Major General Robert Clive 1st Baron Clive 1725 1774 soldier military political supremacy East India Company British crown
Major-General Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, KB (29 September 1725–22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was a British soldier who established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company in Southern India and Bengal. He is credited with securing India, and the wealth that followed, for the British crown. Together with Warren Hastings he was one of the key figures in the creation of British India. At the age of eighteen, Clive was sent out to Madras (now Chennai) as a "factor" or "writer" in the civil service of the East India Company. The ship was detained in Brazil for nine months. This enabled him to learn Portuguese, which he often found of use later. At this time the East India Company had a small settlement at Fort St. George near the village of Madraspatnam. On 4 September 1746, Madras was attacked by French Forces led by La Bourdonnais as part of the War of the Austrian Succession. After several days of bombardment the British forces surrendered and the French entered the city. It was originally planned that the town would be restored to the British after negotiation but this was opposed by Dupleix, then the head of the French settlements in India. The prolonged negotiations led Clive and others to make their escape to Fort St David, some twenty miles to the south. For his part in this, Clive was given an ensign's commission. The siege was eventually lifted when Mughal troops arrived to relieve the city. In the conflict, Clive's bravery had been noted by Major Stringer Lawrence, the commander of the British troops. However, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 forced him to return to civil duties for a short time. A bout of depression caused him to leave his duties for a short break, in the Bengal area. The conflict between the British and the French continued, this time in political rather than military terms.
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