BRITISH AND FRENCH WARS IN INDIA

After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, and later Nadir Shah’s invasion from Persia and the loot of Delhi in 1739, the Mughal power weakened considerably. But even then there was no opening in Western India where the Marathas held way and also in the East where the strong Alivardi Khan was the Nawab of Bengal. The strong Asaf Jah Nizam Ul Mulk died in 1748. The Marathas regularly raided Hyderabad and other places in the South collecting Chouth. This created instability in the area which the East India Company exploited.

However, the English were not the only foreigners who had their eyes on India. It was the Portuguese and Dutch before the English whom they ousted. The French East India Company was formed in 1664 and was firmly established at Chandernagore near Calcutta and Pondicherry. It also had several factories in the East and West Coast. In 1742 there was a war between England and the French for 6 years which spilled into India when the companies fought each other. After the war ended, their hostilities in India too ceased, however, the battle for trade supremacy went on between them.

Dupleix was the French Governor General at Pondicherry and he was looking around for an opportunity to present itself. In 1748 situations in the Carnatic and Hyderabad. In the Cranatic Chanda Saheb was conspiring against Nawab Anvaruddin, while in Hyderabad the death of Nizam Ul Mulk resulted in a fight for succession between his son Nasir Jung and grandson Mujaffar Jung. Duplex seized the opportunity and signed treaties with Chanda Saheb and Muzaffar Jung to help them with his forces.

In a battle at Ambur in 1949, the 3 allies defeated the Carnatic nawab Anwaruddin, and the nawabs son Muhammed Ali fled to Trichinopoly. The rest of the Carnatic passed into Chanda Saheb’s hands.

In Hyderabad too the French were successful and Muzaffar Jung was installed as the Nizam. Muzaffarjung apart from giving large sums to the French as a reward, also gave it territory near Pondicherry as well as the town of Masulipatam. Dupleix was also made the Governor of all the territories of the East Coast from river Krishna to Knayakumari. Dupleix stationed his best officer Bussy at Hyderabad with a French army.

Muzaffarjung was accidentally killed and Bussy immediately raised Salabat Jung the 3^rd son of Nizam Ul Mulk to the throne. In gratitude the new Nizam granted to the French the Northern Circars consisting of the 4 districts of  Mustafanagar, Eluru, Rajahmundry and Chicacole (Srikakulam). This was the time when the peshcush was not remitted by soem coastal Jamindars and Bussy came with a small French army to correct the position. It was during this time in 1757 the Battle of Bobbili took place.

While their rivals the French were resorting to all these machinations, obviously the English cannot lag behind. They threw in their weight behind Muhammed Ali who fled to Trichnopoly and also Nasir Jung, the 1^st son of Nizam Ul Mulk as the French have now raised Salabat Jung the 3^rd son of Nizam to the throne.

After Muhammed Ali fled to Trichinopoly, the French and Chanda sahib together attacked the fort. Clive was a clerk in the East India Company then and he suggested that the pressure on Trichinopoly would be eased by the English and Salabat Jung attacking Arcot, the capital of Carnatic. He was allowed to do so and he attacked Arcot with 200 British and 300 Indian soldiers and occupied it. This makes us wonder how easy it was to occupy a capital city of a big territory. Just 500 soldiers accomplishing it. The French forces were repeatedly defeated and Chanda Saheb captured and killed. This battle raised the stature of Clive.

Finally the French Government did not like the heavy cost of war in India and also fearing loss of their American colonies agreed to withdraw Dupleix from India in 1754 as the East India Company wanted.

Matters between the two companies continued like that for till 1756 when again war broke out between England and France in Europe. Their Indian companies, as usual followed suit. In the beginning of the war itself the British gained control over Bengal by the battle of Plassey in 1757 which was again accomplished by Clive. The rich resources of Bengal tilted the fortunes in the English favour. The decisive battale of the war between the companies was fought at Wandiwash in 1760 when the English General Eyre Coot defeated the French General Lally. The French in India lost their possession one by one to the English.

When the war in Europe between England and France ended in 1763, the French possessions in India were restored to them but with a condition that they could not be fortified and also could not station troops in them.

During their battle with the French in India the English learnt valuable lessons which they later exploited to the full. They found that there was no nationalism in India and one power can be played against another power easily for their gain. They also found that the traditional Indian troops were no match for their own troops (both Indian and British) and they can be easily defeated by use of western style weapons backed by artillery. 

The Indian soldier as he lacked nationalism can be hired by anyone who paid him the most. The English now started creating an army where the soldiers were Indians known as sepoys and the officers were Englishmen. With this well disciplined, well trained, well paid and well armed soldiers at their disposal,  the Indian rulers did not stand a chance.