Carnatic Wars The Carnatic Wars ( also spelled Karnatic Wars ) were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century on the Indian subcontinent . The conflicts involved numerous nominally independent rulers and their vassals , struggles for succession and territory , and included a diplomatic and military struggle between the French East India Company and the British East India Company . They were mainly fought on the territories in India which were dominated by the Nizam of Hyderabad up to the Godavari delta . As a result of these military contests , the British East India Company established its dominance among the European trading companies within India . The French company was pushed to a corner and was confined primarily to Pondichéry . The British company ' s dominance eventually led to control by the United Kingdom over most of India and the establishment of the British Raj . In the 18th century the coastal Carnatic region was a dependency of Hyderabad . Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1746 and 1763 . Background . The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb died in 1707 CE . He was succeeded by Bahadur Shah I but there was a general decline in central control over the empire during the tenure of Jahandar Shah and later emperors . Several erstwhile Mughal territories were autonomous such as the Carnatic was ruled by Nawab Dost Ali Khan in the 1730s , despite being under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad ( who was nominally the emperor ' s viceroy over that territory ) . Dost Ali ' s death sparked a power struggle between his son - in - law Chanda Sahib and the Nizam ' s own son and natural heir to the throne , Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan . One major instigator of the Carnatic Wars was the Frenchman Joseph François Dupleix , who arrived in India in 1715 , rising to become the French East India Company ' s governor in 1742 . Dupleix sought to expand French influence in India , which was limited to a few trading outposts , the chief one being Pondicherry on the Coromandel Coast . Immediately upon his arrival in India , he organized Indian recruits under French officers for the first time , and engaged in intrigues with local rulers to expand French influence . The First Carnatic War , however , had its origins in Europe . However , he was met by the equally challenging and determined young officer from the British Army , Robert Clive . First Carnatic War ( 1746 – 1748 ) . In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe . Great Britain was only drawn into the war in 1744 , when it entered the war opposed to France and its allies . The trading companies of both countries maintained cordial relations among themselves in India while their parent countries were bitter enemies on the European continent . Dodwell writes , " Such were the friendly relations between the English and the French that the French sent their goods and merchandise from Pondicherry to Madras for safe custody . " Although French company officials were ordered to avoid conflict , British officials were not , and were furthermore notified that a Royal Navy fleet was en route . After the British initially captured a few French merchant ships , the French called for backup from as far afield as Isle de France ( now Mauritius ) , beginning an escalation in naval forces in the area . In July 1746 La Bourdonnais and British Admiral Edward Peyton fought an indecisive action off Negapatam , after which the British fleet withdrew to Bengal . On 21 September 1746 , the French captured the British outpost at Madras . Dupleix , to placate the Nawab of Arcot , had promised him Madras , but withdrew that promise after the capture . The Nawab then sent a 10 , 000 - man army to take Madras from the French , but was decisively repulsed by a small French force in the Battle of Adyar . The French then made several attempts to capture the British outpost at Cuddalore , but the timely arrivals of reinforcements halted these , and eventually turned the tables on the French . British Admiral Edward Boscawen besieged Pondicherry in the later months of 1748 , but lifted the siege with the advent of the monsoon rains in October . With the termination of the War of Austrian Succession in Europe , the First Carnatic War also came to an end . In the Treaty of Aix - la - Chapelle ( 1748 ) , Madras was given back to the British in exchange for the French fortress of Louisbourg in North America , which the British had captured . The war was principally notable in India as the first military experience of Robert Clive , who was taken prisoner at Madras , escaped , and then participated in the defense of Cuddalore and the siege of Pondicherry . Second Carnatic War ( 1749 – 1754 ) . After the death of the Nizam - ul - Mulk in 1748 , the Nizam of Hyderabad , a civil war for succession , now known as the Second Carnatic War , broke out in the south between Mir Ahmad Ali Khan ( Nasir Jung ) , the son of the Nizam - ul - Mulk , and Hidayat Muhi ud - Din Sa ' adu ' llah Khan ( Muzaffar Jung ) , the grandson of Nizam - ul - Mulk . This opened a window of opportunity for Chanda Sahib , who wanted to become Nawab of Arcot . He joined the cause of Muzaffar Jung and began to conspire against the Nawab Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan in Arcot . The French allied with Chanda Sahib and Muzaffar Jung to bring them into power in their respective states . But soon the British also intervened . To offset the French influence , they began supporting Nasir Jung and Muhammad Ali Khan Walajah ( son of the deposed Nawab Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan of Arcot ) . Initially , the French succeeded in both states in defeating and murdering their opponents and placing their supporters on thrones in 1749 . In 1751 , however , Robert Clive led British troops to capture Arcot . Clive ' s success led to additional victories for the British and their Nizam and Arcot allies . The war ended with the Treaty of Pondicherry , signed in 1754 . Muhammad Ali Khan Walajah was recognized as the Nawab of Arcot . The French leader Dupleix was asked to return to France . The directors of the French East India Company were dissatisfied with Dupleix ' s political ambitions , which had led to immense financial loss . In 1754 , Charles Godeheu replaced Dupleix . Third Carnatic War ( 1757 – 1763 ) . The outbreak in 1756 of the Seven Years ' War in Europe resulted in renewed conflict between French and British forces in India . The Third Carnatic War spread beyond southern India and into Bengal where British forces captured the French settlement of Chandernagore ( now Chandannagar ) in 1757 . However , the war was decided in the south , as British commander Sir Eyre Coote decisively defeated the French under the Comte de Lally at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760 . After Wandiwash , the French capital of Pondicherry fell to the British in 1761 . The war concluded with the signing of the 1763 Treaty of Paris , which returned Chandernagore and Pondichéry to France , and allowed the French to have " factories " ( trading post s ) in India but forbade French traders from administering them . The French agreed to support British client governments , thus ending French ambitions of an Indian empire and making the British the dominant foreign power in India .