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•ut fer India again in high spirits and with a lively amhitien t# achieve further greatness in the service ef the Cempany and the natien*
Clive had left England en 4 June 1764 hut a d^Layed passage deprived him much ef the credit which he seught fer himself* Munr© at Buxar had finally defeated the ccnhinatien ef Mir Qasim, Shuja ud daulah and Shah Alan en 23 Octeher 1764* and victery had heen fellewed hy further
successes against Shuja whese capitalt Lucknew was taken in the nane ef Shah Alam^ whe was taken under the English pretecticn seen after Shuja* a defeat at Buxar* Nevertheless , news ef Mir Jafar*s death received in
April 1763 en his arrival at Madras still gave Clive hepes " te heceme the 2
Nawah eurselves in fact, if net in name", hy raising Mir Saidu, Miran* s miner sen , te the masnad* But en landing at Calcutta en 3 May 1765 *Clive feund that Spencer had already stelen a aarch ever him hy making the new settleaent with Najm ud daulah*
Clive was a disappeinted nan, cheated ef the eppertunity te play a striking rele , ready te leek with displeasure upen the arrangements ef his predecesser. He was critical ef Spencer and his Ceuncil fer "geing te the lengths they have dene " in reducing the pewer ef the Nawah - theugh Clive was later te ge still further - and critical ef the raising ef Reza Khan te the heights ef the Naih Suhahdari, Recalling perhaps Yansittart*s
experience with the raising ef Mir Qasim te a similar statien, Clive wrete pungently te Caraae : *• Never trust the amhitiens ef any Mussulman after whatever has happened" •** The first meeting ef the Ceuncil en 3 May turned anneyance hern ef frustratien te anger, fer Jehnstline and Leycester
challenged the extra-erdinary pewers ef the new Select Cemmittee , granted enly until tranquility sheuld he restered in Bengal * Clive everhere the ehjectien, deoalared the Cemmittee sele judges ef their ewn pewer, and entered upen a persenal vendetta* In that vendetta Reza Khan was seen invelvedo
In 1764 the heme autherities had decided upen a fern ef cevenant , which their servants everseas were te sign binding themselves net te accept presents mere than a very small ameunt witheut the prier censent ef the Directerso This had heen reselved en hy the Court ef Preprieters en 2 May 1764* despatched hy the Direoters en 1 June and received in Calcutta in 1 •Caraae*» better 26 Mar* BSC 9 Apr 1765*
January 1765. The Ceuncil had taken ne steps t# ensure their execution. Instead there were rumeurs that the aocessien ef Najm ud daulah was te used te secure new presents fer the Ceuncil, as Verelst in distant Chittagong noted in a letter ef 7 Kerch 1765*^Te these rumours , ef a "combination between the blacks and whites, te divide all the revenues ef the Company"^ in which Reza Khan was allegedly invelved, Clive turned as the aeans ef destroying Spencer and his supporters. In their dewnfall Reza Khan seeaed likely te be dragged dewn, fer Clive made it clear te Carnac that he objected te his remaining Naib Subah, " his being a Mussulman, acute and clever are reasens ef themselves if there were ne ether, against trusting that man with tee much power".
With Clive*s coming the atmesphere at Murshidabad had alse become tense. Even though Nandkumar had been eusted frem Murshidabad in Match,
the Khan was kept in censtant alarm by his enemies, allies of Nandkumar, whe claimed that as Mir Jafar had adapted Clive as his sen they were expecting great faveurs frem him0*Their behavieur en Clive's arrival made it clear that they believed what they had said. Middleton , the Resident, had urged Najm ud daulah net te ge te Calcutta " witheut the apprebatiem ef the gentlemen ef the Council". Nevertheless, by 8 May the Nawab had left fer Calcutta fer the pleasure ef seeing his Lerdship, when he leaked upen "as his brether and strength ef his arm".^3hah Khanum , 1 iran's
mother, whe called Clive her sen»sent a letter recesmending Mir Saidu and Mirza Daud (Miran's sen and sen->in*law respectively)te Clive’s faveur "as they are in a manner his ewn children". She alse asked far an early meeting at Murshidabad, and cautioned Clive "net te let the Nawab Najm ud daulah see this letter er receive infermatien ef it".*^Reza Khan , pretesting that his appeintment as Naib was " witheut my desiring** , new appealed te Johnstene te preserve his heneur t net enly wps the Nawab going te Calcutta , the Khan cemplained , but " all my enemies are with him, and they will, deubtless, net be dilatery in deing me all the
1.Verelst speke ef the current rumeur in his letter te Middleton and heped there was ne truth in it,"fer it must entail, en every ene con- cemed the world*s severest censure". Middleton in his reply ef 18 Mar 1765 confirmed the ruaeur and said that " in accepting ef it} custem, the cenduct ef ene ef eur werthiest men justifies it"«Verelst,View,51 2. Clive te Carnac. Kalcelm, Clive.II,560-61. 5. ibid, 359. 4« KN f 5* Reza Khan te Johnstone,Kay 1765. PI Fourth Report,1773,p542.
