Carnatic Wars

The Carnatic Wars were a sequence of military confrontations in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State, in the middle of the 18th century. Between 1746 and 1763, three Carnatic Wars were fought. Several nominally independent kings and their vassals were involved in the conflicts, including disputes for succession and territory and a diplomatic and military rivalry between the French East India Company and the British East India Company. They were mostly fought within Mughal India's borders, with the help of several fractured polities loyal to the "Great Moghul." The British East India Company developed its dominance among the European commercial companies in India due to these military battles. The French company was cornered and restricted to Pondichéry for the most part. The British Company finally took control of most of India due to the East India Company's dominance, and the British Raj was established.

Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor, died in 1707. He was succeeded by Bahadur Shah I, although the empire's central control deteriorated under the reigns of Jahandar Shah and subsequent kings. Hyderabad was founded as an independent monarchy by Nizam-ul-Mulk. Following his death, a power battle erupted between his son, Nasir Jung, and his grandson, Muzaffar Jung, which drew in international forces looking to increase their influence. Muzaffar Jung was aided by France, whereas the United Kingdom aided Nasir Jung. Several former Mughal regions, such as the Carnatic, which Nawab Dost Ali Khan controlled despite being under the legal jurisdiction of the Nizam of Hyderabad, remained autonomous. The Nawab's affairs were rapidly entwined with French and British help. After Dost Ali died, a power struggle erupted between his son-in-law Chanda Sahib, backed by the French, and Muhammad Ali, backed by the British.

Joseph François Dupleix, a Frenchman, arrived in India in 1715 and rose to become the French East India Company governor in 1742, was a main instigator of the Carnatic Wars. Dupleix aimed to strengthen French influence in India, which had previously been limited to a few trading outposts, the most important of which was Pondicherry on the Coromandel Coast. He recruited Indian recruits under French officers for the first time upon his arrival in India, and he participated in intrigues with local kings to strengthen French authority. However, he was greeted by Robert Clive, a young British Army commander who was equally tough and ambitious. "The Succession Austrian War in 1740, and afterwards the war in 1756, triggered a struggle in India and British losses during the American War of Independence (1775–1783) in the 1770s influenced developments in India."

The War of the Austrian Succession erupted throughout Europe in 1740. In 1744, France and its allies drew Great Britain into the conflict. While their parent countries were deadly adversaries on the European continent, their trading firms maintained friendly relations in India. "The English and the French had such close relations that the French sent their goods and commerce from Pondicherry to Madras for safe custody," Dodwell says. Even though French firm executives were told to avoid conflict, British authorities were not, and they were also informed that a Royal Navy fleet was on its way.

Following the British loss of a few French commercial ships, the French requested reinforcements from as far away as Isle de France (now Mauritius), signalling the start of a naval escalation in the area. The British navy retired to Bengal after a stalemate between French commander La Bourdonnais and British Admiral Edward Peyton off Negapatam in July 1746. The French conquered the British stronghold at Madras on September 21, 1746. After the capture, La Bourdonnais vowed to return Madras to the British, but Dupleix reneged on his promise, preferring to transfer Madras to Anwar-ud-din. The Nawab then dispatched a 10,000-man army to retake Madras from the French but was soundly defeated in the Battle of Adyar by a small French force. The French then attempted numerous times to conquer British Fort St. David at Cuddalore, but reinforcements arrived in time, halting the attacks and eventually turning the tables on the French. In the late months of 1748, British Admiral Edward Boscawen besieged Pondicherry, but the siege was relieved when the monsoon rains arrived in October. The First Carnatic War ended with the end of the War of Austrian Succession in Europe. Madras was returned to the British at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) in exchange for the French bastion of Louisbourg in North America, which the British had seized. In India, the conflict is remembered mostly as the first military experience of Robert Clive. He was taken prisoner at Madras but managed to escape and defend Cuddalore and participate in the siege of Pondicherry. The French maintained their status as protectors of Hyderabad's nizams.

• Although France, aware of its inferior position in India, did not want hostilities to be extended to India, the English navy, led by Commodore Curtis Bennett, seized certain French ships to antagonize France.
  • The Marquis Joseph-François Dupleix, the French Governor-General, appealed to Anwar-ud-Din, the Nawab of Carnatic, for assistance. He warned the British that his province was neutral territory no attack on French territories would be tolerated.
• In 1746, France replied by capturing Madras with the assistance of a squadron from Mauritius, the French island of Mauritius, led by Admiral La Bourdonnais, the French governor of Mauritius.
  • The conquest of Madras sparked a bitter feud between Dupleix and the Bourdonnais.
    • Dupleix sought to give the town to the Nawab as retribution for disobeying the Nawab's neutrality proclamation, while La Bourdonnais wished to reclaim the town from the British.
  • After the dispute continued into October, Anwar-ud-Din decided to step in. He sent 10,000 troops to Madras, led by his son Mahfuzz Khan, to besiege the French.

• At St.Thome, which is located on the banks of the River Adyar, a small French army led by Captain Paradise beat a large Indian army led by Mahfuz Khan.
• The Treaty of Aix-La Chapelle, which brought the Austrian War of Succession to an end, ended the First Carnatic War in 1748.
  • Madras was returned to the English under the provisions of this treaty, while the French received their colonies in North America in exchange.c

• The Europeans in India learned a valuable lesson from the war: even a small, disciplined army could easily beat a much bigger Indian army.
• Furthermore, the importance of naval might in the Anglo-French fight in the Deccan was amply demonstrated by this war.

