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RULERS OF INDIA 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 SIR WILLIAM WILSON HUNTER 
 
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK 
 TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY 
 
 HUMPHREY MILFORD 
 
 PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY 
 
DUPLEIX 
 
 AND THE STRUGGLE FOR INDIA BY 
 THE EUROPEAN NATIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 COLONEL G. B. MALLESON, C.S.L 
 
 OXFORD 
 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 
 
<:^ /1>^A-^^.^ S'S/i^A^ 
 
 
 ^*^^ 
 
 Impression 0/1921 
 First edition, 1891 
 
 Printed in England 
 At the Oxford University Press 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 IX. 
 
 XI. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Index 
 
 Introductory 
 
 The System op Dupleix 
 
 The First Blow fob Predominance 
 
 The Flaw in the Machine . 
 
 The English besiege PoNDiCHEuy 
 
 The Zenith op his Success . 
 
 The English are roused to Action 
 
 Robert Clive .... 
 
 A great Mak wrestling with Fortune 
 
 Too Heavily Handicai'ped • • 
 
 The Fall op Dupleix . 
 
 The Final Collapse 
 
 PAGES 
 
 7-34 
 
 35-49 
 
 50-57 
 
 58-63 
 
 64 69 
 
 70-97 
 
 98-108 
 
 109 123 
 
 124-133 
 
 133-151 
 152-165 
 166 186 
 187-188 
 
 NOTE 
 
 I have to acknowledge the obligations under which I am to the 
 under-mentioned writers : (i) Orme's History of India ; (2) Cam- 
 bridge's Account of the War in India, containing the Journal of 
 Colonel Stringer Lawrence ; (3) The Abbe Guyon's History of the 
 East Indies, 1757 ; (4) The Memoirs of Dupleix, and of Labour- 
 donnais, and a contemporary Memoir of Lally ; (5) Laude's Le Siege 
 de Pondichery en 1748, containing the Journal of Rangapoul^ ; and 
 many modem works. I have also with me information wliich 
 I gathered from Pondichery and Chandarnagar, relating to the 
 events here recorded, during my service in India. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2008 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/dupleixstrugglefOOmallrich 
 
D UP L E I X 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Introductory 
 
 *The immense riches/ wrote the Abbd Guyon in 
 1774, 'which the Portuguese, the English, and the 
 Dutch had drawn from the East Indies, invited the 
 French to follow them in those remote and unknown 
 countries, in order to partake of the advantages of 
 which commerce was there productive.' For many 
 years, indeed, the ' invitation,' as the Abbe calls it, 
 had dangled before the French people. For many 
 years they had failed successfully to respond to it. 
 In vain had Francis I in 1537 and 1543, and Henry III 
 in 1578, exhorted their subjects to make long voyages. 
 As these exhortations were unaccompanied by any 
 promise of a State subsidy, as had been similar offers 
 in the three countries which preceded France in the 
 race for the commerce of the East, they produced no 
 effect whatever. Nor was it till 1615 that a Com- 
 pany, which four years previously had obtained from 
 Louis XIII letters patent for the monopoly of the 
 Eastern trade for twelve years, stimulated by two 
 
8 DUPLE IX 
 
 merchants of Bouen, MM. Muisson and Canis, made a 
 beginning by despatching two vessels to the Indian 
 Ocean. 
 
 The vessels equipped and despatched by this 
 Company touched indeed at Madagascar, but did not 
 touch India. But the account they brought home of 
 the riches of Madagascar stimulated to a certain 
 extent the spirit of enterprise among the public, and 
 to a still greater degree in the ruling circle, then 
 directed by the illustrious Richelieu. On the 24th of 
 June, 1642, that eminent statesman granted to a new 
 Company the exclusive privilege of settling colonies 
 in Madagascar and the adjacent islands, and taking 
 possession of them in the name of the King of France. 
 Richelieu died in December of the same year, and 
 Louis XIII in May of the year following. But the 
 idea had taken root, and on the 30th of September, 
 1643, the Council of Regency confirmed the privileges 
 of the new Company. 
 
 Its success was but moderate. The Company did 
 indeed effect a settlement on Madagascar, and every 
 year of its existence it despatched thither at least one 
 well-freighted trading vessel. For a time the pro- 
 prietors hoped. The arrival of one ship laden with 
 yellow sandal-wood, hides^ aloe-wood, and gums, and 
 of another bringing twenty-five tons of rock-crystal, 
 kept up their spirits. But these were only transient 
 successes, which were far from counter-balancing the 
 losses sustained by wrecks and the insalubrity of the 
 climate. When, therefore, the twenty years for which 
 
INTRODUCTORY 9 
 
 exclusive rights had been granted to it expired, the 
 Company did not ask for a renewal of its privileges. 
 
 Its place, however, was at once occupied Ly a 
 famous nobleman, who had won by his services in the 
 field a dukedom and the baton of a Marshal of 
 France. This was the Duke de la Meilleraye. He 
 threw into the scheme all the ardour of his nature, 
 but without success, and when he died in February, 
 1664, after ten years of commercial enterprise, he left 
 behind him a record of failure. 
 
 At this crisis France was well served by the states- 
 man whom Mazarin, in his dying moments^, had 
 recommended to Louis XIV as his successor. The 
 fertile mind of Colbert recognised not only the 
 advantage but the necessity of pushing colonial 
 enterprise. He had noticed with the deepest interest 
 the success of England, Holland, and Portugal in that 
 field. Why, he asked himself, should France fail 
 where those powers had shown that it required but 
 good direction to ensure success ? In 1 664, then, the 
 very year that the death of the Duke de la Meilleraye 
 had left the field open, he constituted a Company with 
 a capital of fifteen million francs and a concession for 
 exclusive trading for fifty years. So far he followed, 
 on a larger scale, the lines on which his predecessors 
 had marched. But his genius recognised that some- 
 thing more was necessary. He saw that the preceding 
 French companies had failed because they had not 
 
 * * Sire, je vous dois tout ; mais je crois m'acquitter en quelque 
 sorte envers votre Majeste en lui donnant Colbert.' 
 
10 DUPLE IX 
 
 had the backing which had made the success of the 
 rivals of France. He therefore, to insure them against 
 the losses which unless provided for might dishearten 
 the proprietors, conceded to the Company an advance 
 of three millions of francs, and charged the State with 
 all the losses it might suffer during the first ten years 
 of its existence. In order, moreover, to induce the 
 nobility to participate in the scheme, Louis XIV, at 
 the instance of his minister, issued an edict declaring 
 that it was not derogatory to the nobility to take 
 part in commerce with the Indies. That, moreover, 
 he might the more certainly obtain the necessary 
 subscriptions, Colbert inserted a clause in the articles 
 by which foreigners were invited to subscribe to the 
 funds of the Company, and were promised letters of 
 naturalisation, free of any formality, provided that 
 any of them should subscribe to the extent of ten 
 thousand francs. Another clause provided that the 
 directors of the Company should be chosen exclusively 
 from the mercantile class, inclusive of foreign mer- 
 chants, on the conditions regarding the latter, that 
 their money-interest in the Company should be con- 
 siderable, and that they and their families should 
 reside in France. The statutes of the Company are 
 forty-seven in number. They assure to the Company 
 full power and jurisdiction over Madagascar and all 
 the territories its servants might conquer or occupy, 
 and they contain a promise to defend those places 
 against a foreign enemy with all the force of France. 
 The ordinance was dated August, 1664, and was 
 
INTRODUCTORY il 
 
 registered in the parliament in September. Before, 
 however, that registration had taken place, the King, 
 on his own authority, had given an order on the 
 royal treasury for three hundred thousand francs, to 
 be paid into the coffers of the Company. 
 
 The wise provisions of the Minister met with suc- 
 cess. The money came in rapidly, and in March of 
 . ^^e^> following year (1665), four ships of the new 
 ^ Gompany, partly armed as ships of war, and carrying 
 520 men^ sailed from Brest for Madagascar. The 
 idea of the Company was to establish on that island 
 a settlement which should serve as a half-way house 
 to India. To this end they offered all sorts of induce- 
 ments to adventurous natures. They affixed to the 
 walls of the principal cities and towns of France 
 notices wherein they declared that they had resolved 
 to make those who settled in the Colony proprietors 
 of as much land as they, their families, and their 
 servants could till. These notices contained a glowing 
 description of the lie Dauphine — for such was the 
 new name given to Madagascar — stating that the 
 climate was * very temperate,' that * two-thirds of the 
 year are like spring ; ' that ' the other third is not 
 hotter than the summer of France \ that people lived 
 there * to the age of a hundred, and even of a hundred 
 and twenty ;' that * fruits were good and plentiful ; ' 
 that there were * quantities of oxen, cows, goats, 
 hogs, and other cattle ;' that there were ' gold, silver, 
 lead, cotton, wax, sugar, tobacco, black and white 
 pepper, ebony, dyeing-wood of all sorts,' and other 
 
 Ar-^ 
 
Id DUPLE IX 
 
 merchandise ; and that it was not even necessary 
 that the settler should himself work to obtain all 
 these things. All that was required of him was to 
 set to work the negroes, 'who are docile, obedient, 
 and submissive,' to gain all that he required. Prob- 
 ably a description more glowing of an island, but one 
 small extremity of which had been explored, was 
 never forced on the attention of any people. 
 
 But in spite of these glowing pictures, the colony at 
 Madagascar, as I shall continue to call the island, did 
 not prosper. The adventurers who accepted service 
 under the Company found that the natives, far from 
 being willing to work for them, were actually hostile ; 
 that the climate was not only far hotter than that of 
 France, but at certain seasons was actually deadly ; 
 that the soil was only moderately fertile ; and that 
 many of the richer merchandise promised in the 
 notices existed only in the fertile imaginations of 
 those who had drawn them. After many years of 
 striving against the natives and the climate, the 
 colonists who survived packed up their household 
 goods, and migrated to the neighbouring islands of 
 France and Bourbon, which, discovered and aban- 
 doned by the Portuguese, occupied and abandoned by 
 the Dutch, and then nominally taken possession 
 of by France (1649), ^^^ remained unoccupied by 
 Europeans until 1672. In that year the baffled 
 colonists of Madagascar, inconsiderable in number, 
 took possession of them, and formed there the nucleus 
 of a settlement which was one day to be powerful. 
 
INTRODUCTORY 13 
 
 But the attempts made to colonise Madagascar 
 had not exhausted all the resources of the French 
 Company. Colbert had recognised that the special 
 requirement to ensure success was a man. Hitherto 
 the chiefs of the exploring expeditions had been 
 mere machines. He wanted a man who could think 
 and act for himself, who had a brain to devise and 
 a strong will to execute his daring plans, and who 
 should be, at the same time, patient, laborious, and 
 stedfast. Such a man he believed he had found in 
 1666 in Francis Cai'on. Caron, though of French 
 origin, had been born in Holland, and had risen to 
 a high rank in the service of the Dutch East India 
 Company. He was a self-made man who had risen 
 by force of character, and who, on being refused by 
 his masters a post of the highest importance in 
 Batavia, had resigned all his appointments, and ten- 
 dered his services to Colbert. Colbert accepted them 
 with alacrity, nominated him Director- General of 
 French commerce in India, and despatched him with 
 a new expedition to the Indian seas at the beginning 
 of 1667. 
 
 Caron touched at Madagascar. He found the 
 colonists there in a condition so deplorable, that 
 recognising the place to be impossible for the pur- 
 poses for which it had been originally destined, he 
 did not waste his time there, but pushed on for 
 India. On December 24th of the same year he 
 touched at Cochin, proceeded thence to Surat, and 
 established there the first French factory in India. 
 
14 DUPLEIX 
 
 Caron had brought with him a Persian called Mereara, 
 in the hope of being able to communicate through 
 him with the native rulers of the adjoining territories. 
 He at once employed Mereara on this service ; sent 
 him to the court of the King of Golconda with a 
 request that he might be granted all the trading privi- 
 leges conceded to foreign nations, and that he might 
 be allowed to establish a settlement at the town of 
 Masulipatam. Whilst Mereara was on this mission 
 Caron busied himself at Surat, and sent thence to 
 Madagascar a valuable cargo. The news of this 
 success was received with enthusiasm in France, 
 and Louis conferred upon Caron the riband of 
 St. Michael. 
 
 Meanwhile Caron's agent, Mereara, had obtained 
 all that he asked for at Golconda. He had the usual 
 difficulties to contend with, but his knowledge of 
 the Oriental character enabled him to surmount them, 
 and on December 5, 1669, he obtained a firman which 
 permitted the French Company to trade without 
 import or export duties in the King's dominions, 
 and a license to establish a factory at Masulipatam. 
 Thither Mereara proceeded. 
 
 Great as was Caron in many things, he yet pos- 
 sessed one fatal quality — a quality which, it would 
 seem, has deep root in France, for in all her wars 
 no quality has interfered so much with the success 
 which, without it, was attainable. This quality is 
 jealousy of the success of others. Mercara's happy 
 negotiations with the King of Golconda, instead of 
 
INTRODUCTORY 15 
 
 filling the heart of Caron with joy, aroused only envy. 
 He displayed this feeling in so marked a manner, 
 that, after vainly endeavouring to subdue it, Mercara 
 embarked with his adherents on board a French vessel 
 and sailed to Java. He transmitted at the same time 
 his correspondence with Cai'on to Colbert, who a little 
 later cleared him from the charges brought against 
 him by Caron. 
 
 Meanwhile Caron, great as an organiser, had repre- 
 sented to Colbert that it would be largely to the 
 interests of France if he were allowed to take pos- 
 session of the island of Ceylon, then partially occupied 
 by the Dutch, to serve at once as a 'point dappui 
 and a point of depai'ture for French enterprise against 
 India. He told the Minister that his agents had 
 sounded, and had obtained the approval of, the King 
 of Candy to such an expedition. Colbert accepted 
 the idea, and despatched a squadi-on under Lahaye, 
 a man unfortunately of but mediocre ability, to 
 co-operate with Caron. The two commanders made 
 their first attempt on Point de Galle in the winter 
 of 1672. But here the Dutch were in force, and 
 the attack was repulsed. The Frenchmen were more 
 fortunate at Trinkdmali, which they took and garri- 
 soned. But hardly had they accomplished this when 
 a Dutch fleet of superior force hove in sight. Lahaye, 
 despairing of success, sailed northward, and whilst 
 the Dutchmen were engaged in recovering Trinkamali, 
 anchored before St. Thom^ a little settlement near 
 Madras, originally occupied by the Portuguese, but 
 
1 6 DUPLE IX 
 
 at the moment by the Dutch. Lahaye stormed it 
 with the loss of only ^^^^ men. 
 
 It has ever been the misfortune of the several 
 Governments which have borne sway in France that 
 they have judged almost entirely by results. Into 
 the springs of action of their agent, of the resources 
 at his disposal, of the mode in which he has availed 
 himself of those resources, they are not careful to 
 inquire. The result is what they look at, and if 
 that is unfortunate, the agent is made the scapegoat. 
 Thus it was with Caron. The enterprise against 
 Ceylon, from which so much had been hoped, had 
 failed, for the relieving Dutch fleet had retaken 
 Trinkamali, and had made prisoners of the garrison. 
 The solitary results of a large expenditure of money 
 and men were the settlement at Masulipatam, won 
 by the dexterity of Mercara, and St. Thom^, of which 
 but little was known. The Directors of the Company 
 urged then on the Minister the recall of Caron. Caron 
 was, not exactly recalled, but ordered in complimentary 
 terms, covering other designs, to return to France 
 He set out accordingly, and had already passed 
 Gibraltar when he learned from a stray vessel that 
 he was doomed. He altered his course accordingly, 
 and made for Lisbon. But, as he entered the Tagus, 
 his ship struck on a rock, and almost immediately 
 foundered. The only survivor of the disaster was 
 one of the sons of Caron. 
 
 The departure of Caron for Europe had left the 
 affairs of the Company in the hands of MM. Lahaye 
 
INTRODUCTORY 17 
 
 and Baron. To these gentlemen the actual position 
 seemed full of danger. They could scarcely doubt 
 that the Dutch, whose naval preponderance on the 
 coast had enabled them to recover Trinkamali, would 
 take instant measures to retake St. Thomd To be 
 provided with a territory, the possession of which no 
 European power could contest, they directed the 
 officer next to them in authority, M. Francis Martin, 
 who had been the trusted lieutenant of Caron, and 
 whose remarkable abilities had conciliated their 
 esteem, to arrange with one of the native princes for 
 the cession of a piece of land on which they might 
 build, and which, fortified with cai*e, might become 
 the head-quarters of the French possessions on the 
 eastern coast of Southern India. 
 
 Martin at once entered into negotiations with Sher 
 Khdn Lodi, the governor of the possessions of 
 the King of Bijapur in the Karndtik, and finally 
 was allowed to purchase a plot of land on the 
 sea-coast, in the south Arkdt division, comprising 
 an ai'ea of 113 square miles, and the districts known 
 as Puducheri, Villanur, and Bahur. The village of 
 Puducheri, which gave its name to the territories, 
 and which, by universal acceptance, is now called 
 Pondichery, was eighty-six miles to the south-south- 
 west of the English settlement of Madras. The 
 purchase concluded and ratified, Martin returned to 
 St. Thomd to report his success to his superiors. 
 He found the place blockaded by the Dutch fleet on 
 the side of the sea, and besieged by the troops of 
 
l8 DUPLE IX 
 
 the King of Golconda on the land side. The garri- 
 son, 600 strong, defended themselves energetically 
 for some time, but want of provisions soon forced 
 their leaders to treat. The terms they obtained 
 were just such as they wanted. The garrison were 
 allowed to quit the place with all the honours of 
 war, and to proceed whither they might choose. 
 They immediately evacuated the place, and whilst 
 the bulk of them, led by Lahaye and Baron, returned 
 to Surat, some sixty, led by the energetic Martin, 
 proceeded to take possession of the new territory 
 acquired south of the river Coleroon. They reached 
 it in the month of April, 1674. 
 
 Thus did Francis Martin found the French India 
 which, a little later, was to contest the supremacy 
 over the entire southern peninsula with the English. 
 He was a man of rare capacity. He knew how to 
 command, how to encourage, how to inspire, how to 
 govern. His fii'st difficulties were great. He and 
 the sixty men with him constituted a small colony of 
 foreigners in a new country, dependent to a great 
 degree on the good-will of the natives, and shut out 
 from all communication with Europe by the Dutch 
 fleet cruising off the coast. The village of Pondichery, 
 where Martin had established his head-quarters, was 
 small, and, as far as accommodation for Europeans 
 was concerned, absolutely destitute. On ^^ other 
 hand, its position left nothing to be desired. It was 
 sheltered against the monsoon, was easy to fortify, 
 extremely healthy, and conveniently situated for 
 
INTRODUCTORY 19 
 
 mercantile transactions with the interior. Martin's 
 fii-st care was to obtain permission to build accommo- 
 dation for his men. Fortunately, he had a sufficiency 
 of funds. In his dealings with the natives he displayed 
 a tact which won their confidence and esteem. By 
 degrees the Dutch blockade relaxed, and finally ceased 
 altogether. Then vessels arrived from Europe. A 
 trade in piece-goods was opened with the interior. 
 Despite the wars of the native chiefs, the colony 
 throve rapidly. By-and-by Martin obtained per- 
 mission to enlist native soldiers for its protection. 
 At the end of two years, he was able to inform the 
 Company that he would send them annually goods to 
 the value of at least 1,000,000 francs. 
 
 The year following a crisis came. The famous 
 Sivdji invaded the Karn^tik, passed by Madras, took 
 the strong fortress of Gingi, defeated Sher Khdn Lodi 
 in a pitched encounter, and threatened to annihilate 
 the French on the pretext that they were allies of 
 Sher Khdn. Martin was equal to the occasion. He 
 despatched the valuables of the colonists to Madi-as, 
 then employed a friendly native chief to represent to 
 Sivdji that he was willing to acknowledge the su- 
 premacy of the Marathas, and to pay for the license 
 to trade. Sivaji accepted his submission, and left 
 him undisturbed. In a few weeks the peril had 
 passed. 
 
 It would take too long to record the yearly pro- 
 gress of the little settlement. It must suffice to state 
 that, thanks to the wise measures of the energetic 
 B 2 
 
ao DUPLE IX 
 
 and prudent man who governed it, despite the neglect 
 of the Company at Paris, it prospered. The village 
 was gradually transformed into a handsome town 
 with regular streets. This, too, whilst receiving no 
 increase of Europeans from home. On the contrary, 
 in 1689, the sixty Martin had brought with him had 
 diminished by deaths to thirty-six. Thanks to the 
 permission granted by the son of Sivaji, regular forti- 
 fications, laid out it is recorded by a Capuchin monk, 
 were at this period added to the town. The settle- 
 ment began to be talked about by the sailors who 
 visited the coast as a place of great future promise. 
 Its trade increased. The one thing it required was 
 attention from home. 
 
 The reputation it had acquired became at length 
 a cause of peril. In 1693, the Dutch, determined to 
 root out the traders of rival powers, fitted out and 
 despatched to the Indian seas a fleet of nineteen 
 sail of the line, having on board 1,500 infantry be- 
 sides sailors. It was the most imposing armament 
 which had ever been despatched to India. At the 
 end of August, of the same year, it appeared before 
 Pondichery. The resources of Martin were quite in- 
 adequate to meet the threatened attack. He had 
 thirty-six Europeans, from 300 to 400 drilled native 
 troops, and six guns. However, he prepared for a 
 vigorous defence. But the odds were too great. 
 On the 6th of September, after a resistance which 
 had lasted twelve days, he was forced to demand a 
 parley. The parley resulted two days later in a 
 
INTRODUCTORY 2i 
 
 capitulation, the terms of which stipulated that Mar- 
 tin and his co-patriots should be shipped to Europe 
 either that year or the beginning of the next. Mean- 
 while, they were allowed to march out with all the 
 honours of war. The native troops were simply dis- 
 banded. 
 
 Severe and apparently fatal as was this blow, it 
 resulted favourably to the young settlement. Martin 
 and his companions were despatched to France. The 
 reception accorded to Martin there, alike by the King 
 and the Directors, was cordial in the extreme. The 
 latter then, apparently for the first time, appreciated 
 the greatness of their agent's character. And when, 
 four years after the capture (September 21, 1697), the 
 peace of Ryswick restored Pondichery to France, 
 Martin was re-appointed Governor, and was de- 
 spatched thither with 200 regular troops, several 
 engineers, a large supply of military stores, several 
 heavy and field guns, and materials in abundance for 
 the use of the settlement. 
 
 Martin was now not only Governor of Pondichery ; 
 by letters patent from the King, he was nominated, 
 February, 1701, Director-General of all the French 
 possessions in India. Those possessions included a 
 small plot of ground, about six acres, at Masuli- 
 patam, called the French Pata, acquired by Mercara ; 
 of a decaying establishment of about eight acres at 
 Surat, abandoned in 1714 ; of the settlement of Chan- 
 darnagar on the right bank of the Htigli, twenty-two 
 miles from Calcutta, first occupied by a small body 
 
7,2 DUPLE IX 
 
 of Frenchmen in 1676, and regularly ceded to them 
 by the Emperor Anrangzib in 1688 ; and of six small 
 plots of ground, comprising a total of about forty-six 
 acres, at Calicut, Balasor, Dacca, Patna, Kasimbazdr, 
 and Jogdia. 
 
 It was unfortunate that the failures at Madagascar 
 had dealt so hardly with the fortunes of the Company 
 that the Directors were unable to extend to Martin 
 the full suppoi-t necessary for the profitable develop- 
 ment of the affairs of the French settlements in India. 
 But Martin conquered the impossible, and when he 
 died on the 30th December, 1706, there were grouped 
 round the rising and prosperous town which gave its 
 name to the colony 40,000 natives, whose prosperity 
 depended upon the trade with France. French in- 
 fluence, moreover, was all-powerful with the native 
 chiefs and princes in the vicinity. Martin had made 
 it a cardinal point of his policy to attach those 
 chiefs and princes to the French settlement by appeal- 
 ing alike to their interest and their self-love, two 
 matters with regard to which they were peculiarly 
 sensitive. His success, therefore, far from evoking 
 envy or apprehension, produced only satisfaction and 
 contentment. French good offices were constantly 
 employed to settle local disputes, and when he died, 
 the evidences of the esteem in which he had been held 
 were overwhelming. 
 
 Eight years after the death of Martin, the fifty 
 years' monopoly granted by Louis XIV to the Com- 
 pany in 1664 expired. It had long been in a moribund 
 
INTRODUCTORY 23 
 
 condition. Two years before the expiration of its 
 Charter, its resources had been reduced to so low an 
 ebb that it had been forced from want of means to 
 transfer to some merchants of St. Malo its rights of 
 trading to the East in consideration of an annual pay- 
 ment. This destitution produced its natural effects in 
 India. Debts which had been contracted at Surat 
 remained unpaid, and although MM. Dulivier and 
 H^ert, the immediate successors of Martin, con- 
 tinued to administer the affairs of the settlement at 
 Pondichery on the principles he had established, the 
 falling off in the canying-trade reduced them to very 
 great straits. Nor, after lingering painfully for ten 
 years, did there appear any reasonable chance of 
 amendment. Indeed, just before the expiry of its 
 Charter the friends of the Company had interest 
 sufficient to procure the extension for ten years of its 
 powers. This meant ten years more of atrophy. But 
 in September of the year from which the continuation 
 of the Charter dated (1715), Louis XIV died. The 
 Regency of the Duke of Orleans succeeded, and within 
 a month of his accession to that high office, there ap- 
 peared in Paris a young Scotchman whose soaring 
 genius captivated for a few years the hearts of all 
 classes, and whose schemes promised to impart new 
 vitality to the world of commerce. 
 
 France then possessed other territories beyond 
 Europe, besides her small settlements in India. In 
 1.525 she had acquired Canada; in 1682 she had ex- 
 plored and taken possession of Louisiana ; in August, 
 
24 DUPLEIX 
 
 1 71 7, Law formed and presented to the public a Com- 
 pany, called the Company of the West, with a capital 
 of 100,000,000 francs, to possess for twenty-four years 
 the entire monopoly of the trade with Canada and 
 Louisiana. He allowed this scheme to dangle before 
 the public for nearly two years, whilst engaged in 
 those speculations nearer home with which his name 
 is so fatally connected. Li May, 17 19, however, he 
 took in hand the scheme of the Company of the West, 
 and persuading the Eegent to suppress by an edict 
 the privileges of the moribund Companies of India 
 and of China, he transferred all their privileges, all 
 their possessions, all their liabilities, — in a word, the 
 remnant of all that they had acquired, and all that 
 they owed, — to the Company of the West. By the 
 eleventh article of the edict, it was directed that the 
 Company should thenceforth be styled the ' Company 
 of the Lidies,' and should assume the arms of the 
 Company of the West. 
 
 For a brief period it seemed as though the new 
 Company would achieve a brilliant success. Its 
 shares speedily rose to a premium of 200 per cent. 
 It purchased from the Government for 4,020,000 
 francs the monopoly of tobacco, a purchase which 
 was so profitable that it enabled them to return 
 an annual revenue of 8,000,000 francs, equivalent 
 to eight per cent, of the total capital of the Com- 
 pany as it was fixed in 1725. But at last, and 
 within a brief period, the crash came. In the summer 
 of 1720 a panic set in. The shares fell to the lowest 
 
INTRODUCTORY 25 
 
 depths. Everything foreboded a catastrophe. In 
 the height of the crisis, the Directors of the Company 
 of the Indies stepped forward with the ofter to take 
 up all the depreciated notes of the Royal Bank, and 
 to extinguish them at the rate of 50,000,000 francs 
 a month for one year, provided its privileges were 
 made perpetual. The Government accepted the offer, 
 and issued a decree declaring the privileges accorded 
 to the Company of the Indies to be perpetual. 
 Thenceforth the Company assumed the title of ' Per- 
 petual Company of the Indies.' 
 
 But the change in its condition was not confined to 
 the grant of perpetuity of privileges. In October of 
 the same year the Government made a return to cash 
 payments; dissolved the connection between the 
 Company and the Royal Bank; and enabled the 
 former to reorganise itself on the footing of a com- 
 mercial association independent of the State. On the 
 retreat of Law, shortly afterwards, an inquiry took 
 place — under the supervision of a Board appointed by 
 the Government — into the affairs of the Company. 
 The result of the investigations, cancellings, and 
 changes effected by this Board was to leave the Com- 
 pany (1723) a private commercial association, with a 
 capital of 112,000,000 francs in 56,000 shares. Two 
 years later the capital was reduced, by the cancella- 
 tion of 5,000 shares, to 102,000,000. At this figure it 
 remained. But of all the great privileges conceded 
 to it by Law, such as the coining of money, the 
 collection of the revenues of the State^ and others, 
 
26 DUPLE IX 
 
 there remained only the monopoly of tobacco and the 
 grant of perpetuity. In other respects it was placed 
 upon the footing of the original Company founded by 
 Colbert in 1664. 
 
 Meanwhile the agents of the Company at Pondi- 
 chery were exerting themselves to maintain, with in- 
 sufficient means, the position acquired for the settle- 
 ment by Martin. In 1718 M. de la Provostiere had 
 succeeded Hubert. On his death in 1721 M. Lenoir, 
 a man of ability and energy, assumed the reins of 
 office. Then it was that affairs took a turn for the 
 better. The Company formed by Law had taken the 
 earliest opportunity to despatch to India three mer- 
 chantmen, richly laden, and these arrived just as 
 Lenoir assumed office. Their coming was most op- 
 portune. The credit of the settlement was at its 
 lowest ebb. Debts contracted at Surat, and at the 
 other small factories previously mentioned, were cry- 
 ing loud against the Company. In the profits to be 
 made from the cargoes of the new arrivals Lenoir, a 
 prudent man, recognised the means of restoring the 
 Company's credit. He used them for that purpose. 
 The remedy, though great for the moment, was but 
 transitory in its eifects. The financial crash, and its 
 consequence to the fortunes of the Company in Paris, 
 reacted in India. For the three years that followed 
 no ships arrived from Europe. In 1733 the settle- 
 ment was reduced to the direst straits. The local 
 agents had neither money, nor merchandise, nor re- 
 sources. Lenoir, too, on the strength of the promise 
 
INTRODUCTORY 27 
 
 made him on his assumption of office, that he should 
 receive yearly shipments of goods, had entered into 
 contracts with the native merchants for the supply of 
 return cargoes. But for the confidence which had 
 been nurtured by Martin, and maintained by his suc- 
 cessors, the outlook would have been ruinous indeed. 
 As it was, the native merchants, recognising that the 
 fault did not lie with Lenoir, agreed to wait for 
 better times. 
 
 The process of reconstitution through which the 
 Company passed in 1723 gave it renewed life. At 
 the end of that year two ships an-ived, and from that 
 time to 1726 three or four ships came every year. 
 From 1726 the progress was more rapid still. The 
 results to the settlement were most beneficial. Some 
 idea of it may be realised from the fact that in 
 September 1729, and in January 1730, Lenoir was 
 able to transmit to France merchandise to the value 
 of 5,500,000 francs, a large amount in those days 
 for a young settlement. With returning prosperity, 
 came the embellishment of the town. Tasteful houses 
 were erected, a college was built, gardens were laid 
 out, a stately edifice for the accommodation of foreign 
 envoys rose in its turn from the ground. At the 
 same time, the convictions of the natives were re- 
 spected, for whilst other houses were cleared away, 
 the pagodas and temples of the Hindus remained 
 unmolested. 
 
 The prosperity continued unbroken during the re- 
 maining years of the administration of Lenoir. But, 
 
28 DUPLEIX 
 
 in 1 735, that able man was succeeded by a Governor 
 in no respect his inferior, probably, indeed, even more 
 qualified than he was to deal with the state of civil 
 war then about to supervene throughout the length 
 and breadth of the Karnatik. This was M. Benoit 
 Dumas. 
 
 M. Dumas had entered the service of the Company 
 founded by Colbei*t shortly before its extinction, in 
 1 7 13. He was then seventeen. At Pondichery, 
 whither he proceeded immediately, he gave proofs of 
 rare capacity, and, after a stay there of nearly eight 
 years, he was transfeiTcd to the Isle of France and 
 Bourbon to administer affairs in those islands. He 
 held that office till 1735, when he was nominated to 
 succeed Lenoir at Pondichery. His character was 
 that of a prudent man, a lover of peace, but resolute, 
 jealous of the honour and interests of France, yet 
 willing to act only when circumstances should in- 
 dicate that such action would be beneficial. 
 
