Robert Clive
Former Governor General of the Presidency of Fort William in BengalWikipedia
23
MENTIONS
13
EPISODES
12
PODCASTS
Search complete. 23 mentions across 13 episodes found for "Robert Clive".
Oct 27, 2026
James HollandGUEST
And then they kind of fight back.
James HollandGUEST
And so then you have all these wars and that's the age of Robert Clive and all the rest of it.
James HollandGUEST
And then suddenly, you've got a single independent company.
James HollandGUEST
managing a whole nation, you know, a whole land mass.
Kara ShallenbergNARRATOR
The French were much stronger in India at this time than the British, and they made up their minds to drive the British away altogether.
Kara ShallenbergNARRATOR
They might have succeeded too but for the cleverness of a young man called Robert Clive.
Kara ShallenbergNARRATOR
He was a clerk in the East India Company's office, and not a particularly good clerk either, because the work he had to do was not at all the kind of work for which he was fitted.
Kara ShallenbergNARRATOR
When war broke out Robert Clive gave up being a clerk and became a soldier, and he soon showed that he was a clever one.
Kara ShallenbergNARRATOR
Some of the native Indians fought for the French and some for the British.
Kara ShallenbergNARRATOR
But Clive and his sepoys, as the native soldiers were called, won, and the French governor was obliged to leave the country.
Marina HydeHOST
It's so expensive to pay someone to just sort of sit there and, as you say, just get tiny bits of something through.
Marina HydeHOST
And in terms of there always being courtroom fascination, I was going back and looking at sort of things in history, and Willie Dalrymple's book, The Anarchy, about the East India Company, there's really interesting stuff about the trial of, like, Clive of India and Warren Hastings, who was a Bengal gov- governor.
Marina HydeHOST
That was in the 18th century.
Richard OsmanHOST
Used to play rugby for Scotland.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
So successful was his intervention in a struggle between rival claimants for the thrones of the Deccan and the Carnatic, that in 1751 the permanent establishment of French influence in southern India seemed inevitable.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
At this moment a young officer named Robert Clive, the first great man whom England sent to the east, saved the English prestige by the capture and defence of Arcot, and then with the aid of Major Lawrence relieved Trichinopoly, which was besieged by a French force.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
In December 1753 Duplex's troops were again defeated, and the following year he was recalled by the directors of the French East India Company, who themselves alarmed at his constant interference with the commercial prospects of the Company were supported by their government, which dreaded the outbreak of hostilities with England.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
In 1756 the renewal of war between the two countries in Europe found Clive in India prepared to destroy the French power as a preliminary step to the advance of British influence.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
In 1758 the arrival of Lally with French reinforcements was followed by the capture of Fort St. David and the siege of Madras.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
The appearance of an English fleet caused the siege to be abandoned, and the French reputation suffered a severe blow.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
In August 1756, as we have already mentioned, Siraj-ud-Daulah had captured the English factory and issued the order which led to the horrors of the Black Hole.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
Calcutta was easily recovered and peace was made with the Nawab.
Meera SyalSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Very, very simple idea.
Meera SyalSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
It's a bunch of young Indians going to an English restaurant in Bombay, asking for the blandest thing on the menu, and calling the waiter Clive of India.
Meera SyalSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And I think suddenly it held up this mirror to, um, British society, and there was a feeling that, oh, my God, is that how we behave in your restaurants? Yes, we do.
Meera SyalSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Oh, my God, and you noticed? [laughs] And I think a lot of Goodness Gracious Me worked on that level, that it was, it was affectionate, but it was quite pointed.
speaker_2NARRATOR
Fue más bien una victoria militar que cambió fundamentalmente el rumbo de la historia humana.
speaker_2NARRATOR
Un hombre llamado Robert Clive, que llegó a ser conocido como Clive de la India, derrotó a las fuerzas del nawab de Bengala y básicamente abrió las puertas para que Gran Bretaña se apoderara de gran parte de la India.
speaker_2NARRATOR
Piensa en eso por un segundo.
speaker_2NARRATOR
Una compañía comercial respaldada por el poder militar británico derrotó a un poder indígena y estableció a Gran Bretaña como la fuerza dominante en el subcontinente indio.
speaker_2NARRATOR
It was more like a military victory that fundamentally changed the course of human history.
