Cite
MLA
“Battle of Ambur.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-ambur-1749/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Battle of Ambur. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-ambur-1749/
Anwaruddin Khan was killed; Chanda Sahib became Nawab of Arcot and the Nawab’s son Muhammad Ali fled to Trichy.
01Two claimants and Dupleix
When Nizam-ul-Mulk died in 1748, his son Nasir Jang and his grandson Muzaffar Jang both claimed Hyderabad. In the Carnatic, Chanda Sahib, ransomed from Satara with French help, claimed Arcot against Anwaruddin Khan. Dupleix saw his chance to place French clients on both thrones. In the summer of 1749 Chanda Sahib and Muzaffar Jang came down the passes from the west with their army and a French contingent of a few hundred men, and found Anwaruddin entrenched at Ambur.
02The old Nawab’s death
On 3 August 1749 the French led the assault on the entrenchments and were twice thrown back; the third attack carried them. Anwaruddin, an old man, rode forward on his elephant to rally his troops and was shot dead. His army broke. His elder son was captured, and his younger son Muhammad Ali escaped to Trichy. Chanda Sahib entered Arcot as Nawab and rewarded the French with villages near Pondicherry. The English, alarmed, took up Muhammad Ali’s cause, and the war for the Carnatic began.
Ambur was the first time a European company used its troops to put its own candidate on an Indian throne, the path that led the English to Plassey eight years later.