 Dumas had not been many months in India before 
 circumstances arose which required the decision of 
 a man of action. The Nuwabs of the Karnatik 
 had, since the invasion of Sivaji, previously referred 
 to, cultivated friendship with the rulers of Pondi- 
 chery. The actual Nuwdb, at the time of the arrival 
 of M. Dumas, Dost All by name, had displayed more 
 than an ordinary desire to cultivate intimate relations 
 with the new Governor. Dumas had not been many 
 months at his post before it occurred to him that 
 he might utilise this friendship to obtain some 
 
INTRODUCTORY 29 
 
 permanent advantage for the Company. In return, 
 then, for some slight services, he asked the Nuwab to 
 obtain from the Court of Delhi permission to coin 
 money. This request was granted^ to the great mone- 
 tary advantage and increase of prestige of the French. 
 Two years later (1738), Dumas was tempted by an 
 offer from the pretender to the throne of Tanjore to 
 cede to him certain districts if the French Governor 
 would lend him material aid for the recovery of his 
 territories. It was indeed a tempting offer, for the 
 districts offered were those which would give the 
 t'rench a hold on the sea-coast of Tanjore. To accede 
 to it, however, would be to depart from the principle 
 of strict neutrality in the quarrels of native princes 
 hitherto pursued. But the risk, in the opinion of 
 Dumas, was gi-eatly outweighed by the advantages. 
 He accepted then the offer; supplied the pretender 
 with money, with gunpowder, and with warlike 
 stores ; and received in return a grant of the town 
 of Kdrikdl, of the adjoining fort of Karkan-Garhi, 
 and of ten villages depending upon them. The actual 
 cession was dated February 14, 1739. 
 
 The possession of this territory gave the French a 
 footing in the kingdom of Tanjore, which enabled 
 them to overshadow the influence of the Dutch, whose 
 factory was at Nagapatnam, a few miles lower down 
 the coast. The acquisition increased the power, the 
 manner in which it had been acquired increased the 
 influence^ of the Pondichery settlement. But, the year 
 following, it seemed as though the fortunes of the 
 
30 DUPLE IX 
 
 settlement would be imperilled. At the close of 1739 
 the Marathas, jealous of Muhammadan preponderance 
 in Southern India, invaded the Karnatik ; surprised 
 (May 19, 1740) the army of Dost Ali at the Damal- 
 cheri Pass; and completely defeated it. Dost Ali, 
 his second son, and almost all his chief officers, were 
 left dead on the field. The catastrophe, overwhelming 
 in many respects as it seemed, served to illustrate the 
 regard and confidence with which the foreigners at 
 Pondichery had inspired the chiefs and landowners of 
 the Karnatik. With an unanimity which was not 
 the result of concert, these turned at once to Pondi- 
 chery for protection. No other place on the coast or 
 in the interior offered to their interested eyes so cer- 
 tain a protection. For days and days after the defeat 
 had become known the natives of the surrounding 
 districts poured into Pondichery, bringing with them 
 their famiKes and their valuables. Five days after 
 the battle the widow of the slain Nuwab, her chil- 
 dren, her dependents, and an escort guarding her 
 jewels and other property, were received in state by 
 M. Dumas. That prudent man knew well that such 
 an act might bring upon him the wrath and the 
 armies of the Marathas. But, he argued, boldness is 
 often prudence. For some days preceding, and for 
 many days to follow, stores of grain had entered and 
 did enter the town. In the face of a great crisis 
 Dumas had deliberately chosen the line, which, if 
 attended with great risk, promised him, should 
 the risk be successfully encountered, the greatest 
 
INTRODUCTORY 31 
 
 advantage. In the same spirit he granted the hos- 
 pitality of Pondichery to the wife and daughter of 
 Chanda Sahib, the son-in-law of the late Nuwab. 
 He was glad that in the hour of imminent peril it 
 should fall to the lot of France to afford protection 
 to those who unquestionably would, on the retire- 
 ment of the MarathdSj recover supreme power in the 
 Karnatik. 
 
 He had reasoned justly. It is true that the Marathd 
 leader, incensed by the reception granted to the rela- 
 tives of the late Nuwab, and by the refusal of the 
 French Governor to surrender them to his mercy, 
 threatened to deal to Pondichery the fate of Bassein, 
 then recently captured from the Portuguese ; that he 
 detached a body of i 6,000 troops to convert his thi-eats 
 into deeds ; that these troops captured and pillaged 
 Porto Novo, thirty -two miles to the south of Pondi- 
 chery, and Gudalar, belonging to the English, six- 
 teen miles nearer to it; that they reached a point 
 within five miles of Pondichery itself. Thence their 
 leader despatched an envoy to demand, on the penalty 
 of dealing with it as he had dealt with Trichinopoly^ 
 then recently taken, the surrender of the to^vn. 
 Dumas, equal to the occasion, hid nothing from the 
 envoy. He showed him his supplies, his fortifica- 
 tions, his guns, his drilled Europeans, his drilled 
 sipahis, and then told him that, so equipped, Pondi- 
 chery would resist to the last. To show his friendly 
 disposition, however, he gave to the envoy, as he 
 departed, a present of ten bottles of Nantes cordials, 
 
33 DUPLE IX 
 
 to be delivered to his chief. It would seem that the 
 wife of the chief tasted these cordials, and insisted 
 upon obtaining more. The storming of Pondichery 
 being recognised as difficult, the chief determined to 
 proceed by way of negotiation. The result was that 
 Dumas made him a present of thirty bottles in addi- 
 tion, and he, withdrawing all his demands, returned 
 to Western India. 
 
 In the interval Pondichery had received other visitors, 
 among them Safdar AH, son and successor of the late 
 Nuwab. This chief was so impressed by the conduct 
 of M. Dumas, that on the departure of the Marathas 
 he increased the French territory by the cession of land 
 bringing a yearly revenue of 10,000 rupees. The 
 Subahdar of the Deccan, the representative of the 
 Mughal in Southern India, mai'ked his appreciation of 
 the conduct of M. Dumas by transmitting to him a 
 letter of thanks and a dress of honour. Safdar All, 
 besides the territory referred to, sent him the armour 
 of his deceased father, richly adorned with gold and 
 precious stones, together with three elephants, several 
 horses, many swords and jewelled weapons, and a 
 letter of honour. The King of Delhi himself, Muham- 
 mad Shah, conferred upon him the title of Nuwab; 
 the rank of Commander of 4,500 horse, a,ooo of whom 
 he was to be allowed to keep about his person in 
 times of peace, without being at charge for their 
 maintenance. Dumas, always eager for the interests 
 of France, and conscious how much the natives were 
 impressed by the possession of such dignities, asked, 
 
INTRODUCTORY ^^ 
 
 and obtained sanction, that these honours might bo 
 regarded as transferable to his successor. 
 
 Before the crisis, the result of which I have just 
 related, had occun-ed, Dumas had transmitted to 
 France his request that he might be relieved at the 
 first convenient opportunity. Towards its conclusion 
 he received an intimation that the Court of Dii-ectors 
 had accepted his resignation, and had nominated as his 
 successor, M. Joseph Francis Dupleix, then Intendant 
 of Chandarnagar. The new Governor arrived at Pon- 
 dichery in October, 1741, took the oaths of Director- 
 General of the French possessions in India, and de- 
 clared himself to be the Nuwdb of the Mughal, and a 
 Commander of 4,500 Horse. 
 
 The records of the six years* administration of M. 
 Dumas prove that he was no unworthy successor to 
 Francis Martin. He had displayed to a very high 
 degree boldness, tact, prudence, and skill. He had 
 greatly increased the prestige of the French, and had 
 added considerably to their possessions. On the other 
 hand, it has to be recollected that he accomplished 
 these results by departing from the line of strict 
 neutrality which Martin had laid down. He had the ' 
 choice either to do that or to succumb. Probably, 
 under the circumstances, Martin would have acted 
 similarly. His prudent boldness had given the settle- 
 ment a position which, in the crash of a decaying empire, 
 might be improved to a degree till then undreamt of. 
 Everything depended on the character of his successor. 
 Dumas had clearly indicated the direction. He had 
 o 
 
34 DUPLE IX 
 
 secured recognition of French influence and French 
 prestige. We have now to note the manner in which 
 Dupleix turned to still greater account the oppor- 
 tunities which arose from the action of his capable 
 predecessor. 
 
CHAPTER n 
 
 The System of Dupleix 
 
 Joseph Francis Dupleix was bom at Landrecies 
 in 1697. From an early age he was destined by his 
 father, who was Farmer-General and Director- General 
 of the Company of the Indies \ to a commercial career. 
 To such a career the boy, who had displayed a strong 
 inclination for the exact sciences, shewed a decided 
 aversion. To cure him, his father sent him, at the 
 age of seventeen, to sea. The result con-esponded to 
 his hopes. The young sailor returned from his voyages 
 on the Atlantic and Indian oceans anxious to take a 
 part in the world of enterprise and commerce, ready 
 to bend himself to his father's will. The father re- 
 sponded by obtaining for him a high post in the 
 service of the Company of the Indies at Pondichery. 
 Dupleix joined his appointment in 1720. He soon 
 came to the conclusion that it would be possible to 
 make Pondichery the principal emporium of trade in 
 southern India. The Governor, Lenoir, whilst recog- 
 nising the feasibility of the plan, was deterred from 
 
 * His fuU titles were : * !ficuyer, seigneur de Bacquen court et de 
 Mercin, seigneur des gardes Fauneville, La Bi-uy^re, etc., ^cuyer 
 ordinaire de la grande 4curie de sa Majesty, Fennier G^n^ral et 
 Directeur G^n^ral de la CJompagnie des Indes.' 
 
 C 2 
 
3$ DUPLEIX 
 
 prosecuting it with vigour by the poverty of the 
 , settlement. Dupleix then gave in his own person a 
 \ practical proof how his plan, conducted on a system, 
 must lead to fortune. He embarked in private trade 
 with the interior — a practice then sanctioned by the 
 regulations of the Company — and in a short time 
 succeeded in amassing a considerable fortune. 
 
 The changes in the constitution of the parent Com- 
 pany at home, duly noted in the preceding chapter, 
 had caused frictions and misunderstandings in the 
 settlement. As a consequence of one of these Dupleix 
 was (December, 1726) suspended from his office by the 
 orders of the Directors, and offered a free passage to 
 France. Dupleix declined to avail himself of the 
 offer, but remained at Pondichery whilst he appealed 
 against the unjust order. At the end of four years 
 the falseness of the charges preferred against him was 
 recognised (September 30, 1730), and the Directors, to 
 compensate him for the injustice he had suffered, 
 nominated him, shortly afterwards, Intendant of 
 Chandarnagar. Thither, accordingly, Dupleix pro- 
 ceeded. 
 
 How Chandarnagar had been occupied in 1676, and 
 regularly ceded by the Mughal Emperor in 1688, has 
 been stated in a previous page. Since that period the 
 history of the little settlement had not been a history 
 of success. It had suffered^ more even than Pondi- 
 chery, from the poverty of the Company. Stagnation 
 had become the rule there. The Company's agents, 
 with no means, and little energy, had drifted into a 
 
THE SYSTEM OF DUPLE IX 37 
 
 life of sloth and lassitudcv Their utmost endeavours 
 were directed to surmount pressing emergencies. The 
 place bore evidence of the want of enterprise of its 
 occupants. It had a ruined and forlorn appearance. 
 Its silent walls were overgrown with jungle. And 
 whilst the swift stream of the Hugli carried past it 
 merchandise from the interior intended for the rivals 
 who were convei*ting the mud huts of Chatanati 
 into the substantial warehouses of old Calcutta, the 
 landing-places of Chandarnagar were comparatively 
 deserted. 
 
 Such was Chandarnagar when Dupleix arrived 
 there as Intendant in 1731. 'Decaying and lifeless 
 though he found the place, he regarded its position 
 with other feelings than those of anxiety and dismay. 
 He saw that it had capabilities; that it might be 
 made as prosperous as Chatdnati; that energy and 
 prudence, directing capital, could accomplish results 
 which would stai-tle his sluggish colleagues, c He set 
 to work with a will ; employed the fortune he had 
 accumulated at Pondichery in the purchase of ships ; 
 freighted cargoes; opened communications with the 
 interior; induced native merchants to settle in the 
 town. His compatriots, gained by his energy, joined 
 him in the race for prosperity. He had room for all. 
 To some he advanced money, others he took into 
 partnership, all he encouraged. Chandarnagar soon 
 felt the effect of the master's hand. Four years after 
 his arrival the settlement which, in 1731, had but 
 half a dozen country-boats lying unemployed at the 
 
3^ DUPLEIX 
 
 landing-place, could boast of some thirty or forty 
 vessels, small and large^ at sea, engaged in conveying 
 the products of Bengal to Jeddo, to Mocha, to Basrah, 
 to Surat, and to China. Before he left, the number had 
 increased to seventy. To produce such results, Dupleix 
 had opened communications with the chief places in 
 the interior, even with Thibet. The resurrection of 
 the settlement gave the greatest satisfaction in France, 
 and it was the character of the man who had made 
 possible such a revival, prosperous alike to the settlers 
 and their masters, that prompted the Perpetual Com- 
 pany of the Indies to nominate its Intendant successor 
 to M. Dumas at Pondichery. 
 
 Before Dupleix left Chandarnagar he married, April 
 17, 174T, a lady of great ability, and whose advice he 
 always prized above the advice of others. This lady 
 was a widow, the daughter of M. Albert, a surgeon of 
 the Company at Pondichery. She had married M. 
 Vincens, a member of the superior Council at that 
 town, in 17 19, and had borne him six children. 
 M. Vincens died at Chandarnagar in 1739 or 1740, 
 and Dupleix married the widow, as above stated, in 
 April, 1 741. I have before me a copy of the 'act of 
 marriage.' It shows that the ceremony was performed 
 with considerable ceremonial; that Dupleix, aged 
 forty-three, was at the time President of the superior 
 Council of Pondichery, and General Commandant of 
 the French possessions in India; that his wife was 
 thirty-three. Of Madame Dupleix I find it recorded 
 that her wise counsels and her energy sustained her 
 
THE SYSTEM OF DUPLE IX 39 
 
 husband in all his trials. Slie was with him during 
 the whole period of his administration of French 
 India. And when that administration came to a 
 close, in the manner to be related, she accompanied 
 him to France, to die there of the chagrin caused by 
 the injustice meted out to the husband she adored. 
 
 Dupleix found the lands of the French settlement 
 on the southern coast suffering from the effects of the 
 Maratha invasion. Those marauding warriors had, 
 after the manner of locusts, eaten up the products, 
 and by their presence prevented the tilling of the 
 soil for the coming season. The Karnatik, too, 
 unsettled by the fatal invasion, was threatened by 
 the Subahdar of the Deccan. There were indications, 
 moreover, that in Europe a war between France and 
 England was imminent, and it was necessary to 
 foresee and to provide for the necessities which such 
 an event might entail on the Indian settlements. 
 
 To be able to meet difficulties from without, it was 
 necessary, in the opinion of Dupleix, to be prepared 
 at home. He therefore proceeded to put his house 
 in order. He set on foot inquiries having for their 
 object the checking of public expenditure, increasing, 
 as he thought, unnecessaiily. He issued regulations 
 to put a stop to the habit of taking douceurs, a habit 
 borrowed from the natives. He thoroughly over- 
 hauled the fortifications. He notified at the same 
 time to the native princes in the Karnatik and at 
 Haidarabad his succession to M. Dumas afike as 
 Director- General of the French settlements and as 
 
40 DUPLEIX 
 
 recipient of the honours conferred upon the holder 
 of that office by the King of Delhi, whilst from those 
 of inferior rank in the neighbourhood he received 
 personal homage. Having seen these matters in 
 progress he proceeded to Chandarnagar, to be 
 installed there as Nuwab. When this ceremony, 
 conducted with the pomp so dear to the people of 
 India, had been concluded, he expressed a desire to 
 pay a visit to the Muhammadan Commandant of the 
 town of Hugli. The latter, however, recognising the 
 superior rank of the Frenchman, insisted with that 
 courtesy innate in the truest type of Islam on paying 
 the first visit. The honours with which Dupleix was 
 received made a deep impression on the natives. On 
 his return, after the ceremony, to Pondichery, he 
 acted there on the same principle. Knowing that the 
 41 princelets about him recognised display as a symbol 
 of power, he acted so that they should see in him 
 an officer holding his honours direct from the Court 
 of Delhi. To strengthen this feeling he left nothing 
 undone in the way of magnificence of suiTOundings. 
 Troublous times were coming. In the event of an 
 attack made by a European power, much, he felt, 
 would depend upon the position the French settle- 
 ment occupied in native opinion. He strove then to 
 act towards the natives, princes as well as people, in 
 the manner which his experience had proved was that 
 best calculated to gain their esteem. 
 
 Had Dupleix at this crisis been supported lai'gely 
 and liberally from France he might have established 
 
THE SYSTEM OF DUPLEIX 41 
 
 the settlement on a basis which would have made it 
 the first of the European settlements in southern 
 India. But at the very moment when he should have 
 received support, he met only with discouragement. In 
 a despatch dated September 18, 1743, the Directors 
 of the Perpetual Company informed him that in view 
 of the probability of a war between France and 
 England they were compelled to restrict the number 
 of their vessels for India to four, two of which only 
 were destined for Pondichery. They pressed upon 
 him at the same time the necessity of reducing his 
 expenses by at least one-half; and of suspending all 
 outlay on account of the fortifications. 
 
 How to act in the face of such an order ? Such was 
 the question Dupleix had to solve. The order regard- 
 ing the fortifications touched him most. He knew, 
 and he was aware that the Directors knew, that the 
 defences of Pondichery were in a state almost to invite 
 attack. The original foi^tifications were crumbling, 
 and, on the side of the sea — the side which specially 
 required protection — there was a space of a thousand 
 toises absolutely open. The way in which Dupleix 
 acted on this occasion aflfords a key to his character. 
 Eecognising that, under the circumstances, to obey 
 was to invite destruction, and that, as Director- 
 General, he was really though not nominally responsible 
 to the France which he represented, he disobeyed the 
 order. Along the entire front of the space spoken 
 of he erected a solid rampart with a broad ditch in 
 front and rear. He had amassed by successful trading 
 
42 DUPLE IX 
 
 a considerable fortune. A portion of this he devoted 
 without stint to the work. From the same source 
 he provided cargoes for the two vessels which, in 
 pursuance of the advices he had received, arrived 
 from France that year, and which, but for his 
 liberality and enterprise, would have returned empty. 
 The other order of the Company he carried out with 
 rigour. He reduced salaries, removed abuses, strangled 
 corruption, until, in spite of the murmurs of some and 
 the more open complaints of others, he brought about 
 the required balance between income and expenditure. 
 The Directors warmly approved all that he had done. 
 His conduct in furnishing cargoes to their vessels 
 caused them to overlook his disobedience regarding 
 the fortifications. Eegarding the former they wrote 
 him that they had been *much pleased at the zeal 
 which he and the Councils of Pondichery and Chan- 
 darnagar have displayed for our interests in procuring 
 cargoes for our two ships.' With respect to the 
 fortifications, which took more than two years to 
 complete, they wrote to him under date November 
 30, 1 746 : ' The promptitude with which the town 
 of Pondichery has been enclosed on the side facing the 
 sea has given us real pleasure. We are under a great 
 obligation to you on that account : ' further, ' we have 
 seen with not the less satisfaction all the measures 
 you have taken, both to provide, notwithstanding 
 your poverty, cargoes for the ships, the sailing of 
 which we had announced to you.' 
 / In 1 744 the war of the Austrian succession broke 
 
THE SYSTEM OF DUPLEIX 43 
 
 out in Europe. France and England were ranged on 
 opposite sides. For the fiipt time since the French 
 had settled at Pondichery ,the two nations were at war. 
 The English had occupied a small point on the 
 eastern coast, eighty-six miles above Pondichery, in 
 1639, and had built on that plot a fort which they 
 had called Fort St. George. The natives called the 
 plot Chennapatanam, the English gave it the name 
 Madras. The locality had not been carefully selected. 
 The roadstead, from October to January, was danger- 
 ous. The soil of the country about the fort was 
 dry and sterile, and the country itself was but 
 scantily populated. Nevertheless, the enterprise of the 
 English had overcome some of these obstacles and had 
 defied others. A considerable native population had 
 gathered round the place, and the vessels which 
 came every year from Europe succeeded in landing 
 and taking their cargoes without much damage./ At 
 the moment when France declared war against 
 England (March, 1 744) the chief of the English settle- 
 ment was Governor Morse, a merchant engaged all 
 his life in trade, and not very conversant with 
 politics. 
 
 Although France had declared war against England, 
 the English Government had taken a far wider grasp 
 of the situation which such a declaration might pro- 
 duce than had the Government of France. The story 
 of the prosperity of Pondichery and the versatile 
 talent of its Governor had reached England, and, on 
 the declaration of war, the English Ministry despatched 
 
44 DUPLEIX 
 
 orders to Commodore Barnett, then on the Eastern 
 station, to proceed to the eastern coast of India, and 
 employ there his superiority of force to the best 
 advantage. The preparations of the French Govern- 
 ment were not nearly so forward. The Directors of 
 the Perpetual Company wrote, however, to Dupleix to 
 inform him that they had instructed M. de la Bour- 
 donnais. Governor of the Isles of France and Bourbon, 
 to sail with a squadron to his assistance. Meanwhile 
 they urged him to endeavour to come to an under- 
 standing with Governor Morse, to plead that the 
 settlements had no cause of quarrel, and to suggest 
 that they should remain neutral during the war of 
 their principals. 
 
 Dupleix did not consider the proposition as either 
 practical or possible. He made it nevertheless. But 
 Morse saw only the immediate advantage. The British 
 squadron might arrive at any moment. Then Pondi- 
 chery would be at his mercy. He did not care to 
 imagine that possibly the day might arrive when the 
 situations would be inverted. He pleaded therefore 
 the orders he had received from England, and declined 
 the proposal. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the receipt of this reply 
 came information from the islands that La Bourdonnais 
 had sent back his squadron to France. Left then to 
 his own resources, Dupleix set to work to find a 
 method of baffling the greed of his rivals, and he 
 found it. Pondichery itself was powerless, for the 
 rampart he was building was not nearly completed, 
 
THE SYSTEM OF DUPLEIX 45 
 
 and he could dispose of but 436 Europeans. But at 
 this crisis the friendly relations he had been careful 
 to cultivate with the native princes bore a rich and 
 abundant fruit. Dupleix wrote to the Nuwab of the 
 Karndtik, reminded him of the friendly relations 
 which had existed between the French settlement and 
 his predecessors ; of the moral support rendered by 
 Pondichery to the Karnatik ruler at the time of the 
 Maratha invasion ; of the desire of the French to live 
 at peace with all around them; and begged him to 
 employ his authority to prevent his tenants, the 
 English, from attacking a settlement, the chief of 
 which was an officer of the Great Mughal, and his 
 own friend. 
 
 The Nuwdb, Anwaru' din, had but recently suc- 
 ceeded to his office, but he was cognisant of all the 
 circumstances referred to by Dupleix. Neither he, 
 nor any man in India, regarded the scattered European 
 settlers on isolated parts of the coast as possessing 
 claims to be seriously reckoned with. They were 
 vassals of the lord paramount, simple traders de- 
 pendent upon his goodwill, nothing more. But the/ 
 French had the character of being polite, friendly, 
 unaggressive, desirous to conciliate. They had had, 
 too, opportunities of displaying their sympathy. The 
 manner in which they had used those opportunities 
 had made an impression. Anwaru' din then acted in 
 the spirit of the request preferred to him by Dupleix. 
 He informed Morse that he would not permit him to 
 attack the French settlement. He added that in 
 
 to 
 
46 DUPLE IX 
 
 similar circumstances he would forbid the French to 
 attack the Enghsh settlement. 
 
 For the moment, then, Dupleix was safe. But the 
 English squadron had arrived, and on the side of the 
 sea Pondichery was viiiually blockaded. There was 
 still then cause for anxiety. The reader can imagine, 
 then, the reaction of joy which was produced by the 
 aiTival of information from a sure source (May, 1746) 
 that the long-despaired-of squadron of La Bourdonnais 
 had been sighted off the western coast. 
 
 La Bourdonnais, after an early career fuU of 
 promise, had succeeded, in 1735, M. Dumas as Governor 
 of the Isles of France and Bourbon. It is not too 
 much to say that by his own teaching and example 
 he had laid the foundation of the future prosperity of 
 those islands. He had proceeded to France in 1740 
 with the object of personally convincing the French 
 Government of the enormous advantage which must 
 accrue to the French possessions in India, if, in the 
 event of a war with England, they had a certain base 
 of operations in the Indian Ocean, where land-forces 
 could be trained, and whence ships could sally to prey 
 upon the commerce of their rivals ; that they actually 
 possessed in the two islands such a base, and it was 
 only necessary that he should have the ships and the 
 men. After many rebuffs La Bourdonnais succeeded 
 in convincing Cardinal Fleury of the reasonableness of 
 his contention, and in 174 1 he proceeded to the islands 
 with five ships belonging to the Company. Hardly 
 had he arrived there when information reached him 
 
THE SYSTEM OF DUPLE IX 47 
 
 of the dangers threatening Pondichery from the in- 
 vasion of the Mardthas, referred to in a previous page. 
 He sailed then for that place, found that the tact of 
 M. Dumas had averted the danger, but that Mah^, on 
 the western coast, was threatened. Thither then he 
 proceeded, and having ensured its safety, returned to 
 the islands. On his arrival there he was met by an 
 order from Cardinal Fleury to send back his ships to 
 France, that pacific statesman fearing lest the English 
 should take umbrage at the presence of such an arma- 
 ment off the coasts of India. La Bourdonnais obeyed, 
 sent back his ships, and tendered his resignation. 
 Meanwhile Fleury had died. A few months later war 
 was declared. The position which La Bourdonnais 
 had foreseen, and to meet which he had made his 
 journey to France, had arrived, but the folly of his 
 superiors had torn from his hands the weapon with 
 which he would have conjured the storm. Sensible*' 
 too late of their folly, the Government ordered him to 
 remain at his post and do his best. Brave and 
 resolute. La Bourdonnais threw his soul into the task ; 
 improvised a fleet, trained sailors, drilled soldiers, laid 
 hands on all the vessels which came from France, and 
 on June i, 1746, sailed with nine ships, poorly armed 
 and badly manned, to carry aid to the threatened 
 settlements of France in southern India. Towards 
 the end of the month he was off Mah^, learnt there 
 that the English squadi'on had been last heard of off 
 N^gapatnam, near the French settlement of Karikal, 
 and that it was waiting there to intercept him. He 
 
48 DUPLEIX 
 
 sailed at once to meet it, encountered it, commanded 
 by Commodore Peyton, off Nagapatnam, fought with 
 it an action, indecisive indeed, but the result of which 
 was to cause Peyton to abandon the eastern coast to 
 his enemy and to sail for Trinkamali ; and anchored 
 two days later in the roadstead of Pondichery. 
 
 < Then there came into contact two men, both clothed 
 with authority, each of whom desired to be first, and 
 neither of whom would be content with the role of 
 second. Up to the day of meeting each had professed 
 f the most earnest desire to co-operate with the other. 
 ' The honour of success,' Dupleix had written in the 
 early part of the year, 'will be yours, and I shall 
 hold myself fortunate in contributing thereto through 
 means which owe their value entirely to your skill.' 
 
 f On his side La Bourdonnais had written : * We ought 
 to regard one another as equally interested in the 
 progi'ess of events, and work in concert. For my 
 part. Sir, I devote myself to you beforehand, and I 
 swear to you a perfect confidence.' Such had been 
 their professions before they had met, when danger 
 seemed very close to the French settlement. But they 
 had not met an hour before the question arose which 
 of the two men, the one Director-General of aU the 
 French possessions in India, the other Admiral of the 
 fleet which he had formed, and manned, and instructed 
 himself, was to be supreme. The English fleet had 
 disappeared. Madras was open to attack. If only it 
 were possible to obtain the tacit consent of the Nuwdb 
 the French could visit the English settlement with the 
 
THE SYSTEM OF DUPLEIX 49 
 
 fate with which her Governor and the Commodore 
 acting in concert with him had threatened Pondi- 
 chery. The question seemed to depend upon a cordial 
 understanding between the French Governor and the 
 French Admiral. Madras was comparatively defence- 
 less. The best chance for her safety lay in the 
 possibility of a disagreement, or want of cordial action, 
 between Dupleix and La Bourdonnais. 
 
CHAPTER m 
 
 The First Blow for Predominance 
 
 Into the details of the quarrel between the chief 
 civil authority in India and the commander of the 
 fleet, I shall enter only so far as they affect the main 
 object of my book. By the orders transmitted to him 
 from Palis, La Bourdonnais was compelled to admit 
 the superior authority on land of the Director-General 
 of the French settlements in India. The idea of the 
 capture of Madras had been a leading idea alike with 
 Dupleix and La Bourdonnais. Yet, now that the 
 hour had arrived to strike the blow, whilst Dupleix 
 remained fii-m and constant to his purpose, La Bour- 
 donnais shewed a disposition to hold back. He 
 proposed first to attack Foi-t St. David, a fort pur- 
 chased in 1 69 1 by the English, near the town of 
 Gudalur, sixteen miles south of Pondichery, and 
 which at one time had been their head-quarters. 
 When Dupleix protested against this proceeding as 
 too petty, La Bourdonnais declared he would sail in 
 pursuit of the English fleet. He did sail, caught 
 sight of it, but unable to bring it to action, returned, 
 the 25th of August, to Pondichery. There again he 
 displayed great unwillingness to undertake the ex- 
 pedition against Madras. The burden of his objection 
 
THE FIRST BLOW FOR PREDOMINANCE 5 1 
 
 was that it would be dangerous to attack Madras 
 until the Enghsh fleet should have been destroyed. 
 He dwelt, moreover, on the perils to which he would 
 expose his ships by remaining on the coast after the 
 15th of October, about which date the monsoon was 
 accustomed to come on with a fury dangerous to 
 ships anchored in an open roadstead, exposed to its 
 full force. At last, the a 7th of August, Dupleix / 
 unable to persuade, acting in concert with his Council, 
 served on the admiral a summons, calling upon him 
 * ou the part of the King and the Company to make 
 choice of one of the two plans ' they had presented to 
 him the day previous. The fii-st of these plans pre- 
 scribed an attack on Madras, the second, the pursuit 
 and destruction of the English fleet. They added: 
 ' these are the only plans we consider practicable, 
 suitable to present circumstances, to the glory of the 
 King, to the honour of the Nation, to the interests of 
 the Company, to the strength of his squadron, and the 
 weakness of his enemies by sea and land.' These 
 plans were plainly specified. La Bourdonnais was 
 required either to attack Madras, or to sail in pursuit 
 of the English fleet. 
 
 In consequence of this citation La Bourdonnais 
 sailed for Madras the evening of the 1 2th of September, 
 joined his fleet — which he had despatched on the 28th 
 of August with orders to anchor oflfthe Madras coast- 
 on the ] 4th, landed 600 men with two guns the same 
 evening twelve miles south of the English fort, and 
 increasing them on the 15th to 11 00 Europeans, 400 
 
 D 'I 
 
52 DUPLEIX 
 
 sipahis, and about the same number of Africans 
 brought from the Islands, he marched on Fort St. 
 George, and summoned it to surrender. 
 
 Governor Morse was in no condition to offer a 
 resistance likely to prove successful. At the moment 
 Fort St. George contained behind its ramparts only 
 some 300 soldiers, but of these only 200 were fit for 
 duty. It is true that amongst its merchants or 
 factors there was the budding genius destined, a few 
 years later, to baffle all the plans of Dupleix, but 
 whose brilliant talents were concealed at the time 
 behind a morose exterior and by intense depression 
 of spirits. But the situation was too desperate to be 
 affected even by the genius which Eobert Olive was 
 soon to develope. Governor Morse, indeed, attempted 
 to obtain from the Nuwab of the Karn^tik the same 
 protection which that ruler had accorded to Pondi- 
 chery. But he approached him unskilfully, and his 
 messenger was dismissed without an answer. He 
 could do no more. On the 21st, then, he surrendered 
 the fort and its dependencies to La Bourdonnais, the 
 garrison becoming prisoners of war. 
 
