Nawab Muhammad Ali and the Siege of Arcot (1751)

Summary

Challenging the common belief that Robert Clive conceived the plan to attack Arcot during the 1751 siege of Trichinopoly, C.S. Srinivasachari re‑examines English and indigenous records to reveal Nawab Muhammad Ali’s role in the operation. He notes that historian Robert Orme credited Clive with proposing a diversionary attack on Arcot to force Chanda Sahib to raise his siege of Trichinopoly, but contemporary records show that Muhammad Ali had repeatedly urged such a plan on the English. The Nawab, son of the murdered Anwaruddin Khan, wrote to Governor Saunders emphasising that attacking Arcot would compel the enemy to send part of their army north. Saunders initially hesitated because the Nawab’s forces lacked cavalry and supplies, but after repeated petitions he authorised Clive’s expedition. The article narrates the ensuing campaign: Clive captured Arcot’s fort in August 1751, endured a two‑month siege led by Raza Sahib and repelled multiple assaults. After the relief of Trichinopoly, Clive’s possession of Arcot forced the enemy to withdraw. Srinivasachari concludes that Muhammad Ali’s persistent appeals were crucial in persuading the British to undertake the campaign and that Clive’s success owed much to the Nawab’s strategic insight. By restoring credit to Muhammad Ali, the article revises the narrative of this decisive episode in the Carnatic Wars.