Famous Freemasons: Clive of India

Clive’s Turtle
23 Mar 2006, Kolkata (Calcutta)
A giant aldabra tortoise thought to be around 250 years old has died in the Kolkata zoo of liver failure.
Local authorities say the tortoise, named Addwaitya (meaning the "The One and Only" in Bengali) was believed to be the oldest tortoise in the world.
"Historical records show he was a pet of British general Robert Clive of the East India Company and had spent several years in his estate before he was brought to the zoo about 130 years ago," West Bengal Forest Minister Jogesh Barman said. The minister said details about Addwaitya's early life showed that British sailors had brought him from the Seychelles islands and had presented him to Clive.

Brother Robert Clive 1725-1774
Clive engineered British rule in India, fighting several key battles with the French for control of trade in the sub-continent. His legacy was immense. Clive had almost single-handedly secured the beginning of the British Empire, and brought about the unique mix between British and Indian cultures that still exists today. Control of India - and it was Clive who was responsible for forcing the French out of the subcontinent - paved the way for Britain to develop the financial resources necessary for the Industrial Revolution and to become the major world power for more than 150 years.

Clive accepting the surrender of Indian forces

Lots more on Clive:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Clive

Lodge of Rock No. 260 EC, Kolkata.
The history of Lodge of Rock is the history of Freemasonry in South India. The Lodge of Rock is the second oldest Freemasonry Lodge in India and is now one of the few lodges in the country still functioning under the English Constitution (EC).
The first Masonic Lodge in India was started in Kolkata in 1728, and the Lodge of Rock came into being in 1765. Many great men were members like Robert Clive; His Highness Umdat-Ul-Umrah Bahadur, Nawab of Carnatic; and Prince BR Thondiman Sahib.

Office-bearers have meticulously maintained the records of the Lodge's activities and attest that Robert Clive donated the Master’s chair to the Lodge, and it is still in regular use.
The Nawab of Carnatic was the first Indian to be initiated into this Lodge on 5 February 1777, when Surgeon Terence Gahagan was the Master. In 1847, Major William Pitt Mac Donald (later to become the District Grand Master of Madras) was inducted into Lodge of Rock. Previously only the British were elected as the Masters of this Lodge. Prince BR Thondiman was the first Indian to be installed as Master, in 1895. Regular meetings were held in the Clive’s Hotel in Nandikoil Street, until 1902, when the building known as `Temperance Hall' was purchased to house the Lodge. It was consecrated by the District Grand Master, Lord Ampthill, then Governor of Madras.

In 1928 a deputation from the United Grand Lodge of England visited, and presented two ashlars hewn from King Solomon's quarry.
In 1961 Indian Constitution Freemasonry was introduced, and most lodges converted. Three new Lodges were founded in Kolkata under the Indian Constitution - Lodge of Trinity, Lodge of Trichinopoly and Lodge Padmagiri. The Lodge of the Rock with its long and illustrious Masonic history dating from Robert Clive decided to remain under the English Constitution.