 Into the contention which followed between La 
 Bourdonnais and Dupleix as to whether the right to 
 dispose of the conquered place rested with the Com- 
 mander of the fleet or with the Governor and Council 
 of Pondichery, it is foreign to the purpose of this work 
 to enter. It must suffice to state that the Home 
 Government decided in a despatch sent in anticipation, 
 it would seem, of a conflict of authority in favour of 
 
THE FIRST BLOW FOR PREDOMINANCE 53 
 
 Dupleix, and, after a delay of nearly five weeks, 
 characterised by the most unseemly contentions be- 
 tween the representatives of the Civil and Naval 
 power of France on the coast, La Bourdonnais handed 
 over Fort St. George and its dependencies to M. 
 Despr^mesnil, a member of the Pondichery Council, on 
 the 23rd of October, and having as far as possible 
 repaired the damages done to his fleet by the bursting 
 of the monsoon on the 15th, sailed, first for Pondichery, 
 and ultimately to the islands, and thence to France. 
 
 Sole master now of the situation in India, Dupleix, 
 whose clear brain as yet only aspired to make France 
 supreme, if not alone, amongst the European nations 
 on the coast, set himself to gain, if it were possible, the 
 assent of the Nuwdb of the Karndtik to the retention 
 by France of her conquest. He had induced the 
 Nuwab to assent to his attack upon Madras by an 
 assurance that, the place once taken, he would transfer 
 it to the Nuwdb himself. Possibly, at the time he 
 made this promise, he was sincere. But the long 
 delay caused by the refusal of La Bourdonnais to 
 transfer the fort to the Pondichery authorities had 
 changed the position. The Nuwab, mistrusting the 
 assurances of Dupleix, that the delay in making over 
 Fort St. George to his agents was caused by the in- 
 subordinate action of the French officer in command, 
 had displayed all the angry feelings of an irresponsible 
 ruler who feels that he has been duped, and, even 
 before La Bourdonnais had departed, he had begun to 
 collect troops in the vicinity of the fort to compel its 
 
54 DUPLE IX 
 
 transfer. Dupleix was neither blind nor indifferent to 
 the coming danger. But his position was bristling 
 with difficulties. La Bourdonnais had entered into a 
 compact with the English for the ultimate restoration 
 to them of Fort St. George. Dupleix had, at the 
 time, absolutely refused to recognise the compact. 
 The French force had been able, he argued, to compel 
 the sun'ender of Madras without conditions. He 
 would then ratify no arrangement of that character, 
 made contrary to his express directions, and therefore 
 ultra vires. His position with respect to the Nuwab 
 was altogether different. To obtain his permission to 
 attack Madras he had promised to transfer it to that 
 prince. But, now that he had it, he was determined 
 to use all the means at his disposal to endeavour to 
 creep out of this obligation. His heart had ah-eady 
 begun to swell with hopes of expelling the English 
 traders from all their possessions on the coast, and he 
 feared lest the Nuwab might restore to them the 
 conquest which he had been at such pains to make for 
 France. Had a good understanding with La Bour- 
 donnais been possible he might have indulged in a 
 still more soaring vision. Had that admiral, before 
 the monsoon broke, sailed for the Htigli with his fleet 
 he might have efiected at Chatanati (Calcutta) that 
 which he had accomplished at Madras, and given his 
 countrymen not merely supremacy, but undivided 
 sway from the Htigli to Cape Comorin. 
 
 But La Bourdonnais had gone. One part of the 
 dream could however be accomplished if he could 
 
THE FIRST BLOW FOR PREDOMINANCE 55 
 
 retain Madi-as. To effect this end Dupleix exhausted 
 ail his powers of diplomacy. But the Nuwab was 
 thoroughly roused. He and his advisers felt that they 
 had been duped, and they did not like it. The Nuwab 
 continued then his preparations, and sent his son, 
 Maphuz Khan, to lead against Fort St. George the 
 levies he had raised. Dupleix, resolved to retain it, 
 sent instructions to Despremesnil to defend Fort St. 
 George at all hazards, promising him a speedy re- 
 inforcement. Maphuz Khan, at the head of 10,000 
 men, mostly cavalry, had appeared before Madras 
 about the 25th of October, and a few days later 
 reduced the garrison of about 500 men to great 
 extremities by cutting off their water supply. To 
 recover the springs Despremesnil ordered, on the 2nd 
 of November, a sally of 400 men accompanied by two 
 field-pieces. It was the first contest between the 
 European settlers and the soldiers of the soil, and it 
 was a type of all that were to follow. The two guns 
 did the business. The natives had been accustomed 
 to long intervals between each discharge. They were 
 not disconcerted then by the opening fire. But the 
 almost immediate discharge of the same guns surprised, 
 the third frightened them, and they fled in dismay. 
 They had lost 70 men, the French had not a siugle 
 man wounded. 
 
 But in a few hours the panic in the Nuw^b's camp 
 subsided, and when scouts informed Maphuz Khan 
 that a relieving French force, consisting of but 230 
 Europeans and 700 sipahis, without a single gun, was 
 
56 DUPLEIX 
 
 approaching, he fearlessly led a force of lopoo 
 men to dispute with them the passage of the river 
 Adyar. The relieving force was commanded by an 
 Engineer officer of great ability, named Paradis. He 
 reached the northern bank of the Adydr on the 4th of 
 November, only to see on the opposite bank the 
 serried ranks of the enemy. There was no turning 
 the position. He must dare to trust the interests of 
 his countrymen in a very unequal contest, or to 
 retreat. Not for a second did he hesitate. Fording • 
 the river, he directed one volley at the masses in front 
 of him, and charged. The effect was electric. The 
 native troops, unaccustomed to such prompt audacity, 
 fled, panic-stricken. An opportune sally from Fort 
 St. George completed their discomfiture. Never was a 
 victory more complete or more decisive. 
 • It was, indeed, a battle to be remembered. The 
 .success of the first sortie from Madras had been attri- 
 buted by the natives to the novel method of the 
 artillery fire. But, on the Adydr, the French had 
 not a single gun: Maphtiz Khan had many. The 
 battle was won by boldness, by dlan, by dash, by 
 daring to affront danger. It was this battle, called 
 after the place near which it was fought, the battle 
 of St. Thom^, which inverted the position of the 
 European settler and the native overlord. Up to 
 that time the superiority of the latter had never been 
 disputed by either French or English. The repre- 
 sentatives of both nations had been content to be the 
 vassals of the Nuwdb of the Karndtik. The battle of 
 
THE FIRST BLOW FOR PREDOMINANCE 57 
 
 St. Thom^ effected a revolution in this respect. To 
 Europeans and Natives alike it was as the storming 
 of the Bastille. Thenceforward the alliance of the 
 Europeans came to be eagerly sought by every 
 pretender to dominion. The revolution had been 
 effected by the genius of Dupleix. To him it opened 
 new visions, illimitable plans of dominion. It had 
 revealed to him how he could bring Southern India 
 entirely under French influence. It was only requisite 
 that the war with England should continue, and 
 that he should have a free hand. The rest he would 
 care for. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Flaw in the Machine 
 
 DuPLEix had everything within his power. He 
 had Pondichery, Karikal, and Madras. He had in- 
 spired the Nuwab with a wholesome dread of French 
 prowess. The English, to the number of about 200, 
 all told, had taken refuge in Fort St. David, a fort 
 purchased by the East India Company in 1691, close 
 to the native town of Gudalur, sixteen miles south 
 of Pondichery. The fort was not strong, and a bold 
 effort, well directed, could have secured it, for Dupleix 
 "■ CQuld put into the field at least 900 Europeans. 
 
 Dupleix had many brilliant qualities. He was a 
 great organiser, could take a comprehensive and accu- 
 rate view of the political situation ; was thoroughly 
 acquainted with the weak and the strong points of his 
 position. But there was one flaw in his organisation. 
 He was not a man of action. He did not possess the 
 power, granted in a marvellous degree to the man 
 who was soon to become his chief opponent, of per- 
 sonally directing operations in the field. At the 
 moment at which we have arrived he recognised that 
 there was but one thing to be done to complete the 
 destruction of the English, and that was to drive 
 them from Fort St. David. Their expulsion would 
 
THE FLAW IN THE MACHINE 59 
 
 complete the work begun at Madras. It presented no 
 difficulties, for he outnumbered his enemy in the 
 proportion of about five to one. 
 
 He saw as clearly as we, looking back, can see it 
 now, that it was the one thing to be done. Not for 
 an instant did he hesitate. He organised a force of ^^ 
 900 Europeans, 600 trained sipahis, 100 Africans, 
 with six field-pieces and six mortars, to march against 
 the place. Then came the question of command. He 
 had at least one capable officer at his disposal, the 
 Paradis who had triumphed at St. Thomd. But 
 Paradis was only a captain, and the senior officers 
 insisted on their rights. In an evil hour Dupleix 
 recognised the force of their arguments, and confided 
 the command of the expedition to an incapable octo- 
 genarian named de Bury. De Bury marched against 
 Fort St. David the 19th of December, crossed the 
 Pandr river the following morning, took possession of 
 a walled garden, and allowed his troops to disperse to 
 cook their dinners, without placing sentries of any 
 kind. There they were surprised and compelled to a 
 hasty and disorderly flight by the native troops of the 
 Nuwab of the Karnatik, led by his two sons, — the 
 very troops whom 230 of them had beaten but seven 
 . weeks before. 
 
 This was a blow, though not an irreparable blow. 
 To minimise its effects Dupleix reopened negotiations 
 with the Nuwab, who, he had some reason to believe, 
 was anxious for an accommodation. He found the 
 Nuwab not indisposed to come to an arrangement. 
 
6o DUPLE IX 
 
 provided only that Fort St. George were transferred 
 to his keeping. To bring the negociation to an issue, 
 one way or another, Dupleix resolved to surprise 
 Fort St. David by ^n attack from the sea-side. For 
 this purpose he embarked 500 men in country boats, 
 and sent them to the attack (January 10). But the 
 elements were adverse. A storm came on, which 
 compelled the boats to return. 
 
 But the blind goddess was not even then wearied. 
 She gave him another chance, and a great one. Ten 
 days after the fruitless boat expedition a French 
 squadron of four ships, under Commodore Dordelin, 
 arrived off the coast. It would seem that a combined 
 attack by sea and land on the English fort could not 
 have failed. It is difficult to say why it was not 
 attempted. Possibly the solution is to be found in 
 the nerveless character of Dordelin, and in the fact 
 that, on the seas, he was not subject to the orders of 
 the Pondichery Council. The appearance of the 
 squadron off the coast had, however, the effect of 
 bringing the Nuwab to terms. He had never much 
 cared for the English, and believing that they were 
 abandoned by their countrymen, whilst the French 
 had the support of four ships of war ; dreading more- 
 over lest the French should seriously threaten him in . 
 the province of Arcot, he renounced his claims on 
 Madras, and signed with Dupleix a treaty in which 
 he confirmed the French in the possession of the 
 territories they actually held. This treaty was ratified 
 by his son, Maphuz Khan, in person (February 1748). 
 
THE FLAW IN THE MACHINE 6i 
 
 Now, at last, Dupleix had the opportunity which 
 a bold stroke might have made decisive. A well- 
 directed attack on Fort St. David, supported by the 
 ships, could not have failed. The garrison had no 
 longer the army of the Nuwdb to depend upon. But 
 the blow, to be successful, must be struck at once. 
 The English squadron was in the Htigli, waiting 
 only for reinforcements, now overdue, to sail down to 
 the succour of their countrymen. In war the oppor- 
 tune moment can never be allowed to pass with 
 impunity. But, on this occasion, Dupleix did un- 
 accountably allow it to slip. Without any protest on 
 his part, indeed, it would seem with his full concur- 
 rence, Dordelin, after the signature of the treaty with 
 the Nuwdb, sailed for the western coast (February 
 19). Possibly he dreaded lest the northerly winds 
 then prevailing might bring down upon him the 
 English squadron whilst he was engaged before Fort 
 St. David. 
 
 When the squadron had left, Dupleix, whose mind 
 always recognised what ought to be done, organised a 
 new expedition against Fort St. David. With the 
 consent of the superior officers he confided the com- 
 mand to the capable Paradis. That officer set out 
 March 13, crossed the Pandr, took possession of the 
 walled garden from which de Bury had been so pre- 
 cipitately expelled, and made his preparations for 
 attack the following morning. But Fortune, who 
 had granted Dupleix so many opportunities, who 
 had given him the whole period from December 10 to 
 
6^ DUPLEIX 
 
 the first week in March -in which to make the attack 
 with a certainty of success, gave sudden evidence that 
 she was not to be trifled with with impunity. Twenty- 
 four hours probably, forty-eight certainly, would have 
 made all the difference, for Fort St. David could not 
 have offered a serious resistance to a daring attack. 
 But when the morning of the 14th of March broke, 
 Paradis beheld the sea facing Gudalur covered with 
 ships bearing the flag of England, and having on 
 board a reinforcement of a hundred men for the 
 garrison of the threatened fort. Recognising that 
 the English fleet was at once a succour to Fort 
 St. David and a menace to Pondichery, he re- 
 traced his steps to the camp near that town, and a 
 few days later, when the English fleet appeared before 
 it, entered the town itself. Dupleix had recognised 
 that he, who had planned the expulsion of the 
 English, might have to exert all his resources to 
 ward off the counter-blow which the islanders were 
 about to deliver. 
 
 But fortune gave him one more chance. The op- 
 portune arrival of a French squadron drew off the 
 English fleet, and Dupleix, thoroughly alive now to 
 the value of time, resolved to strike one more blow 
 for Fort St. David. On the 27th of June he de- 
 spatched a force of 1800 men, of whom 800 were 
 Europeans, to capture that place. Who the com- 
 mander was I have been unable to ascertain, but he 
 must have been a rash and incapable man. There 
 had arrived at Fort St. David, some six months 
 
THE FLAW IN THE MACHINE 63 
 
 before, an officer who is one of the splendid illus- 
 trations of British skill and daring in India, Major 
 Stringer Lawrence, and he commanded in chief at 
 the EngHsh fort. Deceiving the French commander 
 by reports, which the latter accepted without due 
 inquiry, he led him to make a careless attack on the 
 strongest part of the foii, received him there with his 
 full force, and compelled him to retreat, beaten, 
 baffled, and humiliated, to Pondichery. 
 
 This was his last attempt on Fort St. David. A 
 few weeks later Dupleix was called upon to defend 
 Pondichery against a powerful English fleet under the 
 command of Admiral Boscawen. 
 
CHAPTEE V 
 The English Besiege Pondichert 
 
 Despatches from France had warned Dupleix that 
 an English force, escorted by an English fleet, more 
 powerful than any which had till then appeared in 
 the Indian seas, had quitted England in the preceding 
 November. At the period at which we have arrived, 
 the end of June 1748, it might arrive at any moment. 
 Renouncing then, as I have stated, further attempts 
 on Fort St. David, Dupleix devoted himself, with all 
 the energy of his nature, to strengthen the defences of 
 Pondichery. With the invaluable aid of Paradis he 
 made of the small fort of Ariakupun, nearly two 
 miles from the town, an almost impregnable outwork, 
 whilst the defences of the town itself he completed in 
 a manner such as to render them, if well defended, 
 very formidable if assailed by any but a very 
 superior force. 
 
 But the force conveyed by the ships of Admiral 
 Boscawen was very formidable. The fleet itself was, 
 including the ships in the Indian seas, composed of 
 thirty vessels, of which thirteen were ships of the 
 line. The land forces it carried numbered 1400. But 
 Holland was at war with France, and that country 
 
THE ENGLISH BESIEGE PONDICHERY 6^ 
 
 had pledged herself to supply 120 men from the gar- 
 rison of the Dutch settlement of IJagapatnam. The 
 same power had supplied likewise six ships belonging 
 to her East India Company, conveying 500 tried 
 soldiers. Added to these a large proportion of the 
 sailors of both fleets were available for land service. 
 It was certain that the Admiral would be able to put 
 in action against the town not less than 3730 Euro- 
 peans, aided by more than 2000 natives, armed and 
 drilled in the European fashion. . 
 
 Against this overwhelming force, as it seemed to 
 the defenders, Dupleix had in Pondichery and Arid- 
 kupum 1800 Europeans and 3000 sipdhis. 
 
 The combined fleets appeared off* the coast on the 
 iith of August, and the land operations began on the 
 19th. They continued till the 17th of October. 
 
 The attack was conducted with great vigour, for 
 the Admiral knew that it would be dangerous to stay 
 oft* the coast after the second week in October. The 
 operations against Ariakupum, which it was neces- 
 sary to gain before Pondichery could be attacked, 
 were conducted with the gi'eatest energy. But the 
 defence was in all respects equal to the attack. I 
 have before me a journal of the daily operations of 
 the defence, written by the Diwan of M. Dupleix, a 
 native named Rangapoul^, full of interesting details. 
 It would seem from this that to Paradis was intrusted 
 the defence of Ariakupum ; that he repulsed all the 
 assaults made upon it by the besiegers up to the 30th 
 of August; that on that date the English succeeded 
 
 E 
 
66 DUPLE IX 
 
 in exploding the powder-magazine with the effect of 
 rendering Ariakupum no longer tenable ; that Para- 
 dis and his troops succeeded in falling back on Pondi- 
 chery, the siege of which really commenced the day 
 following. Eangapoul^ relates how, on the nth of 
 September, — not the 6th as stated by Mr. Orme, — 
 Paradis was directed to make, and did make, a sortie 
 at the head of from 800 to 900 men ; how the native 
 spy, who had given the information which had led 
 Dupleix to decide on the sortie, led him into an am- 
 buscade ; how, suddenly assailed by a fire from his 
 flank, Paradis was shot through the head and killed ; 
 how, despite this heavy loss of his best ofllcer, Du- 
 pleix never despaired. So stoutly did he defend 
 himself that Admiral Boscawen was slowly brought 
 to the conclusion that it would be impossible to take 
 the place before the monsoon should set in. Vainly 
 did he bring up his ships as close as he dared to 
 bombard the place. On the 13th of October he felt 
 that he must retreat. On the 14th he called a 
 council of war, and with the advice of its members, 
 in which he concurred, gave the necessary orders to 
 destroy the batteries, the provisions, the camp equi- 
 page, and to re-embark. On the 17th, the besieging 
 force, the largest body of Europeans till then massed 
 on Indian soil, broke up and retreated on Fort St. 
 David, leaving behind it 1065 men, who had suc- 
 cumbed either to the enemy's fire or to sickness 
 contracted during the siege. The loss of the French 
 amounted to 200 Europeans and 50 natives. 
 
THE ENGLISH BESIEGE PONDICHERY 67 
 
 From the journal I have quoted it would seem that 
 it was on the ist of October that Dupleix realised 
 that the English must eventually raise the siege. 
 Some prisoners he had taken revealed the losses and 
 discouragement of the besiegers, the anger of their 
 admiral. On the 6th, Dupleix had learned from a 
 similar source that the besiegers were suffering from 
 sickness, and that, as a last resource. Admiral Bos- 
 cawen intended to bring up his ships to bombard the 
 place: on the 7th, that the fire of twenty-one ships 
 had been brought to bear, but that the cannon-balls 
 had fallen short. Of the conduct of Dupleix on the 
 following day when a heavier fire was brought to 
 bear, the Diwdn wiites : *What has become of the 
 bravery of the English compared with that of the 
 incomparable Dupleix 1 It has vanished like night.' 
 On the 9th and nth he records the damaging effect 
 of the fii*e from new French batteries brought to bear 
 on the English ships. On the 13th he states that 
 deserters had brought news that the raising of the 
 siege had been practically decided upon in conse- 
 quence mainly of the near approach of the monsoon. 
 On the 1 6th he records the realisation of all their 
 hopes, and the despatch in pursuit of the retii^ng 
 troops of a strong force of European and native 
 cavalry and infantry: on the 17th, the celebration of 
 a ' Te Deum ' in honour of the occasion : on the 1 8th, 
 the departure of the allied fleets. 
 
 The raising of the siege of Pondichery left the rival 
 parties almost in the position in which they were 
 
 E 2 
 
68 DUPLE IX 
 
 before the siege had been thought of. The French 
 had Pondichery and Madras, the English only Fort 
 St. David and the adjoining town of Gudalur. The 
 English troops in that fort had indeed been slightly 
 increased in number, but, early in the following year 
 (1749), the reception by Dupleix of reinforcements to 
 the extent of 200 men restored to the French their 
 considerable numerical superiority. Dupleix was 
 once more planning the reopening of operations 
 against Fort St. David when he received information 
 of the signing of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, one 
 clause of which necessitated the mutual restitution of 
 conquests. With a bitter pang, then, he was com- 
 pelled to restore to his late besiegers the Madras 
 which he had gained by so much daring, and at the 
 expense of breaking his intimate relations with the 
 princes of the soil, a Madras much improved and 
 strengthened. After five years of contest he found 
 himself in the position, as far as possessions were 
 concerned, in which he had been when he entered 
 upon the strife. But his reputation, his prestige, and 
 the reputation and prestige of his countrymen, had 
 enormously increased. That of the English, by the 
 capture of Madras, by their striking failure before 
 Pondichery, had proportionately diminished. There 
 can be no doubt but that, at this time, the French 
 stood far higher in the estimation of the native 
 princes and people than did their rivals. It was 
 clear to Dupleix, even when he restored Madras, that 
 this higher prestige would stand him in good stead in 
 
THE ENGLISH BESIEGE PONDICHERY 69 
 
 the contests which, despite the Treaty of Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, he saw looming in the future. For his 
 keen perception had convinced him that the hatred 
 between the two European nations, once more face 
 to face on the Coromandel coast, would be restrained 
 from action by no paper convention arrived at in 
 Europe. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Zenith of his Success 
 
 * When the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle forced the repre- 
 sentatives in southern India of the two rival nations 
 to revert to the position each had held before the out- 
 break of the war, and to exchange promises of amity, 
 the results of the revolution which the victory of 
 Paradis at St. Thorn^ had brought about became at 
 once apparent. Before that battle had been fought the 
 French and English had been alike regarded as simple 
 traders. Subsequently to St. Thom^ they were looked 
 upon as warriors of a very superior order, whose assist- 
 ance in quarrels between rival pretenders would bring 
 victory to the pretender whose cause they might be 
 induced to espouse. This feeling especially prevailed 
 with regard to the French, whose capture of Madras 
 and whose repulse of the English from Pondichery 
 had given them a very high prestige. It was im- 
 possible, so long as the two nations were openly at 
 war, that the native princes should utilise their 
 superior prowess in the manner indicated. But no 
 sooner had the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ensured a 
 nominal peace between them on Indian soil, than 
 several native princes began to cast about how they 
 could induce the chiefs of the two establishments to 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS. 7 1 
 
 espouse their cause. One circumstance contributed 
 largely to the success of the idea which these chiefs 
 cherished. The treaty had left the French and English 
 in southern India with a far greater number of 
 European troops at their disposal than were required 
 for a peace establishment. Unless they could profit- 
 ably employ some of these, the respective Governors 
 of Pondichery and Madras, of Pondichery especially, 
 would be reduced to considerable straits to meet the 
 expenditure thereby caused. It was likely, then, that 
 any proposal from a native prince of position made 
 to Dupleix to hire the superabundant troops at his 
 disposal, either for payment in money or a grant of 
 territory, or for both combined, would meet with a 
 ready assent. The reader will have seen that the 
 battle of St. Thom^ had produced upon his mind an 
 effect greater even than it had produced on the minds 
 of the princes of the soil. It had opened out a vista 
 of supremacy scarcely bounded by the Vindhyan 
 range. He had already, in his imagination, so manipu- 
 lated the native princes as to acquire, first, a supreme 
 influence ; secondly, supreme power, south of that 
 range. He had felt quite certain that, sooner or 
 later, his assistance would be implored. Already 
 he had intimate relations with influential chiefs, 
 and he knew, far better than his rivals knew, how 
 to work their passions to the development of his 
 idea. Added to this, he had at his disposal a larger 
 number of European troops than the English could 
 muster ; he had trained, on the European model, a 
 
7a DUPLEIX 
 
 considerable number of sipahis, and he had, serving 
 under him, a small but select body of Maratha horse. 
 He was thus as ready to meet any demands the 
 native chiefs might present to'him^ as these were to 
 make them. 
 
 ' Nor were the English less ready, though from an 
 entirely diiferent cause. They cherished no ideas of 
 supreme influence and supreme authority in southern 
 India. But they were a practical people. They had 
 a superabundance of soldiers. There were many 
 places on the coast the possession of which would open 
 out to them great facilities for the extension of their 
 trade. They were as willing therefore as were the 
 French to lend their soldiers for a consideration. But 
 Q. it must be borne in mind that whilst, in the case of 
 the French, the main consideration was the increase of 
 political influence and political power, in that of the 
 English it was extension and expansion of commerce 
 
 It happened that whilst the rival nations were thus 
 eager to lend their troops, the state of southern India 
 was such that there was likely to be a multiplicity of 
 borrowers. And as it was evident that the two 
 people would not lend their men to the same prince, 
 it followed that the moment the applications should 
 be complied with, the French and English would be 
 arrayed in arms against one another, as completely, 
 though not as avowedly, as though no Treaty of Aix- 
 la-Chapelle had ever been signed. 
 
 In June, 1748, whilst the French and English were 
 combating in the vicinity of Pondichery and Fort 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 73 
 
 St. David, the Subahdar of the Deccan, Nizam-ul-Mulk, 
 had died, leaving a numerous family. Of his sons and 
 grandsons only one was regarded as having immediate 
 pretensions to succeed him. This was MuzafFar Jang, 
 the son of a daughter, whom he had nominated him- 
 self. His eldest son was filling a high office at the 
 court of Delhi; his second son, Nddir Jang, was a 
 debauchee whom he had disinherited ; and his three 
 younger sons were in the harem. The rights of 
 MuzafFar Jang to the succession had been confirmed 
 by an Imperial farmdn from the Emperor. 
 
 But, at the moment of the decease of the Subdhddr, 
 the nominated heir was absent at Bljdpur, whilst the 
 disinherited Nddir Jang was on the spot. The latter, 
 disregarding his father's will and the farman of the 
 Emperor, seized his father's treasures and had himself 
 proclaimed Subdhddr. Muzafiar Jang had at first the 
 idea of invoking the assistance of the Marathds, and 
 proceeded for this purpose to the court of Puna. 
 There he met Chanda Sahib, son-in-law of the Dost 
 All who had been Nuwab of the Karndtik, and who, 
 taken prisoner some eight years before by the Mara- 
 thas, had been kept since a prisoner from inability to 
 pay the ransom demanded. Chanda Sahib was per- 
 sonally allied with the French. iQupleix had received 
 and protected his wife and family at Pondichery, 
 where they stiU resided. The two princes soon be- 
 came friends, and, acting on the advice of Chanda 
 Sahib, Muzafiar Jang opened negotiations with Du- 
 pleix. He represented to him that there were at 
 
74 DUPLE IX 
 
 Fund two princes, one the legitimate heir to the 
 masnad of the Deccan, the other to the office of Nuw^b 
 of the Karnatik, and that they felt sure that with his 
 powerful aid they might recover the positions which 
 were their due. At the moment Dupleix was too 
 much occupied with the English to respond satis- 
 factorily to their requests, but no sooner had the 
 conditions of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle been carried 
 out in India, than he took the matter into most earnest 
 consideration. He saw at a glance that a favourable 
 response to the two suppliants would procure for him 
 the very opening he required ; that, if by his means, 
 Muzaffar Jang were to become Subahddr of the Deccan, 
 and Chandd Sahib Nuwab of the Karnatik, the two 
 most powerful princes in southern India— for Haidar 
 All had not then raised Mysore to the position it 
 attained under his tutelary genius —would become as 
 French in all their sympathies, in all their actions, 
 as though they were ruled from Pondichery. He 
 recognised, in fact, in the applications from Pun^ the 
 first step towards the realisation of his far-reaching 
 dream. 
 
 No sooner, then, were his hands free than he 
 guaranteed to the Peshwa the payment of the ransom 
 of 700,000 rupees on behalf of Chanda Sahib, and 
 promised both to that prince and to Muzaffar Jang 
 all the assistance which Pondichery could furnish 
 them in the carr^dng out of their schemes. Released 
 from captivity, Chandd Sdhib marched with a body 
 of 3000 men he had levied towai'ds the Karndtik, 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 75 
 
 having entered into an agreement with Dupleix 
 whereby he was to receive the aid of 2000 sipahis, 
 drilled in the European fashion, and 400 Frenchmen. 
 When he reached the frontier his own levies had in- 
 creased to 6000. There he was joined by Muzaffar 
 Jang at the head of 30,000 men. Towards the end 
 of July the French auxiliaries, to the number stipu- 
 lated, commanded by Bussy, afterwards to become 
 very famous, and by d'Auteuil who had distinguished 
 himself at the defence of Pondichery, found him at 
 the Damalcherri Pass in the district of North Arcot. 
 There they learnt that the actual Nuwdb, Anwdr-ud- 
 din, the same who had disputed the right of the 
 French to retain Madras, was with his two sons and 
 a force of 20,000 experienced soldiers, aided by sixty 
 European adventurers, waiting for them at Ambur, 
 in the same district. On Ambur, then, they marched, 
 sighted the Nuwdb's army on the 3rd of August, 
 attacked it, and obtained a complete victory. In the 
 heat of the battle Anwdr-ud-din was slain ; the eldest 
 son, Maphuz Khan, was taken prisoner ; the younger, 
 Muhammad All, destined to become famous through 
 the championing of his cause by the English, fled as 
 fast as he could ride to Trichinopoli. 
 
 The battle was decisive. The two princes sup- 
 ported by Dupleix became, in consequence of it, 
 masters of all the Karnatik, save Trichinopoli. 
 There remained, however, in addition to Trichinopoli, 
 Nadir Jang to be reckoned with. That prince was 
 in the field at the head of a considerable army. The 
 
76 DUPLEIX 
 
 question which presented itself to the two allies was 
 whether they should march at once against him, or 
 on Trichinopoli, thence to expel, if they could not 
 capture, Muhammad Ali. They decided on the latter 
 course. Between decision and execution, however, 
 there was a very wide difference. Instead of march- 
 ing direct on Trichinopoli, Chanda Sahib wasted a 
 considerable time in assuring himself of his new 
 dignity, then, accompanied by Muzaffar Jang, pro- 
 ceeded to pay a ceremonious visit to Pondichery. 
 Dupleix received them with the most brilliant display, 
 and completed the conquest abeady more than half 
 achieved of their hearts. The gratitude of Chandd, 
 Sahib was unbounded. He conferred upon Dupleix 
 the sovereignty of eighty-one villages adjoining the 
 French possessions, and made promises of still more 
 substantial donations. Muzaffar Jang was not less 
 lavish of promises, though for the moment he had 
 little to bestow, for Nadir Jang was in possession. 
 He stayed at Pondichery eight days; negotiated a 
 treaty with Dupleix for the furnishing him with an 
 auxiliary force of Frenchmen, and then set out to 
 join his army. Chandd Sahib, whose family Dupleix 
 had protected at Pondichery during the siege, re- 
 mained, partly on their account, but mainly to concert 
 measures with Dupleix. 
 
 It was, indeed, a decisive moment in the fortunes 
 of Chanda Sahib. The district of which the famous 
 fort of Trichinopoli was the capital adjoined the 
 South Arcot district, and, in those days, formed a 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 77 
 
 poi*tion of the territories of the Nuwab of the Karnatik. 
 The battle of Ambur had assured to Chanda Sahib 
 all the remainder. Of the districts which he claimed 
 Trichinopoli alone remained unconquered. He knew 
 the place well, for he had defended it against the 
 Marathas, and his surrender of it had cost him seven 
 years of captivity. Dupleix was very urgent with 
 him to march upon it without delay. Until he had 
 it, he told him, he could not reckon on maintaining 
 his position. It was above all necessary that the 
 Karndtik should be cleared of foes before the gi-eater 
 enterprise against Nddir Jang should be undertaken. 
 The remonstrances on the part of Dupleix against 
 delay were very urgent indeed. There were, however, 
 circumstances which seemed to Chanda Sahib so full 
 of the possibilities of danger on the one side, and so 
 replete with temptations on the other, that he long 
 hesitated as to the course he should follow. To enable 
 the reader to judge the position I must recount the 
 action of the English, during the period just covered 
 by the story. 
 
