Carnatic Wars

ANGLO- FRENCH STRUGGLE (CARNATIC WARS)

The English and the French East India companies were established with the motive of trading with India.
In course of time their competition turned into rivalry and both the powers tried to remove the other from the Indian scene.
Their trade interest was also diverted towards politics.
Making use of the situation and the rivalry among the native rulers, the English and the French tried to capture power in India and to establish their supremacy.
Between 1740- 1763 the rivalry between the English and the French led to three wars in India.
These wards were known as Carnatic wars as they were fought in the Carnatic region.
Carnatic was originally a Mughal province under the Nawab.
It was ruled by Anwar- ud-din, the Nawab of Carnatic.
The Nawab ruled the territory as an independent ruler.
Arcot was the capital of Carnatic.
The British and the French exploited the region to strengthen their power.
In the end, the British drove the French out of India by 1763 and established their supremacy over the Carnatic region.

The first Carnatic war (AD 1746-AD 1748) Causes

This war was an echo of the Austrian war of Succession.
In this First Carnatic war, the English and the French took opposite sides.
They began to fight in India in 1746.
Dupleix, the French Governor of Pondicherry had an ambition to establish French power in India.

Course

Dupleix wanted to make the French power supreme in South India.
When the war started in Europe, Dupleix sent an appeal to La Bourdonnais, the Governor of Mauritius to capture Madras.
He besieged Madras and captured it in 1746.
The Nawab of Carnatic, Anwaruddin did not like this.
So he sent an army against the French.
At Santhome on the banks of the river Adayar, Anwaruddin’s army was defeated.
Then Dupleix tried to capture Fort St. David from the English but failed.
Later the English attacked Pondicherry but the French successfully defended the city.
In 1748 the war of Austrian succession came to an end in Europe.
So the Carnatic war also came to an end in India.

Results

The First Carnatic war came to an end by the treaty of Aix- la-Chappelle (1748).
As a result the English got back Madras.

The second Carnatic war (AD 1748-AD 1754) Causes

The second Carnatic war was connected with the succession disputes between the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Nawab of Carnatic.
The Nizam of Hyderabad, Asaf Shah died in 1748.
There arose a competition between his osn Nasir Jung and his grandson Muzzafar Jung.
At the same time the Nawab of Carnatic, Dost Ali died.
There was a dispute between Anwar- ud- din and his son-in-law Chanda Sahib for the throne of Arcot.
The French supported Muzzafur Jung and Chanda Sahib.
Hence Nasir Jung and Anwarud-din were forced to seek the assistance of the English.
So a war broke out in 1748.

Course

With the help of the French, Muzzaffar Jung and Chanda Sahib defeated and killed.
Anwar- ud- din at the battle of Ambut in 1749.
But his son Mohammad Ali took refuge in the fort of Tiruchirappalli.
Chanda Sahib became the Nawab of Carnatic.
In Hyderabad. Both Nasir Jung and Muzzaffar Jung were killed General Bussy, the French Governor made Salabat Jung the Nizam of Hydereabad.
In return for the French help, he handed over the Northern circars to the French.
The condition of the English became very critical.
Robert Clive a clerk in the English East India company changed the course of the war.
He attacked Arcot, the capital of Carnatic.
He defeated Chanda Sahib and made Mohammad Ali, the Nawab of Arcot.
Clive was called as the “Hero of Arcot”.
Dupleix recalled in 1754 and was succeeded by Godeheu.

Results

The second Carnatic war came to an end with the Treaty of Pondicherry in 1755.
By this treaty both the sides agreed not to interface in the internal affairs of the Indian princely states and returned each others territories captured during the war.
Mohammad Ali was acknowledged as the Nawab of Carnatic.

The third Carnatic war (AD 1756-AD 1763) Causes

In 1756 the seven years war broke out in Europe and the same war echoed in India as the Third Carnatic war.

Course

The French General Count de Lally captured Fort St. David.
Bussy the French General at Hyderabad was asked to attack Madras which was a great blunder committed by the French.
When Bussy left Hyderabad the British captured Hyderabad.
Count de Lally and Bussy together attacked Madras.
But the British general, Sir Eyre Coote defeated both the French generals at the battle of Wandiwash in 1760.
In the nexr year 1761 Count- de- Lally surrendered Pondicherry to the British.

Results

The war came to an end with the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
Pondicherry, Karaikal, Chandrangore and Mahe were returned to the French but they were not allowed to fortify them.
The French lost all their prestige and influence in India.
British became more powerful in India.

Causes for the success of the British

Britain was commercially superior and the British in India were supported by the Home government.
The naval power of the British was far superior to that of the French.
There was full co-operation among the English officers.
The mistakes committed by Count-de-Lally enabled the British to capture Madras.
The British could concentrate on wars as there was peace in England while the French were too busy fighting wars in Europe.

Establishment of British supremacy over Bengal

Bengal a very rich province of the Mughal Empire developed unto an independent kingdom under Alivardi Khan.
After his death, his grandson Siraj-ud- daulah became the Nawab of Bengal.
The battle of Plassey was a result of a quarrel that arose between Siraj-ud- daulah and the British in 1757.

Battle of Plassey (AD 1757) Causes

The English and the French were strengthening their fortification in Bengal.
Siraj-ud- daulah, Nawab of Bengal asked them not to fortify their forts.
The French obeyed but the English refused to do so.
More over the British were misusing their trade privileges.It enraged the Nawab.
Siraj-ud- daulah marched with his army and captured Calcutta.
One hundred and forty six British soldiers were taken as captives and they were locked up in a very small room.
Most of them died due to suffocation.
Only twenty three of them were survived. This incident in history is called as the Black Hole Tragedy.
On hearing about this tragedy, Admiral Watson and Robert Clive were sent to Bengal. They recaptured Calcutta.

Course

On 23^rd June 1757 Siraj-ud- daulah met Robert Clive in a village called Plassey near Calcutta.
Within a few hours, the Nawab was defeated and killed.
The British appointed Mir Jafar as the Nawab of Bengal.

Battle of Buxar

After few years Mir Jafar was removed and Mir Qasim was made the Nawab of Bengal.
A misunderstanding developed between Mir Qasim and the British.
Mir Qasim was also removed, so he entered into an alliance with Shuja-ud- daulah the Nawab of Oudh and Shah Alam II the Mughal Emperor against the British and invaded Bengal.
A battle between the combined army of Indian rulers and the British took place at Buxar on October 22, 1764.
In this battle, Mir Qasim fled from the battlefield while Shuja II surrendered to the British.

Results

The Treaty of Allahabad was signed in 1765 between the English in one side and Shah Alam II and Shuja-ud- daulah on the other side.
Shuja-ud- daulah was asked to pay a war indemnity of 50 lakhs to the British and also gave Kara and Allahabad to the British.
The Mughal Emperor was given an annual pension of rupees 26 lakhs.
Shah Alam II granted the Diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the English.
Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Carnatic practically came under the control of the British.
The Battle of Buxar made the English East India company a sovereign power in India.
After the Battle of Buxar, Robert Clive became the Governor of Bengal on 1765 AD.