Battle of Adyar
Battle of Adyar | |
---|---|
Part of Adyar river | |
Result | French victory |
Territorial changes | Nawab of Arcot defeated |
- Nawab of Arcot
Mahfuz Khan
700 French-trained Indian Sepoys
The Battle of Adyar (also the Battle of Adyar River) took place on 24 October 1746.
Background
The French captured
Battle
Led by the Swiss engineering officer, Major Louis Paradis, some 350 French and 700 French-trained Indian troops force marched from Pondicherry, crossed Quibble Island and took positions on the south bank of the Adyar River and faced ineffective artillery fire from Khan's forces.
On 24 October, Paradis was informed that a similar sized army led by de le Tour was on its way from St. George Fort. He decided to ford the
Significance
The battle of Adyar was one of the first that illustrated the overwhelming superiority of 18th century European military firepower in the Indian sub-continent, while also demonstrating that even a sizeable cavalry force was no match for a well-equipped, disciplined infantry. The flintlock musket and a flexible and mobile artillery enabled around one thousand defenders of the French-held fort to vanquish ten thousand Mughal troops.[5]
After the battle cemented the French position in Madras, they and the English continued to spar over French-controlled Pondicherry and British-held Fort St. David without either side gaining territory. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle resulted in the French handing Madras back to the British, in exchange for Louisbourg in 1748.
References
- ^ Hoover, James W. (1993). The origins of the Sepoy Military System: 1498-1770. University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 56.
- ISBN 9788131300343.
- ^ Dalrymple, William (2019). The Anarchy :The Relentless Rise of The East India Company. Great Britain: Bloomsbury. p. 52.
- ^ Muthiah, S (25 November 2012). "Madras Miscellany: The Battle of the Adyar". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ Kolappan, B (23 August 2019). "The Battle of Adyar, a turning point in Indian history". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 8 October 2022.