 I have stated that the Peace of Aix-Ia-Chapelle had 
 found the^ English, scarcely less than their rivals, 
 with a plethora of soldiers. A tempting offer made 
 to them by a pretender to the throne of Tdnjore to 
 cede to them the town of Devikota, advantageously 
 situated on the coast 120 miles south of Madras on 
 the Kolrun, the great northern artery of the Kaveri, 
 and to pay all the expenses of the war, was eagerly 
 grasped at, and in April, 1749, Captain Cope had 
 
78 DUPLEIX 
 
 been despatched with 430 English soldiers and 1000 
 sipahis to seat the pretender on the coveted throne. 
 Cope, after having been delayed on his way by a 
 terrible storm, had reached the northern bank of the 
 Kolrun, and had thence descried the reigning Kaja's 
 army, ready, not so much to dispute his passage as 
 to entice him into the difficult country beyond it. 
 Cope, however, had no intention of indulging their 
 fancies. His orders were to get possession of Devi- 
 kota. On that place accordingly he marched, expect- 
 ing to be supported by Admiral Boscawen, whose 
 fleet was still off the coast. But the same storm 
 which had delayed his march had greatly damaged 
 the English fleet, and when Cqpe arrived within a 
 mile of Devikota not a ship was to be seen. Cope, 
 whose character was not enterprising, after vainly 
 cannonading the place, retreated on Fort St. David. 
 But the English had set their hearts on Devikota. 
 They therefore despatched a fresh force of 800 British 
 troops and 1500 sipahis under the command of the 
 capable Stringer Lawrence with instructions to take 
 Devikota at any price. Lawrence stormed Devikota, 
 and, throwing over the pretender on whose behalf 
 the English had been nominally acting, made arrange- 
 ments with the ruling prince for its permanent cession 
 to the English Company. 
 
 It was about this time that Mr. Floyer, the Governor 
 of Madras, received tidings of the battle of Ambur 
 and its consequences. It seemed to him that he had 
 no choice but to recognise the prince in possession 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 79 
 
 and he accordingly recognised Chanda Sdhib. But 
 when he heard of the march of the new Nuwab on 
 Pondichery, and of his reception there, and when 
 about the same time he received imploring requests 
 from Muhammad All urging him to espouse his cause, 
 he hesitated for a moment whether he should recall 
 his recognition. Admiral Boscawen, smarting under 
 his repulse from Pondichery, promised to remain off 
 the coast with his fleet, if he would return a favour- 
 able reply to Muhammad All. But the risk was too 
 great. Floyer did not care to pledge all the resources 
 of the Presidency to the cause of a man who had 
 apparently but a very slight following. He refused 
 therefore the Admiral's offer. Boscawen then quitted 
 the coast with his ships (November i). 
 
 Chanda Sahib had felt nervous and ill at ease so 
 long as Boscawen remained off the coast. But no 
 sooner had information reached him that the English 
 fleet had sailed, than, quite relieved from his feai's, 
 he set out from Pondichery with an army 20,000 
 strong, accompanied by Muzaffar Jang, and aided ^ 
 by 800 Frenchmen, 300 Africans, and a train of 
 artillery, in the direction of Trichinopoli. 
 
 Had Chandd Sahib only kept in view the one aim 
 carefully instilled into his mind by Dupleix, he would 
 have carried into action that great principle of the 
 capable general, and have concentrated upon the 
 decisive point of the campaign a force large enough 
 to overcome all opposition. Had he marched, that is 
 to say, directly on Trichinopoli, that place, feebly 
 
8o DUPLE IX 
 
 garrisoned by native troops, could not have offered 
 a successful resistance. Dupleix had recognised this, 
 and, counting on the carrying out of the plan he had 
 carefully prepared, he regarded the departure of his 
 guest's army for Trichinopoli as decisive of the war. 
 His anger, rage, and disappointment may therefore be 
 imagined when he received information, first, that 
 Chanda Sahib had turned away from the road to 
 Trichinopoli, to attack Tanjore ; and, secondly, that 
 when he had arrived before that place, instead of 
 attempting a surprise which could scarcely have 
 failed, he had entered into negotiations with its 
 Rdjd, thus giving time to that prudent prince to 
 strengthen his defences and to send to Nadir Jang 
 for assistance. Angry as he was at the divergence 
 from his plans, Dupleix recognised but one mode of 
 repairing the mistake, and that was to assault and 
 capture the place. He despatched instructions, then, 
 to Duquesne, who commanded the French contingent, 
 in that sense, and to Chandd, Sahib, the most urgent 
 request to support the attack with his whole force. 
 The assault made in consequence of these instructions 
 reduced the Rdjd, to extremity. He hauled down 
 his flag, and submitted to the onerous terms, limited 
 chiefly to a large money payment, imposed upon him. 
 But when the terms had been agreed to he put in 
 action every wile of which he was master to delay 
 the handing over of the coin, sending messengers to 
 Nddir Jang to hasten his march. Chanda Sdhib, 
 despite the pressing entreaties of Dupleix, allowed 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 8 1 
 
 himself to be cajoled. He was detained by promises 
 before Tanjore until Nadir Jang had entered the 
 Karnatik. Then, thoroughly aroused, he would have 
 attempted to storm the town ; but his troops, alarmed 
 by the near approach of Nadir Jang, not only refused 
 to follow him, but broke up without orders, and fell 
 back on Pondichery. 
 
 This was a blow which for the moment shattered the 
 plans of Dupleix. The position, indeed, was now 
 inverted. For, whereas, but a few weeks before, 
 his ally had possessed all the Karnatik except 
 Trichinopoli, the whole of that province had now 
 fallen into the hands of Nddir Jang, who, with an 
 enormous army, estimated at 300,000 men, had 
 arrived at Valddvur, just nine miles from Pondichery. 
 The English, too, had now recognised Muhammad Ali 
 as the true Nuwdb, and that prince was likewise 
 present. A few days later, April 2, Major Lawrence, 
 with 600 Englishmen under his command, joined 
 Nadir Jang. 
 
 The occasion was one to test to the very core the 
 stuff that was^in a man. The weapons of Dupleix had 
 broken in his hand, not from any fault or want of skill 
 on his part, but because the weapons themselves were 
 defective. It is not the faillt of the swordsman if 
 his sword-blade suddenly snaps ; nor of the infantry 
 soldier if his bayonet bends in the thrust. Chanda 
 Sahib had snapped like the sword-blade, and, at the 
 moment, all the French superior military officers were 
 bending bayonets. Duquesne had died before Tanjore." 
 
 F 
 
8a DUPLEIX 
 
 Goupi], who had succeeded him, was incapacitated by 
 illness. The next officer, D'Auteuil, a good officer in 
 a secondary position, was totally unfitted to lead in 
 chief. Yet on this occasion, for want of a known 
 better man, it was necessary to employ D'Auteuil. 
 It would never do, argued Dupleix, to sit quietly in 
 Pondichery, as if overawed, in the presence of an 
 enemy within nine miles of the capital. There was 
 but one mode, his long experience told him, of meeting 
 Asiatics, and that was to affront them in the field. 
 He could muster 2000 French soldiers and a respect- 
 able force of sipahis, and the troops of Chanda Sdhib 
 and of Muzaffar Jang were there. Upon this principle, 
 then, he would act. Accordingly he despatched all the 
 troops at his disposal^ except a few for the routine 
 duties, with instructions to take up a position oppo- 
 site to that of the enormous force of Nadir Jang, and, 
 if occasion should ofier, to attack it. • Meanwhile, he 
 endeavoured, by the means at which he was an adept, 
 to win over Nadir Jang to French interests. 
 
 Again did his weapon break in his hand. D'Auteuil, 
 who commanded the French contingenjb, had planned 
 a surprise of the enemy when, on the eve of the 
 night on which he had decided to strike the blow, 
 his officei-s announced to him that neither they nor 
 their men would follow him. The unfortunate issue 
 of the attempt on Tanjore, and the disappointment 
 engendered by the failure to receive the promised 
 prize-money there, had produced a discontent so deep- 
 seated as to determine the officers and men not to 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 83 
 
 fight. Nay more, they insisted on retreating. This 
 they did during the night, leaving eleven guns and 
 forty men behind them. Chanda Sahib accompanied 
 them, commanding the rear-guard to cover the re- 
 treat. Muzaffar Jang surrendered to the tender 
 mercies of his uncle, who promptly had him hand- 
 cuffed and placed in confinement. 
 
 The retreat was not a very happy one. It was 
 discovered early in the morning, and the Mardthd 
 horse, dashing in pui*suit, caught up the demoralised 
 army before it had entered Pondichery, and killed 
 nineteen Frenchmen. The foiiiy who had been left 
 behind met the same fate. 
 
 ' It is easy to imagine,' writes Dupleix in his Me- 
 moirs, * what was the mortification of Dupleix ^ when 
 he was informed of all the details of the conduct of 
 our cowardly officers, and further, to complete his 
 misfortunes, that Muzaflfar Jang had been taken pri- 
 soner and placed in ii'ons by Nddir Jang.' But never 
 was Dupleix greater than when confronted by difficul- 
 ties which would have overwhelmed ordinary men. 
 The arrival of the fugitives had given him the first 
 intimation of the discontent which had produced the 
 mutiny. In the crisis, he behaved with a vigour and 
 an energy which produced the best results. He placed 
 D'Auteuil under arrest for retreating without orders, 
 the officers who had been the ring-leaders he brought 
 to trial, the men he addressed in a tone and in a 
 manner which speedily brought them to a condi- 
 * Dupleix wrote in the third person. 
 F 2 
 
84 DUPLE IX 
 
 tion of shame and repentance. They implored to be 
 allowed an opportunity of recovering their good name. 
 Whilst thus dealing with his troops, he sent two 
 envoys to treat with Nadir Jang. With that prince 
 his tone was as haughty as though it were he who 
 was dictating terms. He demanded that no one of 
 the family of Anwdru'-din should be recognised as 
 Nuwdb of the Karnatik, and that to the children of 
 Muzafiar Jang should be given the estates of their 
 father. Whilst thus openly asserting himself, he sent 
 skilled native diplomatists to intrigue with some of 
 the most powerful nobles in the camp of Nddir Jang. 
 The result of their efforts will appear in due course. 
 
 Nddir Jang refused the propositions of Dupleix. 
 But his emissaries, who had been seven days in the 
 camp of the Subdhddr, had not been idle. He him- 
 self had employed those seven days in the reorganisa- 
 tion of his army. Some officers had been reduced. 
 Others had expressed the most fervent contrition. 
 The men were eager to wipe out the memory of their 
 misconduct by brilliant service. D'Auteuil had com- 
 pletely vindicated himself, and had been restored to 
 command. Among the officers of the force, Dupleix 
 had especially marked the bearing and action of a 
 young major named De la Touche, and he had resolved 
 to trust him with command. His design was to 
 surprise the camp of Nadir Jang, and, in concert with 
 the nobles his emissaries had gained, to restore the 
 vanished prestige of Pondichery. The duty was en- 
 trusted to De la Touche. That brilliant young officer 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 85 
 
 set out with 300 Frenchmen the night after the return 
 of the envoys from Valdavar, surprised the camp 
 about three o'clock in the morning, and returned to 
 Pondichery before the paucity of his numbers could 
 be perceived. His men had killed 1300 of the enemy, 
 and had lost bht thi'ee of their own number. But the 
 blow had had all the effect Dupleix had hoped from 
 it. It so frightened the Subahdar that he made a 
 hasty retreat on Arcot, whilst Lawrence fell back with 
 his English on Fort St. David. 
 
 By the retreat of Nadir. Jang, Muhammad Ali was 
 left without support, close to the fortified pagoda of 
 Tiruvadi, some thiiteen miles fi'om Fort St. David. 
 D'Auteuil, making a night march with 500 men, seized 
 that fortified pagoda ; and, placing in it a garrison of 
 seventy men, of whom twenty were French, esta- 
 blished himself firmly on the Pandr. Muhammad 
 Ali, alarmed, sent pressing messages alike to Nadir 
 Jang and the English for aid. The former sent him 
 20,000 men, the latter a detachment of 400 Englishmen 
 and 1500 sipahis under Captain Cope. It happened 
 that the Governor, Mr. Floyer, had been removed 
 from his office, and Major Lawrence had been ordered 
 to take his place, pending the arrival of the new 
 Governor, Mr. Saunders, from Viszagatam. He had 
 no choice, therefore, but to send Cope in command. 
 
 Thus strengthened, Muhammad Ali marched against 
 Tiruvadi. Alarmed by the formidable appearance it 
 presented, he turned then to the French camp, and 
 cannonaded the position taken up by D'Auteuil. But 
 
86 DUPLE IX 
 
 that officer was on the alert, and replied so warmly 
 that the assailants, after losing many men, fell back 
 discouraged. During their retreat a difference of 
 opinion broke out between the two leaders, which 
 culminated in the return of the English to Fort St. 
 David, and in the encamping of Muhammad All, 
 desirous of persuading the English to accompany him 
 to Arcot, on the Pandr, between Tiruvddi and Fort 
 St. David, the river in his rear. 
 
 Not a born soldier, nor gifted with the divine 
 power — possessed in the highest degree of perfection 
 by the rival who was to thwart all his plans — of 
 carrying into execution plans suggested by his genius, 
 Dupleix recognised on the instant the falseness of the 
 position taken by Muhammad All, and he resolved to 
 make him pay the penalty. Accordingly, he sent 
 orders to D'Auteuil to break up his camp and move 
 on Tiruvadi. There, he told him, he would be joined 
 by 1200 Frenchmen and 2500 sipdhis led by De la 
 Touche, and by 1000 horse under Chandd, Sahib. At 
 the head of the combined force he was to march at 
 once to surprise Muhammad Ali. D'Auteuil carried 
 out his orders to the letter ; stormed on the ist of Sep- 
 tember the camp of the pretender, though defended 
 by 20,000 men, and di'ove the enemy in headlong 
 flight towards Gingi. Muhammad Ali, followed by 
 two attendants only, fled to Arcot. The loss of his 
 followers was considerable. The French did not lose 
 a single man. 
 
 D'Auteuil, instructed by Dupleix, followed up the 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 87 
 
 blow. Bussy was detached to inarch on Gingi, a 
 town and fortress fifty miles distant, considered the 
 strongest in South Arcot, and believed to secure to 
 its possessor the command over that province. The 
 natives regarded it as impregnable, for it had baffled 
 even the famous Sivaji. Against this place Bussy 
 marched on the 3rd of September with 250 Frenchmen 
 and 1500 sipdhis, arrived within three miles of it on 
 the nth, defeated the troops in front of it, the 
 remnants of the army of Muhammad All, the same 
 day; and, following up his victory, gained the town 
 before nightfall. There remained still the strong 
 fortress, which consisted of citadels on the summits of 
 three steep mountains, covered by a cordon of ad- 
 vanced works. Waiting till the moon should have 
 hidden her light, Bussy, with three picked detachments, 
 escaladed these simultaneously, and won them. As 
 the day broke, his men had just gained the last citadel. 
 It was a splendid performance, the like of which had 
 never before been witnessed in India. 
 
 It made a great impression. It roused Nddir Jang 
 from the careless dissipation of his easy life. It 
 terrified Muhammad All. It produced the general 
 conviction that the French were irresistible. Nadir 
 Jang had been just roused from his lethargy, when 
 his terror was increased by the news that D'Auteuil 
 was marching on Arcot. The next day brought him 
 a letter from Dupleix, demanding the release of 
 Muzaffar Jang and his restoration to the appoint- 
 ments he had held in his ojrandfather's lifetime, the 
 
88 DUPLEIX 
 
 recognition of Chandd Sahib as Nuwab of the Karnatik, 
 and the cession to the French of the town of Masuli- 
 patam. The first of these conditions meant, the 
 Subahdar considered, the release of a man who would 
 at once pose as a rival to himself. Rather than that, 
 it was better to risk the result of war. Accordingly, 
 he marched with an army of upwards of 100,000 men in 
 the direction of Gingi. For about two months the 
 operations of both armies were prevented by an un- 
 usually fierce rainy season. These months were 
 employed by Dupleix in constant secret correspond- 
 ence with the powerful chiefs who formed the back- 
 bone of Nadir Jang's army, and who, he well knew, 
 bore him personally no good- will. Finally, before the 
 rainy season had ended, he had entered into a con- 
 vention with these, that if Nadir Jang should still 
 refuse acceptance of the terms oflfered by Dupleix, 
 they should turn against him in the crisis of the 
 first battle. Even the minor details, regulating 
 the very moment of theii- defection, were carefully 
 settled. 
 
 The inaction, forced upon him by the heavy rainy 
 season, combined with the prospect of a long and 
 hazardous campaign against an enemy so formidable 
 as the French, produced a revulsion in the mind of 
 N^dir Jang. So long as hostilities should last his 
 presence in camp was necessary, and to a man of his 
 sensual nature camp-life was an abhorrence. He 
 wrote, then, early in December, to Dupleix, to oflfer to 
 agree to the terms the latter had proposed three 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 89 
 
 months earlier. Dupleix, regarding only the direct 
 aim of all his negotiations — the establishment of 
 French predominance in Southern India — and not 
 very confident of the chances of war, wrote at once to 
 D'Auteuil to suspend military operations pending the 
 receipt of further instructions. But, meanwhile, a 
 change had taken place in the command of the French 
 auxiliaries. A severe attack of gout had compelled 
 D'Auteuil to quit the army, and his place had been 
 taken by the young and brilliant De la Touche. 
 That officer had been careful to maintain the secret 
 correspondence with the disaffected nobles of the 
 Subdhddr's army which Dupleix had initiated. From 
 these he learned the nature of the terms sent by 
 Nadir Jang to Pondichery, and the assurance that 
 they were not intended to be adhered to, and that it 
 was advisable to act at once. Under the circum- 
 stances, De la Touche considered himself justified in 
 acting upon his earlier instructions. Transmitting 
 then a reply to Dupleix that his orders had arrived 
 too late, for that he had arranged with his friends in 
 the Subahddr's camp to act that night (December 15), 
 he set out at the head of 800 Frenchmen, 3000 
 sipahis, and ten guns, for that camp. At four o'clock 
 in the morning he sighted it, and attacked. At first, 
 he carried all before him. But, in the very crisis of 
 the action, he noticed advancing towards his left flank 
 a body of some 20,000 men. Were these enemies, he 
 would be ruined, for retreat was impossible. Very 
 soon, however, he recognised the signal pre-arranged by 
 
90 DUPLE IX 
 
 the chiefs he had won over. The two armies joining, 
 then made for the part of the field in which Nadir 
 Jang was to be found. That prince, relying upon his 
 dispatch to Dupleix, had not, at the first alarm, 
 believed in the reality of the attack. When the fact 
 could be no longer doubted, he took his station in the 
 part of the field where his guns were posted, seated 
 on his elephant. Near him, seated also on an elephant, 
 but attended by an executioner who had orders to 
 behead him on the first symptom of treason, was his 
 nephew, Muzafi*ar Jang. Suddenly he noticed a falling 
 back of his immediate troops, accompanied by a great 
 commotion. He inquired the cause, and realising 
 that some of his nobles had turned against him, he 
 made a sign to the executioner to slay his victim. 
 The man delayed ; and, at the moment, the Nuwab of 
 Cuddapah, one of the leading rebels, approached the 
 Subdhddr, shot him through the heart, and, having 
 ordered an attendant to cut ofi* his head^ placed it at 
 the feet of Muzafiar Jang. 
 
 For that prince, the proteg^ of Dupleix, the friend 
 of Chanda Sdhib, there was thus an instant transition 
 from a prison to a throne. He was at once recognised 
 as Subdhddr of the Deccan. There was not a man 
 in the army of his uncle who did not at once transfer 
 to him his allegiance. Bussy, who had been sent by 
 De la Touche to convey his congratulations, found the 
 recent prisoner sitting in state surrounded by his 
 nobles. When, the same evening, De la Touche paid 
 his respects in person, Muzafiar Jang announced to 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 91 
 
 him his intention of proceeding at once to Pondichery, 
 to obtain the advice of the illustrious man who ruled 
 there. 
 
 To Dupleix the news of the victory had come as a 
 startling but most welcome surprise. He had not 
 dared to hope for it, so impossible had it seemed to 
 him. Yet it was in very deed the direct result of his 
 own policy. He had first stretched out the hand to 
 Muzaffar Jang. He had organised the conspiracy 
 against his uncle. For a moment, so dark appeared 
 the prospects of Muzaffar Jang, he was inclined to 
 make terms with that uncle. The daring of De la 
 Touche had saved him from that error. And now, 
 his policy was triumphing all along the line. A 
 French prot^g^ was Subahddr of the Deccan. A French 
 prot^g(3 would soon become Nuwdb of the Karndtik. 
 The English, without a leader, for Lawrence had left 
 for England, and the superlative merits of Clive had 
 not as yet been discovered, were crouching at Fort 
 St. David. Their ally. Nadir Jang, was dead. Their 
 proteg^, Muhammad All, had, after many difficulties, 
 succeeded in reaching Trichinopoli, but without a 
 following. Never had policy triumphed more com- 
 pletely than had the policy of Dupleix. 
 
 The visit of the new Subahddr to Pondichery only 
 confirmed his power. The victory over Nddir Jang 
 had brought vast riches to Pondichery, for the spoils 
 were enormous. But those spoils were the least 
 valued of the results. At the first formal meeting 
 with Dupleix, Muzaffar Jang, in open darbdr, conferred 
 
g2 DUPLE IX 
 
 upon the French Governor the title of Nuwab of the 
 territories between the river Krishna and Cape Co- 
 morin, including Maisur and the entire Karnatik ; he 
 bestowed upon him as a personal gift the village 
 of Valdavar, with the lands depending on it ; he 
 created him a Commander of Seven Thousand, one of 
 the highest honours known under the Mughals ; he 
 directed that the French coins should be the recog- 
 nised currency of Southern India ; he confirmed the 
 sovereignty of the French Company over Masulipatam 
 and Yandon, and finally assured Dupleix that he was 
 the adviser to whom he would turn in all his political 
 actions. 
 
 The conduct of Dupleix on this occasion was marked 
 by a self-denial as politic as it was patriotic. Dupleix 
 was i;iot a self-seeker. His aim was the glory and 
 interest of France. In negotiating with native princes 
 he never allowed flattery or self-interest to turn him 
 from the direct line of policy he had marked out. 
 On this occasion he accepted with professions of 
 gratitude the personal honours conferred upon him : 
 he accepted for France the cession of territory about 
 Masulipatam and Yandon. But he did not, he felt he 
 could not, accept the title of Nuwab of the Karnatik. 
 Leading forward Chanda Sahib, he presented him to 
 the new Subdhdar as an old and tried friend upon 
 whom that honour had been already conferred, and 
 solicited confirmation of it. His renunciation pro- 
 duced the very best effect. Chanda Sdhib was at 
 once invested. But of the three principal actors 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 93 
 
 present at that interview Dupleix emerged from it 
 the most powerful in influence and prestige. 
 
 The battle gained by De la Touche had indeed * 
 enormously increased the power of the French. 
 Muzaffar Jang paid to them no less than 1,000,000 
 rupees in hard cash, one-half of which represented 
 the repayment of sums advanced. The territorial 
 acquisitions represented an income of nearly 400,000 
 rupees annually. Then a proposal, one for which 
 Dupleix had laid himself open and which he eagerly 
 accepted, came from the Subdhddr, the efiect of which 
 was to relieve the strain on the finances of Pondichery, 
 and to give the French a practical preponderance in 
 the counsels of the Subahddr at his capital. 
 
 This proposal took the form of a request that a 
 body of French troops commanded by a capable # 
 officer should accompany the Subahddr to his capital, 
 to be paid from his treasury, and to be always at his 
 disposal. Dupleix, recognising in this action a mode 
 of retaining permanent influence at the Court of the 
 Subahdar, at once acquiesced, and, De la Touche 
 having been invalided to Europe, nominated Bussy 
 for the post. The result showed that he could not 
 have made a better selection. 
 
 All arrangements having been made, Muzaffar 
 Jang prepared to march to Aurangabad, which 
 was at the time the favoured capital of the 
 Subahdars. Bussy, commanding 300 Frenchmen 
 and 1500 trained sipahis, was to accompany him. 
 The Subahdar set out on the 7th of January, 
 
94 DUPLEIX 
 
 1 751. Bussy started two days later, and joined him 
 on the 15th. Before the Subahdar had left, Muham- 
 mad All had made overtures for the surrender, under 
 certain conditions, of Trichinopoli. These conditions 
 had been accepted. Chanda Sahib remained thus 
 apparently without rival or competitor. 
 
 The policy of Dupleix had triumphed. He had 
 made French influence, not only preponderant, but 
 predominant, in Southern India. Yet, within a few 
 weeks a little cloud appeared on the horizon, which 
 was dissipated only by the decision and the cannon 
 of Bussy. The Nuwabs who had rebelled against 
 Nddir Jang soon began to intrigue against his 
 successor. But their treason was discovered, and 
 MuzafFar Jang, calling upon Bussy to follow him, 
 charged the rebel chiefs with his cavalry. The latter 
 held their ground until the French came up. Then, 
 in a few minutes, the rebels broke up, one of their 
 leaders lying dead on the field, another, the Nuwdb 
 of Cuddapah, grievously wounded. Him they at- 
 tempted to carry off. But MuzafFar Jang, resolved 
 that he should not escape, followed him. In the 
 pursuit he came upon a third confederate, the Nuw^b 
 of Karnul. Between the two and their immediate 
 followers a hand-to-hand contest ensued which 
 terminated in the death of both, MuzafFar Jang 
 being brained by a spear-thrust, and the Nuw^b 
 cut to pieces. 
 
 The crisis was one which might have the gravest 
 consequences for French interests. Had there been 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 95 
 
 on the spot a pretender of ability and influence to 
 take the place of the Subahdar and to declare himself 
 his successor; or, had Dupleix been represented on 
 the spot by any other than a man of first-rate capacity 
 and decision, it was quite upon the cards that the result 
 of the fighting and intrigues of the previous twelve 
 months might have been lost in an hour. But Bussy 
 was a man of first-rate capacity. He possessed a clear 
 brain, and an intuitive power of managing the natives 
 of India. To think on the moment, to decide on 
 the moment, to act on the moment — these were his 
 maxims. On this occasion he recognised on the 
 instant that all was likely to be lost unless he should 
 take the lead. He took it on the moment. I have 
 stated that when, in June, 1748, Niz^m-ul-Mulk, the 
 Subdhddr of the Deccan, died, he had left three 
 younger sons in the harem. The names of these were 
 SaMbat Jaug, Nizdm All, and Basdlat Jang. When 
 Nddir Jang had taken possession of his father's 
 territories, his first act had been to place these princes 
 in confinement. They were still in confinement when 
 Muzaffar Jang was killed. Bussy having decided to 
 take the lead, the problem he had to solve was 
 whether it was advisable in the interests of France to 
 proclaim the infant son of Muzaffar Jang to be 
 Subdhdar or to bestow the masnad on the eldest of 
 his uncles. Kecognising at a glance that in India 
 minorities always give incentives to intriguers, he 
 decided on the latter course. Hastily assembling the 
 principal nobles present, he unfolded to them his 
 
96 DUPLEIX 
 
 proposal and the reason for it, and obtained from 
 them general consent. That same day Salabat Jang 
 was released from confinement and proclaimed 
 Subdhdar of the Deccan. Again did Southern India 
 witness a prompt transition from a prison to a throne. 
 Thus, by a happy act of audacity and decision, did 
 Bussy retain for Dupleix all the advantages which he 
 had gained from his support of Muzaffar Jang. He 
 gained for him and for France others not less precious. 
 One of the first acts of the new Subahdar was to 
 join to the French possessions at Masulipatam the 
 territories depending on the towns of Nizampatnam, 
 of Kondavir, of Alamnavd,, and of Narsapur, in its 
 vicinity. He rebuilt for him the factories of Yanaon; 
 and he presented to Dupleix the town of Mafuz 
 Bandar (Chicacole), in the Ganjam district. A few 
 days later the new Subdhdar set his army in motion, 
 traversed in triumph the territories of the rebel 
 nobles, and finally entered Aurangdbad, June 29. 
 Here, in the presence of Bussy and the nobles of the 
 province, Salabat Jang, in virtue of a farman received 
 from Delhi, was solemnly invested with the dignities 
 appertaining to the oflSice of Subahdar of the Deccan. 
 In him Dupleix possessed, to the last hour of his life, 
 a true and admiring friend. 
 / By the means related in this chapter Dupleix had, 
 in the early days of 1751, brought French India to 
 the height of its glory and power. Through Bussy 
 and the Subahdar his influence was supreme in the 
 territories now known as the territories of the Nizdm. 
 
THE ZENITH OF HIS SUCCESS 97 
 
 It was soon to become supreme in the territories 
 called by the English the ' Northern Sirkars/ com- 
 prising Ganjam, Vizagapatam, Godavari, and Krishna. 
 It was supreme in the territories subsequently known 
 as the ' Ceded Districts,' comprising Cuddapah, 
 Karnul, and Belldry. Through Chanda Sahib, it was 
 equally supreme in the Karnatik, with the exception 
 of Trichinopoli, held by Muhammad Ali, and of 
 Tanjore, governed by its own prince. Excepted, too, 
 must be Madras and Fort St. David, in which, 
 however, at the moment, the EngHsh showed few 
 signs of life. Apparently their influence had sunk to 
 zero. For the moment, then, the astute ruler of 
 Pondichery had triumphed all along the line. He 
 could not detect the presence of the vestige of a cloud 
 on the horizon. His one enemy, Muhammad AH, had 
 offered to come into his scheme. The English were 
 inactive, and apparently hopeless of interfering with 
 his plans. What was there, then, which could 
 possibly prevent the successful development of his 
 far-reaching schemes % He could detect nothing. The 
 EngHsh equally could detect nothing. Yet, though 
 they knew it not, there was brooding amid the silence 
 of Fort St. David a man who did accomplish that 
 apparently impossible feat. 
 
CHAPTER Vn 
 
 The English are roused to Action 
 
 The pretender to the Karndtik, supported by the 
 English, had, we have seen, fled almost unattended 
 to Trichinopoli. Thence, hopeless of success, he had 
 made overtures to Dupleix, agreeing to recognise 
 Chanda Sahib as Nuw^b, and to surrender to him 
 Trichinopoli and its dependencies, on condition (i) 
 that the treasures left by his father should be restored 
 to him ; (2) that he should receive a subordinate pro- 
 vince in lieu of the Karnatik. Dupleix had accepted 
 the*se conditions, and had obtained from Muzaffar 
 Jang a promise to carry them out. When, however, 
 after the departure of Bussy and the Subahdar from 
 Pondichery, Dupleix pressed Muhammad Ali to 
 perform his part of the agreement, engaging to place 
 him at once in the position in which he had cove- 
 nanted to place him, Muhammad Ali first hesitated, 
 then asked for fresh guarantees. Meanwhile, he was 
 imploring the English to come to his aid. For four 
 months he implored in vain ; but when, at the end of 
 that period, he had wi'ung from them a promise of 
 substantive assistance in the event of his being 
 . attacked, he boldly threw off the mask and informed 
 
THE ENGLISH ARE ROUSED TO ACTION 99 
 
 Dupleix that he was resolved to maintain Trichinopoli 
 against him at all costs. This message decided 
 Dupleix. Eecognising the necessity of prompt action, 
 he despatched, in the month of March (1751), D'Auteuil ** 
 with 400 Frenchmen, a few Africans, and some guns, 
 to accompany the force of Chandd Sahib, from 7000 
 to 8000 strong, in its march to Trichinopoli, thence to 
 expel Muhammad All. 
 
 But Mr. Saunders, who then directed English 
 interests at Fort St. David, had been before-hand with 
 him. Once resolved to succour Muhammad All, 
 Saunders recognised the necessity of employing all his 
 force for that purpose. Were Chanda Sahib to take 
 that place, there would be no limit to the development 
 of the gigantic plans of Dupleix. Whilst then he had 
 despatched, early in February, Captain Cope with 280 
 Englishmen and 300 sipdhis to assist Muhammad All * 
 within Trichinopoli, he prepared another body com- 
 posed of 500 Englishmen, 100 Africans, and 1000 
 sipdhis, to be ready to act according as circumstances 
 might require. When, then, D'Auteuil and Chanda 
 Sahib quitted Pondichery in March, in the manner 
 and for the purpose already stated, Saunders de- 
 spatched the troops he had organised to follow and to 
 watch their motions. The English force was com- 
 manded by an officer of Swiss origin, named De 
 Gingen. 
 
