https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Carnatic_WarsCarnatic Wars - Revision history2026-07-30T18:06:56ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Carnatic_Wars&diff=397026&oldid=prevWikiDwarfBOT at 02:42, 22 July 20232023-07-22T02:42:01Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|18th century wars between the French and the British}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}<br />
{{Infobox military conflict<br />
| conflict = Carnatic Wars<br />
| partof = the [[Anglo-French Wars]] and the [[Anglo-Indian Wars]]<br />
| image = Clive.jpg<br />
| image_size = 300px<br />
| caption = ''Lord Robert Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the [[Battle of Plassey]]'', oil on canvas ([[Francis Hayman]], c. 1762)<br />
| alt = An oil-on-canvas painting depicting the meeting of Mir Jafar and Robert Clive after the Battle of Plassey by Francis Hayman<br />
| date = 1744–1763<br />
| place = [[Carnatic region]], [[South India]]<br />
| result = British victory<br />
| combatant1 = {{flagicon image|Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|border=no}} [[Mughal Empire]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-08AAAAIAAJ|title=The Cambridge History of the British Empire|access-date=16 December 2014|date=1929|page=126|last1=Benians |first1=Ernest Alfred |last2=Newton |first2=Arthur Percival |last3=Rose |first3=John Holland }}</ref><br />
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the State of Hyderabad (18th century-1900).svg|border=no}} [[Nizam of Hyderabad]]<br />
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Nawab.svg}} [[Nawab of Carnatic]]<br />
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} [[Nawab of Bengal]]<br />
| combatant2 = {{flag|Kingdom of France}}<br />
* {{flagicon image|Drapeau du régiment de la Compagnie des Indes en 1756.png}} [[French East India Company]]<br />
| combatant3 = {{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}}<br />
* {{flag|East India Company|1707|name=English East India Company}}<br />
| commander1 = {{ubl|{{flagicon image|Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|border=no}} [[Nasir Jang Mir Ahmad|Nasir Jung]] {{KIA}}|{{flagicon image|Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|border=no}} [[Muzaffar Jung]] {{KIA}}|{{flagicon image|Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|border=no}} [[Chanda Sahib]] {{KIA}}|{{flagicon image|Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|border=no}} [[Salabat Jung]]{{Executed}}}}<br />
| commander2 = {{ubl|{{flagicon|Kingdom of France}} [[Joseph François Dupleix|Dupleix]]|{{flagicon|Kingdom of France}} [[Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally|Comte de Lally]]|{{flagicon|Kingdom of France}} [[Charles Godeheu|Godeheu]]}}<br />
| commander3 = {{ubl|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Robert Clive]]|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[Eyre Coote (East India Company officer)|Eyre Coote]]}}<br />
| strength1 =<br />
| strength2 =<br />
| strengt3h =<br />
| casualties1 =<br />
| casualties2 =<br />
| casualties3 =<br />
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox First Carnatic War}}<br />
{{Campaignbox Second Carnatic War}}<br />
{{Campaignbox Seven Years' War: East Indies}}<br />
{{Campaignbox Seven Years' War}}<br />
{{Campaignbox Anglo-French wars}}<br />
}}<br />
The '''Carnatic Wars''' were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal [[Carnatic region]], a dependency of [[Hyderabad State]], [[India]]. Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1744 and 1763.<br />
<br />
The conflicts involved numerous nominally independent rulers and their vassals, struggles for succession and territory; and included a diplomatic and military struggle between the [[French East India Company]] and the British [[East India Company]]. They were mainly fought within the territories of [[Mughal India]] with the assistance of various fragmented polities loyal to the "Great Moghul".<br />
<br />
As a result of these military contests, the British East India Company established its dominance among the European trading companies within India. The French company was pushed to a corner and was confined primarily to [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]]. The East India Company's dominance eventually led to control by the British Company over most of India and eventually to the establishment of the [[British Raj]].<br />
<br />
==Background==<br />
{{see also|Siege of Trichinopoly (1743)}}<br />
[[File:CarnaticRegion.jpg|thumb|left|Showing the Carnatic Region of what is now [[India]].]]<br />
The [[Mughal tribe|Mughal]] Emperor [[Aurangzeb]] died in 1707. He was succeeded by [[Bahadur Shah I]], but there was a general decline in central control over the empire during the tenure of [[Jahandar Shah]] and later emperors. [[Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asif Jah I|Nizam-ul-Mulk]] established Hyderabad as an independent kingdom. A power struggle ensued after his death between his son, [[Nasir Jang Mir Ahmad|Nasir Jung]], and his grandson, [[Muhyi ad-Din Muzaffar Jang Hidayat|Muzaffar Jung]], which soon involved foreign powers eager to expand their influence. France aided Muzaffar Jung while Britain aided Nasir Jung. Several erstwhile Mughal territories were autonomous such as the Carnatic, ruled by [[Nawab]] [[Dost Ali Khan]], despite being under the legal purview of the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]]. French and British support soon became intertwined with the affairs of the Nawab. Dost Ali's death sparked a power struggle between his son-in-law [[Chanda Sahib]], supported by the French, and [[Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah|Muhammad Ali]], supported by the British.<ref name=Naravane>{{Cite book |last=Naravane |first=M.S. |title=Battles of the Honorourable East India Company |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |year=2014 |isbn=9788131300343 |pages=150–159}}</ref><br />
