Chapter 2 · Topic 2.3 · Prelims + Mains3 of 3
Carnatic Wars: Results and lessons
Key points
- Results and lessons
Prelims box: facts and traps
| Bengal's wealth | Plassey (1757) gave money and men for the southern war |
|---|---|
| Naval power | English fleet kept supplies flowing; French were cut off |
| Company structure | Private company with stakeholder backing; French company run by the state |
| Leadership | Clive and Coote; Dupleix recalled, Lally quarrelsome |
| Home support | France busy with wars on the continent. |
- For Mains, the Carnatic Wars mark the turn from trade to politics.
- In December 1845 Sikh forces crossed the Sutlej, and Gough and Hardinge fought them at Mudki (18 December 1845), Ferozeshah, Aliwal and finally Sobraon (10 February 1846).
- Holkar stayed aloof in 1803; the Company opened hostilities against him only in April 1804, after Sindhia and the Bhonsle had already made peace.
Results and lessons
Reason for English Explanation victory
| Bengal’s wealth | Plassey (1757) gave money and men for the southern war |
|---|---|
| Naval power | English fleet kept supplies flowing; French were cut off |
| Company structure | Private company with stakeholder backing; French company run by the state |
| Leadership | Clive and Coote; Dupleix recalled, Lally quarrelsome |
| Home support | France busy with wars on the continent |
For Mains, the Carnatic Wars mark the turn from trade to politics. Indian rulers became pawns; a trained sepoy army proved its worth; and the English learnt the method of backing a claimant in return for territory and revenue, used later in Bengal and in the subsidiary alliance.
Mains box: analysis and answer points
- Indian rulers became pawns; a trained sepoy army proved its worth; and the English learnt the method of backing a claimant in return for territory and revenue, used later in Bengal and in the subsidiary alliance.
- Likely next angle: Sepoy armies
Practice
Practice MCQs (8)
The Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49) was triggered by a revolt at Multan led by
Answer (b) & explanation
Diwan Mulraj governed Multan for the Lahore durbar. Pressed for higher revenue after the first war, he tried to hand power to his son, and in April 1848 two British officers, Vans Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson, arrived with a new governor to take over. They were attacked and murdered, and Mulraj, whether or not he planned it, was committed to revolt. The rising spread when Sher Singh Attariwala, sent to help besiege Multan, rebelled with his troops in September 1848. Dalhousie treated it as a national war, and after Chillianwala and Gujrat (1849) the Punjab was annexed.
The first French factory in India was set up in 1668 at
Answer (b) & explanation
Francois Caron set up the first French factory at Surat in 1668, the great Mughal port where the English and Dutch already traded. A factory at Masulipatnam followed in 1669, with permission from the Sultan of Golconda. Pondicherry, founded by Francois Martin in the 1670s, later became the French headquarters, and Chandernagore became their main Bengal settlement.
With reference to Afonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese governor in India, consider the following statements:
1. He encouraged Portuguese men to marry local women and settle in the territories under Portuguese control.
2. He prohibited the practice of sati in the territory under his control.
3. Goa became the official headquarters of the Estado da India during his governorship.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Albuquerque (governor 1509-15) captured Goa in 1510 and tried to build a settled Portuguese population there: he encouraged soldiers to marry local women (the casados) and he prohibited sati in Goa. He also extended Portuguese power to Malacca (1511) and Hormuz (1515). But the capital of the Estado da India moved from Cochin to Goa only in 1530, under Nino da Cunha, fifteen years after Albuquerque's death.
