This article considers the Clive Memorial Fund and the campaigns surrounding proposed statues to Robert Clive in London and Calcutta between 1907 and 1912. The author argues that this campaign was an attempt to glorify Clive's actions, focused on the battle of Plassey and its aftermath, as foundation stones for the Indian Empire. The statues were an anxious attempt to situate Britain as a natural part of Indian history, but the campaign instead provoked a developing Indian counternarrative around resistance to colonial rule, particularly from newspapers in Bengal. Although the fund garnered support in Britain, it was greeted in India with official irritation and widespread Indian opposition, highlighting the importance of considering imperial statues in their imperial frame. This reaction, demonizing Clive's treachery and praising his opponent, Siraj-ud-Daula, the nawab of Bengal, was indicative of the place of history in both Bengali nationalism and imperial self-identity. Using newspapers in Britain and Bengal and the correspondence of the Clive Memorial Committee, the author examines the competing narratives of history that emerged in the campaigns around the fund.

中文翻译：

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有争议的雕像：克莱夫纪念基金、帝国英雄和印度历史的重新想象

本文探讨了克莱夫纪念基金以及 1907 年至 1912 年间在伦敦和加尔各答围绕罗伯特·克莱夫雕像提议开展的活动。作者认为，这次活动是为了美化克莱夫的行为，重点关注普拉西战役及其后果，因为印度帝国的基石。这些雕像是一种急切的尝试，旨在将英国定位为印度历史的自然组成部分，但这场运动反而激起了印度围绕反抗殖民统治的反叙事，尤其是来自孟加拉报纸的反叙事。尽管该基金在英国获得了支持，但在印度却遭到了官方的愤怒和印度的广泛反对，这突显了在帝国框架中考虑帝国雕像的重要性。这种反应妖魔化了克莱夫的背叛，并赞扬了他的对手、孟加拉的纳瓦布西拉吉·乌德·道拉，这表明了历史在孟加拉民族主义和帝国自我认同中的地位。作者利用英国和孟加拉的报纸以及克莱夫纪念委员会的信件，研究了围绕该基金的竞选活动中出现的相互竞争的历史叙述。