हिंदीOn this day

Second Carnatic War

VictorMuhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, the English East India Company, Thanjavur, Mysore and Maratha alliesMuhammad Ali; Stringer Lawrence; Robert Clive; Murari Rao Ghorpade
1749vs
Chanda Sahib, Muzaffar Jang and the French East India CompanyJoseph-François Dupleix; Chanda Sahib; the Marquis de Bussy

Two disputed thrones, Hyderabad and Arcot, drew the French and English companies into open war on Indian soil. Arcot, Trichinopoly and Srirangam decided it, and the English came out holding the Carnatic.

Date: 1749–1754Where: Carnatic coast and the Kaveri country, Tamil NaduType: Campaign
Photo: Pragya Sharan · CC BY-SA 4.0
1 min read WhatsApp
Cite

MLA

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

APA

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

Result

Muhammad Ali held the Carnatic with English help; Dupleix was recalled and the Treaty of Pondicherry (1754) ended the fighting, though the French kept their hold on the Nizam’s court through Bussy.

01Two successions at once

When Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah died in 1748, his son Nasir Jang and his grandson Muzaffar Jang both claimed the Deccan. In the Carnatic, Chanda Sahib claimed the nawabship of Arcot against Anwaruddin Khan. Dupleix, governor of Pondicherry, backed Muzaffar Jang and Chanda Sahib. At Ambur in August 1749 Anwaruddin was killed, and his son Muhammad Ali fled to Trichinopoly. The English at Fort St David, fearing a French Carnatic, sent him men and money.

02Arcot to Srirangam

Nasir Jang was killed in December 1750 and Muzaffar Jang a few weeks later, leaving Bussy’s candidate Salabat Jang on the Hyderabad throne. In the south the tide turned the other way. Clive seized Arcot in 1751 and held it through a siege, then beat Chanda Sahib’s son at Arni and Kaveripakkam. In June 1752 the French force at Srirangam surrendered and Chanda Sahib was put to death by the Thanjavur general Manaji. Fighting around Trichinopoly dragged on until the companies made peace in 1754.

Why it matters

The war taught both companies that Indian princes could be made and unmade with a few hundred trained soldiers, the lesson Clive carried to Bengal five years later.

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.