 The instructions given by Saunders to De Gingen 
 were precised He was to watch the movements of the 
 enemy, but, recollecting the fact that France and 
 a 2 
 
lOO DUPLE IX 
 
 England were at peace, he was on no account to 
 attack them until he should have been joined by the 
 native levies of Muhammad AK. When that junction 
 should have been effected, the action of Muhammad 
 All would cover, morally, the action of the English. 
 ^ This convenient fiction, practised by the French and 
 English alike, permitted the representatives of two 
 nations at peace in Europe to wage deadly and 
 unremitting hostilities against each other in Southern 
 India. 
 
 I propose to relate here only those salient actions of 
 the rival field-forces which are necessary to the com- 
 prehension of the policy of Dupleix. It was at this 
 period, and during the periods that followed, his 
 misfortune to be badly served in the field. His best 
 general was with the Sub^hdd^r at Aurangabad, and 
 could not be spared from thence. D'Auteuil was 
 gouty 9,nd infirm, and had once before failed in his 
 hands. But he had advices from France that the 
 young and brilliant De la Touche, who had already 
 given proofs of more than ordinary capacity, would 
 sail that autumn from France with 700 tried men, 
 and he might be expected some time in 175^^. Law 
 of Lauriston, who had done well at the siege, and who 
 had on its conclusion proceeded home to recruit, was 
 due at any moment. Pending his arrival it was 
 scarcely possible, he thought, that D'Auteuil should 
 make a mistake, if he would only obey orders. 
 
 But D'Auteuil did not obey orders. He had ac- 
 companied Chanda Sahib but a few marches from 
 
THE ENGLISH ARE ROUSED TO ACTION lOX 
 
 Pondichery when he yielded to the solicitatione cf the 
 Nuwab to turn aside from the road to Trichmopoii, 
 and march into northern Arcot. The object of Chanda 
 Sahib was to obtain money and troops. He succeeded 
 in both objects; but, obUvious of the cardinal fact that, 
 in war, time is a main factor, he' had succeeded at the 
 cost of leaving Muhammad AH and the English 
 masters in the southern district, occupying various 
 posts and becoming daily more capable of offering 
 him a very solid resistance. 
 
 At length, his own levies raised to 17,000 men, 
 Chanda Sahib took the road to Trichinopoli, always 
 accompanied by D'Auteuil. But the delay had 
 been considerable, and it was not till the first 
 week of July that he came in sight of Volkondd, a 
 strongly fortified town thirty-eight miles to the 
 north-north-east of Trichinopoli. In front of it, on 
 the south-west face, apparently blockading it on that 
 side, was the joint army of Muhammad All and De 
 Gingen. 
 
 The English leader had been unable, in consequence 
 of the non-arrival of the levies of Muhammad All, 
 whose presence with him would alone legitimatise his 
 action, to carry out the intentions of Mr. Saunders. 
 When, at last, 1600 horsemen from Trichinopoli did 
 reach him, led by the brother of Muhammad AK, 
 De Gingen moved forwards, captured the fortified 
 pagoda of Vardachalam, and then marched on Vol- 
 konda. He arrived before it on the JZnd of July and 
 at once summoned it. But the Governor, who had not 
 
loa DUPLEIX 
 
 quite made up his mind as to the cause he should 
 espouse, learning that Chanda Sahib was approaching, 
 declined every offer, however persuasi\^e. Two days 
 later, Chandd, Sahib and D'Auteuil arrived. Towards 
 them, likewise, the Governor showed himself equally 
 inexorable. For a whole fortnight matters con- 
 tinued in this position, the English lying encamped 
 in a grove about a mile and a-half to the south-west 
 of the town, the French four miles to the north of it, 
 both parties bidding against each other with the 
 Governor, each afraid to attempt force lest the display 
 of it should induce the Governor to summon his rival 
 to his aid. De Gingen was the first to lose his 
 patience. On the 19th, he made all his preparations 
 to storm the place ; marched on it at nightfall, gained 
 the out-works, but failing in his main attack, deferred 
 further proceedings till the morning. But his action 
 had decided the Governor. Irritated by the attempt 
 made to force his hand, and dreading the result of the 
 renewed attack on the morrow, he despatched an 
 invitation to D'Auteuil to enter the town. The French- 
 man complied on the instant. "When then, early the 
 following morning, De Gingen led his men to the 
 assault, he was received by a well-directed fire from 
 behind the walls of the town, whilst another fire, 
 scarcely less formidable, poured upon his flank from 
 the guns of the allied enemies, who had remained in 
 the open. His men, panic-stricken by the cross-fire, 
 so utterly unexpected, turned tail and fled; abandoning 
 their native allies, and leaving one gun, several 
 
THE ENGLISH ARE ROUSED TO ACTION 103 
 
 muskets, and their camp equipage in the hands of the 
 victors. 
 
 Here was an opportunity ! Had Dupleix, like his 
 great rival, been endowed with the supreme faculty of 
 a great commander and been present; had Bussy 
 been there, or De la Touche ; or had there been a man | 
 in command who possessed the ordinary instinct of 
 the fighting soldier, the question of supremacy in 
 Southern India would have been decided on that 20th 
 of July. There was the English force, comprising, 
 within 300, the entire troops at the disposal of the 
 English Company, in full flight, having lost their guns, 
 their camp equipage, their supplies, their retreat* 
 covered by a rabble of native cavalry, who would 
 have dispersed at the first charge. Within a mile or 
 two of them was the victorious French force, flushed 
 with victory, at least equal in numbers, supported by 
 17,000 native troops commanded by the Nuwdb of 
 the Karndtik in person. To settle the question of 
 supremacy in Southern India it was requisite merely 
 that the French commander should utter but one 
 word — a word which inferior or timid commanders 
 are always unwilling to utter — a word, nevertheless, 
 which spoken when fighting against Asiatics has 
 never been known to fail — the word * Forward.' Let • 
 the reader realise the huddled mass of 500 Englishmen, 
 TOO Africans, and 1000 sipahis, hurrying from the 
 field under the July sun of Southern India, panic- 
 stricken and helpless, having abandoned everything. 
 For the moment they were cowed, unable to listen to 
 
I04 DUPLE IX 
 
 reason. Their leader was not much better : they all 
 expected to hear the sound of the enemy's guns 
 thundering in their rear. Had they heard that sound, 
 they could scarcely have escaped destruction. Then, 
 the French, marching rapidly on Trichinopoli, would 
 ^probably have secured that fortress without a blow, 
 and have firmly established their domination over 
 Southern India. 
 
 Why did not D'Auteuil, who, an old soldier, must 
 have known the great advantage to be ensured by 
 pursuing a panic-stricken enemy, — why did not D'Au- 
 teuil utter that one word ? The only answer that 1 
 can give is, that he was suffering at the moment from 
 a severe attack of gout. It is a reason, but not an 
 excuse, for bis inaction. Excruciating as may have 
 been his agony, he might have reasoned that Fortune 
 is very jealous of her favours ; that she does not often 
 vouchsafe them a second time to the man who may 
 have declined them when opportunely offered. But — 
 he did not reason : he preferred, at this crisis of the 
 fortunes of France in India, to remain idle ; to permit 
 the English to fall back towards that very Trichino- 
 poli which it was his mission to secure, and which 
 would thus be greatly strengthened by the addition 
 to its garrison of the very men whom it had been in 
 his power to destroy. Can we wonder that, a little 
 later, it should be that very Trichinopoli which 
 became the grave of the French ? 
 
 But Fortune, pitying the condition of D'Auteuil, 
 gave him a second chance. After a rest of twenty- 
 
THE ENGLISH ARE ROUSED TO ACTION 105 
 
 four hours, the French commander felt himself well 
 enough to follow, accompanied by Chanda Sahib, in 
 the direction taken by the English. A march of some 
 twenty miles brought him to Utatur. There he 
 beheld the English and their allies encamped in a 
 position not only assailable, but so badly chosen that 
 it would have been easy, with the superior native 
 forces at his disposal, to cut them off from Trichino- 
 poli. But instead of seizing promptly the favours 
 offered by the blind goddess, D'Auteuil was content to 
 dally with her. He took up a position not very far 
 from the English camp, and endeavoured to entice 
 them from their position. He so far succeeded that 
 on the second day he drew a detachment of them into 
 an ambuscade, and inflicted upon them no small loss. 
 Encouraged by this, he arranged with Chanda Sahib 
 for an attack in force the day following. It was 
 agreed between the two leaders that whilst Chanda 
 Sdhib should lead the attack with clouds of cavalry 
 the French infantry should follow it up and make 
 it decisive. Here was an opportunity which, with 
 ordinary care, might have atoned for the sluggishness 
 after the rout of Volkonda. But, by some fatality, 
 either Chanda Sahib attacked too soon or the French 
 came up too late, for the attack was repulsed. It had 
 the effect, however, of convincing De Gingen that he 
 could not with safety remain where he was. That 
 night, therefore, he broke up his camp ; and, marching 
 for twelve hours, did not halt until he had reached 
 the banks of the river K61run, facing Trichinopoli. 
 
Io6 DUPLEIX 
 
 But, this time, D'Auteuil was on the alert. Six 
 hours after De Gingen had quitted his position at 
 Utatur, the French and their allies were on their track ; 
 and, marching as rapidly, encamped within three 
 miles of them at eight o'clock that evening. The 
 position of the English was full of danger. The 
 country had declared for Chandd Sahib, whose army 
 was increasing every step, and here was De Gingen, 
 encamped with dispirited troops, far fewer in number, 
 on the northern bank of an unfordable river, within 
 three miles of them. It was, moreover, still open to 
 the enemy, by making a not very wide detour, to cut 
 him off from the fortress. He resolved not to stay a 
 single night in such a position. Risking an attack 
 which, judging from the previous conduct of D'Auteuil, 
 he felt confident would not be made, he collected boats, 
 and before the next day had dawned, had crossed to 
 Srirangam, a large island, fourteen miles by two, 
 formed by the division of the Kolrtin and the Kaveri 
 into two branches about eleven miles west of Trichi- 
 nopoli. He did not consider himself safe even here, 
 for, noting the preparations made by the French to 
 follow him, he, on the night of the second day, crossed 
 the Kdveri and encamped under the walls of the 
 fortress. D'Auteuil at once took possession of the 
 island and attempted thence to bombard the foi'tress. 
 But the distance, a fraction over two miles and a half, 
 was too great. D'Auteuil then crossed the Kaveri, 
 and took post in front of the rock known as the 
 French Bock, a mile and three-quarters to the east of 
 
THE ENGLISH ARE ROUSED TO ACTION 107 
 
 the Fort Kock. He was there making preparations, 
 the success of which he did not doubt, for the English 
 were in the last stage of discouragement, when 
 Dupleix, responding to his repeated requests, sent 
 Law of Lauriston to relieve him. Law, whose conduct 
 at the siege of Pondichery had attracted favourable 
 attention, had but just returned from France, full of 
 health and vigour. He was untried as a commander 
 in the field, but his splendid conduct in a subordinate 
 position had impressed the public with the belief that 
 he would acquit himself well when he should hold the 
 responsibility of command. Alas I It was the case of 
 Berthier. The two positions require the possession 
 of qualities widely differing. The general must be 
 cool, careless of responsibility, ready to think and act 
 on the moment. The subordinate need only be brave, 
 prompt to execute the designs of another, intelligent 
 enough to comprehend the diift of the orders he may 
 receive. Law, excellently qualified to fill the second ♦ 
 post, was of all the men who served Dupleix the most 
 unfit for the first. He was hesitating, weak of pur- 
 pose, vacillating, and fearful of responsibility. His 
 first act on assuming command was to turn the siege 
 into a blockade. Commanding, as he did, all the 
 approaches to Trichinopoli from the Coromandel coast 
 he believed it would be easier to starve out his enemy 
 than to expel him. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances his reasoning might 
 have been sound. But in war a commander is bound 
 to take into account the workings of time. Law had 
 
lo8 DUPLEIX 
 
 deliberately chosen the method which would require 
 a period extending over months, and it was always 
 possible that during those months events might occur 
 to disturb his calculations. So it happened on this 
 occasion. There had accompanied the English force 
 to Volkonda, in the capacity of Commissary, a young 
 writer of the English Company who had already, as a 
 volunteer, given some proofs of conduct. This writer 
 had been greatly disgusted with the leadership of De 
 Gingen on the occasion of his attack on Volkondd. 
 He had his own ideas as to the way war should be 
 conducted. Regarding failure as certain, if the system 
 then followed should be persevered with, he had quitted 
 the force before it reached the Kobun, and proceeded 
 to Fort St. David to lay his plans before Mr. Saunders. 
 The name of this officer was Robert Clive. 
 
CHAPTER Vin 
 Robert Clivb 
 
 Robert Clive was a young Englishman of the 
 middle class who, born in 1725, and regarded by his 
 relatives on his attaining manhood as utterly un- 
 tractable, had been shipped off to Madras, in 1743, 
 as a writer in the service of the East India Company. 
 At Madras he had earned the character of being 
 sullen, unsociable, and haughty; had on one occasion 
 behaved with such marked insolence towards his 
 superiors that he was compelled to apologise, and on 
 another had attempted his own life. Prior to the 
 attack on Madras by La Bourdonnais he would seem 
 to have attached to himself but one friend. That 
 friend was the Governor, Mr. Morse. Clive was aware 
 that he had neglected his education in early life. 
 Under the auspices of Governor Morse, he endeavoured 
 to supply the deficiency by availing himself of the 
 well-stored library which that gentleman was glad to 
 place at his disposal. 
 
 When Madras surrendered to the French, Clive had 
 fled in disguise to Fort St. David. When subsequently 
 Boscawen laid siege to Pondichery he served as a 
 volunteer with the besieging force, and, to use the 
 
no DUPLE IX 
 
 words of a contemporary writer, * by his gallant con- 
 duct gave the first prognostic of that high military 
 Bpirit which was the spring of his future actions^/ 
 Subsequently, he accompanied Major Stringer Law- 
 rence, also as a volunteer, in the attack on Devikota, 
 1749, and there, in the leading of the storming party, 
 distinguished himself by his coolness and intrepidity. 
 Referring subsequently to this period of his career. 
 Major Lawrence, himself a man of remarkable ability 
 and a distinguished soldier, thus wrote of his subor- 
 dinate : ' A man of an undaunted resolution, of a cool 
 temper, and a presence of mind which never left him 
 in the greatest danger. Born a soldier, for, without 
 a military education of any sort, or much conversing 
 with any of the profession, from his judgment and 
 good sense he led an army like an experienced officer, 
 with a prudence that certainly warranted success. 
 This young man's early genius surprised and engaged 
 my attention, as well before as at the siege of Devi- 
 kota, where he behaved in courage and judgment 
 much beyond what could have been expected from 
 his years, and his success afterwards confirmed what I 
 had said to many people concerning him.' 
 
 For his conduct at Devikota Clive was transferred 
 to the military service of the Company, and nominated 
 Commissary to the Army. Very shortly after this 
 nomination the break- down of his health compelled 
 
 * Journal of the Siege of Pondichery, republished in the Asiatic AnntuU 
 Register for 1802. It is from this journal that Mr. Orme obtained 
 his materials for that portion of his history. 
 
ROBERT CLIVE III 
 
 him to take a sea- trip to the Hugli. On his return, 
 in the cold season of 175 1, he was directed to accom- 
 pany as Commissary the force which was despatched 
 under De Gingen to watch the action of Chandd Sdhib 
 and the French, and the adventures of which I have 
 told in the last chapter. 
 
 As Commissary of De Gingen's force, Clive had no 
 influence in the direction of its operations. But that 
 he highly disapproved of his superior's action is clear 
 from the fact that he quitted the force to lay before 
 the Governor of Fort St. David his reasons for the 
 adoption of an entirely difFereDt system. 
 
 The Governor of Fort St. David, a fit associate of 
 Stringer Lawrence, listened sympathisingly to the 
 plan suggested by Clive. His fame has been over- 
 shadowed by the greater glory attaching to the name 
 of the young counsellor who was explaining to him in 
 the autumn of 175 1 the plans which, properly carried 
 out, would baffle all the hopes of Dupleix, but he was 
 nevertheless a fii'st-rate representative of that middle- 
 class which won India for the Crown. A weaker 
 man would have hesitated. My memory can recall 
 hundreds of those I have met who would have abso- 
 lutely refused to act on the suggestions of the young 
 Commissary, for the situation was bristling with 
 difficulties. Saunders had neither officers nor men at 
 Fort St. David. His principal force was shut up in 
 Trichinopoli, closely invested by an enemy superior in 
 force, and subjected, or likely to be subjected, to all 
 the horrors of famine. It was a positive necessity, 
 
11% DUPLEIX 
 
 then, that any troops which might arrive from 
 England should be utilised for the despatch to the 
 beleaguered fortress of the urgently required stores. 
 Just at the moment a handful of troops arrived. 
 These, 80 in number, accompanied by 300 sipahis, 
 Saunders despatched, in charge of stores, to Trichi- 
 nopoli. A second small detachment was despatched 
 under Captain Clarke, Clive accompanying him, to 
 the same fortress. Both detachments succeeded in 
 eluding the vigilance of the French and in joining 
 their comrades. His visit to Trichinopoli only con- 
 firmed the ideas which had germinated in the mind of 
 Clive. He found the garrison in the last stage of 
 despondency, hopeless of relief, ready to surrender. 
 He, a civilian just appointed officer, for he had been 
 nominated Captain before quitting Fort St. David, 
 had less than no influence with the commanders. 
 There was nothing but contempt for the civilian who 
 presumed to lecture soldiers on tactics. He returned, 
 then, after the stay of a few days, to Fort St. David, 
 to press more strongly than ever on Mr. Saunders the 
 one plan which could save the English. 
 
 Saunders had already admitted the supreme force 
 of the arguments of his young counsellor. At the 
 time of Clivers previous visit he did not possess the 
 necessary materials to act on them. But on the 
 second, Clive found, to his delight, a garrison which, 
 united to that at Madras, raised the number of troops, 
 all told, to the total of 350. Some of these Saunders 
 must retain for garrison purposes. Could he, himself 
 
ROBERT CLIVE 
 
 "3 
 
 a civiliaD, entrust the remainder to the charge of a young 
 man, untrained in war, for the purpose of invading 
 a province containing i ,500,000 inhabitants ? It was to 
 take upon his shoulders an enormous responsibility. 
 To the lasting honour of Saunders, to the lasting ad- 
 vantage of his country, he did not shrink from that 
 responsibility. By his orders, then, Clive set out 
 from Madras, the 26th of August, 1751, with a force 
 of 200 Englishmen, 300 sipahis, and three small guns, 
 to invade the province of North Arcot. 
 
 It would be foreign to the design of this book to 
 relate the details of the wonderful march of Clive. It 
 must suffice to state that he executed to the letter the 
 plans which had suggested themselves to his daring 
 mind. He captured Arcot, the capital of the Karnatik, 
 and held it for fifty days against an army enormously 
 out-numbering his own scanty levies alike in Euro- 
 peans and natives. Not content with that, no sooner 
 had he recognised that the siege had been raised, than 
 he sallied forth in pursuit of the whilom besiegers, 
 found them at Arni, attacked, and completely defeated 
 them. Thence, having struck a blow which was felt 
 throughout Southern India, he returned by way of 
 Madras to Fort St. David, to concert further measures 
 with Mr. Saunders. 
 
 Of all those who had felt the blow struck by the 
 young Englishman, no one had realised its force 
 so keenly as Dupleix. But it was the glory of that 
 illustrious man that difficulties only incited him to 
 prompt and energetic action. Reading, as clearly as 
 
 H 
 
114 DUPLEIX 
 
 Clive himself, the full purport of the young English- 
 man's diversion, he had joined lOO Frenchmen to 
 the force detached by Chanda Sahib to retake Arcot. 
 At the same time he sent every available Frenchman, 
 down to the last recruit, and all his trained sipahis, to 
 strengthen Law before Trichinopoli. His hope was 
 that whilst the force sent to Arcot should keep Clive 
 and his following shut up, unable to aid the garrison, 
 Law, pressing Trichinopoli hard, should force its 
 surrender. With his force increased to 900 French- 
 men and 2000 trained sipahis, with the army of the 
 Nuwab increased to 30,000 men, this was no impossible 
 task for a resolute soldier. But Law, whilst he made a 
 great show of activity, would not depart from the line 
 he had laid down of a strict blockade. Bold in council, 
 he was timid, suspicious, unenterprising himself, and 
 checking enterprise in others in the field. Meanwhile, 
 the arrival of troops from Mysore to the assistance of 
 Muhammad All gave confidence to the garrison, and a 
 few small outpost successes which followed so far 
 raised their spirits that there was a talk of combining 
 a general attack on the French. De Gingen, however, 
 contented himself with despatching a party under 
 Cope to storm the little post of Krishna varain, about 
 thirty miles from Trichinopoli, but recently occupied 
 by the French and their allies. But in this attempt 
 the English and their native allies were repulsed, and 
 Captain Cope, who commanded the party, was mor- 
 tally wounded. 
 
 Again, then, did matters look well for Law. Coidd 
 
ROBERT CLIVE 115 
 
 he only have made up his mind to risk a little, his 
 superiority in numbers could scarcely have failed to 
 prevail. Recognising this, Dupleix sent him, first 
 entreaties, then commands. He told him that oppor- 
 tunities in war are rarely twice offered ; that to strike 
 whilst the enemy was reeling under his repulse from 
 Krishnavaram was the true policy, the only policy. 
 After much unnecessary hesitation. Law agreed, or 
 seemed to agree ; drew in his outposts, and made as 
 though he would attack. But the responsibihty was 
 too great for his weak moral nature. At the critical 
 moment he held back. Nor, when he received a de- 
 spatch from Pondichery telling him that, to ensure him 
 against molestation from Clive whilst he should be 
 assailing Trichinopoli, Dupleix was threatening North 
 Arcot and Madras, was he to be roused from his 
 apathy. 
 
 The information furnished by Dupleix to Law was 
 true. That great man, whose vision from the central 
 point he occupied never deceived him, who ever recog- 
 nised with the most perfect accuracy the thing which 
 ought to be done, though he rarely possessed the men 
 who would do it, had despatched 400 Frenchmen to 
 strengthen the levies of Chanda Sahib in Arcot, and 
 the combined forces were at the moment eating up the 
 country in the vicinity of Madras. To watch them, 
 Clive, who had hoped to be sent to relieve Trichinopoli, 
 was despatched with a few troops to Madras. Two 
 days after his arrival there, reinforcements from 
 Bengal landed. Having now at his disposal 380 
 H 2 
 
Il6 DUPLE IX 
 
 Englishmen and 1300 trained sipahis, he set out, 
 February 1%, 1752, to find his enemy. The latter, 
 more numerous, for they counted 400 Frenchmen and 
 4000 natives, of whom 2500 were horsemen, had 
 quitted the vicinity of Madras as soon as they had 
 heard of Olive's arrival there, and had marched towards 
 the fort of Arcot in the hope of surprising it. Failing 
 in that attempt, they had doubled back, confident that 
 Clive would soon be on their track, and, in the hope 
 of enticing him into an ambuscade, had taken post at 
 Kaveripak, in a strong position, which Clive must 
 traverse on his road to Arcot, and which he, with his 
 impetuous nature, would, they calculated, reach after 
 night had fallen. Their calculations had been made 
 with the greatest accuracy. Clive fell into the trap ; 
 reached the position just as darkness was setting in, 
 was completely surprised, was almost beaten ; when, 
 with the coolness and daring which characterised him, 
 he took advantage of the darkness to attempt the 
 strongest point of the hostile position, which, he 
 S thought, might have been left unguarded ; succeeded, 
 and changed a defeat into one of the most decisive 
 victories ever achieved. The victory of Kaveripak 
 changed the position in Southern India. It cleared 
 North Arcot of enemies, and enabled Clive to return 
 to Fort St. David to take part, under Stringer Law- 
 rence, in an expedition which was not only to relieve 
 Trichinopoli, but to render that fortress and the 
 country around it the grave of the soaring aspirations 
 of Dupleix. 
 
ROBERT CLIVE 117 
 
 Truly had that prescient man foreseen the result of 
 the timid action of Law. By his action in North 
 Arcot, action which a mere accident, as he had the 
 right to consider it, had caused to fail, he had procured 
 for his general before Trichinopoli the time to make 
 an assault which should be decisive. He could plead, ' 
 he could implore, he could order, but he could not 
 make Law fight. Not that Law was a coward. He 
 had displayed his courage on many a field. It was 
 the weight, the terrible weight, of moral responsibility 
 which paralysed him. No man can be pronounced 
 competent in action till he has been tried by that 
 test. Under it, the Law who had been so brilliant 
 when serving under another, was more useless than a 
 child. To Dupleix, the weakness of his lieutenant 
 caused a slow agony such as would have caused a man 
 less buoyant to despair. What could he do with a 
 man who had remained quiet whilst Kdveripdk was 
 being fought, and who now, with Trichinopoli in front 
 of him, was to be assailed by a fresh force led by the 
 two most capable commanders the English possessed ? 
 He could not replace Law, for he had no one at* 
 his disposal. Bussy was at Aurangdbdd, D'Auteuil 
 was still suffering, De la Touche was on the seas. 
 There was, however, some hope of success if Law 
 would but act. He occupied a central position, com- 
 manded the road from the coast ; was well served 
 by his native allies, and was still numerically 
 stronger. If Law would but utilise these advantages, 
 he might yet atone for the time wasted. Dupleix 
 
ii8 DUPLE IX 
 
 sent him then the most minute instructions, detailing 
 the strength of the English force, the road it 
 would take, the date of its departure, the fact that 
 its movements would be encumbered by the neces- 
 sity of escorting a large convoy, and then unfolded 
 
 ^ his plan. * Leave,' he wrote, ' but a screen of troops 
 before Trichinopoli ; mass the remainder, and, march- 
 ing eastwards, fall on the English relieving force 
 with your superior numbers, and destroy it; then 
 return, and make your decisive assault on the 
 place/ To help him in this operation, which, in 
 capable hands, had been perfectly feasible, he de- 
 spatched from Pondichery every available Frenchman 
 south of the Krishtna. 
 
 In the despatch of Dupleix to Law there shone the 
 prescience of the statesman and the penetration of the 
 real soldier. But the best plans, entrusted to in- 
 capable hands, will fail. So it was on this occasion. 
 Instead of leaving only a screen before Trichinopoli, 
 and marching with the bulk of his troops to crush 
 
 f Lawrence, Law kept the bulk of his men before the 
 fortress, and sent the screen to accomplish that which 
 fche combined force would have found the toughest 
 job on which they had ever been engaged. He 
 failed, and he deserved to fail. Nor when, a day or 
 two later, he ranged his troops in position and 
 attacked Lawrence, was he more successful. The 
 time, the position, the opportunity, were alike ill- 
 chosen. The action was ill-fought, and the French 
 had to fall back, disconcerted, on their Rock, whilst 
 
ROBERT CLIVE 119 
 
 Lawrence and his victorious men marched gaily into 
 the fortress. 
 
 The reader who has studied the character of 
 Dupleix, who has recognised the passionate desire by 
 which he was animated to found an empire for France 
 in Southern India, who has noted how, by every 
 means except by that of actual presence in the field, 
 he had laboured for that end, can picture to himself 
 the anger and mortification of that great man when 
 he realised that the inefficiency of Law had caused 
 the failure of all his hopes. When he had recom- ^ 
 mended daring, Law had displayed an excess of 
 caution. When he had shown Law how, by massing 
 his strongest array against the enemy's weakest 
 point, he could baffle that enemy, he had despatched 
 his weakest array against the enemy's strongest 
 point. This ineptitude had shattered for the moment 
 all his plans. But it was a part of the nature 
 of Dupleix never to despair so long as one hope 
 remained. Glancing then at his position, he re- 
 cognised that he was still strong with the Subahdar 
 of the Deccan. Bussy guided the councils of that 
 prince. Nor, though Lawrence and Olive had relieved 
 Trichinopoli, was it certain that they could do more 
 than save that fortress. In numbers, the French and 
 their allies still prevailed even there. The one thing 
 he wanted was a man. It was clear to him that it 
 would be a crime to trust Law any longer. But he 
 had only D'Auteuil, just recovered from his attack of 
 gout. He had had, he knew, reason to complain on 
 
120 DUPLEIX 
 
 a previous occasion of the slowness and caution of 
 D'Auteuil, but he was neither so slow nor so cautious 
 as Law had proved. Dupleix was yet deliberating as 
 to the action he should take, when he received a de- 
 spatch from Law which threw him into consternation. 
 Law wrote that, despairing of success against Tri- 
 chinopoli, he had resolved to retreat into the island 
 of Srirangam. The idea of the timid Law in an 
 island liable to be attacked from both banks of the 
 river overwhelmed Dupleix. He recognised that in 
 the presence of men like Lawrence and Clive he would 
 be as a rat in a trap. He could bear anything but that. 
 He sent then on the instant a peremptory order to 
 Law to retreat, if he must retreat, not into Srirangam, 
 but on Pondichery. To aid him, he used every effort 
 to raise a force to second his efforts. By incredible 
 exertion he collected 1 20 Europeans, and, adding to 
 these 500 sipahis and four field-pieces, he despatched 
 them under D'Auteuil to take the road to Tri- 
 chinopoli, effect a junction with Law, assume the 
 command, and fall back on Pondichery. 
 
 But he had not yet realised the full measure of the 
 incapacity of his lieutenant. The position occupied 
 by Law before Trichinopoli was so strong, resting as 
 it did upon two points which could not be turned, 
 that even Lawrence and Clive regarded a direct 
 attack upon it as hazardous. They thought, how- 
 ever, they might create an alarm which might 
 have consequences, if they were to beat up the 
 quarters of the native ally of the French, Chandd 
 
ROBERT CLIVE I2I 
 
 Sahib. They despatched Captain Dalton on this 
 errand. Dalton, misled by a guide, found himself in 
 the early hours of the morning some two miles 
 distant from Chanda Sahib's post, and in front of the 
 very strongest part of Law's position. This was 
 an opportunity which any other commander but Law 
 would have seized. He had recognised Dalton' s 
 danger, and he had him in his power. But the 
 danger of his own situation had mastered his mental 
 faculties. He allowed Dalton to fall back unmolested ; 
 then, against the positive orders of Dupleix, against 
 the entreaties of Chandd Sdhib, despite the re- 
 monstrances of all his commanders, he retreated into 
 the island of Sfirangam, abandoning or destroying a 
 great part of the provisions accumulated for the use 
 of his European troops. 
 
 Then followed a series of catastrophes, the con- 
 sequences of this false move. A letter from D'Auteuil, 
 intimating his movements, fell into the hands of the 
 English, and Lawrence despatched Clive to intercept 
 D'Auteuil, as he should approach the western bank of 
 the Kolrtan. But Chandd Sdhib, well served by 
 spies, communicated to Law the movement of Clive, 
 and pointed out to him the possibility of crushing 
 that leader whilst he was endeavouring to cnish 
 D'Auteuil. The manoeuvre could scarcely fail, if it 
 were executed in sufficient force, and with sufficient 
 intelligence. Law did recognise in this plan a certain 
 chance of extricating himself from all his troubles. 
 The river Kaveri and its branches would prevent the 
 
I2!Z DUPLEIX 
 
 possibility of any assistance reaching Clive. He 
 might move out with his entire force. No enemy 
 would attempt Srirangam. But again his caution 
 spoilt a plan, the success of which was assured. 
 Instead of marching with his whole force to crush 
 Clive, he despatched only 80 Europeans, of whom 40 
 were English deserters, and 700 sipahis. Even this 
 small detachment went very near to success. It 
 surprised CHve whilst he was asleep at Simiaveram, 
 and, but for the extraordinary coolness, audacity, and 
 presence of mind displayed by that great soldier, 
 must have captured or killed him. But the value of 
 one man never asserted itself more convincingly than 
 on the night of that memorable surprise. After braving 
 death in every form Clive emerged from it the victor, 
 and the despondency of Law became greater than 
 ever. 
 
 Nor was D'Auteuil more successful. Escorting sup- 
 plies of ammunition and food, he had reached the 
 Utdtur, spoken of in a previous chapter. Daltoh, with 
 a force about equal in numbers, had been sent to 
 watch him. As he approached Ut^tur, Dalton, who 
 was as daring as his enemy was timid, so arranged 
 his troops as to induce the belief that the whole 
 British force was advancing. D'Auteuil fell into the 
 trap, and retreated on Volkonda without striking a 
 blow, leaving to Dalton the stores and ammunition he 
 had escorted. 
 
