"use strict"; const {jsx: _jsx, jsxs: _jsxs} = arguments[0]; const {useMDXComponents: _provideComponents} = arguments[0]; function _createMdxContent(props) { const _components = { blockquote: "blockquote", code: "code", h3: "h3", li: "li", p: "p", pre: "pre", strong: "strong", table: "table", tbody: "tbody", td: "td", th: "th", thead: "thead", tr: "tr", ul: "ul", ..._provideComponents(), ...props.components }, {Callout, Explanation, FlowCard, Hl, KeyPoints, MermaidDiagram, PinnedFlowBoard, SubTopicHeader, TableCard, Term, Theory, Time, TopicOverview} = _components; if (!Callout) _missingMdxReference("Callout", true); if (!Explanation) _missingMdxReference("Explanation", true); if (!FlowCard) _missingMdxReference("FlowCard", true); if (!Hl) _missingMdxReference("Hl", true); if (!KeyPoints) _missingMdxReference("KeyPoints", true); if (!MermaidDiagram) _missingMdxReference("MermaidDiagram", true); if (!PinnedFlowBoard) _missingMdxReference("PinnedFlowBoard", true); if (!SubTopicHeader) _missingMdxReference("SubTopicHeader", true); if (!TableCard) _missingMdxReference("TableCard", true); if (!Term) _missingMdxReference("Term", true); if (!Theory) _missingMdxReference("Theory", true); if (!Time) _missingMdxReference("Time", true); if (!TopicOverview) _missingMdxReference("TopicOverview", true); return _jsxs(Theory, { children: [_jsx(SubTopicHeader, { id: "2.9", title: "Advent of the Europeans" }), _jsx(KeyPoints, { children: _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsx(_components.li, { children: "Portuguese Sea Route and Estado da Índia System" }), "\n", _jsx(_components.li, { children: "Dutch VOC Trade Network and Limited Territorial Base" }), "\n", _jsx(_components.li, { children: "English East India Company Charter to Fortified Factories" }), "\n", _jsx(_components.li, { children: "French Compagnie and Concentration in Coromandel" }), "\n", _jsx(_components.li, { children: "Battles of Plassey and Buxar — De Facto to De Jure Control" }), "\n", _jsx(_components.li, { children: "Anglo-French Rivalry and the Carnatic Wars" }), "\n"] }) }), _jsx(TopicOverview, { title: "Introduction to Advent of the Europeans", topicId: "2.9", readingTime: "14 min read", difficulty: "Medium", children: _jsx(_components.p, { children: "The advent of the Europeans in India was not a single event but a phased transformation of Indian Ocean trade into European political power between the late fifteenth and mid-eighteenth centuries. Portugal pioneered the direct sea route around Africa, creating a state-backed monopoly model that the Dutch, English and French later adapted and contested. What began as competition for spices and textiles gradually entangled with Mughal decline and regional succession politics, turning coastal factories into fortified bases and commercial privileges into revenue rights. This chapter traces that sequence — from Vasco da Gama's voyage to the Carnatic Wars and the decisive settlements at Plassey and Buxar." }) }), _jsxs(Explanation, { children: [_jsxs(_components.blockquote, { children: ["\n", _jsx(_components.h3, { children: "Introduction" }), "\n"] }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The European presence in India stretched over three centuries, yet its decisive shift from commerce to rule occurred in barely two decades after ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1750" }), ". Understanding this change requires separating two logics that are often confused. The early logic was maritime and commercial: control of sea lanes, ports and passes. The later logic was territorial and fiscal: control of revenue administration. The Portuguese established the first logic, the Dutch refined it for a textile-spice exchange, and the English and French competed to convert it into the second. The following sections follow evidence first — what artifacts, charters and treaties actually show — and then what historians infer from them."] }), _jsxs(_components.blockquote, { children: ["\n", _jsx(_components.h3, { children: "🗺️ Portuguese Pioneering — Why the Sea Route Came First" }), "\n"] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "The Portuguese state sought a direct ocean route to India because the eastern Mediterranean spice trade was mediated by Ottoman and Venetian intermediaries, raising costs and limiting supply. Under Prince Henry's navigational school and later King Manuel I, Portugal invested in caravels, astrolabes and systematic charting of the Atlantic coast of Africa." }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The key evidence for the breakthrough is concrete. ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Portuguese navigator who reached India via the Cape of Good Hope", children: "Vasco da Gama" }), " departed Lisbon in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1497" }), " and reached ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Calicut (Kozhikode)" }), " on the Malabar coast in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "May 1498" }), ", assisted by a Gujarati pilot taken on at ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Malindi" }), " on the East African coast between ", _jsx(Time, { children: "15–24 April 1498" }), ". A second artifact marks the claim: the ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Limestone cross pillar erected by Portuguese navigators to mark discovery and claim", children: "padrão" }), " at Malindi — a limestone cross bearing the Portuguese arms and cross of the Order of Christ."] }), _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[State-driven imperialism]:" }), " Unlike later joint-stock companies, the Portuguese enterprise was the ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Portuguese administrative state in Asia