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DUPLEIX

DUPLEIX

Colonel JOHN BIDDULPH

author of
"the nineteenth and their times"

'the pirates of MALABAR AND ENGLISHWOMAN IN INDIA '
"stringer LAWRENCE"

' ' He was known often to say that he would reduce
the English settlements of Calcutta and Madras to
their original state of fishing towns." — Orme

LONDON

F. V. WHITE & CO. LTD.

17 BUCKINGHAM STREET, STRAND, W.C.
19 10

CONTENTS

PREFACE

PAGR

ix

CHAPTER I

Birth and parentage of Dupleix — Early days in India —
Voyage to China — Enmity of Lenoir — Appointed
Governor of Chandernagore — Trade — Fortune
acquired and lost— His views on the value of a
native title ......

CHAPTER II

The French acquire Karikal — The Mahrattas invade
the Carnatic — Dumas befriends the Nawab —
Madame Dupleix — Dupleix appointed to Pondi-
cherry — Title conferred on Dumas — Anarchy in
the Carnatic — War of the Austrian Succession —
La Bourdonnais— Quarrel between Dupleix and
La Bourdonnais — -Capture of Madras — Dupleix
breaks the Convention and defeats the Nawab —
The English at Fort St. David — Boscawen — Siege
of Pondicherry — Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle .

23

CHAPTER III

New departures — English attack Tanjore and capture
Devicotah — ^Chunda Sahib and Mozufter Jung —

laGO'lGO

vi CONTENTS

PAGE

Dupleix befriends them — Battle of Amboor — Nazir
Jung enters the Carnatic — Dilemma of the English
— French capture Gingee — Defeat and death of
Nazir Jung — Triumph of Dupleix — Bussy sent to
the Deccan — Death of Mozuffer Jung — Salabut
Jung recognised as Soobadar of the Deccan —
Dupleix's ambitious schemes — English fortunes
revive — Clive at Arcot — Lawrence and Clive at
Trichinopoly — Surrender of Law — Death of
Chunda Sahib— French defeats at Bahoor and
Trichinopoly by Lawrence — Grant of Northern
Circars to the French — Dupleix in difficulties — He
makes known his aims to the Company— Dis-
astrous repulse of the French at Trichinopoly —
The Conference at Sadras — A French success —
Dupleix's increasing difficulties— His insolence to
the Directors — The jagirs — Fortunes acquired by
Pondicherry officials . . . . -83

CHAPTER IV

Attitude of the Directors of both Companies in Paris
and London — Ignorance of the French Directors
concerning events in India — Proposals for Dupleix's
recall — English Directors appeal to the Crown —
Deputation of Duvelaer to London — Intervention
of the English Ministers — French Ministers yield-
Points insisted on by the English — Suspicions
entertained in Paris of Dupleix's loyalty — His
recall — Desperate condition of French Company's
finances — Deputation of Godeheu to India — His
secret instructions — His arrival in India — The
Swiss prisoners — Maladministration of the Car-
natic— Dupleix leaves India — Suspension of arms
and cessation of hostilities— Dupleix's reception
in France — His claims — Effects of the Convention
— Advantages secured to France— Dissatisfaction

CONTENTS vii

PAGE

in Madras — Dupleix in France — Attacks Godeheu
and the Company — His illusions about Trichinopoly
— His second marriage and death — His jewels —
Mistaken views as to the possibility of a French
Empire in India — Unsoundness of Dupleix's
policy — His mistake in sending Bussy to the
Deccan — Important results to England of Dupleix's
actions ...... 142

APPENDIX 179

PREFACE

Colonel Malleson, in the Preface to his
History of the French in India, mentions
his indebtedness to an article on Dupleix
in the National Review for 1862, by an
anonymous writer, who has since been
identified under the name of Cartwright.
The article is a bit of special pleading,
admittedly written for the purpose of
elevating Dupleix to a higher pedestal than
that on which his own countrymen had
placed him. The necessarily brief sketch of
his career is written with such strong- bias
against the Directors of the French East
India Company, and is marred by such
suppression and distortion of important facts
as to render it worthless as a contribution to
history. It has, however, gained importance
by having furnished the foundation on which
Malleson in England and Hamont in France
have built up a legendary Dupleix who is
an exaggerated portrait of the real man as

X PREFACE

he was known to his contemporaries. To
M. Cultru, in his work, Dupleix, ses plans
politiques, sa disgrace, Paris, 1901, with its
copious extracts from the records of the
Compagnie des Indes, and from Dupleix's
own letters and dispatches, the world is
indebted for the clearing away of the in-
ventions that have gathered round Dupleix's
name, and for a careful analysis of the
causes that led to his fall. The story that
within three years of his arrival in India,
Dupleix formed the plans for founding a
French empire in India, which he, many
years later, attempted to carry out, can no
longer be accepted. It is to be traced back
to a few words in the Abbe Raynal's work
on the East and West Indies (Geneva,
1780), and has been developed to its fullest
extent by Hamont. M. Cultru shows con-
clusively from Dupleix's own writings in
1753 how entirely mythical is the story.
So averse was Dupleix from the acquisi-
tion of territory, even after assuming the
Governorship of Pondicherry, that he con-
demned it in the case of Karikal. " M.
Dumas commence a penser comme vous
de Karikal," wrote one of the Directors to

PREFACE xi

Dupleix, in 1746. '* II me disait I'autre jour
qu'il chercherait un moyen pour en de-
barrasser la Compagnie." The story of
Dupleix's visit to Chandernagore, in 1742,
is shown to be a pure myth. On the face
of it nothinor could have been more im-
probable than that an official of the Delhi
Emperor should have done homage to him,
when the relative positions of the Empire
and of European traders, at that date, are
taken into account, and the journey itself
would have been a matter of months.

The causes of Dupleix's fall were his
insubordination, his studied silence as to
what was going on in India, his failure to
contribute to the Company's revenues, and
the Company's insolvency. For, in spite of
the great acquisitions of territory made by
him, between 1749 and 1753, no financial
benefit accrued to the Company. The
Directors in Paris were in no condition to
do more than they did for him. Ever since
the failure of Law's Mississippi scheme the
Compagnie des Indes had been in financial
difficulties. Kept in strict tutelage by
royal Commissioners, mixed up in business
that had nothing to do with Eastern trade,

xii PREFACE

and paying dividends that it had not earned,
it was only kept afloat by the proceeds
arising from lotteries and from its monopoly
of the sale of tobacco in France, and had
practically been insolvent since 1745. The
accounts of the Company's finances, given
in considerable detail by Raynal and Cultru,
show how fatal to both parties was the
financial connection between the State and
the Compagnie des Indes. According to
Voltaire, the Compagnie des Indes, during
sixty years, failed to realise a single dividend
from the sale of merchandise. In the last
forty years of its existence it was supplied
from the State treasury with the prodigious
sum of three hundred and sixty-six million
livres, without the shareholders reaping any
benefit.

Stripped of all inventions and exaggera-
tions, Dupleix still remains an interesting
and striking figure. To him belongs the
distinction of first bringing India within the
scope of European politics. In the general
break-up of the Moghul Empire the in-
trusion of the European may be said to have
been inevitable : the real issue for decision
was whether F" ranee or England was to win

PREFACE xiii

the prize. Able men use opportunities
rather than create them, and, after the first
step, Dupleix played the game with a bold-
ness, success, and dexterity that could only
have been exhibited by a man of great
powers. But, before long, boldness became
recklessness, and he allowed the moment to
pass when, by yielding an unimportant point,
he mia:ht have retained the substantial grains
he had acquired. At the time of his recall
all chance of success had disappeared, though
to the end of his life he failed to perceive
this : and Colonel Malleson has shared the
illusions in this respect that Dupleix has
dwelt on at such length in his Mdmoire
contre la Compagnie. The very important
point is ignored, that, in 1754, the schemes
of Dupleix could have been prosecuted
only at the cost of war with England : and
France was not then prepared to draw the
sword.

The espousal of the English Company's
quarrel by the King's Government was an
event of far-reaching importance, and the
dispatch of Watson's squadron with the
39th Regiment, to the East, due solely
to the attempts of Dupleix to establish a

xiv PREFACE

French empire in India, decided the course
of our Indian history.

The war on the Coromandel coast is a
remarkable chapter in the history of the
making of our Colonial empire in the
eighteenth century. For over four years
the English and French trading companies
waged war with each other as auxiliaries
of native princes ; though they abstained
from direct attack on each other's settle-
ments. The war extended over a large
tract of country not belonging to either of
them : it was marked by marches, sieges,
and a number of hard-fouQ-ht battles : it
was fought without let or hindrance from
any native power jealous of its sovereign
rights : it was fed periodically with reinforce-
ments from England and France, without
any notice being taken by the governments
of those countries which were at peace ;
and their interference, when at last invoked,
was exerted to restoring so far as was
possible the state of affairs existing before the
war began. To the English on the spot, the
conclusion of the war appeared at the time
lame and impotent. The true results were
seen when the contest broke out again in

PREFACE XV

the Seven Years' War, and England put
forth her strength in earnest. It was then
apparent that the back of French prestige
in India had been broken by Lawrence
and CUve, and Lally's defeat was a fore-
gone conclusion. The victories of Forde
in the Northern Circars and of Coote at
Wandewash, followed by the surrender of
Pondicherry, only put the final seal to the
victories won at Bahoor and under the walls
of Trichinopoly.

It has not been thought necessary here
to dwell on the details of the fiofhtingr
between the French and English troops.
Only the more important events have been
alluded to so far as was required by the
narrative. Orme must always remain the
real historian of the war, though the details
on the French side have been dealt with
at greater length by Malleson, Orme was
in Bengal till the end of 1752, and was
appointed a Member of the Madras Council
soon after Dupleix's recall. He was there-
fore in close contact, at different times, with
all the principal actors on the English side.
It is impossible to follow in his footsteps
and to look through the great mass of his

xvi PREFACE

MSS., now at the India Office, without
recognising the extraordinary diHgence with
which he collected information at first hand
concerning every event great or small that
he had not himself witnessed. Though
tedious, diffuse, and written without any
sense of perspective or imagination, his work
is a most valuable storehouse of facts.

Students of the period here treated of
are apt to be puzzled by discrepancies
between the French and English dates.
The French revision of the calendar took
place in the sixteenth century : the English
correction dates from 3rd September 1752,
when the contest between the French and
English Companies was at its height. The
correction was carried out in India on the
same day as in England. Up to the 3rd
September 1752 dates are given according
to both styles, when necessary, but not
afterwards.

In the following pages I have drawn
freely on M. Cultru's work, and on the
East India Company's records.

DUPLEIX

I

Joseph pRANgois Dupleix was born at
Landrecies on the ist January 1697. I^is
father, Francois Dupleix, was farmer-general
of the provincial taxes, and, some twenty
years later, farmer of the tobacco revenue,
of which the Compagnie des Indes held the
monopoly. His mother was Anne Louise
de Massac. Joseph Francois was their
second son : the elder, Dupleix de Bacquen-
court, succeeding his father in the Company's
service, and becoming farmer-general about
1736. They had also a daughter, Anne,
who married a Breton gentleman, Desnos
de Kerjean. At the age of eighteen Joseph
Francois made a voyage to India. On his
return he spent three years in France, at
Nantes, Saint Malo, and Dax, but it is not

2 DUPLEIX

known how he was employed/ During
this time, owing to some youthful escapade,
he fell into disfavour with his father, who,
apparently to get rid of him, used his
interest to get him an appointment in India.
Both in England and France, India was
regarded as the refuge of restless spirits
in those days. By his father's interest he
was appointed sixth Member of Council at
Pondicherry, but, owing to certain adminis-
trative changes, he received the appointment
of first Member of Council and Commissary
General of troops before embarkation. He
sailed for India in the Atalanta, 29th June
172 1. On board the same ship with him
was Dulivier, the Company's Chief Com-
missioner at Surat. Dulivier died during
the voyage. Before his death he made a
loan of 400 pagodas 2 to young Dupleix,
with whose abilities he was much struck.

^ Dupleix in his Mhnoire says that he made several yoysige's
to America and the Indies. M. Cultru says that he made a
single voyage only, from St. Malo, in 171 5. In a letter
written to his brother from Chandernagore, in 1737, Dupleix
stated that from the year 171 3 he had been dependent on
his father for only two years and a half.

2 The pagoda was a gold coin, fluctuating in value accord-
ing to the mint of issue. For general purposes its value
was about seven shillings and sixpence.

DUPLEIX 3

The money was intended for Dupleix to
use in the private trade followed by the
Company's employes, and was the founda-
tion of the fortune he afterwards acquired
by trading. Dupleix landed at Pondicherry
on 1 6th August 1722, after a voyage that
lasted fourteen months. On arrival, he
learned that the Governor, M. de la
Pr^votiere, had died ten months before,
and, for a time, it seemed that Dupleix
would at once step into the governorship in
virtue of his appointment as first Councillor.
Since the Governor's death, Lenoir, the
first Member of the Council, had acted as
Governor. On the dispatches, that had
come by the same vessel, being opened, it
was found that Lenoir had been ordered to
proceed to Surat, and that Dupleix had
been nominated next in succession to de
Lorme, to whom the vacant governorship
would naturally fall, pending the arrival of
orders from France. De Lorme refused to
take up the appointment, and the Council
decided to retain Lenoir as Governor, so
Dupleix began his career as first Councillor,
on a salary of 2500 livres. Three weeks
later, further letters from Paris brought

4 DUPLEIX

orders for Dupleix to proceed to Masulipatam
as a factor, on a reduced salary of 900 livres.
Dumas, xh^ procureur gdndral, was dismissed
the service for disobedience of orders two
years previously. Lenoir and the Council
refused to act on these instructions : they
were aggrieved at the tone of the dispatches.
Dupleix, instead of being sent to Masuli-
patam, was retained in the Council, but
relegated to the fourth rank on a reduced
salary.^ After some delay Dumas embarked
for France, but got no farther than Bourbon,
where he was detained, and finally brought
back to Pondicherry by M. de Beauvollier
de Courchant, who had been nominated to
succeed de la Prevotiere. Lenoir embarked
for France, and Dumas was installed by
Beauvollier as first Councillor, to become,
in course of time, Governor of Pondicherry.

Two months after his arrival in India,
Dupleix, with a companion named Courton,
was sent with sixty French soldiers and ten
topasses, to Porto Novo, to obtain re-
paration for an outrage committed by the

^ A curiously similar instance occurred in our own Indian
history, in July 1758, when the Directors' orders for the
formation of the Bengal Council, omitting Clive's name,
were set aside and ignored.

DUPLEIX 5

native Governor of that place. During the
negotiation, being attacked, they inflicted
such losses on their assailants, that the
redress sought for was obtained. On their
way back to Pondicherry the little party
was received in triumph by the English
at Cuddalore. All Europeans were alike
interested in reparation for outrages being
exacted. In the following year Dupleix
was sent to Madras to effect a sale of
silver bullion : in 1724 he made a voy-
age to China as supercargo of a trading
vessel.

His voyage to China, which appears to
have been a lucrative one for himself, in-
volved him in an affair of great unpleasant-
ness. He had some pecuniary dealings, at
Canton, with one of the Company's employes
named Lhuillier. Lhuillier complained to
the Directors that Dupleix had cheated him.
The Directors sent instructions to Lenoir,
who had succeeded to the Governorship of
Pondicherry, to investigate the charge, and to
dismiss Dupleix from the Company's service,
in the event of the charge being proved.
Lenoir, without making any inquiry, pre-
vailed on the Council to dismiss Dupleix,

6 DUPLEIX

and attempted to get him to embark for
France (December 1727). Dupleix declined
to go, and sent home his own version of the
transaction to the Directors. In July 1729
the Directors' orders for Dupleix's reinstate-
ment were received. During the nineteen
months of his suspension he appears to have
been in no way straitened for money, as,
during the year 1729, he sent 2000 pagodas'
worth of diamonds to France for sale on his
own private account. His voyage to China
had no doubt been very profitable to him.
Writing to Vincens, two years later, of the
China trade, he says that a trip to China
brought independence to captains and super-
cargoes : ' twenty-five or thirty thousand
rupees are quickly pocketed.' ^ It was during
this time that he became intimate with the
Vincens family, who received him into their
1 house. According to M. Hamont, it was at
this time that Dupleix began his study of
native politics, and formed the schemes he
.afterwards carried into effect. There is no
evidence of his having clone anything of the
kind. He seems to have occupied his time
with private commerce, and made a trip to

^ Dupleix a Vincens, 23rd Mai 1732 (Cultru).

DUPLEIX 7

Madras in company with Madame Vincens
and her sister.

Immediately on his reinstatement, he
claimed the chiefship of the Chandernagore
factory, which had become vacant by the
death of M. de la Blanchetiere. Lenoir
ignored Dupleix's claims, and sent Dirois to
Chandernagore. Dupleix did not allow the
matter to rest there. He appealed to the
Directors in Paris, who cancelled Dirois'
appointment, and nominated Dupleix to the
chiefship of Chandernagore. Ever afterwards
Dupleix entertained the most vindictive
feelino-s ag^ainst Lenoir and Dirois. In
numerous letters from Chandernagore they
are never alluded to by him without some
exhibition of spite and malice, that betoken
little nobility of character. Yet, with much
hypocrisy, he maintained a friendly corre-
spondence with Lenoir, even offering him a
share in his private trade. " Je fais chercher
un vaisseau pour les Maldives, je vous y
intdresserai de 2000 roupies."^

In writino- to Dumas to congrratulate him
on his appointment to the Governorship of
the Mauritius, he says : " Notre ami Lenoir

^ Dupleix h Lenoir, 25th September 1731 (Cultru).

8 DUPLEIX

enrage comme un diable ; il est au desespoir
de voir que ses mendes et fourberies ne
peuvent etre admises aupres de la Com-
pagnie." ^ A few weeks later he was writing
to Lenoir: "Je continue a vous faire mes
offres de services et vous remercie de celle
que vous avez la bonte de me faire des
votres."" When Lenoir was leaving India,
Dupleix wrote to Dumas, his successor,
urorinor him to demand of the Directors an
exemplary punishment for Lenoir: " Je ne
fais aucun doute qu'a I'arrivee on ne lui
mette la main sur le collet et sur les vracs
oia il a ensabM son or, et peut-etre que,
reduite a la derniere misere, il sera, sur la
fin de ses jours, reduit a mendier un miserable
emploi, a moins que I'incommodit^ que lui
cause la mer, jointe au chagrin dont il est
ronge n'abrege ses jours." ^ Words prophetic
of his own fate. A year after Lenoir had
left India he was writing to him : " J'apprends
avec plaisir que vous jouissez d'une parfaite
sant4 que le ministre et la Compagnie,
contents de vos services, vous ont admis au

1 Dupleix k Dumas, 14th January 1732 (Cultru).

2 Dupleix a Lenoir, 8th April 1732 {id.).

3 Dupleix a Dumas, 17th April 1736 {id.).

DUPLEIX 9

nombre des directeurs. Je vous prie de me
continuer votre bienveillance dans le cas ou
il s'agira de me rendre service."^ The in-
sincerity and vindictiveness of Dupleix's
character appear in these extracts from his
correspondence, which are but a part of those
that deal with Lenoir and Dirois.

French trade in Beng-al was in a languish-
ing condition when Dupleix succeeded to the
chiefship of Chandernagore in August or
September 1731. Twice a year two or three
ships arrived from France with money to
pay for the merchandise that had been got
ready for them. As soon as they were
dispatched, the Company's employes had
little to do except to prepare for the next
shipment. Those who could command the
necessary funds devoted themselves to private
commerce. Dupleix threw himself into the
work with characteristic energy, and in a
short time greatly increased the volume of
Chandernagore trade. He also re-established
the abandoned factories at Patna and Cossim-
bazar which had been closed for want of
sufficient trade.

His first year in Bengal was distasteful to

^ Dupleix a Lenoir, 27th November 1737 (Cultru).

10 DUPLEIX

him. His letters at this time are full of
complaints. He disliked his fellow-officials
and kept aloof from their society. He dis-
liked the country : he wrote that it was a
good place to make money in, but Europeans
died there like flies. He longed for the
society of the Vincens family, and thought
with regret of his grarden and statues at
Pondicherry. He had written the year
before to his brother in France to choose
and send him out a wife. Now he had
changed his mind : he no longer wished
his brother to execute the commission :
"I'envie de me marier est un peu ralentie."
He thought that his salary of 4000
livres was insufficient. The expenses of
entertainment were heavy. The English
governor at Calcutta received 500 rupees
a month, and his house, table, and fur-
niture were paid for by the Company,
while he himself had to find everything
on 222 rupees a month. The Governor
of Pondicherry had the privilege of send-
ing 1000 pagodas' worth of goods to
France every year ; he would willingly
give up his salary in return for a similar
privilege. He thought Lenoir was about

DUPLEIX 1 1

to return to France, and besought his
brother to use the family influence to
procure him the Pondicherry governorship.
Before long, he succeeded in inducing Vincens
to resign the Company's service and join him,
with all his family, at Chandernagore. From
this moment he threw himself energetically
into the business of money-making, and
became so much attached to Bengal that he
left it unwillingly, ten years later, to take up
the governorship he had once so eagerly
desired.

The conduct of private trade by its
employes had been strictly forbidden by the
Company in 17 19. Two years later per-
mission was given to them to trade under
certain restrictions. They were allowed to
carry on trade ''d'Inde en Inde,'' that is to
say, between ports east of the Cape of Good
Hope, except to Mocha and China. At
first their poverty prevented them from
availing themselves of the privilege to any
great extent. The Company's vessels were
sent yearly to Mocha, the Persian Gulf,
China, Manilla, and Pegu, in which the
officials were allowed to have a share when
they could muster money to trade with,

12 DUPLEIX

which was not always the case. In 1730
some of the Pondicherry officials combined
to send a ship to Bengal and Surat. In
1734 all restrictions were removed on trade
east of the Cape, though the Company still
claimed the monopoly of trade in sugar and
rice. In 1741 the Company found its share
so little profitable, that it abandoned the
whole of the trade between ports east of
the Cape to its employes. Thus, while
the English Company was paying yearly
dividends of seven and eight per cent., and
making considerable loans to the King's
government, the French Company, sinking
into insolvency, withdrew altogether from
this most lucrative trade. If Dupleix had
the Company's interests deeply at heart, it is
surprising that he never pointed this out to
the Directors in Paris ; but, like the rest of
the Company's officials, he had his own
interests to consider.

His voyage to Canton in 1724 had enabled
him to pay off his debt to Dulivier's estate,
and thenceforth he began to grow rich. In
1729, as has been mentioned, he was in
a position to send 2000 pagodas' worth
of diamonds to France. In the following

DUPLEIX 1 3

year he had a share in another venture of
the kind. Yet all private trading to Europe
was strictly forbidden. But so many of its
servants were concerned in this illicit trading,
that the Company was powerless to put a
stop to it. At the time of his leaving
Pondicherry for Bengal, Dupleix was partner
with Vincens in two plantations worked by
slaves in Bourbon and in Mauritius ; and
he had a number of trading; ventures
on borrowed capital at the same time.
At Chandernagore his position gave him
greater facilities for borrowing, and, with
the command of larger capital, he launched
out with greater boldness. From Court,
an Englishman in Calcutta, he borrowed
20,000 rupees ; from the Chief of the
Dutch factory at Chinsura 6400, at nine
per cent. ; from a Patna banker 60,000.
He was making money fast. Before long
he owned eleven vessels trading to Surat,
Manilla, Bassora, the Maldives, Pegu,
Achin, Cochin, and Jeddah. On some of
his ventures a profit of forty per cent,
was earned. Instead of borrowing money,
he was soon in a position to lend it,
and had close commercial relations with

14 DUPLEIX

his Enolish and Dutch neio^hbours. Two
Englishmen, Matthews and Mill, were
employed by him to open up trade with
Assam. In his private life he lived
sumptuously. From France, wines and
delicacies not usually seen in India at that
time, were sent him by his brother. He
procured curiosities, pictures, arms, etc.,
from Nepaul, Agra, and Delhi. Live animals
were sent him from Patna. He dabbled in
science, and wrote to his friends in Calcutta
to send him English newspapers. Though
he did not know English, he had them trans-
lated to him. It is evident that his life was
one of much mental and intellectual activity.
But there is not a trace of the attention he
is supposed to have bestowed on politics.
On the contrary, when he learns, in 1735,
that Dumas was appointed to succeed
Lenoir at Pondicherry, he writes : * Many
persons anticipated that I should succeed
Lenoir, I have never expected it, so I am
now not surprised. Moreover, I could not
leave this place at short notice without
disarranging my private affairs, which, upon
my word, concern me more than the honour
of being Governor of Pondicherry, an honour

DUPLEIX 1 5

that goes for nothing as soon as one gets
back to Europe, when everybody, returning
into his shell, is only distinguished according
to the amount of property he has.'^ In very
different terms he writes of the appointment
of La Bourdonnais to succeed Dumas at
Mauritius and Bourbon. To Cossimbazar,
to Pondicherry, to Dumas, and to the
Directors in Paris he writes in disparagement
and condemnation of La Bourdonnais : *' Les
bras m'en sont tomb^s. II faut que la tete
a tourne a la Compagnie ou bien quelle
veut perdre les iles."^ In the following
year a venture he made in the Mozambique
caused a difference between him and La
Bourdonnais, and laid the foundation for a
future quarrel.

