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Third Carnatic War

VictorEnglish East India Company and its alliesRobert Clive; Eyre Coote; George Pigot
1756vs
French East India Company and its alliesComte de Lally; Marquis de Bussy

The Indian front of the Seven Years’ War ended the French bid for power in India. After it, the only European rival the Indian powers faced was the English company.

Date: 1756–1763Where: Carnatic coast, the Northern Circars and BengalType: Campaign
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
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Cite

MLA

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

APA

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

Result

The English took Chandernagore, beat Lally at Wandiwash and captured Pondicherry in 1761; the Treaty of Paris (1763) returned the French posts only as unfortified trading stations.

01War comes from Europe

The truce of 1754 lasted only until Britain and France went to war again in 1756. In Bengal, Clive and Admiral Watson took the French settlement at Chandernagore in March 1757, three months before Plassey. In the south, France sent the Comte de Lally with a royal army. He took Fort St David in 1758 and laid siege to Madras that winter, but the arrival of a British fleet in February 1759 forced him to withdraw.

02Wandiwash and Pondicherry

Lally recalled Bussy from Hyderabad, and the English sent Colonel Forde to take Masulipatam and the Northern Circars from the French. On 22 January 1760 Eyre Coote beat Lally at Wandiwash and Bussy was taken prisoner. Coote then closed on Pondicherry, which surrendered in January 1761 after a long siege, and its fortifications were razed. By the Treaty of Paris in 1763 France got back its Indian settlements, but only as trading stations without walls or troops.

Why it matters

With the French removed as a power, the English company was free to turn its whole weight on Bengal, Mysore and the Marathas.

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.