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 Dictionary of Indian Biography (Buckland) |
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 Dictionary of Indian Biography D to F
| Date transcribed | 2011-03-01 | | Transcribed by | Peter Bailey | | Comment | Note that notables of Indian, Afghan, etc. origin do not always follow the alphabetical name pattern established by Buckland in his original work. |
| | Surname | Dupleix | | | First Name(s) | Joseph Francis | | | Titles | Marquis | | | Year of Birth | 1697 | | | Year of Death | 1764 | | | Entry | Son of a French farmer-general, Director of the Company of the Indies : born Jan. 1697 : sent to sea : made several voyages to America and India : made First Councillor and Military Commissioner of the Superior Council at Pondicherry in 1720 : accumulated a fortune : made Intendant, or Superintendent, of the factory at Chandernagore, 1730 : developed its coasting trade : Governor of Pondicherry, 1741, and Director-General of the French factories in India : declared himself Nawab of the Mogul Empire and Commander of 4,500 Horse : when war with England broke out, 1744, he sought help from Anwaruddin, the Nawab .of the Carnatic : La Bourdonnais came to his aid, from the Isle of France, and took Madras, Sep. 21, 1746 : great jealousy between him and Dupleix, who refused to surrender Madras and defeated the Nawab's force at St. Thome : Dupleix violated the treaty with the English, by retaining Madras, and by his treatment of them : his attack on Fort St. David failed, 1748 : the English attack under Boscawen by land and sea on Pondicherry was unsuccessful : Madras was restored to the English in 1749, after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. In the contests in Southern India, Dupleix, striving to found French ascendency there, took the side of Muzaffar Jang and Salabat Jang successively against Nasir Jang for the Subadarship of the Dekkan, and of Chanda Sahib against Anwaruddin and Muhammad Ali successively for the Nawabship of the Carnatic. By 1751, Dupleix's policy was, after a struggle, for a time successful. Muhammad Ali, at Trichinopoly, applied to the English for help. Stringer, Lawrence and Clive, going to his aid, defeated the French, Dupleix being badly served by his generals. He acquired the Northern Sircars from the Nizam and, after Chanda's death, claimed to be, and was nominated, Nawab of the Carnatic : was made a Marquis, 1752 : his forces met with further reverses from the English : the French Ministers and Company of the Indies objected to his Company of the Indies objected to his schemes and fighting, as being obstructive to trade, and ruinously expensive : they insisted on peace, and recalled Dupleix, who was superseded by Godeheu, 1754 ruined by him and left India, Oct. 14, 1754 : his claims, for private money expended, disregarded and unsatisfied : his services ignored : he died in comparative poverty in France, Nov. 10, 1764 : the greatest Frenchman in India : the first to see how Europeans might rule in India and employ native troops : ambitious, prescient, full of resource, will, and genius : had great knowledge of native character : inferior in the field of action, and not a soldier : he failed for want of support from France : his statue was erected at Pondicherry in 1870. |
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