The year 1735 was not a fortunate one
for Dupleix. The Aimable, in which he
and Vincens had shares, with nearly half a
million of rupees on board, was lost in the
Red Sea : Vincens, who was in the ship,
being saved with difficulty. In the same
season two more of his ships, the Chander-
nagor and the Diligent, met with accidents,
and the Union was detained at Mocha.

^ Dupleix a Burat, 4th August 1735 (Cultru).

1 6 DUPLEIX

The dishonesty of one of his captains had
also caused grave losses. In the same year,
and in 1736, he was sending contraband
cargoes to France, through Dutch friends
in Amsterdam. In 1736 he heard of the
death of his father, who had left all he had
to leave to his eldest son, with the exception
of a small bequest to his younger children.
Dupleix did not resent this, as he had always
recognised that his father had no affection
for him. At the same time he pressed his
brother to obtain for him the cordon of St.
Lazarus. He would not care to have the
cordon of St. Michael, because it had already
been given to the son of a native official, in
reparation for ill-treatment to his father at
the hands of a former governor. In spite
of his recent losses he wrote of his desire
to leave India and settle down to 'culti-
vate cabbages' in France, and he urged his
brother to get Vincens appointed to succeed
him, so that there might be somebody he
could trust to wind up his numerous com-
mercial affairs. He counted on beino" able
to retire in January 1739. He calculated
that he had 200,000 livres in France,
in his brother's hands, and counted on

DUPLEIX 17

being able to send him 20,000 rupees
more in a few months. But in the same
year he experienced further losses.

On the night of the ^"fth^Ser ^1^1^ the
Hooghly was visited by a cyclone and earth-
quake that wrecked Calcutta, and extended
many miles up the river. An enormous
quantity of shipping was destroyed, and
the loss of life was prodigious. Only one
French ship was lost, but several were driven
ashore, and Dupleix shared in the general
loss. Yet, about the same time, he was
sending to France contraband jewels, the
cost price of which was 12,000 rupees, and
bills for 17,000 rupees. He was at this
time full of discontent. He had urged
the Company to make Chandernagore in-
dependent of Pondicherry, but had met with
a refusal. He was haunted with the belief
that Lenoir would use his influence to have
him removed in favour of Dirois, and that
La Bourdonnais would be appointed to
succeed Dumas at Pondicherry. It was the
possibility of this that no doubt prompted
him to urge the Directors to make the
Chandernagore administration independent
of Pondicherry. The Company, in order to

1 8 DUPLEIX

show their satisfaction at the re-establish-
ment of the Cossimbazar and Patna fac-
tories, had granted him a gratuity of lOO
pistoles. He at first refused to accept it.
On a second gratuity of the same amount
being made him, he grumbled at having to
appear grateful. The cordon of St. Lazarus
was denied him ; he urged his brother to
procure him a patent of nobility by bribing
the King's private secretary, though he
afterwards sneered at Dumas and La
Bourdonnais for obtaining their honours by
the same method. His ill-humour culminated
in the grant of a patent of nobility to Dumas,
and he addressed a long memorandum to
the Directors, full of egotism, jealousy, and
bad temper, in which he asserted his own
claims to be equal to those of Dumas, and
demanded the same recognition. " N'est-ce
pas. Messieurs, me donner a entendre que
Ton n'est pas content de mes services, que
de m'avoir pas traite comme M. Dumas." ^
While awaiting the Directors' reply he
prepared to wind up his affairs and leave
India, and we learn incidentally, from one of
his letters, that his whole fortune in India and

^ Dupleix k la Compagnie, 28th November 1738 (Cultru).

DUPLEIX 19

Europe amounted to a million and a quarter
livres, four-fifths of it being in India.

The year 1739 was a most unlucky one
for him. He was robbed in an opium trans-
action by his English agents ; a flotilla of
boats from Patna was wrecked in the Ganges;
his Malacca and Mozambique ventures turned
out badly ; his Manilla ship was lost, and he
was reduced to great straits for ready money.
Everything went wrong. A mortal blow
had been struck at the already tottering
Moghul Empire by Nadir Shah's invasion ;
the trade of the country was disorganised,
and Dupleix had his hands full of unsaleable
goods. The Assam venture was a complete
loss. A vessel from France with a valuable
cargo was lost in the Ganges for want of a
pilot. With the exception of what he had
remitted to France, he had lost almost every-
thing, and the fortune of Vincens was equally
involved. To add to his troubles, four of
his subordinates accused him of peculation.
He met the accusation boldly, and obtained
the dismissal of three of his calumniators.
In September, his friend Vincens died.
Dupleix had lost the greater part of his
gains, and had to abandon hope of returning

20 DUPLEIX

to France ; but the man's indomitable spirit
still showed itself. Adversity always brought
out the best points of his character.

Prosaic as all these details are, they serve
to show that Dupleix had, at this time, formed
none of the political schemes with which he
has been credited : his views were strictly
limited to trade. Nor did he bring away
a fortune from Bengal, as was afterwards as-
serted when urging his money claims on the
Company. The allusion ^ to " the fortune
of several millions which Dupleix acquired
in Bengal " cannot be justified, for the simple
reason that Dupleix had lost the greater
part of his fortune before he left Bengal.^ By
his exertions he had raised Chandernagore
to a degree of prosperity that had long been
unknown. During his ten years of office
the Company's revenues in Bengal had trebled
in value.

As a proof of the little attention paid by
Dupleix, at this time, to politics, M. Cultru
relates an incident that occurred towards
the end of his residence at Chandernagore.

^ Ndtional Re^new, 1862.

^ The fact is also mentioned by Voltaire in his Fragments
sur I'Inde.

DUPLEIX 21

There was at Delhi a certain de Volton who
had deserted the French service, and had
entered the service of the Emperor as
physician. From there he had reopened
communication with his countrymen, and,
probably wishing to conciliate the French
authorities, he offered, in 1739, through the
head of the French factory at Patna, to pro-
cure for Dupleix a jagir,^ a sir-o-pao,^ and
the title of Panch Hazari, or Commandant
of 5000 horse. In replying to the offer,
Dupleix showed little enthusiasm in the
matter. He wrote to Patna that he would
have nothing to do with any grant of land ;
the title might be useful, but it would
be necessary that it should be given in per-
petuity to the governors of Pondicherry and
Chandernagore ; in any case the offer must
be declined if the fees demanded were too
large. When informed of the sum required,
he declared that de Volton must be a fool
if he thought the Company would spend so
much on an empty title that would only lead
to further expenditure in the future. In
reporting the matter to Dumas he states his
opinion that the title might be useful in

^ A grant of land. ^ A dress of honour.

22 DUPLEIX

securing more respect for the French, and
thus help them in trading matters, as it would
show that they were directly under the pro-
tection of the Emperor. In short, he treated
the offer from the point of view of a trader :
so little had he realised the feebleness into
which the Court of Delhi had fallen ; so little
thought had he at the time of launching into
politics.

II

The year 1738 witnessed a new departure in
French policy at Pondicherry, produced by
the growing disorders in the Carnatic, con-
sequent on the decadence of the Moghul
Empire. The Rajah of Tanjore having
died, his son and successor, Shahojee, finding
his throne in jeopardy through the rivalry
of his half-brother Pertab Singh, invited
the aid and alliance of the French. In
return he offered to make over to them the
district of Karikal, of which they were to
enjoy the revenues on payment of 40,000
chakrums and a yearly present, in token of
Tanjore sovereignty, according to the usual
custom of such grants. Dumas accepted the
offer, and, on Shahojee's purwana being
received, deputed Dirois to take possession
of the fort of Kircan Gurree, which was
included in the agreement. Meanwhile,
Shahojee had triumphed over his rival, and,
under Dutch advice, repudiated the agree-

24 DUPLEIX

ment, treated with ridicule the Brahmins
whom Dumas had sent with money and
presents, and dispatched troops to Karikal
to hold it against the French, Dumas, who
was acting without the knowledge of his
Directors, was in no condition to engage in
hostilities with Tanjore, and saw no alter-
native but to put up with the breach of faith,
when a fresh opportunity presented itself.
In addition to internal troubles Tanjore was
at the time suffering from external enemies.
Under Moghul rule Tanjore had paid tribute
to the Carnatic, but for some time past the
tribute had remained unpaid, as was happen-
ing everywhere in the growing weakness of
the Empire. Chunda Sahib, the Dewan and
son-in-law of Dost Ali Khan, the Nawab of
the Carnatic, who was destined later to play
a prominent part in Dupleix' schemes, was
warring in the Nawab's name against Tanjore,
to enforce the payment of tribute. He had
taken Trichinopoly, and, hearing of Shahojee's
insulting treatment of the French, sent an
agent to Dumas, inviting his assistance in
besieging Tanjore ; in return for which he
undertook to conquer Karikal and make it
over to the French. After some hesitation

DUPLEIX 25

Dumas sent some ammunition to Chunda
Sahib. At the same time, resolved not to
be exposed to a second breach of faith, he
dispatched Dirois with three vessels to take
possession of Karikal and hold it against all
comers. For some reason this was not done.
Probably it was found that the fort was too
strongly held by Shahojee's men, or that its
capture by force would make an enemy of
Chunda Sahib, who was taking his own
measures against Karikal ; so Dirois returned
to Pondicherry.

Chunda Sahib kept faith. On the 8th
February 1739 his physician, Francisco
Pereira, arrived at Pondicherry, bearing a
letter to Dumas, in which he announced
that he had captured Karikal, and that
Dumas might send and take possession.
In confirmation, Pereira brought a purwana
signed by Shahojee acknowledging the
French title, and another containing an
order to Chunda Sahib's general, Nusseer
Khan, to deliver over Karikal to the French.
The French flao- was hoisted in Karikal on
the 14th February, and 100,000 chakrums
were paid to Chunda Sahib. Shahojee
claimed that some payment should be made

26 DUPLEX X

to him, on the basis of his first agreement
with Dumas, a claim that could not safely
be disregarded. While the negotiation was
proceeding, Shahojee was deposed in favour
of his rival Pertab Singh, and the affair
was finally settled by a payment of 37,502
pagodas, a sum that included the presents
made to Tanjore officials during the negotia-
tion. As the Karikal revenues brought in
?ooo pagodas yearly, and the acquisition
gave openings for an extension of trade,
the bargain was apparently a good one for
the French. The Directors, in due time,
signified their approbation of Dumas' action,
treating- the matter as a commercial trans-
action, and ignoring the political side of it.
The history of the acquisition of Karikal
by Dumas is of interest, because it was
the first French acquisition of territory for
revenue purposes, and it was by following
exactly the same course of action, in furnish-
ing military aid to native chiefs, in return
for a promised grant of territory, without
the previous consent of the Directors, that
Dupleix subsequently played so conspicuous
a part in southern India.

In the beginning of 1739 Dumas notified

DUPLEIX 27

to the Directors his desire to resign his
governorship and return to France. The
news took the Directors by surprise. Dumas
had been in Pondicherry as governor only
four years, during which he had proved
himself an able and energetic administrator.
They wished to retain his services in India,
and received the notification of his wish
to resign with some vexation. They nomi-
nated Dupleix as his successor, but begged
Dumas to reconsider his decision. As an
inducement they offered him 600 pagodas,
under pretence of reimbursing him for a
sum they had disallowed. To Dupleix
they wrote that they were willing to ignore
the intemperate letter he had addressed to
them in November 1738, as having been
due to oversensitiveness, and to a want
of due reflection.

The result of the Directors' action was
to delay Dumas' departure for a year and
a half. Meanwhile, the political outlook
was threatening. Karikal was not turning
out a success, and, owing to the intrigues
of the Dutch at Negapatam, great difficulty
was experienced in getting in the revenue.
The Carnatic was subjected to the attacks

2 8 DUPLEIX

of a new foe, and the safety of Pondicherry
itself was threatened.

As Tanjore was tributary to the Carnatic,
so the Carnatic was tributary to the Deccan.
In the general confusion, the Nawab, Dost
Ali Khan, had proclaimed himself ruler, in
succession to his uncle, Saadat-oolla Khan,
without obtaining: the recognition of the
Deccan Soobadar, Nizam-ool-Moolk. The
Soobadar contented himself for a time with
using his influence at Delhi to prevent
Dost Ali Khan from receiving confirma-
tion from the Emperor. As the Nawab's
power was augmented by the acquisition
of Trichinopoly and Madura, Nizam-ool-
Moolk's resentment increased ; but important
changes going on at Delhi prevented him
from asserting his authority.

In May 1740 a Mahratta force under
Raghojee Bhonsla invaded the Carnatic.^
Dost Ali Khan met them at the Damal-
cherry Pass, and was defeated and slain.

^ According to Orme the Mahrattas were incited to over-
run the Carnatic by Nizam-ool-Moolk, which seems im-
probable. Wilks says they were invited in by Sufdar Ali
Khan to break the power of Chunda Sahib ; but Sufdar Ali
Khan does not appear to have suspected Chunda Sahib's
designs till later. Grant Duff says the invasion was ordered
by the Peishwa in his own interests.

DUPLEIX 29

His son, Sufdar Ali Khan, shut himself
up in Vellore, but sent his family and
valuables to Pondicherry, where his father's
widow had already found asylum. The
fortifications of Pondicherry were so superior
to anything then known in India, as to
promise safety from the Mahratta horse-
men, provided the French were friendly.
Dumas received the fugitives, at the risk
of bringing on himself Raghojee's enmity.
Chunda Sahib, who had taken the field
with 15,000 men, on the pretence of going
to Dost All's assistance, by calculated delays
failed to join him, and, on hearing of his
defeat, hastened back to Trichinopoly.

The Mahrattas overran the Carnatic,
wasting the whole country, according to
their custom, and made themselves masters
of Arcot. Raghojee then summoned Dumas
to pay tribute, and to surrender the fugitives.
Dumas bid him defiance, and prepared to
defend himself. Fortunately Raghojee's
presence was required in the Deccan, where
the death of the Peishwa Bajee Rao in
April had given rise to the usual quarrels
about the succession. On Sufdar Ali
Khan agreeing to pay a heavy tribute,

30 DUPLEIX

Raghojee withdrew his troops from the
Carnatic.

In September, Sufdar Ali Khan, accom-
panied by Chunda Sahib, whose family-
had also been granted asylum by Dumas,
visited Pondicherry. They were received
with much ceremony, and were loud in
their expressions of gratitude. To Dumas,
besides many valuable presents, the new
Nawab made a grant of the village of
Archiwak, adjoining Pondicherry. At the
end of a fortnight Sufdar Ali Khan be-
took himself to Arcot, while Chunda Sahib
repaired to Trichinopoly, where he was
planning to make himself independent,
leaving his family at Pondicherry. Suf-
dar Ali Khan, becoming aware of his
designs, summoned the Mahrattas to return.
In August he had promised them a por-
tion of territory as part of the ransom
of the Carnatic : he now told them that
they might keep Trichinopoly for them-
selves, if they would take it and dispose
of Chunda Sahib. In December, they
suddenly re-entered the Carnatic, and made
straight for Trichinopoly. After a three
months' siege, Chunda Sahib was forced to

DUPLEIX 3 1

surrender, his two brothers having been
slain in attempting to relieve the place.
Raghojee retired, after making over Trichi-
nopoly to Morar Rao, the Mahratta chief
of Gootee, carrying off with him Chunda
Sahib, who was placed in confinement at
Satara.

At Mahe on the west coast, also, Dumas
found cause for much anxiety. After its
first acquisition, in 1725, it had proved so
costly and troublesome to the Company that
the Directors had ordered Lenoir to abandon
it as a military post. Lenoir prevailed on
them to cancel their order, and since 1728
things had gone better there. In the end of
1738, while Karikal affairs were still unsettled,
Dirois had been appointed to the chiefship
of Mahe. Before long he allowed himself
to be drawn into local quarrels, and in June
1740, while Dumas was engaged in prepara-
tions to defend Pondicherry against Raghojee,
Mahe was blockaded by the Nairs. The
confusion reigning in the Carnatic made it
impossible for Dumas to send a force to
raise the blockade, and Mahe was left to
take care of itself.

Early in 1740, Dupleix learned from

32 DUPLEIX

Dumas that he had sent home his resignation
twelve months before ; that the nomination
of his successor might soon be expected, and
that, in all probability, the choice of the
Directors would fall on himself. To an
ambitious man the prospect should have
been one of no small satisfaction. Dupleix
had proved his capacity at Chandernagore ;
he was still at an age when he might expect
a long term of office as the head of all the
French establishments in India, and Dumas
had shown that there were political develop-
ments possible at Pondicherry that had been
out of his reach at Chandernagore. But
Dupleix was so engrossed in local interests
and his own private trade that he was now
as unwilling to leave Bengal as he had been
to stay there when first appointed. He
wrote to his brother : " Dumas m'apprend
qu'il a demande son conge en Janvier 1739 ;
il recevra la reponse cette annee. II compte
parce qu'il me marque que ce sera moi qui
le releverai. Si la chose arrive, il la faudra
recevoir ; mais, en verity je ne le souhaite
pas, et au titre pres, je suis bien mieux ici,
ceci est mon enfant, je I'ai form6, je I'ai fait
ce qu'il est, et la (Pondichery) tout est fait :

DUPLEIX 33

il n'est point possible d'en faire davantage, a
moins de tromper la Compagnie." ^ And
this was not a passing expression of opinion
prompted by a wish to remain in Bengal.
In his letter to the Directors, fifteen months
earlier, he had told them he had no ambition
to succeed Lenoir and Dumas at Pondicherry,
because they had left no room for improve-
ment there : " Ouand meme je serais a
Pondichery je me trouverais trop heureux
de soutenir les choses sur le pied ou ils les
ont mises. Tout y est rdgle, tout y est fait,
je ne vois plus davantage considerable a y
procurer a la Compagnie."^ His views at
this time were confined to trade.

He was further embarrassed by the loss of
nearly everything he had acquired by private
trade, as he acknowledged in a letter, written
at this time, to Hardancourt, one of the
Directors. Among other debts, he owed a
large sum to the Vincens family, which he
was unable to pay. Fourteen years later
(October 1754), when drawing up a list of his
debts, he acknowledged still owing 118,000
rupees to Vincens' estate. He found tem-

1 Dupleix h. son frere, nth March 1740 (Cultru).

2 Dupleix k la Compagnie, 25th November 1738 (id.).

3

34 DUPLEIX

porary relief from the claim by marrying
Vincens' widow, on 17th April 1741, when
preparing to proceed to Pondicherry.

Madame Vincens' origin was not a dis-
tinofuished one. The account of her noble
Portuguese origin, her great political ability,
and her wide knowledge of Eastern languages
is only part of the exaggeration that has
accumulated round the name of Dupleix.
Her mother was a Portuguese half-caste
named de Castro, born at Madras in 1684,
so devoid of education that she could not
sign her name. Her father, Jacques Albert,
was a French surgeon. To Vincens she had
borne at least eight children (eleven, according
to Cultru), of whom five were living at the
time of her marriage to Dupleix, when she
was thirty-five years old. She was a clever
woman of intriguing nature and domineering
disposition, whose influence over Dupleix
was, in the long-run, mischievous to him.
Her knowledge of Tamil, the only native
tongue with which she was acquainted, must
have been of great use to him at the time
when almost every European was at the
mercy of native interpreters ; but the part
she played in Carnatic affairs has been much

DUPLEIX 35

exao^Qe rated. On one occasion she wrote to
Saunders, the Governor of Madras, to com-
plain of a district under her charge having
been ravaged by English troops. Saunders
politely declined to discuss the subject with
her, telling her that ladies should not concern
themselves with business affairs : he would
discuss the matter with her husband.^ She
managed the native spies maintained by
Dupleix in the English settlements, and,
during the siege of Pondicherry, received the
reports of spies in Boscawen's camp. She
had under her orders a body of peons whose
depredations, in which she shared, were more
formidable to the besieged than to the be-
siegers. A sortie, projected by her, cost
Dupleix the life of M. Paradis, his best
officer. Apparently she spied on Dupleix
himself. His confidential native secretary,
Ananda Ranga Pillay, relates how native
attendants in her pay were invariably present
at all interviews,^ The grave money diffi-

^ Saunders to Madame la Marquise Dupleix, 26th April
1754 (Cultru).

2 Les Fran^ats dans Vlnde. Extraits du Journal
d'Anandaranga-pouUe, courtier de la Compagnie Franqaise
des Indes. Traduits du Tamoul. Julien Vinson, Paris,
1894.

36 DUPLEIX

culties in which Dupleix found himself during
his last year in India were in part due to
her mismanagement of the Carnatic revenues,
the peculations of her agent, and the general
disorder that existed in the districts of which
she had sole charge. She bore Dupleix a
son, in October 1742, who did not survive
his birth.

On the ^^ October 174.1, Dumas sailed
for France. A month before his departure
a squadron of seven vessels, commanded
by La Bourdonnais, reached Pondicherry.
This squadron had been dispatched from
France, under circumstances to be narrated
later, in the expectation of a war with England.
The two countries, however, were still at
peace, but its arrival was a timely one in
other respects, as it enabled Dumas to send
aid to Mahe, which was still being blockaded
by the Nairs. It also enabled La Bourdon-
nais to concert measures with Dumas against
the eventuality of war with the English,
which bore fruit five years later. On the same
day that Dumas bade farewell to Pondicherry,
La Bourdonnais sailed for Mahe, where he
restored order in December.

On the Y% January 1742, Dupleix landed

DUPLEIX 37

at Pondicherry and assumed the reins of
government. On the ^^^\ more than six
months after Dumas' departure, a firman
arrived from the Moghul Emperor, obtained
by Sufdar Ah Khan in grateful recognition
of the protection granted him by Dumas
against the Mahrattas, in which the title of
Munsubdar of 4500 horse, with the dignity
of carrying a standard and using the nagara^
were conferred on Dumas. These dignities
were personal to Dumas, and not transfer-
able to his successor ; nor did Dupleix ever
show the least disposition to adopt them.
His views about native titles at this time
were those he had expressed in the de
Volton business three years earlier. The
title of Commandant of Horsemen was
purely honorary, like the honorary colonel-
cies conferred by one sovereign on another
in our own day, and conveyed no military
authority. The story that Dupleix made
use of the title, and that he visited Chander-
nagore to receive the homage of the Faujdar
of Hooghly is without foundation.^ From

^ Kettledrums.

2 The story of Dupleix's visit to Chandernagore to
receive homage is an invention of the Abbe Guyon.
Hamont is responsible for the idea that the firman made the

38 DUPLEIX

the time of his first arrival in Pondicherry
in January 1742, till his final departure in
October 1754, Dupleix never left the
place, except for a short visit to Gingee
in 1751/

His life at this time was apparently not
a happy one. His health was bad, and he
thought of resigning ; so far was he from
anticipating the part he was destined to play.
But the imminence of war with England put
an end to the project. The dispute over
the Austrian Succession threatened to put all
Europe in a blaze. France was taking the
field, as the ally of the Elector of Bavaria,
and was striking at Hanover. Before long
England took the field as the ally of Austria,
and the two nations were arrayed in arms
against each other,^ while nominally at peace,
as the auxiliaries of Austria and Bavaria : an
example that was to be followed, before
many years, by the rival Companies in
India.

Karikal was continuing to give trouble.

title transferable to Dumas' successor ; but the wording of
the firman shows that this was not the case.

1 Cultru, p. 184.

- The battle of Dettingen was fought nine months before
the declaration of war.

DUPLEIX 39

The Tanjore Chief was playing false, de-
manding further payments, and preventing
the revenue being gathered. In June 1743
the powder magazine was blown up by
accident, killing the governor, Febvrier, and
a number of men. Dupleix sent Paradis
there as governor. Paradis soon perceived
that no negotiation would ever settle the
matter, and it must be decided by force.
But Dupleix had not yet gauged the military
weakness of native armies, and would have
none of it. He wrote to the Directors that
they would do well to get rid of the costly
encumbrance. Meanwhile, Paradis took the
matter into his own hands, and a combat
that cost the Tanjoreans sixty or seventy
men put an end to their opposition for a
time.