6. The Nawab te Clive, recdi 12,14 ray 1765. CMC,I,2645,2646, 7. Shah Khanum te Clive.reedr18 Urv 176S«CPC,T7?6S^.
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prejudice thay can"* Te Motiram, Johnstone's Banian whe had recently lieeii given the title ef Maharaja and the Faujdari ef Hugli, the Khan observed: H The friends ef Nundceiaar rejoice at Sabut Jung's ^Clive's_7 ^arrival and say # that Mharaja will obtain Kellaat ^^hilat^and return te Moorshedabad in feur er five days'** Againv theugn the Khan was anxious himself te ge te Calcutta, the Nawab had refused permission en the plea that if he went
3 " the business ef the Nizamut weuld he interrupted",
Unaware ef the develepaents in Calcutta , Reza Khan first wrete te Spencer asking fer pretectien^and then te Clive,In his letter te Clive received en 12 May , the Khan explained his appointment and the circumstan ces which prevented his persenally paying his respects te him in Calcutta, With his letter he sent a Nazarana er effering ef eleven geld mehurs, and an agent, Mirza ] uhammad Kazim Khan, " a man ef understanding , and a
relatien and a faithful friend ", whe had been known te Clive in the DeccaS* The Khan sought Clive's permissien te ceae te Calcutta, writing five er six times. When ne reply caae the Khan sent anether agent 9 Mahasingh, an eld officer ef Alivardi and Siraj ud daulah te safeguard his interest at
Calcutta, After a long week ef suspense the Khan at last received a call from Clive te ge te Calcutta, enineusly coupled with a censure for failing te accompany the Nawab, The Khan se long anxious te ge te Calcutta new became apprehensive when the call came. Though en the way he met Senior at Kasimbazar en 14 er 15 May and was assured that nothing untoward weuld happen te him, he reached Calcutta sometime before 20 May with the
"terror and apprehension ef a man going to be delivered upte his enemies". At Calcutta the situation terrified him still further. He found that his protectors ,members ef the previous government, were themselves under censure. He found Nandkumar released, his trial stopped, the witnesses
whe had been called all the way from Patna turned back. Moreover , the Nawab 1, Reza Khan te Johnstone, May 1765* PP Fourth report, 1773# f 542,
2, Clive was always known te the Indians,except perhaps to a f*"» os Nawab Sabut Jang, (Seir, II, 306 fn.170),
3* Reza Khan te Meiiram, May 1765* PP Fourth Report, 1773» P 542© 4, Reza Khan te Johnstone, May 176% ibid,
5* ibid,| Reza Khan te Clive, reedt12, 18 May 1765(CPC,I,2644-45t2650)|Seir, III, d0 The Mirza, a Persian was a son-in-law ef Husain Reza Khan,Haji Ahaao's grandson( ibid,)
6, Reza Khan te Clive, reed: 18 May,(CPC,1,2651); MN f 152$ Senior's evidenc es (PP,Third Report,1772,p 309)$ Barwell's letter,15 Sep*65(BPP,VIII,191)
had admitted Nandkumar again te the highest confidence. The Khan somehow i felt that ail business of the moment had been taken out of his nand. Worse still, though the Khan had known that he was unwelcome to the Nawab, he now found that he had been denounced by him, jointly with Johnstone and Leycester, to the all powerful Select Committee. Najm ud daulah had
complained that w since the death of the late Nabob ^"*the KhanJ had
distributed among certain persons nearly twenty lakhs of rupees’*, and Reza »
Khan could only wait in suspense, terrified of the power of retribution of the Committee. Before the Nawab*s complaint was formally presented before the Select Committee the Khan asked to be examined. He was accordingly examined and afterwards he submitted a written statement, drawn up by a "blackman”.^ It was probably not until the arrival of Verelst from
Chittagong on 29 May that the Khan felt any relief.
