Roger Drake was an administrator of the English East India Company

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

. He served as President of Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

 in the mid-eighteenth century. He abandoned Fort William in Calcutta as it was under attack by Siraj Ud Daulah. The people who remained behind in the Fort were then thrown into the Black Hole of Calcutta. Drake survived to return to England. He was succeeded by Robert Clive

Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive

Major-General Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, KB , also known as Clive of India, was a British officer who established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company in Bengal. He is credited with securing India, and the wealth that followed, for the British crown...

 who was to transform the fortunes of the company after the Battle of Plassey

Battle of Plassey

The Battle of Plassey , 23 June 1757, was a decisive British East India Company victory over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies, establishing Company rule in South Asia which expanded over much of the Indies for the next hundred years...

 and firmly establish Company rule in India

Company rule in India

Company rule in India refers to the rule or dominion of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent...

.