The French still defeating the English

The French were the epitome of imperialistic power in the world, however, the British clearly won over the French wiping out their existence. Though French had their taste of winnings in the first battle of Carnatic and continued to do so at the beginning of the second until an ordinary clerk showed up from the side of British...

The fight between the French and the English in the region of Carnatic; Image source:

Carnatic was the region south of Hyderabad (in between the Eastern Ghats and Bay of Bengal region). It was a separate territory. However, instead of being fully independent, it was more of a semi-independent state and a lot of the work was done under the Nawab of Hyderabad. It is in this place where the French and English fought three battles known as the Anglo-French Wars or the Carnatic Wars.

We saw in the last story how the English were badly defeated by the French in the First Battle of Carnatic. We also saw how the war of succession in Austria led to the fight between Britain and France as they chose different sides. Similarly, in India too after the death of Asaf Jah, the Nawab of Hyderabad two claimants emerged- Nasir Jung and Muzaffar Jung.

Muzaffar Jung was the maternal grandson of Asaf Jah and Nasir Jung was the son of Asaf Jah. Because Nasir Jung had once tried to kill his father, he crowned his grandson as his heir. However, Nasir Jung refused to give up the throne. He went to the British for help. British supported his claim and the French on the other hand supported the claims of Muzaffar Jung.

Anwaruddin, the Nawab of Carnatic, too supported Nasir Jung and joined hands with the British. On another side, Chanda Saheb, who claimed the title of Nawab of Carnatic was his, joined the forces of the French. To sum up it was: French, Muzaffar Jung (fighting for the seat of Hyderbad throne) and Chanda Saheb (fighting for the seat of Carnatic throne) versus the British, Nasir Jung (fighting for the seat of Hyderbad throne) and Anwaruddin (current ruler of Carnatic).

The French team began marching towards Arcot, the capital of Carnatic. Anwaruddin decided to cut them off before they could reach Arcot at Ambur. At Ambur a bloody, dangerous battle took place where Anwaruddin was killed. With Anwaruddin out of the picture, Chanda Saheb has crowned the Nawab of Carnatic. Since it was because of the help of the French he gave them 80 villages around Pondicherry.

It was a French one, British zero.

The British assured Anwaruddin’s very young son ‘Wallahjah’ that they would have their revenge for their father’s death and would crown him the Nawab of Carnatic. This followed the two battles of Tiruvadi in 1750 between the French and British, where the French again were victorious. British were completely in despair with their continuous losses.

The young Wallahjah was so scared that he ran away to the Fort of Gingee. Gingee was a place near Arcot however, it was no ordinary fort. The fort had the title of being ‘impregnable.’ The fort was spread over 3 hills with 13 km high walls. Even Aurangzeb with his huge army took 8 years to capture this fort. On 11th September 1750, the French surrounded the fort. Because of the military planning and strategy of the clever French governor Dupleix they were able to besiege the impregnable fort in mere a night.

The British and Nasir Jung came in support of Wallahjah and this initiated the battle of Gingee and with the French were the clear victor time and again. Not only this, the French had already befriended a person who was close to Nasir Jung and the result was that in December 1750, Nasir Jung was killed at the hands of someone close to him. With Nasir Jung no longer in the picture, the French supported Muzaffar Jung became the Nawab of Hyderabad.

The score was now: French two British zero.

Muzaffar Jung gave immense wealth to the French troops. He personally awarded even more wealth to Dupleix and gave him jagirs. The French were given territories around Pondicherry which included Mausipatnam. However, Muzaffar Jung died in a battle against the Afghans two years later. The French made Salabat Jung the next ruler who granted them even more wealth. The goddess of money was smiling for the French!

The French were at the peak of their power. However, Dupleix was worried about the fact that they were not able to kill Wallahjab during their siege of the Gingee fort (because of whom they actually the battle). When he found that he was at Trichinopoly Fort with the British, the French with Chanda Saheb attacked the fort. The British with Wallahajb were stuck in the fort with the French surrounding them. However, one young clerk managed to getaway.

A clerk in his early twenties with fire in his heart was going to turn the course of French victories and British defeats for this man was Robert Clive, the founder of the British rule in India.

Cleverly managing to flee away from the French, how will Robert Clive save his men stuck at Trichinopoly? For finding out stay tuned for the next chapter- The Siege of Arcot.

Robert Clive fled from the French to ask for British at Fort St David for help. (Image only for representational purposes); Image source: Tumblr