Robert Clive

Robert Clive was born in September 29, 1725. He had no interest in studies and was expelled from three schools for his indiscipline and lack of interest in studies. However, Clive had developed notoriety for fighting. Disgusted by his behaviour his father secured him a writer’s post in the East India Company and sent him to Madras. Clive was later promoted as the governor of Fort St David and was involved in the Carnatic Wars and the siege of Trichinopoly. He won the Battle of Plassey in Bengal from where the British Empire came to evolve in India. Clive returned to India to take up his governorship and secured the Diwani rights from the defeated Mughal emperor in 1765. Clive amassed huge wealth and left India a fabulously rich man, with a personal fortune to the then value of 234, 000 pounds. This apart, his jagir in Bengal fetched him an annual rental income of 27,000 pounds. When he returned to England he faced a parliamentary inquiry over allegations of corruption. Though exonerated, Clive committed suicide.