headquartered at Goa", children: "Estado da Índia" }), ". The Crown owned the voyage, claimed the route, and enforced trade through forts and fleets."] }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[The cartaz system]:" }), " Portugal did not attempt to occupy the interior. It enforced a naval pass system called ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Naval pass issued by Portuguese requiring payment to sail in Indian Ocean", children: "cartaz" }), " — every Indian Ocean vessel needed a Portuguese pass or risked seizure. Control meant taxing movement, not administering land."] }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Fort-factory template]:" }), " Evidence shows factories and forts at Cochin soon after ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1500" }), " and the conquest of ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Goa" }), " in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1510" }), " under Afonso de Albuquerque, which became the permanent capital of the Estado. A trading post at Malindi itself followed in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1502–1503" }), ", with a captain of the Malindi coast attested by ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1509" }), "."] }), "\n"] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "Interpretation suggests Portugal created the template that all later Europeans used: a fortified coastal enclave, a warehouse-factory, and naval enforcement. Its limitation was geographic and financial — power remained on the western coast and was expensive to maintain across such distances." }), _jsx(Callout, { type: "note", title: "Evidence and Uncertainty", children: _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["📌 The Malindi padrão is securely identified as a Vasco da Gama marker, but its erection date is debated. Contemporary chronicler Gaspar Correia places it on the outward voyage in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1498" }), ", while most historians argue it was erected on the return in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1499" }), ". The artifact confirms the route; it does not settle the settlement chronology by itself."] }) }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "This coastal, sea-control model set the stage for a more commercially organised challenger. The bridge to the next power is economic: spices required Indian textiles to purchase, and the Dutch reorganised the entire circuit to capture that exchange." }), _jsxs(PinnedFlowBoard, { title: "Sequence of European Entry — From Discovery to Companies", children: [_jsx(FlowCard, { period: "1498 – Portuguese", title: "State Monopoly Voyage", icon: "🗺️", accent: "blue", children: _jsx(_components.p, { children: "Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut via Cape of Good Hope. Estado da Índia, forts at Cochin and Goa (1510), cartaz pass system. Sea-lane control, not interior rule." }) }), _jsx(FlowCard, { period: "1602 – Dutch", title: "VOC Corporate Monopoly", icon: "⚓", accent: "amber", children: _jsx(_components.p, { children: "VOC chartered. Coromandel textiles procured to barter for Indonesian spices. Factories at Pulicat (1610), Suratte (1616), Bengal (1627)." }) }), _jsx(FlowCard, { period: "1600 – English", title: "EIC Charter Capitalism", icon: "📜", accent: "emerald", children: _jsx(_components.p, { children: "EIC chartered 31 Dec 1600. Factories at Surat, Madras (1639), Bombay (1668), Calcutta (1690). Farman-based privileges later become territorial claim." }) }), _jsx(FlowCard, { period: "1664 – French", title: "Compagnie des Indes", icon: "🏛️", accent: "purple", children: _jsx(_components.p, { children: "French company founded by Colbert. Headquarters at Pondicherry (1674), Chandernagore in Bengal. Concentrated in the south, politically active under Dupleix." }) })] }), _jsxs(_components.blockquote, { children: ["\n", _jsx(_components.h3, { children: "⚓ The Dutch — Commercial Expansion Without Territorial State" }), "\n"] }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Dutch East India Company, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, chartered 1602", children: "VOC" }), " was formed in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1602" }), " as the world's first permanent joint-stock company with a monopoly charter. Its central motive in India was not spices alone. Spices grew in the Indonesian archipelago, but Indonesian markets demanded Indian cotton textiles. The Dutch therefore needed Indian cloth to buy spices."] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "Evidence shows a coastal network built precisely for that purpose:" }), _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Coromandel directorate]:" }), " Factory at ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Pulicat" }), " in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1610" }), ", north of modern Chennai, to procure painted cottons. This was the earliest Dutch foothold on the mainland."] }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Western and eastern extensions]:" }), " Factory at ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Suratte" }), " in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1616" }), " for Gujarat textiles and indigo, and up-country access in ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Bengal" }), " by ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1627" }), " for silk, saltpetre and opium."] }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Monopoly enforcement]:" }), " Between ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1656–1663" }), " the Dutch seized Portuguese forts in Ceylon and on the Malabar coast, aiming to monopolise cinnamon