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- The artist Benjamin West created this painting in 1765.
- It shows General Robert Clive receiving the diwani of Bengal - the
right to collect the land revenue on behalf of the Company from the
Mughal Emperor.
- The Mughals had ruled India for centuries, but by the later 1700s
Mughal rule was in decline.
- Robert Clive was a highly successful soldier who made his name in
the Seven Years War fighting against the French in India. He went on
to be Governor of Bengal twice and made himself a huge personal fortune.
He was charged with corruption in 1772 but was cleared.
- After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British East India Company
took control of Bengal. After this the nawabs (Muslim rulers or princes)
of Bengal were little more than puppets.
- Their final humiliation came in 1765 when the Mughal Emperor
Shah Alam granted the diwani of Bengal - the right to collect the land
revenue - to the East India Company. From then on, the diwani became
the main source of British revenue from India.
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