BENGAL IN 1756-1757.*
IN editing the papers which relate to Bengal in 1756-1757 Mr. S. C. Hill has done a most useful work, atid he has done it with a fulness and learning which are beyond praise. The • Bengal in 1769.1767: a Selection of Public and Private Papers dealing with the Affairs of the British in Bengal during the Reign of Siraj-uddaula. Edited. with Notes and an Historical Introduction, by S. C. Hill. "Indian Records Series." 3 vols. Published for the Government of India. London John Murray. [36s. net. j
time upon which he has thrown the light of history is not long, unless we measure it by the importance of the events which took place within it. But the year which saw the rise and fall of Siraj-uddaula, the horror of the Black Hole, the triumph of Clive, and the English supremacy in Bengal deserves all the study and comment which modern research has made possible.
The two names, which, in the language of the index, may be found passim, are Siraj-uddaula and Robert Clive; and never was a clever scoundrel more effectively held in check by a brave soldier and a wise statesman. Had England been served by any one less highly skilled than Clive in the arts of war and diplomacy, a great Empire might never have been ours. But Clive was as watchful as he was courageous, and Siraj-uddaula was outmatched at all points. Neverthe- less, Siraj-uddaula, came to the throne under the best auspices. He was, in the words of M. Jean Law, "one of the richest Nawabs that ever lived." Yet instead of spending his vast revenues for the benefit of his kingdom, he thought only of increasing his wealth :- " If any extraordinary expense had to be met "—again it is Law who speaks—" he ordered contributions and levied them with extreme rigour. Having never known himself what it was to be in want of money, he supposed that, in due proportion, money was as common with other people as with himself, and that the resources of the Europeans especially were inexhaustible. His violence towards them was partly due to this. In fact, from his behaviour it appeared as if his object was to ruin everybody. Was it possible for such a man to keep his throne ? Those
who did not know him intimately were forced to suppose
there was in his character some great virtue which balanced his vices and counteracted their effects. However, this young giddy- head had no talent for government, except that of making himself feared, and he passed at the same time for the most cowardly of men."
That is the testimony of an intelligent officer who had the opportunity of studying him closely, and whose interests were ruined by his policy of intrigue and vacillation. But from early childhood Siraj-uddaula was doomed to destruction. His grandfather, cherishing a superstitious regard for him, could deny him nothing, and he was brought up to cruelty and dissipation. Not even the fondness of his grandfather could blind him to the character of his favourite, and he prophesied with perfect wisdom that " as soon as himself should be dead, and Siraj-uddaula should succeed him, the Hatmen (i.e., the Europeans) should possess themselves of the shores of India."
As if a party to his own impending doom, Siraj-uddaula lost no time after his grandfather's death in making war upon the English. Nor was he without a show of reason in his attack ; but, as Mr. Hill points out, " where he displayed his folly was in resorting to such violent means for reducing to submission a useful people." And his own subjects saw with satisfaction that his recklessness could have but one end. " They hugged themselves," writes M. Durand, an officer in the French Company's service, " that the English would defeat the Nabob and deliver them from his tyranny and oppression." At first they were disappointed. Siraj- uddaula succeeded in seizing Cossimbazar Fort, and presently expelled the British from Calcutta. He took the town at a disadvantage. The garrison was small and ill-furnished with guns and powder. Nor was it commanded with the necessary force and prudence. The peons and coolies deserted in large numbers, and at last Drake, a Member of the Council, and Minchin, the Captain-Commandant, whose names are still remembered with infamy, left the garrison to fend for itself, and escaped by boat. Holwell remained to take command, and at last consented to treat with the Nawab, who most treacherously arrested him. Then followed the hideous cruelty of the Black Hole, into which one hundred and forty- six miserable wretches went, and from which only twenty- three came forth alive.
As to Holwell's policy and conduct of the defence opinions still differ. There can be no difference of opinion as to the heroic courage and splendid resolution which sustained him on the awful night succeeding June 20th, 1756. Even the cold account of Law cannot be read without a shudder, and Holwell's own narrative is unsurpassable in simple
pathos and in the expression of poignant suffering. " Quis talia fando," he asks, " Myrinidonum, Dolopumve, au. t duri miles trlyxi. Temperet a lacrimis And truly there are tears in every line. Suffocation, thirst, the consciousness that water did but increase their suffering, made the prisoners pray for death. But their guards, refusing to give the coup-de-grace, made a jest of their hellish tortures. " Can it gain belief," asks Holwell, "that this scene of misery proved entertaiment to the brutal wretches without P But so it was ; and they took care to keep us supplied with water, that they might have the satis- faction of seeing us fight for it, as they phrased it, and held up lights to the bars that they might lose no part of the inhuman diversion." Retribution came swiftly and in full measure. In six months the English were in Calcutta again, and Siraj-uddaula's Empire was threatened with ruin. Visitors found already that a pleasant city had been built up from the ruins. "The people are all agreeable," wrote a newcomer as early as January, 1757, " vastly free, and very obliging to
everybody The houses are all large and grand, with fine balconies all round them (to keep out the sun) which make a noble appearance In about half a year's time I imagine Calcutta will be once more in a flourishing state." But much remained to be done besides rebuilding the city. Clive had now taken command, and in February attacked the Nawab, who was encamped near Calcutta town with twenty thousand horse and thirty thousand foot. "Our success war very great," writes Clive to his father, " being in his camp upwards of two hours, in which time we killed 1,300 men and between 5 and 6 hundred horse with 4 elephants. This blow has obliged the Nabob to decamp and to conclude a peace very honourable and advantageous to the Company's affairs, by which means they have a more promising prospect than ever. The Nabob sent me a jewel, Moorish dress, and an elephant." No wonder Clive was elated, and thought his ambition almost fulfilled. " I am desirous of being appointed Governor-General of India," he wrote in the same letter, "if such an appointment should be necessary." And we cannot but applaud so stout a confidence in one who had not long passed his thirtieth year.
But the peace made with Siraj-uddaula did not last long. That Monarch was incapable of keeping faith, and he was soon committed to fresh intrigues with the French. Clive countered intrigue with intrigue, and managed to detach Mir Jafar from his allegiance. He also made the plottings of Omichund of no effect by a trick, for which he has ever since been blamed. He had two treaties drawn up, one, which Omichund saw, containing an article granting him the sum he demanded, and another from which this article was excluded. Clive made no secret of his action ; and though it is easy in a time of security to blame another's deceit, it is well to remember that Clive was dealing with an impudent black- mailer, and that his trick, if trick it be called, made victory possible. Of the triumph of Plassey and its consequences not much need be said. It crushed at one blow Siraj- uddaula and the power of France in India. It was fought by Clive in spite of a Council at once cowardly and jealous, and it was fought against what might have seemed overwhelming odds. Clive himself took a frank and boyish delight in his victory and in the wealth it brought him. He tells his father that henceforth he will be able to live in his native country much beyond his most sanguine wishes. " I have ordered £2,000 each to my sisters," says he, " and shall take care of my brothers in due time. I would advise the Lasses to marry as soon as possible, for they have no time to lose. There is no occasion for you following the Law any more, but more of this when I have the pleasure of seeing you, which I hope will be in twelve or fourteen months." Such a letter as this obscures, in the memory of Clive's simple virtues, the suspicions of Select Committees and the slanders of hostile historians.
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