Sunday, August 29, 2004
Clive
This is adapted from a link I posted on a discussion we had on Reuben's post on Gandhi and the Middle East. I came across this piece by Nick Robins, where he talks about 'the public invisibility of the East India Company' in London. The East India Company was headquartered in London from 1600 to 1874, when it was dissolved, but there are few traces of the company in London now. Clive's statue, though, is an exception.
Walk to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from St James' Park and you will go up 'Clive's steps', named after the statue of Robert Clive that stands without apology outside the old India Office buildings. It was here that the government transferred the administration of India in the wake of the disastrous 'mutiny' of 1857. Many explanations have been given for this uprising against Company rule in northern India, but the Company's increasing racial and administrative arrogance lay at the root.
Anglo-Indians were excluded from senior positions in the Company; non-European wives of the Company were forbidden to follow their husbands back to Britain. Verbal abuse mounted, with 'nigger' becoming a common expression for Indians. This slide into separatism also affected the Company's relations with its Indian soldiers, the sepoys. One by one, ties between the army and local communities were cut: Hindu and Muslim holy men were barred from blessing the sepoy regimental colours, and troops were stopped from participating in festival parades. As missionary presence grew, fears mounted that the Company was planning forcible conversion to Christianity.
Robert Clive is, of course, the man whose surprise victory at Plassey ultimately led to the subjugation and oppression of the Indian people for a few centuries. Shocked as I was to learn that Clive's statue still stands, I was even more shocked to see the wikipedia entry on Robert Clive. The wikipedia entry on Clive is based on the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, and is seriously outdated. I wonder how deep this problem runs. I am sure there are other references which are also outdated. Here is an extract from the wikipedia.
Having thus founded the empire of British India, Clive's painful duty was to create a pure and strong administration, such as alone would justify its possession by foreigners. The civil service was de-orientalised by raising the miserable salaries which had tempted its members to be corrupt, by forbidding the acceptance of gifts from natives, and by exacting covenants under which participation in the inland trade was stopped. Not less important were his military reforms.
If somebody can find a more appropriate reference on Clive, please do leave a comment.
Walk to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from St James' Park and you will go up 'Clive's steps', named after the statue of Robert Clive that stands without apology outside the old India Office buildings. It was here that the government transferred the administration of India in the wake of the disastrous 'mutiny' of 1857. Many explanations have been given for this uprising against Company rule in northern India, but the Company's increasing racial and administrative arrogance lay at the root.
Anglo-Indians were excluded from senior positions in the Company; non-European wives of the Company were forbidden to follow their husbands back to Britain. Verbal abuse mounted, with 'nigger' becoming a common expression for Indians. This slide into separatism also affected the Company's relations with its Indian soldiers, the sepoys. One by one, ties between the army and local communities were cut: Hindu and Muslim holy men were barred from blessing the sepoy regimental colours, and troops were stopped from participating in festival parades. As missionary presence grew, fears mounted that the Company was planning forcible conversion to Christianity.
Robert Clive is, of course, the man whose surprise victory at Plassey ultimately led to the subjugation and oppression of the Indian people for a few centuries. Shocked as I was to learn that Clive's statue still stands, I was even more shocked to see the wikipedia entry on Robert Clive. The wikipedia entry on Clive is based on the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, and is seriously outdated. I wonder how deep this problem runs. I am sure there are other references which are also outdated. Here is an extract from the wikipedia.
Having thus founded the empire of British India, Clive's painful duty was to create a pure and strong administration, such as alone would justify its possession by foreigners. The civil service was de-orientalised by raising the miserable salaries which had tempted its members to be corrupt, by forbidding the acceptance of gifts from natives, and by exacting covenants under which participation in the inland trade was stopped. Not less important were his military reforms.
If somebody can find a more appropriate reference on Clive, please do leave a comment.
