Stourbridge Group – Clive of India

Clive of India

Speaker: Max Keen

Robert Clive(29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774)

At Madras, Clive was moody and quarrelsome; he attempted suicide and once fought a duel. He found solace in the governor’s library, where he virtually educated himself.

Find out how he grew from tearaway youth to empire builder: the facts, figures, battles, personalities and good old British derring-do presented by Max dressed the part!

Its time to take on the East India Trading Company with the armaments of humour, tongue-in-cheekiness all wrapped up in an attempt to put the record straight!

Background

Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency.

Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British East India Company (EIC) rule in Bengal. He began as a “writer” (the term used then in India for an office clerk) for the EIC in 1744, however after being caught up in military action during the fall of Madras, Clive joined the EIC’s private army.

Clive rapidly rose through the military ranks of the EIC and was eventually credited with establishing Company rule in Bengal by winning the Battle of Plassey in 1757.

When Clive left India in January 1767 he had a fortune of £401,102 (equivalent to £67,900,000 in 2023) which he remitted through the Dutch East India Company.