The affairs of the Carnatic continued to
be disturbed. Sufdar Ali Khan and the
Mahrattas in Trichinopoly were quarrelling,
and Nizam-ool-Moolk was preparing to en-
force his claims to arrears of tribute at the
head of an army. In view of anticipated
trouble, Sufdar Ali Khan sent his family
and valuables to Madras. It is remarkable
that he should not have sent them to Pondi-

40 DUPLEIX

cherry, where they had found protection
eighteen months earlier. According to
Orme he chose Madras at the instigation
of his Dewan, Meer Assad, Chunda Sahib's
rival, who suspected an understanding be-
tween Dupleix and Chunda Sahib. Since
the invasion of the Mahrattas, two years
before this, Chunda Sahib's wife and his
younger son Reza Sahib had continued to
reside in Pondicherry. Chunda Sahib, from
his confinement in Satara, had made an
appeal to Dupleix, through his family ; but
he could have made no offer that Dupleix
would have cared to entertain, likely to
endanger the good relations existing be-
tween the French and Sufdar Ali Khan.

In October 1742, Sufdar Ali Khan was
murdered by his brother-in-law Mortaza Ali
Khan, who gained over the troops and
proclaimed himself Nawab of the Carnatic.
In a few weeks the troops broke away from
Mortaza Ali Khan, who sought safety in
Vellore, while Mahommed Said, the young
son of Sufdar Ali Khan, was proclaimed
Nawab.

In the following May, Nizam-ool-Moolk
advanced at the head of a large army into

DUPLEIX 41

the Carnatic, which was fast lapsing into
anarchy/ Mahommed Said was set aside
as too young to exercise authority, the
Mahrattas were forced to evacuate Trichi-
nopoly, and Nizam-ool-Moolk marched back
to the Deccan after restoring order, and
appointing Khoja Abdullah as Nawab of
the Carnatic. A few months later, Khoja
Abdullah was poisoned by an unknown
hand, and Anwaroodeen was appointed,
provisionally, in his place ; Nizam-ool-Moolk
having declared his intention to confer the
Nawabship on Mahommed Said on his
reaching the ag-e of manhood. A few
months later, again (June 1744), Mahommed
Said was assassinated by a Pathan, insti-
gated, according to general belief, by
Mortaza Ali Khan, and Anwaroodeen was
confirmed permanently in the Nawabship.
These rapid changes were watched by
Dupleix without any attempt to intervene
or take advantage of them, but he cannot
fail to have observed that the Chiefship of
the Carnatic was at the disposal of the
strongest, that the people were not attached
to any particular ruler or family, and that

^ See Wilks, i. 254.

42 DUPLEIX

there were no hereditary rights to the
Nawabship. His hands were soon to be
occupied with more vital interests.

In the autumn of 1744 it became known
that war had been declared between France
and England. The Directors in Paris, in
anticipation of war, had already written to
Dupleix to do his utmost to prevent hostil-
ities east of the Cape of Good Hope. They
could hold out to him no hope of assistance
in men or money. The finances of the
Company were at so low an ebb that they
had, some months before, ordered him to
reduce expenses ; and the King was not
disposed to send troops or men-of-war to
India, being already sufficiently occupied in
Europe and America. They enjoined on
him the necessity of avoiding any aggressive
action. It has been generally held that
Dupleix, at this juncture, appealed to the
Nawab Anwaroodeen for protection, but this
does not appear to have been the case.
Having neither troops nor money, in
December he addressed the English officials
at Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay, proposing
that no act of hostility should be committed
by either nation east of the Cape of Good

DUPLEIX 43

Hope. In reply he was told that the pro-
posal could not be entertained. His design
was not only to preserve French settlements
in India from attack, but to tie the hands of the
British Navy in the Indian and China seas.

Six weeks after the declaration of war,
a squadron of four men-of-war under Com-
modore Barnet sailed from the Downs to
protect English trade in the Indian seas.
The unexpected arrival of La Bourdonnais
on the Indian coast, in 1741, had shown the
English Company the danger to which their
trade was exposed, and their representations
to the Crown obtained Barnet's dispatch to
the East. But no intention of attacking the
French trading settlements in India found
place in the plans of the English ministry ;
Barnet's instructions were limited to pro-
tecting English commerce and harrying
French commerce at sea.^ From Mada-
gascar Barnet steered for the Malacca
Straits, where he captured (in January 1745)
three French ships from Canton, a French
privateer that had been fitted out at Pondi-

^ The instructions themselves cannot now be found, but
the covering letter exists, and shows that his operations
were only to be extended to sea operations. {Admiralty
Orders.)

44 DUPLEIX

cherry, and a Manilla ship, the Mahommed
Shah, sailing under a French pass. Accord-
ing to accounts at the time, the Mahommed
Shah, in which Dupleix had an interest,
had treasure on board to the amount of over
^50,000. This severe blow, falling both on
the Company and himself, roused Dupleix's
extreme wrath. Naturally arrogant and
impatient of opposition, the loss awoke in
his mind a vindictive feeling against the
English that coloured all his subsequent acts,
and frequently obscured his judgment. It
soon became known at the Deccan and
Carnatic Courts that Dupleix was seeking
to revenge himself on the English. The
Soobadar and the Nawab at once addressed
purwanas to the French, English, and Dutch
factories, ordering them to respect all vessels
bearing passes from the Nawab's repre-
sentative. To Dupleix himself Anwaroodeen
addressed a letter, reminding him that the
European factories were under the protection
of the Emperor, that they were held for trading
purposes only, and would be protected from
attack, and that he, Dupleix, would be held
responsible if he broke the peace.

In all previous European wars, hostilities

DUPLEIX 45

had never extended to any part of the
Moghul Emperor's dominions, and neither
Pondicherry nor Madras had men to employ
in enterprises outside their factory walls.
Determined to revenge himself, Dupleix
wrote to Bourbon to claim the assistance
offered to him by La Bourdonnais. Mean-
while, he did his best to excite the Nawab's
enmity against the English, writing that he
was able to defend himself if attacked ; that
the English had broken the peace, and if the
Nawab would not punish them he must not
be surprised if the French took matters into
their own hands.

The English Council at Madras protested
to the Nawab that Barnet was not under
their orders, and they had no authority over
him. To which the Nawab replied that
any attack made on the French possessions
by Barnet would be visited on Madras.
This so alarmed the Madras Council that
they impressed on Barnet the necessity of
confining his operations to the sea. So
Pondicherry, which was at the mercy of his
squadron, was not attacked, and Dupleix
continued his preparations for war.

Since 1735 La Bourdonnais had held the

46 DUPLEIX

governorship of Bourbon and Mauritius.
He was a man of energetic and adventurous
disposition, and a sailor of the best type.
As described by Orme, " His knowledge of
mechanics rendered him capable of building
a ship from the keel : his skill in navigation,
of conducting her to any part of the globe :
and his courage, of defending her against
any equal force." For some years he had
served in the French Company's marine, and
had distinguished himself at the capture of
Mahe in 1725. He had afterwards quarrelled
with Lenoir, and for two years had taken
service with the Portuguese. He had then
re-entered the Company's service as Gov-
ernor of the islands. In 1739, while in
France, when war wath England appeared
imminent, he had formed a syndicate among
his friends to fit out a small privateering
squadron to prey on English trade in the
East. Before he could sail, the Company
took over the project, and, in April 1741,
he sailed in command of five Company's
ships, arriving at Pondicherry a few days
before Dumas sailed for Europe.^ Though
war was averted, he was able to render
^ See page 36.

DUPLEIX 47

opportune service at Mahe, as has already
been related.

Among the plans he had formed for
injuring English commerce was one for
making a raid on Madras, and holding the
town to ransom. To a man of his training,
such desultory attacks were more congenial
than the deliberate methods of scientific
warfare. The scheme was imparted to
Dumas when they met at Pondicherry, and
afterwards to Dupleix, who thought so well •'
of it that he sent his chief engineer, M.
Paradis, to Madras to prepare a plan of ^
attack. War not breaking out, the squadron
was recalled to France, La Bourdonnais
remaining at Bourbon. On news of the
declaration of war reaching him, he received
similar orders to those sent to Dupleix to
avoid hostilities if possible.^ He paid no
attention to them. At once he addressed
Dupleix, undertaking to fit out six vessels
with fifteen or eighteen hundred men, pro-
posing that Dupleix should contribute three
or four hundred more, and that they should
together essay some enterprise that would

^ The government of the Isles of France was independent
of the government of the French trading settlements in India.

48 DUPLEIX

make good their losses. The expense was
to be borne partly by the Company, partly
by Dupleix and himself. His ideas were
those of the adventurer rather than of the
naval officer. Dupleix was still hoping that
neutrality would be preserved, and dis-
approved of the project : but his pacific ideas
disappeared on hearing of the losses caused
by Barnet's squadron, and he wrote to La
Bourdonnais to push on his preparations, to
which he contributed 10,000 rupees from his
private purse.

Throughout the year (1745) La Bour-
donnais worked with ardour at the completion
of his armament, converting merchant ships
into men-of-war, collecting troops and pro-
visions, and notifying Dupleix of the stores
he would require on arrival. Dupleix, on his
side, was no less diligent in his preparations.
A system for obtaining constant intelligence
from Madras was established through the
eldest daughter of Madame Dupleix, who
was married to a merchant there named
Barnewall or Coyle de Barneval.^

^ This man is described by French writers as a British
subject. The English records call him a Frenchman.
When Madras was restored to the English in 1749, he was
arrested and ordered to leave the country, and his house

DUPLEIX 49

As the time for action approached, La
Bourdonnais tried to shift part of the
responsibihty for the attack on Madras on
to Dupleix's shoulders. The Directors in
France had been kept in complete ignorance
of the design, and, in the event of failure,
he wished Dupleix to share the blame. On
the 3rd February 1746 he wrote to Dupleix :
" Je veux me faire une loi de partager avec
vous tout I'honneur du succes de nos
operations. Nous devons nous regarder
I'un et I'autre comme egalement int^ress^s
a la conduite des evenements. II s'agit de
nous consulter reciproquement dans le cours
de cette expedition." ^ Dupleix, however,
had no idea of having the responsibility
thrust on him. He replied that the honour
of success would be La Bourdonnais' ; he
himself would assist in every way that was
in his power. He politely declined to take
any credit for the scheme, but pointed out
that the destruction of the English squadron

was confiscated. He came to England and petitioned the
Court of Directors, who permitted him to return home^ and
trade as a Free Merchant. He appears to have returned to
India, where Dupleix gave him a military commission. The
name appears in the Madras records of 1716.
^ La Bourdonnais ^ Dupleix, 3rd February 1746 (Cultru).

4

50 DUPLEIX

was necessary before Madras could be
attacked. He was very far at present from
desiring to direct French policy in the East
at his pleasure. At this time too he was
gratified by receiving from France letters of
nobility and the cordon of St. Michael.

While his preparations were still incom-
plete, La Bourdonnais received news from
France that a squadron was being dispatched
to him to be under his orders. His instruc-
tions were to convey a sum of money to
Pondicherry, and then to cruise against
English commerce in the Bay of Bengal.
He was to return to the islands about June
1746, and send the squadron back to France
in the following year. At the same time a
certain amount of discretion was left him to
change the plan according to circumstances,
in which case he was to act in consultation
with Dupleix, who was directed to second
his efforts. The Directors were still in
ignorance of the project against Madras, or
of the preparations that had been made in
Pondicherry and the islands.

In March (1746) all was ready. Hardly
had the combined squadron left its anchorage
when it was scattered by a terrible storm.

DUPLEIX 5 1

One ship was lost, others were dismasted,
and the whole expedition was forced to put
back to refit on the Madagascar coast. La
Bourdonnais' energy and skill triumphed
over all difficulties. By the beginning of
June all was again ready, and, with nine men-
of-war carrying 3300 men, La Bourdonnais
sailed for Pondicherry, where he arrived
on the ^I? tT^ after fig^htino- an indecisive

8th July o &

action with the English squadron, in which
neither side showed much stomach for the
fight. Barnet had died three months before,
and the command of the English squadron
had been assumed by Peyton, an inefficient
officer, who, after this engagement, effaced
himself and his squadron till the arrival of
Commodore Griffin in November ; too late
to save Madras.

While Dupleix had been at Chander-
nagore, a difference had arisen between him
and La Bourdonnais concerning a matter of
trade, and he had not been sparing of his
comments on La Bourdonnais when the
latter had been appointed Governor of the
islands ; but there had been no open quarrel,
and of late the two had been drawn to-
gether by a common aim. From the

52 DUPLEIX

moment of setting foot in Pondicherry, La
Bourdonnais commenced a quarrel with
Dupleix that bid fair to ruin the whole
expedition. He complained that he was
not honoured with the same salutes and
honours as Dupleix, and the complaint would
appear to have had some point, as Dumas
had received him five years before with
equal honours. As Governor of the islands
he was not subordinate to the Governor of
Pondicherry. He ostentatiously paraded
his men in front of Dupleix's house, making
them render him the honours that Dupleix
would not pay him, and demanded the
punishment of an officer in charge of a
guard who declined to give him the salute
paid to the Governor of Pondicherry.
Instead of humouring his vanity, in view of
the important project they had embarked
upon, Dupleix met his complaints with an
equal show of pride, spoke injuriously of him
to others, and inflicted small slights on him
that were bound to be felt and resented.

In the beginning of August, La Bour-
donnais took his squadron for a three weeks'
cruise to the southward to look for the
English squadron, and found them off the

DUPLEIX 5 3

north coast of Ceylon. For three days
the two squadrons watched each other
without engaging : Peyton, with an inferior
force, declining the combat, and La Bour-
donnais not forcing it on.

On his return, the quarrel went on worse
than ever. The two men could only meet
in Council, where violent scenes took place.
Before long it was evident that La
Bourdonnais was weakening- in his desig-ns
against Madras, and shrinking from the
responsibility. He proposed an attack on
Cuddalore and Fort St. David. Dupleix
would not hear of it. It would expose the
French to the anger of the Nawab, without
any corresponding benefit. The resources
of Pondicherry were being strained past
endurance, while the health of the troops,
cooped up on board ship, was suffering.
Dupleix was beside himself with anger, and
talked before others of " ce chien de La
Bourdonnais."^ La Bourdonnais had all
along refused to acknowledge that he was
subject to the authority of the Council, and
claimed to do as he thought best. Now
he demanded the Council's orders. The

^ Les Franqais dans Plnde.

54 DUPLEIX

Council gave him no orders, but stated their
opinion that he should either proceed against
Madras or against the English squadron.
In the event of his deciding not to proceed
against Madras, the sepoys entertained for
the purpose must be disbanded, as their cost
was too heavy to be borne indefinitely, and
the soldiers belongrinCT to the orarrison that
he had taken on board must be landed.
In fact, 200 men that had been put on
board when the squadron first arrived at
Pondicherry were disembarked. La Bour-
donnais himself took up his residence on
shore, and sent the squadron under M. de la
Porte-Barre to cruise on the coast. After a
feeble attempt to capture an English vessel,
the Princess Mary, in the Madras roads,
which led to a two hours' bombardment of
the fort, the squadron returned to Pondi-
cherry. At last La Bourdonnais, after a
violent scene with Dupleix, made up his
mind to attack Madras. Whatever blame
may attach to Dupleix for his share in these
dissensions, to him is due the sole credit
of keeping La Bourdonnais to the original
project of the expedition. La Bourdonnais
was the author of it, but his object was

DUPLEIX 55

plunder. Still, it is difficult to account for
his want of resolution when the moment
for action had arrived, and it is clear that,
except for Dupleix, the attack on Madras
would have hung fire.

The objections of the Nawab had mean-
while been surmounted. The great forces
brought by La Bourdonnais, together with
the ignominious flight of Peyton's squadron
from the coast, showed him that the English
were not worth considering, and all further
doubts were resolved by the present of 50,000
pagodas, and the promise of a similar sum
after the capture of Madras. The French
claimed at the time that they held the
]>\a^Na}:)S purwana granting them permission
to attack Madras.

Madras was the richest and most popu-
lous town on the Coromandel coast. The
narrow strip of land leased from the Arcot
government, had, under the English Com-
pany, developed into a settlement of 250,000
inhabitants. But it was in no condition to
resist an attack. The defences, poor at
the best, had been allowed to fall into dis-
repair through the Company's parsimony ;
while the Council, trusting in the Nawab's

56 DUPLEIX

protection, the presence of Peyton's squad-
ron on the coast, and the neutrality that
had hitherto been observed in European
wars, had only commenced to repair them
when they heard of La Bourdonnais' arma-
ment. The Governor was Mr. Morse, and
the garrison consisted of about 200 European
soldiers of the inferior quality that the Com-
pany maintained in its factories, together
with a number of half-armed undisciplined
peons. The military officers were three
lieutenants, two of whom were foreigners,
and seven ensigns promoted from the ranks.
Only two of the ten officers were deemed
efficient.^ For sixty years it had been the
policy of the Company to keep their military
force in a state of depression, being more
solicitous lest they should be dangerous to
themselves than efficient against an enemy.
When war appeared to be imminent in
1742, the Directors had appointed Major
Knipe, an old King's officer of thirty
years' service, to command at Madras, and
made preparations to increase the garrison

^ Those desirous of forming an idea of the Company's
military officers at this time should study Lord Egmont's
speech in the House of Commons in 1754, on the Bill to
extend the Mutiny Act to the East Indies and St. Helena.

DUPLEIX 57

to 600 men. But the men were not
sent, and Knipe died four months after
arrival. Undefended wealth is certain to
be attacked sooner or later, and La Bour
donnais had marked Madras as an easy
prey.

When aware at last of the threatening
storm, Morse made an appeal for protection
to the Nawab, who sent a sham warning to
Dupleix. After a few hours' bombardment
by La Bourdonnais, the place surrendered
unconditionally, on ^ September, without
the French having lost a single man. Before
La Bourdonnais left Pondicherry, Dupleix
had written to him suggesting that the
English should be allowed to buy off the
attack on payment of a million pagodas,
the restitution of the captured French vessels,
and an engagement to observe neutrality
east of the Cape for the remainder of the
war ; and La Bourdonnais, agitated by a
rumour of the approach of Peyton's squadron,
had hastened the surrender by holding out
hopes that the town would be restored on
payment of a ransom. While he was at
Pondicherry nothing had been settled as to
what was to be done with Madras in the

58 DUPLEIX

event of capture. Directly the place fell, he
informed Dupleix that it had surrendered
unconditionally. Dupleix at once wrote to
La Bourdonnais charoino- him to entertain
no thoughts of a ransom, lest he should
embroil the French with the Nawab, to
whom he had promised to deliver the town
in the event of its capture. His idea was to
sack it and dismantle the fort, before making
it over to the Nawab.

La Bourdonnais was in no humour to
listen to any suggestion from Dupleix. The
design had been his, the conquest was his :
he was not under the orders of the Governor
of Pondicherry, and would do as he pleased.
To his corsair-like ideas of war, booty and
ransom were the only objects. From the
moment the place was in his hands, a
systematic plunder of private property was
instituted under his supervision. Dupleix
sent Commissioners to take charge of the
place ; La Bourdonnais imprisoned some of
them and sent the rest back to Pondicherry.
He even talked of bombarding Pondicherry
to bring Dupleix to reason. With Morse
and the Madras Council he came to an
agreement to restore the fort, with half of

DUPLEIX 59

the warlike stores in it, in return for bills
of exchange, payable in two years, to the
amount of 1,100,000 pagodas. In addition
to the booty he had obtained he is said to
have secured a private payment from Morse
of 100,000 pagodas. Such transactions
are not committed to paper, but the cir-
cumstantial evidence places the matter
almost beyond doubt. Afterwards, on '
reaching France, he was openly accused of
receiving the bribe, and the charge has
clun^ to him ever since.

Dupleix was in despair. He had com-
mitted himself with the Nawab : without
orders from the Directors he had exhausted
the resources of Pondicherry ; and now the
treasure found in Madras had disappeared.
Madras itself was beings oiven back to the
English, and La Bourdonnais had from the
first made known his intention of carrying
back his ships and soldiers to the islands not

later than the -^ October. In vain he sent

15th

letters and officers to La Bourdonnais : they
were treated with disdain. At one moment
La Bourdonnais told him the affair was
settled, and quoted orders given him by
the Directors, five years before, under other

6o DUPLEIX

conditions, forbidding him to establish any-
new place of trade ; at another he told him
there was no treaty with the English. So
the dispute went on, and, as subsequent
events showed, its prolongation proved
favourable to Dupleix. La Bourdonnais
was perplexed, because he foresaw that,
without Dupleix's assent, his pledge to
restore Madras to the English would not be
redeemed. Time was pressing ; the season
for tempestuous weather on the coast was
approaching, and the open roadstead of
Madras afforded no protection to shipping.

On the ^^ October the convention was

13th

settled, but not signed, by which the French
were to evacuate the town two days later.
That same night a hurricane of great
violence struck the coast. La Bourdonnais
was blown out to sea ; four of his ships
foundered, and the rest were saved with
difficulty, after losing their masts, and having
to throw a number of their oruns overboard.
His armament was effectively crippled, and
of the Madras plunder much was lost. He
regained his anchorage, and proceeded to
complete the convention ; but told the
English that, owing to the obstinacy of

DUPLEIX 6i

Dupleix, the surrender must be delayed for
three months. According to Hamont he
told the English officials that the terms of
the convention were approved by Dupleix,
though he had in his possession a letter from
the Pondicherry council refusing to recognise
it. Thus, after playing false to Dupleix,
he now played false to the English, who
were obliged to put up with the delay. On

the ^ October, after making: over the

23rd ' &

command to D'Epresmenil,^ the first Coun-
cillor at Pondicherry, he sailed for that
place.

At Pondicherry he remained only two
days, without setting foot on shore. During
his absence, three men-of-war had arrived
from France, and had landed a detachment
of troops. The Directors in Paris had heard
of the project against Madras, and had sent
orders to Dupleix to hold it in the event of
capture. Owing to the crippled state of his
ships. La Bourdonnais was also obliged
to land 1200 men, 900 of whom were

^ D'Epresmenil had married the eldest daughter of
Madame Dupleix, and had been designed by Dupleix for
the charge of Madras from the moment of its capture.
La Bourdonnais excluded him from any share in the
convention with the English.

62 DUPLEIX

Europeans, whom he would otherwise have
carried away to the islands. In this way
Dupleix had at his disposal a force of 3000
Europeans. Thus the storm, so fatal to
La Bourdonnais, unexpectedly placed at
Dupleix's disposal a body of troops that were
of immense value to him in subsequent
events.

On arriving at Bourbon, La Bourdonnais
found that a new governor had been dis-
patched from France to take his place, so
he sailed for the West Indies. Thence he
transferred himself to a Dutch ship, impatient
to reach France and justify himself. But
war had been declared between England
and Holland : he was taken prisoner, and
carried to London. Here he was treated
with great consideration. What had happened
in India after his departure was known, and
to the English he appeared a loyal and
generous foe, while Dupleix was regarded
as a vindictive enemy who had failed to
observe a solemn treaty. Being allowed to
visit France on parole, he was thrown into
the Bastille, where he remained a prisoner
three years, and died 9th September 1753,
shortly after his release.

DUPLEIX 63

We have arrived at the most important
moment of Dupleix's career. Madras had
been left at his mercy, and from the action
he now took sprung all the consequences
that have made his name famous. Without
hesitation he resolved to set aside La Bour-
donnais' convention with the English and to
defy the Nawab. By a gift of money and
the promise of more he had obtained the
Nawab's permission to attack Madras. By
promising to surrender the place to him
he had kept the Nawab quiet during La
Bourdonnais' occupation. Now the Nawab
learned that both promises were to be
broken. Exasperated at the defiance of his
authority, he set his army in motion, and
it appeared before Madras under his son,
Mahfooz Khan, almost before La Bour-
donnais' sails had disappeared from the
horizon. Sending for D'Epresmenil, and
ordering his deputy, Barthelemy, to hold
Madras against all attacks, Dupleix dis-
patched Paradis with reinforcements to his
assistance. But before Paradis could arrive
Barthelemy had already taken action. Find-
ing that his water supply was cut off by
the besiegers, he ordered a sortie, which

64 DUPLEIX

was vigorously carried out by M. de la
Tour/ defeating and driving off the advanced
parties of the Nawab's army, capturing their
camp, and killing some 70 men, without
suffering loss himself. Collecting his men,
Mahfooz Khan then resolved to intercept
Paradis, and took up his position at S.
Thom6. Paradis, whose little force consisted
only of 300 Europeans, 200 topasses and
sepoys, with 10 horsemen, did not hesitate
to attack. Fording the Adyar River under
fire of the Nawab's artillery, he delivered
one volley and charged. The Nawab's
troops gave way and retired into the town.
Paradis followed them up and made a great
slaugrhter amongr the crowded masses en-
tangled in the narrow lanes of S. Thome.
The rout was completed by the arrival of
a portion of the garrison under de la Tour.
Mahfooz Khan escaped with difficulty, and
his army was dispersed in flight.

On entering Madras, Paradis issued a
proclamation annulling the treaty of ransom
made by La Bourdonnais. He then pro-

' de la Tour was a captain of grenadiers, one of Dupleix's
best officers. He distinguished himself greatly in the defence
of Pondicherry, after which we hear no more of him.