The Nawab*s complaint was mainly against the treatment he had received from the members of the delegation, who had forced him to sign the new
treaty under throat of losing his Subahdarl, and had imposed Reza Khan upon him as Naib Subahdar, though he '* had long ago had evil intentions ei} the Nizamat " and had been regarded by Mir Jafar as an enemy. Najm uhiaulah was intent on the restoration of his power and the re-instatement of
Nandkumar, ** my intimate well wisher** • But to Clive and the Select Coamitt« it was the complaint that the Khan had paid twenty lakhs from the N*wab*s
1
treasury to ” such people as he thought proper1* which was important, for this was an instrument with which they were to beat down the members of the Council who had challenged their authority0Clivo had no intention of reinstating Nandkumar . He remembered his unhappy experience of him as Company*s Tahsildar in 175®» and he told Carnao plainly that ” although Nundcomar may not prove guilty of the crimes laid to his charge, yet, believe me, my dear General he will do no honour either to the Nabob or to the Company, in any great or eminent post, which he was never formed or designed for $ and I can give you unanswerable reasons against his being the principal person about the Nabeb0o*It is really shocking to see what a set of misorable *nd mean wretches Nundcomar has plaeed about him ; men
1. PP Fourth Report, 1773 PP JTik-37 : ^ ”
2© The Nawab*s complaint. BSC 1 June 17&5*
3. PP Third Report, 1773# PP 3 2 0 * 2 1 Roza Khan's statement.BSC 6 June 1765. 4« The Nawab*s complaint. BSC 1 June 1765*
that tha other day ware harsa keepers”2 Clive likewise had ne interest in restoring power ta the Nawab - as has heen seen he wauld have preferred ta see the miner Mir Saidu bn the masnad, Nar in the end was he anxious ta remove Reza Khan, Najm ud daulah's complaint that the Khan had had claims upon the masnad made him seen palitically valuable, Verelst aay have speken far him, and the Khan's timidity and intelligence, a cantrast ta the general haughtiness af the Muslin nobility, nade him seen a useful instrument, Even aare , Reza Khan's replies ta the Nawab's accusatiens drave the allegatians against the aid Ceuncil further hane9 far the Khan in his statement laid the whale blame an Jahnstane and his Banian Matiram, he declared that after Najm ud daulah was seated an the masnad the gentle men af the delegatian had sent a prepesal ta him, Reza Khanf thraugh Metiram9 later repeated by the gentlemen themselves9 that the Khan sheuld prapase ta the Nawab that naw that they had seated him an the masnad they weuld expect same reward from him as an the past eccasien. The Khanf in arder net ta affend the gentlemen, had put this ta the Nawab whe readily censented. The Nawab had asked him ta prepare a list af presents which he declined ta de9 but subsequently a list was prepared * befare the Nabab's face and given under his hand and seal ta Mr, Johnstene in the presence af all the four gentlamen"0 Three ar four days later9 the Khan added,johnstene had taken the list af prapased presents ta the Nawab and declined ta accept it if it was given unwillingly and contrary ta his inclination. The Nawab assured Jahnstane that the gifts were according ta his " awn pleasure" • Befare the payment was actually made between 12 April and 1 I ay, the Khan had taken the Nawab's written orders an the "Ferd sovaul ^~sawal_7" ar office memo asking far orders. After the Nawab had given his orders in writing, the Khan paid out Rs 8,75,000, Rs 6,25,000 in cash from the
2
treasury and Rs 2,25*000 by bills an the house af the Seths, The Khan thus disproved the Nawab*s statement that he had disbursed money without his orders) at the same time he convicted Johnstone,
It was also revealed that presents wore also taken from Reza Kh^n himself, Jahnstane, he said, sent message thraugh Matiram that as the Khan had been appointed His Excellency's Naib, it was proper that he too should make same presents. Ultimately a sum af Rs 4,75*000 had been agreed upen,ef which he paid Rs 2,25*000 mostly in bills, while the remaining Rs 2,50,000 1 .Clive te Camac, 20 K,ay 1765.1'aloela.Clive.il.358-9. 2. BSC 6 June 1765.
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remained eutstanding. A further accusation was heaped on Johnstone hy the Jagat Seth who had. also cose down to Calcutta on Clive9 s arrival. Five lakhs had heen denanded fros his , hut the Seths agreed to pay Rs 1,25,OOol (Enquiry revealed that sany of the hills were still unpaid and with Metiramc There were attespts to hand thes hack to Reza Khan through Motiras’s
servant Basant Royf hut the Khan had refused to accept then.) The result of the enquiry led the Select Cessittee to conclude that Johnstone was the principal agent and manager in obtaining and distributing the presents and that it was Motiran who had used menaces in his naster98 nase in extorting soney fros both Reza Khan and the Jagat Seth. C.S. Playdell, J. Burdett, G. Gray , they maintainedf had received Rs 50,000 each fros the Nawab " in the fu.< 1 persuation that these were free gifts to the gentlemen who then cosposed the Beard% and that J. Cartier was an absolute stranger to the arrangement and that he had not received any soney. Of the delegation only Senior besides Johnstone had received soney from Roza Khan as well as fros the Nawab and the Jagat Seth. Middleton had received presents fros the Nawab and the Jagat Seth but had intended to refuse any present fros Reza Khan and the same was true of Leycester.^(The Committee refrained to comment anything about the money which Spencer had received.)