BRITISH RrT.E 0757-1. Great jealousy ex isted between the English and the French. The war for ascendency began in 1745, and did not end until the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 174s. (See DueLEtx.) The struggle in the Carnatic con tinned with ardor tinder the pretext of support ing the claims of rival native princes to sover eignty. Clive (q.v.), one of the most famous per sons in Anglo-Indian history, turned the contest in favor of the English. llis memorable defense of Arcot in 1751 broke the spell of French invincibil ity. Five years afterwards, however, Siraj•ud Dania, Nawab or Governor of Bengal, attacked and captured Calcutta. The English prisoners, 146 in number, mere confined in the small mili tary prison known as the Itlack 1101e, and only •3 survived till morning. (live quickly took eu.,Ininand of an expedition fitted out at -Madras. recovered Calcutta (1757). and. assisted by Ad miral] \Vattson, prosecuted the war vigorously. till, after a hollow peac• and a renewal of hostilities. he thoroughly defeated Sirajoid-Daula in the battle of Plassy, dune 23, 1757. This victory gate the English the provinces of Ben gal and Behar, and from this year is dated by the English themselves the foundation of their Empire in India. From ARr .tafar, whom the East India Company appointed to succeed the defeated Nawah, they exacted vast sums of money. 'nilc government of an empire by a com mercial corporation was a strange political ex periment. Naturally the members hail no thought of administering affairs for the benefit of their subjeets, or even of far-reaching improve ments in their own interest, but were guided throughout by the narrowest and most sordid selfishness. After the victory of the English at Baxar in 176 t. over the united forces of Shilja lid-Dania. Sawa]) of Ouulli. and the iNlogul Emperor (Shah Alain). the latter asked prote• tion of the English. lle confirmed the Com pany in its possessions and granted it the eollec torate (dit•u)ni) of Bengal, Behar. and Orissa, on condition of receiving the sum of £300.000 as tribute to himself from Bengal. and £600.000 as an annual allowance to his Nawab. These enor mous grants were soon cut down by Clive. and •eri• eventually repudiated by the Company, which also failed to fulfill other engagements which it had entered into with Shah Alain. On
the other hand. the cost to the Company of main taining its authority and standing army pre vented it from undertaking public works and from developing the resources of the country. Clive purged the Indian Government of oppres sion, extortion, and corruption: from the work he did during his last visit (1765-671 began a purer administration of the British Empire in the East. The Begulating Act. passed in 1773. sub stituted a new council of four at Calcutta in place of the far larger council which had hitherto managed affairs for the Company. The new body was to assist and check the Governor-General, instituted in the same year. It was also given a limited control of the actions of the :Madras and Boinliay presidencies. and was thus made the political head of the British possessions. To Warren Ilastings (q.v.). the first Governor-Gen eral (1774-851. the new couneil was exceedingly hostile. llastings, con his part, used unseru milotis means of replenishing the Company's ex chequer, but by his talent and energy lie averted dangers which threatened the British supremacy in India. The powerful 31lissillinan sovereigns. liyder (lIaidar) Ali, ruler of Mysore, and the Nizam of the Deccan, assisted by French officers. combined with the 1\lahrattas against the English. Sir Eyre Conte broke up the confederacy. and defeated 'nyder Ali in 1751. Next year the Supreme Court of Jus tin, which had always harassed the Governor General, was deprived of its independent powers, and the policy of Hastings was successful, both in the council and in the field. In 1734 Pitt instituted the Board of Control under a Cabinet Minister. By this act the English Gov ernment hermit to deprive the Company of its monopoly of political power in India. Lord Cornwallis (q.v.), who succeeded Ilastin,gs in 1786, was both GovernorAfeneral and commander in-chief. To check the corruption of the English revenue officials, he made the zemindars (native collectors of revenue) proprietors of their dis tricts on condition of paying a fixed annual sum to the Company. He also improved the judicial administration by forbidding a revenue official to act as a judge. These were his chief reforms.