DUPLEIX 65

ceeded, under orders from Dupleix, to carry
out measures for the permanent destruction
of the EngHsh settlement. All merchandise,
warlike stores, and horses were taken posses-
sion of. The English were, to a man,
treated as prisoners of war. The Governor
and some of the principal inhabitants were
sent to Pondicherry, and ignominiously
paraded through the streets.^ The rest
were called on to give their parole not to
act against the French until regularly ex-
changed. The natives who refused to take
an oath of allegiance to the French were
expelled the town. Measures were then
taken to improve and strengthen the forti-
fications.

It is evident that Dupleix had been
in a state of indecision as to the disposal
of Madras,^ On the efhlptembL before La
Bourdonnais had started on his enterprise,

^ This has been denied by Cartwright, who calls it an
invention of La Bourdonnais : but it is related by Orme,
the most accurate of historians. Orme was in Bengal
at the time and intimately acquainted with all the Eng-
lish concerned. The act was in keeping with Dupleix's
character. In August 1753 when Lawrence's palanquin was
captured by the Mahrattas, during the action with Brenier,
Dupleix had it paraded through the streets of Pondicherry
as a proof of Lawrence's defeat and death.

5

66 DUPLEIX

he signified his willingness to allow the
English to buy off the attack by the pay-
ment of a million pagodas and the restitution
of the vessels captured by Barnet. Four
days later he wrote to the Nawab that he
was attacking Madras under orders from
the King of France. On the day that
Madras surrendered, he wrote to La Bour-
donnais that he had promised the Nawab
to make Madras over to him, " bien entendu
dans r^tat que nous jugerons convenable."
His idea apparently then was to sack and de-
stroy the place, and leave it for the Nawab
to do what he pleased with it. He was
desirous of avoiding hostilities with the
Nawab, but the Nawab's prompt action
left him no alternative but submission or
resistance ; so he decided to fight for his
prize.

How far Dupleix was justified in breaking
the convention with the English is a point
on which opinions will probably differ.
The convention was one that La Bourdon-
nais should not have made, in defiance of
Dupleix's strongly expressed views. There
was no immediate military consideration
involved, and La Bourdonnais was about

DUPLEIX 6y

to leave the coast, while his countrymen
who remained would have to bear the con-
sequences of his acts. Viewed dispassion-
ately at this distance of time, and considering ;
La Bourdonnais' questionable dealings, it is '
difficult to say that Dupleix was not fully
justified in the course he adopted. The
breach of the convention certainly did him
much harm with the English, while the
ungenerous side of his nature was shown
in his ignominious treatment of Governor
Morse and the principal English inhabitants
of Madras, and his vindictive feelings against
the English became known. Henceforth
they regarded him as a man void of good
faith and good feeling, one who was not
bound by the ordinary standards in the
conduct of public affairs. One result there
was, destined to have an important bearing
on future events. Among the prisoners in
Madras was Robert Clive, a young writer
who had come to India in the Company's
service two years before. He, with half a
dozen others, regarding themselves absolved
by Dupleix's breach of faith from the parole
they had given La Bourdonnais, and refusing
to take a fresh parole from Dupleix, made

68 DUPLEIX

their way to the English settlement at Fort
St. David, which now became the centre of
English authority on the coast/ Clive's
thoughts were thenceforth turned to military
objects.

The most important result of all was the
demonstration, afforded by Paradis' victory
at S. Thome, to English and French alike,
of the feebleness of native armies. This
feebleness had long been known, but so
many years had elapsed since Europeans
had measured themselves against any
orofanised native force, and their attitude to
native constituted authority had been so
habitually submissive, that the total defeat of
the Nawab s army by a handful of Europeans
came as a new revelation. Henceforth all
ideas on the subject required adjustment to
a new focus.

Without troubling himself about the
Nawab, Dupleix set to work to reduce Fort
St. David, the last foothold of the English
on the Coromandel coast, twelve miles south
of Pondicherry. The garrison consisted

^ In a memorandum on the capture of Madras, Clive
states that he made his escape disguised "as a Dubash, and
blackened " (Orme MSS.).

DUPLEIX 69

only of 200 Europeans and half that number
of badly armed, undisciplined native peons.
In their extremity the English appealed
to the Nawab, who sent a force of
6000 horse and 3000 foot, which encamped
five miles from St. David. On the
-—y^ December a French force of 1700
men with field pieces and mortars, under
M. de Bury, crossed the Pannar River
and were settling themselves down, a mile
from Fort St. David, when the Nawab's
army, commanded by his two sons Mah-
fooz Khan and Mahommed Ali, suddenly
appeared. In a panic, the Frenchmen
seized their arms, recrossed the Pannar,
and made their way back to Pondicherry
as quickly as they could, leaving behind
them a quantity of baggage and military
stores.

On the 35^0 a second attempt was
made to attack the place, in boats, on the
sea face. But a high wind arising, the
boats were obliged to put back, and the
expedition ended abortively. Seeing that
success against Fort St. David would be
difficult so long as the Nawab remained
friendly to the English, Dupleix set himself

70 DUPLEIX

to work to detach him from the alliance.
He found little difficulty in persuading the
Nawab that the French was the winning side,
and, before the end of February, Mahfooz
Khan visited Pondicherry, where he was well
received : a treaty of peace was signed, and
the Nawab's army withdrawn from Fort St.
David.

The position of the English on the coast
had now become critical. Since the capture
of Madras, no assistance of any kind had
reached Fort St. David. Two ships from
England, conveying money and stores, had
sailed into Madras roads in ignorance of the
fall of the place, and were captured. A third
that anchored off Fort St. David, on learning
of the capture of Madras, sailed away for
Bengal, refusing to land a single soldier of
those on board. At last, in February, when
affairs were becoming desperate, a fourth
ship, after narrowly escaping capture at
Madras, came to Fort St. David, and landed
twenty recruits and ^60,000 in silver, a
supply of the greatest importance to the
garrison. A fortnight later a French force,
under Paradis, drove in the garrison and sat
down before the place.

DUPLEIX 7 1

Had it appeared a few days earlier the
fort would probably have fallen, but delay
had been occasioned by the refusal of the
French officers to serve under Paradis. He
was an engineer, and therefore hardly
regarded as a military man ; and as a Swiss
was doubly unwelcome as a commander.
By the time their reluctance was over-
come, it was too late. A few hours after
the arrival of Paradis' force, the English
squadron sailed into the roads, and the
French marched back to Pondicherry with
great precipitation. Two additional ships
under Admiral Griffin had arrived from
England, and the command had been
taken out of the hands of the incompetent
Peyton.

With Griffin came lOO European soldiers ;
and before long further reinforcements of
Europeans, topasses, and sepoys came in
from Bombay and Tellicherry. The em-
ployment of sepoys, that is of natives
armed and drilled like European soldiers,
occurred on the western coast long before
they were made use of in Bengal or on the
Coromandel coast. To Dupleix has some-
times been assigned the credit of first

^2 DUPLEIX

employing them, which is not strictly due.
Sepoys had been known on the west coast
many years before their appearance on the
Coromandel coast. The first mention of
them in the French records is in 1744, when
a company of sepoys, obtained from Mahe,
were sent to Karikal. But the English
records of Bombay show that sepoys were
employed there in 17 18; and it is not im-
probable that the credit of first drilling
natives in the European fashion belongs
to the Portuguese.

For six months the presence of Griffin's
squadron preserved Fort St. David from
attack, at a time when there was no officer
present capable of commanding the garrison.
So helpless were they that Captain Gibson
of the Royal Navy was given the chief
command on shore. The approach of the
south-east monsoon forced Griffin to with-
draw to Trincomalee, but, by making occa-
sional demonstrations off Pondicherry, he
prevented any attack being made on Fort
St. David till he was aoain able to anchor
in the roadstead, in January.

Soon after Griffin's first arrival in March,
news had reached Fort St. David that the

DUPLEIX 73

French governors of Karikal and Madras
were on their way to Pondicherry. A party
was sent out to intercept them, and captured
them twelve miles from Fort St. David.
Negotiations were opened, and they were
exchanged for Mr. Morse, the ex-governor
of Madras, and another official. With Morse
came his native interpreter, who, during his
stay in Pondicherry, had been won over to
French interests by Madame Dupleix.

In January (1748), there arrived from
England Major Lawrence, an old officer of
great, though as yet unproved merit, who
was destined to play a prominent part in
defeating Dupleix's schemes. Three months
before his arrival, the native commandant
of the sepoys from Tellicherry had been
discovered to be in correspondence with
Pondicherry. Before long, Lawrence dis-
covered that Morse's interpreter was corre-
sponding with Madame Dupleix, and had
secured promises from several native officers
to desert to the French, with their men, on
the first engagement. The interpreter was
hung, and eleven native officers were trans-
ported to St. Helena.

Early in June, Griffin put to sea in pursuit

74 DUPLEIX

of a French squadron that was steering for
Madras, and Dupleix at once seized the
opportunity for renewing his attacks : but
the time had passed when the English might
be deprived by a coup de main of their last
foothold on the coast. On the j-r^ June a
force of 800 Frenchmen and 1000 sepoys
marched secretly to within three miles of
Cuddalore, the town of Fort St. David,
with the intention of makino- a nio-ht attack.
Lawrence had intelligence of their project,
and ostentatiously removed the guns and
withdrew the garrison, giving out that
the place was not tenable. At nightfall
the guns were replaced, the garrison
strengthened, and all made ready to resist
an attack. At midnight the French ad-
vanced silently, and began to place their
scaling ladders, when they were received
with such a fire as struck panic into them,
and they made their way back in haste to
Pondicherry, having lost upwards of 200
men by death and desertion.

In reporting the capture of Madras to the
Directors in Paris, Dupleix suggested three
alternatives for its disposal. i. That it
should be retained by France till the end of

DUPLEIX 75

the war, to be exchanged for Louisbourg
in Cape Breton, which had been captured
by the English in June 1745. 2. That it
should be restored to the English East India
Company, by direct negotiation, on payment
of a heavy ransom. 3. That it should be
made over to a native prince, after demolition
of the fortifications, on such conditions that
it could not be restored to the English. It
is indicative of the large views of which
Dupleix was capable, that, having passed the
whole of his official life in India, occupied
almost entirely in commercial affairs, he
should, at the outset of his career in im-
portant matters of policy, have taken into
consideration the affairs of France in North
America.

The French Directors chose the third
alternative ; directing him to exchange
Madras for territory in the vicinity of
Pondicherry in order to secure a fixed
revenue, and to ensure the reversion of
additional territory and revenue, in the event
of the chief, to whom Madras was to be
ceded, restoring it to the English. These
instructions did not reach Dupleix till the
autumn of 1748. He at once offered Madras

ye DUPLEIX

to Nazir Jung, who had just seated himself
on the throne of the Deccan, asking in
return that two districts in the vicinity of
Pondicherry, yielding a revenue of forty or
fifty thousand pagodas, should be given to
France. Before the negotiations could be
concluded, news was received of the peace
of Aix-la-Chapelle, and of the mutual restitu-
tion of all conquests made during the war ;
so, to all appearances, the disposal of Madras
was according to the first of Dupleix's
suggestions. His choice of Nazir Jung for
the future owner of Madras was probably
made in order to provoke dissension between
the Soobadar and the Nawab of Arcot,
Though it was not in his instructions, he
also entertained a project for making over
the Carnatic to Chunda Sahib, or one of
the late Dost Ali Khan's family, in revenge
for Anwaroodeen's enmity, without consult-
ing Nazir Jung. Yet Anwaroodeen was
the recognised ruler of the Carnatic, with
an unimpeachable title. The arrogance of
his language at this time is remarkable : " je
suis maitre, quand je le voudrai, de donner
a qui bon me semblera," he wrote to the late
Dost Ali Khan's treasurer.

DUPLEIX Tj

Meanwhile, war had been brought to
his gates. In July 1748 an English ex-
pedition, under Boscawen, arrived on the
coast, from Europe, for the reduction of
Pondicherry.

He brought with him over 2000 men
of the King's troops ; the Dutch furnished a
small contingent of 120 men under Roussel,
a renegade Frenchman, and the troops and
sailors from Fort St. David brought the whole
force up to a total of 3720 Europeans, 300
topasses, and 2000 badly armed and badly dis-
ciplined sepoys. The Nawab Anwaroodeen,
anxious to revenge himself on the French,
sent a small and useless body of 300 horse.
After seven weeks' operations, in which
Boscawen committed every blunder it was
possible to commit, he was obliged to abandon
the siege with the loss of over 1000 men,
without having been able to push the attack
within 800 yards of the place. The only
important loss sustained by the French was
in the death of Paradis, who was killed in a
sortie. The diary of Ananda Ranga Pillay,
with an account of all that passed in the
town from day to day, shows that Boscawen's
ignorance of land warfare, and the incom-

78 DUPLEIX

petence of his engineers, alone saved the
place. Throughout the siege the native
clerk's journal returns again and again to
the iniquities of Madame Dupleix. She
plundered the native population till the
unfortunate townsmen asked themselves if
the English could inflict greater wrongs on
them than those they endured. She was
responsible for the foolish sortie in which
Paradis was killed. Those highest in

o

authority next to Dupleix, amazed and
shocked at what was being done, dared not
remonstrate. When the siege was at an end,
her peons, under pretence of pursuing the
English, plundered the surrounding villages,
and the lion's share of the plunder came to
Madame Dupleix. Those who complained
were beaten, imprisoned, or had their ears
cut off by her orders, and a reign of terror
was established among the native population.
" Les habitants de la ville sont moins
effrayees des bombes et des boulets que
les ennemis font pleuvoir, que de pareilles
injustices. Je ne sais comment decrire et
comment ^valuer cette terreur." Nor does
the native clerk spare Dupleix, to whom he
appears to have been attached, for the

DUPLEIX 79

weakness with which he allowed his wife
to interfere in public matters and create
disorder.

"On n'a jamais vu ni entendu dans le
monde un homme plus credule que Monsieur
. . . Monsieur est tres capable . . .
Monsieur a acquis de la gloire ; puis il n'a
pas reussi et a eu de la honte. C'est par le
fait de sa femme ; celle-ci est un vrai diable
qui terrorise toute la ville . . . Quoi qu'elle
fasse, on tremble de peur de ses calomnies.
II y a quatre mois que M. Dupleix a perdu
I'autorite et Madame I'a prise ... II est
venu ainsi a Monsieur du d^shonneur dont
les causes sont multiples. D'abord il ecoute
les paroles de Madame. ... En second
lieu il a mis ici cent individus nomm^s
' pions de Madame ' qui ne font que battre
et voler ceux qui vont et viennent . , .
Troisiemement, par les vexations de Madame,
la ville a pris I'apparence d'un hameau ou
Ton vend des concombres."

The subordinate officers and soldiers did
their duty, but the clerk's journal does not
give the impression that Dupleix was the
life and soul of the defence, as was after-
wards said. " Present partout, Dupleix ^tait

8o DUPLEIX

a la fols administrateur, munitionnaire,
artilleur, ingenieur et general." The de-
scription is Voltaire's, who is not a reliable
authority on the details of occurrences in
India. It is foreign to Dupleix's character,
as he was not a man of action. The in-
capacity of the besiegers without was equalled
by the confusion and terror within.

" Comparativement a I'inquietude des
Fran9ais, les Tamouls paraissent tres
courageux ; cela se voit a leur mine
ddfaite. . . .

" Si Ton s'occupe de ceux qui ont peur,
on peut dire que les Tamouls ont cent
fois plus de courage que les Blancs et les
Blanches."

Plenty of Dupleix's opinions on the
prospects of the defence, and orders with
reference to supplies are recorded, but the
diary is silent as to any active part he played
in the defence. Despite his undoubted great
abilities, Dupleix appears to have been
devoid of any soldierly instincts, to such
an extent that the French Company, after
his recall, accused him of being wanting in
personal courage : to which he is alleged to
have replied, "que le bruit des armes sus-

DUPLEIX 8 1

pendoit ses reflexions, et que le calme seul
convenoit a son of^nie."

For the successful defence of Pondicherry,
Dupleix was granted the cordon of St. Louis,
an order hitherto reserved for military officers
of hiofh rank. He was also nominated a
Director of the Company.

Two months after the siege, hostilities
came to an end by the announcement of
a suspension of arms, shortly followed by
the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. One article
of the treaty contained a stipulation for a
mutual restoration of all conquests made
during the war ; so Madras was restored to
the English, while Louisbourg was restored
to the French, much to the chagrin of New
England. In old England also there was
an outcry against the Government. "The
British Ministers," wrote Smollett, "gave up
the important isle of Cape Breton in exchange
for a petty factory in the East Indies belong-
ing to a private Company whose existence
had been deemed prejudicial to the
Commonwealth." This was very short-
sig-hted criticism. The restoration of con-
quests was directed to objects more vital
than Madras and Cape Breton. The High-
6

82 DUPLEIX

land rising that occurred during the war,
had forced the Eng-Hsh Ministers to with-
draw their troops from the Austrian Nether-
lands, which had fallen into the hands of
the French. The retention of the Low
Countries by France would have constit-
uted a perpetual menace for England, and
their surrender to Austria was the real
equivalent for the restoration of Cape
Breton to France. The Government of
England was wiser than its critics. The
ownership of Louisbourg was settled, once
for all, ten years later : the retention of
Madras by the French would have seriously
crippled us in India during the ensuing six
years when Dupleix launched out on his
career of conquest.

Ill

The war was over, and, to outward appear-
ance, there was nothing to prevent the two
Companies from settling down to their trade
again. This, no doubt, was the view taken
in London and Paris, but, in India, the
agents of both Companies saw things in
a very different Hght. The occurrences of
the past three years had shown that the
old conditions had disappeared beyond
chance of restoration. The two nations
had fought out their quarrel and made
peace, without regarding the local powers,
who had proved unable either to hinder or
protect them. The one attempt at inter-
ference had been brushed aside contempt-
uously, and the weakness of native armies
had been demonstrated. From the north
no interference was to be apprehended.
Ahmed Shah Abdali had invaded the

Punjab and established himself at Lahore.

83

84 DUPLEIX

The Emperor had died (April 1748) of
grief and vexation, and his successor was
fully occupied in maintaining himself amidst
the jarring factions of Delhi. The Imperial
authority had disappeared from Southern
India ; the name alone remained, and was
used to justify acts for which no other
authority could be cited. Every pretender
to power bolstered up his position by
claiming Imperial recognition, and, in
support of such claims, a system grew
up of mock deputations bearing sham
letters of authority with all the honours due
to their pretended missions, impressing the
common people, but deceiving nobody else.
The aged Nizam-ool-Moolk had died (March
1748), and the Court of the Deccan was
in a ferment over a contested succession.
Chunda Sahib had reappeared, and was
bidding for the Chiefship of the Carnatic ;
and Shahojee was again intriguing for the
throne of Tanjore. All was confusion and
anarchy. At Fort St. David, as well as
at Pondicherry, it was seen that a new
order of things had arisen, and that hence-
forth they could no longer maintain them-
selves as simple traders, but must play

DUPLEIX 85

their part in the great game before them,
or lose their place in India altogether.
Added to this there were, at both places,
considerable bodies of troops, such as they
had never had before.

The English were the first to move,
without waiting for the completion of the
formalities for the restitution of Madras,
in accordance with the terms of the treaty
of peace with France. The Governor was
Charles Floyer, a weak, inefficient man,
quite unfitted to cope with the novel
conditions. Boscawen, with his squadron
and the troops he had brought out from
England, was the chief mover in what now
took place.

By a curious coincidence that same
Shahojee who, ten years before, had
brought about the acquisition of Karikal
by the French, now appeared as the agent
provocateur to stir up the English to make
their first conquest in India. He offered
the Engflish to make over to them the fort
and district of Devicotah, and pay the
expenses of the war, if they would place
him on the throne of Tanjore ; and the
Enorlish consented.

86 DUPLEIX

At the end of March an expedition left
Fort St. David to penetrate the Tanjore
country, under the command of Captain
Cope, though Boscawen kept the direction
of affairs in his own hands. At the very
outset it encountered a terrible disaster. A
violent hurricane wrecked the camp and the
ships of the squadron that accompanied its
march along the coast. The Naniur, seventy-
four guns, one of the finest ships in the navy,
was lost with all hands ; the Pembroke, sixty
guns, only six of the crew escaping ; and
the Apollo, hospital ship, with all hands. A
delay at Porto Novo was necessary to repair
damages. After a feeble skirmish with
the Tanjore troops, and an equally feeble
demonstration against Devicotah, the forces
returned to Fort St. David,

The Council were now aware of the folly of
the undertaking in which they were embarked.
They had discovered that Shahojee had
deceived them, and that he had no adher-
ents in Tanjore. They had suffered severe
losses in ships, men, and stores, as well as
in military reputation. In order to repair
their credit, and obtain something to show
for their expedition, they resolved on the

DUPLEIX ^7

capture of Devicotah, as a place of arms
against Tanjore.

A second expedition was sent, this time
by sea, under Captain Paulet of the Exeter,
with Lawrence in command of the troops,
and, after some severe fighting, in which Clive
first became conspicuous by his gallantry, the
place was taken. With the prospect of hard
fighting before them, for which they were
ill prepared, the English were suddenly
relieved from their dilemma by the action
of Dupleix. The chief of Tanjore, in view
of an alarming state of affairs that had
arisen in the Carnatic, where Chunda Sahib
had reappeared as a claimant for the throne,
opened negotiations for peace. Devicotah,
with a district yielding 9000 pagodas of
revenue, was ceded to the English, who
on their part undertook to prevent any
more trouble being made by Shahojee, to
whom a pension was secured from Tan-
jore.

For seven years Chunda Sahib had been
detained a prisoner at Satara, while his family
remained under French protection in Pondi-
cherry. Through them he had maintained
correspondence with Dupleix, who used his

88 DUPLEIX

good offices to obtain his release. His
efforts were at last successful by the aid of
a loan of a lakh of rupees made to Chunda
Sahib, who, early in 1748, left Satara,
accompanied by his son Abid and a few
friends, to seek his fortunes. The Directors
in Paris approved of the loan, and ex-
pressed their opinion that if Chunda Sahib
could obtain the Nawabship of the Car-
natic it would be advantageous to French
interests.

After some vicissitudes, not necessary to
relate, in which his son Abid lost his life,
Chunda Sahib, who had gathered a few
hundred men, was unexpectedly joined by
Mozuffer Jung, a claimant for the throne
of the Deccan, with an army of 25,000
men.

At his death, Nizam-ool-Moolk left six
legitimate sons. The eldest of these, Ghazi-
oo-deen Khan, was at Delhi, holding an
important office and wielding extensive
authority. He was unwilling to leave
Delhi, but had no intention of abandoning
the riofhts to which he considered himself
entitled as his father's heir. Nazir Jung,
the second son, being on the spot, was

DUPLEIX 89

acknowledged by the army, and seized the
throne of the Deccan. Ghazi-00-deen Khan,
who was recognised as the lawful heir by
Imperial authority, contented himself with
stirring up the Mahrattas to attack Nazir
Jung. At the same time a third claimant
appeared in Mozuffer Jung, the son of
Nizam-ool-Moolk's favourite daughter, who
claimed that his grandfather had appointed
him his heir before death. Apart from the
fact that the rulership of the Deccan was not
yet hereditary, and that the matter was one
for the Emperor at Delhi to decide, Mozuffer
Jung's claim was worthless according to the
Mohammedan law of succession ; but, by
allying himself with Chunda Sahib, who was
a man of courage and ability, he became
a prominent sharer in Dupleix's political
schemes. Chunda Sahib agreed to re-
cognise his title to the Deccan throne, and,
in return, he promised to appoint Chunda
Sahib Nawab of the Carnatic.

Early in July, while the English were still
enofaofed in the Devicotah affair, the two
adventurers invaded the Carnatic. Dupleix,
with whom Chunda Sahib was in corre-
spondence, made him a further advance of

90 DUPLEIX

money, and dispatched a body of French
troops and sepoys to join him. The Nawab
Anwaroodeen, who had taken up a posi-
tion at Amboor, was defeated and slain,
"f f J"^y- ; his eldest son, Mahfooz Khan,

3rd August ' ' '

was taken prisoner, while Mahomed AH,
his second son, fled for refuge to Trich-
inopoly/ The victorious army marched to
Arcot, the capital of the Carnatic, where
Mozuffer Jung assumed the state of Soobah
of the Deccan, and formally appointed
Chunda Sahib Nawab of the Carnatic,
There they wasted valuable time that would
have been better employed in disposing
once for all of Mahomed Ali. The victory
was won entirely by French troops under
d'Auteuil, who stormed Anwaroodeen's en-
trenchment, while the troops of their allies
looked on. It was on this occasion that
Bussy, who was destined to play so con-
spicuous a part in Dupleix's schemes, first
came into notice ; and it was the news of
Anwaroodeen's defeat and death that ex-
tricated the English from their embarrass-
ments with Tanjore.