<br />
One major instigator of the Carnatic Wars was the Frenchman [[Joseph François Dupleix]], who arrived in India in 1715, rising to become the French East India Company's governor in 1742. Dupleix sought to expand French influence in India, which was limited to a few trading outposts, the chief one being [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]] on the [[Coromandel Coast]]. Immediately upon his arrival in India, he organized Indian recruits under French officers for the first time, and engaged in intrigues with local rulers to expand French influence. However, he was met by the equally challenging and determined young officer from the British Army, [[Robert Clive]].<br />
<br />
"The Austrian War of Succession in 1740 and later the war in 1756 automatically led to a conflict in India...and British reverses during the American War of Independence (1775–1783) in the 1770s had an impact on events in India."<ref name=Naravane/><br />
<br />
==Wars==<br />
===First Carnatic War (1744–1748)===<br />
{{main|First Carnatic War}}<br />
[[File:Dupleix meeting the Soudhabar of the Deccan.jpg|thumb|left|[[Joseph François Dupleix|Dupleix]] meeting the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]], [[Muzaffar Jung]].]]<br />
<br />
In 1740, the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] broke out in [[Europe]]. Great Britain was drawn into the war in 1744, opposed to [[France]] and its allies. The trading companies of both countries maintained cordial relations in [[India]] while their parent countries were bitter enemies on the European continent. Dodwell writes, "Such were the friendly relations between the English and the French that the French sent their goods and merchandise from [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]] to [[Chennai|Madras]] for safe custody."<ref>Dodwell, H. H. (ed), Cambridge [[History of India]], Vol. v.</ref> Although French company officials were ordered to avoid conflict, British officials were not, and were furthermore notified that a [[Royal Navy]] fleet was en route. After the British initially captured a few French merchant ships, the French called for backup from as far afield as [[Isle de France (Mauritius)|Isle de France]] (now [[Mauritius]]), beginning an escalation in naval forces in the area. In July 1746, French commander [[Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais|La Bourdonnais]] and British Admiral [[Edward Peyton]] fought [[Action of 6 July 1746|an indecisive action]] off Negapatam, after which the British fleet withdrew to Bengal. On 21 [[September]] 1746, the French [[Battle of Madras|captured the British outpost at Madras]]. La Bourdonnais had promised to return Madras to the British, but [[Joseph François Dupleix|Dupleix]] withdrew that promise, and wanted to give Madras to Anwar-ud-din after the capture. The Nawab then sent a 10,000-man army to take Madras from the French but was decisively repulsed by a small French force in the [[Battle of Adyar]]. The French then made several attempts to capture the British [[Fort St. David]] at [[Cuddalore]], but the timely arrivals of reinforcements halted these and eventually turned the tables on the French. British Admiral [[Edward Boscawen]] [[Siege of Pondicherry (1748)|besieged Pondicherry]] in the later months of 1748, but lifted the siege with the advent of the [[monsoon]] rains in October.<ref name=Naravane/><br />
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With the termination of the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] in Europe, the [[First Carnatic War]] also came to an end. In the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)]], Madras was given back to the British in exchange for the French [[fortress of Louisbourg]] in [[North America]], which the [[British people|British]] [[Siege of Louisbourg (1745)|had captured]]. The war was principally notable in [[India]] as the first military experience of [[Robert Clive]], who was taken prisoner at Madras but managed to escape, and who then participated in the defence of Cuddalore and the siege of [[Pondicherry]]. The French retained their position as the protectors of nizams of Hyderabad.<br />
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===Second Carnatic War (1749–1754)===<br />
<br />
Though a state of war did not exist in [[Europe]], the [[proxy war]] continued in [[India]]. On one side was [[Nasir Jung]], the Nizam and his protege Muhammad Ali, supported by the [[British people|British]], and on the other was [[Chanda Sahib]] and [[Muzaffar Jung]], supported by the [[France|French]], vying to become the Nawab of [[Arcot]]. Muzaffar Jung and Chanda Sahib were able to capture Arcot while Nasir Jung's subsequent death allowed Muzaffar Jung to take control of [[Hyderabad]]. Muzaffar's reign was short as he was soon killed, and [[Salabat Jung]] became Nizam. In 1751, however, [[Robert Clive]] led British troops to capture [[Arcot, Vellore|Arcot]], and successfully [[Siege of Arcot|defend it]]. The war ended with the [[Treaty of Pondicherry]], signed in 1754, which recognised [[Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah|Muhammad Ali Khan Walajah]] as the [[Nawab of the Carnatic]]. [[Charles Godeheu]] replaced [[Joseph François Dupleix|Dupleix]], who died in poverty back in [[France]].<ref name=Naravane/><br />
<br />
