>MarnetteD at 01:15, 26 April 2021

2021-04-26T01:15:42Z

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{{disputed|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Joseph François Dupleix
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Dupleix Jean Francois estampe.jpeg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| predecessor = [[Pierre Benoît Dumas]]
| successor = [[Charles Godeheu]]<br /><small>As Acting Governor-General</small>
| birth_date = 23 January 1697
| birth_place = [[Landrecies]], [[France]]
| death_date = 10 November 1763 (aged 66)
| death_place = [[Chandannagar]], [[French India]]
}}
'''Joseph Marquis Dupleix''' (23 January 1697 – 10 November 1763) was [[Governor-General]] of [[French India]] and rival of [[Robert Clive]].

==Biography==
Dupleix was born in [[Landrecies]], on January 23, 1697. His father, François Dupleix, a wealthy ''fermier général'', wished to bring him up as a merchant, and, in order to distract him from his taste for science, sent him on a voyage to India in 1715 on one of the [[French East India Company]]'s vessels. He made several voyages to the [[Americas]] and India, and in 1720 was named a member of the superior council at [[Kolkata|Bengal]]. He displayed great business aptitude, and in addition to his official duties made large ventures on his own account, acquiring a fortune.

In 1730 he was made superintendent of French affairs in [[Chandernagore]]. In 1741, he married [[Jeanne Albert]], widow of one of the councillors of the company. Albert was known to the Hindus as [[Joanna Begum]] and proved of great help to her husband in his negotiations with the native princes.

His reputation procured him in 1742 the appointment of governor general of all French establishments in India.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Beginning of Empire|last=Dodwell, H., Dupleix and Clive|publisher=Connecticut|year=1968|pages=103–115}}</ref> Dupleix saw in the constant succession disputes among the Princes of India an opportunity to advance the interests of the French in India,<ref name="Concise">{{cite book|last1=Metcalf|first1=Barbara D.|last2=Metcalf|first2=Thomas R.|title=A Concise History of Modern India|date=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1107672185|pages=49–51|edition=Third}}</ref> and for this purpose he entered into relations with the native princes, and adopted a style of oriental splendour in his dress and surroundings. He built an army of native troops, called [[sepoys]], who were trained as infantry men in his service and also included the famous [[Hyder Ali]] of [[Mysore]].

The British were alarmed by this, but the danger to their settlements and power was partly averted by the bitter mutual jealousy which existed between Dupleix and [[Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais]], French governor of the Isle of Bourbon (today's [[La Réunion]]).{{attribution needed|date=January 2018}}

[[File:Dupleix meeting the Soudhabar of the Deccan.jpg|thumb|left|Dupleix meeting the Subadar of the [[Deccan]], [[Murzapha Jung]]]]

When the city of [[Chennai|Madras]] capitulated to the French following the [[Battle of Madras]]<ref name="Concise"/> in 1746, Dupleix opposed that the town be returned under British rule, thus violating the treaty signed by La Bourdonnais. He then sent an expedition against [[Fort St David]] (1747), which won over the [[Nawab of Arcot]], ally of the British. Dupleix again attempted the capture of Fort St David, and this time succeeded.

In 1748 [[Kolkata]] was besieged by the French, but in the course of the operations news arrived of the peace concluded between the French and the British at [[Aix-la-Chapelle]]. Dupleix next entered into negotiations about the subjugation of southern India. He sent a large body of troops to the aid of the two claimants of the sovereignty of the [[Carnatic (region)|Carnatic]] and the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]]. The British sided with their rivals to prevent the plans of Dupleix from materializing.