^ According to M. Cultru, the battle was fought on the
1st August (N.S.).

DUPLEIX 91

M. Cultru shows that the victory of
Amboor, so far from being the first step in
a long-considered plan for the establishment
of a French empire in India, was regarded
by Dupleix as an episode that was now
ended. One chief cause of satisfaction was
his triumph over Anwaroodeen, whom he
had never forgiven for siding with the
English. "Je vais (faire) sentir a toute
r Inde que Ton se repent tot ou tard d'etre
contraire a notre nation et de se Her avec
nos ennemis," he wrote a few days before
the battle.^ He expected the dismissal of
the French troops by Chunda Sahib, and
wrote to d'Auteuil to be sure and secure
a good share of the booty and of the ransom
of notable prisoners. He did not know
Chunda Sahib's plans, and distrusted
Mozuffer Jung, "a leech that the new
Nawab would find it difficult to satisfy."
D'Auteuil ought not to leave Chunda Sahib
so long as Mozuffer Jung was with him.
He should advise Chunda Sahib to capture
Chittapet and Chingleput, where there was
much treasure, of which a good share would
fall to the French. Like La Bourdonnais
^ Dupleix a Machault, 28th July 1749 (Cultru).

92 DUPLEIX

at Madras, he had no idea beyond pay
and plunder : so Htde did he anticipate the
part that Mozuffer Jung was to play in his
subsequent policy. D'Auteuil, on his side,
was anxious to return to Pondicherry. He
has been represented as being a good officer
but incapacitated by advancing years and
gout. He was, in fact, only thirty-five years
old at the time/ He had been sent out
to India, like many others, on account of
youthful follies, and his chief aim was
private commerce. His marriage to a sister
of Madame Dupleix was his chief recom-
mendation for the command conferred on
him. Accordino- to Cultru, he had arranged
to go to Mocha on a trading voyage, and
took advantage of an attack of gout as a
reason for returning to Pondicherry. To
the Company, Dupleix, d'Auteuil, and
every other Frenchman concerned, the
whole affair of lending a body of troops to
Chunda Sahib was purely mercenary, and
calculated to advance commercial interests.
There was no idea of an ulterior policy.

^ The fiction of d'Auteuil being an old man, " broken by
long disease," is due to Cartwright. Both he and Malleson
have failed to notice that d'Auteuil was still in command in
the field in May 1757.

DUPLEIX 93

Chunda Sahib and Mozuffer Jung visited
Pondicherry, where they were received with
great pomp and ceremony by Dupleix, who
urged Chunda Sahib to march on Trichino-
poly and dispose of Mahomed Ali. About
eighty villages near Pondicherry were made
over to the Company, thus securing the
fixed revenue which the Directors had
declared to be their object. Dupleix,
Madame Dupleix, d'Auteuil, and an official
named de Bausset each received a district.
Seventy-five thousand rupees were distrib-
uted among the troops, a large part of
which found its way into d'Auteuil's pocket,
with Dupleix's approval.

This unexpected turn of affairs caused
much perplexity at Fort St. David. Their
own interference in Tanjore prevented the
English from remonstrating with Dupleix,
whose predominant position in the Carnatic
filled them with apprehension. Boscawen
counselled support being given to Mahomed
Ali, but Floyer refused his consent. The
Council were prepared to recognise Chunda
Sahib or any de facto Nawab, so long
as he was not under French influence.
Some litde satisfaction was found in the

94 DUPLEIX

evacuation of Madras, in August, by the
French, in pursuance of the Treaty of Aix-
la-Chapelle.

In October, Boscawen sailed for England.
Before he went, the survivors of the men
and officers he had brought out with him
for the siege of Pondicherry were allowed
to volunteer for the Company's service.
Eleven subaltern officers were in this way
brought into the service ; among them John
Dalton and James Kilpatrick, who were
destined to play no small part in coming
events.

The day after Boscawen's departure,
Dupleix launched Chunda Sahib and
Mozuffer Jung against Trichinopoly, rightly
discerning the necessity of disposing of
Mahomed AH, whose title, in its way, was
a better one than Chunda Sahib's. With
them he sent a force of 800 Europeans,
some sepoys, and a train of artillery. But
Chunda Sahib and Mozuffer Jung were in
desperate need of money to keep their large
army together, and, immediately on entering
Tanjore territory, they marched for Tanjore,
and laid siege to the place, demanding an
enormous sum of money. Had the matter

DUPLEIX 95

been left to the French, the capture of
Tanjore would quickly have been accom-
plished, but Chunda Sahib preferred to
manage matters in his own way, and allowed
himself to be entangled in dilatory negotia-
tions, while the Tanjore chief sent urgent
appeals for assistance to the English and to
Nazir Jung. The response of the English
could not have been more feeble. They sent
twenty men. For any practical purpose such
a force was ridiculous, while it committed
them as seriously as a larger force would
have done. It marked the first meeting
of French and English troops as allies of
opposing native chiefs.

Impatient of delay, the French at last took
matters into their own hands, and delivered
an assault, which brought the Tanjore chief
to terms, at the end of December. But he
was not yet at the end of his resources. For
several weeks he kept Chunda Sahib and
Mozuffer Jung in play, by doling out the
indemnity he had agreed to pay, in small
sums, each payment being made the subject
of prolonged disputes.

Hitherto nobody had paid much attention
to Mozuffer Jung. Dupleix regarded him

96 DUPLEIX

with distrust, and had no wish to interfere in
Deccan politics : his views did not reach
beyond the Carnatic. Nazir Jung was
occupied with opposing the machinations of
his brother Ghazi-oo-deen at Delhi, and, at
first, treated the pretensions of Mozuffer
Jung with contempt. Mozuffer Jung, on his
side, distrusted the French. He had little
cause to expect that anything would be done
for himself after Chunda Sahib was estab-
lished in the Carnatic ; so he secretly
encouraged the Tanjore chief and Mahomed
Ali in their resistance to Chunda Sahib.
But, by assuming the title of Soobadar, and,
in that capacity, granting the Nawabship of
the Carnatic to Chunda Sahib, he had become
an important factor in the political situation.
While still engaged in wrangling over the
payment of the Tanjore indemnity, they
heard that Nazir Jung had entered the
Carnatic at the head of an enormous army ;
that he had recognised Mahomed Ali as the
rightful successor to Anwaroodeen, and had
called on the Enoflish to assist him with
troops. In a panic, Mozuffer Jung and
Chunda Sahib marched away from Tanjore,
and encamped in the vicinity of Pondicherry.

DUPLEIX 97

Thus, by the force of circumstances, the
French were placed in the position of rebels
against the ruler of the Deccan. They
could not repudiate Mozuffer Jung without
abandoning Chunda Sahib, who derived his
title from him. Dupleix had no alternative
but to champion the claims of Mozuffer Jung
and fight it out. His correspondence at this
time shows that he was ready to abandon
Chunda Sahib and recognise Mahomed Ali,
if he could have come to terms with Nazir
Jung. To reassure them, Dupleix sent
d'Auteuil to join Mozuffer Jung with 2000
French troops, and further assisted Chunda
Sahib with a large sum of money.

Gathering numbers as it advanced,
Nazir Jung's army, estimated at 300,000
men, encamped in sight of the French
and their allies, fifteen miles from Pondi-
cherry. Here they were joined by Major
Lawrence and 600 English troops from
Fort St. David. At this moment, when
an engagement might momentarily be
expected, the whole aspect of affairs was
changed by an unforeseen occurrence.
A mutiny broke out among the French
officers, many of whom resigned their
7

98 DUPLEIX

commissions. The men followed suit, and
Mozuffer Jung-, in alarm, opened negotiations
with the Soobah. Trusting to promises of
honourable treatment, he ventured into Nazir
Jung's camp, and was at once made a close
prisoner, while his army was attacked and
dispersed. Chunda Sahib took refuge in
Pondicherry with the French, who lost
many men in the retreat. In a moment
Dupleix's schemes had seemingly fallen into
ruins.

He at once entered into negotiation with
Nazir Jung, professing his friendship and his
dislike of war, but was unable to procure the
recognition of Chunda Sahib. Though his

o o

overtures were rejected, they enabled him to
gain an important advantage by the insight
he obtained into the intrigues by which Nazir
Jung was surrounded, and by enabling him
to establish a correspondence with three
discontented nobles of influential position in
the Soobah's camp.

Meanwhile, matters had not been going
well between Nazir Jung and his English
allies. When asked to confirm a grant of
land near Madras made to the English by
Mahomed Ali, he prevaricated and demanded

DUPLEIX 99

that their troops should march with him to
Arcot, which would have left the English
settlements open to attack, A quarrel
ensued, and Lawrence, a plain, straight-
forward soldier, marched his force back
to Fort St. David. Nazir Jung, much
exasperated against the English, broke up
his camp and marched to Arcot.

To gratify his spite against the French,
Nazir Jung then sent orders to close the
French factories in the Northern Circars,
of which Masulipatam was the most im-
portant. Dupleix, who had been promised
the cession of Masulipatam by Mozuffer
Jung, at once sent a detachment by sea to
occupy the place and fortify it. He quickly
followed this up by the capture of Trivadi,
fifteen miles from Fort St. David. In spite
of these insults, Nazir Jung remained in a
state of apathy at Arcot, given over to
pleasure, and lulled into security by false
advisers. Mahomed Ali was, however,
thoroughly alarmed and took the field
with 20,000 men, calling on the English
for assistance, and offering to defray all
expenses. The English were only too ready
to join him on such terms, and dispatched

lOO DUPLEIX

a force of 400 men and 1500 sepoys,
under Captain Cope, to his camp at
Gingee. A skirmish of little importance
took place at Trivadi, and then Mahomed
Ali, losing heart, proclaimed his intention of
moving northwards towards Arcot. This
absurd idea was apparently prompted by a
desire to collect revenue. As a military
movement it was less than useless, as it
would have exposed Fort St. David to
attack. The English were ready enough to
fight, but Mahomed Ali refused to make any
move that would bring on a decisive action.
On being pressed to fulfil his promise of
defraying expenses, he first made excuses,
and finally said he had no money ; so Cope
marched his men back to Fort St. David.
The English were not yet prepared to
burden the Company with the expenses of a
war. While Dupleix, with a free hand, was
advancing money to his allies, the English
would not stir without payment for the war
being secured to them. They had now a
quarrel with each of their incompetent and
shifty allies, in whose names they could alone
protect their own interests, and were obliged
to remain idle spectators of the contest in

DUPLEIX loi

which those interests were threatened with
ruin.

Dupleix, who was closely watching events,
at once reinforced d'Auteuil, and ordered
him to attack Mahomed Ali. The camp
was attacked and taken, the whole army
dispersed without the French losing a man,
and Mahomed Ali fled once more for safety
to Arcot. Following up his advantage,
Dupleix sent Bussy to capture Gingee, one
of the strongest fortresses in the Carnatic.
The remnants of Mahomed All's defeated
army were encamped outside Gingee. Bussy
overthrew them with ease, pursued the
flying foe into the fortress, and captured
it by a brilliant coup de main. The whole
garrison was put to the sword, the Com-
mandant only being spared.

These striking events roused Nazir Jung
to action. The greater part of the enormous
army he had brought with him from the
Deccan had been dismissed, so, while
awaiting reinforcements, he engaged in the
game of negotiation so dear to Oriental
princes. Dupleix replied by demanding
terms that he knew could not be granted.
His plans would now admit of no other

I02 DUPLEIX

solution than that of war. By his intrigues
in Nazir Jung's camp he had ensured the
defection of half the Soobah's army, though
every day's delay added to the chance of
discovery of the conspiracy, with the certainty
of death to the conspirators. Nazir Jung
accordingly began his march with over
100,000 men, but as he approached Gingee
he was stopped by the setting in of the
rainy season, which rendered the country
impassable for several weeks. Chafing at the
delay, and impatient to return to the Deccan,
he reopened negotiations, agreeing to con-
cede everything that Dupleix had demanded,
including^ the recoo-nition of Chunda Sahib.
The treaty was signed and duly ratified.
The day after the ratification his camp was
treacherously attacked by de la Touche, under
orders from Dupleix, his army defeated, and
himself slain by one of the conspirators ^^
December. MozufTer Jung was proclaimed
Soobadar of the Deccan by de la Touche,
on the field of battle. Mahomed Ali fied
to Trichinopoly, whence he opened negotia-
tions, offering to resign his claims to the
Nawabship. By this decisive act Dupleix
imposed his will on Southern India. The

DUPLEIX 103

rulers of the Deccan and the Carnatic owed
their positions to him : Mahomed Ali, pro-
tected by the walls of Trichinopoly, and sup-
ported by the friendship of the Mysore and
Tanjore chiefs, alone opposed his pretensions.
Ten days after the battle Mozuffer Jung
visited Pondicherry, where he was received
with ostentatious pomp and ceremony. In
full Durbar, Dupleix, in native costume,
hailed him as Soobadar of the Deccan,
presented a mizzjiVy and seated himself on
his right. Mozuffer Jung, in return, created
him a Haft hazari of the Deccan, com-
mander of 7000 horse, conferred on him the
highly prized honour of the Mahi Muratib,^
and the empty but high-sounding title of
his Vicerefjent in all India south of the
Kistna. At the same time he confirmed
Chunda Sahib in the Nawabship of Arcot.
He also gave Dupleix the more substantial
reward of Valdoor, with its dependent
districts, and a jagir,^ with a yearly revenue

^ Literally, " the fish of dignities." A standard in the
shape of a fish, conferred by the Moghul emperors only on
chiefs of the highest rank.

^ A jagir is a grant of land, to be held on such conditions
as may be imposed at the time of the grant. Military
service was generally the principal condition.

104 DUPLEIX

of a lakh of rupees. To the French nation
he gave Dive, Nursapoor, and Masulipatam,
with the privilege of coining money, and
confirmed the grants made by Chunda
Sahib. The treasures of Nazir Jung were
brought to Pondicherry and distributed.
They amounted to 120 lakhs of rupees,
22 chests of jewels, and a great quantity of
silver-mounted horse-trappings. One-sixth
was distributed anions the officers and

o

soldiers of the Pondicherry garrison. A
sum of ;i^5o,ooo was given to the French
Company, and no less than ^200,000,
according to Orme, given to Dupleix.

While occupied with weightier matters,
Dupleix ministered to his own vanity by
founding the town of Dupleix Futtehabad,
"The Town of Dupleix's Victory," on the
field of Amboor, where Nazir Jung had
been slain. It had but a brief existence,
and could have been only a collection of
huts when destroyed by Clive. The presence
of the new Soobadar at his capital was
urgently necessary, and without the support
of French troops he feared complications.
Dupleix placed at his disposal a compact
force of 300 Frenchmen, 1500 sepoys, and

DUPLEIX 105

six guns, under Bussy, who was then only
a simple captain of infantry, to be at his
entire disposal. So little did Bussy antici-
pate the part he was destined to play, that
it required a douceur of four lakhs of rupees
to win his consent to go ; the other officers
were paid in proportion, and each French
soldier received 700 rupees. Nor were
these arrangements to continue beyond
Hyderabad, so as to give Bussy a fresh
opportunity for bargaining, in the event
of the Soobadar still wishing to take him
and his men to Aurungabad. Bussy and
his army at this epoch were veritable
soldiers of fortune as much as ever was
Dugald Dalgetty ; there was no pretence
of advancing French interests. " Le de-
tachment avait ete fait pour aller jusqu'a
Aurunofabad, et les conditions n'avaient et6
faites que jusqu'a Edrebad pour fournir a
Bussy ' r occasion d' avoir de nouvelles condi-
tions, seul objet qui mail fait prendre ce
parti au lieu de celui d' abandonner Mousafer
Sing,'" wrote Dupleix from Gingee ten
weeks later.^ So little idea had he of any
further developments, that he was quite

1 Dupleix a Bussy, 5th April 1751 (Cultru).

io6 DUPLEIX

prepared to leave Mozuffer Jung to take
his chance.

Three weeks after leaving Pondicherry,
Mozuffer Jung was slain by the feudatories
with whom Dupleix had intrigued against
Nazir Jung. This unexpected event placed
Bussy in a great dilemma. He had never
contemplated having to play a leading part
in Deccan politics. He wrote to Dupleix
that the choice for the Soobadari lay
between the children of Mozuffer Jung
(the eldest being only eight years old)
and one of the survivinor sons of Nizam-
ool-Moolk. He sugforested that it mis^ht
be well for him and his troops to return
to Pondicherry. On receipt of the news,
Dupleix declared his preference for Salabut
Jung, the eldest son of Nizam-ool-Moolk
in the Deccan, subject to sufficient provi-
sion being made for the family of Mozuffer
Jung. Confirmation of the grants made
by Mozuffer Jung was to be insisted on.
A demand for additional grants of land
was to be made, and, if it appeared ex-
pedient, the districts of two of the rebel
Nawabs were to be placed at the dis-
posal of Dupleix, who would nominate the

DUPLEIX 107

governors. These conditions were to be
accompanied by presents of jewels for
Dupleix and his wife, " digne de celui qui
nous les enverra et de ceux qui les re^oivent.
Vous entendez ce que cela veut dire."^
" Vous devez vous le faire presenter, et ex-
aminer s'il est tel qu'il doit etre. Faites priser
les bijoux avant de les envoyer. Vous devez
les faire emballer en votre presence pour
qu'on n'en detourne Hen et en faire dresser
un inventaire detaille." ^ When they reached
him he declared they were pitoyable. "Je
n'eusse ose le recevoir publiquement si je
n'y eusse fait ajouter pour au moins 200,000
roupies de bijoux."^ Yet he considered
200,000 rupees sufficient for Salabut Jung
to send to the King of France, with a
letter announcing his accession.

Before the instructions could reach him,
Bussy had already nominated Salabut Jung
to the Soobadari. The success of this
notable achievement in king-making, the
ease with which it was accomplished, and
the consciousness of beingr in command of a

^ Dupleix k Bussy, 24th February 175 1 (Cultru).
2 Dupleix k Bussy, 12th May 1751 (zV.)-
^ Dupleix a Kerjean, 27th June 1751 {id.).

io8 DUPLEIX

body of troops capable of dealing with any
opposition that might be offered, caused
Bussy to exhibit so much pride and exalta-
tion as to alarm Dupleix. He sent secret
authority to his nephew de Kerjean, who
was with Bussy, to take the command of
the troops in the event of Bussy disobeying
his orders. But Bussy continued his march
with the new Soobadar, and the instructions
given to de Kerjean were revoked. Soon
after his arrival at Aurungabad, Bussy was
instructed to obtain from Delhi the Imperial
confirmation of all the dignities and posses-
sions conferred by the Soobadar, and thus
the object of his mission would be fulfilled.
" Cette affaire merite votre attention et votre
sejour encore pour quelque temps a Aurung-
abad, puisque ces pieces, en nous assurant
nos possessions, nos jaguirs, nos dignites,
mettront le sceau a votre mission qui sera
des lors accomplie." ^ Before this letter
could reach him, Bussy was writing to
Dupleix to say that the Soobadar wished
to retain the French troops in the Deccan,
and that on such an important point he
required positive instructions, as the object

^ Dupleix k Bussy, i6th July 175 1 (Cultru).

DUPLEIX 109

of his expedition had been fulfilled in seating
Salabut Jung on the throne of the Deccan.
In reply Dupleix sent him a formal order
headed, " De par le Roi et la Compagnie des
Indes," to remain at the disposal of the
Soobadar till further orders.^ The idea of
keeping Bussy and his men indefinitely at
Aurungabad had not been conceived till
Bussy's demand for instructions was re-
ceived. So far from having any fixed
design, Dupleix's own writings show that
his plans changed and developed out of ever-
changing circumstances, and that at each
stage he believed the end was in view.

Seven months after Bussy's departure
from Pondicherry, Dupleix instructed him to
demand an assignment of two lakhs of
rupees a month on the revenues of the
Carnatic. He preferred a fixed payment
to any additional land that might be granted.
Two months later he instructed Bussy to
demand the Nawabship of the Carnatic,
without the slightest regard for the claims of
Chunda Sahib. In return he would engage
to maintain 2000 European troops, ready
to march anywhere, at Salabut Jung's

^ Memoire potir le Sieiir de Bussy.

no DUPLEIX

orders. Nor did his views stop here. He
conceived the idea of getting the Soobadari
of Bengal conferred on Salabut Jung, and
opened negotiations with Delhi for that
purpose. He demanded the cession of
Balasore to the French, and instructed de
Leyrit, the Governor of Chandernagore, to
choose districts yielding two lakhs of re-
venue, and to press for their cession free of
all charge. De Leyrit, in alarm, answered
that such a demand would set Bengal in a
blaze, and Salabut Jung showed himself
lukewarm in rerard to the Benoal Soobadari.
In October 1751, Salabut Jung, whose
position was menaced by his elder brother
Ghazi-00-deen Khan, granted to Dupleix
for life, and to the French nation after
his death, the Nawabship of the Carnatic,
Madura, and Trichinopoly, with their depend-
encies, free of all payments. In consideration
of this gift, the French were to regard the
Soobadar as their friend and ally, and to
defend him against all his enemies.

For a moment Dupleix thought of admin-
istering the Carnatic himself; but Bussy,
who was already involved in difficulties
at Aurungabad, counselled prudence, and

DUPLEIX 1 1 1

Dupleix contented himself with taking over
the administration of a portion only, nom-
inating Chunda Sahib as his representa-
tive in the Carnatic Nawabship. From the
time of Mozuffer Jung's visit to Pondicherry
Dupleix adopted the dress and style of an
Eastern prince, "cet appareil comique," as
Godeheu called it.

The gift of the Carnatic to Dupleix marks
the zenith of his power and influence. It
occurred at the very time when Clive was
conducting his wonderful defence of Arcot.
But Dupleix could see in Clive's success
nothing more than a temporary cloud on the
horizon which would soon be dispersed. In
spite of the enormous advantages he had
gained, and the certainty that what had been
gained so easily would have to be defended,
he had still other schemes. He urged the
Company to establish themselves forcibly
in Pes^u and take advantage of local
dissensions, but the Directors forbade the
enterprise. He directed the Governor of
Mahe to occupy two fortresses on the
Malabar coast ; but the Mah6 troops met
with a reverse. He also formed an alliance
with the Rajah of Travancore in return for a

1 1 2 DUPLEIX

cession of land. But the Directors, taking
alarm at the opposition of the English,
refused their consent. He opened negotia-
tions with Goa for a treaty of alliance, with
the object of re-establishing the Portuguese
at Bassein, which was in the possession of
the Mahrattas, and S. Thome, which was
held by the English. The French Ministry
absolutely forbade the undertaking, which
must have necessitated war with the
Mahrattas and the English. He wished
to seize Surat, to make an establishment in
the Maldives, and another in Cochin-China,
by force of arms : to invade and conquer
Tanjore because it was rich. It is small
wonder that the Directors in Paris were
filled with alarm as these projects were
sprung on them one after another, in the
course of a few months, while the Carnatic
war was still in progress. They ordered
Dupleix to recall his troops from Aurung-
abad, and to restrict his enterprises within
more modest limits. On receivinor the news
of the gift of the Carnatic they wrote : "A
peine vous nous proposez une affaire qui
m^rite, dites vous, toute notre attention,
bien loin de nous donner le temps d'en

DUPLEIX 1 1 3

recevoir la nouvelle, d'y reflechir et de
vous en marquer notre sentiment, vous
decidez seul et sans hesiter, . . . nous vous
d^fendons tres expressement de songer a
cet agrandissement." ^ But Dupleix had the
gambler's spirit, which must have all or
nothing, and he turned a deaf ear. To
enforce his views he dispatched d'Auteuil,
by this time a prisoner on parole, to France,
to talk over the Directors. But d'Auteuil
had no plan to lay before the Directors. All
he did was to sing the praises of Dupleix,
and to declare that the war in the Carnatic
was all the fault of the English. It was
impossible, he urged, to recall Bussy from
Aurungabad and leave Salabut Jung open to
English intrigues. Opinion in France had
been for some time turning against Dupleix,
and the violent attacks of La Bourdonnais,
which had at first been disregarded, had
begun to secure a hearing.

Long before this, Carnatic affairs were
absorbing the whole of Dupleix's attention
and resources. At the eleventh hour the
English at Madras had seen that they must

^ La Compagnie k Dupleix, 2nd January 1753 {Mcmotre
poicr Dupleix).
8

1 14 DUPLEIX

play the game in earnest or submit to be
driven out of Southern India. They were
roused to action by seeing French flags
planted round Fort St. David for revenue
purposes, some of them being contemptuously
planted in the Company's boundaries.

