Clive’s Jagir

Clive’s Jagir refers to the large personal land revenue grant bestowed upon Robert Clive, the British military officer and statesman, by the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II in 1765. The grant, known as a jagir (a feudal revenue assignment), consisted of the revenues of the district of 24 Parganas near Calcutta (modern Kolkata). This grant symbolised the consolidation of British political and economic power in Bengal and marked a turning point in the relationship between the East India Company and the Mughal Empire.

Background

Robert Clive, also known as Clive of India, was one of the most influential figures in establishing British supremacy in India. Following the Battle of Plassey (1757) and the Battle of Buxar (1764), the East India Company emerged as the dominant power in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.
After the Battle of Plassey, Clive restored Mir Jafar to the throne of Bengal as the Nawab in return for financial rewards and political concessions. However, the subsequent internal instability and shifting alliances among the Nawabs of Bengal, particularly under Mir Qasim, led to renewed conflict culminating in the Battle of Buxar (1764).
The Company’s victory at Buxar was decisive and forced Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor, to recognise the political dominance of the East India Company in eastern India.

The Grant of the Jagir

In 1765, following the Treaty of Allahabad, Shah Alam II formally conferred upon the East India Company the Diwani rights (the right to collect revenue) of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. In addition, as a personal reward for his services and loyalty, the Emperor granted Robert Clive a jagir—the land revenue of the district of 24 Parganas, located south of Calcutta.
The 24 Parganas had earlier been ceded to the British by Mir Jafar in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey””, as a token of gratitude for British support in his accession to the throne. Clive’s jagir, however, was not a direct gift from the Nawab but a formal imperial recognition of his right to the revenue from this fertile region.

Nature and Value of the Jagir

The jagir granted to Clive was a personal estate, not a permanent Company possession. Its annual revenue was estimated at around ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 per annum (a substantial sum in the eighteenth century). The grant entitled Clive to receive the land revenue collected from the district in his own name.
This arrangement gave Clive enormous personal wealth, adding to the fortune he had already accumulated during his earlier tenure in India. The jagir became symbolic of the growing entanglement between personal enrichment and imperial expansion within the East India Company’s operations.

Controversy and Criticism

Clive’s jagir soon became a subject of intense controversy both in India and in Britain. Critics argued that the grant represented a conflict of interest between Clive’s official duties as a servant of the East India Company and his personal financial gains.
Several issues arose:

• Moral and Ethical Concerns: Many Company officials and parliamentarians considered it improper for an employee of a trading company to receive private revenues from territories under Company control.
• Abuse of Power: Clive was accused of using his military and political influence to extract wealth from Indian rulers and manipulate imperial authority for personal benefit.
• Parliamentary Scrutiny: The matter became part of the broader debate in Britain about corruption, mismanagement, and the moral legitimacy of the East India Company’s rule in India.

When Clive returned to England in 1767, his jagir and the wealth he brought from India attracted significant attention. In 1772, a Parliamentary Inquiry was launched to investigate charges of corruption against Company officials, including Clive. He was questioned about his conduct in Bengal and the legality of his jagir.
In his defence, Clive argued that his actions had saved the British interests in India and prevented misrule and exploitation by local rulers. Although the inquiry censured the Company’s corruption, Clive was acquitted of personal wrongdoing.

Impact on the East India Company

The controversy surrounding Clive’s jagir had broader implications for the governance of the East India Company and British colonial policy:

• Reform of Company Administration: The public outrage in Britain over corruption in India led to demands for stricter control over the Company’s affairs.
• Parliamentary Oversight: This scandal contributed to the passing of the Regulating Act of 1773, which brought the East India Company’s administration under direct supervision of the British Parliament.
• Moral and Political Debate: The issue highlighted the blurred boundaries between personal profit and imperial policy in the early stages of British expansion in India. It also raised questions about the ethics of empire and private enrichment by Company officials.

Historical Significance

Clive’s jagir is historically significant for several reasons:

• It represented the fusion of imperial reward and personal enrichment, a hallmark of early British colonialism in India.
• It illustrated the transformation of the East India Company from a commercial enterprise into a political power exercising administrative authority.
• The controversy surrounding it exposed the corruption and excesses of Company officials, leading to greater calls for reform in British-Indian administration.
• The jagir symbolised the changing relationship between the Mughal Emperor and the Company, where the emperor became a figurehead granting legitimacy to the Company’s expanding power.