With reference to the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05), consider the following statements:
1. Arthur Wellesley defeated the combined forces of Sindhia and the Bhonsle at Assaye.
2. Lord Lake captured Delhi, and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II passed under Company control.
3. Yashwant Rao Holkar fought alongside Sindhia and the Bhonsle from the very start of the war in 1803.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
The Treaty of Bassein (1802) provoked Sindhia and Raghuji Bhonsle II, and war broke out in 1803 on two fronts. In the Deccan Arthur Wellesley routed their combined army at Assaye (23 September 1803) and again at Argaon. In Hindustan Lord Lake defeated Sindhia's French-trained force at Delhi (11 September 1803), took the city and reduced the emperor Shah Alam II to a figurehead, then won at Laswari. Holkar stayed aloof in 1803; the Company opened hostilities against him only in April 1804, after Sindhia and the Bhonsle had already made peace.
With reference to the First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82), consider the following statements:
1. By the Treaty of Surat (1775) the Bombay government agreed to help Raghunathrao, who promised to cede Salsette and Bassein.
2. The Supreme Council at Calcutta disapproved of the Treaty of Surat and concluded the Treaty of Purandar (1776) with the ministers at Poona.
3. The war ended with the Company's occupation of Poona and the abolition of the Peshwaship.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
After the murder of Peshwa Narayanrao (1773), his uncle Raghunathrao claimed the office, but the regency council led by Nana Phadnavis ruled for the infant Sawai Madhavrao. Raghunathrao turned to Bombay, and by the Treaty of Surat (March 1775) promised Salsette and Bassein for English help. Under the Regulating Act the Calcutta council now oversaw Bombay; it condemned the treaty and signed the Treaty of Purandar (1776) with the Poona ministers. Bombay ignored it and the war dragged on until the Treaty of Salbai (1782), which kept the Peshwa in place.
With reference to the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46), consider the following statements:
1. The war opened in December 1845 with the battle of Mudki, after the Sikh army crossed the Sutlej.
2. After the decisive Sikh defeat at Sobraon in February 1846, Company troops marched into Lahore.
3. The battle of Chillianwala, in which the Company suffered heavy losses, was fought during this war.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (c) & explanation
After Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, the Lahore state fell into faction fighting and the army (the Khalsa) became the real power. In December 1845 Sikh forces crossed the Sutlej, and Gough and Hardinge fought them at Mudki (18 December 1845), Ferozeshah, Aliwal and finally Sobraon (10 February 1846). Company troops then entered Lahore and the war ended with the Treaty of Lahore (March 1846). Chillianwala (13 January 1849), where Gough's army lost heavily against Sher Singh, belongs to the second war, which ended at Gujrat.
With reference to the Treaty of Sugauli (1816), consider the following statements:
1. Nepal gave up the hill territories west of the Kali river, including Garhwal and Kumaon.
2. Nepal agreed to accept a British Resident at Kathmandu.
3. Nepal was allowed to keep the whole of the Terai lowlands.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (a) & explanation
The Gorkha state had expanded west to Garhwal and Kumaon and pressed into the Terai, which brought it into conflict with the Company. After early reverses, Ochterlony's campaigns forced Nepal to terms. By the Treaty of Sugauli, signed on 4 March 1816, Nepal ceded the hill territories west of the Kali, which became its western boundary, and agreed to a permanent British Resident in Kathmandu. It also had to give up the Terai; part of these lowlands was later returned as a concession, but the treaty did not leave Nepal the whole Terai.
In 1801 Lord Wellesley transferred the entire civil and military government of the Carnatic to the Company. The main ground given for this step was that
Answer (a) & explanation
By a treaty of 1792 the Nawab of the Carnatic had promised not to correspond with any other power without the Company's consent. After the fall of Seringapatam (1799), papers were found that the Company said showed both the late and the reigning Nawab in cipher correspondence with Tipu. When the Nawab died in 1801, his son refused to surrender his powers, so Wellesley offered the title to a cousin, Azim-ud-Daula, who accepted a pension while the Company took over the whole civil and military government. The episode shows Wellesley's readiness to use any pretext for expansion.
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In 150 words, explain the significance of Carnatic Wars with one recent example.
Flashcards (1)
Single biggest reason the English won?
Bengal's wealth after Plassey (with naval power).
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