 Soon after this event, the final catastrophe followed. 
 ' After all his losses, Law could still dispose of 800 
 
ROBERT CLIVE 1 23 
 
 Frenchmen, 2000 trained sipahis, and 3000 or 4000 
 horsemen who still remained faithful to Chanda 
 Sahib. With these he could, without much risk, have 
 fought his way to the coast. But the spirit of the 
 man was utterly, broken. Whilst those about him • 
 were talking of fighting, he was dreaming of sur- 
 render. On the 13th of June he carried out this 
 dream, after having vainly stipulated for the life of 
 his ally. The result was that Chandd Sdhib was 
 stabbed to the heart, and that 35 French officers, 785 
 soldiers, and 2000 trained sipdhis, sun*endered them- 
 selves as prisoners. 
 
 It is time now to note how Dupleix received the 
 news of this terrible calamity, and what steps he took 
 to minimise its effects. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 A Great Man Wrestling with Fortune 
 
 In the preceding chapter, writing of the attempt 
 made to surprise Clive at Samiaveram, I have used 
 these words : * The value of one man never asserted 
 itself more convincingly than on the night of that 
 memorable surprise.' Mutatis mutandis, the same 
 words might be applied to the conduct of Dupleix 
 when he learned of the shameful surrender of his 
 whole European force, save the detachments under 
 Bussy and D'Auteuil, to Major Lawrence at Sriran- 
 gam. 
 
 The blow was undeniably a very severe blow. It 
 left the English triumphant ; their ally, Muhammad 
 All, master of the Karnatik ; the prestige — that word 
 of enormous importance in India — of the French 
 lowered. But, with the clear-headedness habitual 
 with him, Dupleix, far from despairing, took stock 
 of his actual position. He recognised fully the ex- 
 tent of the catastrophe consummated at Srirangam ; 
 and that south of the river Krishtna he could dis- 
 pose only of the troops under D'Auteuil, insufficient 
 even for garrison purposes. Yet, he had still the 
 Subahdar of the Deccan at his back. The unbeaten 
 
A GREAT MAN WRESTLING WITH FORTUNE 125 
 
 Bussy was at Aurangdbad, holding secure the pre- 
 dominating influence of Pondichery. He held Gingi, 
 then considered the strongest fortress in the Karnatik, 
 and the possessions on the coast secured to France 
 by the Subdhddr. On the other hand, whilst the total 
 force at his disposal was, as I have said, insufficient 
 to supply garrisons to guard these posts, he had in 
 front of him a triumphant enemy, with numerous 
 native allies, commanded by a Lawrence and a Olive. 
 That enemy had it in his power to effect enormous 
 mischief to French interests. It could even destroy 
 that influence. What was he to do ? 
 
 It was in this conjuncture that the profound know- 
 ledge which Dupleix had acquired of the native cha- 
 racter stood him in good stead. He knew, from 
 previous observation, that for a number of native 
 chiefs allied to effect a specific purpose the day of 
 triumph was the day of trial. Now, to assist in 
 crushing Ohandd Sahib, Muhammed Ali had called 
 in the levies of Tanjore, of Mysore, and the Mardthas. 
 To work upon the most powerful of these, to sow 
 jealousy between them, to plant distrust of Muham- 
 mad Ali, all unable Jis he would be to fulfil, with an 
 empty exchequer, the lavish promises made in the 
 hour of need, became then the main occupation of the 
 French Governor. No one better than he could ac- 
 complish a task beset indeed with difficulties, yet 
 promising to a man experienced in the native modes 
 of thought the most brilliant advantage. 
 
 He did not work in vain. When the first triumph 
 
126 DUPLE IX 
 
 of his victory had evaporated, Muhammad Ali found 
 that the only fruit of his victory was the death of 
 his rival. The troops of Tanjore clamoured to be 
 permitted to return to their homes. The Marathas 
 refused to serve with the troops of Mysore, and the 
 latter declined to be instrumental in pushing further 
 the interests of Muhammad Ali. The disp'utes be- 
 came so hot that both the contingents last-named 
 drew off in a huff, making hostile demonstrations 
 against the English. The discords had meanwhile 
 prevented action, and it was not till the 9th of July 
 that Muhammad Ali and the English were able to 
 quit Trichinopoli. Even then, they were forced to 
 leave in that fortress a garrison of 200 Englishmen 
 and 1500 trained sipahis to protect it against their 
 former allies. 
 
 The delay thus caused had been eminently service- 
 able to Dupleix. During that month the first portion 
 of the annual drafts from France had arrived. They 
 were few in number, and a very ragged lot, but by 
 replacing the sailoi-s of the vessels by lascars, and en- 
 listing the former, Dupleix was able to dispose of 
 500 additional men. In anothet way Fortune came 
 to help him. Major Lawrence and Clive had both 
 been forced by ill-health to proceed to Madras, and 
 the command of the English was left to the not very 
 capable De Gingen. The force was occupying Tiru- 
 vadi, a place they had taken from the French, when, 
 contrary to the advice of Lawrence, the English 
 Governor, Saunders, transmitted to De Gingen orders 
 
A GREAT MAN WRESTLING WITH FORTUNE 137 
 
 to attack the strong fortress of Gingi. That officer 
 promptly despatched 200 English, 500 trained sipahis, 
 and 600 of Muhammad All's cavalry on this expe- 
 dition. 
 
 This was the opportunity for which Dupleix had 
 been longing. He seized it with the avidity of a 
 great commander. Despatching orders to the com- 
 mandant of Gingi to hold himself on the alert, he 
 directed his nephew, Do Kerjean, to march with 3C0 
 of the new levies and 500 sipdhis to occupy a position 
 which, whilst the English were before Gingi, would 
 sever their communications with the coast. 
 
 The mancEuvre met with the success it deserved. 
 Gingi was a very strong place, and when the English 
 commander, Kinneer, arrived in front of it, he recog- 
 nised that the task set to him was, for him at least, 
 impossible. Just then information reached him that 
 a French force had occupied a position in his rear 
 which completely cut him off from his supplies and 
 the coast. Kinneer turned to attack this force, but 
 was beaten with the loss of forty of his Englishmen, 
 and with difficulty made his way back to Tiruvddi. 
 About the same time, a French ship captured a vessel 
 having on board a company of Swiss mercenaries on 
 their way to reinforce the English. 
 
 Thus, within two months from the surrender of 
 Law, Dupleix had by his energy, his intrigues, and 
 his daring done much to obliterate the English 
 triumph at Trichinopoli and- to neutralise its effigcts. 
 Fir action in this crisis alone would stamp him as a 
 
ia8 DUPLEIX 
 
 most eminent servant of his country. The position he 
 held was one exactly suited to the talents with which 
 he had been gifted. When the hopes of France were at 
 their lowest he had organised victory out of the 
 crudest materials, and, in an incredibly brief period, 
 had managed to re-clothe the French name with the 
 prestige which the feebleness of Law had done so 
 much to diminish. 
 
 Proofs of this followed upon De Kerjean's successful 
 campaign. He received from the Subahdar his formal 
 appointment as Nuwab of the Karnatik; from the 
 Mysore troops and the Marathas, so recently leagued 
 against him, promises of active co-operation if he 
 would but leave them free to prosecute their views on 
 Trichinopoli. From his sovereign, Louis XV, Du- 
 pleix received at this time the patent of the title of 
 Marquis. 
 
 All at once it seemed as though the positions of 
 the French and English, so marked at the time of the 
 surrender of Law, had been suddenly reversed. Whilst 
 Dupleix encouraged his native allies to besiege Tri- 
 chinopoli, he considered himself strong enough to 
 detach a force to blockade Fort St. David. That 
 force, commanded by De Kerjean, consisted of 400 
 Frenchmen, 1500 sipahis, and 500 horsemen. But 
 this was too much for the lion-hearted Stiinger Law- 
 rence. Rousing himself from his bed of sickness, he 
 came from Madras to Fort St. David, and, with 
 troops equal in number to those of his adversary, 
 forced. De Kerjean to fall back to within three miles of 
 
A GREA T MAN WRESTLING WITH FORTUNE 1 29 
 
 Pondichery. There he dared not attack him, as the 
 territory was French, and as such was secured against 
 attack by treaty. The French were equally bound 
 to inaction by the fact that Dupleix was momentarily 
 expecting the arrival of 700 trained troops under the 
 young and brilliant De la Touche, an arrival which 
 would seemingly place all the possibilities within his 
 grasp. Lawrence knew this, and anxious to strike a 
 blow before the fresh troops should arrive, yet de- 
 barred from attacking De Kerjean where he was^used 
 all his efforts to entice his enemy beyond the border- 
 line. With this object he fell back to a place called 
 Bdhur, two miles from Fort St. David. De Kerjean, 
 young, ambitious, knowing that any day he might be 
 superseded by De la Touche, followed up his retreat- 
 ing foe, and on the morning of September 6 attacked 
 him. The action was the most fiercely contested of 
 the whole war. The Europeans on both sides fought 
 splendidly. The result was decided by the falling 
 back at a critical moment of the French sipdhis, 
 stationed in the centre of the line. Lawrence pushed 
 on and achieved a complete victory. The EngUsh lost 
 eighty-three officers and men killed and wounded. On 
 the French side, De Kerjean himself, fifteen officers, 
 and about 100 men were taken prisoners. Their 
 loss in killed and wounded was never ascertained ^, 
 
 ^ Lawrence, and, following Lawrence, Orme, state that, when 
 prisoner, De Kerjean declared that he was forced into action by the 
 repeated orders of Dupleix. There is no proof of this beyond the word 
 of a man anxious to justify himself at the expense of another. On 
 
130 DUPLE IX 
 
 This was a blow, and what was worse, a blow 
 which a little prudence would have avoided. Its 
 effects were quickly visible in the cooling of the 
 new-born enthusiasm of the Maratha and Mysore 
 troops. The coolness was not, however, proof against 
 the methods of Dupleix. When the leaders of those 
 troops noted that Lawrence remained inactive after 
 his victory, and took no steps to improve it, they, 
 after a momentary hesitation, openly declared for the 
 French. 
 
 Dupleix gained, too, another advantage at this 
 period by the compulsory departure of Clive for 
 Europe. That brilliant chief, after recovering from 
 the fever which had taken him to Madras, had won 
 back for Muhammad AH nearly the whole of 
 North Arcot, had routed a force sent by Dupleix to 
 relieve Covelong, had taken that place and Chengalpat, 
 the strongest fortress after Gingi in Southern India, 
 and had then proceeded to England. Lawrence, 
 however, still remained, and Lawrence was very 
 decidedly a man to be feared. 
 
 Still, if De la Touche and his 700 men would but 
 arrive, there was hope that even Lawrence might be 
 foiled. De la Touche had never been beaten: he 
 had displayed all the qualities which entitle a man 
 to command his fellows — he had no fear of responsi- 
 bility, was active, daring, and intelligent. From 
 him much was to be hoped. The despair, the agony 
 
 the other hand, there is reason to believe that Dupleix was anxious 
 to avoid an action until De la Touche should arrive. 
 
A GREA T MAN WRESTLING WITH FORTUNE 1 3 1 
 
 of Dupleix may be imagined, when, instead of De la 
 Touche and his men, information reached him that 
 the ship which was conveying them to India, the 
 Prince, had been destroyed by fire with all on 
 board. 
 
 This was indeed a blow sufficient to daunt the 
 boldest. During the second half of 175^1 Dupleix 
 had improvised resources to make head against the 
 preponderance which the surrender of Law had given 
 to his enemies. He had done this confident that 
 the succeeding year would witness the transference 
 of the preponderance to himself. In that hope he 
 had laboured to detach from the English the most 
 powerful of their native allies, had made soldiers 
 of the crews of the merchant vessels, had drawn 
 largely upon his own private financial resources ; and, 
 but for the precipitancy of De Kerjean, would have 
 almost neutralised the effects of the surrender of 
 Srirangam. When the 700 troops under De la Touche 
 should join the 360 still at Pondichery, he would be 
 able to range against the enemy upwards of 1000 men, 
 commanded by a man from whom he was justified 
 in expecting great results. And now, by an accident 
 which he could neither have foreseen nor prevented, 
 he was deprived of these succours which would have 
 given him that superiority. He was to meet the new 
 year with but 360 European troops, whilst the English 
 could put 700 into the field. He was to meet it still 
 without a general, whilst the English had Stringer 
 Lawrence. He was to meet it knowing that he was 
 I a 
 
132 DUPLE IX 
 
 left by his country to his own resources ; that from 
 it no assistance was to be expected. For a man with 
 the soaring aspirations of Dupleix, no position could 
 have seemed more hopeless. But it was the sur- 
 passing merit of Dupleix that in the darkest hour 
 he never despaired. Confident in his own energies, 
 in his greater knowledge of the races of Southern 
 India, beheving that with but a little aid from Fortune 
 his genius must compensate for the superiority of his 
 enemy in European troops, he prepared himself for 
 the struggle of the new year with an alacrity and 
 a resolution which to this day compels the admiration 
 even of those who rejoice over his failure. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Too Heavily Handicapped 
 
 Nothing appeals so much to human sympathy as 
 the sight of a great man struggling with adverse 
 Fortune. To see him with a bold and unshaken front 
 defying her frowns, lising superior to disaster, im- 
 provising resources ; seizing every advantage, improv- 
 ing it to such a degree that even his enemies come to 
 regard his personality alone as the foe to be feared — 
 that is a sight which few can regard unmoved. Such 
 a display was given to the world in 1814 by the 
 greatest warrior of modem times, when he, at bay 
 against combined Europe, almost succeeded in com- 
 pelling Fortune. The story of th^-t wonderful cam- 
 paign has provoked sympathy and admiration from 
 nationalities who hated the man. There was a 
 marked resemblance in feature and in genius between 
 Napoleon and Dupleix. Each was animated by 
 unbounded ambition, each played for a great stake ; 
 each displayed, in the final struggle, a power and 
 a vitality, a richness of resource and a genius such 
 as compelled fear and admiration: both, alas, were 
 finally abandoned by their countrymen. But their 
 names still remain, and will ever remain, to posterity 
 as examples of the enormous value, in a struggle with 
 
134 DUPLEIX 
 
 adversity, of a dominant mind directed by a resolute 
 will. 
 
 Eeduced by the accident to the Prince to a position 
 which any ordinary man would have regarded as 
 one essentially defensive, Dupleix, feeling about him, 
 set to work to ascertain the mode in which he could 
 best neutralise the enemy's superiority in European 
 soldiers. No more difficult problem could have pre- 
 sented itself to him. Since the victory of Paradis on 
 the Adyar, Europeans had been regarded as the 
 kernel of an army in India. Their superiority, 
 maintained ,to the present day, was admitted in all 
 the territories south of the Vindhyan Range. Bussy, 
 with a handful of men, was maintaining that superiority 
 at the Court of the Subdhddr. Thanks to the same 
 superiority, the English, at the beginning of 1753, 
 held a marked predominance in the Karnatik. But 
 it might, Dupleix thought, by judicious management 
 be so far neutralised as to procure for him a striking 
 advantage on the decisive point. To this end he 
 applied all his efforts. 
 
 Negotiating skilfully, he soon ascertained that he 
 could dispose of the 20CO trained sipahis and the 
 4000 Maratha horse, commanded by a Mardtha chief of 
 great ability as a leader, named Mordri Rdo. As 
 Muhammad All could muster but 1500 horsemen, 
 and those inferior in all respects to the Marathds, 
 Dupleix, by this alliance, was able to possess a 
 marked advantage in cavalry. The Regent of Mysore, 
 too, displayed a readiness not only to furnish troops 
 
TOO HE A VI L V HANDICAPPED 1 35 
 
 to aid the French, but to command them in person. 
 Under the circumstances, then, Dupleix hoped that, 
 judiciously employing the resources thus available to 
 him, he might so plan his campaign that his superiority 
 in cavalry and in native troops generally might atone 
 for and neutralise the great supeiiority of his enemy 
 in Europeans. With this end in view, he resolved, 
 in consultation with his allies, that whilst the Mysore 
 troops should invest Trichinopoli, the French troops 
 and Mordri Rao should act as in a certain sense a 
 covering army to baffle all the attempts which 
 Lawrence might make to relieve the beleaguered 
 place. They would, in a word, keep Lawrence 
 employed. Having regard to the superiority in 
 cavalry which Dupleix could command, wo are bound 
 to admit that no more skilful plan could have been 
 devised. If the league could be maintained, the 
 want of provisions would compel the surrender of 
 Trichinopoli. 
 
 At the outset, the plan worked well. Whilst the 
 Mysore army blockaded Trichinopoli, Mor^ri Edo and 
 the French contingent, under the command of M. 
 Maissin, took up an intrenched position on the river 
 Punar, near the English post of Tiruvadi, seven miles 
 from Fort St. David. From this post they commenced 
 a series of harassing movements against the English, 
 cutticg oft' their supplies, capturing foraging parties, 
 and rendering it very difficult for the garrison of 
 Tiruvddi to communicate with that of Fort St. David. 
 Li vain did Lawrence do his utmost to bring them 
 
136 DUPLEIX 
 
 to action. On his approach, the allies withdrew 
 behind their intrenchments. To such a state of 
 distress was he reduced at last that he found himself 
 compelled to employ his whole force as an escort to 
 convoys whose arrival was necessary for the pro- 
 vision of supplies. It need not be told how service 
 of this nature harassed and distressed his men. 
 
 During three months the allies persisted in their 
 policy. More than one opportunity was offered them 
 of inflicting serious damage on the convoys and 
 the troops escorting them, but they were not taken. 
 Lawrence, however, felt so keenly the danger threaten- 
 ing English interests from the existence of an in- 
 trenched camp so close to Fort St. David whilst 
 Trichinopoli, invested by the Mysore troops^ was 
 crying for relief, that he determined to take advantage 
 of the arrival of 200 Europeans from Madras to storm 
 the intrenchment. But a reconnaissance in force, and 
 the failure of a sharp fire from his two 24-pounders to 
 make any impression on the defences, showed him 
 that the attempt could not succeed. Irritated and 
 anxious, he waited three weeks longer, hoping some 
 chance might ofier. Instead of such a chance, he 
 received, at the close of that period, despatches from 
 Dalton, who commanded in Trichinopoli, telling him 
 that he had but three weeks' supplies of provisions, 
 and that he was blockaded on all sides. Lawrence 
 did not hesitate a moment. Leaving 150 Europeans 
 and 500 sipdhis under Captain Chace to defend Tiru- 
 vadi, he marched with the remainder of his troops, 
 
TOO HEAVILY HANDICAPPED 1 37 
 
 amounting to 650 Europeans and 1500 sipahis, for 
 Trichinopoli 
 
 The sudden departure of Lawrence did not escape 
 the watchful eye of Dupleix. Early in the year 
 he had despatched 100 French troops — obtained 
 partly from Bengal, partly from the ships in the 
 roadstead — to co-operate with the soldiers of Mysore, 
 and these men had occupied the island of Srirangam. 
 Confident that the move of Lawrence was directed 
 against Trichinopoli, he despatched on the instant 
 200 Frenchmen and 500 sipahis from Maissin's force 
 to reinforce the garrison of Srirangam, leaving in the 
 intrenched position on the Punar 160 Europeans and 
 1500 sipdhis. The command of the detached force 
 he gave to M. Astruc, an officer who had given signs 
 of capacity. Whilst Astruc is marching on Sriringam, 
 I propose to watch the action of Maissin on the 
 Punar. 
 
 Recognising at a glance that Lawrence had staked 
 the fortunes of his countrymen on the successful 
 defence of Trichinopoli, Dupleix determined to avail 
 himself, to the full extent of the resources left to him, 
 of the advantages within his reach. He could not 
 attack Fort St. David, for that place was secured to 
 England by treaty. But Tiruvadi and Chilambaram — 
 a strong post on the road to Trichinopoli — had slender 
 garrisons, whilst the provinces of North and South 
 Arcot were left almost entirely denuded of English 
 troops. These then he could recover. Acting on the 
 powers bestowed upon him by the Subahdar he had 
 
138 DUPLEIX 
 
 nominated Murtiza All, a relation of the deceased 
 Chanda Sahib, to be Nuwab of the Karnatik. In his 
 name, whilst Lawrence was chained to Trichinopoli, 
 he would recover that tenitory. He sent then posi- 
 tive instructions to Maissin to storm Tiruvadi. Maissin 
 attacked (May 3), and was repulsed ; attacked again 
 a few days later, and was again driven back. On the 
 second occasion, however, the English garrison, not 
 content with repulsing their enemy, followed him into 
 the field. There they were surrounded by the Maratha 
 horsemen, and cut to pieces to a man. Tiruvadi then 
 surrendered ; Chilambaram followed suit ; then Mur- 
 tizd All started with a considerable native force and 
 fifty French soldiers to recover the strong places in 
 North and South Arcot. To a very large extent he 
 succeeded, defeating the supporters of Muhammad 
 All in a pitched battle, and clearing the provinces, 
 except in the vicinity of Trichinopoli, of active 
 enemies. 
 
 Lawrence, meanwhile, marching rapidly, had entered 
 Trichinopoli the 6th of May. But sickness and 
 desertions had greatly reduced his force. When he 
 mustered his troops after his arrival he found he 
 could put into the field, including the soldiers which 
 the garrison could spare, only 500 Europeans, 80 
 artillery-men, 2000 sipdhis, and 3000 of rabble 
 cavalry in the service of Muhammad All. With this 
 force he marched to drive the French from Srirangam. 
 But the reinforcements despatched by Dupleix had 
 reached that island the day after Lawrence had arrived 
 
TOO HEAVILY HANDICAPPED 139 
 
 at Trichinopoli. A reconnaissance in force then 
 convinced Lawrence that the island was too strong to 
 be attempted. Indeed, it was as much as he could do, 
 to use his own language^, 'by a very brisk fire of 
 artillery, to keep our flanks clear from the cavaLry 
 that surrounded us, and at every movement we made 
 were ready to charge. Nor were the enemy's cannon 
 silent/ The consequence was that after a very 
 fatiguing day Lawrence was forced to retreat at night 
 across the river, having lost two officers killed and 
 three wounded, but he states, * very few men in pro- 
 portion.' At this period Colonel Lawrence's health 
 failed him, and he withdrew within the fort. His 
 situation there was a difficult one, for he was de- 
 pendent upon native allies for supplies, and, since the 
 capture of Chilambaram by the French, the road from 
 the coast was in the hands of the enemy. By this 
 time too, Dupleix, by incredible exertions, had so 
 increased the force under Astruc that it slightly 
 out-numbered, in Europeans, the number of which 
 Lawrence could dispose. 
 
 Noting all these things, Astruc, who was then very 
 daring, obeying the instructions transmitted from 
 Pondichery, crossed the Kdverl, and took possession of 
 a commanding position known as the 'Five Kocks.' 
 This position, if held, must compel the surrender of 
 the fortress, as it commanded the country, known as 
 
 * Vide Cambridge's War in India, containing Colonel Lawrence's 
 Narrative of the War on the Coast of Coromandel, from the beginning of 
 the troubles to the year 1754, page 59. 
 
\ 
 
 140 DUPLEIX 
 
 the * Tondeman's country,' whence the English ob- 
 tained their native supplies. 
 
 In another work^, I have given in full detail the 
 story of the exciting military events which followed. 
 In this work it is necessary only to record the results. 
 My object is to place as clearly as I can before the 
 reader the marvellous recuperative power of Dupleix, 
 the persistently steady aim of his policy, his un- 
 swerving confidence in ultimate success, his deter- 
 mination to leave nothing untried to achieve it. Let 
 the reader contrast his position at the beginning of 
 1753, when the loss of the 700 men coming from 
 France under De la Touche and the death with them 
 of that promising soldier, left him with scanty and 
 inferior numbers to continue the battle for empire 
 against Stringer Lawrence and the English, with the 
 position his genius, his exertions, his ever-active brain 
 had created in June of the same year. It was indeed 
 a triumph of statesmanship. Whilst his troops under 
 Bussy held in the French interest the territories of 
 the Subahddr, comprehending those now ruled by the 
 Nizam ; whilst he had even obtained, by the tact and 
 readiness of Bussy, the cession to France of the country 
 called the ' Northern Sirkars ' ; he had recovered for the 
 Nuwab nominated by himself North and South Arcot, 
 had compelled the English to surrender Tiruvddi and 
 Chilambaram, and to hold Fort St. David with a 
 scanty garrison; had once more forced them to act 
 on the defensive at Trichinopoli, and had severed 
 
 ^ Hist&ry of the French in India. Longmans, 1866. 
 
TOO HE A VIL V HANDICAPPED 141 
 
 their connection with the coast. Nay, more. On 
 that spot, near to which the ill-fated Law had sur- 
 rendered with nearly 700 Europeans only one year 
 before, Dupleix had so managed as to bring the 
 greater number to bear against the lesser. The differ- 
 ence indeed was but trifling, but to accomplish it at 
 all, in the face of the initial disaster of the year, was 
 a marvellous achievement. He had done everything, 
 in fact, that a comprehensive human brain could do. 
 By the force of that brain alone he had inverted the 
 position of the two nations in Southern India. In 
 June, 1752, Law and the entire French army sur- 
 rendered at Sriringam. In June, 1 753, Astruc occupied 
 a position in front of Trichinopoli, whilst the English 
 were content to defend the place. There is but one 
 way of accounting for such a startling inversion of 
 position. His supplies from Europe had failed him, 
 whilst the English had received theirs. Driven to 
 depend upon himself alone, Dupleix had, by a 
 combination carried through without a check, so far 
 compelled Fortune that it seemed to require but a 
 great effort on the part of his army to win her over 
 completely. 
 
 It was supremely unfortunate for him, specially 
 fortunate for his rivals, that in Stringer Lawrence the i>^ 
 English possessed one of the most capable men who 
 ever served the East India Company. He was a 
 great soldier; and his modesty equalled his daring. 
 It is impossible to read his narrative of the war 
 without being struck by the noble and unselfish 
 
\ 
 
 \ 
 
 14a DUPLETX 
 
 nature of the man, by his great talent as a com- 
 mander, by his coolness and readiness of resource on 
 all occasions. He had a most able assistant in Captain 
 Dalton, whose Memoii's, published a few years ago, 
 throw much light on the splendid spirit which ani- 
 mated our countrymen fighting in a strange country 
 and with half-hearted allies. There was scarcely a 
 man amongst them who was not a hero, and it is well 
 that their memory, the memory of men who laid, in 
 Southern India, the foundation of the wider Empii-e 
 held by their descendants, should remain green and 
 fresh for all time. For, after all, it was Clive, and 
 Lawrence, and Dalton, and their companions, who 
 foiled Dupleix. Had they not been better than the 
 French officers to whom they were opposed, Dupleix 
 must have won the game. He was their superior in 
 his knowledge of native character, in his influence 
 over the natives, in his powers of combination. But 
 he was not a soldier. He could plan a campaign ; 
 could direct his lieutenants what to do. But he 
 could not act amid the storm of bullets and the roar 
 of cannon. In that respect Clive and Lawrence sur- 
 passed not only him, but the lieutenants whom he 
 sent to carry out his instructions. It was this 
 superiority in the field that foiled him. It had made 
 Law suri'ender in 175^^. It completely baffled Astruc 
 and his successors in 1753. 
 
 For, pitted against Astruc, Lawrence proved con- 
 clusively his superiority. By a sudden manoeuvre, 
 Astruc had seized the Golden Rock, expelling thence 
 
TOO HEAVILY HANDICAPPED 143 
 
 the English. If he could but hold it, the English 
 were doomed, "^^^^wrence recognised this fact on the 
 moment. Instantly he acted. Suddenly with his 
 whole force he smote the French in front and on their 
 flank, and drove them headlong from the Rock, cap- 
 turing two guns and calmly defying all the efforts of 
 the Mardtha cavalry to break his square as it retired. 
 To Astruc the defeat was so mortifying that he re- 
 signed his command, and returned to Pondichery. 
 He was succeeded by M. Brennier. 
 
 Brennier had no better fortune. Lawrence having 
 moved eastward to esijort into the fort provisions 
 of which the garrison was in gi-eat need, Brennier 
 thought the opportunity good to attempt to storm 
 the place. As a preliminary, he sent into it disguised 
 a Frenchman named De Cattans to sketch the de- 
 fences. De Cattans was caught in the act by Dalton. 
 Dalton promised to intercede with Lawrence for his 
 life, provided he would indicate to Brennier such 
 points of attack as Dalton should point out. This was 
 done. The stratagem, however, came to nothing, as 
 when the paper reached Brennier he was occupied 
 with another plan, that of intercepting and destroying 
 Lawrence and his convoy. 
 
 But in this he was foiled. From the summit of the 
 Trichinopoli Rock, which rises to the height of 1878 
 feet above the plain, Dalton was able to signal to 
 Lawrence the positions occupied by the French. The 
 consequence was that in the battle which followed, 
 and which was most severely contested, Brennier 
 
144 DUPLEIX 
 
 was completely defeated. Totally demoralised, he 
 fled to the banks of the Kaveri. Here, to his sur- 
 prise, he was joined by Astruc, bringing reinforce- 
 ments of 400 Europeans, six guns, 2000 sipahis, and 
 3000 Maratha horse. Astruc took the command. 
 
 Astruc was a more capable man than Brennier, and 
 he had now a great opportunity, for his total of 
 Europeans exceeded that of Lawrence, whilst his 
 horsemen surpassed those of Muhammad All alike in 
 quality as well as in number. It was indeed hard on 
 Dupleix, to whose splendid exertions the despatch of 
 this reinforcement was due, tlj^t at such a conjuncture 
 Astruc should have become over-cautious. The third 
 day after his arrival he had enticed the English force 
 into a position in which it could be assailed with 
 advantage. The Maratha chief, Morari Rao, pointed 
 out to Astruc the opportunity, and implored him to 
 use it, but afraid to risk all on the issue of a battle, 
 Astruc declined. He had reason to repent it, for a 
 fortnight later Lawrence received a reinforcement of 
 237 Europeans, under a very able soldier. Captain 
 Calliaud. Four days after the arrival of this re- 
 inforcement, 1st October, 1753, Lawrence marched out 
 and ofiered battle to Astruc. Astruc declined it. 
 Thereupon Lawrence encamped where he stood, at- 
 tacked him the following morning, and completely 
 defeated him, taking prisoners Astruc himself, nine 
 officers, and ninety-one men, capturing eleven guns, 
 and killing or wounding about 100 men. His own loss 
 did not exceed twenty men and six officers killed and 
 
TOO HEAVILY HANDICAPPED 145 
 
 wounded. The rest of the French force found refuge 
 in the island of Srirangam. 
 
 Meanwhile Dupleix at Pondichery, whilst using all 
 the means in his power to strengthen his force before 
 Trichinopoli, had not been less persistent in his 
 attempts to pacify the Karnd.tik. More than one 
 circumstance, slight in itself, had satisfied him that 
 his masters in France were men who would judge 
 only by results ; that whilst they were ready to 
 applaud and flatter him so long as he was successful, 
 they would unhesitatingly sacrifice him if Fortune 
 should prove adverse. Success, to them, meant the 
 peaceful acquisition of territory, and increase of trading 
 facilities. They cared not to reason out the terms 
 by which such success was to be acquired. Why 
 Dupleix should send troops to be killed before Trichi- 
 nopoli was a problem they declined to consider. 
 They only saw the result ; that, so far as concerned 
 Trichinopoli, failure had succeeded failure. In the 
 bosom of the French Company there had always been 
 a minority jealous of Dupleix, feeble at first in its 
 action, but always ready to start into active life. 
 It was at this period, that is, after the surrender of 
 Law had become known, that this minority began to 
 assert its existence. In spite of its efforts, the 
 majority had despatched De la Touche and his 700 
 men to reinforce Dupleix. The accident which had 
 disposed of this strong force before it reached the 
 shores of India, whilst it deprived Dupleix of a 
 strength which, considering all that he effected without 
 
\ 
 
 146 DUPLE IX 
 
 it, he would probably have made decisive, served, 
 illogically yet most certainly, to strengthen the ene- 
 mies of the great proconsul. When, after the infor- 
 mation reached France that Dupleix was still fight- 
 ing, wasting, as it was argued, in military expeditions 
 resources which should have been carefully utilised 
 to develop commercial enterprise, the shareholders 
 became dissatisfied, and the minority in the Council 
 of Directors became formidable. Despatches were sent 
 out to him, in which the necessity of procuring peace 
 at any price was insisted upon in language not to be 
 misunderstood. 
 