A month after Nazir Jung's defeat and
death two important changes had taken
place at Madras. Mr. Thomas Saunders had
taken up the Governorship, a man of mod-
erate capacity, but tenacious and resolute in
defence of the Company's interests, though his
interference in military affairs was productive
of much friction with the military commanders.
The other change was of a less beneficial
nature. Major Lawrence, whose sterling
qualities were as yet unknown, resigned his
seat in the Council, with his post in the
Company's service, and sailed for England,
wearied out with the constant vexatious
interference in matters of discipline to which
he was subjected. Clive had reverted to
civil life, and the Council was left to muddle
along in military matters in accordance with
the old traditions of the Company.

The year 175 1 saw the fortunes of the
English Company at their lowest. Dupleix

DUPLEIX 1 1 5

was triumphant everywhere. Owing to their
reluctance to appear as principals in the war,
the English allowed their feeble efforts to be
governed by Mahomed All's personal views
and wishes, rather than by their own inter-
ests ; and, under the incompetent leadership
of Cope and de Gingens, a Swiss officer, they
were unsuccessful everywhere. Mahomed
Ali, in despair, made advances to Dupleix.
In July, Chunda Sahib and a French force
sat down before Trichinopoly, whose chief
defenders were the disheartened and badly
disciplined English troops under Dalton.
The fall of the place appeared certain, in
which case Mahomed Ali, on whom all the
hopes of the English rested, would have
shared the fate that befell Chunda Sahib a
year later. In Madras the discontent among
the military officers had reached such a height
that the Council found it necessary to remove
several of them, though they were unable to
fill properly the vacancies thus created.

At this juncture the Council decided on
making a last desperate cast for fortune.
In July, Clive, who had again accepted a
captain's commission, had successfully thrown
a small reinforcement into Trichinopoly. On

11 6 DUPLEIX

his return he described to the Council the
hopeless state of affairs in the place, and
suggested an attack on Arcot as the only-
chance of drawing off the besiegers from
Trichinopoly. The Madras Council listened
to his advice, and denuded themselves of the
last man that could be spared to furnish a
force for the purpose. The circumstances of
Clive's capture and defence of Arcot, with a
handful of men, are too well known to de-
mand repetition. It was the turning-point
of the war. The pressure on Trichinopoly
was relieved, the military reputation of the
English revived, the active support of the
Mysore chief and a Mahratta force were
obtained for Mahomed Ali, and the military
genius of Clive first recognised. Returning
from Arcot, Clive defeated Chunda Sahib's
son and a superior French force at Arnee,
drove a French force out of Conjeveram,
and returned to Madras in December with
600 French sepoys who had taken service
with him. From this moment the English
cast aside hesitation and prosecuted the war
with resolution.

At the end of February 1752 Clive took
the field again against Chunda Sahib's son,

DUPLEIX 117

who, accompanied by a French force, was
ravaging the country round Madras. At
Covrepauk he blundered on them in the
dark, and, after a confused night engagement,
completely defeated them, taking twelve
guns and sixty prisoners. By these successes
a large and valuable tract of country was
recovered for Mahomed Ali. Dupleix, in
his anger against Chunda Sahib's son at
these successive defeats, would not, for a
time, suffer him in his presence. On his
way back to Fort St. David, Clive razed
to the ground the infant town of Dupleix
Futtehabad that Dupleix had founded the
year before, on the spot where Nazir Jung
was slain. This was done in no spirit of
revenge, but as a deliberate stroke of policy
against Dupleix's prestige, that could not be
ignored or concealed.

o

Reinforcements had reached Fort St.
David, and Clive was preparing to take
the field again, when a notable accession of
strength was unexpectedly received in the
return of the veteran Stringer Lawrence
from England, with the title of Commander-
in-Chief and enhanced powers calculated to
diminish some of the friction between the

1 1 8 DUPLEIX

civil and military officers. Lawrence at once
took the command, and marched with Clive
for Trichinopoly, to strike the blow that was
to cause the ruin of Dupleix.

The relations that existed betweeen Law-
rence and Clive have been much misunder-
stood. For Clive the old soldier entertained
the warm feeling that an old bachelor might
have for an adopted son, rather than that
of a commander for a promising young officer,
a feeling cordially reciprocated by Clive ; and
no little part of their coming success was due
to the intimate friendship and confidence that
existed between them.^

^ Lawrence has suffered in history owing to his modesty
and self-effacement, together with his apparent disHke for
putting pen to paper. The few letters from him that now
survive are not written with his own hand, and are only
authenticated by his signature. A few of his letters to Clive
have recently come to light among the Orme MSS. On
30th November 1752 he writes : "As I'm persuaded however
distant we are from each other our friendship is unalterable,
I shall be always anxious for your well-doing, and the oftener
I hear from you the more real satisfaction it will give. Dear
Clive, to your affectionate friend, S. Lawrence." Again, on
19th February 1753, when Clive was preparing to embark
for England : " If I write no more let this be my farewell
epistle. I should have been rejoiced to see you once more,
but since that is deny'd me by our confin'd situation, may
you be happy in a pleasant passage, uninterrupted health,
and the enjoyment of your friends, and let me hear of your
welfare by every opportunity, as you shall certainly hear of

DUPLEIX 119

Lawrence's force, numbering 1 500 men, of
whom 400 were Europeans, left Fort St.
David in March, for Trichinopoly, which
had been invested by Chunda Sahib and a
French force, commanded by Law, for eight
months. Law, a good soldier but a bad
general, allowed himself to be cooped up
and blockaded on an island in the Cauvery
River. Dupleix dispatched a force under
d'Auteuil to his relief: Lawrence detached
Clive and Dalton against d'Auteuil, who
showed himself as timid and irresolute as
Dalton and Clive were daring, and on
mil TurTe" ^^^ forced to surrender with his
whole detachment. Five days later Law,
with 820 Europeans, 2000 sepoys, and 45
guns, together with the whole of Chunda

mine. Believe me, Dear Clive, with the greatest affection,
your faithful friend, S. Lawrence." Three days later, in
reply to a letter from Clive, he writes : " For God's sake
why do you mention, why do you mention [sic] obligations
to me. I never thought you under any, and the Proof you
have given me that I was not deceived in my opinion of you
from the beginning affords me much satisfaction." There
can be little doubt that Lawrence's affection influenced Clive
in adopting a military career, and Clive's selection for the
command of the troops sent to Bengal in 1756 to retrieve
the Calcutta disaster, must have been largely due to
Lawrence's influence. Lawrence's death, six weeks after
Clive's suicide, was probably hastened by that event.

I20 DUPLEIX

Sahib's army, were obliged to capitulate to
Lawrence ; an event that was quickly followed
by the death of Chunda Sahib at the hands
of the Tanjore general.

This staororerino- blow was the ruin of

oo o

Dupleix, though more than two years were
to elapse before the indignation of the Govern-
ment and Directors in Paris could make
itself felt. He was not easily daunted. The
opportune arrival of the annual fleet from
France brought him reinforcements : he dex-
terously detached Mysore and the Mahrattas
from their alliance with Mahomed Ali, and
proclaimed Chunda Sahib's son, Ali Reza
Khan, Nawab of the Carnatic. A momentary
success was obtained by the repulse of an
English force sent to recover Gingee, and
he blockaded the Enorlish settlement of Fort
St. David, by land, with a force under de
Kerjean. In order to strengthen the garrison,
200 Swiss were sent down from Madras in
open boats. While passing along the coast,
Dupleix swooped down on them, and carried
them prisoners into Pondicherry.

Of all the acts of Dupleix the two that
most exasperated the English were the
annulling: of La Bourdonnais' convention

DUPLEIX 121

for the restoration of Madras, and the
capture of the Swiss. Both acts were re-
garded as breaches of faith. England and
France were at peace, and the only justifica-
tion for the fighting in India was as auxil-
iaries of rival native princes. And so a
tacit understanding existed that there should
be no direct attack on each other's territories.
In blockading Cuddalore and Fort St. David

o

the French troops had not infringed on
Encrlish limits. The sea was regfarded as
neutral, and beyond the scope of native
interests, so the capture of the Swiss was
regarded in Madras as an act of piracy, and
in England as an act of international war.
This brought Lawrence into the field again.
He took ship at once for Fort St. David,
resolved to break the land blockade. De
Kerjean, under orders from Dupleix,^ broke
up his camp and retreated to within the
French limits of Pondicherry, followed by
Lawrence. Here he was safe from attack,
as Lawrence, under orders from Madras,
adhered to the understanding that French
territory should not be violated. After
driving in the Villanoor outpost, in the hope

^ Hamont.

122 DUPLEIX

of bringing- on an engagement, Lawrence
marched back to Bahoor, two miles from
Fort St. David. Against his judgment, de
Kerjean was forced by Dupleix to follow,
upon which Lawrence fell upon him and
destroyed his force, taking de Kerjean
prisoner, after a hot contest, in which the
French troops behaved with great bravery.^
After Bahoor, they never again, during the
war, faced the English in the field with
confidence.

Malleson, in his admiration for Dupleix,
lays the whole responsibility for the battle
on de Kerjean, because delay was advisable
in view of the expected arrival of reinforce-
ments from Europe. Dupleix, who was
never backward in laying blame on others,
never sought to blame de Kerjean. In view
of the positive assertions of Lawrence and
Orme that de Kerjean was forced to follow
Lawrence against his wish, and seeing that
de Kerjean was at the time in hourly com-
munication with Dupleix, who had ordered
his retirement a few days before, it is in the
highest degree improbable that so masterful
a man as Dupleix would have allowed him

^The battle was fought, 26t]i August (6th September) 1752.

DUPLEIX 1 2 3

to leave the confines of Pondicherry, where
he was safe from attack, against his wishes.
De Kerjean's move was in consonance with
the impetuous nature of Dupleix, ignorant
of military affairs, and full of confidence in
himself, and it is particularly stated by
Hamont that he kept de Kerjean under his
control. The ease with which Madras had
been captured by La Bourdonnais, and the
successful defence of Pondicherry against
Boscawen, in which he had borne a part,
had led him to undervalue the fighting
powers of the English. In point of fact,
delay would have made no difference in
the situation, as the reinforcement never
arrived.^

It was at this time, when Dupleix was
smarting under defeat, that letters were
being written to him in France to tell him
that the King had been pleased to attach
the title of Marquis to the estate he was
then purchasing^ in France.

^ The Prince sailed from L'Orient in February, was
nearly wrecked, and had to put back, so that it did not
finally leave France till loth June. In July it was burnt
off the coast of Brazil. According to Cultru, only 122
soldiers perished with La Touche.

- M(!moi7'e pour Dupleix contre la Compagnie des Indes,

124 DUPLEIX

The series of events, commencing with the
capture of the Swiss at sea, that cuhninated
in the French defeat at Bahoor form an
episode in the war apart from all the rest
of it. For a few days, both English and
French discarded the fiction that they were
only auxiliaries in a native quarrel, and stood
arrayed in arms against each other, as prin-
cipals, without native allies.

Dupleix was probably the only French-
man in India who now failed to see the
dangers of the policy in which he had em-
barked. During the past year he had
suffered a severe check at Arcot, and two
crushing defeats in the field, and nearly
looo of his best men were prisoners
either with the English or with Mahomed
Ali. Three months after Bahoor, Bussy
wrote to him from the Deccan stating the
alarm he felt at the terrible loss of reputation
suffered by the French. " C^dez au tems,
Monsieur, faites une paix la moins d^savan-
tageuse qu'il se pourra avec les Anglois et
Mahamet Ali. ... Si vous vouliez m'en
croire. Monsieur, vous songeriez a rendre le
calme et la tranquillite a ces malheureuses
Provinces, qui en ont si grand besoin. , . .

DUPLEIX 125

Je vous le repute, Monsieur, il est tems de
vous tirer de cet labyrinthe."^

It may safely be assumed that serious
war with the English had no place in
Dupleix's plans when he first interfered in
Carnatic politics. Either he counted on
their standing idle till events had gone too
far for them to retrieve their position, or he
despised their power so much as to leave it
out of his calculations. He did nothing to
conciliate or hoodwink them. He continued
to believe that the capture of Trichinopoly
would settle everything, so the war resolved
itself into a struggle for the possession of
that place. Yet its importance was of so
secondary a nature that Lawrence was at
this very time advising the Madras Council
to give it up to Mysore.

Up to this time the English had main-
tained the principle that they were only acting
under the orders of Mahomed Ali. When
Dupleix wrote to Madras claiming the release
of the French prisoners taken at Trichinopoly,
they replied that the prisoners belonged to the
Nawab. At their instance, after Law's sur-
render, Mahomed Ali offered peace to Dupleix,

^ Memoire pour le Sieur de Bussy.

126 DUPLEIX

who refused to entertain the proposal. The
Madras Council then recorded their resolve
to push on military operations with vigour
till an honourable peace was procured.

The year 1753 saw the departure of Clive,
who was forced to leave for England, on
account of ill health, in the middle of March.
But Lawrence was a tower of strength, and
in the course of the year he was joined by
some excellent officers from the King's army,
who entered the Company's service, attracted
by the news of fighting in India. French
efforts were mainly directed to the capture
of Trichinopoly by blockade, while the efforts
of the English, with inferior forces, were
directed to the breaking of the blockade,
from time to time, and keeping the place
provisioned. On the 26th June, Lawrence
defeated the French, under Astruc, at the
Golden Rock. On the 9th August, he
defeated Brenier at the Sugar Loaf Rock.
On the 2 1 St September, he fell upon Astruc's
camp in the same place, capturing Astruc ^

^ Astruc was a man of considerable ability. He had been
a sons lieutenatit in the French grenadier company, and
distinguished himself during Boscawen's siege of Pondi-
cherry. He was dangerously wounded in the sortie in
which Paradis was killed.

DUPLEIX 127

himself, nearly 200 French prisoners, with
1 1 pieces of cannon, and totally destroying
his force.

The most notable achievement of Dupleix
during the year was the dexterity with which
he deprived Mahomed Ali and the English
of their native allies, and maintained his
influence at Aurungabad. Salabut Jung's
seat on the Deccan throne had been secured
by the poisoning of his brother Ghazi-00-
deen, at the hands of Salabut Jung's mother,^
and by the defeat of the Mahrattas, stirred
up by Ghazi-00-deen, at the hands of Bussy.
Through Bussy's exertions a grant had been
obtained at the end of 1 75 2, from the Soobadar,
of the five provinces of Condavir, Musta-
phanagar, Ellore, Chicacole, and Rajah-
mundry,^ which, added to Masulipatam and
its dependencies, and known as the Northern
Circars, made Dupleix master of 600 miles
of sea coast, with a revenue of over half
a million sterling ; the greatest dominion

^ October 1752.

^ These districts were granted for the pay and subsistence
of the French troops that were under Bussy's command in
the Deccan. Bussy retained their administration in his own
hands, and they did not suffer from the peculation and dis-
honesty that did so much harm in the Carnatic districts
under Dupleix.

128 DUPLEIX

both in extent and value that had ever been
possessed by any European nation in India.

With this notable acquisition in his hands,
Dupleix would have been wise to come to
terms with the English over affairs in the
Carnatic. It would have been practically
impossible for the English to challenge his
possession of the Northern Circars, backed
up as he would have been by the Soobadar's
arms ; while the difficulty he experienced
in finding" a suitable successor to Chunda
Sahib, in the Carnatic, made it all the more
expedient for him to recognise Mahomed
Ali. After Chunda Sahib's death, he had
proclaimed his son, Ali Reza Khan, as
Nawab of the Carnatic, but in a few months
was obliged to set him aside on account of
his incapacity. He then selected Mortaza
Ali Khan ^ for the Nawabship, but he proved
equally useless, and, after Dupleix's departure
from India, tacitly relinquished the office.
No such opportunity was to occur again for
securing his position.

In July 1753, the Madras Council had
learned by letters from England that a
feeling against Dupleix was growing up in

^ The brother-in-law and murderer of Sufdar Ali Khan.

DUPLEIX 129

France. They again addressed him regard-
ing the termination of the war on terms
advantageous to both parties, and were em-
powered by Mahomed AH to treat in his
name. But Dupleix only gave an evasive
answer, declining to put his proposals in
writing.

It was now that Dupleix for the first time
put into shape the aims he had in view, in a
dispatch to the Directors dated i6th October
1753. The tradition that his acts were in
accordance with a long-considered policy is
conclusively disposed of by this document,
in which he shows how his successive acts
were the result of circumstances that could
not have been foreseen. He lays down two
principles " verites qu'une longue experi-
ence m'a presentees." ist. That no trading
Company can exist solely by trade, and that
it must have a fixed and assured revenue,
especially if it is obliged to maintain large
establishments. 2nd. That a Company should
avoid as far as possible the necessity of
exporting silver or gold from its European
base. He alludes to the English, Dutch,
Portuguese, and Danish Companies ; not
very felicitously, as the first two had always
9

1 30 DUPLEIX

paid their way and made substantial profits : ^
and he relates how the French establishments
had cost more than they earned. " Avec
un revenu fixe, les chefs de I'administration
dans rinde ne se trouveront plus a la veille de
mettre la clef sous la porte et de congedier les
troupes et les employes. lis n'auront pas le
chagrin d'entendre des propos plus facheux les
uns que les autres, et des officiers dire sans
honte Point d'argent, point de Suisses. . . .

''Des occurrences que la derniere guerre
a prdsenUes out servi a faire apercevoir des
objets auxqtiels on neut jamais pensd, par
la raison qtton ne pouvait se persuader de
la possibility. Un encJiaiiievient de circon-
stances qiion aurait eu de la peine a prdvoir
a cependent conduit au but q7ce Fo7t cherche
depuis longtemps. L'on a saisi toutes les
occasions qui se sont presentees. ... II
serait pousse a sa perfection si j 'avals ^t^
mieux second^, non seulement ici, mais de
ma patrie. Malgr6 ces contretemps, je suis
venu a bout de procurer a ma nation un

^ In spite of the loss of Madras, the EngHsh East India
Company paid dividends of eight per cent, for the years
1744 to 1748 inclusive. From 1730 to 1744 the Dutch
Company had paid dividends varying from fifteen to twenty-
five per cent. (Mill).

DUPLEIX 131

revenu d'au moins cinq millions. Mon
dessein dtait de la pousser a dix millions,"
He admits that the idea of extending French
dominion in India, and of expelling all
European rivals had sprung into existence
during the late war with England, but that
circumstances that could not have been fore-
seen had alone brought the realisation of the
idea within the range of possibility. Three
weeks later he was writing contemptuously
of the Directors : "II est difficile de faire
changer d'id^es a des personnes qui n'ont
^t6 habituees depuis de longues ann^es qu'
a des idees trop born^es."^

His plan, as stated by himself, in October
1753, was to procure a fixed revenue for the
Company in order to make them independent
of trade. This would enable them to sell
Indian products in Europe at a rate that
would be impossible for the English to vie
with, and thus bring about the ruin of the
English Company. Not a word about
interference in native politics, of offering
protection to native chiefs in order to make
puppets of them : not a word of excuse for
disobeying the Company's stringent orders

^ Dupleix ^ Montaran, 9th November 1753 (Cultru).

132 DUPLEIX

to recall Bussy and the French troops
from Aurungabad. All that was necessary-
was that an additional force of 2500
men should be sent to him. With 5000
men he would give the law to all India.
The fact that the English in India were
opposing him in the field, that the two
nations were at peace, and that his projects
could only be carried out at the cost of war
in Europe, was not taken into account.

The charge against the French Directors
of not supporting Dupleix in his plan of
forming a French empire in India cannot be
sustained, for the simple reason that he had
never placed any such plan before them.
His first communication of a considered plan
was not written till two months after the
determination to recall him had been formed
in Paris.

In November, the Madras Council again
made overtures for the termination of
hostilities, through Syud Lashkar Khan,
the Dewan at Aurungabad, who was opposed
to Bussy and French influence. Dupleix
absolutely refused to acknowledge Mahomed
Ali's title to the Carnatic, but the increasing
difficulties in which he found himself made

DUPLEIX 133

him not unwilling to consider the advisability
of a conference which was proposed to be
held at Sadras, the Dutch settlement between
Madras and Pondicherry. A little before
this he had received a letter from Bussy
giving an account of the increasing difficulties
he experienced in the Deccan, and stating
among other circumstances that pay to the
amount of nine lakhs of rupees was owing
to his men. At this stage a French attempt
to surprise Trichinopoly met with a disastrous
defeat which cost them nine officers and over
400 men.i Dupleix now consented to send
Commissioners to Sadras, and nominated
Pere Lavaur,^ Superior of the Jesuits in
India, de Bausset, a member of the Pondi-
cherry Council, and his nephew de Kerjean,
to meet the two English Commissioners,
Palk and Vansittart. Even after the arrival
at Sadras of the English deputies, Dupleix
delayed the dispatch of his representatives,
on the ground that the passes provided for
them were written in English and not in
Persian. The Madras Council replied that

^ 27th November 1753.

^ According to Voltaire and Saint Priest, Lavaur played a
double game between Dupleix and Godeheu, and by his unfair
insinuations greatly contributed to Lally's condemnation.

134 DUPLEIX

the excuse was frivolous and an indignity to
the English nation, and Dupleix gave way.

On the first day of the meeting of the
Commissioners, the English deputies wrote
to Madras that there was no prospect of an
agreement ; and at the end of eleven days,
after two meetings only, the conference
was broken off. The terms demanded by
Dupleix could only have been justified by
constant success in the field. He insisted
on a recognition of his title as Nawab of the
Carnatic, and the time was chiefly occupied
by a fruitless controversy as to the authen-
ticity of documents, which is only interesting
as showing the anxiety of both French and
English to legalise their status by appeal-
ing to the effete authority of the Moghul
Emperor. The English insisted on the
recognition of Mahomed Ali as Nawab of
the Carnatic, rightly recognising that with
the Nawabship in French hands their trade
must be destroyed.

In reading the whole proceedings of the
Commissioners it is difficult to believe that
Dupleix seriously expected to come to terms.
His real object would appear to have been
to ascertain if the English were likely to

DUPLEIX 135

listen to proposals that would result in their
abandonment of the cause of Mahomed AH,
and to obtain the release of the French
prisoners. The mutual restoration of prisoners
was proposed by the French deputies as a
preliminary step to an agreement. The
English deputies replied that it must form
part of the agreement itself. A few days
after the conference Dupleix scored his only
important success in the field against the
English. A valuable convoy was captured,
and 230 of the best English troops destroyed,
15th February 1754.

For six months more the war lingered on,
but the only result was to make evident the
decreasing power of the French. Dupleix
had got to the end of his resources ; his
soldiers, disheartened by defeat, faced the
English with hesitation that was fatal to
success, and his commanders were discredited.
Nor were French affairs going better in the
Deccan. From Bussy came a series of
urgent letters complaining that nothing could
be got from the Soobadar, that he had parted
with all he himself possessed to pay his
troops, that in spite of repeated demands
nothing had been sent him from Pondicherry,

136 DUPLEIX

and that officers and men were in ereat
distress and ready to mutiny. *' La gloire
du nom FranQais est arriv^e a son dernier
periode," wrote an officer to Dupleix. He
was visibly losing ground everywhere.

Meanwhile, the feeling in France against
Dupleix was increasing. The great riches
he had acquired for himself and family,
exaggerated by rumour, his indifference to
the Company's orders, his concealment of
important matters, and the insolent style of
his letters to the Directors, all contributed
to raise their apprehension and anger. '* On
n'ecrit pas a un valet comme vous avez ecrit
a la Compagnie," wrote one of his friends
to him.^ His subordinates, alienated and
disgusted by his haughtiness and arrogance,
were loud in their complaints against him.
Assuming the style of an Eastern monarch,
he forced them to present nuzzurs when
they approached him, and more than once,
accordinor to Orme, he obliofed his own
countrymen to submit to the humiliation of
paying him homage on their knees. The
same is charged to him by Godeheu : " M'a
t'on vLi me montrer tous les jours en public

^ Montaran c\ Dupleix, 3rd March 1754 (Cultru).

DUPLEIX 137

avec ce faste imposant, ce cortege nombreux,
et toutes les marques exterieures de la
Nababie. . . . M'a t'on vu quitter I'habit
et le chapeau, me revetir d'une cabaye et
d'un turban, et recevoir le salami de la main
des Franqais ? " Dupleix denied ever re-
ceiving nuzzurs from Frenchmen. When
he sustained his check at Arcot he hurried
the sailing of the Dauphm so that the officers
should not hear of it and report it in France.
In like manner he hastened the departure of
other ships when the news of Mozuffer
Jung's death reached him, and the Directors
complained that they received from England
news of events that Dupleix might have sent
them. The Company's funds were exhausted,
and the Directors complained that they
received no returns for the sums they had
sent out. The books showed that there
ouorht to be immense sums at their credit in
India, but they were told there was nothing.
Yet Dupleix pretended that up to the end
of 1752 only ten lakhs of rupees had been
advanced for army expenses, which would be
repaid when peace was made. In pursuit of
his political aims he had completely lost sight
of the Company's commercial interests. If

138 DUPLEIX

his policy was successful there would be
plenty of money to make good all deficiencies.
The Ministry and the public held Dupleix
responsible for their want of dividends. All
complaints might have been put an end to
by success, but the news of Law's surrender
silenced Dupleix's defenders, and his recall
was decided on.

