Anglo-French rivalry in India and the eastern seas, 1763-1793 : a study of Anglo-French tensions, and of their impact on the consolidation of British power in the region

Abstract

Since the eastern conflict was essentially part of a wider contest to unseat the British from their position of commercial and maritime preponderance throughout the world, the problem of Anglo-French rivalry in India in the late eighteenth century will be introduced within its global setting. As a consequence of the French threat and French ambitions, most nearly realised during the American War, the defence of the Company’s possessions in India became closely linked with an imperial maritime strategy embracing the Cape, Trincomalee and naval bases to the east of the Bay of Bengal. Accordingly, this study will be concerned with metropolitan and imperial factors as well as local conditions in the expansion of European influence throughout Asia, An important task will be to determine how far the fear of the French precipitated British involvement in Indian politics, and whether that intervention was conditioned more by local, on the spot considerations than by European reactions and policies. British responses to the French are examined closely within three different types of situation. First, in Bengal where the British had acquired a large measure of control over the local ruler. Secondly, in the Carnatic and the South of India where the French were still political rivals with the English for control over the Nawabs, and thirdly, in the Eastern Seas and countries beyond India, areas where the factor of sea-power rather than military might or diplomatic skill was crucial. These case-studies demonstrate that the French continued to exert a significant influence on British policies in India after 1763, the date of the Peace of Paris which is usually chosen as the end of the French chapter in the East. Fears of a French invasion of the sub-continent, exacerbated by various crises in Europe and India, ensured that the British would be as concerned with matters of security and defence as they were with trade, the original raison d’etre of the Company. Furthermore, the intrigues of the French at the courts of the Indian princes encouraged the British to take a more active interest in native diplomacy. The Subsidiary Alliance system, for instance, was primarily devised to eradicate clandestine French influence from Hyderabad and Mysore. Finally, the decision to establish bases outside India was not unaffected by French activity elsewhere in Asia. For throughout this period the British were eager to anticipate or counter French moves. Show more