 Dupleix was not unwilling to have peace. He 
 would himself indeed have preferred to be at peace 
 with the English, provided only that they would re- 
 cognise the titles and the concessions he had obtained 
 from the Subahdar of the Deccan. These concessions 
 included (December, 1753) *^® whole of the territory 
 known as the Northern Sirkars. He had already, in 
 February of 1792, addressed Mr. Saunders on the 
 subject; but the reply he received plainly showed him 
 that the English would not then admit his preten- 
 sions. When, however, in July of 1753, he had the 
 first glimmering of the possible attitude towards him- 
 self of his masters in France, he attempted to renew 
 the negotiation. The time, the reader will recollect, 
 was when Lawrence and Astruc faced one another, 
 not unequally, before Trichinopli ; when Dupleix was 
 recovering North and South Arcot; when Moracin, 
 sent for the purpose by Bussy, was organising the 
 
TOO HEAVILY HANDICAPPED \Arl 
 
 territories of the Chilka Lake and Motapili. The 
 reply of Saunders was conciliatory, and negotiations 
 opened. It soon transpired, however, that the French 
 demands were of a nature which the English Governor 
 would never concede. Dupleix demanded, as a pre- 
 liminary, the recognition by the English of himself 
 as Nuwdb of the Karnatik. To admit this demand, 
 Saunders felt, was to grant all that the two nations 
 had been fighting for. In vain did Dupleix urge 
 that the title had been bestowed by the Subdhdar 
 of the Deccan, and confirmed by a farman from the 
 Mughal Emperor. Saunders replied that the title had 
 descended to Muhammad All, as the surviving son of 
 his father, and that he would not renounce it. The 
 negotiations, however, continued. But it soon became 
 clear that the issue of them would depend upon the 
 result of the military proceedings before Trichinopoli. 
 Should Astruc succeed in beating Lawrence, why, 
 then the question would resolve itself. Each of the 
 negotiating parties felt this. Each, therefore, whilst 
 negotiating, strained every nerve to strengthen his 
 forces before the rock-fortress. 
 
 To Mr. Saunders, and the English generally, it 
 seemed that that question had been fully decided on 
 the 2nd of October. The loss to the French of 200 
 Europeans, the capture of their leader, and the retreat 
 of the remainder of the force into Srirangam, seemed 
 a blow from which it would be impossible to recover. 
 That Lawrence thought so is clear from the fact that 
 instead of pursuing the dispirited remnants of the 
 K 2 
 
148 DUPLEIX 
 
 French force into Srirangam, he had, after taking 
 Waikonda, cantoned his army at Koiladi, fifteen miles 
 to the eastof Trichinopoli, commanding the approaches 
 from the coast to the island. But Dupleix was not 
 V the man to give in whilst a chance remained. Never 
 ^ was he more formidable than when he had been ap- 
 parently crushed. Never, I may add, did he show 
 himself greater than on this occasion. According to 
 all rule he was crushed. His best army had been 
 defeated, his best general taken prisoner, the dis- 
 heartened remnant of his soldiers were crouching in 
 Srirangam — place of fatal omen — and Lawrence, with 
 his victorious army, seemed to bar the way from 
 Pondichery. But Dupleix did not give up the game. 
 He had recently received from France reinforcements 
 sufficient to enable him to dispose of 300 Europeans. 
 Joining to these 1200 sipahis, he despatched them 
 under the orders of a new commander, De Main- 
 ville ^, with definite instructions. These were to j oin as 
 secretly as possible the force in Srirangam, to lull the 
 English into security; then, suddenly emerging from 
 the island, to carry Trichinopoli by a covj'p de main. 
 
 The report that the English force was suffering 
 greatly from sickness at Koiladi had reached Dupleix. 
 It was very true. In a few days Lawrence had lost 
 six officei-s and many men. He had dismissed to 
 
 * Lawrence, and after him Orme, state that Maissin commanded: 
 but the French records show that it was Mainville, and tliat the 
 command was not given to Maissin until after the airival of Gode- 
 heu to relieve Dupleix. 
 
TOO HEAVILY HANDICAPPED 149 
 
 their own country the Tanjore troops, and he was 
 supported only by the rabble of Muhammad Ali. 
 It was under these circumstances that Mainville 
 marched. He reached the island in safety, and 
 remained there so quiet that Lawrence, busy with 
 his sick troops, conceived no suspicion as to his 
 intentions. All this time Mainville was making 
 preparations, preparing scahng ladders, training his 
 men, and storing up information about the fortress. 
 At length, on December 8, he was ready. He had 
 acted with so much caution that neither the English 
 nor their native allies entertained the slightest sus- 
 picions as to his intentions. His plan was as follows: 
 To attempt with 600 Frenchmen, supported by 300 
 more and the sipahis, the part of the rock-fortress 
 known as Dalton's Battery, guarded, it had been 
 ascertained, by only fifty sipahis ; after mastering 
 this, without fii'ing a shot, to dash round the two 
 traverses, guided by a deserter, and apply a petard to 
 the gate of the town : should that fail, to attempt to 
 escalade, the walls at that point being but eighteen 
 feet above the rock. 
 
 At three o'clock in the morning of December 9 
 (new style), Mainville crossed the Kaveri to carry out 
 his plan ; reached, unperceived, the base of the rock ; 
 and stormed Dalton's Battery without losing a man. 
 Had his men only obeyed orders and abstained from 
 firing, they would certainly have captured the place, 
 for the English were fast asleep. But the evil genius 
 of the French soldiers prompted them to turn against 
 
I50 DUPLEIX 
 
 the town two of the twelve-pounders they had cap- 
 tured in Dalton's Battery, and to shout Vive le RoL 
 The result was to arouse the garrison. To such 
 purpose indeed did the noise rouse them, that when 
 the French, guided by the English deserter, dashed 
 round the traverses, they were met by a heavy 
 musketry fire from the hurriedly-assembled garrison. 
 The first fire killed the deserter, the only one of the 
 party who knew the exact locality of the town gate. 
 His death caused delay whilst men were searching 
 for the gate, and meanwhile the English fire became 
 more and more deadly. It was dark, and the 
 numbers on both sides could not be seen. But the 
 English knew perfectly where they were, whilst the 
 French were at a great disadvantage from want of 
 that knowledge. It was not, however, until their 
 ladders had been shattered that they thought of 
 retreating. But they were in an impasse. There 
 was no means of escape open to them except by leap- 
 ing from the battery. This some few attempted, but, 
 when the day broke, the majority, noting that they 
 were quite at the mercy of their enemies, asked for 
 quarter. This was granted to them. ' They lost in 
 this affair,^ wrote Lawi^ence, '364 Europeans taken 
 prisoners, 65 of whom were wounded; 8 officers also 
 taken, most of them wounded, and i officer killed, 
 and they acknowledged themselves that many more 
 were wounded or lamed who were carried off to the 
 island.' Lawrence adds : ' The scheme was well laid, 
 and had not French petulance made them too soon 
 
TOO HEAVILY HANDICAPPED 151 
 
 discover themselves, they perhaps might have had 
 time to execute their designs/ About this, we think, 
 there can be no reasonable doubt. 
 
 This time the blow was fatal: it did not, indeed, 
 come alone. The Nuwdb nominated by Dupleix to 
 rule the Karndtik, Murtizd All, had been beaten at 
 Tiruvannamalai, and another French partisan, Mu- 
 hammad Kumar, had been annihilated before the 
 pagoda of Tirupati. But the defeat before Trichinopoli iy^ 
 was the fatal blow. It was the finishing stroke which 
 paralysed the French Governor. The one chance of 
 recouping himself lay in a prompt accommodation with 
 the English. Could he persuade Saunders to agree 
 to terms of a settlement, no matter how disad- 
 vantageous, he might secure at least a respite. It was 
 the more necessary that such a result should follow, 
 as the news fi*om France pointed to the possibility of 
 his being made the scape-goat for all the mishaps. 
 Dupleix found Saunders not unwilling to respond. 
 After a tedious correspondence, it was finally resolved 
 between them that Commissioners from both parties 
 should hold a Congress at Sadras, a Dutch settlement 
 between Madras and Pondichery. In accordance with 
 this agreement Messrs. Palk and Vansittart proceeded 
 to that place on the part of the English to meet there 
 Father Lavaur, M. de Kerjean, and M. Bausset, 
 nominated by Dupleix. The French Commissioners 
 reached Sadras the 21st of January, 1754, and the ^^ 
 Congress commenced work the following day. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 The Fall of Dupleix 
 
 DuPLElXj whilst determined to maintain his position 
 as Nuwdb of the Karnatik, had authorised his Com- 
 missioners to make such liberal concessions on other 
 points as might, he hoped, induce the English to give 
 way in that one particular. At the first meeting of 
 the Congress, then, they proposed that the arrears 
 due by the English Company on account of the rent 
 for Madras should be remitted, and that thenceforth 
 Madras should become the absolute property of the 
 English ; that the expenses they had been put to on 
 account of the war should be defrayed from the 
 revenues of the Karndtik ; that the French Company 
 should give to the English (^ompany the necessary 
 securities for freedom of commerce. They proposed 
 to compensate Muhammad All by the bestowal upon 
 him of a Government in another part of the Deccan 
 guaranteed to him by the French and English jointly; 
 and to assure to the Eaja of Tanjore, under a similar 
 guarantee, the possession of his territories. They 
 demanded also the evacuation by the English of the 
 fortified places in the interior, with the exception of 
 Punamullu, fifteen miles from Madras, which^ with 
 its dependent territories, should become absolutely 
 
HIS FALL 153 
 
 their own ; and the release of the prisoners taken on 
 both sides. 
 
 In these proposals, it will be observed, though there 
 was no actual mention of the title of Nuwab of the 
 Karndtik, it was taken for granted throughout that 
 that title, bestowed by the Subdhddr of the Deccan, 
 and confirmed by the Mughal sovereign, should remain 
 with Dupleix. To this the English Commissioners 
 took objection. They urged that although the patent 
 of the Sub^hdar might pass, the confirming letter 
 from Delhi was unsigned^, and was wanting in the 
 seal of the Prime Minister. They were prepared to 
 give way on many points, but regarding the rights of 
 Muhammad Ali they were inflexible. 
 
 It was on this point that the negotiations broke 
 off. Dupleix would not give way. In vain did 
 Saunders instruct his Commissioners to make the 
 most liberal concessions to ensure agreement. He 
 went so far as to offer to declare the office of Nuwdb 
 vacant, on condition that Muhammed Ali should be 
 appointed to it under the joint protection of the two 
 Companies. But the passions of Dupleix were 
 roused. He had been formally nominated Nuwab of 
 the Karnatik. His pride would not allow him to 
 renounce so lofty a position in favour of a man who 
 had posed as his rival. Seventy years later, the man 
 whom he most resembled in ambition, in genius, in 
 the power of compelling others, came, under similar 
 
 ^ My own experience points to the fact that native sovereigns 
 rarely affix their signatures to documents of this description. 
 
154 DUPLEIX 
 
 circumstances, at Dresden in 1813, and at Chatillon 
 in 1 8 14, to a similar resolution. He, too — to use the 
 words of the English historian — ' refused to sit on a 
 degraded throne.' It was the one occasion throughout 
 that long war on wliich Dupleix allowed his passions 
 to master his reasoning powers. What if he had 
 given way ? Men of that stamp give way only to 
 make a further step forward. Had he agreed to 
 forego his own pretensions and to acknowledge Mu- 
 hammad All, not only would he have received back 
 all his soldiers, but an opportunity would have been 
 granted him to employ his unrivalled powers of in- 
 trigue upon his whilom enemy. Who, that knows 
 Asiatics, can doubt his success ? It was certain that, 
 sooner or later, and rather sooner than later, the re- 
 lations between Muhammad Ali and the English, the 
 obliged and the obligor, would become strained. Then, 
 could he but remain quiet up to that time, nursing 
 his resources, his chance would come. And it would 
 have been a great chance. Some thought of this 
 sort, doubtless, occurred to Dupleix. But his pride 
 rejected it ; and his pride went before his fall. 
 
 In consequence of the failure of the negotiations at 
 Sadras, hostilities before Trichinopoli were renewed. 
 Strange to relate, the first actions seemed to justify 
 the obstinacy of Dupleix at the Congress. He, too, 
 had his battle of Dresden. Acting in concert with 
 Morari Rao, Mainville laid an ambush in force for a 
 large convoy, escorted by the famous grenadiers who 
 had borne the brunt of the battles of Lawrence, 1 84 
 
HIS FALL 155 
 
 in number, 800 sipahis, and four guns. The French 
 blocked the road with 240 European infantry^, 6000 
 sipahis, and a troop of 80 European horsemen, near 
 Kantapara, seven miles from Trichinopoli, whilst 
 Mordri Kdo, with 3500 native horsemen, lay in am- 
 bush in some thick woods. The sui-prise was complete 
 (February 26) ; the English in long single file could 
 offer no efficient resistance. They could only die at 
 their posts. The horsemen had already killed fifty of 
 them when the French infantry came up. They at 
 once offered quarter. The offer was accepted, and 
 134 Englishmen, of whom 100 were wounded, became 
 prisoners to the French. Of the English officers, 
 four were killed, three were taken prisoners, and one 
 escaped. The victors captured likewise four pieces 
 of cannon, about <36^7ooo in money, and the convoy of 
 provisions. 
 
 But this success was only a flash in the pan. On 
 the 23rd of May a force of 700 Frenchmen, supported 
 by a large body of sipdhis and Maratha horse, was 
 repulsed by an English force much inferior in num- 
 bers. It was an occasion which, had the French 
 been well led, might have proved decisive of the war; 
 for, for some time, the English were in great peril. 
 But the resources of Dupleix were by no means ex- 
 hausted. Under his orders Mainville, by a skilful 
 
 * Lawrence says, * 120 French infantiy, two companies of deserters 
 about the same number, the French troop of about eighty, 6000 
 sipahis, all the Mysore cavalry and the Marathas, in all about 
 10,000 and seven pieces of cannon.' 
 
156 DUPLEIX 
 
 movement, possessed himself of Kilakota and Koi- 
 ladi, whilst Morari Kao defeated the Tanjore troops. 
 Bringing his diplomacy to bear at the opportune 
 moment, Dupleix had almost succeeded in detaching 
 the Raja of Tanjore from the English alliance when 
 he learned that he had been superseded, and that his 
 successor, M. Godeheu, whom he had formerly benefited 
 at Chandarnagar, and who had subsequently become 
 a Director of the French Company, might arrive at 
 any moment. In fact, the ship carrying Godeheu 
 and his fortunes anchored in the Pondichery road- 
 stead the ist of August (1754). 
 
 The fact was that, in France, the Company of the 
 Indies and the Ministers of the King had alike been 
 long weary of this distant war which brought them 
 neither glory nor profit, but which interfered greatly 
 with commerce. They did not enter into, they did 
 not comprehend, the vastness of the plans of Dupleix, 
 His mind had penetrated the future: their minds 
 were intent on the present. That present had for 
 them a gloomy aspect. As year after year brought 
 no practical result, the idea stole upon them that the 
 resources of France were being squandered to pro- 
 mote the vanity and the ambition of one individual. 
 'They reckoned not the advantages already acquired 
 — the control of the councils of the Subdhdar of the 
 Deccan, the most powerful ruler in Southern India ; 
 the cession to France in absolute gift of the Northern 
 Sirkars, comprising Ganjdm, Vizagapatam, Goddvari. 
 and Krishna, with Rajamahendri and Masulipatam ; 
 
HIS FALL 157 
 
 the acquisition of important territories round and 
 near to Pondichery; the vast influence exercised by 
 the genius of one man. They were traders, they t/^ 
 argued, not soldiers fighting for dominion. They 
 wanted to share peaceably with the English the com- 
 merce between Southern India and Europe, not to ex- 
 terminate rival traders. It is possible that had the 
 policy of Dupleix been immediately successful, the 
 minds of the Directors would have widened so far as 
 to accept results. 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, and found that these 
 military operations interfered greatly with the pro- 
 gress of those commercial relations which they re- 
 garded as the reason of their existence, they came at 
 last to the determination to insist on a change of 
 policy. Negotiating with the English East India 
 Company, the Directoi's of which attributed aU the 
 disturbances to Dupleix, they came to the conclusion 
 that that change could be accomplished only if their 
 agent were removed. By them he was considered as 
 the sole obstacle to peace. They resolved then to i^^^ 
 replace him, to come to terms with their rivals in 
 trade. 1? vain was it asserted that if Dupleix was 
 responsible for the war, Saunders was not less so. 
 The answer was considered conclusive, that the belli- 
 cose humour of Saunders was the necessary conse- 
 quence of the initiative of Dupleix. There need be 
 but one scape-goat, and it was finally agreed that that 
 
\ 
 
 158 DUPLEIX 
 
 scape-goat must be Dupleix. Therefore Godeheu was 
 sent to supersede him. 
 
 The ship, the Due de Burgogne, having Godeheu 
 on board, anchored, as I have said, the 1st of August, 
 off Pondichery. Arguing from the previous relations 
 between them, in which he had been the benefactor 
 and Godeheu the benefited, Dupleix went at once on 
 board to welcome his ancient comrade. His reception 
 was most frigid. Godeheu declined to become his 
 guest, or even to land until a house should be fitted 
 up for him. He handed to him, however, three docu- 
 ments : the first a letter expressive of his desire to 
 make his position as little painful as possible; the 
 second a demand for a complete statement of the 
 affairs of the Company; the third an order for his 
 recall. The next day he landed ; and, proceeding to 
 the Council Chamber, caused his commission to be 
 read out. The silence which followed the reading 
 was broken by Dupleix, not by the utterance of any 
 querulous complaints, but by the loyal cry Vive le 
 Hoi, 
 
 For ten weeks Dupleix was forced to remain at 
 Pondichery whilst his accounts were overhauled by 
 his successor. Dupleix had advanced to the Company 
 vast sums, and the accounts showed him to be a 
 creditor of the Company to the extent of upwards of 
 jf 240,000. Godeheu, whose object it seemed to be 
 not merely to behttle but to ruin his predecessor, 
 had no sooner ascertained this fact than he forbad the 
 Commissaries he had employed to proceed further 
 
HIS FALL 159 
 
 with the accounts, but directed them to give a certi- 
 ficate to the effect that the vouchers produced by 
 Dupleix had reference to the public service. He thus 
 avoided placing on record an acknowledgment of the 
 sums due to Dupleix. But this was not all. Dupleix ^ 
 had been in the habit of advancing large sums from 
 his own private resources to the native allies of 
 France. These advances had been made on the 
 security of certain districts, from the revenues of 
 which they were repayable. At the time of Godeheu's 
 arrival some of the moneys so advanced had been 
 repaid, others, to a very large amount, were still 
 standing over. At the rate however at which the 
 repayments were coming in, the lender would be re- 
 imbursed during the following year. But Godeheu, 
 bent on ruining Dupleix, imprisoned the native agent 
 who held the original documents, and declared that 
 the advances had been made by his predecessor for 
 his own private advantage, and not for the benefit of 
 the State. He refused also to allow a bill drawn by 
 the Company in favour of Dupleix to be cashed at 
 Pondichery. Having thus efiectually ruined the man^ 
 who had all but won an Empire for France he allowed 
 him to depart, beggared but not dishonoured, blasted 
 in fortune, cheated out of the fruits of his then ripen- 
 ing labours. 
 
 * England,' wrote M. Xavier Raymond in his admir- 
 able work on India ^, 'has been much admired and 
 often cited for having resolved the great problem of 
 
 * VUnivers Piitoresquey vol. ii, L'Inde. Paris, 1853. 
 
l6o DUPLEIX 
 
 bow to govern, at a distance of 4000 leagues, with 
 some hundreds of civil functionaries and some thou- 
 sands of soldiers, her immense possessions in India. 
 If there is much that is wonderful, much that is bold 
 and daring, much political genius in the idea, it must 
 be admitted that the honour of having inaugurated it 
 belongs to Dupleix ; and that England, which in the 
 present day reaps from it the profit and the glory, 
 has had but to follow the path which the Genius of 
 France opened out to her/ Yes, indeed ! Now that 
 the lapse of nearly a century and a half has cleared 
 away the passions and prejudices of that exciting 
 period : now that from the basis of accomplished facts 
 we can examine the ideas and conceptions of the men 
 who were the pioneers of European conquest on 
 Indian soil, there lives not a candid Englishman who 
 )^ will deny to Dupleix the credit of having been the 
 first to devise the method by which European pre- 
 dominance on Indian soil might be established. His 
 work did not endure because it was his misfortune to 
 be compelled to employ inferior tools, whilst his rivals 
 were led by men of extraordinary capacity. It did 
 not last because just at the moment when his plans 
 might have been realised he was recalled at the 
 instance of the immemorial enemy of France, on the 
 eve, moreover, of a war, which for the seven years 
 that were to follow, was to try the resources against 
 France of that very enemy. But the effect of 
 his schemes survived him. The ground he had so 
 well watered and fertilised, the capabilities of which 
 
HIS FALL i6l 
 
 he had proved, was almost immediately after his de- 
 parture occupied by his rivals, with the immense 
 result which is one of the wonders of the present 
 day. 
 
 A body of 2000 French troops had followed Godeheu 
 to India, and had arrived at Pondichery a few days 
 after he had installed himself there as Governor. 
 When we reflect on the great things accomplished by 
 Dupleix with a few hundreds, it is difficult to resist 
 the conclusion that for the interests of France the one 
 superfluous man of all the arrivals was Godeheu 
 himself. Had there been no such arrival, no super- 
 session of Dupleix, these men, in the absence of Olive 
 in England, and of Lawrence, whose health was 
 breaking, would have been sufficient to restore su- 
 periority to the French. The outbreak of the war in 
 1756 between France and England might even have^ 
 prompted the attack, which Lally subsequently made, 
 upon Madras itself. 
 
 It is just possible that this might have been, had 
 the departure of Dupleix from Pondichery been de- 
 layed a few weeks longer. A fortnight after he had 
 quitted the shores of India there arrived at that 
 town a despatch from the Controller of Finances in 
 France, M. de Machault, addressed to Dupleix, in 
 which that administrator was referred to as Governor, 
 whilst Godeheu was styled simply the Commissary of 
 the Company, whose sole mission was to treat for 
 peace. There is reason to believe that Machault, an 
 honest man in a corrupt Court, had, very soon after 
 
 L 
 
l6a DUPLEIX 
 
 the departure of Godeheu, entertained fears as to the 
 effect of a recall of Dupleix upon French interests in 
 Southern India, and had employed all his address to 
 retain him there as Governor by limiting the responsi- 
 bilities of Godeheu. He was just too late. His 
 despatch reached Pondichery at the end of October. 
 Dupleix had sailed for Europe on the 14th of that 
 month. The news of his recall had meanwhile spread 
 terror and dismay in those places which he and his 
 subordinates had won for France. Nor were the ap- 
 prehensions thus caused lessened by the instructions 
 despatched by Godeheu to the French agents in 
 different parts of India to the effect that it was not his 
 intention to interfere in the affairs of native princes. 
 He did not indeed proceed so far as to recall Bussy 
 from Aurangabad, or Moracin from the Northern 
 Sirkars. But both these men felt the difficulties of 
 their position under the new Governor to be so great 
 that it required the most urgent entreaties of Dupleix 
 to persuade them to remain. The reply of Bussy to 
 the entreaty made to himself marks, perhaps as 
 strongly as any other incident, the large principles 
 upon which Dupleix had administered his office, the 
 attachment he had won from those who carried out 
 his behests. *I reply,' wrote Bussy, 'to the letter 
 with which you favoured me on the 4th. Your de- 
 parture to Europe is a thunderbolt which has con- 
 founded and alarmed me. You, who are leaving, 
 I exhort me to continue to serve the nation and to 
 I support a work which is on the brink of destruction. 
 
HIS FALL 163 
 
 Do you sincerely believe I shall not be enveloped in | 
 the same disgrace as yourself? The blow is perhaps 
 deferred, or suspended only to be struck with greater 
 force. But however that may be, I have ever con- 
 sidered it my duty to defer to your counsels and to 
 follow your reasoning. Under no circumstances shall 
 I ever depart from that respectful and inviolable 
 attachment which has been till now my happiness 
 and my glory, and which will always remain so. 
 I await the replies of M. Godeheu before I decide .... 
 If, in the post which I occupy, I am not to be allowed 
 liberty of action ; if any attempt be made to fetter me 
 with the ideas of ignorant and inexperienced men, 
 my work must perish in my hands.' Bussy concluded 
 by saying that whilst personally he would prefer to 
 retire to* France, he would follow implicitly the advice 
 given him by the man he admired and respected 
 above all others. Dupleix again urgently pressed 
 him to remain, and he remained. 
 
 Before I proceed to recount the work of demolition 
 accomplished by Godeheu, and the two subsequent 
 attempts to rebuild on the foundations which Dupleix 
 had laid, I think it due to my readers to accompany 
 that illustrious man in his return to France. His 
 arrival there, strange as it may appear, was looked 
 upon even by some of the men who had recalled him 
 as a misfortune, and for a time it seemed not im- 
 possible that he might be directed to return to Pondi- 
 chery. He was, therefore, well received, and promised 
 a speedy settlement of his claims. But letters from 
 L 2 
 
l64 DUPLEIX 
 
 Godeheu, and the news that he had concluded peace 
 with the English on the spot, at once changed the atti- 
 tude of the men who ruled. He became then in their 
 eyes an importunate solicitor for the settlement of 
 claims, the payment of which would constitute a heavy 
 tax on their resources. The report of Godeheu, that 
 the claims had not been established to his satisfaction, 
 strengthened their hands. They therefore declined to 
 admit them, or to compensate him in any way. In 
 vain did he remonstrate. In vain did he point out 
 that he was persecuted by creditors who were 
 creditors only, because, on his personal security, they 
 had advanced sums to the State. For seven years he 
 pressed his claims, supporting them by incontestable 
 proofs. 
 
 He received not the shadow of redress. Nay, more. 
 Men whom he had befriended, whose fortunes he had 
 made, fell off from him when they saw that he was 
 abandoned by the Government he had served so 
 truly. The state of misery to which he was at last 
 reduced can be realised by the perusal of the following 
 record he made in his Memoirs three days before he 
 died: *I have sacrificed,' he wrote, 'my youth, my 
 fortune, my life, to enrich my nation in Asia. Un- 
 fortunate friends, too weak relations, devoted all their 
 property to the success of my projects. They are 
 now in misery and want. I have complied with all 
 the judiciary forms : I have demanded, as the last of 
 the creditors, that which is due to mo. My services 
 are treated as fables, my demand is denounced as 
 
HIS FALL 165 
 
 ridiculous, I am treated as the vilest of mankind. 
 I am in the most deplorable indigence. The little 
 property that remained to me has been seized. I am 
 compelled to ask for decrees for delay in order not to 
 be dragged to prison.* 
 
 Thus wrote, three days before he died, the man 
 who had dug for France the foundations of an Empire 
 which would, if built upon, have made her the arbiter 
 of the East. Nations have their moods of infatuation. 
 In 1 754-6 France had hers. Acting in concert with 
 the rival who was to supplant her, she recalled her 
 far-seeing architect, left the foundations desolate and 
 unguarded, and only realised her mistake when she 
 witnessed her rival eagerly adopting those very plans, 
 and building upon those very foundations which the 
 genius of her own architect had devised and marked 
 out. Meanwhile, she had allowed that architect to die 
 * in misery and want.' 
 
 Dupleix died November 10, 1764. Notwithstanding 
 the neglect of his contemporaries, he will ever be 
 regarded as one of the greatest of Frenchmen. Even 
 the rivals who profited by his recall place him on a 
 pedestal scarcely, if at all, lower than the pedestals < 
 upon which stand Clive, Warren Hastings, and 
 Wellesley. In grandness of conception, and in the 
 wide scope of his projects of empire, he was their 
 forerunner — unconsciously on their part perhaps, theii* 
 inspirer. 
 
CHAPTER Xn 
 
 The Final Collapse 
 
 DuPLEix had departed, and Godeheu reigned in his 
 stead. Godeheu was the exact opposite of his pre- 
 decessor. He was a man with a mission. That 
 mission was to conclude peace with the English and 
 the native princes at any price. He carried out his 
 task very much to the satisfaction of the English. 
 Only a few months before the English Governor, 
 Saunders, had been ready to conclude a treaty with 
 Dupleix on the principle of admitting all the conditions 
 proposed by the French administrator, if only he would 
 renounce the title of Nuwab of the Karnatik. Gode- 
 heu, who made no pretension to such a title, was 
 glad to assent to terms far less favourable. Thinking 
 only of commerce, and believing that the same senti- 
 ment animated the English, he agreed with Saunders 
 that the two Companies should renounce for ever all 
 Mughal dignities and governments, and never interfere 
 in the differences which might arise between the 
 native princes. The second article of his treaty 
 stipulated that whilst the English should possess 
 Madras, Fort St. David, and Devikota, the French 
 should be content with Pondichery, Karikdl, and 
 certain districts to be agreed upon, sufficient to make 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE 167 
 
 the districts of Pondichery equal to those of Madras 
 and Fort St. David united. On the other hand, the 
 exclusive right of the French to the Northern Sirkars, 
 granted by the Subahddr, was not recognised. The 
 other conditions related to the navigation of certain 
 rivers, and provided that the principle uii possidetis 
 should be applied until the confirmation of the treaty 
 should arrive from Europe. Pending that arrival, no 
 forts were to be erected on either side. 
 
 It will be recognised that in this treaty Godeheu 
 renounced all that Dupleix had fought for. He gave 
 up the office of Nuwdb of the Karnatik, he gave up 
 the Northern Sirkars, he gave up his native allies, 
 he gave up the influence and prestige of the French 
 nation. How unfoi-tunate was his administration to 
 France was proved by the fact that whereas to 
 Dupleix, Saunders had offered to yield every point 
 but one — that referring to the Nuwabship of the 
 Karndtik — he reduced Godeheu to a position which/ 
 left Pondichery and Karikdl mere trading-ports. Itl 
 would seem that his single object was to undo all 
 that Dupleix had accomplished, to renounce all moral 
 influence over the native populations, to abjure the 
 principle of associating for the advantage of France 
 with powerful native sovereigns in the interior. He 
 carried out that programme to the best of his small 
 ability. Only one thing he did not do. He did not 
 recall Bussy and his troops from the Court of the 
 Subahdar. 
 
 Godeheu stayed but a few months in India. He 
 
i68 DUPLEIX 
 
 quitted Pondichery in February, 1755, and was suc- 
 ceeded, after a short interval, by M. Duval de Leyrit, 
 a factor in the employment of the French Company, 
 possessing neither political ability nor large views. 
 He too was a partisan of that policy of non-inter- 
 vention. He had not been long in office when. May 
 1756, war broke out between France and England. 
 By this time the French Ministers had realised the 
 enormous mistake they had committed in not effici- 
 ently supporting Dupleix, and they notified to De 
 Leyrit that they were preparing a considerable force 
 to send to India to support French interests there. 
 Their original design went far beyond the defence of 
 French interests. The force was to be large enough 
 to expel the English from Southern India, to restore 
 by means of their troops the policy of the Governor 
 they had recalled and ruined. 
 
 The command of this expedition was bestowed 
 upon one of the most distinguished officers in the 
 French army, an Irishman by birth. This was 
 Thomas Arthur, Count Lally and Baron Tollendal, 
 son of Sir Gerard O'Lally, who, after the capture of 
 Limerick in 1691, had migrated to France and had 
 entered the service of Louis XIV. Nine years after 
 this event there was born to Sir Gerard the son who, 
 trained from his earliest youth in the French armies, 
 had merited at Fontenoy the commendations of 
 Marshal Saxe; who had taken pai't in the '45, and 
 had fought at Laffeldt. The young Lally had made 
 a great reputation. His contemporaries regarded him 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE 169 
 
 as a man with respect to whom * it needed only that 
 success should be possible for him to succeed.' The 
 illustrious Voltaire, who had^ by desire of the Minister, 
 worked with him a month, recorded that he ' had 
 found in him a stubborn fierceness of soul, accompanied 
 by great gentleness of manners.' In fact, he was 
 universally regarded in France as the man who could 
 take up the dropped thread of the work of Dupleix, 
 and carry it to a successful issue. 
 
 It had been originally intended that Lally should 
 sail for India immediately, with a force of 3000 men. 
 The number he actually took fell somewhat short 
 of that total, and what was worse, the delays, caused 
 to a great extent by the incompetence of the Admiral 
 who commanded the fleet which was to co-operate 
 with him, so influenced his proceedings that it was 
 the 28th of April, 1758, before he arrived ofi* Pondi- 
 chery. 
 
