Editing Robert Clive (section)

==Criticism==
Clive's actions in India have been criticised by modern historians, particularly his economic management  which contributed to the [[Great Bengal famine of 1770|Bengal Famine of 1770]], which killed between one and ten million people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Datta|first=Rajat|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44927255|title=Society, economy, and the market : commercialization in rural Bengal, c. 1760-1800|date=2000|publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors|isbn=81-7304-341-8|location=New Delhi|pages=262, 266|oclc=44927255}}</ref> Changes caused by Clive to the Indian revenue system and agricultural practices, designed to maximize profits for the East India Company, increased poverty in [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dalrymple |first=William |date=4 March 2015 |title=The East India Company: The original corporate raiders |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/04/east-india-company-original-corporate-raiders |access-date=6 June 2015}}</ref> Clive himself commented on the poor conditions of Bengal under Company rule,

<blockquote> I shall only say that such a scene of anarchy, confusion, bribery, corruption, and extortion was never seen or heard of in any country but Bengal; nor did such and so many fortunes acquire in so unjust and rapacious a manner. The three provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa producing a clear revenue of £3 million sterling, have been under the absolute management of the company's servants, ever since [[Mir Jafar]]'s restoration to the subahship; and they have, both civil and military, exacted and levied contributions from every man of power and consequence, from the Nawab down to the lowest zamindar. </blockquote>

In January 2021, the private school that Clive attended, [[Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood|Merchant Taylors' School]], renamed Clive House to "Raphael House" (after the sportsman  [[John Raphael (sportsman)|John Edward Raphael]]).<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/09/clive-indias-named-dropped-house-former-school-links-british/ | title=Clive of India's name dropped from house at his former school over links to British Empire | newspaper=The Telegraph | date=9 January 2021 | last1=Simpson | first1=Craig }}</ref> Petitions have called for removal of a statue of Clive from The Square in Shrewsbury.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-06-09|title=Thousands call for Shrewsbury's Clive of India statue to go|language=en-GB|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-52965220|access-date=2020-09-22}}</ref> No more than 20,000 signatures supported such a move, and on 16 July 2020 [[Shropshire Council]] voted 28–17 to retain the statue.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Humphreys|first=Nick|title=Clive of India statue to remain in Shrewsbury after council vote|url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/shrewsbury/2020/07/16/clive-of-india-statue-to-remain-in-shrewsbury-after-council-vote/|access-date=2020-09-22|website=shropshirestar.com|date=16 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref> A similar petition for removal of Clive's statue from outside the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] in [[Whitehall]], accrued some 80,000 signatures.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Nayar |first=Mandira |date=23 August 2020 |title=Thug of Hindustan |url=https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2020/08/13/thug-of-hindustan.html |magazine=The Week}}</ref>

In light of criticism of Clive's legacy, in 2020 [[Haberdashers' Adams]] school in [[Newport, Shropshire]] announced that Clive House was to be renamed "Owen House" (after the Shropshire poet [[Wilfred Owen]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Our Houses |url=https://www.adamsgs.uk/school-life/our-houses/ |website=Haberdashers' Adams|date=8 July 2023 }}</ref>