Anglo-French rivalry

Background: commerce, regional politics and European war

English and French companies competed for Indian textiles, overseas markets and access to ports. Madras, Bombay and Calcutta were important English bases, while Pondicherry was the main French headquarters in India. Both companies maintained fortified settlements, armed ships and troops. Consequently, commercial rivalry could become military conflict whenever European relations deteriorated or opportunities emerged within Indian politics.

The weakening of Mughal central authority after Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 created a political setting in which provincial rulers exercised increasing autonomy. Hyderabad emerged under Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, while the nawab of the Carnatic, based at Arcot, was formally subordinate to Hyderabad. Neither region was a political vacuum: Indian rulers, bankers, merchants and military groups actively negotiated alliances with European companies.

The Coromandel Coast became the main theatre because Madras and Pondicherry were close to one another and connected to valuable textile-producing hinterlands. European companies initially sought trading advantages, but protecting commerce increasingly involved controlling forts, securing revenue assignments and influencing rulers. The Carnatic Wars therefore combined European conflicts with regional succession struggles rather than constituting a simple, continuous war of conquest.

• Three interacting levels: European interstate rivalry, competition between trading companies, and conflicts among Indian political claimants.
• Geographical distinction: the Carnatic was a southeastern political region; Hyderabad represented the larger Deccan power above it.

First Carnatic War, 1746–1748

The First Carnatic War was an Indian extension of the War of the Austrian Succession in Europe. In 1746, a French expedition commanded by La Bourdonnais captured Madras from the English. His disagreement with Dupleix, governor-general of the French establishments in India, over the settlement of the captured town exposed divisions within French leadership. The English nevertheless retained their nearby base at Fort St David.

Anwar-ud-din, nawab of the Carnatic, opposed French possession of Madras. At the Battle of Adyar, associated with St Thomé, a relatively small French-led force defeated the nawab’s much larger army. The encounter demonstrated the battlefield value of disciplined infantry, coordinated firepower and effective command. Its significance should not be exaggerated into a claim that all Indian armies were inherently inferior; organisation, circumstances and leadership mattered.

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the European war in 1748, and Madras was restored to the English. Thus, the first war produced no lasting territorial victory in India. Its deeper consequence was political: European companies recognised that their military forces could influence regional affairs, while Indian contenders increasingly saw company troops as useful allies.

• Immediate trigger: Anglo-French hostilities arising from a European war.
• Exam distinction: La Bourdonnais captured Madras; Dupleix directed the wider French political strategy.

Second Carnatic War, 1749–1754

The Second Carnatic War arose chiefly from succession disputes in Hyderabad and the Carnatic. After Nizam-ul-Mulk’s death in 1748, Nasir Jang and Muzaffar Jang contested Hyderabad. In the Carnatic, Chanda Sahib challenged Anwar-ud-din. Dupleix supported Muzaffar Jang and Chanda Sahib, while the English supported Nasir Jang and subsequently Muhammad Ali, Anwar-ud-din’s son.

At Ambur in 1749, the French-backed coalition defeated and killed Anwar-ud-din. Muhammad Ali withdrew to Trichinopoly, now Tiruchirappalli. After successive changes in Hyderabad, French influence strengthened under Salabat Jang, supported by the French commander Bussy. Bussy secured revenue assignments in the Northern Circars to sustain French troops. These arrangements illustrated how military assistance could be exchanged for income and political leverage.

In 1751, Robert Clive captured Arcot, diverting attention from the struggle around Trichinopoly. His defence of Arcot enhanced English prestige and weakened the French-backed coalition. Chanda Sahib was captured and killed in 1752, while Muhammad Ali’s position improved. The French government and company authorities, concerned about expenditure and uncertain commercial returns, recalled Dupleix in 1754. His successor, Godeheu, negotiated a settlement with the English.

The settlement attempted to restrain intervention in Indian political disputes. It did not immediately eliminate French influence, particularly in Hyderabad, but Dupleix’s ambitious strategy suffered a decisive setback. The episode established intervention in succession disputes, deployment of sepoys and acquisition of revenue rights as important instruments of company expansion.

• French alignment: Muzaffar Jang and Chanda Sahib; later, Bussy sustained Salabat Jang.
• English alignment: Nasir Jang and Muhammad Ali; Clive’s Arcot operation was the major turning point.

Third Carnatic War, 1756–1763

The Third Carnatic War formed part of the global Seven Years’ War. Fighting was not confined to the Carnatic: the English captured the French settlement of Chandernagore in Bengal in 1757. In southern India, Count de Lally arrived in 1758 and captured Fort St David. However, his campaign suffered from financial shortages, strained relations with other French officials and unreliable naval support.

Lally recalled Bussy from Hyderabad to strengthen operations in the Carnatic. This weakened the French position in the Deccan. His siege of Madras in 1758–1759 failed, while English operations also undermined French influence along the eastern coast. British maritime strength helped protect communications and supplies; French fleets could not provide equally sustained support.

The decisive land battle occurred at Wandiwash, now Vandavasi in Tamil Nadu, on 22 January 1760. Sir Eyre Coote defeated Lally’s army, and Bussy was captured. Pondicherry surrendered to the English in January 1761. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 restored French trading establishments under restrictions on their military and political role. France remained commercially present, but its attempt to rival the English as a major territorial power in India had failed.

• Wandiwash was the decisive battlefield defeat; Pondicherry’s fall dismantled the principal French base.
• The 1763 settlement did not expel every French settlement from India.

Why the English prevailed and why the rivalry mattered

English success resulted from interacting advantages rather than one battle alone. British naval power supported troop movements, supplies and communication across widely separated settlements. The English company’s broader commercial resources and access to credit helped sustain campaigns. Its position improved further after Plassey in 1757, when influence in Bengal opened access to substantial wealth. However, the formal grant of Bengal’s diwani came only in 1765, after the Carnatic Wars.

Both companies possessed monopolies, depended on governments and used Indian soldiers and finance. Nevertheless, the French company was more vulnerable to metropolitan financial difficulties and inconsistent state support. Disagreements among Dupleix, La Bourdonnais, Lally and naval commanders weakened coordination at critical moments. English leaders also proved effective at exploiting regional alliances and French strategic mistakes.

The rivalry accelerated the transition from coastal trade to territorial politics. It demonstrated the usefulness of sepoy armies trained in European drill and the importance of revenues for maintaining them. Yet British dominance over India was not completed in 1763: Mysore, the Marathas and other Indian powers continued to resist expansion. The correct conclusion is narrower: the French ceased to be the leading European obstacle to English ascendancy.

• Avoid monocausal explanations: sea power, finance, alliances, leadership and global priorities worked together.
• Distinguish outcomes: French political defeat did not mean immediate British conquest of the entire subcontinent.

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