 Meanwhile, the treaty concluded between the 
 French and English by Godeheu and Saunders had 
 long since become a dead letter. De Leyrit, noticing 
 the continued infraction of that treaty by his rivals, 
 had been compelled, much against his wiU, to resume 
 the policy of Dupleix. Rousing the gouty old 
 D'Auteuil from his lethargy, he had despatched him 
 with a superior force to surprise the English at 
 Trichinopoli. D'Auteuil acted as a gouty invalid 
 will always act. Wanting energy, fire, and the sense 
 of the • value of prompt action, he, with the most 
 brilliant opportunities before him, allowed himself to 
 
I70 DUPLEIX 
 
 be out-manoeuvred and beaten back to Pondichery. 
 De Leyrit had then replaced D'Auteuil by one 
 Saubinet, who had done much better, and had com- 
 pelled the English to act on the defensive. Saubinet 
 was master of the field when the first detachment of 
 Lally's force arrived under the Chevalier de Soupire, 
 (September 9, 1757). Pending the arrival of Lally, 
 De Leyrit united the considerable force of De Soupire 
 to that of Saubinet, and the combined troops captured 
 Tiruvanndmalai and other places in the vicinity of 
 Chitapet and Gingi. The oppoiiunities were mag- 
 nificent to accomplish a great deal more, for the 
 English had sent all the troops they could spare to 
 assist Clive in Bengal. But Lally was expected 
 every day : he was known to be haughty, imperious, 
 violently prejudiced against Franco-Lidians. De Sou- 
 pire hesitated to act decisively till he should arrive : the 
 precious moments, therefore, were allowed to slip by. 
 At length Lally arrived. He had all the possi- 
 bilities before him. He was a splendid soldier. But 
 there was wanting, from his disposition, that peculiar 
 quality which had enabled Dupleix to acquire com- 
 manding influence over all the native princes with 
 whom he came in contact. Dupleix could persuade : 
 Lally could only command. The one caressed the 
 foibles of the native to turn them to his own advan- 
 tage. The other heeded neither his foibles nor his 
 virtues, but stamped contemptuously on both. Dupleix. 
 wielding but a small number of European troops, had 
 made possible French predominance in Southern 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE 171 
 
 India because he possessed the innate power of in- 
 fluencing vast numbers of the children of the soil. 
 Lally, wielding a force which, prudently directed, 
 might easily have established that predominance, 
 failed even more miserably than his predecessor for 
 the want of that very tact and knowledge. Not 
 only would he take no pains to conciliate the natives, 
 b.ut he trod ruthlessly on their prejudices. He would 
 recognise none of their castes, and he scoffed openly 
 at their creeds. Nor did he spare the French officials 
 at Pondichery. He treated them with a hauteur 
 which soon turned their hearts against him. 
 
 It must be admitted, as far as relates to those 
 officials, that they were inefficient and incompetent. 
 Immediately on his arrival, Lally demanded informa- 
 tion regarding the strength and garrisons of Fort 
 St. David, of Gudalur, and of Madras ; also regard- 
 ing the total strength of the English in Southern 
 India. But neither De Leyrit nor his councillors 
 could give him any precise information on these 
 points ; they could not even tell him the actual 
 distance from Pondichery to Gudalur, though it was 
 but sixteen miles. They could only offer to furnish 
 guides. It is not surprising that this ignorance and 
 this indifference confirmed the contempt of Lally for 
 the Franco-Indian fraternity, nor that thenceforth he 
 utterly disregarded them. 
 
 Essentially a man of action, and possessing a 
 superiority in numbers on the coast, Lally obtained 
 at first some striking successes. He took without 
 
l^% DUPLEIX 
 
 difficulty both Gudalur and Fort St. David. He 
 then wished to march on Madras. But he had no 
 money ; the magazines and arsenals were empty. 
 Instead of a Dupleix to supply the one and fill the 
 other, he had a De Leyrit, who met all his requisitions 
 by pleading the impossibility of complying with 
 them. Strange reversal of position I From 175^^ to 
 1 756 Dupleix had improvised the most ample resources 
 for an army: he only wanted the army and the 
 general. In 1758 the army and the general were 
 there, but the incapable successors of Dupleix were 
 unable to furnish them with a single article necessary 
 for the movement of troops or to give him the smallest 
 information. At length, Lally, driven by the indiffer- 
 ence of De Leyrit to extremities, endeavoured to raise 
 funds from the R^ja of Tanjore. The Eaja amused 
 him with promises until Captain Calliaud had sent 
 him some trained sipdhis from Trichinopoli. Then 
 he threw off the mask and bade defiance to the 
 French army. Lally was about to assault the place 
 when a message reached him that the French fleet 
 had been beaten off the coast, and that the English 
 were threatening his base. He returned then to 
 Pondichery without risking an assault, found there 
 three lakhs of rupees which the Admiral had taken 
 from a Dutch vessel which he had plundered, then 
 despatching orders to Bussy to join him, marched to 
 Arcot. Arcot fell without a blow. Bussy joined him 
 from Aurangdbdd, Moracin with ^^50 men and 100,000 
 rupees from the Northern Sii-kars; he himself, by 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE 173 
 
 returning to Pondichery, wrung some more money 
 from the Pondichery Council ; then, taking the 
 strong places which lay between Arcot and Madras, 
 appeared before the latter place on the 12th of De- 
 cember. He had under his orders 2600 European 
 infantry, 300 cavalry, and 5000 trained sipdhis. 
 
 Into the details of the siege which followed it is 
 unnecessary to enter. It will suffice to state that 
 although Lally took easy possession of the Black 
 Town, the fort resisted with such resolution that, 
 notwithstanding some advantages gained in the open, 
 one of which he unaccountably failed to press home, 
 he was ultimately compelled to raise the siege. His 
 heavy guns had already made a breach in the fortifi- 
 cations, and he was waiting for a favourable night to 
 order the assault, when the English fleet appeared off 
 the coast. It was the 16th of February. Lally*s 
 resources were exhausted. The following day, full of 
 rage and disappointment, he raised the siege. 
 
 The most fatal mistake committed by Lally up to 
 this point was the recalling of Bussy and his troops i 
 from the Court of the Sub^hdar, and of Moracin from 
 the Northern Sirkars. To replace the latter he had 
 sent the Marquis de Conflans, an officer with no 
 Indian experience. The consequences were fatal to 
 French domination. One of the Rajas in the northern 
 part of the Northern Sirkars seized the occasion to 
 assert his independence, and despatched pressing 
 requests to Calcutta for assistance. Clive, thoroughly 
 alive to the possibilities which might result from 
 
174 DUPLEIX 
 
 English interference, sent his best officer, Colonel 
 Forde, with a small number of troops to aid the Eaja. 
 The consequences justified the action of the great 
 Englishman, taken though it was against ^ the advice 
 of every member of his Council. They were in every 
 way most advantageous to England. Forde, the 
 superior soldier, the man who knew India, pitted 
 against Conflans, the inferior soldier, recently im- 
 ported from Europe, not only conquered for England 
 the Northern Sirkars, but compelled the Si(bahdar of 
 the Deccan, who interfered at the head of an army to 
 support the French, to transfer his alliance from that 
 people to the English. It is from the period of the 
 expulsion of the French from the Northern Sirkars 
 that date the reciprocal engagements between the 
 Nizdm and the Anglo-Indian Government which 
 exist in a modified form to the present day. 
 
 Meanwhile Lally, leaving his troops under De 
 Soupire at Arcot, had returned to Pondichery to 
 arrange for means to carry on the war. After many 
 delays and many mischances, he rejoined the army at 
 Wandiwash, and marched with it to Arcot. During 
 his absence, the English force, recently strengthened 
 and now commanded by another of Clive's lieutenants, 
 the renowned Eyre Coote, had taken Wandiwash. 
 Lally marched to recover the place, and took up a 
 strong position before it. There, the 21st of January, 
 1760, he was attacked and completely defeated by 
 
 * For a detailed account of these transactions the reader is re- 
 ferred to Malleson's Decisive Battles oflndia^ new edition, pp. 77-114. 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE 175 
 
 Eyre Coote. The victory of the English was decisive ^. 
 ' It dealt a fatal and decisive blow to French domina- 
 tion in India : it shattered to the ground the mighty 
 fabric which Mai-tin, Dumas, and Dupleix had con- ^ 
 tributed to erect : it dissipated all the hopes of Lally : 
 it sealed the fate of Pondichery/ As an immediate 
 consequence, Arcot, Devikota, Karikal fell into the 
 hands of the English. In September Pondichery was 
 invested. On the 15th of January following it sur- 
 rendered. Lally, taken prisoner, was sent to England. 
 Learning there that the most shameless charges were 
 preferred against him by the Franco -Indian colony 
 which had thwarted him in India, he asked and 
 obtained permission to return to France to defend 
 himself. But there the influences of the governing 
 clique, always powerful, were too strong. He was 
 condemned on the most casual evidence \ and after 
 three years of lingering agony was condemned to be 
 beheaded. On Ma}'^ 8, 1766, he was transferred from 
 prison to a dung-cart, and with a gag thrust into his 
 mouth, was taken through the streets of Paris to the 
 scaffold. The Directors of the Company of the Indies 
 had prevailed against him as they had prevailed 
 against Dupleix. It was not till some years later 
 that the incessant exertions of his son, the famous 
 Lally-Tollendal, obtained the rehabilitation of the 
 memory of his father. 
 
 But there was yet to be another and a final attempt 
 to restore the policy of Dupleix in Southern India. 
 
 ^ Vide History of the French in India, p. 560. 
 
176 DUPLEIX 
 
 The Treaty of Paris, signed February 10, 1763, had 
 restored Pondichery to France, but it was Pondichery 
 dismantled, beggared, bereft of all her influence. 
 During the fifteen years that followed that humili- 
 ating treaty, Pondichery had been forced to witness, 
 without attempting to prevent it, the aggrandisement 
 of her rival. Even when, in 1778, the war between 
 France and England was renewed in Europe, the 
 Government of France was ill-prepared to assert a 
 claim for independence, still less for dominion, for her 
 Indian possessions. 
 
 The natural results followed. Chandarnagar sur- 
 rendered without striking a blow (July 10, 1778). 
 Pondichery, ably defended for forty days against 
 vastly superior forces, was captured in the month of 
 September following. The French fleet, commanded 
 by M. de Tronjoly, abandoned the Indian waters 
 without even attempting to save Mah^. All seemed 
 lost; when suddenly the genius of Haidar All, the 
 ruler of Mysore, gave a turn to events which upset 
 the most careful calculations, and communicated to 
 his French allies the most brilliant hopes. 
 
 On the 4th of April, 1769, Haidar All dictated 
 peace to the English under the walls of Madras. By 
 one of the articles of this treaty the contracting 
 parties bound themselves to assist one another in 
 defensive wars. But when, during the following year, 
 Haidar was attacked by the Marathas, and called 
 upon the English to fulfil their contract, the English 
 refused. 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE 1 77 
 
 Haidar never forgave this breach of faith. When, 
 some nine years later, he heard of the war between 
 France and England, and noticed that the English 
 were likewise embroiled with the Marathds in Western 
 India, he took his revenge. Under the pretext that 
 the capture of Mah^ was a breach of the treaty exist- 
 ing with him, he declared war, out-manoeuvred Sir 
 Hector Munro, destroyed Baillie's detachment of 3720 
 men (September 9 and 10, 1780), captured Arcot, and 
 seemed to threaten Madras itself. 
 
 Haidar had not been unmindful of the advantages 
 which might accrue to him from an alliance with 
 France. Early in the year he had caused information 
 to be sent to Paris of his intentions to crush the 
 English out of Southern India, a result, he said, which 
 would be certain if France would only assist him. 
 But the Ministers of Louis XVI, discouraged by the 
 results of their former attempts in India, and possibly 
 distrusting the power of Haidar All, turned a deaf 
 ear to his solicitations, and contented themselves with 
 despatching a squadron to defend the Isles of France 
 and Bourbon. But it soon appeared that such a 
 squadron, if commanded by a man of energy, was 
 sufficient to turn the scale in India. 
 
 The squadron, commanded by M. Duchemin, found 
 at Port Louis the officer commanding on the Indian 
 station, the Chevalier d'Orves. D'Orves at once 
 assumed command, and with the six men-of-war, one 
 frigate, and two corvettes, carrying one of the finest 
 regiments in the French army, sailed for the Indian 
 
 M 
 
178 DUPLEIX 
 
 waters. He arrived off the Coromandel coast 
 towards the end of January. I shall now proceed to 
 show hoWj had he possessed the smallest modicum of 
 sense or energy, had he not been the worst officer who 
 ever commanded a fleet, he might have compelled the 
 surrender of the only available English force in 
 Southern India. It was an opportunity such as 
 Fortune but rarely oflfers, and which olily a fool or a 
 coward refuses. 
 
 Haidar All, having out-manoeuvred Munro, beaten 
 Baillie, and captured Arcot, had laid siege to Wandi- 
 wash, Vellore, Ambur, Permakol, and Chengalpat. 
 He had compelled the surrender of Ambur when he 
 heard that Sir Eyre Coote, whom Warren Hastings, 
 with his wonted prescience, had despatched to restore 
 the British fortunes in Southern India, had left Madras 
 the previous day with the intention of attacking him. 
 Haidar, who had the true instinct of a general, at 
 once massed his forces, and so manoeuvred as to 
 interpose between Coote and Madras. Coote, careless 
 of this, was bent only on reaching Pondichery, from 
 which place the French had managed to expel the 
 small English garrison. Haidar followed him, care- 
 fully occupying the strong places on the way. At 
 length, on the 8th of February, he came close up 
 with the English force near Gudalur, that force being 
 nearest the sea, whilst Haidar, marching almost 
 parallel to it, commanded the country inland. Coote, 
 in fact, was between Haidar and the sea, the strong 
 places in front of him and behind him occupied by 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE 179 
 
 his enemies. His supplies were exhausted, hut he 
 was expecting these in vessels which had been sent 
 from Madras to Gudalur. Turning on that eventful 
 morning his longing eyes towards the sea to spy, if he 
 could, the expected vessels, Coote saw,* and Haidar 
 saw, not the English flag, but the squadron of the 
 Chevalier d'Orves, guarding the coast and cutting oflF 
 from the English army all chances of supply. Coote, 
 a capable soldier, recognised at once the hopelessness 
 of his position. The only chance of escape was to 
 force Haidar to a battle. He tried every expedient 
 to draw the Asiatic warrior. But Haidar was too 
 wary. He recognised the position as clearly as did 
 Coote, and he was not to be drawn. 
 
 Haidar knew, in fact, that, barring accidents, Coote 
 must surrender. He therefore communicated with 
 D'Orves, and begged him to land the regiment he had 
 with him, pointing out to him that the only army 
 possessed by England in Southern India was at his 
 mercy, and that Madras was garrisoned by but five 
 hundred invalids. 
 
 Never had France such an opportunity. It was an 
 absolute certainty. There was neither risk nor chance 
 about it. The English fleet under Sir Edward Hughes 
 was off* the western coast. D'Orves had but to remain 
 quietly where he was for a few days and the English 
 force must be starved into surrender. Sir Eyre Coote 
 saw it, Haidar All saw it, every man in the army saw it: 
 every man with the squadron, one only excepted, saw 
 it. The exception was D'Orves himself. But little 
 M 2 
 
l8o DUPLE IX 
 
 was required of him. He, the representative of 
 France on the Indian seas, had but to ride at anchor 
 where he was in the finest season of the year, a season 
 when storms are unknown in the Indian seas, and 
 watch the enemies of his country surrender or starve 
 — and he would not. Despite the protestations of 
 Haidar and the murmurs of his crews, D'Orves sailed 
 for the islands the 15th of February, taking every 
 man he had brought with him. His departure saved 
 Coote. A few days later English vessels arrived with 
 provisions from Madras. 
 
 Haidar, thus left to himself, fought Coote on the ist 
 July at Chilambaram, and, after a hardly contested 
 battle, was beaten. On the 27th August following, he 
 engaged the English general at Parambakam, and this 
 time not unequally. He left, however, to Coote the 
 honour of the field of battle. On the 1 8th of February 
 following (1782), Tipu Sahib, the eldest son of Haidar, 
 compelled Colonel Braithwaite's detachment, after 
 three days' hard fighting, to surrender. It was about 
 the period of this last encounter that France made her 
 third and last eflfort to take up the dropped policy of 
 Dupleix. She despatched to the Indian seas a power- 
 ful squadron under the greatest of her admirals, the 
 illustrious Sufiren, and nearly 3000 men under Bussy. 
 Pending the amval of Bussy, the land force was placed 
 under the orders of the Duchemin already mentioned. 
 
 Leaving Sufiren and the English admiral. Sir 
 Edward Hughes, to fight four or five indecisive battles 
 off the Coromandel coast, I propose to follow very 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE l8l 
 
 briefly the fortunes of Duchemin. It was just a 
 chance that at this decisive period, pending the arrival 
 of the real commander, the charge of the French 
 troops should have devolved on a man who dreaded 
 nothing so much as responsibility. Had a real soldier 
 commanded' that force — and there was one there 
 serving in the ranks, the Bernadotte who afterwards 
 became a Marshal of France and King of Sweden — 
 the fate of Southern India would for a time have been 
 changed. 
 
 Duchemin and his troops had disembarked at Porto 
 Novo the 2oth of April. It had been arranged between 
 SufFren and Haidar that a corps of 6000 native 
 infantry and 4000 cavalry from the Mysore army 
 should join the French force, form with it an army- 
 corps, and as such, should, under Duchemin's orders, 
 co-operate with Haidar's main army, the latter 
 furnishing it with money and supplies. This arrange- 
 ment took effect, and Duchemin, after re-taking 
 Gudalur, joined Haidar at Permakol, whence they 
 marched to take a position before Wandiwash. 
 
 The English force, still commanded by Coote, con- 
 sisted of 12,000 men, of whom only 2000 were 
 Europeans. Coote himself was in feeble health, but 
 his spirit, always daring, was as resolute as it was on 
 the day when he voted against Clive to fight at 
 Plassey. 
 
 His situation was a dangerous one. Before him 
 was an army of 60,000 men, led by the best native 
 general who has ever been seen in India, backed by a 
 
1 8a DUPLEIX 
 
 corps of upwards of 2000 Frenchmen. It seemed 
 probable that before that force Wandiwash must 
 fall. Now it was everything to Coote to prevent the 
 fall of Wandiwash. He marched, then, with his 
 inferior force, and offered battle to Haidar and 
 Duchemin. It was a daring, even a rash offer. - He 
 was over-matched in the three arms, and, considering 
 the enormously preponderating numbers of the enemy's 
 cavalry, defeat would have been ruin. Haidar saw 
 the advantage, and pressed upon Duchemin to prepare 
 his men for battle. The very reasons which made it 
 rash to Coote to offer battle incited Haidar, and 
 should have incited Duchemin, to accept it. But the 
 responsibility weighed down Duchemin to the earth. 
 He was only acting- commander, for Bussy had not 
 arrived : and he had not the nerve to accept the gift 
 which a too kind Fortune placed within his reach. 
 Haidar, disgusted with his ally, fell back on Kalinur, 
 near Pondichery. Watching thence the operations of 
 Coote, he learned that the English General was about 
 to attempt Arni. In Arni he had stored his magazines 
 and ammunition. On no account must Ai-ni be lost. 
 Leaving then Duchemin and his corps behind him, 
 he proceeded by forced marches to intercept Coote; 
 caught him, and though he failed to defeat him, 
 baffled his design on Ai^ni. Four* days later he 
 enticed a detachment of Coote's army into an ambus- 
 cade, and cut it up. Coote then retired on Madras, 
 and Haidar laid siege to Vellore. 
 
 Before Bussy could reach India, Haidai- had died. 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE 183 
 
 When at last, March 19, Bussy did arrive, it was soon 
 recognised that he was not the same Bussy who had 
 won and had maintained for many years a commanding 
 position at the Court of the Subdhdar of the Deccan. 
 The Bussy who landed in Gudalur in March, 1783, 
 was a gouty gourmand who would undertake no- 
 thing and sanction nothing. He remained invisible 
 in his tent, whilst he allowed an English army, in- 
 ferior in the number of its Europeans, to blockade 
 him in Gudalur. He was in this position when the 
 news arrived that peace between England and France 
 had been signed. The moment was fortunate for the 
 English commander. Suffren had just driven the 
 English squadron fiom the coast: the supplies in the 
 English camp were exhausted. Had Bussy declined 
 to accede to an armistice, the Enghsh army must 
 have surrendered ^. 
 
 But it was not to be. Bussy accepted the armistice 
 with alacrity, and the Peace of Versailles soon after 
 formally put an end to the war. 
 
 Since that period France has renounced all open 
 attempts to found a French Empire in India. For 
 nearly twenty years later, by permitting her children 
 to enlist in the service of native princes, to disci- 
 pline their armies and to show them how to occupy 
 
 * Professor H. H. Wilson writes on this subject : ' It seems prob- 
 able that but for the opportune occurrence of peace with France the 
 South of India would have been lost to the English/ For a de- 
 tailed account of the proceedings at this period vide the author's 
 Fmal Frmch Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas. W. H. Allen 
 and Co. 
 
1 84 DUPLE IX 
 
 defensive positions, she continued to foster the feeling 
 of hostility which Dupleix had been the first to in- 
 spire. Within that period also she lured the ruler of 
 Mysore to those open demonstrations against Eng- 
 land which the genius of Marquess Wellesley turned 
 to his destruction. But not even when she stood 
 alone against the combined force of Napoleon and 
 his allies, did the ruler of France dare openly to 
 attack the Empire, the conception of which had 
 originated in the brain of Dupleix, but which Clive, 
 Warren Hastings, and Wellesley had gained for Eng- 
 land. That the conception was the conception of 
 Dupleix cannot be denied. It was with him a well- 
 thought-out calculation, an organised scheme, an end 
 to be attained by patient striving. It was long before 
 the English regarded it in that aspect. Contented 
 with having defeated the plans of Dupleix they were 
 ready to fall back upon their role of merchants. The 
 quasi-imperial idea came to Clive only when he re- 
 cognised that unless the English should crush Surdju- 
 d-daulah, Surdju-d-daulah would crush the English. 
 But how far, even after his victory, even after the 
 annexation of Bengal and Behar, Clive was from 
 having adopted the entire programme of Dupleix, 
 was shown by the earnest injunctions he laid upon 
 his successor not to advance the frontier beyond the 
 point at which he had left it *. Action of the same 
 
 ^ * Our possessions should be bounded by the provinces (Bengal 
 and Behar). Studiously maintain peace, it is the groundwork of 
 our prosperity. Never consent to act offensively against any Powers, 
 
THE FINAL COLLAPSE 185 
 
 character as that which had forced the hand of Clive, 
 forced subsequently the hand of Warren Hastings; 
 and later still, the hand of Wellesley. Vainly did 
 Cornwallis, and Teignmouth, and Adam, and Minto 
 try to stop the inevitable march forward. Such a 
 march was the certain ultimate consequence of the 
 establishment of a factory on the Hugli by a dominant 
 race. There was no middle point between crushing 
 or being crushed. The possibility of succeeding in 
 the former process was first demonstrated by Dupleix, 
 when he declined to suiTender Madras to the Nuwdb 
 of the Karndtik. The defeat his general inflicted 
 upon the Nuwdb's troops on the Adydr, not only 
 reversed the moral position of the European and the 
 Asiatic in India, but it revealed to his soaring and 
 receptive mind the possibihty of bringing the whole 
 of Southern India under French domination. Had 
 France but seconded him, who can say that his dream 
 might not have been realised? It remains only to 
 us, whilst concluding this record of his splendid 
 struggles to that end, and his glorious and unmerited 
 failure, to admit to the full the contention of M. 
 Xavier Raymond, which, though already quoted, 
 may well bear repetition. ' England has been much 
 
 except in defence of our own, the King's (of Delhi), or the J»iu\vab- 
 Wazir's dominions, as stipulated by treaty ; and, above all things, 
 be assured that a march to Delhi would be not only a vain and 
 finiitless project, but attended with destruction to your own army, 
 and perhaps put a period to the very being of the Company in 
 Bengal.' Minute of Lord Clive, given in extenso by Mr. Talboys 
 Wheeler in his Early Records of British India. 
 
1 86 DUPLEIX 
 
 admired and often cited for having resolved that great 
 problem of how to govern, at a distance of 4000 
 leagues, with some hundreds of civil functionaries 
 and some thousands of soldiers, her immense posses- 
 sions in India. If there is much that is wonderful, 
 much that is bold and daring, much political genius 
 in the idea, it must be admitted that the honour of 
 "^ inaugurating it belonged to Dupleix, and that England, 
 which is reaping the profit and the glory, has had 
 but to follow the path which the Genius of France 
 opened out to her/ 
 
INDEX 
 
 Akcot, Olive's capture and re- 
 
 tenticn of, p. 113. 
 AsTRDc, is defeated by Colonel 
 
 Lawrence, 139-42: again, 
 
 M4-5. 
 Brennier, is defeated by Colonel 
 
 La\vrence before Trichinopoli, 
 
 143. 
 
 BussY, storms Gingi, 87 : ac- 
 companies Muzaffar Jang to 
 Aurangdbdd, 94 : prudent con- 
 duct of, on Muzaflfar Jang's 
 death, 95-6 : gains the North- 
 ern Sirkars and ceded districts, 
 140 : letter of, to Dupleix, 
 162-3 • returns to India, but 
 effects nothing, 181-3. 
 
 Caron, adventures of, 13-16. 
 
 Chanda SIhib, becomes Nuw^b 
 of the Karnatik, 75 : foolish 
 delays of, 76 : deviates from 
 the plan of Dupleix, 80 : acts 
 with the French before Trichi- 
 nopoli, 102-22 : death of, 123. 
 
 Clive, Robert, first mention of, 
 108 : earlier career of, 109 : 
 proposes to Saunders to make 
 a diversion, 1 11 : captures and 
 defends Arcot, 113: gains a 
 decisive victoiy at Kaveripak, 
 116: leaves for Europe, 1 30. 
 
 CooTE, Eyre, beats Lally at Wan- 
 diwash, 1 75: is out-manoeuvred 
 by Haidar Ali, 178: fights 
 battles with him, 180-2. 
 
 D'Orves, has a splendid chance 
 of forcing the English army to 
 surrender, and throws it away, 
 178-80. 
 
 Dumas, administration of. at 
 Pondichery, 28-34. 
 
 Dupleix, eaiiy career of, 35 : 
 action of, at Chandarnagar, 
 36-8 : proceeds to Pondichery 
 as Governor, 39: system of, 
 40: fortifies Pondichery, 41: 
 commercial policy of, 42 : 
 differences with La Bourdon- 
 nais, 51 : resolves to retain 
 
 Madras, 53 : the troops of, re- 
 pulse the Karnatik soldiers, 
 55 : vain efforts of, to expel 
 the English, 58-63 : is besieged 
 by, and repulses, the English, 
 64-7 : position of, after the 
 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 68 : 
 assists Muzaffar Jang and 
 Chanda Sahib, 73-4: schemes 
 of, baffled, 80, 82-3 : represses 
 the mutiny of his troops, 83-4 : 
 intrigues with the Deccan 
 nobles, 84 : triumph of the 
 policy of, 94-7 : hit hard by 
 Clive's diversion, sends every 
 available man to assist Law 
 before Trichinopoli, 114: agony 
 of, at Law's ineptitude, 118: 
 consequent failure of the policy 
 of, 1 2 2-3 : wonderful recupera- 
 tive power of the genius of, 
 1 24-6 : learns of the entire loss 
 of the troops coming from 
 France, 131 : improvises fresh 
 resources, 134: baffles Law- 
 rence, 135 : again attempts 
 Trichinopoli, 137: becomes un- 
 popular in France, 145 : opens 
 negotiations with Saunders, 
 146: which fail, 147 : agrees to 
 a congress, 151: his impori- 
 ousness provokes failure, 153: 
 is superseded by Godeheu, 158 : 
 summary of achievements of, 
 160 : last days of, 163-5. 
 
 France, first inducements of, to 
 trade to India, 7. 
 
 French, the, troops in India, 
 action of, before Tanjoro, 80: 
 mutiny, 82-3: defeat Nadir 
 Jang, 85 : and Muhammad All, 
 86 : baffle the English before 
 Volkonda, 102-3 • want of a 
 man to command, 104 : sur- 
 render before Trichinopoli, 
 122: baffle Kinneer but are 
 beaten by Lawrence, 127-9: 
 various battles of, before Tri- 
 chinopoli, 137-51. 
 
i88 
 
 INDEX 
 
 GoDEHEU, relieves Dupleix, 158: 
 conduct of, 159-62 : renounces 
 all that Dupleix had fought 
 for, 167 : is relieved by De 
 Leyrit, 168. 
 
 Haidar Ali dictates peace to the 
 English under the walls of 
 Madras, 1 76 : forms an alli- 
 ance with the French, 177: 
 out-manoeuvres Coote, 178 : 
 brilliant campaign, and death 
 of, 178-82. 
 
 KaknItiz, Nuwdbs of the, 30, 45, 
 53 : revolution in the, 75 : 
 Chan da Sahib becomes Nuwab 
 of the, 76 : Muhammad Ali 
 becomes finally Nuwdb of the, 
 121-3. 
 
 Kaveripak, battle of, 116. 
 
 La Bourdonnais, earlier career 
 of, 46 : arrives off Pondichery 
 with his squadron, 48 : sails for 
 Madras, 51 : takes Madras, 52. 
 
 Lally, Count, takes a force to 
 India, 1 70 : meets hostility and 
 incompetence in the French 
 officials, 171 : misfortunes and 
 mistakes of, 172-3 : repulse of, 
 from Madras, 173: defeat of, 
 at Wandiwash, 1 74-5 : tragic 
 end of, 175. 
 
 Law of Lauriston, effects of the 
 speculations of, on the Com- 
 pany of the Indies, 23-26. 
 
 Law, nephew of Law of Lauris- 
 ton, appointed to command 
 the French troops, 107 : feeble- 
 ness of, 107, 114, 115, 119, 120, 
 121 : surrender of, 122-3. 
 
 Lawrence, Colonel, attacks Devi- 
 kota, 78 : joins Nadir Jang, 81 : 
 defeats the French, 129: eludes 
 the vigilance of Dupleix, and 
 marches to relieve Trichino- 
 poli, 137 : defeats Astruc, 139- 
 42 : and Brennier, 143 : and 
 Astruc again, 144-5 : and holds 
 Trichinopoli to the last, 150. 
 
 Lenoir, administration of, at 
 Pondichery, 26-8. 
 
 Madagascar, early transactions 
 of France with, 8-14. 
 
 Madras, early sketch of, 43 : is 
 taken by the French, 52: 
 Maphuz Khan is repulsed 
 from, 55 : restored by the 
 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 67 : 
 is invested by, and repulses, 
 Lally, 173. 
 
 Mainvclle, almost succeeds in 
 surprising Trichinopoli, 149- 
 50 : surprises an English force, 
 154-6. 
 
 Martin, Francis, founds Pondi- 
 chery, 17 : great administra- 
 tion of, 17-23. 
 
 Mercara, adventures of, 14-5. 
 
 Muhammad Ali, is recognised by 
 the English as Nuwab of the 
 Karndtik, 81 : is defeated by 
 the French, 86 : triumphs at 
 Trichinopoli, 121-3. 
 
 MuzAFFAR Jang, claims to the 
 Subdhdar of the Deccan, 73 : 
 is taken prisoner by Niddr 
 Jang, 83 : becomes Subdhdar, 
 90 : gifts of, to Dupleix, 90 : 
 is killed, 94. 
 
 Paradis, defeats Maphuz Khdn 
 near St. Thom6, 55-7 : death 
 of, 66. 
 
 Pondichery, founded by Martin, 
 17 : besieged by the English, 
 65-7 : besieged and taken by 
 the English, 175: restored, 
 176. 
 
 St. Thome, battle of, 55-7. 
 
 Saunders, Mr., Governor at Fort 
 St. David, listens to Clive'a 
 proposals, 1 1 1 : negotiates with 
 Dupleix, 146 : agrees to a Con- 
 gress, 151. 
 
 ToucHE, de la, defeats Nddir 
 Jang, 84-5 : completely defeats 
 Nadir Jang, who is killed, 89 : 
 leaves for Europe, 93 : is burnt, 
 with all his troops, on board 
 the 'Prince,* 131. 
 
 Trichinopoli, contest for empire 
 before, 101-151. 
 
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