At a period when Europe witnessed an upsurge in
discoveries and colonization, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English
were on their mission for contacts with India . France who competed with England
in many respects also took to installing trade contacts with India and the east.
In 1611 Louis XII granted monopoly to a company to pursue their quest, but did
not achieve any progress. In 1664 Louis XIV granted another permission to start
trade with India. The trade with India was a matter of prestige as the European
politics was dominated by rivalries in the eighteenth century. In India Anglo
French conflict started with the Austrian war of succession which ended in the
seven years war. Pondicherry was the hub of French settlements. Other French
factories and settlements were at Masulipatanam, Karikal, Mahi, Surat and Chandernagore.
The struggle for establishing supremacy in trade resulted in wars between the
English and the French in the Deccan. The first Carnatic war was fought between
1746-48. The second Carnatic war was fought between 1748-54 and the third Carnatic
war was between 1758-63. This was the war that sealed the fateof the French
possessions in India. Owing to Commercial superiority and better financial position,
private ownership of the English company and support by the British government, the East India Company flourished in India. Superiority of the English officers,
besides this the French continental preoccupations, the superior English navy
and the impact of English domination in Bengal, the recall of Duplex and the
blunders of Count de Lally contributed to the French failure in India. Thus
the struggle for colonial supremacy resulted the English having overcome the
European obstacle. Little did then one realize that this was the
beginning of a diplomatic policy that would reign supreme in India
for the next two centuries.