In 1750 the Subadar of Deccan gifted the [[Alamparai Fort]] to the French. This was a token of his appreciation of the services of Dupleix and the French forces to his services.{{cn|date=December 2020}}

From 1751, Dupleix tried to expand French influence in [[Burma]] by sending the envoy [[Sieur de Bruno]], and by providing military assistance the [[Mon people|Mon]] in their conflict with the [[Bamar|Burmese]]. Bruno proved remarkably successful in this effort, resulting in closer ties between the French and the Mon. However, the advent of the Seven Years' War meant that as French attentions were elsewhere this relationship came to nothing.<ref>
Burma Editor Sir Reginald Coupland, K.C.M.G., C.I.E., M.A., D.LITT. Late Bcit Professor of the History of the British Empire in the University of Oxford, p78-82 {{cite web |url=http://www.myanmargeneva.org/Burma/bur_history.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2008-08-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219133344/http://www.myanmargeneva.org/Burma/bur_history.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

== Commemoration ==
[[File:French Indochina 100 Piastres 1932 back.jpg|thumb|Dupleix on [[Banque de l'Indochine]] banknote]]
A number of things were named in his honour:
* A square, road and [[Dupleix (Paris Métro)|metro station]] in the [[XVe arrondissement|15th ''arrondissement'']] of [[Paris]] are named after him.
* Four French warships have borne his name (beside two commercial ships):
** The steam corvette ''[[FS Dupleix (1861)|Dupleix]]'' (1861–1887), famous for her involvement in the Japanese revolution
** A 7700-tonne armoured cruiser (1897–1919)
** A 10,000 tonne cruiser (1929–1942), scuttled in Toulon
** The [[Georges Leygues class frigate|F70 type]] frigate ''[[FS Dupleix|Dupleix]]'', currently in commission.
* A road in [[New Delhi]] near the Indian parliament named after him.
* ''Rue Dupleix'' (''Dupleix Street'') was the former name of Nehru Street in Pondicherry.

===Statue of Joseph Francois Dupleix at Puducherry Beach===
[[File:Pondicherry Dupliex.jpg|thumbnail|Monument to Dupleix in [[Pondicherry|Puducherry]]]]
Dupleix left Puducherry in 1754, French recognition of his contribution came only in 1870, with the commissioning of two statues-one in Puducherry and the other in France. It is now situated in Goubert Avenue at the end of Rock Beach. It was first installed on 16 July 1870. In 1979 the statue was moved from its previous location in the middle of the current Bharathy park to the current location at the beach.

Dupleix is represented as a man of commanding stature. In the large nose and massive under jaw, some resemblance may be traced to Oliver cromwell as commonly represented in his portraits. In the statue, Dupleix wears Court dress with bag wig and long riding boots; In his right hand is a plan of Puducherry, his left reposing on the hilt of his sword. Some say the statue also portrays the looting that he undertook from India to France.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/menwhomindiahas00higggoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/menwhomindiahas00higggoog/page/n132 115]|quote=Dupleix statue.|title=Men Whom India Has Known: Biographies of Eminent Indian Characters|first=J. J.|last=Higginbotham|date=28 August 1874|publisher=Higginbotham and Company|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Restoration of the Dupleix statue was undertaken by the Public Works Department (PWD) of the government of Puducherry in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=Facelift for Dupleix statue|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/puducherry/facelift-for-dupleix-statue/article6734988.ece|work=The Hindu|date=29 December 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[French colonial empires]]
* [[Carnatic Wars]]
* [[France in the Seven Years War]]
* [[Great Britain in the Seven Years War]]
* [[Ananda Ranga Pillai]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080306005803/http://gw1.geneanet.org/index.php3?b=samlap&lang=en;p=joseph+francois;n=de+dupleix genealogy on geneanet samlap's site]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Dupleix, Joseph François|volume=8|page=687}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal| last =Owen| first =Sidney J.| title =Joseph François Dupleix| journal =[[English Historical Review]]| volume =1| issue =4| pages =699–733| publisher =[[Oxford Journals]]| year =1886| url =https://zenodo.org/record/2179139| doi =10.1093/ehr/I.IV.699}}
*[https://archive.org/details/Duplieix Duplieix] by Colonel [[John Biddulph]], 1910

== External links ==
{{commons category-inline}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pierre Benoît Dumas]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor-General]] of [[French India]]|years=14 January 1742 – 15 October 1754}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Godeheu]] Le commissaire<br> (Acting)}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dupleix, Joseph Francois}}
[[Category:1697 births]]
[[Category:1763 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Landrecies]]
[[Category:French colonial governors and administrators]]
[[Category:Governors of French India]]
[[Category:History of Puducherry]]
[[Category:Yanam]]

Joseph François Dupleix - Revision history

>MarnetteD at 01:15, 26 April 2021