraying the marvel empire
and he was able to gather support Of the NAWAB of Oudh and the Mughal emperor of the time,
Mohammed Shah the second, into fighting a battle with the British East India company with the
motivation of ousting them from the subcontinent.

However, the British East India company had gotten too powerful at this time and their victory at the
battle of Plassey was just proof that they were almost untouchable. They defeated Mir Qasim and
Muhammad Shah in the battle of Buxar, and fortified their hold over the province of Bengal along with
the states of Orissa, Bihar, and Oudh.

Mu Jaffer was made The puppet ruler of the province of Bengal. However, he had to pay a steep price for
his betrayal.

Robert Clive was responsible for winning both the battles of plassey and bucks are. However the
corruption of the East India company had had gotten out of hand. Words of their misdeeds in the
subcontinent had gotten back to the British government who had called him back to Britain for a trial.

Robert Clive was accused of plundering India and lining his own pockets with as much wealth as he could
gather. Robert clive’s response to these allegations was simply replying that his only regret was that he
couldn't steal more during his time in India. He showed no remorse for his actions and was acting
incredibly arrogant in court. His proclamation of saying that his only regret was not accumulating more
wealth while he was in India sealed his fate. He was made the scapegoat for all of the British East India
company’s misdeeds and he was dishonorably discharged from the British East India company army.

His accomplishments and accolades in battle demonstrated that he was an accomplished military
strategist, a capable leader and a smart and cunning man. One of the other reasons why Robert Clive
was scapegoated was because he was addicted to opium. He had gotten addicted to the plant while he
was in India and it was easier to place the blame on one drug addict rather than putting the blame on
the entire British East India company.

After the debacle that happened in India during these two battles the British government decided to
recall the British East India company back to Britain. Instead it sent over officials from the British
government to take control of the subcontinent.

They started from Bengal and then started introducing laws such as the doctrine of lapse that ultimately
led to the war for dependence in 1857.

Questions and Answers:

Q. Robert Clive’s Case study answer.

Q1.
Robert Clive was considered a celebrated General by some and a corrupt opportunist
by others. He was accused and charged by the British government for plundering India.
What is your informed opinion?
In my opinion Robert Clive was a smart man who knew when to take advantage of this
situation. He knew that he was going to be scapegoated by the British government on
account of his drug addiction so he decided to put on an arrogant front by claiming that
he wished he could have stolen more during his time in India.
in actuality he was hurt that he was being dishonourably discharged after serving such a
splendid tenure in the British East India company army. After winning two battles he
should have been celebrated but instead he was being charged with corruption.
I think Robert Clive was a corrupt man but he was also a brilliant military strategist who
could have accomplish a lot more for the British East India company had they not
remove him from his position.