speaker_2NARRATOR
A man named Robert Clive, who came to be known as Clive of India, defeated the forces of the Nawab of Bengal and basically opened the doors for Britain to take over much of India.
speaker_2NARRATOR
Think about that for a second.
speaker_2NARRATOR
A trading company backed by British military power defeated an indigenous power and established Britain as the dominant force on the Indian subcontinent.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
So successful was his intervention in a struggle between rival claimants for the thrones of the Deccan and the Carnatic that in 1751 the permanent establishment of French influence in southern India seemed inevitable.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
At this moment a young officer named Robert Clive, the first great man whom England sent to the East, saved the English prestige by the capture and defence of Arcot, and then with the aid of Major Lawrence relieved Trichinopoly, which was besieged by a French force.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
In December 1753 Duplex's troops were again defeated, and the following year he was recalled by the directors of the French East India Company, who themselves alarmed at his constant interference with the commercial prospects of the Company were supported by their government, which dreaded the outbreak of hostilities with England.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
In 1756 the renewal of war between the two countries in Europe found Clive in India prepared to destroy the French power as a preliminary step to the advance of British influence.
50 MINS LATER
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
The same year saw the acquittal of Clive from charges of violence and rapacity during his second governorship in Bengal, followed in 1774 by his melancholy death by his own hand.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
Though bred a civilian, he became a general second only to Marlborough, and he had founded our Indian Empire.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
The resolution of the House of Commons declaring that Robert Clive had rendered great and meritorious service to his country expressed the general feeling toward the distinguished administrator.
Pamela NagamiNARRATOR
The early years of the North Ministry were not destitute of foreign complications.
Carlton KingHOST
All of those people were chancers who went out there to make a couple of quid for himself, and making that couple of quid, maybe they'll get into the ruling elite.
Carlton KingHOST
Clive of India Right? So this is, this is what you've got to look at.
Carlton KingHOST
So it's this adoption of people who might make their way through into the ruling elite.
Carlton KingHOST
Whether the ruling and landed aristocracy in German, the Junker or the Adel, ever really looked to these people who came in secondary as being of the same ilk as them, that's questionable.
45 MINS LATER
Carlton KingHOST
So they're pulling away from the British Empire, uh, the United States and creating their own, uh, uh, countries which are on the backs of the indigenous people who have been hammered and, and, and, and, um, uh, generally, um, controlled because of force of arms.
Carlton KingHOST
Because as, as we become mechanistic in our armaments and, and the Industrial Revolution allows us to create frightful industrial weaponry, the indigenous people can't fight against us.
Carlton KingHOST
So therefore, what happens is when these indigenous people are, uh, um, basically destroyed or hammered to the ground, then what happens is, is that the people that were sent out to run the empire begin to see an opportunity for themselves, like Clive of India, and say, "Yeah, I'll have some of that because I can run it." Cecil Rhodes example in Rhodesia and, and, and then in South Africa.
Carlton KingHOST
You can go on and on and on with, with, with, with areas like that.
Carlton KingHOST
All of those people were chancers who went out there to make a couple of quid for himself, and making that couple of quid, maybe they'll get into the ruling elite.
Carlton KingHOST
Clive of India Right? So this is, this is what you've got to look at.
Carlton KingHOST
So it's this adoption of people who might make their way through into the ruling elite.
Carlton KingHOST
Whether the ruling and landed aristocracy in German, the Junker or the Adel, ever really looked to these people who came in secondary as being of the same ilk as them, that's questionable.
45 MINS LATER
Carlton KingHOST
So they're pulling away from the British Empire, uh, the United States, and creating their own, uh, uh, countries which are on the backs of the indigenous people who have been hammered and, and, and, and, um, uh, generally, um, controlled because of force of arms.
Carlton KingHOST
Because as, as we become mechanistic in our armaments and, and the Industrial Revolution allows us to create frightful industrial weaponry, the indigenous people can't fight against us.
Carlton KingHOST
So therefore, what happens is when these indi- indigenous people are, uh, um, basically destroyed or hammered to the ground, then what happens is, is that the people that were sent out to run the empire begin to see an opportunity for themselves, like Clive of India, and say, "Yeah, I'll have some of that because I can run it." Cecil Rhodes example in Rhodesia and, and, and then in South Africa.
Carlton KingHOST
You can go on and on and on w- with, with, with, with areas like that.
3 more episodes mention Robert Clive.
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