So far back as the autumn of 175 1 proposals
for the recall of Dupleix had been laid before
the French Ministers, long before the news
of the active opposition of the English was
known to them. At that time the death of
Nazir Jung was known, but they were still
ignorant in France of the dispatch of Bussy
to Aurunofabad. The general feelins^ was
against territorial extension, and in favour of
peace and commerce. But there grew up
a feeling of personal hostility to Dupleix,
coupled with a suspicion that his loyalty
could not be depended on. As an official
document said at the time: " C'etait un role
sdduisant, pour un particulier sorti du com-
merce et devenu gouverneur de Pondichery
que celui de conqu^rant et d'arbitre de
rinde. II pouvait meme y trouver, du cote
de la fortune, des avantages particuliers."

DUPLEIX 139

The enormous sums of which Dupleix, his
family, and so many of the French officers
were in receipt seemed to render them rather
the servants of their native paymasters than
of the French Directors, and Godeheu was
suggested as the fittest person to succeed
Dupleix. A few months later proposals
were placed before the Ministers for coming
to an agreement with the English and Dutch
Companies, ensuring neutrality in India
under all circumstances, and for a common
undertaking not to acquire territory. The
news of Law's surrender appeared to justify
Delaitre, one of the Syndics, and Silhouette,
one of the royal commissioners, who had
prophesied disaster. The Company wrote
to Dupleix with dignity and moderation.
Before the news of Law's disaster arrived,
they had ordered him to make peace and
withdraw Bussy from the Deccan. They
now sent him 1400 men to enable him to
defend himself, and told him they relied on
his having already made peace before the
reinforcement, which was not to be employed
in new enterprises, could arrive. To Dupleix
the reinforcement furnished a motive for
going on with the game. Like a confirmed

I40 DUPLEIX

gambler, he was always ready to double the
stakes. At this time he was sending rich
presents to Madame de Pompadour and
other great ladies, in the name of Madame
Dupleix, to influence them in his favour.

The affair that did Dupleix most harm in
France was the matter of the presents and
jagirs granted to himself, his wife, and
other officials. In 1750, the Directors, deal-
ing with the question of the jagir granted to
Dumas, had reminded Dupleix that the re-
ceipt of gifts by French officials from foreign
princes was strictly forbidden by royal
ordinance. Now they heard, by private
persons coming from India, of the immense
gifts of land, money, and jewels showered on
Dupleix and his subordinates. Between Jan-
uary and July 1751 Bussy received in money
alone 780,000 rupees. In six months of the
same year de Kerjean remitted 380,000
rupees to Pondicherry from Aurungabad.
Captains of infantry under Bussy received
from 25,000 to 40,000 rupees in a year.
Dupleix himself had three large jagirs,
besides money and jewels of great value.
Madame Dupleix had received four valuable
jagirs, one of which she gave to the Jesuits,

DUPLEIX 141

and one she surrendered to the Company.
Her daughter had a jagir ; her son received
a lakh of rupees in a single day ; Portuguese
hangers-on, who claimed relationship with
her, had districts. In the Carnatic thirty-
two districts were administered by Dupleix's
agent for different employes. The enormous
sums acquired by obscure individuals of no
merit produced widespread demoralisation
among all classes, and had a powerful effect
in bringing about the final collapse of French
power in India a few years later. Instead
of checking it, Dupleix boasted of the fortunes
that were being made, and sent officers to
the Deccan "pour faire leurs petites affaires."
On receiving the Directors' order about
Dumas' jagir, Dupleix wrote a remonstrance
as if no royal order existed. The Directors
repeated the order more stringently. Dupleix
replied in a letter full of insolence, accusing
the Directors of having procured a royal
order expressly for the occasion. But he was
on his way to France before they could
make any rejoinder.

IV

At the beginning of the contest the
Directors of the two Companies were
puzzled by the conflicting charges and
counter-charges they received from Madras
and Pondicherry. Neither in London nor
Paris was the affair regarded as serious, and
the Directors exchanged informal communi-
cations and copies of their advices from
India. The French Directors naturally, at
first, supported Dupleix, whose successful
defence of Pondicherry had made him a
popular favourite ; the English Directors
were conscious that, in the Devicotah affair,
they had laid themselves open to recrimina-
tion. On receiving the news of the victory
at Amboor the French Directors were warm
in their congratulations to Dupleix. On
hearing of the capture of Gingee by Bussy,
their congratulations were less cordial, and
accompanied by the reflection that unless
the success had led to a solid peace it was

DUPLEIX 143

of little value : a sentiment that was repeated
from several quarters. The news of the
defeat and death of Nazir Jung at the hands
of a French force, and what followed it,
roused them from their complacency. They
became aware that a great deal was going
on of which Dupleix was keeping them in
ignorance. The employment of French
arms against the ruler of the Deccan could
not be laid to the blame of the English,
for the English had withdrawn from his
camp. The dispatch of Bussy to Golconda
was inexplicable. In January 1753, the
English Directors made a formal representa-
tion to the Earl of Holdernesse, the King's
principal Secretary of State, forwarding
copies of letters written by Dupleix to
Madras, "wherein the pretensions and claims
of M. Dupleix, in the name of the French
nation, appear, and entreating his Lordship's
recommendation of the affair to His Majesty's
Ministers, that they may obtain such declara-
tions and orders from the Court of France
as may sufficiently discountenance and put
a stop to M. Dupleix's proceedings." A
formal communication based on this reached
Paris just when the news of Law's surrender

144 DUPLEIX

was known, and the advisability of recalling
Dupleix was being considered by the French
Directors. In March, they notified to the
English Directors that they were sending
Duvelaer and de la Lude to London, to con-
sult with the Secret Committee, and confer
on means to re-establish tranquillity in India.
They declared that they were disposed to do
anything that might contribute to that end.

Malleson has treated Duvelaer's deputa-
tion to London as if he had been originally
instructed to maintain Dupleix's policy.
This was not the case. The negotiation
was at first between the two Companies, and
not between the French and English Govern-
ments. The Directors of both Companies
were in accord as to the general principles
to be observed in future. The chief point
on which disagreement seemed likely to arise
was from the difficulty of placing both
Companies on an equality in India for the
future, in view of the large acquisitions of the
French. So far was the negotiation from
beinof of a contentious nature at first, that it
caused some alarm in Holland,^ where it was

^ Sir J. Yorke's letter to the Duke of Newcastle (The
Hague, 22nd June 1753, MSS. Brit. Mus.).

DUPLEIX 145

thought to forebode common action against
other European traders.

The choice of Duvelaer showed the in-
tentions of the French Directors. He had
spent several years in England and Holland
studying English and Dutch commercial
systems. He had no personal feeling
against Dupleix, but he was averse to a
trading Company mixing itself up in politics
and acquiring territory. While negotiations
were in progress, it came to be recognised in
London that the fiorhtingf in India was no
passing incident, such as had happened
before between European traders in the
East, but was due to a policy that would,
if successful, prove fatal to English trade ;
and the professions of the French Directors
were received with distrust. It was known
that the French Company were raising 2000
men to dispatch to India with M. Godeheu,
the Managing Director of the Compagnie
des Indes' naval establishment at L'Orient,
though the English Ambassador reported
that M. Godeheu was said to have absolute
power and orders to make peace, and if
M. Dupleix opposed it, to send him im-
mediately to Europe. On the receipt, in
10

146 DUPLEIX

London, of intelligence of the continuance
of fighting in India, the King's Ministers
intervened in the negotiation ; the French
ambassador, the Due de Mirepoix, was
informed by the Earl of Holdernesse of
the King's resolution to support the English
East India Company in the full enjoyment
of all the rights and privileges granted them
by royal charter,^ and the 39th Regiment,
the one that now bears the motto of " Primus
in Indis," was prepared for embarkation.^
At the beginning of January 1754 the Due
de Mirepoix was told that eight line-of-
battle ships with five frigates were preparing
to sail in a fortnigrht for the East Indies.^
At the same time he received instructions
from the French Ministry to conclude a

^ East India Company's records.

2 In its ranks were Forde, who drove the French out of
the Northern Circars ; Coote, who defeated Lally and took
Pondicherry, dying thirty years later as Commander-in-
Chief in India ; together with Carnac, Adnett, Yorke, and
many others who bore their part in the hard fighting that
was to come.

^ This was the squadron that sailed from Plymouth on
9th March, under Admiral Watson, that destroyed Gheriah
and Chandernagorc, and recovered Calcutta. It may be
truly said that the favourable position in which the English
in India found themselves on the outbreak of the Seven
Years' War was directly due to Dupleix's aggressive policy.

DUPLEIX 147

treaty between the two Companies, conced-
ing the points on which the EngHsh
Company, backed by the King's Govern-
ment, insisted. Before this, Godeheu was
on his way to India.

There can be little doubt that long
before the news of Law's defeat and sur-
render was known, there was considerable
excitement in England over the fighting
in India. Many were the petitions from
officers in the King's army to the East
India Company for commissions in India.
In a single day, in November 1752, the
Company granted fourteen commissions to
captains and subalterns of the Royal Army,
having among them men who had fought in
Germany and Scotland. There was no lack
of readiness in the English Government or
the English nation to take up the challenge
thrown down to them in India. Yet the
whole contention of Dupleix's admirers is
based on the assumption that if the French
Company had supported Dupleix, England
would have acquiesced in the domination of
the Carnatic by France.

The recognition of Mahomed AH as
Nawab of the Carnatic, and the surrender

148 DUPLEIX

to him of a portion of the territory acquired
by the French, were the points on which the
EngHsh Ministers refused to give way. In
the event of Mahomed AH's death before
Godeheu's arrival they demanded that both
companies should, in concert, request the
Moghul Emperor to nominate a successor.
They were indifferent as to who the successor
should be, provided he was not the nominee
of the French. They also insisted on the
unconditional surrender of the Swiss cap-
tured at sea, as a preliminary to negotiation,
and were prepared to treat it as a casus
belli if there was any hesitation in the
matter.

Malleson, in his History of the French in
India, and M. Hamont, have stated the
recall of Dupleix to have been brought about
chiefly by the insistence of the English
Directors, who tricked the French Directors
into the belief that they would on their side
recall Saunders if Dupleix was recalled.
Dupleix himself believed that his recall had
been obtained by the English, and dwells on
it with much bitterness in his Mhnoire contre
la Compagnie. Yet in another place he
writes: "le coup est I'ouvrage du Sieur

DUPLEIX 149

Godeheu seul." M. Cultru shows that there
is no foundation for these assertions. " Les
Fran^ais n'eurent pas la triste excuse d'etre
forces par I'Angleterre a rappeler Dupleix.
II etait attaque depuis longtemps. Personne
ne le defendait, sauf le directeur Gilly. . . .
Le coup fut porte par Silhouette qui dirigeait
I'esprit de Machault. Un memoire, prdsente
en Juillet 1753, suggera toutes les mesures
qui furent prise docilement par le ministre
presque sous la dict^e du commissaire." No
mention of Dupleix was made in the negotia-
tion. The story of the English stipulation
to recall Saunders and appoint a special com-
missioner to treat with Godeheu has been
traced by M. Cultru to a rumour current in
Paris, in 1755, reported to the King of
Prussia by his ambassador. Godeheu
ridiculed the idea. " Le Roi seul a pro-
nonce votre rappel . . . ce n'etait pas une
affaire d'arrangement avec les Anglais." In
the convention as finally executed, Saunders
is styled " President for the Honourable
English Company on the coast of Coro-
mandel and Orixa, Governor of Fort St.
George." Godeheu is styled "Commissary
for His Most Christian Majesty, Commander-

150 DUPLEIX

General of all the settlements of the French
Company on both sides the Cape of Good
Hope, and at China, President of all the
Councils there established, and Director-
General of the India Company of France."
Orme, with his usual accuracy, states the fact
that the admirers of Dupleix have ignored :
"The French themselves were so fully con-
vinced that Dupleix was not a man fit to
be trusted with a commission which contra-
dicted so strongly every part of his conduct
since the beginning of the war of Coromandel
that . , . they of their own accord, and
without any application from the English
Ministry, took the resolution of removing
him from the Government of Pondicherry."

Nor can Malleson's contention be sustained
that the French Directors were influenced
by the constant defeats sustained round
Trichinopoly/ The defeats of Astruc (26th
June and 21st September 1753), Brenier
(9th August 1753), and Mainville (9th
December 1753) were certainly not known

^ " But when they heard, first of Law's disaster, then of
the loss of de la Touche and his 700 men, then of the defeats
in succession of Astruc, of Brennier, of Mainville, . . . they
came at last to the determination to insist on a change of
policy" (Dupleix, " Rulers of India Series").

DUPLEIX 1 5 1

in Paris in August 1753, when Godeheu's
deputation to India was decided on.
M. Cultru shows that among the reasons
for Dupleix's recall were his behaviour in
regard to the jagirs, the arrogance of his
letters to the Directors, and his concealment
of important facts, to which Law's defeat in
June 1752 formed the climax. But it was
his conduct in respect to the jagirs that
chiefly influenced the Directors. For twelve
months, in January 1753, the Directors had
been without dispatches from Pondicherry.
The dispatches then received were silent
as to the check received at Arcot in 1751,
his receipt of the Nawabship of the Car-
natic, and the reasons for the dispatch
of Bussy to the Deccan.^ For all that was
most important for them to know, the
Directors were dependent on letters from
private individuals, and on the newspapers
published in London and The Hague. If
his recall had depended alone on the com-
plaints of the English, he would certainly
have been sent back to India on the out-

^ " Voulant raster maitre absolu de ses mouvements,
Dupleix ne rendait compte de rien ; il n'ecrivait pas au
minist&re ou ne correspondait avec lui qu'en termes
generaux" (Saint Priest).

152 DUPLEIX

break of war between England and France,
soon after his arrival in Europe.

In addition to these disquieting circum-
stances the affairs of the Company had
become desperate. Since 1745 the Company
had been practically insolvent. At that time,
in fifteen months' war, twelve of their
merchantmen, valued at 10,600,000 francs,
had been captured or lost at sea. Nine
millions were owing to the State for loans,
yet the payment of dividends had not been
suspended. Recourse was again had to the
State. A laree loan was sanctioned : fresh
capital was raised by the issue of new shares,
and for three years the dividends were paid
out of the Royal Treasury. By 1750 the
Company was in dire distress: in 1753 it
was at the last gasp. The almost universal
corruption existing in every branch of the
Company's service was a potent factor in its
ruin. There was no longer a question of
making conquests in India : the doubt was
whether the Company itself would continue
to exist. Peace in India at any price was an
absolute necessity, and, in view of his fre-
quent disregard of the Directors' orders, peace
could only be obtained by recalling Dupleix.

DUPLEIX 153

The Directors had been lavish in the
dispatch of soldiers from France. In
September 1750 they sent him 300 men;
in 1751, 365 men; in 1752, 1381, of which
122 were lost in the Prince; in 1753 he
received 600 out of 894 who were dispatched
before Godeheu's departure from France.^
Yet all this time they were kept in ignor-
ance of what was oroino- on in India.

Two years before, Godeheu had been
named as the best available successor to
Dupleix : he knew India, and was a man of
integrity. Voltaire says that he was remark-
able for prudence and mildness. According to
hispublic instructions, he was given full powers
to carry out a complete inquiry, and had
discretion, if he saw fit, to continue the war.
But, from Silhouette and the Minister for
naval affairs he carried sealed instructions,
of a very different nature. The immense
riches acquired by Dupleix, Bussy, and others,
it was said, had turned their heads. They
talked of inciting the Soobadar to attack
Mysore, where the booty was enormous.
" Tout ne respire que guerre et brigandage.
. . . Une des premieres mesures a prendre

1 Cultru.

154 DUPLEIX

est de faire repasser en France ceux dont les
richesses immenses ne peuvent que bannir
I'esprit de frugalite qui doit pr^sider aux
operations d'une Compagnie merchande."

If Dupleix resisted Godeheu's orders, he
and his relations were to be arrested.
Godeheu was to restore to the English,
unconditionally, the Swiss troops Dupleix
had piratically taken prisoners at sea in
1752, and open negotiations for peace. He
was further directed to land at Karikal, and
summon Dupleix to meet him there, so as
to preclude any chance of resistance ; but
this part of his instructions was not acted
on. From the tenor of these instructions it
is evident that resistance to the Company's
authority was expected, not only from
Dupleix but also from those who had
enriched themselves under him, and the
Directors were determined to make a
clean sweep of them. The 2000 men sent
with Godeheu were intended as much
to coerce Dupleix, if necessary, as to
protect French interests. To the French
Directors it seemed a monstrous thing that
their servants in the East had acquired
enormous wealth and were ruling vast

DUPLEIX I 5 5

territories in the name of the Company,
while the Company itself was insolvent.
It was not known in France that the riches
acquired by Dupleix and his family, together
with the revenues derived from the Carnatic,
had been dissipated, that the troops were
in arrears of pay, and there was no money in
the Treasury.

Godeheu reached Pondicherry on the ist
August 1754, and landed on the following
day. In a letter dated ist August, he
informed the Madras Council that he had
arrived with full powers and authority. He
stated his earnest desire to make peace
between the Companies ; he sent back to
Madras the Swiss prisoners, in proof of
good faith, and proposed a suspension of
arms. It is a proof of his nervousness
about the Swiss prisoners (whose numbers
had dwindled to 80) that he should have
written to notify their surrender, within an
hour or two of his arrival, and before he
put foot on shore. The matter was not one
that brooked delay, as Watson's squadron
might be looked for at any moment. In
his reply to Dupleix's attack on him,
Godeheu relates how a French officer, M. de

156 DUPLEIX

Dampierre, who was at Madras when Watson
arrived there, reported to him that Watson
and Pocock complained of their hands being
tied, as they had received orders to make
reprisals on the French Company's vessels
for the seizure of the troops "que vous aviez
fait arreter a leur passage de Madras au
Fort St. David, quoique les deux nations
fussent alors en pleine paix." Surgeon Ives
in his narrative also says : "to our great
surprise, instead of being employed on the
objects of war, we had nothing to do
but to look about us." So nearly had
Dupleix involved France and England in
war.

Dupleix was at once given to understand
that his power was at an end, and that he
and his family must return to France, So
long as he remained in Pondicherry he was
allowed to retain all the insignia of his
Governorship and of his Nawabship, and
to occupy the Governor's residence : in fact,
Godeheu appears to have treated him with
a consideration that was not appreciated by
Dupleix. It is evident from Godeheu's
M&moii'es that he found the administration
in great confusion ; the Treasury was empty.

DUPLEIX 157

and the troops before Trichinopoly had
mutinied for want of pay. When asked
by Godeheu for money to pay the troops,
Dupleix repHed that he had been relying
on the money brought out by Godeheu,
and that if the ships had not arrived he
would have pawned his plate. Unable to
see that his policy was discredited, and that
Godeheu was acting under superior orders,
he urged him again and again to send troops
to Trichinopoly,^ and referred him to Papia-
poulld for the Carnatic accounts. This
Papiapoulle was the agent appointed by
Dupleix, or rather Madame Dupleix, as
M, Cultru surmises, to administer the
Carnatic. According to Godeheu he had
once been M. Barthelemy's valet, and was
dismissed by him for bad behaviour. He
was accountable only to Dupleix, and had
been allowed to assume a position of
authority second only to Dupleix himself.
He robbed the districts in his charge, and
played the tyrant everywhere. No French-
man dared to oppose him for fear of being

^ " Ce nouveau detachement . . . ramenera le courage de
nos troupes, qui n'est pas fort assure a la vue des Anglais "
(Dupleix to Godeheu, 4th August 17 S4)-

158 DUPLEIX

ruined : he raised troops, whom he kept with-
out pay till they mutinied, and was detected
by Godeheu giving orders to the native
officers of sepoys in Pondicherry in defiance
of those given by Godeheu himself. No
single man had so great a share in the
ruin of Dupleix's administration as Papia-
poulM/

Godeheu has been blamed for having
concealed his instructions from Dupleix up
to the moment of landing, for having dis-
played personal animosity, and for having
made a sacrifice of French interests. But
the French Directors had themselves de-
signedly kept Dupleix in ignorance of their
intentions when they announced the coming
of Godeheu, in their distrust of Dupleix's
loyalty, and Godeheu does not appear to
have shown any personal feeling or un-
necessary harshnesss in carrying out his
orders. As one of the Directors, he knew
how desperate was the state of the Company's
finances, and his inquiry into the Carnatic
accounts was necessarily stringent. He had
been sent out as an inquisitor, not as a
successor in the government of the French

^ We should write the name Papiah Pillay.

DUPLEIX 159

Indies/ After the orders of the Directors
for the surrender of the jagirs to the
Company, he was not disposed to Hsten
with much patience to Dupleix's plea that
they were his own property. By a reversal
of Dupleix's policy alone could war with
England be avoided, and he knew what
the English terms were. A suspension of
arms for three months was agreed upon.
On the 14th October, Dupleix sailed for
France. In the last days of the year a
conditional treaty was signed between the
two Companies, subject to ratification in
Europe. The only effect of the treaty was
to produce a cessation of hostilities, and
an interchange of prisoners, that left a
balance of 650 French prisoners in the
hands of the English. No surrender of
territory was to take place without orders
from Europe. It is altogether misleading
to say, as Malleson has done, that the effect
of the treaty was to undo all Dupleix's work.
While these things were taking place
in India, opinion in France had partly
veered round in favour of Dupleix. His

^ He left India again in February 1755, six weeks after the
conditional treaty was signed.

i6o DUPLEIX

aims and achievements were beg^innino- to
gain favour in Court circles, while war with
England appeared inevitable. A dispatch
modifying Godeheu's orders was sent off,
but arrived two months after Dupleix's
departure.

His reception by the public in France
was at first all that he could desire, and he
looked forward to a speedy return to India.
On his voyage he spent money lavishly at
the Mauritius and the Cape of Good Hope,
and in France he made a great display of
wealth. But the Directors were less favour-
ably inclined to him than the public, and the
King's Ministers received him coldly. They
had his insolent reply about the jagirs before
them : they received before long, from
Godeheu, a copy of the treaty of peace,
based on their own suggestions, and, in
some respects, more favourable than what
they were prepared to accept : they learned
from Godeheu the result of his inquiry into
the Carnatic accounts, which showed an
enormous deficit not accounted for ; and
Dupleix himself claimed over twelve millions
of livres from the Company on account of his
jagirs, and over seven millions of livres ad-

DUPLEIX i6i

vanced from his private resources for public
purposes. When called on to account for his
possession of such a sum he stated that it was
derived from his jagirs. But the Directors had
refused to recognise his claim to the jagirs as
they had refused to recognise Dumas' claim ;
they knew that he had inherited nothing from
his father, and that he had lost the fortune
he had made in Bengal before he left
Chandernagore. Godeheu had to report
that the Carnatic was ruined, partly by the
ravages of war, but in great measure by
the tyranny and peculations of Madame
Dupleix's agent ; that the native troops
were unpaid, and were in a state of mutiny,
so that he had been obliged to disband them.
The fact was that Dupleix had expended the
Carnatic revenues so far as they would go,
and then his own fortune and the fortunes
of his friends, in the war. So far back as
October 1751 he had written to Bussy : "A
peine les revenus de la province peuvent-
ils fournir aux depenses qu'occasionnent.
M^hemet Ali et les Anglais. . . . Le pays
est d^vaste : le d^faut de recoltes m'occa-
sionne a moi des avances considerables.
II faut qu'il soit sorti de mon coffre plus de
II

1 62 DUPLEIX

dix lakhs de rouples depuis mai dernier sans
qu'il puisse y en rentrer une seule." Yet at
that date the sums advanced to Chunda
Sahib had been repaid.

The reaction of public opinion in favour
of Dupleix appears to have been brief.
Cartwright quotes a letter from de Kerjean
written in Paris the 6th February 1757 :
" I am at a loss to describe the extent to
which La Bourdonnais' libels have here
made an impression on people's minds,
while Dupleix's memorials pass almost un-
noticed."

