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First Carnatic War

French East India CompanyJoseph-François Dupleix; Mahé de La Bourdonnais
1746vs
English East India Company, and the Nawab of ArcotAdmiral Edward Boscawen; Nawab Anwaruddin Khan

The War of the Austrian Succession in Europe spilled onto the Coromandel coast. The French took Madras and, at the Adyar, showed that a small European-drilled force could rout an Indian army. The war ended in a draw.

Date: 1746–1748Where: The Coromandel coast: Madras, Fort St David, PondicherryType: Campaign
Photo: Pragya Sharan · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Cite

MLA

“First Carnatic War.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/first-carnatic-war/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). First Carnatic War. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/first-carnatic-war/

Result

The French took Madras and beat the Nawab’s army, but the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 gave Madras back to the English.

01Madras and the Adyar

When Britain and France went to war in 1744, the English and French companies in India at first hoped to keep the peace. A British squadron began seizing French ships, and in 1746 La Bourdonnais came from Mauritius with a fleet and took Madras in September. The Nawab of Arcot, Anwaruddin Khan, demanded the town for himself and sent his son Mahfuz Khan to take it. At the Adyar river in October and November 1746 the French routed his army.

02Stalemate

Dupleix kept Madras against the bargain La Bourdonnais had made to ransom it, and the two Frenchmen quarrelled bitterly. The French then tried several times to take the small English post at Fort St David near Cuddalore, and failed. In 1748 a large British fleet under Admiral Boscawen besieged Pondicherry, and failed in turn. News of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle arrived, and Madras was handed back to the English in 1749 in exchange for Louisbourg in North America.

Why it matters

The war changed nothing on the map, but the Adyar taught Dupleix and the English alike that their drilled troops could decide Indian successions; the Second Carnatic War followed at once.

Places near the battlefield 8

Parthasarathy Temple, TriplicaneStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane

The oldest temple of Chennai and a Divya Desam, where Krishna stands as Arjuna’s charioteer with a moustache and the scars of Bhishma’s arrows on his face. Five forms of Vishnu sung by the Alvars are worshipped in one complex.

Kapaleeshwarar Temple, MylaporeRebuilt
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Mylapore

The great Shiva temple of old Madras, where Mata Parvati worshipped Shiva in the form of a peahen and where Tirugnanasambandar called a dead girl back to life. The shrine on the beach was lost in the Portuguese period and the temple was raised again inland.

Vadapalani Andavar Temple, ChennaiStanding
Renaissance and the struggle for Swaraj

Vadapalani Andavar Temple, Chennai

A devotee who could no longer walk to Palani set up a picture of Murugan in a hut in what was then a village west of Madras, and it became Vadapalani, the Palani of the north. It is now one of the most loved temples of Chennai and a favourite place to be married.

Tiruvalleeswarar Temple, Tiruvalithayam (Padi)Standing
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Tiruvalleeswarar Temple, Tiruvalithayam (Padi)

A Chola temple in Padi, north-west Chennai, where Maharshi Bharadwaja is said to have worshipped Shiva in the form of a sparrow. Sambandar sang it.

Adipureeswarar (Thyagaraja) Temple, TiruvottiyurStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Adipureeswarar (Thyagaraja) Temple, Tiruvottiyur

The great Shiva temple of north Chennai by the sea, sung by Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar. Sundarar was married here, Pattinathar attained mukti here, and Vadivudai Amman draws crowds every Friday.

Marundeeswarar Temple, TiruvanmiyurStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Marundeeswarar Temple, Tiruvanmiyur

The Lord of medicine on the south Chennai coast, who taught Agastya the virtue of herbs. Appar and Sambandar sang it, and Maharshi Valmiki is said to have worshipped here.

Devi Karumariamman Temple, ThiruverkaduStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Devi Karumariamman Temple, Thiruverkadu

On the western edge of Chennai, Karumariamman, the dark Mother of the rains, is worshipped in a swayambhu form and an anthill. On Sundays and in the month of Aadi her temple is one of the busiest in Tamil Nadu.

Masilamaneeswarar Temple, TirumullaivoyalStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Masilamaneeswarar Temple, Tirumullaivoyal

Vada (northern) Tirumullaivoyal, the jasmine-gate shrine sung by Sundarar. The linga bears the scar of a king’s sword and is kept under sandal paste.