Question

Explain the dual government of Robert Clive

Answer 1

A dual government was introduced by Robert Clive in Bengal in 1765 and it was continued till 1772.

Robert Clive’s Rule of Bengal: Dual System

• Robert Clive was the Governor of Bengal during the year 1757-60 and also from 1765-67
• During his first tenure that is from 1757-1760 Bengal’s governor, under Nawab Mir Jaffar, corruption was rampant
• The company’s one and only aim was to maximize the revenue at the expense of the peasants
• He gathered a great personal fortune in India and returned to Britain in the year 1760
• He came back to India in the year 1765 as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bengal state
• During this time, there was huge and widespread corruption in the company
• So Clive prohibited the company’s employees from engaging in any sort of private trade
• He also put a hold on accepting gifts from them
• He also initiated a ‘Society of Trade’ in 1765 but it was later abolished
• Mir Qasim the son-in-law of Mir Jaffar had ascended the throne of Bengal
• He wanted to snatch himself from the English influence
• The Battle of Buxar was fought between the British and the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja Ud Daulah who was the Nawab of Awadh, and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. This battle was won by Britishers
• The result of this battle was, that the Diwani that is the right to collect revenue of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha was sanctioned to the British by the Mughal Emperor in return for an annual sum of money and in the districts of Allahabad and Kora
• Robert Clive, who had the power to undertake Awadh as well, refrained from annexing it. His intention was to use it as a ‘buffer’ state between the British and the Marathas
• The Nizamat was considered the territorial jurisdiction of Bengal and remained with the Nawab but in ground reality, the English had a good hold over this power
• This was referred to as Clive’s Dual System in which the company was the Diwan and the Nawab held the Nizamat