Dupleix's admirers have laid much stress
on the shameful conditions of Godeheu's
treaty, and its disastrous results to France.
The view is of too partisan a nature to
be accepted. The French had not been
victorious in the three years of unofficial war
waged between the two Companies, and
were in no condition to continue the struggle
with hope of success. To the English at
Madras the terms of the treaty appeared
unjustifiable, in view of the great advantages
it secured to the French ; and it was only
under orders from England that they were
** obliged to conclude a truce on such pre-

DUPLEIX 163

carious and unequal terms." ^ When Gode-
heu's secretary uttered some platitudes on
the hatefulness of the war, Saunders replied
that the English had nothing to complain
of in respect to it. Nine hundred French
prisoners were in the hands of the English,
while the French had only 250 English
prisoners.^ An English squadron was on
the coast with a King's regiment far
superior in quality to the motley troops
who had hitherto fought for the Company.
*' Both sides now were able to bring
into the field an equal force of about 2000
Europeans : but the English troops were
in quality so much superior to the French
that if this long and obstinately contested
war had now rested on the decision of the
sword, there is no doubt but that the French
would soon have been reduced to ask for
peace on much less advantageous terms than
the presidency of Madras were obliged to
accede to, in obedience to the orders they
had now received from Europe."^ Peace

^ Orme.

2 These numbers do not represent the whole of the
prisoners captured during the war. There were many
Swiss and Germans among them, many of whom took
service with their captors. ^ Orme.

1 64 DUPLEIX

was necessary to the French Company, and
the price paid for it was actually extremely
small. The one serious concession made by
the French Government was the recognition
of Mahomed Ali as Nawab of the Carnatic.
On this point the English were unyielding.
Yet Mahomed Ali was not their nominee,
but had been appointed by Nazir Jung.
After Chunda Sahib's death Dupleix had
been unable to find a satisfactory candidate
for the throne of the Carnatic, and the in-
difference of the French to Salabut Jung's
wishes was shown by the matter being finally
settled without his being made a party to it.
On the other hand, the position of Salabut
Jung, Dupleix's nominee for the Deccan,
was left unchanged, and Bussy, v/ith a French
army, was allowed to remain and dominate
the Deccan. The English Directors formed
a scheme for bringing pressure to bear on
Salabut Jung to expel Bussy and the French
troops, with the assistance of the Peishwa ;
and for this purpose Clive, with a body of
troops, was sent to Bombay : but the scheme
came to nothing. Eighteen months later
Salabut Jung himself solicited the aid of the
English to expel Bussy from the Deccan.

DUPLEIX 165

An expedition was prepared and was on
the point of marching from Madras, when
the news of the capture of Calcutta by
Suraj-00-dowla caused the expedition to be
abandoned.

Meanwhile, all mention of Bussy was
studiously kept out of the treaty. The
territorial changes contemplated by the pro-
visional treaty were never carried out, and
the French remained in possession of exten-
sive districts acquired during the war, yielding,
according to Dupleix, a revenue of 2,679,457
rupees,^ while the English held only lands
yielding 800,000 rupees yearly, which Ma-
homed Ali had mortgaged to them for the
expenses of the war, and which were open to
redemption.^ The solid advantages gained
by Dupleix's policy were very great, and con-
ferred on France a great initial superiority
on the renewal of war two years later. The
treaty, in fact, only established a state of
armed truce between the Companies, and
settled the contention as to Mahomed Ali's
title. The removal of Dupleix from India
was important to the English, and necessary

^ Mdmoire pour Dupleix. Piece justificative, No. vi.
2 Orme.

1 66 DUPLEIX

in the cause of peace, but that was a matter
outside the treaty altogether.

The remainder of Dupleix's days were
spent in vainly prosecuting his claims against
the Company. His writings run into a
prodigious length, which must have confused
and wearied those who studied them.^
Against Godeheu he made a violent personal
attack, and the public were bombarded with
a series of accusation and rejoinders, into
which Maissin, Law, and others were drawn,
to be followed before long by similar counter-
charges between Lally and Bussy. He
chose to assume that his recall from India
and the composition with the English were
solely due to Godeheu's bad faith and folly.
But Godeheu was not a free agent in the
matter : he acted strictly under orders from
the French Ministry.

To the end of his life he believed that
the capture of Trichinopoly would have put
the crown to his political schemes, and one
of his principal grievances against Godeheu
was his failure to push operations with vigour
on his arrival in India. But the time had

^ Mhnoire conife la Compagnie, 1759 ; 291 quarto pages.
Riponse ct Godeheu, 1763 ; 133 quarto pages.

DUPLEIX 167

long passed, before Godeheu's appearance
on the scene, when the quarrel with the
English Company might have been ended
on such terms. The issue had enlarged to
dimensions that could not have been decided
by the capture of a single fortress. From
auxiliaries in the war the two nations had
become principals : it had ceased to be a
matter between the two Companies : it had
brought France and E norland face to face.
He entirely ignored the fact that the capture
of Trichinopoly/ if it had been accomplished
by Godeheu, would not have settled the
matter, and must have entailed open war
between England and France. The con-
vention was, in fact, beneficial to France, as
it gave time for the recuperation of the
exhausted provinces, while not a foot of
land was surrendered.

Exaggerated as his private claims almost
certainly were, an examination of them would
have shown laree sums due to him and to his
friends who had advanced money for public
purposes. But neither the French Company
nor the French Government had money to

^ Bussy did not hesitate to call his obsession as to
Trichinopoly a 'chimera.'

1 68 DUPLEIX

spare for such a purpose. Dupleix com-
menced a lawsuit against the Company :
the French Ministry interfered and put a
stop to the proceedings. At the same time
they gave Dupleix letters of protection
against his own creditors.^ His Mdmoire
cont7'e la Compagnie in 1759 must have fallen
on deaf ears in that year of universal calamity
for France. In November 1756 Madame
Dupleix died. Two years after her death
Dupleix married Mademoiselle de Chastenay
Lanty, a lady of good family but without
fortune, by whom he left one daughter.^
On the nth November 1763 he died.

Long before this he had seen the final ruin
of his work. In January 1761 Pondicherry
surrendered to the English, and all prospect
of French empire in India vanished. But
he could see in it only the handiwork of
Godeheu. Some months before his death
he wrote: "J'ai sacrifi^ ma jeunesse, ma
fortune, ma vie, a combler d'honneurs et de
richesses ma nation en Asie ; un homme
envieux arrive, la voit dans cet etat de
splendeur, et la fait tomber dans le mepris

^ The protection appears to have been withdrawn some
years later. ^ She married the Marquis de Valory.

DUPLEIX 169

et dans rabaissement, etc."^ But it was
France, not Godeheu, that had failed ; in
India as in America. Dupleix himself could
not have altered the result, though he might
have prolonged the struggle. The ruin that
had been impending over the Compagnie
des Indes for fifteen years was at last
accomplished. It is small wonder that, at
such a moment, men were more ready to
condemn his errors than to remember his
first successes.

On his arrival in France he had been
in affluent circumstances. Before he left
Bengal he had remitted considerable sums
to France ; he had purchased an estate in
1752, and, from 1755 to 1759, he was
allowed to retain jagirs in India that brought
him an income of not less than 300,000
rupees a year.^ But with the with-
drawal of the protection from his creditors,
and the cessation of his Indian incomes,
his money troubles began, and the last
few months of his life were months of
despairing poverty. Four years after his
death there was a sale of his jewels for the

^ Reponse du Sieur Dupleix a la lettre du Sieur Godeheu,
30th October 1763. 2 Cultru, p. 345.

170 DUPLEIX

benefit of his creditors. Amonof them were
a quantity of unset pearls, diamonds, and
other precious stones, diadems, aigrettes,
gold chains, jewelled sabres and poniards, a
box set with rubies and emeralds, etc.'^

French national pride has been flattered
by the idea that if Dupleix had had better
troops, and if he had been better supported
by the French Government, his policy would
have triumphed. It is difficult to see how
this contention can be justified. It is
apparently based on the supposition that the
success of French arms in the Carnatic
would have been acquiesced in by the
British Government. But the British
Government had shown that they would
support the East India Company even at
the cost of war, and there is no reason to
suppose that the issue would have been
different in 1755 from what it was six years
later. When Lally landed in India, in 1758,
he was relatively stronger than Dupleix had
been at any time since 1752. But he failed
to take Madras, and had to surrender
Pondicherry : while, in the Northern Circars,
the French suffered a crushing defeat. So

^ See Appendix.

DUPLEIX 171

long as the English had the superiority
at sea, French predominance in India was
impossible.

The frailty of the foundations on which
Dupleix's schemes had been built is ex-
emplified by Bussy's career at the Deccan
Court. For five years he was the successful
arbiter of Deccan politics, making peace or
war in the Soobadar's name. In the summer
of 1756 he succumbed to local intrigues, and
was forced to fight his way back to the
coast : and so French influence in the Deccan
came to its end for a time.

The soldiers sent out to India from France
were no doubt bad. But so were the men
sent out from England. The complaints of
Orme and Clive place the matter beyond
doubt. Yet there was orood fiq-htino-
material among the French. The men who,
at Bahoor, two months after Law's surrender,
met Lawrence's grenadiers bayonet to
bayonet, could not have been bad soldiers.
Granting the inferior quality of his men, as
represented by Dupleix, it may well be
asked, why, after Law's surrender, he con-
tinued to rely upon them, in preference to
listening to the frequent overtures for peace

172 DUPLEIX

made to him by the English and Mahomed
AH, whereby he would have retained every-
thing of importance that he was fighting for.
It was in officers rather than in men that
Dupleix failed, and for this Dupleix him-
self was largely responsible. Many of his
selections for command had no recommenda-
tion beyond their relationship to himself or
to his wife. Bussy, the best of them, was
engaged to marry one of Madame Dupleix's
daughters : and Bussy was not employed in
the field against the English. In numbers
the European troops at his disposal always
exceeded those that the English could bring
into the field. The retention of Bussy in
the Deccan was a cardinal error. Had the
troops with him been employed in the
Carnatic they would probably have turned
the scale at Trichinopoly. Nobody knew
better than Dupleix how little worthy of
consideration was the Moghul claim to
sovereignty in Southern India, but he failed
to see the equal worthlessness of the Deccan
Soobadar's claim to sovereignty over the
Carnatic so long as it could not be made
good by force of arms. The real issue lay
in the Carnatic, and the English, with true

DUPLEIX 173

insight, saw this. When Godeheu's treaty-
was made, the recognition of Mahomed AH
as Nawab of the Carnatic was insisted on :
but Bussy was left undisturbed in the
Deccan to be otherwise dealt with, and
subsequent events showed that his presence
there was of little importance. His warfare
in the Deccan has been treated as part of
Dupleix's policy. It is difficult to admit
this view. Bussy 's operations were confined
to maintaininor the Soobadar against the
Mahrattas ; but they had not the least in-
fluence on Carnatic affairs, or on the war
with the English. Bussy and his men in
the Deccan were only mercenaries at the
disposal of the Soobadar, to be employed by
him for local purposes.

In estimating Dupleix's position as a
statesman it is impossible to overlook his
failure in promoting the commercial interests
of the French Company. Yet his admirers
assert that the first measures in his supposed
plan for establishing French sovereignty in
India was the improvement of French ad-
ministration and of the Company's finances.
That he understood Eastern trade was shown
by his work at Chandernagore ; but, from the

174 DUPLEIX

time of the capture of Madras by La Bour-
donnais, he ceased to concern himself about
administrative affairs, and staked everything
on the success of his political schemes. The
mistake was one that might have been com-
mitted by a successful soldier ; but Dupleix
was emphatically not a soldier, and he was
a very capable administrator. He built
nothing ; he consolidated nothing. He
raised the scaffolding of an immense political
edifice, and was constantly extending it ; but
not a single course of masonry was laid or
even projected by him. The ease with which
native armies were overthrown by his troops,
and the favourable way in which events
played into his hands for a time, deprived
him of all sense of proportion and of the
difficult problems that remained to be solved.
And so it came to pass that when the
order for his recall arrived, his treasury was
empty, his soldiers were mutinous for want
of pay, the provinces he had pretended to
administer were ruined, and his own fortune
had been swallowed up. By his arrogance
he had alienated the goodwill of his sub-
ordinates, and by his insubordination and
neglect of the Company's commercial in-

DUPLEIX 175

terests he had incurred the hostUity of the
directors whose support was essential to
him. The insolvency of the Company was
a powerful factor in his ruin. Had he not
been recalled, it is difficult to avoid the
belief that a few more months would have
seen the failure of all he had projected, even
if open war between France and England
had been avoided ; for it is impossible to
maintain that the French position in the
Carnatic was as strong at the end of 1754
as it had been when Salabut Jung was placed
on the throne of the Deccan.

Yet Dupleix must ever remain one of
the most remarkable figures in our Indian
history. With astonishing audacity and
temporary success he was the first to show
the practical possibility of European dominion
in India, and there can be little doubt that
Clive's policy after Plassey was founded on
the example set by him. That he set out
on his career of political adventure without
any definite aim is made clear from his own
letters. He did not create opportunities : he
seized them as they presented themselves.
At each turn of the kaleidoscope his ambition
grew and his horizon of possibilities enlarged,

176 DUPLEIX

till nothine less than universal dominion in
India seemed attainable. But if he is to be
given credit for his first successes, so also
must he himself bear the blame for his
failures. Nevertheless, our fullest admiration
is due to the greatness of his aims, his energy,
his political dexterity, his unfailing fortitude
under misfortune, and his tenacity of purpose.
At this distance of time we may re-echo the
words of Orme : " His conduct certainly
merited a very different requital from his
nation, which never had a subject so desirous
and capable of extending its reputation and
power in the East Indies."

The embarrassment caused us by Dupleix
for a time, was really a blessing in disguise.
He taught the English in India to know
their own strength. Till then they had relied
on the Crown to do their fighting for them.
In the four years' warfare to which they
were unexpectedly committed, the East India
Company and their servants in India were
thrown on their own resources, and discovered
that they too possessed soldiers and states-
men equal to all emergencies. But for
Dupleix, the genius of Clive and the military
virtues of Lawrence might have never been

DUPLEIX 177

discovered. But for Dupleix, there would
have been no British squadron in the Indian
seas, no King's regiment in India when
English trade was extinguished in Bengal
in 1756. As the storm that wrecked La
Bourdonnais' ships in 1746 gave Dupleix the
troops to embark on his career of conquest,
so the political storm raised by him gave
the English the armed force that enabled
them to conquer at Plassey, and strike for
empire at the psychological moment, and
brought to India the men whose names are
imperishably written in our Indian records
from 1754 to 1765. It would be difficult to
exaggerate the importance of the results
wrought by Watson's squadron and the
officers and men of the 39th that he took
out with him. It was solely owing to Dupleix
that they left England.

To believe that Dupleix, if properly sup-
ported in France, would have succeeded
in founding a French empire in India, is
to misread history. All French efforts at
colonisation in the eighteenth century were
paralysed by quarrels among the local
officials, and by the sacrifice of public interests
to the acquisition of private gains. Voltaire
12

178 DUPLEIX

compared the French settlement in Southern
India during the Seven Years' War to a
dying man whose effects are pillaged by his
servants before the breath has left his body.
These evils were rampant among the French
in India when Dupleix was at the head of
affairs, and their results were as fatal to
French interests in India as they were in
Canada. The verdict on French colonisation
given by the Seven Years' War would not
have been reversed by the temporary success
of Dupleix.

APPENDIX

OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE SALE OF
DUPLEIX'S JEWELS AFTER HIS DEATH,
TO SATISFY HIS HEIRS, CREDITORS, AND
OTHER CLAIMANTS

Archives dii departement de Seine et Oise,
No. 3761. E.

(i) Par ordre du Conseil d'Etat du 17 Mars 1764,
pour juger en dernier ressort les contestations nees ou k
naitre contra la dame Veuve Du Pleix, la succession
heritiers et creanciers debiteurs et pretendants droit k
la succession du Sieur Joseph Francois Du Pleix
Commandant sous le Roi dans les Indes ;

(2) Le dit Jugement rendu le 17 aout present mois ;

(3) Commandement au Sieur Jacquard Marin Ecuyer,
Conseiller Secretaire du Roy de remettre en nos mains
les objets suivants (dont description detaillee).

(4) I. boite et son couvercle et une

coupe garnie de diamants et
rubis perles d'emeraudes et
autre pierres prise (estime) . 11,000 livres
2. Manche de jade garni de Rubis

et ^meraudes pris^ . . . 400 ,,
18. Aigrette garnie de 34 Diamants

prisd ..... 260 ,,

22. Aigrette garnie de diamants Rubis

et emeraudes prise . . , 260 ,,

23. Aigrette garnie de diamants Rubis

et emeraudes prise . . . 260 „
34. Diademe garnie de diamants et

emeraudes prise . . . 650 ,,

»79

1 80 APPENDIX

38. Aigrette garnie de diamants rubis

emeraudes prise . . . 470 livres

39. Diademe garnie de diamants rubis

emeraudes prise . . . 1,500 „

50. 2 boutons de Ceinture d'or garni
de rubis et diamants et eme-
raudes . . . . . 1,220 „

54. 5 chaines d'or garnis d'appliques

en rubis, de petits diamants prise 3,900 „

56. Gand de peau borde de semences
de perles et de 2 glands attaches
garnies de Diamants rubis eme-
raudes ..... 600 „

59. 3 Chaines d'or prisees . . 840 „

61. Collier de perles et Mosaiques et

Agraffe de diamant prise . . 1,000 „

65. 9 petits paquets de Topazes

d'Inde ..... 240 ,,

68. 4 fils de perles prise . . . 1,000 ,,

70. 2 bracelets garnis de rubis et

diamants . . . . 520 ,,

73. Collier garni de diamants, rubis

et perles prise. . . . 1,110 „

75. fils de perles prise . . . 2,000 „

84. 4 cercles de bracelets d'Or et

Rubis . . . . . 550 „

(?) un Sabre garni de diamants et
fourreau et couteau a manche
garni de diamants prise a , 12,900 „

10. Aigrette garnie de diamants et

emeraudes pris^ a . . . 300 ,,

12. Manche de poignard de Jade,

rubis et emeraudes pris^ a . 300 „

33. Diadbme garni de rubis eme-
raudes et diamants prise . . 390 „

43. Applique en diademe et dia-

mants perle prise . . . 220 „

44. Diadbme et garniture pris^ . . 420 „

45. „ en coeur garni prisd . 270 „

APPENDIX

i8i

46. Diad^me forme corbeille prise . 580

47. ,, applique (milieu manque) 340

51. Aigrette en grappe prisd . . 100

52. Doitier d'or garni . . . 320

57. 2 bracelets de Diamants . . 580

58. Joyau de poitrine garni Diamants

^ Rubis . . . , .120
69. Emeraude ronde . . . 1,300
72. Bouquet de 6 roses de diamants

emeraudes rubis . . . 520

76. 500 perles enfilees bracelets (516

perles trouvees) . . . 1,000

77. 388 perles (346 trouvees seule-

ment) ..... 1,200
(?) plus bague gros diamant . . 20,000
3. Croix Ordre St. Michel Diamants, etc. 2,400

livres

14. boucle de col 14 diamants
75. 2 files de perles rondes

1,800
1,600

Fo. 55

, Vente de Diamants perles et bijoux dans
une des Salles des Grands Augustins Mercredi
prochain 2 Septembre 1767 et jours suivants.

Detail de la vente et produit d'adjudication k
la page suivante.

Fo.

Date de
Vente.

No.

Ci

dessus.

Mise a
prix.

Description.

<

Observa-
tions.

2 Sept.

65

23 Topazes

36

livres.

18

200

Aigrette
34 diamants

retiree de la
vente pas
d'acheteur
a sa valeur
— pour
memoire.

23

150

»i j>

l82

APPENDIX

Fo.

Date de
Vente.

No.
Ci

dessus.

Mise a
prix.

Description.

-V

<

Observa-
tions.

34

600

700

39

1,200

retiree pour
mdmoire.

68

500

1,161

55

500

712

54

1,500

Memoire
retiree.

70

400

521

84

300

561

73

800

Memoire.

59

700

Memoire.

50

900

1,361

75

1,500

2,000

61

700

moins
I'agraffe

1,001

61

300

agrafe seul

637

Jeudi

3 Sept.

65
59

12

800

Topazes

45
875

54

800

2 chaines

Memoire.

38

350

Memoire.

(?)

Manche de
Jade

400

I

10,000

boite et
couvercle

11,070

76

800

1,061

43

200

501

69

300

227

72

400

321

51

100

130

Vendredi

4 Sept.

65

24

45 topazes

31

65

12

7 „

Memoire.

65

24

46 „

33

APPENDIX

183

Fo.

Date de

Vente.

No.
Ci

dessus.

Mise a
prix.

Description.

3

<

Observa-
tions.

52

300

Memoire.

58

100

120

57

500

620

47

300

381

3

2,000

Croix
St. Micliel

Memoire.

14

1,400

1,920

44

400

490

45

200

320

74

1,400

1,700

12

250

manche
poignard

Memoire.

33

400

480

10

200

Diademe

320

46

100

584

partie de

54

550

951

Samedi

5 Sept.

65

27

6 topazes

31

65

36

4 „

43

65

(?)

20

300

260

I topaze

doitier

emaille d'or

Aigrette

. 34
diamants

23
341

400

22

200

>)

280

23

240

)>

281

38

450

>5

526

12

200

manche

poignard

Mdmoire.

39

400

diademe

Memoire.

77

1,200

2 bracelets

1,300

partie de

54

616

Chaine d'or

680

J)

54

1,100

>) )>

1,199

1 84

APPENDIX

Fo.

Date de
Vente.

No.

Ci

dessus.

Mise a
prix.

Description.

^a3

tJD

<

Observa-
tions.

Samedi

5 Sept.

(suite)

partie de

54

700

Chaine d'or

721

73

1,100

Collier
diamants

1,150

117

Lundi
7 Sept.

partie

65

9

5 petites
topazes

II'IO

sols.

>>

65

6

7 „

II

J)

65

10

4 »

12

j»

65

12

4 »

15-1

sol.

12

200

Manche de
poignard

0

Memoire.

39

(?)

2,000

Croix
St. Michel

Mdmoire.
Memoire.

Lundi 7 Sept. 1767 a loh. du matin Mr. Corbet Avocat
en Parlement avait remis au Sequestre du Sieur Dupleix
8000 livres montant et produit des deux derniers
vacations.

9 Septembre.

Sabre 12,000 vendu 15,001 livres a Mr. Poiret Md.

Joaillier.
Exposition des Nos. 3, 11, 39 — sans resultat.

10 Septembre.

Mr. Corbet verse, 15,020 livres.
Vendredi, 11 Septembre.

Manche poignard, No. 12, 200 livres, Memoire.
)) 39j 500 livres, Memoire.

APPENDIX 185

No. 3, Croix de St. Michel
Memoire,
partie 54, Chaine d'or 500 livres
adjugee 522.
Bague No. 78, 17,700 livres adjugee 20,700 livres a
Antreand Joaillier, Paris, Rue St. Louis.
Mr. Corbet Huissier, ordinaire du Conseil d'Etat
verse 20,000 livres, dont decharge.

Fo. 140. Des Jugements de MM. les Commissaires du
Conseil deputes pour Sa Majeste etc. etc,

Dans ladite succession somme de 15,630 livres pour
etre mise dans le coffre dont acte fait aux meme jour et
an que ci dessus.

Fo. 144. 8,000 livres versees au Maitre du Sequestre,
etc.
15,020 livres versees au Maitre du Sequestre,
etc.
12 Sept. 20,000 livres versees au Maitre du Sequestre,

etc.
149. Mile. Dupleix seule habile a se dire et porter
heritiere du Sr. Dupleix son pere et attendu que les
objets detailles dans ladite requete lesquels sont d'abord
une croix de I'ordre de St. Michel enrichie de brillants,
un manche de poignard de jade garni de rubis et enfin
un diademe rubis et emeraudes faisant les Nos. 3, 12, et
39 de I'estimation faite par les Sieurs Marin et I'Empereur
ont ete exposes en differentes fois en vente sans que
personne les ait encheris a la somme a laquelle ils ont
ete estimes les autorisent a vendre les dits trois objets au
dessous de la dite estimation Nos. 3, 12, 39, et incessa-
ment proceder a la vente.

Fo. 154. Fille mineure Dlle. Adelaide Louise Jeanne
Josephine Du Pleix sa fille mineure heritiere de son
pere et Louis d'Estournelles en nom et comme tuteur de
ladite demoiselle.

29 Janvier 1768 vente annoncee.

3 Mars 1768 vente k la salle des Grands Augustins

a savoir.
Manche de poignard 100 livres adjuge au Sieur Doris

1 86 APPENDIX

Md. Joaillier Quai Amorfondier pour 175 livres

3 sols.
Diademe prise 700 livres adjuge au Sr. Lefevre Md.

Joaillier 852 livres.
Croix St. Michel prise 1500 livres adjuge au Sieur

Le Cocq Md. Orfevre a Paris Rue du Harlay

pour 1650 livres 3 sols.

(Signe) Corbet.

18 Avril 1768 M. Corbet verse 3310 livres 14 sols
deduction faite des frais.

Dont acte fait et passe. Decharge etc. etc.

(Signe) Corbet.

Printed ly Morrison & Gibb Limited, Edinburgh

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Form L9-Scries4939

^

3 1158 00937 7259

DS

if 62. 8
D9R47

UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

AA 001 034 410 9