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It’s the 1740s in Hindustan. The Portuguese and the Dutch have lost their significance in the Indian subcontinent. The Mughal Empire is on the verge of declining and the French and the British now appear as the next potential powers to rule over the land of Hindustan. But before this factor could play out, the Anglo-French conflict in Europe provided an early impetus for a full-fledged battle between the French and the British in India. Who will prevail and who will lose? Let’s find out.
The Establishment of the British Empire pt.2
Beginning from the late 15th century, the land of Hindustan became a newfound obsession for the traders and merchants of Europe, resulting in strong competition and rivalry. Initially, it was the Portuguese, under their visionary leader Vasco da Gama, who first made their appearance in the Indian subcontinent. Later, the Dutch, the French, and the English, driven by jealousy and curiosity, followed closely after.
By 1740, the Portuguese and the Dutch powers had lost their hold over their territories in the country. This left the French and the British to settle their scores with each other and decide which power was worthy enough to rule over the subcontinent. While the actual confrontation was actually predicted to take place sometime after the decline of the Mughal Empire, several factors pre-poned the event.
The war between the French and the British in India mirrored the traditional rivalry between the two nations in Europe.
The war of Austrian Succession in 1740, involved all the major European powers, including France and England, that found themselves on opposing sides. The British initially stayed out of the war but in 1744, they sided with the Austrian forces.
However, in India, the French and the British trading companies decided to opt for peace despite the hostilities that had emerged back home.
Both the trading companies made appeals to their respective home governments to leave them out of the war. The French government complied, perhaps because they realized that they had a weaker claim over India when compared to the British. However, the British government refused to strike a truce with France and instead dispatched a naval fleet under Commodore Curtis Barnett to confront the French.
The British ships in 1745 managed to destroy some French ships, which provoked Dupleix, the governor of the French company. Determined to fight the British in the open field, Dupleix sought the support of La Bourdonnais, the commander of the French naval fleet in Mauritius. In 1746, the French navy under Bourdonnais seized Madras, one of the three major presidencies of the British.
However, Bourdonnais refused to hand Madras to Dupleix and instead struck a deal with the British. After all, everything is fair in love and warfare and that includes betrayal!
Bourdonnais claimed sixty thousand rupees as a bribe from the English governor and left Madras. Feeling insulted, Dupleix attacked Madras again and captured it. Now the British were left feeling helpless. So they turned to the Nawab Anwar-ud-din, the ruler of Carnatic, for protection.
It is important to note that until 1756, the British and French were largely confined to the South, as the north was ruled by the Mughal empire. So the center of rivalry was Carnatic, the region of the Coromandel coast and its hinterland.
The Nawab of Bengal had earlier sought a bargain with Dupleix, demanding a ransom for breaking his neutrality stance in the war. However, when Dupleix failed to keep the end of his bargain, it was now Anwar-ud-din’s turn to feel betrayed.
The bitter taste of betrayal compelled the Nawab to seek revenge and therefore he sent a large troop to meet the French contingent at St Thome, on the banks of the river Ayar. This was crucial because the Battle of St. Thome revealed the vast differences between the military strategies of the Nawab and the French army. Despite being a small unit, the French managed to overpower the Nawab’s large army.
Following this, both the French and the English tried capturing each other’s seat of power but failed. In August 1748, in the lack of a decisive victory, both England and France entered into a peace settlement.
Simultaneously in Europe, the war of Austrian Succession ended, resulting in the treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle.
As terms of the treaty, Madras was given back to the English while the English gave a territory in America back to France.
Although the First Carnatic War ended, the rivalry of the British and the French was yet to be resolved. We can already guess who would emerge victorious in the end, but how many of us know the events leading to that? Let’s find that out in the coming days.
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