1661: King Charles II of Britain married
the Portuguese princess and received Bombay, an island along India's west
coast, as part of the dowry. Later, the King rented Bombay to the British
East India Company.
Soon after, the British East India
Company already had several trading establishments in India, at Surat,
Masulipattam and Fort St.George (Madras). King Charles II also gave the
Company the right to issue currency, erect forts, exercise jurisdiction
over English subjects and declare war/peace with natives.
The Company faced competition from the
French, Dutch and Portuguese, all of whom had trading interests in India.
English and French had their companies
in India. Madras and Pondicherry were the chief trading centres for the
English whereas the French centre was on the Coromandel Coast. The
relations between both the companies were uncertain.
The Carnatic region was totally disturbed
politically. The governor was so engrossed with Marathas and Northern
India that he hardly had any time for the Carnatic. Later the governor was
killed by the Marathas. The appointment of the new Nawab worsened the
problems of the Carnatic region. But till this time the English and French
did not take active interest in Indian politics.
In 1740, England and France took opposite
sides in the War of the Austrian Succession. This brought the two
companies in India technically in the state of war. Madras had been
besieged by French both by sea and land. So in June 1748 to avenge the
capture of Madras, a large army was sent under Rear Admiral Boscawen. But
by October the War of Austrian Succession had been concluded and under the
treaty Madras was restored to English.
Then during the second Carnatic War,
where Duplex, governor of Pondicherry, opened negotiations with the
English and the treaty was concluded. The English and the French have
decided not to the quarrels of the native princes and took
possession of the territories which are actually occupied by them during
the treaty.
In the third Carnatic war, the British
East India Company defeated the French forces at the battle of Wandiwash
ending almost a century of conflict over supremacy in India. From 1744,
the French and English fought a series of battles for supremacy in the Carnatic region. This battle gave the British trading company a far
superior position in India compared to the other Europeans.
