Mir Jafar reached Murshidadbad on the 25th and Clive followed him a few days later. Mir Jafar was proclaimed Subahdar of Bengal. In a few days news arrived of the capture of Siraj-ud-dALLlah. He was brought back to the capital and immediately murdered by the orders of Miran, the son of Mir Jafar. Thus the treacherous conspiracy of Mr Jafar was brought to a triumphant conclusion. Clive and his colleagues secured large rewards for themselves in addition to the zamindari of the Twenty-four Paraganas and a large sum for the Company.
The battle of Plassey was hardly more than a mere skirmish, but its result was more important than that of many of the greatest battles of the world. It paved the way for the British conquest of Bengal and eventually of the whole of India. Consequently everything in connection with it has been magnified beyond all proportions. Petty follies of Clive have been exaggerated almost as much as his valour and heroism. The -forged document in favour of Omichand is no doubt a stain on his character, but considering the circumstances in which he was placed, and the moral standards of the age in which he lived, these things should be looked at in the proper perspective. On the other hand, he can lay no special claim to either extraordinary military skill or statesmanship. He was opposed to the rupture with the French, which was the immediate cause of the war with Siraj-ud-daulah, and was only forced un- willingly to this step by the obstinacy of Watson. Even when war broke out he was always hesitating. In the war-council held at Katwah, only two days before the battle of Plassey, he gave his vote in favour of retreat. At Plassey itself he took Major Kilpatrick to task for ordering the troops to advance. Thus it would be hardly any exaggeration to say that Clive won the battle of Plassey in spite of himself. But all this does not take away from Clive the undoubted gifts of leadership and a spirit of dash and enterprise which he possessed in an unusual degree.
Clive’s opponent, Siraj-ud-daulah, has been regarded by some as a martyr and by others as a monster of iniquity. There is as little justification for the one as for the other view. He was not much worse than most rulers of his age, and certainly better than Mir Jafar, Nawizish Muhammad or Shaukat Jang. In the first few months of his reign be showed undoubted ability and vigour, but lack of energy and decision was the prime cause of his ruin. There is also hardly any doubt that the conspiracy that cost him his life and throne was at least partially due to his personality and character.
Lastly, the conspiracy of Mir Jafar and others has been regarded as the “Great Betrayal” of the country by her unpatriotic sons. It was, however, nothing of the kind. Such conspiracies were far from being unusual in those days, and ‘Alivardi Khan himself owed to them his accession to the throne. It would be quite wrong to regard Siraj-ud-daulah as fighting for the country and., Mir Jafar and others as betraying it. Both sides acted from pure self-interest and do not appear to have given a thought to the country as a whole. As a matter of fact, nobody perhaps thought, or had any reasonable grounds for thinking, that the conspiracy set on foot by Mir Jafar and his colleagues would make the British the rulers of Bengal. Even as it was, the battle of Plassey gave Clive no better prospect in this respect than that of Bussy in the Deccan. That things took a different turn in Bengal was largely due to the character of Mir Jafar and the nobles of his court, and also to the political circumstances of Bengal. But in some -measure, at least, it was due to that unknown and unknowable factor called fate or destiny which sometimes plays no inconsiderable part in the affairs of man.
The Third Carnatic War
The peace which was established in the Carnatic by the treaty of Godeheu was again broken by the Seven Years’ War. As in the case of the First Carnatic War, a war in Europe forced the English and the French in India to engage in hostilities which none perhaps, desired at that moment. The news of the outbreak of the war reached India in November, 1756, and one of its immediate effects was the capture of Chandernagore-a French.possession in Bengal -by Clive and Watson as described above.
In Madras, however, neither the English nor the French possessed enough military resources to commence hostilities at once. The major part of the military and naval forces of Madras had been sent under Clive and Watson to recover Calcutta. Even after that object was achieved, Clive delayed his return to Madras, on account of his ambitious political schemes which ultimately led to the battle of Plassey. The French resources were similarly crippled as the governor of Pondicherry had to send assistance to Bussy at Hyderabad.
So It was not until A.D. 17-58 that warlike operations began on a large scale. The English fleet returned from Bengal under the com- mand of Pocock who had succeeded Watson after the latter’s death in :-.D. 1757. The French received reinforcements from home and Count de Lally was sent to conduct the war. He was invested with absolute power in all civil and military affairs but he had no control over the naval forces which were commanded by d’Ache. This division of command, leading to disunion and discord, hampered the progress of the French and, as we shall see, ultimately ruined their cause.
Lally began splendidly. He besieged Fort St. David on let May and the place capitulated on 2nd June. He now wisely decided to strike at the root of the British power in the Carnatic by reduc- ing’Madras. But d’Ache, who had already been defeated by the English fleet on the 28th April, refused to sail. It was impossible to carry on operations against Madras without the help of the navy, and so Lally decided to relieve his financial difficulties by forcing the Raja of Tanjore to pay 70 lacs of rupees which he owed to the French. He invested Tanjore (18th July) but could not press the siege owing to lack of ammunition. The fact was that there was no spirit of mutual trust and concord between Lally and his men. He irritated them by his rude and hALLghty conduct and consequently he was ill-served by them. Lally, no doubt, possessed a high degree of military skill, but he was too hasty and ill-tempered to co-ordinate the different parts of the war machine. He wasted much time before Tanjore without being able to do anything. In the meantime, the English fleet had engaged d’Ache’s squadron and inflicted heavy losses upon it (3rd August). As soon aa Lally received this news, he raised the siege of Tanjore (10th August), thereby inflicting a heavy blow not only to his own reputation but also to the prestige of the French army.