===Third Carnatic War (1756–1763)===<br />
The outbreak of the [[Seven Years' War]] in Europe in 1756 resulted in renewed conflict between French and British forces in India. In this time the French were facing many financial problems. The '''Third Carnatic War''' spread beyond southern India and into [[Bengal]] where British forces captured the French settlement of Chandernagore (now [[Chandannagar]]) in 1757. However, the war was decided in the south, where the British successfully defended [[Siege of Madras|Madras]], and [[Sir Eyre Coote, KB|Sir Eyre Coote]] decisively defeated the French, commanded by the [[Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally|Comte de Lally]] at the [[Battle of Wandiwash]] in 1760. After Wandiwash, the French capital of [[Pondicherry]] fell to the British in [[Siege of Pondicherry (1760)|1761]].<ref name=Naravane/><br />
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==Aftermath==<br />
The war concluded with the signing of the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1763, which returned Chandernagore and [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]] to France, and allowed the French to have "factories" ([[trading post]]s) in India but forbade French traders from administering them. {{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} The French agreed to support British client governments, thus ending French ambitions of an Indian empire and making the British the dominant foreign power in India.<br />
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==Gallery==<br />
<gallery heights="200px" mode="packed"><br />
File:Surrender_of_The_City_of Madras_1746.jpg|''The British surrender of Madras, 1746''.<br />
File: WAR ELEPHANTS CHARGE THE GATES OF THE FORT AT ARCOT..gif|The [[Siege of Arcot]] (1751) was a major battle fought between [[Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive|Robert Clive]] and the combined forces of the [[Mughal Empire]]'s [[Nawab of the Carnatic]], [[Chanda Sahib]], assisted by a small number of troops from the [[French East India Company]]<br />
File:India; (1909) (14566747909).jpg|[[Robert Clive]] fires a cannon in the [[Siege of Arcot]].<br />
File:Représentations des positions des escadres des navires français et anglais devant Pondichéry (sud–est de l’Inde) - Archives Nationales - MAR-B-4-77 fol 277 - (1).jpg|French and English boats position near [[Pondicherry]]. [[French National Archives]].<br />
File:Levée du siege de Pondichery 1748 Louis Sergent Marceau 1789.jpg|End the siege of Pondicherry in 1748.<br />
File:Death of the Nabob of the Carnatic by Paul Philippoteaux.jpg|Death of the [[Nawab]] [[Anwaruddin Mohammed Khan]] in a battle (battle of Ambur) against the French in 1749 (by Paul Philipoteaux).<br />
File:Lally at Pondicherry by Paul Philipotteaux.jpg|Lally at [[Pondicherry]].<br />
File:Hutchinsonsstory00londuoft 0234.jpg|The [[Black Hole of Calcutta]], 20 June [[1756]].<br />
File:Shah-alam-ii-mughal-emperor-of-india-reviewing-the-east-india-companys-troops-1781-1894 1247854.jpg|Jean Law's Memoire: ''Mémoires sur quelques affaires de l'Empire Mogol 1756–1761'' contains detailed information about the campaign of the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]] and his [[France|French]] allies against the British [[East India Company]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRK1x3GSmYk|url-status=dead|title=Niall Ferguson – Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World – Why Britain? 4/5|via=YouTube|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331201206/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRK1x3GSmYk}}</ref><br />
File:The battle of Plassey, June 23, 1757.jpg|English guns at the battle of [[Plassey]], 23 June 1757.<br />
File:The Navab's arrival before Clive's position.jpg|[[Nawab of Bengal]], [[Mir Qasim]] at the [[Battle of Buxar]]<br />
File:The Nawab's artillery at Plassey.jpg|[[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] artillerymen at Plassey during the Carnatic Wars.<br />
File:Stinger Lawrence and Nawab Wallajah.JPG|[[Stringer Lawrence]] and [[Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah|Nawab Wallajah]] in [[Madras]]<ref>''Palk Manuscripts'', four-volume collection of the correspondence of Sir Robert Palk relating to Indian affairs, ''Historical Manuscripts Commission: Report on the Palk manuscripts in the possession of Mrs Bannatyne of Haldon, Devon'', p.XII [https://archive.org/stream/reportonpalkmanu00grearich/reportonpalkmanu00grearich_djvu.txt]</ref><br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
* [[French India]]<br />
* [[Nizam of Hyderabad]]<br />
* [[Salabat Jung]]<br />
* [[Hyder Ali]]<br />
* [[Anwaruddin Khan]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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<br />
{{British colonial campaigns}}<br />
{{French colonial campaigns}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carnatic War 00}}<br />
[[Category:Carnatic Wars| ]]<br />
[[Category:1740s conflicts]]<br />
[[Category:1750s conflicts]]<br />
[[Category:Wars involving India]]<br />
[[Category:Wars involving France]]<br />
[[Category:Wars involving Great Britain]]<br />
[[Category:Colonial India]]<br />
[[Category:18th century in India]]<br />
[[Category:History of Tamil Nadu]]<br />
[[Category:Military history of India]]<br />
[[Category:1746 in India]]<br />
[[Category:1749 in India]]<br />
[[Category:1757 in India]]<br />
[[Category:Seven Years' War]]<br />
[[Category:History of Tiruchirappalli]]<br />
[[Category:Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Europe]]<br />
[[Category:Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Asia]]</div>WikiDwarfBOT