and pepper at the source."] }), "\n"] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "The outcome clarifies the Dutch logic. The VOC operated through autonomous directorates — Coromandel, Malabar, Bengal and Suratte — each reporting to Batavia (modern Jakarta), not to a single Indian capital. This allowed efficient trade but fragmented political authority." }), _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Why no lasting state]:" }), " The Dutch model remained oriented to the sea and to Batavia-centred shipping. When the English challenged them on the Indian coast after the mid-eighteenth century, the VOC lacked a consolidated fiscal base in India to sustain war."] }), "\n"] }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["Two established turning points confirm decline. The ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Battle of Colachel" }), " in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1741" }), ", where the forces of Travancore defeated the Dutch, ended Dutch attempts at territorial coercion on the Malabar coast. Later, the ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Letters by the exiled Dutch Stadholder allowing Britain to occupy Dutch colonies during the Napoleonic Wars", children: "Kew Letters" }), " and the Anglo-Dutch Treaties of ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1814" }), " and ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1824" }), " led to the formal transfer of Dutch settlements in India to Britain by ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1 March – mid 1825" }), ". The end was by negotiated exchange, not battlefield conquest in Bengal."] }), _jsxs(MermaidDiagram, { title: "Dutch Textile-Spice Circuit", badge: "HISTORY", children: [_jsx(_components.pre, { children: _jsx(_components.code, { className: "language-mermaid", children: "flowchart LR\n A[\"Coromandel & Gujarat
Cotton Textiles\"] --> B[\"Pulicat / Suratte
VOC Factories\"]\n B --> C[\"Batavia
Exchange Hub\"]\n C --> D[\"Maluku & Ceylon
Spices & Cinnamon\"]\n D --> E[\"Amsterdam
European Market\"]\n E -.-> A\n" }) }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "Dutch factories in India procured textiles to barter for spices in Southeast Asia, completing a triangular Indian Ocean circuit centred on Batavia." })] }), _jsx(Callout, { type: "warning", title: "Common Confusion", children: _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["⚠️ Do not conflate the Dutch decline with Plassey (", _jsx(Time, { children: "1757" }), "). The VOC was already contracting before English political power in Bengal, and its final exit from India was through treaty in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1825" }), ". The high-yield distinction is that Pulicat and Coromandel mark textile trade, not Bengal interior rule."] }) }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "The Dutch thus show that large-scale commercial dominance did not automatically produce territorial sovereignty. That transition was achieved by the English, whose institutional mechanism differed from both Portuguese Crown and Dutch company models." }), _jsxs(_components.blockquote, { children: ["\n", _jsx(_components.h3, { children: "📜 The English — From Charter Privilege to Revenue Right" }), "\n"] }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The English entry began as a legal instrument. On ", _jsx(Time, { children: "31 December 1600" }), ", Queen Elizabeth I granted a Royal Charter to the ", _jsx(Term, { def: "English joint-stock company with exclusive trading rights to the East Indies", children: "East India Company (EIC)" }), ", conferring exclusive trading rights to the East. This was a joint-stock monopoly — private capital pooled under a Crown charter — distinct from the Portuguese state enterprise."] }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The artifact that illustrates early corporate identity is the ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Flag of the East India Company", children: "EIC flag" }), ": red and white stripes (reports vary between nine and thirteen) with the Cross of St George in the canton. Japanese and Tonkin (Lê dynasty) authorities banned the display of the cross after ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1616" }), " because they read it as a Christian proselytising symbol. Dutch rivals argued the cross was a national flag, not a religious one, and records note the Company began using a cross-less striped flag in the Far East after the ban. The episode captures an important point: a trading corporation was already acting with quasi-sovereign emblems."] }), _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Factory sequence]:" }), " Surat as initial base around ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1608–1612" }), ", then ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Madras" }), " secured in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1639" }), " from a local nayak, ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Bombay" }), " ceded by the Crown in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1668" }), " after its transfer as part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry, and ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Calcutta" }), " founded in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1690" }), " by Job Charnock."] }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[From warehouse to fort]:" }), " A factory at this time meant a fortified warehouse and settlement, not a modern industrial plant. Permission to build and fortify came through Mughal ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Imperial order or decree granting privileges", children: "farmans" }), "."] }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Legal basis for later claim]:" }), " Farmans exempting customs duties and granting settlement rights were commercial privileges. After ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1765" }), " the Company would reinterpret such imperial grants as a legal title to rule."] }), "\n"] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "Interpretation here is careful. The charter did not plan conquest. It created a durable institution — permanent capital, elected directors, and shareholder accountability in London — that could survive losses, raise funds, and maintain forts and sepoy forces over decades. When Mughal authority fragmented after the early eighteenth century, this institutional durability allowed commercial privileges to be converted into political claims." }), _jsxs(MermaidDiagram, { title: "English Factory-to-Sovereignty Mechanism", badge: "HISTORY", children: [_jsx(_components.pre, { children: _jsx(_components.code, { className: "language-mermaid", children: "flowchart TB\n A[\"Royal Charter 1600
Exclusive Trading Right\"] --> B[\"Coastal Factories
Surat, Madras, Bombay, Calcutta\"]\n B --> C[\"Mughal Farmans
Customs & Settlement Privileges\"]\n C --> D[\"Fortification & Sepoy Forces
Madras Fort St. George, Calcutta Fort William\"]\n D --> E[\"Revenue Claim
Diwani 1765 after Buxar\"]\n" }) }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "The English path shows how a commercial charter, combined with imperial permission and fortified bases, created the legal infrastructure that later supported a revenue administration." })] }), _jsx(Callout, { type: "note", title: "Distinction to Retain", children: _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["📌 The charter date is ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1600" }), " under the English Crown, not the British Crown — the Act of Union creating Great Britain dates to ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1707" }), ". Factory foundation dates are later and separate from the charter itself."] }) }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "The English mechanism required a rival to test it. That rival was France, whose later arrival and different geographic concentration made the south Indian coast the decisive testing ground." }), _jsxs(_components.blockquote, { children: ["\n", _jsx(_components.h3, { children: "🏛️ The French — Late Entry and Southern Concentration" }), "\n"] }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The ", _jsx(Term, { def: "French East India Company founded by Jean-Baptiste Colbert", children: "Compagnie des Indes" }), " was established in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1664" }), " under Louis XIV's minister Colbert, as part of French mercantilist policy. It arrived later than the Portuguese, Dutch and English, when the best western ports were already occupied."] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "Evidence shows a pattern of southern concentration:" }), _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Headquarters]:" }), " ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Pondicherry" }), " established in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1674" }), " became the French capital in India, facing English Madras across the Coromandel coast."] }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Bengal presence]:" }), " ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Chandernagore" }), " near Calcutta in the ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1690s" }), ", plus later enclaves at Mahe on the Malabar coast and Karaikal."] }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Political method]:" }), " Under Governor-General ", _jsx(Term, { def: "French governor-general of Pondicherry known for political intervention", children: "Joseph François Dupleix" }), " in the ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1740s–1750s" }), ", the French pursued alliances in Indian succession disputes, particularly in Hyderabad and the Carnatic, offering troops for influence rather than relying on trade profit alone."] }), "\n"] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "This strategy was ambitious but exposed two structural weaknesses. Commercially, the French company was smaller and more state-dependent, with less capital than the EIC. Militarily, it depended on naval support from France across a long supply line that Britain could more easily interdict." }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["Treaty evidence marks the outcome. The ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "pink", children: "Treaty of Paris 1763" }), " that ended the Seven Years' War restored French factories including Pondicherry, but explicitly ended French political pretensions and prohibited fortification and garrisoning beyond commercial needs. Factories remained; power did not."] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "The bridge to the next section is direct: French political overextension under Dupleix was first tested not in Bengal but in the Carnatic, where European war and Indian succession coincided." }), _jsxs(_components.blockquote, { children: ["\n", _jsx(_components.h3, { children: "⚔️ Plassey and Buxar — Two Stages of Power in Bengal" }), "\n"] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "Why treat two battles together? Because only together do they explain how a trading company became a ruling authority. Plassey gave power without a legal title; Buxar gave that title." }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The context was the succession crisis in Bengal after the death of ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Independent Nawab of Bengal who resisted Maratha incursions", children: "Alivardi Khan" }), ". Revenue demands, control of mints, and EIC fortification at Calcutta and customs disputes with Nawab ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Nawab of Bengal defeated at Plassey", children: "Siraj-ud-Daulah" }), " created the confrontation."] }), _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsxs(_components.strong, { children: ["[Plassey — ", _jsx(Time, { children: "23 June 1757" }), "]:"] }), " Siraj-ud-Daulah, supported by French contingents, faced Robert Clive's forces near ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Plassey (Palashi)" }), ". The core mechanism was not battlefield manoeuvre but prior conspiracy — an agreement with ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Commander of Bengal army who conspired with the English at Plassey", children: "Mir Jafar" }), ", the Nawab's own commander, and with bankers Jagat Seth. Mir Jafar's troops did not engage, Siraj-ud-Daulah was defeated and later executed, and Mir Jafar was installed as puppet Nawab. No treaty granted territory; control operated through the puppet and through indemnities and trading privileges exacted from him."] }), "\n"] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "Interpretation is precise here: Plassey was militarily modest but politically transformative. It gave the Company command over Bengal's resources without yet creating a recognised legal right in Mughal constitutional terms." }), _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsxs(_components.strong, { children: ["[Buxar — ", _jsx(Time, { children: "22 October 1764" }), "]:"] }), " The next stage tested a true coalition. ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Deposed Nawab of Bengal who allied against the Company", children: "Mir Qasim" }), " — the successor to Mir Jafar — allied with ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Nawab of Awadh who joined the alliance at Buxar", children: "Shuja-ud-Daula" }), " of Awadh and ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Mughal emperor who granted the Diwani to the East India Company", children: "Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II" }), ". Their combined army was defeated by the EIC at ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Buxar" }), " near the Bengal-Bihar border."] }), "\n"] }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The legal consequence followed in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1765" }), ". By the ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "pink", children: "Treaty of Allahabad" }), ", Shah Alam II granted the ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Right to collect land revenue and administer civil justice in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha", children: "Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha" }), " to the Company. This was the fiscal right to collect land revenue and administer civil justice."] }), _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[De facto vs de jure]:" }), " Plassey created factual dominance; Buxar and Allahabad converted it into juridical sovereignty. Under the later term ", _jsx(Term, { def: "System where Company held revenue power while Nawab retained nominal administration", children: "Dual Government" }), " as described by Warren Hastings, the Company held revenue power while the Nawab retained nominal criminal and ceremonial authority."] }), "\n"] }), _jsx(Callout, { type: "remember", title: "Exam Note", children: _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["💡 The correct answer for the legal beginning of British rule is the ", _jsx(Hl, { color: "pink", children: "Diwani 1765" }), " after Buxar, not Plassey alone. If a question asks what gave the Company formal revenue rights from the Mughal emperor, the trap answer Plassey (", _jsx(Time, { children: "1757" }), ") should be rejected in favour of Buxar (", _jsx(Time, { children: "1764" }), ") / Allahabad (", _jsx(Time, { children: "1765" }), ")."] }) }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "The victories in Bengal were possible in part because the Company had already secured its southern flank against the French. That southern decision was made in the Carnatic." }), _jsxs(_components.blockquote, { children: ["\n", _jsx(_components.h3, { children: "⏳ Anglo-French Rivalry — The Carnatic Wars as Laboratory" }), "\n"] }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The term ", _jsx(Term, { def: "Coromandel hinterland, territory of the Nawab of Arcot", children: "Carnatic" }), " refers to the Coromandel hinterland — the territory of the Nawab of Arcot between Madras and Pondicherry. In the mid-eighteenth century this region became entangled with two simultaneous contests: European dynastic wars and Indian succession disputes in Hyderabad and Arcot. Both English and French backed rival claimants, testing a new model of European infantry and artillery combined with Indian sepoy battalions."] }), _jsx(TableCard, { title: "The Three Carnatic Wars — European War, Indian Cause, and Outcome", variant: "comparison", children: _jsxs(_components.table, { children: [_jsx(_components.thead, { children: _jsxs(_components.tr, { children: [_jsx(_components.th, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: "Dimension" }), _jsx(_components.th, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: "First Carnatic War" }), _jsx(_components.th, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: "Second Carnatic War" }), _jsx(_components.th, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: "Third Carnatic War" })] }) }), _jsxs(_components.tbody, { children: [_jsxs(_components.tr, { children: [_jsx(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: _jsx(_components.strong, { children: "European Context" }) }), _jsxs(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: ["War of Austrian Succession ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1740–48" })] }), _jsx(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: "No declared European war; peace interlude" }), _jsxs(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: ["Seven Years' War ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1756–63" })] })] }), _jsxs(_components.tr, { children: [_jsx(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: _jsx(_components.strong, { children: "Indian Cause" }) }), _jsxs(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: ["Nawab of Carnatic vs English; French capture of Madras ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1746" })] }), _jsx(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: "Rival successions in Hyderabad and Carnatic; Dupleix supports Chanda Sahib and Muzaffar Jung vs English support to rivals" }), _jsx(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: "French under Count de Lally vs English under Eyre Coote for supremacy" })] }), _jsxs(_components.tr, { children: [_jsx(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: _jsx(_components.strong, { children: "Decisive Action" }) }), _jsx(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: "French naval superiority under La Bourdonnais; Battle effects limited" }), _jsxs(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: [_jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Battle of Arcot 1751" }), " — Clive's defence and capture secures Trichinopoly position for Muhammad Ali"] }), _jsxs(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: [_jsx(Hl, { color: "blue", children: "Battle of Wandiwash 1760" }), " — Eyre Coote decisively defeats Lally"] })] }), _jsxs(_components.tr, { children: [_jsx(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: _jsx(_components.strong, { children: "Treaty Outcome" }) }), _jsxs(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: [_jsx(Hl, { color: "pink", children: "Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle 1748" }), " — Madras restored in exchange for Louisbourg in North America"] }), _jsxs(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: ["Treaty of Pondicherry ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1754" }), " — Dupleix recalled to France, status quo"] }), _jsxs(_components.td, { style: { textAlign: "left" }, children: [_jsx(Hl, { color: "pink", children: "Treaty of Paris 1763" }), " — French factories restored but without fortification or political role"] })] })] })] }) }), _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["The table clarifies the causal pattern. The First War (", _jsx(Time, { children: "1746–48" }), ") showed French naval power could take Madras but European diplomacy returned it. The Second War (", _jsx(Time, { children: "1749–54" }), ") revealed the political intervention method — Dupleix's early successes were reversed after Robert Clive's celebrated defence of Arcot in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1751" }), ", and financial strain led to Dupleix's recall. The Third War (", _jsx(Time, { children: "1756–63" }), ") was decisive because English naval superiority cut French supply, and English financial resources from Bengal trade sustained sepoy armies."] }), _jsxs(_components.ul, { children: ["\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Why England won]:" }), " Not a single battle alone but the combination of naval control of the Bay of Bengal, more reliable credit and revenue, and continuity of sepoy command. Wandiwash in ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1760" }), " destroyed the French field army before the ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1763" }), " treaty formalised the outcome."] }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.li, { children: [_jsx(_components.strong, { children: "[Debate noted]:" }), " Historians debate whether French defeat was inevitable or whether stronger metropolitan support for Dupleix could have sustained a French Hyderabad. The evidence shows ambition without matching commercial and naval base."] }), "\n"] }), _jsx(_components.p, { children: "This chronology links back to Bengal. By the time the Third Carnatic War ended, the EIC had neutralised its European rival in the south and, through Plassey and Buxar, secured the eastern revenue base that would fund British India for the next century. The advent that began with a pillar on an African beach ended with an imperial farman at Allahabad." }), _jsx(Callout, { type: "note", title: "Precision Anchor", children: _jsxs(_components.p, { children: ["📌 Retain the matched pairs: First War – Aix-la-Chapelle ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1748" }), ", Second War – Arcot ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1751" }), " and Dupleix recall ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1754" }), ", Third War – Wandiwash ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1760" }), " and Paris ", _jsx(Time, { children: "1763" }), ". Arcot belongs to the Second, not the Third War."] }) })] })] }); } function MDXContent(props = {}) { const {wrapper: MDXLayout} = { ..._provideComponents(), ...props.components }; return MDXLayout ? _jsx(MDXLayout, { ...props, children: _jsx(_createMdxContent, { ...props }) }) : _createMdxContent(props); } return { default: MDXContent }; function _missingMdxReference(id, component) { throw new Error("Expected " + (component ? "component" : "object") + " `" + id + "` to be defined: you likely forgot to import, pass, or provide it."); }