First Carnatic War The First Carnatic War ( 1746 - 1748 ) was the Indian theatre of the War of the Austrian Succession and the first of a series of Carnatic Wars that established early British dominance on the east coast of the Indian subcontinent . In this conflict the British and French East India Companies vied with each other on land for control of their respective trading posts at Madras , Pondicherry , and Cuddalore , while naval forces of France and Britain engaged each other off the coast . The war demonstrated to French , British , and Indian observers the extraordinary advantage of European - trained military forces over those of the local Indian powers , and set the stage for the rapid growth of French hegemony in southern India under the command of French Governor - General Joseph François Dupleix in the Second Carnatic War . Course of the war . In 1720 France effectively nationalized the French East India Company , and began using it to expand its imperial interests . This became a source of conflict with the British in India with the entry of Britain into the War of the Austrian Succession in 1744 . Hostilities in India began with a British naval attack on a French fleet in 1745 , which led the French Governor - General Dupleix to request additional forces . This resulted in the despatch of a fleet under La Bourdonnais that arrived in 1746 . In July of that year La Bourdonnais and British Admiral Edward Peyton fought an indecisive action off Negapatam , after which La Bourdonnais put in at Pondicherry for repairs and strategising with Dupleix . The fleets met again on 19 August , but Peyton refused battle , recognising that La Bourdonnais had acquired additional guns at Pondicherry , and retreated to Bengal . On 4 September 1746 , La Bourdonnais led an attack on Madras . After several days of bombardment the British surrendered and the French entered the city . The British leadership was taken prisoner and sent to Pondicherry . It was originally agreed that the town would be restored to the British after negotiation but this was opposed by Dupleix , who sought to annex Madras to French holdings . The remaining British residents were asked to take an oath promising not to take up arms against the French ; handful refused , among them a young Robert Clive , and were kept under weak guard as the French prepared to destroy the fort . Disguising themselves as natives , Clive and three others eluded their inattentive sentry , slipped out of the fort , and made their way to Fort St . David ( the British post at Cuddalore ) , some to the south . Dupleix , in the meantime , had before the assault promised to turn over Fort St . George to the Nawab of the Carnatic Anwaruddin Muhammed Khan , but refused to do so . Anwaruddin responded by sending a 10 , 000 man army to take the fort from Dupleix by force . Dupleix , who had lost the support of La Bourdonnais over the status of Madras , had only 300 French troops . In the Battle of Adyar this small force successfully repulsed the attacks of Anwaruddin ' s army , demonstrating the significant advantages of well - trained European forces against the generally poorly trained Indian troops . Dupleix then launched an assault on Fort St . David . Stung by his defeat at Adyar , Anwaruddin sent his son Muhammed Ali to assist the British in the defence of Cuddalore , and was instrumental in holding off a French attack in December 1746 . Over the next few months Anwaruddin and Dupleix had made peace , and the Carnatic troops were withdrawn . In March 1747 the French launched an attack against the outer defences of Fort St . David , forcing the British defenders inside the fort ' s walls . The timely arrival of a British fleet from Bengal , however , turned the tables and prompted the French to withdraw to Pondicherry . In 1748 Major Stringer Lawrence arrived to take command of the British troops at Fort St . David . With the arrival of reinforcements from Europe , the British besieged Pondicherry in late 1748 . Clive distinguished himself in successfully defending a trench against a French sortie : one witness of the action wrote " [ Clive ' s ] platoon , animated by his exhortation , fired again with new courage and great vivacity upon the enemy . " The siege was lifted in October 1748 with the arrival of the monsoons , and the war came to a conclusion with the arrival in December of news of the Peace of Aix - la - Chapelle . Under its terms Madras was returned to British control . Consequences . The power of a small number of French troops over larger Indian formations was not lost on Joseph Dupleix , and over the next several years he capitalised on this advantage to greatly expand French influence in south India . In the Second Carnatic War ( 1748 - 1754 ) he took advantage of struggles for succession to the Nizam of Hyderabad and Nawab of the Carnatic to establish strong French influence over a number of states in south India . The British East India Company , in contrast , did little to expand its own influence and only weakly attempted to oppose Dupleix ' s expansive activities . Robert Clive recognized that this threatened the entire livelihood of the Company in the area , and in 1751 engaged in a series of celebrated military exploits that cemented British control over Madras by the end of that conflict .