Despite the absence of a state of war in Europe, the proxy war in India continued. Nasir Jung, the Nizam, and his protege Muhammad Ali, backed by the British, faced out against Chanda Sahib and Muzaffar Jung, who was backed by the French, for the title of Nawab of Arcot. Muzaffar Jung and Chanda Sahib were able to seize Arcot, and Muzaffar Jung assumed control of Hyderabad after Nasir Jung's death. Muzaffar's reign was cut short when he was assassinated, and Salabat Jung succeeded him as Nizam. However, in 1751, British troops commanded by Robert Clive captured and successfully defended Arcot. The Treaty of Pondicherry, which recognized Muhammad Ali Khan Walajah as the Nawab of the Carnatic, ended the conflict in 1754. Dupleix, who died in poverty in France, was replaced by Charles Godeheu.

• The death of Nizam-ul-Mulk, the founder of the independent kingdom of Hyderabad, in 1748, and the release by the Marathas of Chanda Sahib, the son-in-law of Dost Ali, the Nawab of Carnatic, in the same year offered the chance.
• The accession of Nasir Jang, the Nizam's son, to the throne of Hyderabad was disputed by Muzaffar Jang, the Nawab's grandson, who claimed the crown by claiming the Mughal Emperor had chosen him as the governor of Hyderabad.
• Two contenders for the Nawabship of the Carnatic, a subsidiary seat formally dependent on the Nizam, ran further south.
• After Nizam-ul-Mulk was obliged to interfere to restore order in the region, Anwar-ud-Din was made Nawab of the Carnatic in 1743.
  • One of the Nizam's officers was Anwar-ud-Din.
  • Chanda Sahib objected to Anwar-ud-appointment. Din's
  • Chanda Sahib was the son-in-law of Dost Ali, a former Nawab of the Carnatic (1732-39).
    • Before being besieged by the Marathas at Trichinopoly in 1741, he had been an effective French friend.
• The French-backed Muzaffar Jang and Chanda Sahib in the Deccan and Carnatic, respectively, while the English backed Nasir Jang and Anwar-ud-din in the Deccan.
• At the Battle of Ambur, located near Vellore in 1749, Muzaffar Jang, Chanda Sahib, and the French defeated and killed Anwar-ud-din. Early in the fight, the Nawab was killed, leaving his son Mohammed Ali to take the throne.
• Muzaffar Jang was made Nizam of Hyderabad and Deccan Subahdar, and Dupleix was made governor of all Mughal lands south of the Krishna River. The French were given territory surrounding Pondicherry and several areas along the Orissa Coast (including Masulipatnam). Muzaffar Jung, however, was assassinated a few months later, and Muzaffar's uncle Salabat Jung was installed as the new Nizam by the French.
• After failing to provide meaningful support to Muhammad Ali at Trichinopoly, the English company's Robert Clive (the first British governor of the Bengal Presidency) proposed a diversionary attack against Madras Governor Saunders. He proposed a surprise attack on Arcot (the Carnatic capital) to draw attention away from the British victory at Trichinopoly. After several fights, Muhammad Ali, ultimately established as the Nawab of Carnatic, executed Chanda Sahib.

• Enraged by Dupleix's policy's massive financial losses, the French authorities resolved to recall him in 1754.
• As the French Governor-General in India, Charles Robert Godeheu succeeded Dupleix.
• Godeheu pursued a policy of conciliation with the English, signing the Treaty of Pondicherry with them, in which the English and French promised not to intervene in native princes' quarrels.
  • Furthermore, each party was left in control of the territory that they had occupied at the time of the pact.

• It became clear that Indian authority's approval was no longer required for European success; rather, Indian authority was growing increasingly reliant on European backing.
• Salabat Jang in Hyderabad and Muhammad Ali in the Carnatic became clients rather than patrons.

When the Seven (7) Years of War broke out in Europe in 1756, it reignited fighting between French and British armies in India. The Fench was having financial difficulties at the time. In 1757, British forces took the French settlement of Chandernagore (now Chandannagar) in Bengal, extending the Third Carnatic War into southern India. The war, however, was won in the south, where the British successfully defended Madras, and Sir Eyre Coote decisively defeated the French, led by the Comte de Lally, at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760. Pondicherry, the French capital, fell to the British in 1761 after Wandiwash. The Treaty of Paris, which returned Chandernagore and Pondichéry to France and permitted the French to have "factories" (trading posts) in India but prohibited French traders from controlling them, ended the war in 1763. The French decided to assist British client governments, thereby stopping French plans for an Indian empire and establishing the British as India's major foreign power.

• The French army conquered the English forts of St. David and Vizianagaram under the command of Count Thomas Arthur de Lally in 1758.
• At Masulipatnam, the English went on the attack, inflicting significant damage on Admiral D'Ache's French fleet.

• On January 22, 1760, the English won the final battle of the Third Carnatic War at Wandiwash (or Vandavasi) in Tamil Nadu.
  • The English army of General Eyre Coote routed the French army of Count de Lally and captured Marquis de Bussy.
• Lally bravely fought Pondicherry for eight months before surrendering on January 16, 1761.
  • The French dominance in India was brought to its nadir with the fall of Pondicherry, Gingee, and Mahe.
• Lally returned to France after being taken as a prisoner of war in London, where he was imprisoned and executed in 1766.

• The Third Carnatic War was a decisive victory.
• The Treaty of Paris (1763) brought an end to the third war, allowing Pondicherry and Chandannagar to be ceded to France but solely for commerce purposes.
  • Even though the treaty restored the French factories in India, French political power in India faded after the war.
• Following that, the French in India, like their Portuguese and Dutch counterparts, restricted themselves to small enclaves and commerce.
• In the Indian subcontinent, the English became the dominant European power.